Sweet Eternity Read online

  Pulling his mouth from mine and panting hard, he slid his hands down the back of my thighs then lifted me up to sit on the edge of that table. Spreading my legs wide, he stepped between them, put a hand to my chest, and pushed me down until I was lying across the table. My legs were dangling over the edge, and the table was so small that the top of my head was by the edge. I wasn’t afraid of falling off, though, knowing Lucas would never let me fall. Not from a table, not into addiction, and not into despair.

  The man was determined to have me and keep me his. He had made that abundantly clear since he had taken me from Chicago. Now the question was: was I ready to take that leap of faith again?

  My question was suddenly forgotten as he used both hands to skim down my body, over my shirt, caressing my breasts. I felt my core tighten and my insides shiver as he played with my nipples through my shirt, pinching them until I gasped from the slightly painful yet utterly pleasurable sensation. Then he started to move his hands down until they reached the hem of my shirt.

  Using his fingertips, he traced the sensitive skin just above the waistband of my pajama shorts, causing my stomach muscles to clench, as well as areas south of his fingers. I thought he might take off my shirt, but he continued his descent instead, grabbing the sides of both my shorts and panties and pulling them off slowly, as if he was giving himself some sort of erotic strip show using my body. The need for vodka became overwhelmed by my need for him.

  I wanted to feel him everywhere—over me, holding me, inside of me. And the need was only growing since Lucas was just standing there, staring at the wet, aching juncture between my legs.

  “Sweetest thing I’ve ever seen, angel, is you dripping wet and wanting me.”

  Just those words made me further throb for him. Everything about Lucas turned me on, and I wanted nothing more than to get lost in him.

  “I need you, Lucas.”

  He ran his hands up my bare legs until his thumbs were brushing the sensitive folds of my pussy. “You want me inside of you, angel?”

  “Please,” I whispered.

  “Tell me how bad you want me, sweetheart.”

  Confused and perhaps a tad bit angry at him for making me wait like this—half naked and vulnerable—I asked, “Are you going to make me beg?”

  Lucas shook his head. “It’s not about begging. It’s about me knowing how much you want me … and only me.”

  His answer made something click in my head. He wanted me to tell him I wanted him more than anything, including vodka.

  Sitting up so I could touch him, the table wobbled a little, but Lucas held me steady. Then, skimming my fingers over the hard planes of his face, I murmured, “I never realized I could get drunk on another human being, but damn if I’m not getting drunk off your touch, Lucas Young. I want you more than alcohol. More than my next breath.”

  He slid his hands into my hair and touched his forehead to mine. “Good. It’s good to know you need me as much as I need you, angel.” Capturing my lips with a hungry urgency, he kissed me until I felt faint, and then abruptly pulled away.

  I almost felt foggy, like I was having an out-of-body experience, as I watched him grab the collar of my shirt with both hands before ripping it open with a simple flex of his arms. I hadn’t been wearing a bra, so I was immediately exposed, and his eyes ate up every inch.

  Lucas was the only man I had ever slept with, and with just the few times we had made love, I thought I had learned what sex was. Watching the ravenous way he took me in from head to toe, though, was a heady thing. It made me realize that perhaps I didn’t know half as much as I thought I did. Not that it mattered. I was finding out quickly what an eager student I was when it came to Lucas’s carnal intents.

  Pulling the remains of my shirt from my shoulders, he threw it on the floor. Next, he guided me to lie back down on the table, which made me squeal a little at the cold sensation of the table against my bare skin. My attention wasn’t caught there for long, though.

  A sharp smack to my pussy brought my attention back to the man hovering over me.

  “Eyes on me, angel. I want you to see every dirty, little way I’m going to love your body. But first, you’re going to lie there like a good girl while I take off my clothes.”

  I watched him intently as he pulled his T-shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor. His chest had a smattering of dark hair that led to a fine happy trail down his rock-solid abs. I wanted to lick that trail in the worst way.

