Chapter 25 Lacey
LACEY
I feel his hands reach for me under the sheets. The ceiling fan whirls above our heads, stirring the early morning air. I nudge my ass against Eagle, and he rakes a hand over my bare thigh.
“Mornin’, baby.” His voice is low in my ears, and I close my eyes just to savor the sound.
He’s with me.
Everything is going to be all right.
Mom had book club last night, so we stayed in the sun-room and held hands, talking about work and the status of the construction, while Mom and her friends laughed, played music, and sang inside. I don’t even know if they actually read, but they sure have fun.
When we finally put Ruby to bed and went to my room, neither of us slept much.
Today’s a big day, and even though it’s just a formality, I’m nervous.
I think Eagle is too. We tossed and turned in bed, tried to make love, watch a movie.
But in the end, we just held each other and talked until the wee hours.
Now, my eyes are scratchy, but I know there’ll be no more sleep for me.
Working with Eagle has changed our relationship. Just like before, he’s my sun. I seem to gravitate to wherever he is, pulled toward him by a force more powerful and mysterious than anything I’ve experienced before.
What’s different is Eagle. I never realized how deferential he was to me at the Lantana. He worked for me, so it just seemed normal that he’d follow my lead, ask what I needed. Take instructions and execute them—often without even being asked.
But at Gabriel’s Closet, Eagle is a leader. He seems to love project management, and he gets along well with everyone. Our elderly volunteers especially adore him. They all have crushes on “their Eagle,” but thankfully, I am a lot more confident that Eagle has room in his heart for only one woman.
Me.
Somehow his having steady work that means something to him has changed us as a couple, too.
We talk all the time now. Our conversations are fun, interesting, heated.
We argue about work and the construction, and we hope and dream and plan for what comes next.
It’s been a few months, and Danielle wants to promote me, give me a real paying position, but I’ve decided to look into opening a consulting firm.
Nonprofits rarely have budgets to pay people big salaries, and I’ve learned a lot about development.
I’ve hosted parties and dinners, bake sales and food drives, all in the name of raising money for a good cause.
It’s hard work and exhausting, but there is a need for it.
I love feeling like what I do affects people’s lives.
Not just their dreams, but their reality.
And after all, I am really good at planning events.
Who says I only need to plan splashy parties?
Maybe I will take the job at Gabriel’s eventually. Maybe something else will pan out. I’m okay with uncertainty now. Living in the gray area doesn’t mean having no plan and no direction. I prefer to think of it as being open to whatever possibilities may come.
“Lace.” Eagle nudges my rear end with an absolutely enormous erection. “Since I don’t have to be at work today…”
It’s a big day. A formality, but still. Eagle and Linda will appear at the courthouse this morning.
The judge assigned to their case will review their petition for dissolution of marriage.
If all goes the way the lawyers have planned, Eagle will be absolved of any financial obligation to Linda, and Linda, who’s accumulated a truly scary amount of debt in the years she’s been married to Eagle, will walk away with nothing more than the problems she created herself.
It’s been a dramatic and long road, but today, we all reach the finish line. It’s been a tiring race, and I’m ready for it to be done.
“Is it bad that I want to celebrate my divorce before it even happens?” He plants soft kisses along my ear and strokes the back of my neck.
Honestly, I want to celebrate too. A small part of me is afraid something will stop it. Like a last-second TV drama moment where Linda stands up and declares her love for Eagle. They run across the courtroom, embrace, and live happily ever after.
Even through the worries, I’ve been trying not to let my imagination run wild the way it used to. Eagle is committed to me. There will be no one to object to the divorce. It’s going to happen. We just have a few more hours to wait.
I keep my feet solidly on the ground, at least emotionally, and turn to face him.
“We’re still celebrating tonight, right?” I ask.
He nods and reaches between us. We’re lying on our sides, facing each other and holding hands.
“Hell yes, we’re celebrating tonight. But I already feel lighter, babe. I already somehow feel free. The thing that has weighed me down for two decades is over.”
I raise his tattooed hands to my lips and kiss them. Then I slip one of his fingers into my mouth and suck it, running the tip of my tongue over his strong knuckles.
Eagle lets out a low, deep groan. “I wanna wake up to this every day.”
I take his wet finger from my mouth and slip his hand under the sheets. I roll onto my back, and he tucks in close beside me. “Me too.”
“You think your mom’s awake?” he asks.
