Never Let Go (The Storm Inside #4)

by Alexis Anne

  And being here with her family I had to wonder if there was always something off about her or if they did something to put her on the path to my father. Were they the reason she chose an abusive asshole to dedicate her life to, or was she something they had no control over?

  Did they punish her for wanting a cookie?

  Most of the time I had no idea what I was doing as a dad. I’d been lucky that Eve had been so patient and shown me the way. Sometimes I muddled my way through, other times I just followed her lead. But what I learned from the cookie was to ignore the training of my parents and follow my first instincts—the ones that told me to buy my sweet daughter a bakery.

  I might not always know what I was doing, but I knew how to love…and that love was always the right answer.

  6

  EVE

  Morning was calling. There was a slight change in the chill to the air and the ever present and unconscious nudge of Jake’s cock against my naked sex. The girls had slept through the night so Jake had slept wrapped around me.

  And now his body was at attention even if he wasn’t aware of it.

  I wiggled my hips, hoping to wake him with a warm, wet surprise, but I was the one who got the surprise instead.

  “Morning, darlin’,” he rumbled, shockingly wide-awake. His hand drifted up my thigh and wrapped around my hip, holding me still so he could push inside me.

  I swallowed down a moan and pushed back, taking more of him inside. “How long have you been awake?”

  He pushed deeper. Not thrusting exactly—more like a slow seductive slide home. “Long enough to hear you murmur my name.” Our bodies locked together and he stilled. “Long enough to study the curve of your shoulder and plan exactly where to kiss you first.” He nuzzled into the crook of my neck and placed a kiss, then swirled his tongue over the exact same spot.

  “Good. Morning,” I sighed.

  Then he reached around and found my clit, giving it a lazy morning massage, before working his way north to my breasts. He kept his cock seated deep as he ran his fingers over my nipples, waking them from their satisfied slumber, until they were tingling and roaring for another round of intense sex.

  “Oh yes,” he groaned as my sex clenched around his girth. “Baby…”

  “Yes, baby?” I ground my hips back against his, trying for that little bit extra.

  Instead, Jake slid his hand back south and found my clit again. He rubbed slow, firm circles and whispered his dirty thoughts in my ear as he began to make long thrusts in and out.

  In and out.

  Driving me straight toward a blinding morning orgasm. Then he rolled me onto my stomach and drove himself deep and hard until he found his own, collapsing on top of me just as we heard the pitter patter of two sets of little feet.

  “They have radar,” Jake hissed in my ear.

  “At least you got to finish this time.” Last week he’d just rolled me to my stomach when they wandered in. We’d had to stop—of course—and I’d finished him off in the shower, but that was an hour and a breakfast later.

  This was much more satisfying.

  “Good morning, girls,” I cooed in my very best mom-voice. “Can you find your iPads and start a show while we get you some milks?” We were mostly covered in what seemed like endless folds of fluffy comforter and the girls could barely see up to the bed, let alone what exact position we were in.

  “I got it Momma!” Sam said.

  A minute later we were greeted by the comforting opening notes of The Backyardigans.

  Jake nipped my earlobe. “That was your fault.”

  “How was that my fault?” I laughed, rolling him off of me and pulling his oversized t-shirt between my legs.

  “You seduced me with your wiggling hips and sexy shoulders.” He hopped out of bed, yanking his boxer briefs over his softening erection.

  “I believe you have that backwards, Mr. Spencer. You seduced me with your carefully placed kiss and insistent hard-on.”

  He twisted his lips and looked up as if he were genuinely debating the merits of each argument. “While you do have an excellent point, Mrs. Spencer, I’m afraid I must rule in my own favor. This morning romp is entirely your fault. I can in no way be held responsible for making love to you when you love me so completely.”

  I threw a pillow at him. He was sweet. Too sweet.

  “Give the girls their milks,” I said. “I need to grab some underwear and a robe and get a shower.”

  He snagged me as I escaped the bed, kissing me deep. “Enjoy your shower.”

  Thirty minutes later the Spencer family was clean and dressed for our first family breakfast with the McKinley clan. Everyone had steered far and wide of us yesterday, giving us a chance to get our feet under us and meet the Senator, but today we were fair game. I was ready and I was pretty sure Jake was, too. He’d been stressed last night, but this morning he was happy. Free.

  Breakfast was served on the back patio on two long wood tables. A buffet was covered in every kind of breakfast food imaginable. Coffee, juice, and water were scattered along the tables, but we didn’t get to enjoy any of it. Not yet. The Senator snagged us before we could reach the food.

  “Jake! Eve!” he bellowed.

  Every head turned our way and I plastered on a smile. Showtime.

  Everything moved in slow motion so I had more than enough time to glance at each face around the tables. Young and old, families appeared to be clustered together. I recognized several faces, while others were completely new.

  Jake squeezed my hand and I squeezed back, then kissed him on the cheek for luck. “We’ve got your back.”

  He gave me a nod, then greeted the Senator. “Good morning. Would you like to meet your great granddaughters?”

  Sam was tucked into my side, but she stepped out confidently to shake his hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” My heart flip-flopped. She was turning into such a wonderful young lady.

