Love on a Summer Night

by Zoe York

  The other was inside her bra, playing with one of her nipples.

  He just about died.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he rasped, and when she looked at him, her lips parted and swollen, he knew that moment would be burned into his memory so he could replay it again and again.

  “You can tell me that whenever you want, soldier,” she whispered.

  He responded by sliding a finger inside her. “Beautiful,” he repeated as she gasped, holding his gaze. “So tight. God, that's beautiful, Faith. So greedy for my fingers.”

  He didn’t care if he was repeating himself. It deserved to be repeated. He’d send her text messages every day reminding her of this gift she’d given him. This connection.

  “It's been a while,” she panted, half-laughing. But she was mostly dazed, spun-out on desire, and Zander was so fucking proud he did that to her. Could give that to her.

  “How long?” He growled the question, not really wanting to know the answer, because he wanted to be the only person who could do this to her.

  She blinked at him, and he knew the answer before she said it—and he was glad he’d asked. “Since Greg.”

  “Oh, fuck.” His heart cracked and he surged up her body, not stopping his ministrations to her most sensitive parts as he kissed her. “I’m sorry. I'm rushing you. I thought…I mean, you said you'd dated.”

  A lazy, amused smile crept across her face as she nuzzled him. “All aborted efforts. I wasn't ready then. I am now. I'm ready for you.”

  She felt more than ready. Slick and swollen. He still hadn’t made her come, but now he needed to be inside her more than he needed to be a sex god. He added another finger, stretching her with two digits. He teased her entrance with a third, but she whimpered, so he eased off.

  “Can I be on top?” she asked, kissing his chest.

  He rolled onto his back, reaching for the picnic basket as he stretched out. “There’s a box of condoms in there, hang on…”

  She laughed as she wiggled out of her underwear, then straddled his thighs and loosely circled his cock with her fingers. His hips moved with a life of their own, rocking up into her touch as he tried and failed to grab the edge of the basket.

  “Uhm…” She shifted higher up his thighs, rubbing her pussy against the underside of his cock. “I have an IUD,” she whispered.

  His dick strained hard against her hand and Zander tried to think clearly. That guy was not in charge of this conversation, as much as he might want to be. God, she was wet. He bucked against her. “I’ve had two physicals since the last time I had sex,” he admitted. “Are you…”

  “I haven’t been with anyone since before Eric was born.” She licked her lips as she looked down at him. “I trust you. And I want you inside me. Just you. Nothing between us.”

  He rolled up, wrapping his arms around her as she ground against him. Taking her mouth in a hot, desperate kiss, he told himself this was a bad idea. He’d never had sex without a condom. Not once in his thirty-seven years. Tonight was not the night to break that record.

  But Faith wasn’t like any other woman. He trusted her, too.

  And more than that, he was pretty sure he was falling in love with her.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  How could he be sure that wasn’t his inner caveman roaring? Or even just his cock making more of the hottest sex of his life than it should?

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have…”

  “No.” He shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ve never gone without condoms before. I’m just…fuck, Faith.” He laughed as she pressed up on her knees, wiggling her hips around until she’d notched them together. “Tell me this isn’t reckless.”

  She did an agonizingly slow swivel of her hips. “Can’t do that.” She grinned at him. “Wanna do it anyway?”

  He nodded, settling his hands on her hips. “Yes.”

  With a breathy exhale, she lowered herself onto him. Inch by glorious inch, she surrounded him with her heat, then paused. It was nearly impossible not to pulse up into her, pushing further, but he held himself still. Waiting.

  This was her show. He’d wound them up, now she was riding him and she got to set the pace.

  Her pace ended up being deliciously, tantalizingly slow.

  It was perfect.

  She kissed him softly as she rose up, then sank again, taking more of him. Up, down. Deeper. With each lift, her muscles flexed beneath his hand, and inside, different ones—softer ones—squeezed him tight. And then she’d lower herself, blooming for him as he surged into her, and she’d make these noises.

  Breathy moans and groaning sighs. Earthy, wonderful sounds that told him she was building toward a climax. Anxious, desperate noises when she got closer still, when she lost her rhythm and he needed to take over.

  He took them back to the slow grind, using his mouth and his hands to make love to every part of her body. Her neck. His mouth on her breasts. God, he loved the taste of her skin and the rub of her nipples against his tongue. How wide her hips were as she straddled him and how responsive her clit was when he found it with the pad of his thumb, squeezing his hand between their bodies.

  When her orgasm hit, rippling through her body, he almost tumbled over that cliff with her. Instead he breathed in the beauty of her as she became completely undone, and told himself to be patient.

  They had all night.

  And if he played his cards right, they’d have forever.

  She wasn’t ready for that, of course. She’d said as much.

  But as he rolled her onto her back, kissing her softly until she was ready for him again, he made promises.

  Silent ones. To himself and to Faith.

  And when he finally found his release inside her, when she clung to him once they were both spent, he whispered the barest essence of those promises to her.

  “I’ve got you, beautiful. I’ve got you.”

