Lone Star Reunion

“Daniel, it’s so lovely.”

He looked back at Lexi and slowly shook his head. The moon couldn’t hold a candle to her. She was more radiant, more entrancing than any Caribbean moon hanging outside their bedroom window.

He ran his hand over her shoulder, his finger burning when it met her sun-touched skin. “I need you, Lex.”

Lexi smiled and his heart spun in his chest like a damn prima ballerina. “Can I have you and the moon?” she asked, her eyes darting from him to the view outside.

He touched her nipple and rolled it between his fingers, his erection swelling when her eyes clouded with desire. Then Lexi’s hand encircled him and the world stopped turning. He felt a tremor shoot him and told himself that he couldn’t plunge... He had to hold still.

Lexi’s voice was soft but sure. “I want you and the moon, Dan.”

Since his brain didn’t operate without blood, which was plunging south, Daniel shook his head to indicate his confusion.

Lexi kneeled and sent him a sultry smile. “Come behind me, Daniel. I want you to hold me, cover me, envelop me, make me scream. And I want to watch the moon while we do that. It’s going to be a memory I’ll always treasure.”

Daniel moved to kneel behind her, his hands stroking the length of her back before placing his hand on her stomach to pull her back, to tilt her hips up. Wrapping his arms around her, he slowly entered her, his eyes burning at the sheer perfection of this moment. His completing her completed him.

He moved, slow, sexy movements that raised them up and up, closer to that silver orb hanging in the sky. His every sense was amplified: he heard the wind in the trees and the waves hitting the sand. Lexi’s smallest whimper, her sighs of pleasure, were loud in his ears. Her scent filled his nose and when she turned her neck to find his mouth, he caught her eyes and they were an intense shade of touched-with-moonlight blue.

Lodged deep inside her, Daniel felt the rush of warmth, felt her contract and allowed himself to caress the moon and grab the stars.

* * *

In the Royal Diner, Gus looked up from his biscuits and gravy and into Amanda Battle’s lovely face. The owner of the diner was one of his favorite people and he stood up to drop a kiss onto her cheek. “Good morning, beautiful.”

Amanda laughed. “Should you be flirting with me now that you are married, Gus Slade?”

“Just stating a fact, ma’am.” Gus took his seat again and sent a grinning Rose a wink. How wonderful it was to see his wife relaxed and smiling, happy in her skin. He’d done that, Gus thought, feeling proud. He’d made her glow from the inside out.

Amanda turned to Rose and bussed his wife’s cheek with her own. “It’s so nice to see you, Miss Rose. Congratulations on your wedding. I’m so happy for you.”

Rose thanked Amanda for her kind words and for refilling her coffee cup. Amanda passed the carafe of coffee on to a passing waitress and tipped her head to the side. “So, the latest gossip is that you two sent your grandkids off on a honeymoon in your place? Are you crazy? Do you know how beautiful Galloway Cove is?”

Rose poured some cream into her coffee. “Those two are like two mules fighting over a turnip.”

Amanda laughed at Rose’s pithy saying. “Have you heard from them?”

“They managed to find a computer and have been in contact.” Gus finished his breakfast and wiped his lips with his napkin. “They both sent us polite, gentle thank-you notes—”

Amanda swatted his shoulder. “They did not!”

“No, they didn’t,” Gus admitted. “But neither have they, after three days, called to be picked up or, as far as we know, killed each other.”

“They might kill us when they get back, though,” Rose said, wrinkling her nose.

“They’ll work it out,” Amanda assured her. “Or at the very least, they might be mad for a while, but they’ll come around. You’re family and they love you.”

Amanda turned at the sound of her chime and Gus followed her gaze to the front door. Amanda frowned at the tall, well-built man entering the diner, his sharp business suit at odds with the rest of the customers’ more casual attire. Amanda turned her back on him and looked at Rose. “Miss Rose? That man—do you know him?”