by Marie Force
She loved that she’d made him sweat. She loved the way he smelled and how his whiskers felt against her skin. And she suspected she was well on her way to loving all of him. So much for proceeding with caution, she thought. A deep breath shuddered through her at the possible implications that came with giving her heart to another man.
“Am I too heavy?”
“No.” She tightened her arms around him, wanting to keep him there for a while longer, to enjoy this never-to-be-repeated moment of sheer perfection. Perfection had been hard to come by for her—and for him, too, she suspected. And they would never again experience this first time together.
Chapter 17
Paul’s world had been tipped upside down in the course of a couple of hours. From the instant his mother’s hand had connected with Hope’s face and he’d known a second of pure, unmitigated rage that anyone, even his own mother, would dare to strike the woman he thought of as his, to their talk on the beach to making love to her, his life had been altered. It now included her—and Ethan—and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’d like to say for the record that I told you it would be amazing.”
“Yes, you did,” she said with a low chuckle that made him smile.
He raised his head so he could see her gorgeous face. “Was it amazing for you, too?”
“You have to ask?”
“Just making sure.”
“It was beyond amazing. It’s never been like that for me.”
He planted his elbows on either side of her head and used his thumbs to brush the hair off her face, mindful of the bruised area on her cheek that served as a painful reminder of what’d happened earlier. “How was it different?”
“You want, like, specifics?”
“Specifics would be good.” The heated blush that infused her face made him laugh. “Oh, this is going to be really good.”
“I can’t say it.”
“We’re naked in bed together. I’m still inside you. What can’t you say?”
Her face got even redder, and she looked away.
Her shyness turned him on, and he felt himself hardening inside her. “Come on,” he said, kissing her lightly. “Tell me.”
“You…you’re… You’re bigger.”
“Mmm, was that so hard?” he asked, pressing against her and making her gasp when she realized he was hard again. “What else?”
“You hit something inside me. I’ve never felt that before.”
He began to move, pressing deep into her, hoping to find that elusive spot again. “Your G-spot. It’s the magic.”
She looked up at him, her eyes liquid with emotion and desire. “You’re the magic.”
Could she be any sweeter? He was falling so hard and so fast for her. He’d never felt anything as good as this. Not even close. Wrapping his arms around her, he turned them so she was on top of him, the move surprising her. She faltered for a second before she recovered and found her groove.
Ahh, fuck, her groove is incredible, he thought as she moved on top of him. “That’s it, sweetheart. Take all of me.”
She moaned from the effort to accommodate him, her body shuddering and her breasts jiggling.
Paul reached up to cup them and pinched her nipples.
Her head fell back, and her lips parted.
He slid his right hand down to where they were joined to caress her clit as he pushed hard into her.
Her fingernails dug into his arm as she came with a loud shout that echoed through the room.
“Yes,” he whispered roughly. “Come for me, baby. I want to feel your tight heat all around me.” She was gorgeous as she let loose, and he vowed in that moment to do whatever it took to keep her right here with him, where she belonged, forever.
They collapsed into a sweaty pile on the bed, and the next thing Paul knew, he was awaking in a dark room to his ringing cell phone. What the hell time was it and how long had they been asleep? Disentangling himself from Hope, he reached for the phone on the bedside table.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me,” Alex said.
Paul ran a hand over his face and held back a yawn. “What’s up? Everything okay there?”
“Yeah, we’re all good. Ethan just finished his homework and went to the cabin to take a shower. Jenny is over there supervising.”
“Is he doing all right?”
“He’s been fine. He had a fun time with his friend Jonah this afternoon, and we made burgers for dinner, so he’s happy.”
“Thanks again for that, Al. Hope is enjoying the break.” As he said the words, she turned over and reached for him in her sleep. He put his arm around her and settled her into the crook of his neck.
“I have a little news that I didn’t want you to hear through the grapevine.”
“What’s that?” Paul asked, wondering what could’ve happened that counted as news in the one day he’d been away.
“Jenny and I got married this afternoon.”
“You-you what?”
“Remember the other day when I asked you if she seemed off?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“I figured out why. She and Toby were right about where we are now when he was killed. She’s been stressing out about something happening to me before our wedding, so I got the big idea this morning to surprise her by moving up the date. I’m so sorry it happened when you and Mom weren’t here, but the minute I had the idea, I knew I needed to do this for her right away. I hoped you’d understand.”
“I do. Of course I do. I can’t believe you’re actually married.”
“I know,” he said with a laugh. “It’s awesome.”
“What about the wedding?”
“It’s going on as planned. Today was a formality to ease her mind.”
“You did a really nice thing for her. She must’ve loved it.”
“Cried her eyes out. It was quite a day.”
“And you’ve got a seven-year-old underfoot on your wedding night.”
“He’s no trouble, and he goes to bed early. We’ll have plenty of time to celebrate later.”
“I’m so sorry I’m not home for that,” Paul said dryly.
