Forever Box Set

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Forever Box Set Page 32

by Wendy Louise

Grayson - my best friend.

  Joshua - my lifeline, PA and friend.

  And Ava - my heart - sitting with Liv.

  Without them I wouldn’t have survived all of this. I move to stand in front of Ava. I need some time with her alone. I’ve waited long enough.

  I look down in to her stunning face and give her my hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”

  She smiles the beautiful smile that she reserves only for me, and allows me to pull her up off the sofa. Hand in hand, I lead her to the other side of the pool where we can have some privacy, away from the crowds and reconnect.

  As soon as I get Ava out of sight of the other guests I pull her to me, fist my hands in her hair and cover her mouth with mine. I feel like I might combust if I don’t kiss her. I kiss her to convey my love, my fears and my heart; pouring every emotion in to it. She mirrors my kiss, sucking on my bottom lip and tangling her tongue with mine until you can’t tell where she stops and I begin.

  She pulls back breathlessly and smiles at me again, running her fingertips up and down my arms and setting my blood on fire. I can’t take my eyes off her; I’m so fuckin’ glad that she’s here.

  “Let’s sit,” I suggest as I pull Ava to the loveseat under the palm tree on the other side of the pool house.

  When we sit I turn to her and see her eyes brimming with tears, it kills me. I wipe my thumbs over each cheek, taking the tears away. “What’s wrong?”

  “Ethan, I’m just so sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you through this, I’m sorry that I didn’t speak to you before taking off, I’m just sorry for everything. I stuffed up big time and I only hope you can forgive me.”

  I cup her chin with my thumb and forefinger and look in to her eyes. “Ava you have nothing to be sorry for. You were confronted with a situation and you saw it for what it was. Hell, I would have done the same thing if the shoe had been on the other foot.”

  Ava shakes her head. “No, you wouldn’t have, you would’ve given me the benefit of the doubt and talked to me first. We always promised each other that we would talk things out, and I didn’t do that. The first sign of trouble and what do I do? I run.”

  “Talk to me now, tell me why you left.”

  “I saw Madeline’s text message to you, the one where she asked if I knew about you both. I felt sick Ethan, I just needed to get away to think. I thought you had cheated on me.”

  I take Ava’s hand in mine and rub my thumb over her knuckles, trying to calm her.

  “I went home and spoke to Liv. She begged me to talk to you, told me that there was no way you and Madeline would be together, of course she was right. Did I listen to her? No.” She shakes her head and looks to the ground.

  “I went to my room to lie down and my lap top was open. I stupidly googled your name…”

  “Ava!” I admonish, “I thought we talked about that. Don’t ever believe what you see on-line.”

  “I know. In the mood that I was in after that text, the last thing I needed to see was the photos of you leaving Madeline’s home. We were supposed to spend that night together. You’d told me that you were going to be with Nanny. Those photos contradicted everything you told me, and I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

  “You should’ve called me, hell you should’ve waited for me to come out of the bathroom that morning. All of this could have been settled and avoided. Why would you ever think that I would cheat on you, and with Madeline of all people?”

  “All I could think was that she was a better fit for you than I am, she belongs in your glamorous world and I don’t, I never have.” Tears brim over her eyes again.

  I shake my head and frame her face with my hands. “Ava you have no idea how much I love you, how no one else compares. If you knew the truth about Madeline then you would understand how crazy the idea of us being together is.”

  “That’s just the problem, I don’t know the truth, you didn’t tell me, and then I didn’t give you the chance. I ran instead of fighting for the one thing that is precious to me – you.”

  “I love you Ava, so fucking much. There is so much I need to tell you, but you have to promise me that you won’t run again, it killed me.”

  She climbs on to my lap and wraps her arms around my neck, sobbing in to my shirt. “I love you too, always. I won’t run again.”

  We stay wrapped around one another for seconds, minutes, hours, I don’t know, it just feels so amazing to have her in my arms again.

