Behind Her Smile (35 page)
I’m there. So close.
This
close when he pulls away.
“Why did you stop?” I cry breathlessly.
Alec looms above me, his olive skin glimmering in the gentle light.
“I need to see you.”
Then his hands are on my hips, dragging my leggings and panties off in one fell swoop. His eyes meet mine, a silent check-in. I trust him.
“I trust you,” I say through heavy breaths, and then I lift my hips. Alec places his hands on my hips, pressing them into the bed.
“Your trust is the greatest gift I’ve ever received,” he says humbly. He bends to press a kiss to my abdomen.
I’m bare to him. I’m bare to me. And I’ve never felt more loved.
“Christ, if you aren’t the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” With a snap and a zip, he loosens his jeans and slips them off his hips. I gasp outwardly at his raw masculinity. The V-shape that connects his torso to his powerful legs. The length of his arousal. I’m swimming in the heady sensations. Wanting him closer. Needing to connect with him on every physical level. “I want to take you hard. I want you up against that wall and on the deck of my boat, on my desk, everywhere I can have you. But this first time, Karo, I’m in no rush.”
One lazy hand drifts up from my ankle, along my calf, to my knee. Circling the sensitive skin behind the joint with his thumb and forefinger makes me squirm underneath his touch. He bends one of my knees, then shifts on top of me again, bracing his weight on a bent arm at his side. The gentle assault sends me into delirium; I’m moaning his name, reaching up to grip the back of his neck and my release coming in heated gasps as we kiss. He grounds me, settling me onto my back when he climbs off the bed.
Rip.
Plastic crackles.
Then he’s between my legs again, nudging forward gently. I don’t stop him—don’t want him to ever stop. Two palms cup the apples of my cheeks when his body joins mine. Our eyes lock. In those fathomless black pools, I see my future. Love. Happiness. Children.
Belonging.
“I love you.” I utter my words with the reverence of a prayer.
His lips cover mine. He moves in me, slowly at first. The rhythm rocking our bodies together. “I love you.” He says the words against my lips. The three loveliest string of words sewn together by the most extraordinary man.
Alec Christos, the man who will bring me back to life.
Alec
S
he never watches the city skyline disappear. Her eyes watch the endless current of turquoise water ahead. From the propulsion of the engine, she leaves the past in the distance. And I’m there every part of the way, sailing beside her in silent support until she asks for more.
With a hand shielding her eyes, she glances over her shoulder to grin at me. That smile. The one she only wears for me. Carefree and blissfully happy. I don’t take her serenity for granted. Each day, I wake with a renewed vigor to make her life the best it can. When she spots me watching her, she laughs. Karolina is used to my attention. It hardly strays from her. When she’s near, I can’t help but focus all my energy on my wife. She is the center of my universe, and I’m helpless to do anything but orbit around her.
She extends a hand, flashing her fire-engine red nails. Every week it’s a new color—midnight blue, lilac, basil. She says she wants to try them all. As long as those hands are on my body when I want them, I don’t care what polish covers her fingernails.
As always, I oblige her. Placing a hand on either side of her hips, I turn her to face the ocean. My hands slip around the rising bump at her waist. Dropping down, I kiss the spot behind her ear that makes her shiver against me and sigh in satisfaction. “How’s my Karo?”
“Better now.”
“And our little one?” Karolina leans into my embrace. She tilts her head back to glance in my direction.
“Getting closer and closer.”
My body stills at the sudden pressure underneath my fingertips.
“You feel that? He responds to the sound of your voice.”
I fit our bodies together, swaying her from side to side. “He approves of how much his father loves his mother.” Karolina’s hands wrap around my wrists and then travel to cover my fingers. She strokes my wedding ring as she does when she’s in a sentimental mood.
“Have I mentioned today that you’re my dream come true?” she murmurs over the sound of the waters crashing against the hull.
“Hmm. I can’t remember.” I like to tease her because when I do, she giggles the sweetest sound.
“It wasn’t easy to get here,” she muses, “but all that misery makes me more thankful for you.”
Squeezing her back tighter to my front, I drop a kiss on her upturned forehead. “You don’t regret not pressing harder for your career?” I know the one-off jobs fulfill her creative desires, but still I want her to confirm it. Show me I haven’t taken away her choices.
“I’m getting everything I ever wanted—even when I didn’t know I wanted it. The loving husband, enough work to keep me active, and soon, our very own baby. What more could I possibly need?” She flips around in my arms, arching back against the rail until I drag her closer to me. It makes me uneasy, watching her too close to the edge of the boat. Her stomach growls, and she blushes. “Baby must be hungry.”
Chuckling, I mold her to my side and help her along the deck to where Hector and Adriana are waiting for us at a table shaded by an awning.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to be out on the boat? That baby could be here any day.” Hector’s hidden softhearted side appears, and he glances at my wife with unmasked concern.
