Wanting Forever (A Nelson Island Novel) (20 page)

S
am backed Aston up until her back was pressed against the wooden wall of Sunny’s exterior.

“I’ve been sitting next to you…” he began, murmuring against her neck. He pressed his lips to her skin, gripping her hips tightly with both hands.

Aston strained to get ahold of herself. She was attempting to remain calm and in control of her body and her emotions.

“For nine hours in Reed’s truck,” he continued in the growly voice that made her immediately want to rake her nails down his back. “Then all night at this damn bar. I can’t just sit next to you anymore.”

“Oh?” The word escaped in a strangled gasp, not at all the picture of control she was trying to be. “What’d you have in mind, Waters?”

His lips traveled from her neck down to her exposed collarbone, where he began to suck. Then he dragged a small circle on her skin with his tongue, his teeth scraping lightly against her. She clutched at his soft T-shirt and dropped her head back against the wall. His hands slid up the front of her shirt, cupping her breasts and squeezing, and she uttered a breathy moan at the shock and pleasure.

“Sam,” she said in a strained voice. “We’re outside the bar. You want to go home? Because we rode here in Reed’s truck, too.”

She reached into the waistband of his jeans and gripped his hardness in a firm fist, relishing the groan she received in response.

He trembled beneath her exploring fingers. His mouth froze on her neck. He lifted his eyes to peer at her and then he closed them briefly. “
Shit,
Princess.”

Suddenly, he lifted her, holding her under her thighs and pulling her flush against him. She squirmed, and white-hot need shot straight to his already throbbing, very swollen dick.

“I can’t wait,” he whispered into her ear. And it was her turn to shiver. He carried her into the bar and held out his hand to Reed, who was done with his performance and basking in the glow of it at the table with their friends.

“I need your keys,” Sam demanded, holding out his hand.

Reed eyed them both; Sam gripping Aston tightly with one hand to hide his current state of horniness and Aston giggling, her head buried in his shoulder.

Reed sighed. “Keep it clean in my fucking truck.”

Sam snatched the keys tossed by Reed out of the air and carried Aston back out into the night, climbing right up into the Silverado with her straddling his lap, and slamming the door.

“We aren’t going to make it home,” he warned her as he gunned the rowdy engine. “I waited too long as it is to be with you, and I missed you like hell when I was in that jail cell.”

She smiled at him. “It’s really, really dark over there on that side of the parking lot.”

He glanced that way, and shook his head.

“Uh-uh. I’m not doing this in the dark corner of a bar parking lot. Never with you.”

He put the truck in drive and pulled out of the lot, riding a few torturous miles down the highway. Then he pulled over and drove off the road through a sea of tall grass growing out of the sandy soil. When he pulled to a stop, they were completely alone under a dark blue blanket of sky and stars and miles of quiet South Carolina calm.

“This is more private,” he mused, glancing at her still in his lap.

His deep tawny eyes were wide and completely open to her; she could read every emotion written there, and in addition to the desire in his eyes he was looking at her with rugged, raw, rough-around-the edges love. She sighed happily, and he exited the truck with her heaped in his arms.

She placed her hands on his broad shoulders as she slid down his long body. He stood in front of her, his hands braced on either side of the vehicle and leaned down until their noses were nuzzling.

“I’m so sorry I waited this long to tell you how I felt about you,” he whispered.

His eyes fluttered closed. “This summer with you, especially after what happened with my brother and Ever, has been more than I ever expected to earn in this life. And making love to you the other night was the single most amazing experience of my life. I want to be wrapped up in you like that again and again, Aston. Only you.”

She stared at his lips as he spoke, wondering how long it would take until they claimed hers again. She reached up and framed his face with her hands. He opened his eyes, and they bore into hers.

“I would have waited for you as long as it took,” she answered simply. “Because you’re worth it. You saw what I needed before anyone else did. You saw right through the wall I put up for everyone. So for me, it’s also only you.”

His lips met hers, soft and gentle. He lifted her against him as he kissed her tenderly, carrying her around the truck and setting her down on the edge of the tailgate.

He stood between her thighs and leaned into her, his kiss becoming more urgent as he tangled one hand in her long hair. She pulled away from him and climbed into the bed of the Silverado, reaching into the metal box by the window and pulling out a thick afghan. She spread it out and sat down, crooking her finger to beckon Sam toward her.

