Gansett Island Boxed Set Books 1-16 (Gansett Island Series)

by Marie Force

  Luke’s hands landed on her shoulders, kneading away the tension. “Everything okay?”

  “It’s normal, isn’t it? After what happened, it’s normal for them to hover over me to the point of suffocation, right?”

  “I suppose so.”

  She tipped her head to encourage him to continue the divine massage. “I know they don’t mean to smother me, but I wanted to jump for joy when they left on their trip. If they come back before the end of August, I may very well shoot myself.”

  “I’ll lock up the guns.”

  Sydney laughed and then moaned when he worked out a tight knot.

  “Will you tell them?”

  “About what?”

  “That you’re seeing me again.”

  “Eventually.”

  “Will it be an issue?”

  Even though she wasn’t at all finished enjoying the massage, she turned so she could see him. “Not for me.”

  “So if your parents flip out that you’re dating the marina guy again, you’ll be fine with that?”

  “I imagine they’ll want me to be happy.”

  “And if they don’t approve?”

  Sydney wrapped her hands around his and waited until his gaze met hers. “It won’t matter.”

  “You say that now.”

  “Trust me when I tell you I love my parents, but I’m not under their thumbs. Not anymore.”

  He nodded, released her hands and went to finish the dishes.

  Sydney followed him and wrapped her arms around him from behind, resting her face on his back. She held him until she felt the tension begin to leave him.

  “You need to call Maddie. She was here last night, and she’s worried about you. She’s called this morning hoping to talk to you.”

  “I’ll call her. After that, can we run by my place so I can get some clothes and a toothbrush?”

  “Sure.”

  “Are we okay, Luke?”

  “Of course we are.”

  He said what she wanted to hear, but she wondered if he meant it. Once again her parents were coming between them, and this time they were more than a thousand miles away.

  Luke drove her home to pack a bag and collect Buddy’s toys. She made them a picnic lunch that they took to the beach in front of Luke’s house. Buddy chased the seagulls and flirted with the waves, running back to the safety of the blanket when the waves got the better of him.

  Sydney laughed at his antics, patting him on the head to reassure him every time he returned to her. “He’s a big baby,” she said. “Although it’s such a relief to see him being playful again.”

  From the blanket, Luke chucked the tennis ball and sent the dog flying down the beach. “That ought to give us three or four minutes.”

  “For what?” Syd asked.

  Smiling, he slipped a hand around her neck and drew her into a kiss that started out soft and sweet but turned hot and wild.

  They were interrupted when a spit-soaked tennis balled landed with a plunk on Luke’s back.

  “Ugh,” he said, pulling back from her. “Gross, man.”

  Buddy barked, demanding Luke throw the ball again.

  “All right, hold your horses.” Luke put some serious muscle behind the throw this time and sent the ball even farther down the beach.

  Buddy took off like a shot.

  “Now,” Luke said, turning back to Sydney, “where were we?”

  She opened her arms to him. “Right about here.”

  “Mmm, I love it here.” He left a trail of kisses from her collarbone to her ear.

  “Luke?”

  “What, honey?”

  Her hands slid over his shoulders to his back and muscular backside. “If we were to, you know, do what we used to do here, would it be about us?”

  Groaning, he recaptured her mouth in another torrid kiss. “Not here,” he said when he came up for air. “I want a shower and a bed.”

  “You’re no fun anymore.”

  He grunted out a laugh. “Gee, thanks.”

  “Now where did Buddy go?” She called for the dog.

  “Is that him?” Luke pointed. “Way down there?”

  “Yes! What’s he doing?”

  “I’ll go get him,” Luke said, kissing her quickly. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  “Hurry.”

  Sydney shivered at the almost predatory look he gave her before he jogged down the beach to where Buddy was working on something he’d found on the sand. She hoped it wasn’t gross or smelly, because she really didn’t want to have to give him a bath. Not right now. Not when she and Luke had better things to do.

  She reclined on the blanket, letting the afternoon sun warm her face. Am I really going to do this? Did all widows feel guilty and torn the first time they made love with another man after losing their husband? “Seth would want me to be happy,” she said. “That was all he ever cared about.” But would he want her to be happy with Luke, the only other man she’d ever loved?

  Of course she’d told Seth about Luke and how she’d left their relationship unfinished. She didn’t think Seth had seen Luke as any kind of serious threat to him or their marriage, but then he hadn’t known how often she’d thought of her first love or how bad she felt about leaving him without a word.

  “Seth is gone,” she said, almost as if she needed the reminder as Luke ran back to her with Buddy trotting along beside him. Luke was tall and had the kind of muscles men earn from years of hard physical work rather than hours in the gym. He had just the right amount of dark chest hair, and watching him come toward her with intent in his eyes sent awareness zinging through her that landed in an ache between her legs.

  All he’d ever had to do was look at her in that particular way, and she was his.

  “He found a dead bird and a garbage bag,” Luke said.

  “Yuck. He didn’t actually eat the bird, did he?”

  “I think it was more about giving it a proper burial.”

