28. Gemma
“How about we get into the whirlpool?” He tips his head toward it.
With a nod, I follow him, the water lapping at our skin as we settle down, and his muscular arms surround me.
Elijah’s fingers trail a scorching path along my arm. “The only one who matters.”
With a sharp inhale, I turn around and lower myself onto his lap, my thighs bracketing his. The sensation of his hard cock against my sensitive clit is maddening. My nipples harden beneath the thin fabric of my swimsuit, aching for his touch.
“Is this what you want?” I roll my pelvis, grinding down hard.
Another growl rumbles in his chest as he digs his fingers into my hips. I love the effect I have on him.
“You know exactly what I fucking want.” He yanks me closer, guiding my movements to increase the pressure and pace.
“Tell me.”
His breath fans hot across my cheek. “I want to be balls deep inside your tight pussy, fucking and filling you up as you scream my name until you can’t form any coherent thought. So that there is no mistaken who you belong to, Mrs. Milton.”
I whimper, and my clit throbs in time with my erratic pulse.
I’ve never been one for dirty talk, but coming from Elijah, it only serves to arouse me further.
“You’re in?” He squeezes my ass, kneading the flesh, and I moan in response.
“Take them off.” He plucks at my panties. “Now.”
“But someone could see us?” I look around. We’re quite hidden, still… What about the neighbors?
“Now.”
I hesitate, my eyes darting around the secluded patio area. Although the risk of being seen thrills me, I don’t know if I can do this.
“Let’s go upstairs.” I slide off his lap despite my body screaming otherwise.
He grips my wrist and pulls me back onto his lap. “I wasn’t asking.” His voice drops an octave. “Take it off, or I’ll rip it off.”
My breath hitches, heat pooling between my legs. It’s impossible to resist him.
Slowly, I tug open the knot of my top and bottom, throwing the wet fabrics outside the whirlpool.
“Good girl.”
He claims my mouth in a searing kiss, one hand tangling in my hair while the other strokes and teases my core.
“So ready.” He pumps his fingers at a bruising pace. “And all for me.”
Overwhelmed by the sensation, I can only nod. I’m his. Wholly and completely his.
Elijah adds a third finger, stretching and scissoring as I rock into his hand, chasing the building pleasure. It’s not just about the physical desire. It’s about the emotional connection, too.
Suddenly, he withdraws his fingers to yank down his shorts, freeing his erection. I lift my hips and sink down on his cock until he’s buried to the hilt inside of me. He squeezes my hips and lifts me up, only to slam me back down onto his length. My moans are muffled by his long and greedy kisses.
This is what love feels like. This is what being with the right person feels like.
My breath comes in shallow pants as he continues thrusting up into me. The water sloshes around us, threatening to spill over the edge of the hot tub.
“Fuck,” Elijah groans. “You feel so goddamn good.”
I dig my nails into his shoulders, my walls clenching around him. “Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”
His hands grip my hips tightly as he quickens his pace. Deeper and harder.
“Grip the edge.” He stops, lifting me up.
I turn and dig my fingers into the edge of the hot tub. He comes up behind me, hikes one of my legs up, and presses his cock against me. My body is aching for him to be inside me. As if reading my mind, he sinks inside, the new angle allowing him to go deeper.
I cry out. The water sloshing violently around us with each powerful thrust.
“That’s it. Don’t hold back.” Elijah’s gravelly voice urges me on, my hips meeting his until my knees go weak.
He holds me in position, his fingers digging into my hip and leg. Each thrust hits that sweet spot and sparks pleasure that builds higher and higher.
“Elijah…” I beg between moans.
One of his hands snakes around to my clit, caressing that sensitive bundle of nerves. My vision goes white as intense pleasure rockets through me with a hoarse cry silenced by his lips on mine.
I’m only vaguely aware of Elijah following right after, a string of curses leaving his lips. We stay locked together after he puts down my leg, both breathing heavily.
The whirlpool bubbles around us.
“I love you.” He presses soft kisses across my shoulders.
I suck in a sharp breath, my pulse racing as I glance back at him. We’ve never directly addressed our feelings, both too cautious. But his stormy eyes say everything I’ve been too afraid to hope for.
“I love you too… Mr. Milton.”
Our lips meet in a tender kiss.
“Can you repeat that, Mrs. Milton?”
“Mrs. Milton? Did I miss something?”
“I like the sound of it.”
I like it, too.
“And my father already thinks you are. So…”
“Your father was really nice.”
“Is he? He tricked you.” Elijah sits back down in the whirlpool and pulls me into his arms.
“What?”
“The name he said. Julia, or what it was. Didn’t you wonder why it wasn’t Esther?”
No. No. Way to make an impression.
