Nautier and Wilder (28 page)

Her mother cupped her cheeks and kissed her on the forehead. “You have nothing to
be sorry about. I’m the one who made such a mess of things. I was in and out of your
life like a flitting butterfly, never settling on one thing, always off on another
adventure.” Her mother straightened. “My adventure days are over. I’m ready to be
a responsible adult now.”

Elena couldn’t help the tears that fell. She laughed and hugged her mother, so grateful
to have another chance with her, thanks to Jed and Grange.

After Grange and her mother took off to spend the evening together and talk about
their own futures, Jed and Elena were left alone.

“So what’s next for you?” she asked, not really wanting to ask the question, but knowing
she had to be an adult about it.

He leaned back on the sofa and pulled her against him, throwing his arm around her.
“Not sure. I’m supposed to report back to Wild Rider headquarters in Dallas.”

“Supposed to?”

“Yeah. Grange’s imminent retirement changes things.”

She twisted around to face him. “In what way?”

“I signed on to work with Grange. He’s been an amazing teacher, someone I’ve loved
working under.”

“You don’t like the other people you work with?”

“I do. They’re all a great group of people. Amazingly talented. Tough, tenacious,
and I’d work with any of them on any assignment.”

“Then I don’t understand the problem.”

“Grange recruited me, took me under his wing, trained me. He sought me out and asked
me to come work for him. I look on him as a father figure. Stupid, I know. I should
be able to work for anyone, especially at my age. And I can. That’s not the issue.”

“It’s not stupid. I think with your talent and capabilities, you can afford to be
selective. It’s not like you’re a rookie fresh out of school and you can’t pick and
choose where you work. I imagine a lot of people would be happy to hire you.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“Don’t know yet. I’ll have to give it some thought.”

She climbed onto his lap and placed her palms on his face. “Jed. What do
you
want to do?”

He squeezed her hips. “Right now?”

She grinned. “Well, yeah, there’s that. But honestly. What do you want to do?”

“Stay here, with you. Work with Grange. Have a family. I miss having a family. I’m
jealous of what you have.”

She arched a brow. “What I have?”

“Your mom. Your uncle. Marco. People who love you. I haven’t had that in a long time.
Never realized what I was missing until I saw it all around me. Until I met you.”

Emotion swelled within her. “So you want a family?”

He skimmed his hands up her ribs, teasing her breasts. “I want you, Elena. I want
to stay here with you.”

“Oh.”

“I told Grange I was falling in love with you.”

“You did?”

“I did. He didn’t take it well.”

“He didn’t?”

“Not at first. I think he might be used to the idea by now. Either way, I told him
that’s the way it was going to be, and you and I needed to have a real relationship
that didn’t revolve around an assignment.”

She palmed his chest. “That would be nice.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It’s definitely what I want. I don’t want you to go back to Dallas. I just didn’t
want to ask you to give up your job for me.”

“So what are you saying?”

“That I’m in love with you, Jed. You made my heart stop from the very first day you
came into my shop. You’ve been turning my world upside down ever since. I don’t want
that feeling to ever end. But I’m also a little scared.”

“Me, too. I’ve never done this before.”

“Neither have I. I guess we’ll just muddle through it together.”

He flipped her over onto the sofa and came down on top of her, his lips on hers before
she could even gasp a breath.

It had been so long since they’d been together. They hadn’t had a moment alone in
over a week. She’d spent all her time with her mother in the hospital, and he’d been
with Grange, or they’d all been together. She’d loved all the family time, needed
to be with her mother and had so enjoyed getting to know her uncle, but now she craved
only Jed.

His kiss sent her senses reeling. She threaded her fingers into his hair, the other
hand sweeping down over his arm, loving the solid feel of him. Knowing he was going
to remain in her life balanced her world.

Part of her was unable to believe this man loved her. She hadn’t been looking for
love, but oh, had she found an amazing man. He’d risked his life to rescue her. It
was the stuff of fairy tales.

His hand crept under her shirt to release the front clasp of her bra and tease her
nipples. He lifted her shirt, put his mouth on her nipples to suck her between his
lips, flicking his tongue over the buds until she arched against him, feeding her
breasts into his greedy mouth. She heated up to a fevered pitch fast, rocking against
his erection, needing him so much after everything they’d been through.

He raised her shirt over her head, took off her bra, then slid her shorts and panties
off her legs, leaving her naked and throbbing. When he put his mouth on her sex, she
whimpered, holding onto his hair as he sucked her pussy, rolling his tongue over her
clit.

“Jed. Yes, make me come.”

She hadn’t come since she’d been with him. For the past week she’d lain in bed alone,
thinking about him, wanting to be with him again, and hoping he wanted the same thing
but worried that she’d have to say good-bye to him, and wondering if she’d be able
to. And now that he was with her, that he loved her, she was never going to let him
go.

“Yes. This is mine,” she said, half-crazed with the amazing things he did to her with
his mouth. “I want this all the time.”

He hummed against her pussy and she climaxed with a wild cry, bucking against his
mouth as she rode out her orgasm, then pulled him up and kissed him, licking her come
from his lips.

“I need you inside me, Jed. Please make love to me.”

They made quick work of his clothes. She splayed her hands out over his chest, then
lower, reaching for his cock.

“You’re throbbing in my hands,” she said, loving the way he looked at her.

“You make me hard.”

“Then make love to me.”

He grabbed a condom and slipped it on, then kneeled on the floor in front of the sofa,
draping her legs over his shoulders.

