by Mary Calmes
“There’s only ever been me,” he reminded, “and that’s how it’ll stay.”
“Yes,” I heaved out the words. “I swear.”
“Do you want me?”
“Oh God, yes.”
His rhythm faltered then, the pounding I was taking got wild and erratic as he hammered into me, over and over, and I became only about my aching, desperate newfound joy.
“Coz!” I thundered his name in the small room, and he bit my shoulder, laughing, the sound rushing through me as my muscles clamped down on him and I came onto the comforter, engulfed in a splintering orgasm.
He bucked into me, burying himself to the balls, his entire front plastered to my back as he pumped hot into me, grunting as he gave me his weight.
I lay there under him, pinned to the bed, semen seeping from my ass, sticky with sweat, and prayed he’d never ask me to move.
“Are you all right?”
Quick nod to his question.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No,” I answered, my throat raw from yelling.
“Would you ever want to do it again?”
“Oh fuck yeah.”
His exhale was sharp. “Thank God, because I’m gonna be honest and say that you have the hottest, tightest ass I’ve ever been in, and I think I wanna live there.”
Pride filled me, which was ridiculous. He was complimenting a body part.
“But it could also be,” he said, turning my head so he could kiss me, “that you trusted me to be inside you, and I want that more than anything.”
“I trust you,” I told him. “And I want to suck your dick and be inside of you and kiss you… please… for the rest of my life. Stay with me, Coz, live with me, belong to me.”
He slid gently from my ass before rolling me to my side so we were face-to-face.
“Will you stay?” I said shyly, hopefully.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “You could have anybody you wanted.”
“I want you, Coz,” I entreated, wriggling closer, smoothing my thumb over one of his thick, dark eyebrows. “Only you. Please say yes.”
“Well, yeah, I’m gonna say yes, ’cause I want you so bad,” he conceded, leaning close, sealing his lips over mine.
There was a promise in that kiss, and because I’d never had one like that before, I felt the difference, and when he eased back, I gave him one of my own.
“I love you, Kel,” he murmured between kisses.
I’d loved him for so long, it was natural to say so. “I love you too, more than you know.”
“No, baby, I know. I swear I know.”
And I got the feeling he actually did.
Chapter Seven
I FELT heat on my face and slowly opened my eyes. Rolling my head sideways, I released an involuntary sigh upon finding Coz there beside me, eyes closed, long lashes resting on his cheeks, chiseled lips parted, still kiss-swollen from the night before. Lifting myself on my elbows, I admired his toned, cut frame, the contrast between my white sheets and his bronze skin, and the dark hair on my pillow. I wanted him badly, and it was my first thought even as I squinted at the morning sun streaming into my bedroom. I had not remembered to draw the curtains, which were now lifting and billowing like sails in the breeze. As I focused my vision, I realized I was not the only one admiring the prone man in my bed; my neighbors were also quite interested. Mrs. Sorrel was on her back porch with a pair of binoculars, probably checking out my boyfriend’s gorgeous naked backside. I immediately covered him up with the sheet, and I was certain I heard her swear.
Sitting all the way up and looking to the window on the other side of the room, I saw Greg and Candi out on their deck with cups of coffee. God, I really needed to plant a hedge.
“Nice goin’, bagging the police officer!” Greg called over.
I groaned and fell back down beside Coz.
“What’re you doing?” he grumbled, because I’d jostled him.
It was an excellent question: what precisely was I doing? Did I have any idea what was going on with me and Cosimo Renaldi?
“Are you breathing, baby?”
What if we didn’t work out? What if he figured out that I was messed up, more so than he already knew about? I could make a million mistakes to drive him away from me and—
“Stop,” he yawned before I caught an elbow in the ribs. “I can hear your brain working.”
I was going to start hyperventilating, and he thought it was time for jokes?
“We’re good,” he said with a sleepy smile.
“How do you know?” I asked, getting worked up and scared, having tiny heart palpitations just looking at him.