“That’s so embarrassing.”
“Don’t be embarrassed, little gem,” Elijah murmurs, his fingers trailing down my arm. “My father sees more than most. If anything, you should feel flattered.”
“Flattered that your father thinks I’m a liar?”
“That you made such an impression on him. Trust me, that’s not an easy feat.” His expression grows somber. “Especially lately, with his health declining.”
My heart clenches, remembering the frail but sharp man I’d met at the hospital.
“He seemed happy that day. We should visit him again soon.”
“All he’s ever wanted was for me to settle down. To have someone to share my life with. See me happy.” His eyes meet mine, gleaming with unspoken meaning. “I think deep down he knows, or at least suspects, how I feel about you.”
I twist around in his embrace. “Are you happy?”
“More than I’ve been in a very long time.”
My heart flutters at the sincerity in his voice. I lean up and brush my lips over his. “Good.”
We share a lingering kiss. I could stay here in his arms forever.
“By the way, I think the neighbors heard you screaming,” he says.
“Don’t get too smug. I seem to remember you making some noises yourself.”
Elijah tips up my chin. “Marry me.”
My breath hitches again.
First, he’s asking me to move in, and now marriage? I thought he was being playful, calling me Mrs. Milton, but now I’m not so sure. We’ve only known each other for a few months—too soon, right?
I open my mouth to tell him so, but Elijah beats me to it.
“I was only joking.” His chest rumbles with laughter. “You should see your face. I told you, we’ll move at your pace.”
“Don’t joke about that.”
“Sorry, little gem.” Elijah kisses the top of my head. “Couldn’t help myself.”
“Hmph.” I pretend to sulk.
“But in all seriousness, will you someday?”
I gape at him.
His eyes are full of tenderness, longing, and something I’m almost afraid to name.
This isn’t a joke.
“You don’t have to say anything. I haven’t made this easy for you.” Regret flickers across his face as his large hand comes up to cup my cheek, thumb stroking over my bottom lip. “You’re the only one who matters to me.”
I cover his hand with my own, pressing a kiss to his palm. “Same.”
This complicated, maddening, caring man has captured my heart without me noticing it until it was too late.
Elijah steps out of the whirlpool first, rivulets of water running down his muscular body.
“Let me get you dried off, little gem.” He grabs a large, fluffy towel and turns back to me, holding out his hand.
I place my hand in his and allow him to help me out of the tub. The cool night air raises goosebumps on my bare skin. Elijah notices and quickly wraps the towel around my shoulders, using one end to gently pat my face and hair dry.
His eyes darken as they roam over my exposed skin. I shiver. Not from the cold but rather from Elijah’s heated gaze that never fails to make me tingle all over.
Slowly, almost reverently, he continues drying my shoulders, arms, and hands. When he reaches my breasts, he takes his extra time, brushing over my sensitive nipples with the towel before moving lower, and I have to bite my lip to stifle a moan. By the time Elijah kneels before me, using the towel to dry each of my legs, I’m trembling with need.
“All done.” Elijah stands and wraps me up in the large towel before he grabs another towel to dry himself off.
Meanwhile, I reach for my swimsuit, but he sweeps me up and tosses me over his broad shoulder.
“Elijah!” I smack his back.
He chuckles and carries me into the house, my damp hair dangling over him. I catch a glimpse of us in the hallway mirror, me in a towel and flushed, him shirtless with swim trunks riding low on his hips.
Elijah’s large hand grips my thighs to keep me steady as I wiggle against him, earning me a sharp smack on my backside. “Behave.”
Once inside the master bedroom, Elijah tosses me onto the large four-poster bed and wastes no second pouncing on me. His hard body covers mine, one hand pinning my wrists above my head. The towel loosens, rendering me completely at Elijah’s mercy.
His teeth nibble at my ear, voice dropping an octave. “Now, where were we?”
I arch into him instinctively, craving more contact, more friction. “I believe you mentioned something about screaming your name?”
“Hmm, I do recall that.”
His head dips lower, tongue flicking out to circle one taut nipple, making me squirm beneath him. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m yours.”
I always have been, and right now, I need him more than I’ve ever needed anything in my life.
“Good Girl.”
His free hand tangles in my hair, tilting my head back to expose the line of my throat. He trails hot, open-mouthed kisses along my pulse point.
His lips… they’re like magic, leaving a tingle wherever they go.
After a moment, Elijah gets off the bed to remove the last barrier between us. My eyes drink in the sight of his muscular form, and I ache to touch him, to run my hands over every inch of his smooth, tanned skin.
A growl rumbles in his chest as he gets back on the bed to kiss me. I’m dizzy and breathless, consumed by all-encompassing desire.
