Love on a Summer Night (28 page)

He was quiet beside her for a moment, maybe letting her process it, then he squeezed her hand. “You trust me?”

“With everything,” she whispered, leaning into him. She brushed her lips against his jaw, then gasped as he slid his hands between her legs—and quickly reached around her hip with the other and tugged, pulling a length of rope taut against her sex for a moment before sliding it carefully around one thigh.

Looking down, Faith’s heart rate sped up. “A sling harness?”

“You’ll be fine.” His voiced purred as he looped the rope around her thighs, waist and hips, fashioning a perfectly fitted harness that had the neat side effect of turning her into a pile of goo.

“I know.” Her voice shook, but not from fear. She inhaled roughly as he tested the tautness of the rope, sliding his hand between the loops and her body.
 

He tugged again, tightening it a bit further, then tied it off. His knuckles rubbed against her waist as he moved around her body and she swayed against him.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and he stopped behind her, his breath warm against her hair. He swept her ponytail out of the way and kissed the back of her neck. Shivers raced up and down her spine.

Settling his hands on her waist, he brought his lips to her ear. “Look up,” he said quietly. “See that? Anything is possible. You want to rappel? We’ll find a tower for you to bound down.”

She laughed. “Bounding is dangerous.”

He mock-growled in her ear. “Just when I think you couldn’t get any hotter, you go and spout rappelling safety at me.” He kissed her neck before continuing. “This isn’t a test of anything, babe. It’s just fun. Do whatever you want. Or don’t. Climb up there and chuck the rope at my head if you want. Okay?”

She nodded. She definitely wanted to do more than that. Every last nerve in her body was twitching at the memory of leaning out over the open air and stepping into nothingness.

“I asked Tom to help us,” he continued, turning her so they were facing each other again. “Do you want him up top, or on the ground?”

If she could clone Zander and put him in both places, that would be her first choice. But since she had to pick… “I want you on the ground, guiding me. I can step off no problem.”

“How long has it been?”

“Since before Eric was born. Six years, maybe?”

“Like riding a bike.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, but she was game to try.

Behind them, a cabin door slapped shut, and they turned to greet Tom.

He winked at her and Zander growled. She pinked up. “Thank you for helping me,” she murmured.

“My pleasure,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

“Don’t flirt with my girlfriend.”

“That’s going to be hard,” Tom said, stressing the last word like a teenage boy. “Considering I have to check her harness and get her hooked up to the ropes.”

Zander pulled her close. “On second thought, maybe I should be up top with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “And then I get to give my celebratory kiss to Tom at the end?”

He gave her a tap on the ass. “Good point. Up you go.”

At the top of the climbing tower, Tom did all the work, and as soon as they were out of Zander’s sight, he dropped the teasing flirting. Instead, he was the consummate professional, casually asking about her climbing history as he surreptitiously assessed her ability. When he was satisfied, he hooked her harness to the ropes with a rappelling device and tossed the ropes down to Zander.

“Minelli on belay,” Zander called from below. He’d wrapped the trailing ends of the rope around his back and was grinning up at her.

Letting out a shaky breath she leaned back into the L-shaped position that she did in fact remember, muscle-memory kicking in, and with her heart in her throat, she took her first step down the wall with her brake-hand firmly in place.

Her head swam with nerves. She took another deep breath and closed her eyes. Legs straight. Full-sole contact at all times. Three, two, one… She extended her brake hand to the side, letting herself walk down the wall, descending a few feet. Then she brought her arm in, braking to a stop again.

“Okay?” Zander called up, and she nodded.

“Just testing it out!” She wouldn’t stop again, and wouldn’t hold the rope close to her side, because she didn’t want to burn out her sling harness. Not after Zander did such a perfect rigging job to begin with—and because she was, above all else, safety conscious.

And she could still do this.

Her heart sang and she looked behind her, seeing where she was going. There was nothing worse than getting yelled at for almost running into something, or someone, because you weren’t paying attention.

