Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  Wanting she could understand. Sexually needing her, she could handle. “Lofty goals for a virgin, don’t you think?” she said with a teasing grin.

  “I might still be a virgin, but I did some research so I wouldn’t be totally unprepared.” His gaze skittered away, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “But I completely understand if you’d like to wait until later.”

  “Look who’s the nervous one now.” She stepped out of his embrace.

  His gaze snapped back to hers. “I’m not nervous. I’m trying to be considerate.”

  “Maybe I don’t want considerate.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Maybe I want your hands and mouth all over me.” Boldly, she reached out and cupped him between his legs, licking her lips at the thickness and length she found. He groaned, low in his throat, and her confidence grew. “Maybe I want this inside of me. Right. Now.”

  Gabriel didn’t move, and for one horrible minute, she thought he didn’t want her at all. But then his arm snaked out, and he grabbed her wrist, tugging her to him. He kissed her, hotly and tenderly, all the while working at the zipper of her dress.

  Finally, it gave. He pushed the straps over her shoulders and down her arms, to where it fell and pooled around her feet. His own clothes were the next to go, until he stood hard and proud for her. All hard, tight abs with muscular thighs and long legs. His shoulders were broad and his arms, good Lord, his arms were muscular but lean.

  “Do I meet your approval?” he asked, looking at her from beneath his lashes.

  She gave him a saucy smile. “You’ll do.”

  Grinning, he took her in his arms once more, sucked on her bottom lip and then glided his tongue along the seams of her mouth until she opened for him. The room seemed to move, but no, it was just him, guiding her to his big bed and laying her down.

  He stretched out beside her, one hand propping up his head while the other touched her, traced the contours of her body. “Take off the bra.”

  She unsnapped the front and threw it across the room, anxious for his touch. But to her surprise, he didn’t touch her breasts at all, just made lazy, wide circles around them. Her nipples grew hard, and his dark gaze didn’t miss it.

  She sucked in air when his head dipped, when his tongue teased the tip of a nipple and his fingers slid inside her panties. Her thighs widened, and he wrapped his hot mouth around her nipple and began to suck.

  “Oh,” she moaned, coming off the bed. His fingers slid through her curls, finding her as wet as she’d ever been in her life.

  “Do you like this?” he asked softly against her skin while circling her clitoris.

  She whimpered. “Yes.”

  “Take off your panties.”

  Once the lacy material had been removed and thrown to the other side of the bed, he parted her, and she grabbed his wrist. Always, she’d envisioned being the one in control, the one who pinned him to the bed and took his breath away, like the night she had on the sofa.

  “Trust me,” he said, leaning up to kiss her on the lips. “Trust me to take care of you.” Finger by finger, she released her death grip on him. “Breathe, sweetheart.”

  He kissed her again and again, while his fingers explored… while one of those fingers slid inside of her. This time, both of them sucked in air. Her lashes fluttered, and she caught a glimpse of his face. It was drawn taut, as if it actually hurt to touch her and kiss her.

  “Angel,” she murmured, trying again to take control, to not let the emotions that simmered below the surface boil up and wash away her determination. “Let me ease you. Let me stroke you, put you inside of me… just let me—”

  “No.” He slid another finger inside of her and she couldn’t stop her hips from moving against him. Then he began to move, all that wetness making her slippery. She not only felt how aroused she was, she could hear it.

  It didn’t hurt, she thought. For once in her life, it didn’t hurt to let another take control. So, she completely surrendered to Gabriel’s touch… his kisses. She surrendered to his hands and mouth and beautiful words that she wouldn’t allow her mind to dwell on.

  He lowered himself onto her, balancing on his elbows. His cock nudged insistently against her thigh. “I’m—” She pressed her bare chest against his, and he hissed. “Not sure what you wanted to do for—” She glided her leg up the back of his leg and he shook. “Protection.”

  “There are condoms,” she said, reaching between them and touching him. “But most men complain about the feel.” He frowned, and then his face went deliciously tight again when she cupped his balls. “Or you can go bareback and pull out.”

  “Why the hell would I pull out?”

  He was on edge, she realized, and would soon snap. Wouldn’t it be a completely erotic sight to see him snap, now that she was back in control again? Always she would fight for this kind of control, even though surrendering to him had felt so blissfully good.

  “You don’t have to, because I’m on the pill.” She nipped at his bottom lip. “So you can go hard and deep and never, ever pull out. You can fill me up until—”

  He shoved her hand away, gripped her thighs, and began to push inside. Her eyes widened.

  “Okay?” he breathed.

  “Yes.”

  Suddenly, he pulled out, and she clutched at his back. “What are you doing?”

  “Forgot something,” was all he said before he pushed down her body, and palmed her butt in his big hands, lifting her to his mouth. “You almost made me forget about what I’ve been dying to do to you, with that dirty talking you were doing, sweet thing.”

  She squirmed, not used to being on display like this.

