Where the Rainbow Ends (Summer Lake Silver Book 4)

by SJ McCoy

  She got lost in his kiss, and she knew she was on the right track when she felt him pressing into her belly. God, he felt so good. She couldn’t wait to explore the bedroom.

  He lifted his head and smiled down at her, then he hooked one arm behind her legs and scooped her up off her feet.

  She gasped and closed her arms around his neck in surprise. “What are you …”

  The question dried up in her throat as he looked up at the doorway and took a step toward it. “Are you ready?” he asked again.

  Her heart felt as though it might beat out of her chest. He was asking if he could carry her across the threshold? That was what people did when they got married! He wasn’t asking … He couldn’t be …

  He met her gaze, and his eyes bored into hers. He didn’t ask again, just raised an eyebrow.

  She tightened her grip around his neck. What was she afraid of? What had Audrey said? That he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. That was it. And she was right. Why on earth would she ever want to say no to this big, gorgeous man? She smiled and nodded.

  She’d half expected him to look as though he’d won some battle, some duel they were engaged in. Instead, there was no denying the relief that mixed with happiness as he strode inside and closed the door behind them with his foot.

  He dropped his head and landed a kiss on her lips. “Thank you.”

  She chuckled. “I think I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

  “We can fight about that later. But first, you need to see the house, and we need to christen our bed.”

  “I think you’ve got that in the wrong order.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her, and she smiled. “The house isn’t going anywhere. This moment won’t ever come again.”

  His expression softened, and he nodded and turned toward the stairs. She wriggled to get down, but he tightened his grip on her. “Just this once?” he asked with a smile. “I’m not getting any younger. I may never be able to carry you up the stairs to our bed again.”

  She nodded happily. If he could manage it, she wasn’t going to argue.

  He carried her up the stairs and into the master bedroom. It was a beautiful room, with huge windows looking out on the lake. Sparkling reflections danced on the ceiling as he lay her down on the bed.

  ~ ~ ~

  As Diego set her down, his heart buzzed in his chest. He felt like he’d finally found the place he was supposed to be in the world—and the woman he was supposed to be with.

  She looked up into his eyes and opened her mouth to speak. She looked as if she was about to make a joke, but then stopped, and her face grew serious.

  “You really mean this, don’t you?”

  He nodded and lay down beside her. “I mean this more than I’ve ever meant anything in my life, Izzy. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t know if you’re ready to hear it.”

  She shook her head slightly, and his smile faded.

  “Don’t say it.”

  He started to speak, but she put a finger to his lips. “Don’t tell me; show me.”

  He put his arm around her and drew her closer to him. Showing her was something that he knew he could do. He propped himself up on one elbow and drew her under him as he brushed his lips over hers. Her arms came up around his back, and she clung to him as he kissed her deeply. There was something about the way she kissed him. She didn’t just yield to him, as so many women had. She was assertive. She opened up to him, but she expected him to do the same. She demanded that he let her in.

  His hands roved over her returning as they so often did to her full breasts. Her hands closed around his ass and rocked him against her. She felt so good underneath him, but his pants were now tight, restricting him, keeping him from her. Whether she read his thoughts or felt the same way, she unfastened his belt and slid her hand inside his shorts, closing her fingers around him.

  Within seconds their clothes lay in a pile on the floor, and he looked down at her beautiful naked breasts. She laughed and slapped his arm. “Hey, I’m up here.”

  He trailed his fingers over her nipple as he looked up at her with a smile. “Oh. Hello. It’s nice to see you.”

  She half chuckled, half moaned as he rolled the taut peak between his finger and thumb. “Are you saying you don’t like all the attention I pay to the ladies?”

  “No,” she breathed.

  “Would you rather I stop?” He took his hand away, and she opened her eyes.

  Her next words made him even harder than he had been.

  “Please don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

  His hand returned to its work. He wanted to ask if she meant that—don’t ever stop. But he didn’t dare. He didn’t want to kill the moment by asking for more than she was ready to give.

  Her hands were around his ass again. He walked his fingers down over her ribcage, on down over her stomach, and she moaned that moan he’d grown to love when he slid his hand between her legs.

  She rocked her hips in time with him as he stroked her. She was so beautiful, her cheeks and neck flushed with desire for him.

  “Please?” she breathed.

  He smiled. “Patience, Miss Isobel. We’re just getting started.” He dipped a finger inside her, loving how hot and wet she was for him.

  She shook her head. “Please, Diego. I want you.” She moved away from his hand and wriggled herself underneath him. “Don’t tease me. Make love to me.”

  He cocked his head to one said. She’d said many things to him in bed, some of them had surprised him even while they turned him on. He hadn’t expected her to be so direct. But this was the first time she’d called it making love.

  He curled his arm around her and drew her under him. If that was what she wanted, who was he to deny her? He dropped his head and nuzzled his lips against her neck. Her arms came up around him, and she spread her legs wider so that he was pushing into her heat.

