His Every Desire (Contemporary Romance Box Set)

by Alexis Winter

  14

  Trent

  “COME on, let’s join the mile-high club again,” I tease, pressing a kiss to Mia’s hand.

  She jerks it away and smacks me playfully with it. “No way. Don’t you remember the last time?”

  I laugh when I think about how we were caught in such a compromising position and how much trouble we got into for it. “It’s not like we’re going to get caught two times. Come on. What are the chances?”

  She shakes her head and laughs. “Not happening. Why don’t you lay your head back and take a nap?”

  “Fine,” I mumble, crossing my arms over my chest as I lean my head back. My eyes flutter closed.

  When I wake, Mia is shaking my shoulder. “Come on. Wake up. My God, you sleep like the dead.”

  I smile as I stretch. “Are we here?”

  “We’re somewhere,” she says, standing up and stretching.

  I take her hand and lead her from the airplane, through the airport, and to the awaiting limo that I had previously arranged.

  “Hawaii?” she asks with excitement, fanning her face while looking around.

  “Hawaii, baby!” I hold my arms up in the air and breathe in the sweet air. She launches herself into my arms and squeezes me tightly. Hawaii was the one place she talked about the most when we were growing up, but being that her mom was a single parent, she never had the money to take her.

  Once we get settled into the car, I pop open a bottle of sparkling cider.

  “Um, did you forget something?” She points at her stomach.

  “No, it’s cider. No alcohol. See?” I turn the bottle around to show her.

  “What kind of limo stocks non-alcoholic beverages?”

  “The kind that I arrange,” I answer, pouring two glasses. “To us making it another twenty years without killing each other,” I joke.

  She laughs as she clanks her glass against mine.

  It’s not long before we’re pulling into my vacation property. The gates open, and the limo drives through.

  “Where are we?” she asks, nearly pressing her nose against the glass.

  I laugh. “This is one of the vacation homes that I rent out. I booked it for us.”

  “You have to book your own home?” she asks, quirking an eyebrow.

  “You do when you have it set up for rentals. Come on, I’ll show you around.”

  I take her hand when the door opens, and we step out. The driveway is laid brick with a giant pineapple fountain in the center. The grass is green and lush—watered on a timer every day, and the flowers, bushes, and trees are all perfectly manicured. The house itself is three stories, and the bottom story is basically completely open, with screens and closeable shutters. The second story is more like a normal house with a kitchen, living room, bathrooms, and eat-in dining room. And the third floor is all bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. There is also an outdoor pool, tennis court, and of course, the perfect view of the ocean. I bought this house with only one thing in mind. Mia. I dreamt of one day showing this to her and presenting it as hers. A place we could bring our family to and make memories that would last a lifetime.

  “Wow!” Mia breathes out. “This place is amazing,” she says, looking up at the big house.

  I wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “I bought this place for you, Mia, for us.” She doesn’t say a word but turns her face toward mine. “I bought it a few years back. I was trying to summon the courage to tell you how I felt about you, but you had just met someone else. I wanted to bring you here so bad and offer you the world, but at the time, I didn’t think it was ever going to be a possibility, so I didn’t tell you about the house and signed a contract with a rental agency.”

  A tear rolls down her face as she leans her head against my chest. “I—hate that we missed out on so much time.” I wipe a small tear from her cheek and kiss the tip of her nose.

  “It all worked out in the end, baby. Now let’s go inside.”

  I show her through the first floor and up to the second. She leans against the banister, looking bored. “So, where are the bedrooms?” She’s wearing a wicked grin.

  “Right this way,” I say, taking her hand and pulling her up the stairs. “The whole third floor is bedrooms, but this one is ours.” I take her to the master bath. The bed is huge as I had it specially made for this room. It also has a canopy draping over it, and the bed itself sits on a pedestal. There’s a seating section with a sectional and a flat-screen TV, there’s a walk-in closet with built-in vanity, and the bathroom is the best. There’s a steam shower and a jacuzzi tub that looks like it’s been carved into the side of a mountain.

