Cait thought most women would hate to hear such a thing, but she loved it. And she soothed the beast he’d become as she said, “And I’d die for you, my sweet man.” She ran her hands over his flushed cheeks.
With her words, Phoenix’s eyes went soft in an instant. He felt the love in her voice. She wasn’t lying to him. Cait loved him, and she loved the intense way he could be at times. He’d never felt such an urge to dominate a female. But he wasn’t lying when he said he’d kill for her, and he felt the truth in her words as well.
With a soft kiss to her forehead, he whispered, “I’d die for you too, Caity-cat.”
His moves turned to loving and easy strokes. He caressed her cheek with one hand as he held his weight off her with the other. She pulled at him to let his weight fall on her body. Cait yearned to feel all of him.
She was strong; Phoenix was sure of that. She was strong enough to take him, and she was strong enough to make him into the man he knew he could be. The life he’d known would be far behind him, of that he was sure.
Cait had taken him into her heart and soul, a place he wanted to reside in forever.
Chapter 37
The smell of roses wafted past Kel’s nose when she opened the yellow draperies that hung in the bedroom she chose for the night, exposing an open window. A lovely, candlelit dinner of steaks and steak frites had filled the evening at a local restaurant. Then Ethan had had the driver bring them home and had asked Kel if she’d like to spend the night with him.
Kel had told him no. She didn’t want to feel forced to have sex with the man. No matter how honest they’d finally been with one another, the fact still stood that Ethan knew how to lie better than most. And that made her afraid of the man.
Not to mention the fact that she felt so much for him. The fact that his touch filled her with frantic butterflies that were electrically charged. The fact that his kiss filled her in such a way that the planet seemed to disappear. Ethan was a man she should fear. Her heart was too fragile for a man like he was.
After changing into a pink satin nightie that went to just above her knees, Kel brushed her hair and teeth, then climbed into the large and soft bed. The face of her cell phone lit up, and she picked it up off the nightstand. There was a text from Ethan. –
May I come in and give you a good night kiss, love?
Kel hesitated before answering him. His kisses were magical. One good night kiss might not suffice. Her fingers lingered over the screen’s keyboard. Hovering over the letter n, she thought about how nice he’d been that night at dinner. How romantic he could be when he put his mind to it.
Even hiring actors to play some crazy relatives was filled with forethought. Her fiancé hadn’t given much thought to anything he’d ever done for her. Presents were the usual and expected things. Flowers on Valentine’s Day; a piece of not-so-expensive jewelry would come on Christmas and her birthday. No trips of any kind were ever planned by her ex.
Kel had a man within her grasp who could put significant thought into things that concerned her. Sure, everything up to that point had been to win a bet, but Ethan had it in himself to think deeply about her and make plans that were out of this world.
A soft knock came to the door. “Kel, can I please come in? Just for a second.”
She put her phone down. Ethan wasn’t going to wait for her answer. “It’s not locked, Ethan.”
The door opened and in came the tall, well-built Scot. His auburn hair was a mess of waves that flowed to his broad shoulders. It looked as if he’d run his hands through his hair numerous times. Kel saw the worry on his handsome face as he got closer, coming into the light the small bedside lamp gave off.
“Kel, I can feel a disturbance in the Force, love,” he said with a weak grin.
Kel laughed a bit, but he was right about a disturbance. Things were real after all the lies had been confessed by them both. And real was scary to her. She pulled herself up to a sitting position, then patted the bed for him to take a seat. “Ethan, I think I should be truthful with you.”
Taking the seat, he said, “Please do, my love.”
His words were a thing that worried her, so she told him, “Ethan, you’ve called me love since you met me. Am I to believe you, or is that just a thing you call all women?”
Ethen inched his fingers over the pale blue blanket that enhanced the color of Kel’s dark blue eyes. Eyes that he noticed were a bit squinted as she watched him, looking for signs of truths and lies. He took her hand and held it to his whiskered cheek. “Kel, I’m not going to tell you what I think you want to hear. It’s true, I’ve called many a woman, love. And I used that to reel you in, or to try to anyway. But as time has gone on—and I know it’s not been much—I’ve grown to mean it when I call you my love. Is that so hard to believe?”
She nodded. “It’s very hard to believe.” She curled her fingers into his beard, loving the way it was so soft. With a sigh, she whispered, “My heart hurts, Ethan.”
He pulled her hand to his plump lips and kissed the tips of her fingers. “Perhaps it hurts because it’s holding your words within it. The heaviness is most likely what’s making it ache. You should probably just spit those words out and allow them to fall where they may.”
“What’s the plan, Ethan?” she asked. “I need to know if you have a plan.”
“What’s your plan, Kel?” he shot back at her. “You see, you’re the wildcard, in my opinion. Your fear of love is a thing that, quite frankly, frightens me.”
“It frightens me too,” she confessed.
His lips moved softly over the top of her hand. Then he ran them up her arm until he was close to her face. “Kel, my plan is to be with you wherever and however it works out. And I want you to know that I do love you. I can’t think a thought that doesn’t have you in it.”
