From This Moment

by Lexi Buchanan

  Cade hugs me close while I continue, “Her husband was a banker and invested really well. When he passed away, two years before my parents died, he left her quite wealthy and she left it all to me, along with my inheritance from my parents. I never really thought about the money. My grandmother wasn’t about luxury and wealth, she was about living a comfortable and happy life. Honestly, I would trade in all of the money if it meant having her back, or having my parents back.”

  I feel the sting of tears behind my eyes and I breathe in the calming scent of Cade to wash away my sorrow. “I met Nick just over six months ago and he charmed me right off my feet. Right from the start, I was swept away so I just allowed the current to pull me along. Before I knew it, we were engaged and planning a wedding. I didn’t love him. I guess I loved the attention and the idea of being part of a family again. Nick has four sisters, and each with at least a couple of kids. They all made me feel welcome.”

  I lift my head to look at Cade and grin at him. “So after the wedding was cancelled, I took a flight to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and fell head over heels in love with the sexiest guy I’ve ever met. Not only does he have a hot body, but a great personality and an amazing voice. I could listen to him talk all day, and now I’m going to place a hot kiss on his . . .”

  And before I can finish, Cade grabs hold of my head and brings me in for one very hot kiss. I end up wiggling all over him, his erection growing larger by the second against my stomach.

  Cade

  Still kissing Rona, I can’t get enough of her. In less than a week, she has come to mean everything to me. How the hell am I going to let her go back to Ireland? But more pressing is the fact that I have to leave for Denver very soon.

  I pull away from the kiss. “I need to tell you something. I’m leaving for Denver in a few hours. If it was something I could get out of, then I would. But I have a meeting with a client tomorrow morning at eight.”

  Rona goes still and the silence stretches so long that I wonder whether or not she’s fallen asleep. “Rona?”

  “Sorry. I’m just tired.”

  “Okay. I’ll ring when I can tomorrow. I even thought about taking you with me, but Anna and Beth have no idea about us and I really don’t want them finding out this way.”

  “I don’t like the idea of you being away, but I’ll be okay. Maybe I can catch up with some laundry.”

  I feel Rona drift off to sleep. Holding her close for about thirty minutes, I extract myself from her and grab a blanket from the back of the sofa. Covering her up, I head to my room to shower and pack for my flight.

  Chapter 9

  Jake

  It’s been twenty-four hours since Elise called me on my cell, and I’ll admit I’ve been sitting, waiting for another call asking me to meet her. The wait is killing me. I just need to see her and ask her if she loves the guy she’s with. If she does, though it will break my heart¸ I’ll leave her alone. All I’ve ever wanted is for her to be happy.

  Not willing to wait any longer, I send her a text message asking if we can meet now. Patience has never been one of my strongest points, at least when it comes to her. Get me in my uniform and I could stay put for days and wait for whatever was about to happen. But with Elise, it’s nonexistent.

  I will her to reply as I stare at my cell, then drop the damn thing when it beeps. God, I’m reacting like a teenage girl. I need to get a grip before I make a total ass of myself.

  Grabbing it from the floor, I grin like an idiot when I read her reply. Come over now. She doesn’t even ask if I know where she lives, which proves she knows me well. I probably knew her address the minute she rented the house.

  Dashing to the bathroom, I spray on some cologne that Beth bought me last Christmas—she swears women find it irresistible. I only hope it works its magic on Elise.

  I collect my cell and keys on the way through my room, and head through the house. When I detour through the kitchen I spot my dad and Rona cuddling on the sofa. I watch them for a minute before I slip out the door, closing it softly behind me so I don’t disturb them.

  Climbing into my truck, I head down the drive and think about my dad. I can’t ever remember him being this happy. I’m not sure how my sisters will take to Dad and Rona. Hopefully, they’ll see what I see and accept the age difference because Dad finally has someone to call his own. He’s been alone a long time. I don’t even remember him bringing a woman home. So, with a bit of luck, they’ll be able to accept the age difference. I’m not even sure my dad’s fully there himself yet, but he will be.

  Turning right at the lane to Elise’s property, my mind wanders back to the woman I’m determined to make mine. My original plan, when I knew I would be out and heading home, was to finish the house I’ve been building for years. This was to be followed with getting a job so that I had things to offer her, rather than someone who doesn’t have anything.

  Elise took those plans away from me when she became engaged to someone else. I do have savings but they will disappear fast if I want to get the house finished for her. And I always have the family business to fall back on over at the riding center. Dad’s been talking about expanding for some time now. Even before I was injured, he wanted to add another training arena because only half of the stables are in use and he’s been wanting to help children with disabilities.

  I really hope my dad’s plans work out because I think I’d love to be around the horses all the time, and with the added bonus of helping to bring smiles to the faces of children, it would be the perfect job. It could be a project for Elise to become involved in with me as well.

  Pulling up outside Elise’s home, my heart leaps into my throat and I breathe in until it slows its frantic beating. I can’t wait to see her, but a part of me is hesitating. What if I don’t like her answer?