  She walks into the room and spins in a circle, checking out the room. “Seriously, how can you stay in my tiny, crappy apartment after being here?” She’s wearing a wide smile, and her eyes are shimmering with excitement and happiness.

  I laugh as I pull my shirt above my head and toss it onto the floor. “It’s not about the place. It’s about who you’re with,” I tell her, walking closer.

  She kicks off her flats and moves into my embrace, meeting me in the middle. With her lips against mine and our tongues tangled together, we fall onto the bed where we spend the rest of the day.

  When we wake in the morning, I cook breakfast for the both of us before we decide to hit the beach. Even in Mia’s little bikini, you can’t tell she’s pregnant. She’s into her second trimester now, but it just looks like she’s had a few too many beers if anything. I can’t wait until it looks like she’s smuggling a watermelon under her shirt. I already have a problem keeping my hands to myself. I know for sure I won’t be able to stop then.

  Instead of spending our honeymoon at the bars or drinking on the sand, we use our time to relax and be with one another. We go for romantic dinners, take naps on the beach, watch movies, cuddle, kiss, and make love over and over. I feel like we’re doing everything out of order, but it makes things that much more exciting. We got married first, then started the paperwork for a divorce, then got pregnant, then had a wedding, and now we’re on our honeymoon alone, and we’re treating it more like a time for rest and relaxation rather than a party.

  As we’re lying on the back deck, watching the sun lower itself over the ocean, my phone rings and I quickly answer it.

  “Hey, Bennet. What’s going on back home?” I ask, glancing over at Mia to see her asleep, yet again. I don’t know what it is about her and pregnancy, but the woman has gone from little to no sleep to wanting to do nothing but sleep. If she’s left alone for more than five minutes, you can bet she’s going to sleep.

  “Hey. Things are good here. How’s the honeymoon?” he asks.

  “Good. Peaceful and relaxing. Now if I can only get my wife to stop falling asleep on me,” I joke.

  Bennet laughs. “I think if you’re having trouble keeping your wife awake on your honeymoon, you’re doing something wrong there, bud.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  “Listen, I was just going over some of these blueprints we drew up, and I was thinking of making some changes. How far back would that set us?”

  “Well, I guess it just depends on the changes. If you change one part, you may have to change every other part surrounding it.”

  “Right, right. I guess I should just stop messing with this until you get back then, huh?”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, probably so. Get your ideas down on paper, though. I’ll sift through them when I get back, and we can see what you’ve come up with.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Hey, Bennet?”

  “Yeah?” he asks.

  “I’ll take it,” I say with a smile as I look over at Mia.

  “Really?” he asks, surprised. I’m sure, based on our last conversation, he’s confused by my sudden change of heart.

  “Yes. Let’s do it,” I agree.

  “Alright, man. We’ll set something up for when you get back next week.”

  “Perfect.”
r />   “Just don’t let Mia talk you into staying gone for months like Maddie did me.” He laughs. “Our family thought we’d been kidnapped by pirates or something.”

  I laugh. “I’ll talk to you later, man. And thanks… a lot.”

  “No problem. See ya, buddy.” He hangs up the phone, and I drop mine onto my chest as I gaze out over the ocean, amazed by the beauty of the watercolors mixing together in the sky.

  When the sun goes down completely and leaves us in the dark, I pick Mia up against my chest and carry her up to the bedroom. She nuzzles herself down beneath the blankets as I turn off the bedside lamp. As I back up toward the bathroom for a shower, I can’t help but watch her sleep. She’s beautiful, gorgeous, breathtaking, life-altering. She’s the beginning and the end for me—she’s everything in between. I want to kick myself when I think about how I fucked things up between us by telling myself I wasn’t good enough or that she deserved better. If I had seen what she sees in me, we would’ve been together long ago. I would never have wasted so much time trying to avoid the one thing that means the most to me. Watching her sleep now, having my children in her womb while she’s wearing a ring that marks her as mine forever, I see that every rough spot we had to overcome, every fight, every kiss, everything that has happened in our past has pushed us to this one moment in time. It’s pushed us to speak up and claim what was always meant for us.

