All in the Timing Read online

  “I’m very interested.” She was stymied. She was standing there talking to Frank fracking Carver about them getting into a thing together and being calm about it. “I have been interested in a ‘thing’ with you since I was sixteen and you came back from one of your tours in Iraq.” He had served in the military. She had written him daily, but had been too shy to send them. She was an idiot and knew it.

  The odd look from earlier skated over his face in the time it took her to take a breath, and was gone when she exhaled. “Are you really ready for it, though?” he asked. His tone was plenty serious, but his eyes held a bit of laughter in the light green-grey-hazel depths. As close as they were standing, she could actually see the individual colors that made up his eyes. “You do realize it means dealing with my mother, my obnoxious brothers, all of their significant others, and the townsfolk. Especially since I will need to leave again for a time to deal with several matters that absolutely must be dealt with before I can settle down once and for all.”

  “As long as you are a part of the package, I’m totally ready to deal with it all.” She wrapped a hand closer to pull him tighter to her body. “I want this with you. I really do. I want everything to do with this. You will come back, right? You will come back after you deal with everything that you need to?”

  “Of course I will,” he said in a gentle tone. His arms slid around her body, holding her close. “I will come back, and we will fend off everyone together. Now, since I’ve been fantasizing about this since you legally became an adult…” Trailing off, Frank lowered his head and kissed her. Not a tentative kiss. Not even one that worked up a slow build of heat. No, Frank went all in right off the bat, and didn’t give her more than a second to catch up to him.

  Eli gasped when he kissed her, but then the moment his tongue touched hers, she went a bit loose in his arms and moaned, holding onto him as she kissed him back. Her hands moved to the back of his head and held him to her. She whimpered and allowed the kiss to deepen even more.

  She felt more than heard the low growl he let loose. It rumbled into her mouth and through her torso. His arms tightened around her while he backed her up until something solid bumped into her ass. A quick move from him and she was sitting up on the counter, his body pressing in closer to hers.

  When they parted, she was panting, and loved it. “Goodness. I think that we need to kiss like that a lot. In fact, I can’t fathom a reason for the two of us to not kiss often. Can you?” She wanted everything with this man and if that meant she was pushing fast then so be it.

  “None at all,” he told her. Moving a hand to cup her cheek, he rubbed his thumb lightly to her lower lip. “I definitely plan on kissing you, often, and everywhere I can. I’m also not referring to locations outside of this house either, so we are clear.”

  She felt herself blushing and then pressed her forehead to his chest. Grinning, she moved in so that she could hug him. “Good,” She whispered. “Because I’m never letting you go. Just so you know. I’ve missed out far too long with you and I don’t want another moment without you.”

  He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m not going anywhere, Eli,” he whispered. “You have me for as long as you want me, promise. Now let’s finish cleaning up, have our pie, and then I plan on spending the night learning all your secrets.”

  “I look forward to that.” Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and, together, they got the kitchen and dining room cleaned up fully. Once that was accomplished, they moved into the living room. “Do you need to go and get anything so that you can stay, or did you bring a bag with you?”

  “I have a bag in the truck,” he told her. Setting his plate with his “naked” pie down on the coffee table, he settled onto the sofa and dragged her down against his side. Only once she was settled in to his apparent satisfaction did he collect his own dish. “I’ll grab it when I go out to let the others pop in for a break and some food.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Maybe you should introduce me to the others so that I don’t feel the need to lash out at them if they come in? Just asking, that is.” She grinned. “Because, honestly, I’m not at all sure about anything at the moment, or rather, anyone other than you.”

  “I will introduce you to them so you know them and can feel confident in calling out to them should there be need. Brant trusts each and every one of them, I should mention. I also checked them out in my own way, and they are all good guys. Not that I’d suggest you get too friendly with them. I’d really hate to have to tell my brother there was an accidental gun discharge over here. I somehow don’t think he’d buy that it just went off.”

