Hayden

Patience had never been my strong point, but sometimes that wasn’t a bad thing. After all, it meant I was standing here in front of Avery. I couldn’t just sit in a hotel room and wait for her to call. I’d come down to the marina to watch her yacht dock.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her smile pulling up the corners of my mouth as I stepped toward her.

“Waiting for you,” I replied, sliding my hand over her hip.

She tried to step out of my arms but there was no way I was going to let that happen. “I said I’d call.”

“And I said I’d wait.”

“I was just . . . We’d just . . . I was about to call you,” she said, her hand sliding over my chest. I shuddered at the perfect feel of her.

“What were you going to say?”

Her smile faltered. “I was going to say I’ll hear you out.”

“Like I should have done to you,” I mumbled. She was a better human being than me. I’d questioned her, accused her and here she was, still offering me a chance to set things straight. “I understand I betrayed you. You have every reason to hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. But I also know that you can’t possibly feel for me what I feel for you. Because if you did, we wouldn’t be standing here heading in different directions. And I can’t be with someone I love more than they love me. My heart is fragile enough. It can’t cope with the inevitable disappointment that comes from that.”

I groaned, desperate to take on all the pain I’d caused her, all the pain she felt inside. “I was an idiot. I accept that, but let me prove to you that I have learned my lesson. I should never have questioned you. But don’t ever think it was because I didn’t love you enough. I stand here, not just believing but knowing that I will love you until my last breath. That’s true whether you walk away from me or you let me keep proving my love to you for the rest of our lives.”

She covered her face with her hands in the same way I’d seen her do through binoculars all those weeks before. “I’m here for the next five months, Hayden. We don’t work together.”

“Look at me,” I said, circling my hands around her wrists and uncovering her face. I swiped my thumbs below her eyes, hating that I’d caused her grief. “Five months is nothing.” I pulled out her hair tie, letting her chestnut-brown locks fall free, the ends caught by the falling sun. There she was. My Avery. “It’s all details. We’ll figure it out.”

She swept her fingers over my cheekbone, shaking her head. “They’re important details and I can’t open myself up again. Not to you. Not when I don’t know how it’s going to end.”

“I’ll tell you how it’s going to end. You’re going to marry me, we’re going to have twenty kids and we’re going to grow old together.” Fuck, I’d never thought a wife would be in my future, let alone kids, but being with Avery, that was all I could see. Her. Forever.

She rolled her eyes. “I need you to be serious. If we can’t make dating work then what hope do we have?”

“We’re way beyond dating, my love. Don’t you get it? You need to understand that when we met there was no going back. I belong to you now. You belong to me. Tell me it’s not true.”

“I can’t. I love you.”

My heart swooped. She was mine. “I love you more than you will ever know.”

I took her hand and strode down the dock. “But if you want to nail down the details, plan it all out? Let’s go.”

“Where are we going? Not to your hotel because—”

“What? You won’t be able to keep your greedy little hands off me?”

She laughed and part of me died that I’d had to wait so long to hear that again.

“No, we’re going to my car. I have my laptop. We’re going to make a plan.”

“A plan?”

“Yeah, I’m going to figure out how much time I can spend over here. Maybe I’ll get an office or something.”

“In Miami? You’re just going to move to the States, just like that?”

I stopped suddenly and faced her. “You don’t get it, do you? I want you. And I’m going to do whatever it takes, and that means doing whatever you need.”

“I think this might be my last season anyway,” she said. “My brother’s insurers were a pain in my ass but we have a charity that’s pledged to step in—” She stopped talking and looked at me, her eyes narrowing. “You found out the insurers had reassessed my brother’s benefits,” she said. “It was you! Lycan. Wolf. Shit, Hayden.” She stamped her foot on the ground but didn’t try to drop my hand.

It was time for my final confession. I’d hoped to tell her once she’d agreed to be mine. I didn’t want money or any weird sense of obligation to color her decision. “The Lycan Foundation is my charity. They’ve agreed to fund your brother’s care. It really was the least I could do. I was the reason it was cut in the first place.”

“You can’t do that. I can’t be dependent on you. What if we split, then what?”

“Didn’t you just hear me?” I cupped her face in my hands. “We’re not going to split up. Not ever. And anyway, the money is ring-fenced for your brother. There’s no going back on that.”

She sighed, her head resting against my palm. “It’s too much. I can never repay you.”

