THE SUN SHONE CRISP in a cloudless sky as I trekked up the sidewalk to Tinley’s gallery, White Ashes. It was hard to believe that summer was coming to an end. My first work-free summer and I’d spent most of my days sailing, surfing, and helping Tinley at the gallery. The place was closed since she was prepping for the annual Elizabeth Atkinson Foundation for the Arts Celebration.
Tinley’s father ended up buying a property in Hawaii and he and Gianna settled into the island life. As for my own family, my father had somewhat retired from ranching, and Nathan stepped into his shoes . . . boots.
I stepped inside, and walked up the stairs to Tinley’s office. She sat behind her desk, her long blonde hair cascaded over her tanned shoulders. She looked up at me, her blue eyes beaming with surprise.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, getting up from her seated position.
“Would you believe that I was just in the area and thought I’d drop by?”
She wrapped her arms around my waist. “This is a nice surprise.”
I pressed a kiss to her lips. We’d spent the summer reconnecting, finding our way back to one another. There was an adjustment period, and figuring out how to navigate living with one another day in and day out, but we slipped into our marriage with a renewed purpose.
“Did I tell you that your friend, Jackson, is going to donate some pieces for the foundation? And he wants to sponsor a maritime art installation.”
“That’s awesome,” I said, my hands pushing beneath her grey crop top.
The First Lights was set for a premiere at the Venice Film Festival over Labor Day weekend and then it would release in theaters next April. Grady and I were about to launch One Harbour Entertainment and we scored a release deal with Avalon Films. We were in talks to produce a film about a country singer and his band’s rise to stardom.
Tinley was focused solely on the foundation and the gallery. For the most part, she was resolved to not go back to acting unless the right project came along. Never say never, right?
My wife gripped the hem of my shirt as my lips coasted against the nape of her neck. Teasing her, I glided my fingertips along her ribcage and to her breast. Tinley arched into my touch.
“Are you looking for a little afternoon delight?” she asked.
I laughed. “Now who’s the one with the unoriginal lines?”
Her blue eyes smoldered. “You should worry less about the words, and more about how fast you can get out of those clothes.”
“Right here?”
She nodded. “Right now.”
In between kisses, we managed to strip out of our clothes. I tossed mine onto the chair and turned back to face my wife. She was all over me, hands gripping and pushing back onto her desk. I took her face in my hands, kissing her deeply, thrusting my tongue deep inside her mouth.
Tinley’s fingers dug into the muscles of my back. Gripping her hips, I hoisted her up and planted her on the edge of her desk. Giving my cock a few strokes, she angled her hips spreading wide for me.
“What do you need?” I asked. “Anything you want, beautiful, it’s yours.”
“I just need you,” she replied, her voice cracking as I pushed into her. “Matthew.”
“Fuck, yes,” I groaned, feeling her nails scraping along my neck.
Tinley shifted her hips, and I had her on her back thrusting deeper. She arched and cried out, “Matthew, you feel so good.”
Leaning over her, my fingers dug into her hips. “Do you know how much I love you?”
She trembled under me, papers and pens were flying everywhere. “Oh, Matthew, I have an idea.”
She said it like we were having a casual conversation over breakfast. I slowed my pace, and studied her face. “What is it, darlin’?”
“Fuck me in my ballet studio.” It wasn’t a question, it was a request.
I hauled her up off the desk, and we raced down the hall to her studio. The shock of cold from the concrete twined its way up my spine.
She pushed open the door, and flicked on the lights. My wife grasped the barre and bent at the waist.
Jesus Christ.
I loved that after all these years, she could still surprise me. Somehow I knew that things would always be like this between us. “Where do you need me, beautiful?” I asked, digging my fingers into her waist.
She stared back at me in the mirror. “I need you inside me, Matthew.” Her hand lifted from the barre and she reached for me. I pushed inside her, moving slowly at first and finding our perfect rhythm. I folded myself over her back, my teeth scraped over the shell of her ear.
“I love you, Matthew.” Her voice was breathy.
Tingles radiated and I felt the deep ache of her orgasm taking hold. I rocked my body against hers, feeling her pussy squeezing my cock.
“Yes, just like that,” she gasped.
My eyes met hers in a blistering heat, and she was moaning and bucking back against me, overloading my senses. I exploded inside her and came with a thundering roar. My arms twined around her waist as I pulsed inside her, and I wanted to stay like this for the rest of the afternoon.
Naked and beautiful, she stood before me, a lazy grin crossing her lips. “I love you.” Her hands laced with mine. I brushed the hair away from her face and dipped my head to meet her lips. I kissed her softly and slowly.
“Do you know how you tell real love?”
She smirked. “Does anyone?”
Nodding, I brought our connected hands to my mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist down to her palm. “When you come out of the darkness into the light still holding hands.”