One More Time (35 page)
“What about us?” Ibby sweetly asked.
Reaching over, I threaded our fingers together. As I pulled her hand to my lips, I kissed the rings I placed on her finger the day she became my wife. “I was thinking about how happy you make me.”
A smile appeared on her lovely face. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I expect you to show your happiness this weekend…All weekend long.”
“Oh, you do, do you?” I dropped her hand down and rubbed it against my already aching cock.
Her smile widened and she gave me a rub and a squeeze. “Yep, I most certainly do,” she rasped.
I smiled back. “Only thirty more miles and I’ll be more than happy to accommodate your every desire.”
She sobered for a second. “Before we get caught up in the weekend, I just wanted to say that even though we haven’t talked much about it, I didn’t want Dana dead.”
I squeezed her hand. “I know, baby. I didn’t either.” This made me think of something else. “Are you okay with Sally moving in with Sarah? Because you know she can stay with us.”
“I’ve told her she can stay. She says she needs her own space.”
I couldn’t say I blamed her. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Did you ever have feelings for Cas?”
She laughed. “How long have you wanted to ask that question?”
“Too long,” I muttered under my breath.
“I can hear you, you know,” she said through giggles of mirth. “And the answer is no, I did not have feelings for Cas….other than friendship and…empathy. I think something bad happened to him at some point.
I shot her a look. “Oh?”
“It wasn’t anything he said. It was the way he acted. I get the feeling someone close to him either left or died.” She shrugged. “Once Max figures out Cas has feelings for Sarah, though, there’s going to be hell to pay.”
I agreed with her. Max was not going to be happy when he discovered his baby sister and Cas. That is, if he didn’t already know.
Ellie and Joss were lounging around the pool when we arrived. Luckily, the girls had put us out in the pool house instead of in the main house with everyone else. Piper and Gage had rented a house down the street for their honeymoon, and Piper’s parents and two brothers were staying there from now until the wedding.
“Where are the guys?” I asked.
“They are playing Frisbee on the beach. We’re supposed to meet them out there as soon as Mac wakes from his nap,” Ellie answered.
We hadn’t seen everyone since the night after Ibby got out of the hospital. With the whole Dooley episode finally closed out, Dana six feet under and Jimmy disbarred and in jail, we could all finally relax. Cas skipped out early that night, but everyone else came over to the house for dinner and a hilarious game of Cards Against Humanity.
Ibby and I quickly unpacked our things. Then we slipped on our suits and joined the ladies by the pool. We decided not to announce we were married or that Ibbs was pregnant until after Piper and Gage’s wedding. We knew we would probably be outed once someone saw our rings or heard Ibby turn down an alcoholic beverage, but we were not going to make a big deal about it and distract from Piper and Gage’s special moment.
Ibby was in the water with her elbows resting on the side of the pool talking to Joss about Sally riding down with Bobby later this afternoon.
“I really think they’re just friends,” Ibby said.
“I think he’s boning her,” Joss replied.
Ibby laughed and I kissed the back of her shoulder. She did a full body shiver and I fought back a moan. I was standing with my front tightly pressed to her back with one hand resting on the side of the pool near her elbow and the other rubbing over her belly. Every few minutes, I would pull her back against me and let her feel how hard I was for her. Each time I did this she would suck in a deep breath and rub her sweet ass up and down my rigid length. Damn, but it was starting to hurt.
“Dillon Whitaker! What is on your finger?” Ellie shouted from across the pool.
Isabella and I both froze.
“When in the hell did you two get hitched?” Joss squealed.
I felt Isabella tense and instinctively moved protectively against her. “You remember when I surprised Ibbs with that trip to Vegas a few weekends ago? Well, that wasn’t the only surprise.” For a moment you could have heard a pin drop.
“It’s not like I wasn’t going to say yes,” Isabella defensively stated. “I mean, have you seen him?” She pointed her thumb over her shoulder at me.
“We would have come,” Ellie quietly said. It took a minute for me to realize her feelings were hurt.
Before I could respond, Ibby jumped in. “Honey, we just wanted to get married as soon as possible. That’s all. It wasn’t about who was or wasn’t with us, it was about seizing the moment, grabbing each other with both hands and never letting go.”
