by Parker, Ali
I offered her a grape. She opened her mouth and I popped it inside. “Did your dad say anything?”
“About?”
“Our conversation.”
Her mouth fell open. “You talked with my dad?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“No! When did this happen? I feel like I’ve been living under a rock.”
“I took your advice. I stopped by his office on Monday before I left.”
She pressed her hand against her belly. “How did that go? Wait, don’t tell me. I’m afraid to ask.”
“Well, it didn’t start out great, but things got better. I’m not going to claim we are best buddies, but he agreed to help me out. I still don’t think he likes me, but I don’t think he wants to kill me.”
She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. “I am just a little taken aback. This is a whole lot of information coming at me at once.”
“I bet. I’m not done yet.”
“Oh lord, have mercy.” She downed the rest of her glass and held it out. “Please tell me you have more wine in your little basket of goodies.”
I grinned and grabbed another miniature bottle. “I do.” I filled her glass and watched as she took several long drinks. “More?”
“Not yet. What else? I don’t even know where to begin to guess.”
“I love you.”
She blinked, staring at me without saying anything. “What?”
“You heard me. I love you.”
“Oh my goodness,” she breathed. “Oh my.”
I took the wine glass from her and put it on the little cement pad the bench was perched on. I scooted closer, reaching for her and pulling her closer to me. “I love you Evie,” I breathed the words before pressing my lips to hers.
She opened her mouth to me. My tongue swept inside her mouth, tasting the wine and the grape. She tasted like sweet ecstasy. My mouth opened wider, forcing her to open her mouth. I held her against me. All her soft curves pressed against my chest. I didn’t intend to make love to her right there, but need was overriding all other senses.
“I want you,” I whispered against her mouth.
“Please.”
“Can I? Here? Please say yes. I need you.”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes. Here. Now.”
It was the only approval I needed.
Chapter 68
Evie
I was being terribly irresponsible. I was not the girl who got naked in the park and had sex. Unfortunately, when I was with Xander, all bets were off.
And he loved me. The words echoed through my mind over and over. He loved me. I would follow him into the fires of hell knowing he loved me. I didn’t realize just how badly I needed to hear those words from him.
He loved me. I loved him. I didn’t know what that meant for the two of us, but damn if I was going to pass up the chance to find out. The way he was kissing me was different. Maybe it was mind over matter, but I could practically taste the love on his tongue. It was in the way he touched me. The gentleness of his hand on my cheek, holding me steady while his tongue plundered inside my mouth.
“Over here,” he said as he broke his mouth away from mine.
I felt a little dazed. His kiss made me feel drunk on lust. Again, I was ready to follow him anywhere if it meant I got more kisses like that. He took my hand and led me away from the bench that was in an exposed area. We walked through a narrow path and into the trees.
“Where are we going?” I asked him.
“I found this little area when we were here with Kade,” he answered.
“Oh,” I said.
The light was more filtered under the copse of trees. He pulled me against him once again. His mouth moved over mine, making me forget all about where we were. His arms were around me, making me feel like I was completely safe in his embrace. I was wrapped up in him and his love and it was the only place I ever wanted to be.
“I have never been so desperate for you,” he whispered against my lips. “I have missed you like crazy. I haven’t been able to think straight or sleep. I need you. I need you in my life.”
“I’m here,” I told him. I ran my hands through his hair. “I’m here for you. Always.”
He growled low in his throat before taking my mouth again. I could feel his erection pressing against my belly. I pushed back against him, trying to get closer. I couldn’t get close enough.
“This might be a little tricky,” he said with a small laugh.
“I think we’ll figure it out.”
“I know we will figure it out. There is no way I’m going to make it back to the car or to your place or my place. I have to have you. I need you. I’m so hard. I’m so on the edge.”
I looked around and came up with a plan. “Here,” I said and took his hand, leading him a little deeper into the trees. I dropped his hand and very slowly undid the button of his pants and slid the zipper down.
I reached for him, feeling the hard strength of him, and wrapped my hand around his shaft.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “It hurts so good.”
He was straining. I could feel the tension in his body. My instinct was to make him feel better. There was only one way to do that.
I quickly undid my shorts and slid them down my legs, leaving my shoes on. Next, I slid my panties and very carefully put them on my shorts. I wasn’t a big outdoors person, but I was not interested in whatever was on the ground making a nice bed for themselves in my panties.
“Goddamn,” he groaned. “I need you. I’m sorry, but I need you so bad.”
“Don’t be sorry. I want this.”
It was sweet he was thinking about me and my modesty. I had no modesty in that moment. All I had was a desperate need to have him buried inside me. I slowly turned and placed my hands against the trunk of a very tall tree. I looked over my shoulder at him and gave my ass a wiggle.
It was the only encouragement he needed. He stepped forward, nudged my legs open with his knee, and slid his hand up the inside of my thigh. He found my heated center. I was already wet and aching for him when he rubbed his fingertip over me.
