Kisses After Dark (3 page)

“Never been happier to be stuck with anyone.”

Her lips lifted into the sexy, sultry smile he loved so much. “Is that right?”

“You know it.”

“How about you prove it.”

“Haven’t I already proven it multiple times?”

“I’m not yet fully convinced.”

“In that case…” He began at her neck, kissing her until she squirmed under him, aroused as always by any attention he paid to that area. Moving down, he focused next on her breasts with gentle strokes of his tongue to her nipples that had her moaning and arching her hips. “So sensitive when you’re pregnant. I love it.”

“I honestly think I could come from that alone.”

“Want to try?”

“Not this time, but maybe next time.”

“Ah, something to look forward to.”

Her fingers combed through his hair, always trying to bring order to shaggy locks that refused to be tamed.

Owen kissed the small bump protruding from her belly. Their babies were in there, getting bigger and stronger every day, and he was counting down the days until they got to meet them. He settled between her legs, propping them on his shoulders and ensuring her comfort before he opened her to his tongue.

Her sharp gasp of pleasure was nearly his undoing. She was always so responsive to him, so willing, so loving. And she wondered why he felt incredibly lucky to have earned her love. How could he not feel lucky to be married to such an amazing woman who was beautiful inside and out, not to mention strong, resilient and incredibly joyful? Her infectious joy had filled his life with the kind of happiness that had eluded him before her.

He stroked her with his tongue and slid his fingers into her, aided by the flood of moisture between her legs.

“Owen,” she said, panting, “come up here. I want you.”

“Not yet.” He redoubled his efforts, not letting up until she came with the sharp cry of pleasure he lived for. Then he moved up, kissing her as he went.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him into a deep, passionate kiss. He never broke the kiss when he took himself in hand and began to push into her, moving slowly to give her time to accommodate him. Going slow when she was hot and wet and tight around him was the purest, sweetest form of torture he’d ever known.

Laura broke the kiss and drew in a deep breath. “So much more than your share.”

“There it is! Every time.”

She smiled up at him. “It’s tradition now.”

Owen hooked his arm under her leg and bent it toward her chest, mindful of the babies who rested between them. The new position opened her and eased his entry. “Ah, God, Laura… So good. Always so good.”

“Owen…”

“What, honey?”

“I need you to move.”

“Are you sure? Are you sore from last night?”

“A little. Doesn’t hurt, though.” She cupped his ass and pulled him deeper into her, a move that made him see stars.

“Christ,” he whispered. “You almost finished me off with that maneuver.”

She giggled softly, and he melted on the inside. He loved the way they laughed all the time, even when making love. “Give me what I want. I’m your wife, and you have to obey me.”

“Oh damn, what’ve I signed on for?”

“A lifetime as my sex slave.”

“I can live with that.” He picked up the pace but kept a tight rein on the desire pounding through him as he lived in mortal fear of ever hurting her. He’d rather die than do anything to cause her pain of any kind.

“
Yes
.” She moaned and arched into him. “Like that.”

She brought him right to the brink with the way she moved and the way she sighed and moaned and gripped him from the inside. This was going to be fast, and he wanted to make sure she was with him, so he reached down to where they were joined, pressed his fingers to her clit and watched her ignite under him. That was all it took to finish him off, too.

Because he was so much bigger than she was, he didn’t dare flop down on top of her. Rather, he used the last of his strength to turn them so she was sprawled on top of him, still impaled on him, still quivering from the force of her orgasm. Her hair was all over him, her hand resting on his heart and her legs tangled with his.

This, right here, was all he needed to be happy for the rest of his life. As long as he had her, he could get through anything that came his way. “I love you more than life itself, Laura Lawry.”

“Love you just as much, Owen. I always will.”

Sarah came awake slowly, uncertain at first where she was or why she was naked. And then the memories of the night before came flooding back to remind her that she was in Charlie’s bed, where they’d made love for the first time. And the second time… Which was why her body ached in a few places where it hadn’t ached in longer than she cared to remember.

Her skin flushed and tingled with heat as she recalled the passion she’d experienced in Charlie’s arms. Sarah’s quiet, sweet fiancé had shown her a side of himself she hadn’t known existed until he got her in his bed.

Thinking about the discoveries she’d made not only about him but also about herself had her blushing from head to toe, her eyes squeezed tightly closed in embarrassment. How would she ever face him in the bright light of day after the way she’d behaved?

The brush of his lips over her forehead let her know she was no longer alone with her salacious thoughts.

“Good morning.”

“Mmm, morning.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, so she kept her eyes tightly closed.

“I come bearing gifts.”

“Is that coffee I smell?”

“It is indeed, but you have to actually look at me before you can have it.”

“I can’t look at you. I might never be able to look at you again.”

His bark of laughter rang through the room.

Sarah raised the covers up and over her head.