  He had to force himself to go slowly at first. His hips wanted to thrust hard, to drive himself home deep inside her, but she was asking for tenderness, and he planned to give it to her. She bit down on his shoulder when he entered her. Her legs came up around his, and he drove deeper. Something about the feel of her feet on his calves drove him wild. She bucked her hips underneath him and he moved with her. The slow beginning gave way to a frantic rhythm as he buried himself deep over and over again. She felt so good, closing around him, welcoming him home. That was how it felt. She was home to him now.

  She was carrying him away, and there was nothing he could do but to go with her. Their bodies moved together frantically in the rhythm that had become theirs. They carried each other higher and higher until he felt her tense, and she screamed, “Diego!”

  That took him over the edge. Her orgasm triggered his, and he found his release deep inside her. She kept moaning his name over and over again. He felt as though he was losing himself inside her. “Izzy!” he gasped as waves of pleasure crashed through him and into her.

  When they finally lay still, he rested his head on her shoulder. She turned to meet his gaze and kissed his cheek. There was a tenderness in her eyes he hadn’t seen before. Something about this time was different. He knew it. She’d been vocal from their first time, but up until now, she screamed, yes, or oh, God! But this time, this time she’d cried his name. That felt different, and when she spoke, he understood why.

  “I love you, Diego.”

  His heart felt as if it might burst in his chest. He claimed her mouth in a kiss that had her rocking again underneath him as the aftershocks rolled through them.

  He lifted his head and smiled down at her. “I love you, Izzy. Say it again?”

  Her eyes shone as she laughed. “I love you.”

  He tangled his fingers in her hair. “And I love you.” He held her gaze for a long moment. “Does that mean everything is possible now?”

  She nodded slowly. “Perhaps not right now, but with time.”

  He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “F
or you, mi amor, I have all the time in the world.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Izzy sipped her drink and looked out at the lake. It shimmered crimson and gold in the last of the afternoon sun. It was beautiful out here on the terrace. She looked up at the house. The whole place was beautiful. And Diego wanted her to live here with him? She shook her head in wonder.

  “No, what?” he asked as he came back out to join her.

  “Huh?”

  “You were shaking your head at something.”

  “I was shaking my head in wonder.”

  “About?” He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. “About how good we are in bed together?”

  She laughed. “Not at that no, but I’m not denying that we are.”

  “Good.” He dropped a kiss on her lips before he sat down. “Want to tell me what?”

  She nodded slowly. “I should. I’m finding it hard to take all this in. You … this house …” She shrugged.

  “The fact that I want you to move up here with me?”

  She nodded.

  “Is there any part of you that doesn’t want to?”

  “No …”

  “But?”

  “I feel like there should be at least a part of me that doesn’t, you know?”

  “I don’t. Why should there be?”

  “Apart from all the obvious reasons? Like it’s too soon. We haven’t known each other that long. I’d be moving into your house.” She blew out a sigh.

  “Yes. Apart from all of that.” He held her gaze. “We can overcome all of those. You know we can.”

  She had to smile. His confidence used to piss her off. Now, she understood it. He was only being honest. “I do.”

  He waggled his eyebrows at that, but she didn’t want to go near it. “So, tell me about this part of you that you think should resist—shouldn’t want to move in here with me.”

  She shrugged. “I shouldn’t want to give up my independence.”

  “Who says you have to?”

  “I would be, though. I’d be living in your house.”

  “Our house.”

  She made a face at him. “You can call it that all you like, but it’s yours.”

  “Over time, I hope that you’ll come to see it as ours. I want you to come to see everything as ours. And you know what that means, even if I’m not allowed to say it yet.”

  She nodded.

  “And it’s not even because it’s too soon, is it? That’s not your reason for thinking you should hold back.”

  “Okay, if you’re so smart, you tell me what my problem is?”

  He gave her a wry smile. “I’m not that smart, but I believe that what’s holding you back from going all-in with me is about what happened in your past rather than what might happen in our future.”

  She held his gaze for a long moment until she finally looked away. Of course, he was right.

  “You don’t have to tell me until you’re ready. You don’t ever have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  She reached across the table and took hold of his hand. “You’re such a sweetheart.”

  He swaggered his shoulders. “Finally, you’re starting to understand me.”

  She laughed. “Don’t spoil it. I was about to tell you.”

  He looked serious now. “Only if you want to.”

  “I do. I don’t talk about my past much, but if we’re going to do this … if we’re taking a shot at being together for real, then you need to know.” She stared out at the lake again. “I don’t know where to start.”

  “Do you want to tell me about your family?”

  Her head snapped around, and she met his gaze. “I don’t have one.”

  He squeezed her hand. “You do now. You have me. But I mean, tell me about your childhood, your people?”

  She blew out a sigh. She knew what he meant. “Okay. I don’t know who my people are. I was in the foster system from when I was a little kid. I was moved around a lot.”

