She was grabbed around the waist by familiar arms and pulled against a hard chest. Before she could protest, a firm hand covered her mouth and she was tucked against the secluded side of the house. Her back pressed against the stone wall, she finally faced her captor—her gorgeous, sexy, beloved captor.
“What the hell is going on, Rafael?”
“Shhh,” he said against her ear, releasing bubbles of anticipation into her body and making her center clench. “You’re not supposed to be here till seven. Now you’re going to ruin your own surprise,mon ange.” His words were scolding but his tone was far from stern. Any seriousness was muffled by his nose nuzzling against her hair and his teeth playfully nipping at her thudding pulse.
“My surprise? What? Wh—why?” It wasn’t only confusion that made her stammer, it was also those large, calloused hands finding their way around her hips and under her buttocks, squeezing hard enough to leave a mark.
“Because I missed you. Because you feel so fucking good and I can’t get enough of how you feel, how you smell, how you sound. And because all week I’ve been dying to dothis.”
He kissed her hard and she met each caress of his lips, each sweep of his tongue. Banked desire broke through, the flood of passion carrying them to a place where only each other’s breaths and bodies counted. She palmed his arousal and nipped his pillowy lip.
“You are really gonna get it tonight,” he said with a rough growl, pulling her hand away from his crotch and lifting it over her head.
“If you didn’t have all these people here, you could be giving it to me right now,” she complained before wiggling free and offering a playful wink. “Well, what’s this about a surprise, Rafael?”
“I, ahem, I wanted to throw you a little party.”
She raised a brow because he seemed uncharacteristically flustered. “I was away for a week, silly. That hardly warrants an elaborate homecoming celebration.”
“Every time you come home warrants a celebration, as far as I’m concerned.”
“True,” she agreed coyly. “But not like this! Who’s here, anyway? People from the school? You haven’t even told me why.”
“They’ll be disappointed that you aren’t surprised.”
“Who’s they?”
And then she heard it. A laugh that was part of her earliest memories. With a squeak of disbelief, she pushed past him and ran through the door.
“Mom?!” The house commotion screeched to a halt. “Oh my god! Mom! Dad!” She threw herself into her parents’ embrace. She hadn’t seen them since she officially moved to France over a year ago. It took some time to sell the condo and set up her finances, but she officially moved in with Rafael before launching her new business.
She hugged them tightly as tears of happiness fell. The one downside to moving to Europe was being so far from family.
“I can’t believe you’re here. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would have postponed my trip!”
“Your surprise isn’t done, sweetheart,” her dad said.
“Tori! Tori! Tori!” The childhood chant of two grown women exploded behind her before she was jump-hugged by her wonderful sisters.
The three women held each other tightly while bouncing on their toes like giddy kids. “Oh my god, what is happening right now. You’re all here! Wait…” Tori pulled back to look at the middle Espinoza sister. “Did you bring the twins, Celina? I haven’t seen them in ages!”
“They’ve grown so much. Yes, they’re here but went to the park with Dane to burn off some energy.”
“I can’t wait to see them!” She turned to Kat. “Are you here with Max?”
“Hi, Tori,” Kat’s boyfriend said from the kitchen.
“We’re all here. I can’t believe we’re all here.” Emotion tightened her windpipe but she managed one important word. “Rafael.”
She turned around to find the most amazing man in the world smiling widely. “You arranged all of this?” She stepped into his arms. “Thank you. This is amazing. Thank you so much.”
“You should thank Max too since he flew everyone in.” Kat’s boyfriend happened to run a travel brokerage conglomerate which Tori didn’t appreciate till that moment.
“Thanks, Max!” Tori hollered.
“You’re welcome! And congratulations!”
“Wait, what?!”
