She heard his groan of need. Willow moved and knelt between his legs. She unbuckled his belt and undid his pants, her eyes never leaving his face. He lifted slightly so she could pull his pants and boxers down his legs and she threw them to the side. She ran her hands up his legs and along his muscular thighs. "I love to touch you, John William."
His arousal was prominent, proud, and she lightly ran her hand over its hard heat. "You are so beautiful." The head of his cock glistened with passion in the firelight. She bent forward and kissed the tip. She opened her mouth and enclosed the head of his erection in her moist heat. Her tongue circled the velvety, purple head. She swirled and licked and kissed all the way down its length.
His hands came up to caress her head, and remained, tangled in her hair, as she continued to tease and suckle.
He stopped her. "No more," he whispered hoarsely.
She straddled his lap, her moist pussy coming into intimate contact with his rigid, ready cock. Her hands grasped the edges of his shirt and she ripped, buttons flying in all directions. "I've wanted to do that since last night," she murmured throatily. She pulled the shirt from his arms with his help and tossed it to the floor.
His laughter was deep and sexy.
Her hands were moving upward over his chest and she could feel the deep rumble. Willow saw the bite bruise left by her that morning and, leaning forward, she ran her tongue across its outline, then kissed it. "I'm sorry about the nip," she whispered against his neck, her fingers caressing his lips and the line of his jaw.
She felt his smile. "I'm not."
His solid, naked body felt so good. He lifted her head away from his shoulder and brought her lips to his, coaxing them open with his tongue. She settled down onto his throbbing erection. J.W. entered her fully with one thrust. Her gasp of pleasure was captured by his lips. She clung to him.
He broke the kiss and looked down at her. "Gonna bite me again?" he whispered huskily, teasing her.
"Not...yet," she gasped. She groaned as he started to move inside her. She rode against his thrusts, slow and steady. Willow felt the familiar tension rising inside her, tighter and tighter, as his thrusts became more urgent.
Willow was panting with need until finally spiraling, she screamed, "Billy!" into the center of her storm. J.W. continued to plunge faster and faster, prolonging her pleasure, until finally he erupted, spurting deep and long. Willow wrapped her arms around him tighter, wanting to hold him to her forever.
She collapsed against him, her head falling to his shoulder. "I love you, John William Dalton. This has to be a dream," she murmured.
His hands stroked her back. "If it is, I don't want to wake up. I've ached to hold you in my arms for a very long time. I'll never let you go again."
Willow smiled contentedly. "I'm where I want to be, J.W." She snuggled closer.
"You called me Billy."
She heard the smugness in his voice.
"You heard that, did you?" The only time she'd ever called him Billy was at the peak of her orgasm.
"Anybody standing outside this cabin would've heard you very distinctly," he teased.
She punched his shoulder. "I could've bitten you again, instead."
"Ahh, so that's why you bit me. Now I get it."
She nipped lightly at his shoulder.
"I've missed you so much, Willow. I do love you. I never stopped loving you. If I hadn't been so pigheaded and stubborn, I'd have come after you long ago. Forgive me?"
"Well, at least you admit it." For that comment, she received a light swat on her ass. "Oww."
"I don't want to move, but I think a shower would be in order right now."
"By yourself, or do you want company?"
"Oh, definitely, I think I'm going to need some help."
* * * *
Much later, after their shower and two more orgasms, they rested naked in front of the fire. J.W. sat on the floor with his back against the chair, Willow cradled against him, between his legs.
Finally, Willow asked the question she'd put off. "Did Kenny offer any useful information?"
J.W.'s hands, fondling her nipples, stopped. "Yes, he did." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Willow, but your mother was in pretty deep. Apparently, a small network of these labs had been set up and your mother was the main contact. He gave us names. He seemed to think your mother had the illegal funds tucked away somewhere. We'll have to search the house, Willow."
"I understand, J.W. I still can't believe everything that's happened." She sat up quickly, remembering. "Oh, my God! I just remembered. Mr. Garber gave me an envelope she left for me." She jumped up from the floor and found her purse. Willow pulled out the folded envelope and stood there, looking at it. She worried her lower lip. "I don't want to open it. I don't think I want to know what's inside."
"Come here."
She walked back to him and sank into his arms.
"I'm right here with you. You know that, right?"
Willow nodded. "It's just that the whole world seems to have turned upside down." She turned and came up on her knees, facing him. "I have to do this, don't I?"
"Yes, I think you do. Would you rather be alone?"
"No," she said quickly. "Please, I need you with me."
"I'm not going anyplace."
She tore open the envelope. There was a piece of paper covered with handwriting and a small key. She held the key up. "This must be the key Kenny was looking for."
"What does the note say?"
Willow read the four short lines written on the page. "Willow, as my daughter, you are my only heir. What you find in this safe deposit box at the Grand National Bank in Boston is yours. Do with it as you will. I apologize for nothing. I have lived my life. You will live yours wherever you are. Your Mother, Moira Irene MacKenzie."
Tears came to Willow's eyes. Four cold lines...that's all there were to sum up her relationship with her mother. She was overwhelmed by the years of emptiness. She couldn't stop crying.
J.W. pulled her to him and held her close, rocking her in his arms. When, finally, her sobs lessened, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He got in beside her and pulled her close, soothing her into a dreamless sleep.
* * * *
The next morning, Willow sat at the kitchen table sipping at a cup of coffee, wrapped in one of J.W.'s thick robes, when he dropped his bombshell.
"I've been thinking. It's going to take some time for me to wind things up here."
Willow looked at him over the top of her coffee cup. "What are you talking about?"
"Resigning as sheriff."
"Why are you resigning as sheriff?"
