by Kimberly Fox
His intense green eyes are locked on mine, and something tender passes between us as I ride him up and down, taking him deeper and deeper with every plunge of my hips.
We grip each other tightly as the slow pressure speeds up. He thrusts his hips up as I come down, making us both cry out as he slams into me, burying himself completely inside me.
My breath quickens; so does his. Heat begins flooding my body as I feel an orgasm coming on.
He squeezes my ass, making me moan and cry out for more as my muscles tighten and my body prepares for the sweet release that’s building up deep within my core.
“Fuck,” he groans, his gorgeous face twisted in pleasured agony. “Oh, Dahlia.”
I can tell he’s close to filling me with his hot come, and it only spurs me closer to the edge. I tremble in tight anticipation, wanting to feel him coat my insides with his seed.
This is all so perfect. My body was made for him. That’s how this feels. Like we were designed by fate to be here together in this moment.
His hand slides to my clit as I ride his hard length, and he begins to rub me with hard circles, and it’s too much to take. I throw my head back and cry out as the tight ball unravels and a fierce orgasm consumes me.
“Oh, shit,” I scream through clenched teeth as a rush of heat and pleasure runs wild through my body like a whirlwind. It hits me hard, and Tyler’s hands on me are the only thing keeping me upright. I squeeze my eyes shut and my mouth falls open as I give myself over to the intense bliss ripping through my veins.
Tyler’s grip on me tightens, and I open my eyes just in time to see his back arch and his muscles clench as he fills my pussy with his hot sticky seed.
It feels so fucking good and just brings me higher as I ride the intense rush of my orgasm.
When the heat in my body subsides, I’m totally spent. I fall into Tyler’s open arms, and he wraps them around me, holding me tight. His skin is hot against mine. His heartbeat feels so soothing as I feel it beating hard against my naked breasts.
This moment is more perfect than I ever thought it could be.
My hand finds his and we thread our fingers together, enjoying the closeness of the moment. Enjoying the feel of each other’s bodies.
His erection begins to fade inside of me, but I keep my legs squeezed against his, not ready to let him go. I want this moment to last because I’m not sure if I’ll get another.
Tyler will be back in Vegas soon, and I’ll be looking for another job if the factory gets closed.
The thirty-day deadline to get our annulment is coming up on the horizon, and as soon as the decision of who gets the promotion is made there will no longer be a reason for us to stay married.
We have a connection, but I’m worried it may not be enough to keep us together. Once we get that annulment, I might not ever see him again.
I hold him tight as I lay my head beside his, enjoying his smell and the sound of the fire crackling softly in the fireplace.
It feels like my house is finally a home.
But that scares me.
What’s it going to feel like when I’m all alone again? What are my priorities going to look like then?
Will I still be focused on my career at the expense of a love life? Or will I choose love over work?
Love always seemed so terrifying to me, but lying here, falling asleep in Tyler’s arms, it doesn’t feel scary.
It feels perfect.
23
Dahlia
My stomach turns as I park my bike and take the soggy Chinese food out of the rusty basket that’s screwed to my handlebars. The town of Summerland has a lot going for it, from the warm and inviting people to the charming small-town scenery, but it does have some faults. Mainly one in particular.
The Chinese food sucks.
I was so hungry on my way home from work that I didn’t care that the sweet and sour pork tastes less like pig and more like something that was caught in the alley behind the restaurant. I just wanted to stuff my face with anything, even if it is laced with MSG and has a questionable origin.
“Tyler,” I call out as I open my front door. “Get the Pepto-Bismol ready because I have dinner.” I walk in and slip off my shoes as I hold the greasy bag. “If you can call it that,” I whisper to myself.
It’s been three days since Tyler arrived in town, and he’s been staying at my place ever since. To say it’s been going amazingly is a massive understatement. It’s been absolutely perfect.
It’s like once we both gave in, we can’t get enough of each other. We’ve had sex about fifty times in the past three days, and even the heartburn and upset stomach that this Chinese food will surely bring probably won’t be enough to slow us down.
He’ll be leaving soon, so we have to take full advantage now. We haven’t talked about what’s going to happen with us when he leaves, and I can’t bring myself to think about it. I just love having him here in my home, and I don’t want to ruin it with anything.
We usually ride home together on my old bike, but Tyler grabbed a cab and left early today, saying he needed to work in solitude for a bit. The ride home was lonely and wasn’t the same without him, but at least my legs aren’t aching now from having his weight on my bike.
I smile when I look down and see his shiny shoes next to mine. I reach up to my neck for the wedding ring that he gave me, which is usually hanging from my gold chain, but my hand hits nothing but air.
Right. I couldn’t find it this morning, and since we were already late from having sex in the shower and on the bed after, I didn’t have time to look for it.
“Tyler,” I call out as I walk through the family room and into the kitchen. I hear sizzling on the oven and when I pass the couch, the mouthwatering smell hits me and makes my stomach groan.
“What are you doing?” I ask with a big smile as I walk into my tiny kitchen. Tyler looks huge in it as he moves around gracefully, throwing some spices into the sizzling pan. He’s wearing his ripped-up jeans, the ones that force my hands to gravitate to his sexy ass whenever he wears them, and a black polo shirt that shows off his big arms and round shoulders.
