Chapter 26

Hudson

I followedFisher onto my houseboat, heart pounding. I had feared I'd never see him here again, in my space. He half turned, face tilted back to look me in the eye. "I know it was only a few days, but I missed this place."

I cupped his face, bending to kiss the tip of his nose. "It missed you."

We stood on my deck, in view of boat traffic in the middle of the day, and it didn't matter. Our secret romance had been thrilling, but it had also been confining.

Fisher raised his eyebrows. "The place missed me?"

"It sure did." I brushed my lips over his right cheekbone. "It got used to having you here, lighting it up, making it warm and happy."

"Yeah?" Fisher pulled away and went through the doors to the cabin. I followed him. I was helpless to do anything else.

He paused beside my plastic dinette, his fingers dancing along the table's edge. "This must be the spot that missed me the most, right?" he teased. "This is where you made me all those meals."

"Couldn't let you go hungry, could I?"

"No, you couldn't," he said. "Besides, this is where it all started, isn't it? Where I gave you that embarrassing kiss."

I caught hold of his shirt and tugged him up against me. "There was nothing embarrassing about that kiss."

"You pushed me away."

"But I didn't want to." I bent to brush my lips over his. "I'll never push you away again."

We kissed softly at first. But soon the longing and passion he never failed to inspire swept me away.

"Tell me the bed missed me too," Fisher said between kisses.

"Fuck yeah, the bed missed you the most."

Fisher grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it up over his head. He looked so good, so right in my space. This was where he belonged.

I scooped him up, making him squeal with surprise, and tossed him over my shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"Hudson!"

I ducked as I carried him through my doorway. Couldn't have him hitting his pretty head. Fisher flailed, and I tossed him onto my bed.

"Now, you're back where you belong."

Fisher braced himself on his elbows, putting his smooth, lean chest on display. "Are you saying I belong in your bed?"

"Every night."

He raised an eyebrow. "Just at night? It's not yet dark…"

I climbed onto the bed, crawling over him, bracketing his legs with mine. "Every day and night," I corrected. "You're mine."

He hooked a finger in my collar and pulled me into a kiss. His body was firm beneath mine, and he wrapped his strong calves around my waist, holding me against him.

"I want you inside me, Hud. Please."

My cock throbbed in my shorts. "If you're sure."

"I thought I'd never get to have you that way," he said softly. "I want everything with you, and I was afraid—"

His voice broke, and I gathered him in a hug. "Oh, baby. I'm so damn sorry."

He chuckled, but it sounded watery. "No, no. Don't let me ruin this moment."

"You're not ruining anything." I kissed his hair. "I'm the one who nearly messed up the best thing to ever happen to me."

"We're here now," Fisher said. "So please…just show me how good it can be."

"I'll show you everything." I dipped down to brush a kiss over his forehead. Then press one to each eyelid. "I'll give you anything you want."

"All I want is you."

I kissed the words from his lips, drinking in his love, his forgiveness.

His need.

Fisher was precious and beautiful, and I intended to treat him like the prince he was. I never should have made him doubt, never should have denied what I felt so strongly all along. I had a lot to make up for, and if I had my way, I'd be doing it for the rest of my life.

I ran my nose along his jaw, and when he lifted his head in encouragement, I nibbled the delicate skin at his throat, making him gasp. From there, I tasted the dip above his collarbones, then followed the valley between his pecs with my tongue.

Fisher shivered, his legs squeezing around me a little tighter. His cock pressed into my thigh as he squirmed.

"Come on, Hudson." He tugged my hair, and I looked up to see desperate, hot eyes focused on me. "Don't keep me waiting anymore."

I sat up and whipped off my shirt, because hell, I was just as desperate. Only my intense desire to make this perfect for Fisher kept me from giving in to my urge to race ahead.

Fisher wasn't on the same page, though. He shoved down his shorts, wiggling out of the last of his clothes, and spread his creamy thighs. His cock curved up, looking huge against his slender body, already damp at the tip.

I got off the bed to strip away my pants, then grabbed the lube from the bedside table. I held up a condom in question.

"Virgin," Fisher reminded me.

