by S. Van Horne
Including me.
“Now that I explained just how much you mean to me; can you please answer the question? Can you handle being a part of my life? And handle that Maddison will always be involved as well?” When my eyes meet his, all I can see is a bit of hope and a lot of fear shining bright back at me. Never would I have thought that this big, bad, alpha type man would show his feelings so easily on his face.
Especially to a woman.
Don’t men like that want to keep their feelings hidden? To pretend that they aren’t affected by anything the world gives them to face? It mind-boggles me seeing him act this way; and has me scrambling at how to respond to such a blatant show of emotions.
As I stare and try to gather my thoughts, I mull over what he's asking of me.
Can I accept her, and her disability? What will our future look like?
My lids flutter close and Mads reflection stares back at me. Images flash through my mind of the memories of what I observed about her today starts to play like a movie. There's no stopping the small smile that starts to spread across my lips. It seems crazy . . . but I believe I love her. I don’t think anyone could help but fall in love with the amazing young woman. There's something about a child with a disability that draws out the love that's inside a person. It's almost magical. There's no containing it once it starts.
Not wanting to scare Conti off by telling him that I love his sister already, I decide to down play my feelings a bit. There's no way I can explain what I feel for her without freaking him out. At least, I think it will.
“Conti, I don’t think there’s anything that could stop me from accepting that girl in the other room. Maybe one day we can adopt her . . . I mean when we have children then she might not understand . . .” My voice trails off as my cheeks start to burn with embarrassment.
Groaning, my head plants on his shoulder. Of course my mouth gets away from me at a moment like this. His body shaking against mine is the only indication that he finds what just happened funny.
“Can we ignore what I just said, please?”
“Not a chance in hell, Legs.” His hand reaches the back of my neck, and he grabs my hair, pulling my head back so I’m looking into his eyes. “You just helped me with that little confession. But first . . . let’s talk about dating.” The smirk on his face along with the word confession has my stomach tightening.
Oh, fuck me, what’s he thinking now?
I observe the couple in front of me, and my heart constricts at the way they interact with each other. Conti has been helping Maddison make flower leis for the past two hours. So far, she's made one for him and herself. Storylines form in my imagination, ones I'm eager to write from the precious scene before me. Conti has been back in my life for only one day and the block I had has vanished.
Last night after we talked and made out on the couch, we ended up going to bed. He slept in the guest bedroom next to Mads, as he wanted to make sure he could hear her when she woke up. After laying in bed for an hour, my mind wouldn’t shut down. I ended up grabbing my laptop and pounding out three thousand words in the story I was struggling with.
Who knew being happy would bring changes so fast to one’s life.
This morning during breakfast, Conti demanded family time and suggested we go to all the tourist spots on the island. My heart sped up at the thought of spending the day with them. There hasn’t been time for me to do the tourist shit since I’ve moved here. Family time repeated in my head and immediately sadness flooded my system.
I’m not family, well by definition, anyway.
Even if my heart already claimed them both as my family.
There was no stopping the strangled voice that came out when I said I would give them some ideas that they could do. His face showed confusion as he demanded to know what I meant by them.
The expression on his face when I said I wasn’t family had me inching backwards from him. It isn’t one that I want to see again.
Before I knew what was happening, I was in his arms, and he said something that not only shocked the fuck out of me, but is still repeating in my head like a broken record.
“You may not be family by Webster’s standards, but you are fucking family. And besides, it's only a matter of time before you will be. Now, stop pissing me off and go get ready while I help Maddison.”
To say my heart skipped beats would be an understatement; it didn’t just skip beats, it went into cardiac arrest. It just stopped at his words and hope began to bloom. Hope that he truly meant what he was saying. That one day, I would have a family again. And hopefully, it would start with him and Maddison.
“Fuck, he’s hot.” My head automatically turns to the woman beside me dragging me out of my thoughts.
“Who?” The question tumbles out of my mouth as I continue studying the group of people in front of us.
“The one in the light blue t-shirt that hugs that damn fine chest he has. I wonder who the young lady is that's with him,” she murmurs and my hands clench in jealousy.
She’s talking about Conti.
“His sister.” My feet are already stomping toward them, determined to make sure she knows he was taken.
“That’s good to know . . .” her voices trails off behind me.
Conti’s head snaps in my direction when I'm almost to them. The smile that graces his face has my steps faltering and my panties instantly are wet with desire.
He’s fucking hot when he isn’t smiling but the moment he does, it transforms everything and makes him even hotter.
“Legs, you decided to join us.” His hand reaches out and wraps around my waist. Before I can stop him, I'm tugged into his lap. “What color do you want your lei?” he whispers into my ear.
“Blue is my favorite color . . . but red’s pretty.”
My eyes glance over his shoulder spotting the bitch from earlier scowling at me. A smirk starts to form on my lips and keeping my eyes trained right at her, I bend my head down placing a kiss on Conti’s neck causing him to give me a low moan at feeling my lips on his skin. He's completely unaware of the war that's going on between the woman and me.
