A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(84)

The towel was pulled away from Parker’s body, and Garrett’s clothes were quickly shed. The words had finally been spoken and now the actions took their place. Garrett kissed his way down Parker’s body, savoring every inch of her, finally accepting she was his. He worshiped every spot that his mouth touched, repeating the words of love after each press of his lips against her. He brought her to release with his mouth and knew he’d never hear anything sweeter than the sound of Parker shouting his name.

She pulled his body up the length of hers, needing him close and his skin touching her everywhere. She traced Garrett’s lips with her fingertips and sighed in contentment when he slowly pushed into her. They moved together, never once breaking eye contact. There was more meaning in the touches and greater significance in the way that they fit together. Everything was heightened and nothing was lost on either one of them. They both knew everything about this moment would change them forever. They both understood there was no going back.

Garrett didn’t know how he ever survived without the knowledge of Parker’s love before. He was overwhelmed with emotion as he rocked against her and pulsed inside of her. He felt like he could finally breathe but at the same time, he felt a clawing tightness in his throat with the need to keep repeating his words of love so she’d never forget.

Parker’s legs wrapped tightly around Garrett’s hips, and her arms held him firmly against her as she flew over the edge of another release, arching her back with the force of pleasure that coursed through her body. Garrett never wanted the moment to end, but she was slick and throbbed around him as he pushed deeper. She craned her neck forward and pressed her mouth against his, pulling away just enough to tell him she loved him again. Her soft words ghosted against his lips, and he came fast and hard, her name echoing into the room as he shouted his pleasure and spilled inside of her.

Parker fell asleep wrapped in Garrett’s arms, exhaustion from the day’s events and admissions finally taking its toll on her. Garrett wanted to know what exactly happened out on the dock. He wanted to know how it was possible she hadn’t been on board when it exploded.

Now more than ever Garrett knew the timing of Parker’s job offer for the CIA, her friend Lacie Butler’s death, Milo’s trip to the Dominican, and the formation of The Target Agency all happening at the same time hadn’t just been a coincidence. There was something more than a little suspicious about all of those facts lining up, and he knew that he and Parker needed to talk about those things immediately.

For now, he pulled her in close and let the woman he loved sleep. He closed his eyes and prayed that nothing would ever ruin the perfection of this night.





Chapter Eighteen



“I did board the boat. I looked around for a few minutes before I realized I left my camera in the car and needed to have it in case I came across something,” Parker explained to Garrett as he drove them back to the resort, early the following morning.

Now that everything was on the table between them, so to speak, Parker had no problem resting her hand on Garrett’s thigh while he drove, and Garrett had no problem lifting her hand to his lips so he could kiss the back of it every time they came to a stop.

After the horror of yesterday, it seemed frivolous to both of them that they had wasted so much time denying their hearts what they really wanted. It took a near-death experience for them to finally realize they needed to take hold of every moment together and cherish it. Professing their love for each other had been so easy. They’d both been so stupid and blind, wasted so much time not talking; all they wanted to do now was tell each other everything.

“I was so jealous when I came back to the resort and saw you with Cole the other night,” Garrett told Parker with a sheepish smile, glancing over at her nervously to gauge her reaction.

He’d been doing that ever since they left the hotel that morning, throwing in little tidbits of his feelings while she explained what happened the previous day. It felt good to finally say those things out loud, but at the same time, it helped ease the ache in his chest while Parker replayed the events for him. Garrett had barely slept the night before. He was afraid if he closed his eyes, he would wake up and realize he lost everything, that he'd open his eyes and find out he never pulled Parker from the water, never heard her tell him that she loved him. Garrett had held her body close and watched her sleep, felt her low, even breaths until the sun shone through the window.

Parker let her head fall back on the head rest and stared at Garrett’s profile as he navigated the streets, taking in his strong jaw line, the slope of his nose, and the way the sunlight streaming in through the front windshield of the car highlighted the dimples in his cheeks.

“You had nothing to be jealous of. Cole is like a big brother to me,” Parker told him softly.

Garrett brought her hand up to his lips once again, this time kissing the inside of her palm. She knew he was trying to keep her calm as she went through the events from the day before, and it made her love him even more. Parker knew he had been scared. When he pulled her from the water his eyes roamed frantically over her checking for injuries and he refused to leave her side or stop touching her in some way the entire night and this morning, as if to reassure himself that she was really okay. She knew it had affected him and forced him to think about losing another person in his life and that had been the catalyst to him pouring his heart out to her, but he would put all of that in the back of his mind to make sure she was okay first. Parker was finally realizing that it was all about her when it came to Garrett; that it always had been. For all these years, he always put her feelings first, always made sure she was taken care of that she was okay. That’s why he never acted on his feelings for her, because he only wanted her to be happy. He saw her happy with Milo and vowed to never do anything to ruin it for her. Parker wanted to crawl across the car and climb onto Garrett’s lap to be as close to him as possible. She wanted to roll down the window and shout her happiness to the world. But all that would have to wait. Right now they needed to concentrate on what happened at the marina.