One to Love (One to Hold 4)

“Deal.” I rolled in the bed and quickly disposed of the condom as she stood.

“I never went off the pill.” The twinkle in her eye about had me going again, but I shook my head.

“We won’t do much talking if you keep that up.”

“Okay!” She skipped out in only that orange tunic.

Smiling, I sat forward in the bed alone in that room. I thought about what Doc had said about making up for the shit heap I’d made of my life. I’d wasted all of my gifts, but it was possible this woman could help me find a way to at least try to make restitution.

When she returned, we had a spread of turkey, stuffing, cranberries, and bread. She leaned beside me against the headboard holding a glass of red wine.

My arm was on her shoulders, and I twirled a lock of dark brown hair around my finger. “Every night, I dreamed in violet, and now it’s gone.”

She leaned into me, kissing my cheek. “It can easily come back if that’s what you like. Now tell me about being at sea. Did you see whales?”

“We saw sharks.” Her eyes went wide as she set the wine glass on the nightstand and pushed a large pinch of roll into her mouth. I laughed. “And a lot of dolphins.”

Next, she picked up a strip of white turkey and held it to my lips. I couldn’t help remembering the first night we’d shared steak. “I’m so lucky to have you back.”

That got me another greasy kiss. “Tell me a story.”

“First...” I stretched off the bed, reaching for my pants and feeling deep in the pocket. “One of the sailors made these.” I pulled out the small sailboat. “This is for Lane.”

Her eyes warmed. “You got something for Lane?”

“And this is for you.” The heart ring slid perfectly onto the third finger of her left hand. The little doll I’d save until the time was right.

She studied the twisted silver. “I love it so much,” she whispered, catching my neck and kissing me. Holding her hand up, she tilted it side-to-side, and then she paused. “What about the necklace I bought you?”

I kissed the side of her jaw, taking a deep inhale of her sweet-flower scent. From there my lips moved behind her ear, and she shivered. “I love how your breathing changes when I touch you.”

She reached for me, and we kissed deeply, tongues uniting. We held each other in an awkward embrace around the Thanksgiving dinner spread in front of us, and I wanted to be inside her. I wanted to make up for all the time we’d lost. “I have my necklace,” I spoke against her skin, “but it’s not accurate. I’ll never be free as long as you’re in the world. Even after.”

Her hand moved to my cheek, her thumb tracing the line in my chin. “I want you free from those old scars. I’ve forgiven you.”

Kissing her once more, I turned my back to the headboard and pulled her against my chest. For a few moments, I only held her, feeling our hearts beating as one. “We need to finish this dinner so I can make love to you.”

She sat up facing me, eyes shining in that gorgeous way, and rested her head on her hand. “First tell me more about being at sea. Did you run into any storms? I’ve heard they can be really scary.”

Taking a deep breath, I told her the news I’d been holding onto since I’d found her. None of it would’ve mattered if we hadn’t made it to this place.

“We ran into a pretty significant storm on the way back.” Her hand dropped, her blue eyes full of concern. “Yeah, it was a big one. McKinney guessed we hit thirty-foot waves.”

“Slayde! Oh my god!” She sat straighter in the bed.

Reaching for her hand, I lifted it and kissed it. “You see I’m here, right? Still, conditions got pretty critical.” Looking down, I decided just to tell her. “I wasn’t sure you’d ever see me again, so I didn’t think I had anything to lose.”

Her voice was touched with fear. “What did you do?”

“The waves were so strong, the ship was in danger of breaking in two. They needed someone to lighten the load, cut some of the bigger boxes free so they’d wash overboard.” Clearing my throat, I looked at the fresh, new scar across the back of my hand. “I volunteered.”

Her eyes slid closed. “Oh my god.”

“They tied a rope around me to help stabilize. I made it out to the bow, and I had to cut the lashes of the largest boxes on each side—enough so they’d slide off and lighten the ship.”

“Oh, Slayde.” Her shoulders dropped and I collected the plates from in front of us. Setting them on the side table, I slid down in the bed, pulling her tight against me.

“The first box was hard, but I got it free. The second one threw me back, and another of the crates flew forward and hit my head. I had a concussion.”