“
I don’t know yet. I’m definitely on hiatus.”
“
And no one knows where you are?”
“
No. Well… my agent does. He was waiting for me at my house after I finally left the restaurant.”
Everything suddenly caught up with me. There was a gorgeous man standing in my hallway, having just given me one of the most passionate kisses of my life. Hundreds of thousands of women would gladly throw themselves at him. But here he was, looking at me with a stare that seemed to make my clothes want to simple slide off of my body.
“
We can’t do this,” I said. “
I
can’t do this. I’ve seen the kind of women you date. That Aubrey girl… she’s gorgeous, she—,”
He interrupted me with another kiss, but this one was passionate and deep, slowly wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to his hard and increasingly hardening body. My body reacted to his almost immediately.
Dear God, I needed this.
I only allowed it for a few seconds this time before I pushed him away.
“
What's wrong?” The man I knew as Jack stared down at me, hungry brown eyes growing concerned. Damn
, he is insanely good-looking...
“
I can’t compete with all of that. I’d feel stupid.” I looked down to the rough collar of his faded gray t-shirt, unable to meet his eyes.
“
Mac,” he said taking my chin in his fingertips. “I’d like to try to make this work. I know I’ve been deceptive. And I know the curve ball about your brother is a bit much to handle. But
you
are what I want. I’ve known that for a few days now. I’d choose you over going back to make movies. I’d choose you over the actresses and the fat paychecks.”
Was he... serious?
I stared at him and shook my head slightly. “But why?” I said, suddenly realizing that I was on the verge of tears.
“
Because you’re
real
. Because you’re honest and stubborn. Because you’re smart and funny and beautiful. And I want—,”
It was all too much. I grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face to mine. When our mouths met, fire burned through me. It started softly but then grew into something that felt alive—something with heat and energy. This time when our tongues met, it spurred us on. I encircled Jack's neck with my arms and drew him closer.
Somewhere along the line, I found myself pressed against the wall, still taking his kiss. His hands were on my face when he suddenly stopped and pulled away.
“
Are you okay?” he asked.
“
Mmm hmm,” was all I could manage.
“
We can stop this,” he said softly. “If you’re not ready, I mean.”
I considered it as I felt my heart rampaging in my chest and an electricity in parts of my body that had been dormant for far too long.
“
Mac?” he asked.
I gave him a thin smile and answered by gently taking the bottom of his shirt and lifting it up. He gave me a knowing glance but then helped me. We started kissing again and before his shirt even had time to hit the ground, mine was joining it.
His fingers smoothed over the small of my back and he broke the kiss, pulling my jeans down my thighs. "You might want to take those pretty panties off unless you want to see them ruined,” he said hoarsely.
I slid them over my hips and down my legs, then reached for his jeans and shoved them along with his boxer briefs to the floor. His erection sprang up and I hat to catch my breath. The size and length was perfect.
It had been way too long.
Jack
smiled at my reaction. He lifted a single finger and ran it along my jaw, down my neck, wandering along my collarbone and down my chest, circling a nipple before continuing its journey south, tracing a circle around my belly button, and drifted further down to slip over my sensitive bundle of nerves. I squeezed my eyes shut, embarrassed at how wet I was from so little foreplay. But my body didn't care. It wanted more. I needed more.
"Mmmm," he murmured softly next to my ear. He stroked me slowly, my hips following the movement, and he placed several lingering kisses on my jaw.
“
Your bedroom?” His whisper tickled the small hairs on my neck and I shivered.
I looked into Jack... I mean Devlin's eyes. The pools of chocolate brown was clouded with hunger and desire.
I took his hand and we found my bed. I flipped the covers back and boosted myself up, shooting a teasing glance over my shoulder as I crawled to the center of the bed.
He hauled me upright, palming a breast, and rolled the nipple between his fingers until it hardened. His mouth was busy licking and sucking at every part of me he could reach, the shell of my ear, the curve of my neck, the sloping line of my shoulder. He switched hands, and switched sides, tugging at my nipple almost to the point of pain, little pricks of it making me roll my hips, seeking relief.
But he didn't venture any further south.
I reached behind me and gripped him, ran my nails along the underside of his hardness, smiling when he groaned. If my arousal was going to go unfulfilled, so would his. However, with my hands behind my back, I couldn't touch as much of him as I wanted. I rubbed my thumb over his length, paying more attention to the head and his sensitive areas on the underside.
