by Marie Force
“Holy shit,” he whispered. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
Giggling at his reaction, she reached up to remove his tuxedo jacket. Next, she went to work on his wraparound bow tie and then turned her attention to the studs on his shirt.
Though he wanted to rip off his own clothes and get down to business, he forced himself to remain still, to let her undress him for the first time. He took advantage of the brief pause to calm down, to remember to go slow with her, to make her first time special.
The last few months had been pure torture as they tried to hold off until today. They’d done almost everything else, driving each other crazy during long, hot nights in his little bed at the marina. This would be the first time they slept in a bed intended for two people. He doubted they’d make use of the extra space.
With all the studs removed, she dropped them onto the bedside table and set her sights on the cufflinks at his wrists.
“These are gorgeous,” she said of the silver cufflinks.
“My grandfather’s.”
She placed them carefully on the bedside table and then helped him to remove his tuxedo shirt and the T-shirt he’d worn under it. “I hate to take this suit off you,” she said. “I never want to forget how you looked in it. My sexy marina owner cleans up quite nicely.”
“Glad you thought so.”
“Every woman there thought so.”
“I don’t care what they thought. I only care what you thought.”
She nuzzled his chest, and he got impossibly harder.
“How do I get you out of this amazing getup?”
Turning, she revealed the series of hooks and eyes that went down her back.
“How’d you get it on?” he asked as he began to undo the hooks.
“Joann did it for me. We laughed the whole time, imagining your reaction.”
“I hope my reaction was satisfactory.”
She giggled again. “It was very satisfactory. And you should know that Joann was insanely jealous that we were getting married first when she and Frank have been together for years.”
“They’re waiting until after he finishes law school.”
“I wonder if they’ll make it. They’re so crazy for each other.”
“Mmm,” he said, kissing the back of her neck. “Always have been. I’m just glad we didn’t have to wait years. I never would’ve made it.”
“Me either.”
He removed the last of the hooks, and the corset fell to the floor. With his arms around her, he held her close to him, feeling the tremble that traveled through her body. He cupped her breasts, loving the way her nipples tightened under his palms and the way she responded to him. She was his perfect match in every way.
“Can’t wait anymore, honey,” he whispered gruffly in her ear.
“Mac.”
“Yeah?”
“You’ll be careful with me, right?”
“God, yes, sweetheart. I’ll always be careful with you.”
“You’re so much bigger than me. I’m afraid you’ll break me.”
He laughed softly. “Never. I love you too much to break you. And besides, I might be bigger than you physically, but you’re way bigger than me in many other ways.”
“Such as?”
“Your large personality, for one. I feel a little sorry for our future children who’ll have to answer to you.”
“I believe there was a compliment in there somewhere.”
“Definitely a compliment. You’re going to be a wonderful mother, but you aren’t going to put up with any crap.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Does that include me, too?”
“Of course it does.”
“See what I mean?”
She was laughing when he laid her down on the bed so he could help her out of the garter belt and stockings. And then she was down to just the white lacy panties that covered the one part of her he hadn’t actually seen yet. He came down on top of her, gazing at her gorgeous face for a long moment before he kissed her. “I can’t believe we’re married and we can do this anytime we want to now. How will I work or do anything else when I have you in my bed?”
“You have to work. We both do.” She’d vowed to be his partner in every way, including helping with the marina in any way she could.
He kissed a path to her breasts, feasting on one nipple and then the other.
She arched under him, her legs curling around his hips and her fingers gripping handfuls of his hair.
Mac wanted her relaxed and ready for the next step, so he focused on giving her as much pleasure as he possibly could, kissing his way to the part of her still covered in lacy white silk.
“Uh, Mac…what’re you doing?”
“Relax, honey.” He removed her panties and let them fall to the floor next to where he knelt. “I promise you’ll love it.”
“I… um… oh… oh God. Mac!” She practically tore the hair from his head, which was more than worth the sacrifice. He’d been dying to do this to her since the first night he spent with her, and now he wanted to do it every day. He wanted her to love it, so he took his time, using his tongue and fingers to arouse and prepare her for what was next. A sharp intake of breath and a keening cry preceded her climax. God, he couldn’t wait to be inside her when that happened.
He brought her down slowly, continuing to stroke her with his tongue until the trembling stopped. Before she could slip out of the blissful state, he dropped his pants and boxers. He was reaching for a condom when she stopped him.
“Just you, Mac.”
“We said we were going to wait to start a family.”
“It won’t happen right away.”
“What if it does?”
“Please?”
God, if she ever knew that she could have anything she wanted when she looked at him that way, he’d be in bigger trouble than he was in already with her. They were too young and unsettled for a baby, but the thought of making love to her without protection was too tempting to resist. He was all done resisting her.
“Don’t break me, okay?”
