Page 35 of Solitary Man

“That’s…reassuring, but also a little frightening,” I said.

“Yeah, it can be, and hard to get used to. And probably even more so with a man like Cash, since he’s been on his own so long,” Freya said.

I sipped my drink, quietly observing my husband with his family. I had assumed he just needed time, that eventually he’d relax with me, talk more. Now I wasn’t so sure that would happen. “Maybe we should start writing to each other again,” I said, chuckling as I thought about his beautiful emails, even as my heart tightened a little bit.

Finding out Landon had been the go-between had definitely come as a shock. He knew everything we’d said to each other. Some of it very personal. But I guess I couldn’t be angry. Without Landon’s help, I wouldn’t be here now.

“If you ever need to talk, we’re here,” Birdie said.

Freya filled my glass again. “Absolutely. Anything you need, we’re here for you. You’re family now, and I for one am happy you are.”

Cash

Riley’s soft footfalls reached me as she came down the stairs.

The house was silent; the others had gone to bed. Riley had just finished in the bathroom, and I turned to watch as she rounded the corner. She was wearing a long-sleeve thermal top and tiny sleep shorts. Light from the fire danced over her curves, making her skin glow.

I wanted to strip her down and have her naked.

“Okay?” I asked, throat tight with need. Being around a big family like this wasn’t something she was used to.

She smiled. “Better than okay.”

I moved toward her with purpose and scooped her up. She giggled softly as I carried her across the room and laid her on our makeshift bed on Beau and Freya’s living room floor.

I covered her, staying up on my elbow so she didn’t take my weight. “You still hurting, darlin’?” I asked. Despite her reassurances, I still worried that I’d caused her pain. It was all I’d been able to think about.

She slid her hands over my shoulders, one curving around the side of my neck, the other brushing over my beard. “I’m fine, I promise.”

I shifted, bringing my hands in between us and covered her breasts, massaging their heavy weight. She moaned softly, and I stared into her brown eyes, making sure there was only pleasure, no pain.

“I like your family,” she murmured.

Yeah, I’d gotten that. It’d been hard to miss. This made me happier than I knew what to do with.

“I’m glad you have them,” she whispered.

“Me too.”

“I usually spent the holidays alone at boarding school or with my grandmother. I think my folks had me, then realized the whole parenting thing wasn’t for them.” She shook her head. “What I’m trying to say is, I’ve never experienced anything like I did tonight. I really liked it, Cash. And I like them a lot.”

Christ, she tore my heart right out of my chest. How could someone leave Riley behind? How could they not want to be with her every second of every day?

“They really like you, too, darlin’.”

I stopped massaging and slid her top up slowly, revealing her lovely, soft, bare breasts. My breathing turned shaky as I cupped the sides, lifting them, pressing them together, then leaning in and gently sucking one of her nipples into my mouth.

We both moaned. I kept it gentle, not something I was good at, but she needed that from me after last night, after the way I’d taken her.

I sucked, soft and light, one nipple and then the other, until she was squirming and restless beneath me. “Gonna take care of you,” I rasped, meaning it in every way that it could, and kissed my way down her rounded belly, skin smooth, breathing in her delicate scent.

A scent that was now branded on my senses for the rest of my life.

My mouth traveled along the edge of her shorts. “You still need me to kiss it better, wife?”

“Yes. Yes, I do,” she said, fingers sliding through my hair.

I gripped the elastic waistband of her shorts and tugged them and her panties all the way down her legs, then tossed them aside. I spread her wide and took in her slick, swollen pussy, licking my lips, my mouth now watering for her.