Fatal Reckoning (Fatal #14)(16)

Nick held her tight against him. “There you are. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you just as much.” She ran her fingers through his thick dark hair. “It’s a little bit ridiculous that we can’t spend a week apart without losing it.”

“Tell me what you need, babe.” He caressed her back in small, soothing circles. “I’m so worried about you.”

“I’m…surprisingly all right and strangely relieved for him.”

“I can understand why.”

“You didn’t know him before. He was just so vibrant and full of life.”

“Like his daughter?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

He tipped her chin up and kissed her gently. “Whatever you need, I’m right here. Terry cleared my schedule for the week, so I can be with you and the kids and the rest of the family.”

“More kisses would be good.”

“You’re in luck. I have an endless supply with your name on them.”

Her joy at being reunited with her beloved husband helped her contend with the grief that had marked this surreal day. And while her heart ached over the loss she’d sustained, it soared with love for Nick. Soaring highs, crushing lows—the story of her life. And Nick… He was the highest of highs. Kissing him, touching him, being loved by him, somehow made everything better than it would’ve been otherwise.

Kissing her with a week’s worth of desire, he smoothly rolled her under him before easing back from the kiss to gaze down at her with concern, love and desire.

She reached for him, raising her hips in invitation. “I’m okay.”

He kept his hazel eyes open as he joined his body with hers. “Samantha… I can’t bear to be away from you.”

She curled her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips, feeling complete for the first time in a week. “I feel the same way. No more traveling.”

He dropped his forehead to rest against hers. “I told Terry if they want me to travel, you have to go with me, or I’m not going.”

“Can you do that?”

“They’re not going to fire me.” He kissed her lips and then her neck as he moved in her, filling her heart, soul and body the way only he could. “This was one of the longest days of my life, knowing you were suffering and I couldn’t get to you.”

“I felt almost worse for you than I did for myself. I knew you’d be losing it because you weren’t here.”

“I was losing it, and I hate that I wasn’t here when you needed me.” He picked up the pace, and they clung to each other, chasing the release that occurred in a moment of near-holy perfection, his body straining against hers as they came together, the tension inside her subsiding in the aftermath and leaving bone-deep exhaustion in its place.

She had wondered if she’d be able to sleep tonight, but safe in the arms of her love, she found the peace and comfort she needed to close her eyes and let it all go until the morning.





      CHAPTER SIX


SCOTTY CHOSE TO go to school because, he said, that was what his gramps would want him to do. “He was always telling me that there was nothing more important than a good education,” Scotty said over his usual bowl of cereal. “I’m going to try to take school more seriously for him. You think that would make him happy?”

Holding a cup of coffee as she leaned against the counter, Sam smiled and nodded. “That would make him very happy. He wanted to see you reach your full potential.”

“He was always saying the sky was the limit for me.”

“He really believed that.”

“Are you sure you don’t need me here today?”

“I always need you here, but I’ll be okay until you get home. You’re going to miss school for the funeral, so it’s a good idea to go today so you don’t get too far behind.”

He polished off the cereal, downed a glass of OJ and then stood to put the dishes in the sink. “How old do I have to be before I can have coffee?”

Sam handed him her mug, enjoying the surprise that lit up his expressive face.

He took a sip. “It’s kinda bitter.”

“It’s an acquired taste. Have some more.”

He took a second bigger taste. “Not bad.”

“Go brush your teeth.”

As he dashed out of the kitchen, he passed Nick, who was coming in. “Mom let me have coffee.”

Nick raised a brow in Sam’s direction. “Did she, now?”

“He had two sips. No biggie.”

“Don’t get him addicted to a morning boost or he’ll be a bear like you are until you get your fix.”

“A bear?”

“A gorgeous, sexy, delightful bear.” He kissed her forehead and then her lips. “But a bear nonetheless.”

“Only you can insult and compliment me all in the same breath.”

“It’s my special gift.” Resting his hands on her hips, he gazed down at her. “How’d you sleep?”

“Surprisingly well thanks to you and your special bedtime remedy.”

“It fixes a world of hurts.”

She put her mug on the counter and wrapped her arms around him. “Yes, it certainly does.”