by Aria Ford
“Uncle Carson!” Josh yelled as I walked past the door of the sitting room.
“Hi, Josh,” I called, pleased someone was happy to see me. I put my head around the door, grinning. Then I saw who else was there. Cayley and Amelia.
“Oh,” I said, brow furrowed. “Uh, excuse me.”
“No, Carson,” Amelia said. She looked me in the eye. “We have to talk.”
“Oh.” I swallowed. At this moment, the last thing I wanted to do was face her alone. But what did she want to talk about? “Okay,” I said quietly.
“Yes. We have to talk.” She walked past me and beckoned me after. I followed.
She led me upstairs. I thought for one tense moment we were going to her room, but instead we went to the study and shut the door. She looked up at me.
“Carson, I have something to say,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“Amelia, I…” I ran a hand over my head. This was hard. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I have so much to say sorry for. I guess I don’t know how to start,” I chuckled. I didn’t know where to start.
“No, Carson,” she insisted. “I have to say sorry. But first I have to ask something.”
“What?” I said, curiously.
“Why didn’t you let me know you were a father?”
“What?” I stared at her. “Amelia. Wait. How did you know? Was it Brett?”
“No,” I said. “I found out.”
I didn’t want to ask how. I didn’t know what to say at all, actually. What did she think about the fact that I had been married? That I was a father?
“Amelia, I…” I frowned, pausing. “Are you mad about it?”
“Carson!” she laughed. She smiled in a way that made my heart thump. “Of course I’m not mad about it. Have you any idea…wait,” she said. “You don’t know what I thought, right?”
“No,” I said, honestly. I had no idea.
“I thought Leona was your girlfriend. That you were seeing someone else. Using me.”
“Amelia!” I was so astonished, I must have looked as if someone had just shot me. I closed my mouth and then hugged her. “My Amelia! How did you…I’m sorry!”
I buried my face in her hair, breathing in the rose scent of her. I couldn’t believe I had done that! No wonder she had been so mad at me! No wonder she had been aloof. Been ignoring me. “Amelia, I am so, so sorry.”
“Carson,” she laughed again, softer this time. “You don’t need to be sorry about anything. I’m sorry I suspected you. But really, you didn’t give me much opportunity for something else.”
I laughed. “I guess it looked awful,” I admitted. “Me going off, making calls, having commitments I didn’t talk about. Even being delayed! I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” she insisted. “Just don’t do it again.”
I looked at that wicked grin. My heart stopped.
“You mean, I might get an opportunity to do it again?” I asked hopefully. She laughed.
“I intend to give you ample opportunity. Just don’t take it.”
I felt a laugh well up inside me and when her arms came around me we were both chuckling helplessly. It didn’t seem possible. It was two days after Christmas and I was in the arms of the woman I had loved for ten years.
My mouth moved over hers and I kissed her, slowly and gently.
She sighed and her sigh against my lips made my entire body shiver with longing. I kissed her again, my fingers stroking the impossibly soft skin of her neck.
“Amelia,” I breathed. “My dear, sweet Amelia.”
She laughed as my mouth moved down to her neck, a delicious giggle that made my cock hard. I leaned against her and pushed her back, gentle but firm, against the wall. I could barely control my need for her now; my whole body was shuddering and my heart pounded in my chest.
“Amelia…” I whispered again into that sweet, fluffy hair. I kissed her again and my hands moved to lift the soft pullover she was wearing. She gasped in sweet delight. I kissed her as I lifted it, my fingers brushing against the soft skin of her chest.
“We shouldn’t…” she whispered. “What if someone comes up?”
“I’ll lock the door,” I replied. I went to the door and locked it. Then I came back to her.
“Carson,” she whispered to me. “My dear Carson.”
I lifted her sweater and felt the soft silk of her bra beneath my hands and then I lost all control. My hands were not my own as I unfastened her bra and moved my mouth to her breasts. I sucked those sweet, hard nipples and then slid my hands down her chest to the fastenings of her jeans.
In something approaching a frenzy, I unfastened them, then slid them down her legs. She was breathing in great, sobbing breaths as I removed her panties and put my mouth to her sex, kneeling before her.
“Carson,” she said as she stroked my hair. “Oh, Carson…”
I was intoxicated with her. My whole body was throbbing as I breathed in the sweet scent of her sex and then I could hold back no longer. I had to be inside her.
Standing, I undressed myself faster than I could have believed and pushed her back against the only blank wall in the office. Then I slid into her.
She was moaning and gasping as I thrust in her, again and again and…
“Oh!”
I came. I hadn’t expected to come so soon. It crashed over me like a wave and I leaned against her, my heart thudding, my mind blank.
She kissed me and I kissed her and even though I had just spent myself, I could feel my body already freshly aroused as I smelled her and felt her softness.
I looked down into those gentle blue eyes and kissed her brow. My heart melted.
“Amelia,” I whispered. “I love you.”
I knew now, that I always had.
