by Holly Jaymes
I gave him a face. He knew why.
He shook his head as he entered the room. “Don’t be embarrassed, Lily.” He sat on the bed next to me. “I’m sorry that I’ve been so distant. I just thought that would be best.”
“I understand. I misunderstood when we talked at the cabin.”
“I don’t think you did. I just know that you’re in the middle of something already, and I don’t want to be in the way of that or make it worse.”
I looked at him, not sure what he meant. “Being with you makes all this better, and I don’t just mean making me feel better. You’ve helped me get outside of my head and to see what’s important. To see the beauty in the world. Plus, you make me smile and laugh. I haven’t done that in a long time, especially when I was paid for it.”
“That’s a shame because you have a beautiful smile, Lily.”
Because his words made me warm, I smiled. “The girls are right, you’re a very sweet and caring man. It doesn’t make sense that some woman hasn’t scooped you up yet.”
His jaw tightened, and I wondered what bothered him about that statement. “You three talked about me?”
I laughed. “Well, of course, we did. But I didn’t give them any details. Those are for me only.”
His face relaxed at that. “What are your plans for today?”
I wanted to spend it in bed with him, but I pushed thoughts of naked Wyatt out of my head. “I guess I’ll work on my athletic wear.”
“If you like, we can go for a walk on this side of the lake. It might help clear your head.”
“I’d like that.” I looked at him again, letting myself get lost in his brilliant blue eyes. “I meant what I said, Wyatt. Being with you has really helped me. You’ve made it so I’m thinking beyond just trying to get past a scandal and start a new career to really looking at what I want in life. The person I want to be.”
His blue gaze drifted from my eyes down to my lips, and for a moment, I wondered if he was thinking of kissing me. God, I wished he was.
His gaze flicked back up to my eyes. Powerful energy arced between us. My lips parted on a gasp as my heart rate sped up. I watched him and swore I could see the tug of war going on in his brain.
“My father isn’t here,” I said breathlessly.
He let out a growl, and then his lips were on mine. Endorphins flooded my body. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him back over me on the bed.
“Jesus, Lily…are you sober enough? Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Don’t stop Wyatt. If you stop now, so help me, my father will end up arresting me for maiming you. Josh will be the only one carrying on the Dalton name.”
He flinched, and a distance came to his eyes again. I held on to him, hating that I’d said something that affected him.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t joke about that.” I reached between us, rubbing my hand along his hard shaft, hoping to bring him back to me. “I’ve dreamt about you, Wyatt.
He groaned. “Have you?”
“Yes. Doing unspeakably pleasurable things to me.” My hands were everywhere as I worked to get his clothes off. I shimmied out of mine and pulled him to my breasts, hoping he’d take a hint.
Thankfully, he did. His lips wrapped around my nipple. He bit lightly and then sucked, making me arch off the bed.
“Yes,” I said as a long gasp as pleasure shot through me. “Touch me. I love how you touch me.”
“Fuck.” Like a tether had broken, he finally let loose. His hands and lips consumed me everywhere. My lips, my neck, my nipples, all the way down my belly to my pussy, where he had me writhing and convulsing as he shot me to my first orgasm.
Even as I was coming down, I knew I wanted more. “I need you.” My hands reached for him, desperate to have him inside me.
He levered over me; his blue eyes clouded with desire looking down on me. “Is there anyone else?”
His question took me off guard, but I answered it. “No.”
He stared at me like he didn’t believe me. Did he still think all that nonsense with Trask was real?
I reached up and pressed my hands on his cheeks. “I want you, Wyatt. Just you.” The words terrified me to say, and yet, it was clear he needed to know.
He settled his hips between my thighs. “Just me, Lily. For as long as we’re here together.”
“Yes. Of course. That same goes for you.”
His answer was to dip his head and kiss the ever-loving breath out of my lungs. I arched, forcing his tip to enter me. And thankfully, he thrust, finishing the act. Pleasure coursed through my blood as my body accommodated him. He moved; the friction so exquisitely good.
“Wyatt…” I chanted his name as he slid in and out, in and out until I was delirious with pleasure. “I’m coming…Oh, God…”
He growled, pushing my knee up into my chest, and then he thrust hard and shot me to the heavens. My body jerked and then shuddered as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through me.
“Fuck, yes!” he cried out, thrusting again, grinding against me as warm liquid filled me. I held on to him as we moved in perfect synchronicity.
Finally, he collapsed on me, his breath harsh in my ear.
He lifted his head to look at me.
“Don’t.” I said as I was sure I saw regret. “Don’t tell me this was a mistake.”
He shook his head. “I won’t.” He didn’t say it wasn’t a mistake, but I saw it in his expression.
He dropped his head for a moment. When he looked at me again, he said, “I can’t stop wanting you.”
“Stop trying to. If you want me, I’m here.”
He leaned down and kissed me again. It took a few seconds, but then I felt it. I could taste it on his lips. He was giving in. For now, he was mine. I held on to him, wanting to savor the moment. Someday, we’d be over. But right now, we were together, and I’d relish in it for as long as I could.
