Chapter 17
17
I pulled into my garage and left the door open for Natalie to walk in after me. She locked her car with a soft beep, then was back in my arms.
“I don’t want you to feel like I’m here because of your position. Because you’re my boss’s boss. I’m not here with the hope of getting money or support or anything like that from you,” she whispered, her face against my chest.
I nodded. “I know.”
“Do you? Because I saw the way people looked at you in the restaurant. The way people always look at you. The man who took our picture when I fell, and the other article about you. We don’t fit together, and I don’t want you to doubt me when you realize that.”
I pulled her tight in my arms and held her close, feeling her curves fit to my body. “We fit together, Natalie. In every way that matters. You have your career and your life, and I don’t expect you to give all of that up to stand at my side and be some figurehead of propriety or something. I don’t want that in my life. I’m not looking for a woman who’s a statue and isn’t allowed to be independent. I’m looking for a woman who challenges me and wants to be with me and makes me excited to rush home from work every day.”
“You didn’t have that with your ex?”
I exhaled and shook my head. “Let’s go inside.” I released her and led the way toward the house. I hit the button to close the garage door, then held the door for Natalie to go into my house.
I hadn’t had many people in my space. A few women before I was the interim mayor, but no one since. Dating felt risky, and I didn’t have much time for it the first year. I was starting to get my feet under me when the first article about me came out, casting doubts on my hope of dating while running for mayor.
“Do you want a drink?” I asked her, heading to the kitchen.
“Your home is beautiful. Very cozy,” she said instead of answering me.
“Thank you. It’s my escape. That and my car.”
She laughed. “I know all about your car.”
“What does that mean?”
She smirked. “You have this appearance of wealth and power. You have that car and you wear suits every day and you’re fit and gorgeous and people talk.”
“About me?”
“All the time. Good things. People admire you. Look up to you. Want things from you. I think that car made you seem more real to some people.”
“What about to you?”
She smirked. “Honestly?”
I nodded. “I always want you to be honest with me.”
“Honestly, I don’t get cars. I’m indifferent to them. So for me, it makes me think you’re a little bit of a tool.”
A laugh burst from me. “Don’t hold back.”
“You said to be honest!”
I laughed again. “I did. And I get it. My car was always the only place I felt like I didn’t have to put on a show. Before I moved up here, I had a job my ex wanted me to have. I worked in town politics, but I wasn’t doing anything I really believed in. My drive to and from work was the only time when I felt like I could breathe. When I could relax.”
“She had no idea what she was throwing away when she cheated on you.”
My chest swelled with gratitude. My throat tightened. “Thank you.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I’ve never been told that before,” I confessed.
“Why not? She’s the one who cheated. Why would you be to blame?”
“Men cheat all the time. When they do, it’s dismissed as the woman’s fault. She wasn’t doing all the things he needed. It’s bullshit. The only one to blame when someone cheats is the one who cheats.”
“I agree, but I would also guess your marriage wasn’t great before then.”
I shook my head. “No. It wasn’t. But I never stepped out on her. I was faithful.”
“Which says who you are.”
“That’s not what others have said. She was cheating on me, but I was blamed for it. Told I was the problem. I had people ask if I was gay or just a shitty lover who never pleased her. Every single person said it was my fault she felt the need to go somewhere else. Not one person said she was the problem.”
“She was the problem,” Natalie whispered. She moved closer to me. “She should have seen the amazing man in front of her and realized what a gift she had in you. She was blind, and she didn’t deserve you. She doesn’t deserve your anger now, or your time or focus or regret.”
“I don’t regret divorcing her.”
“But you regret marrying her.”
I nodded slowly, agreeing reluctantly. “I do.”
“You can’t do that. It helped you become the man you are. The man who took over as mayor of this town and made it a place where everyone has a place.”
“Someone’s trying to take that from me.”
“We’re not going to let them.”
“We?”
She raised an eyebrow and took a step back. “Unless you don’t want me to help you.”
I grabbed her before she could get farther away. My arm slid around her waist and tugged her to me.
Her hands went to my chest, smoothing over my shirt and wrapping around my neck.
“I don’t want you to feel obligated to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
She laughed. “Everything makes me uncomfortable.”
I leaned down and kissed her neck. “Does that make you uncomfortable?”
She hummed and tilted her head to give me better access. “No.”
I licked her throat. “How about that?”
A groan slid from her throat.
I nibbled her ear, slicking my tongue around the shell. “Does that make you uncomfortable?”
Her grip on me tightened. “I think I’d be more comfortable in your bed, Omar.”
I scooped her up and turned toward the bedroom.
“Stop! You’re going to hurt yourself.”
