“Dude, breathe,” Tom teases, but I can’t tear my eyes from her. It couldn’t be. She wasn’t due back until tomorrow.
I step forward as if I’m moving in slow motion or I’m part of a movie where the crowd separates and the path clears. She stops and slowly lifts her head.
“Ella.” I exhale. Her eyes meet mine, emeralds in the dark, and I close the final distance between us. My hands cover her shoulders. Anxiety and excitement fill my voice as I ask, “What are you doing here?”
“I came home early. I wanted to see you.”
Tugging her to me, I wrap my arms around her. “I can’t believe you came. I can’t believe you’re here.”
She didn’t want to go out in public, to a party, yet here she stands.
“I can’t either.” She chuckles into my chest, and I pull back so I can look down at her again. My hands cover both her cheeks, needing to feel her skin to prove she’s really before me.
“I’m not hallucinating, right? You’re really standing here.”
“I’m really here,” she says, her voice dropping, but a smile curls her lips. I can’t help myself. I lean forward and kiss her. It’s too quick, but I know where we stand—in the middle of a party with a lot of prying eyes. Gossip in this town travels faster than a gas stove flame flicked to life on a burner.
Who is that woman with Ethan Scott?
“Follow me a second.” Taking her hand, I lead her to the open barn doors. The space quickly grew warm with so many bodies and the heat of the generators, so we opened one side of the double doors to allow some fresh air in the place.
“Ethan?” The surprise in a feminine voice stops me.
“Mum? What are you doing here?” I look up to find my mother and father standing on the edge of the entrance, just outside the doors.
“I just wanted to see,” she says, standing in an old coat of my father’s draped over her shoulders. My dad stands behind her, both arms wrapped around her.
“You shouldn’t be outside,” I say to my dad as Mum was so recently released from the hospital.
“Five minutes. That’s all she gets,” he mutters.
“Ella, honey. I love your costume. Are you two Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf?” I look down at my costume and realize how we match without knowing it.
“Maybe she’s Ygritte to his Jon Snow,” my dad states, surprising me that he’s familiar with the popular program. His eyes don’t leave Ella’s face.
“Dad, this is Ella Vincentia.” Ella holds out a hand, but my father reaches for her scarred cheek and then presses a kiss to her other one. It’s so forward, and I’m instantly pissed off by the move, but Ella smiles back at him.
“I see where Ethan gets his charm,” she teases, and my father chuckles.
“Ethan gets nothing from me,” he mocks, the sarcasm apparent.
“He’s exactly like you,” Mum counters. “Rebellious, stubborn, and charming.” She winks at me. “How was New York?” she asks Ella.
“It was wonderful,” Ella says, turning to look at me. “Two fashion houses are interested in the designs and one supplier.” Her face beams, and I’m so happy for her. She needed this, so I swallow back a lump in my throat when I say, “That’s amazing. Congratulations.”
Dad’s eyes bore into the side of my head, but I don’t look over at him.
“We’re going to get some fresh air,” I tell them both. Ella states how nice it was to meet Dad and how great it was to see Mum up and out before we walk off from them. I lead her down a row of trees until I’m certain the dark night hides us. Then I tug her between the lower branches. Dragging her to me, I lower my forehead for hers and groan.
“Why are you so sweet?”
“I was just being nice.”
“Ha. My father doesn’t deserve niceties, and I don’t know what that kiss was all about. That’s so unlike him.” What was my dad playing at?
“He was being sweet, Ethan. I…I liked it.” She smiles sheepishly.
“Don’t be getting a crush on my dad,” I warn.
“No worries there. He was just being polite.”
“Polite?” I snort. “My ass.” He was flirting with my girl, and I’ll be having a word with my dad later. But now… “So, New York was good?” I hold my breath, anticipating her excitement again.
“It was good, but I don’t want to talk about New York yet other than to say I wish you had been there.”
“Yeah?” My lip curls, and I cup both her cheeks again.
“I missed you.” Her voice softens. “And I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about the trip before.”
“I missed you like crazy.” My mouth lands on hers, taking in her apology, but we don’t keep it chaste. It’s the hunger of the days before she left, and the near week she was gone. My mouth opens, and tongues plunder. I press her to me and then lean us both against the tree at her back.
“I missed you so much,” she mutters against my lips.
“Me too. I missed your mouth, your kiss, your—” I don’t get to say the rest as she tips up on her toes and wraps her arms around my neck. My hands slip inside her red cloak, draping the material around myself a bit. “I want to be inside you. I want to show you how much I missed you.”
“Do it,” she whispers. I’m turned into a man on a mission. My fingers lift the dress she wears under her cloak and find her underwear already soaked.
“Damn, woman.” My fingers dip under the silky trim to discover she’s drenched.
“Ethan, please,” she begs, her fingers digging into my hair.
“Right here?”
“Here,” she whimpers. Her hands lower to lift the weight of my costume and shove the compression pants to my hips. There’s no space for underwear, so I’m instantly free and rock hard. My knees bend, and Ella hooks a leg over my hip.
“Take my hand,” I command. We clasp one set of fingers together as I line up with her.
“I love how you hold my hand,” she says, her voice an octave higher with anticipation.
I love you, I want to say, but instead, I say, “I love holding onto you, being connected to you in as many ways as possible.” Without more words, I thrust upward. She cries out in a rush.
“Did I hurt you?”
“Do it again,” she demands. I pull back, teasing her body as though I’ll separate from her but then surge upward once more, working fast to reach the release we both crave. My hips rock, and with each movement, I realize how right she feels around me. How deep I am within her and how deeply she’s in my heart.
Hands clutch, mouths crash, and we move as one until she bites my lip and comes. The soft pain sends a thrill through me, and I still, the only part of me moving jolts inside her, filling her. My forehead lowers to hers as we take deep breaths, breathing each other in.
“Are you going to leave, Ella?” It isn’t the time to ask, but I need to know. Am I going to lose this feeling I have with only her? The one where I can’t get enough of her. The one where she’s all I want.
“Let’s talk later, okay? Tonight, I just want to enjoy each other and the party.”