Fall Into Temptation (Blue Moon Book #2)(59)

“What are we?” he asked her again.

Her gaze focused on the fairy garden she kept on her nightstand. Home and family stared back at her. “Lovers.” She sighed out the word.

The growl low in his throat told her he liked her answer.

“Is that enough?” he asked, quickening his pace ever so slightly.

For now, she thought. “Yes. Please, Beckett,” she begged.

His hand slid from her breast across her belly to nestle between her thighs where he teased her to her end. As she began to come, she sobbed out his name and felt her release force his.

They lay in silence for several minutes, Beckett’s lips softly murmuring words too quiet to hear.

“Why do you call me Gianna?” she asked, finally breaking the silence.

She could feel his lips curve against her. “It’s your name, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but everyone else calls me Gia.” She rolled over in his arms to face him.

“I’m not everyone else. And Gianna is a beautiful name. You’re a beautiful woman.” He circled the silk of her throat with his hand. “Bewitching. Sexy. Breathtaking.” He kissed her with each word.

“I like when you say my name,” she confessed. “Especially when you’re shouting it.”

He had the face of a heartbreaker and Gia knew she was already in danger.

“I like hearing all the things you shout out when I’m inside you.” His grin was devastating.

“This whole ‘get each other out of our systems’ thing doesn’t seem to be working too well so far,” Gia said, threading her fingers through his hair.

“I guess we’ll just have to keep trying,” he said, before bringing his mouth to hers.





23





Gia opened the back door to her little hatchback and Aurora, having freed herself from the bonds of the car seat, hopped out. “Come on, Mama! Ponies!”

Evan was already out and heading toward the barn, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. His quick pace ruined the casual disinterest he was going for as he hustled over the gravel.

Joey and Carter had invited the kids over for an informal riding lesson while Gia and Summer spent a few hours in the newly finished office talking magazine details.

Joey appeared in the doorway of the barn and lifted a hand in greeting. Gia watched in amusement as Evan ambled up to her and scuffed his sneakers in the dirt while they chatted.

Gia and Aurora caught up just as Carter ambled out of the barn. “Hi!” Aurora said, greeting them as she skipped from one foot to the other. “I get to ride Princess today, right?”

“That’s right,” Joey said, hands on hips. “But first we’re going to get some helmets and go over some basic safety.”

“Basic safety,” Aurora repeated, fluttering her arms and spinning in a circle.

“You sure about this?” Gia asked Joey.

“Don’t worry, I’ve read all about how to give horseback lessons online. It’ll be fine. Now, someone just remind me which end is the front again?” Joey quipped.

“Smarty pants,” Gia said.

Carter ranged himself against the barn door. “Looks like we got more company,” he said, nodding at the sleek muscle car that rumbled to a stop next to Gia’s little red hatchback.

Gia caught Joey’s frown as Jax slid out from behind the wheel.

“This is a closed lesson,” she snipped at him.

“I’m not here for a lesson. Canon been out yet?”

Joey shrugged a shoulder. “Not yet.”

“Good.” Jax brushed past her into the stable. The look Joey shot him would have felled a lesser man. But Jax ignored it and stalked inside.

Gia felt herself break into a sweat at the heat pumping off of them. If anything were to spontaneously combust, it would be Jax and Joey. Someday.

Carter was grinning until Joey elbowed him in the ribs. His breath wooshed out of him and Aurora giggled.

“Oh, you think that’s funny, pipsqueak?” He grabbed her and tossed the giggling girl over his shoulder.

“Watch out, she’s a puker,” Evan warned.

Carter carefully sat Aurora back on her feet.

“Again, Car! Please?” she begged.

“When did you last eat?” he asked her.

“Just over an hour ago. You’re probably out of the projectile zone,” Gia reassured him.

They watched as Jax thundered across the riding ring on a black thoroughbred. Gia held her breath as they approached a four-foot jump. The horse cleared it cleanly without a hitch in his stride and galloped off through the open pasture gate.

“Whoa,” Evan whispered.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” Gia offered to Joey.

Joey stared holes in the back of Jax’s shirt until he and Canon disappeared over a ridge. She shook her head grimly. “I got this.”

Gia reluctantly left her children in Carter and Joey’s hands after Carter promised to text her pictures and wandered back to the farm.

She found Summer on the second floor of the barn. The office was done, finished by Calvin’s team with a few Pierce touches. Everything was white and bright. The new windows on either end of the floor let in a flood of natural light. The long wall across from the stairs was done entirely in white shiplap. The wide-plank floor, replete with decades of scars, had been sanded down and stained light.