  “You are the only one that I want to become very friendly with, in the most intimate of ways possible.” She looked up at him with a frown. “You really don’t think that I would just jump on one of them, do you? I mean, for the love of God, I’ve had one lover, only one, and that was just so many ways of wrong. You are the man that I thought of every single time I got naked with him. You are the man I think about at night. Just you, it’s always been you.”

  “Of course I don’t think you’d jump one of them. I was merely making my stance clear, as I will be making it very clear to them. I’m highly possessive, and extremely protective of those I consider mine. I happen to consider you mine, Eli. Fair warning is all,” he said. Pulling her in, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “Eat your dessert. Then I will grab the guys, do the intros, and go get my bag after a quick walk around the perimeter.”

  “Deal.” She ate her pie. From time to time, she would lean into him and talk to him, bump her shoulder to his and what not. “I consider you mine as well, Frank. I think that with you, I will be very possessive as well as protective. I’ve never really had someone that was mine, not the way that I know you will be.”

  “Well, you definitely have me,” he said. Taking her empty dish, he set it on top of his and put them aside. “Come on, let me introduce you to the guys so I can go outside for a few minutes. I won’t be far at any time, but I trust them or I wouldn’t leave you with them for even a moment.” He got up, pulling her to her feet, and took their dishes into the kitchen.

  Chapter Three

  Later that night, once the house was locked down and Eli had cleaned up in preparation for going to bed, the nerves hit. Frank had gone to use the guest bathroom while she was in the ensuite off the master bedroom, but she could hear him in the bedroom as soon as she turned off the water. She didn’t know what he was doing, but it sounded like he was getting ready to settle in. With her. In her bed.

  Eli walked into her bedroom and leaned against the door. She smiled at Frank, and after turning off the light, she moved to the large bed and climbed in at his side. “So, I have never had anyone in my bed.” Which was a sad truth. Even when she had been engaged, they hadn’t shared a bed. “I don’t know if I snore, sleepwalk, toss and turn or whatever. So, are you sure you want to sleep with me?”

  An arm snaked around her waist, and she found herself pulled to him. “Of course I want to do this,” he said. “I don’t care if you smack me around, or go running through the house doing whatever sleepwalkers do, Eli. I want you, next to me, every single night for the rest of our days. Period.”

  “That’s a long time.” Eli moved so that she was facing him. “I want that permanence. I want forever. I think that I’ve been waiting for you to walk back into my life for that forever. So, since you want me for the rest of time, you think that this is a good place for us to live?” Her house was not a huge place, three bedrooms and two and a half baths, but it was hers. It was paid for, and while it wasn’t a ranch, she had a small backyard and she was happy there.

  “If you’re willing to let me move into your space, absolutely. I love your house,” he said. He’d gone wandering around it earlier in the evening after doing the dishes. Which he hadn’t let her help him to do either. His mother’s training obviously. Eli didn’t know what he’d been looking for, or really what he’d been doing when he’d disappeared, but he’d
seemed quite pleased with himself on his return. “It suits you perfectly, and it’s quite spacious really.”

  She blushed and nodded. “I redid a lot of the rooms myself. It was an estate sale. I bought the house from Old Lady Perkins. I got it for a steal, but I sank a lot of money in it updating and redoing the rooms. She had all of these hardwood floors under that hideous green shag carpet.” She shuddered. “And some of the furniture that was in the place were antiques as well. They just needed some TLC.” She was rambling, she knew it, and by the look on his face, he knew it as well. “I don’t want to think anymore. Kiss me?”

  He pulled her close and kissed her gently. She could feel the slight curve to his lips from his amusement. Easing her down to the bed, Frank tucked her closer to him, practically under his body, while he teased her lips and tongue.

  She had to think about it for several moments. Her mind quickly raced through all of the pros and cons of having a relationship with Frank and realized that she only lived once. This man before her was the man she had wanted for as long as she could recall. She decided in that moment to go for it. She knew that the people of the town saw her as an innocent pillar of goodness and purity, but in reality, she was anything but. Only for Frank, however. With him she could be herself. Completely.