  Sydney looked closer to find Buddy’s paws and nose caked with sand. “Fabulous.”

  Luke held out a hand to help her up. “I’ll squirt him off in the yard.”

  Buddy’s bath turned into a three-way water fight when Luke trained the hose on Sydney rather than the dog. She fought back, wrestling him for the hose and getting doused again with icy water that had her gasping.

  “I guess we can skip the shower,” Luke said with another of those heated looks that made her knees weak. “For now.” He toweled Buddy dry and sent the dog inside for some food and water. “Your turn,” he said to Syd, using a sun-warmed beach towel to dry her face and shoulders.

  By the time he dragged the towel over her belly, Sydney was about to combust. “Luke.” The single word carried a world of need.

  He ran the towel over his own body, dropped it to the ground and reached for her. “Are you sure, baby? Really sure you’re ready?”

  She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “I’m sure.” Sydney was startled—and even more aroused—when he scooped her up and carried her inside. He kicked the bedroom door shut so Buddy wouldn’t follow them.

  As he deposited her on the bed, his gaze traveled over her reverently. “I can’t believe you’re really here,” he said. “And that we’re really about to do this.

  “In the middle of the day, no less,” she said, smiling at him. “Scandalous.”

  He stretched out next to her. “Very.”

  “Your bed will be all wet if we don’t lose the bathing suits.”

  “Is that your way of saying we should get naked?”

  “If you want to,” she said with a nonchalant shrug that made him laugh.

  “I want to.” He kissed her and tugged on the string that held up her top. “I really want to.”

  Luke watched her breasts spring free of the top and had to remind himself to keep breathing. He’d imagined this scene so many times, but his fantasies hadn’t come close to the reality of having her with him again. Everything about her appealed to him—from the silky softnes
s of her strawberry-blond hair, to the freckles that danced across her tiny nose to the pretty pink nipples that pebbled, waiting for him to lavish them with attention.

  He wanted her so badly he was almost afraid to touch her, almost afraid to let her see the full extent of his desire. Reminding himself this was a bigger deal for her, he pressed a much darker hand to the quivering white skin of her belly.

  “You’re even more beautiful than I remembered,” he said as he bent his head to taste her nipple.

  She gasped and squirmed beneath him, which only made it harder to hold on to the control he knew would be so essential to her this first time. Next time, he could lose control. Not this time, though. This time she needed tender and sweet.

  Sucking her nipple into his mouth, he held her plump breast in one hand and let the other slide down over her belly to cup her through her bathing suit. The heat of her core radiated through the fabric, and his cock strained against the confines of his own suit.

  He gave her other breast the same attention, reveling in the pants and moans that told him she was with him and not locked in the past. Kissing his way from her breasts to her belly, he nuzzled her center, breathing her in.

  “Luke,” she said, her voice unsteady.

  He tugged at the suit bottoms, getting her to raise her hips so he could remove them. When the garment cleared her feet, he tossed it over his shoulders and smoothed his hands over her legs, inching them apart as his lips followed his hands. She was so sweet and soft and everything he’d remembered but so much more, too.

  The thatch of curls at the juncture of her thighs identified her as a true redhead, reminding him of the awe he’d experienced the first time he made that discovery as a boy. The man was no less awestruck. Just above the hairline, he noticed a thin white scar. Curious, Luke traced a finger lightly over it. “You had surgery.”

  “Two C-sections.”

  Since he didn’t want her thinking of anything but him and them, now wasn’t the time to ask the questions that cycled through his mind. Instead, he dipped his head and ran his tongue over her core, teasing and tempting.

  Her legs fell open, and her hips surged off the bed.

  Luke slid a finger into the slick heat between her legs and drew the throbbing center of her desire into his mouth, running his tongue back and forth. He added a second finger and took her to the precipice before backing off and doing it again.

  “Luke!”

  “What, honey?”

  She was panting, and goose bumps dotted her sensitive skin. “Stop teasing!”

  Laughing softly, he went back for more, and this time he took her all the way. She came with a sharp cry of completion that had Buddy scratching at the bedroom door and barking.

  “Should I let him in?” Luke asked.

  “No,” she said breathlessly. “He’d freak out even more.”

  While he gave her a minute to recover from the powerful orgasm, Luke shed his bathing suit and started to reach for a condom in the bedside drawer.

  “It’s okay,” Syd said, stopping him. “I’m safe if you are.”

  Luke’s heart skipped a happy beat. Sex without a condom? Sex with Syd without a condom? This might go down as the very best day of his life. Speaking of going down, was she, oh my God... “Syd.”

  With her hand to his chest she urged him to lie back and let her have her wicked way with him. And wicked didn’t begin to describe the sensation of her hot, wet mouth closing over the head of his cock. If she continued to do that—

  He all but launched off the bed when she sucked—hard—and stroked him at the same time. This was going to be over in about two seconds if she kept that up. “Stop. Syd. Stop.”

  She looked up at him with the eyes of a vixen, and he’d never loved her more.

