Fire and Romance

by Melanie Shawn

  After far too short a time to do them all justice, though, she couldn’t take it anymore. She lowered her hand from where it gripped him and returned it to the couch in front of her, which caused her back to arch, giving him the green light to continue.

  And so he did. Marco dug his fingers into the flesh of her hips and began pumping his pelvis back and forth, in and out, at a pace that very quickly built up to frantic.

  Crazy jolts of pleasure shot through her and she whimpered and moaned at the erotic intrusion. Every single time she made one of the sounds, he intensified his thrusts even further. He ratcheted up the speed and power with which he plunged into her with his rock-hard erection.

  When she could feel herself getting ready to crest the peak of orgasm and could sense that he was, too, she reached back and grabbed his wrist. As soon as her nails dug into his flesh, he thrust once more and sent them both rocketing over the edge together, freefalling down the side of that mountain as they clung to each other and trembled.

  “I wanted tonight to be romantic, but this was better.” Marco gasped out as they came back down to reality together.

  “I think this was very romantic.” She grinned as her chest collapsed against the cushion.

  He leaned over her and kissed the back of her neck and breathed against her skin, “And that’s why you are the perfect woman,”

  She couldn’t tell if she felt more pleasure at the orgasm she’d just experienced or at hearing the beautiful words that had just come out of Marco’s mouth.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to record exactly how she felt at that moment. And she tried to forget that at this time tomorrow night, she’d be back home and this would all be over.

  Chapter 22

  ‡

  ONE MONTH LATER

  Sunset Canyon, CA

  Marco checked his phone and saw that he’d missed two texts from his mom. One wishing him good luck and the other to say that he didn’t need luck. She might be more nervous about this than he was.

  When he put his phone back in his pocket, he noticed that his hands were shaking and his palms were damp. But it wasn’t from nerves. It was anticipation, just like he’d had when he’d free-dived, and swam with sharks. And just like those times, he wanted to get on with it. He just wanted to do it.

  He started to pace as his pulse beat wildly. He could feel it in his chest, his neck, and even in his stomach. He gulped over the lump in his throat.

  “Come on,” he said impatiently under his breath as he looked out and saw that the sun was starting to dip below the horizon.

  It wouldn’t be the end of the world if they missed the sunset, but he wanted everything to be perfect.

  Minutes passed, and it felt like an eternity as he paced. He pulled his phone out to check it again when he heard the door open. Devon stepped out first, and Sydney was behind her.

  It had been four long weeks since he’d seen her, not counting Facetime and Skype and damn, she’d gotten more beautiful. Her hair was pulled up off her face and piled on top of her head. She was wearing black leggings and a loose-fitting top. She was looking down at her phone.

  “What made you want to try teaching a rooftop class?” Sydney asked.

  “He did!” Devon pointed at Marco.

  Sydney looked up, and her mouth dropped open. “Marco?”

  “Yes. Marco. He’s the one that thought me telling you I was going to have a yoga class up here would be a good idea.” Devon was clearly frustrated. “He obviously underestimated the number of questions and concerns you’d have and how hard it would be to get you up here.”

  “Hi,” Sydney ignored Devon and stared in shock.

  He grinned. “Hi.”

  “I just texted you.”

  He looked down at his phone, and sure enough, there was a text. About to do sunset yoga on the hospital roof. It’s freezing. Wish me luck!

  He wrote back. Good luck.

  Her phone lit up, and she looked down and smiled.

  “Okay, well.” Devon clapped her hands together. “I’ve done my part. Sydney is here. At sunset. You kids be good!” She walked back out the door she’d just come through.

  “Thanks, Devon.” He said just as it was closing.

  He crossed over to where Sydney still stood, looking slightly shocked. When he stopped in front of her, he ran his thumb along her jaw. He’d missed so much about her this past month, but the silky softness of her creamy skin was what he missed most.

  “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Eureka.”

  He’d been up in Humbolt County for the past two weeks fighting a wildfire. For the past month, they’d texted every day, and talked when they could. They hadn’t discussed a future or put any label on their relationship. He planned on changing that today.

  “We got released yesterday.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I wanted it to be a surprise.” He pressed play on his phone and music played from a nearby portable speaker. “Surprise.”

  She threw her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist. Picking her up off the ground, he held her tightly for a moment before setting her back down. They continued to hold on to each other as they swayed back and forth.

  “This song is…” she looked up at him.

  “‘Wonderful Tonight.’ The same song that was playing when we danced up here in high school.” His heart was pounding harder than it ever had as he took a deep breath. “I didn’t tell you this, but that is the night that I knew I was in love with you. That you weren’t just my friend. You were the only girl I ever loved. And you still are.”

  “Marco,” she spoke his name in a hoarse whisper.

  “I love you, Sydney. I should’ve told you that then. Or at the reunion. Or when you were in Hope Falls. Actually, I did tell you in Hope Falls, but you were sleeping.”

  “You did?” Her eyes grew large.

