“Mmm-hmm,” he hummed against my neck. “That means opening weekend is over. I talked to James and convinced him you needed some time off. You’ve been working too hard lately. I thought we could pack a lunch and head to the other end of the island. Would you believe I’ve never been in the ocean?”
I pressed my hands to his chest, leaning back so I could look up into his ice-blue eyes. “How’s that even possible? You’ve been here a week and a half, and you grew up on the coast.”
“No, I grew up within driving distance of the beach, but when I was a kid, there was never time for us to get away for the weekend. Dad was always busy trying to make something of his life, which meant I had a lot of time in front of the TV,” he clarified. The more Dane shared about his childhood, the more my heart ached for him. While I wouldn’t go back in time and wish my own life had been different, I did wish that for Dane. Maybe we wouldn’t have met if he hadn’t been through everything he had, but maybe we’d have met sooner too. Maybe he wouldn’t be so guarded and jaded. Maybe we’d be wrapped up in one another in bed instead of cautiously avoiding the chemistry I knew damn well we both felt.
I slid my hands across his neatly trimmed beard, cupping his cheeks. If Dane wasn’t going to make the first move, I would. Kissing him required me to pull his face down to my level, since I couldn’t reach even on tiptoes, but Dane offered little resistance. I closed my eyes seconds before our lips met, deeply inhaling the scent of him. I loved that he didn’t jump into the shower immediately upon waking; there was something insanely erotic about his natural scent, unmasked by bodywash or cologne. I sucked Dane’s lower lip into my mouth, desperate to taste him. His lips parted, allowing me entrance. As our tongues tangled, his hands slid around my waist, and the tips of his fingers dipped beneath the waistband of my shorts.
No way was I letting him pull back now. I arched forward, pressing my erection against his thigh. I needed this. Needed him. And for once in my life, I was going to take it. Moving meant breaking the kiss, something I couldn’t have been paid enough to do, so it appeared our first time was going to be right here. Hopefully he would eventually bend my ass over the counter. I reached between our bodies, shoved my hand down the front of his sleep pants, and curled my fingers around his dick. He groaned as he thrust into my grip. He was thick and long, and I couldn’t wait to feel him filling me. I dropped to my knees, wincing as I made contact with the granite tiles, and dragged his pants down until they pooled at his feet.
“So sexy,” I praised him, running my hands down his solid, hairy thighs as I sucked the head of his dick into my mouth. My tongue flicked around the crown, paying extra attention to the places that made him cry out in ecstasy. He twisted his fingers into my hair but never shoved his cock deeper than I was ready to take. Never before had I been with someone who showed such restraint. I released him long enough to suck openmouthed kisses along the entire length of his shaft. “Want to lay you down and taste every inch of you.”
Dane growled, long and low, before hitching a hand in my armpit and pulling me off the floor. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
I practically jogged along behind him, not breaking the spell by reminding him my legs were shorter than his, and stopped short when we entered the bedroom. Dane turned to face me and lifted me into his arms. I hooked my ankles behind his back, grinding against his stomach as we continued making out. His cock bounced against my ass. It wasn’t close enough. He’d better have supplies stashed somewhere, because I was going to lose my mind if we got cockblocked at this stage.
I shrieked when Dane tossed me onto the bed, pulled down my shorts, then spread my legs wide as he took my cock all the way into his throat. He shifted slightly, giving himself room to slide one thick finger down my taint until it pressed at my entrance. He never breached me, only gave me a hint of things to come.
“Nightstand,” he mumbled around the head of my dick. I twisted my body the best I could and caught the drawer pull with one finger. When I found a bottle of lube and unopened box of condoms, I let out a loud sigh. Not only was I grateful that he was prepared, but it also confirmed that he wanted this as much as I did. I placed the supplies in his hand and flopped back as Dane swirled his tongue over the head of my cock while he fumbled around trying to open the box. He tossed one condom on the bed next to me and the cap on the lube snicked open. I tensed as cold gel made contact with my skin, moaned as he pressed a finger into my ass at an agonizingly slow pace. When I tried scooting down to force him deeper into my body, a broad forearm pressed down against my stomach.
