Chapter 7
Serena
I held on to Gavin like I was swirling in rushing river rapids, and he was the only thing keeping me from going under. I had never come like that before in my life. I had nothing to compare it to, and never would again.
Serena, love,” Gavin rumbled against my chest.
Love. There was nothing more certain in my heart. I loved Gavin. It was too much, too soon, and yet, right on time.
I could admit to myself I’d been in love with the idea of him before we actually met, otherwise his rejection never would have hurt the way it did.
But maybe that wasn’t fair to either of us.
It was one thing to build up someone, but another to accept them as real people.
It didn’t change his behavior the day we met last year, or each time we encountered each other since.
He had been cold and rude. But what if I hadn’t made him into a fantasy soul mate?
It still would have stung, but I would have handled it differently.
The Gavin in my head had been perfect. I accepted the imperfect man who held me now, with my eyes wide open.
My soul knew he was my forever. Carissa and Carrigan never said Gavin was participating in the charity. And no way did any part of my rational brain think this gruff man would do it. Yet, part of me hoped.
That same part could tell there was still something else he was holding back, something he was afraid to tell me. Somehow, it just didn’t matter. I had never been more sure of anything in my life, and that wasn’t just the orgasm talking.
I didn’t need to know everything about him, to know his heart.
It was right there for me to see. The love he had for me was shining in his eyes the whole time he fucked me with those broad fingers.
The way he looked at me as he cracked a wide palm across my ass, and in the way he told me I was a good girl when I told him what I liked.
Who knew getting mad and speaking up could be so rewarding?
But maybe this was the right time for us, and the hand fasting was always meant to be our moment.
His eyes blazed into mine. “You are perfect for me. You were made for me. I was a damn idiot for holding you at arm’s length when I could have had you in my arms all along.”
He tightened his grip on me.
“I love you, Serena.”
His voice was strong and sure. And I felt the same way.
“I love you, Gavin.”
His arms never let go, but I felt him relax, as if he’d been expecting another answer.
“Even if Olivia hadn’t told me all about you, or the girls hadn’t talked about you non-stop, I would have fallen in love with you the second we met.” He said it with such authority.
“So what happened?” Oops. This was a special moment, intimate and vulnerable, and I still asked. “It feels like there’s more—”
“I have to show you, and I can’t do it here. We’ll go to my cabin.”
Uh-oh. I was right.
We had just declared our love for each other. No matter how crazy-fast it seemed to anyone else, it felt right to me. He had made me come so hard I swear I felt like an animal was inside us both, roaring to get free. But we couldn’t move forward until everything was brought into the light.
“Do you collect creepy clown dolls?” I could live with it, as long as they were locked in a trunk the bottom of the farthest lake. “Is your cabin the really rustic kind, or do you have plumbing?”
“Sunshine.” He smiled. “Hell no, and yes, I have plumbing.” He laughed under his breath when he said it.
“I want so much with you, Serena. I want it all. But I owe you the full story, because there is nothing I want more than your happiness. And I would never ask you to be my wife until you knew everything about me.”
“Wife?”
“I said a lifetime, and I mean it.” He gently closed my mouth with a finger, a finger that had been inside me, drawing out the most intense orgasm of my life, only moments ago.
I closed my eyes for a moment, the forest air clean and fresh, mingling with the scent of our encounter, my heartbeat slowing and steadying with each breath.
My whole body was on board. There was no shame or embarrassment, like what we’d just done was only sex, and now entered the awkward disentanglement afterparty.
I nodded. “Wife. I like that.” I smiled at my future husband. Wow. “Although, you know, the hand fasting is like we’re already married—”
“I like where you’re going with this.” His quick grin was full of promise.
He helped me fix myself, and only snorted at my plaid shirt, saying he’d get me the real thing, soon enough.
“Oh no! What about the scavenger hunt and the other games? Carrigan and Carissa—”
“Will get over it if we lose.” He squeezed my hand and mumbled something about making it up to the twins with a trip to the happiest place on earth.
“But what if I wanted to do a sack race with you?” I teased him.
He grunted. “Can you see me fitting into a sack?”
His powerful thighs were hidden by dark denim, but I’d felt them under me. I’d stood between his large feet.
“Nope.” I smiled up at him. “How do you fit in a sleeping bag or tent, anyway?”
“Custom.”
Of course. Nothing about Gavin was standard-issue. There’s something wild inside him. I felt it when he had his fingers inside me, in the way he kissed me. It’s like animal instinct tempered by his surroundings. What was he like in the wild, in the middle of a fire?
The walk to leave the forest was powered by excitement, a far cry from when we’d entered. Gavin walked beside me, matching his stride to mine, though I could feel the anticipation vibrating through us both as we ignored our team flags.
I didn’t care about points in this game. As far as I was concerned, we’d already won.
We emerged from the edge of the woods, next to a field full of people watching some of the competitions that were part of the annual festival.
