Free Read Novels Online Home

Peony Red (The Granite Harbor Series Book 1) by J. Lynn Bailey (24)

Eli

October 19, 2017

She’s asleep, her head on my lap, and it’s almost eleven at night. I catch glimpses of her as she breathes in and out, wondering how I have gotten so lucky. How life works out. How sad things happen. Awful things. And, in that moment of awful, you think life is over. But, with the time that passes, life seems to right itself. You stretch into a new life, uncomfortable at times. The newness settles. A new normal finds its way into your daily routine, and then fate finds you just when you’re comfortable again. I didn’t expect Alex. She wasn’t part of the plan. But she waltzed into my life, unannounced, unexpected, and totally needed.

I pull the truck into the Malcomb Place driveway.

I lightly bend down and whisper, “Hey, we’re home.”

God, that sounded right. Everything about this situation seems right.

She tiredly sits up, and I grab my phone, shove it in my pocket, and get out of the truck. I walk over to the passenger door, take her keys that she already got out, pull her up into my arms, and carry her like a child to the front door.

Once inside, I carry her to the bedroom and lay her down on the bed where I start to undress her. I go to the drawers and hope to find some sort of pajamas, like the shorts and tank top I’ve seen her in. But I find a long sleep shirt with a cat on it. I assume it’s some sort of sleep shirt because it’s huge. I grab it and pull it over her head. I unhook her bra, pulling it through one of her armholes.

“This is the second time you’ve undressed me, Warden Young.”

A smile spreads across my face. I don’t know if she was awake the entire time. “You make it too easy, Alex.”

I set her back down against the pillow, turn off the light, kiss her forehead, and walk to the other side of the bed. I take off my own clothes, aside from my boxers, and climb in bed next to her without any intentions of sex.

But, when I pull her head to my chest, her hand makes its way to mine. She gently takes my hand under the hideous cat shirt and places it against her stomach.

“Alexandra, I have no intentions of making love to you tonight.”

She moves my hand up her stomach to her breast. Her nipple is erect and expecting my mouth.

Fuck.

“Eli,” she says in the dark, “we don’t have a lot of time left before I fly home. I don’t plan on sleeping my way through it. Not for a second.” She then takes my hand and slides it down to the warm spot between her legs.

She arches her back as I move my fingers, spreading her apart, making room so that I can give her what she needs. She gasps as I slide two fingers inside. I watch her in the dark, not needing to see the faces she’s making because I already have them memorized by her sounds.

I push my fingers deeper, feeling my own ache.

Her legs drop to both sides, giving me full access, and I move on top of her, first allowing my mouth to take in her warmth, flicking my tongue into her wetness.

She cries out.

I make my way up her body with my mouth, and then I slide inside her, trying hard as hell not to come on the spot.

Our eyes lock as I move in and out. I take her mouth with mine and kiss her hard and long, hoping I convey through this kiss that it’s forever. She’s staring back at me, her arms wrapped under my arms and around my back, her nails digging into me.

In and out I ease, knowing my time is coming soon, not wanting to explode without her first.

“I love you, Alexandra Fisher.”

She bites her bottom lip and pulls me deeper. “I love you, Eli Young.”

And we work toward a climax, and then our worlds explode.

When we’re finished, my body is completely relaxed. I feel her against the side of me. I pull her closer. She’s sound asleep, her nakedness surrounding me. I reach for my phone to set my alarm because of work. I text Merit about Rookie, as she watched him while we were gone. I tell her I’ll come get him early tomorrow morning.

Merit: Late night?

It’s followed by a wink emoji—or whatever those things are called.

Me: Thanks.

I notice a missed call from Grace. Fuck.

She must have received the divorce papers. Took them long enough. Christ. She didn’t leave a message, so I’ll gladly take that as a sign that she’s going to make this easier than I thought.

I set my phone back down on the nightstand, turn, and hold my future as if my life depended on it.