Come Home with Me

by Susan Fox

  When he slipped inside, it felt wonderful, but she had a hard time keeping her balance so she wrapped her arms around him. He did the same, putting his arms around her lower back, his strength supporting her.

  Gazing at her, he smiled and she saw the love in that smile, in the warmth of his kaleidoscope eyes.

  She returned the smile, letting her own eyes convey everything she felt for him.

  Then he began to rock his hips, slowly and easily. Not only did each rock thrust his erection in and out, but because she was sitting on him her entire body went along for the ride.

  Experimenting, she got into the act, rocking too as Luke smiled into her eyes and supported her back. When she tried increasing the speed, he let her, and when arousal coiled too tightly in her and she slowed down again, he cooperated.

  “Like it?” he asked.

  “So much.” Even though they weren’t kissing, something about the eye contact made this kind of lovemaking feel particularly intimate.

  He removed one hand from her back and caressed her cheek. “I’m glad. How about this? Does this feel good?” He toyed with her nipple and by now her body was so sensitized that shocks of pleasure darted straight to her core.

  “Very good.” Her body urged her to rock faster, and so she did, all the time watching his face.

  He caught his breath and his eyes flared wider and glittered.

  Normally at this point, she’d have thrown her head back, closed her eyes, and ridden the sensations all the way to climax. But this time she kept her eyes open, focused on him. And rather than speed to the end, she forced herself to breathe deeply and slow down. The longer she held it off, the more intense the pleasure would be. For both of them.

  “You know what else I can do?” he asked hoarsely. “This.” His hand dropped and his thumb brushed her clit.

  If she’d thought her nipple was supersensitized, that was nothing compared to this. Pleasure had her clenching her internal muscles, clenching and releasing, demanding more from Luke. In response, he rocked faster, accompanying each stroke with the pressure of his thumb on that swollen bud of nerve endings.

  “I love you, Miranda. Are you ready to come with me?”

  “Oh, yes.” She would come with him, in climax and anywhere else he asked. “I love you, too.”

  And on those words, their bodies shattered in unison.

  * * *

  Saturday morning, Luke woke to the usual alarm. But, unusually, when he went to reach over and turn it off, a weight pinned his arm. A delicious, warm, feminine weight. His next realization was that he had a hard-on.

  Miranda stirred and said irritably, “Turn that damn thing off.”

  Chuckling, he rolled toward her and used his unpinned arm to silence the alarm. “Not a morning person, I see.”

  Her eyes opened, she studied him for a long minute, and then she said, “Now, that’s better. Waking up to you is good. To a screaming alarm, not so much.”

  “Waking up with me is good?” He nudged his erection against her hip.

  A slow grin tugged at her lips. “If I say Tony-the-Tiger grrreat, will you make coffee?”

  “Only if you mean it.”

  She turned on her side, facing him. “I mean it so much that I’ll even forgo the coffee. I bet you can think of some other way of getting me going.”

  He was about to offer several options, when she suddenly rolled away again and slipped from between the sheets. “Give me one sec.” She dashed toward the bathroom and the sight of her slim back, curvy butt, and long legs made him even harder.

  While she was in there, a sound issued from the phone she’d left on the dresser after a bedtime check-in call to Glory and Ariana. When she came out, still beautifully naked, he said, “You got a text.”

  She grabbed the phone and whatever she read on the screen made her laugh. She brought it over and held it out to him.

  It was from Glory, saying, Ariana’s fine. Go back to bed with your hottie.

  “That woman gives good advice,” he said, placing the phone on the bedside table and opening the sheets to invite her in.

  And then, with his lips and tongue, his hands and his swollen cock, he did his very best to awaken every single cell in her body.

  He was on top when they both climaxed, and for a moment he let himself flop down on top of her. But then, conscious of his substantially greater weight, he forced himself to roll off and lie on his back beside her. She lay unmoving, but when he reached for her hand, her fingers intertwined with his.

  “You’re a terrible alarm clock,” she said with a yawn. “You woke me up all right, but now I feel like I could sleep for days.”

