Chapter 7 #4
“I know.” She wrapped her arms around him, holding his head against her chest. He was so much bigger than her that she often felt delicate and fragile next to him. Now, however, he was fragile, and she was determined to support him. “I love you, too. I love how much you love all of us.”
“I love you all too much.”
She released her tight hold so she could see him. “No such thing.”
His smile softened his expression as he framed her face with his big hands. “Prettiest girl I ever met,” he said. When he kissed her, he kept his eyes open.
Moved by his words as much as the gentle slide of his lips, Linda looped her arms around his neck and let him take them both away from it all. So much for her plans to care for him. He took over, removing the bra and panties with practiced skill.
As he kissed his way down the front of her, he said, “You know what I think about all the time?”
“What?” Linda said, gasping from the tug of his lips on her nipple.
“What would’ve become of me if you hadn’t given up your fancy life in the city to come to my island to be with me?”
She fisted a handful of his hair, arching her back to get closer to him. “What choice did I have? I was head over heels in love. Still am.”
“With me?” he asked, looking at her with blue eyes that danced with mischief. The relief at seeing his vivacity returning after the terrible fright they’d sustained made her want to weep. Instead of tears, though, she went with humor.
“With your island.”
He let out a grunt of protest and dug his fingers into her sides, tickling her as he drew hard on her nipple.
The combination had Linda tightening her hold on his hair, torn between laughter and screaming from the pleasure. “Mac! Stop! I can’t take that.”
He tugged again on her nipple, gentler but still insistent. “Tell me who you were in love with.”
“You, God, only you. I was in love with you from the first second I ever laid eyes on you.”
He scooped her up effortlessly, drawing her in tight against him as he thrust into her.
His strength had always been a huge turn-on for her, never more so than right now when he held her so tightly, controlling their every move.
She loved the way he dominated her in bed but let her dominate him the rest of the time. The dynamic had worked well for them for nearly forty years, and as Linda gave herself over to the pleasure, she could only hope they had many more years to spend together.
“God, Lin,” he said, shuddering. “That’s so good. So good.”
It had always been so good, she thought, as she peppered his face with kisses.
He turned his head slightly, enough to join their lips. “So glad you picked me, babe.”
“As if there was any choice.”
“You could’ve had anyone.”
“I only ever wanted you.”
“Luckiest guy who ever lived.”
And then there were no more words as he let his body speak for him, loving her so completely and so thoroughly that Linda was left spent and gasping when it was over.
“Whoa,” he said after a long period of breathy silence. “We still got it, huh?”
Linda released a shaky laugh. “Sure do.”
He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “We’ve been so lucky, you and me. Great kids, great business, great friends, great home, great life. Last week I thought our luck had finally run out.”
Linda turned on her side to face him. “It hasn’t run out, and it isn’t all luck. A lot of it was hard work and good parenting.”
“True, but still… How lucky do any two people have a right to be?”
“You have to stop thinking about it, Mac. You have to find a way to put it behind you. We all do.”
“I’m trying, babe. Believe me. It’s the last freaking thing I want to be thinking about, and yet there it is, all day every day, taunting me with the reminder of how very close we came to losing so much.”
Determined to keep him distracted, she crawled on top of him and reached over to the bedside table drawer where she’d stashed the vibrating “doohickey” she’d bought at Tiffany’s store.
Her husband’s eyes lit up when he saw what she had in her hand.
“What’re you about, my love?”
“I remember a time,” Linda said, sprinkling his chest with kisses, “when partying wasn’t the only thing that kept us up all night. Remember that first summer we were married, before Mac was born?”
He massaged her shoulders, working his way down her back to cup her bottom. “Oh, yeah. That was the best summer ever.”
“It sure was.” She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “What do you say we make this the best summer ever?”
“Would this best summer ever include that thing in your hand and whatever else Tiffany thinks we shouldn’t live without?”
Linda howled with laughter. And she’d thought he’d be resistant to toys in their bedroom. How wrong she’d been about that. “Whatever you want.”
His strong arms came around her, crushing her to him. “I like the sound of that.”
“Everything is going to be okay, Mac.”
“It will be as long as I have you.”
Linda took a moment to enjoy the sweet warmth of his embrace before she wriggled free and set out to take his mind off his worries for a little while longer.