  Eventually I break the silence. “Why was that douchebag Cole with you on the island?”

  She looks in to my eyes and runs her fingertips over my cheek. “Ethan I was devastated when I heard him on the phone to you. I knew what you would think. He called my parents and my mum told him where I was. I guess he thought he would be the knight in shining armour and rescue me from my misery. The day you called he had just arrived. I wanted him out of the villa, so I told him we would go to lunch. I grabbed a shower and then heard him on the phone with you. I felt sick. We went to lunch and I sent him on his way, I don’t want him and he is clear on that now.”

  I release the breath that I didn’t know I was holding. “Thank fuck!” I say as I bury my face in to Ava’s neck inhaling her sweet perfume.

  Ava giggles. I love that sound.

  “Ethan, will you tell me about you and Madeline so I can understand?”

  “You are never going to believe what I have to tell you. No one else knows apart from Grayson. I promised Nanny that I would keep her secret, and I have, but you deserve the truth.”

  Ava looks up at me with those gorgeous big eyes of hers waiting……

  “Madeline is my sister.”

  Ava’s hands flies over her mouth in shock. Her eyes well with tears again and she squeaks out, “How?”

  “It’s a long story and one that I fully intend to explain to you. For now you need to know that Nanny wanted me to know this secret before she passed…” I swallow on the lump in my throat. “… If there was anyone in my life aside from you that I owed loyalty to it was Nanny.” Ava smiles, waiting for me to continue.

  “My mother and Grant Martin, the man that was with me at the funeral today, had an affair when working together and we were conceived. My mother didn’t want to raise twins so they each took a baby and raised us alone. Nanny was Grant’s mother, so she was my paternal grandmother.”

  Ava’s mouth forms a little ‘O’ shape. She is shocked in to silence.

  “The good part is that we are all trying to make amends for the time we’ve lost. Even my mother has warmed a little over the past week now that the burden of that secret has been lifted. Nanny’s legacy to all of us was making sure that we knew who we were to one another so that we had a chance at being a family.”

  “She was such a special lady and she loved you so much,” Ava says quietly.

  I nod, allowing a few tears to escape. Ava wipes them away and moves forward, placing a light kiss on my lips. “How will you ever forgive me for running off on you, for thinking the worst?”

  “Ava I forgave you the moment I saw your beautiful face in the cathedral today. You came back to me, not knowing what you were walking in to, because you love me, how can I be mad at you for that?”

  She throws herself at me again, squeezing me in to a tight hug, wrapping her arms around me like her life depends on it. “I love you Ethan Drake, more than you could ever know.”

  “Ditto.” I say, as I close my lips over hers and we kiss, making up for the time we have lost.

  Reconnections

  I don’t know how long Ethan and I have been hiding behind the pool house kissing, but it has been a while. “We should head back to everyone else,” I say against his lips.

  “In a minute,” he says continuing to kiss me. “I’m not done yet.”

  I giggle against his mouth. “Ethan….”

  “Ava I’m not letting you out of my sight tonight. You’re staying with me, no arguments.”

  “You won’t hear any from me.”


  “I can’t wait to be alone with you,” he says in a husky voice, whispering in my ear.

  We stand and make our way back around to the guests, hand-in-hand.

  I can’t even begin to process the fact that Madeline is Ethan’s sister. I hope she changes her tune towards me now, otherwise this could get difficult. No wonder Ethan didn’t tell me what was going on.

  Not only was he trying to protect Nanny, but he was trying to deal with the fact that he had a family that he never knew about. I can’t imagine how hard that was for him. Stabbing pains of guilt lance through me, I can’t believe I left him alone to deal with all this.

  I make eye contact with Liv and she is smiling at me, happy to see Ethan and I together. Grayson is sitting on the other side of her, a huge grin on his face too. Before I reach them, Ethan pulls me to his side, “C’mon I want you to meet my father.” I don’t miss the pride in his voice as he says that.