My hands roam over the hard planes of his chest, fingers tracing the ridges of muscle and delighting in the feel of warm, bare skin under my palms.
I tug him closer, craving more. In response, Elijah grabs my ass, grinding our hips together, and I feel his hard length against my core, his muscular form pressing me down into the plush bedding.
His hands move to my waist, gripping tightly before flipping me around to face the wall.
A gasp escapes my lips as he presses against my back, the hard line of his cock nestled between my ass cheeks. Elijah grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks my head to the side, his teeth finding my neck. He sucks and bites, the sting melting into pleasure as I push back into him, whimpering and seeking friction.
When we’re together like this, nothing else seems to matter. It’s intoxicating, addictive even. I feel desired and wanted, and it’s the best feeling.
He chuckles darkly, his free hand gliding up my inner thigh.
I moan, beyond caring how wanton I sound.
With a snarl, he shoves two fingers into my cunt, pumping them in a brutal rhythm.
I cry out, rocking back to meet his thrusts.
“Fuck, I need to be inside you. Now.” Elijah positions himself behind me, gripping my hips and rubbing the head of his cock through my folds before slowly entering me, stretching me.
We already did it so many times, and still I gasp at the sensation, grabbing the sheets. He stills for a moment, giving me time to adjust, but I need him to move, so I tilt my hips, urging him deeper.
A groan escapes him, and he pulls out before pushing back deep inside me. I meet his thrusts, craving more of him. Pleasure spirals through me with each stroke, intensifying with every touch and kiss.
Elijah leans down, one hand still guiding my hip while the other fondles my breast.
He knows exactly how to touch me, how to elicit responses I didn’t know I was capable of. Yet it’s not only the sex. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me like I’m the only one who exists. It terrifies me even as it draws me in.
“You’re.”
Thrust.
“Mine.”
I love him. And I’d be stupid not to marry him.
My insides swirl with pleasure, the mix of pain and ecstasy pushing me closer to the edge. My body tenses up, and my inner walls start to clench.
“Come for me, little gem.” Elijah’s thrusts grow deeper, maintaining a slow rhythm.
At his command, waves of bliss radiate through my body. I cry out his name as I clench rhythmically around him, losing complete control over my shaking body.
The only thing in my mind is him.
With a growl, Elijah follows, warmth flooding my insides.
After he pulls out, I roll onto my back, gazing up at him through half-lidded eyes.
In the quiet, I feel the weight of the day settle upon me, the exhaustion seeping into my bones. But even as my eyelids grow heavy and my thoughts begin to drift. This moment is one I’ll cherish forever.
“Everything alright?”
I reach up to caress his cheek. “Yes. More than alright.”
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills my senses as I stroll into the kitchen, wrapping my hands around a warm mug. As I sip the steaming liquid, I gaze out the window, watching the waves crash against the shore.
I’m still sore from yesterday. How many times did we do it?
I stretch out, wincing slightly as my body protests. Elijah really did a number on me last night. That man has the stamina of a stallion.
The way he pinned my wrists above my head, his hips grinding into mine. His gravelly voice commanding me to come for him. My body responds to the mere memory.
Our relationship hasn’t been conventional. The way we met, his engagement. It’s been a wild ride. But over these last few months, I’ve seen who Elijah is underneath the sharp suits and cocky swagger. He makes me feel alive in a way I’ve never felt before.
I close my eyes.
Marry me.
He loves me. Really, truly loves me.
And I... I love him, too. More than I ever thought I could love another person.
Elijah has given me this and so much more. Now it’s time I do the same for him and give him my whole heart. Give him… me.
When I open my eyes, I find my reflection gazing back at me with joy. I know my answer.
Yes.
There’s not an ounce of doubt in my mind or heart anymore. I want nothing more than to marry this man.
Marry me.
Two simple words that have changed everything.
With a contented sigh, I turn from the window and pour myself another mug of coffee.
Should we have our wedding on the beach at sunset, like here? In a vineyard? A lavish ballroom? Or in a garden, secluded somewhere? Only with our closest friends and family?
I’d love that.
I won’t wait a moment longer. Oliver needs to sign the divorce papers, so there’s nothing standing between Elijah and me anymore.
I’ll wake him with breakfast and tell him everything.
I crack the eggs into the pan, letting them sizzle as I chop vegetables for the omelets. The scent of onions and peppers mingles with the aroma of coffee brewing. I hum softly to myself, thinking about how to tell Elijah my answer.
Should I blurt it out over breakfast? No, too casual for something so important. I’ll wait until after we’ve eaten.
The doorbell interrupts my thoughts. I glance at the clock on the stove.
10 am.
Wiping my hands on a towel, I make my way to the front door and open it up.
“Hello, wife.”