Hold on to My Heart (Maine Sullivans)

Moments later, his erection sprang free into her hands, and she made a sound of deep pleasure, one that seemed to say she’d never seen nor touched anything so wonderful.

He felt exactly the same about her as he ran his hands up her bare legs, from her calves to the backs of her knees, making her shiver as his fingertips traced a wicked path up her thighs and over her hips.

She rocked into him, and he used his hands and the movement of his body to help her grind even harder into him. If he pulled her panties to one side, he could thrust into her. No protection, just skin-to-skin. But she’d already had one unexpected pregnancy, and he would never put her in the position of having to deal with that again.

Still, he hated to take his hands off her to reach into his back pocket and pull a condom out of his wallet. He’d had to replace his supply of condoms, because he’d run out.

Thinking of the two of them using up all his condoms made him smile, and as she helped him open the wrapper, she asked, “What are you grinning about?”

“How sexy you are, how much I want you, and how I had to restock my condoms in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, you’d let me make love to you again.”

“Hoping I’d be a sure thing, were you?” There was a teasing lilt to her voice.

“More like praying.”

With protection on, unable to wait another second, he gripped her hips and brought her down over him. Hard enough that they both gasped, then groaned at the intense pleasure of coming together.

She took over from there, using her leg muscles to move over him, against him. And as they made love on the hill overlooking the ocean and the great wide expanse of blue beyond it, Nash never wanted the moment to end, never wanted to let her go. But there was no stopping pleasure. Not when it was this good. Not when it was this wild. And perfect. So damned perfect it blew his mind.

At the exact moment that he felt her inner muscles begin to tighten over him, he gave her all of himself. She’d told him that she loved him. He’d never been this close to anyone before. And knew he never would be again.

Because no one would ever matter to him as much as she did.

They held each other for a long while after the final waves of ecstasy had crested. Her head was on his shoulder, and he rested his on top of hers, breathing her in, relishing her heart beating hard and fast against his chest.

Somewhere in their lovemaking, they’d knocked over the bottle of sparkling water and the containers of food. They both noticed at the same time and laughed.

“I know I said this was supposed to be our last time,” Ashley said, “but since I have the house to myself tonight, how about we make it one final night instead?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Every part of their evening together was magical to Ashley—making love with Nash, lying warm and sated in his arms, resting her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat.

She had never felt so relaxed. She hadn’t realized just how tightly she’d been wound all these years, until kiss by kiss, touch by touch, orgasm by orgasm, Nash unwound her like a spool of thread.

A thread that felt like it had changed from muted pastels to all the vibrant colors of the rainbow.

After leaving the vista point, they had stopped by his rental cottage to pick up clothes for the following morning so that no one at Rory and Zara’s warehouse would see him wearing the same outfit for a second day and guess that he hadn’t gone home. It also meant Nash was able to stay longer with her in the morning, because he didn’t need to rush home to change before going to work on the van.

She loved showering with him in the morning, reveling in the sensuality of wet skin against wet skin…and the sounds of their ecstasy reverberating against her bathroom walls as they made love again.

Having breakfast together was absolutely wonderful too. She scrambled eggs while he squeezed oranges for orange juice, then Nash pulled her bare feet onto his lap as they ate at her little kitchen table.

Ashley’s family, and a therapist she’d seen for several years after becoming pregnant with Kevin, had tried to help her stop beating herself up for the mistake she’d made. But it wasn’t until she was with Nash that she finally felt like a better version of herself. She felt full of so much love that there was enough go all the way around the world and back.

Love.

Zara had been right—Ashley was head over heels in love with Nash. Still, she hadn’t expected him to say the words to her. Not given his past and knowing how difficult his relationship with his mother had been, how little love he had been given as a child.