Husband.
Has a nice ring to it.
I half-heartedly rummaged through the closet as I prepared to go into the office. Mondays always seemed to come so fast. My fingers lingered on each hanger as I looked over my wardrobe possibilities and pushed them aside one by one until I found something to wear. Usually whatever I wore reflected my disposition, but I was more distracted than usual. Today my mood was dark and my distraction was over six-foot-tall, solid muscle, and lying comfortably in my bed. I looked over my shoulder in the mirrored door and smiled.
Falcon was still here with me.
It felt like a dream.
This past week was a routine I could get used to. Having some time off at home was such a delicious change for me and not at all an inconvenience. I’d been accused of being a workaholic, and rightfully so. When I was home, I was working, but not lately. We had fun all week and, for the first time, I didn’t miss working at all. We did our morning runs on the beach, after which I made breakfast. We showered, made love, ran errands, made love, worked out, made love…but he was leaving tomorrow. Business dictated that he make another trip to Vegas and my schedule wouldn’t permit me to go with him. It was better for my peace of mind to get back into working so I was leaving him on his own for a day. I thought that he might like some time to himself to give him some breathing room. We had been together every day since the christening and I thought he might need some time to process all that had happened. Of course there was still a small, nagging voice that warned me that if I did so he might realize he made a mistake. That was just my insecurities talking, but the good news was that I paid less and less attention to them. I even snuffed them out one night when Carter and Declan insisted on giving Falcon a belated bachelor party. While the guys went out, I spent the evening with Aria and Aimee at Aria’s house. We had such a good time just hanging out and catching up. Those two grilled me for details while the baby slept. Three women, three wine glasses, and three bottles of wine later I told them most of what they wanted to know.
As I bent over to retrieve a pair of shoes, I bumped into a few purses and knocked them off a shelf. My attempt to catch them was unsuccessful and when I stood up I saw sleepy green eyes watching me. It felt so natural. Falcon was the serenity I lacked in my life. I didn’t even know there was a void until he filled it. No matter what we were doing there was a peacefulness about it.
“Come back to bed. I’ll warm you up.” He patted the side where I slept.
“Tempting, but I have to go to work.” I reached into the closet to put back the bags that had fallen on the floor. He leaned up on his elbow and the sheet fell down around his waist.
“Where are you going? To work?” His confused, smoky baritone made me want to abandon my plans and spend the day in bed with him.
“I’m going into the office today, remember? I won’t be long. It’ll do you good to have alone time.” His eyes grew dark.
“I don’t need alone time. What I need is more time in bed with you. Now get your ass over here.” Something happened to me when he used that tone. It didn’t feel threatening at all; it just made me feel wanted.
Abandoning my outfit, I laid it over the chair. All I had worn to bed was an oversized tee shirt and panties. I laid down and turned over on my belly. Leaning up on my elbows, I gave him my full attention. I was admiring his sexy, morning look when he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. His eyes were awash with determination.
“You’re staying here with me today.” He growled playfully into my neck. I tried to wiggle away from his stubble-shadowed chin.
“Stop! That tickles!”
Obviously that was the wrong thing to say because he tightened his arms and attacked at the same place on the other side. I tried to push him off but it was like pushing against a concrete wall.
“Stop! Fal! Knock it off!!” Laughter cascaded from me as my shrieks and giggles puddled on the floor. I tried to kick at him but in one, quick move he straddled me. He held my wrists above my head. With one hand he held my arms in place and with the other he pulled up my shirt. Using his stubble as a weapon, he motor-boated my breasts. I screamed mountains of laughter. He lifted his head and gave me a playful look.
“Still going into work?”
“I have to!” I shouted. “I haven’t been there for a week! Now let me go!” I struggled but he held me tight.