Chapter 18: Just an Affair
Wyatt
I always thought I was a strong man, but with Lily, my willpower was weak. Hell, it was non-existent. I couldn’t not have her. Especially now, since I knew how soft her skin was, how tight and hot her body was while I thrust inside her. If she wanted me, I had no ability not to give in to my desire for her.
Which isn’t to say I didn’t try. When I felt the urge, I’d remember the text from that fucking Trask Halloway, and it would temper my desire even if it didn’t completely quash it. But eventually, even that didn’t work.
The day after her slumber party, I’d tried to resist, but need and desire overwhelmed me, and I gave in. Not just to the sex, but to her. I had to believe her when she said that there was no one else. I was helpless against my desire for her, so for as long as she was here, I was hers.
The next week was like living in heaven. We had sex often, in nearly every room, and on every surface of the cabin. We shared a bed at night. We cooked together and played poker. She let me indulge in my sexual fantasies, such as fucking her from behind in the shower. She shared a few fantasies of her own, including watching me masturbate, which was made all the better when she let me come on her beautiful tits. It was a moment I’d relive over and over once this was done between us.
The only difficult part was when her father would come over. I was so sure he’d be able to tell all of the dirty things I was doing with his daughter. But each time he left without shooting me. And when I returned after my day off, he didn’t shoot me then either, which had to mean he didn’t see any evidence of my getting naked with Lily while he was staying there.
A few times, Allie and Josh stopped by. It was hard to hide my feelings for Lily from them, too, especially after the talk Allie had with me when she and Victoria had come over.
Later on, Sheriff Maddox began to talk about relieving me of my protection duty. This news was both welcome and unwelcome. It didn’t sit quite right that I was being paid to stay with her while I was also sleeping with her. But working for her was also the only way I could legitimately see her. Wh
at was worse was how I felt at the idea of not seeing her once my duty was ended. My heart clenched tight each time I thought about leaving her or when she’d talk about leaving Eden Lake. I finally had to face the fact that I wasn’t just falling for her. I was head over fucking heels in love with her.
While I didn’t like being away from her, I looked forward to the time off to sort myself out. The Sheriff was taking a shift again today, and I knew I’d need to take the time away to figure out what to do. Could I ask her to stay in Eden Lake? Would I be fired if I did? Or maybe he’d have me investigated for an ethics violation for sleeping with my assignment?
Would she even want to stay? I didn’t think so. When we weren’t spending time together, she worked on her athletic wear idea and was making plans with her brother to go to London. That wasn’t the action of a woman who was in love with me.
Before her father arrived that morning, I got up to deal with the day while she slept in. When I realized the Sheriff would be there soon, I went to wake her up.
“Hey sleepyhead,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Are you ever going to get up? Your dad is going to be here any minute.”
Her eyes stayed closed, but a sweet smile curved on her lips. “I’m tired. You wear me out.”
“You need to work out more. Build your stamina.” I wanted to climb in bed with her and help her with that.
She reached out and grabbed my dick. If her father wasn’t going to be here shortly, I’d have let her play with it.
“None of that,” I said, taking her hand off of me.
“I’m trying to build my stamina.”
I laughed. “Later. Come on.”
She groaned but sat up. She made a face like she was uncomfortable.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. Something I ate last night must have disagreed with me. My tummy is a little queasy.”
“I’ll get you some water.” By the time I got back, she was in the shower. I wanted to get in with her and wash that luscious body of hers. She’d gained some weight since being here, and it was all sexy curves that made my blood run hot.
A few minutes later, she looked a bit pale but smiled as she ate the eggs that I’d made for her.
“If this law enforcement thing doesn’t work out for you, you have a future as a cook and boy toy.”
I laughed. “Will you give me a recommendation?”
“Hell no. I’m going to hire you.”
The knock on the door indicated her father’s arrival, so I quickly shifted to my professional mode and gave a silent prayer that he didn’t notice the love bite I’d given her on her shoulder just below her neck last night.
Once her father had checked in with me, I headed out. An hour later, I was riding a ski lift up the mountain with my brother Josh to enjoy the day snowboarding. It wasn’t very often that he and I were off on the same day, and I looked forward to catching up with him.
“So how are things with work?” he asked.
“The same,” I said, still working on sounding indifferent about my job protecting Lily.
“How much longer are you going to be babysitting? Surely you’re eager to get to your real job.”
I shrugged. “It’s up to the sheriff.”
“It’s been weeks already. Surely a new scandal has replaced hers.”
I turned my head to look at him. “What’s your beef with my assignment?”
“No beef. I wonder if maybe this assignment means more to you, and that’s why you’re still there.”
I turned my attention forward in case something in my face belied my words. “No. The Sheriff still wants me there. He’s talking about ending my assignment, but my guess is that he’s not ready for her to leave, so I’m still there.”
“What does she want?” Josh asked.
“She’s planning to go to London.” My stomach clenched at the idea.
“What do you want?”
I shrugged. “I’m just doing my job.” I kept my gaze forward, glad for the sunglasses to hide anything my eyes might betray about how I was really feeling.
