Laughing, he finally released his hold and reached over, retrieved the lube, and poured some on his fingers. He lifted off me slightly, arching toward me and scooting up, making it a little show as he reached behind and readied his entrance, then pulled my cock between his legs and covered it in another dose of lubricant. I didn’t touch him as he worked, just enjoyed his beauty. How his tan skin glistened in the candlelight, the swell of his chest muscles as he reached behind him, and visually traced the lines of his abs that trailed down into a beveled V, highlighting his dripping, heavy erection.
I lost my willpower at that sight, sitting up enough to take the head of him into my mouth, and licking over him to coat my tongue with his slick tang.
“Oh fuck, yes.” Micah released my dick and leaned forward, securing his hand on the wall of the cavern and sinking deeper into me.
I groaned in approval and reached up, clasping the perfect globes of his ass with each hand, guiding him to fuck my mouth. Micah obliged, instantly settling into a slow rhythm, pulling out so the head of his cock skimmed my lips, and then shoving back in slowly, filling my mouth once more, then letting his thickness stretch my throat, his tight blond curls pressing against my nose, filling me with the clean, earthy scent of him.
After several thrusts, he leaned back once more, wrapping his hand around my cock again and pulling free from my mouth. “I won’t last long at all like this.”
Suddenly, being inside of Micah wasn’t what I craved. I needed him inside of me. To be joined with him in that way. “I don’t care, I want to taste you. I want to feel you come in my mouth.” I gripped his ass again. “Please.”
He smiled but the view of his face was cut off as he angled his cock into my mouth once more and returned to the rhythm he’d built before. There were only a few thrusts before his breathing changed, becoming more rapid.
I kept my eyes open, watching his magnificent body as he moved above me. The flex and release of his rigid abs, the bunching of his chest, the trembling of his biceps as he secured himself against the wall.
I groaned in approval again, as the taste of him in my mouth increased, and I adjusted my angle slightly, allowing his cock to slide farther into my throat.
Squeezing his ass, pulling him into my mouth, I demanded more. And he gave it, turning loose, and fucking wildly, all rhythm lost, causing my eyes to water.
Then with a cry, he threw back his head, his body arching as he came, emptying his load into me. I crushed him to me tighter, wrapping my arm around his hips, not wanting to lose a drop of him. And I swallowed, surge after surge, as he came.
At last his rigid body relaxed, and he pulled free.
I sucked in ragged breaths and grinned up at him. “Holy….” I managed another breath. “Shit.”
“No kidding.” He smiled, and sounded as winded as myself. “And I’m pretty sure… I’m going to have Connor-sized fingerprint bruises on my ass for the next month.”
I didn’t even try to hold back my smile at that. “Works for me.”
“Me too.” He readjusted so he was straddling my hips again, and grasped my cock, thumping it against his hole. “Feels like you’re wanting something a little more?” His grin made it clear it wasn’t actually a question.
“We can wait, if you need a little time.”
Micah shook his head. “The only thing I need right now is more of you.”
I sat up, causing him to almost lose his balance, neither of us used to the feel of an air mattress. I gripped his thighs, helping him stay steady. “Lay down, on your back.”
We repositioned, both chuckling as it felt like we were in a bouncy house for a few seconds. Then he was spread before me, the candlelight playing across his body in a completely different way. “I know I keep saying this, you’re just so damn gorgeous.”
And there was that smile, happy and pleased. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you know when you say it too much.”
Without words, as we’d done it countless times before, Micah lifted his knees slightly and I took my place between his legs. I poured fresh lube, lathered it on my cock, and then leaned over him. Micah’s legs wrapped around my hips as I lined up with his entrance. “I love you.” Before he could reply, I pushed all the way in, and he sucked in a breath.
I stayed there, buried deep, letting him adjust, and lowered my body on top of his, slipping one arm behind his shoulders and neck, and took his face in my other hand, and kissed him.
With his legs holding my hips tight, he wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me close, one of his hands moving to the back of my head. He slipped his tongue into my mouth.
I began to move. Taking my time, reveling in the heat of him surrounding me, at his tight, squeezing grip around my cock. I thrust slowly, relying on his secure grasp on me to keep from sliding free, never breaking the kiss.
This wasn’t one of our frenzied heated moments, afraid we would get caught, fucking as fast as we could before my guilt and worry could break in. This wasn’t that at all.
I deepened the kiss, letting each pass of my tongue over his, each caress of my thumb on his cheek, and every thrust inside of him be one more declaration of love, one more promise of commitment, one more assurance I belonged to him.
My orgasm built at a languid pace, so slowly I barely realized it was there before it was upon me. Still, we held each other tight, encased, my speed never increasing, just constant and steady. I trembled when I came, and Micah pulled me closer. I sucked in an awestruck breath as I poured into him. He had been right, I had felt some unnamable quality when we exchanged our vows. But I felt it again, familiar but slightly different. Some binding magic as our bodies joined, somehow different than any time before.
I wasn’t sure when I stopped moving, when the rhythm had ceased, but I slowly became aware I was lying still on top of him, my fading erection still secured in his heat, and still we kissed.
After a while, Micah slid his hand from the back of my head, over the back of my shoulder, down my arm and grasped my hand. I broke the kiss, pulling away just slightly. I looked into Micah’s gaze. “Wow.”
He grinned, dreamily. “I’ll say.”
I almost hated to ask, but for some reason, I needed to know. “You felt it, right?”
Still he smiled and nodded, and the fact that he didn’t need clarification, didn’t think I was asking if the sex had been good for him, only solidified his answer. “Oh yeah, I felt it. I didn’t know I could love you any more than I already did.”