I jerked at the contact. “Yes, please,” I begged.
He dropped his hand, and a moment later, the head of his cock was probing at my entrance. With a little adjustment and me bending forward a bit with my hands braced on the tree, he found his way deep inside.
“This,” he breathed. “This is what I have craved. Your warmth squeezing me.”
I was caught up in the delight of being filled by him. I had convinced myself I would never experience him again. I was beyond thrilled he was back. I moved a little, adjusting him inside me. “I have dreamed of you every night.”
“This?” he asked as he stroked a hand down my spine. “Have you dreamed of me doing this to you?”
“Yes,” I whimpered as fresh new shivers of desire coursed through my veins. “This. Over and over.”
“I love you,” he said again and began to move. His strokes were long and purposeful. The usual fury of our lovemaking was gone. It was as if we both recognized we had time. We didn’t have to be in a race. There would be a next time and a next time after that.
“I love you,” I told him, realizing I had yet to say the words. I knew I loved him and had known it for some time.
The moment I said it, his cock grew inside me. My body tightened around him, squeezing him. I imagined myself holding him in my arms, hugging him tight. He gasped, sucking in a sharp breath as my body responded to his.
“I’m going to make love to you all night,” he promised. “This is just the beginning. This is to tide me over until we get home. I want you in my bed. I want me inside you.”
“Yes,” I gasped, my head dropping to my chest as he slid in and out of me. Every stroke touched new places. Every stroke sent my body into a wild tailspin of desire and need. “Please. Please. Don’t stop.”
He didn’t speed up his pace. He kept moving in that slow steady rhythm, sliding in, grinding
his hips, and then gliding out and leaving just the tip inside me. The spasms rocking through me made it difficult for me to remain standing. I wanted to crumble in a heap at his feet with him still inside me.
“This is just the first,” he said, his voice strained. “I can’t hold back. Your body is milking me. You are too tight. Too hot. Too fucking wet.”
“Don’t hold back,” I told him. I needed his release. I could feel mine hovering just out of reach as if my body refused to give in until it had his complete surrender.
He let out a long, low groan. I felt him explode inside me. I kept myself from screaming with the pleasure that was shredding my nerves. My brain was in sensory overload. I couldn’t cry out. The very last thing I wanted was some Good Samaritan bursting through the trees to save me. I would kill anyone that stopped me from getting every last drop of pleasure from my man.
His arms reached around me, pulling me upright with him still deep inside me. The action spawned a new wave of tremors through my body. He grunted, sounding as if he had been punched as my body clamped down on him again.
“Damn woman, you are going to kill me if you keep doing that.”
I softly laughed, resting my head on his shoulder as he nuzzled my neck. “I think that it’s the other way around.”
“I want to get you home. I need more. I have a long week to make up for.”
“I think I kind of like this outside thing,” I teased.
He stepped away from me and slowly turned me around. Our bodies pressed against each other once again. It was a magnetic pull that was futile to resist. “I have a very private backyard.”
“Oh, I like the sound of that.”
“Get dressed. We’ll go to my place.”
He didn’t have to ask me twice. I quickly shook out my panties, praying to god no critters had taken refuge in them before pulling them on. We both dressed before he took my hand and led me out of the trees. “I feel like a naughty teenager. What would we have done if someone came upon us?”
He smiled, his white teeth flashing in the moon that had made a grand entrance while we had been cloistered in the trees. “We would have told them to leave us alone and let us finish our business.”
I giggled like a schoolgirl and helped him pack up his picnic. “I’m glad you chose to come back,” I told him.
He looked at me, directly into my soul. “I didn’t come back to the place. I came back to you. Wherever you are is where I would be. It isn’t where I am but who I am with that I care about.”
I sighed. “You are good.”
“Good?”
“This is the part where I tell you that you had me at hello. Except, I think I said hello first. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you, you were going to be a problem for me.”
He quirked his lips. “A problem?”
“Yep. You came into my neat and tidy life and shook things up.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
I hugged him again. I couldn’t stop touching him. “It’s a very good thing. It’s the best thing. But know this. You are stuck with me. If you try to run away from me again, I am going to chain you up and lock you in the basement.”
He grinned, his brows dancing. “Chains, huh? I didn’t know you were into the freaky stuff.”
“With you, I never know what I’m into. I wasn’t into having sex outside in a very public park until I met you.”
“I can’t wait to find out what else you are into,” he teased.
“Let’s go. I’m already feeling like I might drag you back into those trees.”
His soft laughter washed over me. It was like being wrapped up in love. I never dreamed I would have the love of a man like Xander. He was so perfectly flawed. I couldn’t wait for us to learn everything there was to know about each other. I knew we would heal each other. We would correct the flaws and weave together a beautiful relationship.