"I haven't been with anyone else since I last tested if…you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

He gave me his trust so easily, so completely.

I climbed back onto the bed and slicked up two fingers, then pressed them inside him. His body accepted the intrusion almost easily. He tipped his hips up with a soft moan. "I can handle more."

"It seems you can," I murmured, spreading my fingers inside him. He was still tight, but he was relaxed. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd done this before."

"Well…with fingers, yeah," he said. "And toys."

Fuck. I'd like to see that sometime. I pushed the image aside to consider later. I was already on a hair trigger as it was.

"Now, Hudson," he urged. "Give me your cock."

I rose to my knees and gripped his right thigh with one hand, pushing it back to spread him wider while I lined up my cockhead.

My chest tightened, air trapped in my lungs, as I gazed down at the beautiful man who'd captured my heart.

Shivers wracked my body as the enormity of what we were about to do hit me.

Fisher was the virgin, but this felt like my first time.

"I love you," I said.

His entire face softened, and he reached for my neck and drew me into a long, gentle kiss. "I love you too," he murmured. "I'm glad we waited until now. But, Hudson…"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't fuck me right now, I will throw you overboard."

A chuckle burst from me. His threat was just what I needed to relax, and I remembered that this was Fisher. We'd fit together perfectly in every way that we tried.

Why should this be any different?

I finally pushed inside.

Fisher

The weight of Hudson's body pinned me to the bed, and all I could think was, yes, finally.

I wasn't even a little nervous, and I owed that to the time and care Hudson had put into my sexual experiences. I thought I'd go mad with impatience this summer, but now—with my legs spread wide to accommodate Hudson's broad body—I was glad we'd taken our time.

I welcomed the slight burn of entry, the stretch, the fullness of his cock inside me. My body strained, but after weeks of rimming and fingering and fun with toys, I could take it.

Hudson being Hudson, he sensed I needed a minute. He stilled and buried his face in my neck, muffling a needy groan. "Tell me if I hurt you."

"You won't hurt me."

"Tell me."

His bossy tone was tinged with love, and my heart fluttered even as I groaned with impatience. "Fine. I'll tell you."

It did hurt, a needy sort of ache that made me want to pull away and beg for more at the same time. Hudson was not a small man, and that went for his cock too, but his dick had never felt so freaking big as it did crammed into me.

"I just need a minute," I admitted.

"You're doing great."

I huffed a little laugh. "Yeah, freezing up and strangling your cock with my ass is great."

He plucked my left nipple before he slid his palm down to encircle my cock, stroking it back to firmness.

"Don't apologize for having a tight little body," he murmured. "My dick is in heaven right now."

I released a breath, some of the tension leaking out of me as Hudson distracted me with dirty words and sweet caresses. He peppered kisses across my chest, and with each breath I took and released, he slid another inch inside of me.

"Shouldn't have tossed the Size Queen overboard," I muttered.

"What was that?" he asked, voice full of amusement.

"Nothing. Just should have prepped more so I could be ready for you."

He chuckled, his hands on my waist, his hips flush to my ass. "You're ready for me now, aren't you?"

He rocked a tiny bit, setting off sparks inside me.

"Yes," I said in a strangled voice.

"Thought so."

Then he rocked into me again, and I moaned, body lighting up with a flood of endorphins. Even the slight burn took on an edge of pleasure, unfurling and spreading through me like a wildfire.

The next gentle thrust was enough to make me gasp out, "Harder."

Hudson drew back and slammed into me properly, and I shouted with relief as pleasure swamped me and I finally got what my body had been craving for so long.

"Yes," I cried. "Fuck me."

He thrust in hard again and again, pounding into my body to the rhythm of my racing heart. It was just like every fantasy, but so much better.

Because I could see every detail of his face, see the pleasure etched there, watch the flex of his muscles, smell the slick sweat that dripped from him, feel the electric spark of each brush to my prostate.

Quite suddenly, I was on the edge of coming.

I gripped my cock, stroking frantically, and there was something about being so stretched and stuffed that heightened and drew out the pleasure of touching myself.

"Hudson," I said in a trembling, needy voice I barely recognized.

