Page 16 of Cord

“Such a pretty girl,” he whispers, his thrusts growing more erratic until he’s coming. He fills me, his seed splashing inside of me as he finds his pleasure.

When he finally catches his breath and pulls out, he goes to the bathroom and returns with a warm washcloth. He tenderly cleans my swollen flesh, using the opportunity to probe my folds. “Too rough?”

“I loved everything we did,” I reassure him, oddly touched by his concern. “And I was good?”

He pauses and the expression on his face when he looks up at me is so tender, so sincere that it makes my heart skip a beat. “You were amazing. Sex wasn’t hard because of you. It was hard because of him. He was selfish.”

“He was my first and only. I thought it was normal,” I admit, feeling ashamed for accepting someone who cared so little about my body other than what it could do for him. “He made me feel like I was asking for too much.”

He cups my face. “You deserve a man who takes care of you in and out of the bedroom. That’s not asking too much. That’s asking the bare fucking minimum. As for me, I plan to raise your bar so damn high that no one else will ever satisfy you the way I do.”

I’m not sure my heart will survive, but I don’t tell him that. Instead, I swallow and look away from his intense gaze. His ability to see into all of the wounded places of my heart makes sense given what he told me over dinner. “You deserved someone that was faithful.”

He smiles. “That was a long time ago, and I’m happy now. So happy.”

He tosses the cloth into the nearby hamper and joins me on the bed, pulling me into his arms. My head is on his shoulder, my fingertips tracing circles on his scarred chest. I didn’t take Cord for a cuddler. I’ve always liked cuddling.

He makes a soft purring sound. He sounds like a big cat that’s been completely sated. I feel the same way. I had no idea sex could be so good or so easy with the right person. We just work together, and it makes me wonder what life could look like between us if this were a real honeymoon. As soon as the thought comes, I push it away. I can’t be thinking like that. It’ll hurt too much when this ends.

“This is going to be incredible!” I shout as the wind from the helicopter steals my breath and whips my clothes around. It’s the last day of our honeymoon, and I haven’t let myself think too much about it. Every time I’ve felt sad that I’ll never see Cord again after this, I’ve reached for him. We’ve spent every minute that we aren’t sight-seeing making love. He wasn’t lying when he said he was going to raise the bar. All it takes now is a look or a word from his lips, and I’m drenched.

It’s not just the sex either. Cord takes care of me. When we went on a hike yesterday, and I realized I’d forgotten my bag of snacks, he gave me his protein bar and shared his water. He gives to me in a way that I didn’t realize a man could, and he makes me wish this could be a real marriage.

I don’t think he feels quite the same way because he hasn’t suggested that we stay together after the honeymoon. It’s probably for the best. I have goals to achieve. I have plans, and I don’t want to change them for anyone. Not after what happened with Stuart.

I’m ready for my life to just be about me. Well, me and Molly and Milo. The three of us are a family.

“Climb in. Watch your head.” The tour guide yells, gesturing for me to enter the helicopter.

Beside me, Cord is stone still, and I nudge him with my elbow. “Do you still want to go up?”

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, the way I do when I see thunderstorms in the forecast. I think maybe he’s going to tell me that he’s afraid of heights. But to my surprise, he nods and follows me into the helicopter. The guide points out all the natural sights, talking to us through the headsets.

But the entire time, Cord is quiet and unmoving. Finally, I put my hand on his thigh and he looks at me.

“I’m here,” I say knowing the pilot and tour guide can hear us through the headsets, but I don’t care. All I care about is comforting this big, strong man who’s been so sweet to me. He seems to relax at my touch and words.

When we’re back on the ground, I notice his hands are shaky, so I thank the tour guide for our experience then I look at him. “I’m kind of tired. Do you mind if we order in some room service at the villa?”

Back at the villa, we order in burgers and stream a movie. Well, we start streaming it. We get maybe halfway through it before we’re touching each other and making love all over again.

“You seem sad,” he says after when I’m lying next to him in an exhausted, sweaty heap. Every time I think it can’t get better and hotter between us, he goes and proves me wrong.

“Just missing Molly and Milo,” I say quickly. Technically, our honeymoon is supposed to continue for another two days, but I’ve already booked my return flight. He just doesn’t know that yet.

“You’ll see them soon,” he reassures me with a grin.

“I know,” I murmur and put my head against his chest. I want to soak up every last minute that we have together, and I don’t want to think about how I’m leaving in the morning.

Chapter 8

Mira

“And what are you going to tell your dad when he asks about it?” Ronnie pushes. Brock and Branson are playing in the living room here in my townhouse. Molly and Milo are in my bedroom, probably hiding from the hyper boys.

Getting on that plane and leaving Cord behind was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But I knew it would be even harder if I stayed those extra two days. As it was, my flight was the usual seventeen hours, then Ronnie picked me up from the airport.

After a terrible night’s sleep in my own bed on a new mattress that I asked my assistant to have delivered, I’m exhausted. I keep telling myself that nothing has changed, but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like my heart is in a villa next to a cowboy whose touch sets me on fire.