Chapter 29
29
OWEN
I never want to stop.
Not with her.
My Jade.
As day breaks, I pull her hips closer to mine as I drive myself into her wet pussy. The need to lose myself in her never withers. I want to spend every waking moment buried inside her, surrounded by her sweet fragrance, listening to her telling me she loves me like she is now.
She gasps against the shell of my ear. “I love you.”
Unable to hold back any longer, I cup her ass and move faster, our bodies slapping together as her fingers curl into the back of my hair.
She taught me how to love and be loved.
It’s not about buildings, possessions, and using people as bargaining tools; it’s about fetching a cup of coffee when you need one, being there at the end of the day for a hug, preparing dinner together, laughing, and most of all, it’s about being happy .
When I’m with her, I am happy, and everything just feels right.
Perfect.
Her soft hands trace the skin of my back, her fingernails digging into my shoulders as she urges me to go faster. Goosebumps prickle my skin. Her touch I feel everywhere, way down deep in my soul. It turns my heart into a thumping mess, making me feel like I’m going to pass out.
Jade’s gasps grow louder when I kiss the sweet spot behind her ear and douse her sweat-covered skin with my hot breath, making her shiver. It’s a good thing the other bedrooms are downstairs on the other side of the house, or Mari and Aunt Babs would no doubt be able to hear us.
I lift her hips to tilt them and thrust into her deeper, giving her what she needs, giving her what I know makes her fall apart.
Looking into her eyes, I move faster as our breathing becomes heavy. And we come together.
She’s shaking as I spill inside her.
“Jade,” I mumble against her shoulder. Relaxing in my arms, her body goes limp as we descend from our intense release. “You’re my everything.” The reality is that she leaves today without me, while I pack up the entirety of my family home. And I need to find the paperwork for that fucking yacht, then speak to Camilla about what will happen to the rest of the estate.
I don’t want it. Any of it.
What I do want is this woman. And Poppy.
I love them both so much. There is no going back for me now, or ever.
They stole my heart, and I don’t want it back. I want them to keep it forever .
I have to remind myself that it’s just a few days and I will be back home with them.
The enormity of the day ahead sours my gut, bile rising in the back of my throat at the thought of having to speak to my sister. I thought I owed her a face-to-face goodbye.
But the worst fucking part of my whole day is Jade and Poppy leaving.
The muscles in my body tense, causing my calf muscle to spasm, and I groan as it seizes painfully. I clumsily and reluctantly slide myself out of Jade and roll out of the bed to stretch my muscle out and give it a rub. Fuck, that’s sore.
Watch your back . Replaying Stanley’s words from yesterday, I barely slept a wink last night and my body and mind are tired, leaving me feeling empty.
Cock bobbing, I hop up and down. “I have cramp,” I say between clenched teeth, making Jade laugh.
“It’s all the salt you lost from the tears you shed yesterday.” Jade’s words hit me hard.
“Is it weird that I didn’t cry?” My cramp now easing, I climb back into bed with her and pull her close.
Laying her hand over my chest, she considers her answer. “I think we all deal with grief in different ways. There are no rules.”
She moves on top of me, straddling her legs on either side of my body. “Fancy a shower together before everyone wakes up?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely. I can feel my cum sliding out of you.” I slip my hand between her legs and push it back inside of her with my fingers. Closing her eyes, she rolls her hips and lets out a gasp, riding my hand. She grumbles when I remove my fingers from her pussy, but then I tell her to open her mouth. Needing no further instruction, she parts her lips and licks our combined arousal from them .
I place my hands on either side of her waist.
“Let’s have a baby.”
She stills, her eyes widening. “What?”
“Let’s do it. Marry me, Jade?”
Frozen for a heartbeat, her face unreadable, she suddenly bursts into a giant smile. “Can we get married at Aphrodite’s Rock in Cyprus?”
“I’m assuming that’s a yes?” I question as I pinch her waist, unable to hide the wide smile that spreads across my face, mirroring hers.
Excitedly, she nods, “It’s a big fat hell, yes.”
“Like My Big Fat Greek Wedding ?”
“Only smaller.”
