Evan held out his hand for Ginger to take it as they made their way to the door. With the house secured, they headed toward the restaurant that was nice enough and kept them from driving into Charleston. As they drove, he noticed a vehicle behind them. It wasn’t coming up fast, but it was staying at the same distance back. Evan knew that wasn’t normal, but didn’t try to lose them. When he turned into the restaurant, it went straight, but he didn’t see what it was. Maybe he was being paranoid. In his gut, he didn’t think so.

The valet helped Ginger out of the car, and Evan saw the look of appreciation on the young man’s face. A sense of pride came over him, but he still wanted to gouge the boy’s eyes out for looking. When she walked around the car, he put his arm around her as they made their way to the restaurant. The hostess was waiting as he opened the door to escort them to the intimate table he requested with a view of the river. As they followed the young lady, he kept his hand at the small of her back and noticed several heads turned as they walked by. Yeah he was with the most gorgeous woman in the room. He was grateful it wasn’t dark at seven this time of year so they’d get to enjoy the sunset with their dinner. Between courses, he held out his hand and she placed hers in it. He stroked his thumb across her hand and held her gaze. “Are you gonna answer my question from earlier?”

“Which question is that, Mr. Riverton?”

“You know which question.”

“I told you it was black lace,” she said with an innocent smile.

“That’s not the one I’m referring to and you know it.”

“I do know. What about you?”

“Darlin’, if I didn’t have on something, everyone in this restaurant would know how hard I am.”

“And are you hard, Mr. Riverton?”

“Yes. Just thinking about those little strips of lace caressing your ass cheeks is making me painfully so.”

“So I take it we’re not ordering dessert?”

“I’m having dessert at home.”

“I see. Then I better go to the ladies room before we leave.”

“We should be ready by the time you get back.”

While Ginger was gone, Evan sent Nathan a quick text.

Evan: Don’t show up before 10.

Nathan: Seriously? It doesn’t have to take that long if you know what you’re doing. I’ll be happy to demonstrate.

Evan: That explains why your women can’t wait to leave and mine never want to. I know how to take care of a woman.

Nathan: You better take care of that one.

Evan: Always. See you in a few.

Nathan: Yeah.

Evan was reading the last of Nathan’s texts when she returned to the table. “Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said with a demure smile.

When the valet brought the car to Evan, he gave Evan a note at the same time Evan gave him a tip. “What’s this?”

“I don’t know, sir. Right after y’all walked in a man asked me to give that to ya when y’all came back out.”

“Did you know the man?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you see what he was driving?”

The boy shook his head. “He walked in the driveway.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as he got in the car Ginger asked, “What’s that?”

“I don’t know yet. Someone gave it to the valet right after we walked in.”

“Are you going to open it?”

“I’d rather wait until later. I don’t want anything to derail my plans.”

They rode in silence for several miles, but Ginger was drawing on Evan’s arm with her finger. Eventually, she drew a shape and asked, “What did I draw?”

Ginger’s voice brought Evan out of his thoughts. “What?”

“On your arm, what did I draw?”

“I don’t know. Do it again.”

Ginger drew the shape and a smile crept across his face.

“Heart.” The smile she flashed him reached her eyes. God, she was beautiful.

“Do another one.”

She hesitated for a moment then said, “It’s a symbol and a word.”

Ginger drew the symbol with her finger nail, waited a second then spelled the word. When she looked at him his brows were furrowed. “Do it again.”

Ginger drew the symbol and waited.

When Evan was ready he said, “Okay.” Ginger drew the letters of the word and stopped. “Two letters for the word?”

“Yes.”

“Draw the word again.”

Ginger drew the first letter, waited a moment, then drew the second one. “The word is ME.”

“Yes. I think we need to make a wager on this,” Ginger said playfully.

“A wager?” Evan chuckled then said, “Okay, what kind of wager?”

“The winner gets to be on top.”

Evan frowned. “You wanna top me? I’ve never been a bottom. I’ll let you be on top, but with my guidance.”

“Deal. You have until we walk inside the door to give me your answer.”

“Deal. Now draw all of it again.”

