“It’s only fair, after all,” I said, pushing him onto his back and climbing on top. I straddled him, enjoying the hungry way he looked at me. We’d both come hard and fast the first time. But I had plans of my own now. I let my breasts dangle in front of him, just out of reach as I stripped the pillowcases off.

“They may not be diamond bracelets,” I said, wrapping each of his thick wrists. “But I think they’ll do… as long as you don’t try to fight me…”

A dark, throaty chuckle escaped him as I pushed his arms up toward the bedposts and tied him off. He knew as well as I did that he could free himself in a hot second, but I leaned into him, letting my nipples drag along his chest, and we both knew he was my willing slave. “It’s my turn to explore you,” I said, letting my tongue find its way. His abs were hard, rolling hills of muscle… all leading downward.

He groaned, a mixture of pain and sweet torture, as I took my time, learning every nerve, every flick of my tongue that his body responded to. He was enormous when I finally knelt between his spread thighs and took his cock in my hands. No fucking wonder I come within minutes, I thought, running my fingers over his slick head. He was huge and heavily veined… I squeezed and was rewarded with even more slick fluid. I ran one hand over it, smoothing it down the length of his shaft, my fingers sliding easily over his girth. I cupped his tight, huge balls and tightened my hand around his massive base.

Fucking Christ, Angel…,” he gasped out. “If you don’t suck me now, I’m going to tear the posts right off the bed and…” I went down on him, taking in as much as I could swallow and then some.

My pussy can take all this…, I thought, shocked and excited. And I could taste us both on him... Me sweet, him salty. I worked him with my lips and the muscles in my cheeks. And every time he grew and stiffened like granite, I pulled back until the tension eased. But each time I let up, I would begin again, only to drive him higher… each time getting him closer and closer until I needed his climax almost as desperately as he did. I felt his veins thicken and tasted his imminence. Every muscle in his body stiffened as he groaned my name and began to leak his seed. He thrust his thigh between my spread knees and I clenched it, rubbing my hungry clit against him shamelessly. That was all it took. His climax hit, taking me over the edge along with him.

“Fuck me,” he ground out. “Now… I have to be inside you… right the fuck now.”

He bucked and I let him go. I threw my leg over his hip and he thrust again… and I was fully impaled, straddling him and riding him like a warrior. He was still coming… jets of hot fluid spilling inside me. Another shattering climax hit me and left me collapsed against his chest. Hot, heavy throbs pulsed as the last ebbs of his orgasm slowed. My hair spilled over his chest, my breasts spread over his face as I worked to catch my breath. His heart was pounding… as was mine…

“And I remember saying you’d never dominate me…,” he said, his voice gentle, his breath warm against my hair. “Never say never…” I kissed his throat, feeling his satisfied chuckle.

“Now you see what you’ve been doing to me,” I said, pushing myself up, still keeping him deep inside so I could pulse against him.

“Then God help us both,” he said, with a sinfully dark smile. “Because if you ever untie me, I might have to take my revenge…”

And I dangled my breasts in his face like a challenge as I reached up to release him. He caught one swollen nipple in his teeth and sucked hard, making his point. I ran my hands over the thick muscles of his arms, the wide tapering spread of his lats… And my fingers touched something smooth on his skin… and strangely familiar…

“There’s something here…,” I said, shifting, turning him so the moonlight illuminated the spot. But it was dark, nearly hidden in the fold of his arm… I strained to see…

“It’s only a birthmark,” he said, smiling easily and running his hands over my shoulders… lightly over my breasts. He lifted them gently and let them bounce with their weight. He sighed and let his hands roam around the curve of my ass. “My father had it, too…”

And I ran my fingers over it again, exploring the size and shape… realizing why I already knew it so well already…

A thin sliver of moonlight slipped through the window… I must have slept, because I remembered waking up in his arms. But I also remembered watching him, as he fell asleep, with one heavy arm, slung over his head… so much like my daughter…

Like our daughter, my conscience whispered. I leaned up on one elbow and drew his dark hair back with one finger, tracing his brow. How had I failed to see?