  The motion of his hands at the waistband of his jeans changed my mind. There was no way I was going to miss the show he was putting on, even if I desperately wanted to undress him myself.

  Instead, I gave him what he seemed to want in this moment—control. Control over me and of me in every sense of the word.

  I made a mental note to trace all the grooves and lines of his body the next time we made love.

  When he unbuttoned his jeans and slowly started to pull the zipper down over his large bulge, my breath caught in my chest. I had never known the pleasure of carnal intent in the sense I was feeling it now.

  As he pushed his jeans and boxer briefs down his hips, and with every bit of skin that was revealed, I wanted him more. But when his cock sprang up, free from the confines of his pants, I learned what yearning truly was.

  I wanted to get down on my knees and worship him. I wanted to lick every inch of him, taste his salty skin, and memorize the velvety softness of his hard length. It was hard to curb those inhibitions, to give him the control, but I was also realizing that giving up control to him was turning me on more.

  Something deep inside of me wanted Lucas to have that control. To tell me what to do, bend me to his will, and fill me with his desire.

  The problem was, if he didn’t do it soon, I was certain I was going to self-combust from sexual need.

  Once he was completely naked, every hard, beautiful inch of him, he stepped between my knees again, pushing them back open. My heart started to beat harder as he stood there, staring at my complete exposure.

  He skimmed his fingers over my naked flesh from collarbone to the trimmed curly hairs covering my intimate parts. It was obvious he was in no hurry as he made me writhe with urgency.

  Finally, when I started to whimper from his soft, teasing touches, he used one hand to play with my breasts while the other circled my clit. If the man was trying to drive me insane, he was doing a damn good job of it.

  My body tightened and relaxed as he drove me toward climax, only to stop and give me gently teasing touches again. In fact, I was on the brink of finally begging when he started using a bit more pressure with his thumb as he rubbed my clit, up and down, back and forth, and around in circles. No pattern, just constant movements to drive me higher and higher until I was on that beautiful brink of bliss. A knife’s edge of just falling over the cliff of an orgasm … when he stopped again.

  Silent tears slipped from the corners of my eyes, sliding down the sides of my face into my hair. “Please, please, please, Lucas. Stop torturing me.”

  “I’m not torturing you, angel. I’m loving you. Are you on the pill?”

  My brain was hazy from the constant, almost debilitating edge of pleasure, yet somehow, I managed to answer him.

  “Shot. I’m on the shot. I’m clean, too.”

  “If I told you I was clean and there hasn’t been anyone since the last time I was with you, would you believe me?”

  My heart broke a little at his admission. I knew damn well Lucas could have any woman he wanted, yet he had waited for me?

  I nodded, my throat tight with unspoken emotion. I should have known Lucas Young wasn’t going to let me get away with something as simple as a nod for an answer, though.

  “Give me the words, angel. Tell me I can take you bare, nothing between us.”

  A sob caught in my chest, followed by words I could barely croak out. “Take me with nothing between us, Lucas. I want to feel you.”

  One moment I was empty and aching, and the
next I was half-full of his cock. He had to work his way into me, inch by inch, so he wouldn’t hurt me.

  “So fucking tight. You feel too damn good,” he groaned out as he slowly pushed himself into me until I felt him bottom out.

  I was so full now … Too full, even. It was a pain burned into pleasure, lighting up my senses as bright as any Christmas tree.

  My body was still primed from all his teasing, so as Lucas started to move in and out of me in slow yet strong strokes, I felt my walls tightening around him, squeezing him tightly as I once again came to the brink of an orgasm. Before I knew it, I was begging him.

  “Please, please, please don’t stop, Lucas. I’m about to come. Please!”

  He slammed into me and grunted, “Not stopping this time, angel. Take those talented little hands of yours and grab the edge of the table by your head.” Once I had done what he had told me to do, he gave me a devilish smile. “Now hold the fuck on.”