Normally, I loved festivals, the food and games, watching the crowd, and marveling at the crafts.
But today was different. My body still vibrated with the aftershocks of my orgasm, the intimacy of the moment in the forest wrapped around me like a golden bubble.
It was as if Gavin and I were invisible, slipping through the throngs of people and around the tents on our own trajectory.
His hand engulfed mine, and though he smiled down at me, there was a tightness to his lips, and a tension in his body that hadn’t been there in the woods.
“It’s not you, Sunshine,” he said, correctly interpreting my look. “I don’t like crowds. They get too loud, too close. And with you to protect, I dislike them even more.”
“I am an adult. I can take care of myself. I always have.” I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice.
He was talking to me about his feelings, what he was thinking, instead of just turning away like before.
It was just as new to me to feel loved this way, as it was to think of someone other than only myself to take care of me.
“I know you can, but you don’t have to.” He raised our tied wrists and kissed the back of my hand. “I need to protect you. I want to take care of you. Please, let me.”
Huh. He was asking to take care of me.
“Okay,” I said.
“Easy as that?” He looked sideways at me as we maneuvered past a group of staring, giggling girls who went silent as we passed, before they erupted into squeals and high-pitched chatter.
I whipped my head around and snarled at them. Mine!
“Serena?” Gavin stopped with me.
The group behind me was silent, except for a muttered, “Weirdo.”
“Uh, guess I’m feeling a little protective, too.” I stammered. My cheeks were hot, my heart pounding. What the hell just happened?
“Do you feel okay? Are you hungry?”
“I–I’m fine, just…” I gave a nervous laugh. “It’s silly, but those girls were looking at you, and I just…” I threw my free hand up. “I don’t know what came over me.”
A slow, smug grin crept across his face. “I do.” His eyes flashed that cinnamon gold I’d seen in the woods, but out in the bright daylight without the shadows or trees to excuse as a trick of the light.
But he didn’t elaborate on his comment. Yelling at him in the woods, the intense connection, and now snapping at those girls? I was off-kilter, and unusually grumpy.
“Would you like to share your insight, or just keep it to yourself?” I snipped as I flipped my braid over my shoulder and resumed walking.
“That’s five for the attitude.” His low growl was right in my ear.
“Five what?”
“Five solid smacks on that juicy ass.”
“Ungh.” I wanted to crawl in a hole at the desperate noise I made.
His dark laugh didn’t help, and each step felt like liquid heat dripping from my core.
His grip tightened on my hand, and when I glanced up, his nostrils flared and he was breathing hard.
“Gavin, what’s wro–”
“Too many people here.” He blew out a breath. “You turn me on so damn much, and I don’t want to wait anymore.”
“Same,” I muttered. “Is it weird that all I want to do is hole up somewhere with you and not come out for days?” Was that normal?
I’d never been in love before or felt this intense wash of emotions—except when I’d confronted Gavin just this morning.
It all happened so fast. Like a movie played in slow-motion, then sped up to super-speed at the end. I hoped our story never ended.
“So where are we going?”
“Our cabin.”
“Our cabin?”
“Was mine. Now you’re mine, so it’s ours.” He was practically panting between words, and I was really starting to worry.
I slowed. Something was wrong. I’d never attended a Roaring Rangers meeting with the girls or been any kind of a scout when I was a kid. What if this was like that moment in the woods when he looked like he was having stroke?
“Don’t stop, Sunshine.”
“But you’re—”
He wasn’t listening. He pulled me off my feet, into his arms, and out the gates of the festival. “I’m fine.”
Some man started yelling his name, and I peeked past Gavin’s big bicep to see a guy who could have been Gavin—if my man wore a kilt and carried telephone poles.
“Do you know that man? He definitely looked like he knew you.”
The man let out a loud whistle, and I could see his mouth moving, but we were too far away to really hear.
But Gavin stiffened as if he’d heard the man. His mouth was clamped tight, his jaw flexing so much it was like something was moving under his skin.
“Do you work with him? Is he a relative?” I thought it was just him and Olivia. “He looks like you could be related.”
He grunted. “Cousin.”
“Oh, don’t you want to—”
“Nope.”
“But—”
“Six.”
Instantly I knew what he meant. I clenched my thighs together. What could I say to make it seven?
He growled at me, as if he knew what I was thinking, and I was powerless to stop the laugh that shook my whole body.
This whole morning had been surreal, and my laughter was like a pressure valve, releasing the nervous tension that had built up as we made our way through the gauntlet of people from forest to parking lot.
Gavin’s arms tightened around me. I never considered asking if I was too heavy. I especially didn’t ask him to put me down; I already knew what he’d say.
He stopped in front of a big truck and opened the door before he ushered me onto the bench seat.
He shook his head, a smile on his lips. “I love hearing your laugh. But we need to get the hell out of here, Sunshine, before I get arrested for indecency.”