Page 27 of Coming Home

I am lost in my thoughts, and the two of us fall into a comfortable silence for the entire drive to my city penthouse. I look out the car window at the buildings as they fly past in a blur. When we arrive, the security measures I put in place are in full view and Scarlett looks a little shocked, but I am not taking her safety lightly. Her eyes are as big as saucers as she looks at all the men in black suits that I have positioned around the perimeter of the building, and down in the garage where I park the car. Security is at the elevators, on every level.

I grab her bag from the trunk of the car and walk around to take her hand. She has such small, soft hands and dainty fingers, and mine cover hers easily. I pull her close and kiss her forehead, before whispering to her, “You’re with me now, you are safe”. The words calm both me and her as I feel the tension leaving her shoulders as we take a step into the elevator.

I greet Jake, our security companion and Romeo’s second in command in the elevator, and we make our way up to my top floor penthouse. Scarlett hasn’t been here before, as we had spent the night at my mansion outside of the city. I can see her taking it all in, assessing every man, the security cameras, and the new building.

“Any movement this morning, Jake?” I ask the man who looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“Nothing to report, Shaun.” He is stern but smiling slightly to let us know he is professional yet somewhat caring in nature. I hire only the best, for my business, for my family. Our drivers, our house staff, our employees in the business are all top of their field. Money is never an object for me when it comes to getting the best talent, and this security situation is no different. Romeo has made calls and most of these men are ex-special forces who usually only work in international terror cases, so this job is probably mundane for them all. But I pay handsomely, and I want the best protection for Scarlett.

The elevator reaches the top floor, and I pull Scarlett into the penthouse as Jake closes the lift and rides back down to the basement. It is the only lift that reaches the penthouse, and security will keep it in the basement, only using it if I call them to, effectively closing off the world from us. No one can get into the elevator in the basement to reach us without going through the 20 security men first.

I place Scarlett’s bag on the floor and pull her toward me. I wrap her in my arms and place my cheek on the top of her head. I notice she takes a deep breath, curls her arms around my waist and leans on me for support, the activities of the past 24 hours really hitting home. Her breaths become calm and regular, her body relaxes into my embrace, and her head rests on my chest. She is short, which I love because I feel like a hero next to her, and what she lacks in height she has in personality.

“Thank you. Thank you for everything,” she says tentatively, pulling her head away from my chest and looking up at me for our eyes to meet. She is so beautiful. I get lost in her big blue eyes every time I see them. Here she is, basically on the run and in hiding from what appears to be seriously bad men who want her dead, after uncovering illegal activities in her Uncle's business, and the fact that she was still standing and standing here with me, totally astounds me.

I brush my hand against her cheek. “You’re beautiful, Princess, and I want you here with me. Today, tomorrow, and the next day. I don’t need your thanks, I just need you,” I whisper to her as I bend down and take her lips in mine. Even though it was only yesterday, it feels like it has been too long since I have had her soft lips on mine. Her arms come up and curl around my neck, pulling me down, eager for more. My hands circle her waist, pulling her close, never wanting to let her go again. Her body is flush with mine, and I can feel her breasts against my body. I am growing harder each moment we are together. While all I want to do is get her into my bed and make her mine over and over and over again all afternoon, the situation we are in makes me pull away. Breathless, I give her small kisses on her lips, her cheeks, down to her jaw and neck. “We have had a big morning, let me fix you something to eat and get some coffee going for us,” I say as I take her hand and pull her behind me into the kitchen where I promptly pick her up by the waist and put her down on the kitchen bench so she can watch me while I cook.

As I pull out salad and meats for our lunch, we talk about ourselves and our lives. I learn more about Scarlett in this moment than I have up until this point. The close bond she shares with Stephen is clear to me now, and I begin to understand exactly how intelligent she is as we talk about more in-depth business topics. I tell her more about my family, my business, and my life. I have never opened up to anyone before, and I find it refreshing. I want to share everything with this woman. I want her to know the real me. I feel vulnerable, but after seeing her open up to me, I want to jump into this with her. I want to be with her all the way, and so I let her know everything. I talk about my mom and Marco. I tell her about my dad’s death and the impact that had on me as I took over as CEO.

Here in my kitchen, in a place that has never felt like a home, Scarlett’s personality shines through and fills the walls with warmth and love. It feels like this is a normal Saturday afternoon, like this is something we do often, me cooking, while Scarlett’s talks. Just picturing it makes me feel all kinds of things that I have never felt before. Is this what it would be like to be committed to her and have her in my life? Is this how we would be every Saturday morning, just hanging out together in the kitchen, talking and preparing food?

I walk to her, positioning myself in between her legs and lean in to give her a kiss. I feel her smile on my lips as I devour her, my hands on her knees, slowly moving up her thighs, while her hands find my jaw pulling me closer. The heat we have together is unlike anything else I have felt and it ignites us the minute I touch her.

This. This is where I want her to be. With me. In my place. In my heart. Always.

34

Scarlett

Warm. Safe. Secure. These are the influx of feelings I am experiencing now that I am with Shaun. And love. Love? Am I in Love? In his penthouse in the middle of Boston, I am feeling the best I have in the past 24 hours. Perhaps the best I have felt since moving to Boston. Like this is always where I needed to be. Where I am meant to be. It’s the feeling of being home.

