by Marie Force
He left a trail of fire with kisses to her face, neck, throat and between her breasts. Her back arched off the bed, seeking the heat of his mouth on her nipples. With her fingers tangled in his hair, she directed him to where she needed him most.
“Here?” he asked, dabbing her nipple with his tongue.
“Yes. Please…”
“So polite.” His lips vibrated against her nipple. “Such a lady.”
“I was before I met you.”
“It’s okay to be a little naughty.”
“How naughty is a little naughty?”
Laughing, he turned his attention to her other breast. “Let me show you.” Licking and sucking and teasing, he set out to destroy her defenses, to make her forget all about being a lady. The noises he coaxed from her were hardly ladylike, but before it registered that she should be embarrassed by her reactions, he would do something else, drawing more sighs and moans and whimpers from her.
And so it went, one sensation on top of another, building and growing until she was desperate for completion.
“Adam…”
He raised his face from the hip bone he’d been investigating with tiny nips of his teeth that ratcheted her desire to unprecedented levels. She hadn’t even known that hip bones could be sexy.
“What do you need, honey? Tell me.”
“More. I need more.”
Displaying the same efficiency he’d shown with her top and bra, he removed her jeans quickly, leaving her only in string-bikini panties that matched the bra.
“Should I be worried at how adept you are at removing a woman’s clothing?”
“Not at all. You shouldn’t be worried about anything.” He pulled his own shirt up and over his head, baring a most excellent chest to her visual perusal. Defined pectorals and rippled abs that made her sigh.
She ran her fingers over each of them. “How does a computer geek get muscles like these?”
“Many, many hours in the gym.”
Pressing her lips to the flat disk of his nipple, she said, “Time very well spent.”
He cupped her mound through the silky panties, making her strain for more. “I’m glad you think so.”
“Adam?”
“Hmm?”
“There’s something else I should tell you before this goes any farther.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s more embarrassing than ominous.”
“You’re not getting embarrassed anymore, remember? You’re enjoying a fling with a man who finds you incredibly sexy and desirable.”
While she appreciated the reminder, this particular issue had caused her untold problems in the past. As they were down to his unbuttoned jeans and two pairs of underwear standing between them and the next step in the relationship they weren’t having, she couldn’t postpone this discussion any longer.
“What is it, honey? Put it out there and let’s talk about it so you can stop fretting about it.”
“The problem I told you about the other night… It’s not the only one.”
“Okay.”
She turned her head, avoiding his gaze as she searched for the words. It was easier to say when she wasn’t facing those dazzling blue eyes looking down at her and seeing her in ways she hadn’t been seen before. “Sometimes…well, most of the time…I get nervous about…you know…”
“Having sex?”
“Yes.” She cleared her throat and forced herself to continue. “When that happens, it’s difficult for the guy to… To get it in.”
“So…things dry up?”
An infusion of heat took over her face, reminding her of past humiliations. “No, that’s not it.”
“Then what? It’s okay to just say it. I swear I’m not judging you. Not at all.”
Encouraged by his kindness, she swallowed hard and looked up at him, forcing herself to look directly into his eyes. “It’s like my muscles there seize up and can’t relax enough to allow entry.”
“I see.”
“You do?”
“Uh-huh. All that means is we have to make sure you’re as relaxed as we can possibly get you before we try that.”
“That’s often easier said than done.” Cal, in particular, had become frustrated by her inability to accept him, which had put further strain on an already strained relationship. But Abby didn’t want to think about him now. Not when she was lying nearly naked in the arms of sexy, thoughtful Adam McCarthy.
He brushed the hair back from her face, his thumbs caressing her cheekbones. “We need to find the off switch for that overactive brain of yours. We need to make it so you’re not thinking about anything other than how good it feels when we’re together this way.”
“I wish I could do that. You don’t know how badly I wish I could.”
“It’s not up to you to do that, honey. It’s up to me. If I do my part the way I should, you won’t be thinking about anything other than how good it feels.”
She had to look away again because she simply couldn’t believe how tuned in to her he was after only spending a few days together.
“You’re thinking again,” he said, kissing her neck and nibbling her ear. “Tell me. Let me in.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll have me falling for you when we said we weren’t going to do that. Because you’re already making me wonder how I spent so many years with the wrong men when the right one might’ve been so close. So very close.”
“Abby…”
“Forget I said that. You’ve got me all discombobulated and saying things I shouldn’t be saying.”
“I want to hear what you’re thinking. Do you want to know why?”
She nodded. God help her, but she wanted to know everything about him.
“Because you’ve got me thinking the same sort of things. How could we have spent so much time in each other’s orbit but never known this was possible?”
Tears filled her eyes, the emotional response infuriating her. “We said we weren’t going to do this,” she reminded him again.
He peppered her face with kisses, putting particular emphasis on her eyelids, licking the salty moisture from under her eyes.
