by Marie Force
“In romance it stands for happily ever after.”
“I’ve never heard that before.”
She released the buttons on his cuffs. “Your parents set you up to be happy the day you were born.”
He caressed her face. “I just needed you to make it happen.”
“Take this off,” she said of his shirt.
Hunter sat up to pull off the shirt and the T-shirt he wore under it, and then pushed her robe off her shoulders, leaving it to pool around her hips. “I wish you knew how beautiful you are to me.” He kissed her shoulder, along her collarbone and then down to the nipple that tightened in anticipation of the kind of pleasure only he could deliver.
Before she knew what hit her, Megan was flat on her back and he was worshiping her breasts with his tongue, lips, teeth and fingers. She could barely keep up with him as he moved from one erogenous zone to another, making her crazier by the second.
“Hunter … I …” Her words were stolen by the sweep of his tongue between her legs, by the tight grip of his hand on her bottom, by the powerful sensations that rippled through her body. She couldn’t have spoken then if her life had depended on it. He had her on the verge of release so fast she nearly forgot to breathe before it was upon her, sweeping her up with the power of a wave that lifted her up and left her suspended before bringing her crashing back to earth, breathless and battered.
Megan was still trying to find her equilibrium when Hunter pushed into her, triggering a second wave that had her clinging to him as he pounded into her, taking as much as giving. He filled her so completely, stretching her to the point of exquisite pain that only fueled her desire.
And then he reached beneath her, grabbed her ass to lift her tighter against him. He was relentless and driven and out of control, and she loved everything about the way he absolutely possessed her.
“God, Megan.” His voice was choppy and broken against her ear. “Megan … I love you.”
The words penetrated the sensual fog, leaving her reeling as he drove them both to the finish line. Reaching for her hands, he lifted them over her head and captured her mouth in a deep, searching kiss as he pressed into her one last time, coming with a gasp of pleasure.
Megan wrapped her legs around his hips, keeping him buried in her while they throbbed with aftershocks and her mind raced with the implications of what he’d said.
After a long silence, he said, “I didn’t mean to just blurt that out.”
“You didn’t mean it?”
“That’s not what I said. I meant it. I do love you. I have for a long time, but before now, before the time we’ve spent together, I loved the idea of you. Now I love the reality even more.”
She had no idea how to respond to such heartfelt words. Her emotions were all over the place with Nina leaving, the diner changing hands, her own life in flux and now this amazing new possibility with Hunter. “I …”
He laid a finger over her lips. “Don’t say anything. Not now. It’s still new to you, and I don’t want you to feel pressure.”
Looking to defuse the tension she saw in the set of his jaw, she raised her hips. “I’m feeling the best kind of pressure.”
“I was rough with you. Again. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I loved it. I’ve never had sex like I do with you.”
“Neither have I.” Still holding her hands above her head, he kissed her. “You’re ruining me for all other women.”
Her brows furrowed as she looked up at him. “I told you not to do this. I told you not to fall for me.”
“Couldn’t help it.”
Suddenly she had to get away from him or risk surrendering things she hadn’t planned to give. “I need to get up.”
Watching her warily, he disentangled himself from her and let her up.
Megan went into the bathroom and shut the door, leaning against it as her heart pounded with anxiety and fear. This perfectly wonderful guy was in love with her, and all she could think about was how it would end. What was wrong with her?
Hunter awoke some time later to near darkness in Megan’s bedroom. How long had he been asleep? Pushing the hair back from his forehead, he checked his watch and learned it was nearly six thirty. They’d slept for hours. Their sleepless nights were catching up to both of them.
At some point, Megan had turned onto her side, and her bottom was pressed tight against his groin.
His body reacted predictably to her nearness, as well as the soft satin of her skin, the silk of her hair and the heat of her body. He was only human, and she was like a goddess come to life in his arms.
He’d known it would be like this with her. Just like he’d always known that if he got close to her he’d fall in love. And as expected, he’d fallen completely, totally and irrevocably in love. He really hadn’t meant to blurt it out when he was deep inside her, but the words had tumbled forth in the heat of passion, and he didn’t regret them. But the last thing he wanted her to think was that he loved her because of the sex. That was one of many reasons.
Her care and concern for the needy patrons at the diner had touched him deeply and told him a lot about what mattered to her. Because the customers were so important to her, he was glad he’d been able to help keep the diner open. And he’d been hugely relieved to hear her say she wanted to be part of it. Maybe that was why the words had come tumbling out, because he wanted her to know he’d make it worth it if she stayed with him.
She stirred and turned over, her hand landing on his belly, right above the tip of his hard cock.
Hunter held his breath, waiting to see if she was awake. He didn’t have to wait long before her hand slid down to stroke him. He nearly swallowed his tongue from the surprise and then the pleasure, the incredible, unbelievable pleasure of her touch.
“Someone is wide awake,” she said in the sleepy, sexy voice he loved.
“It’s all your fault. You had your very sweet ass pressed up against him shamelessly. What was he to do?”