I shook my head. “Nope. You said I’m fit and gorgeous. I’ve been wanting to drag you to my bed since those words left your beautiful lips.”
“I hope it’s close.”
I growled and stomped through the house, kicking the door closed behind us a second later. “Very close.”
I eased her body down, holding her tight until her feet touched the floor. Her hands relaxed on my neck and slid around to my chest. She opened the top button of my shirt.
“Natalie,” I groaned.
She kissed the skin she exposed, then opened another button. And another, and another, kissing my bare skin with each button she opened.
When she opened the last button, she looked up at me from her knees.
“That night I fell into you, I was so embarrassed. I looked up at you and wanted to melt into the floor.”
“I wanted to yank you to your feet and never let anyone ever touch you again.”
Her eyes widened. “Why?”
“You were beautiful. Still are. I hated that you were hurt. If that guy hadn’t taken our picture, I’m not sure what I would have done.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have no idea the way you make me feel. The day I came to the community center to meet with you?—”
“I made it awkward. I’m sorry for that.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “No, beautiful. You didn’t make anything awkward. I did. I wanted to kiss you that day. I wanted to sit there all day and listen to you talk about kids and how passionate you were about the rec center.”
“You ran out like I scared you off.”
“Ha, no. I ran out because I couldn’t control myself around you. I had to get away or risk you suing me for sexual harassment.”
“I wouldn’t have done that.”
“You would have had grounds for it.”
“And now?”
I sucked in a breath. “I hope this is consensual.”
She kissed my stomach and licked around my belly button.
I groaned and resisted the urge to thread my fingers into her long hair and hold her there. I needed to know she was on board with what was happening.
“It’s definitely consensual, Omar. I want to be here. And I want to feel you inside me. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since we were trapped at the campground.”
“Neither have I.”
She slowly raised to her feet, kissing my chest on her way up. Who would have thought quiet, awkward Natalie Edwards was secretly a seductress?
I lifted her chin, bringing her lips up so I could claim them with mine. She parted them, licking my lips as my brain fought to keep up with her.
I groaned and thrust my tongue into her mouth, pulling her close. The feel of her top against my bare chest reminded me she was still fully clothed. I needed to do something about that.
I bunched her shirt in my hand, pulling the fabric high enough to touch her bare skin. I spread my fingers wide on her lush body. I lifted my hands, drawing her shirt up until it snagged on her plump breasts. I moved my hands around to the front, pausing to rub circles below her breasts, and pulled back.
“Are you sure?” I whispered against her lips.
“You’ve seen me topless before,” she replied.
“Yes, but we were in my SUV, not my bedroom.”
She stepped back from me, her shirt falling back into place without my hands to hold it up. She reached the edge of her shirt and pulled it up and off in one motion.
I nearly lost all thoughts as she stood there in a pink lace bra with her gorgeous globes spilling over the top.
Then her hands went to her jeans, and I did lose all thought.
I hurried to catch up to her, dropping my shirt to the floor and unbuttoning my jeans to give my throbbing cock a bit of relief.
Her jeans hit the floor, and she stood in front of my bed in matching pink lace.
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “You’re gorgeous.”
Her cheeks darkened, the pleasure and shyness on her face a reminder of all the conversations we had before I knew who she was. The confessions about not being very good at dating and not wanting to date and men not choosing her once they knew who she was.
I was a lucky son-of-a-bitch. It was painful for her to go through that, but it gave me the chance to have her.
“Omar?”
All I could do was stare at her. My gaze slid down her body and back up, my cock thumping with every beat of my heart. I wanted her. More than I thought possible. More than I expected.
I was looking forward to our date, but I had no hope in mind that we might end up in my bedroom at the end of the night. It hadn’t crossed my mind. Now that it was here, I was stunned.
“Do you want me to…?” She reached for her clothes, avoiding my gaze.
“Dammit,” I hissed, closing the distance between us and grabbing her hand. “Natalie, no. I was trying to figure out how I got so lucky tonight.”
“I’m not anyone special.”
“Yes, you are. You are incredibly special.” I brought our joined hands to my lips. “You keep saying we don’t fit. That we’re not supposed to go together. And you’re right, but not in the way you think. I’m not worthy of you, Natalie.”
She scoffed.
“You can disagree, but I’ve been divorced. I thought I met the woman I was going to spend my life with. Coming to MacKellar Cove was running away. I thought if I hid here, I’d figure out my next move one day. But I fell in love with this town. I wanted to stay, but that was when I became interim mayor. I’d always kept my distance from others because I thought I’d be leaving. Then I was the boss of half the town and kept my distance because of the way people saw me. You are beloved. People adore you. When you stood up for me, people listened. I have a chance of winning this election because of you. Because no matter who is behind those stories, with your word, no one is going to doubt me.”