“Wrong answer.” He cupped one of my breasts with his free hand and stretched out on top of me. I was completely at his mercy. His rough cheeks and chin both tortured and excited me while I squealed with laughter. I bucked and contorted my body to throw him off. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect as evidenced by his growing hardness. His eyes locked with mine in a heated gaze. “Keep doing that, Beautiful. It feels great.”
“You’re insatiable!” My hips rolled under him, but there was no chance of escape.
“And you’re a tease.” He used his prickly chin like a sex toy, waking my nerve endings with each brush of his jaw. He paid special attention to my breasts, the pleasurably painful abrasion mixing the signals in my brain. As his tongue flicked over my sensitive nipple, my back arched.
“Mmmm. That’s much better,” he growled under his breath. He continued the sweet torture as he moved down over my hips and stomach only stopping long enough to torment me for his pleasure. My panties were dragged off as he lowered his chin. He gave me naughty looks when he peered up long enough to gauge my reaction. Goosebumps rose where he licked, turning my skin pink as I chilled in the morning breeze. I shivered from the erotic combination and gasped as my mind tried to register the mixture. He teased so effectively I was unable to think of anything else except the undercurrent of sensation that tightened my insides. I opened my eyes to see him on his knees between my legs, examining the result of his handiwork.
“Now, this, is a beautiful sight…” The passion in his voice stroked my growing need as his hardness pulsated against my entrance. Every inch he gave took me to a more pleasurable depth until I was drowning in ecstasy. His hands snaked beneath me, his fingers digging in as he eagerly gripped my curves. Relentlessly, he controlled every thrust for my pleasure as I sank deeper and deeper. The friction robbed my breath until I gasped for air.
“Oh…Falcon.”
“I love it when you say that.”
I catapulted into a chasm of pleasure where sparkles of light splintered my vision. I moaned his name as wave after wave of pleasure pushed and pulled my body in a riptide of sweet death. Falcon rotated his hips to deepen his penetration as the pounding sensations summoned my body to clench around him. He groaned as he released in an orgasmic tidal wave and he held me as we fell into the abyss of exhaustion together.
I laid on my back listening to the sounds that soothed me; the screech of hungry seagulls searching for a meal, the distinct crash of liquid hitting the sand, and the roar of the ocean crushing the jetties. Falcon’s arm crossed possessively over my midsection as his hand rested between my breasts. I didn’t want to think about him leaving, but asking him to stay would be selfish. He had his work and I had mine. He asked me how we should do this; both locations, two houses. I didn’t answer him because I had no clue. I had been such a loner, throwing myself into my work, but for the first time I wanted to breathe the air in someone else’s life and not just live within the edges of my own.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” His hand slid around to massage the back of my neck, forcing me to look into his eyes. I smiled and brushed against his face with my fingertips.
“Nothing. Just thinking.” He looked at me with interest.
“Now’s not the time to start lying to me, sweetheart. Let’s try that again.”
I sighed and relaxed my shoulders, cupping his face in my hands. “I’m concerned about where we go from here.”
“And you’re worried?” He nodded and pulled me close. His embrace made me feel secure and comforted. “Where we go from here is anywhere we want, but no matter where
that is, we’re going together.” He rested his forehead against mine. “We’ll figure this out, Paige. I would never ask you to give up your life to come live in mine and I know that you think the same.”
“That’s just it. I do feel the same.” I nervously played with a loose thread on the edge of the sheet. “I want to be with you, but I don’t want you to feel that you have to give up what you’ve worked so hard for. I love you enough to give you space and I respect you too much to try to take it away. I wasn’t being evasive when you asked me if I thought this could work. I honestly don’t know the answer.”
He wound his fingers through my hair and pulled my head back, forcing me to look at him. He had a wide grin on his face.
“What’s so funny?” I narrowed my eyes.
“You just said you loved me.”
Shit!
“So I did.” I needed a distraction. “What do you think about us living apart? Are you thinking long distance relationship? I’m not sure I like that.”