God…. Coz in my bed….
“What?” he grunted.
His eyes were soft and warm as he stared at me, the stubble on his cheeks was sexy, his tousled hair, languid sprawl—all of him just breathtaking.
“I have dragon breath or something? What’s wrong with you?”
“You’re in my bed,” I marveled.
“Yeah? So?”
“So?” I repeated. “It’s a really big deal, Coz.”
“It’s just the first of always,” he assured me. “After more days and nights, they’ll all start blending together.”
“I just—I don’t wanna do anything to—”
“Knock it off,” he ordered, shoving me over onto my stomach and pinning me under him. “Have a little faith in me.”
“In you? Are you kidding? I have all the faith in the world in you.”
“Well, see, there ya go.” His voice became a seductive chuckle. “I feel the same about you.”
I looked over my shoulder at him. “You do?”
“Yes, baby,” he said, sliding off me, only his hand remaining to cup my ass.
“Close the curtains, will you?”
“Why would I wanna do that?”
“So you can have me again before breakfast,” I said, arching an eyebrow for his benefit. “Unless, of course, you want everyone to see.”
He rolled quickly out of bed, much to the disappointment of Mrs. Sorrel, who didn’t get her binoculars back up in time, and to Greg and Candi’s glee—they had a few extra seconds for an eyeful before he had us cut off from the outside world.
AFTER I showered, I made coffee and had started breakfast when I heard a knock on the front door. I answered in sleep shorts with a dishtowel over my shoulder and a mug of French roast in my hand because I figured it was one of my neighbors come to leer at my very hot new boyfriend/old best friend.
“Good morning.”
I was stunned to find Britton Lassiter on my porch.
“May I speak to you, please?”
Opening the door wide, I stepped sideways so he’d have room to come in.
“Thank you,” he said when I closed the door behind him.
It took me a second to remember my manners. “Oh, would you like some coffee?”
“No,” he said quickly, glancing around. “What a beautiful home you have—the very definition of a seaside cottage.”
He sounded stilted to me, overly rehearsed. “Thanks.”
“I wish my place caught this much breeze.”
I nodded because all the pleasantries were going to kill me. “So listen, about last night, I’m so sorry that Coz and I were figuring things out when you were trying to—”
“Oh, no, it should be me apologizing,” he rushed out, moving closer. “I didn’t… remember you at first, and that must have made you feel like crap.”
I shrugged.
“No, I—I’m really so sorry. We had a wonderful couple of days, and I even offered you a ride to Boston, and I didn’t follow through.”
A ride.
He’d thought he was giving me a lift; I’d understood that he wanted me in Boston to be with him. It was exactly what Coz had said: I’d heard what I wanted to, and when I didn’t get it, I turned Britton into the guy who used me.
“I’m so sorry.”
“No,” I soothed. “I’m the one who
should be sorry.”
He looked confused, brows furrowed, scrutinizing me. “For what? You were nothing but good to me.”
What could I say? I feel like an ass for thinking you were a bastard all these years?
“You taught me so much about myself over that weekend. You showed me what I could have if I found the right guy.”
And that person was never going to be me. I had never blipped on his radar as husband material, but whereas before now that would have made me sad, now I just felt bad for him and that he was still looking for his Prince Charming.
“You know, even after I slept with you and figured out what the big deal was about sex, I still decided to hide who I was for close to a decade before my life finally imploded.”
I had no idea what the protocol was for hearing confessions.
“I came clean with Kennedy last night,” he explained to me. “She was decidedly––”
“Who?”
“My girlfriend,” he reminded me. “You met her at the restaurant.”
“Oh, sorry, yes.”
“I told her everything, and she was so angry, but as pissed off as she got, I was madder at myself,” he sighed. “I mean, I’m gay and I’m still hiding it from my parents, my colleagues, and everyone back in my old life but my sister,” he rambled, his gaze settling on me, waiting.
“Keeping secrets is hard” was all I could think of to say.