“I don’t want you to. This was the right thing to do, whether or not I’m in love with you. I caused your brother’s health insurer to stop funding his care.”

“No, Cannon did.”

“Exactly. I brought them to your door. You can’t say no to this. It’s for your brother. And it’s excellent for my tax planning.” I released her and took her hand as she swatted at my arm.

“Thank you,” she said as we began to walk toward the car again. “That’s an amazing thing you did.”

“It’s nothing compared to what you’ve done for other people your whole life. This was just money. It’s nothing.”

“You think we can figure out these logistics?” she asked, looking up at me.

“I know we can. As long as we’re together, we can do anything.”

* * *

“I’ve never been erect over a spreadsheet,” I announced as Avery pressed save.

“Are you hard because of the spreadsheet, or because it’s finished?”

We’d agreed I’d fly to the Caribbean as much as I could to catch Avery between charters, and in the meantime she’d figure out what she wanted to do now she could pursue her own dreams.

“Because I’m looking at you,” I said as I reached for her, threading my fingers into her hair.

Her gaze slid to my crotch as my dick pressed against my zip, trying to escape.

She rose from where she sat and straddled me so we were face-to-face. “I think I want to go back to school. College,” she said. “I’d like to teach.” She shrugged as if she was almost embarrassed.

“You’re amazing.” Even now, able to do anything she liked, she wanted to do something that would help people. “I love you more every second I know you.”

She grinned and pressed her mouth against my jaw. “I like hearing that.”

“That I love you?”

She pulled back. “Yeah. I don’t feel so stupid for falling for you as hard as I did, for loving you as much as I do.”

I groaned and pressed my hand against her ass, pushing her against my straining cock, and she ground against me. Fuck, she felt good.

“You think college would work? I mean that’s four years. And my dad and brother—they’re in California. You’re in London.”

“They can move, or we can move, or we’ll just split our time. Whatever you want.”

“Are you sure you’re not just saying this so I’ll get naked?” She fumbled with my fly.

“I’m definitely saying it so you’ll get naked, but I’ll still mean it after we’re dressed again.”

“I only have twenty-four hours,” she whispered into my ear. “It’s not long enough. I know how good you make me feel.”

I groaned and stood, carrying her to the bed. “Then I’d better get started. I don’t want you to miss out on anything.” I undressed her, then dumped my clothes on the floor until we were both naked. I stood over her, staring down at her perfect body, trying to take it all in. Jesus, I was a lucky fucker. I knew that whatever happened, however many more times Cannon tried to bring me down, they’d never succeed. I had Avery Walker and that made me a winner every day of the week.

I didn’t know where to start with her. I was always so sure of everything in my world . . . except when it came to the woman in front of me. She constantly had me off-balance. Maybe that was why I loved her. I leaned over her, trailing my fingers over her thigh and dipping over her pussy. Her skin was hot and tight and as I pushed between her folds, so wet. Twenty-four hours? Jesus, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to let her leave this room after a week. I had too much I wanted to do to her, too much I wanted to share with her.

“We’ll have more time soon,” she whispered, as if she understood what I was thinking. She usually did. She circled her hand around my cock and my hips bucked toward her; I needed more, wanted to feel every part of her on me, over me, surrounding me.

“There are so many things I want to do to you.” I crawled over her and rolled to my side, pulling her toward me, her back to my front.

“As long as it involves me having an orgasm, I’m good with any of them.”

I chuckled and hooked her leg back over mine and buried my face in her neck, savoring the feel of her skin sliding against mine. I pressed my palm to her stomach, shifting her toward me so my cock rubbed over her sex from behind. Her heat and wetness and the promise of what came next chased the breath from my chest. I dipped my fingers into her pussy and she sighed.

“Fuck—condom,” I spat. I’d been so focused on getting her naked and touching her, I’d forgotten.

I pulled away, but she stopped me. “Do we have to?” she asked, her voice small and quiet.

She didn’t have to say anymore. I knew what she was asking.

“There’s been no one since you,” I whispered, circling her clit. “No one except the memory of you.”

“Me neither,” she said, shifting a little so she could look at me.

Relief shot out of my chest as it became clear that although our feelings for each other had been stretched, they’d never reached a breaking point. On some level, we’d always remained committed to each other, even through the darkest of times. It was what I needed to hear from her.

