Coming Home (22 page)

“We are,” she said with a sigh of utter contentment. “We’re going to celebrate every day we get as the blessing it is, and we’re not going to spend one second worrying about the future. That’ll take care of itself.”

“If you say so, darlin’.”
 

“I do. I say so. Now, about that celebration…”

His face lifted into a sexy smile that made her melt. All he’d ever had to do was look at her just like that, and she was his. Now she got to have forever with him. How lucky was she?

Determined to show him how lucky she felt, she pushed him onto his back and bent over him, kissing his chest and focusing on his nipples, which made him gasp and made her smile. Filled with her own power, she worked her way down, kissing, licking, nibbling.

“Christ, Kate,” he said between gritted teeth.
 

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t act all innocent, like you don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

“What am I doing to you?” she asked, letting her hair tickle his straining erection.

“You know exactly what you’re doing.” He sounded positively tortured, which she loved.

“I’ll stop if you don’t like it.”

He fisted her hair, keeping her right where she was, hovering over him.

“Is this what you want?” She dabbed at the head of his penis with delicate strokes of her tongue.

“Yeah.”

“How about this?” She dragged her tongue over the length of him.

“That’s good, too.”

“What about this?” Moving lower, she cupped his balls and took him fully into her mouth.

His hips surged off the bed, and his fists tightened in her hair, almost to the point of pain, but Kate didn’t care. She remembered the first time she’d done this to him, how he’d told her what he liked and showed her what to do. She’d been unable to bring herself to do it for anyone else. This, like so many other things, belonged to him and him alone.

“Kate…stop. Stop.”

Surprised by his harsh tone, she looked up at him. “Did I do it wrong?”

“God, no. You did it just right. Come here.”

She crawled into his outstretched arms. “What’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing.” He massaged her neck and shoulders, which felt heavenly. His erection surged against her belly, demanding she take notice. “I need to get a condom.”

Kate moved off him so he could get up.
 

When he returned from the bathroom, her mouth went dry as she took a good long look at him in all his aroused glory. “See something you like, darlin’?” he asked, amused.

“I’ve never seen anything I like better.”

“While I find that hard to believe, I’m very, very grateful.”

“Can I go back to where I was?” she asked. “On top?”

“You can go anywhere you want.”

He stretched out on his back, and Kate straddled him, leaning over to kiss him as he cupped her breasts and teased her nipples with his fingers. “Lift up a little,” he said, sounding tense and strained, which made her realize how hard he was fighting to hold on to his control.

Pleased by his reaction to her, Kate did as he asked. When she felt the nudge of his erection between her legs she eased herself down on him, letting her head fall back in surrender as she took him in.
 

“Yes,” he whispered. “That’s
so
good.”

“So good. Better than anything.” With him growing inside her, Kate was filled with an overwhelming sense of contentment and anticipation of all they had to look forward to.
 

Reid sat up and arranged her legs so they were wrapped around him. His chest hair rubbed against her nipples, making them tingle and tighten. Their eyes met and held. In a moment of perfect harmony, he tipped his head and held her gaze as he kissed her gently, reverently.

Kate’s heart beat so hard and so fast it made her lightheaded, or maybe he made her lightheaded. It was him. Definitely him.

His hands slid slowly down her back to grip her buttocks as he compelled her to move. And then one of his hands was between her legs, coaxing her. When his lips closed around her nipple, the orgasm crashed over her, stealing what was left of her sanity. She gasped when he dug his fingers into her bottom as he surged into her and came with a cry.

He hugged her tightly afterward.

“How did I live without you—without that—for so long?” he asked.

“I don’t know how I did it either.”

“I should’ve come after you.”

“I never should’ve left.”

“We won’t make those mistakes again.”

“No, we won’t.” Kate closed her eyes and drifted in a sea of serenity. The future stretched out before them, bright with promise. “Will you take me home, Reid?”

“What about your pilot?”

“I’ll tell him he’s on his own.”

“We’ll go home tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Chapter 10

Because she wanted to be in her office with her things, Ashton followed Jill’s directions and drove to Kate’s estate in Hendersonville. He hadn’t been out this way in years and couldn’t help being impressed by the home Kate had built for herself as well as the one where Jill resided.

Hers was much smaller than her sister’s, but the post-and-beam house suited her perfectly, Ashton thought as he followed her inside. He’d intended to drop her off and head home, but now that they were here, he found that he was unable to leave her alone and upset.

Inside, she turned to him and gave a wary smile, as if she too was uncertain of what happened now that they were home and back to reality.

Ashton was comforted to know he wasn’t the only one unsure of himself. After the closeness they’d shared over the last few days, however, he refused to allow her to put distance between them.
 

He glanced around at the cozy living room, the fireplace, the overstuffed sofas, the bookshelves. Her sister probably paid her a lot of money to manage her career, but nothing about Jill’s home was showy or ostentatious. “I like your place.”

“Thanks. I like it, too, not that I’m here very much.”
 

He watched as she glanced at the clock on the cable box before she returned her gaze to him.

“I know you want to get to work. Do you mind if I take a look around outside?”

“Oh, so you’re going to stay?”

“Is that all right?”

“Sure, that’s fine. I just figured you’d have better things to do than kill time while I work.”

He couldn’t stand to go another minute without touching her, so he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’ve got nothing I’d rather do than wait for you to get your work done so we can get back to having fun.”

“I thought…”

“What did you think?”

“I didn’t expect you to want to hang out, especially here. At Kate’s place.”

