Love in the Air: Lopez Island Series #2

by Jamie E. Matthews

  “Hey.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him quickly on the lips, something she rarely did in public. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. I’m okay.”

  “Give me a minute here.” Adrian buried his face in her neck, breathed in deeply.

  She rubbed her hands up and down his back. “Did they not explain to you that I would be okay?”

  “Good god, Nell.” Anna Sue snorted, “Sorry, didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but Nell, honey, we didn’t know you would be okay.”

  “Oh ye of little faith.” Nell drew back enough to punch Adrian lightly on the arm, delivered the same to Anna Sue. “I’m a kick-fucking-ass pilot. I had it under control the whole time, didn’t you hear—oh.” She paused, pursed her lips. “Right. You probably couldn’t hear me. Because the computer went out.”

  “You might be a kick-fucking-ass pilot, but you are damn slow sometimes.” Anna Sue rolled her eyes.

  “So, you were really worried.” Nell met his eyes, her dark ones now full of concern. “Shucks. I’m touched, y’all.”

  Recovered enough to see the humor in the situation, Adrian just shook his head. “You’re something else, Nell.”

  “Well, I…” she trailed off, her eyes lighting on the sign by the door. “Hot damn! Your guy came through!”

  She took off, dragging him by the hand, but slowed as she got closer. “Wait, this isn’t quite what I asked him for.”

  “Sometimes he takes artistic license,” Adrian said dryly.

  Nell studied the sign in silence, going closer and examining every inch. Adrian fidgeted, waited several long minutes, before finally speaking up.

  “If you don’t like it…”

  Nell held up a hand to stop him, whirling to face him.

  “You made this.”

  Unable to read her expression, he just nodded.

  “That guy, he was just a ruse. That’s why he took so fucking long, because he wasn’t making it, you were.”

  “Well, it takes time to get it right,” Adrian felt he needed to defend himself. “And there’s three in my car for the airport on San Juan. So yeah, it took longer.”

  “There’s three more?” Nell pinned him with her stare.

  Dammit, shouldn’t he be able to read the woman he was in love with? Shouldn’t that be one of the perks? Adrian sighed.

  “Yeah, in the car.”

  “Let’s see them.” She took off toward the car.

  “It can wait; your plane is more important,” he said, when she waved off the firefighter trying to get her attention.

  She said nothing, just waited for him to open the trunk and unwrap the signs.

  “This one is the same as the one by the office, another tall vertical one for the road, because the turn off isn’t well marked. And then another one, same as the other two, for the dock.” Adrian said, setting them to the side after unwrapping them. “And this one here you could hang in the lobby of that ugly office, and it would improve it substantially. At least, that was my thought.”

  Nell stared at them in silence, then reached out her hand to touch the metal, her fingers tentative.

  “Damn it, Nell, I really can’t take any more suspense today,” he said finally. “Watching your plane fall out of the sky was enough for me. Just tell me if you like them and if you don’t, I’ll do them over. It’s not a big deal.”

  She whirled to face him, eyes shimmering with tears, and he was too shocked to react when she leapt into his arms, pressed a hard kiss against his mouth.

  “It is a big deal, dammit. They’re beautiful. They’re exactly what I didn’t know I wanted.”

  She kissed him again, little kisses over his face until he captured her mouth and devoured it like he’d wanted to the minute he saw her step safely out of the plane. He swept his tongue against hers, pulled her against him, and she responded instantly, her arms snaking around behind him and cupping his ass, urging him against her. Adrian indulged himself a bit longer, reveling in the feel of her warm skin and body, so alive underneath his hands, his mouth.

  He pulled away and brushed her hair gently off her forehead.

  “So, you like them?”

  In response, she pulled his head back to hers, and kissed him until he was hard and throbbing against her. It took significant willpower to pull away, but one thing nagged at him.

  “You had tears in your eyes,” he said, raising his eyebrows. He slid his hand down her butt and caressed her while he waited for her to answer. Her eyes lost some of that glazed look from his kisses and turned wary.

