I start to feel that deep tingle in my core, but just when I know I’m going to come, he pulls out, his hands release mine, and his body shifts. Then his hands push my thighs farther apart and his mouth lands on my center, pulling my clit between his lips. I come on a scream, my hands holding on to his hair as I ride out my orgasm.
His mouth lifts, and before I even come down from my high, he flips me to my elbows and knees and his hand slides up my spine to the back of my neck, pressing my head deeper into the mattress. Then his hands go to my hips and lift them higher, and he surges deep inside on a swift thrust.
“God, yes,” I moan and start to get up on my hands when they are grabbed from the mattress, pulled behind my back, and used to pull me back into him so hard that the slapping of his skin against mine causes a slight sting against my ass.
“Give it to me, baby. Give me what I want.” He thrusts harder, and this time when I start to feel the pull to come, he releases my hands and pulls me up against his chest. His mouth moves to my ear. His hands separate, one zeroing in on my clit, the other pulling one nipple. I come hard and fast, bucking against him. “Fuck, yes,” he mumbles in my ear, his thrusts slowing until he plants himself deep inside me, where I can feel him pulsing.
His hand releases my breast, traveling up my neck and turning my face towards his before he takes my mouth in a deep kiss. He pulls out of me, making me whimper, then flops down on the bed, pulling me down on top of him. I lie there in silence for a few minutes, listening to the sound of water while feeling the slight breeze coming from outside glide across my damp skin.
“Where are we anyways?” I ask, getting up on an elbow so I can look down at him.
“Go look out the door.” He smiles, and I debate on whether or not I want to get up before pulling myself away from him.
I find his shirt at the end of the bed and quickly slip it on over my head before walking to the doors. The closer I get to the doors, the brighter it gets outside. My breath catches as I take in the view before me. There is a pink beach that leads to water so blue that it looks like a painting.
“Oh my God,” I whisper and feel hands slide around my waist. My hands slide over Kenton’s and I tilt my head back so I can look into his eyes. “Where are we?”
“The Bahamas.” He smiles, bending down to kiss my mouth.
“Is the beach pink or are my eyes playing tricks on me?”
“It’s pink.”
“Wow.” Who would have thought there was a place in the world with pink-sand beaches?
“What do you say you put on that bikini I saw in your bag and we go snorkeling?” he asks.
I smile and nod before completely turning around in his arms. “Thank you for this.” I get up on my tiptoes, press my mouth to his, and then duck under his arm, running back into the room so I can put my suit on. I hear him laugh and the sound only makes me smile bigger.
The rest of our honeymoon is spent either in bed or on the beach. I can’t imagine it being any more perfect.
*
“Babe, get the door!” Kenton yells from his office.
I roll my eyes and drop the shirt I was folding to the bed. “You could say please!” I yell back, bouncing down the stairs with Tubs right behind me. I hear him laugh but don’t hear him say please.
We have definitely fallen into the role of a married couple—except I don’t cook or clean. We have a housekeeper who comes once a week, and Kenton cooks dinner most nights, because anytime I get near a stove, it’s a recipe for disaster.
I swing the front door open and my world tilts. “Mom,” I whisper in shock. Before I realize what’s happening, her hand is coming across my face in a slap so hard that my head flies to the side.
“How dare you?” she hisses, lifting her hand again. I can hear Tubs going crazy.
“I have never hit a woman in my life, but I will tell you right now. You touch her again and I will put you down,” Kenton growls while stepping between my mom and me.
My hand hasn’t moved from my cheek. I can still feel the sting of her slap, and my body heats up. My vision blurs—not with tears, but with rage. I have been through hell and she shows up here not out of concern, but out of self-preservation. I know exactly why she’s here.
Kenton found my father not long after we got home from our honeymoon. At first, I wasn’t going to contact him, but after a long talk with Kenton and Nancy, I decided I had nothing to lose. If he didn’t want to talk to me or have a relationship with me, it wouldn’t hurt any more or any less than if I didn’t reach out to him. So I called him, and to say he was adamant that I was a scammer is an understatement.
