by Ciana Stone
There was one way to find out. "Touch me."
"Baby, I've done nothing but touch you."
"No, I mean touch me. Put your hands on me, Wiley. I want you to see me. All of me."
She knew he understood what she offered. "This is no small thing, Molly."
"I know."
He lay on her, supporting himself on one elbow as he placed his free hand on the side of her face. "You're sure?"
"I am." Molly lowered all her shields.
And Wiley gasped. She saw his eyes actually light and felt him inside her mind. "Molly." His voice was tender and so filled with emotion that tears welled in her eyes.
She reached between them to guide him inside her, all the while keeping her gaze locked with his. "Join with me, Wiley. Now."
Her next sound was one of pleasure and need as he started to move. Molly let go of everything but the feel of him, inside her body and her mind.
"Give," he whispered. "All of it, Molly."
That utterance stripped any defenses she had left, leaving her bare to her soul for him to claim. And time lost all meaning.
Chapter Eight
"All you have to do is whistle, baby."
Wiley watched her sleep, stemming the urge to wake her and rouse her passion. Making love with Molly was a singular experience and not one he'd expected.
He watched the soft rise and fall of her breasts and the tiny smile that rose on her face when she felt for him, and he took her hand. He'd loved one woman in his life, and that love had nearly cost him all the family he had.
Deacon married the woman Wiley loved, and she'd played them both, all the while, loving neither of them. She'd broken two hearts and nearly destroyed the one person he and Deacon loved above everyone. Trina.
Wiley had sworn never to love again, never to fall victim to a woman's trickery. Now, here he was, closing in on fifty, lying in a bed in the hour before dawn with a woman who had conquered him without trickery or guile. She did nothing but give herself to him, and now he thought he just might belong to her.
How was he to tell her such things? Hell, how was he to deal with it? This was not like anything he'd ever felt. It was joy.
"Penny for your thoughts, handsome."
Her whisper had his gaze meeting hers. "Thinking about you."
"What about me?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Showing me."
She reached up to put her hand on the side of his face. "You're what I wished for my whole life."
"A beat down old man?" he teased.
"A real man. Someone who loves with his whole heart and isn't afraid to show it. A man who makes me feel safe and makes me laugh and is good and caring—"
She threw aside the sheet and moved to straddle his body. She took his hands and moved them to her breasts, trapping them between her palms and the soft warmth of her breasts.
"You light a fire in me, Wiley. It's new to me, this kind of need and desire. I'm not inexperienced, but I've never wanted a man the way I want you. I can't look at you without wanting your hands on me, wanting you inside me."
"All you have to do is whistle, baby."
She chuckled. "I better see that on a T-shirt soon. But seriously, this is new to me, and maybe it's making me jump too fast, you know?"
"So, you want to slow down? It's a little late don't you think?"
"Oh, I don't mean I want to stop making love to you. No, huh uh. Now that I've had a taste of it, I'm not likely to give it up easily."
"No?"
"A woman has needs, Wiley and dear Lord, but you know how to take me there. Repeatedly."
"So, what are you talking about then?"
"I guess my heart. I already told you that you unhinge me, and you know it's true. Your kiss and touch – you can play me like a fiddle, and I've no defenses against it, nor do I want any. But you've peeled away my armor and exposed my heart, and that scares me more than anything because now you have the power to hurt me. To break me and I am so scared of being broken."
"Because you see the breaks in others and the pain it causes?"
"Because I promised Kayden to protect his light and if I break I may lose it."
Wiley considered her statement for a few moments. "Do you believe you hold his light? As in his soul?"
"Oh, no. I felt him go."
"Go where?"
"Not a place – just out. Everywhere."
"And his light?"
"I'm just the trustee until Kaylee is old enough then I'll give it to her. It's her father's gift."
"And what will that do to you? Giving it away?"
"Just make room for new light."
"You really are different, aren't you, Foxy?"
She leaned down and kissed him softly. "What an odd thing for someone who can control energy to say."
"I can't control it."
"But that's exactly what you do, Wiley. You summon the energy and then command it to do your bidding. Because you're a white lighter, you use it for healing, and I'm grateful for that because you're far more powerful than you realize and if you were to use it to harm, you could do great damage."
"To a person?"
"Yes, people, things and most of all yourself. It might have revealed itself as a story, but the concept of the Force wasn't new. It was simply a term used by the teacher to remind us that there's always dark and light, high and low. One can't exist without the other, after all. And the Dark Side is real. As real as the Light you saw inside me, and I see inside you."
"Are you afraid of it? The Dark?"
"No, but I have a healthy respect for its power."
"You know, I never expected this."
"What?"
"I thought I was just attracted to one hell of a hot woman and that we'd share some amazing sex, have some laughs and enjoy spending time together. But you're a whole other breed, Foxy and I don't know that you're the kind of woman a man could walk away from."
"Don't make promises." She put her finger to his lips. "If you feel it, then please keep doing so, but until there's no room for doubt – not even a tiny crack that water can seep in, don't promise me."
"Why?"