“I love watching your pussy when I fuck you,” he said, sliding inside her with a slow
and easy thrust. “The way it grips me as if you never want to let me go.”

She rose up so she could watch, too, could see his cock sliding all the way inside
her, then withdrawing. She shuddered at the intimacy of their connection, then raised
her gaze to his. “Make me come again. Make me come with you.”

He reared back and slammed inside her, pumping furiously and grinding against her.
She couldn’t get enough of him, pulling him forward so she could wrap her legs around
him and kiss him, his tongue licking against hers.

He pulled back to look at her, to sweep her hair away from her face.

“And this is mine,” he said, bending down to sweep his lips against hers.

He ground against her, taking her right to the edge, slowing, and deepening his thrusts
again with a maddening rhythm that brought her to the brink over and over. It was
the sweetest tease.

“Oh, God, I’m going to come,” she murmured against his lips.

He rolled his hips against hers, his pelvis sliding against her clit. She exploded
in orgasm, bucking against him until he groaned out her name and came with her, shuddering
against her as he glued his body to hers.

She stroked his hair, his back, kissed his face, his mouth. She’d never been so content.

“Stay with me tonight,” she whispered.

“Always.”

Tonight, she’d sleep.

SIXTEEN

“W
hat do you think about this piece?” Marco asked.

Elena studied it with a critical eye. It was a welded piece from a new artist that
Marco had found at an art show the previous weekend.

“Kind of nautical, yet with a touch of fantasy. I like it, and the colors are unique.
Very masculine. It should appeal to our male clientele.”

Marco beamed. “Great. I’ll let Paolo know you dig his work and have him bring more
samples in.”

Work had picked up with warmer weather moving in. Elena was happy to be back at work,
though Marco had done a remarkable job handling the store while she was gone. He seemed
to thrive on autonomy, so she intended to take more time off and let him manage the
store more often, which fell in line with her plans to spend more time with the man
she loved.

Not that he’d have as much time as she’d like, but that was all right. She had other
things to do, too. Her mother had found a house she loved, a cute cottage a few miles
off the beach that she had bought and would be moving into within a month.

And with Grange down here now and his new retirement “business” getting off the ground—with
Jed’s help—she was going to be busier than ever, which meant she’d need Marco’s assistance
with the shop.

“Marco, can you handle things here for a few hours? I need to run a few errands.”

Marco grinned. “You know it. Off to see your boyfriend?”

Now it was her turn to smile. “Maybe.”

He waved her off and went to place his new client’s piece in the window. “Have fun.
Give Jed a kiss for me.”

She laughed, grabbed her purse and climbed into the Chevy and headed down to the waterway
after making a quick stop at the local deli. She parked in the lot, switched out of
her heels and put on canvas shoes, then walked down the plank dock, where Grange and
Jed were busily cleaning a boat.

“Must be nice having a job where you get to hang out in the sun all day getting tan.”

Grange looked up and grinned, something he did a lot more these days. He still wore
his hair in that severe military haircut, but he’d cut off his camos into knee-skimming
shorts, wore canvas tennis shoes and a T-shirt that was a different color besides
green. Today he wore a baseball cap on backward.

“Hey, we wear sunscreen. How’s my favorite niece?”

“Your only niece.” She climbed up onto the boat and kissed his cheek, then turned
her attention to Jed, who looked mouthwateringly gorgeous in board shorts and a sleeveless
tank.

Jed lifted his head from where he’d been busily sanding the deck. He was dripping
sweat, and grinning like a kid.

“Afternoon, gorgeous. How’s my beautiful woman?”

“Taking a break. I brought you two lunch and a cold drink. Figured you’d be too busy
to stop and eat.”

“We eat,” Grange said.

“Chips don’t count.”

“Nutrition nazi,” Jed said, but greedily took the sandwich she offered.

What he’d really liked was seeing the woman he loved showing up and making his day.

“Thanks,” Grange said. “I think I’ll take mine to go. There’s a paint supplier at
the store I want to talk to. Nice to see you, Elena.”

“You, too.” She smiled and waved her uncle off, then turned to Jed.

He ate his sandwich and admired her in her cute capri pants, polka dot top and tennis
shoes, her hair pulled up high on her head in a ponytail.

He was a sweaty mess, and she was a fresh goddess. He was one lucky sonofabitch.

“The boat’s coming along nicely,” she said, glancing down at the well-sanded deck
of the first boat Jed and Grange had bought as part of General’s Fishing and Touring
Charters, the business they’d started up together a month ago.

Once the general had asked Jed to go into business with him, it had taken Jed about
two seconds to say yes.

Partly because it meant outdoors and adventure, something Jed had craved. Partly because
it meant he could be with Elena, and mainly because now he had a family, and that
family included Elena.

Maybe the general had known that, maybe not, but either way, Jed was damned grateful.

“What are you thinking about?” Elena asked as she wiped the corner of her mouth with
a napkin.

“You. All this and how it worked out. How lucky I am.”

“Really? I think I’m the lucky one. You stayed.”

“I’d have stayed anyway, even if this job hadn’t happened. I wouldn’t have left you.”

Her cheeks turned pink and her lips curved into a sweet smile that never failed to
make his heart squeeze in a way that was still new to him. “I love you, Jed.”

“I love you, too, Elena. It’s a perfect day, I have my beautiful woman in my life,
and we’re on our boat. Life just can’t get any better.”

She leaned over, laid her hand on his heart and pressed her lips to his. “Oh, it will.
This is just the beginning.”