by R. C. Martin
“Is this—is this okay?” she asked, pulling me from my thoughts as she looked down at herself. “I wasn’t sure how long we’d be in the car. I wanted to be comfortable, just in case.”
“Yes, it’s fine,” I muttered distractedly. Shaking my head clear, I reached for her bag and queried, “Are you ready?”
She nodded her reply, and then we were out the door. We had just descended from the last flight of stairs when she took my hand in hers and laced our fingers together. “Thank you,” she murmured as she peered up at me.
“For what?”
“Whatever it is you’ve planned. I’m having fun already.”
Stopping us in the middle of the parking lot, I searched her face for the essence of her gratitude. I was addicted to it. Addicted to her. I wasn’t sure what that meant or how it affected the nature of who I was—but I didn’t care. I wanted her, and it seemed that simple.
With my lips pressed to hers in a hard, chaste kiss, I mumbled into her mouth, “You’re welcome.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Theodora luxuriated in Judah’s company, all but forgetting her curiosity about their final destination as the hours passed. When they entered the town of Beaver Creek, three hours into their trip, she found herself itching for her camera. The landscape was absolutely beautiful—so much so, she knew trying to capture even a glimpse of it with her camera in a moving car wouldn’t do it justice. With this in mind, she sat back and enjoyed the view wistfully.
She grew quiet upon seeing a gigantic, gorgeous resort at the base of what was obviously a ski slope during the winter—but was, in the first couple weeks of October, a wonderful display of all the pretty colors of autumn. After a few minutes, when she realized they were headed in its direction, she turned toward Judah and murmured his name.
“Sweetheart?”
“Is—that—that resort? Is that where we’re going?”
He looked away from the road long enough to wink at her, and she gasped.
“Wow.”
It took another fifteen minutes for them to reach the hotel grounds. When they drove by the welcome sign, Theodora had to do a double take.
Holy shit, she thought in awe. He brought me to The Ritz.
Entering the main lobby, Theodora told herself over and over to keep her cool. She felt like she was in a dream. The décor was mountain lodge chic, and she loved it. It was both cozy and elegant at the same time. When Judah checked them in and she heard they’d be staying in a suite on the eighth floor—with a clear view of the mountains—she thought, perhaps, she really had fallen into a dream.
Theodora trailed after Judah as he walked around the suite, checking to make sure it was to his liking. When he looked satisfied, Theodora excused herself to the bathroom. Having contained her excitement for as long as she could, she needed an outlet—and there was one person she wanted to tell more than any other.
As she paced back and forth across the marble tiled floor, her phone pressed to her ear, Theodora sent up a silent prayer. It was almost seven in the evening, which meant there was a chance her call wouldn’t be answered. When she heard Harper’s voice replace that of the ringtone, she sighed in blissful relief.
“Harper!” she whisper-shouted. “Oh, my god, you will not believe where I am right now.”
“Teddy, why are you whispering?”
“I’m hiding in the bathroom,” she confessed as she spoke a little louder. “Judah surprised me. He came by the gallery early this afternoon and told me he wanted to take me somewhere. He told me to pack a bag, so I did, and then he drove us to Beaver Creek. Harper—we’re staying at The Ritz. The freaking Ritz! There’s a fireplace next to the bathtub. A fireplace!”
“What?!”
“I know. I know.” She smacked her palm to her forehead and laughed at herself. She was repeating almost everything that came out of her mouth. “It’s so pretty here, Harp. I can’t believe he did this.” Blowing out a sigh, she turned and walked to the bathtub. She sat on the edge, and her eyes danced around the room as she explained, “Last night, I mentioned I wanted to go on a hike with him. I think—I don’t know, I think he brought me here for a hike.”
“Wait. Stop. You’re telling me, you told Judah you wanted to go on a hike, and he took you up a fucking mountain?”
Still in shock, she giggled and whispered, “Yeah. That’s exactly what happened.”
“I’m looking this shit up. Hold on.” Theodora did as she was told and waited patiently for her sister. “Fucking hell,” Harper muttered a minute later. “Teddy, do you have any idea how much it costs to stay there for even just one night?”
“Don’t tell me!” she whisper-shouted. “I don’t want to know. I don’t want to ruin it.”
“God. You lucky bitch. I sort of hate you right now.”
“That’s allowed,” Theodora laughed. “I’d hate me, too.”
“I’m…” Harper paused and blew out a sigh. “I’m at home. In my pajamas. On a fucking Friday night. And you’re off at some five-star hotel, about to have the most romantic weekend of your life. I think we should switch brothers.”
“Not a chance,” Theodora asserted as a spark of possessiveness lit inside of her. It flickered only for a moment, until she realized there was something Harper wasn’t saying. “Hey, where’s Ben?”
“Working late. Again. He’s got a case. I don’t know—I don’t want to talk about it. At least not now.”
Feeling a little guilty for gushing about her circumstances, Theodora pressed, “You two are okay, right?”
“Yeah. We’re fine,” she sighed once more. “I’m sorry. I’m just grumpy and jealous. Don’t listen to me. You should get back to Mr. Bad Cop.”
“Teddy?”
