Page 54 of Parker
“I want to be a mother. That night was meant to be the best of our lives.”
Standing, he takes my hands. I rise without question. He scoops me into his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist. His body is warm and solid.
“Let’s go to bed,” he whispers. “I need to be inside you tonight. We need this. It won’t bring back what we lost.” Soft lips touchmy forehead. “But maybe, together, we can create something new.”
Tears sting my eyes as I press a kiss to his neck. “Take me to bed. Make me a mother.”
He carries me, climbing the stairs slowly, claiming my mouth at every step. My nipples harden against his chest, my body aching to be touched.
In our room, he lays me down on the bed and retreats to the bathroom. I wriggle from the silk pajamas I’m wearing and slide beneath the covers, my heart pounding.
When he returns, he’s naked, his dark eyes filled with want.
He sits on the edge of the bed and strokes my hair gently. Then, slowly, he pulls back the covers, exposing my breasts to the cool air. His lips drop to my nipples. He teases them with his tongue, moving from one to the other. My hands slip into his hair, pulling him closer.
“Joel,” I murmur, softly, “come to bed.”
He lifts the covers, sliding beneath them to join me. Propped up on his elbow, he gazes down.
“So beautiful,” he murmurs. “From the first moment we met, I knew. You were all I saw.”
He kisses my cheek, then my jaw. “I’m sorry for everything I dragged you into. But I don’t regret choosing you. I could never live without you.”
His hand moves lower, circling my clit with practiced fingers, before slipping one inside. I moan softly, hips lifting to meet his touch.
“You’re perfect,” he murmurs, sliding in a second finger as I gasp.
“Joel…” I breathe, and he groans in response.
“Tonight, I’m claiming every part of you. We’ll carry each other through this war, through everything. And if we’re lucky…” He lowers himself between my legs. “We’ll make a life tonight.”
He hooks my legs over his shoulders and enters me slowly, carefully. I gasp at the stretch, and he stills, allowing my body time to adjust. When I relax, he begins to move—deep, steady, powerful.
“Look at me,” he whispers, catching my gaze. “Don’t look away. I need to watch you.” I meet his eyes, and he smiles, soft and sure. He leans down and presses a kiss to my nose. “I love you, Nicky.”
And then he moves again. Anchored in love, in grief, in the quiet promise of something more.
Later, exhausted and sated, we lie tangled in the dark. Joel woke me again and again through the night. Each time more tender than the last, it’s as if he’s trying to rewrite the pain with pleasure.
Between the whispered kisses and soft moans, we talk. About his family. About the business. The danger. The secrets he hid. I know he hasn’t told me everything, but it’s enough.
There’s a change in him. A shift.
My husband has hardened. There is no more denial. He’s stepped fully into his role.
He’s the head of a dangerous family now. And I’m in bed with him…with my eyes wide open.
Chapter twenty-four
Parker Fashion House, Glasgow
August 2018
Nicky
As I raise my hand to knock on his door, her voice shrieks through the wood.
“But,” she howls. “I’ve given this business my complete focus for my whole adult life. And you and your mother,”—something crashes to the floor—“have thrown me to the side to make way for that cheap, thieving bit of skirt.”