  He nodded. “I’ve loved you for so long I don’t know what it feels like to not love you. And there were always reasons why I didn’t tell you. I was scared to lose you. I thought you loved someone else. I thought you were in a relationship. I thought that I had nothing to offer you and you’d be better off without me.” Marco took a deep breath. “But none of that matters. What matters is I love you. I want to marry you. I want to have babies with you. I want—”

  *

  Sydney stopped listening to what Marco was saying after he said the word babies. She stopped dancing and stepped out of his arms. She was still trying to get over the shock of hearing that he loved her and now he dropped that bomb.

  Shaking her head in disbelief, she held up her arms. “You said that you never wanted to have kids?”

  “I know. I thought that I didn’t, but the truth is I don’t want to have a broken family. I didn’t want to have kids that I would only see every other weekend. But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this past month, and I realized that even if the worst-case scenario happens, if we got married, had kids, and then got divorced, it would be okay.”

  “Wait, if we got divorced it would be okay?” she questioned.

  “My mom told me once, that she would only get married again if she met someone that she’d want to divorce. That the only way she’d ever feel safe walking down the aisle again was if she met someone she would trust signing divorce papers with.”

  After seeing what Devon was going through with her ex, it made sense.

  “And you, Sydney Prince…” He cupped her face and traced her jaw with his thumb. “Are the only person in the world that I would trust signing divorce papers with.”

  “I can’t believe you made divorce sound romantic.” She laughed as she tilted her head into the warmth of his palm.

  “What can I say? I have a gift.” A lopsided grin lifted on his perfect lips.

  He dropped to one knee and held up a box that she hadn’t noticed beside them. Not a small, black jewelry box. It was a white shoe box with Jimmy Choo emblazoned on top.

&n
bsp; Sydney gasped as he opened the lid to reveal the ultimate Cinderella heel. They were even more beautiful in real life than they’d been on her computer screen. They were covered in crystals and had a spiked heel, pointy toe, and shimmer suede base. It was even the exact style that she’d wanted. The Ari.

  They were so perfect, she was scared to touch them. “How did you know?”

  “A little birdie told him!” Devon called out from behind the door that led to the roof.

  Marco and Sydney laughed.

  “I wasn’t sure how many weekers these would be, but I wanted to give you plenty of time to break them in before our wedding.”

  Sydney couldn’t breathe. “Our wedding?”

  “Yeah.” He set down the shoes and stood back up as he pulled a different box from his pocket. This one was white also, but much smaller and inside it held something just as sparkly as the shoes. A brilliant princess cut, three-stone diamond ring. “These stones represent the past, the present, and the future. That’s what you are to me. My past. My present. And I hope, my future.

  “I know it’s complicated. You have commitments here, and I have commitments in Hope Falls for the next three years. But a very wise man once told me that life is complicated, love is simple. And I love you. And I know that whatever the future holds, we can face it together.”

  Sydney felt herself tearing up as she waited for him to say the words that she’d dreamed of hearing since she was ten years old in Mr. Maron’s homeroom class. But, Marco didn’t say anything, he just stared at her as he held the box.

  “Did you ask her?” Devon’s muffled voice rang out from behind the door before it opened and she stepped out. “Did he ask you? I can barely hear.”

  “No.” Sydney chuckled as she looked up at Marco. “He didn’t ask.”

  Marco shook his head, as he looked back and forth between the sisters before getting back down on one knee. “Sydney Prince, I love you. Will you marry me?”

  Her head was nodding yes before the word itself came out. “Yes!”

  Marco picked her up and spun her around as Devon cheered and whistled before holding up one of the shoes and exclaiming. “Holy shitake! These are amazing!”

  They were amazing. But nothing compared to the man that gave them to her. The man that she was going to spend the rest of her life with. The man that she was going to marry and have babies with. The man that could make divorce sound romantic. The man that she’d loved since the first day of sixth grade.

  The man that she could finally tell how she felt. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear. His arms tightened around her, as she said the words that she’d held in for so long. And then she said them again and again and again, because she could. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

  The End.

  Fire and Temptation

  Don’t Miss

  Evan and Shayne’s Story

  in

  Fire and Temptation

  Coming December 2017

  Excerpt New Series:

  Whisper Lake Romance

  Introducing our new series that is a Crossroads Spinoff

  Whisper Lake Romance

  Starting with

  Allison & Kade’s story in

  Whisper of Love

  Spring of 2018

  Unedited Excerpt

  Chapter 1

  ‡

  “Are you looking at porn!?”

  “What? No!” Kade’s brow furrowed as his eyes remained glued to the device he was clutching in his hands.

  The grunts and groans she’d heard in the hall that had caused her to go where no man dared to go—a teenage boy’s bedroom—were silenced now. In the dark room the only thing she could see through the small crack in the door was her nephew’s face that was illuminated by the screen of the iPad he was holding. It was too bad he didn’t wear glasses so she could have seen the reflection of what he was watching in them.

  “Give it to me.” Allison Walsh did her best to sound as authoritative as possible as she leaned into the door with her shoulder pushing it open. The task was made more difficult due to an enormous pile of laundry halting its path. After putting her back into it, she was finally able to move inside the darkened room.

