Chapter 37
LEXI
I t’s our last hour in Fiji, and sadness takes over as we load into the limo and drive to the airport. Yesterday, the Mustang was picked up for transport and will arrive in the city next week.
For twenty-four hours, we stayed inside, insatiable for one another. We slept, made love, and ate when hunger took over.
We walked the beach, swam in the ocean, and held each other under the southern hemisphere, studying a star-filled sky with constellations I didn’t know. It felt like being on another planet, like I’d taken over someone else’s life.
Still, I can’t believe it.
These six days being married to Easton have passed like a dreamless blur and I don’t want them to end, but we’re not in fairy-tale land anymore; it’s time to go home . The word feels foreign.
Something has changed.
Is this love ? The four-letter word has plagued me for so long that I’m scared I’ll lose it if I find it. I tell myself that if I shield my heart now, the fall won’t be so destructive, and maybe if this does end one day, I can recover from my Easton Calloway addiction.
“What are you thinking about?” Easton wraps his arm around me and I lean into him as we breathe in the fresh beach air. The window is down, and the sunroof is open, allowing the early morning rays to leak in.
“You. Us ,” I admit. My words float in the air.
“I’m going to miss this,” he mutters, placing soft kisses on my neck and against my hair.
I know he’s not talking about the island or the beach. He’s referring to the uninterrupted time we were given to spend together.
“You’re my priority, pretty girl.”
I don’t want to get attached, but I know it’s too late.
“Easton, your job is your priority. That doesn’t change because of us. It’s the reason there is even an us ,” I say, knowing that he’ll return to work tomorrow and he needs to be prepared. In his world, a lot can happen in two weeks. If anything, I’m proof of it.
He smirks. “Don’t do that.”
I turn to him. “Do what?”
His dark, messy hair is pushed to the side. Deep blue eyes, which change color depending on what he’s wearing, stare back at me. I glance at the light brush of freckles on his nose that are barely noticeable, but I’ve kissed and memorized every single one since we said I do .
Easton Calloway is a thirst trap, and he’s quenched every one of mine.
“Don’t act like something will be different between us when we return to New York.”
“It will. How many days until you take over the company?” I ask, meeting his eyes.
“Twenty-six,” he exhales.
I smile, knowing he’s been counting. It’s what he does. He counts down everything—from his relationships to the seconds of his day.
I study him. “Don’t lose sight of that, okay? That was important to you. I don’t want it to change.”
“Sorry, darling, you don’t get to decide my priorities when your name is at the top of the list.”
“But—”
His lips crash into mine; his hand gently rests on my cheek. “Nothing changes, Lexi,” he whispers against my mouth. “Especially not how I feel about you.”
And I want to believe him so fucking much that it hurts.
“Some days will be easy, and some days will be hard. That’s what I signed up for when I agreed to marry you,” I say, repeating what he told me. It was a truth .
“So, let’s enjoy the good days while we’re living them instead of missing them like they’re already gone,” he says, kissing me more slowly.
He tastes like me .
I inhale the tropical soap on his skin, wanting to remember this, us, just like this.
“How did you know that’s what I was doing?”
“Because I see you, Lexi. I can feel what you’re thinking by how your breathing changes or by the expression on your face,” he admits. “I’m not letting you push me away. Each time you do, I’ll purposely pull you in even harder. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Is that a threat?” I ask, wearing a devious grin.
“It’s a fucking promise, wifey .”
I laugh, shaking my head. “For a minute, I thought you were getting soft on me.”
He whispers in my ear, “I’m never soft when you’re around.”
I glance down at his shorts, and he’s hard; the outline of his thickness can’t be missed in those khakis.
I rub my palm against his cock— my cock , the one that belongs to me now—and his breathing increases. I follow the scruff down his jaw to his quickening pulse.
“You’re beautiful,” I whisper, in awe that I have this man.
“I was thinking the same about you,” he says as I undo the top button and slowly bring the zipper down.
Easton lifts his hips and his cock flings out at full attention.
“That’s a loaded weapon,” I tell him, surrounding his tip with my lips, bobbing down.
I pull him out with a pop and lick down the vein that runs the length of him.
He’s so fucking thick that I have trouble fitting him in my mouth at certain angles.
I reposition myself so I can take him to the back of my throat.
Gently, I grab his balls, and he lets out a groan when my free hand slides up his stomach.
