Love After Dark (32 page)

“Mmm, so okay. Never been better.”

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. He let his fingers slide into the deep valley between her cheeks, drawing a gasp of surprise followed by a moan of pleasure from her when he encountered the abundant proof of her arousal. Hooking his arm around her waist, he drew her up to her knees and put two pillows under her hips.

“P-Paul, what’re you doing?”

“Relax, sweetheart. I’m taking care of you. Just let go and enjoy.” Mindful of her soreness, he gently ran his fingers over her clit, retreating to slide them into her and then repeating it again and again. Then he added his tongue, pressing it to her clit as he pushed his fingers into her.

She exploded, crying out as the orgasm hit her hard and fast.
 

He stayed with her until the contractions eased and he retreated slowly as the aftershocks made her tremble. “Ready to do the front now?”

Hope released a tremulous laugh. “I’m ready to sleep for about twelve hours after that.”

He removed the pillows and helped her turn over.

Looking up at him with eyes gone liquid with satisfaction, she offered a tentative smile. “You give a great massage.”

“It’s my happy endings special.”

When she laughed, her whole body got in on it, and a deep sense of longing overtook him. He wanted to make her laugh every day for the rest of their lives, if only she would let him.
 

“What are you thinking right now?” she asked. “You look so serious.” With her hair spread out on the pillow and her face flushed from her orgasm, she was more beautiful than she’d ever been before.

“That I like to hear you laugh.”

“It’s nice to have something to laugh about again. Something other than the antics of a seven-year-old boy, which can be quite funny.”

“I want to keep making you laugh after we get home.”

“That would be nice.”

He started at her feet this time, massaging her legs and giving extra attention to her inner thighs, which she’d mentioned earlier were sore from what they’d done yesterday. With her legs spread before him, it took every bit of self-control he could summon to stay focused on the massage and not the throbbing need that pulsed through him with almost painful intensity.
 

Skipping her core, he slid his oiled hands over her belly, drawing a sharp inhale from her when his thumbs caressed her hipbones. She was writhing again by the time he got to her breasts.

“Paul…”

“What, sweetheart?”

“I want you.”

“You have me. I’m right here with you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

She held out her arms to him, and he went willingly to her. “I want you inside me.”

“You’re too sore.”

“You’d go slow, right?”

“We could go slow.” What did it say about him that he was so desperate for her that he let her talk him into making love when he’d planned to let her rest and recover from what they’d already done? Despite his reservations, he found himself removing his bathing suit and coming down on top of her.

She wrapped her arms around him and released a sigh that sounded like relief to him.

Her oil-slick skin heated on contact with his body, which was the hottest fucking thing he’d ever experienced until he began to enter her. That was hotter. She was so wet but also so tight, and he was forced to go so slowly, lest he hurt her. It was pure torture of the best kind, and it didn’t help that she moved beneath him like a sexy siren determined to have her wicked way with him.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not too bad.”

“That’s not no.”

“It burns a little, but that’s because of you, not me.”

He stopped moving and looked down at her. “Because of me?”

“You’re big, Paul. Like you didn’t know that already.”

Unfortunately, her words only made him bigger, which drew a groan from her. “Note to self, never mention he’s big when he’s trying to get inside you.” Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. “Stop! I can’t take any more!”

He grinned at the face she made at him. “Then you need to stop talking dirty to me, baby.”

Her fingers dug into the muscles of his back as he entered and retreated over and over again until she finally relaxed and allowed him in.
 

“Ahhh, God, that feels so good,” he whispered into her neck, making her shiver. Her muscles pulsed and rippled around his cock, which nearly finished him off before he’d even gotten started. “Can I talk dirty to you?”

“If you must…”

“How dirty am I allowed to get?”

“As dirty as you want.”

She had no idea what she was asking for. With his lips nearly touching her ear, he said, “You have the tightest, hottest, wettest pussy. I love the way you grab hold of my cock and squeeze me so hard.”

Her inner muscles contracted around him.
 

“Christ,” he said through gritted teeth. “Do that again.” She did it again and again, and the sensations triggered his inner beast, making him forget all about his plans to go easy on her. He started to move, giving her the deep thrusts that she’d loved so much last night.
 

“
Yes
,” she whispered. “Don’t stop.”

“I’ll never stop.” He slid his hands under her, gripping her ass in both hands as he let loose. “Feels so fucking good.”

Her thighs tightened around his hips, and the spasm of her inner muscles let him know she was close, so he went for broke, drawing another keening cry of completion from her. That was quickly becoming his most favorite sound in the world, he thought, as he went deep one more time and lost himself in her as she clung to him.

“Hope… God…” He wanted to tell her he was falling in love with her. He wanted to tell her he wanted a life with her and Ethan. He wanted to tell her everything, but he held back. More than anything, he was afraid to scare her away, so he bit his tongue for now. But eventually, when she was ready, he would tell her everything.

The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts. He took the call from the hospital.
 

“Mr. Martinez, the doctor would like to meet with you tomorrow at eleven if that’s convenient.”

“I’ll be there.”

With those three words, reality returned to remind him that this time away with Hope had been a mere interlude. The real challenge would begin when they returned home.
 

