by Susan Ward
NOVEMBER LATE AFTERNOON sunshine bathed our bedroom in hot shots of orange. They fell across Khloe’s pale skin in patterns that shimmered and danced from the slow lifting and lowering of her body. She halted, tilting back her head, and moaned.
As I watched her fight not to climax, I shuddered and clenched my jaw to prevent myself from coming. It was hard. Merely looking at her was an erotic delight. In the past eight months since the surgery she’d blossomed into a woman of unparalleled beauty, and she’d been breathtakingly beautiful even in illness.
Above me she was a vision of bright blue eyes and flawless creamy complexion, framed by a halo of soft, unbrushed ebony curls that reached her shoulders.
She moved again and I hauled her to my mouth for a long, searing kiss. “Faster,” I ordered between the play of our lips.
She planted her hands on my chest and whispered, “No. Not faster. Slower.” She glided up my length and stilled, driving me to distraction. “I’m not letting you come. Not yet. Don’t come.”
Damn.
I took a strawberry from the silver bowl and ran it down her cheek, her neck, then across her breasts to tease her nipples. “Faster,” I warned on a husky growl.
She laughed as she slowly glided down my length and froze. I shook my head. She shook hers back. But there was no help for it, not any longer.
I eased up on an arm, wrapped the other around her waist, and plunged harder and harder into her in blissful agony. Her shakes and whimpers were both our undoing, and we tumbled over the edge.
Collapsing back against the pillows, I struggled for breath. “You’re insatiable today. What’s gotten into you?”
Her eyes glowed as she bit her lower lip. “It’s the strawberries. If you don’t want a lot of sex on the fourteenth, don’t bring them.”
“We’ve moved from a lot of sex to a whole new level on our anniversary. Not that I’m complaining.” I grinned. “I wouldn’t bring you strawberries in bed on the fourteenth if I didn’t love it.”
She floated down until she lay atop my chest and surrounded me with her arms. “I love that you bring the strawberries for our anniversary.” She giggled. “It’s the only time of the month I know what day it is.”
“There’s the joke.” I laughed. “I suppose the only reason you let me continue with the infinite-possibilities box on Saturday is to keep up with what day of the week it is.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Cheeky girl.” I growled and eased her off me to lay at my side. I kissed her head. “Do you want to continue what we’re doing or maybe something else? Eat?”
“Eat.” Her body shuddered against me with her silent laughter. “Then come back to this.”
My jaw dropped. “You’re not serious, are you?”
She peeked up at me and nodded.
“You’re not serious.”
She nodded again. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me today. I feel like I can’t get enough of you.”
“I feel that way, too, all the time.” I turned onto my side to face her. “You’re so beautiful, when I look at you I ache. But—”
“There it is. Damon’s but. Go ahead, this should be good.”
I lightly ran my fingers down her arm. “I had other things planned today as well. It’s our last day home before we leave for California.”
“Correction: Maybe it’s not the strawberries. Maybe that’s why I’m a glutton today. We’re spending a month with my parents.”
We laughed, but I wondered if that were true for the both of us. It was damn near impossible to get a minute alone with her in Pacific Palisades in the best of circumstances, and this visit had two holidays.
“It’ll be good to be home for a while, Khloe. I know you miss it.” I kissed her nose.
“Yeah. I do miss it, but I also don’t. Get it?”
As I climbed from the bed, I shook my head. “Not really, love.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t understand. I know you do.”
I shrugged—I didn’t.
She made an exasperated face. “I like our routines. I like our life here. I finally feel like we’ve settled into something wonderful and real and all our own. No drama from your family for the past six months. None from mine. Everyone’s good. Almost too good. Like we should stay here. It makes me nervous to disturb it. Get it?”
“Yes, sort of, but you’ll disappoint your parents, your brothers and sisters. And—”
“I don’t need the and part!” She groaned and dropped back on her pillows. “Just tell me I’m being ridiculous or something.”
“You’re never ridiculous.”
“Then put down your foot. Tell me we’re going.”
“I don’t have to.”
She frowned at me. “You’re really no good at this anymore. You’re making bickering talk no fun.”
“I didn’t realize bickering was fun. And which this are you referring to?” I paused in the doorway to look back at her.
“Being high-handed. This time, Damon, I need a push. Not a joke. Completely serious.”
“There. Now you’re being ridiculous. You don’t need to be pushed ever. Not to do anything.”
She exhaled. “This time I do.”
“You want to be pushed? Fine.” I crossed my arms and lifted my chin. “Get out of that bed. Climb into the shower with me so we can dress. Now. We don’t have long until sunset.”
Her mouth swished right then left.
She sat up and gave me a sharp perusal. “That was pretty good. You haven’t lost a thing, Damon. Use that when we’re with my family and we’ve got a shot at having an hour a day all to ourselves.”
She sprang from the bed and ran into the bathroom.
Khloe
I SAT BALANCED ON the top of a split rail fence and watched Damon lead the horse from the barn. “This is part of my anniversary surprise?”
He laughed. “Don’t sound so dubious. You’ll make me think I’ve lost my romantic touch.”
