Trouble After Dark: (A Gansett Island Novel) Read online

  He kissed from her lips to her neck, moving down to cup full breasts and worship the tight tips of each one, absorbing every gasp and moan and subtle lift of her hips against his straining erection. Determined to make this first time with her memorable, he moved slowly, savoring every taste, every sound, every moment of this life-changing event.

  For more than thirty-five years, he’d gone out of his way to ensure that his life belonged to him and only him, and now… She was changing everything one sigh at a time, and he was allowing it to happen. His eyes were wide open to the earthquake he was inviting into his life that would divide his existence into two distinct halves, a fault line down the middle of before Julia and after Julia.

  He settled between her legs and set out to demolish her control with determined strokes of his tongue over her clit and his fingers inside her tight channel. Everything about her turned him on to the point of madness, especially the enthusiastic way she responded to him.

  Her fingers tangled into his hair, tugging to the point of pain, but that only added to the desire pounding through him. His entire world was reduced to her pleasure and the sharp cries of fulfillment that fell from lips swollen due to their kisses. Her internal muscles gripped his fingers so tightly that he nearly lost his mind imagining how that would feel around his cock.

  In the aftermath of her orgasm, she lay sprawled on the bed, legs spread, chest heaving from deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, he saw everything he’d ever wanted in the way she looked at him.

  Deacon left her only long enough to find the strip of condoms he’d stashed in his pants pocket—just in case—tearing one off and rolling it on quickly but carefully before returning to his new favorite place between her legs. “You still with me?” He kissed her and brushed the silky dark hair back from her flushed face.

  “I’m here.”

  “All good?”

  “So good.”

  He pressed his cock against her entrance. “I can make it even better.”

  “Not sure that’s possible.”

  “Oh, I do so love a challenge.”

  She smiled up at him. “Knock yourself out.”

  “Don’t mind if I do.” As he entered her in slow, careful increments, she wrapped her arms around him and drew him into a sweet, soft, achingly sensual kiss that made his heart flutter with awareness of her.

  She raised her hips, asking for more, which he gladly gave her, and the feeling that came over him as they joined their bodies couldn’t be described in mere words.

  Deacon trembled from the effort it took to stay focused on pleasing her again before he took his own pleasure.

  Her hands on his back soothed and aroused him. “Julia…”

  “Hmm?”

  “Feels so good. So, so good.”

  “Yes. So good. Don’t stop.”

  He gasped out a laugh. “Stopping isn’t in the plans, sweetheart.”

  As if she could sense the battle he was waging with himself, she wrapped her legs around his hips and tightened her internal muscles around his cock. That flipped a switch inside him that made him forget all about finesse or tenderness or anything other than the driving need for more of her. He wanted all of her. Everything she was willing to give him.

  Thankfully, she seemed to be right there with him, giving as good as she got.

  “Deacon.”

  “Tell me, love. What do you need?”

  “This. Just you.” Her fingers dug into his shoulders, and her legs tightened around his waist until they were both soaring, coming together in the most perfect moment he’d ever known. As he came down from the highest of highs, he had the presence of mind to understand that absolutely everything had changed, and there was no going back to who he’d been a few days ago.

  He withdrew from her, disposed of the condom into a tissue and moved so he could see her face. Her stunned expression probably mirrored his as they stared at each other in the aftermath.

  Deacon reached for her, needing to kiss her more than he wanted his next breath. She opened her arms to him. They stayed that way for the longest time, making out like teenagers who’d only just discovered the pleasure to be found in kissing. Although it was safe to say he’d never found this kind of pleasure from kissing.

  “What’re you doing to me?” The room had begun to go dark, and music drifted up from the back deck of the Sand & Surf along with the clatter of dinner service at Stephanie’s Bistro.

  “The same thing you’re doing to me.”

  He scooped up a handful of her fragrant hair and brought it to his face, breathing in the distinctive scent, committing it to memory so he would never forget this night. As if that was even a remote possibility. Deacon caught a glimpse of something on the back of her neck and lifted himself for a better view of a tattoo of a turtle, looking back over its shoulder as its shell seemed to blow away, leaving the rest of its body unprotected.

  He immediately understood the significance of a turtle without its shell, but he wanted to hear it from her. “Tell me about the turtle.” With his index finger, he traced the outline of the turtle’s fragile body.

  “The turtle is me. I walk around without a shell to protect me from the pain of being alive.”

  Deacon had no idea how to respond to that except to vow, to himself for now, to protect her from ever being hurt again. He wanted to be her shell. Leaning over her, he placed a kiss on the turtle’s body, and then, easing her onto her belly, he kissed down her back to the dimpled indents at the base of her spine, to her soft ass cheeks and below. He kissed her until she was squirming beneath him.

  He reached for another condom and entered her from behind this time, coming down over her, grasping her hands and raising them above her head. “Let me be your shell.” The words were out before he could decide to say them, because the thought of her walking around unprotected was unbearable to him. As he kissed her shoulder, the back of her neck and then her other shoulder, the words poured out of him as he made love to her. “I’ll protect you. No one will ever hurt you again.”