“Lexi,” he whispers, fisting my hair, giving me little tugs that have me squeezing my thighs together.
I want to make him feel so fucking good that he never forgets who he belongs to, temporary or not.
“My bad girl,” he growls out, his hips bucking upward.
I love watching him climb to the top, and I hold him there until he nearly begs, but he won’t. He never does because he loves to watch me play. He enjoys giving me control.
I stroke and suck and lick until he’s nearly trembling. I lift my maxi dress and straddle him. The only thing between us is my panties.
“I feel how wet you are,” he groans and moves my panties to the side.
“Yes,” I whisper. “I need you .”
We had each other for breakfast; now, we’re onto brunch.
I slide out of my panties, making it easier to take him all in. Whimpers release from me as my pussy devours every inch. I’m wet, needy, and when he grazes his thumb across my clit, my body begs for more. It doesn’t take much when we’re together.
Minutes pass like seconds, and our pace slows when Easton is close, teetering on the edge. Our breathing increases, and with his lips and teeth on my neck, we tumble into the abyss together.
The orgasm rips through us and the warmth of him pools deep inside me as we lose ourselves in the moment. When I’m with him, the fog doesn’t clear, and I hope it never does.
After we clean up, I slide my panties over my body.
He searches my face. “Are you happy?”
“You know I am. You can read me too well.”
He smirks. “I can. Just testing you. Also, you must promise not to be mad at me when I tell you something.”
“Uh, no,” I say.
He pulls out his phone, takes a picture of me, and turns it for me to see. “Are those hickeys and teeth marks?”
I chew on the corner of my lip, touching where he was.
He tilts his head, watching my reaction, and fucking smirks . “You like that I marked you.”
I can’t deny it. “I like the world knowing that you chose me.”
“They know,” he says. “They all fucking know. And I’d choose you a hundred more times if I could.”
Butterflies flutter and I ask myself if this was ever pretend. The silence draws on as I try to pinpoint the moment I felt the spark between us.
“What are you in your head about, darling?” he asks, sliding his sunglasses over his eyes.
I laugh, hating that he can do that so well. “ Stop reading me.”
“You make it too easy,” he mutters as the car takes a turn.
It’s the last stretch of road before we arrive. Soon after, we’ll be on a private jet, flying to the city.
“I was trying to figure out when this happened, when I …”
“Fell for me?” He chuckles. “I knew you were the one the first time our eyes locked.”
His admission has my pulse quickening. “I felt something too. Maybe we shifted timelines together.”
“It feels like that,” he says.
When we board, we’re giddy smiles and desperate kisses. We move to the executive seats in the middle of the plane and I take the window, as always.
The only proof we have of what happened lives in our minds. It’s sealed with truths and precious metals wrapped around our fingers.
“Did you know this would happen?” I ask, snuggled in his arms as the plane takes off.
“What’s that?” He meets my eyes.
I close the window blind and turn to him. “That I’d be eating out of your palm by the end of your vacation.”
He licks his fuckable lips. “Fourteen days is all it’s ever taken for someone to fall in love with me.”
My mouth falls open and I shake my head. “All of it was by design.”
I think about the length of time he’d date people—fourteen days.
“Yes, and this trip was a Trojan horse.” He laughs, kissing my forehead before brushing his nose against mine. “It’s just, this time, I fell too.”
“No.” I shake my head. “The difference is, you fell first . And harder .”
“Fuck yes, I did,” he whispers, capturing my mouth. “And I’d do it again. Ten out of five.”
Could we really have fallen in love so quickly? When I look into his eyes, the answer is yes. Easton’s tough as nails, and even though he hides his vulnerabilities under his suit, they exist alongside mine.
When the outside factors are stripped away, we’re two humans who care, crave adventure, and want to be loved and loved in return.
Together, we’re safe. Apart, we’re dangerous.
And I find comfort in knowing I’ve finally met my match.
W hen we’re back in the States, a car awaits us to take us to the diamond in the sky. Our bags are loaded as we slide inside. Easton has his phone in his hand, and I’ve got mine. Neither of us has powered them on.
I glance down at it like it’s a curse. “I don’t want to deal with this until tomorrow, after I’ve slept.”
The flight was long. We left early this morning and hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. Easton has to be at the office in a handful of hours. Our time together is slipping through my fingers like sand.
He returns it to his pocket. “You’re right. It can wait.”