We throw our arms around one another and hold on tight. “I can’t wait to make you my wife.” I nuzzle into her neck, enjoying the tightness of our embrace, our hearts beating as one against each other. “I like the sound of a small wedding,” I agree. “I want to pay for it, though. I am going to do some financial consultancy work. It’s flexible hours that I can do from home, at night, or when Poppy is at nursery, and while you are away. You may have to wait a little longer because I have to pay Gregor and Lincoln back first, but it pays well, really well, and I get to help people make decisions about their budgeting, retirement plans, and savings.”
“Sounds boring.” She looks concerned. “And that’s not what you want to do anymore.”
“What I want is to marry you. I will, and I will be paying for it all.” I pull her close, so her forehead touches mine. “You are what I want, Jade.”
“And you are all I have ever wanted.” She surprises me when she squeals, “We are getting married! ”
Her lips cover mine in a wet, sloppy kiss that isn’t one bit romantic but shows me how excited she is.
I break away, needing to tell her something. “I have something for you. Don’t move.” I stretch over to the nightstand and pull open the top drawer to locate what I’m after.
I unwrap my fingers from around the dark green velvet box, unveiling it in the palm of my hand.
She stares at it. “You planned this?”
“I did. Well, I had a whole big thing worked out in my head about taking you down to the beach this morning before you left. Romantic walk along the sand.”
“I like this better. This is perfect. This is us .” Smiling, she looks from me to the box and back at me again.
I peel back the lid of the box, as if revealing a pearl snuggled deep within an oyster shell. But what sits inside is something so much better and even more precious.
She lets out a deep exhale and smiles with delight as I show her the hidden gem. “It’s so beautiful.”
“This was my Great, Great, Great-Aunt Helena’s ring. Her and my Uncle Thomas were very much in love.” My Uncle David informed me of that fact when I told him I planned to marry Jade but had no ring. I didn’t even know I had a Great, Great, Great-Aunt Helena, but now I do. I knew my father, God rest his soul , was the only heartless bastard on his side of the family. Whatever happened to him to make him so cold, I will never know, I guess it’s what made him and my mom perfect for each other. When Aunt Flora scampered off to the safe in her home and came back with this ring along with excitable chatter and romantic tales, backing Uncle David’s story, I knew it was perfect for Jade.
“It’s green,” she says, stating the obvious.
“It’s an emerald cut, emerald solitaire.” And the biggest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. There is not a hope in hell I would have been able to afford the three-carat Columbian gem.
“It’s a family heirloom?” she says, her voice quiet, almost disbelieving.
“Yeah. Do you like it?” I ask.
“It’s huge.”
“Thanks.” I look down at my cock and back up at her.
She chuckles, swiping my shoulder playfully with the back of her hand.
“Do you want to try it on for size? We may need to have it adjusted.”
She tucks her lips into her mouth and nods.
Carefully pulling the ring out from the place it’s been hibernating for decades, Jade holds out her hand and I slide it onto her ring finger.
“It fits perfectly.” She holds it up, tilting her hand back and forth to watch the shiny gold band and green gem catch the light. “It’s beautiful.”
“We need to get it insured.”
She pulls her newly engaged hand to her chest. “Is it worth a lot?” she asks, her eyes full of concern.
“A little.” I don’t let on that it’s worth five times more than her new Audi SUV.
Batting her eyelashes, she holds her hand against her naked chest and wiggles her fingers. “How does it look?”
“Fucking beautiful.” But I’m not looking at the ring, I’m looking at her.
“We’re getting married.” She sighs blissfully.
“That we are, Hotshot.”
Grabbing the sides of my face, she kisses me deeply, then mumbles against my lips. “You’re going to be the best stepdad any little girl could ever want. ”
“I think I aced it already. I think I’d like another girl.”
She chuckles. “You did. And oh my God, we’ve only just gotten engaged. No talk of babies.”
Not yet, but I sure as hell want to start trying as soon as I get myself back on my feet.
In a flash, sadness lines her forehead and edges her now watery eyes. “I don’t want to go today.”
“I’ll be back home with you and our little pooping machine in less than a week.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” An ache in my chest gives a nervous jolt. I don’t want her to go either.
She smacks a quick kiss against my lips, before she’s off my lap, leaping out of the bed, and hopping about the bedroom, pulling on her oversized sleep shirt that she never wears because she prefers sleeping naked.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m off to tell Mom and Aunt Babs.”
I check the clock. “It’s six o’clock in the morning.”
