Desire After Dark: A Gansett Island Novel

by Marie Force

  “Was it something we said?” Linda asked her husband.

  “Ha-ha, Mom,” Grant said. “I’ve got some work to do with the company that’s producing the film about Charlie and Stephanie’s story, and it’s easier for me to be there for a while. Since the restaurant is shut down for the rest of the winter after this week, Steph’s coming with me.”

  “Dan and Kara are going to be out there, too, aren’t they?” Joe asked.

  “They are, and we’re looking forward to hanging out with them.”

  “You’ll be back for the summer, though, right?” Adam asked.

  “Wouldn’t miss summer on Gansett for anything,” Grant said, “and my lovely wife has a booming business to tend to.”

  “That’s right,” Laura said. “I need you to feed my hotel guests.”

  “I’m on it,” Steph said, “don’t worry. I’m just sorry we won’t be here when the twins are born.”

  “We’ll send pictures,” Owen assured her. “I can’t wait to meet these two little people.”

  “I can’t believe you guys aren’t finding out what you’re having,” Laura’s brother, Shane, said. “I’d be out of my mind with curiosity. Hell, I’m out of my mind with curiosity about your babies, let alone my own.”

  “We can’t wait to know either,” Owen said, gazing at Laura, “but we want it to be a surprise.”

  “Who knows what’s going on with Syd?” Abby asked. “They’ve been sticking close to home this week.”

  “I heard she had a little scare with the baby,” Linda said, “but all is well.”

  “Thank God,” Janey said to agreement from everyone else. “While we’re sharing news, I probably ought to let the rest of you know that Joseph has knocked me up again.”

  Her announcement was met with dead silence.

  “I know what you’re all thinking, and believe me, we’re thinking the same thing. We’ve got an appointment with a specialist in Providence after the holidays, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure baby number two’s arrival is far less dramatic than his or her brother’s was.”

  “Janey,” Grant said, his expression agonized, “are you sure about this?”

  “No,” Joe said, answering for both of them, “we’re not sure of anything other than we’re going to hope for the very best and thoroughly prepare for every possible scenario. I’m going to see to it personally, Grant. You have my word on that.”

  The brothers who so loved to razz their sister had gone silent at the thought of the kind of danger she’d faced when PJ was born.

  “If I may,” Mallory said, and all eyes turned to her. “What happened to Janey when she had PJ is extremely rare. There’s no reason to believe she can’t have a perfectly normal pregnancy and delivery this time.”

  “That’s very reassuring, Mallory,” Big Mac said to his daughter. “Thank you.”

  “She’s right,” Katie Lawry said. Shane’s fiancée was also a nurse. “But you’re going to need to be very careful about doing anything too strenuous or lifting PJ in the last trimester.”

  “If I have my way,” Joe said, “she’ll be on full bed rest by then.”

  Janey’s expression told them what she thought of that.

  “We’re going to be overrun with babies around here before long,” Frank said.

  Abby got up and went into the kitchen. Adam went after her.

  “Is she okay?” Kevin asked.

  With her gaze fixed on the kitchen door through which Adam and Abby had disappeared, Linda said, “They got some news before the anniversary party. They’re both fine, but they’re facing a difficult challenge.”

  Everyone pounced on Linda for more information, but she held them off with her hands in the air. “It’s not my news to tell. You’ll hear it from them when they’re ready.”

  The boisterous group fell silent when Adam and Abby returned, holding hands as they came into the room.

  “Abby,” Laura said. “Are you all right?”

  Abby glanced at Adam, who nodded in encouragement. “Not as all right as I’d like to be,” Abby said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “We recently learned that I have polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS, which comes with a variety of health complications, including fertility issues.”

  “We’re going to fight it, though,” Adam said. “There’s a lot we can do, and we’re going to do all of it. If we can’t have a baby on our own, we’ll adopt. But we will have a family.”

  Stephanie left her perch on Grant’s lap to hug Abby. “I’m so sorry to hear this, but if anyone is tough enough to fight it, you are.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Abby said. “I’ve been a basket case ever since we got the news.”

  “Stay off the Internet,” Mallory said. “Every situation is unique, and you don’t want to scare yourself with too much information.”

  Adam nodded in agreement. “That’s what I said, too.”

  “The one thing I want to say,” Abby said, seeming to marshal her defenses, “is I don’t want any of you to feel you can’t be excited about your babies in front of me. I can’t wait to meet all of them and to love them and spoil them. Please… Don’t let our challenges take away from your joy. Adam and I would hate that.”

  Janey stood to hug Abby. “Love you. That’s all I want to say.”

  “Love you, too.”

  Erin leaned in to speak to Slim. “We ought to go. This is kind of a private family thing.”

  “Sure, sweetheart. We’ve got important private business of our own to see to anyway.”

  She rolled her eyes at him, but her face lit up with the blush he loved so much. He couldn’t wait to see more of that blush when he got her back to the lighthouse.

  Chapter 15

  “Why do you have to announce to our entire family that you’re cock-blocked?” Maddie asked when she came into the bedroom after getting Thomas down for the night.