As I followed him back to his place, I let myself dream of our future together. I was probably getting ahead of myself, but I could see us having beautiful babies together. I could see us sitting at our children’s graduations and meeting our grandchildren together. It was a future I’d never imagined before.
And then there was Xander. Meeting him changed everything.
The bumpy road that Nelle recommended I take was turning out to be the best ride ever. I was never letting him go. I hoped he was ready for me to stick to him like glue. He was stuck with me. He could run, but I had already proven I would find him.
He was mine.
Epilogue
Xander
One year later
Pride. That was what I felt in that moment. My ships were heading out to sea. Everyone else was already making their way back away from the dock. I couldn’t leave just yet. I watched the ships navigate out to sea one at a time. I didn’t have children, but I imagined what I was feeling was similar to what a proud papa would feel.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Charlie next to me.
“This is a big day,” he said.
“It is. You pulled it off.”
“You pulled it off.”
“What do you think?” I asked him. “Is it going to work? Do you foresee them falling apart halfway around the world?”
He shook his head. “My guys did excellent work. That shit is solid.”
“Good. Those test ships seem to be holding up.”
“Of course, they will. My team is the best. Your idea wasn’t half-bad either.”
“Thanks,” I said, watching as one of the ships cleared the harbor.
“You know, you could have made a lot more money with that plan,” he lectured.
“I could have but I already have a lot of money. This one was on the house.”
He slugged my shoulder. “On the house my ass. You still cleared a few million.”
“You and I both know it was worth ten times that.”
“You should consider going into marketing,” he said with a laugh. “I never would have given something away with the goal of it paying off like that.”
“It’s the oldest trick in the book,” I told him. “I gave it to a small company, and when the big guys noticed, they all wanted it. It was basically my coupon.”
“Your business does not need coupons.”
“It worked though,” I said with a grin.
“It did. That fleet represents the biggest shipping company in the world. You did what you always said you would.”
“What was that?”
“You changed the world. I rub elbows with the guy that changed the world.”
“Hey, you two,” Evie said as she walked toward us.
“Hey, baby.” I greeted her with a kiss. She was wearing a navy-blue dress that was supposed to go with the theme of our little celebration. She insisted we have a celebration. There was champagne and appetizers and even some music.
“You guys are hiding from the party. I have cars ready to take everyone to the hotel. Do not think you are escaping the party that celebrates the two of you. I will not have it.”
I kissed her. “I wouldn’t dare.”
She hooked her arm through mine and led me to the waiting limousine. We climbed in with Charlie and a few of the other guys from his team. We were delivered to the hotel where a large crowd was already gathered in the ballroom.
“This is all for you,” she whispered in my ear as we stood just inside the doorway.
“I feel like this is a little much,” I told her.
“Of course, you would think that. This is a big deal. We are all here to celebrate you and your brilliant brain.”
“Thank you,” I told her.
“I have one little surprise. I know you are not fond of surprises but this one was a must.”
I groaned. “I don’t want to give a speech.”
“You won’t need to give a speech.”
She led me away from the door. While my anxiety wasn’t as bad as it used to be, I was never going to be a social butterf
ly. Never.
“Son!” I heard my father’s voice.
I spun around, looking at my father. “Dad?” I questioned what I was seeing with my own two eyes. “You’re here?”
“I would not miss this!” he said and shook my hand. “I can’t believe you are the man of the hour. You are a big deal.”
My chest puffed out a little. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m happy to be here. I’ve met a few people and they all sing your praises. You are a really big deal. I feel like a fool, but I had no idea.”
Evie looked up at me, her face glowing with pride. “He is a very big deal.”
Evie damn near dragged me around the room, forcing me to shake hands and smile at a lot of people. She must have sensed the moment I was done with it all. She escorted me out of the ballroom and onto the patio lit by pretty lights hanging overhead.
“How are you doing?” she asked me.
“I’m doing good. I’m glad I have you alone. Finally. There are a lot of people in there.”
“They are all here to celebrate you and what you have accomplished. You have made a big impact on the shipping industry. I don’t really understand any of it, but I know they all love you for saving them a lot of money.”
I shrugged. “I aim to please.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I didn’t see your father,” I commented.
“He’s here. I can bring him around if you would like. He has a new lady friend I think you should meet.”
My eyes went wide. “No way.”
“Yes way.”
“He never said a word to me.”
“When did you talk to him?”
This was the part where I fessed up. I learned a long time ago not to try and hide anything from my lovely lady. She was smart, savvy, and downright ruthless.
“I stopped by his office yesterday,” I told her, unable to hide my smile.
“You did, huh?”
I nodded. “I did.”
“Well, aren’t you two the best of friends?” she teased.
That was a bit of an exaggeration, but we were friends. Things had not been easy, but I felt like we had a mutual understanding. He wanted what was best for Evie and so did I. She was our main concern. “We had some business to discuss.”