  “So what? No one’s ever…well, you put a lot of time and thought into them. The design is perfect, something that’s memorable and captures the spirit of the company.”

  “No one’s ever what?” he asked.

  “Well,” she shifted, but when he held her gaze, she shrugged. “No one’s ever given me a gift that’s quite so personal. Or, so important to me.”

  “Ah,” Adrian said, and a hopeful light began to shine through. “You mean, people have tried, but no one has succeeded. That’s because they haven’t been me.”

  The corners of her mouth twitched. “That’s a very male thing to say.”

  “I am very male,” he said, shifting against her in a way so she couldn’t help but notice.

  This time she laughed outright. He caught her chin in his hand.

  “I know you, Nell Stewart. I know what your business and your work mean to you. I know how much you love it, beyond the sense of pride and accomplishment, how much sheer joy you take out of winging off into the sky. So much joy that you can nearly fucking kill yourself in a crash landing and walk away wanting to do it all again tomorrow.”

  “I don’t even have a scratch on me,” she protested, but her eyes were wary, and Adrian smiled. Why would she be afraid if she didn’t care about him?

  Maybe, just maybe, he could talk this irritating, fascinating, sexy woman into falling in love with him after all.

  “I know what else you like,” he murmured leaning over to whisper in her ear. She shivered when his breath caressed her skin, and he pulled her close so he rubbed against her center. “I have a lot of adrenaline to work off from your little adventure, so when you’re done here, you’re coming to my place, and you’ll be hot and wet for me the second you walk in the door, because you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to fuck you with my mouth, and my tongue, and my cock over and over again, until all you can do is scream my name while you come again and again.” He bit her earlobe, and she shuddered.

  Adrian patted her butt and grinned. “I think some firefighters and policemen are patiently waiting to tie up the loose ends, and Pete, too.”

  Nell blew out a breath. “I won’t be long.”

  “Take your time,” he said, releasing her. “You probably have a lot of paperwork, too. I’ll just spend my time imagining all the different ways I can make you come. I’ll be pretty entertained.”

  “I won’t be doing any paperwork,” she assured him, with a glance down at where he bulged against his pants. “As the boss, I need to do a better job delegating.”

  “Excellent idea. Give me a minute to…compose myself…and then I’ll carry these signs into the hanger for you. I can install the first one here while you finish up, if you want.”

  “Nope.” She met his eyes, her own heavy with desire. “I think my adrenaline must be kicking in too. You just drop them off and get the hell home.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He watched her walk away, a grin on his face. This was going to be fun.

  ***

  At home, Adrian headed straight for the liquor cabinet and poured himself a whiskey to chase away the lingering image of Nell’s plane smoking through the sky. Then he got to work preparing for Nell’s arrival, his plan of attack clear in his mind for how he would sneak past those impressive defenses of hers.

  He didn’t have long to wait. She showed up not fifteen minutes later, kicking off her boots as she closed the door behind her.

  “That w
as fast.”

  “I like it fast,” she said with a wicked grin and stripped off her shirt as she closed the distance between them.

  Adrian caught one glimpse of the sheer midnight blue fabric of her bra before she whipped it off and in the next movement, fastened her mouth onto his. He took a moment to get lost in her mouth, to run his hands up and down the warm curve of her back.

  When she pulled away to shimmy out of her jeans, he watched her, but stopped her when she would have taken off the matching blue thong.

  “Sometimes, I like it slow.” He hooked his finger in the waistband of her thong and pulled her closer.

  “Mmm. I want it hard and fast.” She bit his ear.

  He tortured himself by rubbing his already rock-hard cock against her. That part of him certainly wanted to obey her command, but he just smiled.

  “You’ll have it hard and fast. Eventually.” And with that, he drowned her protests with a demanding kiss. When she responded avidly, tangling her tongue with his, he backed her against the wall and devoured her, kissing her again and again until her breath came fast, and he throbbed painfully. Until the memory of her plane wobbling out of the sky faded, and there was just the slightly spicy scent that was Nell surrounding him, her warm skin against him, her mouth willing and eager.