  His big brown eyes looked so sad. She had to swallow before she went on.

  “Don’t feel sorry for me, okay? I can’t deal with that.”

  He nodded. “So, you never settled with a family?”

  “I did. They found me a placement when I was fourteen.” She closed her eyes. “I stayed with them till I aged out.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Aged out?”

  “When you get to eighteen, you’re on your own. I was lucky, I got a place at the local community college and shared an apartment with some friends.”

  “But you didn’t keep in touch with the family?”

  She shuddered. “No. It was a relief to get away from them.”

  His eyebrows knit together. “Why?”

  She looked out at the lake for a few minutes before she could continue. “Because the father, the …” Seeing the look on his face, it was obvious that he knew what she was about to say. “He was a big guy. A real man’s man. You know?”

  Diego nodded grimly. “I think I do.”

  She shrugged. “It started not long after I first went to them. He told me it was just how things worked. That I needed to show him how grateful I was.” She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m over it. I’ve dealt with it. I went through years of therapy.” She gave him a smile that she knew wouldn’t convince him of anything. “I’m healed. I’m well-adjusted. I survived, and I moved on.”

  He tugged on her hand and jerked his head for her to come to him. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to go to him and to sit in his lap, to let him close his arms around her and hold her close to his chest.

  It surprised her to feel tears on her face. She hadn’t cried over it in years. It truly was behind her.

  He tucked his fingers under her chin and made her look up at him. It blew her away to see tears rolling down his cheeks, too.

  “It breaks my heart, Izzy.”

  She shook her head. “No. It is what it is. Please, whatever you do, don’t go feeling sorry for me. That’d kill what we have faster than anything.”

  He brushed his sleeve over his eyes and nodded. “Okay. I can understand that. You don’t need my pity. You deserve my respect and my admiration … and you have them.” He planted a kiss on her lips. “And you have my heart and my love.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her wet cheek against his. “And just so you know for sure, you have mine, too.”

  He nodded. “But I’m the last guy you wanted to fall for?”

  “Yup.”

  “And now I understand why.”

  “I hope so.”

  His arms tightened around her. “You know I would never ask anything of you that you don’t want to give?”

  “Of course, I do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know that.”

  “And all of that is the reason that you avoided men like me, why you stuck with little boys you could push around?”

  She had to smile at that. “They weren’t exactly little boys.”

  “No, but you know what I mean. Younger and not so …” He smiled. “Like you used to think of me—full of themselves.”

  She laughed. “I still think that of you. You are full of yourself. I just don’t call you out on it so much now, because I understand that you have reason to be.”

  He chuckled at that. It was a low, deep sound that rumbled up through his chest. “I have even more reason to be now, too.”

  “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

  “Because the most beautiful woman I ever met told me today that she loves me.”

  She nodded.

  “And I love her, with all my heart and soul. And I plan to keep her safe and make her happy … until the day she dies.”

  She looked into his eyes, and he nodded.

  “I can’t take away what happened in the first part of your life, Izzy, but I intend to make sure that the rest of your life is happy and filled with love … if you’ll let me?”

  Tears started to roll down her cheeks again, and when he
kissed her, she could feel them mix with his.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Diego looked around the kitchen. He’d told Izzy the same as he’d told Zack and Maria: that this afternoon was no big deal. The two of them were coming over to see the house. That was all. Of course, this would be the first time that they got to see him and Izzy together, officially, as a couple. He didn’t do nervous, but he was eager for the afternoon to go well.

  Izzy had gone to meet up with Audrey this morning. He was glad that she had her friend here. And from what Ted had told him, Audrey and her kids were going to do everything that they could to persuade her to stay.

  He knew that they saw her as part of their family. They’d want her here with them even if it weren’t for him. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he thought about what she’d told him last night. It made his blood boil. He wanted to hunt the bastard down and kill him. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. And Izzy wouldn’t be happy if she knew that he felt that way. She was her own person. She’d told him because she trusted him. She wasn’t looking for his sympathy or his help in any way. She’d only told him because it helped him to understand why she was the way she was.

  He started when the oven timer dinged. He’d kept himself busy by preparing snacks for when Zack and Maria came. He pulled a tray of empanadas out and set them on the counter. Zack had always loved them.

  His phone rang, and he picked it up. He didn’t recognize the number and almost let it go to voicemail. He made a face and swiped to answer.

  “Hello?”

  “Diego?”

  He frowned, the voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it. “Yes?”

  “It’s me, Manny!”

  He laughed. “Manny?! How are you? Where are you? It’s great to hear from you.”

  “I’m doing well, thanks. I’m still in Sacramento, but I won’t be for much longer.”

  “No? Why’s that?”

  “I’m taking early retirement.”

  “What? You’re way too young to retire! What will you do with yourself?”

  Manny laughed. “I want to retire while I’m still young enough to do something with what’s left of my life. As a matter of fact, that’s what I’m calling you about.”