lean into him. “All right, but if the kids act like savages, don’t blame me. They’ve never been to a sit down restaurant before.”
“Well, they’ll have to get used to it,” he says, kissing my lips one last time before he pulls away to finish up with his hair. “Because I’m taking you all out at least once a week, and I don’t want to hear any complaints.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, with a mock salute.
His eyes darken as our gazes connect in the mirror. “And we’ll do more of that, too. I want to play games with you. I’ve been fantasizing about you tying me up since the night we danced together.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, lifting a brow. “I would have thought you’d prefer I be the one tied up.”
“You’ll be tied up first,” he says, as if that’s only logical. “But then I’ll take my turn. I want you to make me beg for it.” He sets the brush down and turns, crossing his arms as he leans back against the sink and surveys me with a predatory look. “I want to watch your breasts bounce while you ride me and suffer the torture of knowing I can’t get my mouth on them unless you let me.”
My tongue slips out to wet my lips. “If you keep talking like that, we’re heading back into the bedroom and those clothes are coming right back off.”
He grins. “As lovely as that threat sounds, I’d rather get this business with the parents behind me. I have a feeling they’re not going to be happy.”
“You think it will be a bad scene?” I ask. “Do you want me to come with you?”
He shakes his head. “No. I want you to stay here, have coffee, hang out with the kids, and enjoy the rest of your morning. You’ve been through enough the past two days. From here on out, any way I can spare you more of that, I will.”
“You don’t have to spare me,” I say. “I’m tougher than I look.”
“Don’t I know it.” He kisses me again, a sweet kiss that feels like the sun on my face, before he whispers against my lips, “Be back in half an hour.”
“Okay, love you.”
“Love you,” he says, and it sounds like the most natural, perfect thing in the world. I have no reason to doubt him, or his love. No reason at all.
And then twelve o’clock comes and goes and there’s no sign of Gabe. I don’t call—figuring he’s probably in the middle of something with his mom and dad and not wanting to interrupt—but then Sherry arrives at one o’clock and I decide the phone call can’t wait any longer, not if we want to have time to get everything done in Charleston before dinner.
I call Gabe’s phone, but am sent directly to voice mail. It makes sense that he might turn his phone off before going to talk to his parents, but it doesn’t make sense that he would keep me waiting for hours without at least texting to let me know that he’s been delayed. Something is wrong, and after all we’ve been through I can’t sit around and wait to see what’s gone to shit this time. I have to take action.
I have to go to Darby Hill.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Caitlin
I hug Sherry and the kids and tell them I’ll be back soon and jump in the family van, rolling down the windows to let the hot summer air rush through as I head out into the country.
The sun is shining bright and the fields alongside of the road are green and ridiculously lush. Upcountry South Carolina looks like the best, prettiest, postcard version of itself, and I can’t help but feel lifted up by the sight of it, by the smells of summer weeds and flowers floating in on the breeze, by the sounds of insects cricking and birds singing and all the trappings of summer that insist the world is alive. It is wild and alive and death won’t dare lay a finger on anything right now, not while summer is here, wrapping the world in heat and abundance.
I hold on to my hope that there’s been some simple glitch—Gabe’s phone died, or his car broke down, or his parents put up more of a fight over the move than we anticipated—until I reach
“Well, they’ll have to get used to it,” he says, kissing my lips one last time before he pulls away to finish up with his hair. “Because I’m taking you all out at least once a week, and I don’t want to hear any complaints.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, with a mock salute.
His eyes darken as our gazes connect in the mirror. “And we’ll do more of that, too. I want to play games with you. I’ve been fantasizing about you tying me up since the night we danced together.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, lifting a brow. “I would have thought you’d prefer I be the one tied up.”
“You’ll be tied up first,” he says, as if that’s only logical. “But then I’ll take my turn. I want you to make me beg for it.” He sets the brush down and turns, crossing his arms as he leans back against the sink and surveys me with a predatory look. “I want to watch your breasts bounce while you ride me and suffer the torture of knowing I can’t get my mouth on them unless you let me.”
My tongue slips out to wet my lips. “If you keep talking like that, we’re heading back into the bedroom and those clothes are coming right back off.”
He grins. “As lovely as that threat sounds, I’d rather get this business with the parents behind me. I have a feeling they’re not going to be happy.”
“You think it will be a bad scene?” I ask. “Do you want me to come with you?”
He shakes his head. “No. I want you to stay here, have coffee, hang out with the kids, and enjoy the rest of your morning. You’ve been through enough the past two days. From here on out, any way I can spare you more of that, I will.”
“You don’t have to spare me,” I say. “I’m tougher than I look.”
“Don’t I know it.” He kisses me again, a sweet kiss that feels like the sun on my face, before he whispers against my lips, “Be back in half an hour.”
“Okay, love you.”
“Love you,” he says, and it sounds like the most natural, perfect thing in the world. I have no reason to doubt him, or his love. No reason at all.
And then twelve o’clock comes and goes and there’s no sign of Gabe. I don’t call—figuring he’s probably in the middle of something with his mom and dad and not wanting to interrupt—but then Sherry arrives at one o’clock and I decide the phone call can’t wait any longer, not if we want to have time to get everything done in Charleston before dinner.
I call Gabe’s phone, but am sent directly to voice mail. It makes sense that he might turn his phone off before going to talk to his parents, but it doesn’t make sense that he would keep me waiting for hours without at least texting to let me know that he’s been delayed. Something is wrong, and after all we’ve been through I can’t sit around and wait to see what’s gone to shit this time. I have to take action.
I have to go to Darby Hill.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Caitlin
I hug Sherry and the kids and tell them I’ll be back soon and jump in the family van, rolling down the windows to let the hot summer air rush through as I head out into the country.
The sun is shining bright and the fields alongside of the road are green and ridiculously lush. Upcountry South Carolina looks like the best, prettiest, postcard version of itself, and I can’t help but feel lifted up by the sight of it, by the smells of summer weeds and flowers floating in on the breeze, by the sounds of insects cricking and birds singing and all the trappings of summer that insist the world is alive. It is wild and alive and death won’t dare lay a finger on anything right now, not while summer is here, wrapping the world in heat and abundance.
I hold on to my hope that there’s been some simple glitch—Gabe’s phone died, or his car broke down, or his parents put up more of a fight over the move than we anticipated—until I reach
Similar Books