“Only one horse.” I sucked on my lower lip. “Maybe you’ve not completely lost the romance.”
“Ouch.” He covered his heart with a hand like that hurt. “You’re going to feel very bad for that comment later.”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
“Always.”
I admired his long, strong body as he swung himself up onto Gregory’s back. He eased the horse up next to me. “Climb in front.”
“No saddle today,” I teased, easing my leg over the mount. “Not even cowboy style. What would your father think?”
He wrapped his arms around me, his chin above my shoulder, and sent the horse forward. “Better thought, Khloe: What would your parents think if they could see you doing this?”
“Mom would cry happy tears and Dad would probably yell at you.”
“It’s hard for a father to relax his protective instincts, Khloe. He just hasn’t seen everything you can do. You’ve got to give them time to adjust to how things are now.”
“My mom hasn’t relaxed yet either. You should see the long emails she sends me. ‘Don’t forget this. Don’t forget that. Are you doing this?’ I love her, but why does she still have to helicopter? Oh, and even you haven’t seen everything I’m capable of doing with the new me.”
“Looking forward to you showing me.” He kissed my neck. “Every day I witness a new marvel from you.”
“Me, too.” My insides felt full of wonder. “I never thought I’d ever be able to do half the things I can do. I can run forever. Swim in a pool. I always hated animals because I couldn’t do the things everyone else could. But now I love them. Even this stinky horse. And I’m not a bad rider, if I do say so myself.”
“Don’t call him stinky. Horses understand everything and he’s a very proud steed. And you’ve become a good rider in eight months. That’s not easy to do.”
“He’s a little stinky. And if I’m a good rider, why do you always prefer to have me in front o
f you?”
His hips pushed against my backside. “Need I say more?”
“Ah, always naughty even with your favorite sport.”
“You’re my favorite sport. Horses are second.”
“Tsk, tsk. Your royal lineage just peeked out.”
“I didn’t say polo. I said horses.”
“Same thing. No diff.”
“Very big difference.” His voice turned wistful. “The horses on this ranch remind me of my grandfather. It’s part of how I stay connected to my memories of him. The first time my mum brought me here on holiday, he seemed like something magical, out of a book. Larger than life. Larger than my father.”
“He sounded wonderful.”
I could barely breathe. Don’t stop talking now. Every new piece I learned about him made me love him more. Damon didn’t like to share about his family the way I did. There was always a great deal of sadness when he did—and a great deal of love. But it was almost like it hurt him too much to open up about the past.
“Why do the horses make you think of your grandpa?” I prodded gently.
He cut toward the trail that went up the hill. “My first day here, he asked if he could teach me how to ride. I was seven. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I already knew how. He seemed so pleased by the thought of doing this with me. Sharing something with his grandson. And usually the only person who showed any emotion about anything was my mum. So I pretended I didn’t know how because I wanted to spend all my time with him that summer. He was more of a father than mine ever was. That was our thing. Riding the ranch together in the summer and him teaching me about the things on the land. He died when I was fifteen and Mum never brought me back here. It was Grandfather who left me the ranch.”
I turn my head to smile at him. “I’m glad he did. It’s where we found us.”
Khloe
I LAY ON THE BLANKET, cuddled into Damon, and watched the sun disappear behind the Tetons. My gaze swept the valley. It was brilliant with turning color and green, and in the soft purple tones of coming dusk it always looked the most peaceful.
Damon buried his lips in my hair. “Happy, love?”
“Yes. I loved my surprise. Dinner on our cliff for our anniversary. I’m so happy even Mrs. Freeburg is starting to grow on me. She set up dinner so beautifully with all the lights, the china and silver, the purple rose petals scattered on the blanket. The champagne. It was marvelous, Damon.”
“Do you want to know what the best part of this was for me?”
I eased up to see his face and nodded.
“Being here like this with you. Doing nothing. Lying on the grass, feeling how much you love me and I you, and enjoying our life. It’s a wonderful feeling not to need or want anything else. To know you have everything you need and want. You gave that to me for the first time in my life. I love my life with you.”
Ah, Damon. “It’s the same for me, too. You’ve brought me everything I thought I’d never have. I love my life with you.”
Suddenly he pulled me up to hold me closely, and that’s when I realized I was crying. But the tears felt good. I let them drain out of me because the emotion carrying them was new. One I’d never felt before Damon. Bliss.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Damon
The Past
“KHLOE, GET A MOVE ON,” I called into the house.
“What’s the delay?” Cody asked, agitated. “If she takes much longer, we’re going to have to file another flight plan. That’ll mean more delays. Don’t you have any control over your wife? If it’s this bad after eight months, you’re a goner when it’s two or three years married. I know the women of this family. You better rein her in now.”
He busted up laughing in my face, but Gideon was polite enough to hide his smirk. Very funny, Cody—and annoying. As if anyone could or would want to rein in Khloe. It’d be like trying to harness a tornado. A delightful tornado. Pure rubbish.
I shrugged. Khloe had been right behind me, then she was gone. “Her phone rang as we were out the door. It’s been nonstop since the family found out we were coming for the holidays. I think it’s Krystal.”
