Silently she acquiesced to his pleas, even though he could clearly sense her impatience, could feel her need. And because he was every bit as needy and impatient, he didn’t make her wait any longer, beginning to move in and out of her pliant body with long, slow strokes.
Her breath expelled in a low hiss. “Ah, God, that’s so good,” she panted, her hips flexing in perfect synchronization with his. “I missed this. Missed you. So much.”
He lifted her legs to wrap around his hips. “Understatement of the century, darlin’,” he rasped as he began to fuck her harder, bracing his hands on either side of her body for leverage.
Aubrey’s moans increased in volume just as Jordan increased the force and rapidity of his thrusts. He unwound her legs from around his hips, only to bend her knees up towards her shoulders, spreading her thighs wider apart. The position allowed him to gain even deeper access to her body, the head of his cock hitting the edge of her womb with each fierce thrust. He changed the angle of his thrusts at some point, aiming for that sweet spot on the front wall of her vagina, the spot where all of her sensations would be magnified, intensified. Sweat dripped from his brow as he continued to pound inside of her, and both of their bodies were slick with perspiration as they writhed against each other, desperately seeking release.
He knew she was close, could tell by the way she gasped for breath, and by the fierce grip of her hands around his biceps. He held off his own release so that he could watch her come, could see her blue eyes glaze over with desire, and her lush pink lips open in a wide “O” of surprise. But once he felt her vaginal muscles begin to spasm around his cock, he lost what little remained of his control, giving himself up to the most intense pleasure he’d ever known. His orgasm seemed to last forever, his cock still thrusting inside of her body long after he was empty.
Jordan slumped onto the mattress beside her when it was finally over, too drained to do more than turn his head and press his lips to her bare shoulder. Aubrey’s hand sifted through the damp strands of his black hair, both of them content to let these subtle touches communicate the depth of their emotions.
He cupped her cheek at some point, then touched his lips to hers lightly. “I love you, Aubrey,” he murmured hoarsely. “And I’m sorry as hell for everything I put you through. For not being honest with you from the beginning. I was too afraid of losing you if I told you about Tessa, and yet by keeping quiet about it I came way too close to losing you for good. And I will continue to grovel and beg and I promise to give you multiple orgasms every single day if you can possibly find a way to - ”
Aubrey placed her index finger over his mouth. “Shh. If you’d give me a chance, you silly man, I was just about to tell you that given how hard you made me come a few minutes ago, I’ve decided that all is forgiven. Which means you don’t need to beg and grovel any longer.” She replaced her finger with her lips, whispering against them, “I will, however, hold you to that promise you just made me. And right now seems like a very, very good time to start fulfilling that promise, don’t you think?”
Epilogue
Eight Months Later
“I don’t know about you, but I’m worn out. Who would have thought helping with a one year old’s birthday party would be so exhausting?”
Aubrey smiled at Jordan as he started up the engine of the Porsche. “That’s because you volunteered to watch those twin brothers, the ones who belong to Tessa’s friend Julia. Tessa might have mentioned something about the boys being a handful.”
“A handful?” asked Jordan incredulously as he pulled away from the curb. “Darlin’, those two rascals are way more than a handful. I think the entire offensive line of a football team would have trouble keeping those boys in line. And you might have warned me what I was getting myself into, you know,” he added crossly.
She patted his thigh. “Oops! Guess it slipped my mind. Sorry!” she told him with a cheeky grin.
He glowered at her. “No, you’re not. But you will be later tonight, because you might have earned yourself a spanking, you little witch.”
Aubrey blew him a flirty kiss. “Aw. But you know I like it when you play a little rough, so that’s hardly punishment, is it? Besides, I think a man who likes little kids and actually pays attention to them is really sexy.”
“Is that so?” he chuckled. “Well, I sure as hell didn’t feel very sexy trying to keep one of those little hellions from scaling the backyard wall. Or making sure his brother didn’t pull up all of Tessa’s tulips. I imagine the only way their parents cope with those two little monsters is with a combination of a nanny and a lot of alcohol.”
“It was fun, though, you must admit,” prodded Aubrey. “I can’t believe Liam is a year old already, and walking. And Gilly is going to turn three at the end of next month. So you can bet that Tessa’s already thinking about getting pregnant again. I know she wants at least four kids.”
“Well, Ian might have something to say about that,” replied Jordan as he made a left turn onto the street where they lived. “But Tessa seems very capable of talking him into whatever she wants, so you’re probably right about that hunch.” He reached over to give her hand a squeeze. “That means another niece or nephew for Auntie Aubrey to spoil.”
“I like kids. And I especially like my sister’s kids. Fortunately both of them are turning out to be little angels so far. Nothing like Julia’s boys.”
Jordan shuddered at the mention of the twin terrors. “You know, spending three hours with those two is enough to put a person off the idea of ever becoming a parent. So remind me to never let any of my patients around them, because I’d be out of business in a year.”
Aubrey laughed, knowing his words were a complete exaggeration. If anything, Jordan’s OB/GYN practice was booming, and there was now a fifth doctor in the office to help handle the overflow of patients.
