Benevolent (22 page)

I fucking knew it! I knew she loved me. I couldn’t wipe the shit-eating grin off my face. She fucking fell in love with me. I had waited months to hear her admit it and nothing prepared me for what it would feel like to finally hear those words fall from her lips.

I pounced on her, threw my full body weight on top of her like a lion going after its prey. She let out a squealing laugh and I felt it through my whole body. I’m sure she felt it on hers, too, once I pressed myself into her. There was no denying my reaction to her.

“Dane, we still need to talk,” she huffed out in short breaths.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” I answered as my hand fished its way beneath her long dress until it found her sweet spot. She was so fucking wet. There was no denying her body’s reaction to me, either.

I moved the side of her underwear until my fingers were touching her bare cunt. I took one swipe through her folds, moving her juices from the back to her clit, before adding a little pressure until she moaned, “Mmm, don’t stop.” Her hips moved into my hand, finding a rhythm. Once she found one, I switched things up. She grunted in protest until I pushed a finger inside of her.

Oh sweet baby Jesus. I thought I would lose my load at the feeling. She was warm and wet. I pulled it out and then inserted two. My lips found hers but we could barely kiss beyond the heavy panting we were both doing.

“I’ve fucking missed this pussy,” I growled out into her open mouth.

“It has missed you, too.”

The last time it had taken me almost a day to bring her out of her quiet shell. Her words were what ran through my head on a loop every time I was in the shower. I wasn’t going to wait that long again. I needed to hear her.

“How much, Eden? How much has your pussy missed me? Tell me.”

“So fucking much.” Her voice was strained. Her answer wasn’t good enough, but I couldn’t stop finger fucking her. I wanted to stop until she answered me the way I wanted her to, but she was about to come and the sight of that was also something I had missed.

Her head arched back against the leather seat and her mouth opened. Her hips bucked up as she lifted her ass off the seat, pressing into my pumping fingers more. The lights from inside the limo lit up her face. I watched as it turned red just before her cunt tightened around my fingers and squeaky gasps were released into the cab. I thought I was about to nut right then as I watched her orgasm wash over her.

I let her ride it out before pulling my hand from beneath her dress. I tasted her come from my fingers as I licked them clean. She watched from her relaxed position in her seat and I saw the glimmer in her eyes as she took in what I was doing.

After only a second, she was up and on the floorboard in front of me. Her hands worked my pants quickly as she tugged them open and down just enough to spring my cock free. It was so heavy I knew it wouldn’t last long.

Her hand tightened around my shaft and she squeezed, looking me right in the eyes. She pulled herself up my body just enough to press her lips to my softly. I wanted more but she pulled her face away. I felt her hot and heavy breaths on my ear just before she spoke.

“You may have missed my pussy, but I can guarantee you I’ve missed your cock more.”

“Oh yeah?” I questioned her, egging her on for more.

“Yeah,” she said just before licking my ear and pulling my earlobe into her mouth. She pressed it between her teeth as she started slowly, achingly, jacking me off in her hand. “My hands have missed it. My pussy has missed it. And my mouth has missed it. But what I’ve missed most is the taste of your come on my tongue as I swallow it.”

“Eden,” I barely grunted out her name. “Sweetheart, I won’t last long. I’m just warning you now.”

She pulled her face back and smiled, landing one more soft kiss on my lips before moving her mouth to my ever-ready cock. Her tongue stuck out and licked the tip, sending a warming sensation straight from the head to my balls. It was just one quick lick, one flicker of her tongue, and then she wrapped her lips around it.

“Fuck, Eden,” I gasped, trying my hardest to not thrust to the back of her throat.

Without warning, she stopped what she was doing and backed away. I opened my eyes and looked at her, wondering why she had stopped. I gave her a confused look and she gave me that sexy smirk.

“I want you to fuck my mouth, Dane.”

“What?” Hearing the sexiest woman alive tell you to fuck her mouth should be a no brainer. You should answer with a fistful of hair and her mouth full of your dick. Asking “what” should not ever come out of your mouth.

“I said. I. Want you. To. Fuck my. Mouth. Is that a problem for you?”

I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. I reached out and took her by the back of the head, pulling her face to my lap. Once her mouth was covering my cock, I pushed her head down and pulled her back up by her hair.

I may have gotten five pumps in before I released my come in spurts to the back of her throat. I let my hold on her head go and she sucked my cock until it popped from her mouth. I had so much to say, but I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.

That was when I realized we were stopped. Looking out the window, I noticed we were home. I tucked myself back into my pants and then opened the door. Before the car drove away, I noticed a car in my driveway. I took one look at it and noticed it was Eden’s. I looked at her, silently questioning why and how her car was already there.

“Janette had something to do with that. And my bags are already inside.”

I needed to remember to give Janette a raise. “So is she the reason you’re here?”