Alex laughed. “We’ll miss you.”
“Don’t do anything to traumatize the kid for life, you hear?”
“We’ll see if we can control ourselves. Have you heard anything from the hospital about Mom?”
“Not yet.”
“How’d the drop-off go?”
“Not so great.” He told him about Marion slapping Hope.
“Jesus, Paul. She actually hit her?”
“Yep. And she hit her hard. Hope’s face is bruised, but she says she’s fine and it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“But still…”
“Yeah, I was a fucking wreck over it earlier, not to mention fucking furious.”
“I can imagine. I never told you why Jenny and I split for that short time when we were first together, did I?”
“No, you didn’t want to talk about it. What happened?”
“Mom basically implied—in front of Jenny’s parents the first time I met them—that Jenny was a whore for seducing me.”
“Oh my God. She did not.”
“Yes, she did, and that broke me, man. That she would say such a thing about the woman I love… I know it’s the disease, but you couldn’t tell me that then. I decided it would be easier to push Jenny away than it would be to subject her to that kind of shit.”
“And we all know how that went.”
Alex’s bark of laughter made Paul laugh, too. His brother had been a miserable son of a bitch until he reconciled with Jenny a couple of weeks later. “I’m only saying that I know how it feels to have Mom strike out at the woman I care about.”
“It was awful, Al. For the first time ever, I sort of hated her. And then I immediately felt like shit for thinking that, because God knows she can’t help it.”
“I get it. Believe me, I do. Are you guys having fun?”
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Paul slid his hand from Hope’s shoulder down her arm. “Yeah, we are.”
“What’re you doing?”
“None of your business.”
“Must be something good, then. Oh, here comes Ethan barreling through the door. Does Hope want to say good night to him?”
“I’m sure she does. Let me get her. Hang on.” Paul put the phone down and kissed her awake. “Hey, sweetheart, Ethan is on the phone to say good night to you.” He could tell by her dazed expression as she came awake that she too had lost all track of time.
Pushing the hair back from her face, she took the phone from him. “Hi, honey.”
Paul could hear Ethan’s excited voice coming through the phone as he relayed every detail of his day to his mother, who couldn’t get a word in. “And Alex took me to see the pumpkins, and he said just another couple of days until we start to harvest.”
It had been good of Alex to keep that promise to Ethan in light of what else had happened that day, Paul thought.
“Make sure you brush your teeth before bed,” Hope said.
“Duh, Mom. I already did. Jenny reminded me.”
“That’s good. You sleep tight, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Love you,” she said, but he was gone, handing the phone back to Alex with a clatter that Paul could hear, too. “I think he missed the part where I told him I love him.”
Alex relayed the message to Ethan. “He loves you, too.”
“Thanks again for watching him, Alex.”
“It’s been fun. He cracks us up.”
“That’s good to hear. I’ll give you back to Paul.” She handed him the phone.
“I’ll call the hospital,” Alex said, “and shoot you a text with any updates.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you tomorrow, and congrats again.”
“Thanks.”
Paul stashed the phone on the table and turned to put his arm around Hope. The feel of her soft skin against his made him forget all about the fact that he’d already had her twice. He already wanted her again.
“What’s with the congrats?”
“He and Jenny got married today.”
“They did what?”
Paul relayed the story Alex had told him.
“Oh my God,” she said, sniffling. “Poor Jenny, to be so worried. She sure hid it well. And Alex… That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Apparently, it went over well with her, too.”
“Of course it did. It was so thoughtful and romantic.”
“Two things Alex was never known for until she came along.”
“With the right inspiration, any guy can find his A game.”
“Is that right?”
“Uh-huh.”
He pressed his erection against her hip. “My A game is back.”
She dissolved into laughter. “Your A game is going to need to feed me before round three.” Her laughter died on her lips all of a sudden.
“What?” he asked.
“I just realized they’re taking care of Ethan on their wedding night!”
“They don’t mind. Alex said they’ll have plenty of time to celebrate after he goes to bed, and I made him promise they won’t traumatize him for life—and trust me, they’re capable.”
“Thank you for thinking of that,” she said with a giggle that warmed his heart. He loved to hear her laugh. “So, about dinner…”
“You want to go out or order in?”
“Is ordering in an option?”
“Let me check.” He reached for his phone and did a search for delivery places in Yarmouth. “We’re in luck. There’s a pizza place that delivers. But I can do better if you want to go out.”
“That would require showering and blow-drying and makeup and getting out of bed.” Her belly let out a loud growl that made them both laugh. “And pizza sounds great.”
“What do you like on it?”
“Veggie?”
“Got it.” He called in the order for a large half-veggie, half-meat-lover and once again stashed his phone on the bedside table.
“Meat-lover, huh?”
“Oh yeah.” He beat his chest dramatically. “Me man. Me need meat. Lots of meat so I have lots of stamina for my woman.”
“Easy, Tarzan. You might hurt yourself.”
