Page 99 of Fighting the Tide
Sorry, it’s late.You’ll get the official call tomorrow, but I thought I would tell you.Nolan Sears … You.Are.Not.The.Father.I love you.Good night.
Five times.I read the message five times before the meaning sinks in.I’m not her father.Colette is not my daughter.My heart pounds as I drop the phone back to the island to grip my hair between my fingers and scream at the ceiling.My voice battles with the sounds of the storm, and then I fall to my knees as relief courses through me.I’m not the fucking father.Tears course down my cheeks as my hands hit the floor and I drag air into my lungs.
I’m hers if she’ll have me.
A banging on the door has my head swinging to look at it, wondering if I’m hearing things until it sounds again.I push up from the floor and walk slowly toward it.It could be Avery coming to check on me to celebrate the good news.I can love the girl without fear of being incestuous.That is something to celebrate, but when I open the door, it’s not Avery standing on my front steps.It’s Colette.
Her hair is soaking wet and hanging around her head, making her look like she’s stepped straight out of the shower.Her clothes are saturated to the skin, which I can see perfectly through the white shirt, and her plaid pajama pants are clinging to her legs.Our eyes clash once we’ve both had our fill, and she shakes her head as a small smile coats her dripping-wet lips.“I fucking told you,” she breathes out.
That’s all it takes to jolt me into action, and this primal animal she’s created inside of me roars free.I step out into the rain with her and grab her face between my hands.Her skin is cold against my heated palms, but I can’t wait another second.I’ve already waited for so long.
I grip the wet strands of her hair between my fingers and yank her head back, watching as the rain comes down around us and splashes against her face.It soaks through my shirt and I swear I can hear it hiss against my burning skin.It feels like I’ve wanted this forever, but now that she’s here in front of me, free from the burden of being my blood, I want to savor everything.
She rises to her toes and brings our mouths closer to say, “Take me, Nolan.I’m finally yours.”
The growl coming from my chest sounds animalistic as I crash my mouth to hers, finally tasting our sweet surrender.Her flowery scent is amplified in the rain and I moan against her plush lips as my tongue begs for entrance.She opens her mouth as my chest pulses and when my tongue drags along hers, electricity crackles under my skin as something I lost so long ago pieces itself back together.
Brooke stole a part of my soul twenty years ago, but she must’ve passed it along to her daughter for safekeeping because I am once again whole.
Her icy hands slip up under my shirt, exploring my back as I drag her into the cottage and out of the rain, our mouths still fused.I want to take it slow, commit every second she’s in my arms to memory, but my body has other ideas as I release her hair and grab her waist, bringing her in to feel just what she does to me.
Her mouth breaks away from mine as her hands grip the waistband of my sweatpants.“Fuck, yes.”She sounds just as far gone as I am, and I know this first time for us is going to be quick and filthy.
I let her yank my pants and boxers down, watching as she lands on her knees, her eyes level with my aching cock.“Like what you see?”I smirk as her eyes meet mine, the blue like crushed sapphires trying to swallow the small splash of honey.
Her answering smirk has my chest seizing and when she leans forward, her hand wrapping around my length, her eyes never leave mine.“Sure.”She gives my head a tentative lick, making me jerk in her hand.“But do you know how to use it?”She sucks me into her mouth as her warm, velvet tongue circles around the tip.It takes a few seconds for her words to sink in and when they do, I want nothing more than to prove that I do know how to work my cock.
The storm outside mimics the tumultuous instincts forming inside of me, and I grip her hair in my hands and haul her back to her feet.She has a smug look on her face, the expression a little haughty, and I want nothing more than to wipe it off.I want to hear her scream my name in undiluted pleasure and feel her come around me as I fuck her into oblivion.