“No. You are. But we still need to talk and I’m dying to see that dock.”

I wrapped my coat around her shoulders and we both headed through the house to the backyard. “Why did you ignore me for months, Eden?” I asked as soon as we sat down.

She took a deep breath and looked out over the lake. “I was angry, Dane. To begin with, I was pissed and angry. You chose her over me.”

“I don’t understand. You just told me on the way here that you fell in love with me because I cared about people. So why would you have been so mad at me for doing just that? I was doing exactly what you said you loved me for.”

She bit her lip and looked over at me. “There is a difference between being a caring person going to someone’s aid, than a reckless and angry man avenging the honor of the one he had once promised his future to. It makes it worse when he leaves behind the one he also promised to never abandon. You gave me no explanation, yet you had time to call Janette before getting arrested.” Her words were spoken carefully and full of pain.

“I’m so sorry, Eden. That’s not at all how I meant it to be.”

“Maybe not, but that’s exactly how it was. And I felt hurt and betrayed. I didn’t hear from you for a day and a half. You spent the night in jail and then went straight to Gabi again. I worked for you, Dane. You had to have known I would’ve found out where you went. There’s no way you could have been ignorant enough to think you could have gone to the hospital to see her immediately after being released from jail and I wouldn’t have found out. That turned the hurt and betrayal into anger.”

“So you were mad at me for months? I called you. I sent you flowers and gifts and text messages. I wrote you letters and sent emails. I explained to you and begged you to hear me out. I chose you, Eden.”

“I was angry when I left. That anger turned into pain. And that pain turned into resentment. I never asked you to choose me. I have always told you to choose you. And you didn’t do that.”

I could hear the emotion coming back in her voice. “I did, though.”

“When? When you went running to her the second her mom called? When you went running to her stepbrother’s house and beat the shit out of him? When you went to jail? When you went back to her? When was it, Dane? Because I don’t remember it.”

She was breaking me. I could physically feel myself breaking with her every word. They ripped me apart from the inside out, starting with my heart. “I know what it must’ve seemed like to you. And I wish with everything in me to take it all back. To do everything differently.”

“What would you have done differently?” she asked me, cutting me off. She wasn’t being condescending or sounding as if she were daring me to answer. Her question sounded genuine and sincere.

“I would have gone to you after I talked with her mom. I would have gone to you before going to Todd’s and told you what was going on. That’s what I would have done. But that also doesn’t mean I regret going after him. It wasn’t because I was avenging Gabi. I would’ve wanted to do that to anyone that did the things he had done. But since then, I left Gabi. I walked away. I moved on. I bought this house. I did it all while thinking of you and with the hope you’d come back. I’ve waited for you.”

Her hand reached to my lap. She laced her fingers with mine and stared at our joined hands. “I can’t lie, Dane. I’m still scared that she’s going to need you and you’ll go running.”

“She very well might need me, and I’ll be there for her. Just like I’d be there for anyone I care about. But that doesn’t mean I’ll leave you behind. I promise you now that I will let you know anytime I go to play the hero. I will discuss everything with you. From now on, I swear to you, you will be my partner in everything and decisions will be made together.”

“Wow, is it me or is getting really heavy here.”

“I’m serious, Eden. I’ve never been more serious about anything else in my life. I’ve spent months without you and I never want to spend another second like that again. Not one fucking second. I’ve told you a hundred times that I love you. You said it yourself that you love me.”

“What are you saying here?” she whispered with a shaky breath.

Out of nowhere, it hit me. Like a ton of fucking bricks. I had been so torn up about her leaving and ignoring me that I never put any thought passed actually getting her back. With her there, right in front of me, it was all so clear. Everything made so much sense and I couldn’t contain it.

“Marry me.”

I didn’t ask her, I told her. Because I wasn’t about to give her the option to say no. Everyone would say I was rushing it, but I didn’t give a shit. I wasn’t rushing anything. I was doing what felt right. And no one could tell me differently.

Her eyes grew large and her mouth fell open. She was silent for a moment before stumbling through her words.

“I just came back.”

“I know, and I’m not ever letting you leave again. I told you I wanted to be with you. I wasn’t lying. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to fall asleep next to you every night and wake up with you in my arms every morning. I want you to have my kids. I want to see your stomach get big and I want you to curse me out as you bring them into the world. I want to see you wear sweatpants around the house and fuck-me heels in the office. I want you to cook me breakfast naked when you do something wrong and you want to apologize to me.”

“That won’t happen,” she said with a laugh. “I never do anything wrong, so I won’t be apologizing for shit.”

“Then it looks like we’ll have a perfect life together because I’m perfect. I won’t fuck up, either. I’ll just have to find another reason for you to cook me breakfast naked.”

Her smile started to fade with her next question. “What if I can’t have kids?”