  I smile to myself as I turn around and walk into the bathroom, closing the door behind me so the noise of the shower doesn’t wake her. I strip down and step into the hot flow of water. Pushing a button, I switch it to steam, and I sit on the bench, breathing in the hot steam deeply. Instantly, my whole body relaxes. The only thing that could make this better is if Mia was in here with me.

  While I relax in the steam, I think about our future home that I’m about to start working on. I want to build Mia a home she’s always deserved. She’s never had anything big or fancy, and she’s never been the type to demand or need those things. She’s lived in the same tiny apartment since college, and before that, it was just her and her mom. Being a single parent, her mom couldn’t afford much. In fact, I’m pretty sure that Mia told me at one point in time that she’d never even had her own room until she moved into the dorm her freshmen year.

  Mia hasn’t had an easy life, but from here on out, that’s all I want her to have. I want to spoil her with everything she’s ever wanted and then some. I want our children to grow up and want for nothing. I want to give them everything they need to be happy and successful in life.

  Picturing how I want the house designed, I stand up and shut off the shower. I wrap a towel around my waist and comb out my hair. The steam is filling the bathroom, fogging the mirror. I brush my teeth and head for the bedroom, cuddling up behind Mia. She cuddles herself to my chest, and when I press a kiss on the top of her head, she lets out a content sigh. Such a simple sound, but a sound that makes my heart soar every time I hear it.

  One week later, we’re home and heading to Bennet and Maddie’s with Levi and Dani. Levi is Bennet’s lawyer and business partner on his race car business, and I’ve just signed a contract to help build the engines and computer systems in the cars. I also have a surprise for Mia while we’re out that way.

  Levi pulls into Bennet’s driveway, and we all pile out. They lead us into the backyard where we find them, sitting around a stone fireplace with a glass of wine. The sun is just starting to set over the pond. I know if I want to do this tonight, I need to do it now.

  Bennet stands and walks up to me, shaking my hand. “Have you told her yet?”

  “Not yet. I was planning on showing her while we’re here.”

  “I have just the thing,” he says, pulling me toward the garage.

  Moments later, I’m pulling into the backyard in his side-by-side. “Come on, sweetheart. Take a ride with me.”

  She smiles and looks a little nervous, but everyone pushes her forward. She slides into the passenger side and pulls on her seatbelt.

  “We’ll be back,” I tell them, hitting the gas. We take off across the property, to the far north side. It’s basically a big field with a few trees here and there. It takes us about ten minutes to hit the edge of the property.

  I make a U-turn, so we’re facing the backstretch. I shut the machine off, and the world around us is quiet.

  “If you think I’m having sex with you right here in an open field, you’re crazy…but also I’m pregnant and full of hormones, so pants off!” She giggles.

  I laugh. “No. I wanted to show you this.”

  Her brows pull together as she scans the property. “Show me what exactly?”

  I motion toward the land in front of us. “This. The property.”

  “Okay. Why?” she asks with a giggle.

  “Because I bought it. This is ours. This is where our house is going to be.”

  Her eyes light up as her mouth drops open. “Are you serious? I didn’t even know Bennet was selling off sections of his land.” Her hands move up to cover her open mouth.

  “He won’t sell to just anyone, but we’ve become pretty good friends thanks to Levi. Now, we’ll all be neighbors. The kids can grow up together while we work together. We’ll be like one big happy family.”

  Her eyes begin to tear as she unbuckles her seatbelt and climbs into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck.

  “Thank you, Trent. This is… too much.”

  I shake my head as I push her blonde hair away from her face. “It’s not too much. It’s everything you deserve, sweetheart.” I press my lips against hers and kiss her softly.

