CHAPTER THIRTEEN

RHYS

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I open my eyes to too much sunlight and zero Addie. The place she'd been — a soft, sated bundle trapped in the folds of my arms — is empty. The sheets cool under my searching palm. One blurry-eyed peek at the open bathroom door and a follow up sweep of the room indicates that my brat has left me in my slumber and gone off to some other part of the house.

My guess — wherever her mom is. Most likely, the patio.

Groaning and rubbing my eyes, I roll off the rumpled mattress and pad a groggy path towards the bathroom for a shower.

There was a faint, pink blush in the sky when Addie and I finally unwound from each other and made the journey back. We tiptoed up to her room where she pulled me inside only to abandon me in the light of day.

I wanted to wake up with her. I wanted to see her face and make sure she hadn't changed her mind. I wanted her to kiss me and tell me she was still excited. But she's gone.

Frustrated and nervous in a way I haven't been since I asked my first girlfriend out back in high school, I shower bits of dirt and grass off my skin and out of my hair. I have to do the walk of shame with a towel from her room to mine to pull on clothes.

Dressed and feeling mildly less crazy, I set off to find my woman.

Instead, I find a house in chaos. All manner of people are rushing through the place carting lumber, lights, and other items I don't recognize. The early morning chill sweeps through the corridor from the open front door, following the bustle to the opposite end of the house where everything is taken out to the patio.

At the end of the hall, standing guard in front of his office with a newspaper in one hand and a steaming mug of coffee in the other, Dad glances up when I descend the stairs. Our eyes meet and he stops. Something in his expression has me pausing as well.

"What?" I say.

He shrugs and shakes his head simultaneously. "You vanished last night. You and Addie," he adds after a heartbeat.

Addie and I agreed to tell our parents the first chance we got, but I don't think she would want me to just blurt out that I asked her to marry me and consummated our promise all night in the field where I'm going to build our house. That feels like a sit-down type of conversation.

"We went for a walk," I offer vaguely.

Dad takes a slow sip of his drink, dark eyes never wavering off mine over the rim. "Long walk. I'm glad you two are talking again."

I nod, at a loss to do much else. But when seconds pass and he doesn't say anything else, I clear my throat and ask, "Have you seen Addie?"

He studies me a second before motioning with a bump of his chin towards the kitchen.

I'm moving before I can think differently. The muffled sound of her soft laughter fills the quiet of the room and I follow it to the patio doors and the whole beehive of activities circling them as preparations are made for the evening's events.

She's in her usual spot with Paloma sitting on her left. Both are cradling mugs that emanate a light coil of steam. I know Addie's would be coffee. A drop of cream. Two sugars.

She looks happy. Relaxed. Not at all like she regrets making rash decisions in the void of darkness.

"Did I ever tell you how stressed I was about introducing you to her?" Dad appears at my elbow with just his coffee cradled between his palms. "I'd heard horror stories of sibling rivalry, and I was terrified you wouldn't like her. I was terrified that you would be mean and dismissive because even then, from the moment Paloma walked in with a ten-year-old Addie to meet me, all I wanted to do was to protect her. She was this tiny thing with big eyes and gaps in her teeth that whistled slightly when she talked, and I fell immediately in love with her. I never stopped. She's been my baby for ten years and I would commit unimaginable crimes for her."

I slant a glance in the other man's direction, trying to gauge the reasoning behind this trip down memory lane.

His expression gives nothing away, but he slants me a glance from the corners of his eyes.

Without a word, he steps onto the patio and moves towards the two. They pause their conversation long enough for Dad to press a kiss to Paloma's offered lips and claim the ottoman at her feet.

Addie rests her head back against the cushion and closes her eyes as our parents start discussing the small circus taking place all across the lawn. But my eyes are only for Addie. Addie with the sun tangling in her hair and highlighting the long fans of her lashes. Addie in her black, silk camisole and long wraparound skirt with the slit up the leg. My mind is lost in the possibility that she might be bare under, her sweet, perfect lips waiting for me to spread and explore. To tease until she's gushing on my face, around my fingers.

Fuck, I love this woman. Love her with an obsessive madness I'm pretty sure should be studied. She consumes and wrecks me. I can't stop staring.

Without rethinking my decision, I pull my phone from my back pocket and frame her in the lens. I snap a photo to add with all the others tucked away in the password protected folder on my device. So many of Addie that I don't share with anyone. Photos of her I sneak peeks of throughout my day to keep me going when she's not around. They're my little secrets.