  The Senator was charmed. “And it is my great pleasure to meet you, my great granddaughter.”

  Jake turned his hip. “And this is Max, short for Mackenzie.” Max beamed up at the Senator, but clutched at Jake’s shirt like it was a life raft.

  “An honor to meet you, Mackenzie.”

  Max scrunched up her nose. “Max.”

  The Senator touched his chest. “Of course. Max it is.”

  “It’s a baseball family thing,” I explained. “Nicknames are almost more important than given names.” What I couldn’t fully explain was my love of masculine names for girls. Maybe it was because my sisters and I had such obviously girly names while growing up around so many men. Maybe I subconsciously wanted to flip that script and give my girls a new twist on another generation of baseball.

  Or maybe I just really liked the names Sam and Max. Jake had too. Somehow we’d both come to the conclusion Max needed to be named Max without even speaking to each other about it. Just one morning at my parent’s house at breakfast, my mom asked what names we were each thinking. I blushed and said Max. Jake’s jaw fell open. He’d been thinking the same thing.

  So she was Max from that moment on.

  From there the Senator escorted us around the tables, allowing us a chance to grab croissants to munch as we walked. I was starving by the time we got to sit and eat.

  “The waffles are divine, but please don’t choke on them,” a beautiful older woman murmured as she slid into the seat beside me. I hadn’t met her during our rounds, but there was something familiar about her.

  “I’m so hungry,” I sighed as I shoved a giant forkful of waffle into my mouth.

  She smiled as if she understood exactly what I meant. “Eat. Let the food get into your blood stream. This,” she waved around the table,” won’t end until you leave for the airport.”

  I shrugged and swallowed another enormous bite. “I’m used to large groups of crazy.” To a little girl, a raucous group of ballplayers was as strange as it could get. The McKinley’s were stiff and restrained by comparison,
but not in any way difficult to be around.

  The woman smiled. “I know. I’m sure you’re more than prepared for this. But just to warn you, this group is its own brand of weird.”

  I glanced over the woman as I continued to inhale my waffles. Her chin-length hair was almost golden, but very much white as well. Her skin was radiant and her eyes a bright blue. She was dressed impeccably, but casually, in a white shirt with a deep blue cardigan and a matching skirt. She was the picture of casual elegance for an outdoor breakfast on a patio.

  And I had no idea who she was.

  “Grandmother, you made it,” Susan, one of the cousins we’d just met, stopped and dropped a kiss on the woman’s cheek.

  I choked on my waffle. No wonder she looked familiar. Aside from having seen her on television over the years, she was in nearly every picture in the house. She was Lydia Rose McKinley, Jake’s grandmother.

  “Of course,” she said, patting Susan on the arm. “I couldn’t miss Adam’s engagement party. Or finally meeting my long-lost grandson.”

  Susan shot me a half-smile. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Please, continue.” She immediately excused herself.

  I set my fork down and stood so I could formally introduce myself. “Mrs. McKinley?”

  She waved me back into my seat. “Sit.” I dropped back into the chair. “Call me Rose. And may I call you Eve?”

  I nodded. Here was Jake’s grandmother, all casually dropping in beside me as if we were old friends, as if this wasn’t some huge and momentous occasion. Had she even introduced herself to Jake yet?

  Speaking of the man in question, where was Jake?

  “I wanted to meet you first,” she explained, drawing my attention back to her as if she could hear every thought in my head.

  Jake was nowhere to be seen. The girls were sitting at the kids table devouring pancakes and fruits like they were going out of style, but I still couldn’t find my husband. It felt wrong to meet his grandmother without him.

  “Why?” I asked, giving up. Why on earth would she skip over Jake and come meet me first?

  Her eyes dropped to her hands for a moment. “Because when the dust settles, it’s you who will be left to hold him up. I want to make sure you and I have a good relationship before you leave.”

  I let her words settle in my mind before I replied. “How much do you know?” I asked quietly.

  “More than my husband, less than I should.”

  My gut twisted. This was wrong on so many levels. I didn’t mind talking about Jake’s life with his grandmother if that was what they both wanted, but not before he met her. “You should meet Jake first.”

  “He’s with the Senator. I will meet him in a moment. But first, you and I need to establish a foundation.”

  Suddenly waffles didn’t taste so great anymore. “I don’t go behind my husband’s back, Rose. We’re a team, even with the hard stuff.”

  “But the Senator and I are not. I’ve known about your husband since the day he was born. I visited him and Diane in the hospital.”

  Full stop. My heart, my brain…all of it came to a dead stop.

  Rose knew about Jake? Had visited him?

  “And the Senator?” I asked cautiously. I was five seconds from losing my shit and I was pretty sure that would be frowned upon behavior for a McKinley family breakfast.

  She waved her hand. “He’s blissfully unaware, as usual. If it doesn’t further that man’s career he knows absolutely nothing about it.” The ice in her voice turned my blood cold. This family had more bad blood than I’d imagined.

  “Why? Why did you leave him with her?” I finally whispered when nothing else came to mind. Unless she didn’t understand how bad things were. Maybe she only thought she knew about Jake.