  — ELEVEN —

  “HE’LL be back for the wedding,” Dani said with more than a little amusement as their mother fussed over Zander. He was unpacking his saddlebags and figuring out what he could leave in Pine Harbour and what he needed to take back to the base.

  “I know, but we’ve hardly seen him this week. He was gone all last night, for goodness sake. Didn’t roll in until seven this morning smelling of bonfire.”

  It was so inappropriate to pop a boner in front of your mother, so Zander kept his head down and tried not to think of making love to Faith. Twice next to the fire, and when that burned out, again in the tent, slowly, because she’d been sore and tired, but he couldn’t get enough of her. And then she’d woken him up at five this morning, kissing her way down his body, proving that she also had a hunger for the magic they made together. At least he wasn’t the only depraved one.

  Fuck. Math. He needed to think of math. Not bonfires and blow jobs and dark-haired writers with sparkling blue eyes.

  Even his mother’s voice wasn’t the cold shower he really needed. “And the wedding weekend is going to fly by so fast,” she continued. “When will you get in, Alessandro?”

  He stifled a laugh. She only called him that—his father’s name, his namesake—when he was getting ready to leave her.

  It never stopped him from going, because he was a terrible son.

  He was his father’s offspring in more ways than one.

  Tamping down that bitter, never-spoken thought, he glanced up at his hovering mother. He hadn’t booked his flight yet, but he needed to figure out a way to do it and steal some time with Faith without her knowing. “About that…I think I’ll get a rental car for the wedding weekend.”

  Both women protested. It wasn’t the Minelli way. Even though the airport was three and a half hours away, someone always came to pick him up. Tom would be driving him there later today.

  “Leave it alone. I can’t take someone away from wedding preparations for an entire day, not when they stock perfectly acceptable cars for just such a purpose right at the airpor
t.”

  “We can argue about that later. Just remember when you book your flights that the rehearsal dinner is on Thursday night, not Friday.”

  “Ma,” Dani interjected. “Zander doesn’t need to take that many days off.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “I know you will, my darling. You and Tom will be the most eligible bachelors. Don’t pass up this opportunity to find someone, hmm?”

  Oh, shit. “Do not try to fix me up with anyone.”

  “Why not?” This time it was Dani who asked, and from the stricken look that crossed her face as soon as the two words were out of her mouth, she’d said them without thinking. “I mean, of course not. It’s not a good time.”

  He cleared his throat. He hadn’t asked Faith to come to the wedding yet, but now he needed to—and more importantly, he wanted to. “It’s actually a just fine time, but I may have a date for the wedding.”

  “You may?” Anne pitched her voice into that tell your mother everything zone that gave him chills.

  “I have someone that I’m going to be asking. And if she’s busy, I don’t want to be fixed up with anyone else.” He stood and nodded down at his small backpack. Everything he needed for his flight. But first he had a phone call to make. “Excuse me.”

  He strode outside and dialled his brother’s number. “Tom? I need a favour.”

  — —

  The doorbell rang and Faith pushed away from the kitchen table where she was working on a puzzle with Eric and her mother. “That’ll be dinner,” she said, but neither of them were paying any attention. Not even Eric, who normally needed to be the one who answered the door.

  It was a really good puzzle, and it had been a long day. She’d already explained to Eric that they weren’t going to see Zander again for a while, and that was okay, because he had to go and work with the army and protect the country.

  She lied like a pro.

  It was okay. Of course it was. He had an important job, and he was coming to the end of that responsibility, anyway.

  Then he’d move to Pine Harbour and they could…date. The thought made her warm all over like a school girl who’d just been invited to the prom. Only in this case, the prom wouldn’t happen for six months, and when it did, would be more likely to be a jeans-and-t-shirt-type dance at the legion.

  In other words, perfect.

  But waiting for that…and telling her son to wait…that was agonizing.

  Faith had been focused so hard on being smart and safe, she hadn’t given any weight to the possibility that they weren’t the same thing.

  Because saying goodbye to Zander hadn’t felt safe at all.

  So she’d ordered fish and chips and planned a movie night. She’d curl up with Eric and try desperately to stop thinking of the calendar in terms of days and weeks. Months would be so much easier to count down. And if she held her breath for thirty days at a time to get it done, so be it.

  She’d been frozen before.

  And Zander had taught her that the thaw could be lovely. She just needed to be patient.

  She grabbed her purse from the closet and muttered something rude under her breath when the delivery guy knocked again. Mighty demanding knock from someone who wanted a tip.

  But on the other side of the door stood a man who could be as demanding as he wanted.

  “Zander,” she breathed, not caring at all that she was blushing or sounded like an infatuated teenager. “I thought you’d gone!”

  He grinned, every inch the charming rake she’d been smitten by. “I may have changed my flight to tomorrow.”

  Her heart beat faster, each flutter more reckless than the last. “Yeah?”

  “Except for my brother Tom, my family all thinks that I’ve left already. So…I was wondering if you and Eric wanted to have dinner with me.”

  “Absolutely.” She couldn’t breathe properly. “If you…where are staying tonight?”

  “Tom’s.”

