Chapter 2 #2
Before she could begin to formulate a reply to that, he was under the covers with her, drawing her nipple into the heat of his mouth with gentle tugs and soft strokes of his tongue.
Sarah wrapped her arms around his head, holding him to her chest even when she knew she ought to be pushing him away.
Her body couldn’t take any more of his brand of passion.
But even as she had the thought, her legs were wrapping around his narrow hips as he pressed his erection against her aching core.
As the mother of seven, she’d certainly had her share of sex. But there was no comparison whatsoever to what she’d done with her ex-husband and what she was apparently about to do again with Charlie.
“I won’t be able to walk for a week,” she said in a protest that sounded less than convincing even to her.
“Yes, you will. I’ll go easy.”
“You don’t know how to go easy.”
“It’s you… You make me crazy.”
“How do I make you crazy?”
“The way you look at me and the things you say to me and the way you want to take care of me. And then you get naked with me, and I can’t help that I want to devour you.”
Sarah finally opened her eyes and looked up at him in amazement. “Did you really ask me to marry you last night?”
“I really did, and you said yes, so you can’t take it back now.”
“I would never take it back.”
As he rocked his pelvis against hers, he cradled her head in his big hands and kissed her softly. “Your lips are swollen.”
“Gee, I wonder why?”
His face lifted into a grin full of male satisfaction.
“Don’t look so smug. You nearly broke me in half.”
He laughed again at the grimace she directed his way, but that didn’t stop him from pressing ever so gently into her. “I showed you hard and fast last night. Let me show you slow and sweet this morning.”
“I’m never going to survive you. Don’t you know I’m an old lady with seven grown children? I can’t be carrying on this way.”
“Yes,” he said with a low chuckle, “you can. And there’s nothing old about you. You’re beautiful and all mine.”
Sarah was mortified all over again when her eyes flooded with tears. Her emotions were hovering close to the surface after her son’s beautiful wedding and the life-changing night she’d spent with Charlie.
At the sight of her tears, Charlie froze. “Does it hurt, honey?”
“No. Well, sort of, but in a good way. Don’t stop.”
He kissed away the tear that rolled down her cheek. “Why the tears?”
“I’m so happy, Charlie. I had no idea that something like this, like you, even existed.”
“Aw, baby, hearing you’re happy is all I need.” He continued to move slowly and carefully as he made love to her.
Sarah reached up for him and brought him down for another kiss. She’d waited a long time to kiss him, and now she was addicted to his kisses. Her fingers dug into the taut muscles on his back.
“That’s it,” he whispered gruffly against her lips. “Scratch my back like you did last night. I love that.”
“God, you turned me into a madwoman.”
“I love that, too.”
“You’re out to embarrass me to death, aren’t you?”
“No way. I’m out to love you until death do us part, starting right now.”
He picked up the pace, stealing the words from her lips, the thoughts from her brain and the breath from her lungs.
As an innkeeper for most of her adult life, Adele Kincaid was an early riser. Even years after she and her husband had retired to Florida, she was still, as Russ would say, “up with the roosters” every day.
Being here, back at the Sand & Surf Hotel she and Russ had owned for more than five decades, felt like being home.
She’d forgotten how much she loved the old hotel, which had been brought lovingly back to life by Laura and Owen over the last year.
Adele was so proud of what the two of them had accomplished here, and deeply thrilled to see the boy she’d loved so much all his life settled with a woman who not only loved him passionately but also suited him perfectly.
If anyone deserved that kind of love more than Owen, she’d be hard-pressed to name him or her. Well, except maybe for his mother, Sarah. Her daughter was happily in love with a wonderful man after living through a nightmare with her abusive ex-husband who was now going to jail, where he belonged.
When Adele thought about what Mark Lawry had put his family through…
She was a peaceful woman, but left alone in a room with that monster, she might be tempted to commit murder.
Each of the seven Lawry kids bore scars from their upbringing.
Owen was the only one of them to find love and settle down.
Adele hoped he would be the first of them to take a chance on love, not the last.
Sitting on the hotel’s back deck with a cup of coffee, looking out over the wide expanse of water, she watched for the first ferry from the mainland that was due to arrive in South Harbor in twenty minutes.
The routine of island life was one that had suited her for many years, and she’d missed it during their time in Florida.
They’d moved there when their grandson Jeff had needed them after his suicide attempt.
There they’d been able to get him the medical attention he needed, the kind of help that wasn’t available on a small island like Gansett.
It had been the right thing to do at the time, but she was tiring of the incessant sun and the heat. She missed the New England seasons and the variety of weather that came with them. Perhaps it was time to speak to Russ about moving home.
She glanced at the cream vellum envelope sitting on a table next to her and smiled from the anticipation of presenting their wedding gift to Owen and Laura.
They were going to do it at brunch, and Adele was excited to see how they reacted.
She and Russ had talked it over and agreed it was the perfect gift for the happy couple.
Sipping her coffee, Adele breathed in the fragrant sea air and let the sun shine warm upon her face. The back deck of the Sand & Surf Hotel was, without a doubt in her mind, the most beautiful spot on the face of the earth.
On the beach below, Adele noticed her granddaughter Katie walking along the shoreline and was forced to relive the horror she’d witnessed the day before when Katie had nearly drowned after being caught in a riptide.
Adele had seen the whole thing unfold from her perch on the deck.
Before she could move to call for help, Shane had been there to save the day.
Watching both young people go down together had been one of the most heart-stopping moments of her life.
Again, they’d rallied while she’d remained frozen with fear and panic—a reaction she wasn’t proud of with hindsight.
The thought of that kind of tragedy befalling Owen and Laura on their wedding day, not to mention the rest of their family, reduced Adele to tears all over again.
Watching Katie walk on the beach, her blonde hair billowing in the summer breeze, Adele recalled the way Shane had carried her onto the beach, breathed life into her lungs and then held her while she sobbed in the aftermath of the frightening incident.
Adele didn’t know Shane all that well, but Laura had shared some of what he’d been through with his ex-wife. She’d watched him during the wedding and had been impressed with his obvious devotion to Laura and his nephew, Holden, who’d spent most of the wedding snuggled up to his Uncle Shane.
He was quiet and reserved compared to his far more boisterous McCarthy cousins.
Shane sat back and took it all in, participating, but not leading the charge.
Although, in that animated group, it was a challenge to get a word in edgewise.
He was handsome as could be with sun-streaked hair and a dark tan from working outside during the summer.
Adele had also tuned in to the way he watched Katie during the wedding.
He’d probably be surprised that anyone had noticed, as he’d been so subtle about it.
But every time she looked at him, he was looking at Katie.
As far as she knew, Katie had never had a boyfriend.
According to her twin, Julia, Katie had never been on a date.
Adele didn’t need a PhD in psychology to deduce it was because of her violent upbringing.
At some point, Katie must’ve decided it was easier to avoid men altogether than to encounter someone like her father.
Although Adele wasn’t one to meddle in the lives of her precious grandchildren, seeing Owen happy and settled with Laura had her wanting that for the others, too.
While Shane certainly had his own scars on his soul, perhaps the two of them would be good for each other.
Adele tapped her finger against her lip as she contemplated the possibility of them as a couple.
In light of what he’d been through with his wife, Adele wasn’t entirely convinced he’d be good for her Katie. But she planned to keep an eye on them for what remained of the weekend, and she also planned to talk to Russ about the possibility of moving home. It was time.