Your One True Love (The Bennett Family 8)

He drives inside me harder than before, his thighs slapping against my ass, his fingers turning me insane. When I feel him widen inside me, I cover my mouth with his hand again.

“Fuuuuuuuuck.” He presses his mouth in the crook of my neck to muffle his own sounds, and it sends me over the edge. I explode all around him for a second time.

Maybe it’s because I finally laid myself bare before him, but even though we’re hiding in a room, dressed up as a pirate and Cinderella, and our lovemaking was rough and hard, I feel closer to him than ever before.

“I feel it too, Caroline.” We make eye contact in the mirror, and I’m surprised at the vulnerability in his gaze. “Everything you feel in this moment, I’m right there with you.”

***

We clean up quickly in the bathroom next door, find the damn glitter, and try not to look too guilty as we head back downstairs. No one seems to have noticed our absence, but maybe that’s because things escalated quickly. Mia and Elena are now fighting over which one has the better costume—they’re identical—and Will ran smack-dab into a cup with orange juice, so he’s now soaked and crying. Sebastian’s trying to cheer him up while Ava changes him.

Their daughter, Audrey, watches them with her lower lip trembling, clearly not impressed that her brother is getting all her parents’ attention. Uh-oh, I sense danger.

I motion Daniel with my head. “Let’s go distract Audrey.”

He grins, holding out his hand in front of me.

“Ladies first. After you.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, feigning disgust. “Coward. Sending me to the wolves first.”

He steps right next to me, bringing his lips to my ear. “Hey, you’re better with kids than me. Besides, I love hanging in the back. I get a perfect view of you swinging your ass from side to side.”

“You can’t even make out any shape under all these layers.”

“I’ve got the sight of it naked imprinted on my retinas.”

“Daniel!” I admonish in a whisper. “We’re surrounded by your family.”

“Makes this so much more fun. Seeing you turn red to the roots of your hair.”

“Stop that. Unless you don’t want to get laid for three days straight.”

He throws his head back, laughing. Laughing! Yeah, my admonishing skills need a lot of work.

“Sweetest challenge I ever heard.”

We calm Audrey down by distracting her with a game of trick or treat. Before long, Will joins us too. Dad arrives shortly after seven, looking around incredulously.

“What is your costume, mister?” Mia asks him as soon as I introduce her to him.

Dad glances at me for help. He’s wearing regular clothes, a shirt and cotton trousers.

“He’s a librarian,” I say with as much seriousness as I muster.

Mia frowns. “Which story had a librarian?”

“Bet all of them did. All castles had a library. They needed a librarian.”

Mia ponders this for a few seconds before nodding. “Do you want to treat or trick, Mr. Librarian?”

Dad smiles and Mia takes his hand, leading him to the other kids. The party lasts late into the evening, and between seeing Dad smiling more than he’s done in ages and feeling Daniel’s gaze on me, the warmth of his family surrounding us, I can’t help hoping there will be many more evenings like this one.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Caroline

“You’re a life saver. Thank you so much,” Linda exclaims, taking the plate with quiche out of my hands.