“Paige, Paige, Paige.” He humored me with a tsk, tsk, tsk sound as he brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. He was still grinning. “You’re a smart woman, but you’re not thinking. I’ll blame that on the great sex.”
A snort of laughter burst from my chest and he smiled.
“Your business is real estate. Hasn’t it occurred to you that since we’re merging as a couple that we can combine assets?” He made a circling motion between us with his finger. “I have you and you have me. You have a business and I have a business. We can have a house in the mountains and a house at the beach. What’s mine is yours, Paige.”
The pace of my heartbeat increased, especially since he hadn’t said I love you back to me, but he flat lined my fears. I was almost at a loss for words.
“Well?” His wicked grin validated my fears, but before I agreed I needed to have a question answered.
“Does this mean you have no regrets about our marriage, because I would understand if you do?" I hated sounding a little needy, but I had to know.
He distanced himself far enough that I could see his scowl. “Do you?”
“No. I’d be lying if I said I did. When I came home I kept thinking of ways we could salvage what we started, but then I remembered you making the comment that you’d never been lucky in Vegas.” His eyes softened.
“Beautiful, I didn’t mean you. Finding you there was the best luck I could have hoped for.”
He kissed me and took my mouth possessively. When he took my body he loved me so thoroughly that I was assured our wedding at The Little White Wedding Chapel would make an interesting story to tell our grandkids.
After a night spent in his arms, the morning mist was as salty as my tears. It wasn’t like me to get emotional but after a week spent secluded with my husband, the ache of having him leave stung my heart. The normalcy of real life had crashed our secluded little world.
Falcon woke me early that morning. My wake-up call was him kissing a trail down the length of my body. Indulging in morning sex was delicious and decadent. His lovemaking was an intense, all consuming, sweet desperation. It eased the sting that parting would cause. I enjoyed the way he wrote his every touch on the lines of my skin. He loved me so thoroughly that I walked into the shower on shaky legs. With strong hands he washed me tenderly, massaging my neck, back, and hips with sweet agony. His fingers kneaded and eased the battle scars of lovemaking. My body throbbed when he pinned me against the wall. We kissed like it was our last one, as if we’d never love again. I hungered for the feel of his naked body against mine so I could blanket myself in the memories. He never broke our kiss, lifting my legs and wrapping them around his waist. His muscles were tight with need and there was no mistaking what he wanted. Our lovemaking was explosive, leaving me shattered. When I didn’t think I had an ounce of energy left he carried me to the counter. The marble beneath me chilled my skin but his seduction scorched me with desire. I craved his touch because I knew our time was short, but his lovemaking was unhurried and intense and he, once again, drove us over the edge.
As we dressed in silence, he peered at me over his shoulder. He watched me as I slowly followed my normal routine, although nothing so far this morning was ordinary. My life had been so customary and methodical up until I met Falcon, and ever since it was nothing but a wild ride.
When I was stressed the repetition of certain tasks quieted my nerves. I laid my make-up brushes out the way I always did, all in a row on the counter. Falcon came up behind me and lifted my hair away from my neck. When his lips touched my skin I closed my eyes and savored the velvety feel.
“I’ll make coffee.”
His deep whispered voice revealed a mutual misery. He gave me a few minutes to finish getting ready before he called my name, and when I walked into the kitchen he was waiting for me with a full cup.
“Thank you.” I sounded detached, even to myself.
“You’re welcome.” His eyes were soft. “What’s wrong, babe?”
I shrugged to hide my gloom and hid my expression in my cup. I couldn’t help feeling the way I did and I didn’t like it. I had to put on a happy face despite the hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was uncomfortable and made me feel needy which was completely unacceptable.
We finished our coffee in silence. He rinsed out both his cup and mine and placed them in the dishwasher. As he walked by me he stopped, put his arm around my waist, and kissed me on the head. Such a mundane task that brought me an inordinate amount of pleasure. The thing was, I didn’t need to explain how I felt. He already knew.
