“Nice to meet you both. You’ve got a great boss here.”
I grumbled again, but Jack jumped in.
“She really is amazing. I know you’re going to love what she has put together for this event. It’s going to be perfect.”
“We love perfect,” the woman said, stepping forward. She was a little fierce with dark hair tugged back into a ponytail and a black suit that did nothing for her shape. Hell, I couldn’t even see her shape. She was clearly in a man’s world and trying to blend. “I’m Miranda. I’m in charge of the media coverage for the event.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kiana said. She turned to the other man, a bald guy whose shoulders took up half the room. He wore a short sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of board shorts. He could have passed for a beach bum if it weren’t for the look in his eyes.
He was ex-military. Without a doubt.
“This is Dave. He’s the head of security. He’s been in touch with local law enforcement and hired a private security team to be with the bride and groom and to work the events.”
Kiana shook his hand, but he just nodded at Jack and me.
“We would love to see the location if you’re ready to show us around a bit,” Steven said, grinning widely at Kiana.
She smiled back and said, “Follow me.”
The six of us walked outside. Kiana and Steven talked, leading the way. Miranda fell into step with Jack, which left Dave and I together.
“What branch?” I asked him.
“Marines.”
I nodded. “I did a lot of work with Marines. That would have been my guess.”
He grunted. Yep, definitely a Marine.
There were two kinds of ex-military. The ones who liked to talk about their days in the service and those who didn’t. Most Marines fell into the latter category.
We followed the others to the beach, Dave’s head on a swivel as he took in all the potential weak points. It wasn’t something Kiana ever worried about, or needed to. I was surprised there was any concern, but I admitted there were some crazy people in the world and you just never knew.
Kiana showed Steven around, detailing all the plans she’d worked out. We were set up for a wedding that weekend, so it was easy to picture how things would be. She told him about the changes she was going to make, the additions she had in mind for Carrington and Rachel.
“I think it all looks great,” Steven said with a wide grin. “You’re as amazing in person as I thought you’d be.”
Kiana basked in his praise. I just wanted to punch the guy. You didn’t flirt with another man’s girlfriend, especially in front of him.
I moved to get closer to her when Jack put a hand on my arm. I glared at him, but he shook his head.
“Don’t.”
“She’s mine.”
He nodded. “Not here. She’s her own person here. Don’t take that from her.”
I deflated instantly, feeling like an asshole. Jack was right, of course. I took a step back and listened as Steven filled her in on everything else planned.
“We have activities booked for them from the day they get here until Monday. They’re being interviewed for a few different TV shows. We were hoping we could do those interviews here, if there’s space.”
Kiana nodded. “Of course. We have nothing else going on all next week. You guys can have free run of the place.”
“Good. Thank you. Our photographer will be here when Joe and Rachel land. He’s going to meet them at the airport and basically shadow them the entire trip.”
“Your photographer?” Kiana asked.
I perked up, too. It was the first I’d heard about another photographer. As much as I was dreading the whole thing, I did not want to leave Kiana with some stranger.
Steven nodded. “We hired someone to be with them for all of the extra activities. Since they have other things planned besides just the wedding, we wanted to make sure we had that covered.”
“We could have done that,” she said, her eyebrows tugging closer together.
Steven waved off her offer. “It’s no big deal. We knew you’d be focused on the wedding. We just wanted someone who would be dedicated to them. We found a local guy. He said he knows your operation well, so he’ll fit in seamlessly here. You won’t even realize he’s around.”
Dread speared my gut when I saw her face. She was pasty white, sickly. She looked like she was going to pass out. Her voice was barely audible when she said, “Who is it?”
“Anthony Ortega.”
Jack groaned. Kiana’s lips pinched with her attempt at a gracious smile. I just wanted to hit something. Her ex was going to be working side-by-side with me at Carrington’s wedding.
Well, fuck me. It just got worse.
After Steven, Miranda, and Dave left, Kiana looked defeated. She sank into her chair and closed her eyes.
“It’ll be okay,” Jack said reassuringly.
She just shook her head.
“Why don’t you take her home?” he suggested. “Get her some food. We’ll come up with a game plan tomorrow.”
She let me guide her to her car. I rifled through her purse for keys and had us on the road to her house in minutes. Kiana didn’t speak to me the entire drive, just stared out the window. It fucking gutted me that she was so upset by the idea of seeing him. I told myself it was just because he weaseled his way into her big project, but there was a seed of doubt that said she still loved him and she’d choose him if we were side-by-side.
I searched her fridge when we got to her place and found eggs, bread, and bacon. I couldn’t cook much, but I could make something work.
“Do you like French toast?”
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “Why?”
“I was going to make us some dinner. If you don’t mind me using the stuff in your kitchen.”
She shook her head. “Do you mind if I go change?”
“No, go right ahead.”
She left the kitchen, and I got to work. Eggs, cinnamon, a touch of milk, vanilla, salt, and pepper went into a shallow dish. I whisked it together as the pan on the stove heated up. Butter sizzled on the surface and I was ready to go.