Red begins to creep up her neck as her face twists in disgust at watching me take what she'll never get a chance to have. Seeing her storm off in a huff has a chuckle bursting from my lips. Conti’s head tilts back gazing into my eyes trying to figure out what would cause me to just crack up laughing while kissing his neck.
“What are you laughing at?” he asks.
“Nothing important. So, what do you want to do after this?” Reaching over, I gently help Maddison with a flower she's having trouble with.
“Why don’t we go eat some lunch, then maybe head back to your place?”
“Thanks, C. Can you tie it for me?” Maddison pushes the lei into my hand.
My fingers start to make a knot in it for her as I try to keep my mind off the idea of getting Conti into my bed when we get back to the house.
It takes a moment as my hands fumble over the images of him fucking me hard.
“Do you want to make another one, Mads?” Conti asks, snapping me back out of my dirty thoughts; reminding me that we're at a family event. After a quick breath, I finish the job and hand it back to her.
She looks at the knot I made closely, like she's making sure it's good enough to her standards. After a moment she stands up, and turns back toward me.
“Look, bubby. I made one for C, and it's her favorite color.” Before I can stop her, she places it around my neck and kisses my cheeks like the teacher taught her to do. “Perfect, I’m hungry now.”
“Okay, Mads, let's go get some pizza.” Conti gently pushes me off his lap and spins me around to face him.
It's then I notice a red lei in his hand. He gently places it around my neck and kisses both cheeks, just like Mads did, then moves his lips to my ear and murmurs, “This will have to do until I can lay you properly.”
The bite on my neck has me squeezing my thighs together and my head drowning in
a fog that's all Conti. After a few seconds, my thoughts start to come back to me.
“Come on, Legs. Let’s get lunch then I’ll take care of the wetness between your thighs.”
This guy is going to fucking drive me crazy, is my thought as I follow behind him and Mads.
CONTI
It’s been two days since we had family day, and the memory of Crystal coming on my fingers still haunts me. The desire to sink deep inside her is strong but for some reason I resist the temptation. When we were leaving the lei making place, I noticed her squeezing her thighs together, and I reassured her I'd take care of her when we got back, before I knew what came over me.
I’m a man of my word, especially with her, and my first thought was about how I'd sink deep inside her. Shit, it's been a fucking year as it is, so I have all intentions of doing it. However, when the time came, something told me to wait. I gave her my fingers and made her scream out in pleasure. Her reaction had me second guessing my resolve, since my cock was harder than it ever has been in my life.
Later that night, as she was curled against me on the couch, a peaceful feeling washed over me from just holding her. The choice of me not fucking her was a good one. She needed that release more than I did. Just before she dozed off in my arms, she said she wanted to have a lazy day and to be honest, it sounded like a fucking great idea to me.
We stayed at her house yesterday, playing on the beach as we waited for Mari to make it into town. She would watch Mads for me as I continued my plan of dating Crystal, until she agreed she couldn’t live without me. And that couldn’t really be done with Mads towing along.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s important for us to spend time together with Maddison, as a family, but I also needed that time without her so I could convince Crystal that going to Vegas to get married was the right thing to do.
“Here we go,” the sales clerk, Makoa, says as he places a velvet board in front of me. “These are what we have in the price range you asked for. As I said, I can give you fifty percent off since Kai is with you.”
“You really don’t have to do that,” I murmur looking down at the rings displayed.
“His family helped us in getting this place. It's the least I can do to return the favor that him, his family and the gods gave mine. Just yell if you find something you like.”
“Thanks for bringing me here and for the hook up, Kai.”
When he asked me if I had a ring yet, I immediately started flipping out. How can I propose or even want to convince her to marry me, if I don’t have a fucking ring? When he told me not to worry he had a place he could take me, I closed my eyes in relief. I swear I’m going to have to owe the guy my firstborn for everything he's done for me since I showed up on his beach.
“Crystal is a special woman and my wife adores her. So do my children. I would do anything to help her out and to see her happy.”
The love he has for his family rings true in his words.
“I hope one day I'll be in love with Crystal the same way you are with Myla,” my voice is nothing but a whisper. I feel awful that I'm not sure if I love Crystal just yet. I know she's my one, but yet I’m unsure if I actually love her.
“Being in love before getting married isn’t something that stops fate.” Kai’s voice is full of conviction and I wonder if he knows from experience.
What if this isn’t fate, though? Before I can let my thoughts get the best of me, I look back down at the rings. None of them scream Crystal.
“I’m not feeling any of these.” My hands run through my hair and I glance at Kai. “Should we go to another store?”
“Hold on, I have a few more that you might like. They're a little more in price, but let me get them for you.” Makoa appears from nowhere; bending down to pull out another board. As he sits it in front of me, one catches my attention and my hand immediately goes for it. “Ah, good choice. That's a four-karat diamond on white gold.”
It's simple, yet elegant, just like Crystal. In my mind, I can see it sitting on her finger with a gold band next to it.
“We also have wedding bands that we can match with it.” Makoa starts to reach for another board, but I stop him by raising my hand.