"You're incredible, you know that?" he said, brushing a thumb over my lower lip.

Our gazes met and held, and for the longest moment, I couldn't breathe.

"I love you," I gasped out, and then I was coming.

"Yes, fuck baby, I love you too," he rasped.

Streams of cum shot over my fingers and onto my belly. Coming with him inside me intensified the orgasm, my ass tightening with each wave of pleasure that swept through me.

Hudson's thrusts became erratic before he pushed in so hard I thought he wanted to climb all the way inside my body. He collapsed with a growl as he came, his big body shuddering.

I stroked his hair gently, then whispered into his ear, "You were perfect, just like I knew you'd be."

He lifted his face to look at me. "I should be giving you sweet words of reassurance. This was your first time. How do you feel? I kind of got a little carried away toward the end there."

"I'm good." I smiled like a loon. "Great, even, but…"

"But?"

He looked so worried I laughed as I pushed his shoulder. "But I could breathe a little easier if you moved."

"Shit, sorry."

Hudson shifted off me, taking his cock with him, which I should have seen coming. I winced at the sting of his exit and the sense of emptiness it left behind.

"You're just too comfortable," he joked. "I wanted to move in and stay."

I grinned. "How about we set up regular visitation?"

Hudson stared at me, suddenly intense. "That sounds good, but how about you just stay."

"What?"

"Move in with me, Fisher. I've already wasted too much time. I don't want to waste any more. I love you, and I want you here with me, and not just when it's convenient for your schedule or mine. I want you with me every day."

My heart lurched, and I sat up, body still sticky, ass tender and stretched. "If this is guilt talking—"

"It's not," Hudson swore, eyes on mine. "It's love, Fish. It's been love for a long time. I just didn't want to admit it, not even to myself."

I cupped his face and kissed him. "Then yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes." I laughed. "I'll move in, but before I do, you should know that you might be committing to a Swallow Cove pariah."

"I have no idea what that means."

"I messed up, and the whole town is going to hate me. Have you really not heard about the resort fiasco?"

Hudson tilted his head. "I've been a little busy with wallowing over how I let the most amazing guy I'd ever met walk away from me."

"Oh." I nodded. "Understandable then."

"How about we get cleaned up, I'll make you lunch, and then you can tell me all about it?"

"That sounds perfect."

I never thought that sitting down and telling my dream guy about how I'd massively fucked up would sound perfect, but it did.

I wanted to share everything with him. Not just the good stuff, but the embarrassing, foolish mistakes I made too.

Maybe that was how I knew it was real love. That it was no longer a fantasy.

I wanted Hudson to know me, all of me, and I wanted to know all of him.

"Whatever it is, it'll be okay," he said. "We'll figure it out together because we're partners now, right?"

"Partners," I agreed, my chest warm. "I like the sound of that."

Hudson

An hour later, Fisher was still beating himself up over the resort developers' deception. We'd showered and eaten a simple lunch of sandwiches while he filled me in. Then returned to my bed because it was the most comfortable spot to relax.

Also, because I wanted to keep Fisher in my arms as much as humanly possible after coming so close to losing him. His warm weight reassured me this was real, that I wasn't merely dreaming after sabotaging my chance at happiness.

"I should have seen through their lies," he said.

I smoothed back an unruly strand of hair. "Everything seems that way in hindsight."

"I guess."

"You did due diligence with the information you had, babe. You couldn't know they'd be such underhanded assholes."

"But I should have, right? I'm too trusting."

"I love that you're trusting. It's not a flaw."

"Maybe not for you, but in business…" He sighed. "You wouldn't have made this mistake."

I scoffed. "I'm not winning any business awards either, Fisher. We all make mistakes. Right now, I'm struggling to keep Swallow Adventures afloat."

He sat up and looked at me with wide eyes. "What?"

"My investor has been on my ass all summer to make some serious changes, and with the recent boat repairs, my profits have only gotten slimmer."

"But Sawyer said something about expanding? I just assumed…"

"It was never an expansion in the sense that we were doing great. It would have been expanding to more locations to offset the expenses of this one. But that's no longer on the table. Not now that we've taken on so many extra expenses."