Satisfied it's been tucked away safe, I text her and watch her phone buzz on the glass table. Her head jerks up at the sound. She scoops it up and reads the message.

I don't recall holding my breath until she pushes to her feet, makes an excuse I don't hear and hurries in my direction.

I edge back into the kitchen to wait for her. My heart is an anxious bird beating against its bone cage. I'm so nervous my stomach hurts. I don't know what to brace for when she appears in the doorway, a vision draped in golden curtains of light.

Her eyes meet mine and I stop breathing for a heartbeat. Two. Waiting.

Her flawless face breaks into a smile that crashes through me with the power of a fist driving into my sternum. It expels the air I'd been holding in a rush.

"Hey."

She closes the distance between us at an almost run and I catch her and squeeze her into my chest. My face finds its home in her neck, and I inhale her sweet honeysuckle scent.

She giggles and squeezes me tighter. "Miss me that much, huh?"

I shake my head. "I wasn't sure if ... if maybe you changed your mind," I confess into the steady pulse at her throat.

Addie jerks her head back. There's fear in her eyes raking over my face. "Why would you think that? Did you?"

I tighten my hold.

"It can't happen fast enough, Addie. I'd marry you right now if we could."

She's searching my face, apprehension a dark stain of worry on hers. "Are you sure?"

I kiss her.

I mold her into my chest, into the lines of my body like we're puzzle pieces finally coming together. I back her into the island and pin her in place while I take my fill of her taste, her little moans. I melt under her gentle touch brushing up my shoulders to curve along the back of my neck.

"Marry me, Addie," I whisper into her mouth.

Her eyes open to mine, the irises expanded to nearly consume the green.

"Yes."

I can't believe Addie's mine. I can't wrap my head around the knowledge that she's going to be mine forever. It feels like a dream, and I'm terrified of waking up.

"Let's tell them now," I decide.

Addie smiles and kisses the tip of my nose. "Tomorrow. First thing. Let today be about them."

I agree reluctantly but dip my head for another kiss.

I see very little of Addie for several hours as everyone dives in to help set up for the party. I'd see her in passing as she's bolting into the house or I'm running out. It's always fleeting glances, frustrated, but accepting smiles before we rush off.

At lunch, Paloma forces everyone to stop and gather at the patio table to eat. I'm so starved to see Addie, touch her that I grab two random sandwiches off the catering tray, two drinks, her hand and drag her forcibly after me towards the docks.

She doesn't protest but sits when I nudge her down and dips her feet into the cool water. When I drop down next to her, she scoots close until our entire side touches. Her head finds my shoulder.

I know I should tell her they can see us from the patio, but I don't. I don't care. In a few hours, we'll be telling them anyway.

"I'm exhausted," she breathes, dragging her sandwich to her mouth and taking a bite. Her feet sway in the water, occasionally bumping mine. "For our ten years, let's just run away and roast on a beach somewhere."

"A nude beach."

Addie laughs. "We're not fucking on a beach. The sand will be a nightmare to get out of my cooch."

I chew my mouthful contemplatively. "I'll get it out."

She laughs harder and I grin.

Break ends too quickly, and I have to give Addie back.

I don't see her again until hours later when I'm stepping through the patio doors and spot her leaning into the counter by the fridge, a frosty bottle of water tipped back against her bottom lip. Her eyes are closed, her cheeks pink from all the exertion. The smooth column of her throat flexes with her deep pulls, her chest rises and falls rapidly.

A droplet of clear liquid slips past her lips and hits the top of her left tit. It shivers there in the waning light.

I'm in front of her before I can register the progress of my feet. Her lashes part in surprise, but my lips have already replaced the bottom rim. My tongue is sweeping in to savor the water still cold on her tongue.

Addie groans and twines her arms around my neck. Her body curves into mine and I crush her closer.

"God, I'm so thirsty," I rasp, breaking the kiss to latch onto her breast, sucking the droplet off her salty skin.

"Rhys," she whispers, arching her back, giving me full access to her breasts. "We're ... we're in the kitchen. Someone—"

I force a knee between her thighs and push up into her mound, and Addie is putty in my hands as I bite and suck my way up the column of her neck.

"We should take this to the parlor. I have a reoccurring fantasy of fucking you so hard on the carpet you have rug burn on your ass and knees."