“Sweetheart,” he said, kissing her as he pressed against her, easing his way in slowly. “I would never break you. It’s apt to hurt a little at first, but it’ll get better. I promise it’ll be so good. Trust me?”
“I do. I trust you.” Despite what she said, her small body shook with nerves that couldn’t be overcome with words alone. He had to show her. Taking care to go slowly and to think only of her rather than the raging desire that possessed him, he gave her a little more, watching for signs of distress.
But all he saw was a tiny wince of pain that was quickly eclipsed by pleasure. Retreating, he gave her a moment to catch her breath before giving her more than she’d had before. Her back arched, and her fingers dug into his shoulders.
“Talk to me,” he whispered, trying to hang on to his sanity as her internal muscles hugged him tightly. “Tell me how it feels.”
“Tight.”
“Mmm, so tight. So hot and wet and perfect.”
“Mac.”
“What, honey?”
“I want… Is there more?”
“Uh-huh. We’re only halfway there.”
“Oh my God.”
Chuckling at her words and the expression of wonder on her face, he pushed in to the hilt. She cried out, so he froze, afraid to hurt her, to scare her, to make her not want this as badly as he did. “Talk to me, Lin.”
“I-I don’t have the words.”
“That’s good, right?”
“So good. So full and tight and hard and—”
He groaned when her innocent words made him harder than he already was. “See what happens when you talk dirty to me, honey?”
“What did I say that was dirty?”
“Full.” He kissed her, biting gently on her bottom lip. “Tight.” Kissing her again, he teased her tongue with his, loving the way her arms came around his neck to keep him close. “Hard,” he whisp
ered against her lips. “What do you think of this?” Withdrawing almost completely, he surged back into her.
“You need to do it again so I can say for sure.”
Smiling, he did it again, harder this time, and she moaned. “Baby, I’m so close. Tell me you’re close, too.”
“Yes, yes.”
Mac propped himself up on one arm and used his free hand to coax her to another orgasm that finished him off, too. As he found his own release, he knew a moment of pure panic at the thought of making her pregnant before they were ready to add to their family. But even that thought couldn’t stop him from finishing what they’d started so many months ago in the sweltering-hot room in the marina—and what he’d dreamed about every night since then.
She kept her arms around him when he collapsed on top of her, throbbing with aftershocks, his heart beating harder than it ever had before. “Talk to me.”
“Hi.”
His lips curved into a smile against her neck. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going great so far. How’s it going for you?”
“Best day and night of my life—and it just got a whole lot better than it already was. But only if it was good for you, too.”
“It was so good. I’m glad we waited, and I’m glad I waited for you.”
He wished he could say the same, but he didn’t have regrets about the life he’d led before he met her. His real life began that day at Frank’s when she walked onto the porch and turned his whole world upside down. After the magic they’d found together in this hotel room, he hoped his world would never be right-side up again. “I love you, honey.”
“I love you, too. How soon can we do it again?”
Chapter 7
Big Mac laughed softly at the memory of how eager she’d been once they got the first time out of the way.
“What’s so funny?” she asked from her perch on his lap.
“You were. ‘How soon can we do it again?’”
She groaned. “You never let me forget that.”
“How could I? I had no idea I was marrying such a wild woman.”
“Stop it. I wasn’t a wild woman until I married you.”
“Here I thought I was getting such a sweet, innocent girl. What a shock.”
Linda laughed. “Whatever you say.”
“Remember how we added a second night to our stay at the Biltmore because we weren’t ready to go back to reality?”
“Our little honeymoon.”
“Speaking of the honeymoon we never really got to have, there’s something on my desk that you need to see.”
“What something?”
“You’ll have to go get it and find out.”
As expected, she sprang from his lap and headed for the study, where he’d left the other gift he’d spent months arranging, making sure it was perfect before he presented it to her. She returned carrying the box he’d wrapped himself in silver paper with a big silver bow on top.
“We said no gifts, and you’ve gone all out,” she said.
He held out his arms, inviting her to return to her perch on his lap. “This one is for both of us.”
As she removed the bow, he again noted a slight tremble in her hand that always meant she was excited about something. She opened the lid on the box and pushed aside the tissue paper to find a packet of papers that he’d carefully arranged. Glancing warily at him first, she returned her attention to the papers, gasping when she saw the itinerary for a trip to Paris and London—first class all the way. Nothing but the best for his bride.
“Mac,” she said on a whisper, tears rolling down her cheeks.
She had always wanted to go to Paris, but they hadn’t gotten there yet. In April, they would finally take the trip they’d talked about for years.
“Good surprise?” he asked.
“The best.” Wiping away tears, she carefully read every page of the itinerary that would take them first to Provence for a week and then to Paris for a second week. They would travel through the Chunnel for another week in London before heading home from there. “Three whole weeks. This is incredible, Mac.”
“I’ve heard April in Paris is the best time of year.”
“That’s what people say.” She hugged him tightly, her tears wetting his cheek.