“I never wanted anyone but you.” She smoothed a palm over my jaw and I pressed at her entrance, so deliciously smooth and wet. I wanted this to be slow, wanted to savor it, but I knew it would be impossible. A low buzz hummed just beneath my skin, trying to get out, and I knew I needed to fuck this woman. I’d known we were connected from the first moment I’d laid eyes on Avery, but I still had a primal desire to make her mine. To fuck her so hard she’d feel me in every move she made for the next week.

“Make it good, Hayden. Fuck me.”

My control snapped at her request. I groaned and pushed her to her stomach, lifted her hips and rammed into her, right to the hilt.

She cried out, her sounds muffled by the mattress, as she braced her hands against the headboard.

“Let me hear you,” I grunted. So much of our time together had been dominated by caution and an inability to let go, but now I wanted to hear all her sounds, to own them, categorize them, then create new ones.

I fucked her harder, faster, plowing her into the bed as her moans grew louder. “You see how good I fuck you? No one else will ever have you again. You’re all mine. This pussy is all mine.”

She chanted beneath me, “Yes, Hayden, yes, please. More. Hayden. Fuck me. Please.” Her breathy voice moaning my name, begging me to fuck her as my cock drove into her, was more than I could ever have hoped. She was mine. I heard it in her desperation. The only reason I lasted longer than ten seconds was because of the blood pounding in my ears, taking the edge off the sounds of her pleasure.

Her hands clenched into fists against the wooden headboard and she tightened around me. I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself from coming. It was too much, too good, too perfect.

Her cries grew louder, less controlled, sharper and she convulsed around me. I couldn’t stop the staccato growls of desire resonating from my chest every time I pushed into her, as her pussy tightened and tightened. My orgasm circled at the base of my spine then shot up and across my body as I stabbed my hips forward, fucking her orgasm out of her, claiming it for myself.

Knowing how much she loved to make other people feel good, the ability to make her feel good was power I’d never experienced before. It was far more thrilling than any business deal or acquisition.

Still gulping for air, I lay over her and rolled to my side, pulling her with me.

“Every time I come with you, it’s always the orgasm to end all orgasms,” I said.

She shuffled around in my arms. “And then, all too soon, you’re chasing the next one,” she said, finishing my sentence. I pulled her closer, wanting the press of her hot skin covering me. There should be no space between us. She was mine and I was hers.

She slid her legs over mine and tipped me to my back so she straddled me. Although my limbs were heavy and weak, there was nothing that would stop me from fucking Avery. I sat up and we came face-to-face and I pulled her bottom lip between my teeth, released it and stole a kiss from her already reddened lips. I cupped her hips and brought her closer to me, my cock rubbing against her pussy. She hummed a note of contented pleasure as she circled her hips, coaxing my dick back to life. It didn’t take long. Just being in the same room with this beautiful woman got me hard. Having her naked and in my arms was almost too good to comprehend. She stroked her hands up my arms, watching them as if she were inspecting my body, then pressed her fingers along my collarbone and up my throat.

“I’m all yours,” I said.

“I want to know every part of you,” she said, circling her hips a little faster, the slickness between us growing.

I groaned, and my dick twitched beneath her.

She trailed one hand down my chest and grasped my straining cock, lifting up on her knees as she placed me at her entrance. She gasped, and I knew that was my cue. I tightened my fingers around her and pulled her down onto me.

She threw her head back and screamed. Christ, I loved her sounds and how they vibrated around my cock. I pushed her back, the drag of my flesh against hers sending shockwaves across my body, and then slammed her against me again. She liked to be on top but she also liked me in control.

“Yes, Hayden,” she said on an exhale and I began to plot out a rhythm, pushing and pulling, grinding and slamming. Fucking and fucking.

Part of me wanted to close my eyes and savor the feel of her soft flesh beneath my fingers, her pussy around my cock, but I couldn’t stop gazing at her, the jut of her breasts, the rosy pink nipples, temptingly pointing at me, the white expanse of her throat that I promised myself I would lick later, her hair tumbled across her shoulders.

I flipped her over and her legs went around my waist as I set to work to drive us both toward our climax. I thrust and thrust, wanting to solidify our connection, make her mine, stop her from ever leaving me.

She arched her back, digging her fingernails into my shoulder as she began to come. The pulse of her pussy and the bite of her nails set the touch paper on my own orgasm as my balls tightened and I pushed into her as far as I could get, not wanting this perfect connection to end. No matter what came next, fucking Avery, loving her, being with her would be the most satisfying thing I’d ever do in my life.