by Marie Force
“I’m not really your—”
“Yes, you are.” Paul squatted down to Ethan’s level and put his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “As of today, you’re my son.”
Ethan hurled himself into Paul’s arms, probably crushing the white rose, but who cared about such things at a time like this. “Thank you.”
“Aww, buddy, thank you. You and your mom are the best thing to ever happen to me.” He held Ethan for another minute. “What do you say we go get married?”
Ethan nodded and pulled back from Paul, subtly wiping his eyes with his sleeve and nearly reducing Paul to tears in the process.
Alex did double duty, giving Hope away and serving with Ethan as Paul’s best men while Jenny was Hope’s matron of honor. They recited traditional vows, exchanged the rings they’d bought earlier in the day and shared a long, and according to Ethan, totally gross kiss. And then they were husband and wife, and Paul wanted to shout from the rooftops of the craziest place he’d ever been that this beautiful woman and her adorable son were now his family.
Life didn’t get much better than this.
* * *
Just before midnight back at home on Gansett, Mac locked up after another fun gathering with family and friends. He loved the time they’d spent with their island clan during the holidays, but he was ready for some alone time with his lovely wife after a frustrating few days. With that in mind, he shut off the lights and headed upstairs.
Tonight was the night to finish what they’d started multiple times. Both kids were back to full health, and he’d made sure Maddie had a three-hour nap that afternoon so she would be ready to have friends over, among other things.
He looked in on both kids and saw they were sound asleep, Thomas snuggled up to his favorite bear and Hailey with her thumb in her mouth. Perfect. All systems go. In their room, he saw no sign of Maddie so he went into the adjoining bathroom through the open door.
Her silk-covered back was to him and her hair swept up in a messy bun, leaving her elegant neck exposed. He approached her, placed his hands on her hips and had started kissing that lovely stretch of skin when he noticed the thermometer in her mouth.
Groaning, he dropped his forehead to her shoulder, wishing he could get the message to his hard cock that it was game off—again. The poor guy had been through hell this week. “What’s wrong?” She’d been fine all night, laughing and talking with their friends while serving as the ultimate hostess, as always.
The thermometer beeped, and she removed it from her mouth, giving it a passing glance. “I’m not sure. I started to feel woozy while I was getting changed. Hope I don’t have what the kids had.”
He wanted to moan, but this was no time to be selfish—or so he told his cock. “What’s your temperature?”
She took another look at the thermometer. “Hmm, perfectly normal. That’s odd.”
Something about the way she said that had Mac taking a closer look at her. “Are you fucking with me?”
An inelegant snort of laughter spewed from her, and then she bent in half, crippled with laughter.
“Oh, this is war, Madeline. This is freaking war!” Mindful of her pregnancy, he was careful but insistent when he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, putting her on the bed.
He looked down at her smiling face and the beautiful eyes that danced with unabashed mischief. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”
“Come on. You have to admit that was funny.”
“I’ll admit no such thing.” It took everything he had to maintain a scowl when a smile was trying to bust out. “Your behavior lately has been terrible. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to get me to spank you again.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, yes, I would.”
A flush of heat moved from her chest to her face, and he went harder than stone at knowing the thought of being spanked turned her on. “I’m very sorry for messing with you, Mac. It’ll never happen again.”
He laughed out loud at that. “Yes, it will. You should take your punishment like a big girl.”
“No, Mac, please don’t.”
“Is this one of those cases where no means yes? Feel free to nod in the affirmative.”
The little vixen bit her lip and nodded. And in case he wasn’t already so turned on he was about to explode, she raised her hips so he could feel the heat of her arousal against his cock. Fucking hell. She was going to be the absolute death of him. But oh what a way to go.
“Turn over, naughty girl, and take your punishment.”
“I’m scared.”
Though he knew her comment was part of the role-playing game, he couldn’t bear the thought of her being afraid of him, even in jest. “You know I’d never hurt you, baby. Tell me you know that.”
“I do, I know.”
“Then turn over and take what’s coming to you.” He smiled and winked at her as he helped her into the position he wanted her in. God, yes, just like that, propped up on her elbows, her silk-covered, delicious ass raised for his pleasure and her golden eyes watching him warily over her shoulder. Could she be any hotter?
Mac made a slow production of raising her nightgown, letting his fingertips slide over the backs of her legs, making them quiver. He loved the way she reacted to his touch. He loved playing these games with her, and the way she teased him, even if he’d never admit that to her.
There were times, such as now, when he still couldn’t believe that this was his life—that she was his life. How had he ever gotten so lucky as to find his perfect match?
He nearly lost his shit when he saw that she was bare under the nightgown, further proof that she’d planned to have her wicked way with him. “Mmm,” he said as he peppered her ass with kisses that had her squirming and panting.