I was starving and figured she was also. When I had a stack of French toast and a plate of bacon cooked, I set them on the table with butter, syrup, and a bottle of wine.
We needed it.
I went in search of Kiana and found her sitting on the edge of her bed.
“You okay?”
She shook her head. “He always said I was nothing without him. Now he’s overshadowing what I’m doing by sticking his nose into it.”
“Did you tell him about this before he quit?”
“No. I didn’t even know about it. I have no idea how he found out.”
“Could there be someone in the office who’s feeding him information? Maybe even innocently. Someone he’s in touch with who could have mentioned it?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m sure he kept in touch with some people, but I have no clue who.”
“We’ll figure that out tomorrow. For now, come and eat.”
She let me lead her to the table and sat. I poured two big glasses of wine and handed her one.
“You can’t drink that much,” she said. “You won’t be able to drive home.”
I held her gaze and said, “I was thinking of staying here tonight.”
“You were?”
I nodded. “If you don’t mind.”
Her grin answered for her.
We ate our French toast and drank our wine. Kiana pushed her plate away and said, “We’ll clean up later. Want to watch a movie or something?”
I nodded and carried my plate to the sink. “You pick out a movie. I’ll clean up.”
“You cooked,” she protested. “That’s not fair.”
I shook my head and picked up our plates. “It is fair. Go find a movie.”
She did as I asked. I had the kitchen clean and put back together quickly, then joined her on the couch. She h
it play and laid down with her head in my lap.
We watched the movie in silence, the sounds of the couple on TV falling in love the only noise in the house. I stroked her hair and rubbed her back, the whole time wondering how the whole thing with Anthony was going to play out.
When the movie ended, she sat up and crawled into my lap. “You know I don’t want him, right?” she asked, holding my face in her hands so I had to look at her.
I shrugged. “You have a long history.”
“Huh?”
“You were together a long time. If you want to be with him, I won’t stand in your way. Or at least, I’ll try hard not to.”
Her eyes widened, and she laughed. Hard. Her whole body shook. She collapsed onto me. I was getting a little annoyed that she thought it was so funny, but I sat there. Because I fucking loved her. And if that meant letting her laugh at me, I would. If that meant watching her leave me for someone else, I would. I’d hate it, but I’d do it.
“I was talking about Steven, not Anthony. Oh, God. You think I’d actually want Anthony back? Just thinking about him ever touching me again turns my stomach.”
“What about Steven?”
She shook her head. “We have a work relationship. I know you were pissed that he was flirting with me. It’s just how he is. He’s married. To Miranda.”
“Seriously?”
She bit her lip and nodded.
“You could have led with that.”
She grinned. “It was kind of fun to watch you go all possessive caveman. I kind of liked it.”
I cupped her ass and kneaded her flesh through her shorts. “That was nothing. Trust me.”
“Is it shitty of me that I like you being jealous?”
I shook my head. “I get it. I kind of feel the same way. But you need to know I’m not looking at any other women. It’s only you I want to share a bed with.”
“Speaking of bed. Maybe we should head that way.”
I nodded, picking her up and heading that way. She laughed and wriggled in my arms. “I need to turn off all the lights and lock the door. Put me down.”
“Nope,” I said, carrying her to the door. I locked it and flipped the lights out. She wiggled again before we headed to the kitchen.
“I’m too heavy for you to carry around,” she protested.
“Not even close,” I said.
She wouldn’t stop wiggling as I walked around the house, so I hoisted her up over my shoulder, resting one hand on her ass to keep her in place.
“Sawyer!” she squealed.
My hand dipped to her thigh, my fingers slipping between her legs. She stopped yelling but shifted again. I could feel her heat and had to touch her.
I flipped off the last light and cast us into darkness. I slid my hand up, brushing against the fabric of her shorts.
She gasped.
I kept walking toward her room, slowly. My fingers eased under the edge of her shorts and found wet lace between her thighs.
“Are you ready for me, Kiana?”
“Yes,” she moaned.
I teased her through her panties until the lace was soaked. “Could I slide right into you now?”
“Yes,” she moaned again.
I pushed her panties aside as I stepped into her room. She wriggled on my shoulder as I sank a finger deep into her.
“Oh, God.”
“You feel so good, Kiana.” I pumped my finger in deeper, my cock rising to painful heights.
“Sawyer, please.”
“Please what, honey? What do you want me to do?” I held my breath as I waited for her to tell me what she wanted. I’d never wanted to hear a woman speak more than I did in that moment. To hear exactly what she wanted.
“Will you make me come?”
“How? My fingers, my mouth, or my cock, honey?”
“Um, can I have all three?”
“Fuck yeah.”
I dropped her on the bed, keeping my finger inside of her. She moaned. She shivered.
“I’m close, Sawyer.”
“You want the first one like this, honey? With all of our clothes on, my fingers deep inside you.”
She whimpered and nodded. Her panties were soaked through. My finger slid in and out of her with no resistance. I added a second finger, thrusting in deeper. Her hips rose. She tugged her shirt up and off, then pulled my lips to her nipples.