"Because it's what I want the most and I can't let myself even contemplate the having until I'm safe."
"Safe?"
"Yes."
"And how will you know when you're safe?"
"You'll let me know."
"And until then?"
"Until then, we have this. I love being with you. In bed or out. And I want you to meet and get to know my daughter and my grandmother."
"Which reminds me. Did you take a good look at those tickets?"
"No, why?"
"Maybe you should."
"Now?"
"Good a time as any. It's nearly dawn."
"Okay." Molly rose, fetched the printed pages from the top drawer of her dresser and returned to the bed. She sat on the edge and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. "Let's see." She started reading and broke out into a laugh.
"Is this a joke?"
"No."
"But this isn't a real airline ticket. It's a – a what?"
"Boarding pass. For a private jet."
"A private jet? You rented a jet?"
"I own a jet."
"Say what? You own a jet? Don't they cost like a gazillion dollars?"
Wiley pulled her down on top of him. "Not a gazillion."
"Still – a lot. How does a SEAL -sorry NCIS officer afford that?"
"Wise investments, my girl."
"Oh? What kind?"
"Well, initially, two little startups called Apple and Microsoft. Later this little online shopping site."
"Shopping site?"
"Amazon."
"Holy shit. You made a killing, didn't you?"
"I made enough."
"Enough to have a jet. Do you also have a pilot?"
"Baby, I am a pilot."
"Oh my god, you're going to fly me to Oklahoma?"
"And back."
She gave him a sexy smile. "Uh, does this jet of yours have autopilot?"
"It does, why?"
"Because on tv and movies and books and stuff you always hear about the mile-high club."
"And you're just itching to join?"
"If you're the one inducting me, you bet."
Wiley laughed and pulled her to him for a kiss. When it ended, she rolled over onto her back. "As much as I hate saying this, I have a ton of work to get done before we go get Kaylee and Elisi."
"Anything I can help with?"
She sat up quickly. "Oh my gosh, that's perfect. Why I bet – no wait, how much time do you have?"
"How much do you need?"
"Twenty-four hours."
"Oookay, and we're going to do what for the next twenty-four hours?"
"Test stuff and write reports."
"What kind of stuff."
She gave him a smile that caused a definite reaction in his anatomy. "Well, let's see. I have edible underwear – cherry I think, neon condoms with some kind of heating lubricant on both sides and – oh my god, condoms!"
The stricken look on her face put a damper on his rising enthusiasm. "What's wrong?"
"We didn't use a condom."
"And that's cause for alarm because you're afraid I might give you an STD?"
"Are you afraid I might give you one?"
"No. I know you're clean."
"You can sense that sort of thing?"
"If I try. But I asked first."
"Oh, I know you're clean. You're way too responsible to ride bareback without knowing."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Well, there are other things people can get from sex."
"Like?"
"Children."
Wiley hadn’t considered that, and at first thought, it hit him with a good slap of anxiety. Oddly, that faded quickly. "Wait, aren't you on birth control?"
"No."
"No? Why?"
"Because I haven't needed it. I told you, I haven't had a date in over a year and the last time I had sex – well until you – was the night Kaylee was conceived."
"Wow."
"Why wow?"
"Because, darlin' as hot as you are and as delicious, it's hard as hell to imagine you not having sex for over five years."
"Well, it's true. Which explains my ravenous appetite for you, stud."
"I can live with that. Now, what else do you have to test?"
"Oh, a few dildoes, a leather paddle and ugh—" She visibly shuddered. "The one thing I really hate, nipple clamps."
"Why do you hate them?"
"They hurt. Like holy fucking hell. My nipples are sensitive, and there's nothing that will make me madder quicker than someone trying to pinch one. It hurts, and it just makes me see red."
"Good to know. Okay, so don't test them. Just say no, they hurt, and you can't write a decent evaluation. Now, what else is on the list?"
"Two paddles."
"And your feeling about paddles?"
There it was, that sexy smile that brought them full circle. "Well, you know, everyone needs a little spanking now and then."
"I couldn't agree more. Okay, hot stuff. Get your gear and let's get to it. Starting with one of those paddles."
Molly giggled and scrambled off the bed. "As soon as I brush my teeth. There's a new toothbrush in the medicine cabinet if you want."
Wiley watched her hurry from the room, completely at ease with her nudity. She was probably the most uninhibited woman he'd ever met, and it wasn't artificial or forced. Molly was simply comfortable in her own skin and with her sexuality.
And lucky man that he was, he was going to spend the day enjoying being with the woman who had reminded him how much he had missed being in love.
Chapter Nine
"I can be your hero"
"That was amazing." Molly fairly glowed with excitement as Wiley escorted her from the jet. "A-ma-zing."
It suddenly hit him, and he stopped when his feet were on the tarmac. "Is that the first time you've flown?"
"Yes. And oh my god was it incredible. Thank you so much."
"My pleasure. Do you have everything you need from the plane?"
"Yes." She didn't move when Wiley started forward, and he stopped as well.
"Everything okay?"