Theodora’s gaze jerked toward the closed door across the massive bathroom as Judah knocked softly.
“Harp, I have to go,” she whispered. “I’ll call you in a couple days, okay?”
“You better.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
When Judah knocked a second time, Theodora was quick to end the call. She hurried across the room and opened the door immediately. Only, before Judah could speak a word, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him to her for a kiss. He went willingly, taking hold of her waist as he indulged her for a second. Theodora whimpered in protest when he began to pull away.
“Plenty of time for that. Let’s eat first,” he suggested, giving her sides a squeeze.
“Okay.”
“We’ll head down for dinner in an hour, after we’ve both had a chance to freshen up. If you want anything pressed, I’m sending my clothes down now.”
Theodora lifted her eyebrows in surprise. “They’ll iron our clothes?”
“Yes,” answered Judah matter-of-factly. “Your bag is by the bed if you want to grab something.”
She nodded her understanding, and he kissed her quickly before he let her go. As he made his way into the bathroom, Theodora headed for her duffel. She pulled out the three date-night outfits she packed and immediately decided on the classic, simple black dress. She handed it to the attendant, who waited for her just outside the bedroom, and he assured her their items would be returned in no longer than thirty minutes.
As soon as Theodora was alone, she returned to the bed for her phone. With a little bit of her initial shock having worn off, she remembered she had a promise to make good on and a text to send to her Viking.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As we rode down in the elevator, Teddy fidgeted with the handle of her purse. Not sure what had her so agitated, I gently took hold of the back of her neck, just below the large knotted bun she styled there. The tension I felt in her muscles caused a frown to tug at my brow.
“Relax, Theodora. Stop fidgeting.”
“I’m sorry.” She blushed as she peeked up at me. “I guess I’m still a little excited.”
I slid my hand down the length of her spine, until my palm was pressed to the sm
all of her back, and said nothing in reply.
She turned toward me, leaning against my side before she whispered, “Will you kiss me?”
I don’t know why she felt the need to ask. With the way she looked in her black dress, she was owed a lot more than a kiss. That said, I didn’t hesitate to lean down and press my lips to hers. Before I could pull away, she touched her hand to my cheek, as if signaling for me not to go.
“I love you,” she whispered, her lips still grazing mine.
Reflexively, I held her tighter to my side as her declaration hit its mark. Every day, going on two weeks, she repeated the words. She never forgot. And every day, for two weeks, I waited to hear her say it. Certain there wasn’t a disingenuous bone in her body, I knew she believed what she said. Even more, I believed it. What surprised me was how I hadn’t begun to tire of hearing it. She was mine, but her declaration was just as much a reminder that while she wasn’t going anywhere, neither was I.
“Tell me again tomorrow,” I mumbled.
She responded with another kiss, and then the elevator doors chimed and opened at our arrival in the hotel lobby. I offered her my elbow and she took it as I escorted her to the resort’s specialty restaurant. We were seated after only a short wait, our table near the open-oven kitchen. The view of the chefs at work was nothing to scoff at, but I wasn’t interested in watching them. More fascinating than the excitement of the kitchen was watching it play out in Teddy’s eyes.
When our server made his first stop at the table, I ordered us a bottle of chardonnay. He applauded my choice and informed us the wine would pair well with the specials of the night. After he recited the details of the salmon dish, as well as the pasta option, he left us to peruse the menu ourselves. The faint gasp Teddy inhaled not a minute later beckoned my attention immediately.
“What’s wrong?”
“I…” She furrowed her brow, looked at me, and then shook her head. “Never mind.”
“Teddy?”
Folding her menu closed, she brought it to her chest and leaned toward me across the table. “Jude, this feels like too much. I love it that you brought me here, but maybe we should go to a restaurant in town.”
I was sure of the answer before I asked, but I asked anyway.
“Why?”
“You know why,” she murmured pleadingly. “I can never give this to you. I could never pay you back for all of this. It’s so much.”
“Theodora, this is not a loan. I don’t need you to pay me back for any of it. Order whatever you want.”
She looked at me as if she wanted to say more, but she said nothing. Rather, she peeked into the kitchen and then slowly opened her menu again. I watched her go over her options repeatedly, the light in her eyes a little dimmer than it was before she got a hint of what the price of dinner would be. Something about her manner begged me to shove aside my pride, if only for a moment.
“You really want to go somewhere else?”
Her head snapped up as she met my gaze and asked, “Would you be mad if my answer was yes?”
I didn’t answer her. Instead, I reached into my pocket for my phone. I pulled up nearby restaurants and then handed her the device. She looked from my offering to me hesitantly before she took it. It was in her hand for less than a minute before she tapped on a selection and handed the phone back to me. I quirked an eyebrow at her after I glanced at it, and she fought a grin when I looked her way. Even while she attempted to keep her lips sealed, the twinkle in her eye was back. Not only that, it was undeniable.
When our server arrived with our wine, I held up a hand before he could pour either of us a glass.
“There’s been a change of plans.”
Twenty minutes later—with me in my sports jacket and Teddy in her sexy, black dress—we were seated in a booth next to a statue of a moose. The smell of pizza caused my empty stomach to growl.