  Her mind was racing. “You could stay here. Not in my room, because of Eric, but…we have a guest room.”

  “I don’t want to impose.” He raked his gaze over her and she wondered for a moment if maybe she had really just gone up in flames. Nope, no scorch marks. But whew…the heat that rolled off him when he looked at her was insane. Had it been like that all week and she just hadn’t noticed?

  And he didn’t want to impose. Silly man. She stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come in. My mom is in the kitchen so I’m going to have some awkward explaining to do when Eric starts jumping all over you, but she’s generally pretty cool. And we can discuss the rest later.”

  He stepped into the foyer and looked past her, but she could hear Miriam and Eric still loudly arguing over the puzzle. She hopped up unto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, and he cupped her jaw, holding her in place so he could kiss her lips.

  “Gotta do it right,” he whispered against her skin.

  Her chest ached as her heart doubled in size.

  “You do everything right,” she murmured, reluctantly stepping back.

  “Except for the part where I fly across the country tomorrow.” He gave her a pained look.

  “You can’t help that.” She rolled her lower lip between her teeth. “And now we’ve got a bonus night. We’re just waiting for delivery—fish and chips again, but there will be plenty to share.”

  He beamed. “And I’ve got more chocolate chip cookies.”

  “That’s a very fair trade.”

  “I’ll go get them.” He stepped toward the door and their hands came up, linked, between their bodies.

  When had she slipped her fingers into his?

  And why was it so hard to let him go and get cookies?

  She lingered in the doorway, watching him bound to his bike. Behind him, a car pulled into the drive, and he stopped and waited for the delivery guy. Before she could say anything he’d pulled out his wallet and handed over three twenties, accepting the bag of food with a wave and a thanks.

  He’s leaving in the morning. Apparently her heart hadn’t just exploded, because now it was very solidly, very painfully thumping in her chest.

  She didn’t want him to go.

  She wanted this—him in her driveway, him walking up the steps with a bag of food, him leaning in to kiss her forehead—

  “Faith?”

  But her fantasy didn’t include her mother catching a stranger kissing her on the forehead.

  Zander froze, then stepped to the side and gave her mother his most charming smile. “Delivery?”

  Bubbling, unstoppable laughter shook Faith’s body and she doubled over. When she stood up again, tears were streaming out the corner of her eyes. She shooed Zander in, muttering something about finding Eric.

  Which left her standing on the front step receiving a what-the-hell look from her mother.

  “Who is that?”

  “That’s Zander.”

  “He’s…tall.”

  Another laugh ripped out of Faith’s mouth and she wiped her eyes again. “Yes, he is.”

  “Why are the fish and chips being delivered by a tall drink of water on a motorcycle, all the way to our kitchen table, with a pause for a kiss for you?”

  “That’s not exactly what’s happening.”

  “So the fish and chips guy didn’t just kiss you? I mean, they are pirates. I wouldn’t put it past them.”

  Faith sighed. “He’s not a pirate.”

  “Are you going to tell me anything else?”

  “Are you going to stop asking me questions long enough to give me a chance?”

  Miriam’s eyebrows hit the roof. And she pressed her lips together.

  “We met last week, at Greta’s. He’s in the military and he’s been a wealth of knowledge for my latest book. He’s from Pine Harbour and was visiting for the week, and tonight…” She didn’t need to justify it to her mother. She was a grown-up.

  But maybe she needed to justify it to herself.

  “He’s flying back out w
est tomorrow. So tonight he’s staying here.”

  Miriam’s expression didn’t move.

  That could be good. It could be bad.

  Faith was too rattled to tell the difference.

  “Not in my room,” she hastened to add. “He’ll sleep in the guest room.”

  Still nothing.

  “What?”

  “Well, if it were me, I wouldn’t have him stay in the guest room, but I suppose that makes sense with Eric,” her mother finally muttered.

  “Mom!”

  “What? He’s very tall.”

  Faith was starting to understand where she’d inherited her taste in men.

  “Okay, don’t say anything like that to him.” She yanked the door open and pointed inside. “Let’s go.”

  — —

  Faith’s family was totally different than the Minelli clan. They argued silently, for one thing. Over dinner, when Eric didn’t want to eat the frozen peas Miriam added so there would be something green on their plates—“Because coleslaw isn’t a vegetable”, a statement of Miriam’s opinion that Faith vehemently denied as fact—all Faith had to do was give him a raised eyebrow and he shoved a spoonful in his mouth.

  And when he said, “yummy,” with a grimace that said the exact opposite on his face, nobody reamed him out.

  There were still rules, and rebellion, but both were muted.

  Zander thought it was delightful.

  For a guy who’d spent his whole life surrounded by ever increasing noise—quarrels, arguments, lectures, drill sergeants, explosives, war zones, motorcycle engines and helicopter rotors—this quiet family dinner was an unexpected balm.

  After dinner they cleared the table, but dishes were just scrapped and stacked next to the sink, to be done after Eric went to bed, so they could squeeze in a promised family movie night before it got too late.

  Chores taking a back seat to fun? Zander could get behind that, too.