Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3) (32 page)

“Ellis, your whole life was turned upside down because of me. I get it. But I also knew that once the story went public, you’d come and help them find me.”

“Little did you know that I was already there. He took you from right under my nose. I still wonder if he actually knew I was there, which was why he was in such a hurry to get you out of there.”

“Maybe he did,” she said. “He seemed to be able to do anything without be detected.”

“That was your doing, right? The whole sending him to Wal-Mart for tampons? Because I notice that you are definitely
not
needing them.” He indicated her naked body, and she laughed.

“I had to think of something to get him out of the house and to also not touch me with that… thing.”

Ellis shuddered at the thought of him forcing her to have sex with him. “You know because you threw him off and had him do that, he dropped his guard and that’s how we found you. That and Brian remembered the cabin from a time they had taken Sean there when he was a kid. But you kicked ass, Sammi. I’m so proud of you.”

They were silent for a moment as they each processed what had happened. A soft knock sounded at the door, and Ellis jumped up, wrapping the robe around him to answer the door. After tipping the delivery man, he brought the food into the room.

“Want to eat in bed, or at the table?”

Sammi winked. “Well, the bed sounds like a lot more fun, but I plan on making good use of this bed for the rest of the night, so getting crumbs in it doesn’t sound like fun. Let’s eat over there. But first you need to take that robe off.”

He grinned and shrugged the robe off, throwing it at her. She walked towards him, and he couldn’t help but ogle her amazing body. He was the luckiest man alive. She walked around him, stopping at the tattoo that covered most of his back. “This is such an amazing tattoo,” she said, running her fingertips over the intricate design. “Can you tell me about it?”

“It’s the cross that Jaden wore on his neck that one of his teachers had given him, to keep him safe. The letters in the middle are his initials, his date of birth and death, and a prayer for safekeeping over his soul.”

“Wow,” she said, still touching his back. Goosebumps broke out over his skin at her touch. “You may not have understood what real love felt like, but your heart did. You loved that little boy. What’s the other part of the tattoo?” She traced the words that outlined part of the cross, where the words “’It’s better to have loved and lost than never loved at all’ were written in small script. At the end was a date. “Wow. What’s that stand for?”

“For Mason. That’s his birthday. Mason’s is to represent what I lost, and the wings represent the day my mom gave me my freedom from her life. When I look at it, it reminds me of how far I’ve come and what I lived through.” He turned and wrapped her in his arms. “Are you ready to eat?”

“I loved you before tonight,” she said in answer. “I felt drawn to you, like our souls were two parts that had been looking for each other our whole lives. But now? Now I know that there’s absolutely nothing that will stop me from loving you forever, Ellis Warner.”

He kissed her softly, wishing he could tell her in words what she had done for him. Instead, he started feeding her, enjoying the look in her eyes as they shared a meal.

Sam stood up, picking up a strawberry and dipping it in whipped cream. She walked towards Ellis, a devious look in her eye.

“I think I’m ready to play,” she said.

His eyes widened. “Is that so?”

She nodded. Reaching out her hand for him, he linked his hand with hers and she grabbed the tray of fruit and headed for the bathroom. When she reached the massive Jacuzzi bathtub, she set the fruit down and turned the faucet on.

Ellis stepped forward and she stepped back, mimicking his actions from earlier. “Ahh, is this how we are going to play it?”

“For now,” she teased. “But, only at the beginning. I want to show you that I love you. Then, I want us to make love.”

She stepped towards him, and it took everything in him to let her take the lead and not touch her. She lifted the strawberry and he opened his mouth, his eyes fixated on her. He took a bite and she pulled the strawberry away, putting it in her mouth and sucking what was left. Even though she didn’t touch him, he felt it all the way in his groin.

Stepping on her tip toes, she rubbed her body against him as she began kissing him, swiping her tongue into his mouth and taking part of the strawberry back. She stepped back, chewing part of the fruit. “Hmmm,” she moaned. He was frozen, watching her. Dipping her finger into the whipped cream, she lifted her finger to his mouth and he opened, sucking the sweet cream off of her. God, he wanted to lick that off other parts of her body…

“Sammi,” he moaned. “You’re killing me.”

“Patience,” she said, repeating him. He watched as she put her finger into the whipped cream again, and he watched with bated breath where she was going to go next.

She smiled, and he almost came undone. She reached down and put the whipped cream on his tip, and he gasped in shock.

“Dear god,” he hissed as she took great care in cleaning it off for him. He felt like a teenager as he felt her warm mouth surrounding him. She licked her lips as she stood back up, then winked at him. Who was this sexy vixen and what had she done with Sam Kerrigan?

“Get in the bathtub,” she said, and he stepped in without hesitation. For future reference, he needed to remember that giving her the power some resulted in some really hot, shocking moments. She stepped in after him and he helped her sit across from him. Their legs were entwined, and she scooted closer, winding her legs around his waist. This was phenomenal.

She reached up and ran her hands through his hair, wetting it. “You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen,” she whispered, running her hands down his neck and to his shoulders. She began massaging him, her small hands working in the muscles that had been wound so tight from worrying about her. “And you’re all mine. How did I get so lucky?”