When Teddy didn’t even bother to pick up her menu this time, my patience began to wane. “Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind about this place already.”
“Nope,” she assured me lightheartedly. She pushed her menu even further away from her and said, “I’ll have whatever you want. I picked the restaurant, so you pick the pizza. Compromise.”
This time, when our server came for our order, I got us a bottle of cabernet sauvignon along with a pizza called the big moose.
“Thank you,” said Teddy when we were alone. “It means a lot to me that you would come here. I know it’s not exactly your style.”
“I do eat pizza, remember?” I teased, not wishing to make a big deal if it.
“Mmhmm. In theory. I’ve only ever known you to eat it when you’re with me.”
“Yeah, well, speaking of dinner with you, my mother called this morning.”
“Oh?”
With a nod, I explained, “She wants us to come down for dinner next weekend.”
Teddy’s spine straightened as she queried, “She does?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Okay.” She rolled her shoulders and then coughed out a nervous laugh. Pointing at her chest, she asked, “Did you get this feeling when you found out you were going to meet my parents?”
“You’ll be fine, sweetheart.”
As if I hadn’t spoken at all, she knit her eyebrows together and asked, “Have you ever introduced a woman to your mom? I mean, like, a woman you’re dating?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
“Right,” she breathed.
“Teddy—”
“Has Ben introduced Harper? I haven’t heard her mention it, and it would be crazy if she met your parents and didn’t tell me. Ben still hasn’t met our parents and—”
“Theodora,” I interrupted. I then reached my hand across the table to grab one of hers. “You’re worrying for nothing. My mother and Samuel want to meet you on the recommendation of Aunt Eddalyn. That’s a character reference unlike any other. Now put it out of your mind.”
She gripped my fingers and murmured, “Maybe we should invite Ben and Harper, too.”
“Maybe we should discuss what I have planned for this weekend.”
Physically deflating right before my eyes, her face relaxed into a smile. “Yeah. I like that idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
I was laying half propped up in the bed, my attention glued to my phone, when I felt Teddy move beside me. Intent on reading the email I’d just opened, I didn’t look at her when she rolled in my direction. She made a soft, imperceptible noise as she curled into my side. Resting her cheek on my chest, she hooked one of her bare legs over mine. Absentmindedly, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss into her hair. I then tapped my thumb on the screen in my hand, with every intention of constructing a reply.
Teddy had other plans.
“No working,” she demanded, her voice still low and husky from sleep.
I took my attention away from my phone only when she crawled on top of me, blocking my view of the screen. One good look at her, and my mind started to clear from the haze of emails and clients as my body began to respond to hers—warm and soft and all over me.
“Are you going to tease me, sweetheart—or fuck me?”
Instantly, Teddy pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as a blush suffused her cheeks. For a second, I thought I had come on too strong with my choice of words, but then she began to move. She reached in between us for my dick, which was halfway to hard already, and lined us up just right. Slowly at first, she teased us both, until I was fully erect with evidence of her own arousal coating my skin. She sat up, looking straight at me when she took me inside of her.
Her lips parted as she freed a sigh, pressing her hands to my lower abdomen when she was full. She paused for a moment, as if luxuriating in the sensation of impalement, and then she began to roll her hips. I reached for her then, unable to keep my hands to myself a second longer. I grazed my fingers up her tattooed thighs, over her hips and around her waist. With one hand, I reach
ed up and tweaked one of her hardened nipples, and this seemed to spur her on. She moaned, jerking her hips harder as she let her head fall back.
I loved watching her like that. Seeing her get lost in her own pleasure was both sexy and intoxicating. Knowing I was the one capable of pushing her over the edge of passion before she fell into the oblivion of ecstasy only made me hotter for her.
“Jude,” she moaned, leaning into her hands as she met my gaze and thrust her hips harder, still. “Jude—baby, I’m—” She lost her words as she lost control. She rode me fast, her face contorted in an expression of desperation. She slowed only as her body began to convulse with her orgasm, my name resounding in my ears as she cried out.
It was the sexiest noise I had ever heard.
The feel of her sex constricting mine was enough to draw a groan from deep within my chest, but I wasn’t done yet. Taking hold of her hips, I bent my knees and planted my feet for leverage before I insisted, “Brace yourself, baby.”
Teddy gripped her hands on either side of my waist as I pounded into her from below. The sound of our slapping skin—slick in a mixture of sweat and her climax—filled the bedroom. Peering down at our connection, watching as I thrust in and out of her, it only turned me on even more. I locked my jaw and bucked my hips faster, sure I would come at any second. Then Teddy took me by surprise.
“Oh, god,” she whimpered, her nails digging into my skin. The next utterance out of her mouth was a long, deep, almost guttural groan as her body locked up around mine.
Her swollen center strangled my dick a second time, and I freed a roar, pummeling into her as she demanded my orgasm. I dropped my hips when I was spent, and Teddy collapsed on top of me. With her cheek on my shoulder, I could feel her hot exhalations against my neck as she heaved for breath. Wanting her exactly where she was, I reached down and held both her ass cheeks while I worked to fill my own lungs with air.