  Hailey had gone much easier, which was why Mac beat her to bed.

  “Because I am, in fact, cock-blocked by kids lately.”

  “They’ve been sick, Mac.”

  “They’re not sick now,” he said, waggling his brows suggestively.

  “All I want is eight straight hours of sleep.”

  “You’re kidding me, right?”

  “No, I’m not kidding you. This has been a hellacious week between sickness and Christmas preparations, I could sleep for a week. In fact, I might sleep all day tomorrow and let you handle things around here.”

  “I’d do that for you.”

  Her gorgeous caramel eyes lit up with surprise. “You would?”

  “Of course I would. If…”

  Hands on hips, she gave him a challenging look. “If what?”

  “If you help me out with this tiny little issue I seem to have.”

  “What tiny little issue do you have?”

  “A hard-on that won’t quit.”

  “Are pigs flying in hell? Are you actually referring to your precious manhood as tiny and little?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I’m not. My problem is little and tiny. As we both know, my manhood is massive. Now will you please get in this bed and give me the only present I really want for Christmas?”

  “So I can send back that new power tool you were so excited about?”

  “Absolutely not. You can come and tend to the power tool that gets you excited.”

  “Honestly, Mac,” she said with a huff of laughter. “You get more outrageous with every passing day.”

  “You love me.”

  “You’re very lucky that I do.”

  “Yes, I am. Now get over here and let me show you how lucky I am to be loved by you.”

  “I need to change and get the food out of my hair that Hailey put there during dinner.”

  “You don’t need to do a damned thing besides get naked.”

  “Five minutes, Mac. Give me five minutes.”

  She went into the bathroom, and he dropped to the pillows, res
igned to having to wait five more interminable minutes. A crackle of life from the baby monitor in Hailey’s room had him holding his breath. Please, no… Not tonight, sweet girl. Give Mommy and Daddy a break. Please…

  Thankfully, there were no more noises from the monitor, and Mac began to relax. Then Maddie emerged from the bathroom wearing one of the new sexy nightgowns he’d bought her for Christmas at Tiffany’s shop. Her hair had been brushed into shiny submission and fell to below her shoulders.

  Game on. Hello, sexy wife.

  “Wait,” he said, sitting up on his knees for a better look at the pale pink gown with the black lace accents that did spectacular things for her spectacular breasts.

  “What am I waiting for? I thought you were in a huge rush.”

  “I am, but I want to memorize the way you look right now so I never forget it.”

  “Just when I think I’ve actually married a teenage boy, you surprise me.”

  He held out a hand to bring her onto the bed with him.

  She met him on her knees in front of him, her hands on his shoulders.

  “I may joke around a little—”

  “A little?”

  “Okay, a lot, but one thing I’d never joke about is how stunningly beautiful you are. You take my breath away, Madeline, and I love you more than I can ever tell you.”

  “Sometimes, especially on days like today, I can’t believe that this is my life now. You and our kids and this house and your family and mine, all together. It’s like a dream.”

  “Even the naked boy-naked girl part?”

  Groaning, she dropped her head to his shoulder. “We’ll still be talking about that when they’re in college.”

  “We’ll be talking about that forever. And PS, it’s like a dream for me, too. I never imagined anything for myself like what we’ve found together, and that we get to share our lives with the people we love the most… We’re truly blessed.”

  “Yes, we are,” she said, rubbing shamelessly against him.

  He rested his hand on the small curve of her belly over the baby no one else knew they were expecting. “If you’re too tired tonight, I’ll understand.”

  She glanced up at him, seeming relieved. “You will?”

  Mac wanted to shoot himself for saying that. “Of course I will. If you don’t want to, we don’t have to.”

  “Oh thank God. I’m exhausted.” She withdrew from him and sacked out on her side after positioning her pillow where she wanted it.

  With his cock hard enough to pound nails, he suppressed a groan and got under the covers, shutting off the light. He lay there trying not to think about the throbbing coming from his lap when he realized the bed was shaking. What the hell?

  He turned the light back on to realize the shaking was coming from his wife, who was laughing her ass off. “What are you laughing at?”

  “I can’t believe you fell for that so easily. You’re losing your touch, Mac.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? You faked being tired?”

  “I am tired, but not that tired.”

  “That was so mean! I’m hard as a rock, and you leave me hanging.”

  She laughed so hard, tears fell from her eyes.

  “You’re really racking up the demerits lately, Mrs. McCarthy. First the evil prank you perpetrated against me and my boys, and now this.”

  “I’m very sorry,” she said, wiping the tears from her face. “Let me make it up to you.”

  “I don’t know if I want you to.”

  She wrapped her hand around his erection and gave it a squeeze that made him see stars. “Really?”

  “Okay, I want you to.”

  “Thought so.” She left a trail of kisses from his chest to his belly as she continued to stroke him.

  Mac ran his fingers through her hair, watching her and loving her, even when she was mean to him.

  Maddie swirled her tongue around the tip of his cock. “Am I forgiven?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. All depends on how things go in the next few minutes.”

  Smiling, she drew him into the heat of her mouth and nearly finished him off with the perfect combination of tongue and suction.

