Found (Captive Heart #2) (15 page)

“
I
can’t believe
it’s been two days. Doesn’t the world seem different now?” Char tilts her head back where it rests on my shoulder, and our eyes connect.

“It does. Lighter somehow. More hopeful.”

She nods and rests back into my chest. We’re hidden out here, under a tall oak tree on the other side of the lake from the campgrounds. My back scratches the bark as she rests in the cocoon of my body. The moonlight bounces off the lake, a huge reflection, as the fireflies light the air around us.

“This is so perfect,” Char sighs.

“It is.” I press my lips into the side of her forehead, smelling the woodsy, pine scent of her hair, and wrap my arms tighter around her.

I can’t believe we’re here, that we have a fresh start in the place where I first got us into this crazy mess. We made it through, and we’re stronger because of it.

She sighs and brings my fingers up to her mouth to kiss. “My mind and body feel like they’ve been through a hurricane and tornado, back to back. Like I’ve survived some huge natural disaster.”

I dust my hand down her side, feeling the swell of her breast and the curve of her hip. “That’s because your mother
is
a natural disaster. Worse than a tsunami and an earthquake put together.”

“Let’s never speak her name again, okay?”

“Sounds good to me.” I reach to the left of me and grasp the velvet box I placed on the ground when we sat.

My heart felt like it was bursting out of my chest, beating like I was a horse running the Kentucky Derby. And it’s just right this minute that I realize it’s because I never actually did this before. I’ve been married to Charlotte for over three and a half years and I wasn’t even the one who proposed. I never picked out a ring, never sweated through my suit jacket at some fancy dinner before lowering to one knee and asking her to spend her life with me. She was the one who’d proposed the idea of marriage, in a prison no less.

She deserved this. After all of it, everything she’d stuck with me through. I’d been planning someday to give her the proper proposal, the big diamond. But when Willy had pulled me aside yesterday afternoon and told me I needed to buck up, I knew this was the perfect time.

“Can you stand up for a second?” I shimmy so that Char can get to her feet.

She looks at me, those big brown eyes puzzled, as she rises. She looks so beautiful in her lilac sundress, the moon shining down on her from above. It’s like she’s not even real, like she’s a glowing figment of my imagination.

I know Char thinks I’m going to stand and meet her at her level, but instead, I scoot myself onto one knee, my arms outstretched with the velvet box in my hands.

“Oh my god, Tuck …” She gasps, her hands flying up to her mouth.

“I know, I know,” I chuckle. “We’re already married. Have been for a while. But … after everything we’ve been through these past six months, not to mention the last three years. And the eighteen before that. I never did this properly, baby. There haven’t been many traditional things about our life together; hell, we got engaged and married in a prison, have holidays with no other family besides us. Even the last Halloween we spent together was in the back of the canteen eating boxed candy and soft serve ice cream. We haven’t done it society’s way. Ever. And while I wouldn’t change a thing, because it got us to where we are right now, I do want to give you the things I can. You were always a traditional girl growing up, the one who everyone thought would be married with the perfect husband and the picket fence and the two kids. How I ever got so lucky that you picked me? I have no fucking idea. See, I’m even cursing in my proper proposal.”

I shrug and she laughs through the tears coating her cheeks.

“I want to give you the world, because you’re my world. The sun rises and sets with you. If you’re not happy, it’s raining on my head too. I love you, Charlotte Tucker. I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you come out onto your driveway in your leotard. I’ve loved you since you let me sit on your back porch on Thanksgiving. I’ve loved you since you rocked my teenage world, even though I didn’t rock yours. Which I’ve made up for, by the way, let’s not forget that. But … back to the point. I’ve loved you since you helped me find the real me three years ago, hidden away on these cold camp grounds. And I love you now. If it’s possible, I love you more every single day. So this isn’t a question, because we’re already way beyond that. This is a statement. I will love you forever. Through all of the good, bad and in between. And I know you will love me too, until our last dying breath. So, let’s live every day beside each other, in love.”

I pop open the small ring box and present it to her. I don’t need to look at it, I know what the ring I’ve picked out looks like. Rose gold with a plain band, and a big fat oval diamond sitting in the center. Three carats and all of the money I’ve saved, plus a loan from Willy. The moment I saw it in the case at the jewelry store in town, I knew it was the one. Classic and elegant, just like my beautiful wife.

No, I don’t need to see the ring. I picked it. What I watch is Charlotte’s face as she looks down at me, at the ring I picked for her.

Surprise, love, delight and a thousand other emotions mesh together on her beautiful features like paints on a canvas. Her expression is a work of art, and the tears she cries are its appreciation.

“Oh my God, Tucker! This is … its so beautiful. It’s exactly what I’ve always wanted!”

I pull the ring from its velvet cushions and slide it onto her finger, where it sits above her plain white gold wedding band. I stand, taking her hands in mine and admiring the way the moonlight catches the classic ring on her finger.

