“I think that’s a challenge I’m willing to accept.” I pulled a sarong off the back of my chair and tied it to my waist.
I ran ahead of him, my feet kicking up sand as I squealed. Vaughn was right behind me, trying to catch me.
I reached our ocean side cottage, just as he spun me and pressed me against the door. His mouth caught mine, turning it upward for a kiss.
I dropped the book on the ground next to our feet. It hit the wooden porch with a thud.
“Already done reading?” He lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he kicked the door open.
I nodded. “So done.”
He grinned. “Good. Because I’m just getting started.”
Epilogue
The moonlight was bright on the waves. My elbows sank into the wooden railing of the balcony. I looked over my shoulder into the room. Emily slept. Her naked body wrapped in a sheet.
It was after midnight. The bungalows were quiet on this part of the beach.
I had given her paradise today. I didn’t know what I could give her tomorrow.
There was a weight on my chest. Pushing into my lungs and pressing on my heart. I had brought her with me because the thought of leaving her behind was enough to cripple me.
It wasn’t an option.
I looked for the moment. I searched for the night I didn’t dream about her. I begged for the morning I didn’t wake up missing her. They never came. They never fucking showed up.
I turned my back on the ocean and watched her sleep from a distance. I was in love with every damn thing about her. The soft lines of her body. The silkiness of her golden hair. The light in her laugh. The brilliance of her mind. The sadness in her eyes when she talked about her family. The entire fucking package. That girl had me on my knees the first night. And she hadn’t let up. Not once.
Walking away from her had been the hardest thing I had ever done. I would take a knife to my chest before I ever faced that again.
I had convinced myself she was the job. The mark. If I got some distance from her, the infection would heal. But it didn’t. It grew until all I could picture was her. I closed my eyes and I saw her hover over me. I remembered what it felt like to fuck her. The sexy sounds she moaned in my ear. What it felt like to be the kind of man she wanted. To see how she saw me in her eyes.
How she felt under my hands. Under my body. Her hand in mine. The moments she was wild. The minutes she was tender and vulnerable. She trusted me.
I took a step from the porch. The white curtains flapped in the breeze when I crossed into the room.
There was a price. There was always a price with Blackwing. I had given Emily my soul, but they owned it.
She wanted a life together. For now we had that. But those Thanksgivings she dreamed about. Kids. Whatever else was going on in that smart and pretty head of hers—well, I couldn’t give her a timeline. I couldn’t promise any of it. This might be the best I had to offer her.
And that scared the shit out of me. Was this going to be enough?
The covers moved. Her eyes opened.
“Everything ok?” she whispered.
I strolled to the bed. “Yeah. Checking out the moon. It’s full.”
“Really?” She edged up. The sheet fell from her shoulder, exposing her breast.
I growled. She killed me. She made me feel drunk. Unsteady. Out of control.
I pounced on the bed. Emily squealed.
I pinned her hands over her head. “Ever been fucked under the moonlight?”
She shook her head. “I hope I’m about to.”