  “Getting closer to forgiveness,” he said through gritted teeth. His hips surged off the mattress, and she took him deeper, until he nudged against the back of her throat and still she didn’t back off. “Maddie… Fuck… Baby.” God, he was going to come in her mouth if she didn’t stop right now.

  A sharp cry from the next room made them freeze.

  “Mama.” Thomas. And he was crying. No. Just no.

  Maddie’s lips slid over his shaft as she withdrew, leaving him with a look of sincere regret. The sight of her silk-covered ass as she left the room did nothing to ease the ache.

  “Fuck,” he muttered to an empty room.

  * * *

  This had been, Erin decided, the nicest Christmas she’d had in years. Other than the emotional blip at Jenny’s house, she’d gotten through a day that had been difficult for her in other years. Much of the day’s success was due to the man who was now driving her home.

  He’d been quiet since they left the McCarthys’, and Erin wanted to know what he was thinking. But she didn’t ask. She wanted to thank him again for being such a rock for her when she was spinning earlier. She wanted to tell him how, in the past, an episode like that could’ve ruined her for days, but because of him, that wouldn’t happen this time.

  There were so many things she’d like to tell him, but she wasn’t sure he was ready to hear them. They were in the odd position of having been close friends for months but romantic partners for only a few days. It would be easy—too easy—to press the accelerator on the new romantic portion of their relationship in light of the many hours they’d already spent together, talking, laughing, flirting, sharing confidences.

  When the silence became weighty, she decided to ask what he was thinking about.

  “Naked boy-naked girl,” he said with a sly grin.

  “How funny was that?”

  “Funniest thing I’ve ever seen, but I wasn’t thinking about the kids. I was thinking about you. And me.”

  Was it warm in here, or was it her? “How many McCarthy men do you suppose are using that line on their women tonight?”

  “I suspect all of them. It’s an instant classic. Have I mentioned how incredibly hot you look in that skirt?”

  “Um, no, I don’t think you have.” It was definitely getting warmer in the small cab of his truck.

  “Major oversight on my part. All day today, I’ve been wondering what you’ve got on under there.”

  “Will you be disappointed to find plain old white cotton?”

  “Absolutely not. Nothing about you has disappointed me.”

  Would he be disappointed to learn that she would never want to fly with him? That thought threatened to ruin the nice warm buzz she had building thanks to his shameless flirting, so she pushed it aside for another time.

  He reached over to run his hand up her leg, under her skirt, stopping at the top of her thigh, which he gave a gentle squeeze that ignited her desire. That he could make her feel so much by barely touching her was remarkable and unprecedented. For a long time after she and Mitch broke up, she’d wondered if she’d made a terrible mistake by letting that relationship go. In just a few days, Slim had shown her what’d been missing with Mitch.

  By the time he pulled into the driveway at the lighthouse, he had her on the verge of explosion, and he still hadn’t done anything more than touch her leg. When he got out to deal with the gate, she shivered from the cold as much as the loss of his warm palm on her thigh.

  He drove the truck through the gate and then got out again to close and lock it.

  She was practically vibrating in her seat as they pulled up to the door. He cut the engine and the lights, casting them into inky darkness that would last until the motion-sensitive lights came on.

  “Stay put,” he said gruffly.

  Erin’s h
eart beat so fast with anticipation and excitement that she couldn’t seem to draw air into her lungs. The door opened, and he reached across her to unbuckle the seat belt she’d been too flummoxed to do herself. His arm brushed against her nipple, and she gasped.

  She expected him to back away and let her out of the truck, but instead, he lifted her right into his arms. Her legs encircled his waist and her arms wrapped around his neck as his lips found hers in a hungry, desperate kiss. While she was lost in the hottest kiss of her life, he somehow got them inside. He kicked the door closed and pressed her against the mudroom wall, his cock rigid against her core as the kiss went from desperate to wild.

  Erin buried her fingers in his hair, keeping him anchored to her. Then he surprised her by softening the kiss before breaking it to turn his attention to her neck. His hands were everywhere, under her coat, cupping and squeezing her breasts, then under her skirt, his fingers finding her clit.

  She cried out from the pleasure that shot through her system like a shock wave. “Upstairs,” she somehow managed to say.

  “Here. Right here.” He put her down only long enough to toss both their coats to the floor, pull her tights and underwear down her legs and free himself from his pants and roll on a condom. “Now.” His desperation seemed to match hers as he lifted her again, bringing her down slowly onto his rigid length. “Yes,” he whispered fiercely.

  As her body stretched to accommodate him, she held on tight, half afraid he would drop her but knowing in her heart of hearts that he never would. She was safe with him. That much she knew for certain.

  “God,” he said, his lips close to her ear. “You’re so hot and tight. You make me crazy.”

  She wanted to tell him he made her just as crazy, but the words were lost in a deep thrust that triggered her orgasm.

  His fingers dug into the dense flesh of her ass as he hammered into her, riding the wave of her climax into his own.

  “Christ,” he uttered between deep breaths. His forehead dropped to lean against hers, the heat of his skin warming her from the inside. “What just happened?”