Wishful Kisses: A Fountain of Love Novella (9 page)

With a gentle tug, he pulled my hair, pulling me up and looking into my eyes. He sat up, the muscles in his abs crunching.

"So, you think you're the only one with something to show?" he asked. That naughty smile was back on his face, making me all kinds of hot and bothered.

He stood, taking my hands in his and pulling me up with him. I reached behind me and unclasped my bra, letting it fall to the floor. His brown eyes filled with hunger and want. With a gentle hand, he traced my bare spine, leaving a trail of fire that burned straight south. I wanted his fingers to touch me like that everywhere.

He leaned forward, kissing the sweet spot just between my jaw and throat. I gasped, arching my neck to give him better access. His hands caressed the swell of my breasts, down to my hips and to the front of my jeans. He fumbled with them, kissing my neck. After letting him try to free me from my clothing with no success, I reached down and undid them myself.

"I got it," I whispered, slithering out of my pants with a smile.

"What? They're hard," he whispered, sliding his muscled thigh between mine. His erection pushed at my panties, seeking entrance.

"I know something else that's hard," I whispered back. The vibrations of his throaty chuckle tickled my skin as he continued to kiss my neck.

"Your turn," he said, picking me up and setting me on the edge of the bed. My knees hung over the side and he wedged his broad shoulders between my thighs. His breath was warm against my secret places.

He started to tease me, using his fingers and then his lips, his tongue, and even his teeth. Every touch sent a surge of heat coursing through my body. I contorted and arched my hips to give him access, wordlessly begging for more. He murmured his approval, humming into me. I could feel my bones melting as he caressed me, drawing me to more pleasure than I could stand.

My toes started to curl and my mind turned into a wheel of spinning colors. I heard my voice cry out his name, but I was too enraptured to realize I had even opened my mouth. I writhed mindlessly into him, seeking out his touch.

I lay awash in pleasure, barely hearing him stand and the jingle of his jeans. I made out the crinkle of a wrapper and recognized the square shape of a condom. He began to unwrap it, but I managed to gasp "Stop!"

He paused. "What is it?"

I smiled at him wryly. "You won't need that."

He looked confused. "I thought you didn't want to get pregnant."

"I'm leaving my entire life behind to start a family with you. I've been waiting for you since the day you died. Please." I had never been closer to a man than in this moment. I needed him inside me.

He got on top of me and pressed against me. At first, it was just the tip, as if asking for permission to enter. "Are you sure?" he asked. Always the gentleman, giving me one last chance to change my mind.

"Please..." I panted. Every nerve was afire with need. I wanted him more than I needed to breathe. I needed him more than oxygen.

He filled me, pushing ever deeper inside of me. I cried out his name again, digging my nails into his back as he took me. We were complete like this.

His hands were everywhere on my skin, touching and caressing. I ran my hands through his hair, arching my hips to meet his. He brought his head to mine, and his mouth covered mine with a ferocity and sweetness that made me weak in the knees.

Our bodies entwined, legs tangling as we filled and completed one another. His every movement sent wave after wave of delight coursing through me. I didn't think it was possible, but my body was tightening, clenching down against him again. Just the sensation of being one with him was threatening to send me over the edge into glorious oblivion.

His movements were quickening, his thrust gaining a new urgency. I wanted him so badly that I knew I would go insane if it continued for much longer. He buried his face into the crook of my neck, his breath hot and fast. I could feel him going faster and faster, and his cock was hitting me at just the right angle.

I felt him begin to thrust frantically. "Yes," I moaned. "Come inside me." I wanted it so badly that I felt my own eyes roll back into my head. As he cried out, I could feel the warmth of his seed as it filled my body. His orgasm flowed from his body into mine, and my entire being began to quiver with delight. I could feel his entire body shudder as he came, filling me completely.

He pumped for a moment longer, than slowed to a stop inside of me. Together we lay on the bed, gasping and panting. Our legs were tangled together, our bodies slick with sweat. I never wanted him to part from me. I wanted to hold this moment in time forever. I held him to me, his face still in my neck and his breathing ragged.