Kel stared at him, wanting to be as honest with him as he was being with her but that fear was so intense, it kept her heart from doing what it wanted to. “So, you’ll move to Ashby? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I don’t see why I couldn’t. And I don’t see why you couldn’t move in with me.” He looked deep into her eyes as he went on, “Kel, I want you around all the time that I can have ya around. I want to see ya each mornin’ when I wake up and kiss your lips each night before I fall asleep. Do you want that with me?”
“You’re talking about something that’s far ahead in the future, Ethan. We have to get to know one another much better. I knew my fiancé for …”
His lips pressed against hers to stop her from saying any more. He pulled them away, only a bit as he whispered, “I am not him. Don’t make me pay for his debts, love. I’m not saying we need to rush to marry, but I am saying I want you in my bed. I want you there every night.”
The thought made her body flush with heat.
He wanted her in his bed!
She’d never shared a bed with her ex. They’d never taken the step of moving in together. And that was her doing. She’d refused to move in with him when he’d asked her to. She’d been worried about what people might say.
With Ethan’s body so close to hers, her hands moved on their own, running over his shoulders that were covered in a loose fitting, soft T-shirt. His pajama bottoms were soft too, she found, as her hands flowed down his sides to land on his thighs. Large thighs that told her he could dominate her in bed.
Ethan was a beast of a man. Easily twice her size. But his heart was softer than any she’d ever known. She felt the honesty in his words, and her heart sped up, shooting the words out of her mouth, “I’d like that, Ethan.” Averting her eyes, she let the rest come out, “And I do love you. You consume my thoughts.”
“At last,” he said, then pulled her chin to make her look at him. “Say it again, love. This time I want to see your eyes when you do.”
“I love you, Ethan Southern,” she said as a tear ran away and he kissed it away.
“No tears are necessary, my love. The past is gone. Your future is before you,
and I’m smackdab in the middle of it. What do you say to this becoming our first night together? One of many.” He waited patiently for her answer as he secretly prayed she’d say yes. His body ached for her. If she said no, he’d get little to no sleep as he would surely toss and turn in his bed, knowing she was within his reach but refusing to allow him her company.
Kel knew she was taking a risk. She knew things could all go south for them. But somewhere, deep inside, she knew she’d be a damn fool not to give the man a chance. Raising her arms up over her head in surrender, she said, “Pull my nightgown off and see what you’ll be getting when you get me in your bed every night.”
Ethan stared at her, as he was kind of in shock and unsure if she was being sarcastic or not. “Kel, are you saying that we can spend the night together in this bed and that you want to make love?”
“Do you want that?” she asked as she waited with her arms still in the air.
“More than anything,” he told her. “But only if you do.”
Tired of waiting for him to undress her, Kel took the nightie off, leaving her in only pink silk panties. She watched his eyes grow in size as he took her nearly naked body in. “Ethan, I’m all in. I want you to make love to me and stay with me in this bed. I want to wake up to your handsome face. Show me what life will be like if I live it with you.”
“You will not be sorry, my love,” Ethan said, then stood up and removed his clothing as she watched him.
Kel had been fairly sure the man was well endowed but still gasped when the underwear dropped and what swung between his legs was massive in all ways. “Ethan!”
Tossing back the blankets, he pulled her down in the bed and took her panties off. “Don’t worry. I can be very gentle. Now let’s get rid of these so I can get to my prize.”
Kel giggled at his words, then the giggle turned into a moan as his lips pressed against her clit. The memory of the orgasm he had given her came flooding back, and her body took over. “Ethan …” she moaned, then ran her hands through his thick mane as she gave into the feelings that she’d been keeping at bay.
Ethan caressed her smooth, creamy thighs as he kissed her into a heated frenzy of lust and desire for him. His tongue flicked at her pearl like a serpent, teasing it until she was writhing with the climax that was building in her.
His cock was fully engorged as she shrieked his name with her orgasm. Ethan wasted no time fooling around; he quickly moved to get on top of her and thrust his cock into her wet and hot tunnel. She gasped as he spread her open.
Clutching his biceps, Kel looked into Ethan’s eyes, hers wide and a bit pained. “Oh!”
He waited a moment to let her body stretch to fit his. “You’ll be fine, love. You’re already accommodating me as we speak.”
Taking a deep breath, she said, “Go slowly at first, Ethan. The burn is pretty intense.”
With slow movements, he eased his cock up, then back down. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Seems I have me a massive man in all ways.” A light laugh came from her, and she gave his arms a squeeze as he kept the slow strokes going.
Little by little, the burning sensation went away, and she felt full with him inside of her. Closing her eyes, she let her body feel every bit of him. The way his muscles moved as he moved his body over hers was intoxicating. When his lips met with her neck, she sighed and let it all go.
He moved like a giant between her legs. Long strokes had her breathing rapidly. The way her breaths came in short bursts let Ethan know she was good to go. The hard part was over and done with, and there would be smooth sailing from then on.
Kel’s body was tight around his cock, making it want to release, but Ethan was dead set on holding onto his release for her to have hers. Placing his lips to her ear, he whispered, “You feel like heaven, love. You’re tight and toned and pure bliss.”