“Well, I can certainly understand that,” Ellie said, somewhat mollified. Breaking the tension, Mac announced the end of his nap from inside and Ellie went to check on him.
“I gotta pee,” Joss said and headed after Ellie. Ibby and I were left alone in the pool. “Well, that went well,” she sarcastically stated.
Pulling her to me, I sucked on the back of her neck and she moaned.
Just loud enough for her ears, I said, “I want to bend you over and take you right here.”
“The pool house door has a lock on it,” she replied.
“Turn around,” I said. As soon as I had her facing me, I gave her a peck on the lips and lifted her up onto the side of the pool. She quickly scrambled to her feet and took off for the pool house. Not wasting any time, I lifted myself out and followed.
As I entered the pool house, I could hear Ibby in the bedroom. Locking the door, I headed in that direction. The main house was right off the beach. From the pool house bedroom, we could see the ocean, but the windows were tinted dark enough that no one could see us. It was perfect. Ibby had lowered the windows and the ocean breeze was blowing in through the screens. I watched her strip out of her bikini and again was overcome with how much love I had for her.
“Never leave me,” I said.
She paused. “What?”
“I said, never leave me.”
She smiled. “I hate to break it to you, hot stuff, but you are stuck with me for better or for worse.”
“Promise?”
Crossing the room, she stood directly in front of me. “Dillon, what is this about?”
“Promise me,” I repeated.
“I swear, I will never leave you,” she said.
Cupping the back of her neck, I pulled her to me. Before I could kiss her, she dropped to her knees and began sliding down my swim trunks.
Christ, after wanting her all day, there’s no way I’ll last with her mouth on me.
She lightly trailed her finger from the tip to the base of my screamingly hard cock and I shivered with anticipation. Gripping the base with her hand, she lowered her mouth and took me in. I fought the urge to come on the spot.
“Baby, I want inside you,” I rasped. She answered with a flick of her tongue and a twist of her wrist. Not able to stand on my feet any longer, I pulled out of her mouth and dropped to my knees. Before she could latch her wicked lips back on my cock, I pulled her to me and lowered us to carpeted floor. “Wrap your legs around my waist,” I told her. As she complied, I ran my tongue from her ear, down her neck and around one of her hard nipples. She arched her back and moaned, but I wasn’t ready to give it to her just yet. Using my hands and mouth, I worked her into a frenzy. When I had her begging for it, I entered her and together we both let out groans of pleasure. The only thing I could focus on was the way she felt around me. This woman was finally mine, and only mine.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Sapphire eyes stared up at me, filled with so much love and trust. Suddenly, I needed this moment to be about more than getting us both off. I needed her to understand her love had saved me. Lowering onto my elbows, I slowed my thrusts and stared into her eyes.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I love you, Isabella Whitaker.” Slowly I moved in and out of her.
She wound her fingers through my hair. “I love you too, Dillon Whitaker.”
“I’m going to love you until the day I die,” I whispered.
Her eyes welled with tears. “I’m going to hold you to that,” she whispered back.
As I lowered my head and took her mouth she made that sexy-as hell noise in the back of her throat. The slow burn I had been feeling all morning suddenly caught fire and blazed. Ibby wrapped her legs around my back and I planted myself deep inside her body. Slowly, I pulled out and thrust back in. I stared into her eyes, willing her to know the depths of my heart. A stray tear trickled down her cheek and I knew she understood. Not able to help myself, I kissed her again. As she moaned against my lips and tightened around me, I knew she was close. So was I.
“Dillon,” she gasped.
“Let go,” I whispered. Her body shook with her orgasm and I was right there with her.
When we returned to earth, we were both out of breath and sweaty. The sound of someone knocking on the door made us both jump.
“Hey!” Joss yelled through the door. “Quit scromping and get out here, so we can finally go to the beach.”
“Joss!” Ellie shouted. “Maybe they want to be alone right now?” Joss muttered something and they both laughed.