When she swung her braking arm wide again, she let herself race down the tower, and the ground was coming up fast, but then Zander must have run back a bit, braking the ropes for her, because she slowed right up. Her feet bounced on the ground, then she put her hands in the air and somehow managed to run backwards, right off the ropes. Oh yeah, she remembered all of this.

She whooped and jumped into Zander’s arms, kissing his face all over. She nibbled on his jaw and sucked on his lower lip, and when Tom spoke behind them, she laughed and buried her face in Zander’s neck.

“Definitely good that I stayed on the ground,” he said in her ear.

“We going again?” Tom asked.

What kind of question was that?

“Hell yes,” Faith said, her voice breathless and her heart pounding. She grabbed Zander’s hand and looked deep into his eyes. “Thank you.”

The love she saw shining back at her made her want to cry and laugh and jump in the air.

She was the luckiest woman in the entire world.

— TWENTY-FOUR —

C
HRISTMAS with the Minellis was interesting. They all went to Mass on Christmas Eve, for one thing.

Faith had to give Eric a quick primer on faith and being respectful of other people’s beliefs before they went, but he loved it and she found herself promising they’d come back.

And unlike every other Minelli get together, it wasn’t loud. It was like there was a twenty-four moratorium on sibling teasing and mother-button-pushing.

Some of that might have been about the brand new baby in the midst. Olivia had given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Sophia Grace, at the end of November. Faith had gotten in a sweet snuggle before Mass, and so had Zander and Eric. They were all in love with her dusting of dark brown hair and her tiny cupid’s bow mouth.

Faith tried hard not to listen to her ovaries when Zander stood up and started rocking Sophie when she fussed.

It was hard.

She distracted herself with wine and reminded herself that pregnant women didn’t get
that
.
But they get babies
, her ovaries protested.

After Mass, they drove home to Tobermory. Another new tradition was that Zander wanted each of them to open one present before they all tucked into bed. She’d fretted over what to get him for weeks—Christmas morning was no problem, because she could give him a bunch of presents that all connected into an awesome theme. But one gift? That was special and meaningful?

She wracked her brain for ideas. He had changed her life so much, breathed new life into her heart and soul. She wanted to give him something that promised she’d give back that positive energy ten-fold.

When she stumbled on the perfect idea, it came with its own set of complicating factors.

How to give it to him, for example.

Miriam started a kettle for hot chocolate as Eric bounced up and down the hallway, trying like mad to usher everyone into the living room. But Zander’s special present wasn’t under the tree—it was outside.

“Babe, can you get some wood from the back deck for the stove?” It was a shallow ruse, because the few times they used the wood stove, it quickly got so warm in the kitchen that Faith opened the windows.

Zander didn’t notice. He grabbed his boots and out he went.

The silence stretched on for a few seconds, then he reappeared in the doorway, holding his brand new kayak.

“Merry Christmas,” she said softly.

“I’m bringing it inside,” he threatened, his eyes twinkling.

“Of course.” She laughed as Eric tried to climb into it before it was even settled on the carpet in front of the tree.

Zander grabbed three presents from under the tree and handed them out before kissing Faith gently on the lips.
 

“Thank you,” he said, cupping her cheek. Their gazes locked. She’d tried to say so much with the kayak.
Be adventurous. Look, two seats. First of many steps.
The look in his eyes said he understood. “Now it’s your turn.”

She wiped away a surprise tear and gestured at her mother and Eric. “You guys go first.”

Zander had gotten them both books—a cookbook for Miriam, signed by the celebrity chef author, and
The Dangerous Book for Boys
for Eric, which made Faith whimper a worried Mom-sound, but Zander made Eric repeat the inscription after him.

For Eric, who has a wonderful, adventurous spirit—and who will never forget to remember to ask permission and stay safe. Love, Zander

“Remember, bud. There’s a lot of fun to be had in life. And we only get to do it if Mommy’s content and happy, right?”

“Right.”

Zander pulled Eric into his lap and opened the book. “Here, read about slingshots while your mom opens her present.”

Faith ran her fingers over the gift. It was something hard and flat inside the wrapping paper.