Ginger drew the shape, waited, then drew the M-E. “Just the shape.” She drew it and stopped. Evan mumbled, “Blank me. Blank me. Blank me. Draw the whole thing again.” Ginger did as he said.

“You don’t have much time left, there’s your driveway. Think fast,” she said with a giggle.

“Draw the whole thing once more.” Ginger did then turned to look out the window. Evan had a gleam in his eye because he knew what she wanted.

He opened Ginger’s door and she said, “You have until we walk inside.”

Evan was silent for a few steps. Just outside the door, he pulled her close and gave her a thorough kiss that would melt her to her toes. When he released her, he said, “Message received loud and clear. How did I do, Ms. Monroe?”

“You did perfectly.” Her voice was soft.

“That means I’m on top.” Evan unlocked the door and made sure he still had the note stuffed in his jacket pocket.

They walked down their wing, but Ginger stopped at the guest room door. “Mr. Riverton, this is my door. Would you like to come in for a while?”

Evan wrapped his arms around her and went for his spot. Between kisses he said, “Gin, all of our stuff is in the other room. Does it matter if we make love here or there? You wanna sleep in here, too?”

“I thought it’d be different. I’ll clean it up while you meet with Nathan and Sam.”

With her pinned between him and the door he said, “Darlin’, I’m not worried about cleaning it up. Tonight is about you. What do you want?”

“How about we have sex in here and sleep in your room?”

“Sex here, sleep in our room. I’m good with that,” he said as he turned the knob and backed her inside. His hands roamed up and down her back searching for a zipper while she kissed his neck. “How do I get you out of this dress?”

She paused long enough to say, “Side,” as she lifted her arm.

“Why would someone do that? It puts a man at a disadvantage,” he said as he felt for the zipper. Once the zipper started to move, he had a new found appreciation for side zippers. It started at the side of her breast then moved around her rib cage to the indention of her waist and ended just where the dress rounded her hip. He released the zipper and retraced its path with his finger as goosebumps spread across her body. By the time his finger was back to the side of her breast, she shivered.

“I stand corrected. Side zippers put a man at an advantage.” He slightly bent his knees so he could grab the bottom of the dress, and lifted it over her head. Once he had divested her of the dress, he took a step back to take in the vision in front of him. Two days ago she’d have tried to cover herself from his view without thinking, but tonight she lifted her hands then returned them to her side which caused him to smile.

He began with her face memorizing every feature down to her ample naked breast to her flat tummy, where he found the black lace garter. He licked his lips as he continued his visual journey where he found she hadn’t worn panties. Damn, he was enjoying tonight. His eyes followed the little lace garters to the tops of her stockings. Sheer black silk covered her toned legs all the way down. Around her ankles were black leather straps that held her black shoes to her feet. “You’re gorgeous, darlin’. How did I get this lucky?” He moved back to her when his eyes met hers.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Tell me how to take your hair down.”

“I’ll do it.”

“No, I wanna run my fingers through your hair, but I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“Pull out the rhinestone pins?”

He did and her hair fell around her shoulders before he plowed his fingers into it and pulled her mouth to his. Removing his hands without releasing her lips, he shrugged his jacket off and let it fall to the floor. Once his hands were free, he lifted her while she wrapped her legs around his waist and walked them to the bed. As he leaned over her, her leg moved down his ass and that’s when she felt the piece he’d been wearing and immediately froze.

Between breathes she said, “You have a gun. You took it with us?”

“Yes. Even if I’m off duty, I carry a gun when I go out,” he said as he reached for the gun tucked in the small of his back and laid it on the table beside them.

“Good to know,” she said as she brought his mouth back to hers.

As he moved to kiss from her mouth down to her chest he kicked off his boots. When he made his way to the swell of her breast he noticed something different. He licked his lips and tasted vanilla. What the hell? He’d never liked tasting perfume residue, but this was different. He continued his exploration and continued to taste vanilla. When he started back up the other side of her neck the taste went away. As he made his way back to her mouth, she whispered, “You still have on your clothes.”