She pulls open the door. “I don’t care, I’m getting married.” Leaving laughter behind her, I watch her run down the stairs with excitement.
A cocktail of joy and sadness mix together.
She said yes. But she leaves today.
I pull the bedsheet up to my chin and take a deep inhale.
The only thing that’s keeping me going is knowing that when I slip between the sheets of my bed tonight, they will still smell like her.
Poppy’s seatbelt gives a familiar click sound, telling me it’s locked safely, but I give it a quick tug to check anyway.
Tickling Poppy, then telling her I love her, I give her another kiss on her cheek, making her face scrunch up. She giggles again as my stubble tickles her baby-soft skin. It’s about the hundredth kiss I have given her in the last hour.
Loading the last of their luggage into the truck, I give Mari and my newly adopted Aunt Babs a wave goodbye as they reassure me they will look after my girls in my absence.
Lincoln and Jacob have offered to help me, and with more sets of hands, I’m hoping we box up my stuff quicker so I can get back to my girls sooner.
With one final glance around the car, I slam the trunk shut.
Jade checks her watch again. She’s been nervously doing that all morning as we’ve reluctantly organized her departure. “If we don’t leave now, we’ll hit the evening rush.”
I wish you could stay.
“You’ll just be a few days?” she asks.
I pull her into my arms and give her the biggest reassuring cuddle. “Then I’ll be back to annoy you.”
“I love you.” She kisses my neck. Her voice is so small it gets lost on the Scottish wind.
“I love you near, far, and always.” She balls the fabric of my polo shirt into her tight fist. “Be careful around Gideon and his father, Owen,” she whispers. “I don’t trust them.”
“I know. Me neither.”
“I heard what Stanley told you last night,” she confesses.
“How?” I lean back slightly from our embrace.
“I came to find you and ended up listening outside the office.” She worries her bottom lip.
“You should work in military espionage, not be a jet pilot.” My voice is a mix of concern and humor. “But please don’t worry about me.”
Her small chuckle makes her chest vibrate against mine and brings a little light relief to the tension that’s built between us.
“I don’t plan on seeing them. I’m going to ask Camilla to come to the house.” I look up through the thick blanket of trees to the sandstone fortress. “I need to speak to her about the will and estate.”
While it’s been kind of Jade to make sure I am looked after, paying me to look after Poppy feels wrong. When I offered to do it for free, Jade and I compromised. She agreed to transfer me a small amount every week to cover any emergencies or groceries. But I don’t like being a kept man, hence the reason I signed up to start consulting as a financial advisor. Jade inhales deeply, her breath stuttering. “I don’t want to go.”
“Now you can carry me everywhere with you.” I hold up her hand and kiss her engagement ring. Holy shit, I have a fiancée.
“How can I forget? It’s huge.” She laughs.
“So you keep telling me.”
She rolls her eyes. “You are so predictable.”
I give her one last kiss and spank her ass for good measure. “C’mon, you need to go. You’re meeting Gregor in five minutes.” They are driving down convoy style, and that settles any concerns I have about being apart from them, knowing he’s watching out for her. She slips something smooth into the palm of my hand before her hand drops out of mine.
“Now you have a little part of me with you too.”
Unclenching my fingers, I stare.
It’s her lucky poppy stone.
“But you need this for flying.” I attempt to give her it back, panicking, as I know how much she relies on it as part of her flying ritual .
“I’ll get it when you come home.” She winks, then grabs my hand to drag me to the side of the car.
Home.
Jumping into the driver’s seat, she lowers the window and pokes her head back out of the open space to kiss me again .
“Love you, Owen.”
“Drive safe.”
“Always.”
“And fly safe.”
“Always,” she repeats.
And then she’s off, with the wonderful females I have in my life, and all I can do is watch as she drives out of the black wrought-iron gates and around the corner out of sight.
“See you soon,” I whisper, clutching her lucky charm firmly in my fist.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, bringing me out of my daze, and when I pull it out to see who is calling, I hit accept.
“I miss you already,” Jade shouts down the phone, making me laugh.
“You too.”
“Love you,” she shouts again, and then Mari and Babs join in. “We love you too.”
And we all burst out laughing.
God, how I love those women.
My earpiece alerts me to another incoming call.
Camilla.
If I can survive an hour with Camilla, I can do anything.
And before I know it, I’ll be back with my girls.