As for Aubrey’s own career, she could happily say that she loved her job with the Gregson hotel group. She worked for the department who administered the recreation and fitness amenities at all of the hotels in North and South America, a position well suited to her past job experience as well as her own personal familiarity with sports and exercise. Most of her job duties involved administering the various types of classes and programs offered at each hotel’s fitness centers, everything from Pilates to spinning to boot camp, as well as researching the newest and hottest workout trends so that the classes were always current. She did some traveling, too, a few days or a week at a time, but never more than once a month so that she and Jordan didn’t have to be separated for very long.
Within a week after reconciling, she’d moved back in with him, despite Tessa’s protests that she hadn’t had anywhere near enough time getting to know her half-sister. But given that Jordan’s condo - correction, their condo - was less than a mile from the Gregson house, Aubrey still got to spend a lot of time with her sister, niece, and nephew. And, as she’d confided to Jordan, she suspected that Ian had been quietly relieved to have his wife all to himself again.
“There is some intense chemistry between those two,” she’d told Jordan. “Like you can practically feel electricity crackling whenever they’re in the same room. And while Ian was always extremely polite, I couldn’t help feeling like a third wheel most of the time.”
Jordan had grimaced. “Yeah, that’s Ian for you, all right. Intensity could be his middle name. And if you think it was uncomfortable living in the same house with him for a couple of weeks, try having him in the same room while you’re trying to give his wife a pelvic exam. Or, worse, a breast exam. I swear his eyes were like a laser beam the entire time, and he probably would have burned a hole in me if it was possible. He made me so nervous one time that I dropped the damned speculum I was using for a pap smear and had to get a sterile one from the cabinet.”
Aubrey had thought that scenario hilarious, and had laughed uncontrollably until Jordan hadn’t been able to help himself from chuckling along with her. But she’d u
nderstood completely how uneasy he must have felt with Ian practically breathing down his neck, watching every move he made, and hadn’t envied him in the least.
After moving in, Jordan had encouraged her to make whatever changes she liked to the condo’s décor, and they had done quite a bit of shopping for decorations and accent pieces to give the place more color and vibrancy, and to make it feel like more of a home. And while there were a lot of things she continued to like about living in a big, bustling city like San Francisco, Aubrey still missed the more laidback lifestyle she’d enjoyed in San Diego and Maui.
Jordan, who was as attuned to her moods and emotions as she was herself, went out of his way to indulge her need to get away from the busyness of city life. They would frequently get out of town on the weekends, heading to the Napa Valley wine country, or up to the mountains of Lake Tahoe or Yosemite. And her favorite escapes were to the coast, either south to Half Moon Bay or Monterey, or north to the Marin and Sonoma coasts. They’d spent a couple of long weekends visiting Ian and Tessa at the spacious beach house they owned on the northern Sonoma coast, but the place Aubrey really loved was Stinson Beach, the funky little beach town that was less than an hour’s drive from San Francisco. She liked getting over there at least once a month to hit the waves and take a surfing lesson, her newest fitness craze.
After their last visit there a couple of weeks ago, Jordan had startled her by casually suggesting that maybe they should think about buying a second home in the town, a little beach cottage that they could escape to on the weekends. She’d been delighted with the idea, and they had agreed to make an appointment with a realtor in the coming weeks to see what might be available.
It was just one of the many thoughtful things he did for her on a regular basis, she reflected now. Knowing how close she was to her family, he made sure she had plenty of opportunities to see them, either flying down to San Diego for a few days or inviting her parents to stay with them when they could get away for a visit. Predictably, since Jordan could charm the birds out of the trees, Aubrey’s parents and brothers had all taken an instant liking to him, and now he was like one of the family. They had spent the Christmas holidays with her family in San Diego, but Aubrey had wanted to have Thanksgiving with Tessa and Ian and the children at their beach house. She knew it had meant the world to Tessa to have her there, the first holiday that the two sisters had ever spent together.
And Aubrey had insisted on meeting both of Jordan’s parents, even though he’d fought her a little on the matter, pointing out that his mother and father were nowhere near as pleasant to be around as hers. But she had actually found both of his parents to be quite charming in their own ways, even though his father had flirted with her rather outrageously, while his mother had treated Aubrey more like one of her girlfriends than the woman her son was living with - insisting on going to the spa and shopping together, and even confiding details about her current husband that seemed just a little too intimate to Aubrey’s way of thinking.
Jordan had just given an exasperated shake of his head after observing both of his parents in action. “My father likes his women young, blonde, and stacked, so I knew right off the bat he’d like you. But the old bastard had better keep his hands off of you in the future, otherwise he’ll be the one needing cosmetic surgery and not his patients. As for my mother - well, the only thing that terrifies her more than being alone is having to admit that she’s getting older. Acting like you’re her new best friend obviously makes her feel younger, even though it’s a little strange and creepy if you want my opinion. But they both like you a lot, darlin’. That’s obvious. Then again, I doubt there’s anyone who wouldn’t like you. Except, of course, for all the women who know they can’t begin to compete with someone as gorgeous as you. But who needs friends like that anyway, hmm?”