“No, I want her to help me pick the wedding bands. You said that engravement comes with a purchase. Do you have a form for me to fill out?”
“Yes, we can do it right now as our engraver is here today. I’ll also clean it once he's done. Here's the paperwork, let me go ring you up.” I hand him my credit card and begin the process of filling out the papers.
“Do you know what you're putting inside it?” Kai inquires.
All I can do is nod and quickly fill out the form. I know the perfect thing to say and hopefully she'll understand its meaning when she reads it.
Six
CRYSTAL
The sun feels so amazing on my skin. When Conti and Kai came back from town, he suggested we have a beach day, just the two of us. I couldn’t say yes fast enough. He knew I was on a deadline, and said that he wanted to give me some alone time so I could work for a few days. His real motive was to spend some time with just me.
As much as I love our time together, all four of us, including Mari since she's now here, I really need to work on this book that's due in three weeks. And since the three of them are now staying in my house instead of the cabin he rented, I haven’t had a moment of quiet. The past two days, Mari, Mads, and Conti have been out of the house from the moment they had breakfast until the sun was set.
The space allows me the quiet I need to work on the story I'm currently writing. After knocking out a good half of the book, I'm really in need of a beach day to regroup my thought process. The problem is that the characters won’t shut the fuck up now that I have my muse back in my life. Sometimes I wonder if I am truly schizophrenic, since voices talk to me.
Huh, I wonder if other authors think or wonder the same thing.
“Holy shit that's cold,” I gasp, looking over my shoulder. Conti is standing beside me, shaking his hair on my back.
“You’re so hot, Legs, that the water sizzles off you,” he chuckles at me.
“That was so cheesy. Think of a better line.” I roll my eyes at him then lay back down. “Did you actually catch a wave this time?” He's been trying to surf for the past hour. He isn’t very good at all and I finally got tired of watching him and decided to read a book on my kindle while sun-bathing.
“You think the man in the book you're reading can come up with a better line?” He sits down beside me then reaches for a beer out of the basket he brought with us.
“As a matter of fact, yes.” Quickly, I find the spot in the book, Last Resort Motel Room 519, that I read a few moments ago. “So, the heroine is running from her ex who abused her. She and the hero are talking about dreams and wishes. He says he wants to be her ex’s stunt double —”
“What the fuck? How is that better than what I said?” The look on his face has me cracking up. Finally, after I stop laughing so hard, I continue.
“If you'd let me finish, you'd know.” He nods, encouraging me to carry on. “Anyway, just listen. This is written from her point of view.” I clear my throat. “I want to be his stunt double. You know how in movies the actors and actresses have a stunt double that does all their risky stunts?” I nod. Yeah, we all know they do that. “Well that is what I want to be to him. Ready and willing to take all the risks his ass wasn’t able to do with you,” he whispers. “Like showing you what true love is, holding you when you're scared, trusting you, being the man that you need, and not that I think you want. I would do all the things he never dreamed of doing because he didn’t have the guts to do it when he had his chance.”
He rolls his bright green eyes at me when I finish reading.
“That's cheesy as fuck, Legs.”
“No it isn’t! It's romantic and sweet,” I retort and then turn back to my book.
A rustling sounds beside me, but I don’t dare look over at him.
�
��If I could write about you, I would write about how your eyes took my breath away the moment they met mine. How the color of your hair reminds me of the silky chocolate that I love to eat. How your body should be captured by sculptors to show how perfect you are. If I could write about you, everyone would buy it; as they'd all want to be just like you. But they wouldn’t ever be able to measure up to everything that you are.” His words have me snapping my head in his direction.
My breath catches when I find him down on one knee, holding the most beautiful ring I've ever seen between his fingers.
“Conti,” I whisper.
“Marry me, Crystal. I can’t live without you. I’ve already tried and I was miserable for a year.”
I'm nodding before he even finishes his sentence. His lips crash against mine as he places the ring on my finger. The kiss is demanding and deep. Everything has faded and all I can feel is him and this kiss that's branding me as his.
Before I want it to, he slowly pulls away.
“You should read the inscription,” he states.
My right hand shakes as I slowly slide the ring off my finger and bring it up to my face.
You’re the boom I never expected.
“I love it,” my voice is so soft that I’m not sure he heard it.
“Good. We leave in two days for Vegas. Kai and his family are joining us. He offered his plane for the trip.”
“Wait. That fast?” I blurt out as my throat begins to close. “Conti, I can’t plan a wedding in two fucking days.” Pacing back and forth in front of him, my head is spinning trying to figure out what the fuck he's thinking when he says we're getting married in two fucking days. There's no way that is even possible.
“I know. That's why Myla has been planning it for the past five days. She already got ahold of our friends and they'll be there. Including Brittany, but I think you should call her yourself.” He stands up and halts my pacing. “Stop worrying, this is going to be amazing. Just agree that you'll marry me in two days. As much as I want to sink my cock deep into your pussy again, we aren’t having sex until we say our I do’s.”
