Aaron growled into Grace’s neck when the Suburban revved its engine outside the cabin door—for the fifth time. Responsibility urged him to do the right thing, climb off Grace’s giving, siren’s body and say good-bye to his siblings who, in fairness, had given him and Grace hours of privacy since they’d come off the mountain. Without so much as a nod in Belmont, Peggy, and Sage’s direction, Aaron had carried Grace through the door, slammed it, positioned her on the rickety twin bed, and fucked her rotten, a hand stamped over her mouth.
The first time anyway. After the residual panic and elation had been bucked from his body into the love of his life, they’d slowed down. Or they’d tried to slow down, every single time, with little success. With Grace’s legs wrapped around his hips, as they were now, his ability to savor dwindled quickly.
“There will be time,” she moaned now, twisting her slight body beneath him, asking for it. Always asking for it hard. “We have so much time. All of it.”
Knowing she was right—thank God—but physically incapable of denying himself the tight stroke of her entrance, Aaron gripped the iron headboard bars and gloried in several rough pumps. “I’m afraid you’ve signed on with a selfish man, Grace. I’m so selfish for you,” he gritted out, reveling in the purposeful constriction of her walls. “Rubbing off on you already, am I?”
He felt a shudder pass through her sweating body, watched it roll on a writhe he knew wasn’t voluntary. So goddamn incredible, this woman. His woman. “Yes…you are rubbing…”
Something in Aaron—something in addition to the love, light and heavy at the same time—cut loose, allowing him to laugh. He laughed against Grace’s swollen lips, but it turned into a sound of remorse when the Suburban honked outside. “All right, we go outside and say good-bye.” He dragged his forehead down between her cleavage, nipping the sensitive skin. “And then we come back for more.”
When Aaron rolled off Grace with a curse of regret, she turned over and snuggled into the sheets, green eyes smiling as she watched him dress. But the smile faded a few degrees. “Aaron, you’re going to miss them. Are you sure you don’t want us to go along?”
Us. Knowing she would now and always speak of them as one entity, Aaron felt cool comfort ease through his middle. “We’ll see them in New York on New Year’s Day. But we’re going to see this place through first. It’s important.” He bent down and kissed the small of her back. “To us.”
Over the last handful of hours, more than lovemaking had taken place, although it had filled the majority of time. Pendleton had called Aaron, obviously knowing Grace would be with him. To the surprise of both of them—and Aaron’s incredible relief—he’d apologized to his daughter for pushing her into a probable media circus to boost his campaign. He’d also acknowledged her ability to decide whom she dated and thanked Aaron for preventing him from making a mistake that morning. After that, Aaron had been asked to remain on staff. There’d been a moment of hesitation on Aaron’s end, mainly because he’d been heartened by the additional contentment in Grace’s eyes over the father-daughter reconciliation, but in the end, he’d given his resignation.
While Aaron would have done his damndest to move heaven and earth to make Grace happy…he’d resigned for both of them. He genuinely didn’t want to shovel bullshit anymore. Didn’t matter how effectively he could do it, or if his methods achieved victory; those victories had been hollow for a long time. He’d been chasing one with substance. This love for Grace, this was substance. And now that he knew the definition of fulfillment, he wasn’t going to bother searching for it in the wrong places.
Looking around the cabin and all its improvements, Aaron recognized what was possible. He and Grace could make a mark together. And he couldn’t fucking wait to get started. As soon as they got YouthAspire up and running, he would sit back and let Grace decide where she wanted to light up the globe, and he’d bust his ass to get them there. Them. Always, forever, them.
Grace caught his eye, pausing in the act of buttoning her shirt. “Are you over there coming up with ideas for our next mission again?”
God, she sounded drowsy and well satisfied. Best sound imaginable. “Not unless they involve how I’m going to work you into a lather later.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks flushed. “Carry on.”
With a laughing groan, Aaron stooped down, wrapped an arm around the back of Grace’s legs, and hefted her over his shoulder. When he walked them into the courtyard, Aaron was thankful the day’s snow had kept the volunteers from coming to work because, based on Sage’s scandalized look and Peggy’s snort, there was no doubt as to what they’d been doing on the cabin’s twin bed. For Belmont’s part, he leaned up against the side of the Suburban, watching them approach with a mixture of approval and…curiosity. It brought Aaron back to the conversation they’d had in the cafeteria—his brother’s restlessness over the little wedding planner—and if Aaron had one regret about bailing on the road trip’s second half, it was missing what was to come between Belmont and Sage.
Aaron set Grace down, but kept her up against his side. “You think you assholes can manage to find New York without me there to map the most efficient routes?”
With an exaggerated sigh, Sage floated forward to kiss their cheeks. “We’ll manage,” she said, before dropping her voice for their ears alone. “It’s really unfair of you to leave when I’m still feeling guilty about slapping you.”
“I deserved it,” Aaron said, tugging Sage close for a three-way hug. “Feel guilty you didn’t do it sooner.”
Sage stepped back with wet eyes before climbing into the Suburban, laying a hand on Belmont’s neck as she went, visibly draining some of his tension.
Grace ducked out from beneath Aaron’s arm, giving each of his siblings an unrestrained hug and a few whispered words, fervent promises to catch up in New York. Then she winked back at Aaron. “Go,” she mouthed, before dancing back toward the cabin. Watching her pause on the threshold, Aaron could barely catch a breath. Maybe he never would. He didn’t know. And that was more than okay.
Not bothering to hide the absolute contentment in his eyes, Aaron swept Peggy off her feet in a bear hug, tickling her ribs for good measure. “I hear there’s a man you need to give hell.” Grace had spilled the beans over the course of their hours together, mostly because she wished they could be there for Aaron’s sister in Cincinnati. “He’s not going to know what hit him.”
“Yeah, well. Then I’ll be returning the favor.” Peggy lifted her shoulders and let them fall, before taking Aaron by the sides of his face. “You did good, bro. Real good. I’m so stupid happy for you, I could spit.”
Shit. How much could he take in one day? Someone above kept pouring and pouring into his cup, overflowing it and drowning everything in the vicinity. “Thanks, Peggy.” He encompassed his sister and brother with a steady look. “Listen, I…you didn’t have to stick around. You could have dropped me off and kept going, met me in New York.” He swallowed. “I’m really fucking glad you didn’t, all right? I wouldn’t have figured this out without both of you.”
Belmont laid a hand on his shoulder. “Yes. You would have.”
Aaron couldn’t respond, didn’t have the ability, so he only nodded, gripping his brother’s forearm tight as he could.
“I wish Rita were here to see all this. The camp. To meet Grace.” Peggy’s nose pinkened at the tip. “I wish Mom could be here, too.”
They were all quiet a moment, before Aaron spoke up. “Rita will be in New York.” He smirked. “If Jasper can convince her to fly.”
When their laughter cooled, Belmont turned, opening the groaning driver’s side door. But he stopped before climbing in, his stillness demanding both Peggy and Aaron’s attention. “I think Mom will be in New York, too.” He tapped the keys against his thigh. Just once. “I think maybe she’s been here the whole time.”
Aaron was still staring after the Suburban a minute later when it rolled beneath the hanging wooden sign, out of camp. But the pull toward Grace was so vast, so huge, he could only smile as the vehicle got smaller, his siblings moving on to their next adventure—and God knew it would be. They were Clarksons, after all.
Sage, too. She just didn’t know it yet.
When Aaron turned, Grace was waiting. She opened her arms and he walked into them, the only place he would ever call home again.