  Ethan walks me over to where Grant is standing. Now that I know he is Ethan’s father, it is hard to miss the resemblance. He’s a very good looking man, and if this is what Ethan is going to look like when he is the same age, then I’m one lucky girl. His expressions even remind me of Ethan’s.

  “Grant,” Ethan says, “…this is Ava, my girlfriend, and the love of my life.” He places a kiss on the back of my hand and smiles down at me.

  “Ava, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Grant says as he bends to kiss my cheek. At that moment Ethan’s mother appears and makes her way to us smiling.

  “Ava dear, so lovely of you to come, and how beautiful you look.” She has a genuine smile on her face and kisses me on both cheeks in greeting. I look to Ethan and give him my best what-happened-to-your-mother glare. He just shrugs.

  “Where’s Madeline?” Ethan asks.

  “She’s inside with a few of her friends,” Grant answers.

  Ethan nods. At least that member of his family is steering clear of me for now. I know I will have to face her at some stage, but I feel like I have had enough to deal with today.

  Ethan grazes his lips over my ear. “Nanny would be so happy to see us here together today.”

  I squeeze his hand, giving him a watery smile.

  We’ve been curled up on the large sofa in Ethan’s room for about an hour. I fell asleep as soon as we came in here, jet lag and the lack of sleep over the past day no doubt. I wake to find myself wrapped around him like a vine and I’m hot, too hot.

  I try to extricate myself from him without waking him, but to no avail. Bright blue eyes stare in to mine and a glorious smile spreads across his face highlighting those dimples that I love.

  “If I’m dreaming, please don’t wake me up,” he says.

  My heart melts in to gooey chocolate with his words. I plant a kiss on his plump lips.

  “You’re not dreaming, we’re both here. I’ve got you. My heart is yours. Always.”

  He smiles that dreamy smile and leans forward to kiss me. I wrap my hands around his neck and tangle my fingers in to his gorgeous hair - which I have missed so much, deepening the kiss and making my intentions clear. Ethan matches every move I make, starved for me as I am for him. After a few moments of breathless kissing, he pulls back. He cups my face in his hands, “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too,” I respond, marvelling at the love in his eyes.

  “Before we take this any further,” Ethan says with a grin, “I thought we could maybe take a swim…. swimsuits optional.” He raises his eyebrows up and down and smiles.

  I giggle. “There is no way I’m risking your mother or anyone else catching us naked in the pool!”

  He tickles my ribs lightly making me squirm. “No one will see us; it’s dark out, just you, me and the moon.” His voice is low and husky, and it wakes up my libido in more ways than one.

  “C’mon, its hot out and I just want some alone time with you before we move on to other more physical activities for the remainder of the night.”

  “The remainder of the night?” I ask grinning.

  He nods and smiles that sexy-as-hell smile that he reserves for me, “Yes, the remainder of the night, all night, until we’ve made up for lost time.”

  Oh My!

  Without thinking it through I agree. “Okay, I don’t have my swimsuit with me anyway so I guess a little skinny dip never hurt anyone.”

  He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles, before leading us barefoot out towards the pool house. The outdoor lights aren’t on so it is only the stars and moonlight in the sky that illuminates our way. As we reach the large stone steps that lead down in to the pool Ethan turns and pulls me against him. His mouth closes over mine and his tongue snakes out immediately, twisting and turning with mine. Slowly his hands run up my arms and around the back of my shoulders until they reach the zipper of my black dress.

  “I want to undress you,” he says.

  I look in to his eyes and give him a small nod signalling my acceptance of his plan. He ever so slowly lowers the zip of my dress and then turns me around. He runs his tongue from the top of my shoulder blades and down my spine until he reaches the end of the zipper. Sparks are firing through my veins and my breathing is shallow. It’s like my body has been asleep and now that he is here with me, it has woken up with a start.

  He runs his hands across my shoulders and pushes my dress off on each side so it falls in a pool at my feet. “Step out,” he orders, and I do.