“Oh, Carson,” she whispered back. “I love you too.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Amelia
Later, we talked. I only had an hour before I left, but we had so much we had to discuss. We went to my bedroom and shut the door and lay down together. This time, though he was close, I wanted to spend the time discussing, not necessarily making love.
We had so many plans to make, and so little time in which to do it. I knew now that I had always wanted him. The reason I had not settled down was because my heart was not mine to give—it had always been his and always would.
“And so, dear?” I asked, looking into those lovely dark eyes.
“So?” he smiled, cupping my face with his hand. I was nestled into his shoulder, he was lying on his side and I on my back and my one hand held his, while his other stroked my skin. I smiled.
“So, what happens with us?” I stretched and he gasped as my breast brushed his arm.
“Well,” he said breathlessly, “a lot.”
I giggled. “Yes, a lot. But what?”
“Well,” he said, his lips making a mission down the side of my head and to my lips, then moving off again, “we make love, lots of it. But during that time I look for a job in Berkeley, and we maybe think of finding you a place big enough for actual people.”
I laughed. “My apartment is big enough for actual people,” I said crossly.
He smiled, that delightful grin that won my heart. “Yes. But I’d like to find something to share with you.”
I felt a strange sensation, like my heart melted. I blinked rapidly. “Carson…”
“Yes?”
“I do love you.”
He kissed my hair. “Me too.”
Later, we talked about other things. About how he was not as he was before the army. I knew that, and told him that it didn’t matter. He could trust me. He blinked back tears.
“I always thought…I wanted to be good enough for you, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “And when I got back, I thought…I thought I didn’t want to inflict myself on a girl like you.”
“Inflict! Carson! What?” she laughed. “If you had any idea how painful it was for me when you sent all those mixed messages…all I wanted was you.�
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“Really?” he smiled, unsure.
“Carson!” I giggled. “I always wanted you.”
His eyes shut. I hadn’t noticed what long lashes he had before, funnily enough. When he looked back at me, his eyes were damp.
“I’m an asshole,” he said softly.
I giggled. “No, you aren’t. At least, not a big one.”
He roared with laughter. “Thank you, sweet. I’ll remember that.”
I smiled. “Seriously, Carson. I can’t believe your reason for staying away was to avoid hurting me. When I think of how you hurt me doing it!”
I closed my eyes again. I regretted that. Profoundly.
“I’m sorry.”
She smiled. “Carson, you know what?”
“What?”
“You have nothing to be sorry about.”
We said it together. We laughed. As he buried his face in my hair I felt my heart rise fit to bursting. I knew, then, how much I had always loved him. How this would be the start of so many wonderful memories. How much my life had changed this year.
“I love you,” I said, looking into his eyes. It was the truest thing I had ever said.
“I love you too,” he whispered.
We lay together, arms around each other and looked out of the window at the darkening sky.
After a moment, he moved so he could look into my eyes.
“I’m not going to lie, sweetheart. I will need help with…with all of it,” he said, waving a hand in a way that indicated the past: his memories, his pain, his suffering.
“I know,” I said, stroking his hair gently. “I understand. All I can do is say I’m there for you.”
He sighed. “Thank you, Amelia.”
“You have nothing to thank me for,” I said softly. “I am honored to be part of all that.”
He smiled. “Thank you, dear.”
“Thank you.”
We lay there awhile, and the clock on the wall ticked softly. “You know,” I said after a long moment.
“I would love to meet your daughter.”
“Really?” he smiled. “I’d love for you to meet her.”
“How old is she?”
“Eight,” he said.
“She was born while you were away?”
“Mm,” he replied. “I met her a year later.”
“That must have been hard.”
“It was,” he agreed. “I think Macey couldn’t handle my being away. It’s no wonder she wanted rid of me.” He sighed.
“She did?” I asked. I guessed that was Leona’s mom.
“Well, she needed someone to be there. I couldn’t be.”
“Well, you’re still a good dad.” I said.
He smiled at me. “You think so?”
“I’m sure of it.” I had seen him with kids. I knew what an amazing father he could be.
“You…” he paused. “If she came to visit us, you wouldn’t mind?”
“No,” I said. I meant it. “She’s your child, dearest.”
“Amelia,” he smiled, kissing my hair. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We lay there awhile. I tried to imagine what his daughter might look like and then gave up. I would certainly meet her. I was curious. As much as I might have expected it to hurt—that he had married someone else—it didn’t. I understood the way these things happen. I also knew the past was the past. The present and the future were ours.
I smiled.
“What?” he asked.
“If you move to Berkeley, maybe you could work for the company.”
“Doing what, sweetheart?”
“Security?” I suggested. “It’s something we need a lot of.”
He frowned. I could tell he liked the idea. “It’s a thought,” he agreed.
“Well, you know all about it,” I offered.
He chuckled. “I don’t think I know much about anything, dearest.”
“Well, you do,” I smiled, swiveling so my body pressed against his. “You know a lot about me, for one thing. And how to please me.”
He laughed. I could feel him getting aroused, though I doubted he was as aroused as I was just then. I sighed. It was almost time for me to drive home. I could delay it a bit. I wanted to.