  This meeting between us should have happened a long time ago instead of letting her ignore me. I guess I’m also guilty. It was just easier than dealing with the heartache I caused, and I don’t just mean Elise’s.

  Leaving the keys in the ignition, I step out of the truck and slowly make my way to her front door. I’m glad to see only Elise’s car out front, which tells me she wants privacy for this as much as I do.

  Raising my hand to knock, I just stop myself from hitting her in the face as she whips the door open.

  All I can do is gaze at her. She looks just the same as she always has. Her petite frame has always been dwarfed by mine, and her blonde curls still shine like nothing I’ve ever seen. She leaves me speechless. She always has. And I wouldn’t be a guy if I didn’t notice her other assets, like her ripe breasts that have always been on the large side considering her small frame. She often used to say that if she could change anything it would be to make her boobs smaller, but I’d always told her they were perfect. And then I’d show her by wrestling her onto her back, exposing the creamy flesh before proceeding to make her come by just sucking her nipples. She would shatter in pleasure while I’d be counting in my head to stop myself from exploding all over her or in my jeans.

  “Come in,” she says in a weak voice before clearing her throat. “Jake, come in.”

  Walking past her, I quickly rearrange my dick before it becomes obvious as to my reaction to her. Hopefully he’ll deflate soon.

  Realizing Elise hasn’t moved from the door, I turn back to face her and end up with an erection from hell—hard as a spike because of the look on the face of the woman in front of me. And yeah, her eyes drop to my groin before going wide and meeting my gaze again. When she slowly moistens her lips, my eyes follow the movement.

  Groaning, I close the distance between us without even thinking until she’s mere inches from me. All I need to do is lean forward slightly and we’ll be touching. I’ll be able to taste her and see if she tastes the same as before.

  What I need to do right now is to step back out of her space so she can breathe. Hell, so I can breathe. But what I actually do is take that small step toward her and have her pushed up against the w
all with my dick throbbing behind my zipper as it rests against Elise’s stomach.

  She tips her head back at the same time as she reaches up and threads her fingers into my hair. With a slight tug, she brings my head down to hers and seals her lips over mine. That’s when my brain turns to mush, and I stop thinking all together. Her taste is unique. Her hands on me are the only hands I’ve ever wanted. The only hands and body I’ve ever craved to have on mine.

  Our groans of pleasure are caught between us. Her hands slip around my neck as she starts to climb up me with her legs wrapping around my hips. My hip begins to throb, but I try and ignore it as she rubs her pussy against my straining dick.

  I’m so damn worked up for the woman going up in flames in my arms that my dick is jerking and leaking behind my zipper. Within minutes, I’m going to be coming if we don’t put a stop to this.

  Elise

  Feeling Jake about to pull away from me, I slip my hand between us straight down the front of his jeans and throw my head back, moaning when I get a hand full of hard, naked cock. He’s always been big and at one time I was scared of his size. But finally having my hands back on him after all these years, any trepidation is gone. Now that he’s a man, I want to watch him orgasm because of me. I need to know he still craves me as much as I do him.

  Rubbing over the wet crown with my thumb, I feel the growl through his whole body as he shudders in pleasure. More pre-cum leaks from the tip and I moan as the sticky heat coats my fingers.

  “We need to talk first,” he whispers into my ear, breathing heavily.

  Somewhere in my befuddled brain, I agree with him, but he feels so good, and smells delicious. For once in my life, I want to do something so not like me by letting this man, who has no idea I’m still in love with him, take me against the wall.

  “Oh God, Elise,” he groans. “You have to stop.” He pulls my hand from his dick and buries his face in my neck while holding my wrist so I can’t reach for him again.

  After a few seconds he slowly starts to pull away from me before letting my legs slide to the floor. He cups my face with his hands and kisses me. Resting forehead to forehead, his eyes meet mine and hold. My heart feels ready to burst. The man standing so close to me is the reason why I’ve never been able to get naked with anyone else. He’s the only man to have ever been inside of me. To ever make love to me. It was never just sex between us.

  “I want you, Elise. I always have, but I’m not going to give you a quick fuck against a wall.”

  I start to struggle free of him at his words. No matter how we were to come together it would never be just a “fuck” against a wall and he knows it.

  Jake tightens his hold. “Stop. Dammit, Elise.”

  My struggle stops as quickly as it started.

  “We haven’t been together for years.” He pauses and inhales before slowly letting it out. He used to do this to slow himself down. “I want you, which I think is pretty clear. But for our first time together in years, I’m not going to take you up against the wall no matter how much my body wants to.” He smiles. “We need to talk. About why I’m no longer in the Marines, and about why you’re engaged to someone who isn’t me. To someone who obviously doesn’t know how to satisfy you if your reaction to me is anything to go by.”

  Before I can stop myself, I slap him across the face and feel my tears start to slide down my cheeks.

  I shove him backward and quickly move out of his grasp. “You have no right coming in here saying those things. My engagement isn’t any of your business.” I might not love Tom. I might be in love with the man before me, but I’ll be damned if he comes into my home being full of himself. “And my reaction to you is obviously something to do with for old times’ sake. Because Tom satisfies me plenty,” I lie.