  Once again, he’d taken over and she felt helpless to stop him. His head dipped, black hair brushing against her pale thighs. The first long lick of his tongue made her curl her hands into tight fists, the second had her begging for more, and the third, well, there wasn’t a third.

  Instead, he settled himself between her thighs and feasted. “I delight in the taste of my lover,” he whispered.

  She caught the grin, the heated look in his eyes, right before he sucked her clit into his mouth. “Angel, angel,” she chanted, teetering on the edge of what she knew would be an earth-shaking orgasm.

  He sucked harder, and she almost screamed his name.

  “Love hearing you say that,” he growled, crawling up her body. “Say it again.”

  “Angel,” she moaned as he slid inside her. She gasped, and her eyes opened wide.

  Gabriel gazed down at her, his face tight. “I’m not sure how long I can last.”

  “Me neither,” she confessed. Forget control. All she wanted was him.

  His head dropped, and he began to move.

  Oh God, he moved and stoked and touched her in just the right spot, gave her clitoris a little pat that made her arch off the bed and into him. He did it again and drove himself so deep that she swore she could taste him in her mouth.

  “Like that?” he asked roughly

  Burying her face into the crook of his neck was her only response. He didn’t let up, didn’t give her a chance to find her bearings, or even to think of what she should do next. Where she could touch him and make him—

  He shifted, the head of his cock hitting her in just the right spot, and she saw stars.

  Widening her legs, she fisted her hands in his hair and brought his mouth to hers, kissing him. And kissing him so more, until she came, crying out his name and begging for him to never stop.

  “Don’t stop. More,” she said, dragging in a breath.

  “I have to—”

  “Do it.”

  He drew in a rag
ged breath, his chest heaving. “You’re sure?”

  She plunged her tongue inside of his mouth and wrapped her legs around his waist. He bucked against her, driving deep and hard, until finally, finally he melted into her and groaned her name… Until he returned her frantic kisses with tender ones.

  He gently brushed the hair out of her face, his blue eyes soft and blazing with love. For her. A part of her wanted to deny it and chalk it up to his first time, but a larger part of her, the part of her who wanted to be loved and cherished, refused to be ignored.

  “That was amazing,” she said.

  He grinned, all boyish and proud. “So, a repeat performance wouldn’t be out of the question?”

  She shifted beneath him, eyes widening when she felt how quickly he was filling her again. “Already?”

  “I’ve been waiting a long, long time,” he said, then sucked on her bottom lip and let it out with a little pop. “Practice makes perfect, and I want every time to be perfect with you.”

  “It already is,” she heard herself say. He pulled away a little, tilting his head to one side. She put her fingers against his lips. “Please don’t.”

  He kissed the tips before nudging them out of his way. “My sweet wife, I’d never use what we say here and now against you. I’d never throw it in your face when you let down your walls and allow me inside.”

  Tears threatened her resolve.

  “Don’t you know what an honor it is for me? Don’t you know how much I cherish you and what we’ve already done?”

  “Gabriel,” she began, but the words wouldn’t come, and thankfully, neither would the tears.

  He swept his lips over hers. “It’s all right, sweetheart, but maybe one day you’ll let down all your walls and not be so afraid to let me see the real you.”

  His words made her all gooey inside, yet at the same time, made her stiffen against him, but he took it as a sign to move.

  And thank God he did, because when he moved, she stopped thinking and started feeling him. He surrounded her, held her, and whispered words of love that didn’t require her to say anything back.

  Her angel didn’t require anything from her at all, but for her to be her, and that was the best and the worst thing about their situation.

  *

  “THIS IS FOR YOU. It’s a wedding present.” Gabriel handed her a large, brightly wrapped box after they’d eaten breakfast in bed. He’d loved waking up with her this morning, kissing her and sliding inside, moving in slow glides until she’d urged him faster and harder. He loved the look on her face when he made her lounge in bed while he cooked her breakfast.

  Honestly, he loved everything about her. Always had and always would.

  “I have one for you, too,” she said, setting her present down beside her before slipping from the bed and padding over to the closet. She still hadn’t unpacked, but he’d been keeping her occupied, so… She came back to bed, smiling shyly as she handed it to him, and crawled back in bed. “I had a little help picking it out. I needed to make sure you didn’t have this one.”

  “You first,” he said. He watched as she carefully opened the present, not tearing into the wrapping paper or breaking the bow. “We have a ton of presents to go through, you know?”

  “From the wedding?” Her brow wrinkled as she pulled away the last of the paper. “Oh my… angel,” she breathed, her gaze going from the art set he’d bought her, to his face, and then back again. “You remembered?”

  “I remember the blue ribbon you won for your painting of a field of wildflowers. Town Hall had it on display for days.” He rubbed his jaw. “It has everything you could need, except paint. I thought we could go to one of those hobby stores in Wilmington to pick some out, and anything else you might need.”