  Eli lifted her leg and wrapped it around his hip. She kissed him back, her arms around his neck and leg rubbing up and down his. When they parted, she was panting. “Goodness,” she whispered. “I think that we should get naked. What do you think?”

  “I definitely think you should get naked. In fact, I insist you get naked. And to ensure you are not uncomfortable, I too shall get naked.” He gave her another quick kiss, then rolled off the bed, already tugging his shirt up and over his head. He looked at her, cocked up a brow, and waited with his hands resting on the waist of his shorts.

  Eli didn’t get off of the bed. Instead, she pulled her top off and tossed it behind her. Quickly after that, she pulled her bra off. She watched him watching her and smirked. “That’s right, I’m all yours.” She blushed when she saw where his eyes zeroed in on. Just below her left breast was one single word, a name. “I was seventeen. I know that I’m a backwards and a shy person, God don’t I know that, but I figured that I would always carry you in my heart, so why not mark my body on the outside as well?” Oddly enough, aside from her doctors and the woman who placed the tattoo, he was the first one to see it. Her ex always had to have the lights off.

  It took him a while before he dragged his gaze back up to meet hers. He gave the shorts a push, and they fell down his legs, baring him completely to her. “I was often tempted to put your name on my skin, but resisted until I got out of my line of work. I didn’t ever want to be the reason you were in danger,” he said softly. Crawling onto the bed, he eased closer to her in a slow, almost predatory manner. “As soon as I’m out, you can help me decide where your name will lay for the rest of time.”

  She pushed her shorts and panties off in one fell swoop. Her eyes all but ate him up. He was impressive and, God, he was hers. Finally, Frank Carver was all hers. “I think you should get one to match mine. Just over your heart.” She laid her hand on his chest and grinned up at him. “I can’t believe that you really are here. In my bed. I’ve dreamed of this day for more years than I care to confess.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his chest. “I need you, Frank, more than you can possibly even know. If I’m dreaming, please don’t wake me up.”

  Slowly, he eased his weight down over her, one leg sliding up between hers to press against her pussy. “You’re not dreaming, Eli. I’m really here, so are you, and I’ll gladly prove it to you. Not only tonight, but every single night we are given together.”

  “That’s a very good thing to know.” She opened her legs for him willingly, welcomed him into the vee of her thighs, and sighed as skin touched skin. “Well, we have every night for the rest of our lives to get to know every inch of each other’s bodies. Personally, I can’t wait.”

  Brushing his lips over her jaw, he nipped lightly at her skin. “I plan on having every inch of you memorized so when I close my eyes, I can picture you perfectly in my mind. For those nights when I have to be away from you, unfortunately coming all too soon, I’m afraid.”

  “I don’t want to think about that time. Not right now. Right now we should only be thinking about us and being together.” She didn’t want to even question him about how long he might be gone. She was too afraid that it would break her heart. “Just knowing that you will always come home to me, that’s the important part.”

  “Always,” he said. Frank was looking at her, dead on, and she knew it was a promise. “Nothing and no one could ever keep me from you, Eli.” Cupping her face, he kissed her gently, the intensity and heat building slowly between them.

  Eli felt the promise to the bottoms of her feet. Her toes curled when he kissed her and she held onto him. She kissed him back with the same promise, the same need. “No more talking,” she whispered against his lips. “Lots more loving.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. Another kiss to her lips, and then his mouth began a slow, leisurely, and pretty damn torturous—in the best way possible—trip south. Frank nipped, licked, and suckled a lazy path to her breasts. Once there, he spent plenty of time getting her hotter, and definitely more bothered. Not that begging, pleading, or any other form of communication seemed to speed him up. He was a man on a mission, and she had no clue how to deter or accelerate his plans.