“We both just got out of big entanglements,” she continued, even as his tenderness destroyed her defenses. “We’ve got no business doing this.”
“And yet here we are, thoroughly entangled, all but naked in each other's arms with nowhere else either of us would rather be. Am I right about that?”
Powerfully moved by his assessment, she said, “Yes,” the single word barely a whisper.
“Sometimes,” he said, kissing her so sweetly, “the most important things happen when you least expect it.”
“Is this an important thing?”
“I don’t know about you, but it’s become very important to me over the last few days.”
His admission gave her the courage to offer her own. “Me, too.”
“How about we have a little fun now, take the edge off, and later, after we do our girls’ night and poker night, we meet back here and take all the time it takes to get you relaxed enough to make love?”
Abby trembled at the promise in his softly spoken words. Because she didn’t trust herself to speak, she nodded.
He kissed her, taking it slowly, running his tongue over the seam of her lips until she opened her mouth to let him in. When he sucked lightly on her tongue, Abby nearly died from the pleasure that coursed through her. He coaxed reactions from her that she’d never known possible. He drew her out of her own thoughts and into the moment in a way that no one else had done before.
She clung to him, wanting him closer, close enough that his chest hair abraded her tender nipples and his hard penis pressed against the pulsating tension between her legs.
Desperate to touch and feel all of him, she pushed her hands into the back of his jeans, under the waistband of his boxers, cupping his muscular buttocks as he flexed against her.
He bro
ke the kiss and shifted his attention to her nipple, tugging and biting lightly, but hard enough to make her moan from the pleasure. The tension grew to nearly unbearable heights as he pressed against her and then backed off, and then did it again, over and over until she was lost in the throes of immeasurable bliss, her fingers digging into his backside to keep him right where she needed him until the storm had subsided.
“Abby,” he whispered against her breast. “God.” The heat of his release on her belly was among the most sensual things she’d ever experienced. Watching him let go, feeling the tension drain from his body and knowing she’d done that to him made her feel powerful and aware of herself as a woman in ways that were all new to her.
“I can’t wait to be inside you when that happens,” he whispered, his breath against her neck making her shiver.
A twinge of anxiety settled in her belly as she hoped she wouldn’t have the problems with him she’d had with past lovers. For some reason, it seemed to matter so much more this time around. Despite her intention to be done forever with men, she was falling hard for Adam McCarthy.
After the visit with Laura and her family, Frank spent an hour with his son Shane, and then decided to walk the short distance from the Sand & Surf to his brother Mac’s house in North Harbor. The afternoon sun was warm on his face as he walked past Grace’s pharmacy and up the hill that led to Mac and Linda’s “White House.”
As he walked, he thought of the monumental news Laura and Owen had shared with him. Twins… It was hard to believe that his little girl would soon be the mother of three. But he’d never seen Laura as happy as she’d been since Owen had come into her life. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was his kids who’d lost their poor mother far too young and had known their share of struggles since then.
He’d done his best to be mother and father to them, and he hurt right along with them when things didn’t go their way. Now that Laura seemed happily settled, Frank hoped Shane would find his way before too much longer. His son was still far too withdrawn and quiet after the disaster with his ex-wife Courtney.
In his work as a superior court judge, he saw daily examples of the ravages of drug abuse. He’d never expected to see the same ravages in his own family. Shane had been blindsided to discover his wife had hidden a raging prescription drug addiction for most of the time they’d been together.
It had done Shane good to be here with his sister and cousins as well as his Aunt Linda and Uncle Mac, who’d played such a critical role in the lives of his kids when they were younger. Linda and Mac had opened their doors Laura and Shane every summer when they were young, and those weeks on Gansett with their cousins had done wonders for his kids.
The island seemed to be having the same impact this time around. Laura was happily settled, delighted with her job managing the Sand & Surf Hotel for Owen’s grandparents, who owned it. Shane seemed to enjoy working at the hotel and helping Mac and Luke with their construction business. At least he wasn’t sitting in a dark apartment letting life pass him by anymore. That was progress.
Frank approached his brother and sister-in-law’s home, noting the blooms in Linda’s famous rose garden as he let himself in through the gate of the white picket fence that surrounded the yard. He was almost to the porch when he saw a woman sitting on the top step.
As he approached, she stood, and he saw she was tall and strikingly pretty with curly dark hair that fell to her shoulders. As he drew closer, he could see that she was older than she’d first appeared.
“Mr. McCarthy?”
“I’m one of them, but this is my brother’s home. I’m Frank McCarthy.”
She shook his outstretched hand. “Betsy Jacobson. I was hoping to see Mr. or Mrs. McCarthy.”
“I could give them a call for you, if you’d like.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
He stepped around her and climbed the stairs. “Come on in.”
“Are you sure they won’t mind?”
“I’m positive.” Frank held the screen door for her and gestured for her to go into the house.
