Love After Dark (26 page)

“Oh God, the poor kid. I hate to think of him worrying about stuff like that.”

“It’s natural that what happened to Jackson and Kyle’s mom would worry him. I remember meeting Joe Cantrell when he first moved to the island after his dad died and asking my mom if that was going to happen to my dad, too.”

“Thank you for reassuring him.”

“I care for him just as much as I care for you, which is a whole lot.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and none of this will have happened. It’ll turn out to be nothing more than a lovely dream.”

“I feel the same way. I’m almost ashamed to admit that I’ve been envious of Alex because he found someone who made him so happy, not that he doesn’t deserve it. But I kept wondering if I was ever going to get my turn. And then you kissed me.”

“Ugh,” she said, sputtering with laughter. “Don’t remind me of that. I’m still mortified.”

Once again, he stopped walking, but this time, he drew her in close to him, gazing down at her with a tender, amused expression on his face. “Why are you mortified?”

“Because I
kissed my boss
! My nursing school professors would freak out if they knew that.”

“You kissed
me
. I wasn’t your boss in that moment. And I’m not your boss now.” Caressing the faint bruise on her cheek, he said, “Does it hurt?”

She shook her head. “Not so much.”

He captured her mouth in a sweet, sexy kiss that had her clinging to him, trying to get as close as she could to the amazing way he made her feel. As he kissed her, he walked them backward toward the stairs where they’d left their shoes, only breaking the kiss when they ran out of sand.

Keeping a firm grip on her hand, he scooped up their shoes with his free hand and headed for their hotel.
 

This is going to happen
, Hope thought.
It’s going to happen right now, and I want it. I want him
.
If only I weren’t so nervous. I hope he can’t tell I’m having a meltdown on the inside
.

They rinsed the sand off their feet at an outdoor shower and were back in their room a few minutes later. He immediately reached for her to continue what they’d started on the beach.
 

“Paul,” she said as he kissed her neck. His erection was hard and thick between them, and it was all she could do not to rub shamelessly against him.

“Hmm?”

“I-I haven’t done this in a long time. And I’ve only ever done it with him. I have no idea if I’m any good at it.”

“Sweetheart, you’re beautiful and sweet and kind and so sexy. And the best part is you have no idea how sexy you are. Whatever we do is going to be amazing. I know it.”

No one had ever said such things to her, and for the first time in her life, she felt sexy because of him. She caressed the handsome face that had overtaken her thoughts and many of her dreams, too.
 

“We don’t have to do anything that you’re not ready to do,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Once again he’d said exactly what she needed to hear. “Maybe we could just see what happens?”

“We can do whatever you want.”

She went up on tiptoes to kiss him, running her tongue over his full bottom lip.
 

His arm encircled her waist, bringing her in close to the evidence of how badly he wanted her.
 

Hope tugged on his T-shirt and helped him out of it, her eyes boggling once again at how ripped he was. He had muscles on top of muscles from years of hard physical work, and just the right amount of dark chest hair. She ran her hands over each hill and valley, dragging her fingertips over the bumps of his six-pack. Or was that a twelve-pack?

Releasing a low growl, he swept his hands under the hem of her shirt, laying them flat against her back. “Could we take yours off, too?”

She nodded, and he eased the shirt up and over her head, leaving her in only the lacy bra she’d worn with this moment in mind.
 

His jaw pulsed with tension, and his eyes flared with desire as he took a good long look at her. “So, so beautiful, Hope.” He lowered her to the bed and came down on top of her. For a long moment, he gazed into her eyes, seeming to gauge if she wanted this as much as he did.

He’d shown her that there were still good men in this world, and all she had to do was have some faith. He made her want to put her faith in him.

She reached for him, loving the way he looked at her before his lips met hers. This kiss was unlike all the others that came before. There was a hint of desperation to it that drove all her worries and fears right out of the room. For the first time in longer than she could remember, she had no responsibilities, and she was free to fully enjoy this escape from reality with a hot, sexy man who treated her like a queen.

He broke the kiss to turn his attention to her neck, making her shiver from the sensations that zinged through her body. Her nipples tightened and chafed against the confines of her bra, and the throb between her legs intensified with every brush of his lips over her sensitive skin. He set her on fire for him.

The rough scrape of his late-day whiskers over the tops of her breasts made her moan.

“Tell me to stop if it’s too much,” he said.

“
Don’t
stop.” For a second, she feared that she sounded too desperate, but her words encouraged him to move things along. Her bra fell away, baring her breasts to his ravenous gaze.
 

“Goddamn, you’re gorgeous,” he whispered as he took her nipple into his mouth, sucking and licking and tugging on it until she was nearly delirious from wanting more of him.
 

She wanted to tell him to hurry, but he wouldn’t be rushed.
 

He moved with deliberate slowness, or so it seemed to her. If his goal was to bring her to the verge of begging, he was about to succeed. Everything he did, every touch, every kiss, every breath on her fevered skin ramped up the desire for more.
 