He lifted his head and kissed me gently on the forehead. The action was somehow more intimate and tender than a kiss on the lips. I loved him more than I could ever express.

"I love you, Ladybug." The words were music to my ears. I didn't even answer back, I just lay there and moaned softly. Nothing would ever be able to wipe the smile from my face.

He slowly disentangled himself, sliding out of my arms and onto the floor.

"Don't go anywhere," he said softly as he turned and padded into the bathroom.

"I don't think I could move if I tried," I answered, lifting my head to watch his perfect ass. I was already wanting him again. "You turned all my bones to happy jelly."

"Happy jelly?" he repeated, returning to the bed with a warm washcloth for me.

"Yup." I looked up at him, basking in his soft smile. He was so incredibly handsome. "You took away my ability to speak. Just be glad I'm able to remember how to breathe at this point."

I cleaned myself up and chucked the washcloth at the bathroom door. He joined me on the bed, pulling the two of us up to the pillows. The room was hot from our activities so I didn't need a blanket. He was warmer than a blanket anyway.

I cuddled into the nook of his shoulder, feeling his heart pound against my cheek. The fact that he was still breathing hard, still excited, was a huge turn on. It must have been good for him too.

I could barely believe this was real. Tony and I were going to be married. We were going to be together, and the best part was that he was going to live.

"What other wonderful things are going to happen in the future?" Tony asked, his hand stroking my arm as we cuddled, our bodies touching at every possible junction.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said, thinking about the internet and smart phones. "But, with you, everything is going to be better."

He kissed the top of my head, smoothing my mussed hair with his fingers when he finished. "If it gets better than this, then I have died and gone to heaven."

"No dying required this time," I said softly.

"You're right," he agreed, his breathing slowing as he drifted off to sleep. "This time, I get to bring heaven to you."

I smiled. He was right. This was heaven.

Present Day

For the second time

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I
pick up the mail and recognize one of the envelopes. It's an invitation to my friend Rachel's wedding. I can't believe that it's already been twenty years. Twenty wonderful, perfect years. I say a silent thank you to Diana and Fountain as I walk inside.

"Anything good in the mail?" my husband asks as I walk into the living room. He's still as handsome to me as the day we ran away together. Maybe even more. He has aged like a fine wine, and I find the gray in his hair sexy as hell. It makes him look distinguished.

"It's an invitation to Rachel and Dean's wedding." I hand him the envelope.

"Did you go last time?" he asks, breaking the seal. I shake my head no.

"I never even sent the RSVP."

"Well, you probably should this time," he tells me with a gentle smile. I stick my tongue out at him. "Hmmm, it's in the States. You can go if you want."

I snuggle next to him on the couch and look at the invitation. "Nah, we can just send a nice gift. Weddings are no fun without you."

He kisses my head, and I lean against his shoulder. This is the life I had wanted. This was the life I wanted to share with him from the moment I met him. Even though it wasn't quite what most people might imagine, it is perfect for us. We have a beautiful house in Costa Rica, and even though my Tony can never return to the United States, we have everything we could ever want.

"I was afraid I was going to ruin their story by changing ours," I say quietly. To this day, I still take Diana's warning about changing time seriously. "I'm glad they still found each other."

Tony squeezes me closer to him. He's still as strong as when we first met. He smiles at the invitation, his eyes going distant as he remembers.

"Do you remember how nervous I was at our wedding?" he asks. I laugh.

"You almost said the wrong words!" I tease him. I've never let him live it down. It had been terribly beautiful and sweet to see him so nervous. It was rare to ever see him even bat an eyelash at things that would send most people screaming.

"You were so gorgeous I couldn't think straight!" he responds, laughing gently. "I forgot half of what I wanted to say because I couldn't stop staring. You still do that to me, you know."

I blush. "Would you still marry me again?"

"In a heartbeat, Ladybug," he says without hesitation, and I know he means it. He means it every time.

"You'd still run away with me?" I ask.

"In two heartbeats," he says.