Her quiet laughter thrilled him. He’d meant it when he told her he loved the sound of her laugh. He loved making her laugh. He loved the lighter side of her personality that she’d shown him repeatedly over the last few days. He loved the way she felt in his arms, the sound she made when she came and her responsiveness to his touch.
“In that case, I suppose it’s only fair that I tend to him.”
“You won’t hear me disagreeing.”
She pushed him onto his back and kissed his chest and abdomen while continuing to stroke him.
In the dark, he could barely see her, but he could feel her getting closer all the time to where he wanted her most. She made a wide circle around his cock, nibbling on the V-cut muscles on his hips and then shocking the shit out of him with a bite to his inner thigh. He nearly came all over her with that maneuver.
“Christ, Megan. Have some mercy, will you?”
Once again her husky, sexy laughter was nearly his undoing. “Is this what you want?” She wrapped her lips around the tip and sucked hard, making him see stars.
“Yeah,” he said on a gasp, “more of that.”
“More of this?” She stroked him with her hand and tongue.
“Megan … God, yes, more of that.” He wanted more of everything where she was concerned. In fact, he could actually die happy with her lips tight around the head of his cock. And then she drew him in deeper and he forgot all about dying happy. He wanted to live and feel the way she made him feel every day for the rest of his life.
She took him on an incredible ride, culminating in an orgasm that originated in the deepest part of him, leaving him depleted and trembling afterward.
“Holy shit,” he whispered as she sprinkled his chest with kisses. “That was … I have no words.”
“You? At a loss for words? I don’t believe it.”
“Also your fault.”
“I’ll take the blame this time.”
Hunter wrapped his arms around her. “Are you hungry?”
“I could eat something.”
“Me, too. Want to go out or order in?”
“Order in.”
Hunter left her in bed while he went to order pizza and salad. When he got back in bed to wait for the delivery, he loved the way she crawled into his arms, her head resting on his chest and her hair soft against his face. “May I say something?” he asked.
“May I stop you?”
“No,” he said, laughing. “No chance of that.”
“Then by all means, proceed.”
“What I said earlier …” Every muscle in her body seemed to tighten at once. “I didn’t say it to put pressure on you or to try to influence your decisions. I know you’re thinking about a lot of things, and all of a sudden I factor into it—or at least I hope I do.”
“Of course you do, but this wasn’t supposed to happen. It was supposed to be fun.”
“It hasn’t been fun?”
“Yes, but … I told you I don’t do serious.”
“And I heard you. I promise you I did, but I can’t help how I feel about you. It’s as natural to me as breathing.” He never blinked as he stared into her eyes. “I knew we’d be good together. I knew it.”
“How did you know?”
“Because of the way I felt every time I saw you or talked to you.”
“How did you feel?”
“Certain. Absolutely certain.”
“You could have anyone you want.”
“As could you.”
“I doubt that.”
“Then you aren’t paying attention to the way your customers look at you.”
“Most of them are eighty!”
“Not all of them. I’ve seen guys looking at you probably the way I do, and I wanted to kill them all. I wanted to tell them, ‘You can’t have her.’” He kissed her forehead. “‘She’s mine.’”
“Yours, huh?”
“Yes, mine. All mine.”
“As a woman of the new millennium, that declaration ought to offend me, but it doesn’t. I like being with you this way. I couldn’t wait to see you tonight. I even shaved my legs hoping I’d get to see you.”
He reached down to run his hand over satiny smooth skin. “I noticed.” His hand moved from calf to thigh to buttock, where he lingered, squeezing and molding her cheek until she squirmed in his arms.
“Don’t. The pizza guy is coming.”
“Not before you do.”
“Hunter!”
He flattened his hand on her bottom, letting his fingers wander between her legs.
“Hunter, come on.”
“No, you come on.” Holding her tight against him with one arm, he teased and coaxed with his other hand. “Better hurry up. Time’s a-wasting.” As he spoke, he caressed her clit in tight circles. “He’ll be here any minute.”
She gasped, and her legs tightened around his hand. “Hunter …”
“I’m right here, sweetheart. Let it happen.” He captured her mouth in a deep kiss, the strokes of his tongue matching the thrusts of his fingers.
Megan came with a sharp cry just as the doorbell rang.
Hunter removed his fingers, licked them clean and said, “I’ll get that.”
She replied with a shaky laugh. “That’s good, because I couldn’t move if I had to.”
He leaned over the bed to kiss her. “Luckily, you don’t have to.”
CHAPTER 25
After spending the night with Megan, Hunter got up when she did to go home to shower, shave and get ready for work. He made a point of getting to the office early because he knew he’d been setting a shitty example lately. Working with his siblings took a certain amount of diplomacy to keep the peace, but Hunter had always insisted the family set the tone for the rest of the employees by showing up on time.
