Ten Thousand Words (46 page)

I came so fucking hard.

Next thing I knew, I collapsed on top of her, panting for breath. My love held me close, her hands cradling my head. She’d drained the rage from me, leaving me wonderfully weak and feeling liquid.

Rolling off, I sat up and pulled the rest of my clothes off.
Shit.
I had fucked her with my socks on again.

Wicked woman, she snickered at me as I yanked them off and tossed them on the floor.

“What?” I grumped.

“I used to think you were this suave and sophisticated man.”

“I was. You’ve turned me into an absolute beast. You’ve made me sink to your depraved levels, woman.”

She giggled, making me grin. Pulling her into my arms, I helped her remove her shirt and bra. Beast that I was, I shoved her down on her back, so I could bury my head between those amazing tits.

“Life’s a hell of a lot more exciting on your level,” I confessed.

“Damn right.”

Xanthe

The next morning, we went out to breakfast at one of Ollie’s favorite cafés not far from the bookshop. He ordered the each of us a café au lait, eggs, sausage, and fried potatoes.

“Is that all right?” he asked as the server left to place our food order.

I nodded, taking a sip of my coffee.

“I’ve been thinking…”

“Uh-oh,” I joked.

“Yeah…” He sipped his coffee and cleared his throat. “I was thinking that we should decide where we want to live.”

My brain went blank. “What?”

He nodded. “I know it’s quick, but we sleep in the same bed every night. I can’t even imagine waking up without you anymore. I don’t want to. So…”

Gnawing on my lower lip, I gazed out the window. True, we’d been involved for over a month, and no, we hadn’t slept apart since the night he came back from London. But…

“What makes you so certain that this is what you want?” I asked.

He waited until I looked at him before answering, “Because you’re the only thing I want anymore, Xanthe.”

“That’s not true,” I scoffed. “Your work—”

“My life means nothing if I can’t share it with you. Hell, half the shit I even do anymore is because you made it possible.” He took a deep breath. “This is the happiest I have ever been. You’re more than just my woman. You’re my best friend. You’re what I look forward to after I finish work and what I dream about when I fall asleep. When I wake up and see you, my day is already made. Isn’t that enough to want to move in together?”

Being honest with myself, I knew that I didn’t want to wake up without him either. Seeing him strolling up to the bookstore was always the highlight of my afternoon. I hadn’t been this carefree or full of joy and laughter in a really, really long time—if ever.

“Where do
you
want to live?” I asked.

His smile was so bright and blinding. I had to blink to see beyond it.

“Well, there are advantages to both our places. Yours is closer to our jobs, but I’ve already got my place set up with a dark room. You could have the room next to it for your own work. But I love how your place is so…homey. And I like the way it smells.”

“The way it smells?”

“It smells like you.”

“Weirdo,” I said under my breath.

“Mmm…you might be right about that.”

I sighed. “Do I need to give a definite answer today? We don’t sleep apart, we’re with each other every day, and it doesn’t matter to either of us where we are for that to happen.”

Oliver nodded in agreement. “I just wanted to let you know where my head is.”

That made me smile. Reaching across the small table, I squeezed his free hand. “I like where it’s at. And…”

“And?”

“You’re my best friend, too.”

“You know we can’t let Trey or Jaime know that,” he said conspiratorially.

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to talk to Ellen before I head to work today,” he informed me.

“Oh, yeah? About what?”

“About you coming with me when I need to leave on business.”

“Don’t you think you should talk to me about that first?” I asked, my temper sparking.

“I’m speaking with you now, aren’t I?” he replied. “If I have to leave, you’re coming with me. I’m not leaving you here with that asshole walking free. It’s not happening, and it’s not up for debate. I’m pretty sure Ellen and the others will agree with me.”

“You do realize, I’m an adult, correct?” I snapped. “I’ve survived for nearly thirty years, left my father’s house, made my own way, and supported myself—”

“It’s not about your competence, Xanthe. It’s about your fucking safety!” he snapped right back. “And I’m not going to go insane, worrying about it, because I’m not here. You can work from anywhere in the world. The bookstore is just something you
do
, and you can’t tell me otherwise. Do you even get paid for working there?”

My jaw clenched. “I
work
there because I love it, Ollie.”

It was more than that though. The bookstore was a safe house, an information hub for the Locals and the victims we helped. While it had been quiet the past few months, it wouldn’t always be, and if I wasn’t there to help Ellen…there was always Jaime.

So, there wasn’t any reason to object at this point.

He shrewdly looked at me. “You don’t get paid, do you?”

Mashing my lips flat, I refused to answer him. I made enough money from my writing to support myself, and especially now, I was making a staggering amount. Before that, I’d lived off the insurance-policy money from my mother’s and grandmother’s deaths. That alone had made it possible for me to make it in the world.

“Well?” he demanded.

“No, I don’t get paid to be there,” I conceded. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a responsibility to my family. I don’t
need
to be paid by Aunt Ellen—”

“I know, love. I think it’s wonderful that you do that for her. But you’re a well-respected published author with a huge following. You should be able to travel the world with your man if you want.”

“What if I just want to hang out in my aunt’s bookstore?” I asked.

“I’m not saying you can’t.”

It would be fun to travel around with Oliver, see the world as he did. I imagined that he had lived quite glamorously up until he met my plain, boring self.