  Grabbing my legs, he pulled them both up until my ankles were resting on his shoulders. Then he held me by the waist, slowly pulled out of me until I could feel every dip and ridge of his cock leaving me … and then slammed home again. And again. Until I was screaming his name, my toes curling tightly and my body arched up in ecstasy.

  Driving his cock in and out of me like a piston, gradually speeding up his tempo, I felt the table rock with our movements, yet I didn’t care. It was exhilarating. Better than anything I had ever felt in my life. Even the previous sex we had shared hadn’t measured up to this. Nothing could measure up to this.

  Even vodka.

  When he reached down and pinched my sensitive clit, it sent me hurtling over the edge, screaming his name until my throat was hoarse. Waves of carnal splendor crashed over me until I found myself trying to buck back against him, desperate for him to feel the same release he had given me.

  I shuddered and whimpered as Lucas kept thrusting, drawing my orgasm out longer as he hit a spot inside of me that almost caused me to come again.

  I cried out, starting to feel too much, just as Lucas thrust deeply and groaned.

  As we came down from our highs, he leaned over to give me a slow, sweet kiss. Then, after what I would guess to be a few delirious minutes, he pulled back, but only enough so that, when he spoke, his lips still touched mine.

  “I give you your fix, angel?”

  Snorting a small laugh at his conceited expression, I replied, “I might have overdosed a bit.”

  He threw his head back and laughed hard. It was the best moment of my life.

  Chapter

  5

  Lucas

  We had been secluded in our cabin for two weeks. Two weeks I’d had Ginny all to myself.

  Why had I let myself miss so much time? Being here with her at the same campground I had thrown it all away at years before felt like some sort of redemption. I was finally doing what I should have done all those years ago—claiming my woman.

  Some things had changed about the woman I loved, like she was more stubborn than I ever thought possible. For the past two weeks, I had listened as she tried to convince me to take her back or just let her walk away. When I asked her why she couldn’t believe I would keep her safe by taking her father down, all she had to say was, “You have no idea how big his empire is, Lucas. How far the reach. How strong the organization. The man is everywhere. And like a bad disease, he just keeps spreading and infecting others. That’s why I’m no good for you anymore. I’m infected, too.”

  While some things had changed, some forever remained the same. She was stubborn, but she had finally given in and decided to trust me the other day.

  “I know you mean well, Lucas, but you have no idea how ruthless he is. Imagine the worst. Then times that by a hundred. He’s twisted from the inside out. He has no sanctity for human life, nor does he care about anyone but himself. I’m trusting you to get me and my mother out of this mess, Lucas. I’m just afraid of what it’s going to cost us to get there.”

  I knew it hadn’t been easy for her, just like I knew she had nightmares almost every night. Nightmares of her father killing her mother. I would hold her tight in the dark of the night, praying that my love could chase her nightmares away. Unfortunately, it didn’t ever work. At least I was there to wake her up so she didn’t have to suffer through them for long, and then comfort her while she sobbed.

  Although I was grateful Gin had finally decided to put her faith in my promises, I could tell that trusting me wasn’t easy for her. In a way, I felt as though I had given her no choice. I had let her know in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t going to let her go. I had put her between that proverbial rock and hard place. So, in more than ways than one, she’d had to give in and trust me.

  What I was truly grateful for was that she wasn’t trying to push me away anymore. No longer were we in that place where I had to wonder where I stood with her. After all this time, the long years between us, Ginny was mine, and I was hers. Nothing would stand in our way. I refused to lose what I had just found.

  I could read her even when she didn’t want me to. It was a gift. There were times I could see the darkness in her eyes. Those times, I knew she wished she wasn’t here. I also knew in my heart it wasn’t about me. For Ginny, it was about what she could hold on to.

  I was to blame for the distance we shared for far too long. I owned that. It was on me that the only solid Ginny had had in her life was her mother. A mother who remained tangled in a mess with her father that I had a feeling was bigger than either of us could comprehend.