“I want to be wherever you are.” Tipping his head, he kissed her so softly their lips barely made contact. When he pulled back, she leaned forward, looking for more. “Later.” Smiling at her growl of frustration, he gave her a nudge. “Go get your work done. I’ll be here when you’re finished.”

“Don’t get into mischief. Kate would never forgive me.”

“You’re already sleeping with the enemy. What other mischief could I get into that would top that?”

“I have a feeling you’re endlessly resourceful when it comes to mischief.”

“That hurts my feelings.”

“What
ever
.” She rolled her eyes and left him laughing in the living room as she sauntered into the kitchen.

Watching her go, he took a moment to appreciate the view of her very fine ass in tight denim. He’d wanted to see her out of the prim business suits she favored. He’d wanted to see her ass in denim. He’d wanted to see her relaxed and at ease. He’d gotten all of those things, but nothing could’ve prepared him for the many faces of Jill Harrington—relaxed, happy, sexy, aroused, sated, amused, annoyed, undone.
 

That last one had been tough on him. Seeing her upset over the mess her sister and his father had made of things had been hard to watch. He left her house and headed for the path that led toward Kate’s place. Knowing the diva wasn’t in residence gave him the freedom to poke around a bit.
 

Her home was gorgeous and sprawling, with windows of every shape and size. The A-frame log cabin must’ve been four thousand square feet, at the very least. What one person needed with all that space was beyond him, until he remembered Buddy once saying that Kate had built a recording studio at the house so she could spend more time at home.

Behind the house was a four-stall garage and beyond that he found stables. Anxious to see Thunder, he stepped inside and let his eyes adjust to the dim light.

“Help you with something?”

The voice behind him startled Ashton as he turned. “Hi, there. I’m Ashton Matthews, a friend of Jill’s.”

“Gordon, the groom.”

Ashton shook the older man’s outstretched hand. “Mind if I say hello to Thunder? He’s an old friend.”

“’Course not. Make yourself at home, son.”

“Thank you.”

“Third stall on the left.”

Ashton had already zeroed in on the dark, handsome thoroughbred that had once belonged to his father. He walked past a white horse and a chestnut roan before he got to Thunder’s stall.

“Hi, old guy.” Ashton held out his hand for Thunder to nuzzle. “Remember me?”

Thunder’s nicker made Ashton laugh. “Yeah, it’s been a while. Has Kate been taking good care of you?”
 

The question was rhetorical because he could see that Thunder had the biggest stall, a fresh lining of shavings, plenty of oats and water in his feed bin, and his coat shone from regular grooming.

As Thunder nuzzled his hand and then his face, a surge of emotion caught Ashton off guard. Seeing Thunder again took him right back to the dark days after his father and Kate got together, when his dad had lied to him about their relationship because he knew his son, older than the girl he was dating, wouldn’t approve.

Ashton vividly remembered the day he’d put all the pieces together and stormed into his father’s bedroom, catching him with Kate. He’d been blinded by anger and hurt. He’d said things his father never should’ve forgiven. He’d gone home and called Kate’s dad to tell him what was going on in Nashville. He’d hurt a lot of people with his impulsive actions.

A couple of days later, Kate had confronted him in the parking lot of the condo complex where they’d both lived. She’d looked at him with those distinctive blue eyes, which had been large and wounded.
 

“Why’d you have to call my dad?”
she’d asked.

“Why’d you have to screw mine?”

He winced, still ashamed after all this time that he’d said that to her. She’d been an eighteen-year-old girl and he a man of twenty-five. His father had raised him better than that, and the shame of it had stayed with him for a long time.

He’d been so angry at both of them—and so very hurt. The rift with his father had been the single most painful episode of his life. He’d been far too young when his mother died to remember the cataclysmic impact of her loss. But losing his dad, even for a short time, had devastated him. Nothing, not even the knowledge that his dad was back with Kate, could make him want to relive that dark period.

The chain of events that followed the breakup with Kate had led to his dad packing up and leaving Nashville for St. Kitts, where he’d lived ever since, far away from his only child. Ashton wondered if he’d still be an only child now that his dad and Kate were together again. She was a young woman who’d probably want kids of her own. Would his dad accommodate that? How did Ashton feel about baby siblings at his age?

“What do you think, Thunder? Should Dad and Kate have kids?”

Thunder nuzzled him, and Ashton would swear that the horse was all for the idea.

“Figures you’d take her side. You always did love her best.”

“’Scuse me,” Gordon said. “Thought you might like some carrots.”

Embarrassed to have been caught in a conversation with a horse, Ashton said, “We’d love some.” Ashton took the proffered carrots and held them up for Thunder to see. “Hungry?”

The horse snapped one of the carrots out of his hand before Ashton knew what hit him. “That was crafty,” he said, laughing. “I heard you were getting old. Not too old for hijinks, I see.”

Gordon laughed as he walked away. “There ain’t nothin’ old about that fella.”

The same might be said about his dad, Ashton thought. Even though he was in his mid-fifties now, he looked and acted like a much younger man. While Ashton wasn’t thrilled to hear that his dad and Kate were back together, he wanted his dad to be happy. And though the relationship had caused a lot of heartburn the first time around, standing before the horse they all loved, Ashton vowed to do his best to understand this time. He would try his hardest to be friendly to Kate and to welcome her into their lives.

Since he wanted his dad to do the same for him with Jill, how could he do any less for his dad? He fed the rest of the carrots to Thunder and ran a hand over the horse’s silky muzzle. “I’ll be back to see you again soon.”