Josh was quiet for a moment. “You’re full of bullshit, you know that?”
I didn’t respond.
“You don’t trust me?” Josh said, sounding hurt.
I looked at him, surprised. “Of course, I do.”
“When things with Allie went to hell, I told you all about it. I valued your support. But you won’t share with me.”
Again, I turned my attention forward. “There’s nothing to share.”
“Fuck you, Wyatt.”
I gaped at him, wondering what had gotten into him. “What’s with you, Josh?”
“I know you fucked her at the cabin.”
I grabbed his arm hard. “Shut up, Josh. It wasn’t like that.” I wasn’t going to let him sully what Lily and I had at the cabin. What I really wondered was how he knew. “You don’t know shit about anything.”
“I know it because I can see the way you look at her. So why are you being such a fucking jerk and not talking about it?”
I ground my teeth. “There’s nothing to talk about, because one, she’s my boss’ daughter, which means there shouldn’t be anything to talk about and two, she’s planning to leave.”
“So that’s it? How you feel and what you want doesn’t matter?”
I glared at him. “No. It doesn’t.”
“Why?”
“I just told you why. It shouldn’t have happened. The Sheriff would rip my nuts off if he knew it had. And she’s not planning to stay—”
“So, go with her. Does she feel the same for you?”
I shook my head and worked to calm my emotions down. “I know you want me to be happy, Josh. But what you and Allie have, that’s not Lily and me.” Saying it out loud though, felt like I was ripping my heart out of my chest.
“So, it’s just an affair?”
“Yes.”
“After you wanted to rip my throat out for saying you fucked her, you’re saying it’s nothing. Just an affair?”
I groaned in frustration. “Yes. It’s an affair that no one can know about. Fuck, how did you know?”
“First, I have eyes. I saw how you two were with each other despite trying to hide it. Second, Victoria told Allie, who told me.”
I should have known. “Seriously Josh, this can’t get out.”
“You can trust Allie and me. I think you can trust Victoria too. She cares for Lily and only told Allie because she trusts her.”
“But she told you.” It seemed to me that all this trust was bullshit.
“I’m her husband, she’s required to say something. She won’t tell anyone else.”
“I’m supposed to confide in you knowing you’ll tell Allie because she’s your wife, and she’ll tell Victoria because she’s Allie’s sister. And Victoria will tell Lily, because like you, she traffics in gossip. No, I’m not going to do that.” I was glad that we were nearing the top of the hill.
“Wyatt.”
I closed my eyes as I prepared myself for whatever Josh was going to say to me.
“I know your stance on love and marriage is to avoid it until you’re beyond childbearing age.”
Fuck. I shook my head, not wanting to discuss this now.
“But that’s stupid. I know I’m being insensitive, but love isn’t solely about procreating. If you care for Lily, you need to go for it. Or for any woman that you care about.”
“Says the man who’s going to be a father in nine months.”
“I didn’t marry Allie to have children.”
I glared at him, both hurt and annoyed at his insensitivity. All this was hypothetical to him. “And what if she couldn’t have children and she knew it. If she told you she couldn’t have kids, would you still marry her.”
“Yes.” He said with such conviction that I knew he was being truthful.
“And what if you couldn’t? Do you think it would be fair to marry her if you couldn’t give her a child?”
&nb
sp; “We’d talk about it, but I know Allie loves me for me. She’d accept it.”
I suspected that was true, having seen him and Allie together. But I also knew that not everyone was like them. For many women, not having children was a deal-breaker.
“The fact that you’re asking me that suggests that Lily is more than an affair. That you love her and could see a future with her.”
I took a beat. “I’ll admit to loving her, but I don’t see a future.” The lift arrived at the top of the hill and I skied off, effectively ending the conversation.
I headed straight down the mountain needing to work off the negative energy. I knew Josh loved me and just wanted me to be happy, but talking about things with Lily wasn’t going to change anything. She was still my boss’ daughter. She was still planning to leave.
Chapter 19: More Complications
Lily
Something wasn’t right. Not with Wyatt. For the last few weeks, things had been great with him. The only time I felt his distance was when my father or other people were around, but I understood that. He wanted to keep us on the down-low. A part of me didn’t like that. I didn’t want to be a secret. I was happy and wanted to tell my father that. But I respected Wyatt’s concerns and kept our fling to myself.
No, the problem was me. As refreshing and invigorating as the cold mountain air was, I was feeling tired and sluggish. I wasn’t thinking as straight as I’d like. I wasn’t sick, but there were times I felt sick. It wasn’t until I was looking at my calendar and realized I was late that I figured out what was wrong. Or at least what could be wrong. Was I pregnant?
The first emotion was panic. But it wasn’t because I didn’t want a baby. It was because Wyatt had said we didn’t need to worry about that. Had he lied? I didn’t think so. The only explanation was that whatever procedure he’d had didn’t work. That led me to a new worry; he didn’t want children. What would he do if I was pregnant? He was a good man and would likely do what was right. But I didn’t want him like that. I wanted him to want me for me, not because a baby had been created.
Then there was the whole generalized fear about whether I could raise a child and be a good mother.