“Slide up the bed.” Once she moved, he stood to remove his clothes without taking his eyes off her. She held his stare as she brought a foot up to removed her shoe. “No. Leave them on.” She spread her legs wide and let her heels dig into the mattress. She was completely open to him as he stood at the end of the bed naked before her and he could see how wet she was. When he crawled toward her, he took an ankle in each hand and pushed her knees toward her shoulders. As he moved to the spot he wanted, he rested her feet on his shoulders and leaned forward.

Her eyes widened when he grunted, he knew her heels would leave bruises–if they didn’t break the skin–as he guided his cock into her with ease. She broke eye contact as she closed her eyes. He was deeper this way, and he could see her getting lost in the sensation.

“Open your eyes, darlin’. I wanna see you.” She moaned before her eyes fluttered back open. He repositioned her legs over his arms so he could get even deeper. Her fingers glided over the welts forming on his shoulders from her shoes as he tilted her ass higher. “Give me your hands.” He pinned her hands to the mattress and locked their fingers above her head. As he started to move faster he said, “I want all of you, down to your soul.” His pace became more frantic as her moans got louder. “Let me hear you!” When she screamed his name, he stilled as he felt his seed fill her up. As their climax waned, he slowly moved inside of her then released her hands and let her legs fall on either side of his hips. He rested on his forearms and played with her hair as he softly kissed her then asked, “You flew again, didn’t you?”

“Yes, how could you tell?”

“I don’t know, really. Your eyes glassed over. I’m trying to learn you so I know what you like and what you don’t.”

“You’re doing a damn good job.”

“Let’s get cleaned up and dressed before Nathan and Sam get here.”

“I don’t want to put my dress back on. My robe is in the bathroom, but all of my clothes are in your room.”

“Our room and you’re definitely not putting that dress back on,” he said with a cocky grin. “Hell, I may frame that dress and hang it on the wall. Then again, you may need one in every color,” he chuckled.

She giggled as Evan moved to leave her and get up. The look in her eyes told him she had more to say, but the tears were like a gut punch. He noticed before she could hide them. “Gin? Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head, clearly trying to reel in her emotions.

“I need your words.”

“No, you didn’t hurt me.”

“Then, why the tears?”

“I don’t know. I just felt…” She blinked her eyes and cleared her throat. “Thank you for tonight. It’s been the best.” She looked him in the eyes when she said, “I don’t want it to end. I don’t want us to end.”

“Aww, hell, darlin’. I told you I want forever, and I meant it. So, they’re happy tears?”

“Sad we had to leave that bed, but happy because I want forever with you, too.”

He tilted her face to his and wiped her tears with his thumbs. He sealed their kiss as he whispered, “Forever,” against her lips. He didn’t want this moment to end either, but knew they’d be disturbed soon. “Come on.”

As they were gathering their clothes, Evan saw the note falling out of his pocket. He picked it up and read: Is she your new whore? Evan quickly glanced at Ginger because she’d be devastated if she saw it.

“What does it say?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Evan, no secrets.”

This was the first time he wished for a releationship like he saw in the clubs in Denver and Reno. “Dammit, Ginger. There’s more I need to tell you, but not tonight. I don’t want anything to tarnish tonight.”

Ginger pointed toward the door when she said, “When we walk through that door, you’re going to get dressed and talk with Nathan and Sam about pictures and what they could mean, so our little love bubble is going to burst anyway. What could be worse than that?”

He searched her eyes for a reason not to tell her, but no secrets was the only thing running through his head. “Let’s get comfortable then we’ll talk.”

They picked up their clothes and walked to their room. Evan laid his suit over the back of the sofa before he turned to face her. He knelt down and the surprise couldn’t be hidden on her face as he reached for her. “Give me your foot so I can help you take off your shoes.”

She held on to the bedpost and placed a foot in one of his hands. He lifted it to his knee as he ran the other up her calf then back down before he unbuckled the strap around her ankle then repeated the process with the other foot. Before he stood, he put her foot on the floor and pulled her close enough to kiss her navel. Once he was at his full height he said, “Tonight has been perfect.”