My bruised heart and I followed him to the door. He threaded his fingers through mine after he grabbed his duffle bag and jacket. We walked outside together hand and hand. I knew I was acting like a love struck teenager and not the fearless woman I was, but I didn’t care.
He opened the trunk and chucked the bag in the car. I stood beside him smiling as images of the past week replayed in my mind. He’d only brought enough clothes for a few days, but it never came up because he spent the whole week out of them. That was an impression I’d rely on while he was gone.
I shivered. The fine spray that lingered in the air overpowered the skirt and sweater I’d chosen to wear. They weren’t nearly enough to keep the chill away. Weather at the shore was ever fluctuant during a season change. Falcon noticed and pulled me close, running his hands up and down my arms and over my back to ward away the nippy air. His eyes were a storm of dark jade as he tried to hide the regret of leaving.
“I’m going to miss you.” His voice was filled with comfort and tenderness. I wrapped my arms around his waist and gave him a weak smile.
“No more than I’m going to miss you.”
“We’ll be together in two weeks. I’ll meet you at the airport. Remember. Two weeks.” He gave me a sly grin. “I’ll probably sext you. In fact, you can count on it.” He cupped my butt cheeks with both hands and gave them a frisky squeeze. I returned the favor with a playful smack to his chest.
“You’re incorrigible!” He pulled me closer, his voice low and sexy. “Hopelessly.”
He kissed me one more time. If two weeks of affection could have been poured into a kiss, it was that long and deep. I bit the inside of my cheek to ward off getting teary-eyed. There was no point in postponing the inevitable. He closed the door and took my hand through the window. I leaned in.
“Be a good girl while I’m gone.”
“Please be careful,” I said seriously. “And please call me when you get to the hotel.”
“I will,” he promised.
I waved until he was out of sight then went back into the house. I wore the dull ache in my chest like a heavy overcoat. The further away he drove, the more weighty it became. Loving him was so much easier than I had expected and watching him leave was so much harder. He proved to me every day that one moment of real love erased a lifetime of hurts, and for someone who valued her privacy, I couldn’t wait for him to come home.
A year ago Falcon would n
ever have predicted that he’d be holding his wife’s hand. It had been a long two weeks. Paige was a confident woman in almost every area of her life, but where she was weak, he wanted to be strong for her. Her fingers curled around his hand as he ran his thumb over the top. She alternated between looking at him and looking out the window. There was a contentedness about her today. A simple relaxed happiness.
It was a good flight. Aria had driven Paige to BWI airport and Falcon had driven down from Deep Creek to meet them. He went there the day before when he flew home from Vegas. It seemed empty without her even though she’d never been there. The moment he saw her he felt the same longing for her that occurred every time he laid eyes on her. After kissing her to the point of gaining an audience at the airport entrance, they boarded their flight. Every day he learned something new about her. Today’s lesson was learned the hard way. A fear of flying showed itself when she gripped his hand to the point of pain. It was a good thing that they’d had little turbulence or she might have cut off his circulation.
Now they were on their way to the first of a few surprises he’d planned for her. Their wedding left little to be desired but he hoped to make up for it. Jorge had been waiting for them outside of the Las Vegas airport.
“Mr. Grey. Mrs. Grey. It’s good to see you both.” Jorge put their bags in the trunk, then opened the car door. He was glad to see them and smiled as they entered the car.
Once Paige got in, Falcon joined her and now they were on their way to the hotel. She had adopted a sweet smile the minute she saw Jorge and he wanted in on the secret.
“You’re awfully happy. What’s that about?” He stretched out after the long flight and placed his hand on her knee.
“Did you ask him to call me that?”
“Call you what?” He was puzzled by the question.
“Mrs. Grey?” Her eyes crinkled in the corners. It pleased him that she liked her new title. He played with her hair, his voice sensually deep.
Same/Difference (The Depth of Emotion #4) Page 18