“Mac…”
“Shhh, let me have my fun.” After days of frustration, he ought to be in an all-fired rush to have her, but now that she was laid out before him, he wanted to take his time, to savor her, to drive her as crazy as she made him.
“Come on.”
He delivered a light spank to her left cheek, drawing a surprised gasp from her that nearly finished him right off. Christ have mercy. Biting his lip to give himself something to focus on other than his needy cock, he gave the right side the same treatment. He kept up a steady pattern, moving from left to right, rubbing each spot afterward to ramp up the effect for her.
Judging by the sounds she made, the scent of her arousal and the way her legs moved farther apart with every spank, his efforts were having the desired effect.
“Mac, please… I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll never torment you again.”
That earned her another set of spanks. “Now you’re lying to me, too? This is not good, Madeline. Not good at all.”
She made a noise that was equal parts frustration, laughter and desire.
“Tell me what you want.”
“You know what I want.”
“You have to say it.” One of his favorite things was getting her to talk dirty, which she wouldn’t do without his encouragement.
“Mac! I want you to make love to me.”
“You’ll have to be more specific.” He dragged two fingers down her backbone and into the crevice between her cheeks, where he found the abundant evidence of how much she loved their game.
She dropped her head to her forearms. “I want you to make me come.”
Mac could almost picture the bright red blush that would be flooding her cheeks and decided he wanted to see that. “Turn over.” He helped her onto her back, and sure enough, the blush was every bit as spectacular as he’d expected. “How do you want me to make you come?” Pressing against her clit, he said, “With my fingers or my tongue or my cock?”
“Your choice.”
“No, baby, it’s lady’s choice.”
“Your cock.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Mac! You did, too!”
Had he ever had
more fun in his life than he did with her? No. Never. “Look me in the eye and tell me exactly what you want.”
His adorable, sweet, sexy wife looked at him and said, “I want you to fuck me. Right now.”
“Well, why didn’t you just say so?”
She grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled hard enough to hurt. “Hurry up.”
Amused by her desperation, he took himself in hand and pressed against her, teasing her for as long as he could stand it.
“I’m going to remember this, Mac.”
“That’s the whole idea.”
She pressed against him, all but begging him to take her. “I’m not going to remember it in a good way. I’m going to remember it in a revenge-is-a-bitch-and-so-am-I way.”
That made him laugh—hard. How could he not laugh? She was so damned cute. “You could never be a bitch, sweet Maddie.”
“You don’t think so? Keep it up, and you’re going to see a whole other side of me.”
“I love when you need me.”
“Mac, honestly,” she said with a deep sigh. “I always need you, and I always will.”
His heart skipped a beat at the blatant honesty he saw in her expression and heard in her words. Pressing into her, he gave her what they both needed, the connection they lived for.
“Yes,” she said on a long sigh. “Like that. Just like that.”
All games were forgotten as the sublime pleasure took over. Everything faded away when he was with her like this—sick kids and holiday madness and pressure at work faded to nothingness, eclipsed entirely by his love for her.
Reaching beneath her, he cupped her ass, which was still warm from the spanking. She gasped in reaction, her inner muscles tightening as her fingers dug into the muscles of his back, all signs that she was close.
“Let me feel you, baby,” he whispered gruffly in her ear, picking up the pace to take them both to the finish line.
Ahhh, fucking finally, he thought as they both came with cries that he muffled by kissing her with deep thrusts of his tongue. God forbid they should wake the kids. He softened the kiss to light touches of his lips on hers before dropping his forehead to hers as he tried to catch his breath.
“Oh my God, Mac. Just when I think we can’t get any crazier…”
He huffed out a laugh. “It’s you. You make me that way.”
Her hands smoothed over his back, gliding through the dampness that had come from exertion. “I make you that way. Whatever you say.”
“It’s true. I’ve never been like this with anyone else.”
“I hate to think of you doing this with anyone else.”
He raised his head to look into her eyes. “I have never done anything like this with anyone but you. I’ve told you before—my whole life started the day you tried to run me over with your bike.”
She smacked his shoulder. “You’re rewriting history.”
“Best day of my life,” he said, kissing her. “But every day since then, even when you’re mean to me, has been ever better.”
“Even days when you’re cock-blocked by sick kids?”
Laughing, he said, “Even then. I love those kids and their mother with all my heart.”
“We love you, too.”
He gathered her into his arms and rolled to his side, bringing her with him. “I was kinda rough with you. You’re okay?”
“You really have to ask?”
“Yeah, I really do.”
“I’m fantastic. You may not believe it, but I get as frustrated as you do when we can’t have this time alone together.”
He tucked her head in under his chin and wrapped his leg around her hips. “Sleep right here with me. Just like this.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Chapter 21
Over the next several days, Slim and Erin took turns with her mother, making sure someone was always at the hospital. They grabbed meals and sleep when they could, between short visits with her dad, who was a little better every day.