“It is, but now that I’ve moved here, I feel like I can have a second chance at a new life,” he finished, raising his head, smiling at me. “Do you think that maybe I can count you among my friends here?”
I had no idea what I was supposed to say.
“Or will it be too weird for you?”
And then suddenly I did know. Extending my hand, I smiled at him. “No, I think I can do that.”
The relief washing over his face made me realize that even though I wasn’t important to him in the way I’d thought I should be, in a romantic vein, I still had a part to play in Britton’s life, as a friend.
Coz came out into the living room as I was closing the door behind my new friend.
“Who’d I miss?”
“Britton.”
He stopped moving. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You heard me,” I called over to him as I walked back to the kitchen. I was surprised that he followed me so quickly, and even more so when he gently turned me around to face him. “Yes?”
“Listen,” he began, and I heard the wariness and fear in his tone, neither of which had ever been present before. “I don’t want that guy around here.”
“No,” I agreed, reaching up and wrapping my arms around his neck. “The only one who’ll be around here, in this house, sleeping in my bed, will be you, Officer.”
His smile told me how pleased he was.
“We’ll have lots of days like this and long, quiet nights.”
“At home,” he clarified before he wrapped his arm around my back and bent and kissed me. “Just you and me.”
It was all I’d been waiting to hear.
Mangrove Stories
By Mary Calmes
Blue Days
Falling for a coworker is rarely a good idea, especially for a man getting a last chance at salvaging his career. But from the moment Dwyer Knolls sees the beautiful but socially awkward Takeo Hiroyuki, he seems destined to make bad decisions.
Takeo’s life is a string of failed attempts to please his traditional Japanese father. Unfortunately, succeeding in business turns out to be just as difficult for Takeo as changing from gay to straight. In fact, the only thing Takeo seems to truly excel at is taking notice of Dwyer Knolls.
When Dwyer and Takeo head to Mangrove, Florida on a real estate buying trip, their tentative friendship combusts and becomes much more. Is their sudden connection real enough to bank their futures on, or should they chalk the whole thing up to the daze inspired by the blue ocean breeze?
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About the Author
MARY CALMES lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and two children and loves all the seasons except summer. She graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Due to the fact that it is English lit and not English grammar, do not ask her to point out a clause for you, as it will so not happen. She loves writing, becoming immersed in the process, and falling into the work. She can even tell you what her characters smell like. She loves buying books and going to conventions to meet her fans.
By MARY CALMES
Acrobat
Again
All Kinds of Tied Down
Any Closer
A Brush of Wings (Dreamspinner Anthology)
Blue Days
with Cardeno C.: Control
with Poppy Dennison: Creature Feature
Floodgates
Frog
Grand Adventures (Dreamspinner Anthology)
The Guardian
Heart of the Race
Ice Around the Edges
Judgment
Mine
Old Loyalty, New Love
Romanus
The Servant
Steamroller
Still
Three Fates (Multiple Author Anthology)
Timing • After the Sunset
What Can Be
Where You Lead
Wishing on a Blue Star (Dreamspinner Anthology)
CHANGE OF HEART SERIES
Change of Heart
Trusted Bond
Honored Vow
Crucible of Fate
A MATTER OF TIME
A Matter of Time Vol. 1
A Matter of Time Vol. 2
Bulletproof • But For You
Parting Shot
THE WARDER SERIES
His Hearth • Tooth & Nail • Heart in Hand
Sinnerman • Nexus • Cherish Your Name
Warders Vol. 1 & 2
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
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Change of Heart Series from MARY CALMES
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A Matter of Time Series from MARY CALMES
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A Matter of Time Series by MARY CALMES
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The Warder Series by MARY CALMES
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The Warder Series by MARY CALMES
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Copyright
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Quiet Nights
© 2015 Mary Calmes.
Cover Art
© 2015 Reese Dante.
http://www.reesedante.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permis
sion of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63476-032-4
First Edition February 2015
Printed in the United States of America
