“Nowhere I’d rather be than holding you.” He pressed his lips to her neck and breathed in the familiar scent of his love.
Her hands moved from his waist down to grip his ass and pull him in tighter against her.
Oliver bit back a groan. “Dara… Honey. Tell me what you want.”
“You, Olly. I want you.”
He’d waited so long to hear those words, all the while wondering if she’d ever want him again. It was all he could do not to weep from the sheer relief.
“Olly? Are you okay?”
“I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.”
“Do you think we could, you know, spend some time together before the party?”
He’d come home from the meeting with Jared bursting with ideas and plans and research he wanted to do, but none of that mattered now that his wife was in his arms and telling him she wanted him. “There’s nothing in this world I’d rather do.”
He followed her up another winding staircase to the bedroom and bathroom that made up the lighthouse’s top floor. He’d never lived anywhere more unique or special and couldn’t miss the symbolism of the lighthouse illuminating their way back to each other.
“I just need a minute,” Dara said, ducking into the bathroom.
Oliver unbuttoned his shirt and sat on the edge of the bed. In the past, he’d have been naked and already in bed when she joined him. This, however, felt like the first time all over again, even though their first time had been more than ten years ago. That felt like forever ago after everything that’d happened since then.
Neither of them was the same person they’d been before they lost Lewis. Figuring out who they were now—as individuals and a couple—was their primary goal for this year on Gansett.
Dara came out of the bathroom. She wore a robe and had let her hair down. As she approached him, he noticed she seemed shy and hesitant, two things she’d never been with him before.
He held out his hands to her, wanting her to feel welcome with him in every possible way.
She took his hands and stepped between his legs.
Oliver put his arms around her and pressed his face to her abdomen, closing his eyes against a rush of tears that took him by surprise. This was no time for tears, however. There’d been more than enough of them for any one lifetime. This was a time for looking ahead, for coming back together after a long winter of pain and sorrow. This was about the love of his life and finding the way forward together.
“Are you okay, Olly?” she asked softly.
“I am if you are.”
“I feel… I don’t know how to describe it. Better, I guess. A little better.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.”
“Do you feel better, too?”
“I do. Being here has been good. It’s taken some of the pressure off.”
“Yes, exactly. And I’m excited about my new job, even if it’s a million miles from what I thought I’d be doing.”
“Maybe you’ll find something you love better than the law, which you’d stopped loving as much as you used to long before we lost Lewis.” The long hours, endless demands and intense stress of trying to balance a high-pressure job with motherhood had taken a toll on her.
“True.”
He pulled back, looked up at her and gave a gentle tug on the knot holding her robe together. The two sides fell apart, revealing the body that was as familiar to him as his own, albeit less curvy than she’d been before. They’d both had trouble eating for months after their loss.
Oliver kissed the soft skin on her belly while sliding his hands around her to cup her ass. “Sexiest girl I’ve ever seen,” he said, as he always did, hoping the familiar refrain would make her laugh as usual.
It did. “Always the charmer, Oliver Watkins.”
“I can’t have my best girl thinking there’s anyone better than her.”
“You still think that? Even after everything?”
The vulnerability in her words tore at him. His Dara was never uncertain with him. “I’ll think that for the rest of my life, until we’re old and gray and wrinkled. You’ll always be the sexiest girl I’ve ever seen.”
To his dismay, her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Olly. For everything. For working when I should’ve been with you and Lewis, for pushing you away after, for all of it.”
“Don’t be sorry, love. Neither of us was at our best after we lost our boy. All we can do now is look to the future and hope for better days ahead.”
“Do you think there’ll be better days ahead?”
“I’m sure of it.”
“Thank you for pushing me to come here, to shake things up, to change our scenery. It’s been good.”
“Yes, it has, and it’s getting better all the time,” he said with a suggestive grin. “Come be with me, love. I’ve missed you that way, too.”
He pulled off his shirt and sat back, waiting for her to join him. His heart nearly stopped when she dropped the robe on the floor before crawling into his outstretched arms. With her naked body pressed against his chest, he had to remind himself to go slow, to be gentle with her. This was no time for ravenous need. It was the time for tenderness.
Kissing her, holding her, making love to her was like coming home after a long, difficult journey. The desire they’d felt for each other from the beginning came back like it had never left.
“Phew,” she said, breathing hard afterward. “We’ve still got it.”
Oliver laughed. “We certainly do.” He ran his hand from her breast to the curve of her hip and then back up, leaving her with goose bumps. “Just like always with the goose bumps.”
“That’s only ever happened with you.”
“Don’t remind me there were others.”
“No one who mattered the way you do.” Dara suddenly gasped. “Olly! We didn’t use birth control!”
Chapter 13
“Oh shit,” Oliver said. “I never even thought of it. It’s been so long since we needed it.”
“I haven’t gotten a shot in ages. Crap.”
“Would it be terrible if we had another baby?”
“No, but… I just don’t know if I can do it again.” She gave a short laugh. “At the very least, we probably should’ve had a conversation about that beforehand.”
“That would’ve killed the mood.”
“Probably.” She turned her head so she could see him. “What do we do now?”
He flattened his hand on her belly. “We keep doing it and see what happens?”
“Isn’t that sort of like juggling with dynamite?”
“Nah. We were great parents, and we would be again.”
“We were great parents until our son died on our watch.”
“That was a tragic accident.”
“I’m just so afraid that if we had another baby, I’d never be able to take a deep breath again for the rest of my life.”
Oliver thought about that for a long moment before he replied. “The other day when I was at the marina for coffee with Big Mac and the guys, they were talking about Luke’s wife, Sydney. From what I was able to piece together, she lost her first husband and two children in a drunk driving accident.”