A Game of Hearts
Page 9
I turned, hugging Mateo. It was what he’d always wanted. His own shop.
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Zori,” he said into my neck as I hugged him harder.
“Can you two lovebirds see your way clear to maybe making it back over to the picnic area?”
“Yea, Mac,” Mateo said, laughing.
I was getting married, and I was excited. I couldn’t help but think that, at any moment, I would wake up back in my parents’ house and this would be some weird dream. But it wasn’t a dream. It was really happening.
Portia and Patricia chatted quietly as the three of us made our way back to the picnic area.
“You guys were gone an awfully long time,” Patricia said quietly.
“Yeah, had to get my girl alone so I could pop the question.” Mateo grinned as he came to stand behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“You didn’t pop anything.”
“Oh, yes I did.”
“How? I don’t even—” Before I could finish the statement, he slid a rose gold ring with a chocolate diamond on my finger. It was beautiful and perfect.
“What? You two are getting married?” Portia asked, dumbfounded.
Where had they found this chick?
Portia stood and walked over to eye my ring, gasping as she pulled my hand closer to her face. “Oh my God, is that a Le Vian? It is. Oh. Oh geez.” She scowled up at me and then at Mateo. I could see the dollar signs adding up in her head. Not even a week ago, I was Portia. Sizing up what I could gain instead of what was good for me. Poor girl. I hoped she figured it out. If she didn’t, she would lead a very stale and depressing life.
“Congrats. I see you two finally won the other’s heart,” Patricia said sincerely.
“I’m so confused,” Portia interrupted again.
“Never had a doubt. Zori has been mine for a long time. It just took her a while to figure out that the hand she’d been dealt was the best hand in the real game of hearts.”
Epilogue
5 Years later
“Give me one more, baby,” Mateo said into my neck as he slid into me harder. “Damn.” His voice was a hot rush of air as he pulled himself up to peer down at me. We moved in tandem, trying to reach that epic moment when both our bodies were so exhausted from our lovemaking that we couldn’t do anything but release our hold on each other.
“Come on, beautiful, give it up.” Mateo leaned his head down and licked a path from my collarbone to my shoulder. I was strung tight. Too tight. My body felt like it would unravel at any second, never to be reconstructed. The bed frame shook, and I tried to hold out just a little bit longer, but he had worked his hand in between our joined bodies. The minute his hand touched me, my eyes rolled back in my head as I clamped down on his length. He groaned against my skin as the first heated rush of my orgasm claimed me. Heat flooded my face, and I swore that every single part of my body that had sensation lit up with a blinding pleasure that overwhelmed me.
It was always like this.
Every. Single. Time.
Mateo was a god in the bedroom.
As my body came back to its senses, I curled my fingers around the nape of his neck and tugged him up to my lips. He was still gliding in and out of me. My body was sated, but my mind was far from relaxed as I locked our lips together in a heated kiss. Mateo’s hands explored my body, and everywhere he touched, I trembled. I’d already had my release, but he built me back up, directing my body with his hands, coaxing me into another frenzy.
I tore my mouth from his.
“I can’t,” I panted against his neck.
“You can, baby, just one more.”
“You said that not even five minutes ago.”
He chuckled against my skin. “I lied.”
Then he picked up the pace, driving me deeper and deeper into the mattress with every thrust of his hips. I thrashed my head as pleasure flooded me once more. He drove me wild.
His face was closer to mine.
“Mateo, love. Please.”
“Please, what,” he rasped against my lips, swallowing my cries of pleasure as he pulled out slowly and held himself there just at the opening of the very part of me that needed him most. My eyes opened to see him staring down at me. He always watched me this way, even when we weren’t making love. His brilliant, golden eyes gazed at me with such adoration, I knew without a doubt that this was the man for me.
“I need more. Harder.”
I opened my legs wider, taking him in. All I had to offer was his, and as he crushed his mouth to mine, swallowing my cries, I held on tightly. My nails clawed at his back and his shoulders as he plunged back in and slowly withdrew from my gripping sex, over and over again until we were both panting, trying to catch our breath, something neither of us could do because we couldn’t stop tasting the other’s lips.
He picked up the pace again, and with each thrust, the frame of the bed shook harder and became louder until even the sound of our lovemaking was reduced by the sound of the bed. One moment bled into another, and when all was said and done, we both cried out.
I couldn’t speak, too exhausted to form a coherent thought. I could only bask in the aftermath of our passionate coupling.
“You think we should join Mac and the others?” Mateo asked. He was out of breath, and I didn’t see how we could join anyone for anything.
“No, I don’t want to leave the room.”
“We have to. If not, Paige and Mac might kill each other.”
“Let them,” I said, rolling onto my side and pulling the sheet up over my body.
A warm hand glided down my side, and I felt a kiss on my bare shoulder. I moaned because, just like that, my body was ready again.
“Up, shower, and then we’re going to have dinner with friends.”
Mateo and I had been married for four beautiful years. Each year on the anniversary of our engagement, we went back to Indulgences. Kenderly, Patricia, and Javier had become our extended family. Even the ever-elusive Mr. Aragon greeted us with a genuine smile when we returned. We were back again, of course, and everyone was out on the beach. This time, we’d brought Paige and Mac as guests, hoping that they would make a love connection the same way Mateo and I had.
I didn’t regret my time here. It was here that I’d found what I was searching for. It was here that I’d played the game of hearts. And won.
Welcome to Indulgences Resorts, A Reader’s Fantasy Paradise
Check out the other amazing stories in the series here: http://www.indulgencesresorts.com/fantasy-page.html
Other Titles by the Author:
Shadow Unit Series Paranormal Romance
Enslaved in Shadows Book
Burned in Shadows Book
Bonded in Shadows Novella
Redeemed in Shadows
Awakened in Shadows
The Black Prince Coming Soon 2017
Romantic Tale: Bedtime Stories Series Multi-Genre Romance
Season 1
Season 2
Red Hawk Mercenary Group Series
Ghost Free on Wattpad
New Earth Series Sci-Fi Erotic Romance
The Genesis Project
Origins Coming Soon
Arctic Wolves Series Paranormal Romance
Arctic Bound
The Reaping
Dire Cravings Coming 2017
Southern Contemporary Romance
A Slow Burn
Give and Take
Until Her
New Beginnings Coming 2017
V Vices Series
Diamond: Beyond the Red Door
About The Author
Tigris is the Amazon #1 Bestselling Author of Arctic Bound, book 1 in her Arctic Wolves Series and Give and Take, her Southern Contemporary series, Stories from Beauville. She’s a military brat who's done her fair share of travelling, thanks to her Army father. She's married to the infamous LL and has three amazing boys. She currently resides in Houston and is actively se
eking a book-buddy for the end of the world.
You can find Tigris on Twitter @Tigris_Eden, Facebook: facebook.com/TigrisEdenAuthor and at her website: AuthorTigrisEden.com