Page 106 of Unlawful Seduction

She continued thrashing as I brought her to first one climax then another. Every sound she made, her strong purrs and wild lioness roars only fueled my rough actions. Her entire body was shaking, her thighs threatening to suffocate me.

But I kept going, savoring every lick and taste of her.

It took several minutes for her body to stop trembling in my hold. I slowed my actions, savoring every drop of her sweetcream. I’d held back, wanting no other woman in the years we’d been apart. How could I when the enticing veterinarian with a heart of gold and the mouth of a sailor had managed to rip open a part of me I’d had no clue existed?

When she slumped her head, taking shallow breaths, I slowly eased her to her feet. She gripped my shoulders, her eyes completely unfocused as she blinked several times.

She was still breathless, her gaze locked yet I sensed sadness and possibly remorse. “What are we doing?”

“Reclaiming our lives.”

Her laugh sounded bitter. “You won’t stay. I can’t go through losing you again. I just can’t. I’m not built that way. You’ve already sold the house. Haven’t you?”

“Why do you think that?”

She laughed a second time, but there were tears in her eyes. “Don’t try and fool me. You and your attorney were meeting with a buyer. Right? That’s what was just happening. Don’t lie to me, Beckett. I get it. You have a life that doesn’t include Vermont. But I can’t have my son thinking you’re someone important in my life, if you don’t want to be in his then you disappear. That’s just not fair.”

As soon as she turned her head, doing everything in her power to push me away, I gripped her jaw, forcing her to look into my eyes. “You need to hear me, Doc. Listen. Don’t you dare say a word. Not one. You got it?”

Her nod was followed by a single sob. She was trying so hard to be the strong woman I knew her to be that a self-imposed rage jetted through me as it had done dozens of times.

“What you saw in the bar was completely the opposite. The moment I saw you I knew I couldn’t just disappear again. I refuse to leave you or the life I so desperately want and thought about for so long. You consumed my dreams. You kept me alive. You were the glue that held me together. And seeing my son’s eyes was just a stake being driven into my heart and one I deserved. I’m not leaving. You don’t need to want me here and there are no promises between us except for one. I will care about our son. I will be a part of his life to whatever degree you want me to be.”

“Who were you meeting with?”

“I’m purchasing a business in town.”

“Really?”

I rubbed the tips of my fingers across her cheek. “Really. I want you, both of you in my life.”

“What about the past, the danger?”

The truth was something she didn’t necessarily need to hear, but one she would fight to discover. “Eliminated.”

She opened her mouth as if to retort, her eyes searching mine. She might never be able to forgive me, not only for aspects of her life I’d all but stolen, but also because she knew exactly the kind of man I’d been become.

“I think I fell in love with you all those years ago, Beckett. But I can’t live a lie. Your son doesn’t deserve anything less than the truth.”

“Agreed.”

The feeling of her fingers kneading my chest sent a heat flash into my system. “Then tell me your real name.”

For so long I’d believed doing so would place her life in extreme danger, but there was no one left on this earth with a single exception that remembered the boy I’d once been, the one who’d promised his mother he’d bring her joy and prosperity. I no longer recognized him.

“Michaelangelo Rinaldi.”

There was utter silence between us, the sweet veterinarian processing what I’d told her. When she held out her hand, I chuckled. “Pleased to meet you, Michaelangelo. I heard you were a decorated Marine, saving several lives. And that you saved your father. You’re a hero.”

Huffing, I found it interesting Mike had told me what she’d said during their meeting, but had left out what he’d said to her.

“That was a long time ago, Doc, and I’m no hero. Just a man hoping to regain control of his life alongside the woman he can’t live without. Michaelangelo ceased to exist a long time ago.”

“Are you certain about that?”

“Very. Beckett suits me. A little rough around the edges.”

“You are rough around the edges, but that’s sexy as hell. Beckett it is.” Her lower lip quivered, but I sensed some relief. A secret conveyed. A past revealed.

---