Good God.
How in the hell did I manage to capture this man’s love and devotion?

“I guess it wouldn’t be too bad to travel around. Jaime or Rex can help Aunt Ellen if she needs it, and she can take Beefcake.”

He sighed. “Thank you.”

Oliver was in such a good mood on the way to the shop that we stopped at Helmersen’s for more coffee. He got one for Ellen, too, no doubt in an attempt to butter her up for his talk. It wasn’t needed. Aunt Ellen would be more than happy that Oliver wanted to take me away with him whenever the mood struck him.

Aunt Ellen really didn’t
need
me at the shop all the time. When the Locals required us, we’d usually have a few weeks’ notice to prepare. Aunt Ellen handled the information channels. The most responsibility I had with that was delivering the news to the appropriate people.

Aunt Ellen had already opened for the day, so we made our way inside.

“Morning, Aunt Ellen,” I called out.

Her steel-gray head popped up from behind the counter. “Morning, sweetheart.”

“Ellen, do you have a minute?” Oliver asked.

“Of course.” She smiled.

The two of them headed to the back of the shop, Ollie handing her a strong double espresso on the way.

I pulled out my laptop and started my daily routine. Nothing new or exciting going on. There were several new Donovan/Ollie fan groups forming. That made me smile.
Poor man. He’ll never escape the role now.

My phone chimed with a text message. Checking it, I saw that it was from Jaime, letting me know that Ricki was safe and on his way home.

Oliver came out from the back, looking happy and at peace with himself. “She’s cool with it.”

“Cool,” I replied, not at all surprised.

“It’s a pretty light workday for me,” he told me. “A couple of hours, and I’ll come back, okay?”

“Okay.”

He gave me a kiss that was completely inappropriate for a bookshop. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Watching him walk out, I didn’t think I had ever felt so amazing in my entire life. Oliver might have found his goddess, but I knew better. I was the one who had found my Donovan. That made me the luckiest person on the planet.

Xanthe

With the holidays only days away, Oliver and I decided it was best not to discuss moving in together until after the New Year.

“It was going to happen sooner or later anyway,” said Jaime after I’d confessed to her my and Oliver’s conversation. She had ditched the tattoo shop for the day, Rex filling in for her so that she could come hang out with me.

It was the last day the bookstore would be open until after New Year’s. The next day, Oliver, Trey, Rex, Aunt Ellen, and I would be flying to England. Part of me wished that my father would just come here since Jaime and Ricki couldn’t come with us. Ricki’s past was far too dangerous for him to risk going back to England.

But it was important to Oliver to introduce me to his family. His sister, Cynthia was flying in from Brazil with her husband, Pedro, and their son, Matteo. William, Ollie’s brother, and his fiancée, Elisa, were coming, too. His youngest sister, Tessa, was only seventeen and still lived at home with their mother and father.

Oliver’s mother was apparently sky-high with happiness that he’d met someone to settle down with. I was absolutely terrified to meet his parents. I had to wonder what they would think when their big, beautiful son brought home a bespectacled, tattooed, frizzy-haired woman.

“What are you going to do when you guys get there? Has Ollie told you yet?” Jaime asked.

“No. And he won’t. I just know we’re all on the same flight. I guess he got the tickets.”

Jaime sighed. “I hate not being able to go with you. Next year, you guys have to stay here, okay? Ricki always gets a little depressed. It’s no fun when you just have a wife to hang out with.”

“Bullshit. You’re the only person he wants to be around.”

Ricki’s boys had tracked down George again. He had shacked up in another hostel and was keeping a damn low profile. According to the reports, he was staying in De Wallen and had gotten a job as a dishwasher in an Indian restaurant.

“We’re all the family Ricki really has,” Jaime said. “I think he misses how it was for him, growing up.”

“Yeah,” I replied. In fact, I did. Maybe not in the same context, but I knew how it felt to be ripped from a certain way of life and dumped into a completely different one.

Ricki’s tales of horror—along with Ronen’s and most definitely Rex’s—had certainly aided my writing career though.

“So, how’s the fifth book coming along?”

“Great. I’ve been inspired to write a lot more sex, which will probably hit the chopping block in the end. Maybe you can help me with that.”

Beefcake jumped up on the counter and sat his furry rump on my laptop.

“Hmm…guess we’re not allowed to research today,” joked Jaime.

“He just likes it because it’s warm.”

“Fat ass. He’ll set himself on fire.”

Jaime and Ricki were taking Beefcake over the holidays. Normally, he’d be coming with me, but I didn’t want to stress him out too much with driving back and forth from London and Oxford.

We were all going out to dinner tonight. It was the last one we’d have as a family for the year. Oliver and Trey were coming with us to the Chinese buffet for all-we-could-eat snow crab. We hadn’t gone since we ran into Oliver and Bianca twined around each other on the sidewalk.

“Do you think Ollie and Trey have ever eaten at a place like King’s Buffet before?” Jaime mused.

“Well, maybe not like King’s. I’m sure Trey will be scandalized. But Oliver was excited when I told him where we were going.”

“Maybe they should take probiotics before we go. Their high-class asses might not be able to digest the lower-class biological warfare going on at King’s.”

I snickered. “Yeah, maybe.”

Fifteen minutes later, Trey and Oliver showed up, and Aunt Ellen materialized from upstairs, looking snazzy.