were messed up, but that wasn’t anything new. Marrying someone like my dad had been her sole aim when she’d been my age, after all.
I was not a younger version of my mother, though. Marrying into money wasn’t something I would ever worry about for many reasons. One of which was something she apparently needed a reminder about. “Your control over my life is nearing its end, Mother. As you pointed out, I’ll be eighteen soon. And when I am, I will receive distributions from the trust fund set up for me by my grandparents. If you push me too far away, you might not like the consequences,” I warned before turning away again.
“Your empty threats don’t frighten me, Emmeline. You’re much too sheltered to venture out on your own before college,” she scoffed before turning her attention back to her computer, effectively dismissing me.
“Think what you’d like, Mother. You always do.” I paused at the doorway for a final, parting shot. “I loved my grandparents dearly, but I never liked how they treated you. After spending years having them look down their nose at you, I’ll never be able to understand how you can act even worse toward Corby.”
After shutting the door behind me, I jumped at the loud crash of something being thrown against the hard surface. My knees were weak as I walked away, but I was proud of finally standing up for myself. I wasn’t about to let Corby spend the holiday alone just because my mother was a snob.
“I think this should be a new tradition.” I twisted my neck to look up at Corby. We cuddled in his bed, watching holiday movies as we polished off a whole pumpkin pie.
When I’d told Marta about my confrontation with my mother, she called the caterer and added an extra meal for me to bring over to the Whitney’s. They were in the Bahamas for the holiday week, so it was just the two of us. The roasted turkey breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry relish, and yeast rolls had been more than the two of us could eat. It tasted better than the fancy dishes my mother had picked—like the kale and quinoa salad and cauliflower gratin she’d gotten because they were gluten-free—and all we’d had to do was heat everything in the oven. “Which part?”
“All of it.” He grinned and stretched his arm out to set the almost empty pie dish on his bedside table. Then his arms went around me, his fingers stroking up and down my side.
His touch sent tingles racing down my spine. Rubbing my cheek against his chest, I murmured, “Dinner was great, but this is my favorite.”
“I’m going to take that as a challenge to make an already fan-fucking-tastic day even better.” His fingers dipped under the soft material of my shirt and trailed up to my breast, leaving me with no doubt where this was headed.
He’d given me several more orgasms in the past month, but I’d only had the chance to give him a hand job once. His Jeep was a comfortable ride, but it only allowed us so much room and privacy when we were messing around. This was the first time since our trip that we were alone on a bed, and that extra month together was exactly what I’d needed to feel more certain about our relationship and where it was headed. “I have complete faith that you’ll find a way to improve on perfection.”
He rolled us over until my back was pressed against the mattress and his big, muscular body hovered over mine. “Hearing you scream my name while you come will definitely do it for me.”
My core tightened at the sensual promise in his tone, but I had something better in mind than us making each other come. I cupped his cheek with my palm. “How about you take my virginity?”
Heat flared in his blue orbs, deepening the color. “Are you sure you’re ready to give yourself to me?”
“Yes, I’m beyond ready for this.”
The words were barely out before his mouth crashed down over mine. Things escalated quickly from there, and clothes went flying as we frantically stripped naked. It was as though my suggestion had broken the seal on all the pent-up lust between us, and there was no holding our chemistry back any longer. Each stroke of his tongue against mine and brush of his fingers across my skin drove me closer to the edge, and we’d barely even gotten started.
He groaned