Chapter 33
Shannon
Distraught doesn’t even begin to describe what I’m currently feeling.
Hudson can’t possibly know what he’s up against, but even still, I find myself listening to what he says and am about to head downstairs to wait for him when an idea hits.
Just so Greg gets the picture, I take my wedding rings off and place them on the bedside table.
The timing is close. Hudson will get here almost the exact time Gregor will discover I’m not in the room, but I try not to think about what would happen if these two are ever face-to-face again.
Hiding in the shadows on a bench off to the side of the front of the property, I wait for Hudson’s pickup truck.
It feels like an eternity of leg bouncing and nail picking until the pick-up pulls into the circular driveway at the front of the resort. I stand, ready to run to the safety of the vehicle when Gregor steps out of the sliding doors.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Hudson throws the truck in park and is around the hood in two seconds flat. Relief washes over me even as the situation heats up.
Surprisingly, Hudson speaks first and his question is for me.
“Shannon, I’ll ask you one time. Do you want to leave with me or stay with Gregor?”
It’s a moment of truth. If I go with him, Gregor will make good on all of his threats.
If I stay, there’s a good chance he’ll do it anyway.
Looking at Hudson’s face, his eyes are blank.
He isn’t trying to guilt me, coerce me, or force me.
He’s intentionally being unreadable so that I make this choice all on my own.
“I want to go with you, Hudson,” I confirm, mustering all the strength I have left. “But he—” I start trying to explain what this decision is going to cost him, but he cuts me off.
“I need you to trust me,” he says.
I nod and start moving toward the truck when Gregor’s voice stops me in my tracks.
“You’re not leaving, Shannon,” he repeats. “Because if you do, I’ll ensure you never see our daughter again.”
I wondered how long he was going to hold on to that card before playing it.
I’m deeply ashamed to admit that five months ago, that threat probably would have pushed me out the door faster. But now? Now he’s talking about my heart and soul, and I knew he’d go there eventually.
“Shannon, trust me,” Hudson pleads again. There’s a fire burning in his eyes that has been notably absent before tonight. His amber irises glow as if there are actual flames dancing behind them.
“She’s not going with you, delivery boy. I know you seem to have trouble remembering that she’s my wife, so let me remind you.”
Greg moves closer to me and I watch his hand come up like he’s going to pin me to himself and kiss me, so I lunge for Hudson, all in, wanting every night to be like the one at my apartment. But before I can get to him, Greg grabs my arm in a vice grip.
I hope he leaves bruises I can show to a cop later.
In another second, Hudson has gone from standing next to the passenger side door of his truck to crowding Gregor as he puts himself between us.
“Take. Your fucking hand. Off of her.” I’ve heard Hudson growl before, but this is far more menacing because it isn’t lust or desire that’s causing the change in his voice…
it’s pure, unadulterated rage as he breaks the sentence up.
“Or what?” Greg sneers, twisting my arm slightly.
“Or I’ll have assault added to your rap sheet,” Hudson says calmly. I think it’s his confident tone more than the words themselves that makes Gregor finally let go.
Although he’s removed his hand, his verbal assault continues.
“You may be the mother of my child, but if you think, for one second, I won’t absolutely destroy you in a courtroom, you’ve got another thing coming, sweetheart.
I’ll pull your precious phone records, I’ll find evidence that you can’t be trusted with our daughter…
and if I can’t find that evidence, I’ll fucking fabricate it.
I’ll bury you so deep in paperwork, lawsuits, and custody battles you’ll never be free of me or the fucking debt I bury you both under. ”
“Don’t listen to him, Shannon. He’s not God. He doesn’t have the kind of power he thinks he does,” Hudson whispers as he throws my duffel bag in the back seat of his truck before opening my door.
Choosing to believe Hudson, I throw one last parting shot at Gregor before leaving him behind for good, thankful I got everything moved into my apartment before I came down here.
“Our attorneys can work it out. My ring is on the night stand in your hotel room and starting now, we’re officially separated.”