  “Come here.” He sat up, reached for her and brushed the hair off her face, which was flushed from the sun as well as the orgasm. Arranging her so she straddled him, he ran his hands from her shoulders to her hips and back up again, noting her slight grimace. “Are you okay?”

  “My hips need a second to adjust,” she said, wincing.

  “Stop me if anything hurts.”

  “I will.” With her hands on his face, she urged him into a deep, carnal kiss that made him want to beg. Sliding his hands down her back, he cupped her soft buttocks and used his legs to position her. “You’re sure we don’t need a condom?”

  She bit her lip and nodded, sliding back and forth over his erection. When had she turned into such a temptress? His Syd wouldn’t have thought of such things. But the last thing he wanted to think about right now was where—and how—she might’ve learned to tease and tempt a man. He held her hips and began to enter her, letting her set the pace, despite what it cost him to remain still.

  Her head fell back as she slowly took him in, gripping him like a tight, hot velvet fist.

  Nothing in his life could compare to this. Nothing. “God, Syd, I missed you. I missed this.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her breasts to his chest and settled into a rhythm that had him fighting off a fast finish.

  He looked up, met her gaze and was floored by what he saw there—love and trust and peace. “Kiss me.”

  Her mouth came down on his, slick and warm and tasting of strawberry lip balm. If she continued to rub her tongue against his that way, she would finish him off.

  “Luke,” she whispered against his lips, “I’m going to... Oh.” Her head fell to his shoulder, and she came apart.

  He held off as long as he could, riding the waves of her release. When he finally let go, he exploded, coming harder than he had since the last time with her. While sex with other women had been satisfying, sex with Syd was a religious experience, and he wanted to worship her for the rest of his life.

  A sniffling sound caught his attention.

  “Syd, baby, look at me.” With his hands on her face, he forced her to meet his gaze. The tears in her eyes broke his heart. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No, no,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. Really.”

  Except she didn’t look fine. Not at all. “Talk to me.”

  She shook her head, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m so happy to be here with you. I couldn’t have done this with anyone but you. I hope you know that.”

  He knew she meant it as a compliment, but the comment filled him with fear. “I don’t want to be your bridge guy.”

  Her brows furrowed. “What does that mean?”

  “If you’re on your way somewhere else—”

  “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. No one I’d rather be with.”

  “For now.”

  “For as long as it works for both of us.”

  “And then what?”

  “I don’t know that, and neither do you.”

  “Don’t tell me what I know,” he said, his tone harsher than he’d intended.

  “Are we really doing this? After we just made love?”

  Her eyes filled again, and that broke him. He lifted her off him and arranged her so her head was on his chest and his arms were wrapped around her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just the thought of losing you—again—makes me crazy.”

  “I’m here, Luke. I’m not going anywhere for a while yet.”

  He wondered if she remembered saying those exact words to him once before.

  Chapter 11

  They dozed the afternoon away. For once, Sydney’s racing mind had quieted, and she gave Luke credit for that. It was hard to be around him for any period of time and not be drawn in by the calm that surrounded him.

  Most of him, anyway. The part of him that was anything but calm pulsed against her back, letting her know he was ready for more.

  Sydney laughed softly. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so carefree or relaxed. “You’re insatiable.”

  His hand shifted from her belly to cup a breast. “Only with you.”

  �
��Were there many others?” She had no right to ask, but she hoped he hadn’t been totally alone.

  “A few. Here and there. Nothing serious.” His thumb moved back and forth over her nipple, sending an electrical current to her sex and making her squirm against him. “No one like you.”

  “Luke.” She started to turn over to face him, but he stopped her.

  He pushed his erection into the cleft of her bottom. “Stay. Like this.”

  Sydney’s entire body hummed with tension and desire, as if she hadn’t already been thoroughly satisfied—multiple times—in the last few hours. Waiting to see what he would do had her holding her breath in anticipation.

  His hand traveled slowly from her breast to her hip and down her leg. He curled his fingers under her knee and drew her leg back to rest on him. As he placed soft, strategic kisses on her neck, his fingers traveled up the inside of her thigh, making her quiver.

  She arched her back into him, seeking him.

  Finding her slick and ready, he buried his fingers inside her and pressed his erection into the cleft of her ass.

  Sydney gasped at the dual sensations. Sex with him had always been earthy and almost primitive. They’d tried everything at least once—more than once, if they’d liked it. Without ever exchanging a word on the subject, he somehow knew what it took to make her scream.

  Acknowledging that he was the only man who’d ever known her so well made her feel guilty and disloyal. But his tender ministrations gave her no time for thoughts of anything but right here. Right now.

  As he slid his fingers in and out of her, he continued to pump against her ass. Until he shifted his focus to the tight bundle of nerves at her core, and she climaxed so suddenly that she cried out her pleasure in a keening moan that came from her toes. She was still in the throes of it when he moved her onto her hands and knees to enter her from behind.

  Sydney gasped and fought to accept the length and width of him. He filled her so completely, so thoroughly.