“It looks perfect. Like it was made for your finger.”

“Tucker … it is gorgeous, but … can we afford this?”

Leave it to Char to be practical. “Don’t you worry your pretty head about that.”

I bring her face to mine and capture her lips so she can’t go on about the price of it. Her tongue finds mine, invades my mouth and turns what was a sweet kiss into a smoldering reverence. With each brush of her tongue against mine, my chest aches with the need to be closer to her. With each graze of our teeth on each other’s lips, my cock presses harder against the roughness of my jeans.

Pulling back, I take a moment to admire Char before I undress her. She’s a vision, driving me to the edge of madness with her teasing. I bend down and grab the hem of her dress before pulling it up and over her head, leaving her fully nude against the night air.

“No panties?” My voice chokes as my cock throbs in its cage.

She thrusts her breasts against my clothed chest. “Well, I thought you were bringing me out here for some last night at camp fun. I didn’t expect the ring, although now I can thank you even more.”

Her hands, small and dexterous with the ring glinting in the dark, easily slide my zipper down and reach into my boxers. She wraps her hand around me as she sinks to her knees. My cock springs free, the sensation of it connecting with the feverish summer air sends shivers up my spine.

Char’s a siren down on her knees, a commander ready only to give me my pleasure when she sees fit.

She leans forward, rolling her tongue around the sensitive tip of my dick.

“Yes, baby,” I hiss, bucking my hips so I can fill her mouth.

She takes me greedily, never making a sound about the way I’m thrusting in and out of her velvet wetness. I fist my hands in her hair, loving the feel of the soft silkiness sliding through my fingers. Char clutches me as she sucks me, and the sparkle of the diamond on her left hand makes my cock impossibly harder.

With a pop of suction, she releases my head from between her lips. “I want to ride your cock.”

Her eyes are smoky and mesmerizing as she looks up at me, and I pull my shirt over my head as she wriggles my legs free of my jeans. I join her on the ground, in our nakedness, and take her in my arms as we both kneel in the grass.

“You’re the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen.” I capture her lips roughly.

We’re kissing so fervently I think I might bruise her lips. My finger delves between us, down to the place where I know she’ll be soaking wet. I’m not disappointed when I get there. I push one finger in, letting her arousal coat me, and then pull it back out as Char disconnects our mouths on a whimper.

My finger, slicked with her lust, finds my mouth and I suck her sweet juices from it. “Always so decadent, baby. The best dessert I’ve ever had. Now get on top of me and ride your husband.”

Her brown eyes are molten as she gracefully mounts me. The moment she impales herself on my cock, we both let out low, torturous groans.

“You feel so big. Like you’re filling me up.” Char groans, the moonlight doing devilish things to her creamy skin.

She looks like a fairytale, like a Grecian goddess straddling my waist with her face turned skyward. Her hands are pushed into my chest, branding my torso. Her head is thrown back, her long brown hair falling in waves over her shoulders.

She’s divine, holy even. I need to come up with a religion that only worships her. A devout Char parishioner.

“It’s all yours. Forever.” I clutch her waist as she explores the sensation that comes after rising and plunging back down until my cock is lodged deep inside of her.

Char consumes me, and soon we’re moving together, her undulating on me while I thrust my hips off of the ground. It’s intoxicating, the haze of love and passion driving us both mad. I palm her breasts, brushing and rolling her swollen buds while she uses my dick as her tool, willing it to bring her to a mind-blowing orgasm.

“Yes, Tucker … oh God, yes.” Char moans, the breathy gasps filling the silent night air and driving me insane.

I reach down and press my thumb to her clit. She explodes. It’s like I see the orgasm detonate inside her, wracking her body with euphoric pulses. Her eyes find mine, and they mirror the ecstasy I feel. I pull her toward me and grab both of her plump cheeks in my hands.

“You. Are. So. Beautiful. I. Love. You. So. Much.” I grit the words out and my release comes on the tail end of the last one.

I come apart, clutching Char to me as I spill myself inside of her. Fireworks go off behind my eyelids as I squeeze them shut, basking in the glory of my release.

As I gulp in air, recovering from the number she just did on my body, she pushes up onto her elbows.

“Let’s come back here, every year. For a couple of days, or weeks. I don’t care. But we should come back every summer. To our place. This is our place.”

I look my wife in the eyes. “Only if we can stay in cabin four next time.”

B
uying
a house is a lot of freaking work. You have to get tax documents and credit scores. It takes months for the mortgage and loan officers to file through your personal history, both as a singular person and as a couple. Add in the fact that your husband has a conviction record and that doesn’t make it any easier.

You have to wait while they comb it all through, sitting and praying that you will get the house, and that the sale won’t fall through. And then one day, they give you the green light.

And then they take all of your money. Every single penny to your name. Gone.

But that’s not the last of it. Oh, no. That would be too easy. Because when your husband says, “Let’s buy a fixer upper and I’ll give you the house of your dreams, baby,” you go all gooey and agree to it. Especially because your husband is a piece of hunky man meat. But what you don’t realize is that you just spent two months in mortgage purgatory, and that was nothing compared to renovation hell.