"I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"Well, I'd hoped the Dock Hop might boost our numbers, but that's just a short-term fix. Long-term, Addison wants me to relocate, and I refuse to leave Swallow Cove. Unless we can find some other solution, I may have to sell."

"Hudson!" Fisher exclaimed. "You can't do that. You love your business."

"It's just a job." I shrugged. "Besides, selling would give me more time to spend with you. You'll never have to worry about me working too much or—"

"Hud." Fisher shook his head. "I would never worry about that."

My thoughts screeched to a halt. Was I falling back into old fearful doubts again? Fisher wasn't like Karen. My relationship with him wasn't like my relationship with her. I knew that logically, but that old baggage was tough to shake.

"Right," I said hesitantly. "I know."

"Do you?" Fisher reached for my hand and squeezed it. "Because I don't want you to give up anything for me. I love you because of who you are, and that includes being a sexy boat captain."

I huffed a laugh. "I love you for who you are too, Fisher, and that includes being positive and excited for the future."

"AKA na?ve?"

"Idealistic," I countered. "Don't let this experience jade you. Your positive energy is one of the things that drew me to you. You are exactly what Swallow Cove needs."

"And what about this godawful resort they want to build? Swallow Cove doesn't need that."

I frowned. He was right about that. The folks of Swallow Cove might need to embrace tourism a little more, but a mega entertainment draw would change the whole landscape of the town. It would be great for the boating business but terrible for our way of life.

"There's got to be a way to stop them," I said. "It's still early in the process. They're not the only investors in town."

Fisher's eyes widened. "That's right. Skylar mentioned his father ran in the same circles with these guys. Does that mean he's shady too, you think?"

"No. Skylar's father is my investor. He's definitely on the up and up."

"He's the one who wants you to relocate?" Fisher said with a frown. "Well, that's a dead end then, I guess."

But was it? Addison wanted Swallow Adventures to provide more profits, but he'd specifically shot down the idea of scaling back to increase the margins. He wanted to grow his investment in the Ozarks because he understood the potential out here.

"Maybe not," I said. "Addison is looking for opportunity, and I'm refusing to give him what he wants. Maybe you can."

Fisher's forehead creased. "You think he'd be interested in the resort?"

I shrugged. "Talk to Skylar. Maybe his father is looking to add to his portfolio."

"But what about Swallow Adventures?"

"I'll have to figure out a solution that's right for me," I said. "Maybe another interest would help me convince Addison to give me more time."

"And what if it doesn't?"

Fisher's concern warmed me. How could I have ever thought he'd view my business as a competition when it was so clear he saw it as an intrinsic part of me?

Just like I saw Fisher's idealistic dreaming as a part of him. One I didn't want to see tarnished by those scummy investors.

"Addison and I are already at an impasse," I said. "If he doesn't take the bait, I'll be no worse off than I was before. I don't need a big bank balance or a whole fleet of boats to be happy. I just want to spend my days on the lake and my nights with you. If I sell the business, I'll keep a boat or two and run a small charter. I'm always going to be the sexy boat captain you know and love."

"Promise?" Fisher said. "Not that I wouldn't love you if you lost every single boat to your name, Hud. I just want you to be happy, and being out on the water is where you're happiest."

It shouldn't surprise me that he knew me so well. We'd been on friendly terms for years before we got involved. All those casual meetings at the store, all those times we exchanged pleasantries, talked about the weather, our jobs, the day-to-day pleasures and annoyances of lake life. It had added up to a real connection long before we fell in love.

"I do love the water, but you're wrong about one thing. Being out on the lake is where I'm second happiest." I cupped his face and kissed him. "Seeing you? That's the bright point of every day. Why do you think I could never stay away from the store even though Boone hated my guts?"

Fisher beamed at me. "You're good with your words, Mr. Nash. I approve of this message."

I laughed into the kiss he laid on me, then groaned when he crawled into my lap. I pulled him tighter against me.

I didn't know what would happen with Swallow Adventures. Didn't know if Addison would have any interest in the resort plan or if it would buy me any extra time to find another solution.

But with Fisher in my arms and a life we could build together, I had everything I'd ever need.