I sucked and flicked and nipped them, the whole time teasing her into an orgasm that shook the bed.
“More,” she begged as soon as the first was over. “Please, Sawyer. Don’t stop.”
“Not a chance, honey.”
I dragged my fingers out of her and quickly stripped the rest of her clothes. I loved seeing her stretched out on the bed, her flushed skin on display for my eyes only. She whimpered again, and I knelt between her thighs, ready for my taste of her.
I speared my tongue into her tight pussy, loving the burst of flavor that was purely Kiana. She came on my tongue, then again on my fingers as I sucked on her clit. I couldn’t get enough of her, pushing her to the edge so many times she begged me to sink into her.
I stripped out of my clothes as she pushed herself up the bed. I caught her ankle and tugged her back to the edge and sank into her in one swift move.
“Oh, God,” she moaned.
“Jesus,” I prayed with her.
My hands went to her plush sides, guiding her hips as I fucked her hard. I felt like I had to mark her, to claim her. To make sure she knew she was mine, and I was hers.
I held her gaze as I grunted and thrust and struggled to hold back my orgasm. I needed to feel her come again. To have that tightening of her on my cock. To know she needed me inside her as badly as I needed to be inside her.
“Sawyer,” she cried, her voice laced with fear.
She was close. So close it hurt. I knew that feeling well. I had it every time I was inside her. Like the best and worst feeling in the world, wrapped into one.
I pressed my thumb to her clit, stroking over it quickly. Her breath burst from her in rapid pulses. She was so close I could smell her.
Then I felt the jolt of her come on my dick. Her body pulsed around me, tugging me deeper and begging me to fuck her harder.
I cupped both hips and lifted her ass. My balls smacked her ass cheeks as I grunted and drove as hard into her as I could. She screamed and cried and begged for more. Her eyes fell closed, but I needed to see her. To know she was with me.
“Look at me, Kiana. Look at me.”
Her eyes fluttered open, then shut again.
“Kiana, now. Please. Look at me, honey.”
Her eyes opened again and locked on mine. They widened ever so slightly and held.
I pumped harder, hard enough that my legs ached and my balls felt bruised. Her chest rose with the start of another orgasm. Her breath quickened, her pulse racing at the base of her neck. I lifted her hips higher, and she gasped. Then moaned. Then cried.
“Ohgodohgodohgod. Please, Sawyer. Please,” she whined.
I clenched my jaw and tightened every muscle in my body. I was not going to come before her if it killed me. My legs were giving out, trembling with the need to come. My arms felt like they were on fire. Hell, my dick was going to protest forever if I didn’t let go soon.
But she was first. Always. If she didn’t come, I didn’t come. No matter what.
Seconds passed, but it felt like hours. She moaned, she writhed, she whimpered.
I wrapped my arm all the way around one leg to hold her in place and moved my other hand between us. I swiped over her clit, then pinched her, and praise God she came.
“Sawyer! Fuck, Sawyer! Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Hearing her scream my name gave me permission to empty into her. I grunted and slammed our bodies together, my dick deeper in her than I’d ever been in another person. I came hard, spurting into her so many times I lost count. It felt like I was never going to stop coming.
I collapsed onto her a few seconds later, completely wor
n out and feeling better than I ever had.
She’d wrapped her way around my heart the same way she wrapped her legs around my hips. And I didn’t want either to let go.
Chapter Twenty
“I don’t know how you do that,” she murmured a few minutes later. “Every time is the best time.”
“It’s all you, Kiana. It’s never been like this for me.”
She was quiet for a minute. “I think it’s us then.”
I nodded. “I can live with that.”
We cleaned up and crawled into bed. Fear swept in, telling me I was going to hurt her. As if she knew what I was thinking, she turned to face me.
“You know I’ll be okay, right?”
“I know,” I said, kissing her softly.
“And we’ll be okay.”
I nodded.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
I sighed. “I hope you still say that tomorrow.”
“I’m not sure if I thanked you, but I really appreciate you staying here tonight. I really didn’t want to be alone.”
I nodded again. “I didn’t want you to be alone.”
“Thank you.”
She burrowed into me and was snoring softly within a few minutes. I laid there and watched her, wondering how in the hell I’d found her. I laughed softly when I thought about introducing her to my family and friends. Vicki and Peyton were going to give me a lot of shit about being right. Ethan and Graham and Brady were going to be crowing about me being the last one to find someone. My parents, Noah, and Tara would love her.
I was looking forward to it.
I finally found sleep about an hour later. I expected a dream about Carrington, but instead, my dreams were filled with Kiana and her warm and willing body pressed against mine.
I woke her up close to midnight with my fingers inside her, a nipple in my mouth.
She woke me up around three with her lips wrapped around my cock.
Just before dawn, we both turned sleepy eyes to each other. I slid into her and she screamed as the sun tried to break into the room.
A couple of hours later, we cleaned up in the shower, after we got very, very dirty.
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