  The first thing that hit her was the overwhelming, pungent smell. The combination of dirty socks, rotten food, and a distinctive funk that, in her experience, was uniquely teen-boy aroma. Lifting her hand to cover her mouth, she instantly regretted the fact that she’d let the room checks slip over the last few months.

  That’s not the only thing you’ve let slip, her inner—somewhat judgmental—voice chimed in.

  Shaking off that truth she pushed ahead into the funk cloud and expertly navigated through the minefield of dirty laundry, pizza boxes and general debris that covered his floor. When she reached the bed, she snatched her nephew’s iPad out of his hands.

  “Hey! What are you doing!?” he shouted angrily.

  “You’ll get it back when your room is clean and the yard is mowed, K-man.”

  “Don’t call me that,” her nephew shot back as he sat up on his bed and extended his hands to her like he was Oliver asking for ‘some mo’ please, except in a much more belligerent and rude manor. “You can’t take that, I need it for schoolwork.”

  Shit. Ali’s mind raced as she searched her nephew’s light green irises for any hint of deception. Was he lying? Was he telling the truth? She had no idea.

  Over the past year since she’d become legally responsible for her then pre-teen twin nephews she still hadn’t developed any kind of parent radar skills. She was officially in over her head and since the boys had both officially become teenagers the week before, she knew she hadn’t even hit the hard part yet.

  With no clue as to whether he actually needed the device for scholastic reasons, she looked down to see if she could at least figure out what he’d been watching. It didn’t take much detective work since the YouTube video was still playing. It was an MMA fight that she’d seen at least a dozen times, which for her was a dozen times too many.

  “This is not schoolwork.”

  “Yes, it is! I have to write an essay on who my hero is.”

  No. Not that. Not him.

  Of course she knew that her nephew looked up to the man that he was named after. His godfather who happened to be a MMA fighter who got more press for his extra-curricular behavior than he did for his profession. Kade Donovan had been the reigning Bad Boy of MMA for nearly ten years, which was not an easy title to hold. That line of work didn’t normally attract choir boys. To stand out as trouble was quite a feat.

  Hoping she could guide him in a different direction, she suggested, “Why don’t you write it on—”

  “I already emailed him questions and told him I was! I’m writing it on Uncle Kade!” he screamed as he pulled the iPad from her hand.

  “He’s not your uncle.” She knew that she was being petty by pointing that out but it was better than what she wanted to say which was, “He’s not your uncle, he’s an asshole who showed up at your dad’s, his best friend’s funeral drunk with a stripper and then when he found out that he was as legally responsible for both of you as I was he disappeared, leaving me to raise you and your brother alone.”

  So yeah, petty wasn’t so bad.

  Knowing that she wasn’t going to get anything accomplished by staying and fighting with her nephew and also knowing that if she didn’t start dinner now she wouldn’t have it done before he left for practice, she decided a strategic retreat was the best move.

  If there was one thing she had learned over the past year, it was to pick her battles. As much as she wished her nephew being rude was one of the fights she could take on, it wasn’t. Not vandalizing property, or getting in fights in school, drinking, or stealing—all of which he’d done—were much higher on her list of priorities. At this point she was just trying to get him to eighteen alive and without a juvenile record.

  “Clean your room,” she instructed as she made her way
back through the mess, even though she knew it was a pointless request.

  Before she’d even made it completely out into the hall, he yelled, “Shut the door!”

  She did.

  And then she leaned back against it as tears formed in her eyes. Not only was she doing a horrible job at raising her nephews, she was letting her brother, the only person that had ever loved her, down.

  Growing up, neither of them had known who their father or fathers were. Their mother was an alcoholic who’d been in and out of jail for DUIs multiple times before she wrapped her car around a pole and died. Ali was twelve at the time and Patrick was twenty. He petitioned the court and got custody of her. She’d only had to spend six months in foster care, but it had been a nightmare. She wasn’t sure she would have survived if she’d had to be there until she’d turned eighteen.

  So when Patrick had twins two years later and his girlfriend left him for another man Ali had been more than happy to step in and help out and take care of Patrick Jr. and Kade. And when her brother had asked her to be the twin’s legal guardian if anything should happen to him when she’d turned eighteen, she hadn’t hesitated, but she’d never thought she’d be called on to actually do it. When he’d told her that he would also be leaving his house and business Whisper Lake Rentals to her, she’d said great, never in a million years thinking either would come to pass.

  In her eyes, her brother was invincible. He was larger than life. Her hero. But she found out that brain aneurisms didn’t care about any of that.

  Next week would be the one year anniversary of Patrick’s death, and she honestly wasn’t sure how she was going to make it through, much less be there for her nephews. She missed her brother so much her body physically ached in agonizing pain. She felt so lost, so scared, so alone without him in this world.

  The dryer buzzed downstairs loudly and she pushed off the wall, wiped her tear-stained cheeks and put one foot in front of the other, just like she’d been doing for the past twelve months.