“Then we adopt. I met this awesome chick once that was adopted and she turned out all right. I’m sure people will be lining up for us to raise their kids, I mean look at us. We’re both sexy as hell, successful people. And we’ve just discovered we’re perfect. We could be like those people from
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
and adopt like fifteen of them.”

She laughed. “Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.”

“Yeah, those people.” I paused and looked at her, realizing what she was asking me. “Can you not have kids?”

“Would it matter if I couldn’t?” Her voice concerned me.

“Well, it would change things. For one, if you get fat you can’t blame it on a kid. But I would still love every pound of you. And it kind of takes away the fun of trying to conceive. But I don’t think that would stop me trying anyway. Would I love you less? No. Would I change my mind about spending the rest of my life with you? Fuck no. So, are you telling me you can’t?”

“No, that’s not what I telling you. I just want to make sure nothing will pop up and change things and make you go running for the hills.”

I pulled her into my lap so that she was straddling me. Her dress was bunched around her hips and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I kissed her quickly and then pulled back. “I love you, Eden. I love everything about you. You can make up fake situations all night long, and it won’t change that one fact. It won’t change how I feel about you and it certainly won’t change what I want. You can ask me what would happen if you gain four hundred pounds. My answer will still be that I’ll love you. You could lose a leg and I’ll carry you everywhere. If you lose a leg after you gain four hundred pounds, I’ll more than likely have to push you around in wheelchair, but I’ll still do it. If you decide you want to shave your head, I’ll make Mr. Clean jokes, but I will still love you. You see? It doesn’t matter what the future brings, as long as it brings it to us, together. Me and you. So…
Marry me
.”

I watched her lips curl up into a smile. The piercing above her lip twinkled in the moonlight and a tear slid from her eye. With a slight nod, she said, “Yes. Yes, Dane Kauffmann, I will marry you.”

“It wasn’t a question.”

With that, she laughed and kissed me.

I managed to pull myself up from the dock without ever letting her go. I carried her inside and laid her on the bed. It sounds gentle and loving, but it was anything but. It was frantic hands and panting breaths, fast tongues and hurried motions. We were both in a rush to get our clothes off that we were practically bare once we got to the room.

I ripped her lacy underwear off and she gasped. After that, she wouldn’t let me near her bra, so she took that off herself. I licked and kissed her ink-covered side as she finished undressing me. Within seconds, I was buried deep inside of her and I couldn’t help the grunt that came from my throat.

“Dane, I’m still not on birth control.” She stopped me and I held still inside of her.

I smiled down at her. “Then I guess we get to find out if you can get pregnant.”

“This is all so rushed.”

I laid quiet kisses on both sides of her mouth before landing one on her lips. I showed her softly with my tongue on hers how much I loved her as I slowly moved in and out of her. I could feel her respond to my bare cock as she grew wetter and wetter around it.

“Nothing about us is rushed. I’ve been waiting my entire life for you. That’s not rushed. I don’t want to wait another minute. If you don’t want to, I’ll stop, but unless you have condoms, I don’t.”

“Don’t stop,” was all she said as she dug her fingernails into my back.

I buried my face in her neck as I picked up speed. It was amazing. More amazing than I ever thought it could be. I had ridden bare back for years, but it never felt like that. She was hot and tight, wet and perfect. It was like her cunt was made for my dick and it was finally home.

“I fucking love you so much, Eden.”

She didn’t say anything back, only let out hot breaths of air against my ear. I felt her tighten around me and I began to pump faster. My hips moved in a circle and I pressed my pelvic bone harder into hers.

“Come for me, Eden. Come on my cock. I want to feel your come on my bare cock, now.”

And with that, she did. She arched her back and let out a scream unlike I had ever heard. It sent me spiraling and I didn’t think I would be able to hold out any longer. I began to pump faster, thrust harder, and the only noise above our heavy breathing was the sounds of my balls slapping her ass.

“I can’t… I can’t hold it,” I confessed. I wanted her to come with me. I wanted her to go one more time so we could come together. But instead, she wrapped her legs around my back, pressing the heels of her bare feet into my ass cheeks, and burying me further inside of her.

Her palms were flat on my back as she pressed her lips next to my ear. In the sexiest voice I had ever heard in my life, she said, “Come in me, Dane. I want to feel your come inside of me. Don’t hold on; let go.”

I didn’t need her to tell me twice. I slammed into her one more time before I felt the explosion all throughout my body. I came so hard I thought I had gone blind. My body jerked as it shot out of me until there was nothing left and I collapsed in Eden’s arms.

“I fucking love you,” was all I could say.

She ran her fingers through my hair, scratching my scalp with her nails. “I love you, too, Dane. I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone.”