“Now you’re just begging me to come in there to find you.” His hand sneaked under the covers, and naturally, the first thing he encountered was her bare breast.

Sarah gasped from the painful pleasure when he rolled her sore nipple between his fingers, sparking a throb between her legs. How was it possible that she could want more already? “Charlie…”

“Hmm?”

“I can’t…”

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I really can’t.”

“Have I ever told you how much I love a challenge?”

Before she could begin to formulate a reply to that, he was under the covers with her, drawing her nipple into the heat of his mouth with gentle tugs and soft strokes of his tongue.

Sarah wrapped her arms around his head, holding him to her chest even when she knew she ought to be pushing him away. Her body couldn’t take any more of his brand of passion. But even as she had the thought, her legs were wrapping around his narrow hips as he pressed his erection against her aching core.

As the mother of seven, she’d certainly had her share of sex. But there was no comparison whatsoever to what she’d done with her ex-husband and what she was apparently about to do again with Charlie.

“I won’t be able to walk for a week,” she said in a protest that sounded less than convincing even to her.

“Yes, you will. I’ll go easy.”

“You don’t know how to go easy.”

“It’s you… You make me crazy.”

“How do I make you crazy?”

“The way you look at me and the things you say to me and the way you want to take care of me. And then you get naked with me, and I can’t help that I want to devour you.”

Sarah finally opened her eyes and looked up at him in amazement. “Did you really ask me to marry you last night?”

“I really did, and you said yes, so you can’t take it back now.”

“I would never take it back.”

As he rocked his pelvis against hers, he cradled her head in his big hands and kissed her softly. “Your lips are swollen.”

“Gee, I wonder why?”

His face lifted into a grin full of male satisfaction.

“Don’t look so smug. You nearly broke me in half.”

He laughed again at the grimace she directed his way, but that didn’t stop him from pressing ever so gently into her. “I showed you hard and fast last night. Let me show you slow and sweet this morning.”

“I’m never going to survive you. Don’t you know I’m an old lady with seven grown children? I can’t be carrying on this way.”

“Yes,” he said with a low chuckle, “you can. And there’s nothing old about you. You’re beautiful and all mine.”

Sarah was mortified all over again when her eyes flooded with tears. Her emotions were hovering close to the surface after her son’s beautiful wedding and the life-changing night she’d spent with Charlie.

At the sight of her tears, Charlie froze. “Does it hurt, honey?”

“No. Well, sort of, but in a good way. Don’t stop.”

He kissed away the tear that rolled down her cheek. “Why the tears?”

“I’m so happy, Charlie. I had no idea that something like this, like you, even existed.”

“Aw, baby, hearing you’re happy is all I need.” He continued to move slowly and carefully as he made love to her.

Sarah reached up for him and brought him down for another kiss. She’d waited a long time to kiss him, and now she was addicted to his kisses. Her fingers dug into the taut muscles on his back.

“That’s it,” he whispered gruffly against her lips. “Scratch my back like you did last night. I love that.”

“God, you turned me into a madwoman.”

“I love that, too.”

“You’re out to embarrass me to death, aren’t you?”

“No way. I’m out to love you until death do us part, starting right now.”

He picked up the pace, stealing the words from her lips, the thoughts from her brain and the breath from her lungs.

As an innkeeper for most of her adult life, Adele Kincaid was an early riser. Even years after she and her husband had retired to Florida, she was still, as Russ would say, “up with the roosters” every day.

Being here, back at the Sand & Surf Hotel she and Russ had owned for more than five decades, felt like being home. She’d forgotten how much she loved the old hotel, which had been brought lovingly back to life by Laura and Owen over the last year. Adele was so proud of what the two of them had accomplished here, and deeply thrilled to see the boy she’d loved so much all his life settled with a woman who not only loved him passionately but also suited him perfectly.

If anyone deserved that kind of love more than Owen, she’d be hard-pressed to name him or her. Well, except maybe for his mother, Sarah. Her daughter was happily in love with a wonderful man after living through a nightmare with her abusive ex-husband who was now going to jail, where he belonged.

When Adele thought about what Mark Lawry had put his family through… She was a peaceful woman, but left alone in a room with that monster, she might be tempted to commit murder. Each of the seven Lawry kids bore scars from their upbringing. Owen was the only one of them to find love and settle down. Adele hoped he would be the first of them to take a chance on love, not the last.

Sitting on the hotel’s back deck with a cup of coffee, looking out over the wide expanse of water, she watched for the first ferry from the mainland that was due to arrive in South Harbor in twenty minutes. The routine of island life was one that had suited her for many years, and she’d missed it during their time in Florida. They’d moved there when their grandson Jeff had needed them after his suicide attempt. There they’d been able to get him the medical attention he needed, the kind of help that wasn’t available on a small island like Gansett.