Eventually, they moved him from ICU to a regular room, which was a big milestone. Erin and her mom worked the phones, looking for a rehab facility close to home where he could complete his recovery after he was released from the hospital.
Hearing that the rehab could take weeks, Erin made the decision to stay in Pennsylvania to support her parents until her dad was finally home.
“I have to go back to the island today,” Slim said over breakfast in her mother’s kitchen on the morning of New Year’s Eve. “My close friend is getting married,” he said of Adam McCarthy. “I need to be there.”
“I understand,” Erin said, though she was bereft at the thought of even a day without him after all the time they’d spent together.
“I wish you could come with me.”
“So do I.”
“That’s progress on all fronts. One, that you want to be with me, and two, that you’d have to fly with me to get there.”
“I definitely want to be with you. The flying? Still not high on my to-do list, but getting the first time out of the way was huge. I… I’ve been thinking I might see about an appointment with Dr. McCarthy when I get back to the island to work on my long list of issues.”
“Your list isn’t that long.”
“It’s longer than you think. Have you noticed that I need everything just so, that I’m constantly arranging and rearranging? Or that I have to touch things with my left hand or something awful will happen to someone I love? My OCD is about having control over things—or the perception of control, anyway.”
He reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “People don’t get to our age without baggage, Erin. We’ve all got stuff. Yours doesn’t make you any less attractive to me, in case you were wondering.”
“That’s nice to hear,” she said, smiling at him. How would she live without that gorgeous face to look at all day every day? “What am I supposed to do for fun without you around?”
“Call me? FaceTime? Text?”
She made a pout face. “Hard to go back to that after the last eleven days.”
“I want you to think about coming to Evan’s wedding and to Florida after. Talk to Mr. McCarthy. He’ll help you find a way to be gone from the lighthouse for a couple of months.”
“That’ll be asking a lot after leaving the way I did to come here.”
“It won’t hurt to ask. I’ll even put in a good word for you.”
“You’re sweet to want to help and to want me underfoot in Florida.”
He kissed her hand and nibbled on her knuckles, which set off fireworks inside her. That was all he had to do to get her motor running. “I want you more than underfoot. I want you under me in bed, on top of me, next to me. I want you, Erin Barton.”
Moved and aroused by his passionate words, she said, “I want you, too.”
“We’re going to figure this out. I promise.”
“You’re awfully certain.”
“I’m certain that I’ve waited a long time to feel this way about someone, and there’s no way I’m going to let you slip through my fingers.”
Keeping her hand linked with his, Erin got up to go around the countertop to where he was sitting. She stepped between his legs and let go of his hand to put her arms around him. “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”
“Same goes, sweetheart.”
“I’m not ready for our time together to be over.”
“It’s not over. It’s just getting started.” He drew back from her, framed her face in his hands and kissed her.
Erin wanted so badly to believe him that this was the beginning and not the end, but she was programmed to expect the worst. Her heart was heavy with dread and worry for his safety when she drove him to the airport later that morning in her dad’s prized Audi. She pulled up to the curb and got out to see him off.
He put his backpack on the sidewalk and wrapped her up in a tight hug. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay.” The air was so cold
, their warm breath made clouds around them.
“You believe me?”
“I want to.”
“Have some faith.” He kissed her one last time, mindless of where they were and who might be watching as he left her with no doubt whatsoever that he wanted her more than ever. When he pulled back from her, they were both breathless and aroused and, at least in her case, despondent.
“Let me know that you get there okay.”
“I will. And I’ll check on you later, too. You’ll hear from me so much, you’ll get sick of me.”
“Not possible.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said, flashing the rakish grin that she adored. He gave her another quick kiss and lifted his backpack onto his shoulder. Walking backward, he made his way to the terminal where he’d told her he could cut through to the area where his plane was housed. Smiling at her, he waved before he turned to go inside.
Erin got back in the car and wiped away tears that she told herself were from the cold, but her heart knew better. It already ached without him by her side to make her laugh and smile and to tell her everything would be all right. It had taken just over a week for him to become essential to her, and now he was leaving for who knew how long. He had to be back in Florida tomorrow night for a scheduled trip to the Bahamas the next day.
The next break in his schedule was for Evan’s wedding on the eighteenth of January, which was almost two weeks away.
Erin used the time it took to drive to the hospital to indulge in the emotional wallop of Slim’s departure. She pulled into the parking lot and tried to rally her spirits so she could be supportive of her parents, but her spirits were low today, and there was no hiding that from her mother when they connected outside her dad’s room.
“So he’s left?” Mary Beth asked.
“Yes, just now. How’s Dad?”
“He had a good night. They’ve taken him for a few tests. Now back to your Slim. He’s a lovely, lovely guy, but I don’t suppose I have to tell you that.”
As her eyes filled once again, Erin shook her head. “No, you don’t.”
Mary Beth hugged her. “What’re you going to do about him?”