It wasn’t until Justin sent him a copy of my medical records that he called me back. He told me that my mom told him that I’d died when I was three and that I had been cremated. He said that he still had the urn that he believed my ashes were held in. He explained that my mom moved out of the area they lived in a few days after she dropped off what was supposed to be my remains to him, and he never heard from her again.
“Do not come between me and my child,” my mom hisses, trying to get around Kenton.
I don’t even know what comes over me, but the rage I have felt since I was young gives me the strength to get around Kenton’s body, which I swear is expanding before my eyes.
“How dare I? How dare I?” I shriek at the top of my lungs. “I’m sure you’re here because my father contacted you. How dare you keep him from me?! How dare you tell him I was dead and let him believe his only child was killed?”
“Do not talk to me like that. I did what was best for you. He was nothing.”
“Why? Because he didn’t fit into your perfect little world?”
“He was a garbageman,” she says snottily.
“And you slept with him for over two years!” I yell, my hand balling into a fist at my side. I feel heat from Kenton at my back, his presence offering me strength. I know that, with him, I will be able to face any demons I have.
“He wasn’t good enough for me or you.”
“He loved me!” I scream, and without thinking, I smack her. My hand stings from the impact, but seeing the red tinge to her cheek somehow makes me feel better.
Her hand goes to her face and her eyes get big. “You little bitch.”
“I’m not that scared little girl anymore, Mom,” I tell her when I see her hand start to rise again. “You hit me and I will hit you back.”
Her hand reluctantly drops to her side and her eyes start to narrow. “He’s suing me. After all these years, he showed back up in my life and threatened me. My fiancé left me and it’s all your fault.”
“I hope he wins, and your ex is obviously a smart man,” I hiss, and then I take a step back and slam the door in her face. My heart is beating out of control and I can feel the adrenaline pumping through my system, begging me to open the door and kick her ass.
She starts to yell, and Kenton picks me up, growling, “Stay,” before setting me away from the door and opening it. “You’re trespassing. I have a gun and will shoot your sorry ass if you don’t get the fuck off my property, and don’t even think about coming back. There will be a restraining order in place before the night’s up.” He slams the door closed then puts both his hands to the frame, his head lowering between his open arms.
I can tell by his breathing alone that he’s trying to control the urge to go back out there and make good on his threat, whether she’s leaving or not.
“I want to kill her,” he whispers.
I duck under his arm, put my face near his, and wrap my arms around his waist. “I know,” I whisper back. I can feel the anger rolling off him in waves so strongly that it’s almost hard to stand. “Do you think she’ll come back?” I ask.
“She will never get near you again.” He stands, his hands come up to hold my face, and his thumb moves over my cheek, which still feels hot from the slap. “I may not be able to kill her, but I swear she will not have the life she has now by the time I’m done with her
.”
I can tell that there’s nothing I can do or say that will change his mind. I don’t even want to try to get him to let it go and let her move on with her life like nothing happened. She knowingly ruined my life—and my father’s—and it’s going to take a long time to build a relationship with him.
“I need to call Justin. Are you gonna be okay?” he asks after a few minutes.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell him softly.
He bends down, pressing his lips to mine in a quick kiss. I watch him walk away before heading upstairs to finish what I was doing. I somehow feel like a weight has been lifted and I was given my power back after what happened with my mom.
“It’s done,” Kenton tells me, coming into the kitchen, where I’m making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I look at the clock, seeing that he has been in his office for about five hours now. When my eyes go to him, I can tell that the stress and anger that were on his face before are now gone. I know that, with him as my man, I never have to worry about anything. He will always work to make the world a safe place for me.
“I love you,” I tell him, watching his face go soft.
“I know, babe.”
I smile bigger and go to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Now what do we do?”
“What do you mean?”
“There are no bad guys after me, and I’m sure you got rid of my mom for good, so now what do we do for entertainment?” I ask, and he starts walking me backwards until my back hits the counter.