  “I love you,” he said. Not that it was an apology or an answer or anything like that, just that he really liked saying it. He also hoped she’d respond with the words he couldn’t get enough of hearing.

  “I love you, too,” she said, giving him his wish. She turned her head on the pillow and smiled at him. “I really do. And I’m happy. Really, truly happy. Like I have everything I could possibly want.” Her lips quivered. “I’ve never felt that way before, not in my entire life.”

  “Oh, Jesus, Miranda.” He rolled on his side and peered into her lovely eyes, which had gone teary. “You don’t know how wonderful that makes me feel.” Though it also made him feel terrible that her life had been filled with so much unhappiness. But he wouldn’t mention that now, and spoil the mood.

  “This is big,” she said, blinking to hold the tears back. “It’s almost too big to take in, and yet at the same time it feels so natural and right. Do you know what I mean?”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’ve had men say they loved me before.”

  He winced.

  “But,” she went on, “they never meant it. Maybe I even knew that at the time, or would have if I’d been paying attention. I was too eager to find love, so I saw it where it didn’t really exist.”

  “It does exist here. I do mean it. You know that, don’t you?”

  “I honestly do. I trust you.”

  He wanted to trust her, too, yet what she’d said made him wary. Seeking reassurance, he said, “You really mean it, too, don’t you? Those things you said, about how this is different . . .”

  Her head nodded on the pillow. “I do mean it. There’s so much to love, Luke. Aaron has always been my hero, the greatest guy in the world. Well, you’re up there with him. But it isn’t just how great you are as a person, or how sexy you are, it’s how I feel when I’m with you. When I even think about you. It’s like a space inside me that’s always been empty and hollow is filling up with something warm and wonderful. My love for you, and yours for me.”

  His own heart was damned full, and now he was in danger of tearing up. Gruffly he said, “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.” He cleared his throat. “It’s different for me, because I did know love before. What Candace and I had was wonderful. After she died, I was afraid I’d never know that kind of happiness again. I’d never know love again. I don’t know if it’s harder if you’ve never had it, like you, or if you had it and lost it.”

  Looking thoughtful, she nodded.

  “But anyhow,” he said, “then you came along. You’re amazing and special in so many ways. You made me feel things, Miranda. Lust, frustration, tenderness, protectiveness, admiration. Anger, hurt. Tender feelings and passionate ones. You brought me to life again. I figured I was falling in love with you and that’s what I was going to say at the wedding reception. But I didn’t realize how powerful my feelings were until I saw you with Julian. I had this totally primitive ‘she’s mine!’ reaction.”

  “And I am.”

  A glance at the clock had him groaning. “I have to get up and go to work. Saturdays are always busy.”

  “Me too. And I have to pick up Ariana and make a quick trip home to get changed.”

  “Back to the real world,” he said wryly. “I hope we can find a way to do this again soon.”

&nb
sp; “It’s not so easy when we both have kids, is it?”

  “Remind me, why did we have kids?” he joked.

  “To complicate our lives?” she said with a sassy grin as she shoved back the covers.

  * * *

  As Miranda climbed out of bed, her phone rang. She glanced at it on the bedside table. “It’s Aaron.” If he was taking the morning flight to Vancouver, he was probably at the Blue Moon Air office.

  “Go ahead.” Luke rose, too, and headed for the bathroom.

  She accepted the call and said, “Hi, Aaron, hang on a sec.” Quickly she picked up Luke’s tee from the floor where he’d tossed it last night, and pulled it over her head. “Okay, I’m here.”

  “Hey, Sis.” His voice sounded odd. “Uh, are you sitting down?”

  Oh-oh. She swallowed and dropped to sit on the edge of the bed. Please let everyone be okay. “Yes. What’s happened? Are you all right?”

  “What? Yes, fine. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. It’s just, I had the strangest phone call. Or, rather, I returned a call. I mean, she phoned yesterday when I was flying, left a message, and when I called back she was gone for the day. So I left voice mail, not anticipating hearing back until Monday, but she called me as I was driving to the village. It seems she works Saturdays.”