  As much as Ginny wanted this here with me, she worried about her mother all the time. Even when I held her snuggly against my body, I could feel her constant tension from fear.

  Taking away the crutch of her alcohol was starting to take a toll on her as well. At times, her entire body would tremble, and I couldn’t tell if it was from nerves or detoxing. I kept her as hydrated and fed as I could, but she had no appetite most times, and I could tell she would rather throw the glass of water I had given her instead of drinking it.

  This was bittersweet. Having this uninterrupted time together gave us more than one opportunity to make up for the years we had missed. It also showed me how much the girl I once knew had grown into a broken woman.

  That was on me, too.

  From childhood, her father had broken her little girl dreams of family, and then I killed her fairy tale dreams of a knight in shining armor who saved her.

  Well, I might not have saved her then, but I would die saving her now, even if I had to save her from herself.

  I had to train my mind to focus on the end result, and not the pain between. When this was over, Ginny and I would have a life together, free from both our mistakes.

  “Vodka?” she asked me once again, her puffy eyes not hiding the fatigue from her restless sleep.

  “Told you before, angel; you can have all the addiction you want to me, but the alcohol isn’t gonna happen. You want sweet, I’ll love you sweetly. You need something thick, soft, and cool to trickle down that throat of yours, I’ll give you any flavor ice cream you want. What you won’t get is vodka. I want you here with me, in the moment. Not wasted and out of your mind.”

  “Lucas, I want to be in the moment here with you, but my mom—” Her voice cracked as she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself. It didn’t work, though, and her eyes watered up. “He’s gonna hurt my mom. You can’t keep me locked away forever.” She looked back at her sketch. “Like some princess, I can’t stay locked in the castle cabin. He’ll find us, he’ll make me pay, and he’ll make her pay.”

  “Well, at least we agree on something,” I replied, trying to sort out a plan.

  With my career in both the military and Ex Ops, I had followed orders and checked the boxes, mission after mission. Although I’d had people willing to watch my back, I had always found taking everything on my own easier. Life was easier when I was rogue. A lone wolf off to accomplish his missions with no worries about other variables
.

  I had gotten all the information out of Ginny that I could about her father’s daily habits, his businesses, associates, etcetera. Then I had used the laptop to do what research I could through secure channels, just in case Wellington had a computer genius. I didn’t want them to be able to follow my electronic trail. It was something my teammate, Chase Anderson, had taught me.

  Unfortunately, with all the information I had now, two things were starting to become clear. One, Richard Wellington was possibly a target I couldn’t take down on my own. And two, Ginny was much too precious to risk trying to do this on my own.

  If I couldn’t come up with a solid plan soon, I was going to need the help of the men I had pushed away more times than I could count. It made me realize that Ginny wasn’t the only one I had screwed up with by pushing away.

  Here I was, a grown-ass man, and the mere thought of being separated from Ginny had me ready to call in reinforcements. I just had to decide how I was going to swallow my pride and make the call.

  Ginny

  The man in front of me sat at the small two-person bistro table, staring at the computer screen as if it held the answer to world peace … or maybe the numbers to the next lottery drawing.

  On one of what he liked to call his “supply runs,” he had come back with the laptop. After some initial cussing and wondering if he needed to call some guy I had never heard of named Chase, he had managed to get a box hooked into his phone and had given himself some untraceable internet.

  Personally, I didn’t care how he managed to secure a link to the outside world. I was simply happy to have some lifeline to it. More so, my mother.

  There had been no real news concerning my father, other than from a contact with underground connections, telling Lucas that Richard Wellington had, in fact, learned who Lucas was. That was both calming and terrifying.

  Would he go after the Young family to draw us out of our hideaway? Possibly.

  Where dear old dad was concerned, I didn’t think he would ever stop until he got whatever he desired.