  A sob erupted from her chest that had him holding her closer to him. “I’ve got you, darlin’. I’ve got you.”

  She held on tight to his hands as he moved in her and discovered the fundamental difference between having sex and making love.

  Much later, the longest after-sex kiss in history was interrupted by an obnoxiously loud growl from Julia’s stomach.

  They broke apart laughing.

  “That was mortifying.”

  “Someone is hungry.”

  “For the first time in months.”

  When he heard that, his brows furrowed with concern, but he already knew she wouldn’t appreciate him picking apart her issues with food and eating. “Let’s get you some dinner.”

  “I need a shower first.”

  “Mind if I join you?”

  She hesitated, but only for a second before she nodded.

  He ran a finger over the hint of blush on her cheek. “Still shy after what we just did?”

  “A little.”

  “That’s okay. You go, and then I will.” He noted a flash of relief in her expression before she quickly corrected herself.

  She wrapped the sheet around her body and got up. “I’ll be quick.”

  “Take your time. I’m not the one who’s hangry.”

  “Not hangry yet, but getting there.”

  She picked up the robe from the floor and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

  While he waited for her, Deacon looked up at the ceiling, watching the mesmerizing spin of the fan while trying to process the remarkable events of the last few days. He’d heard Blaine say something about a wedding at the newly reopened Wayfarer and had decided to stop by to see what the McCarthys had done with the old place. If he’d also managed to irritate his annoying brother by crashing the wedding, that would’ve been a bonus.

  He hadn’t been there five minutes when he’d noticed the stunning bridesmaid standing on the sideli
nes, looking lost and alone in a sea of people. He’d watched her for quite some time before he approached her, inexplicably drawn to her.

  Only a few days later, he was relaxing in her bed after the best sex of his life. It would probably take until the end of time to reconcile the head-spinning events that had led him to this moment.

  The puppy let out a pathetic whimper that had Deacon rising from the bed to retrieve him from the crate. “Hey, buddy. Sorry you had to hear that, but Mommy is just too sexy.” He snuggled the puppy into his chest and was rewarded with a warm stream of urine.

  Deacon laughed. “I suppose I deserved that.” He really was too cute.

  Julia came out fully dressed and put together, stopping short at the sight of him sitting naked on her bed with the puppy.

  He dug the way she looked at him—as if she liked what she was seeing so much, she couldn’t look away. “I really need a shower now. He peed on me.”

  “Pupwell! Don’t pee on Daddy!”

  Hearing her call him that did strange things to his insides, making him feel elated and slightly freaked out at the same time. It had never occurred to him that he would meet someone who made him want to be a daddy—to a puppy or a child. But now… Jesus. He needed to get his shit together. Deacon took the towel she’d gotten him and handed the puppy to her.

  “I’ll take him out while you shower. Just in case there’s more where that came from.”

  They shared a smile full of parental pleasure in their little boy. Deacon stole a kiss before heading for the shower. Freak-out aside, he was falling hard for her, and falling had never felt so good.

  Chapter 21

  This cannot happen again. That was the only thought in Mac’s head as Victoria and David worked frantically to determine the source of Maddie’s pain. They’d assured the panic-stricken parents that the babies were fine, that Maddie was not in labor, even as the pain kept coming in her lower right side.

  She couldn’t be in labor. Not yet. The babies weren’t due until September. It was way too soon.

  Mac’s chest tightened once again as anxiety gripped him. He stood by Maddie’s bed, trying to stay calm for her when he wanted to howl from the fear of something going wrong.

  “Mac,” Maddie said between pains. “Stop spinning. Everything is fine.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Yes, I do. Please… I can’t be worried about you collapsing again. You have to stay calm.”

  Easier said than done. “I’m trying, honey. Seeing you in pain is making me nuts.”

  “I know. But the babies are fine, and it’s not labor. Isn’t that all that matters?”

  “No, it isn’t. You matter, too.”

  “I’m fine. It hurts, but it’s not unbearable.”

  Victoria had performed a full internal exam, and David had ordered blood work. Waiting for results was going to make Mac crazier than he already was.

  “Have you talked to my mom?” Maddie asked. “Are the kids all right?”

  “Everyone is fine. Tiffany is there to help with bedtime. The rest of the family is in the waiting room.”

  “You should send them home. We’re okay, and they have stuff to do.”

  “They’re waiting to hear for sure that you and the girls are okay.” Mac brought the hand of hers he was holding to his lips to kiss the back of it.

  “Tell them we’ll text them. I swear it’s not going to be anything big. I know it.”

  He didn’t want to question her certainty or give her more reason for concern, so he agreed to pass along the message. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

  She laughed even as she grimaced from another wave of pain.

  Mac tore himself away from her and went to the waiting room to deal with the family members who occupied every available seat.

  His dad jumped up when he saw Mac coming. “How is she?”