  Gradually, he gentled the kiss, not touching her anywhere else, just stroking her with his tongue slow and deep until he felt her relax by degrees against him. Then he pulled away, noted in satisfaction that her eyes were at half mast, dark with desire. He grabbed her hand and in silence, led her upstairs to his bedroom. Her eyes widened when she took in the candles he’d placed around the room, flames flickering.

  “What’s all this?”

  “Just wanted to celebrate that you didn’t kill yourself today,” he said wryly, and watched as she laughed, a hint of nerves in her eyes.

  His eyes on hers, he slowly peeled off his shirt. He leisurely unbuttoned his jeans and drew the zipper down, enjoying the way her eyes tracked down. When he was naked, he once again drew her near by grabbing the waistband of her thong, but when she made to take it off, he pressed his cock between her legs, and once again took her under with slow, drugging kisses, timing the slide of his tongue with a slow, delicious slide across her wet center then forward again, the sheer fabric of the thong already soaked. Again and again he kissed her, and when she would have bucked against him, he held her hips still, forcing her to take what he was offering.

  “Adrian,” she moaned, tearing her mouth away, her head falling back as he slid once more over her wet heat. “Please.”

  He stopped moving his cock, but held it there against her center and instead trailed his lips down her neck as she shivered. He lightly kissed his way around one breast, heading slowly to her nipple, stopping to bite at the underside of the soft skin. She gasped, and he held her in place, feeling her tremble under his hands. He licked his way around the edge of her nipple, pebble hard, goosebumps on her skin. Then he stopped short and transferred his attention to her other breast.

  “What are you doing?” Nell panted, squirming and trying to press up against his cock but held helpless under his hands. “Fuck me, for god’s sake.”

  “I am,” he murmured against her skin, smiling.

  He backed her to the bed, pushed her back against the mattress and straddled her. She pulled him down to her, but he resumed licking and sucking her breast until she writhed mindlessly under him, her breath fast, her moans ragged. When he finally flicked his tongue against her nipple, she arched off the bed, moaning his name, and he sucked, tugging with his mouth and at the same time, slipping a finger past her thong into her wet heat. Instantly, she orgasmed around him, her muscles milking him, her hips pistoning.

  As she came down from her high, he kissed her again, savoring her lips and mouth, and then resumed all over again, kissing every inch of her skin, bringing her again to peak by kissing and licking her breasts and nipples, then taking her down before she could come, trailing his mouth down over her stomach ever so slowly. He kissed the inside of her thighs and when he finally tore off her thong, she orgasmed again at the first thrust of his tongue inside her. He kept going through her spasms, licking her like an ice cream cone as she shuddered, then mercilessly took her up again, fucking her with his mouth until she screamed and shattered.

  “I should not kill myself more often,” she managed to gasp out as he moved back up her body.

  He was laughing when he took her mouth again, letting her taste herself. Adrian nudged the tip of his penis against her, slowly rocked back and forth while he kissed her, and tortured himself by sliding in just a little, then out, until he couldn’t wait any more. Quickly, he pulled away and slid a condom on, then entered her slowly, his eyes on hers as he joined with her, became part of her. She seemed unable to look away while he moved tenderly inside her, as deep as he could go, and just held himself there, rocking up against her, savoring the feel of her muscles contracting around him and pulling him even deeper.

  Adrian kept it slow, going back to those intimate, leisurely kisses as the heat gradually built up again. When her breath began to hitch, he pulled back and held his palm against her cheek, wanting to watch her as she came. She held his gaze as she began pulsing around him, until her head fell back and she moaned, her body contracting hard and long, tipping him over into his own orgasm. He breathed her name as he came, buried his face in her neck and inhaled her scent while he pumped inside her.

  Gradually, he came back into himself, forced himself to slide off her and go dispose of the condom. When he came back she lay just as he left her.