  She hugged it to her chest. “Thank you.”

  “Did you ever wonder what happened to your painting?”

  Her face fell a little. “I heard they threw it away.”

  “Nope.” He gestured to the painting over the bed, and her eyes widened before she giggled. “I found it in one of the storage rooms a few years back when they needed help searching through old documents. Jemma Leigh’s mother said I could keep it, since the town didn’t own it.”

  “I can’t believe I didn’t notice.” Her attention was fully on the swirls of green, red, yellow, blue, purple, and pink. It was actually a really good painting, almost lifelike. He’d always thought she had a talent for art.

  “I’d be offended if you’d noticed,” he teased. “I’ve been working very hard to dispel the myth that waiting until you get married to have sex is a bad thing.”

  She rolled her eyes, and then leaned over to kiss him sweetly on the cheek. “Your turn.”

  He opened his present, just as careful with the paper as she had been, to find that she’d bought him a book on astronomy. It was one he’d been eyeing for a while, but hadn’t bought yet. “Now who’s the one remembering?”

  Biting the side of her lip, she shrugged and then said, “I’m happy you like it. Maybe you can show me how to use your telescope.”

  “You know, I read an article about using feather brushes during sex,” he said.

  “Tell me more.” She held out the box. “Preferably with a demonstration.”

  He tackled her to the bed instead, laughing and kissing her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  SUMMER COULDN’T FACE Gabriel or herself the next morning when she woke up, and certainly not after showering and finding him sleeping so peacefully. Instead, she wrapped a quilt around her body and stepped outside, walking down to the end of the pier and sitting down.

  The sun had barely risen in the sky, but she couldn’t welcome the dawn of a new day, because today was not only the last day of their honeymoon, it was also the last day she would allow herself to feel vulnerable, to surrender completely, and believe what he insisted on telling her.

  I love you.

  You’re mine.

  We belong together.

  You’re perfect.

  Lies. All lies. Though he didn’t know it.

  Gabriel actually believed those pretty lies, with his entire heart and soul. She knew this about him. She knew he didn’t give his love lightly to her, and that’s what made it all the worse for both of them, because she would leave him. He knew from the start what her goal was, and what would happen once she met it.

  After she got Ivy back, everything would be right in the world again. She would be whole once more, the aching part of her heart that had been missing for so long finally filled. It didn’t matter that the lawyer didn’t think she had a chance in hell of getting her back, because Summer was confident she could make Rose see things her way.

  She could make Rose acknowledge that she, Ivy’s biological mother, was who was best for her. She could make Gabriel see that she wasn’t who was best for him.

  The art kit had been the final straw.

  She could—her vision blurred. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks.

  “I can do this,” she whispered fiercely.

  *

  GABRIEL STRETCHED and rolled over in bed, searching for his wife. “Wife,” he said with a smile, then his smile fell when his hand encountered nothing but cold sheets. Cold sheets meant she’d been up for hours, without waking him.

  “Summer?” He rose from bed, rubbing his chest and yawning before he grabbed a pair old of pajama pants.

  She didn’t answer, so he tried again. “Summer?”

  The cold from the sheets seemed seep inside him from across the room when silence met him, but he tried not to let that bother him. Summer had always been an early riser. Striding to t
he back door, he opened it and went outside. Warm relief flooded him when he spotted her at the end of the pier, wrapped in a quilt.

  Warm relief turned to hot desire when she dropped the quilt. He would never get used to the sight of her, all golden skin and soft curves.

  The last time she had been in Holland Springs, her body had been almost as sharp as her words. Her body had felt bony and brittle. It had worried him so much that he’d made her get something to eat before taking her to Ivy, but now that she’d filled out again, her skin no longer looked stretched tight over muscle and bones.

  Still, she wasn’t as strong as she would have him and everyone else believed. Like the graceful willow tree he had planted in his yard, if too much strain and pressure were applied, eventually she would break.

  Summer turned slowly, the look on her face both heartbreaking and heart racing. He’d seen it often enough to know she was determined to prove she had control. It wasn’t a matter of controlling him; it was a matter of controlling her situation.

  “Not again,” he muttered.

  Instead of waiting for her to come to him, he went to her first. The grass was cold and dewy under his feet, but he didn’t care. All he could think and feel and see was her—standing there, waiting for him. He had to save her.

  She thrust out her breasts, raised her arms over her head, and stretched. “Morning,” she said as he stopped a couple of feet away.

  “Missed you this morning.”

  “Did you?” She took a small step toward him before running a hand up his bare chest. “Want me to make it up to you?”

  “If that’s what you think you should do.”

  A flash of annoyance appeared in her eyes. Gracefully, she kneeled in front of him and pulled down his pants, freeing his erection. His vision sparked, a hot flash of white light, when she wrapped her mouth around the tip of him.

  His hands went to her hair, burying his finger and wrapping the blond strands around them. “You don’t have to—”