There With You by Samantha Young

20

Thane

His skin heating as his thoughts turned to last night, Thane reached out and twisted the knob on the shower to cold. “Fuck,” he grunted as ice-cold water cascaded over him. But he needed it. He groaned as the image of Regan sprawled before him, taking him, her face flushed with pleasure, refused to leave his mind. Thane leaned his forehead against the cool tiles. He attempted to get a hold of himself.

He had sex with his nanny last night.

With his twenty-five-year-old nanny.

With his twenty-five-year-old, soon-to-be sister-in-law of his brother.

“And you knew that and did it anyway,” Thane murmured as he got out of the shower to dry off. And if he was being honest with himself, he had every intention of doing it again and again and again until she left or grew bored with him. That didn’t really say much for his self-respect, but as long as he got to make love to Regan Penhaligon again, his self-respect could go fuck itself.

Thane moved into the bedroom to dress. It was early. The kids wouldn’t be up for a few more hours as he let them sleep in on Sundays. The weekends were when Regan most often went next door to see Robyn or spent time with Eredine and Arro. Sometimes even with Will, Jock’s fiancé. All this he knew, because whether she realized it, Thane listened to every word that came out of her mouth.

And he didn’t want her to spend this Sunday with someone else. He wanted her in his house, even if he had to pretend like all she was to him was the kids’ beloved nanny.

Aye, he remembered the night before and grew heavy with need all over again. If it wasn’t so contaminated by his doubts and guilt, last night with Regan would have been one of the best goddamn nights of his life. He’d come so hard he thought his heart was going to explode.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, his attention caught on the photo of him and Fran on his nightstand. A different guilt knotted his gut. He’d loved Fran. Adored her. Thought there was nobody like her … until she cheated on him. The sex had been great too. No complaints there.

Yet never, not even with the woman he’d forgiven and promised to spend the rest of his life with, had he ever experienced such an animalistic, desperate need to be inside someone as he had last night with Regan. Everything went out of his mind. Everything but her body, her reactions, the way she felt coming around him.

He stared at Fran smiling back, and his gut tightened even harder. “It’s just sex,” he promised her, as she had once promised him. “Doesn’t mean anything.”

Thane tensed as he remembered the sound of Fran’s dry laughter. Liar, he swore he heard his dead wife purr in his ear.

* * *

REGAN

It was a beautiful day. Much too beautiful for November. Unseasonably warm. Eils and Lew loved it, tearing across the sand, chasing each other on Ardnoch Beach. We had the whole place to ourselves.

“Slow down!” I shouted, hurrying to catch up with them. They’d gotten fast. I couldn’t seem to get within closing distance of them, the wet sand resistant to my attempts. Realizing they were growing farther away, panic set in. “Eilidh, Lewis, come back!”

“Daddy!” Eilidh screamed joyfully, and I followed her gaze to see Thane standing waist deep in the sea, beckoning her.

It was too deep.

“Thane!” I tried to catch up, to warn him. Why couldn’t he see it was too deep?

“Eilidh!” Lewis shouted now as his sister rushed into the water.

Then Thane was there, lifting her up into his arms, and catching Lewis in his other. Relief flooded me. The waves crashed gently against his waist, but he didn’t move, a powerful, solid, stalwart protector.

I loved him. I loved them all. So much.

Smiling as they waved, I continued to attempt to reach them, but they never seemed to grow any closer. “Come to me!” I yelled through frustrated tears.

A powerful arm banded around my waist, pulling me into a hard body. Austin’s fake smile filled my view, and I struggled against his hold. “What are you doing here? Let go!”

“Shh,” he hushed, hauling me into his arms and pressing my cheek to his chest. “It’s okay, Regan, I’ve got you. This is where you belong. They’re not for you. But I want you. I’ll always want you.”

I tried to yank out of his hold, but he kissed me and I couldn’t pull away, couldn’t breathe.

He let me go to say my name, over and over.

Then he kissed me again. Gentler this time.

His beard tickled.

Beard?

I felt another tickle on my cheek, and when he released me, it was Thane. Not Austin. I sagged with relief and then sighed into his kiss.

“Regan, wake up,” he murmured against my mouth.

The tickling sensation grew more insistent.

“Regan, wake up, mo leannan.”

There was a tickle across my lips again and then the shivery brush of Thane’s mouth against mine. My eyes flew open, and I stared sleepily into his gorgeous blue-gray eyes.

“Finally, she wakes,” he murmured.

He kissed me, this time parting my lips to touch his tongue to mine. Reality intruded, and I realized he’d woken me up and was kissing me before I’d brushed my teeth. Breaking the kiss, I covered his mouth with my hand as a barrier between us.

Scowling up at him, I grumbled, “I have morning breath.”

“I could give a fuck.” I think he said against my hand. He rolled his eyes as it came out garbled, curled my hand into his fist, and bent down to cover my mouth again.

I tried to resist, but it was futile. Moaning into the taste of him, coffee and toothpaste, I slid my hand up his back, pulling him down onto me as I opened my thighs to him.

“I didn’t come in for that,” he huffed as he broke the kiss, thrusting against me, his words incongruous to his actions. Desire darkened his expression, and he shook his head with a dry smirk. “I only meant to bring you coffee.”

I turned my head on the pillow and saw the steaming mug on my small nightstand. “How thoughtful.”