  He turns me back around to face him. Thank God I’m wearing nice underwear today, black lace panties and a matching bra. “You are so beautiful,” he says, as he gazes at me from head to toe. Before he can remove anything else, I decide it’s my turn.

  “You have entirely too many clothes on Mr Drake.”

  “What are you going to do about that Miss Lucas?”

  “This,” I say, as I start to undo the white shirt that he is wearing.

  As I open each button I place a kiss on each patch of skin that I expose. He tastes sweet and smells of body wash, aftershave and something else, that is uniquely him.

  I let my hands roam from his chiselled abs to his glorious chest, tracing every ridge and muscle, god I have missed this. My hands reach his shoulders and I remove his shirt slowly, letting my hands wander across his skin and down his firm arms. He sighs in contentment as I touch him.

  He bends his head and holds mine in place as he lightly runs his tongue over my top lip.

  “Wait...” I say breathlessly, “I still need to do your pants”.

  He holds his hands up in surrender, and I laugh, making quick work of the button and zipper on his black pants. I lower them to the ground and he kicks them off his foot, throwing them a few feet in to the bushes that circle the pool.

  Before I can remove his boxer briefs he scoops me up and is halfway down the steps in to the pool. The water is warm like a bath, it is divine.

  I can feel my entire body relaxing after this long day and the never-ending journey that brought me back to here. Ethan cradles me in his arms and bends his lips to mine, kissing me tenderly and slowly. I hold on tightly to his upper arms, feeling his biceps flexing as he carries me around in the water.

  At the far end of the pool is a stunning waterfall, where the water cascades over a rock ledge and in to the main pool. Ethan looks to be heading that way. It is much deeper up this end so I twist myself in his arms until I am straddling him at the waist, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck, my legs wrapped around his body. I cling to him like a koala bear.

  I stare deep in to his eyes. He matches my stare, unblinking, and intense.

  He smirks at me and then moves faster until he has positioned both of us directly under the torrent of water. Then he kisses me.

  Hard and fast.

  The water is splashing all around and over us, making us slick and wet, and allowing our mouths to slide easily, one over the other.

  He moves us behind the waterfall and out of the flow of the water so we are effectively curtained from the rest of the backyard. I like
this; it feels like we are on our own private island.

  Ethan moves his hands to my back and with one flick, he has my bra undone and tossed aside. He appraises each breast with a cheeky grin and then bends his head, taking a nipple in to his mouth, sucking and pulling.

  “Ah...” I groan as he continues the attention on the other side.

  I can feel his arousal between my legs. I want him. I rub against him, maintaining a rhythm that pleases us both.

  I pull back slightly and move my hands down, running them across the front of his boxers, eliciting a groan from him. I hook my thumbs in to the sides of his underwear and lower them down as far as I can in the position that I’m in, allowing him to spring free. I run my hand up and down his length slowly, as he continues to lavish attention to my chest.

  He takes his hands from my waist and pulls my panties down to my knees where I kick them off in to the water.

  Ethan trails kisses from my jaw up to my ear. “I love you,” he breathes against my face. I can only moan in response, he is kissing that place behind my ear that he knows drives me wild.

  “I want you,” I reply, my voice sounding needy and desperate, as my head falls back, allowing him better access to my neck.

  “Here?” Ethan asks.

  I squeeze him tighter curling my fingers around him, “Yes here…now.”

  He moans and shifts me so he can position himself at my entrance and enter me slowly. It feels amazing, he feels amazing. How could I have thought that I could live without this, without him? This is right where I belong, right where I need to be.

  “I love you Ethan, I promise I‘ll never leave you again.”

  He continues to rock in to me slowly, sending shivers and tingles throughout my body. “I’m never letting you go again,” he says, “so I’m glad we can agree on that much.”

  I throw my head back as my insides start to clench and tighten, knowing that the fireworks that only Ethan can elicit are about to explode throughout my core. “I love you,” I cry out as I spiral in to oblivion, vaguely aware that Ethan is calling my name and following me with his own climax.

 

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