Thirty-Four

Patrick

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I told Morgan against her lips.

“Believe it,” she said with the confidence I’d missed.

I reached up and tugged her long hair loose from its hold, so it could tumble down her back.

“I was never going to give up on you.”

“I shouldn’t have given up on us,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “We’re here now.”

“It’s not okay. I’m sorry.”

I silenced her protest with another kiss. I didn’t need to hear her apologies. I’d seen them firsthand when she confronted her uncle head-on. I’d seen them when our eyes met across the room. When her uncle stormed her and I intervened.

With Morgan, I never needed many words. I’d seen in a glance that she was sorry and so happy to see me in that conference room, knowing that she didn’t have to face that all alone…even though she clearly had.

That look was something I knew didn’t come easy to Morgan. She wasn’t one to ask for help. She never would have let someone else take the brunt of that meeting. She was the leader. She had been the one in trouble. She’d had to carry the weight. But knowing she had accepted my help, albeit without prior knowledge to what Jensen and I had planned, was apology enough.

“You’re taking this all really well,” she said with a shaky laugh.

“I’ve known you your entire life. You had to do this on your own. As much as I hated the idea of you pushing us to the side for work, I knew you had to do it for your own sanity.”

“Yeah,” she said, “but I hate that it hurt you. I don’t want to push you away for work. There will be times when work has to come first. That’s the nature of my job. But I was in over my head when I said I needed to be married to my work. I don’t want to work and forget to live anymore.”

“And you don’t have to.”

“When I was with Steph, looking at bridesmaid dresses—” she began.

“When do I get to see that?”

“At the wedding!” She shook her head at me, and I cracked a smile. “It was when I was with Steph that I was able to think clearly about the problem and find the solution. It was my downtime when my brain was able to function properly. I think that’s kind of what you’ve been saying all along. If I work all the time, I never have any time to rest and relax. I never have you time. And, when I have that…I’m better and more productive for it.”

“Sure, that sounds good. Also, I selfishly want you with me more.”

She giggled my favorite giggle.

“God…that’s my favorite laugh.”

She paused and stared up at me in confusion. “I have multiple kinds of laughs that you like?”

“So many,” I confirmed, pressing a kiss to her lips as I led her back to the bedroom. “You have this giggle when you’re flirty or drunk and a real boisterous laugh when something really gets you. There’s your sneaky laugh when you’re being cheeky and a snort laugh when you’re being sarcastic or don’t believe the idiocy of some people. I’ve also learned that you have this little breathy laugh.” I reached out and ran a finger across her lips. “That one is reserved for this.”

I dragged her close again. Her breath hitched, and her pupils dilated as my hands ran down her body. I teased her bottom lip with my tongue. She whimpered and tried to push her way into a kiss. I grinned devilishly and then gave in to her request.

Our lips touched. A feverish frenzy that transcended coherent thought and collided right into uninhibited need.

She jumped into my arms, and we both fell onto the bed, struggling to get out of our work clothes in our haste to be together again. I ignored the buttons on her shirt and ripped it open. She laughed at my impatience and stripped out of her bra while I pulled my shirt over my head.

Her body was a road map, and I wanted to trace every route. I wanted to learn every way to bring her pleasure. And revel in the moment as we came together.

A part of me had feared that maybe things wouldn’t work out. That maybe Morgan wouldn’t come to her senses. Even worse, I wondered what would happen if she did lose her job. But, even in the darkest moments, I’d known that she was what I wanted. Maybe I didn’t deserve her. Maybe she was way out of my league. But she was mine.

I threw her pants in a heap on the floor and slowly dragged her thong down her milky legs. Her eyes were heated on mine.

She hooked her finger at me. “Come here.”

I slipped out of my boxers and covered her body. “You know you’re all that I want,” I whispered as I stared deep into her dark eyes.

“I’ve wanted to hear that for so long,” she confided. “Actually having you is overwhelming.”

“In a good way?” I asked as I slid my cock against her opening but going no further.

“Ye-yes,” she gasped. She closed her eyes and shivered at the touch. That amazing breathy laugh escaped her lips.

“Ah, there it is,” I said.

“I guess I do have that laugh.”

“Oh, it’s one of my favorites.”

I moved back and forth through her slicked skin, wanting nothing more than to take her right here, right now. But seeing her ache for me, seeing the tender affection in her face, and the need for my body only made my dick harder.

Morgan had claimed me back in that conference room. Not like before when we’d been caught, and we’d both had to defend our choices. This time, it had been perfect. Her entire family there, she’d kissed me, chosen me, left with me. No more hiding—not our relationship, not my intentions, not our affection.

That time had long passed. I had been accepted into her world. It might be a world that I’d always occupied, but this was a different plane of existence altogether. This was Morgan as my girlfriend, as my lover, as my forever.

“You know what’s my favorite?” she asked, gripping my hips.

“Hmm?”

“Your cock inside me.”

My cock jerked in response. “Fuck, Mor.”

She laughed. “I still like that nickname the best. The way it rolls off your tongue.”

“You can’t be Mini Wright anymore?” I teased.

“I just said I want your cock inside me. I don’t think there’s much mini about me.”

“You’re still pretty small. Maybe you can’t handle it.”

I pressed just the tip of my dick in her pussy. She moaned, and it took everything in me not to thrust inside her.

“I can handle anything,” she ground out.

I pushed her hair out of her face and brought my lips down to meet hers. She hungrily met me, pushing every stray emotion into that kiss. I knew it was a promise. The first of many to come. Whatever had come before us was in our past. Our future lay ahead, and in this kiss, these lips, I knew that nothing and no one would ever compare to this incredible woman.