That’s where I’m currently at. Renovation hell. But … Tucker is in his glory and I get to watch him work with tools and lift stuff all day. Shirtless. So I guess in a way, the constant upheaval and mess is worth it.

A jackhammer sounds from somewhere downstairs, and the walls in our bedroom shake violently.

“Tucker!” I scream, knowing he can’t hear me over the noise, but it feels damn good to get out my frustration.

The crushing sound keeps up, drowning out every conceivable thought in my head. I may kill that man. Or maybe send him back to jail. Only kidding.

I stomp out of our bedroom, which looks identical to the state of the rest of our upstairs. Untouched.

We bought a 1900s farmhouse on the outskirts of Lancaster about four months ago, and Tucker has been gutting the place since the day we moved in. So far we have a beautiful living room, and a downstairs powder room. They’re done in beiges and grays, and the living room has fluffy white couches and a sixty-inch LCD.

But the rest of the house … is a nightmare. The entire second floor, all four bedrooms and two bathrooms, have gone completely untouched. Tucker wants to get the first floor done before he tackles the horrible tile in our master bathroom, or replacing the doors to the bedrooms. Which don’t close. We still don’t have appliances in the kitchen, so we eat out or take in every single night. In fact, we don’t have counters or even walls in some portions of the kitchen, where I’m guessing my husband is right now. He said he was going to rip up the old cracked tile in there today, but I didn’t expect him to start before I even left for work.

“Tucker Lynch!”

My husband is shirtless, sweat dripping down his glorious back and past the curve of his butt that peeks through his jeans. He must have heard me scream, because he turns the jackhammer off. Except now I forgot what I was yelling at him for, too caught up in ogling his rock hard body.

“My fee is a hundred dollars an hour. So you better pay up if you’re going to keep staring because I have work to do, beautiful.”

Wise ass.

“Yeah well, someone has to get out the door to bring in the big bucks. And I can’t hear myself think over this commotion! You couldn’t wait until after I left.”

Tucker smiles and wipes his brow. Which shouldn’t be sexy, because he’s sweaty as anything, but he looks like a Gatorade commercial or something.

“Like I said, time is money babe. I have to be at the job sight in an hour, so I wanted to get some work done in here before I have to go.”

God, he works so damn hard. He’s still working for the man Jane got him a job with about a year ago, and he’s moved up in the ranks of his construction company. Whenever I mention him branching out for himself, he sighs and grumbles about too much paperwork and upkeep. He’s just happy to work a job, build things. Which is why he’s also simultaneously working on our house with any spare time he can get.

“Okay, fine. But I’m only letting it slide because you’re so sexy. And because I don’t have anything too pressing on my schedule today.”

I’m still at HL Marketing, and I still love my job. I get joy from working with my clients each day, and with Jackie and her crazy graphics ideas.

“Hey, can you take a quick break and come upstairs with me?”

Tucker rolls his eyes but follows, and I can’t help the smile that breaks out on my face when I turn my back to him. I don’t know what to do with my hands, they’re shaky with the adrenaline and excitement. God, I can’t wait to see his face when I tell him.

When I got up this morning, I had no idea our whole world was about to change. Our marriage has been more fun and loving than ever these past six months, and with that has come a whole lot of naughty and sexy times. Not that we’ve been talking about having kids in depth, but from our past I know we both want them. Tucker and I bought this house to fill it with babies and puppies. And maybe chickens if he’ll allow me to get them. The jury is still out on that one.

“What’s this all about woman? If you wanted to get me naked, you’re already half way there. I’d more than happily give you some pre-work orgasms.”

I laugh as I clear the top of the creaky, hardwood stairs. “As much as that sounds tempting, I have something else to show you.”

“If you keep walking in front of me with that little silk robe, I might have something to show you too,” Tucker grumbles.

I walk into our bedroom and motion for him to sit on the bed. Walking into our master bathroom, I try to ignore the monstrosity of purple tile covering everything. But I don’t even see it, not really. Nothing is getting in the way of my happiness this morning.

The tiny stick sits on the sink and I gingerly pick it up, like it might be finite. Like it might disappear if I hold it too hard. I walk back out to Tucker and smile at him. His whole world is about to change.

“Ready?”

He grins. “For anything from you, always.”

I hold my hand out so he can see it. The plus sign on the screen of the pregnancy test.

Tucker blinks. And then he blinks again. He reaches out to pull me closer, as if I might be bluffing. The smile on my face is so wide, it’s starting to hurt my cheeks.

And then he’s pulling me in, placing his hands on my hips and belly. Without saying a thing, he kisses my lips, and then bends to place a gentle kiss on my stomach.

Tucker stares at my torso for a couple of seconds, and then looks up with tears in his eyes.

“We’re pregnant. I’m going to be a dad.”