She got along famously with all of Jordan’s friends, even Finn whom she’d come to rather grudgingly accept, especially after he admitted that he’d never seen Jordan this happy in the twenty plus years they had known each other. Aubrey still adamantly refused, however, to even consider setting the notorious playboy up with any of her friends or co-workers, claiming that the last thing she needed was to ruin any long lasting friendships or jeopardize the job she loved.
And of course the absolute best part of living with Jordan, and being in a committed relationship with him, was having all that sexual expertise of his at her disposal. He was an eager and inventive lover, constantly amazing her with his prowess and stamina, as well as with his tenderness and devotion. She loved how one night he could be the master seducer, using all of his wiles and expert techniques to tease and entice her, exciting and arousing her until she was pleading with him to stop tormenting her and just give her what she needed. On other nights, the two of them seemed equally matched, both wild and insatiable and almost savage in their need for each other. And on still other nights Jordan insisted on taking things slowly, on kissing and caressing and loving her with such overwhelming care that the loveliness of it nearly brought her to tears.
She had never imagined sharing this sort of deep, passionate, and loving relationship with a man, had never truly believed in the concept of a soulmate, and yet all of her old beliefs and doubts continued to be shattered each day she spent with Jordan. He made every single day they spent together something special, and Aubrey had never laughed so much in her life. She loved waking up beside him every morning, and falling asleep curled up against him each night. And as much as she enjoyed the occasional travel she had to do with her job, she found herself counting the hours until she could return back home and to the man she loved with all her heart.
Jordan had yet to mention anything about their future together, or where he saw their relationship going, but Aubrey was in no rush whatsoever for that to happen. She was so young yet, only twenty-six, though after Jordan had turned forty a couple of months ago, he had started joking that she’d probably want to trade him in soon for a younger model. She’d instantly dismissed any worries he might have had on that issue, assuring him that even though he might be forty now he would always be the sort of man who remained young at heart - the perfect sort of man for her.
She felt secure in their relationship, confident of his love, and was perfectly content with the happy, fun-filled life they had made together. Jordan was still a slob, of course, though he was consciously making more of an effort to pick up after himself more often, and had bought self-closing toilet seats for both of the bathrooms in the condo. Aubrey had picked up some cooking skills from Tessa, and liked experimenting with different cuisines in the condo’s spacious gourmet kitchen. Jordan often pitched in to help, though he was mostly delegated to chopping vegetables or stirring sauces, and then only under close supervision.
They dined out frequently, and Aubrey had even become something of a fan of the ballet, symphony, and theater - though she’d drawn the line at attending the opera. They went to the occasional party or splashy social events, had friends over to the condo for dinner, and were frequent guests at Tessa and Ian’s. But Aubrey’s very favorite thing was to merely spend a quiet evening at home with Jordan - cooking a simple meal, watching a movie or sporting event on TV, and just basking in the other’s company. He’d admitted early on in their relationship that such intimacy was something new to him, that he had never before envisioned himself as much of a homebody, but that it was definitely a habit he was quickly growing to enjoy as much as she did.
It was still afternoon when they returned home, given that a birthday party for a one-year-old typically didn’t go on until the wee hours of the morning. They had plans to go out to dinner later at one of their favorite neighborhood bistros, and perhaps catch a movie afterwards. Tomorrow - Sunday - Aubrey intended to hit the gym and drag a semi-reluctant Jordan with her, and then meet Finn and his latest hook-up for brunch.
Aubrey set her purse down on the entryway table, only to search through it a moment later when her phone pinged with an incoming
text. She smiled after gazing at the photo Tessa had just forwarded to her, one of Jordan with an arm around each of the twin boys he’d been somewhat reluctantly assigned to supervise at Liam’s party. The little boys had really hammed it up for the cameras, posing and smiling and trying unsuccessfully to look angelic instead of the devils they actually were. And while Jordan had looked more than a little worn out in the photo, there was no denying the fact that he was also having the time of his life.
“Whatcha looking at, darlin’?” he asked, sliding his arms around her waist as he peeked over her shoulder at her phone.
She held the phone up a little higher for his inspection. “This picture of you and Noah and Justin. Tessa just sent it over. You know, you have to admit that they’re really cute kids, even if the temptation is strong to tie them to a chair every so often.”
Jordan chuckled. “Nah. They’re good kids, just exceptionally active for their age. Though I’ll think twice about volunteering to keep an eye on them again. That cagy bastard Ian very intentionally failed to mention how, uh, challenging they were when he enlisted my help.”
Aubrey reached up to kiss his cheek. “Aw, but you’re so good with them. A natural, in fact. Sure you don’t want a couple of your own someday?”
He took the phone from her hands and gently tossed it back inside her purse, then turned her to face him. “I never said I didn’t want children of my own,” he admonished as he pulled her close against his body. “I believe what I told you at one time was that kids deserved to have two full-time parents, and that I was old-fashioned enough to believe those parents ought to be married.”
She nodded. “I remember, yes. That isn’t exactly the same thing as wanting kids of your own, however.”
The Girl of His Dreams (Bachelor #1) Page 35