She rolled me over so that she was on top of me. Her pert tits hung in my face as she pushed down onto my cock. I moaned and then wrapped my arms around her. She bucked her hips forward and back experimentally. Then, I brought my lips to hers, and we moved together as one. Her body was supple on top of me. Her eyes locked on mine. Everything about us was aligned.

It was in that moment that I knew. With my whole heart, I knew.

I loved this woman.

I’d told Austin that was how I felt at the Christmas party. I’d said the words to her at the ribbon-cutting when she threw the words at me like a curse. I’d meant it both times, but it was different here. There was no anger. There was only acceptance. Only rightness.

The old Patrick was no more. I’d been replaced by the sap who currently took up residence in my body. And, crazy enough, I didn’t even care.

How could I care when I had a woman like this?

She gasped and spread her legs wider. I could feel her about to come, so I sat up, gripped her hips in my hands, and slammed her up and down on my cock. She cried out, throwing her head back, as my ministrations took her over the edge. And, as she clenched her pussy tight around me, I seized up, releasing with her.

“Fuck,” I grunted as I collapsed backward.

“Yeah,” she murmured. Her eyes lidded, lips in a satisfied smirk, and face a mask of contentment.

After a moment to come down, I slid out of her and went to clean up. When I came back out, I leaned in to give her a kiss and found that she’d already fallen asleep. I laughed softly so as not to disturb her and pulled the covers around her body. She must have been really exhausted if she’d passed out that quickly. If I knew her at all, she probably hadn’t slept a wink all week while she was dealing with this catastrophe. I had clearly wiped her out.

I curled myself around her naked body and pressed a kiss to her forehead. I fell asleep right there, next to her, stroking her hair and wondering how I had gotten so lucky.

I awoke before Morgan. It was already dark outside. Since it was the middle of winter, it got dark really early, but still, we’d slept through much of the day. My body must have needed it as much as hers did. And I wouldn’t ever complain about having her naked figure that close to mine. I’d thought about waking her up with my dick between her legs, but I knew she needed the sleep. We’d have the entire night once she was well rested. I’d be sure to knock her out all over again.

Carefully, I eased out of bed, pulled on a pair of sweats and my Tech sweatshirt, and headed for the kitchen. We’d skipped lunch, and I couldn’t even remember if I’d eaten breakfast. My stomach rumbled. I grabbed a banana to tide me over and got to work.

About a half hour later, a delirious Morgan walked out of my bedroom in an oversize T-shirt and pants that she’d left from when she was spending the night on the regular.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” I said with a grin.

“What is that smell?”

I laughed. “I hope that’s a good smell.”

“I just realized I’m starving.”

“Did you eat at all today?”

She shook her head. “I was too nervous.”

“Well, everything will be ready soon. I was going to wake you up.”

She stepped into the kitchen, still trying to adjust her eyes to the light. Then, she saw what was on the counter and laughed. “Are those mashed potatoes?”

I smirked at her. “Yeah. I know they’re an aphrodisiac.”

“Yeah, baby, mashed potatoes turn me on.”

“Obviously, I know this.”

“At least you’ve already fucked me this time, and I don’t have to throw myself at you like a total embarrassment.”

“To be fair, I thought I was protecting your honor.”

“Never protect my honor again, okay?” she said.

She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. I turned into her at the last minute and snagged one on my lips.

“Can’t promise that. But I’ll be sure to take full advantage of you from now on.”

She giggled and knocked her hip against mine. “You know…I am sorry about the things I said.”

“It’s fine, Mor.”

“No, you know what? It’s not. Brushing it under the rug isn’t the right solution. I know because I was trying to do that with us. And I don’t want to do that with us. I want us to be able to communicate. On some level, Owen was right.”

“About what?” I barked out in surprise.

“I am like my dad,” she half-whispered. Then, she straightened her shoulders and took the good with the bad. “I’m sarcastic and a workaholic, and I have a temper. I have no idea how my mom dealt with him. And I don’t want to be that for you.”

“Morgan,” I said, putting down the spoon I’d been stirring the pasta with and taking her by the shoulders, “I like you just the way you are. I already know those things about you. But the things you’re missing are that you’re strong and passionate and compassionate and determined and beautiful and loyal. So what if you are like your dad? He might not have been the best person, but it still sounds like a compliment to me. You can’t take the ramblings of a deranged man stuck in the past and apply them to your life. You are your own person. You are Morgan Wright. Owen never wanted to get to know that person. He never wanted to see past the past. He can’t possibly have an opinion on who you are, and you shouldn’t even consider it.”

“I know,” she said, agreeing easily. “I’m not taking the shit he spewed at me to heart. I want you to know that I’m not perfect. I’m still just me. But I’m going to try harder and be better for you. You deserve more than me screaming at you in a parking lot.”

“Well, I should have told you about Bailey. I was so worried about disrupting your already busy life that I didn’t want to interfere. Maybe if I’d communicated with you better, none of this would have ever happened.”

“Ugh, we don’t know that,” she said, reaching for the mashed potatoes.

I swatted at her hand, and she laughed.

“Not until dinner.”

“You’re killing me. I’m so hungry.”

“Listen to me,” I said, drawing her attention again. “We’re a work in progress. Neither of us is perfect, and we don’t have to be. As long as we’re together, I don’t care.”

“You mean it?” she asked.

I nodded and dropped another kiss on her lips. “I’m yours, Morgan.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“And you’re mine?”

“Of course,” she said with a mischievous grin. “Now, can I have the mashed potatoes?”

I couldn’t help my laugh as I passed her the entire bowl with a giant spoon. She winked at me and dug in.

I was going to spend the rest of my life with this woman. And I was damn happy about that.