Chapter 21

Mac and Maddie had breakfast at the South Harbor Diner and then took the stairs behind the diner to Dan Torrington’s new office. Wearing a pink polo shirt with plaid shorts and loafers, Dan met them in the reception area.

Mac cringed at his friend’s flashy outfit. “
The Preppy Handbook
called. They want their cover model back.”

“Ha-ha, very funny. A man has a bit of style, and this is the abuse he takes.”

“If you want to call that style…”

“Be nice, Mac,” Maddie said. “We’re here because we need his help.”

“Come on in.” Dan led them into his office in which a desk sat amid boxes in various stages of unpacking. “Sorry for the mess. My stuff from LA arrived on Friday, and I haven’t had a chance to do much with it.”

“So this is an official move, huh?” Mac asked as he took one of the visitor chairs and Maddie took the other.

“Looks that way. I’m keeping my office in LA, but this is where Kara wants to be, so it’s where I want to be, too.” He offered a sheepish grin and a shrug. “Plus, I seem to have a practice here since Jim Sturgil was charged with a felony.” He held up the hand that bore a healing pink scar across the palm where Jim had sliced him with a carving knife during Dan and Kara’s engagement party.
 

“I still can’t believe he did that,” Maddie said. “He’s lost his mind.”

“He stands to lose a lot more than that,” Dan said. “My contact in the attorney general’s office tells me they’re going for prison time for the assault with a deadly weapon charge.”

“Wow,” Maddie said on a long exhale. “Poor Ashleigh. How could he do this to his daughter?”

Mac took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze. Jim Sturgil had done a lot of things to his wife and daughter that Mac couldn’t believe, beginning with leaving them in an empty house after he moved out and took most of what they’d owned with him. The assault on Dan, whom he’d accused of ruining his law practice, was the latest in a long string of bad moves by his former brother-in-law. Thank goodness Tiffany was happily remarried to Blaine Taylor now, and Ashleigh would have Blaine’s influence in her life growing up.

“So you’re here for estate planning.” Dan shuffled some papers on his desk. “I’ll confess that I haven’t done much of that since my first years out of law school, but I’m hoping it’ll be like riding a bike. I printed out some worksheets to get you started. You’ll have to list assets and other tangible property.”

“We’re mostly concerned about making sure our kids are taken care of,” Maddie said.

“After what happened to Lisa Chandler, it’s on our minds,” Mac added.

“You’re not alone in that,” Dan said. “I’ve gotten quite a few calls from other parents with the same concerns. Looks like I’m about to get back up to speed on estate planning right quick.” He reviewed the worksheets in depth with them, highlighting the areas he needed them to complete before their next meeting. “It’s all pretty straightforward.”

“Except for the part about who we want to get our kids if the worst should happen,” Maddie said. “That’s not straightforward at all.”

“What’s the issue?” Dan asked.

“We have too many candidates,” Mac said.

“That’s not a
bad
problem to have,” Dan said.

“No, but we’re concerned about causing divisiveness in our family by choosing one sibling over another,” Maddie said. “How do people handle that?”

“One thing I’d suggest is to decide on who you want and speak to that person and only that person about what you’re asking of them,” Dan said. “Make sure they fully understand what they’d be taking on and that they’re willing. After we make it legal, you don’t need to ever speak of it again. There’s a very good chance no one else will ever know who you chose. Or at least we hope that’s the case.”

“I like that,” Mac said. “Why would anyone else need to know as long as the person or couple we choose knows?” Speaking directly to Dan, he said, “You have a way of making sure that everyone involved understands that whatever we decide is what we wanted for them, right?”

“Yep. We’ll sew it up nice and tight so there’s no room for interpretation.”

Maddie glanced at him, her golden-brown eyes seeing right through him as usual. God, he loved that face, those eyes, those lips, the way she looked at him with love—except for when he was exasperating her, which was often. He could tell the conversation was distressing her, so he decided to wrap it up.
 

“This is a great start, Dan,” Mac said. “We’ll get going on this and make an appointment for next week.”

“Let’s do that now while you’re here.”

After they set up their next meeting, Dan walked them out. “See you Saturday night at Paul’s party?”

“I’ll be there,” Mac said. “Did you hear what the girls are up to for Jenny’s bachelorette party?”

“No, what?”

“Strippers,” Mac said. “Male strippers.”

Dan’s mouth fell open. “No way.”

“Yes, way. They were all abuzz over it at my house the other night.”

Dan glanced at Maddie, who smiled and shrugged. “I know nothing.”

“She lies,” Mac said. “Right to my face.”

“Well,” Maddie said, “gotta go get the kids from my mom. Come on, Mac.” She took him by the hand and dragged him down the stairs while Dan laughed at them. They met up with his fiancée, Kara, as they emerged onto the sidewalk.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “Is he up there?”

“Yep,” Maddie said. “He’s all yours. See you Saturday night?”

Kara grinned widely. “Wouldn’t miss it.” She went inside, leaving them on the sidewalk.

Mac had a million things he needed to do, beginning with the job he had pending at Seamus and Carolina’s, but his top priority was looking up at him with amusement dancing in those beautiful eyes. “You’re not going to Jenny’s party if there’s going to be strippers there.”