He turns to me with a happy smile on his face and a platter of barbecued shrimp in his hands. “I’m making dinner,” he says, placing the shrimps in front of me.
My mouth waters as I stare down at them.
“What’s that?” he asks, motioning to the oily bag in my hands with his eyes.
“Garbage,” I say, handing it over.
He takes it and walks to the garbage as I sit down at the table that’s set with a brand-new tablecloth, wine glasses, candles, and fresh flowers. But it’s too hard to focus on any of that with my starving eyes on the plump juicy shrimps.
“Eat up,” he says, smiling as he returns with a bottle of red wine. He pours me a glass as I devour three shrimps, tails and all.
“Delicious,” I say, but my mouth is full so it comes out as “Rarishous.”
I wash it down with the smooth red wine as he walks behind me and slides his rugged hands on my shoulders. “Mmmm,” I moan as he begins massaging me, filling me with more hunger, but this time it’s not for food.
“I didn’t know you could cook,” I say, feeling like I’m in heaven with his skilled hands taking all of the stress from my back. “What are you making?”
“Salmon Wellington, rice, and veggies.”
I groan in anticipation. It sounds so good and it smells fantastic.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?” I ask. His family is extremely wealthy, so he was probably trained by some famous French chefs that his father helicoptered in or something equally fancy.
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and shows it to me. “I’m following along to a YouTube video.”
I laugh as he finishes massaging me with his skilled hands. Every now and then, he takes a four-second break so I can take a sip of my wine without spilling it on my shirt. If I wasn’t ready for him to move in before, I definitely am now.
/> “So, when is this amazing Salmon Wellington going to be finished?” I ask once all of the shrimps are gone. If the main course tastes as good as the appetizers, I’m in for a real treat.
“Shortly,” he says, releasing my shoulders and stepping in front of me. He looks nervous with his fidgeting hands and eyes that keep darting to the door that leads to the garage. “But first, I have a surprise.”
“Is it another Ferrari?” I ask with my eyebrow raised. “Because I’m really enjoying biking to work with you. My ass has never been so toned.”
“I know the Ferrari wasn’t exactly your style,” he says, taking my hand. He pulls me up and smiles as he guides me to the garage. “This is more you.”
I close my eyes as he opens the door even though he never asked me too. I just love getting surprise presents.
“Can I open my eyes now?” I ask with my heart pounding in excitement.
“I never said you had to close them,” he says with a chuckle.
I open them and gasp when I see a brand-new bike in the middle of the garage with a red bow on the matching red handlebars.
“A new bike?” I squeal, staring at in shock as I step into the garage. It’s an old retro bike, but it looks brand-new with shiny parts and a coat of bright red paint that really makes it pop. The large wheels are nice and firm with new treads, unlike the flat slippery wheels on Lightning. There’s not a spot of rust on it, and even the basket is in perfect condition, unlike the tattered and frayed basket on my old bike.
My pulse is racing as I walk around it, inspecting every beautiful inch.
“What do you think?” Tyler asks, watching me as he leans on the door frame.
“I love it,” I say, not taking my eyes off it. The seat looks so comfy, and the chain isn’t all stiff and tangled like the one on Lightning. “Where did you find it?”
“It took some digging,” he says with a laugh. “There’s a guy who restores old bicycles like this down in Nashville. He’s really popular, but I managed to get him to bump me up to the front of the line. I had it flown in this morning.”
“I love it,” I say, still staring at it in shock. It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.
“Better than a Ferrari?”
“Way better.”
I sit on it and moan. The seat seems to be massaging my ass as I grab the handlebars. Wow.
“There’s even footholds in the back for me,” he says, smiling as he points to them.
I love it, but guilt starts creeping in. “Can I still keep Lightning?” I ask. “For sentimental reasons?”
Tyler laughs. “Of course. What are you going to name this one?”
“Vegas,” I say, smiling. “Can we take her out for a ride?”
“Definitely,” he says with a grin. It’s such a nice summer evening, and the annual fireworks are in the center of town tonight. Every year the town celebrates the founding of Summerland with a firework show, so we decide to pack up the lovely dinner that Tyler made and eat it in the park. The whole town will be there, so it should be a lot of fun.
It’s a gorgeous night as I pedal down the quiet streets, enjoying the summer breeze on my face as Tyler waves at some kids who are drawing on the sidewalk.
“That’s the security guard Michael’s boy,” I say as they wave back at Tyler. “And those two girls are Nancy in HR and Phil in shipping’s twins.”
Tyler exhales long and hard as we ride away. It’s only been three days, but he’s already getting attached to the workers and the town. At the factory, we all work together like a big family, pitching in and helping each other out. There’s a huge sense of community which Tyler doesn’t get on the isolated top floor of McMillan Worldwide Inc.’s huge skyscraper. He keeps telling me how much he loves it here.
He keeps saying how he loves what Hospitech has accomplished and all of the good work that we’ve done.
“You save lives here,” he said this morning when we were looking over a shipment of incubators that were about to be sent out to a prenatal hospital in Virginia. “What you do matters.”
