Page 36 of Enemies in Earnest

His fingers stretched from where they gripped my thighs, the tips grazing along my slit, sending a shiver straight up my spine.

“Oh, yes,” I invoked my professorial tone, forcing my voice to stay firm and sure. “It’s a very well-known tradition. You must have been sick the day they taught it.”

“That’s very possible. I did attend a lot of parties at that plebeian institution of mine.” He chuckled, hooking his fingers into the gusset of my panties, using the back of his knuckle to kiss at my clit. “What does this well known, good faith parlay gift entail?”

“I think that it’s usually something equally beneficial for both parties. For example…what if you took me over to that bar.” I nodded over my shoulder in the dark. “Bend me over, raise your mast…”

I fisted my hand into his hair. It had to be all the adrenaline from the storm, the fighting, and knowing he harbored a secret kink for pirates—whatever it was, I wanted to give him everything he wanted.

“…and plunder me.”

I barely got the words out, and I was swept, basket style, in his arms. The cool wood of the bar felt delicious against my overheated skin. Edwin rolled up my dress, barely past my hips, and pressed his fingers into my pussy as far as they would go.

“You just unlocked Pandora’s box, sweet thing,.” he told me, running his fingers through my slit, lighting up my whole body with electricity.

“Give me your worst.” I tried to growl, biting my lip in an attempt not to laugh. I’d wanted to say more. To call him the Dread Pirate Wheeler, but I couldn’t hold a straight face let alone say a full sentence.

“I have no condoms, Acacia.” He continued to fuck his fingers into me, twisting them and glancing against my g-spot.

“I trust you,” I told him. “It’s a small town. We know each other’s business. Hell, we see the same doctor, so you know I’m in the on the regular getting my birth control shots. So.”

I circled my hips in the air, humming with delight against the friction his fingers created.

“What do you say, Dread Pirate Wheeler…are you going to claim what’s yours? I believe according to the card you sent me…you like my booty. Prove it.”

It was as if I’d unleashed a rabid dog and given him the attack order. Edwin’s hand covered my mouth as he thrust into me. He set a bruising pace. My nerve endings spit and sputtered, desire swirled deep in my core, while my brain uselessly grasped at every piece of stimuli, unsure which to hang on to and which to discard.

The slap of his skin against mine beat in tandem with the rain droplets hitting the roof. Our attempts to stay quiet as we fought against our conclusions with each slide of his cock in and out of my body. My bruised nipples were getting pressed and pulled against the wood of the bar. Yet everything Edwin did, every tawdry whisper in my ear juxtaposed against each gentle kiss and sweet caress, bound us in an energy that pressed with desperation to be released.

“I don’t think I can be quiet,” I warned, when his hand moved from in front of my mouth to wrap around my hair and pull it taut.

“It’s your choice, sweets,” he chuckled. “Since you were so worried about two old ladies knowing we were doing this exact thing yesterday—by all means, scream into the rafters. Wake up the whole group. Hearing you scream my name, mindless with pleasure, would have me proudly beating my chest and strutting like a peacock.”

I bit against my lips, feeling my orgasm slowly build. This one wasn’t going to be a freight train, it would be a volcano that took out everything in its path. We were lost. Mindless with passion. My body ached but also felt as if only a run at full speed could soothe my coiling muscles. I needed to come but wanted it to go on forever. I wanted to lay down and watch Edwin’s beautiful face contort with every tendril of pleasure he luxuriated in. But, I needed him desperately to hold me down and use me.

“We have forever.” I promised him, as if he could hear all of my warring thoughts. “Today, tomorrow, next week, next month—for years and years.”

I felt him thickening. His pace picked up, his hips ground against mine in a seductive dance.

“I love you, Acacia.” He murmured into my ear, as his fingers found my clit and the two of us tumbled into a dual completion, “Earnestly.

ChapterTwenty-Three

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

Tropical Storm Alpha did a number on our little Key. While there wasn’t any significant damage, no one got hurt, and no businesses were destroyed—it sure left behind one hell of a mess. Mud, downed trees, garbage and debris strewn about. It took the Key a good while to set ourselves back to rights. But that was one of the best parts of living in Candy Cane Key. You always had a friend in your neighbors. We all pitched in, and by August, the Key looked as good as new. Unfortunately for Acacia, she didn’t get to celebrate Hemingway’s birthday as she wanted. I know even though she put on a brave face, it disappointed her. Deeply.

“Where are you two taking me?” she grumbled, trying to pull at the blindfold that Felicity insisted we use.

Felicity and Klaus, after saying their vows in the middle of that storm, decided to make it really legal a few days later at the Candy Cane Key Courthouse. Though, they did have to have another pretend wedding for Felicity’s because inherwords, her sister was “all in her feelings” that Acacia got to be her maid of honor.

“Can you just chill for like five minutes of your life?” Felicity teased her. “You are in good hands, little control freak.”

We led her into WCCK’s radio station, where Bear and his crew waited for her alongside a very special guest.

“Friends of the Bear and Raven morning show, we have a very special edition of our show this morning. We’re broadcasting live from the studios in Candy Cane Key, the home of our good friends Edwin Wheeler and Acacia Ashley—soon to be Wheeler—who as you may remember were our gracious hosts, and our greatest comfort last summer while we braved a tropical storm.”

“You know, Marley still hasn’t stopped talking about her near-death experience, Bear. Perhaps bringing her back down here wasn’t the best idea.” His co-host Raven chimed in.

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