I kissed him again and then slid over, letting my head find its resting place on his chest, and I sighed. More content than I’d ever dreamed possible.
Time passed, though I wasn’t sure how much. Enough that some of the smaller candles had melted away. I almost hated to bring it up as I didn’t want to disrupt the nearly otherworldly peace that had settled around us, but I angled so I could look into Micah’s face and still be pressed against him. “So, there’s one more thing we should discuss before we do the whole legal marriage license thing.”
Micah smiled but didn’t miss a beat. “A prenup? I was thinking the same. If this all goes to shit, I want it in writing that I get the kids.”
I snorted out a laugh. “You read my mind.”
“I figured.” Another smile. He was so damn beautiful.
And mine. So damn beautiful, and mine.
I was so enraptured by him, I forgot to keep speaking.
“I wasn’t actually serious about the prenup, Connor. You’re leaving me hanging.”
“Oh, sorry.” I chuckled and snuggled closer to him, if that was even possible. “I was thinking. Now that we’re married. How would you feel if I was finally officially a Bryant?”
His eyes widened. “You mean, take my last name? You’d be Connor Bryant?”
I nodded but couldn’t speak for a second, an unexpected wave of emotion crashing over me. When I was sure I had myself under control, I nodded again. “Yeah. I kinda figured that’s why, even though I couldn’t have
explained it at the time, why I never agreed to the formal adoption thing like Mom and Dad wanted. Because I was always destined to become a Bryant by being your husband, not your brother.”
Though I had gotten my emotions under control, a tear slid from the corner of Micah’s eye, and then another one. “Micah and Connor Bryant, husbands.”
“I like the sound of that.” Maybe it was silly, but I needed to hear it from my own voice. “Micah and Connor Bryant, husbands.” And look at that, though impossible, somehow I was even happier. “Oh, yes, I definitely like the sound of that.”
“Me too, my love.”
My stomach rumbled, the food across the cavern calling to me, but I pushed the thought away, and settled back down onto Micah’s chest, too content to want anything else, too perfectly happy to want to move.
Micah and Connor Bryant.
One more magical moment, one more magical click. Just like that. Connor Bryant. I was finally home. Fully and completely home.
Family Trees & Lavender Shores Maps
For all things Lavender Shore, visit:
LavenderShores.com
About the Author
Rosalind Abel grew up tending chickens alongside her sweet and faithful Chow, Lord Elgin. While her fantasy of writing novels was born during her teen years, she never would have dreamed she’d one day publish steamy romances about gorgeous men. However, sometimes life turns out better than planned.
In between crafting scorching sex scenes and helping her men find their soul mates, Rosalind enjoys cooking, collecting toys, and making the best damn scrapbooks in the world (this claim hasn’t been proven, but she’s willing to put good money on it).
She adores MM Romance, the power it has to sweep the reader away into worlds filled with passion, steam, and love. Rosalind also enjoys her collection of plot bunnies and welcomes new fuzzy ones into her home all the time, so feel free to send any adorable ones her way.
Website: RosalindAbel.com
Website: LavenderShores.com
Author Note
Dear Reader:
I’ve been looking forward to telling Connor and Micah’s story since book one. I hope you found it worth the wait, I know they did! There’s still more romance and beauty to be found in Lavender Shores.
Here’s where I normally hint about what’s next. Well…. Honestly, that’s up to all you readers. I have ten books mapped out in the Lavender Shores series, but promised myself (and my men) that I’d write these first five no matter what. This has been a labor of love and my first foray into self-publishing. I have my fingers crossed and hopes set high that the reception of Lavender Shores will be to the level that will enable the next five books to be written. So, if you enjoy Lavender Shores, please tell your friends to give them a try.
Thank you so much for reading The Hideaway. If you were captured by Connor and Micah’s love story, I would greatly appreciate a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Please drop me a note on Facebook or on my website (RosalindAbel.com) whenever you like. I’d love to hear from you. Also for fun, hop on over to LavenderShores.com to have a behind the scenes peek at what the town looks like, read its rich history, and get to know the characters just a little better.
Thank you for loving my men!
Much love, Rosalind
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to Janie Beaton, who was with me every single step of the way, reading each chapter in real time and providing critical feedback. And since this endeavor began, has gone from beta to published author. Yay!!! So much gratitude to Poppy Dennison, Lucy Lennox, Devon McCormack, and Ashley McLoughlin for their grace and patience around all the ins and outs of self-publishing and talking me down from ledges.
Desi, you make me brave. AngstyG, you make me beautiful. A huge, huge thank you to all of the lovely souls who proofread the ARC versions of The Hideaway and helped me look somewhat literate (in completely random order): Ann Attwood, Melissa Brus, Cinnamon, Kristell Harmse, Ron Perry, Rob Andresen-Tenace, Terri Grooms, Michael Bailey, Kelly Miller, TL Travis, Jill Wexler, Patrice, and Lucy Campbell. Thank you all, so very, very much!
A further and special thanks to some of my dear readers and friends who support my passion: Andrea Johnson, Fiona Wilson, Katie Pizzolato, Maggie Johnson, Marcia Gleason, Rob Andresen- Tenace, Robert Winter, Jason R., Victoria Smiser, and those of you who wanted to remain anonymous. You make a huge, huge difference in my life and in my ability to continue to write. I’m humbled and grateful beyond belief! So much love to you all!
Also by Rosalind Abel
The Palisade, Book 1
The Garden, Book 2
The Veranda, Book 3
The Shipwreck, Book 4
The Hideaway, Book 5
Also available in Audio Format,
Read by Kirt Graves
The Hideaway (Lavender Shores Book 5) Page 23