  “You’re lying!” Jake crowds me with his body against the wall. “You’re mine, Elise. You’ve always belonged with me, and now that I’m back home I plan on showing you how much you mean to me.”

  If I speak right now, I’m going to be in a flood of tears.

  “Elise, you know why I broke things off with you.” He captures my chin and forces me to look at him, to see the sincerity in his eyes. “I should have believed you when you said you were stronger and could handle being a Marine’s wife because you loved me. I’m sorry I didn’t listen.”

  I shake my head while wiping away my tears. “We were both young back then, and the truth was if anything happened to you, whether we were together as a couple or apart, I would have fallen to pieces. And I think you know that as well.”

  Jake kisses the tip of my nose before stepping back. Sliding his fingers between mine, he tugs on my hand and leads me to the sofa. Then he points toward the floor. “What happened there?” he asks.

  I can’t believe he noticed the missing tile.

  “I keep meaning to get that fixed, but I always forget until I trip over it.”

  Jake chuckles. “Do you have a spare hidden away somewhere?”

  “I do.”

  “I’ll repair it before I leave.” He sits beside me on the sofa and pulls me against him.

  Fresh tears brim in my eyes as I stare at the floor. He’s here for me, here to fix things like this.

  Sitting with Jake like this feels as though I’m home. He’s my home, something I think my heart has always known.

  “I’ve never slept with anyone else,” I blurt out, needing him to know that I’ve stayed true to him, but also feeling embarrassed. I mean, what twenty-five year old tells her ex that she’s not had sex for years because of him?

  I can feel the shock in Jake as he stills at my tactless announcement. “Say something.”

  He clears his throat. “I don’t know what to say. That wasn’t something I was expecting to come out of your mouth.”

  “I figured I needed to get it out there, you know? It’s your turn to talk, and I’d like to know about the Marines. Your family has been damned evasive about it.”

  “That’s because I wanted to be the one to tell you, and I also figured if you heard it from them while I was laid out in the hospital that you’d freak until you’d seen me.”

  “Hospital?”

  I feel all the blood rushing to my feet.

  “Hey, I’m good. I’m here with you.” He hugs me, and ends up rearranging me so that I’m sitting in his lap. “That’s much better. Now are you going to let me continue without you getting upset?”

  “I’ll try.”

  He kisses me on the forehead before pressing my head against his chest.

  “I don’t remember much about what happened, other than a large explosion pretty close to where I was standing. I woke up in the hospital in a lot of discomfort.”

  “You mean pain. You can say it.” I don’t like the idea of him being in pain, but I don’t want him to play it down because of me.

  “The pain was hell.”

  Meeting his gaze, I can see the pain behind his words.

  Jake runs his hands through his hair, and continues, “It turns out a mortar had exploded and shrapnel had embedded itself in my buttock, hip and thigh. If I overwork my leg, it can cause me a lot of discomfort now, but for the most part I’m good.”

  “If I’d known, I’d have wanted to be there for you.”

  “I know you would have, and that’s why I asked everyone to keep it quiet because they wouldn’t have let you near me. That would have hurt you.”

  “Sometimes I could hit you for what you did to us, Jake. You didn’t let me have any say in what happened to us. You just decided.”

  But now I’m sitting on his lap in my home and I don’t want him to leave. If I didn’t have to talk to Tom, I’d be begging Jake to stay.

  The thought of talking to Tom and trying to explain to him that I can’t marry him makes me feel nauseated. I backed out the other night so this time I’m going to have to find my backbone from somewhere because I want to move forward with Jake, if that’s what he wants. And I think he does by the way he’s been talking.


  “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but what’s going on with Tom?” Jake asks, sounding miserable. “I need to know, Elise. I have to understand what I need to do for you to be with me again, and this time I have no intention of ever walking away from you—from us.”

  I keep my head buried in his chest. “I was just thinking that I’ll have to talk to Tom. You’re the only one I want to be with so it’s unfair to Tom, and you, to keep him believing that I’m going to marry him when we both know I’m not.”

  Jake lets out a huge sigh of relief.

  “That’s good,” he says, his voice full of emotion. “Now, let me tell you about the house I’m building for us.”

  Chapter 10

  Rona

  After a good night’s sleep, I wake up and remember that Cade left for Denver last night, after carrying me upstairs to bed. Not wanting to get out of bed, I just lie on my side, looking out of the window, trying to get my thoughts in order.

  Before leaving Ireland, I’d given my notice at work, packed up my apartment and gave most of my clothes, shoes, and jewelry to charity. The furniture came with the apartment rental so I didn’t have to deal with that.

  After canceling the wedding, I realized I wanted to spend some time back in the States. My plan was to spend four weeks in Jackson Hole and then travel to my hometown of Newport. Now I don’t really know what to do. The thought of leaving Cade makes me feel ill. I haven’t told him I have no job or anywhere to live because I don’t want him to feel he has to offer me a roof over my head. I want to stay here with him, but I’d rather he ask me because it’s what he wants and not because I don’t have anywhere else to go.

  Financially, I never have to work again, but I’m not one for sitting around and doing nothing.