Chapter Fourteen

 

Grady hurried along the dock to pick up Tori from her sailboat. He couldn’t get there fast enough. This was dinner date night.

Two weeks before, in front of family and friends at Rhubarb and Ginger, he’d pledged his life to her, down on one knee. Will you marry me? Yes, she would, and slipped on a three-stone engagement ring with a diamond with sapphire side stones. Blue looked good on her.

Plans were in the making for their wedding at the Waterfront Community Church.

The small gathering would not include her parents, but he, Tori, and Shane planned to visit them during winter break when Susanne and Dan headed to Hawaii. Maeve would walk Tori down the aisle. Invitations were sent, and many responded. The food truck tycoons, as Tori called them, his parents, sister, the entire Donahue clan, Ebony, and her daughters were coming. Agent Gary Guhleman, who was bringing his wife, reported the FBI hadn’t located Vivienne or the skipper of the powerboat.

Tori waved at him from the cockpit of Sunny and 75. It appeared the two of them were the only people at the marina.

“Hey, Madam Captain. What’s cooking?”

“I made appetizers with the yellowtail we froze. Plus prosciutto-wrapped pears with basil, bacon-wrapped asparagus with dijon dipping sauce, and a field greens salad,” she said.

“No deep-fried onion rings?”

“I haven’t perfected that recipe yet.”

“Sublime snacking, I’d say.” Love happened. He embraced it, and it gave him a joy he’d never known possible. He gazed around the neatly organized sailboat with ropes coiled, cushions a bit worn but clean.

“This is it, our little home on water.” Tori stood at the cabin door looking like a vision.

“Great view.” He meant her and stepped eagerly into her arms. Their lips met in unspoken desire. He scooped her up and ducked through the low doorway. The cabin plunged into darkness. His eyes adjusted. Pale moonlight streamed through high windows. A small hurricane candle flickered on the teak table with the appetizers and champagne on ice.

He placed her on the bed and tenderly removed her clothing. He admired her gorgeous body. “You can keep those high heels on, if you like,” he said, before shedding his clothing.

She traced his jawline with a finger. “You have the most handsome face.”

“I love you,” he whispered, and lowered her onto the bed. When he fell next to her with a happy sigh, the boat rocked. She snuggled into his side, her arm over his chest. The combination of the vanilla cologne, all that remained from the gift Susanne ravaged, and her skin urged him to bury his face in the soft crook between her neck and shoulder and inhale. That tantalizing aroma was rich in hidden places. The valley between her breasts. The tender skin behind her knees, between her thighs. He fisted his fingers, knowing its intoxication near the pretty, swollen folds of her sex.

He looked into her amber eyes, achingly tender. “You burned through my life. I’ll do my best to be the husband you deserve.” The pounding in his erection needed to wait.

“Oh, Grady.” Tears of happiness spilled down her cheeks.

“I love you for so many reasons,” he said.

“Oh, yeah?” She sniffled with a teasing wink. “Give me three reasons.”

He adored every detail of her appearance, from the dark chestnut bob that swayed when she moved, to her perky breasts. “First, you’re sexier than all get out. Secondly, you know how to deep fry. Thirdly, you make me laugh. I can go on. You’re great with Shane. He’s going to get harder to manage.”

“Shane will never be a problem. Next to you, he’s the love of my life.” She blinked back tears. “You’re going to make me cry, really cry.” Her breath hitched against his mouth, and her small reaction was as good as a resounding yes, I’m ready. A quiet voice of reason argued he must be gentle, tender, coax her with kisses. Soft brushes of lips over lips. She was as tight as a virgin. With a low rumble, he swallowed the whimper she released, claiming her lips. Angling his head, he thrust his tongue between her parted lips, sweeping the sweet interior, thrusting, and inviting her to tangle with him.

She met him, returning the sensual caress with strokes that soon became bolder, hotter, wetter. He pressed closer, demanded more.

He smoothed a palm up her throat, rubbed his thumb over one of those glorious, patrician cheekbones.

“You are so darn sweet.” He swept his gaze over the sensual swell of her hips, just round enough to accentuate her slim waist. He palmed her hip and an image of his fingers parting her pussy drove him to want more. Something ancient and primal kicked hard. His instincts about her were right. “I need you,” he said, allowing the throb of need in his erection to vibrate in his voice. The rigid length of his erection nudged her stomach.

He swept a hand over the stiff points of her nipples, and she groaned as if a high-velocity wind screamed through her. He tweaked the buds, plucked and pinched them until she squirmed.

Her fringe of brown lashes lifted, revealing eyes clouded with passion. She smoothed a hand down his belly and found his erection. “Turn over, I want to play.” She eased him onto his back. “I like looking at you.” She straddled him, lowered her mouth onto his tip. Every flutter and lick of her tongue tormented his erection. “I’m open for you,” she said and eased onto the other side of the bed, her hips rolled, and she offered him more of herself, undulating and pleading.

His erection pounded at the sight of her hunger. He softly switched their positions, placing her on her back. Desire pummeled the breath from his lungs. Looking at her slender shoulders, wanton breasts, and a small waist tapering into hips perfect for him to hold while he took her with wild abandon. She was his to touch, stroke, and pleasure.

He spread her legs farther apart. Farther still, widening them to accommodate his shoulders. Brown satin hair shielded her sex from him. He slid his hands under her bottom and lifted the plump core and glossy evidence of her need. The vanilla scent was thickest, and his mouth watered for a taste. He licked. The sample wouldn’t satisfy his burning hunger. “Are you ready, Tori?”

“Don’t make me beg.” She didn’t have to plead for him to take what he wanted to claim. He licked from the small, clenching entrance to the nub at the top of her glistening folds. Carefully, he circled his tongue and lapped at the tight, pulsing crux of flesh. He burrowed lower, deeper, sucked, and thrust with his tongue. He wanted to discover her mysteries, and her pleas filled the cabin.

He nudged into her small entrance with the round tip of his erection. He pushed slowly and pleasure erupted in the base of his spine, squeezed his balls. He withdrew slightly, not wanting to hurt her. Only half of his thick stem was submerged in her small passage. He stared at where she flowered around him and then thrust. Ecstasy ripped a groan from him that mingled with her throaty scream of pleasure. Sweat from holding back slid down his temple. Every muscle in his body railed at him to plunge deep, but he needed control.

“Give me all of you.” She wrapped her arms around him. When she bit his neck, the leash on his restraint snapped.

With palms on either side of her head, he kissed her and drove his erection inside. Her sex pulsed against him, and she took him like a woman possessed, milking him, claiming him. She tensed and came.

He absorbed the sounds of her tender cry, stretching the orgasm until she wilted. He’d never been with a woman like her. “I’m proud of you.” He cradled her face, razed a kiss over her lips once more. “Everything you do…it takes courage.”

“I never thought I’d be with someone like you. Someone I love but also admire.” She pressed her lips to his forehead, his eyes, each cheek, and his chin. “I’m proud of all you stand for.”

“You broke through to me,” he whispered against her lips. He sealed the vow with another kiss of passion, trust, and forever.