Devlin grew still, only moving to slide his hand along my rib cage
. "God, Mac," he growled. He took my shoulder and turned me to face him. Our mouths met at he pulled my naked body to his. Everything about being with him felt right. I'd fought it for so long... fought him for too long.
He pushed me back gently to the bed, covering me with his muscular frame. I spread my legs and wrapped them around his hips. The head of his hardness nudged teasingly at my entrance.
“
Devlin,” I whispered. It was a surreal moment, being there in bed with him... the man I thought I'd hate forever. The soldier who sold his soul to Hollywood, or so I assumed. I'd been so wrong.
As Devlin kissed my lips and jaw, he slid inside, inch by torturous inch. It took everything I had not to encourage him to give me one swift thrust. When he was seated to the hilt, I was glad I'd been patient. After so long without sex, I needed to adjust to his size.
Devlin lifted his face from mine to stare down at me. His rapacious stare so was intense it caused me to sigh. “Is that okay?”
I nodded. It was more than okay. This was perfect.
"I don't think I'm gonna last too long, but I promise I'll make it up to you." His broken, jagged groan sent a shiver down my spine.
Then Devlin moved.
The fluttering of pleasure started almost immediately—tiny ripples as he pushed in, pulled out, and rolled his hips in a slow circle at the end of each thrust. Need rose and spiraled like a wild fire, threatening to consume me. The air grew thick and heavy around us as Devlin continued with his deep, slow thrusts. The flutters grew into a constant pulse, and he groaned, speeding up his pace. I couldn't breathe. My heart settled into a wild, uneven beat—the edge of my climax rushing up as the pulse became a throb.
With one last intense burst, I fell apart. I saw stars—lost in my first true, tangible release in years. I twisted my head to the side as I came down, panting heavily as Devlin plunged in hard once more and held himself inside me, groaning as he came.
D
amp with sweat, he eased his body down to mine and we remained together for several minutes, catching our breath... until I drifted off to a deep, peaceful sleep.
22—Devlin
Sunlight crept in through the blinds of Mac’s bedroom. It created a series of perfectly slanted rectangles of sunlight on Mac’s naked back. I glanced sleepily at the morning sun and then ran my hands along the curve of her spine. She shifted in bed slightly and made an
mmf
sound. I wondered if she was a sound sleeper. I had no idea. It would be one of those small things that I would have the pleasure of discovering in the coming weeks… months… years. I grinned.
I sat up slowly and looked to her, still sleeping. I then looked around the room, taking in the tangle of clothes on the floor. Last night was a blur in my head, but one that was filled with more joy that I can ever remember having in a very long time.
I would be calling Adam today. It was something I had thought about last night as I had fallen asleep with Mac’s arm draped over my chest. I’d tell him that if he’d give me two more weeks, I’d take a look at that contract for the super hero movie. But before I did that, I’d need to talk to Mac.
Wherever I headed after this, I wanted her to be a part of it. That is, if she wanted to tag along.
I slowly got up and gathered up my boxer briefs and pants. I pulled them on slowly, trying to be quiet.
Apparently, I failed.
“
What are you doing?” she asked sleepily, peering at me with one squinting eye.
“Good morning, Beautiful. I'm g
etting dressed.”
Mac growled softly. “Too early. Sleep.”
“
I can’t sleep very late,” I said. “I’m an early riser.”
She rolled over and looked at me with a lazy smile. “Oh no. I’m afraid this just isn’t going to work.”
“
Still tired?” I asked.
She nodded. She was only partially covered by the sheets; the slants of sunlight fell perfectly to highlight the swell of her luscious breast and the curve of her waist.
“
If you want,” I said, slowly approaching the bed with an evil smile, “I can maybe try to wake you up.”
Her grin widened and she playfully patted the side of the bed I had been sleeping on.
I accepted the invitation and, moments later when our skin was touching and our hands exploring each other, it felt alarmingly natural.
23—Devlin
Twelve weeks later
I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched Mac climb into the plane. Really, it had always been her plane even though I still tease her about how I had beaten her to the punch. She was nervous, but trying not to show it—especially not to the group of three clients that was standing on the dock, waiting to board.
She’d gotten her pilot’s license last week. She had seventy-one hours of flight training under her belt, ten of which had been solo. I’d been up with her since then, the only non-class flight she had taken. She was good at it—a natural even. She had nothing to be nervous about. But that’s just the way she was.