“No rush,” he reminded me. “Nowhere to be today.”
“Except the beach,” I panted. How I could even think about leaving this bedroom was beyond me, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk for a week if we didn’t take a break at some point. Hell, just having him inside me once might be enough to make me walk with a noticeable just-fucked gait for a few days.
“We’ll see.” He smirked against my thigh before sucking a nut into his mouth. No one had done that before. Why hadn’t anyone done this to me in the past? My previous boyfriends were obviously inept at the art of lovemaking, because holy shit! My hips bucked off the bed, and precum seeped from my cock. I wasn’t going to last another minute with the way Dane managed to work so many erogenous zones simultaneously. “Like that?”
I fisted his hair in my hands, holding him away from my dick. “Need… a minute… too… close….”
My ass clenched, mourning the loss of his finger as Dane shifted me on the bed so we could lie facing one another.
“You’re not at all what I expected,” he whispered, dropping a tender kiss to the tip of my nose. “You sure you’re okay if I fuck you?”
“More than,” I promised him, trailing my fingers through the coarse hair of his chest. He hissed when the tip of a finger grazed over his nipple. Arched his back off the bed when I flicked it with my nail. I couldn’t resist parroting his words from earlier. “Like that?”
“You know I do,” he responded through gritted teeth. The bed jostled as Dane dug around, trying to find the condom. I reached for the lube and started fucking myself so we wouldn’t waste a single second once he suited up. Dane froze when he realized what I was doing. “That’s so fucking sexy. If I didn’t need you so much, I’d jack you while you fingered your ass until you came.”
“Maybe next time,” I promised.
His gaze never left my ass as he rolled the latex down his length. Instead of handing him the lube when he asked for it, I filled my hand and jerked him with slow, measured movements. With every second that ticked by, my anxiety grew. I wanted this, but the weight of the cock in my hand also terrified me. Dane was huge. Everywhere. And I couldn’t remember how long it’d been since I’d been with anyone; probably late last fall.
Yeah, I was definitely going to be walking funny later. “I’m ready. Just… go slow.”
“Don’t worry.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you.”
Then don’t ever leave. I was saved from the humiliation of voicing that fear out loud when Dane shifted on top of me, bracing his weight on his forearm. He lifted my leg to rest on his other arm as he reached down to guide himself to my entrance. I hissed at the first aching stretch, arched my back as he continued easing into my body. Let out the breath I’d been holding when, finally, his hips pressed against my ass.
“You good?”
I nodded, unable to form words.
Dane bent down to kiss me passionately while my body got used to the intrusion. At fucking last, Dane began to move. My body was overwhelmed with sensations: the taste of his tongue in my mouth, the sound of flesh slapping flesh as he fucked deeper into me, his fingers teasing the strands of my hair on the pillow. All I could do was close my eyes and savor every blessed moment.
“Look at me, Brook. Want to… see… those eyes….”
I struggled to comply. When I looked up at Dane, I smiled. The way he watched me,
licking his lips as he appraised the body beneath him… cherished was the only word to describe how I felt. Dane’s pace quickened, growing frantic as he reached between our bodies, taking my cock in hand, stroking in time with his thrusts. I bucked my hips off the bed, digging my nails into Dane’s arms as he drilled me.
“Not. Gonna. Last.” Each word was cut short by my inability to breathe while Dane had me folded in half, but I wasn’t about to complain. The angle was just right so his dick slid across my prostate without drilling it. “So good, Dane. Fuck. Just… like… that.”
Dane crushed his lips to mine, trapping my dick between us. The abrasion of his treasure trail was mind-numbingly erotic. Before long, I planted my feet on the bed next to his legs, arched my back, and shouted as I came.
“Goddammit, Brook,” Dane growled. “Fuckfuckfuckfuckuck.” He lost any sense of rhythm as he pounded into me, throwing his head back as he came. His dick throbbed through the aftershocks, until finally, he flopped onto the bed next to me, one heavy arm pinning me to the bed. “Need sleep after that.”