Watching her bend over in those skintight jeans to spread out a blanket in the back of a truck bed…he nearly stopped breathing altogether. At her request, he climbed in and crawled to where she sat. Her fingers hitched up his shirt, and he raised his arms so she could pull it off him. His lips were immediately on hers again, and his hands explored all the glorious softness that her skin always offered. Making quick work of those skinny jeans and tight top, he grabbed hold of her under the knees and behind her back and deftly flipped their positions.

“This is new,” she said, a wry smile tugging her lips.

He cupped her round little ass with his hands and squeezed. “I like to keep things interesting.”

She leaned down to kiss him, but the cleavage brushing his face was far too tempting, and he caught hold of her front clasp, letting the skimpy fabric of her bra fall away from her breasts. He pulled her toward him and caught a taut nipple between his teeth.

She hissed, raking her nails down his bare chest as he sucked, leaving her tingling and aching in the very best way.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” he said as she pushed her hips against his hard-on. His hips bucked up to meet her. He stared at his hands covering her breasts in amazement, then raised his eyes to hers.

“There’s never been anything so sexy as the sight of you ready to rock my world in the back of this goddamn truck.”

She threw back her head and laughed. “Don’t get used to it, Waters. I’m a lady.”

“You are,” he agreed. “A lady about to ride me in the back of a truck.”

His lips smothered her giggle as he pulled her head toward him and devoured her mouth with his once again. His hands ran down her bare sides, and she trembled under his gentle fingers. He reacted to her shiver, grinding his hips up against hers, and she closed her eyes in euphoria.

She reached down to pull off his jeans and boxer briefs; she worked with a haste that let him know she wanted to feel him without any more barriers between them.

“Sam,” she whispered.

He gazed up at her, using his strong hands to still her hips above him.

“Yes, Princess?”

“Put it in.”

He grinned at the sexiest statement he’d ever hear. “Seriously? My, you’re bossy tonight.”

She grabbed his length and squeezed. “Are you really gonna argue?” Her eyes glittered dangerously.

He moved, guiding himself to her entrance so that she could press down onto him. The quickness with which she moved surprised them both; they cried out at the sensation caused by the unexpected friction.

“You’re incredible,” he said. “So hot, so wet. So…mine.”

“So yours,” she agreed. “I’m all yours, Sam.”

She ran her hands over the tattoo stretching across the defined abdominal muscles of his stomach.

“Rise,” she whispered. “Have I told you that I love this tattoo?”

He smiled up at her. “No. Do you? Have I told you why I got it?”

She shook her head. He shifted the position of his hips and she moaned as she took friction in the sweetest of spots. His pupils dilated and he pulled her down until their bodies were pressed tightly together.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said. His voice was so rough and sexy it sent tremors through her.

She nodded, and then gasped as he rocked his hips against hers.

His eyes burned directly into hers while she moved against him and she didn’t break the contact. Making love to him while staring into his eyes was an experience she wouldn’t trade for anything in the entire world. It just reminded her that she belonged to this man. She’d never belonged to anyone, not really, and being in Sam’s arms in this completely intimate way was right.

He used his hips and his hands to help her climb, creating delicious friction just where she needed it; and as she reached the brink of her pleasure she fell ecstatically over the edge with his name on her lips. He followed quickly behind her, unable to continue to hold out when she was coming apart all around him.

She might have lost any sense of reality, because the next thing she knew she was on her back, staring up at the stars, and he was kissing her mouth, her nose, her forehead, and then resting his forehead against hers while they unraveled from the high they were riding. When their breathing had calmed, he rolled over onto his elbow, and the absence of his body over hers affected her immediately.

“I just…I just want to listen to you say my name that way all night.” He glanced at her, a small smile pulling his mouth upward.

“That can be arranged,” she said with a smirk. “So tell me about the tattoo.”

He snuggled her closer to his side, lying back on the blanket with one hand behind his head and the other pulling her against him. He stared up at the stars and contemplated.

“It says
RISE
,
” he began. “Because that’s what I’ve always had to do. No matter what shit I had to go through on any given day—and there was plenty—I rose again the next day. I had to, if I was ever going to get to my goal of getting out of there and making a life for myself.” He finished, still staring skyward.