“Call the pilots and tell them to file a new flight plan,” Gideon advised grimly. “We’re going to be here all afternoon.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll go collect her.”
I sprinted up the steps and through the house in the direction of our bedroom. When I passed my study door, I spotted Khloe in there huddled over her phone.
My pulse jumped when I saw her. It hit me every time like it had in Paris, perhaps because she was even lovelier than she’d been then. Her supple, luscious body was in a skin-hugging black Dolce sundress that clung to the fuller, sexier curves she possessed now, and her legs, which had always been stunningly long, were shapelier, down to her toes that peeked out of black strappy heels. I couldn’t imagine what her family’s reaction would be when they saw her. We hadn’t seen any of them since the wedding.
The thought made me smile until I noticed her expression seemed odd. Very serious, not like it usually was when she talked to Krystal.
As I headed into the study, she glanced up, her expression unreadable. “I’ve got to go. Damon’s hunted me down. But see you soon, OK?”
I frowned. That wasn’t how she talked to her sisters.
“Me, too,” Khloe said sweetly and clicked off the phone. She exhaled and pushed the curls from her face before crinkling her nose. “Sorry. That went longer than I thought it would.”
Her mood felt off to me. “Actually, that’s a record fast call with your family. But why didn’t you finish it in the car?”
“I couldn’t,” she announced cheerfully, grabbing her bag off the desk and hurrying to me. “That one was private.”
Private? Couldn’t? Her answers unsettled me. We didn’t keep things from each other.
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Are we leaving? Cody must be out there having fits. He always gets so impatient when he’s forced to wait two minutes for me.”
“What’s going on, Khloe?”
“Nothing.” She laughed a bit too quickly.
“You’ve never kept anything private from me before.” I cupped her face and tilted her head until blue eyes met amber. She was hiding something. I saw it in her gaze. A quick pain nipped my heart followed by a sudden tightness in my chest. “You’re all right, aren’t you? There isn’t something going on with you I don’t know about?”
She gave me the Damon, don’t excessively worry about me look, then shook her head. “Jeez, Louise, I’m fine. And you’ve really got to stop doing that. Panicking at the drop of a hat. It’s been almost a year since the surgery. Gideon says I’m in perfect health. I feel great.” She waved a hand, palm outward, back and forth across my body. “Damon worrying about Khloe is now banished forever.”
How she said that did make me sound rather foolish. “Not possible, KK. I’ll always worry about you. That’s part of loving someone.”
“Well, make it a smaller part, OK?” she replied, silly and dramatic. “I like the other parts of loving better. The naughty part. The loving part. Tender part. Thoughtful part. It’s time to rearrange the list of parts. I know exactly how I’d reorder them. Do you want to hear, or can we go?”
She left the study and I followed her.
“Whatever it is, you’ll tell me eventually,” I murmured, concerned. “You should just tell me now.”
She rolled her eyes. “If there was something, I would. But there isn’t, so I won’t. Now, stop frowning like you’re worried. There’s nothing to worry about. In fact, quite the opposite, and that’s all I’m going to say.”
Quite the opposite? Before I could inquire what that meant, she breezed out of the house and held her arms wide. “Sorry, Cody. I know how you hate waiting. But it couldn’t be helped.”
He shook his head at her. “Girl, when are you going to learn it’s better to just say no when it comes to a
call from Krystal?”
Laughing, she plopped down on the back seat of the SUV. “That was mean, Cody. And I wasn’t talking to my sister. It was an important call. Don’t be mad at me.” Big blue eyes blinked up at me above one of her happy-happy smiles. “Are you going to climb in so we can get this show on the road or are you going to continue to be annoyed with me, Damon?”
“Never annoyed with you, love.”
She held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “You were a bit.”
“A small bit,” I amended. My spirits suddenly lifted, the beginnings of a smile twitching on my lips.
I settled beside her, Cody shut our door, and she leaned against me, hugging my arm, and whispered, “Are we friends again? I hope so. Alone in the sleeping cabin on the plane might be our last bit of privacy for a month. We shouldn’t squander it.”
That made me laugh. I pressed a hard kiss on her head. “We’re always friends. I wouldn’t squander anything because of something so trivial.”
“There. That’s my husband. He’s back. I love you.”
“I know.”
We didn’t need to say anything else to make the mood all right between us, and the flight to California passed pleasantly.
“HOLD ON, CODY. We’re almost ready,” I called through the closed cabin door.
“No, we’re not,” Khloe said in a fierce whisper. “I can’t find my panties.”
“Hmm. I sort of like that thought.” I turned around to find Khloe on her hands and knees, scrambling around the cabin.
“Not today, Damon. It would be awkward knowing I wasn’t wearing anything under my dress.”
“Not for me.” I was sure my eyes were glowing wickedly. “I can think of a thousand ways to enjoy that one. It might make the next thirty days thoroughly pleasurable for me if you gave up wearing them altogether.”
Her laughter was a spurt on a huff. “Jeez, Louise, the tabloids didn’t lie about you. There are times you have a one-track mind. Use it to help me. There are some things a girl shouldn’t do without—what do you call them across the pond?—knickers. Stop being naughty and help me look.”
