“Are you trying to kill me?” I joke, adjusting myself in my pants.
“You do the same to me, you know,” she says, taking my hand and leading us along the path. “You just can’t see it on the outside.”
That does it. I push her against the railing and drop to my knees for the second time tonight. My hands glide up her legs, inching up under her knee-length dress.
“Oh my God. You’re crazy,” she pants. “I thought I was dessert.”
“I’ve changed my mind,” I say, my fingers brushing against her lace-clad pussy. “You’re the appetizer.” I push her thong aside, plunging two fingers into her slick warmth. “You’re as horny as me.”
“You say that like it’s a surprise,” she says, spreading her legs wide and granting me full access.
“I don’t take anything about us for granted, babe.” I pump my fingers in and out of her, reveling in the flush staining her cheeks and the way she bites down on her lower lip.
“Charlie, you turn me on so much. I will never get enough.”
I yank her panties down her legs, part her folds with my thumbs, and dive in to my own personal heaven. I lick and suck her just how she likes it, using my fingers and my tongue to bring her to the brink of ecstasy. It’s dark out, and the center is closed, but I still keep a lookout, ensuring no one is watching us. When I’m sure it’s safe, I wrap my lips around her tight bundle of nerves and suck hard as my fingers thrust faster inside her. She comes with a scream, clutching onto my shoulders as her legs spasm and buckle, and I keep her steady while I extract every last pleasurable wave from her body.
“You are a wicked man,” she says as I fix her clothes and stand.
“But you love me.”
“I do.” She jumps into my arms, and I hold her under her butt as her legs wrap around my waist. “I love you so much.” She dusts kisses all over my face as I walk us to the car. “You’re my everything, Charlie.”
“You are my universe, my love.”
Later, after we make it back to the gorgeous house I’ve rented for the weekend, we eat dinner on the balcony, overlooking the sea, with the sound of crashing waves hitting rocks as a backdrop. We feed one another, constantly touching, and as soon as we’ve eaten, I lift her in my arms and take her to bed, where we make love all night long.
She stirs in my arms the next morning, and I open my eyes, watching as strips of glorious bright light stream through the open window, bathing her in a golden glow. “Morning, babe.” I kiss the corner of her mouth as her eyes blink open.
She moves her hand to my crotch, palming my morning wood. “Morning, sexy.” She presses hot kisses to the underside of my prickly jaw before climbing on top of me. Grabbing my erection, she holds it in place as she lowers down on top of me.
I groan as her heat envelops me. “God, you’re perfect.”
She slides her hands up my chest as she starts rocking slowly on top of me. “Right back at ya. Think of how perfect our kids are going to be.”
We stare at one another as we slowly make love, and it still amazes me that I enjoy intimacy this much because I’ve never known this until Demi. But I’m equally happy when she’s tied up on all fours as I slam into her with raw need as I am thrusting inside her slowly, exploring every inch of her soft skin with my hands and my tongue as our eyes connect while we make love.
We come together with the familiarity of two people who know each other’s bodies, and wants and desires, inside and out.
She lies on my chest, her dark hair splayed out around us as she draws spirals with her finger on my skin. “How many kids do you want?” she asks, looking up at me.
“At least two, but I’d happily have more if you want.”
She props up on one elbow, tracing her fingers along the stubble on my chin and cheeks. “I’d love a big family,” she admits. “I always wanted a sibling even though I never told Dad because I didn’t want to upset him or make him feel like he had to find a new wife.” She looks off into space. “I had a happy childhood, and I’ve no real complaints, but it was lonely at times.” She locks eyes on me again, smiling. “I love the thought of a bunch of noisy kids filling our house, of a home bursting with laughter and happiness.”
I pull her down, kissing her lush mouth, morning breath be damned. “I’m completely sold. When do we get started?”
EPILOGUE 2
Demi – Ten Years Later
“Jamie! Get down from there,” I scream, racing along the beach toward our second-youngest son. He’s the daredevil of the bunch and the one most likely to be caught up in mischief. I slow my pace as I watch my husband scale the back of the lifeguard tower after our naughty child, releasing the breath I was holding as soon as Charlie has Jamie safely in his arms.
“He’s a handful,” Abby says, holding out a chilled bottle of water to me.
“He’ll give me gray hairs,” I joke, accepting the water gratefully. It’s scorching hot today, and I’m jumping up and down continuously, slathering the kids with sunscreen and making sure they’re hydrated.
“Kid for sale,” Charlie hollers, swinging Jamie around and placing him up on his shoulders.
“Dad wouldn’t really sell him, would he?” Jane, our eldest child, and only daughter, asks.
I pull her in close to my side, snaking my arm around her slender shoulders. “Your dad can hardly bear leaving you all at home when he has to go to work every day, so what do you think?”
“He says it a lot,” she adds, her brow puckering as she tries to work it out. Jane is only eight, but she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. I hate that she worries so much, but it’s who she is, and I can already tell she’s the responsible one in the family, that she will be the one taking care of her brothers and not the other way around.
“He’s only joking, doofus,” Henry says, landing on the sand in front of us. His dark hair is tousled in messy waves falling over his forehead, and his bright green eyes, so like his father’s, twinkle with happiness. “We’re building sandcastles, and I need you because Anderson is not winning today.”
Abby and I trade an amused expression. “They’re more competitive than their dads,” she says.
Over the years, any lingering animosity between Charlie and Kai has completely disappeared, and now, they’re the best of friends, enjoying boys’ nights out and weekend golfing trips in between family time. “I think that’s an intrinsic part of the male DNA,” I quip. “God help us when they’re teenagers.” Abby and Kai have four children too, except they have two of each—two sons and two daughters.
Abby groans. “I’m determined to find a way to halt time before that happens.”
Henry grabs his sister’s arm. “C’mon.”
“I wanna build sandcastles,” Jamie shrieks, wriggling on top of Charlie’s shoulders as they approach.
“You can’t come,” Henry says. “You only get mad and wreck everything.”
“I want to go,” Jamie demands, pouting, as Charlie lifts him off his shoulders.