As he stroked my hair and my body melted against his, I thought about the future. While I could still think of things besides my pleasure, I realized how exciting it was.
There was not a cloud on the horizon. I could see it all so clearly. Our apartment together, his job—I was sure our company could get him on board—and his healing. I would heal too. I would learn to trust, to be gentler with myself and others. To love again.
As he kissed me and my body melted in his arms, I was more grateful than I could ever have been for the Christmas that had brought us finally together.
EPILOGUE
I slid out of bed to the scent of coffee. It was my day off, but Carson had evidently been busy. I looked at the clock. It was ten am. I yawned and stretched.
“Honey?” I called.
He appeared in the bedroom door, a shy smile on his face. “Coffee?”
“You are wonderful,” I said fervently. He laughed.
He had a tray with two cups and he came and put them beside me. He sat down on the bed and I kissed his shoulder.
He was dressed already and had been out. I knew where. I stroked his hair, not wanting to pry. At length, he turned to me.
“It went well,” he said gently.
“Good,” I said.
He had agreed to go for counseling with a trauma specialist. It made me so happy that he was willing to take that move, to free himself. This was his first appointment. I was so pleased, and I didn’t want to do anything to upset the process. If it was going well, that was wonderful.
“He’s a good guy, Doctor Hepburn,” he offered. “Kind. Not fussy.”
“Good,” I said. I held him in my arms while he sipped coffee, my head on his shoulder.
“You slept well?” he asked, kissing my cheek.
“Mm,” I agreed. “Though a bit of coffee was what I needed now.”
He chuckled, low in his throat. “You need something else?”
I smiled. “My dear, you know.”
As he kissed me and pushed me onto the bed, I felt a bubble of joy well up in me. I was laughing with delight as his lips moved to my chest and my fingers stroked him.
As we made love, the coffee forgotten, my heart filled with a deep, rich joy.
We were together. We were well and whole. As far as I was concerned, life was as I wanted it.
The End
WET
A Brother’s Best Friend
Chapter 1
Tanner
Lindsey Scott seemed to be bored out of her mind, sitting at the table we had procured in the busy club.
“Do you want another drink?” I asked her.
I wasn’t trying to get her drunk, but I wanted to prove to her I wasn’t a jackass. I knew she thought I was more than a little self-absorbed. Shit, she had told me enough times.
She smiled at me. “That’d be great. Rum and Coke, please.”
God, she was fucking hot. I had known her forever and literally watched her blossom practically overnight. My best friend, Brian, was a little overprotective of his little sister, but even he could acknowledge she was very pretty.
I brought her drink back. “Here ya go,” I said, delivering it to her.
“Thank you. I swear, this is going to be my last one.” She giggled, talking loud to be heard over the thumping music.
I winked. “Sure it is. It’s okay to let loose once in a while.”
She rolled those beautiful brown eyes. “Yeah, yeah, Mr. Big Shot, best trainer in the state,” she teased.
I leaned in close to her, our shoulders touching. “You know I’m the best—at everything.”
Her head went back, and she opened that perfect mouth and laughed. Her long, bleached-blond hair cascaded down the back of the
chair, and her slender neck was exposed. I fought the urge to dive in and lick all that tanned skin.
“You’re—”
“Don’t you dare say it!” I held up a hand. “Who just bought you a drink?”
Another sweet laugh revealed all those perfectly straight white teeth, “You’re right. You have grown, Tanner Brown. Look at you, all gentlemanlike, getting a lady a drink, knowing damn well there’s no hope you’ll get laid later.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Are you sure about that?”
Brian glared at me. “I’m sure about that,” he snarled, only half-joking.
“He doesn’t fool me, Brian,” Lindsey assured her big brother. “Tanner is the world’s biggest flirt who has this idea women will fall at his feet if he flashes that sexy little smile and turns those smoldering green eyes on them. I’ve seen this guy cry when he fell off his bike. His tricks don’t have the same effect on me.”
Brian nodded but looked at me. “Back off my sister, dude. There are about a million girls in here. Go flirt with them.”
I laughed, pretending it was all a joke, but deep down, I knew different. Lindsey was gorgeous, smart, and a kick-ass swimmer. Her body was rocking, and I could see myself getting to know her much better than I already did. It wasn’t the first time I’d noticed how attractive she was, inside and out.
“I gotta take a piss. I’ll be back.” Brian scanned the room before standing and leaving our small table.
“Have you seen Brittany?” Lindsey asked, scanning the room for her wayward best friend.
I shook my head. I’d been a little too absorbed in my best friend’s sister. “Nope, not since she hit the dance floor with that dude.”
She nodded, looked only a little concerned, and took another drink from her straw.
“How’s training going?” I asked, genuinely interested.
She put a hand to her forehead. “It isn’t.”
“What? Aren’t you trying out for the Olympics this year? You’ve been busting your ass for this for too long to give up,” I began lecturing.
She shrugged, “My trainer gave up and moved last week. No warning, no nothing. Just gone. I am so screwed.”