She ran a foot up the back of his leg as she opened up wider for him. He groaned as his cock moved into her deeper. “You fill me completely up, Ethan. This feels so right.”
Up and down he went as he cooed, “You feel so right.”
A wave of heat moved through her body as he kissed her neck and moved faster and harder until she was clawing his back, screaming his name, and falling into a deep abyss she hoped she’d never come back out of.
Ethan’s dick felt the wash of wet heat that came from her body as she gave him what he’d craved since the first time he’d met her. His cock exploded into her, mixing with the juices he’d made her release. It was official. They’d made love, consummating a real relationship. One that he never saw coming but was damn glad had.
Chapter 38
Small waves lapped at the shoreline as Cait threw a Frisbee into the ocean. “Get it, Toby!” she shouted as Phoenix’s black lab took off to retrieve it.
Cait laughed as Phoenix came up behind her, picking her up and twirling her around. “He loves you too, Caity-cat!”
Her bare feet touched the sand as he let her down and turned her in his arms to face him. His lips met hers as he just couldn’t seem to get enough of the young woman who’d stolen his heart entirely.
When his only companion for the last few years, his dog Toby, had instantly fallen in love with Cait, he’d known he had someone special. And he was aware that she had to leave the next morning to get back to school and her real life. Phoenix was missing her already.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with just as much desire as she had the night before. They both let out long sighs when the dog dropped the Frisbee at their feet and yapped up at them to pay attention to him.
Cait reached down and ran her hand over his head as they ended their kiss. “Toby, do you want me to throw your toy again?”
A couple of quick barks let her know that was exactly what he wanted. Phoenix bent over, picking up the flying disc and handed it to her. “Let it fly.”
Cait tossed it out into the water as she said, “Man, I’m gonna miss him.”
“He’s going to miss you too,” Phoenix said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. “We both will.”
“Like we talked about,” she reminded him. “You set up the ride, and I’ll come see you every weekend that I can get off.”
Phoenix wasn’t happy with their arrangement. It wasn’t going to be enough for him, and he knew it without a doubt. “You should think about transferring to a college here. You could stay with me and …”
She reached back and ran her hand over his cheek. “That’s sweet of you. But I want to stay where I’m at. MIT is the perfect college for me, since I’m majoring in food engineering. You can understand that, can’t you?”
“I can,” he said then turned her around to face him. “You can understand that I want you around, right?”
“I do,” she said then kissed him again. The fact was she wanted him around too, but had no idea how their worlds could be combined.
The day went by with them playing in the surf with his dog and lying on the sandy beach, exchanging kisses and hugs. Everything felt sweet and extraordinary. Neither wanted it to stop, but both knew the weekend would end and reality would set in.
When the sun set, finding the couple still on the beach, Phoenix let his thoughts be known. “Cait, I’ve been thinking. That’s pretty much all I’ve been doing today. And I believe that you and I can make this work. I mean really make it all work.”
“I think we can too,” she agreed. “We’ll figure things out. I’m sure.”
Leaning over her, he rolled her onto her back, making her giggle as he moved his body over hers and the dog began to bark at him. “Toby, be quiet! I want your new mom to hear this loud and clear.”
Cait ran her hands over his clean-shaven face. “Hear what?”
His eyes were pools of dark chocolate, conveying more to her than his words ever could. She saw the love in them. She felt loved in his arms. And she knew he wanted nothing separating them. But she didn’t know how that could be changed. She had school, end
of story.
“Come with me tonight to Las Vegas. Marry me tonight, Cait.” He didn’t blink as he waited for her answer.
“Tonight? Get on a plane and go to Vegas and marry you tonight?” she asked to be sure she’d heard him right.
He nodded and waited as Toby watched her too. Both of them wanted to keep her in their daily lives. Both were waiting to see if she’d accept that role.
Cait’s head swam with what he wanted. Only a day ago, he’d been set on making her not see him as husband material and there he was asking her to marry him right away. But there still was the distance thing to think about.
“Phoenix, getting married won’t stop the fact I have to finish school. And there are no companies here for me to work for,” she told him.
“We’ll work that out as we go. And I want you to finish school. But mostly, I want to change your last name.” He kissed her sweetly on the lips. “I want to make you mine in all ways, Caity-cat. Will you marry me?”
Her heart was racing, and she was unsure if it was because it wanted her to say yes or was trying to tell her things were moving way too fast. But then her mouth opened and the word came out, “Yes.”
Phoenix found himself laughing as he got up and pulled her up with him. Picking her up in his arms, he carried her to his house, Toby following along, yapping up a storm. It was as if the dog understood that Cait was going to be a part of his family too.
As he took her to the house, he said, “We’ll go to Vegas and make it legal tonight. Tomorrow we’ll take another private jet back to Ashby and start looking for us a home. In the meantime, we’ll stay at the bed and breakfast. And you’ll quit the job at the pub, because my money will be your money.”
Cait stopped breathing as that reality settled into her brain. “Phoenix, I’ll be rich like you?”
“You will be rich like me, Caity-cat.” He kissed her again. “But let me tell you something, I’ve never felt wealthier than I do right now, knowing you want to be a part of me forever. It’s worth more than all the money in the world.”
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