His furnishings are simple; glass, concrete, black and grey, there is no color, no photos, no soft furnishing to make the space feel warm or inviting. However, being here together, I feel a comfort like I am finally home. Home. A place I haven’t experienced in well over a year. A comfort I have yearned for night after night, wondering if I would ever feel that way again.

Food long forgotten; Shaun’s lips are devouring mine. He wraps me up in his arms, my legs automatically casing around his waist as he hoists me off the kitchen bench and walks me down a hall into a bedroom. His bedroom. His lips travel down my neck as he places me on his bed, him crawling on top, he stops and looks into my eyes. “You’re fucking gorgeous, Princess. I love having you here with me; I never want to let you go.” My voice gets stuck in my throat, overcome with raw emotion as he continues to kiss my jaw and earlobe and then leaves a trail of kisses down my neck. I let out a small moan as he kisses my sweet spot between my neck and my shoulder, which in turn makes him growl. The dark situation we are in is forgotten for a moment as we replace it with the heat we have for each other.

I can feel him pressing his length into me, grinding against my warmth, both of us hot and heavy with need. We need each other, now more than ever before. I know that this time we are going to be fast and rough. I can feel the tension within him, and I know how the past 24 hours have impacted him too. My guilt for that continues to burn so deep within my soul; I am not sure it will ever go away. He pushes his hands up my body underneath the light sweater I put on this morning and kneads my breast in his hand while the other hand moves toward my back to free my bra. I lean off the bed and take off my sweater just as my bra comes loose and he removes that too, his lips crash into my breasts where he nibbles and sucks one and then the other as his hands continue to travel south to my pants.

I am wet with desire for him, and he is hard for me. He sits up and pulls his top from behind and over his head, and I get a daylight glimpse of his perfectly sculptured abs and the toned v of his waist. Damn, he is delicious. His body comes back onto mine, and we are chest to chest, both half naked and panting—our worries pushed to the back of our minds, thoughts of each other continuing to overtake everything else in this moment. “I want you, Scarlett. I need to be inside of you,” he says as his hands continue to massage my breasts, and his lips tickle my neck.

“I want that too, I need you, Shaun,” I whisper, which is all the encouragement he needs as he makes quick work of his pants and mine as his mouth travels south to my warmth where he licks, sucks, and kisses me until I can’t take it anymore, and I cry out his name. As I open my eyes and gather my breath from what is one of the best but quickest orgasms of my life, he has already disposed of any remaining clothes and has started to push his way into me. “Look at me, Scarlett, I want to see your eyes as I fuck you. I need you hard and fast right now, Princess.” I reply with a nod and nip his bottom lip as he fills me, and starts thrusting in and out in perfect rhythm, never losing eye contact.

My heart is pumping, our bodies are sweating, and I feel the heat rise up my body. “Oh my god, Shaun,” I pant, well on my way to my second orgasm for the day. “Fuck me, Scarlett, you feel so good. Fuck, Princess, I need you,” he says before I lose control, shaking and convulsing, and he follows roaring my name so loud I’m sure the security team in the basement can hear him.

He stays on top of me, caressing my body with his hands, like he is trying to memorize every dip and curve, not wanting to let me go. Our breaths slow as he sprinkles kisses on my chest and neck. I hear him murmur, “So perfect, Princess, you are so fucking perfect.”

Shaun moves to the side of me and gathers me into his arms. We lie there on the bed with each other for the next hour, Shaun caressing my skin with one hand, me intertwining my fingers with his other. “How are you feeling, Princess?” he asks me, kissing my head.

“Perfect. I feel perfect when I’m with you,” I confess. When I first saw Shaun on that plane, who would have ever thought that it would lead to me being in his bed, wrapped in his arms in this moment. Regardless of the target on my head and the hustle and bustle of the city below, we are now firmly in a perfect bubble of peace, and I never want to leave.

“As much as I want to lie here with you in my arms all afternoon, I think we should get cleaned up and start the lunch again. We need to eat, keep our strength up,” Shaun says, jumping up from the bed, heading to the bathroom, where I hear him put on the shower. I follow him and step into the shower after him, where he positions me under the hot water, massaging my shoulders and back before grabbing his shower gel and washing my body. He takes care of me so delicately. I can feel him wanting me, hardening again against my back as he washes my hair before turning me to face him and kissing me with ferocious intent.

“God, Princess, I can’t get enough of you,” he growls as he picks me up and pushes me against the tiled wall in the shower, and I wrap my legs around his waist as he pushes back inside me in one quick thrust. My god, he is big, and I need him. My head falls back as his teeth graze my neck and he sucks and bites along my collar bone. He is mad with desire, and I meet him all the way. His hands grab my hips firmly enough that I know I will have bruises tomorrow. I reach out with my hands, grab his hair, and I pull him toward me, wanting to be closer, wanting us to be one. We cling to each other like that until we climax together. Both panting and shaking, he slowly places my feet back on the ground, warm water streaming over our bodies. I look at him and see pure adoration.

“I can’t get enough of you, Princess. I can never get enough of you. You are all I think about, all I want.” Before he can say more, my stomach growls in hunger, interrupting his confession of adoration. He smiles and chuckles. “Let’s get you fed so we have enough energy for later.” He winks, and we get out of the shower. Shaun passes me a large fluffy white towel as we quickly change into clean clothes and head back to the kitchen for brunch 2.0.

35

Shaun

---