Page 127 of Forever Wild
Everly hasn’t stopped smiling since we left her apartment.
Leaning against the doorway of the villa that leads out onto the patio where we have our own pool just steps from the beach, I can’t take my eyes off her.
“This cannot be real.” She turns in a circle on our patio, arms wide and head tipped up to the sun. She’s a goddess.
I come up behind her and she flings her arms around my neck and looks up at me with wonder in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Umm…bringing me on vacation,” she says with a small laugh. “I kept pinching myself on the jet. I can’t believe this is your life.”
“No thanks needed. I have you all to myself for the next thirty-six hours.”
I had planned for us to come up last night but that was before I knew she’d gotten an offer on the house and wantedto celebrate with her friends.
I scoop her up into my arms and walk into the pool with her. We’re both still in our travel clothes but I don’t care. Her legs wrap around my waist, and I kiss her deeply as we sink into the water up to my shoulders.
Her hands glide over my shoulders and around my back.
“You’re a pretty great guy, Jack Wyld. Generous and kind, and you’re good at knowing just what to do to make people around you feel seen and heard.”
“Is that a nice way of saying I’m commanding and heavy-handed?”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit. People look to you constantly for guidance and reassurance. They know that when you’re around, everything is going to be okay. You would do anything for the people you care about. I’ve seen it so many times with your team, but over the past few months, I’ve seen just how far your devotion reaches. Your community, your dad, me. I can’t think of a single person that makes me feel more free to be me. And trust me, that is a gift.”
My skin prickles as she hands me the compliment while looking at me so intently. No tease or sass. She means it, and I soak up her words, hoping they’re true. Hoping I’m good enough for her.
“I would do anything for you,” I confirm. “I would have before, but now…”
She waits for me to finish the sentence.
“I am in love with you.”
Whatever she expected me to say, it’s clear that wasn’t it. My heart pounds in my chest. I have never said those words to anyone.
“I don’t expect you to say it back now or maybe ever, but for as long as you want me, I’m yours, Ev.”
She sighs audibly and then brings her mouth to mine. Her softlips rest there, and we breathe each other in.
“I love you too.”
My chest tightens and I grab the back of her head and kiss her like a man completely in love. I don’t know how I’m going to keep showing her how much she means to me, but I know I’ll never get tired of trying.
I peel her out of her shirt and send it flying toward the patio with a wetthunk. She giggles and we struggle to get me out of my shirt next. Pants are easier.
“Look at you,” she says. “Skinny-dipping again.”
“The things I do for you,” I say, teasing like it’s a real inconvenience. I’d risk public nudity for her any day.
Her back rests against the side of the pool and her legs wrap around my waist. Gently, I nudge the head of my cock against her entrance.
“Are you ready for me?” I ask.
She nods. “Always.”
I push in slowly, letting her adjust to my size. She sighs and a smile of pure pleasure turns up the corners of her lips.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this.”