He glanced a fingertip over the bruise on her face. “Speaking of hurting, you’re sure this doesn’t hurt?”
“Positive.”
His phone chimed with a text from Alex. Nothing yet from the hospital. They gave her something to help her sleep. They’ll call tomorrow with more.
Okay, thanks for checking.
No prob.
Paul showed Hope the texts so she’d be up to speed, too.
“I’m glad she’s getting some rest,” she said. “She’s got to be worn out from the stress of the day.”
“You keep saying you’re fine and that your face doesn’t hurt, but I can’t stop thinking about her hitting you.” He sighed deeply. “I’m so sorry that happened. I wish you could’ve known her before. You’d never believe she’s the same person.”
“I feel like I do know her from what you and Alex have told me. And there’s no need to be sorry. I know what happened today had nothing to do with Marion Martinez and everything to do with an awful illness.”
“How do you separate it like that?”
“Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot more experience with this disease than you have, and as much as I care about Marion, she’s not my mother, so I’m not as emotionally invested as you are.” She ran her hand over his chest. “Although I’m becoming more invested all the time.”
He raised a brow. “Is that so?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I’ve gone from kissing my boss to sleeping with him. I’d say that counts as invested.”
“You forgot about having sex with him.”
“Um, no, I didn’t. That falls under sleeping.”
“Sex is very different from sleeping. Whole other category, in fact.”
“Who says?”
“I say.” He kissed her, lingering over the sweet taste of her lips. “Hold that thought.” Paul got up and put on his T-shirt and shorts, leaving the button undone so he could get them off again faster when he returned. He grabbed his wallet and went to the lobby to get the pizza, thinking about Hope and what’d transpired between them during this mostly magnificent day.
If only he could stop thinking about his mother hitting her. At the lobby bar, he inquired about purchasing a bottle of wine and was tucking his credit card back in his wallet when the pizza delivery guy came in. He returned to their room with the wine and pizza.
“Food for my hungry lady.”
“It’s about time,” she said with a teasing grin.
He loved this playful, relaxed side of her. He wondered if he would see more of that when they got home. They ate the pizza in bed right out of the box and drank the wine from plastic cups the hotel had provided.
“This is better than anything we could’ve gotten in a restaurant.”
“I doubt that, but there’s something to be said for the view.” He focused intently on the tops of her breasts, which were peeking out over the sheet.
“My view could be a little better.” She tugged at his T-shirt. “I’m just saying…”
After removing his shirt, he refilled their glasses. “I love you like this.” He realized what he’d said about one second after the words left his mouth. But he didn’t regret saying it.
She swallowed her bite of pizza and a sip of wine. “Like what?”
“Happy, relaxed, funny.” His fingertip made a path from the base of her throat over her collarbone and down to the valley between her breasts.
“I haven’t been any of those things in a long time. Don’t get me wrong—I’m happy every minute I get to spend with Ethan. He’s the best thing to ever happen to me. But I’ve missed having someone special in my life. I didn’t realize
how much I’d missed it until very recently.”
“What happened very recently?” he asked.
She flattened her hand over his chest. “You happened.”
He covered her hand and linked their fingers. “Is this a good thing?”
“I think so.”
“You’re not sure?”
“I want to be sure, but I’m wired differently than I used to be. I’m skeptical and overly cautious. I haven’t been as cautious with you as I usually am.”
Paul rested their joined hands over his heart, hoping to quell the ache that settled there on her behalf. “I wish I’d met you first, before you were skeptical.”
“I do, too. But I believe I was meant to be with Carl so I could have Ethan. That was the whole point of everything I went through.”
“That’s a great way to look at it.”
“That’s the only way I can bear to think about it.” She looked up at him. “I’m going to try my best not to ruin a very nice thing by being skeptical and jaded.”
He took her cup and put it next to his on the table. Then he snuggled in close to her, cupping her cheek to kiss her. “And I’ll do my best not to let you.”
Chapter 18
“Is he asleep?” Jenny asked Alex when he came into their bedroom and started removing his clothes. If she lived forever, she’d never grow tired of the sight of his sexy, muscular body. And after what he’d done for her today, she loved him even more than she had this morning, which she wouldn’t have thought possible.
“Out like a light,” Alex said. “He was so excited to be sleeping in Paul’s room. I didn’t think he’d ever go to sleep.” He took a closer look at her, his eyes bugging adorably. “What in the name of hell are you wearing?”
“Oh, this old thing?” She toyed with the bodice of the sexy silk gown she’d intended to save for their honeymoon. She’d broken it out early to reward him for being the most amazing husband in the history of the world. After what he’d done for her today, he deserved nothing less. She loved watching him harden before her eyes as he wrestled his way out of his clothes.
Then he was upon her, pulling the covers back for a closer look at the gown she’d bought at Tiffany’s shop.
“Someone’s been keeping secrets,” he said, running his hand over the silky baby-doll nightgown that ended at mid-thigh.