I don’t look back a second time as Hudson puts his truck in gear and drives off.
I have so many questions, but my immediate thought is of my daughter. “I should get home to Serafina.”
Hudson places his forearm on the console, palm up, giving me the option to take his hand for comfort or not. I’m fidgety, but I slide my fingers between his, instantly feeling better.
“Neither of us should drive tonight. When the adrenaline runs out, we’re going to be exhausted.
Serafina’s safe and I doubt Greg’s going to miss his precious banquet tomorrow.
We can leave first thing in the morning.
” I take a deep breath, willing my heart rate to slow down as Hudson keeps giving instructions.
“Type a quick email to your attorneys telling them you want a custody agreement in place ASAP, call your mom to let her know what’s going on and give her the number to your prepaid phone, and then turn your main phone off. ”
I do as he says and once it’s done, I’ve collected myself enough to start asking questions.
“Where are you staying?” I guess that one comes out first because that’s where we’re heading.
“My friend, Knox, has a beach house down here.”
“I thought you said you haven’t been to the beach since Will died.” I shudder, remembering the words Gregor said about Hudson wishing he’d been in the car that night, and I start to get angry all over again.
“I haven’t,” he admits and I squeeze his hand. “But I’m glad I came back…it’d been too long.”
“So, you’re doing okay with it?” I can’t take my eyes off Hudson as he navigates effortlessly back toward the house we’ll be staying in together tonight.
He turns and flashes me a genuine smile. “Yeah, I’m doing okay with it. I heard his voice when I was in the ocean and it’s been a while for that too.”
“Hud, that makes me really happy. It sounds like a really special moment.”
He grins. “It was.”
Then the rest of his sentence catches up to me. “Wait, you got in the ocean? Isn’t it freezing?”
“It really wasn’t bad. You should try it when we get back. Find your calm. Ride the waves. Move with the tide. It’ll help clear your head. Especially since you find so much peace in the ocean like I do.”
I didn’t have a chance to see the ocean when I arrived at the resort because it’s a golf resort tucked back away from the coastline. What’s the point of spending the money for a resort in the Outer Banks if you’re not even able to enjoy the ocean views?
But I have them now.
Standing on a deserted beach at nine-thirty at night with the stars high above and their light reflected in the ocean below, Hudson’s arms wrap around me as I inhale and exhale to the rhythm of the small waves. It’s so calm right now and the soothing effect on my fried nervous system is immediate.
“I’m ready,” I tell Hudson, stepping out of his embrace. He brought towels down for us and is getting back in with me.
“Honestly, I think the water is warmer than the air temperature,” he says casually as he makes his way to the tide line.
“Ought to feel lovely getting out then,” I answer sarcastically.
“Don’t worry about getting out. Just focus on being in,” he replies, already up to his thighs in the water.
I do as he says, forgetting about the temperature and focusing on my other senses.
The sounds, the smell of the saltwater, the taste of it as I wipe my face.
Once I make it to where Hudson is standing, the water is at my waist and I bend backwards to submerge my head.
When I break the surface, Hudson is there, pulling me to him.
“If you want this moment to yourself, I’ll give you space, but you look so beautiful I had to make sure you were real.”
“Never stop touching me, please,” I beg as he lifts me up, my ankles locking around his back like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
In spite of everything going on, I smile and melt into his embrace, but our moment is cut short when my teeth start chattering.
“Let’s get you inside and warmed up,” Hudson breathes against my ear giving my goosebumps goosebumps.
Wrapped in our towels, we rinse our feet so we don’t spread sand throughout Knox’s house and head straight for the heat of the indoor shower. I’m surprised at the size since the house itself isn’t that big.
“Knox is a big guy. Bigger than me,” Hudson explains, rubbing his hands up and down my towel-clad arms to warm me while we wait for the hot water to kick in. “I hope to introduce you to them soon.”
“I’d like that,” I tell him with a smile.