She rubbed tiny circles on his chest with her finger. “And now you have. Made a life for yourself, I mean. Here…with me.”

He glanced down at her and smiled. He kissed her temple. “Yeah, Princess. Here, with you.”

“We have to get registered for classes.”

He raised his head to look at her this time. “We?”

She turned on her full grin, dazzling him with her beauty. “Yep. I’m transferring. This fall, we start at Charleston together. So it’s you and me from here on out, Waters. Is that okay with you?”

He was stunned into silence. Then he rolled over her once more so that he was floating above her. He grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her, a fierce meeting of their lips that went on and on until she was breathless.

“I take that as a yes?” she asked dizzily.

His grin widened and he chuckled. “Damn, I love you, Princess.”

She stilled. Gooseflesh broke out all over her body and the stars swam even brighter in the dark expanse above them.

His arms tightened around her and he gazed worriedly into her eyes. “That’s not pressure, Aston. I’m not expecting anything in return. I just…love you. I do. And I’m not afraid to say it. This summer has changed my entire life. Not just the fact that your dad has given me monumental hope for my future as a man, but because
you’ve
given me a reason to live freely. Free of obligation, free of oppression. You opened your heart to me when you didn’t have to. And damn…I love you for it. I can’t wait to start proving it to you.”

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. “You owe me nothing, Sam. You don’t have to prove anything. I already know your heart. I’ve never been so safe in my life as I am in your arms and wrapped up in your love. So I accept your love completely. And I love you back.”

He smiled enormously, lowered his lips to hers, and proceeded to lose himself in her again, and again.

Two Years Later in Nelson Island

T
his is the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to.” Tamara pushed a strand of her dark red hair off of her face. Summer hadn’t quite begun, and her skin was pale in the muted glow of the moon overhead.

Soft strains of a slow song drifted over the long, driftwood farmhouse tables sitting in the sand. The twinkling stars overhead littered an inky landscape, and everything was perfect.

“Me, too,” agreed Sam.

He glanced at the girl laughing in the seat beside him. Almost perfect.

“Baby,” he whispered. “Do you want to dance?”

Aston looked over at him, pausing in her conversation with Kelly. A gorgeous grin broke out on her face that still stopped his heart cold. She sent Kelly an apologetic smile, who waved her off with a knowing look.

Aston took his outstretched hand, standing. Her long dress cascaded down over her heels, and the picture of statuesque beauty was complete.

“Heard you guys graduated yesterday,” someone called out as they passed, on their way to the dance floor.

“We sure did,” answered Aston.

An answering whistle caused a sense of wondrous elation to course through Sam.

He still couldn’t believe he’d done it. After transferring his community college credits from Virginia and putting in overtime coursework and internship hours, he’d just completed his senior year at the University of Charleston, with the girl he loved by his side. Sam’s business degree coupled with Aston’s double degree in finance and business would hang in their brand-new offices at Hopewell Enterprises.

Two years ago, he was merely a ranch hand, a new and quite possibly temporary arrival in this town.

And look at him now. His life was perfect.

Almost perfect.

Two slender arms wrapped around his neck, commanding his immediate and complete attention. Aston swayed in front of him, and as he looked down at her, her smile was captivating.

“I think Ashley makes the most gorgeous bride in the world,” she said. Her long, dark hair was pulled into an elegant knot at the nape of her neck, and all he wanted to do was release the pins holding it up and allow its full weight to tumble down around her shoulders.

“Mmm,” he commented. Ashley was, indeed, a beautiful bride. And Finn would probably burst from happiness and pride right there on the dance floor. But Ashley couldn’t hold Sam’s attention. Not with Aston in the room.

“You’re very…contemplative tonight.” Aston stroked a finger over his lips. “Anything you want to talk about?”

He shook his head. “Just appreciating everything I have. Taking a minute to thank whoever’s responsible for it all.”

She nodded. “I know the feeling. I’m so ready for what’s next, though, aren’t you?”

He smiled. That was Aston. Ready to hurtle forward to the next challenge, the next adventure. He was always right there with her. Her partner, her equal.

A catcall erupted around them, and their eyes were drawn to the stage set up close to the rising tide.

