Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“Yay!” Owen exclaimed. “Now Daddy can sleep over!”
I laughed and pulled him in tight for a hug, and Graham wrapped himself around both of us. At that moment, I didn’t know if it was possible to be any more in love.
28
GRAHAM
In the last six months, I had gone from standing on the mound, looking down at Mallory and knowing that I was about to do something that would change our lives forever, all the way to this moment. Standing on the balcony of our honeymoon suite, holding her in my arms and listening to the sound of the ocean as waves crashed in the distance.
The night had come, blanketing the sky in inky blackness, pockmarked by the brilliant blue-white lights of stars. It was warm but not hot as the breeze picked up the edges of my loose shirt and cooled me down. The light, white cotton dress Mallory wore fluttered high as she spun, then I pulled her close, collapsing it between us as we danced.
Laughter bubbling up between us was the only other sound besides the waves as we danced on the balcony, no one else anywhere nearby. It was by design. A fan from Montreal had contacted me when the news of my engagement filtered out and asked if I would be interested in being the face of his vacation properties. It was my first experience with selling my image after leaving the majors, and the payoff was simple. For as long as I was doing it, I could stay at any of their properties for free. Including the private island we were on now.
It was secluded and remote, an offshoot of a larger set of islands in the Caribbean but designed for one purpose only: to be the getaway of the pampered. There was electricity and running water, Wi-Fi and satellite, all the perks and amenities a person could ask for, but after nine in the evening until seven the next morning, no one else was on the island but the guests. It was a private oasis, only ever invaded by a host of cooks and maids and assistants willing to cater to every whim and desire.
Not that we used many of them.
Mallory and I spent most of our time wandering down the beaches, swimming in the crashing waves and lying naked in the sand. Now with an old record player crooning out music from the roaring twenties, we danced on the balcony and celebrated the fact that we were all alone, yet again.
It was undeniably perfect. I couldn’t imagine anything being as wonderful as being married to Mallory. As knowing that we would be a family from now on. As much as both of us missed little Owen, we knew he was having the time of his life with his grandmother, and we could check in with him whenever we wanted. It just made it so much easier to enjoy ourselves and each other in the oasis of our own love.
As she spun back into my arms yet again, I dipped her and kissed her again. It was a long, passionate kiss, and we both knew where it was going. There was no need to speak. Our chemistry was so strong, our passion so hot, that communication was silent. She knew from my kiss what I wanted. I knew from her response what she wanted too.
I pulled her up, and she smiled as her eyes burned into mine. I smiled back and hooked a thumb under one strap of her dress. Gently, slowly, I pulled it off so it fell halfway down her arm. She looked down at it and then hooked the other strap with her own thumb and let it fall too. She took one step back from me and pulled her arms together, the dress falling down to her hips.
Her perky breasts were free, unburdened by anything underneath in the freedom and warmth of the private island. Her skin seemed to glow in the moon and starlight, and I groaned in appreciation. Pushing down on the dress by her hips, she scooted all the way out of her dress and let it pool by her feet. Picking it up with her bare toes, she tossed it toward me and giggled as I caught it.
She was a vision standing before me, naked except for a thin, sultry thong, which she turned to let me see all of. Walking away from me, she went to the marble railing and looked out over the ocean, turning back to gaze at me over her shoulder.
I unhooked the button of my shorts and let them fall off. The shirt was next, tossed away to lie near the chairs set out for sunbathing. All that was left were my boxers, and as she looked me up and down with eyes that beckoned me, I dropped them as well.