He finally saw that we are making the world better by saving lives and keeping families together. We develop and build specialized high-quality hospital equipment here in Summerland, and if the factory gets shut down, the quality will suffer. They just don’t have the same kind of skilled workers in any of the third world countries that the factory will reopen in. The quality won’t be nearly as good when McMillan Worldwide Inc. tries to save money by cutting corners, and the patients will be the ones who have to ultimately pay the bill—with their lives.
Tyler is more committed than ever to saving the factory after seeing the good we do, but it may not be enough. We’ve tried hard, but we haven’t even come close to finding a solution that will save it. And even if we do, his cousin Nick might close it anyway out of spite. I wouldn’t put that past him.
“So, you want to save the factory?” I had asked this morning after the incubators shipped out.
He nodded. “The factory, the people, the town. I want to build it up even more to save even more lives, not tear it down. It’s the right thing to do.”
We both stood uncomfortably as we watched the truck get smaller as it drove down the street. We didn’t say it, but I could tell we were thinking the same thing: unless he gets the job, which he probably won’t after what we did, the factory is shutting down.
I turn the corner, riding away from the kids drawing on the sidewalk, hoping that this won’t all be gone in a few months. Everything will still be here rotting away, but without jobs, the people won’t be.
The park is full of people as the sun starts making its slow descent down to the horizon. There’s an excited energy in the crowd as people chat and mingle before the fireworks start.
Groups of kids are playing in the playgrounds and on the soccer field as their parents talk and laugh, not worried about their children’s safety in this cozy family town.
“Dahlia! Tyler!” Emily says, waving us over to where she’s sitting on her picnic blanket.
“I didn’t know you were back,” I say, smiling to her when I arrive. Tyler says hello but then leaves to go say hi to some of the guys he’s made friends with at the factory.
I have one eye on him as I catch up with Emily. He’s so natural and friendly around them as they hang on his every word. He has all of the authority and power of a boss at work, but he can act like one of the guys after five o’clock, and they accept him as one of their own.
“I totally fucked Nick,” Emily says, making me whip my head around to look at her.
“What?” I ask, jerking my head back in surprise, or maybe it’s in disgust. “Why?”
“He’s rich, and he’s hot!” she says, grinning at me. “Well, besides his big thick eyebrows, he’s hot.”
“Emily,” I say, glaring at her. “He’s trying to put us out of a job.” I lower my voice so none of my smiling neighbors can hear. “He’s trying to shut down the factory.”
“He’s sweet,” she says, playing with a strand of her hair. “I can convince him to keep it open.”
A horrible thought springs into my head. “Please don’t tell him the truth about me and Tyler. Mack can’t know that we got married by accident.”
“I won’t,” Emily says, reaching into her bag for her makeup case.
“Emily,” I say in a warning tone. “This is important.”
She rolls her eyes into the tiny mirror in her hand as she fixes her mascara. “What do you take me for?”
A gossiper.
I don’t say it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Emily has stayed quiet from what she’s told me, but if Nick starts digging for incriminating information about us, it won’t take long for her to open her big mouth about that night.
“So, you two seem to be hitting it off,” she says, smiling as she sees me watching Tyler. “You like him, don’t you?”
“He’s my boss,” I say with a huff.
“So?”
“We’ve agreed to keep it professional,” I say, smiling as he high fives a six-year-old boy who runs by him. “We’re staying friends so that we can focus on trying to keep the factory open.”
“Right,” she says with a laugh. “The only thing you’re focused on keeping open is your legs.”
“Shut up!” I say, turning to her with a shocked look.
“Oh, please,” she says, laughing as she rolls her eyes. “You look more relaxed and less uptight than I’ve ever seen you before. You’re getting some dick.”
I slap her arm playfully as my cheeks get red. “Am I that obvious?”
“You’re basically fucking him with your eyes right now.”
“I am not,” I say, staring at his ass.
“Summerland isn’t the only one with fireworks around here,” she says. “He likes you too. I can tell.”
“Really?” I ask. “How can you tell?”
“He’s here, isn’t he?” Emily asks with a shrug of her shoulders. “He didn’t fly all the way out here for a shitty three-minute firework show.”
My pulse races as Tyler says goodbye to the guys and comes back with a big smile on his face. He fits in here. He fits with me.
“Those guys are great,” he says as he sits behind me like it’s the most natural thing in the world and wraps his arms around my body.
I glance over at Emily who is giving me a knowing smirk. I stick my tongue out at her.
We break out our dinner, sharing it with the nice people around us, and have a great time eating and talking as a group.
When the sun is gone for the night and the bright stars are popping up in the sky, the mayor announces that the fireworks are about to start.
The children race over from the playground and soccer field to snuggle up to their parents as they start to get excited for the show.
There are people all around us, but it feels like it’s only Tyler and me. I’m always completely absorbed in his presence when he’s around.
The crowd cheers as the first firework whizzes through the air and pops over our heads, exploding into a chandelier of blue sparks. Tyler holds me tight as we watch the show, and I realize how happy I am with him. It’s nice to have a man to share these kinds of nights with.
