He leaned forward and brushed his lips on her neck. The sweet smell of gardenias flooded his senses as his erection pulsed. When he felt another shiver go through her body and saw goose bumps reemerge across her flesh, he knew it was time to take back his woman. Not just take her, but claim her in a way they’d never tried before.
“Do you trust me, Julie?”
***
SHE DID TRUST him. She’d forgotten how to trust herself for months, but never once did she doubt her trust in Danny.
“You’re the one thing in this world I’ve never doubted,” she admitted. “I think that may be part of the reason I’ve kept away for so long.” I can’t believe I’m saying this, wearing practically nothing. I really am a disaster.
“What do you mean, honey?” There was an inherent strength visible on Danny’s handsome face. “Explain.”
She gnawed at her upper lip and looked away from her husband as she tried to put into words exactly how she felt. “You’re strong. You get knocked down and not only do you get back up, you get stronger. And when you love, my God, you love with your whole freaking being. I’ve never seen such dedication. I’m completely and totally head over heels in love with you, but I’ve spent months wondering if maybe you’ve only stayed out of loyalty. ‘For better or worse,’ right?” Silence fell between them as she continued to look around their bedroom, too cowardly to return her gaze to his.
“You done with that?”
Her brows snapped together. “Huh?”
“Obviously you know that’s bullshit. If you didn’t know before tonight, you damn well know now, yeah? Although, if we’re being honest, babe, gotta admit, that’s absolute bullshit.”
“Dan—”
“No, honey, you’ve known from the start how I feel, how I felt. Never made it a secret, never kept it hidden. Never will. You were scared. You had a good reason. We lost something special, something irreplaceable. But get this straight—you will never, I repeat never, lose me.” He touched his chest. “I’m yours.”
“Danny—”
He interrupted her a second time. “And as for me getting knocked down and getting stronger, I’m thinking a new mirror may be needed in this house, cause you and I ain’t looking at the same woman. My strength comes from you, and you’re practically a gladiator.” A forgiving smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Strength and beauty. Like I said, I’m one lucky son of a bitch.”
“Danny?” Julie released a stuttered sigh, relieved to have the tension between them gone.
“What?”
“Make me scream your name.”
***
FIVE WORDS, AND his dick was granite hard. If he was honest, no words were needed for her to have that effect on him. But, Christ, those five together were like porn for his fucking brain.
“You wanna scream my name, Jules?” Danny rose from the bed, opened a drawer in the dresser, and pulled out a neck tie. His pulse raced as Julie’s eyes rounded and her lip tucked between her teeth. “That bottom lip, honey, can’t wait to taste it.”
“What…what are you planning to do with that?” She swallowed, her gaze going from the silk in his hands up to his eyes.
“I plan to make you stay while I devour you. You’ve been running for too long, baby. Time to stop. This will keep you steady ‘till I’ve had my fill.”
“Oh my God.” The whisper barely left her lips, and Danny chuckled.
“Don’t worry, Jules.” He looped a firm knot around her wrists before affixing them to the headboard. He felt her head tip to the side, her eyes scanning first the silk binding, then him. She was waiting for more…maybe an explanation or direction. “You’ve given me your love and your heart. Now you’re giving me back your body—your trust isn’t lost on me, honey.”
Love, desire, and hunger warred through his body, fighting each other for the chance to devour the delectable meal sprawled out before him. A flawless beauty from head to toe, including the pink scars that marked her abdomen, she was his sustenance—his water, his air, his North-fucking-Star—and he intended to prove just how vital to him she was.
And he did. Over and over again.
Chapter Sixteen
The Empty Contest
“HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, HANDSOME.” Julie rested her chin on Danny’s lower abs, a bemused smile gracing her swollen lips. “Did you enjoy your wake-up call?”
He could barely think, let alone formulate sentences. “Christ.” Shivers bounced through his body. “Babe, twelve years married, still…you rock my world like you did that first summer.” Staring down his torso at his wife, his mouth watered. Her long hair was twisted around his fist as the globes of her pert naked ass were lifted and exposed…so ready, willing, wanting.
She giggled. “Whatcha doing?”
Claiming control, he tugged his arm around her waist and flipped her beneath him, her gray eyes rounded but hardly focused as she stared at his naked body between her thighs.
“Oh, thought this was a full-service situation you set up here,” he replied innocently. “Got my wake-up call”—his brows waggled with humor—“want my breakfast.” Dropping wet kisses on her ribs, he moved south, not stopping until he reached the apex of her thighs. “Fuck, you smell incredible.”
Her nails scratched at the cotton sheets the moment his tongue lapped her clit.
“Mmm, love these organic meals,” he teased as his tongue made another pass at the engorged bud.
“Danny…” she gasped, equally embarrassed and aroused by the statement. But when he slid two fingers into her wet heat and found her sweet spot, her gasp turned to a moan, and all talk ended.
###
“TO DANNY AND Julie,” Danny’s father declared as he lifted a champagne-filled flute.
With Julie by his side, Danny peered at those who made up the dinner party of seven: Allan and his wife Anita, Chester, and Sheila and her husband, Chris. All people who had become integral parts of his and Julie’s life.
“I knew the minute I saw you together, there would be no tearing you apart,” Allan said. “Because while everlasting love takes years of building, reinforcing, and supporting, it doesn’t have a shot in hell unless the foundation is strong. You two are made of titanium, chromium, and diamonds.”
Danny reached for Julie’s hand under the table, loving the way she weaved their fingers together the second his hand made purchase, as if she had been just waiting for his touch.
“You started with the strongest of the strong and have built up from there. While many couples, both young and old, have crumbled under far less than the two of you, you’ve only seemed to flourish. As your father”—Allan’s gaze shot between them as if once again claiming Julie as his daughter—“I couldn’t be more proud. Happy anniversary! May there be at least fifty more.”
“Happy anniversary,” was chimed in unison as the tink of crystal glasses filled the air.
For hours, the small group reminisced about the holidays they had shared over the years: the snow storms that had gotten Julie stuck at work, and both she and Sheila laughed while listening to their husbands rant over the speaker phone about why they hadn’t closed the Ale House sooner and headed home, and of course the infamous Empty Contest.
“Seriously, that may have been the dumbest thing you boys ever did…EVER,” Julie howled as the other two women laughed loudly.
“I beg your pardon, missy.” Chester swirled the tequila in his lowball glass.
Some would fear his gravelly voice, but not Julie. She saw the sparkle in Chester’s eyes and snorted.
“Lookin’ around this table, there ain’t no boys here,” he said.
“Jules, let me handle this one, please.” Sheila snorted while Julie’s entire frame shook with unbridled laughter. “It is not men who intentionally decide to fill their tanks only to see how many miles each car can go before empty truly means empty. Those are the actions of boys. Little boys. Toddlers, in fact.”