12. Delilah
Watchingthe sunset was supposed to calm the soul. I couldn’t argue that it was one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever witnessed, but my soul wasn’t all that impressed by the blend of yellows and reds disappearing below the ocean’s horizon.
Vacations were meant to be relaxing, but mostly, I’d just been bored on mine. And lonely. I wanted to be back in Vegas. With my friends.
With Nash.
Pressing my hand to my chest to ease the pang just thinking of him brought, I tried to push him out of my head. He’d shattered me in ways I didn’t know a person could break. But that didn’t seem to matter to my heart. I loved him.
Winston had called in a favor and arranged for me to disappear for a little while. The couple who owned the house where I was staying rarely used it, so I wasn’t imposing on anyone. This little island getaway was supposed to recharge me while I attempted to figure out what to do next. I had my own money, so it didn’t matter if I found another job. But I was already feeling twitchy with nothing to do.
I wanted to go home.
It wasn’t until the last few weeks away from the Royal Phoenix that I truly realized how much the hotel was just that. Home. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t in hopes of softening the blow of losing everything. But that didn’t seem to matter. I felt the hollow ache inside me at its loss.
Walking away from my job had been easy enough when the pain of betrayal was still fresh. Now, I heard a whisper in my mind, urging me to go back. For the most part, I’d ignored the soft voice, but it became more insistent with each passing day.
Coward.
Cringing at the new taunt both the angel and demon on my shoulder threw at me, I pushed my sunglasses up into my hair and stood. Dusting the sand off my dress, I started the walk back toward the cottage-style house as the last rays of sunlight faded, leaving only the moon to guide my way.
“Lily.”
My head jerked up when I heard Nash’s gravelly voice. A figure stood several yards away, too big to be the little old man who was the island caretaker.
I couldn’t do more than stand there and stare, several tense moments passing before the lone figure moved. “Baby, I missed you so damn much.”
He wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the ground. I felt him tremble as he buried his face in my neck with a gruff sob. “I’ve been losing my mind. Thank God I found you.” His scruffy jaw scraped over my neck and throat, causing a delicious ache to form between my legs. “Never letting you out of my sight again. Fucking never.”
Combing my fingers through the short curls at the back of his neck, I savored the feel of him holding me like I was the most precious thing in the world. It seemed like I’d been waiting for this moment my entire life. Finally, everything felt right, as if this was where I was meant to be. Right there on that beach, in his arms, holding on for dear life.
Not caring how or why he was there, just overwhelmingly glad he was, I kissed him. I’d been without him for weeks. Blame it on the pregnancy hormones or call me a needy whore—I didn’t care.
A groan rumbled in his chest as he hungrily kissed me back.
“Nash, I need you,” I whimpered, tearing at his belt and zipper. When it came to this man, I had no self-control or self-respect. I didn’t care why he was there. All I wanted—needed—was him inside me.
“Need you too, baby. You go straight to my head, beautiful girl. Every goddamn time.” He was already bunching the skirt of my sundress up to my hips, his mouth chasing mine, tongue plunging deep.
My heart wanted to believe he couldn’t get enough of me because he had gone without sex the entire time I was gone. But my head refused to allow it.
Jealousy burned through me, as hot and as powerful as my desire for him. Freeing his cock, I pushed at his chest. Taking the hint, he dropped down on his ass, pulling me with him. Ripping away my panties, he notched his massive, weeping dick to my entrance and sat me down on it.
“Nash!” I screamed, tossing my head back as ecstasy flooded me.
“Such a good girl,” he praised, his hands clenched on my bare ass as he bounced me on his cock. “Always wet for me. So tight, you fit me like a glove. That’s good, baby. So fucking good. You are my perfect girl, Lily.”
Sand ground into my knees, but I barely felt the sting as pleasure took over, blocking out everything except how good he felt inside me. Stretching tender flesh. Rubbing over that secret, hidden spot that only he had ever touched. Every inch of me was his. I loved him, but I hated that he owned me so thoroughly.
“It’s been too long since I’ve been inside you. I’m not going to last. Come for me, Lily. Give me your honey so I can fill you up, beautiful.”
Shaking my head, I fought against the rising tide of release. I didn’t want this moment to end. Because I knew when it was over, I would have to face the uncertainty of our reality.
“Lily.” His chest rumbled with the warning, but I only shook my head again. “Fuck.”
Reaching between us, he circled my clit with his thumb. Starlight flashed in front of my open eyes, mini orgasms detonating within me, but still, I held back.
“Baby, I’m going to explode. Please. Need you to come for me, sweetheart. Let me feel it.” He nipped at my ear.
“Tell me I’m the only one who can make you feel this good,” I commanded. “Give me the truth.”
A mix of blue and green glowed around the mesmerizing starburst of brown in his eyes. “There’s never been anyone like you, baby. From the moment you threw your arms around me all those months ago. My heart, my cock, my goddamn soul belong to you and only you.”
I could see the truth in his eyes, hear it in the hoarseness of his voice. My inner walls clenched so hard as a possessiveness I’d never experienced before consumed me.
Nash was mine.
As soon as I began to clamp around him, he was lost. Fingers gripping me bruisingly hard, he rocked me back and forth on his shaft, filling me with thick ropes of come.
Weak from the delicious pleasure, I collapsed against his chest, both of us gasping for our next breath. He stroked one hand up and down my back, but I wasn’t the one who needed soothing. Nash shook beneath me, his lips pressing to my temple over and over, long after his heart rate calmed.
A cool breeze blew over my sweat-dampened body, making me shiver.
Pulling back, Nash cupped my face in both his paw-like hands, hazel eyes searching mine in the moonlight. “I love you, Lily. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that sooner. Fuck, baby, I’m sorry for so many things. I thought I was protecting you and your share of the Royal Phoenix.”