“Be there in five!” I yelled. I gave Ibby one last kiss before getting up and putting my suit back on.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. Most of the time I hung with Ibbs and the girls, but every now and then I would play a game of catch or Frisbee with the guys. We were all together and happy. There were no longer any signs of stress between Max and Ellie, and Joss no longer looked as if she could hurl at any second. Piper and Gage couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. Hell, even Cas and Sarah seemed to be getting along.
That night, we all dressed up and walked to a luxurious hotel on the beach called The Sanctuary for the rehearsal dinner. After, we came back to the house, threw on casual clothes and headed to the beach for a celebratory bonfire. In the middle of making S’mores and drinking champagne, Ibby’s pregnancy was outed.
“So, Isabella, are you going to tell us why you aren’t drinking alcohol tonight?” Piper drunkenly asked. Gage put his hand over her mouth and rolled his eyes.
Ibby was sitting in my lap and I felt her entire body tense up. “Uhhhhh,” she said.
“Please tell me you’re preggers,” Joss said.
Ibby’s head turned. As her eyes hit mine I shrugged. She let out a big sigh and said, “We just found out and didn’t want to say anything until after the wedding.” Everyone cheered and she relaxed back into me. “Glad that went better than the first time,” she quietly said. I had to agree.
The next morning we hit the ground running. Ibby and the girls went to the spa while the guys went skeet shooting.
“I, for one, am glad the bitch is dead,” Cas said. We were talking about what happened with Dana.
“I can’t say I’m sad to see her gone,” Max agreed. This led to us heckling Max about his psycho stalker, Priscilla.
While Max and Ellie were apart, he hooked up with a woman named Priscilla. Max made it very clear he didn’t want a relationship, but Priscilla wouldn’t listen. To get Max away from Ellie, Priscilla attempted to burn down the MMG in Kentucky. When that didn’t work, she showed up in Charlotte and tried to break Max and Ellie up. In the end, her dad had to come to Charlotte to retrieve her. The last we heard, she was in a facility in Kentucky seeking psychiatric help.
“What’s up with you and Sarah?” Kurt asked Cas.
Cas’ eyes shot to Max.
“Can’t wait to hear this one,” Max said with a wry smile.
Cas shrugged and said, “Nothing. We just see things differently.”
“What things?” Max asked.
Cas shrugged again. Luckily, Max decided to let it drop.
We made it back to the house for lunch and then had to start getting ready. Piper and Gage didn’t know Ibby and I were going to sing two of their favorite songs during the reception, and we needed to get ready early so we could check out the stage.
The groomsmen were all to wear khaki dress pants, blue and white striped dress shirts, a light yellow tie and a navy blazer. I was already in the main house when Ibby appeared and I almost swallowed my tongue when I saw her. She had on a yellow strapless dress with sexy-as-hell yellow and white heels. Her hair was down and her skin was glowing from the sun. The caveman in me growled.
Mine
.
Resisting the urge to rush her back to the room and have my wicked way with her, I held out my hand. “Shall we?”
Her face lit with a beautiful smile. “We shall.”
At five p.m. Miss Piper O’ Connell became Mrs. Piper Blackwell. She was the happiest I had ever seen her. Gage was proud to be the cause of it.
An hour into the reception, Ellie gave me the head nod. I grabbed Ibbs from some lecherous geezer friend of Piper’s parents and headed to the hallway where we were supposed to hide.
“I’m going to strip that dress from your body and nail you in those heels later tonight,” I told her as we waited to be introduced.
“Promise?” she asked.
The door opened and Ellie said, “Showtime.”
Smiling, I grabbed Ibby’s hand and led her onto the make-shift stage where I sang
Just Breathe
and she sang
The Story
. As she finished, everyone cheered and screamed for more.
“Our eyes met and held.
Every ounce of my heart is devoted to this woman.
“One more time?” I asked. She smiled, and we launched into an encore.
R.B. Hilliard grew up in both Texas and North Carolina. Before writing books, she was a language therapist and preschool teacher. She is currently living in Charlotte, North Carolina with her family. Her MMG Series consist of: His End Game, Not Letting Go and One More Time.
Here’s how you can connect with R.B.
www.goodreads.com/author/show/7857834.R_B_Hilliard