Chapter 33 #2
That wave of nostalgia I’d been feeling for weeks, having him back, washed over me again when he pulled me into his familiar embrace.
“Gotta admit, I kinda hate this, chestnut,” he murmured softly in my ear, making my arms grow tighter.
“Part of me always hoped you’d come back.
Guess I’ve been waitin’ eleven years for a day that’s never gonna come. ”
He felt me tip my head and leaned back so he could look down at me. He really was so damn handsome. “I’m sorry, honey,” I returned softly.
He looked to Xander who was standing a yard away, giving me my time with my family. When his hazel eyes came back to me they were wistful but still smiling. “Don’t be sorry for findin’ yours, baby. Fuckin’ sucks it wasn’t me, but doesn’t mean I’m not still happy you got it.”
“You want it bad enough, honey, keep your eyes open, and you’ll find yours too.”
The wistfulness faded so he was flat-out grinning. “Maybe. But in the meantime, think I’ll enjoy the hell outta variety.”
He winked as I giggled, then moved away.
As I stood in Xander’s drive, watching my family head out, my man came up behind me and wrapped me in his strong, safe embrace. “You good, Shortcake?”
“Yeah,” I answered on a sigh, leaning back into him. “Sad, but good.”
“You know they’re welcome here any time.”
I turned in his arms and looked up with a smirk. “Even Cannon?”
I wasn’t blind; after that kiss in the hospital, I knew my ex-boyfriend was not my current boyfriend’s favorite person. I had to give him credit, he hid it well, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to have fun messing with him about it.
“Long as that fucker accepts he’s never gettin’ you back and doesn’t kiss you again, he’s welcome, just like the rest of them. But if he does, word of warnin’, Shortcake. They’ll never know it was me, ’cause they’ll never find his body.”
I burst into laughter, and when I was done, I looked up at him to see him smiling full-on down at me.
Damn, but I loved my man’s smile.
Three days later
My nails dug into the flesh at Xander’s back as my other arm shot up to brace against the headboard. My hips snapped up, meeting his as he drove his cock into me.
“Fuck,” he hissed, then ordered, “Baby, you gotta stop movin’. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
I’d been cleared for sex just the day before, with strict instructions from the doctor to take it as easy as possible, but sex with Xander was just too damn good, and I couldn’t help myself.
“Harder, baby,” I coaxed, lifting my head and trailing my tongue across his neck.
“Slow,” he countered, fighting back all his instincts to fuck me like I wanted and keep it slow and gentle. I loved slow and gentle, hell, I loved everything he did to me, but I wanted my man to lose control.
His head dipped down and his nose ran along the side of mine as he spoke against my lips. “Just feel me, Sage. Feel what you do to me, how fuckin’ hard you make me. Christ, I can’t get enough of you.”
“Xander.” That one word came out as a whimper as the tension in my core built and built. “Gonna come...” I threw my head back on a cry as my orgasm washed over me.
“Best I ever had,” he grunted as he picked up rhythm, chasing his own release. “Jesus, you feel so fuckin’ good.” He went over the edge with a low growl, his muscles locked tight as his cock twitched.
When he finally came down, he lowered gentle on top of me, giving me a slow, languid kiss that melted me into a puddle.
“Love you, Shortcake.”
I looked up at my man, the love of my life. “And I love you, too, big guy.” Reaching down, I gave his ass a smack and grinned. “Now get off me. I need to shower and get ready for work.”
With a deep chuckle, he rolled to his back, and I climbed out of the bed, moving across the room before stopping at the bathroom doorway to shoot him a heated look over my shoulder. “Well?” I asked when he continued to lay there and stare at my naked body. “You coming or what?”
That was all the invitation he needed. Jumping out of the bed, he booked it to me, lifted me off the ground, and seconds later, the two of us were in his big shower together.
“Hey, look who’s finally back!” Bryce called as Xander and I walked into Alpha Omega.
The guys were milling around Roxanne’s desk like they’d been waiting for me to arrive.
Linc came up and pulled me into a hug, muttering, “Welcome, back, sweetheart.”
I got more hugs from the other guys, but it was Bryce who scooped me up—carefully at Xander’s warning glare—and spun me in a circle.
“Good to have you back, gorgeous. None of these other bastards are fun to look at, and since Rox’s hooked up with your old man, she’s gotten boring as hell.”
“I heard that,” she grumbled as she rounded her desk and came up to hug me. “And just because you’re a pain in my ass, no staff meeting birthday cake when your week rolls around.”
Bryce lowered me back to the ground, and the moment my feet touched, Xander was there to tag my hand and pull me back into him while giving Bryce the evil eye.
He held his hands up in surrender. “Relax, brother. It’s all good. We know who she—”
His words came to an abrupt stop, and his whole body locked tight when something outside the front windows caught his eye.
We all turned in the direction he was staring to see a stunning woman with light brown hair walking by the building, her eyes to her phone, her face pinched in concentration. A moment later she came to a stop and looked up and around like she was lost.
“Fuck me,” Bryce said on an exhale.
“Bry?” I called, but he didn’t remove his stunned gaze from the window. “Do you know her?”
Instead of answering, he shoved through the guys at a fast clip and bolted out the doors.
We all watched, frozen in place, as Bryce ran after the woman.
The second he could reach it, he grabbed her arm, pulling her around fast enough to send her hair flying.
The instant her eyes landed on him they went wide with shock.
“Uh, Xander? Did I miss something pretty freaking huge while I was out?”
I glanced up to my man’s face to see he looked as confused as I felt. “Not that I know of.”
I went back to the window. Bryce moved in close, very close, and I saw his lips move as he spoke.
The woman stood motionless, the expression on her face like she’d just seen a ghost. A moment later, she wrenched her arm from his grasp and her mouth began to move at a rapid clip.
But where his words seemed as if they were spoken soft and sweet, hers did not.
Then, as quickly as she appeared, she was gone, leaving a stricken looking Bryce standing along on the sidewalk.
“Damn. You got any clue who that was, Shortcake?”
My mind flashed back to the conversation I’d had with Bryce when he informed me it took a special woman to love men like him.
“I think . . .” I turned away from the window, wanting to give my friend some privacy. “Honey, I think that might just be his past.”
And I had a sneaking suspicion that things in Hope Valley were about to get very interesting.