That was the first time she actually said it. She actually said those three words that gave my heart reason to beat in my chest. They gave my lungs reason to fill with air and gave my lips reason to smile. She gave me a reason to live, really live, when all I had been doing before her was just surviving. I no longer wanted to just survive, I wanted to feel, laugh, love, and live. I wanted to love her for the rest of my life, and that’s exactly what I was going to do.

I looked into her eyes and saw the glimmer of tears. “What’s wrong?”

Her head shook from side to side against the pillow. “Nothing is wrong. Absolutely nothing. I just never thought I’d be here. I never imagined any of this happening. My life started when I met you, Dane, and when I moved here, I never could have pictured this is what would happen.”

“What did you think would happen?”

She laughed, giggled or whatever it was. I loved it, though. “I thought I would meet my birth mother and get a good job. I wasn’t thinking about boys or love. I didn’t plan on finding someone I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. I certainly never thought I would have an impromptu proposal.”

“Impromptu? Who said that’s what it was?”

Her eyebrow shot up and I couldn’t help but smile. “Dane, you can’t tell me that was planned.”

“Of course, I can’t. I didn’t know you were coming back. But just because I wasn’t planning on asking you when I did doesn’t mean I never planned to. I realized during that weekend we had together that you were the one I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. That was when I realized everything I ever wanted. I realized I did want it all, I just only wanted it with you.”

I watched her face fall slightly at my mentioning of that weekend we shared together just before she left. I knew it held a lot of emotion for the both of us, but it also held so much hope. She kissed my lips quickly and then pulled herself out from beneath me, heading to the bathroom.

I waited until she closed the door and then jumped from the bed, not bothering to put clothes back on. I knew I was on borrowed time and didn’t want to ruin anything. I ran to my closet and grabbed what I was looking for before rushing back to the room. I sat there and waited for the bathroom door to open back up.

Her face froze and her eyes opened wide as she stepped out of the bathroom. I was in front of her, on one knee, and holding up a ring. At first, she didn’t look at the ring; her eyes were fixed on mine. Then she glanced down and gasped, holding her hand up to her face to cover her opened mouth.

“I couldn’t wait on the dock to do it right. I blurted it out and didn’t give you the proper proposal all girls dream of. I’m sure being naked right now might also not be the right way and I’ll probably have to do this again. But I don’t care. I’ll ask you a hundred times, in a hundred different ways because that’s how much I love you.

“Eden Clare, from the moment I laid eyes on you I knew I was a goner. I knew at that moment that something had been missing in my life. What was missing was my heart. I know this because it didn’t start beating until I saw you. You taught me that everything happens for a reason. Janette gave you up for adoption, which led you here looking for her. She led you to me. You made a poor decision to date Eddy, but that proved to work in my favor because it led you to being on that boat with me. You rented a place right in front of my sanctuary and that nearly put you in my lap. Everything, Eden… everything that has happened to us over the course of our lives has put us in each other’s path. And for that, I cannot regret a single thing. I can’t for the life of me wish to change anything because that might change where we are right now. I know you already said yes, but would you humor me and say yes one more time? Will you, Eden Clare, marry me and spend the rest of your life with me?”

I had taken her hand in mine and held the ring in front of her finger. Just before I slid it on, waiting for her answer, she pulled her hand back. I wasn’t expecting it and it sent a shockwave of fear and panic through me.

“You already had a ring?” she asked as she stared at me with confusion in her eyes.

I looked down at the worn ring. It was no longer a perfect circle but that’s what I loved most about it. It meant that it had already been cared for, just waiting to fit Eden’s finger. I only hoped the size was right since that wasn’t something I ever thought about until just then.

Then it hit me. I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought about it before. “Yes, but if you’d rather pick out your own we can go in the morning and I’ll buy you whichever one you want.”

“When did you get it?” Her voice held so much worry. It didn’t make any sense to me.

“It was my grandmother’s ring. I got it after she passed away.”

“Was it…”

I felt my face fall as I suddenly realized her hesitation. “No. Gabi never wore it. I never thought to give it to her and to be honest with you, I never gave it any thought since she picked out her own ring. I guess I was saving it for the right person, and she wasn’t it. But the moment I knew I wanted to marry you, all I could think about was putting this ring on your finger.”

In less than a second, she pushed her hand back out in front of me and slipped the tip of her finger through the gold ring. I pushed it the rest of the way on, feeling the way it fit her perfectly, just like it had for Grans. Looking at the single diamond, encased with prongs in the shapes of hearts sitting on her left ring finger, made my whole world settle. Everything fell into place, just as she fell into my lap. The kiss she laid on my lips was warm and loving.

And with that, I pulled her back up on to the bed and made love to her. It wasn’t rushed. There were no frantic hands or hurried movements. There were no words other than the declarations of our love to one another. It was gentle movements, loving touches, and soft kisses. We made love until we both came together in each other’s arms. It was exactly where I wanted to be for the rest of my life.