She clutched tightly to his shoulders as she dug her heels into his ass. Each time he slid into her, she felt the way those tight muscles clenched under her feet.
It didn’t take long until she was coming again, him right behind her. He had way more control than she did, because he managed to quiet his moans against her neck as he came inside her. He nuzzled her neck, kissing and nipping her sensitive skin just the way she liked, just enough to make her absolutely crazy.
The ripples of her second orgasm pulsed through her, not as intense as the first one, but just as wonderful. After what seemed like forever, he pulled out of her and rolled onto his back next to her. His breathing was as erratic as hers and she knew if she looked over at him, she’d see a satisfied, probably smug expression on his face. But she was too tired to even move her head.
“I think I’m just gonna stay here for a bit,” she murmured.
“Nope. My mom’s making breakfast. If we don’t return soon, she’ll come look for us.”
The thought of his mom’s cooking was enough to make her get up, but truly, the thought of his slightly terrifying but wonderful mother finding them on her cabana completely naked was what did it. She bolted upright and Tucker just laughed.
“Can’t believe you’re scared of her,” he said as he sat up behind her, reaching for his swim trunks.
Karen fastened her bikini top into place before tugging her tank top over her head. “Not scared, just have a healthy respect for her. And don’t even pretend you’re not freaking terrified. I’ve seen the way you and your dad are around her.”
Tucker just snorted, as if Karen were crazy. But she knew the truth. His mom had some sort of mojo thing she did with her gaze. As though she could just will you into doing what she wanted. It was fascinating.
Once they were presentable, though Karen knew her cheeks would be flushed, they exited the cabana and headed up the long wooden dock to his parents’ vacation home. The place was incredible and she understood why they spent their summers here.
They rinsed their shoes and feet of sand before Tucker opened the sliding glass door into the kitchen.
The smell of fresh coffee and whatever his mom was cooking—biscuits and gravy—made Karen’s mouth water.
“I’ll get you coffee,” Tucker murmured before kissing her on top of the head.
“Everything smells good,” Karen said, heading for the table where Tucker’s dad sat. Vitaly Pankov was a big man, just like his son. He didn’t talk much, but he was friendly and welcoming.
Vitaly nodded once and looked up from his iPad, where he was reading the news. “Everything my Darla cooks is good.” He had a slight accent and it warmed Karen’s heart the way his gaze flicked over to his wife, filled with such obvious love.
“Don’t try to get on my good side.” There was a hint of annoyance in the petite woman’s voice that told her something must have happened this morning between the two of them.
Karen had spent enough time with them over the past six months—with them coming up to visit her and Tucker in their new place in Maryland—to realize that Darla Grace did not hide her emotions well. The former beauty queen had impeccable poise for the most part, but man, she had a temper.
“How was your walk?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder to look at Karen, a warm smile on her face.
“Wonderful. I told Tucker we’re going to have to get here more often. Thank you guys again for inviting me.” It was so weird to interact with such a loving family, but she could definitely get used to this.
As Tucker sat next to her, placing a steaming cup of coffee in front of her, Darla made a tsking sound as she turned back to the stove. “You don’t have to thank us. What you can do is start planning on grandbabies for us.”
Karen was glad she hadn’t taken a sip of her coffee, because she started choking on air. Grandkids? What? She and Tucker hadn’t even talked about marriage yet and yes, she was old-fashioned like that. She didn’t want kids without a ring and all that jazz.
“Just ignore her, it’s a thing Southern women do,” Tucker murmured, with his father just grunting in agreement.
Though she wasn’t sure if the agreement was to the grandkids part or the Southern women part.
“Just think, you two will have a wonderful story to tell your kids about how you met.”
Tucker, the traitor, didn’t respond, just picked up an orange from the bowl in the center of the table and started peeling it while studiously ignoring her gaze.
Feeling awkward and as though she should respond, Karen cleared her throat. “That’s true, though I think I’ll leave out the part about him kidnapping me.” Not that she was even thinking about kids.
Now Tucker started choking. His father raised one eyebrow, which might as well have been a shouted response from anyone else.
“My son kidnapped you?” Darla demanded, drawing Karen’s attention to her. She’d turned away from the stove now to face them, one hand on her hip and the other was holding a spatula like a weapon.
“Um . . .” Frowning, Karen racked her brain, but couldn’t remember their exact past conversations about everything. They’d come to see his parents directly after everything had happened six months ago and explained what they could without giving away any national secrets. Karen had just assumed Tucker had told his parents how they’d met. “Yes.” She practically squeaked out the answer.
“Cole and the guys helped,” Tucker muttered, sounding a little like a petulant twelve-year-old.
Darla’s expression went nuclear, but she didn’t say anything. Just turned back to the stove. The silence was deafening and Karen wanted to kick her own butt.
“I thought you told them,” she whispered.
“Tell my parents that I kidnapped a defenseless woman?” He asked the question as if she were insane.
Okay, damage control time. “They were really nice kidnappers and it was because—”
Tucker shook his head sharply, cutting her off. “You’re just going to make it worse, sweetheart.”
“She’s not angry at you anyway. She’s upset with me.” There was the slightest trace of a Russian accent in his voice as Vitaly stood. He was smiling, though, as he made his way to his wife. He murmured something too low for them to hear as he set his hands on Darla’s shoulders and nuzzled her neck.
Tucker grabbed Karen’s hand and mouthed, Come on before practically dragging her from the kitchen. Once they’d made it upstairs, Karen said, “I’m sorry. I really thought they knew.”
He just grinned and shook his head, pulling her into the guest bedroom they were sharing. It was decorated in a beach theme with royal blue and turquoise as the main colors. “Don’t worry about it. Trust me—she’s not really mad at me. My dad probably ‘forgot’ one of their little anniversaries again. He does it on purpose because he likes to make up with her.”
Karen frowned. “Anniversaries as in plural?”
Tucker nodded. “Oh yeah. She’s a freak about that kind of stuff. An anniversary of their first kiss, first date, first other stuff I don’t want to know about. She likes to celebrate everything.”
“You want me to start keeping track of all our firsts?” Karen asked teasingly. “Like the first time we had sex in a cabana?”
“Dear God, no.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Good, I can’t keep track of that kind of stuff anyway. Will I have time for a quick shower before breakfast?” She had shopping plans with his mom and she still felt sandy and gritty.
Almost distractedly he nodded as he made his way to one of the dressers. “Yeah. I’ll grab your coffee for you.”
“You are definitely a keeper,” she said, shutting the bathroom door behind her.
Less than two minutes later she wasn’t surprised to hear the door open. He’d either gotten her coffee or planned to join her. Maybe both.