You always knew, the whisper came. Only you were too afraid to believe… too afraid to trust…

I watched the diamond on my finger twist and turn, sparkling with the warmth and brilliance of a flame even in the dimness of the light. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but it wasn’t the ring that made my heart catch in my throat. It was that Will had offered his heart to me, and to my baby girl. Without boundaries, without conditions… without reserve.

“What are you thinking… that makes your eyes that particular shade of blue?” he asked sleepily. “They’re the color of the ocean…” He pulled me close and the heady scent of warmth and sex made me dizzy. I wondered absently when I’d eaten last and couldn’t remember…

“I love you,” I said, simply. “The very idea itself has always terrified me. This is the first time in my life that the love felt stronger than my fears…”

He smiled and took a long breath in… and out. “You have to be willing to take a chance, in order to truly love,” he said. “We learn to love when we’re finally willing to risk it all, and we learn to trust when we survive taking that risk.” He kissed me until I was breathless and the room was spinning around us. “It’s the world below the surface, Angel,” he said, as breathless as I.

And together we plunged, headfirst and daring, into its glistening depths.

He kissed me awake and I felt my eyes flutter against the light. I stretched next to him, never wanting this morning to end. But I could hear Mattie, already up and bustling in the kitchen.

“It’s still early,” he said, reassuringly. “I offered the helicopter, but she said she’d wait for the boat. But she’ll have to be at the dock soon. I should go… and let you two have some time together…”

“I can’t believe she’s leaving,” I said, sitting up and reaching for my robe. I took a second to steady myself. “And I can’t even guess how this might affect Vi.”

He smiled and pulled on his jeans. “Best advice? Trust her to be as strong as her mother.” He buttoned his shirt and leaned down to kiss me again. “You have more than enough love inside you, Angel.”

“I can’t do this without you.”

“You could,” he said confidently, lifting me to my feet.

“You just don’t ever have to.”

Mattie was in the living room when I kissed him goodbye at the door. I could hear her swearing softly under her breath and went in to help.

“Fucking boxes,” she said, lightly. “Tape the top and the bottom falls out. I should’ve taken Will up on that offer of his, the helicopter… plus a couple of well-built moving men with boxes of their own…,” she smiled. “But oh, no… I had to do it on my own…” She sat down on the floor and took a swallow of coffee from her mug.

“So…? How was it?” she wheedled. “First night, as a newly engaged couple…?”

I blushed until my toes tingled and held out my hand. “How did you know?”

She gripped my fingers and took a long, admiring look. “Because he told me.”

“I meant, how did you know I’d say yes?”

“Because you’re independent, not stupid,” she said, with a crooked smile. “And because you two have always been meant to be. Hell, I could see it back when we were still in high school…”

“I think he’s her father…,” I said slowly. “I didn’t see… maybe I didn’t want to see…” I shook my head. “I was too afraid of having to share Violet, and too relieved when Jimmy gave up any claim to her.” I took her hands in mine and watched her face. “He’s got the same birthmark, Mattie… in the very same place…”

“No shit? Did you tell him?” She glanced around. “I want to see this… Are you going to tell him when they get back?”

“Who… get back from where?” I asked, confused. “Will wanted to leave before she woke up… to let the three of us have some time together before you go…”

I watched lines form across her forehead. “But I thought he took Violet and Miri out for a walk on the beach,” she said slowly, the expression on her face showing the pieces were falling into place. “The puppy was whining twenty minutes ago…”

In a flash we were both on our feet. I made it to the bedroom door first and opened it with a reckless crash. Violet would have been terrified… except that Violet wasn’t there…

Her bed was rumpled, the sheets still faintly warm. There was no sign of the puppy…

And my daughter was gone.