  “What are you talking about? Who’s ‘she’?” Her brother wasn’t normally so unfocused, and Miranda was a little worried. “Did you pull over? You’re not driving, are you?”

  “No, I’m parked on the shoulder of the road. And she is a lawyer in Florida. She’s with the retirement community where Mom’s parents live. Lived. They were both killed in a car crash.”

  “Oh,” she said on a long sigh. Seeking warmth and comfort, she slid under the covers, propping a couple of pillows behind her back. “That’s, well, I don’t know what to say.” She shook her head. “Poor them, that their happy retirement ended this way.”

  “Yeah.”

  She sighed. “They never showed us the slightest bit of affection, and yet I feel kind of sad they’re gone.”

  “Me too. They were our only relatives.”

  They were both quiet for a moment, and then she said, “It’s so final. I mean, I know there was no real chance they’d ever decide they actually liked us, but now . . .” If she’d secretly nursed a tiny hope, now that hope was extinguished.

  “Well, actually . . .” That odd tone was back in his voice.

  “Actually what? Did they leave us some big apology letter, to be opened in the event of their death?” She said it sarcastically, not daring to let herself believe that might be true.

  “No letter. But here’s the thing. They didn’t have wills. And we inherit.”

  “Oh my God.” It took a moment for that to sink in. And then she gave a surprised snort of laughter. “Oh my, that’d piss them off, wouldn’t it?”

  “Maybe. But maybe not. The lawyer said she strongly encourages all the members of their community to make wills. The same as Eden does at Arbutus Lodge. But our grandparents refused. She explained the laws of inheritance. They had to know that if they didn’t make wills, we’d inherit.”

  “They probably thought one of them would die before the other, and that person could then make a will and leave it to whomever they wanted. Spouses never think they’ll die at the same time, right?”

  “Maybe.” Her brother still sounded kind of stunned. “But anyhow . . .”

  Perhaps it was mercenary, but she had to ask. “Did they have much money left?” Retirees in their eighties, paying for a Florida lifestyle, chances were they’d run through whatever money they’d once had.

  “A house in a mid-level retirement community,” he said slowly. “Some investments and money in the bank.” He paused. “Miranda, in Canadian money, after estate and administration taxes and fees, it amounts to over five hundred thousand.”

  “Dollars?” she squeaked.

  “Split between us. Damn, little sister.” His voice shook. “I think we’re rich.”

  “Rich? Rich! Oh my God, our grandparents finally did something for us! Even if they probably didn’t mean to.” Or maybe they did. Perhaps she would let herself believe that.

  “I know. I’m just . . . stunned.”

  “You sound it. Me too.” Unable to sit still, she swung out of bed and paced across the room.

  She couldn’t get her head around that amount of money. “Aaron, I can pay you back!” In a tattered notebook, she’d recorded every penny her brother had ever loaned or given her.

  “Thanks for the thought, but it’s not exactly like I’ll need the money.” Now he sounded more like himself.

  She chuckled. “No, I guess not.” But she’d do it all the same. Then she’d find a small house to rent, and pay Seal and Di rent for all the time she’d spent at SkySong, when they could’ve had paying guests in her cabin. And then . . . and then . . . she didn’t have a clue what she’d do. A college fund for Ariana. She’d tell her that her great-grandparents had gifted it to her. Then she’d buy books—glossy, brand-new books for both of them.

  “I told the lawyer I’d fill you in,” Aaron said. “I said we’ll phone her back when our heads are on a little straighter.”

  “Good idea.” Her head was definitely not on straight. In less than a day, her life had gone from messed up to amazing. Luke loved her, and she and Aaron were going to be rich.

  “She did say it’d take some time to settle everything—like sell the place, though there’s a waiting list so it won’t be a problem. But as soon as we send her notarized proof of our identities, she can advance us some funds against the final distribution.”

  “Okay.”

  “I can pay off the Beaver.” There was wonder in his voice.

  “Awesome!” That would be such a relief for him. Blue Moon Air was his baby, and it was a constant struggle to stay in the black. He needed to make the payments on his second plane, a de Havilland Beaver, but with only two planes and two pilots, there was a limit to how much business he could take on.