He’d been slacking in that regard lately—with good reason, but still slacking. He had a busy day ahead with a meeting at nine to discuss a new product line his dad wanted to introduce at the store, payroll due by the end of the day and August financial statements to be generated. He gave himself two weeks after the end of every month to close out the financials, and today was exactly fourteen days into the new month.
He’d made some headway on the financials by the time his brother Colton arrived in the office right before nine.
“What brings you down off the mountain?” Hunter asked.
“Dad asked me to come to the meeting this morning about the new product line. Remember the convention in New York last month? He asked me to report to you all about my findings, and let me say how much I’m looking forward to that.”
Hunter laughed at the distressed look on Colton’s face. “He’s not serious about selling that stuff in the store, is he?”
“Um, I think he is.”
“He’s got to retire eventually, right?”
“He’s not even sixty. Don’t write him off yet.”
“Is Lucy with you?”
“Nah, as much as she wanted to witness my mortification, she’s got a new website going live today, so she stayed up at the cabin. She gets the best connectivity up there.”
Hunter sat back in his chair. “Things are going well for you guys?”
“Things are great. We’re making it work one day at a time.”
“I’m glad for you.”
“What’s this I hear about you and Megan hot and heavy?”
“We’ve been seeing each other lately.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Why do you not seem happier about it? I thought you’d been lusting after her for ages.”
“I was, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“So, then …”
“I know she likes me, and we’re having a lot of fun together. I just don’t know if she’s thinking short-term fling or long-term relationship.”
“Have you thought about asking her?”
“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. Just haven’t been able to actually do it. I’m sort of afraid of what she might say.”
“You love her?”
“Yeah.”
“Does she know that?”
“She does.”
“Then give her some time to get used to the idea. Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep showing up. That’s what Gramps told me to do with Lucy, and it worked out pretty well for us.”
“I can’t believe I’m taking romance advice from you.”
“Suck it up, big brother. You can’t be the best at everything.”
“I’m happy to defer to you on the topic of sex toys.”
Colton winked at him. “Don’t knock ’em till you’ve tried ’em.”
“Eww, I don’t want that visual in my head. Get out. Right now. Serious work is being done here.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Much to Colton’s dismay, the entire family turned out for his presentation. “This is right up there with my middle school nightmares about sporting a boner in front of the class during the science fair,” he said at the outset, making everyone howl with laughter. “Did you really have to invite Mom and Gramps?” he asked his father.
“They’re on the board,” Lincoln said with a smile and a shrug.
“It’s okay, honey,” Molly said. “Dad and I can take it. You’d be surprised—”
“Under penalty of death, do not finish that thought,” said Max, the youngest of the Abbott siblings.
Molly giggled behind her hand.
“I’m with him,” her father, Elmer, said with a glare for his daughter. “Put a sock in it. Please proceed, Colton. You’ve got me all a-quiver with curiosity.”
“Jesus,” Colton muttered to more laughter from his siblings. “Here’s the deal—there’s a lot of money in them there sex toys, and they’re being manufactured for people of all ages. Dad sent me to the convention because he was trying to push me together with Lucy by giving me a week with her in New York.”
“That is not true,” Lincoln said. “I was genuinely curious about
the product line.”
“Sure,” Colton said. “Whatever you say. Anyhow, I found out some very interesting stats about the industry.” He clicked a few buttons on a laptop on the conference table, and a professionally produced PowerPoint presentation came on the screen.
“Someone has been taking full advantage of his fiancée,” Cameron said.
“Yes, we’ve had fun testing all the products,” Colton said, to groans from everyone.
Landon, Lucas and Max threw wadded-up paper at him.
“Flag on the play,” Lucas said, covering his ears.
“We can’t unhear that,” Charley said dryly.
“Nolan and I would be happy to be a focus group on this project,” Hannah said, earning balled-up paper bombs from her younger brothers.
“Make it stop, Mom,” Max said, hands over ears.
“Grow up, honey. You’re going to be a father soon. Surely you’re wise to how things work.”
“I don’t want to hear it from them,” Max said.
“We should get hazardous-duty pay for this meeting,” Ella said.
“Seriously,” Will concurred.
“Does that mean we can’t offer to be a focus group?” Cameron asked him, earning a playful scowl from her boyfriend.
“Anyway,” Colton said, trying to get things back on track, “I met with Joyce, the owner of the company that produces this particular product line. She talked to me about the therapeutic uses of the products as well as the more straightforward uses.”
“Straightforward,” Lucas said with a snicker. “That’s what I’m all about.”
“Shut up, will you?” Charley gestured to her three youngest brothers. “They’re far too young to be allowed in this meeting.”
“Everyone shut up and let Colton finish,” Lincoln said.
“Joyce and her daughter Amanda travel all over to retail outlets like ours to offer in-store workshops on the product lines for the floor teams as well as customers who want to learn more about them.”
“You really think our customers will show up for how-to workshops about sex toys?” Hunter asked.
“We won’t know until we try,” Colton said. “It’s a long, cold winter up here in the mountains. We might be surprised by how many of the locals would be interested.”