I smack his chest playfully. "Two?"

"It was a little rough leaving everything. Having you know the future is creepy sometimes, but," he stops and takes my chin in his fingers, letting me lose myself in his eyes, "Totally worth it."

"I don't know the future anymore," I tell him. "This is as far as I got."

I'm reminded of that fact when I look at my latest painting, now hanging on the mantle. It's a painting I started twenty years ago, when I was the same age I am now. It's made of warm browns and honey sunlight, like walking in a sunlit forest. I look over and see those same colors- my husband's eyes. While the painting had seemed incomplete in my previous life, it's definitely perfect now.

"Then we get to explore the future together, Ladybug." He kisses my nose.

"Hey, Mom?" Our teenage son thunders down the stairs. He has his father's smile. "Any mail for me?"

I shake my head. "Not yet. You just sent those college applications off two days ago, Marco."

"I know," Marco says, rolling his eyes as only a teenager can. "I'm just excited. Anna says she wants to go look at the university with me."

"Right," Tony says sarcastically. "Just what I want. My sixteen-year-old daughter on a college campus."

I laugh and squeeze his hand. I've loved watching with Tony as our children have grow up. He's been the best father I could imagine. I kiss Tony's cheek and Marco makes a face like he's going to be sick.

"Get a room," Marco tells us, heading to the kitchen.

"We have several," Tony shouts back. "This one is the living room."

We laugh at the joke that only parents would find funny. Marco ignores us.

Tony's laugh turns into just a smile. "We have a good life here," he says, his voice deep and rich. I nod.

"That we do." I turn to face him, looking at his handsome face that I love so much. "I'm glad you're here for it."

"Me too," he whispers. "I love you, Kimberly."

"I love you, Tony." I lose myself in those warm eyes. "I have loved you for two lifetimes, and I'm never going to stop."

I lean in and kiss him, feeling his lips meet mine. This is how the world is supposed to be. This is how our lives are supposed to be. He is mine and I am his, forever and always.

I
f you'd like to read more of Rachel and Dean's story, please check out Champagne Kisses: A Timeless Love Story! Available now in eBook, paperback, and audiobook formats!

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Champagne Kisses: A Timeless Love Story

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W
hat's more important to a soldier- his love of his country, or his love of a woman?

In the summer of 1990, Rachel Weber spent a week down on the Florida coast, soaking up the sun's rays while she waited for her life to begin. It was there that she met Dean Sherman, a handsome, muscular soldier with crystal blue eyes. The two spent a week together full of champagne kisses that only ended when Operation Desert Storm forced Dean to choose between his duty and his love. He chose duty.

Twenty years later, Rachel figured it was just summer love, but she never forgot those eyes. As personal assistant to powerful billionaire Jack Saunders, she never expected Dean to walk into her office after being hired as Jack's personal bodyguard. Even though she had spent the last two decades trying to forget Dean, she found herself falling for him once again.

When fate forced both Rachel and Dean to choose yet again between love and duty, Rachel had to decide between the man she had always loved and the family that had become her life. She knew she couldn't have both, but she knew she wouldn't be happy with just one. Would she choose love, or be forever haunted by the memory of those Champagne Kisses?

This thrilling romance novel brings the cast of the bestselling novels
Saltwater Kisses
and
Rainwater Kisses
back for an epic and timeless love story.

An excerpt:

I was shocked. "You're going to war? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"Because this is a vacation. Because I didn't want to think about it. Because I thought that you wouldn't want to hang out with me if you thought of me as a trained killer instead of as a pretty face." He smiled, but it was an empty smile.

I laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. I never thought of you as a pretty face," I said. I started to laugh at my own joke, but I couldn't. Instead, I began to bawl openly, leaning into his shoulder. I didn't want him to go anywhere, and I certainly didn't want him to go to war.

Dean let me cry, stroking my hair gently. The fire began to go out in front of us, having consumed all the fuel that had been put into it. My heart felt the same way. In one week, I had known such intense highs that my heart had burned like a star, and now that it was starved of fuel, I felt it being extinguished.