I look at the watch on my wrist. “She’s definitely asleep.”
“Then, baby, make all the noise you want.” He slides his fingers down my belly and thighs, and I open my legs wide. He lazily traces circles on my pussy, exploring every inch of the tender places he knows so well now.
I turn my face toward him, and he leans down to kiss me. The kiss is soft, gentle, and sweet.
“I could never have done this without you,” he whispers.
“This?” I tease, taking his cock in my hand. “Good. Because it’s not nearly as much fun alone.”
He groans, and I feel his erection jerk in my hand. He slides his damp fingers over my clit, and I sigh, letting him wake me up with long strokes.
His cock throbs against my fingers, and I can’t resist him anymore. Lazy touching is fun, but I’m feeling the hot pulses of arousal flood my body with every stroke of his fingers.
“On your back,” I tell him, shoving aside the sheet. I get on my knees and crawl over him, then lower my face to his dick.
He does as I ask, a happy grin lighting those blue eyes from deep within. “Whatever you say, boss,” he teases, using his old nickname for me. Sometimes we like to play boss-employee. Sometimes I’m in charge, and sometimes he is.
Today, it looks like I get to tell him whatever I want.
“Remember this later today,” I say, looking up at him. Then I stroke his balls with my fingertips and draw his cock into my mouth.
“Fuck,” he groans, watching as I suck him in, my eyes never leaving his.
I take my time with him, letting my saliva drench his cock, sucking the head so that when I pull my mouth away, my lips make a little pop noise.
Finally, he drops his head back on the pillows. “Babe…”
“You taste so good,” I tell him then suck him in so deep, I can feel the head of his cock at the back of my throat. I work his shaft with my hand and his head with my mouth until he fists my hair and stops me.
“Babe,” he pants, “you gotta get yours before I get off.”
I nod and give his erection a couple of featherlight kisses before I kneel above him.
I straddle his lap and rub my pussy lips and clit along his length, just rocking and riding, letting the pressure build.
He takes my tits in his hands, his fingers pinching my nipples until I gasp and have to cover my mouth with my hand to quiet the sounds.
Mom’s asleep, but she’s not comatose. If I scream, she’ll definitely hear me.
“Should we get our own place?” I ask, speaking the thought before my brain can stop it from coming out.
Eagle’s eyes fly open, his hands still on my breasts.
“Yes,” he says without hesitating. “Absolutely fucking yes.”
“I’ve been thinking about it for a few months now,” I say, sliding onto his erection. I suck in a huge breath, whimpering happily as he fills me. Then I continue, rocking my hips slightly in time with my words. “You know, nothing too crazy. Space for Ruby to run…”
Eagle’s hands are on my hips, and he’s gritting his teeth so hard I can see the muscles in his jaw clench. “Babe,” he puffs. “We’ll have time. Lots of time to…”
I clench my walls around him tightly and then lift myself up a bit, my hands on his shoulders for leverage. Then I slam down hard, thrusting him deep inside me.
“Jesus, baby…”
“Do you think we need one bathroom or two?” I ask, struggling to maintain my train of thought as the pleasure centers itself deep inside me.
“I’ll shit in a bucket if that’s what it takes,” he pants. “Now, Lacey, fuck me.”
I do, digging my fingers into his shoulders and leaning forward so he can suck my nipple deep into his mouth. I rock and ride, working my hips in the rhythm that has become so easy, so familiar, and yet never old.
His mouth is like fire on my breast, and I arch deeper, pressing our bodies together until we’re so close, nothing on this earth can separate us. It’s a feeling I treasure, and when we finally fall over the edge, we fall just like we’ll do everything else. Together.
We’re tangled beneath my bedsheets, our sweaty legs locked together, watching the sun illuminate my bedroom. Our breathing has slowed, and Eagle is tracing the tip of my nose with a finger.
“I got you something,” he says. “But I wanted to save it for tonight.”
I grin and lift my mouth toward the fingers that are tracing my nose. I pretend to bite him. “No fair,” I exclaim. “You tell me that, then make me wait?”
He caresses my chin with a hand. “Well, technically, I got you two things. This divorce is all for you.”
I swat his bare chest.
“Eagle. It’s as much for you as for me. So, what did you get me, really?”
I already have my own helmet, a new one in a bright cherry red that I wear when we ride. I even have one of the side compartments on the bike where I keep a blanket for impromptu picnics.