Nothing made him happier than making her happy.
“You spoil me rotten.”
“You spoiled me rotten when you gave up all your plans to come out here to live with me.”
“Nothing I had planned could compare to being here with you.”
“So you say, but you could’ve had any life—”
She kissed him before he could continue an “argument” they’d had many times. “The only life I wanted was the one I’ve had here with you and our family. I don't know what you think I would’ve ended up doing that would’ve been better than this.”
“I’ve never stopped being thankful that you chose this life.”
“As if you gave me any choice,” she said. “You were rather relentless in your pursuit of me.”
“I was, wasn’t I?” he asked with a cocky grin. “But the choice was always yours, love. I would’ve sold the marina in a New York minute if you hadn’t wanted to be here. I hope you know that.”
“I do know, and I always wanted to be here as much as you did. Even that first winter when we slept in that tiny bed at the marina, freezing our butts off half the time.”
He nuzzled her cheek. “Making love the other half of the time.”
“I think it was more than half the time the first few years.”
Laughing, he said, “You may be right about that.”
“Since Mac and Maddie lost Connor, I’ve thought a lot about the baby we lost.”
“I have, too.”
“You ever wonder what he or she might’ve been like?”
“All the time. I figure since we had four boys before we got our girl, the baby was probably a boy.”
“He’d be thirty-eight now, maybe married with a family of his own. Hard to believe it’s been that long. Sometimes it feels like yesterday.”
“I know. When I went to sit with Mac at the hospital this summer after they lost Connor, we talked about it a little, and I said that sometimes things happen the way they’re meant to. As much as we mourned the one we lost, if he had lived, we wouldn’t have had Mac when we did, and life without him…”
“Is unimaginable.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m very thankful for the five we have as well as Mallory, who has been such a blessing since she came into our lives,” she said. “Taking a leave of absence from her job to help when Lisa Chandler was dying was such a lovely thing to do.”
“Yes, it was.”
“We have much to be thankful for today.”
“So much.” He stood, lifting her into his arms, earning a squeak of surprise from his lovely wife.
“What’re you doing? You’ll be crippled!”
“Stop it.” He headed for the stairs. “You’re light as a feather, and I’ve been hauling you around for forty years. Why would I quit now?”
“Um, maybe because you’re sixty years old?”
“Bite your tongue, woman. Sixty is the new forty. I’m just hitting my prime.”
“God help me. Where exactly are you taking me?”
“All this talk of wedding nights and making love more than half the time has put ideas in my head.”
“You already had that idea today.”
“Remember when I used to have it four times a day?”
“I can’t say that I do. It’s all a blur.”
“Sure, it is,” he said, chuckling as he set her on the bed and came down on top of her. “How about I refresh your memory?”
“Give it your best shot.”
“Oh, I love when you talk dirty to me.”
As she laughed, he kissed her, loving everything about her and the amazing life they’d had together.
Balancing his brother Adam’s huge fl
at-screen TV in his arms while he navigated the snowy steps to the Sand & Surf Hotel, Grant McCarthy prepared for imminent disaster. Adam’s frantic call that morning had woken Grant from a sound sleep to tend to his brother’s instructions for last-minute party preparation.
Something had taken Adam and Abby off-island yesterday. They weren’t due back until later today, which was why Adam needed Grant to deliver the TV to the hotel. Then they’d be ready to show the video Adam had made for their parents’ anniversary party.
“Doesn’t the hotel have a TV we could use?” Grant had asked.
“Needs to be high-def,” Adam had said. “Take the one from my living room and get it over there, will you?”
Which was why Grant was currently fighting the elements to do his brother’s bidding. The things he did for this family. Grant struggled to get the door open while trying not to drop the TV that had to be worth thousands, knowing Adam, who had the best of everything when it came to gadgets and electronics.
The hotel door flew open, and Grant nearly toppled into the lobby. Somehow he managed to hold on to the TV.
His cousin Laura, hugely pregnant with twins, laughed at him. “Nice save, cuz.”
“Gee, thanks. Freaking Adam has me out in a blizzard doing his errands for him. Where do you want this?”
“In the restaurant. Stephanie has a plan for it.”
“Of course she does.” His lovely wife always had a plan, and he’d learned to go along with her plans because they led to nice things for him, too. Such as last night, when she’d planned a cozy dinner for two that had led to a nearly sleepless night. He adored her plans.
Grant carried the TV into the main dining room of Stephanie’s Bistro, where the party for his parents would take place later. Stephanie was supervising her staff as they made final preparations.
“Hey, babe, where do you want the TV?”
“Oh, Grant, there you are. Over here.” She directed him to a corner of the big room that had been set up for audiovisual. Adam’s handiwork was all over that.
He set the TV down and then shook the blood back into his arms.
“Is that the TV from Adam’s house?” Stephanie asked.