  Her hands were on his head as he feasted upon her pussy. There was no other way to describe the way that his hands, his mouth, and his body moved against her. His fingers dipping into her pussy had her back arching and a sob tearing from her throat.

  “Come for me, Elizabeth. I want to see you fall apart screaming my name.” That said, his mouth latched onto her clit again, his fingers pumping in and out of her. He didn’t let up even a little during his sensual torment.

  Eli’s head was thrashing back and forth on the pillow. She moaned and whimpered. She moved with him and cried out loudly, screaming his name as she finally did come. “Frank, God, please.” She sobbed over and over again as the pleasure raced through her.

  “Beautiful,” he said in a rough voice. Slipping his fingers from her body, he licked them one at a time, his gaze locked with her hazy one before he pushed up to crawl over her again. Reaching out, he grabbed something off the nightstand. The sound of a wrapper being torn told her what that something was.

  She blushed and tilted her head to the side. “I hadn’t even thought of that,” she admitted. “I have the depo-vera shot every three months and I’ve not had sex without protection in the form of latex. You are the only one that I would be willing to go skin to skin with, ever.” Which was the truth.

  “When I come home for good,” he said. “Then we’ll revisit this topic. Until then, it’s better to be as safe as possible. Not that I don’t love the idea of you having my child, or children. But I hate the idea of not being here for every single part of it.” She watched him roll the rubber down his cock, then lost sight of that part of him when he settled over her again, his cock rubbing against her slick folds.

  “I look forward to that time,” Eli said and licked her lips. “One day, soon I hope, we will be able to do just that.” She wanted a family with Frank. She wanted to have everything with him. “For now, just need you.” She felt the cock head rubbing against her tender folds, felt the urgency as he pushed into her body, and she sobbed. “Yes.” She purred that one word.

  With a firm grip on her thigh, he pulled her leg up over his hip, opening her to take him in deeper. “Fuck,” he breathed out. His body shuddered when he slid into her fully. The fingers on her leg flexed and released while he seemed to fight for control.

  Eli wrapped her legs tighter around his hips and she pulled him closer. “Agreed.” It was perfect. The lights were on and she was looking into the face of the man she had loved for far too long. She wrapped her hand around his he
ad and pulled him to her once again, kissing him because she could and because she knew he would kiss her back.

  He kissed her fiercely while beginning to thrust. Slowly at first, then he began to pick up speed when he found a rhythm that had her gasping. Frank seemed to be so in tune with her body it was a little scary, and yet so unbelievably perfect in every way.

  She had never thought she was a sexual being, but as he moved with her, inside of her, she found she was. With Frank, she followed the instincts that were deep inside of her. She moved with him, her body aching with each and every move that they made together.

  “You are perfect,” he said against her mouth. “How the hell did I get so lucky to have you as mine?” She didn’t know if it was rhetorical or not. He kissed her again so she didn’t really get the opportunity to answer.

  “You were always mine.” Just as she had always been his. They just needed the right time to come together as one. Their mouths once more crushed to each other’s, their bodies moving faster and harder. It was a determination that they both had to make this last as long as possible, but to also ensure that they both exploded as the building climax came along.

  One of his hands moved to fist her hair, tipping her head back for a deeper kiss. He was moving harder, rocking the bed and testing its stability. Whatever restraint he may have had earlier seemed to have slipped completely.

  Eli loved the roughness of his loving, the purity of it. She gasped, biting his tongue as she did so by accident. “Shit, sorry,” she grumbled, and tilted her head to the side. “Jesus, Frank. I’m so close. Please, please tell me that you are as well?” She was about to fly apart with her orgasm. It was going to be explosive.

  “Come for me, hard, fast, raw,” he demanded. Then he bit her shoulder, right in the sweet spot where it met her neck. He wasn’t toying with her either, but sank his teeth in enough that she’d likely have a bruise. Not hard enough to break skin, but definitely enough to curl her toes and so much more.