After kissing his way from her breasts to her belly, he tugged on the button to her shorts and watched her closely as he removed them, perhaps looking for signs of reluctance that didn’t exist. She helped him along by removing her panties and flinging them to the floor.

Paul’s eyes went wide with surprise when she did that, nearly making her laugh. He hadn’t seen that coming.

Hope sat up and unbuttoned his shorts, pushing them down over his hips, revealing the boxer briefs he wore under them. His long, thick erection reached nearly to his belly button and was peeking out over the waistband. She ran her finger over the tip, making him gasp and then hiss.

Tucking her hands into the back of his briefs, she pushed them down as she cupped his tight, muscular ass. The second his cock sprang free, she drew him into her mouth, sucking and licking and teasing him the way he’d done to her breasts. Judging by his sharp inhale, he hadn’t seen that coming either.

His hands fisted her hair, and his hips began to move to her rhythm. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Stop. Hope…
Stop
.”

She released him from her mouth and looked up at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing, but you’re going to finish me off if you keep that up.”

“Are you only good for once?” she asked and then wondered where this sexy, vixen side of her was coming from. She’d never been like this with Carl.
 

His mouth fell open and then snapped closed. “Hardly, but the first time, I want to be with you.” Cupping her breasts in big callused hands, he ran his thumbs over her nipples, making her tremble.
 

“Paul…”

“What, sweetheart? Tell me what you want.”

“I want you. Now.”

“Do we need protection?”

She shook her head. “I’m on the pill, and I’m clean. I was tested after…” In his dark gaze, she saw that he understood what
after
meant.
 

“I’m clean, too, and I haven’t done this in a while, but I don’t mind using a condom.”

“No,” she said, sinking her fingers into the dense muscles of his back to pull him closer. “Just you.”

He tested her readiness with his fingers, sliding them through the dampness between her legs and sending her to the point of madness before driving them into her.

Hope cried out and arched into him. God, it felt so good to be touched this way, to feel like a woman again, to know he wanted her as much as she wanted him. It had been such a long, lonely time since the last time she’d felt desired. Tears filled her eyes, and she closed them tight against the burn. This was no time to get emotional. He removed his fingers and replaced them with his cock, pushing gently against her before retreating, over and over again, gaining greater depth each time.
 

She was swept away by him, so much so that even the slight bite of pain she experienced as he entered her barely registered.
 

“Look at me, Hope,” he whispered as he kissed her. “Look at me.”

She opened her eyes, blinked away the tears that had gathered and met his intense gaze.

“There you are,” he said with a small, sexy smile that she returned. “Are you okay?”

“Mmm, so okay.”

“Does it hurt?”

“A little. Been a while.”

“We’ll go slow.” He bent to nuzzle her neck. “You’re so hot and so tight. I’ve never felt anything better than this.”

His words were as much of a turn-on as the insistent press of his cock into her. He was much bigger than Carl had been, and the extra-tight fit triggered sensations she’d never experienced before. And then he hit a spot deep inside, prompting an orgasm that seemed to come from her very soul.
That
had certainly never happened before.

“Paul,” she said, gasping and clinging to him as he picked up the pace, hammering into her and riding the waves of her release until he found his own.

“God,” he muttered when he came down on top of her, breathing hard and sweating from exertion.
 

She loved that she’d made him sweat. She loved the way he smelled and how his whiskers felt against her skin. And she suspected she was well on her way to loving all of him.
So much for proceeding with caution
, she thought. A deep breath shuddered through her at the possible implications that came with giving her heart to another man.

“Am I too heavy?”

“No.” She tightened her arms around him, wanting to keep him there for a while longer, to enjoy this never-to-be-repeated moment of sheer perfection. Perfection had been hard to come by for her—and for him, too, she suspected. And they would never again experience this first time together.
 

Chapter 17

Paul’s world had been tipped upside down in the course of a couple of hours. From the instant his mother’s hand had connected with Hope’s face and he’d known a second of pure, unmitigated rage that anyone, even his own mother, would dare to strike the woman he thought of as his, to their talk on the beach to making love to her, his life had been altered. It now included her—and Ethan—and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’d like to say for the record that I told you it would be amazing.”

“Yes, you did,” she said with a low chuckle that made him smile.
 

He raised his head so he could see her gorgeous face. “Was it amazing for you, too?”

“You have to ask?”

“Just making sure.”

“It was beyond amazing. It’s never been like that for me.”

He planted his elbows on either side of her head and used his thumbs to brush the hair off her face, mindful of the bruised area on her cheek that served as a painful reminder of what’d happened earlier. “How was it different?”

“You want, like, specifics?”

“Specifics would be good.” The heated blush that infused her face made him laugh. “Oh, this is going to be
really
good.”

“I can’t say it.”

“We’re naked in bed together. I’m still inside you. What can’t you say?”

Her face got even redder, and she looked away.