  “Fine, or so she says. She’s definitely not in early labor. They’re trying to figure out what’s causing the pain, but Maddie wants you all to go home and get some rest. She promises it’s nothing to worry about, and we’ll text when we know what’s up.”

  “What about you, son? You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

  “I’m doing all right. We’re both fine. I promise. It’s safe to stand down.” He could tell his father didn’t want to go, but when his mom put her hand through his arm and gave a gentle tug, Big Mac relented.

  “You’ll call if anything changes?”

  “Absolutely.” Mac gave his dad a hug, because he looked like he needed it. “It’s all good. I promise.”

  “Don’t let me see you at the marina any time soon, you got me?”

  “I got you, but I will be by to do the paperwork. I’m not letting you undo all my hard work to get that place organized.”

  “Send Julia over to take care of that.”

  “I didn’t hire her to manage the marina.”

  “Maybe she’d be willing to do both for some extra money.”

  Mac hadn’t thought of that. “I’ll ask her.”

  “Do that. It’s time to take some of the load off your shoulders, son. I’m sorry I let it get to the point where you were buckling under it all.”

  “You didn’t let that happen, Dad. I did it. It’s been a crazy few months, but now that the Wayfarer is done, things will calm down.”

  “Until your twins arrive.”

  “I’m gonna get my shit together and find ways to manage the stress. Today was a wake-up call, and I promise I’m going to take it seriously. My family needs me. I can’t let anything happen to me.”

  Big Mac placed a large hand on Mac’s shoulder and looked him dead in the eyes. “You’re damned right we need you.”

  “I’ll check in later. Go on home.”

  “We’re going.” Linda hugged him and crooked her finger to bring him down for a kiss to the cheek. “Call if you need anything.”

  “Will do.”

  He hugged his siblings and their partners. “Thanks for coming, everyone. We appreciate the concern.”

  Janey gazed at him tearfully. “Don’t scare us like that again.”

  “I won’t, brat. I promise.”

  It took fifteen precious minutes away from Maddie to reassure his family members that it was safe to leave the clinic and go home. When he returned to her, he was relieved to find her dozing. He hoped that meant the pain had let up somewhat.

  Mac sat in the chair next to her bed and dropped his head into his hands. He’d meant what he’d said to his dad about the incident serving as a wake-up call. The thought of his children growing up without him there to guide and love them was unimaginable. Though he still couldn’t recall what’d happened before, he certainly remembered the first time it’d happened in Miami. That time, he’d been all but certain he was having a heart attack.

  Hiring Julia would help, but he needed to go even further by sharing the load with the people he worked with. Shane was more than capable of doing more. Riley and Finn had committed to sticking around long-term now that each of them had found love on the island. Mac wondered if his cousins would be interested in becoming partners in the construction business.

  He liked that idea a lot and would bring it up with his cousins the first chance he got. Between the construction business and the marina, he made more than enough money to support his family. There was no need for him to be killing himself making it all work when he had plenty of people who’d be willing and able to help.

  Mac took hold of Maddie’s hand and was on his way to dozing off in the chair when Victoria came into the room, putting Mac on immediate alert.

  Maddie came to with a start, panic etched into her expression.

  “You can relax,” Vic said. “Everything came back normal, which is a relief. We’d suspected appendicitis at first.”

  “If everything is normal, then why is she in pain?”

  “We suspect one of the babies is sitting on a nerve.”

  “That can happen?”


  Victoria smiled and nodded as she leaned against the counter that housed a sink and medical supplies. “As the babies grow, they’ll take up more of the space inside Maddie and are apt to cause other aches and pains.”

  Mac couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “How can childbirth be the most natural thing in the world if it takes such a toll on the mother?”

  “Women are built to give birth, as hard to believe as that can be at times like this.”

  “It is hard to believe. What can we do to make it better for her?”

  “I’m going to recommend bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy.”

  Maddie’s loud groan told them what she thought of that plan. “No way. I have three kids to take care of.”

  “I know it’ll be difficult for you and your family, Maddie, but—”

  “We’ll do it.” Mac said the words to Maddie. “If it’s what’s best for you and the babies, we’ll make it work. We’ve done it before.” She’d been on bed rest for part of her pregnancy with Mac.

  Tears filled her gorgeous eyes. “The whole summer in bed?”

  “You don’t have to be in bed the whole time,” David said when he joined them. “You just have to be off your feet, relaxing and taking it easy most of the time. Hopefully, we won’t need to go to full bed rest, which would mean getting up only to use the bathroom and shower.”

  Tears rolled down Maddie’s face. “I can’t believe this.”

  “It’ll be fine. I’ll work less and be home more, and our parents will help with the kids. Everyone will help. You know that.”

  “There’s, ah… one other thing,” David said.

  His hesitant tone put Mac on high alert.

  “I’m also recommending you refrain from any kind of sexual activity until the babies arrive.”

  Ugh, not again! How could no sex for months be good for anyone’s health? “Um, well, okay. If that’s what’s best for Maddie and the babies.”