My mouth crashes back to hers as the lightning lights up the cottage.Then I pull away to rip her shirt over her head and groan when I find her pierced nipples peaked and begging for my mouth.I grab both tits in my hands, reveling in the perfect handfuls, and turn us around until her back meets the kitchen island.I know I wanted her in my bed for our first time, her quivering body lying under me as I explored every inch of her, but that isn’t happening.Both of us are panting with need, our instincts long taking over any logical reasoning.
I want her here and I want her now.
She must feel it, sensing everything I’m projecting, because she drops her pajama pants and kicks them aside as she reaches for my shirt.I beat her to it and rip it over my head, my body vibrating with the last vestiges of my restraint.It’s nearly depleted and I’m on the brink of an implosion.In the eye of our storm here inside the cottage, a few precious seconds of stillness.She reaches up to touch my face, her cool fingers like a balm on my skin.I close my eyes and breathe it all in.Everything in this moment, I sear it into my mind.
When I open my eyes, I find her nodding and that smile returning to her mouth as she turns and plants her hands on the island’s stone top.The eye passes and I’m thrown back into the torrent of desire as I step behind her and kick apart her legs.There are things I should be thinking about at this moment.Birth control, her comfort, and our changing dynamic, but it all fades away as I grip her ass cheeks in my hands.I spread her open to find her thighs glistening with the evidence of her need as her scent floats up and around me.This is no longer about making love to the person who owns my heart and patched my soul back together.It’s a claiming, a primal branding.
I line myself up and watch as her fingers curl into the counter, her knuckles whitening in preparation.She’s going to need it.There’s no preparing myself though.She’s the perfect glove, fitting around my cock like she was made just for me.I thrust into her and revel in the sounds of her pleasure, our bodies playing a melody so perfect.
It takes seconds, maybe minutes, it could be hours, but then her body convulses as she screams into the counter, her forehead meeting the stone as she pulses around my cock.She’s the angel who’s just chased away my last demon, the one I’ve been waiting for to clear away the dark vignette surrounding my vision.I pull out of her, her release shining along my length, and look around me.Everything is shining in stunning technicolor and it’s because I found my one.My person.
I lift her from the counter and cradle her in my arms as she rests her head on my shoulder, a contented sigh leaving her mouth.“Let’s get you in bed so I can really devour every inch of you,” I murmur against her temple.“Let me show you what it’s like to be cherished.”
Chapter Forty-Three
“Whydidn’tshegiveyou the Clark name?”We’re lying in my bed in the aftermath of the storm, both inside and out, and she has her leg thrown across my waist as her hand explores my chest.
“My grandparents wouldn’t let her.”She shrugs.“Maybe they didn’t believe her either, or maybe they realized I would be their only chance to carry on the Eastham name.”Her damp hair tickles my face as I inhale its scent.More ocean than freesia this time.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to ease the Eastham family curse,” I profess as my chest hitches.“I tried to do it for your mother, but she was already too far gone to want it.She thrived on chaos and maybe that’s because it was the only way she was seen.”
“Maybe,” she murmurs and plants a kiss on my chest.“My lonely childhood was worth every second of what just happened.I wouldn’t change a thing.”Her words lift the last remnants of guilt I have buried deep inside.I finally let it all go because everything I’ve lived through has only been stepping stones to this moment.To her.
“What about your father’s family?Did they not want you to have the Clark name?”Another shrug lifts her shoulders as her hand explores lower, rippling over my abdomen.
“I don’t know them.They blamed my mother for his death, even though he was driving, and from what little my grandparents have told me, they weren’t that interested in me before that either.They asked my mother for a DNA test but it seems she didn’t provide it for some reason.Maybe she didn’t want me to have anything to do with them.”Something possessive grips me as I wrap an arm around her shoulders and press my face into her hair.I don’t want them knowing her anyway.She’s mine now.
“The sun is rising,” she points out as I look at the window to my right.The curtains billow from the open window, revealing the stunning hues of the sun chasing away the darkness.It resonates with me and how I’m feeling laying here with Colette in my arms.She’s my sun, chasing away the dark shadows of my past.