“I’m the lucky one,” Ellis responded. She continued massaging his shoulders and arms. He ached to touch her, but knew she would stop him. She moved her hands around his shoulders to his chest, then down his chiseled abs.

“Perfection,” she murmured. She lifted her eyes to his as her hands wrapped around his aching erection. She moved so she was sitting up, straddling him so her knees were on either side of his legs and she was pressed against him.

He took the opportunity to cradle her face, kissing her, his tongue caressing hers. He wanted this to last forever. She rocked against him, causing the water to start splashing around them.

“Make love to me,” she whispered. He guided himself into her, both of them moaning as they made contact.

“Perfection,” he repeated her, moving gently inside her. They caressed each other as their eyes stayed locked on one another’s. Sam traced his eyes and cheekbones with her fingertips, and he followed suit, memorizing every detail of her flawless skin. Out of all of the men that would fall at her feet for a chance with her, she picked him.

He caressed her breasts, feeling her quiver on him as he aroused her further. When he couldn’t take it any longer, he pulled her body closer to his and sent them both over the edge together.

The water was cold, but he didn’t care. He would’ve stayed with her in there all night.

“This has been the best night of my life,” Sam said, kissing her way down his neck.

“You and me both,” he agreed. “Want to take a shower and go crash? I’m sure you have to be exhausted.”

“I’m almost afraid to go to sleep,” she admitted.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to wake up and realize that this was all just a dream.”

“Sammi, this is a dream alright, but it’s one we aren’t going to wake up from. I’m going to wake up next to you from now on. There’s nothing that will make this dream end, not ever again.”

“Here it is,” Sam said, sweeping her arm like she was a game show host. “Home sweet home.” They had just arrived back from their amazing night together in Knoxville. Sam had never felt so loved and cared for her in her life. Even though he had driven them home, he hadn’t stopped touching her the whole time. He essentially wiped away the two horrible days she had spent realizing Sean was a psychopath and not the friend she thought him to be.

“This is like a castle, not a home,” Ellis joked. “Wow. It’s beautiful.”

“Well, this is my mom and dad’s house,” she said. “But yes. They’ve done well for themselves.”

“You didn’t buy this?”

“No. All my money is saved. I’ve been looking into buying my own house soon. Maybe someone would like to look with me?” She linked her arms with his, and he pulled her close, looking into her eyes. He took her breath away. She wondered if she had overstepped, asking him if he wanted to look at houses with her. She knew they had bared a lot to each other between last night and this morning, but she also knew it was hard for him to get past the steel walls he had constructed around himself for so many years.

“I want to do everything with you,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes, intoxicated by his touch. He wanted this as much as she did. Somehow it felt like he was talking about way more than real estate. “Show me your room.”

Her breath quickened as she registered his innuendo. Her parents weren’t home, but…

“I’m kidding, Sammi,” he whispered in her ear, and she laughed. “I’ll behave. For now. But I do want a tour of the house.”

After the tour, they sat on the back porch, listening to the birds tweet and the creek babble. They were sitting side by side, their legs touching and their hands intertwined as the porch swing creaked.

“Tell me about your family,” Ellis broke the silence. “You said before you had a sister that passed away, right?”

Sam turned to him. “Yes, Chrissy. She passed away when I was really little. I barely remember her, which is sad, but we watch a lot of home videos of her to keep her memory alive for all of us. We were only eighteen months apart, so we were inseparable until she got sick.”

“And your parents never wanted any more kids?”

“No. They put their heart and soul into me instead.” She laughed, but it wasn’t entirely funny. She knew that they lived all of their dreams through her.

“So what about grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Cousins?”

“You want to know it all, do you?”

Ellis nuzzled her neck. “Don’t you know, Sammi? I want to know everything about you.”

“Well, my grandparents actually retired to Florida a few years ago. They live in Naples. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes, actually, I do,” Ellis said. “I went there once for a meeting when I lived in Miami. Pretty place.”

“I only see them a few times a year, and it’ll be even less this year. I have a lot of family around Tennessee, but none that I see very regularly. With my career, I feel like I have no time for anything.”

“Maybe we should talk about that,” Ellis started, tracing her leg with his fingers. Him just doing that sent shivers up her spine.

“Talk about what?”

“What are we going to do? My job is in Florida, your job is here. I don’t want to be without you.”

They looked at one another, not speaking, for several moments. She had no idea what to say. She felt the same as he did, but she also didn’t want to ask him to give up his career, and she knew he wouldn’t ask her to give up hers.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I would never ask you to leave your life, your career for me. But you know that in order to do my career, I have to be here at least some of the time. Plus, I’m going to be on tour a lot this year. What are you thinking we could do? Being away from each other for weeks or months at a time isn’t an option as far as I’m concerned.”

“No,” he agreed. “Well, I can be a cop anywhere, Sammi. Your job is centered around being here. I would say that makes it pretty cut and dry.”

“I want you to come on the rest of the tour with me,” she said. “I know you’ve had to take a lot of time off lately for me, but I can’t imagine being on tour and not being with you.”