“I’m not important.”
I tucked her hair behind her ear. “But you are, Natalie. You’re so important. You’re more important than me because you’re changing things for the next generation of residents. You’re making this town better for families and kids. You are the one with the power and the authority here.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t have any power.”
“You do over me.”
Her eyes widened.
“I’m stalling right now because I know when I get my hands on you, I won’t be able to slow down. I’m going to lose my mind and the night will be over too fast.”
“Then we make sure the night lasts,” she said.
Before I could say anything else, she stepped into my arms and raised up on her toes. She kissed me soundly, pulling me down to her.
I responded instantly, needing to let out the passion she unleashed in me. Our movements were frantic, tugging at the last pieces of clothing we both wore. Her hands shoved at my jeans. I unhooked her bra. She wrapped her leg around my hip. I slid my hands into the back of her panties and cupped her perfect ass.
We moved together to the bed, falling onto the mattress with my jeans around my ankles and her bare breasts pressed to my chest. She slid up to rest her head on a pillow, and I groaned at the sight of her, dark hair a halo on my pillow.
I crawled off the bed and got rid of my jeans and boxer briefs, then hooked my fingers in the sides of her panties.
She lifted her hips to let me slide them off her, and I got my first look at all of her.
“My God, you’re beautiful,” I whispered.
She reached for me, nodding. “Same.”
My hand went to hers, and she tugged me onto the bed. I stretched out next to her, kissing her and teasing her stomach with one hand. My hand drifted to her breast, drawing faint circles around her nipples before tweaking them gently.
She moaned into my mouth, her hips rising.
I slid my hand down her body, barely touching her until I reached the apex of her thighs. She parted them for me, letting me feel through her curls to her soaked, slick skin.
She moaned again, tightening her fingers on the bedding.
I pressed one finger into her, groaning at the way her body sucked it in. I added a second on my next stroke and brushed my thumb over her clit.
“Omar,” she breathed, breaking our kiss. “Please.”
“Are you already going to come for me?”
“Don’t tease me. Please.”
I kissed her hard, letting her feel my erection against her hip, and wasted no time drawing pleasure out of her body. She writhed against my hand, her hips rocking with each stroke of my fingers into her.
Within seconds, she was moaning and whimpering and pulled away from me to cry out as an orgasm hit her. She clutched at my shoulder, her nails digging into my skin.
“More,” I whispered as she built toward another orgasm.
The second one hit her harder. She rocked with me, then wrapped her hand around my erection and stroked it as she came.
“Inside,” she demanded, trying to pull me into position with her hand on my dick.
“Condom,” I reminded her, rolling the other way to grab one.
“Let me,” she said, rolling with me and reaching for the packet when I took it out of the nightstand.
I handed the condom to her and stood next to the bed.
She looked up at me with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Before I could ask what she was thinking, she wrapped her lips around my cock and sucked hard.
“Fuck, Natalie,” I hissed, unable to stop myself from pumping into her mouth. “I’m sorry.”
She swirled her tongue around the tip of my cock, then released me and opened the condom as though she was never sucking my dick.
I counted to ten and thought about budgets while her hand smoothed the condom down my length. She pumped twice, and only stopped when I jerked in her palm.
She laid back down, spreading her thighs and watching me crawl over her.
I positioned myself between her legs, once more wondering how in the hell I got so lucky.
“I want you, Omar,” she whispered.
I locked eyes with her and pushed inside, both of us moaning at the feel of me sinking all the way into her.
“Wow, you feel good,” she breathed.
“So good,” I agreed. I withdrew until I was almost out, then eased back in, wanting to feel her entire body tighten around me again.
“Don’t hold back. Please.”
“Natalie?”
She looked up at me, her gaze glassy but determined. “Let me feel you, Omar. Don’t hide from me.”
Those words were so simple, so innocent, but not coming from her. She knew what she was asking me. She knew what it meant to me to be able to share my entire self with someone. And she was asking me to trust her. To let it be her.
I took one hand in mine and lifted our joined hands above her head. Her breast rose with her arm, perking up on one side. I grabbed her leg with my other hand, spreading her wider and holding her knee up and away from my body.
I sank in deeper, something I didn’t think was possible, but I did. My balls hit her body, and something inside me unleashed.
I stared into her eyes as I pounded into her body.
She looked back at me, taking it and encouraging it and moaning through it with each thrust. She lifted her hips to meet mine and squeezed her hand to tell me she was right there with me.
And when her body clenched my dick, when she shouted her orgasm, when she screamed and came and nearly broke my fingers, and when I followed her right over the edge, I knew the guys were right.
That damn app had a way of knowing something the rest of us would never be able to figure out. And I was damn happy I found it.
And Natalie.