Her fingers trace idle paths across my sternum, and I catch her hand, bring it to my mouth, and kiss the gold band on her finger.
We move together in the quiet. No urgency this time, just the slow, deep rhythm of her body beneath mine, her hips rising to meet each unhurried thrust. Neither of us speaks. There's nothing left to say that our bodies aren't already saying. The steady pulse of my cock inside her, her warmth pulling me deeper, the way her breath hitches every time I bottom out and hold there. This is all we need right now.
Her legs wrap around my hips, drawing me closer, and I feel her tightening around me again. Building quietly, like a tide. My own release gathers too, inevitable and unhurried.
When she comes, it's gentle. A soft gasp, her back arching, her pussy clenching around me in slow, rhythmic waves that pull me over the edge with her. I bury my face in her neck and let go,spilling inside her with a groan that vibrates against her throat. No frenzy. No desperation. Just the deep contentment of being exactly where I belong.
I ease out of her carefully. She makes a small, reluctant sound, and I press my lips to her forehead before settling onto my back and gathering her against my side.
Avery's breathing deepens against my chest. My hand rests on the curve of her hip, my scarred fingers against her smooth skin. I lie there in the dark and listen to the ocean and the slow rhythm of my wife's heart, and I think about the man I was before her. The man who almost didn't survive his own darkness. Who once considered ending it all but was kept alive by a portrait painted by a woman he hadn't yet met.
This is the life I never dared dream I could have. This woman. This moment of hard-won quiet, with the wreckage of the past behind us and something new and precious growing in the shelter of her body.
I pull her closer. The ring on my left hand gleams faintly in the dark.
She was wrong when she said we rescued each other. She’s strong enough. She would have survived without me. I was the one who needed something only she could give me.
Avery rescued me. And every day since, she gives me a reason to become someone worthy of that gift.
29
AVERY
The noontime sun slantswarm across my shoulders as I push through the door at GC, one of my favorite restaurants in the city. It’s been two days since Nick and I returned home from Key Largo, since we spoke our private vows on the deck of theIcarusand he slipped a simple, perfect gold band onto my finger in the most romantic wedding I ever could have imagined.
My thumb finds the bare space on my left hand before I'm fully aware I'm doing it. The habit has become reflexive, this seeking motion. Both of our rings are waiting at home now. Nested in velvet beside the exquisite pearl-and-diamond necklace Nick fastened around my throat as a symbol of who we had become, together.
As much as I want to wear my wedding band, we’ve decided to hold that secret between us for now. The wedding aboard theIcarusdoesn’t belong to anyone else. The rest of the world will have to wait.
The GC hostess recognizes me, greeting me with a smile and a small nod. “Ms. Ross, welcome. The rest of your party is already here. Right this way.”
She leads me toward the bustling dining room of the popular restaurant where my friends are waiting. As I follow her through the lunch crowd, a pleasant tenderness between my thighs flares with each step. Memories of Nick flood my senses. Making love with him on the boat all night after we said our vows, and again in our beachfront cottage after we returned to shore in the morning.
My husband.
Although I know I don’t look any different, everything feels changed now that I’m legally Avery Baine. He gave me his name and his ring and his child. My heart is so full, it’s a wonder I’m not floating several inches off the ground.
Movement to the left of me in the dining room catches my peripheral vision. An attractive young woman heading for the door, familiar stride, and a tall, handsome man beside her whose hand hovers at her back. Kelsey. Her cheeks carry color I've never seen on her before, her smile easy and warm as she looks at her companion.
She spots me and hesitates, recognition flashing in her sharp eyes. Her face registers a momentary look of surprise, as if I’ve caught her at something. Did she know I’d be here today? Did Gabe send her? I glance around for other signs of covert security details, but I don’t see anyone.
Kelsey approaches with a smile. "Avery, hi. I didn’t realize you and Nick were back in the city."
"We got back a couple of days ago." I keep my voice light, but I'm noticing the way her body leans almost imperceptibly toward the man beside her, the way her fingers keep finding reasons to brush his sleeve. “Gabe didn’t mention it?”
"No, he didn’t, but I have the day off." She glances up at her companion. Her date, I realize. "Sorry. This is Jake Noble—Gabe's brother. Jake, this is Avery Ross."
He extends his hand. Dark hair, easy grin, the same strong jaw as Gabe but held just a fraction looser, less rigid discipline than his brother. "Pleasure. Gabe's got nothing but good things to say about you, Ms. Ross."
"Avery." I shake his hand, then catch Kelsey's eye with a look that sayswe'll talk later. "Well, don't let me keep you."
They head out, and I watch Jake's palm finally settle fully against Kelsey's back as he holds the door. I exhale, feeling a sense of relief… and satisfaction. Kelsey wasn’t here because of me. She's just here living her own life, blushing at a man who can't stop finding excuses to touch her.
Nick honored my request. The security detail is scaled back, just like I asked.
I turn toward the back of the restaurant, and there they are. The group of women who have become my dearest friends.
The light through the tall windows catches them like a composition I'd want to paint—Tasha's caramel curls haloing her head like a golden crown, Eve's beautiful face tilted toward Kat's open-mouthed laugh, Lita's bright blue hair shocking against the warm neutrals of the room like a deliberate act of rebellion.