Inside she found a black leather case, and when she lifted the lid, she gasped at the sight of a silver charm bracelet. One charm hung from it—a silver quill that dangled delicately as she picked it up.

“Oh, Zander, it’s gorgeous.”

He kissed her cheek, then her mouth again. “I’m testing the jewellery waters,” he whispered as she slipped it on her wrist.

“Good test,” she whispered back.

Miriam made them all hot chocolate then, and they put out a tray for Santa and the reindeer in front of the cold wood stove. “Wouldn’t want to burn Santa’s toes anyway,” Faith pointed out.

Once their mugs were empty, they all went to bed. Miriam to her room, Eric to his, and finally Faith and Zander to their room.

It was still the same as it had been when it was just her room. Other than an increased number of black t-shirts in the laundry basket and a second dresser squeezed along the far wall, he hadn’t changed anything. But in six short weeks—or four long months, if she counted from the week they’d met—he’d imprinted himself everywhere.

She turned the lock as Zander started to strip out of his clothes. They had this routine now—she’d lock the door when they came to bed, and he’d make sure it was unlocked before they fell asleep. He always left the door cracked open for Eric to crawl in with them, which he rarely did, but it made Faith feel better knowing that option was there.

Silently she followed Zander’s lead, getting all the way naked. She didn’t bother with lingerie. After she hung up her bracelet in a place of honour on her jewellery tree, she crawled onto the bed and into Zander’s arms.

He set a slow, exploratory pace, touching her all over but avoiding all the spots that would get her really revved up. She reached for his erection and he firmly removed her hand from the vicinity. “Let me just…” He ducked his head and drew the tip of one breast into his mouth.

She groaned at the tug, deep inside her.

“Yes.” He grinned up at her. “Let me just make you do that a few times before you touch me tonight.”

Cupping her breasts, he plumped them together and went back and forth until she was restless.
 

He slid his hands down her sides, shaping her waist and lifting her up to meet his wonderful, questing mouth that seemed intent on loving every inch of her tonight. He even rubbed his finger over her c-section scar as he settled between her legs. She squirmed, suddenly uncomfortable with his inspection, but his touch was gentle. Loving.

She still pulled away. A reflex that he calmly ignored as he chased her, gripping her hips firmly and pressing his lips to her lower belly. “Don’t hide from me.”

“I’m not hiding.”

“There isn’t an inch of your body that I don’t love, woman.”

“I know.”

“Then what is it?”

She sighed. They never talked about Greg, and right before sex probably wasn’t a good time to bring him up. “A conversation for another time, probably.”

“There is nothing you can say that will make me want you less.” He nuzzled the soft skin below her navel. “I might tell you that you’re silly, though.”

“On this point, I most definitely am.” She ran her fingers through his dark hair and tried to refocus. “Thank you for my bracelet, again. It’s beautiful.”

“Like you.”

“Stop.” She laughed as he nipped at her hip, then returned to her scar. So they weren’t avoiding it, after all.

“This is how you had Eric?”

She squirmed and nodded.

“Were you awake when he was born?”

Another nod.
 

“Tell me about it.”

“Another time.”

He nipped her skin again. “Now.”

She sighed. Zander always got his way. And it was a wonderful memory. “It was pretty amazing, that moment when the doctor lifted him up over the surgical draping and my baby gave his first yell. He was all red and super mad.”

“No kidding. He’d just been ripped from his beautiful mom.”

“Enough talk about my kid,” she whispered, but she didn’t mean it. She loved that Eric was always a part of their conversations, that Zander loved her child as much as he loved her. “What’s brought on all the questions, anyway?”

He traced his thumb lightly over the knotted tissue one more time before crawling up her body and turning them together on the bed. His arms pinned hers together, holding her right in front of his face. His very serious face. “Would you want more?”

“Babies?”

“Don’t sound so shocked.”

“You want babies?”

“Hell yeah. At least one. I’ve got the big kid. But I missed out on the sleeping baby on my chest while I watch football stage. I hear that’s pretty good.”