"Yes. I just want to say thank you. For doing this. All this. And most of all for coming with me. I can't wait to see Kaylee and for you to meet her."
"I'm honored you asked. And you don't have to thank me. I wanted to do this."
She took a step toward him, putting her close enough that her breasts pressed against him and her breath was sweet in his face when he lowered his head. "My hero," she breathed in a tone so genuine and sexy that he felt his breath catch.
Her kiss was gentle, sweet and replete with emotion he couldn't help but experience. When it ended, a tingle remained, on his lips and in his mind. "You ready, Foxy?"
"I am." Her smile was bright enough to rival the sun.
"Then your chariot awaits." He gestured toward the limo parked twenty feet away and the driver who stood beside the rear passenger door.
"This? Are you kidding?"
"Not at all. This is Kaylee's first big event, so she should have all the bells and whistles."
"Oh, Wiley, you're gonna make me cry."
"Hold those tears for when she stands on that stage, baby."
Once in the car, Molly gave the driver her grandmother's address. Wiley noticed the way she looked at the passing scenery. "Has anything changed since you left?"
"Everything." She turned to him. "Not the place, but – me, I guess. I'm me, but not the me who left."
He was curious, so asked. "Then who are you?"
"Someone who's less afraid. Until I left Tahlequah to move to Cotton Creek, I'd never really been anywhere."
"Didn't you go to college?"
"Yes, NSU – Northeastern State University. But it's in Tahlequah, so I lived at home, and after I graduated, I got a job at the hospital because they had an opening in IT."
"You look nothing like a geek."
"Oh, I was a geek. I hacked the Nation's computer system in my senior year and nearly got arrested."
"What did you do?"
"Added emojis here and there. Nothing bad. I just wanted to see if I could do it. And, to prove that their protection sucked."
"So how did you go from IT geek to product tester."
"As it turns out, I wasn't a good fit for the job. It was so boring that I felt like every day I spent at that job more of my life force was seeping right out. So, I told Elisi, and she said I should find something that made me happy."
"And?"
"Let's just say I had a lot of jobs over the next few years and none of them was a good fit. I just couldn't find a job that didn't feel like a prison sentence."
"And then you had Kaylee."
"Yes, and she changed my life."
"You light up every time you talk about her."
"Just wait until you meet her, and you'll know why."
"So, back to what's different about you now."
"You. You changed everything."
"Me?" Her answer shocked him.
"Yes. I told you. No one's ever made me feel the way you do. I've never been overwhelmed by passion or felt like my next breath depended on seeing you or feeling your touch or just hearing your voice. I've never known what it felt like to come undone by a man's touch, to feel your gaze like a caress and to crave the taste of you on my lips."
She blushed, which surprised him. Molly was so open and uninhibited that it seemed odd for anything to make her self-conscious. He took her hand, and she smiled. "It's probably foolish of me to admit all this, and honestly I'd understand if you're sitting there thinking that you can't wait to get back home and away from me."
"That's not at all how I feel."
"No?"
"No."
"Then how do you feel?"
> "Lucky."
Her smile returned and awarded him yet another surprise. How had it become so important to him to see that smile, to be assured of her happiness? When had her joy become so vital to his own?
He had no time to ponder those questions. "Oh, here we are." She leaned forward, and the car stopped in front of a small wood-frame house.
The paint was a pristine white, with dark green shutters and a small porch that stretched across the front of the house. The railing and porch supports were painted the same green as the shutters, as were the four old-fashioned rocking chairs.
"I've got this," Wiley said to the driver, then opened the door, got out and held the door for Molly.
Just as Molly stepped out of the car, he heard the child's voice. "Mommy!"
He'd thought he could never see a smile as beautiful as those Molly had bestowed on him. Until now. She glowed. "Kaylee!"
Wiley watched the reunion with a bit of a lump in his throat. The tiny girl with hair the color of a raven's wing, eyes that matched her mothers and a smile as pure, raced toward Molly. Behind her followed a small-framed woman with long white hair who gave off an air of grace and nobility.
Molly scooped Kaylee up in her arms and swung her around and around, hugging and kissing her over and over. The joy he witnessed was almost tangible, the way it rolled off them in waves.
When Molly finally set Kaylee down, she kept hold of the child's hand as she went into her grandmother's embrace. Wiley felt the same joy, but this time Molly was the child being comforted by the embrace of a parent. It was a beautiful moment, but it also made him feel like something of an interloper.
Until Molly turned and looked at him. "Come here, Wiley, and meet my family."
He walked to them, and Molly offered her hand. "Wiley, this is my Elisi, my grandmother, Mercy Little Fox. Elisi, this is Wiley Johns, the man I've been telling you about."
"It's an honor, Mrs. Little Fox." Wiley extended his hand.
Elisi took his hand in both of hers as her gaze captured his, his breath caught in his throat. That was when he remembered Molly's comment. "She is all that."
Molly was right. He felt it and knew she recognized something inside him. "My child chose wisely. Welcome, Wiley."
"Thank you, Mrs. Little Fox."