“This next song belongs to the bride and groom,” said Reed.

He began strumming something slow and sultry on his guitar. The songs he’d written for this occasion were phenomenal, and Sam had no doubt that Reed would achieve his dreams of musical stardom one day.

“God, he’s amazing.” Aston watched her brother, with pride and awe trading places on her face. “I feel like he’s been doing this forever.”

“He’s something special. Only a matter of time before the whole world knows it,” Sam agreed.

They watched him for a few moments longer, and then Aston sighed, leaning into Sam.

“I wish he had someone.”

Sam nodded. She’d shared this worry with him more than once. She hated seeing Reed partying with different girls night after night. She knew what he was missing, although he still assured her that his happily ever after would never involve a serious relationship.

“One day,” Sam soothed. He bent and kissed the spot on her neck that called to him like a siren. “Let’s go tell Finn and Ash ’bye,” he said, leaning down to speak into her ear. “I’m ready to get you home.”

She shivered, and he smiled. Their ability to affect each other with a single breath would never fade.

Back home to the tack house, which they’d taken over as their own, now that they’d graduated and moved back to the island full-time.

Her grin curled at the corners of her lips. “Let’s.”

She pulled off her heels and ran with him across the sand. He fastened her helmet on her carefully as she pulled on her light leather jacket over her flowing bridesmaid’s dress.

He climbed onto the Harley and waited until her arms were squeezing his middle before roaring off down the dark streets of N.I. He smiled under his helmet visor, knowing that he wasn’t heading for the ranch, and knowing that Aston wouldn’t be able to grill him on their destination while on the bike.

Five minutes later, they were walking along the Sunny’s pier.

“What are you up to, Waters?” asked Aston, her voice full of suspicion. “I thought you were going to take me home and have your way with me.”

Sam laughed. “Hold your horses, Princess. We’ll get to that.”

He stopped walking, pulling her to a halt with him. He smiled down at her, wrapping his arms around her waist and gripping her tightly. “I wanted to give you your graduation present first.”

The ocean lapped gently against the wood on the pier, and he was reminded of another night, which ended right in this very spot. He was broken then, until the woman standing in front of him helped put him back together.

Eventually, Hunter and Ever had been forgiven. In time, Sam had been able to see that his childhood sweetheart and his brother belonged together in a way that he and Ever never had. He’d wished they’d arrived at that conclusion in a different way, but everything had worked out the way it was supposed to. Without Ever and Hunter’s transgression, he may not have found his way into Aston’s waiting arms.

Finding a way to put that water under the bridge had given him a relationship with his brother again.

Aston’s eyebrows rose. He knew she’d never been able to resist a present. He chuckled.

“This pier? This is where my life started. At one point, I thought my life was ending here. And then my eyes were opened up to a world I never thought I could be a part of. My eyes were opened to you.”

Her eyes softened at the corners, and she smiled up at him. “My life began that night, too. It just took you awhile to realize it.”

He nodded. “God, Aston. My life is almost perfect now. Every crooked, twisted road I took…brought me here, to you.”

She nodded, her eyes full of reflections from the stars. Then her brow furrowed. “Wait a minute. Almost perfect?”

He nodded, reaching into the interior pocket of his black leather jacket. “Here. I had this ordered for you.”

She smiled as she pulled the shiny piece of platinum out of a long envelope. “A nameplate! For my new office at HE. Thank you, baby.”

She stared down at it, the light of the moon serving to assist her in reading it. Sam could have counted backward from three. He watched her face read the name on the plate, her eyes narrowed, and then they flew back up to lock with his.

As the realization registered on her face, he clasped her hand and dropped to a knee.

“What do you think?” he asked softly. “Was I too presumptuous when I ordered an
ASTON WATERS
nameplate for your door?”

She shook her head fervently, biting her bottom lip. Tears pooled in her eyes as she tugged his hand. “Sam?”

“Marry me, Princess. Make my life perfect.” He slid the carefully chosen diamond solitaire out of his pocket and slipped it onto her finger with a trembling hand.

She tugged his hand more urgently, and he rose to his feet. He scooped her up into his arms, and the feel of her lips pressed firmly against his was the only answer he needed.
Yes.

Perfect.