Addie laughs and slides her hands under my hair. She drags my face to hers and nips at my bottom lip. "Tonight. When everyone's sleeping—"

"Addie! Rhys!"

We both jump, but Addie jolts like she's been electrocuted. Her whole body convulses in my arms. Our heads snap up to Iris's violated sneer and the two horrified people just over her shoulder.

"Mom. Oz," Addie whispers. Her wide, green eyes flick up to me before darting to the two staring at us like we were ... well, humping against the kitchen counter. "We can explain."

"Explain? We saw exactly what you two were doing," Iris hisses, a jewel studded finger stabbing at Addie. "Fornicating with your brother, you disgusting—"

"Finish that sentence and it'll be the last thing you ever do." I push Addie behind me and face our parents. "We were going to tell you."

"Tell us?" Paloma murmurs softly, small hand closing into Dad's tense upper arm.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Your whore of a daughter has managed to sink her claws into another member of my family."

"Rhys!" Dad gets in my path, saving his sister from finding herself manhandled out the front door. He faces the bitch squealing like I actually touched her. "Iris, stop. That's enough. I talked to you last night regarding this behavior and I warned you of the consequence if you inserted yourself into my family business. You promised me you would control yourself and keep your opinions to yourself."

Iris's eyes widen with panic, anger and confusion. "I haven't done anything. Your children were doing ungodly acts under your roof for lord knows how long. She no doubt manipulated him, offered herself to him and corrupted Rhys—"

"Who hurt you?" Addie blurts, silencing Iris. "Were you not loved enough as a child? Or are you just not getting enough dick—"

"Addie! Enough." Dad warns with a resounding boom in his voice he'd only ever used once on us when we were kids and crashed and sunk his brand-new jet skis.

Addie immediately snaps her lips closed.

Dad turns back to his sister. "You should go, Iris. This is a family matter and does not concern you."

"But ... I am family, Oz."

Dad's features soften. "You have your own family, la hermana. This is mine."

For a second, a pinprick of a second, I almost feel bad for the woman. She could have been told her dog died the way her whole presence shrunk before us. Defeat bows her back, pulls her shoulders to her ears. She looks up at her brother, the only person who ever stuck by her and her chin wobbles once before it all vanishes in the blink of an eye and the Iris we all know and hate returns.

"If this is how you want to run your family, Oz, fine. You can take it up with God. But there is only one place these two will be going. Vile, shameful acts with your own brother—"

"What shame?" Paloma steps forward, brows dark slashes pulled low over heated eyes. "They're not related, Iris. You know that. Oz never adopted Addie, and I never adopted Rhys. Addie was ten when Oz and I married. Rhys was twelve. Both of them were old enough to know they're not actually brother and sister. The fact that you keep throwing that out there is just you trying to shame them."

"They should be shamed!" Iris cries. "They grew up together. They lived in the same house their entire lives. Just how long have they been disrespecting your home?"

"That is none of your business. My children are none of your business. You're welcome to be in their lives if you'll be a loving, caring aunt to them, but if you can't, they're better off without you."

"Are you giving me an ultimatum?"

"Friendly advice," Paloma counters smoothly as she takes a step closer into Iris's space. No one sees the sweep of her arm slicing back or the launch until the crack of her palm colliding across Iris's face shatters the silence.

"Holy fuck!" Addie yelps, hands flying up to cover her mouth.

But Paloma is a looming angel of fury towering over the stunned woman clutching her scarlet cheek.

"If you ever call my daughter a whore again, I will tie you to the back of my car and drag your ass back to whatever hole you crawled out of. Now, get the fuck out of my house."

Iris sprints from the kitchen and out onto the back deck. No one watches her go. No one can stop staring at the tiny brunette cradling her hand, blinking at it like it belongs to someone else.

"Oh, I hit her," she gasps at last, spinning to face Dad. "Oz, I am so sorry."

He barely lets her finish. His hand is a fist in her hair, dragging her in for a kiss that is much too personal for my delicate eyes.

I glance at Addie to find her studying her sandals. I touch her cheek gently, pulling her gaze to mine.

"You okay?"

"About to find out, I guess," she whispers back.

I dare a peek at the two adults finally breaking the kiss only to stare into the other's eyes like they're about to finish acts I'm unwilling to witness.

I clear my throat.

Both blink as if only just remembering us.

Dad straightens, cheeks nearly as red as Paloma's. "You two in my office."