I walked down the dock, nodding to the group of people—two men and a woman—that would soon be flying out to one of the more remote parts of the state to do some camping and fishing. The woman gave me a quizzical look…a look I got a lot these days. She knew who I was but, I think, was too afraid to say anything in the event that she might be wrong.
I had ditched the beard, opting instead for the permanent dusting of a five o’clock shadow, but only because Mac preferred it. It wasn’t nearly enough to keep my identity hidden. Most of the people in Sitka were used to seeing me around town and I think the coolness of having a celebrity living in town had already worn off.
I walked up to the cockpit and climbed up. Mac was checking her instrument panels and talking to herself as she walked through everything she needed to do.
“
You’ll do fine,” I said.
“
Easy for you to say.”
“
It is. Because you’re a good pilot.”
She sighed, stopped her frantic checklist, and looked to me. She grinned and kissed me softly on the mouth, lingering for a moment.
“
How about you?” she asked. “You all set?”
“
Yes. I’m heading back to the cabin after you take off and will finish packing our bags.”
“
I should be back in five hours,” she said. “Will that give us enough time to make it to LA in time?”
“
Yes. But even if we’re late, it’s just an awards show. No big deal.”
Mac searched my eyes for a second, tilting her head to the side. “And you’re
sure
you’re okay about me coming to the set with you tomorrow? I don’t have to come.”
I laughed. “Of course you do,” I said. “I want you there.”
She nodded and looked away as a huge mischievous grin spread across her beautiful face. “I
am
looking forward to seeing you in superhero spandex.”
I rolled my eyes with a laugh and nodded back towards the waiting passengers. “Get out of here. Do your job.”
“
You have one of these booked for next week, you know.”
“
I know.” I then kissed her and held her hand. “Seriously. You’ll do fine. Be safe.”
“
I will.”
“
I love you.”
“
I love you, too.”
With that, I hopped down onto the dock and helped the passenger load up. The woman looked at me again and her eyes sparkled. She knew who I was. I waved at her, as if it were no big deal. Because really, it wasn’t. I’m just a normal guy that managed to get extremely lucky… in life, career,
and
in love.
When they were all aboard, I gave Mac a final kiss and then stood on the dock, watching her float out into the open water. When the engines kicked on, I imagined her inside the cockpit behind the controls, smiling like a kid that has just leaned to ride a bike.
The plane moved slowly at first, and then sped up until it lifted into the air. I raised my hand in a wave and watched until she shrank out of sight.
I walked back to the Pine Way and checked in on the part-time worker we had hired once we got the plane business up and running. When I was sure everything was okay there, I headed to Mac’s house—which she was insisting that we refer to as
our
house now.
On the way, my cellphone rang. I saw from the caller ID that it was Adam.
“
Hey, Adam.”
“
Hey. You’re going to make it to the awards show, right?”
“
Yeah,” I said. “I might be a little late.”
“
No worries. As long as you’re able to make some of the after parties, we should be good. And we’re probably looking at a twelve to fourteen hour day of shooting tomorrow. You okay with that?”
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “I am. Just have someone make sure that Mac has a hotel room somewhere near the studio.”
“
Already done.”
“
Good.”
He kept going on and on about the next few weeks and all of the things I was expected to do. But I barely heard him. Instead, I was thinking about a night a little less than five months ago where I had stood in a motel room, looking out onto LA. Aubrey had been there with me, confused by my unwillingness to be with her, and I had barely noticed. I had been too hollow, too detached.
I had fame, I had money, but something had not been right.
I could barely remember that feeling now. I gazed up into the sky, knowing that I could no longer see the plane, but knowing that Mac was up there somewhere and, I hoped, thinking of me and this new life we were putting together.
With Mac, that missing piece was there. And although I could still not put a name to that thing that had been missing, I was growing more and more sure by the day that it had been more than simply love. It was more about being whole.
I thought of David then, as I had done a lot more than usual in the last few weeks. I thought of how he had died in my lap as the helicopter had touched down. I’m not a spiritual kind of guy at all, but there
has
to be a connection there. I ended up loving his sister, in a state of mind where I would do anything to protect her.
Had he caught a glimpse of that before he died?
Had he seen that at some point in the future, I would find his sister and, in loving her, protect her? I like to think that this was so and in seeing that, he was able to leave this world happy and ignorant of the pain from his injuries.
Had he been granted that peek into the future?
Sometimes when I fall asleep next to Mac, our arms and legs interlocked, I like to think so.