He shrugged. "Your work is in Boston. You certainly can't commute back and forth. We've already spent ten years apart. You've worked hard to build a life for yourself. I can't ask you to leave it all behind now."
"J.W., you can't do that." She was overwhelmed by what he was willing to give up for her.
"I'm sure I can find a position with one of the precincts in Boston."
"But you wouldn't be happy. I'd never ask that of you. Besides, I've already thought about it. I'll do what I've always wanted to do. I'll open my own shop. It may take a little time to get established, but I'm talented and it'll happen. The Internet will allow me a lot of flexibility. I don't need to live in Boston. You are not resigning as sheriff."
"Are you sure about this, Willow? Are you okay with being a sheriff's wife? With staying in Esmerelda?"
Was he asking her to marry him? She couldn't quite take it all in. "Let me be sure I understand correctly. Are you asking me to marry you?"
"The only way I can tie you to my side and make sure you don't go running off again is to get that wedding ring on your finger as soon as possible. I'm taking no chances this time." His dark brows came down in a frown. "I repeat. I love you, Willow MacKenzie, and always have. And I'm going to tie you to me in any which way to Sunday, and that includes marriage."
"You would have been willing to resign as sheriff?"
<
br /> "Yes." He nodded emphatically. "In a Massachusetts' minute, sweetheart."
Tears fogged her eyes. But these were different from last night's. "You'd have given up everything here in Esmerelda? For me?" She still couldn't get over the magnitude of what he would have sacrificed for her.
"Yes, sweetheart. Whatever it takes."
The tears flowed down her cheeks. He walked around the table and knelt beside her chair. He took her hand between both of his and looked at her. "Will you marry me, Willow MacKenzie? Be my wife, bear my children? Stay with me forever?"
"You really do love me." It was a statement, not a question. Finally, she believed in dreams. She threw herself into his arms. "Oh, yes! John William Dalton, I will most definitely marry you. I've waited for you all my life. I love you so much." She was laughing and crying at the same time. Her heart was finally whole.
* * * *
One Year Later
Willow was putting the finishing touches to a mannequin in the front window of her newly renovated shop on Main Street. The last year had brought so many changes to her life. In one month's time, she'd be marrying J.W. For the last ten months, they had taken turns traveling between Boston and Esmerelda.
Willow finally lit the fireplace in her apartment. No sad memories were attached to it when it came to life. Only happiness.
J.W. went with her to open her mother's safe deposit box. Inside was no more than J.W. had expected to find. There were titles to numerous properties throughout the United States, and at least $250,000 in cash. There was, of course, no recipe for the illegal drug.
Willow did not want the money or the property. Instead, she set up a trust fund for the welfare of the children of those parents who were arrested through Kenny Miller's information. She made Edward Garber the trustee. The children should not have to suffer for their parents' sins.
Kenny Miller was in protective custody pending the trials of those involved in the illegal methamphetamine operations. He had cleaned up his act with J.W.'s help, but who knew how long that would last.
The door buzzed and J.W. strode into the shop. J.W. had changed over the last year, too. He was no longer brooding all the time. It had taken him several months to realize she was not going to disappear on him.
Right now, he had that boyish grin on his face. He was obviously up to something.
"Good day, Sheriff. And what brings you to my humble shop this fine afternoon?"
He was at her side and leaned down to capture her lips in one of his searing kisses that left her breathless. "Good day to you, Madam Shopkeeper. Have I told you today that I love you?"
She smiled and shook her head. He reminded her every single day, almost hourly, that he loved her. "Not since this morning at any rate."
"Ahh, yes, this morning." He nodded wisely, his eyes glittering.
She could see he remembered their passionate and heated lovemaking. It had kept her in a glow all day.
"I have a present for you."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "A present?"
"Yes. Call it a wedding present."
He handed her a small, beautifully wrapped package. "Should I open it now?"
He nodded. "Yes. Maybe you'll wear them for me this evening?"
Slowly she opened the package. Her eyes widened as she removed the lid from the box. She chuckled. "Hmmm. Are these department issue?"
There was a twinkle in his eye. "No, I wouldn't think so."
She lifted the velvet-lined handcuffs from the box, dangling them before her. "Yes, well, somehow I think I knew that. I guess when you said you were going to shackle me to your side every way possible, you weren't just talking figuratively?"
He walked to the front door and closed the blinds, then locked the door. He turned back to her. "I thought maybe it was time to try out one of my fantasies. What do you think?"
Her voice lowered. "I think I'm glad you locked the door."
He came back to her, drawing her up flush against his body. "By the way, have I mentioned that I love you deeply, absolutely, and forever?"
Her chuckle was cut short by his mouth descending to hers as he swung her into his arms.
~ 0 ~
Author Bio
Adrianna Dane has been putting pen to paper since the age of ten. She currently
resides in the state of Washington. She has a great fondness for using a fountain pen when writing her first drafts. Hobby interests are varied, including photography and traveling.
The first defining love story Adrianna read back in junior high school was “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, and that set her on the road to her long-standing love affair with books of all genres. Her inspiration in writing often can be found by listening to song lyrics, from hard rock to classical, and reading poetry by such poets as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edgar Allen Poe, and Ranier Maria Rilke. But finding inspiration for her stories truly has no boundaries for Adrianna.
In 2006, her dark fantasy GLBT story, Body Parts, won its category in the Dream Realm Awards. Adrianna has written more than 100 stories, short, novella, and novel length, delving into many facets of the human condition - contemporary, futuristic, and fantasy, and all the flavors therein and in between. In other words, wherever the story and the characters, as well as their intricate stories, take her imagination, then her pen and/or computer keyboard, are sure to follow.
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Esmerelda's Secret (Esmerelda's Lovers Book 1) Page 4