  Her chin rose an inch, almost as if she was putting on armor. The poise and grace were practiced, as was the smile. This wasn’t a happy woman. Not by a long stretch. “The simplest answer is that I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t steal him from his parents. I couldn’t prove anything. Diane was so stubborn,” she bit out. “Jake probably doesn’t remember me, but I visited him several times when he was very young. He seemed content. Not happy, but content. Diane kept insisting that I had her husband all wrong. That he’d never lay a hand on a child. I knew in my gut that she was lying to me…” her voice trailed away.

  She had no idea. Not if she thought leaving Jake behind was a possibility. Yes, she knew more than the Senator, but not by much. I wanted to scream at her. Yell that she should have stolen Jake. Forced Jake’s mother to see reason. Made things right. But I wasn’t in her shoes and I didn’t know what the struggle was actually like. From my own dealings with Jake’s parents I knew it was difficult and complicated, and that was on a good day.

  But I also knew I would have done more if the roles were reversed. I would have moved heaven and earth to make things right. So that’s exactly what I said.

  “You should have done more. You should have tried harder.”

  She winced. “I know.”

  “Do you? Because you’re sitting there like this was some sort of minor issue—”

  The color drained from her face. It was in that moment that I fully understood just how much denial Rose was in. She didn’t have the facts and she hadn’t done her research, but she knew. Deep down inside she’d always known that Jake’s life was hell—she just couldn’t allow herself to admit it.

  “Isn’t it?” she asked. “A minor issue, that is?”

  I shook my head. “You need to talk to Jake.”

  “I’m talking to you.”

  Probably because looking Jake in the eye when he confirmed everything she feared would be too much to handle. “If you want to know just how colossally major this issue is, grow some courage and face your grandson.”

  Her mouth fell open just as the Senator suddenly appeared behind her with Jake. “And this is your grandmother, Rose.”

  In a few brief moments I saw a lot of things pass across her face, but the most significant one was realization. Rose may have understood that Jake Sr. was a bad man. She may even have understood that Jake had a rough life because of it, but I don’t think, until she heard the venom in my voice, that she truly realized just how bad things were.

  And then she blinked and turned her attention to Jake, plastering on a loving and oblivious smile. “Oh my dear, come over here and give me hug.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said with a huge smile on his face.

  “Please call me Rose, everyone does.”

  She threw her arms around Jake’s neck and he ducked down so he didn’t tower over her. I took that opportunity to let her see just how upset I was. How disappointed. It wasn’t the time or place to start a war.

  Not when Jake was just beginning to smile.

  My time would come and when it did, I’d make sure that Rose fully understood that she hadn’t just made a mistake—she’d ruined his life.

  7

  JAKE

  I needed to find Eve. I needed to feel her skin against mine, just for a few minutes. I wasn’t normally overwhelmed by busy days filled with people, but this was particularly overwhelming and I wanted a few moments alone with my wife.

  I spotted her across the library. She was standing with two of my cousins from my Uncle Evan’s side. I think. Honestly they were all starting to blur together a bit.

  But not Eve. She was a ray of familiar sunlight in the chaos. She kept doing sweet things like wearing my favorite underwear or seducing me before bed. Little things she knew made me feel special. Today she was wearing my favorite pair of her lacey hot pink panties. The ones that were more see through than not. The ones I’d bought for our anniversary weekend.

  There were some spectacularly good memories associated with that scrap of fabric and for some reason, seeing her slide them up her legs combined with the sexy knowing smile she shot me when she caught me drooling, made things a lot easier to handle. So would sidling up next to her and rubbing my hand
up and down her back so that I could cop a feel, so that’s exactly what I was going to do.

  She was dressed in business casual, as we all were. Something about the affair demanded dressing up, but not going over the top. Her linen skirt and blouse were beautiful, but shapely in all the right ways. The ways that made my blazer feel like one layer too many. Maybe we could sneak away for a few minutes and I could strip us both out of our clothes…

  “Jake, come over here,” the Senator waved me away from my prize and toward yet another conversation with my uncles. “Luke was asking about your work with the local government in Tampa.”

  I swiped a glass of iced tea off a tray to help cool me down. “Well, we’ve got a couple of projects with the county developing some new flood control plans, but that’s a long ways off.”

  My uncle was tall like me, but had blond hair that was shot through with white, much closer to my grandmother’s looks than the Senator’s. “But you’ve formed a disaster team? I’m not sure I understand what that is.”

  “Well, it’s pretty straightforward. In the same way that the power companies stage trucks and supplies to move into disaster zones, we stage crews and equipment specially designed for the recovery. We’re talking building and bridge collapses, blocked roadways, and flood zones.”

  After the development of our new flood control systems we’d decided to put our brains to good use and offer our services to the state and local governments. I’d learned a lot about red tape and due process, but a year ago we’d gotten everything straightened out and were ready to roll when Hurricane George hit. I was very proud that we weren’t just a company for profit, but that we also worked to improve the lives of the people in our community.

  It felt right. Why develop all this technology if we weren’t going to use it when it mattered most?

  I answered a dozen more questions before I was finally able to extract myself from the conversation and make my way to Eve.