“They don’t lock their doors?” Betsy asked.
“No one does around here. Gansett is the safest place in the world.”
“Not always,” Betsy said.
Frank wasn’t sure what to make of her comment, so he went ahead and placed calls to Mac and Linda, who both said they’d be home in a few minutes.
“Can I get you something?” Frank asked while they waited in somewhat awkward silence.
“A glass of water would be great.”
“Coming right up.” Frank had spent enough time here to know where the glasses were kept and poured ice water for both of them.
Betsy wandered over to the sliding doors that led the expansive deck. “They have quite a view.”
“One of the best on the island.” Frank joined her at the doors. “That’s their marina down there and their hotel.” He was surprised to hear a sniffle of what might’ve been tears from her. “Are you all right?” When he looked over at her, she was staring at the marina.
“My son Steve was killed—”
“Oh God.” Frank hadn’t made the connection to her last name and the young man who’d been killed in the accident that had nearly claimed three of his nephews. “Your son was the captain.”
“Yes.”
“I’m so very sorry for your loss.”
She wiped away tears. “Thank you. Seeing the marina where he stayed…”
Frank wasn’t sure if it was appropriate, but he reached out to pat her shoulder.
“I wanted to meet the McCarthys and to maybe hear more about what happened from their sons, since they were there.”
“I’m sure they’ll do anything they can for you.”
“You’re very kind. Thank you.”
Linda came rushing in a few minutes later and came right over to Betsy. The two women embraced as if they’d always known each other. Watching them, tears filled Frank’s eyes. He didn’t even want to imagine what Betsy had been through losing her son so suddenly and tragically.
“I’m so glad you came,” Linda said, patting Betsy’s back. “I’ve thought of you constantly.”
“I got the message you left on my home phone. Thank you so much for your kindness and the invitation to visit.” Betsy drew back from her, wiping her face with the graceful pass of fingertips over her cheeks. She moved with the elegance of a dancer. “I’m sorry to come without calling first. I woke up this morning, and before I knew what I was about, I was at the ferry on the way here.”
“You didn’t need to call,” Linda said. “You’re welcome here any time.”
“That’s so kind of you. I was hoping to see your sons, to hear more about what happened. If they’re willing, of course.”
“I’ll call them and ask them to come.”
“I’ll do it,” Frank said.
Linda handed him her phone. “Send a text. Tell them I’d like them to come to the house as soon as possible. That way it comes from their mother.”
Frank shared a smile with her. She was the best mother he’d ever known. If she told her kids to come, even her thirty-something kids, they’d come. Frank sent the text to Mac, Grant and Evan on their mother’s behalf.
He’d no sooner sent the message when his brother Big Mac came in. His gray hair stood on end, his face was windblown and tanned, and he wore a faded T-shirt and battered shorts with paint-splattered boat shoes. In some ways, the brothers were as different as two men could be. But they shared more similarities than differences. Frank embraced his younger brother, delighted as always to see him.
“That’s Steve’s mother?” Big Mac asked, his gaze fixed on Betsy.
“Yes.”
Big Mac watched his wife speak softly to the other woman, who seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion.
Frank studied his brother with growing concern. “Are you okay, Mac?”
“It’s been really hard, Frankie. I keep thinking about what could’ve happene
d to my boys… I can’t begin to understand what she’s going through.”
Frank hadn’t heard his childhood nickname in decades. It told him how undone his brother was by what had nearly happened.
“I don’t know what to say to her,” Big Mac continued. “My boys made it, but hers didn’t.”
“All you can do is express your condolences and support. That’s what she needs. That’s why she’s here.”
Big Mac squeezed Frank’s arm. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“So am I.”
Chapter 17
An intense ache in her lower leg woke Abby. The tattoo was killing her. Even the light brush of the sheet against her skin was painful. Adam was sleeping next to her, his arm around her in a protective pose that filled her with warmth and pleasure that almost made her forget the pain in her leg.
Watching him sleep, she took in the details of his handsome face. His dark hair was wavy rather than curly, his cheekbones pronounced and his jaw sprinkled with whiskers. He was beautiful to look at and easy to talk to—almost too easy to talk to in light of some of the things she’d shared with him.
To say she hadn’t expected this was putting it mildly. She couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and run her fingertips over his face.
His eyes opened slowly to find her watching him. A smile tugged at his lips.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost six.”
Adam raised his hand from her belly and stretched.
Fascinated, Abby watched the flex of muscles.
“Best nap ever,” Adam said.
“Except for the pain in my leg that woke me up.”
“Is it bad?”
“Pretty bad.”
“Let me see.”
Abby worked her right leg out from under the sheet and held it up so he could see the angry red outline of the flower and vine.
“Ouch. Would you trust me to put some ointment on it for you?”
“Do you have some?”
“I bought it earlier along with ibuprofen.”
“So yours hurts, too?”
“Like a bastard.”