“Karolina’s due date is three weeks away, and we’re not going far,” Adriana affectionately admonishes her husband.
With Karolina a permanent fixture in my life, work’s become less and less important. That’s why I insisted Hector and Adriana join us for an afternoon on the water. Hector’s right. It won’t be long until my son—
my
son—is here and things will change. And how I want that change. A boy of my own. A wife who has a smile, a tenderness, a sweetness only reserved for me.
It wasn’t easy to get here. She was stubborn, refusing to move in with me until I practically dragged her out of the Premier Tower with promises of unlimited junk food and sex.
“If you keep smiling like that, our friends are going to think you’re a pervert,” Karolina whispers in my ear, the minx squeezing my upper leg saucily. Yes, after gentle coaxing, my woman has turned into a devious, insatiable hellcat. Not that I’m complaining.
Then there was the trial. Karolina testified for the prosecution, which promptly sent her into a dark period that only with my love and the professional support of a therapist was she able to overcome. Still, my Karo is a fighter, and she came out on the other side, stronger than ever before.
A year after her divorce was finalized, I put a ring on her finger. Two days later, I married her in a small ceremony at Hector and Adriana’s house. The bride wore a purple dress of her own design. She demanded I wear something other than gray, so I chose a gunmetal suit. We still argue over the color today.
Karolina’s taught me that what was once important may become a second priority, or of no consequence at all, when family’s concerned. All along, she wanted a sense of belonging, and to my surprise, it turns out that’s what I was seeking, too.
Here, with my friends, my sweet wife, and unborn son, speeding toward the horizon, I am content. There are no deals to close, no goals to achieve. I want for nothing.
I have the love of a good woman and a son on the way.
That’s all that matters to me.
Olivia Luck calls Chicago home. She loves traveling with her husband, baking for her parents, and taking walks with her dog. Olivia started writing when she was eight and paused to dabble in various other pursuits like dance and piano. In the end, she always came back to her pen and notebook.
Get in touch with Olivia, she adores emails:
[email protected]
Eddie Neff needs space. Not the type that country stars croon about, but physical distance from her emotionally distant father and the tatters of a broken relationship. So when the opportunity to relocate her life and interior design business arises, the answer comes easily.
Adjusting to life with Claire, her gregarious new roommate, is more than simply testing comfort limits. With just one meeting, Eddie finds herself unable to resist the draw of Harris Grant, Claire’s brooding and overprotective older brother.
Harris doesn’t fit her idea of a safe relationship. He pushes Eddie to face her deepest insecurities and fears of abandonment. And Harris holds on to his own painful loss, unable to overcome personal demons.
Eddie and Harris must learn to conquer their internal struggles. But as they navigate their new love, outside forces fight to drive them apart.
Author's note: In Pursuit is the first book in a two book series. Intended for 18+ readers.
Edith Neff relocated to Chicago to capture her own piece of happiness. Now bombarded with more change than she knows how to manage, Eddie struggles to pick of the pieces of her torn heart and decimated friendship.
Standing in the middle of a sidewalk while her (ex?) boyfriend Harris Grant pleads for forgiveness, Eddie's at a loss what to do next. So when her estranged father provides a lifeline - she has no option than to take his offer.
But Harris won't let Eddie go without a fight. He'll use whatever tactics necessary to win back his girl. While Eddie and Harris find their way back together, darkness lurks, unwilling to relent on destroying their relationship. Permanently.
Author note: Of Happiness is the conclusion to In Pursuit. Content intended for readers 18+
Imagine the worst day of your life. Immerse yourself in the details. How did you feel? Who were you with? What were the consequences?
Recalling my darkest day is as simple as typing a few search terms into a web browser. It only took thirty minutes for me to become the center of a media frenzy that caught the attention of an entire country.
So I hid.
Nine months later and I'm getting better. Moved two hours from home, landed my dream job, and met a delicious new guy.
Healing is that simple, right?
Wrong.
Note: New Point is the start of a standalone series with connected characters, but independent story lines.
I know what you’re thinking. It’s unconventional to want a man nine years older than you. It’s inconvenient to crush on your dearest friend’s older brother. It’s silly to pine after a man for six years. It’s cliché to lust after a celebrity. It’s pathetic to fall in love with a man who barely knows you exist.
I know what you’re thinking because I’ve thought it all, too. And yet that hasn’t stopped me from wanting Blake Campbell. Charming, gorgeous, brilliant, kind, selfless – Blake is everything I’ve ever wanted, but he doesn’t see me that way. In fact, he hardly noticed me until one night.
Traumatic events brought us together for the first time, but then he tossed me aside. I know it’s irrational, but I wanted him up until the moment he left me lying there alone.