He braced his hands on either side of my head and then reached with one to brush my hair off my face. Last night it had taken me awhile to fall asleep, I was so filled with doubt and insecurities. However, as he looked down at me with tenderness, knowing the first thing he’d thought to do this morning was bring me coffee, check on me, I melted beneath his touch.

“I have to get back in case Eils and Lew wake up,” he said, regret in his eyes.

“Well, thank you for the coffee,” I whispered, unable to speak any louder. Knowing if one of us didn’t break the intense staring match, he might end up naked on top of me again, I pushed myself to sitting, and Thane leaned back from his seat on my bed to give me space.

Not a lot. As I reached for my coffee and sipped, his hand came to rest possessively on my thigh. My nightdress had risen indecently high, but considering what we’d done last night, it didn’t matter. Thane’s fingers stroked toward the crease in my leg, and I sucked in a breath.

His eyes heated.

“I thought you needed to get back to the kids?”

“I do.” Thane reached out and took my cup, grinning at my nonplussed expression as he placed it back on the nightstand.

“Hey, I wanted—oh!” I reached out instinctively to grab his shoulder as he suddenly slipped beneath my underwear to press his thumb over me.

Then he was kissing me. Rough and hungry as he played me. Fingers, thumb, circling, pushing, he gave me the dirtiest, wettest kiss of my life. My fingernails dug into his wide shoulders as I arched into him, panting against his kiss as the tension inside built, and built, and built—

I exploded, and he captured the sound of my cries in his mouth, his groan a delicious rumble down my throat as I throbbed around him.

Finally, he released me to pepper kisses along my cheek and down my neck as he removed his hand from between my thighs. I clung to him, trying to catch my breath. “What was that?” I panted.

“That was my version of ‘good morning,’ mo leannan.”

My eyes flew open. Was that an endearment? “What does ma le-ow-nin mean?”

He grinned at my attempts to pronounce it and kissed my nose. “I need to get back.” He avoided answering me.

“Wait.” I grabbed his arm to stop him. Sliding a hand along his jeans-covered thigh, I grinned. “What about you?”

He covered my hand as I reached for the good stuff and squeezed his eyes closed as he gently removed it. “We can’t. Don’t have time.” That stormy gaze met mine. “Later. Tonight.”

Anticipation thrilled in my belly. Last night wasn’t just a one-off for him, then. “Absolutely.” I edged closer to cup his cheek, to draw him back to my mouth. My kiss was gentle, tender, not meant to incite anything more when I knew he had to leave. It was a thank-you. “Last night was the best it’s ever been for me,” I confessed against his mouth.

His grip on my hip tightened, and he seemed to swallow hard before replying gruffly, “Good.” He pressed a quick, hard kiss to my lips and shot off the bed, marching across the annex in the space of a second.

I blinked rapidly, feeling like I’d just been punched in the gut.

Good?

Good?

That was his reply.

Also known as, “I’m pleased for you, but it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had.”

Hurt was a burn in my chest as I drew my knees up.

“Why don’t you come over today?” I was aware of him stopping at the door, staring back at me, but I couldn’t quite look at him. “We’re just having a lazy Sunday, but I know Eils and Lew would love for you to hang out with us again.”

I had no plans.

I could absolutely hang out with them.

Speaking to his shoulder, I gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I have plans.”

“Oh?”

Ignoring his question, I reached for the coffee as I stood. “Thanks for the coffee.” I saluted it in his direction and rounded the bed to disappear into the bathroom, where I was pretty sure I was going to cry in the shower like a big baby.

Out of sight, I dumped the mug on the sink, not really seeing anything, only hearing his “good” in my head over and over as I brushed my teeth.

Not long later, as I reached to pull the hem of my nightdress up, I was halted by the brawny arm that encircled my waist. I squeaked in surprise as Thane pulled me back against his hard, now-familiar chest. His lips brushed my ear, and he said in that deep, delicious voice, “Best sex of my life.”

I stiffened.

And then turned my head to meet his eyes.

There was something guarded in his.

“You don’t need to say that.” I shrugged, feeling horribly vulnerable.

“I’ll never lie to you,” he promised, his hold on me tightening. “Best fucking sex of my entire life. By a long shot.”

And just like that, I melted.

His expression hardened, though. “But we agree it’s just sex. You’ll get in the shower, get dressed, and abandon your nonexistent plans to come spend the day with us. We’ll go on as before, friendly in front of the kids, so Lewis knows everything’s okay, but nothing more. And then at night”—he hardened against my behind—“I’ll sneak in here so we can have more of the best sex of our lives … and that’s it. Agreed?”

I refused to acknowledge the chill in my heart. Instead, I concentrated on the one thing I had from him that no other woman had apparently had, not even his late wife.

I turned in his arms, his arousal brushing across my ass as I did. “What time is it?”

Thane frowned. “Nine o’clock.”

Good. I unbuckled his belt. “The kids won’t be up for another hour at least.”

He sucked in a breath. “Regan …”

But his willpower was already out the window as I released him from his jeans and underwear and lowered to my knees. He cursed under his breath, his eyes blazing, chest heaving as his hands clasped my head. I hadn’t even touched him yet.

Thane’s long groan, the way his stomach rippled when I touched him, was the most empowering feeling in the goddamn world. At that moment, I was absolutely everything to him, and just as I’d decided last night, I was going to take (or give, as it so happened) all I could while it lasted. No matter what happened between us, I’d always have this of him. The best sex of his life.

It wasn’t everything, but it was something.