  “I could even buy another plane,” he said. “Have more scheduled flights, take more charters and sightseeing flights. Give Jillian all the flying hours she wants, hire another pilot, too. To spell us off, and cover for her when she’s on mat leave.”

  “Wow, Aaron. I’m sad Mom’s parents died, but seriously, wow.”

  “I know.”

  “Have you told Eden?”

  “Not yet. I figured you should be the first.”

  That was so sweet. “Thank you.” Knowing what an emotional mess she was right now, she was concerned for him. “You’re not going to fly, are you? You won’t be able to concentrate.”

  “Oh man, I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Call Jillian right this minute. You know she’ll fill in, and then you can go home and tell Eden the news. Are you okay to drive?”

  “Yeah. Now I’ve talked to you, I feel more grounded. I’ll be fine to drive. I can’t wait to see Eden’s face when I tell her. See you soon.”

  Hanging up, she wondered if she could smile any wider.

  The bathroom door opened and Luke walked into the bedroom, a towel wrapped low on his hips. Yeah, maybe she could smile wider.

  “You look pretty happy,” he said, smiling back.

  “My grandparents died.” A twinge of guilt and sorrow dampened her excitement.

  “Oh, gee, I’m sorry. The ones in Florida, that you hadn’t heard from in forever?”

  “Yeah.” She took a deep breath, allowing herself to mourn them but still feel happy about her windfall. “They didn’t have wills, and Aaron and I will inherit more than two hundred and fifty thousand each.” Speaking the words, she realized something. “That’s a quarter of a million.” She shook her head. “I can’t even conceive of it. I mean, I’ve always had trouble making the next rent payment.”

  “My God.” His eyes widened and he looked almost as shocked as she’d felt when Aaron told her the news. He came over and hugged her. “I’m really ha
ppy for you.”

  And then he grinned, his beautiful eyes twinkling. “Whew. I’m so glad we got back together last night. Otherwise, you might think I only loved you for your money.”

  She smiled up at him. “No. I know you love me for me, rich or poor, prickles and petals.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  On the last Sunday in June, down on the beach at SkySong, Miranda emailed a couple of photos to Mrs. Sharma and then put down her phone, raised her arms to the afternoon sun, and luxuriated in it. Luxuriated in everything.

  Best of all was the sight of Luke trying to teach the three kids to skip stones. Ariana—her big girl who would turn three in a month, and who almost never threw a tantrum now—and the boisterous Brandon, seemed totally content to hurl stones and not have them skip. Only Caleb was devoting effort to learning the technique. As for Honey and Pigpen, they didn’t seem to tire of chasing stones that sunk rather than floated like sticks.

  Miranda was content to laze in the sun while Luke supervised the kids, and Eden’s family prepared a feast up the hill in Di and Seal’s big house. No longer did she feel compelled to always be contributing, to earn her way. Being confident in a relationship, being an equal, meant not keeping score of who owed whom. It meant being partners who shared and helped each other, and sometimes just let the other person goof off and relax.

  There was a lot of relaxing going on this afternoon, as several resort guests strolled along the beach, perched on logs, or waded in the chilly water. Di and Seal, two runaway hippies, had built an incredible place over the decades they’d lived on the island.

  Luke sent a flat stone skimming the surface, skipping one, two, three, four, five times, and she cheered, “My hero!”

  He turned to smile at her, brushed his hands together, and said, “Time to rest on my laurels.”

  Coming up the beach to where she sat on a towel with her back against a log, he said, “I’m so glad you let me buy that bikini.”

  They’d been strolling through Blue Moon Harbor village the previous week, on their way to dinner at C-Shell, when they spied the gorgeous bathing suit in the window of Island Treasures. Patterned in shades of blue, it was admittedly perfect for her coloring, but also outrageously expensive. She might be inheriting a small fortune—thanks to the grandparents she’d chosen to believe actually intended their estate to go to her and Aaron—but she would always be thrifty. She didn’t protest too much, though, when Luke had insisted on buying it, saying he wasn’t doing it for her but for himself, and she was doing him a favor by wearing it.