The roughness of his voice sent a thrill of adrenaline through me. I rose up on my knees over him, and he shoved his boxers down to free himself.
“I need you to understand one thing,” he said as he gripped himself and leisurely stroked. I shivered as his knuckles grazed my clit. “Whatever happened before you has already been forgotten. You’re all I want. All I need.”
He pulled my panties to the side, his fingers lightly stroking me.
“Soaked for me already. That’s my girl.” Pulling the damp material down my legs, he discarded them at the end of the bed.
I eased down over him, both of us gasping when he entered me.
“So warm. So snug. So perfect.” He grunted as I eased down further. “This is all I want. You. Me . . .” He groaned aloud as I picked up speed, circling my hips to find the depth and angle that made us both cry out. “And if we want toys in the bedroom, we’ll pick them out together.”
My heart overflowed with happiness. I didn’t know those were the words I’d needed to hear, but his answer was perfect. I was enough. Together, we were enough.
Soon I was riding him—well, that wasn’t really correct. I was on top, but he gripped my waist, shoving me up and down on his cock, using me as his toy. His mouth was everywhere, biting and kissing and nibbling on my breasts and my neck.
I knew tomorrow I would wear his marks, and nothing could make me happier.
Epilogue
Nolan
One Year Later
At the picnic table behind the hospital, Lacey took the brown paper sack from my hand. “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.” She pecked me on the cheek.
“No problem, babe.” It was my day off, so I’d just been puttering around the house when I noticed that Lacey had forgotten her lunch. “Want some company while you eat?”
“Sure,” she chirped, and we sat down next to each other.
As she unwrapped her roast beef sandwich, I took a folded postcard out of my pocket. Its glossy photo showed a stand of golden aspens at the foot of a snow-capped mountain range.
“Check this out. It’s from Daniella and Doctor Dom.” Lacey chewed while I read the back out loud. “Greetings from the Mile-High City. We’re both very busy at Saint Mark’s, but we always find time to watch every Texas home game. (Don’t worry, we’ll never be Broncos fans.) Hope you two have a happy Thanksgiving.”
Lacey swallowed her bite. “It’s good to hear Dani’s doing well.”
I nodded in wholehearted agreement. The two women weren’t exactly best buddies—my presence had made for too much friction between them—but I knew that Lacey sometimes still felt guilty about breaking us up.
We were both glad that Daniella had finally found her groove in life. A new city to make friends in, and a Dom who loved her and treated her right. Her parting gift had been helping Lacey get a new job at the hospital where she could use her finance degree. Lacey now spent her days on fundraising, working with large donors and securing future investments for the new children’s wing of the hospital.
“This last year’s been crazy, right?” she asked, setting down her sandwich.
I nodded again, more grimly this time. The men responsible for Lacey’s kidnapping were currently serving twenty-five to life. Good fucking riddance. Their drug ring charges, on top of armed kidnapping and a whole list of other shit, got them the maximum. That, and Jerry Barton was old college pals with the judge.
“God, if you and Greyson hadn’t come that night . . .”
“We did. And you’re safe. And you’ve called and thanked Greyson about a thousand times since then.”
She sighed. “He doesn’t come around much anymore.”
It was true. Since I’d fallen in love and my life became a picture of happy, domestic bliss, he’d backed off a little. I still saw him at work, we still went for drinks occasionally at West’s, but he often declined to come over for game days, saying that I should spend my spare time with Lacey.
“Grey’s even more fucked up than I was about love,” was all I said.
“Geez, what’s with you two? Is love really so scary?”
I didn’t tell her the whole story about how and why we lost Marcus. Greyson had run that mission and still blamed himself for his death. I hadn’t told her because it wasn’t my story to tell. But that, along with some other tragic events, had fucked us both up pretty good.
Lacey didn’t pry further, and when I stroked her cheek, she leaned into my touch, releasing a soft sigh. She was safe and we were happy. And I hoped that with a little time, and maybe the right woman, Greyson would find his happy place too.
She reached back into her bag and paused. “Hmm? I didn’t pack a dessert, did I?”
My heart tripped. She had found the extra container I’d hidden in her lunch. I tried to stay cool as she took out the little plastic box and opened it. Inside was a chocolate cupcake from her favorite bakery—topped with a glittering diamond ring.