“My girlfriend should know my best friends.” Hudson’s wearing the cheesiest grin as he uses the word girlfriend, and I don’t bother stifling my laugh.
“And my sister,” he continues. “And my girlfriend should definitely come to the company picnic this summer…if she wants to,” he adds with a slight wince, realizing I just escaped a company dinner I had no desire to attend.
“I’d be honored to do all of that. You don’t have to tiptoe around me, Hud. The situations are not even close to the same thing. I want to be where you are. You compliment me, support me, and build me up. He made demands, took me for granted, and tore me down,” I explain.
Hudson just smiles and nods as he feels the water in the shower.
“It’s good. You go first. Do you want anything to drink? I didn’t bring much, but I brought the tequila because I wasn’t sure how this was going to go.”
I shake my head and reach for him. “No on the tequila. I need to keep a clear head. But I was thinking we could kill two birds with one stone and share the shower?”
“Lead the way.” He steps in behind me without an argument.
I barely have time to reach for the shampoo before Hudson’s soapy hands land on my shoulders, kneading gently.
“That feels so good,” I say on a sigh, working hard to stay upright and not slump back against him.
There’s nothing overtly sexual about his touch yet it’s exactly what I need. He works his way down my back, ass, and legs before gently turning me and doing the same thing to my front.
Then Hudson washes my hair.
I have never felt so loved and cared for in my life.
My hands grab his waist to keep myself steady and I marvel at how he doesn’t pull away from me.
“Tilt your head back so I can rinse the shampoo,” he whispers.
My eyes close and I do as he says, wrapping my arms more tightly around him.
With everything going on tonight, sex never crossed my mind.
But clinging to Hudson now as the hot water pelts my back and his glorious body is at my front, I start to feel it.
That need for him. That need for physical closeness that I’ve always craved.
Monday morning, our world is going up in flames, but we have this moment right now. Currently, my daughter is safe, my marriage is over, and my soon-to-be-ex knows it. Hudson isn’t a secret anymore, and I finally returned to the ocean.
As I sort through the emotions warring within me, there’s only one that can quiet the others. And even though it’ll be temporary, it’ll also be worth it.
I shift my hips against Hudson’s groin, finding him already half hard.
“Sorry about that,” he says, looking down at his growing cock between us. “There is absolutely no expectation. I just don’t have much control over that thing.” He laughs.
“I know the timing’s probably a little inappropriate, but…” I trail off, embarrassed for half a second before I remember who I am, how to ask for what I want, and that I no longer care what others think. “I want to make love to you.”
Without judging, chastising, or reprimanding my timing, Hudson sweeps my wet hair off my shoulder with the back of his hand before latching his palm to the back of my neck and pulling my face to his.
Whispering against my lips, he says, “I’ll give you anything you want,” before he devours my mouth in the most perfect, searing kiss.
Suddenly, too warm, I move to turn the water down, but he stops me. “Let me rinse off really fast. I have an idea.”
Nodding, I open the glass shower door and begin drying off.
A couple minutes later, Hudson gets out and quickly runs the towel over his hard body. Neither of us reaches for clothes or moves to cover ourselves up, but when I follow him into the living room, he grabs a blanket from the back of the couch before opening the sliding glass door.
On the deck are two loungers and a small teakwood table with four matching chairs. Hudson puts three of the chairs in a semicircle almost right against the railing.
“If it gets too cold, we’ll pivot, but I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll stay plenty warm.
” He leads me to the wooden railing and points to the chairs.
“I want your ass right here,” he says, pointing to the rail.
“And one of your feet in each of these chairs on the sides so you’re spread nice and wide for me. ”
I hop up like he asks and he drapes the blanket over my shoulders before sitting in the middle chair, scooting closer. His arms are draped over my thighs, and his hands are gripping my ass, keeping me firmly rooted in place.
As soon as his mouth connects with my greedy flesh, my hands fly to his hair and I hold on for dear life, letting Hudson work his magic.