“Sorry,” I mumbled, following Paxon when he climbed out. “Where are we?” I asked, spinning in a circle.
“This area used to be where Hearst warehoused all the stuff he brought in from around the world to put up in his castle on the hill. A couple of years ago, my mom bought this place and had it turned into a little seaside getaway for her and my dad. His mother and father met when they both worked for Hearst.”
“That’s so romantic,” I said, looking first out at the ocean and then at the little house that looked like it had been right here forever, lovingly cared for by people like Laird and Sorcha.
“Come on in, and I’ll show you around.”
“Do they just leave it unlocked?” I asked when he pulled the sliding door to the side.
“Nah, Kade was here a little while ago, dropping off your stuff.” He pointed to bags I recognized as Paxon’s.
“Wow,” I said when he turned the lights on. “It looks so cozy.” It was decorated similarly to the house we’d visited at Butler Ranch, with mission-style furniture.
“My wife, Bradley—you didn’t meet her, because she’s at a wine festival this week. Anyway, she helped my ma decorate.”
“It’s lovely.”
Naughton picked up a set of keys that were sitting on one of the end tables in the living room that looked out over the ocean. “This one is for the front door. You lock the slider from the inside, and this one is for the car you’ll find in the garage. Be right back.” He ran out of the house and over to the helicopter.
“Can you believe this?” I asked Paxon.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug. “I can’t think about anything besides your tongue on my hand, Flynn. Nothing. My mind is blank. We could be on top of a volcano, and I wouldn’t know it.”
“Almost forgot this,” said Naughton, bringing in a basket. “It’s your breakfast, and there’s more in the refrigerator. I stocked the place with beer and wine too.”
I nudged Paxon when it looked like Naughton was getting ready to leave.
“Thank you so much. So, we can stay here tonight?” I asked.
“You can stay here as long as you want.” Naughton walked to another room and turned on more lights. He motioned to what looked like a dining room table. “I told my mother that you’d probably just look stuff up on the internet, but she insisted I go pick up brochures and maps from the bookstore in Cambria.” He picked up an envelope and handed it to Paxon.
“Thanks.”
Naughton put his hand on Paxon’s shoulder. “You okay, man?”
“Yeah, uh, just kind of overwhelmed at the moment.”
“That’s from my brother. I’m sure it’ll explain some of it, at least.”
“Thank you so much,” I repeated when it didn’t appear Paxon had found his words yet.
“I’ll head out now. Have fun!”
“Paxon,” I whispered, bumping him with my hip.
“Right. Uh, you have fun too.”
Naughton shook his head and laughed as he walked out to the helicopter.
“I can’t even believe how beautiful—”
Before I realized what was happening, Paxon had me in his arms. “What are you doing?” I giggled. “Put me down before you hurt yourself.”
“I need to be next to you. All of me next to all of you. Think the bedroom is in this direction?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
He carried me down a hallway that turned to the right, and pushed open the first door we came to with his knee. Like in the living room, there was a wall of windows that looked out over the ocean. Paxon walked over and stood in front of them.
“You can put me down now.”
“No.”
I giggled again. “Why not?”
“I like having you in my arms.”
“I’m too heavy.”
“You’re perfect.”
46
Irish
In the same way I knew we shouldn’t make love the night before I left for China, I knew tonight we would. It just felt right. Everything felt right. I couldn’t remember any other time in my life when there wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to be, nothing else I wanted to be doing, no one else I wanted to be with.
All I needed in the world, I held in my arms. I kissed her again and again, like I planned to do all night, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. Hell, I planned to spend the rest of my life kissing Flynn. Every chance I got.
“Paxon?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“We need to talk.”
I carried her over to the bed and gently rested her body on it. I stretched out behind her and slowly lowered the zipper on the back of her dress.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Listening.” I moved her hair out of my way, leaned forward, and ran my tongue from the base of her neck down her spine until I came to the clasp on her bra. I released it and kept my trail of kisses going until I reached the small of her back. “You aren’t talking, Flynn.”
“Talk? I can’t even think with you doing that.”
“Now you know how I felt at the end of our helicopter ride. I doubt I could’ve told you my name if you’d asked.”
“Oh, God,” she groaned when I lowered her panties and kissed the dimples right above her ass.
“Do you want me to stop, Flynn?”
“If you stop, I’ll die. I just know it.”
I got on my knees and turned her over. I helped her take off her dress, remove her bra, and let my gaze linger on her panties.
As I did with her back, I trailed kisses from her lips all the way down the front of her body. When I reached the lace of her panties, I moved them aside.
“Paxon,” she groaned when I slid my fingers inside and parted her folds. I touched her clit with the tip of my tongue, and she bucked beneath me.
“What…what…are you doing?”
“Enjoying the hell out of every inch of your body.”
“But—”
“Shh, my precious Flynn. The only thing you need to do is relax and let yourself enjoy it.”
“Paxon, I never…”
She shuddered when I blew on her wetness.
“I need…”
I eased a finger inside her. “What do you need? Tell me, Flynn.”
Her head rolled from side to side. “I have no idea. Just more.”
I added a second finger, gently pumping in and out while she writhed beneath me.
“Paxon, please. I need to see you. I need to feel you.”
“You still aren’t talking.”
“This. This was it.”
“It?”
She reached down and stopped my hand’s movement. “You and me. Tonight. Now. I want to know. I need to know. I don’t care what happens tomorrow; just don’t make me wait any longer.”
As I kissed my way up her body, she squirmed when I reached her soft tummy, so I lingered there, loving on every bit of her flesh.
When I reached her lips, she parted them and I thrust my tongue in her mouth. Her hands landed on my still-clothed ass.
“You need to take off your clothes and—”