  “I may never move again,” she murmured when he got into bed and slid his arms around her.

  He smiled, noting that she was about ready to fall asleep. He stroked her hair, murmured into her ear, “I wanted to make love to you for once.”

  Chew on that, he thought, fairly certain she’d heard him and was pretending she hadn’t. He just held her close, stroking her back, until he, too, fell asleep.

  Chapter 17

  Nell fussed with her mom’s bouquet, arranging the ribbons just so and tweaking a few of the leaves so they showed off the lush blooms of lilacs and white roses.

  “You’re more nervous than I am,” Jan said, watching her with an amused look.

  “Oh my god, I so am.” Nell carefully laid the bouquet down. She took a long look in the mirror, adjusted her deep purple gown that hugged her hips and framed her neckline with a scalloped “v.” “I look pretty amazing though, if I do say so myself.”

  “You do.” Jan joined her at the mirror, pressed her cheek to Nell’s. “Thanks for all your help with this shindig.”

  Nell turned, wrapped her mom up in a hug. “Mom, I love you, but I’ll never do this again. If I ever do get married, I’m eloping.”

  Jan laughed, and Nell surveyed her with a critical eye. The tailored white pantsuit hugged her mom’s hips and fell in flattering straight lines down to her feet, where purple open toe sandals peeked out from under the hemline. A lacy purple chemise top added another splash of color, and elegant silver and diamond earrings picked up the silver ribbon that tied her bouquet.

  “Beautiful mama,” Nell said, cupping her cheek in the way she used to do as a child.

  “Beautiful girl,” Jan said, her eyes soft.

  “God.” Nell sniffed, wiped away the few tears escaping. “Here I go. Okay.” She took a deep breath. “You ready to get married?”

  “Hell yeah,” Jan said, grinning.

  Nell crossed to the window. Lacy clouds scattered across the bright blue sky, and the sun sparkled over the water out in the distance. Down below on the lawn of the Orcas Resort, nearly all the chairs were occupied, some guests dressed to the nines, others in shorts and flip flops. Ben, Adrian, Tom and Paul sported grey suits with purple ties and stood at the ready to escort guests down the aisle to their seat. Hannah, who’d gotten a huge kick out of going online and getting ordained as their minister, waited at the
front of the aisle, straightening the hem of her vintage style a-line cocktail dress, laughing with one of the front row guests. For the occasion, she’d gone with glasses with bright purple frames.

  “The gang’s all here,” Nell said, surveying the crowd and picking out Amy, released from bed rest and sitting near the front, hands resting on her baby bump, chatting with Brooke’s family.

  “I’ve been waiting long enough,” Jan said, picking up her flowers and heading to the door. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  Nell followed with her own smaller bouquet, and together they made their way down the stairs of the resort. While the wedding and party took place, the staff would transform the room from a wedding prep and staging area into the honeymoon suite for the happy couple.

  At the entrance to the lawn, Brooke waited, her back to them as she looked outside. She turned when she heard their footsteps, her face glowing when she spotted Jan. Nell whistled, nodded her approval as she scanned Brooke’s flowy white dress, her wavy hair pulled into an updo that left soft strands framing her face. Tiny diamonds glittered here and there in her hair, and her bouquet mirrored Jan’s.

  “You look lovely.” Nell gathered Brooke up in a hug, held tight.

  “So do you, sweetie.” Brooke’s eyes swam with tears, and Nell shook her head fiercely.

  “I swear to god if you say something mushy, I’ll hurt you. Save it for later when we’re drunk and happy.”

  Brooke laughed and released her.

  “But, I do love you,” Nell grabbed her for another hug. “Take good care of my mama.”

  “And, you.” Nell kissed her mom on the cheek. “Take good care of my Brooke.”

  She left them there to share a quick private moment and wiped away the tears that threatened as she walked outside.

  “Let’s rock and roll,” she said, walking up to the men.

  Adrian gave her a long survey from head to toe, heat flaring in his eyes. “Looking good, hot stuff.”