Between quips and small talk, I got very little out of Gannon. He, however, found out that I lived in Rosemary Beach, that my father was the rock legend Kiro Manning, and that I had two siblings from Kiro, neither of whom had much to do with me, one sibling from my mother whom I was very close to, and a nephew I adored.
Somehow he had managed to keep me talking while evading all questions directed at him. Stubborn man.
Major
This was quite possibly the dumbest thing I’d ever done, but I was drunk and pissed off. I wasn’t walking my ass to Mexico. Hell the fuck no. Who in their right mind thought I was that stupid? Fuck that shit. I was going where I wanted to go.
Right after I dropped off this little note to Nan. I stumbled up her front steps and unlocked her door using the code I knew by heart, then disabled her alarm. Once it was safe to enter, I glanced down at my black clothing, grinning at my breaking-and-entering gear. I’d thought this shit through. Over eight shots of tequila.
Right there on her kitchen counter, I placed a note. It was simple and not as fancy as those colored envelopes Cope had given me to give her. This one wouldn’t have any lovely love sonnets or whatever the hell were in them. Nope . . . this one would have the truth. What she needed to know.
Because damn if she wasn’t innocent. She was too superficial and worried about her next manicure and trip to Paris to be in with a criminal. That wasn’t Nan. If Cope didn’t see that yet, then he wasn’t as great as everyone thought he was. He needed work.
The thing was, I didn’t think he believed that Nan was involved with anything. He’d been watching her as she ate, slept, watched the fucking TV, showered, and whatever the hell else she did for two months. He knew she was innocent. Why he was determined to prove otherwise I wasn’t sure. But she needed to know it.
I looked around her house one last time and felt a twinge of sadness. I’d miss Nan. I’d miss the fun times we did have before it all went to shit. Maybe she might have been the one for me. Maybe if I’d loved her when she had wanted me to, she would have changed my life. But I hadn’t, and now she was out of my reach.
I owed this to her. She needed to know the truth. What they were doing to her was wrong. Nan was special. She’d been misunderstood her entire life, and this was just one more cruelty she would have to overcome. She’d never forgive me, and my telling her would only make her hate me more.
But she meant enough to me that I wanted her to know. She would probably be my one that got away, the one I’d remember years from now and wonder about. It was done now. All of it.
It was time I peaced out.
Nan
My body was beautifully exhausted when I stretched the next morning. Sunlight was streaming into my suite, and strong arms were around me, pulling me against a wide chest that made me feel safe. After our delicious meal and two bottles of wine, we had come back up to my suite and had incredible hot sex for hours.
Never had I actually had sex for two hours straight. I didn’t know that was possible. That wasn’t even counting the foreplay, either. Straight-up sex that went on for two hours. I’d lost count of my orgasms. He was better than my dreams but so similar.
I touched my cheek. The slap he’d given me had startled me, because I’d thought that happened in my dreams only. Apparently, I had been wrong. It didn’t sting, and I knew there would be no mark left. I moved my hand to touch my shoulder, which had been bruised from my too-real dream, and it was still tender. Gannon hadn’t even mentioned it, but then, we had been kind of preoccupied.
“You’re on birth control.” It wasn’t a question as much as a statement, but I still nodded my head. He didn’t even sound as if he had been sleeping. His voice was the same deep, smooth darkness as always.
“I’m clean. I get tested often, and since I was last tested, I haven’t been with a woman.”
We had gotten carried away last night, and the condom had broken. Neither of us had seemed to care and had continued on after he ripped it off and tossed it. This morning, I hadn’t even been worried about it. I trusted Gannon. It was probably stupid, but I couldn’t help it. I just did.
“Me, too,” I told him. “I’ve never had unprotected sex, though. Until now.”
His arm tightened around me. “Good. I don’t want to have anything between us again.”
My heart did a silly flip, and I wrapped my arms around his and smiled. I was happy. Completely and totally blissful. Never in my life had I felt like this. I knew he wanted me. I knew he would protect me. And I had fallen in love with this insane, brilliant, sexy man. I hadn’t meant to. I never let my heart actually love, but I had this time. I’d let it love him because it trusted him.
I wasn’t sure he could love in return, but I’d enjoy what he did give me. Until he left. Closing my eyes tightly, I tried to keep the sadness of that thought away. I was happy, and I would enjoy it. Every moment I got.
“Do you want to run after breakfast?” he asked close to my ear, and I shivered from the warm tickle of his breath.
“Yes,” I replied. If he was going, I wanted to be there.
“I know a good place. It’s where I run when I’m in town.”
Smiling, I snuggled closer to him.
“You keep wiggling that hot ass on me, and we’ll fuck before breakfast. I was going to give that tight little pussy a break this morning, but you’re asking to be fucked.”
The naughty way he talked about sex made me want more of it. He was right, I was sore, but when he talked to me like that, I didn’t care. I wanted more. So I did what any woman in my position would do. I wiggled my ass.
He had me pressed on my stomach, jerking my bottom up with his tight grip on my waist, before I could draw another breath. Two pillows were shoved under my stomach, and then his hand came down hard on my left butt cheek. “You want fucked. I’ll fuck you.”