  She breathes heavily against my wet lips. “You’re too good to me, you know that?”

  “Nope. You’re too good for me. I’ll never understand why you love me, but I thank God every day that you do. I’ll give you anything and everything I can, Mia. That, I promise.”

  She leans forward, closing the distance between our mouths once again. This kiss, this is urgent and passionate, hard and rough but still full of love and respect. This kiss, this kiss makes me want to whisk her away into a darkened corner somewhere and rip her clothes off. I break away when my body begins coming to life.

  “We should get back, sweetheart,” I whisper against her lips.

  She nods. “Okay,” she whispers, sliding back into her seat.

  We make the ride back, steady and slow. Not in any real hurry to get back. When we pull back into the yard, Maddie and Dani and are sitting around the fire. I drop Mia off to sit with the girls while I drive the ATV back into the garage.

  “So, what’d she think?” Bennet asks.

  I smile and nod. “She loves it. We’re going to be neighbors.” I shake his hand.

  “It’s about time,” Levi says, patting me on the back.

  “Yeah, maybe our little monsters can all play together and grow up to be best friends just like we are.”

  “Do you know what you’re having yet?” Bennet asks as he picks up a wrench and tosses it from one hand to the other.

  “Na. Twins, that’s all we know.”

  “What?” Levi says.

  “Twins?” Bennet confirms.

  “Oh, Mia hasn’t said anything to Dani yet? I figured she would.” I shrug, wondering how much trouble I’m going to get into for letting this secret out of the bag without permission.

  “Seriously? Twins? As in two babies?” Levi asks again.

  I nod. “Twice the fun, bud.”

  They both bust out laughing and shake their heads.

  “Man, when you do something, you really do it, huh?” Bennet jokes.

  I laugh and nod along. “Yeah, figured why half-ass it, ya know?”

  The guys all sit back, laughing and shooting the shit. Finally, Bennet, being too antsy to sit still, brings out all the papers and blueprints for the new design.

  I open a beer and sit on the stool, looking over his ideas. Mia walks in and stands at my side, leaning her head against my shoulder as she listens to us talk shop. />
  “What’s wrong?” I whisper in her ear so nobody else can hear.

  “I’m tired,” she replies, yawning.

  “I’m sorry, Mia,” Bennet says. “You’re walking around with two other people attached to you. I bet you’re tired. This can wait until tomorrow.” He begins rolling up the blueprints.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt the work session,” she says.

  “Don’t worry about it. Plus, when you guys move in next door, you’ll be sick of me. Go and get some rest,” Bennet waves us on.

  “Thanks, man,” I say, taking her hand and leading her toward the door.

  “Yes, thank you, Bennet,” Mia says.

  “It’s no problem,” he assures us, walking us out to the car.

  By the time we make it back to the city, Mia is passed out. I end up carrying her into the building, and she doesn’t wake up until we make it to the door. She probably would have slept through that too if I hadn’t cussed so loud when I dropped the keys.

  She giggles. “I’m sorry. Put me down and let me help.”

  I set her on her feet, and she picks up the keys that I dropped.

  “I may have accidentally let it slip that we’re having twins,” I tell her as I slide into bed behind her.

  “Yeah, I noticed.”

  “I’m sorry. Are you mad? I didn’t know if it was a secret or what.”

  “I’m not mad. I’ve just been so preoccupied with the wedding and then the honeymoon that I wasn’t thinking about telling everyone yet. I think it’s cute that you’re too excited to keep it a secret.”

  I kiss her shoulder. “Good. I was hoping we wouldn’t have our first marital fight.”

  She turns in my arms. “We could, but I’d hate to hurt you,” she jokes.

  “Is that right?” I ask, rolling on top of her, settling between her thighs.

  She bites her bottom lip to hold off a grin. “Mmm-hmm.”

  “Well, we’ll see about that.” I lower my mouth to hers and kiss her passionately. I’m aching to be inside her, and it’s evident just how excited I am when I twitch against her thigh.