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“I need to be with you. Look at me?” He got out and watched those beautiful eyes open. She lifted her arms.
This moment, this place, being here with Riley—it would forever be a part of him. He’d been waiting for this forever.
With one thrust, he slid into her. Her heat clamped around him like a velvet glove, welcoming him home. Grabbing hold of his shoulders, she sobbed out his name as he began to move. Within seconds, she’d found his rhythm, and with their eyes locked, together they raced up a steep hill.
Bending down, he crushed his mouth down on hers again, swallowed her sigh, and immersed in her softness, he let go of the reins. Soft limbs wrapped around him, and with his face buried in her hair, they finally crested together.
*
Riley was fastasleep and breathing deeply. Mitch had been awake for a while, staring at her. They’d finally made it to his room, and he couldn’t stop looking at the woman in his bed, her red hair spread out over his pillow as he’d been dreaming about for so long.
Reaching over, he picked up her phone, checked the time before he put it back again. Morning would arrive way too soon, but they still had time.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Mitch?” she breathed.
“I’m here. I’ll always be here, waiting for you. I’ve been waiting for you forever,” he whispered before he kissed her again.
Chapter Fourteen
By the timeDylan was finally dressed on Friday morning, he was in tears and Riley very close to having a meltdown herself. It was hard just putting one foot in front of the other, when every delicious moment of the previous night kept running through her mind, over and over.
Her insides were still shaking. She and Mitch had been together. They’d made love. Not once, not twice but… Inhaling shakily, she tried to remember how many times Mitch had reached for her, but her memory was a haze of tangled limbs and heavy breathing.
And then she’d snuck out of Mitch’s house without saying good-bye and ran back to Janice’s house in the bitter cold. It was a lousy thing to do, she knew it, but there was no way she could face him and not throw herself in his arms again, begging him to let her stay.
I’m here. I’ll always be here, waiting for you. I’ve been waiting for you forever—the words Mitch had whispered to her last night, refused to go away; they were seared into her memory forever.
He had to go to work, she had a plane to catch, and life was moving on, despite the earth-shattering experience in Mitch’s arms. It was probably said in the heat of the moment, and, as she recalled, there had been many of those.
Aunt Janice was in the kitchen already, and by the look of things, she’d made pancakes again, Dylan’s favorite.
Dylan rushed to her, threw his arms around her legs. “Mommy won’t let me stay with you, Aunt Janice!” he wailed.
With a quick look in Riley’s direction, Aunt Janice picked him up. “Well, now, you’re such a big boy, you can’t cry now. Come on, I’ve made pancakes.”
“Can I have mine with syrup?” He sniffled, the tears having miraculously disappeared.
“Of course, you may.” Aunt Janice smiled and pulled a chair out for Dylan.
Only when Dylan was happily eating his pancakes did Aunt Janice move closer to Riley. “You do know he’s more than welcome to stay with me.”
But Riley was shaking her head even before her aunt had finished speaking. “I don’t think I’ll be back for Christmas this year, Aunt Janice. Maybe next year. I just have too much work.”
“You’ve just demonstrated you can work from anywhere.”
“I have to do the shoots at location…”
“I know. And during those times, Dylan could stay with me or Vivian and Aiden or Craig and Annie.”
“My life… our life is back in Portland, Aunt Janice. Our home is there.”
Aunt Janice patted Riley’s hand. “Home is where the heart is, sweetheart, as both Craig and Aiden have come to realize. But I won’t pester you again; I’ve said my piece. I just want to add this—life doesn’t come with guarantees, my darling girl. You have to grab every chance of happiness you get; you never know how long you’ll have it. I hope you have a good flight and, remember, I’m here if you need me.”
Her phone rang. It was Annie. Again. When the phone rang again, Riley didn’t even check; she put it on silent. It would be Vivian. Again.
Studiously ignoring her aunt’s eyes, Riley turned away. “I’m taking the bags to the car.”
Mitch would get up any minute now, and she wanted to be long gone before that happened. She didn’t know what to say to Annie and Vivian. Once she and Dylan were back in Portland, she’d phone them. It would be a while, though, before she’d be ready to talk to Mitch.