“It has,” she said. She moved to the sofa and unfastened her stockings. He watched as she rolled each one down and removed the garter.

“Fuck me,” he quietly said.

She lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. He was staring where the top of her stockings were. When her eyes moved down, his cock was standing at attention. “Again?”

He looked at the clock on the bedside table. It’d have to be quick, but he thought they had time. He took her hand and led her down the hall. “Where are you taking me?”

“Kitchen. I wanna ravage you on the island. I’m trying to give you a memory of us in every room in this house. When we go to yours, I wanna do the same thing there. I want you to feel me everywhere you go even if I’m not there with you.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“I think so, too,” he said as they reached the island. He pushed barstools out of the way and made sure she had enough room. “I’m gonna sit you up there.” He squeezed her waist and lifted her. When the cold granite touched her bare ass, her eyes popped open.

“That’s cold,” she squeaked with a smile.

“I’m gonna warm you up. Take my hands and lie back. Don’t bump your head.” She held his hands for support and slowly reclined with her back arching until her body got used to the cold. Once she was all the way down, he took her legs and placed them where he wanted them. He stepped closer and ran his hand from her neck, between her breasts, and down her body to her pubic bone. He watched the goose bumps followed in the wake of his hand before he leaned over and kissed inside of one of her hip bones. “One day soon, I wanna see a little red heart tattooed right here.” She already had a couple tats, but nothing on her abdomen and no hearts.

His eyes found hers when she said, “Yes.”

His hand moved to inside her thigh and glided down toward her pussy. His pussy. Instead of immediately going there, he touched her little tightened sphincter.

Her head popped off the island as she opened her mouth to protest, but before anything could leave those luscious lips he said, “Darlin, I’m not taking you here today, but I will one day. Today, I just wanna get you used to my touch. Relax, I’m not gonna do anything but massage you.” As she held his stare, truth shone in his eyes.

“No one’s ever touched me there.”

“Good. That’s something else we can experience together.”

“But you’ve done that.”

“Yes, now relax and enjoy.”

“But…”

“Shh. I keep my word, always. You can trust me.”

“I do…”

“Then lie back and just feel,” he interrupted. She did, and he watched her eyes close. He kept his word and didn’t push her any further than he already had even though he felt her body relax under his touch. Pride bloomed because he was earning her trust. He nudged her to slide up the island. When he joined her, he unceremoniously plunged to the hilt deep inside of her. Her body tensed because he hadn’t done that before, but she was wet and ready. Since she’d come earlier, he set a relentless pace. She’d be sore and that was okay since they soon wouldn’t have the freedom they’d enjoyed the last couple of days.

It didn’t take long before her walls tightened around him. “Let go, darlin’. I’m right behind you.” A few more thrusts and she took him over the edge with his name on her lips as hers was on his. They didn’t move while they caught their breath, and with his face next to her ear he whispered, “I love you, Gin.” In a matter of seconds, water ran down his cheek so he pulled back and saw her crying again. “Tell me where your thoughts are.”

“I’m so in love with you it scares me. What if we have to be apart?”

He hadn’t left her body so he rose onto my forearms. “We know in two weeks I’ve got to go back to Iowa for a little while. I hope it’s just for a few days, or maybe a week.” He searched her eyes and knew where the fear was coming from, “Ginger, I promise you with all that’s in me, just because I’m not with you doesn’t mean I’m with someone else. I know you’ve been cheated on, and I’m not gonna do that. Not now, not ever.”

“It’s hard.”

“I know. But, darlin’, if that’s the only thing you’re insecure about, throw that shit away. It ain’t gonna happen.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I’m in this as much with my head as my heart.”

The sound of the doorbell caused them to startle. Evan looked at the clock and it was one minute after ten. “Fuck, he’s never been on time as long as I’ve known him.” He looked back at Ginger, “I’m sorry, darlin’, but we need to move.” He quickly kissed her before he helped her down and they hurried to their room. She went straight for the bathroom while he grabbed the wash cloth they’d used earlier then slipped on a pair of jeans. “We’ll be in the office. Come find us later,” he said as he walked out of the room.