Page 90 of Parker
“You own me, baby. You always have. Every scar, every breath, every second I’ve lived since losing you. I’ve been waiting for youto come home.” His lips move to my temple, and he trails kisses down the side of my face, pausing at my ear. “Our fairytale is restarting tonight. I’m going to be your dark prince for eternity.”
He promised me a fairytale before. Way back at the beginning, when everything still shimmered with promise. And now, after all we’ve endured, here he is. Changed. Bruised. Hardened. Still mine.
“You’ve always been the source of light in my life,” I murmur.
“Nicky, you’ve got that the wrong way ‘round. You’re mine.”
Evan wakes and fills the room with his urgent cries.
“Till later,” Joel whispers, releasing me from his grasp. He picks up his son, gently passing him to me, like he’s handing over the world. I settle down in the blue wingback chair in the corner of the room, ready to nourish my child while my man watches on.
Chapter forty
Joel & Nicky's Home, Glasgow
Joel
Last night I was finally home. Buried deep inside her. Our bodies entwined as they needed to be. Where I ended, she began, both in body and soul.
A full year without that connection had been agony. My need for her was so overwhelming that I’d gone to the bathroom to jack off while she fed our son and settled him in his crib for the night. Having recently given birth and undergone an operation, how far the night would go was an unknown. The last thing I wanted to do was frighten her off with over-enthusiasm.
There was a time I wouldn’t have been here, the version before she met me, with panic between my ears and whiskey on my breath. I clawed my way back from him and found her. And now, I’m present enough to live every moment in full color.
Nicky sat on the velvet chaise longue in our bedroom, her legs raised and crossed over at the ankle. She looked like a Hollywood movie star. The black silk night dress and her darkcurls looked in stark contrast to the silver velvet surrounding her.
She glanced up at me from under long black lashes. Excitement and terror merged in my throat. Don’t mess this up. Now is your chance to fix this. To get her back, permanently.
As I walked toward her, she moved her legs from the sofa and patted the space next to her. I dropped down beside her, sitting as close as possible without touching. It had been a few hours since our reconnection in the library, and we were both anxious about what was to come. She reached for me, taking my hand and placing it on her lap.
“Nicky, nothing needs to happen tonight that you don’t want to,” I said softly. “We have forever.” Her hand squeezed mine. “But will you sleep here tonight? With me? You being at the other end of the corridor is torture.”
I’d moved Evan’s crib into our room earlier in the evening. His gentle snores drifted toward us from the corner. Her eyes moved to our son, and she smiled tenderly. My heart swelled.
“I’ll stay,” she said. “But we need to be quiet.”
“Nothing you don’t want to,” I assured her. I leaned forward, my lips touched hers, and electricity buzzed around us. I stood and offered her my hand. She took it willingly, then I led her to our bed.
After I pulled back the black satin sheets, she climbed up onto the high mattress. I lay down beside her, propping myself up on my elbow to stare down at the woman who both cradles and breaks my heart. Her nipples were noticeable through the silk, and her hips twitched the way they do when she’s aroused.
It may have been a year, but I know her body thoroughly. If a map were needed, I could draw one. Every movement and sound she makes during sex is ingrained in my mind, filed away for future reference.
My fingers skimmed over the fabric across her stomach, moving slowly from one side to the other. I dropped a kiss on her shoulder, and she placed her lips on my forehead.
“I love you,” she whispered. “Make love to me. We both need this tonight. We need to be together again.”
She wriggled out of her nightdress and was left only wearing lacy black panties.
My mouth explored her skin, starting at her neck and working downward, leaving nowhere untouched. I stilled when the scar across her stomach came into view, that mark the proof of everything I hadn’t protected her from.
She ruffled my hair with her fingers.
“It’s okay,” she said. “We just need to be careful.”
This woman has been through so much to give me a child; I owe her the world.
My confidence built with each kiss, each touch. When she made noises of pleasure, it encouraged me to keep going, confirming that she was enjoying our time. My lips arrived at her sex, and I nuzzled between her legs, breathing her scent into every part of my body.
I wanted her to consume me, to feel her in every part of me. As I trailed kisses down her thighs, one finger explored her entrance, massaging lightly over her panties. They dampened gradually until soaked. Moving them to the side, I slid one finger in with ease. She moaned with the intrusion, and I pumped her gently.