I lifted his arm and tried to slide out from under him, but Dane held me tight. “I’m going to finish making you coffee.”
He released me, cracking one eye open to look at me as he trailed a finger through the cum drying on my stomach. My dick twitched as he brought that finger to his lips and sucked it clean. “Definitely not what I expected. Sex and coffee is one hell of a way to wake up in the morning.”
Chapter 9
(Dane)
I SNUCK out of the suite early this morning, Brook still curled deep beneath the quilt in my bed. Today was the day. James and I were going to lunch to discuss what we wanted to do with the inn. In my mind the only option was to keep the business in the family. While I’d never met my grandfather, I had to believe this was important to him if he’d entrusted me with its future.
My sense of loyalty warred with twenty-five years of bitterness. I wanted to say fuck it, demand that we sell the place, and walk away out of spite, but by all accounts, my grandfather was a good man who was cowed by a controlling woman who came from a family that cared more about appearances than love. Could I really be the one to destroy the one thing he’d built for himself? That was the question I needed to answer before meeting with James.
Long after Brook had fallen asleep, I’d tossed and turned in the bed. Watching him. Imagining what it’d be like to quit my job, stop traveling, and have this view every night. Working next to him, taking my grandfather’s legacy and transforming it into our own. It was a great fantasy, but pulling that lever would require me to face two changes I had avoided at all costs: I’d have to admit I was tired of being alone, and I’d lose the anonymous shield created by city living.
I’d already learned Sunset Beach was the type of town where you couldn’t hide. Nearly every day a few locals trickled in to meet Phillip Montgomery’s long-lost grandson. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t choke me up to hear their stories about me. To hear what they knew about Dad and me, not from the papers, but from my grandfather. Originally, I’d been nervous about Dad relocating to someplace so quaint upon his release from prison, but the more I experienced life in this little town, the more I got the feeling my grandfather had hoped to have us back here. Whether or not he knew it’d be after his death, we’d never know. And that was the biggest tragedy of all: my dad had spent my whole life trying to prove himself, prove his worth, prove he hadn’t thrown his life away by staying with my egg donor, and now, he would never gain the approval of the man who mattered most. Yes, Sunset Beach would be a good place for Dad, but that didn’t mean I’d thrive here too.
These thoughts raced through my mind as the ocean washed over my bare feet in the early morning light. It felt wrong, walking out to the mailbox without Brook by my side, but this was a decision I needed to make without anyone’s influence. As I debated the pros and cons of uprooting my entire life, of altering my entire worldview, I couldn’t have Brook interrupting me, wanting to read notes from other visitors. Couldn’t look up and see his crystalline eyes watching me. Couldn’t hear him chuckling to himself when he was amused. Whether I stayed or left, I needed some sort of assurance I was doing it for me and not because the thought of breaking Brook’s heart when I left was too much to bear. Sure, he said he understood this was likely a passing fling, but whenever he looked at me, I felt like I mattered. Like he’d miss me when I left.
It was still too dark to read when I reached the mailbox, so I settled onto the dune, stretched my legs out in front of me with my toes buried in sand so soft it reminded me of powdered sugar, and closed my eyes. Although I’d come out here to run through every possible scenario regarding the fate of the inn, I worked to clear my head.
Brook was a huge fan of meditation and told me the only way to work through any problem was to put it out of your mind. Once the thoughts quieted, only then could a person find the answers they needed. It didn’t work. I couldn’t ease the weight on my shoulders. Too many people were counting on me. Dad wanted me close to him. James seemed eager to sell. Brook was getting closer to me. Work had training projects lined up for me for the next six months. I had a lease back in New York. I liked my life there.
But I was growing to love the peace of Sunset Beach too. Life in New York was familiar. Comfortable. Anonymous. Safe. The beach offered everything I’d only recently come to admit I wanted. Family. Roots. Love.
As soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, I opened the mailbox in case the answer to my problems was right in front of me. Unlike Brook, who scanned page after page, carefully selecting the notes he read, I flipped to a random page, relying on the universe to provide some sort of guidance.
“Life isn’t about waiting for the rain to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
I wish I could live at the beach forever.
To whoever reads this, I hope you live life to the fullest and live every second as if your last.
Love,
Caroline
“Live every second as if your last.” I reread that line countless times. I did that, but perhaps in the wrong way. I lived as if everything could be stolen away from me at any moment because I’d learned from a young age that the people who matter never stayed around. But maybe fucked-up logic was why I felt alone even in a room full of people. I dug deep into the back of the mailbox in search of a pen. The first time Brook brought me out here, I thought the idea of a mailbox where you could send messages to a kindred spirit was nothing more than a tourist trap, but there was something I needed to say to no one in particular.
By the time I finished putting my thoughts onto paper, the sun was fully above the horizon and the tide had started going out. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but that was okay. As Brook put it, I was living on beach time. I could get used to not living and dying by the clock. I replaced the notebook where I’d found it and turned back to the ocean. Closing my eyes, I took in the sound of the waves a moment longer before beginning the walk back to the inn.
Brook was still sound asleep when I peeked into the bedroom I’d come to think of as ours. He snuffled as he reached out to my side of the bed, grumbling something incoherent when his hand found nothing but air. I toed out of my sandals and ducked into the bathroom to rinse my feet. Another lesson I’d learned quickly: never assume you could brush all the sand off your skin. Few things were more uncomfortable than sleeping in a sandy bed. When I returned to the bedroom, ready to slip in next to Brook and get a few hours of peaceful rest, his eyes were wide open.
“I was starting to think I’d scared you off last night.” He held up the sheet in invitation. I rolled so my back was to his chest and scooted closer, needing to feel his body pressed against mine. Yes, the night had been particularly intense, but I wanted to find a way to prove to Brook nothing he did would send me running. Even if I left Sunset Beach, it wouldn’t be because of him. Even if we were only a temporary relief for one another, he would always hold a place in my heart. Br
ook was the man who’d taught me how to love, who made me want to live. That was a gift I’d cherish always.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I think it is.” I let out a deep, cleansing breath, at peace with the decision I’d made.
HOURS LATER Brook was behind the desk poring over the upcoming weekend’s bookings. He was meticulous, dedicated to making sure everyone who visited Bird Island Inn had an experience tailored to their needs. James thought it was a waste of time that could be spent trying to build the clientele through social media or seeking out other advertising opportunities, but as far as I was concerned, Brook was a genius. The care he took would pay out far greater than any social media campaign. A family that didn’t have to hunt down forgotten sand toys would appreciate knowing there were some stashed behind the front desk. The couple celebrating their anniversary would tell their friends how Brook made sure to have champagne and dessert delivered to the back deck for them at sunset. Brook was trying to grow the inn through organic means. The flip side was any gaffe on our part also held the potential to bring us down.
While I waited for James to arrive, I snuck behind the desk and wrapped my arms around Brook’s waist as I rested my chin on the top of his head. I’d never been into shorter guys, but I was beginning to see the advantages. All it took was a slight turn of my head and I was able to kiss Brook’s ear, whisper everything I wanted to do to him tonight when he inevitably showed up at my door again.
He squirmed to get out of my grasp, which only made me hold him tighter. “Dane, stop. What if someone comes into the lobby?”
“Everyone who’s checked in is out for the day, and there’s only one family checking in tonight,” I pointed out. I couldn’t be certain no one would interrupt us, but it was a calculated risk I was willing to make. With fewer than two dozen rooms, it was relatively easy to keep tabs on who was coming and going at any time. And most of the guests had been in the breakfast room that morning, talking about their plans for the day. It wasn’t my fault Brook turned me into this tactile beast. “I wish I didn’t have to go to lunch with James. I’d much rather pack a bag and go out to the island with you. I hate how busy it is on the weekends now. I want that to be our spot again.”
His Kindred Spirit Page 6