37. Wildflower

37

Wildflower

My Compass, Wildflower.

Hours later, we remain sprawled out on the blanket, watching the sky fade from bright blue to softening shades of pastel as the sun lowers on the horizon.

We talk, but not much, instead soaking in each other's skin and breath.

One rogue thought enters my mind, and I find myself voicing it out loud. "What if my dad wins in the end? What if he somehow gets me back to Kansas? Makes me take Lou back there?"

"He won't," Everett answers firmly, turning to face me. "But if he did, I'd go with you."

I lift my head, gazing down at him. There is no way I heard that correctly . "You'd move to Kansas? For me?"

"And for Lou."

"But this is your home, Everett."

Brown eyes burn straight through me as he shakes his head. "No, this is where I live. Where I grew up. Where my family is. That's all true." He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. "But you and your daughter are my home." Dragging his hand down my neck, he grasps the necklace at the center of my throat. "You're my compass, Wildflower. I'll follow you forever, because that's where I find home."

"Everett," I whisper, sitting up and tossing my leg over his waist so I'm straddling him. His hands find my hips, holding me in place while I grasp his face. Despite knowing I'll butcher the words I say next, I find the courage, because I don't think anything else will suffice. " T–Ti ho…a–aspettato per tutta…mia vita ."

He cocks his head at me, a bright smile stretching across his cheeks. "Is that Italian?"

"Your mom has been teaching me." I glance down, feeling embarrassed. "I think it's cool you guys can speak so many different languages. I…I thought maybe I could learn too." Slowly dragging my eyes up to meet his, I add, "For you."

Everett lets out a soft laugh, biting his lip as he shakes his head. "You are—"

"And I know that Spanish probably would've been the more practical option, considering our proximity to Latin America and all but… Well, your Mom seemed really excited to have someone to teach Italian. Plus, Italy is at the top of my bucket list, so maybe if I ever get to go someday, I can order my own pasta or something…" I trail off, realizing I'm nervous-rambling again.

"I've been waiting my whole life for you," Everett rasps. "That's what you said."

" I've been waiting for you all my life ." I nod. "Or…I think."

He begins laughing, locking his arms behind my back and pulling me flush against him. Ravishing me with teeth and lips and tongue, Everett kisses me until we're both breathless. "This is real," he whispers into my mouth.

I swallow the words on a moan. "Real. We're real."

He groans, pulling away, "I've got more birthday surprises for you, and I don't want to get carried away right now." He slowly lifts me off him, gathering our leftover strawberries and throwing them back in the bag as we both stand and fold up the blanket.

Taking my hand, he leads me out of the endless field of orange wildflowers and back to the peak of the cliffside. I'm stopped dead when we reach the top, transfixed on the exploding sky. The sun sinks beyond the horizon line, a collage of cotton candy-colored clouds reflected on the ocean below it.

"That's so beautiful," I say.

"Yes, you are." I turn to look at Everett, unable to stop my smile as I find him staring back at me, unaffected by the world around us. "C'mere," he says, ushering me over to the back of his motorcycle.

He grasps my hips, lifting me so I'm sitting on the end with my legs dangling off the edge. He steps between them, reaching down into one of the cases next to me and pulling out a small box.

"I wanted to give this to you privately, because there is a chance you may not accept it, and I want you to know if that's the case, we'll understand. I wanted to make sure you feel comfortable."

"We?" I ask, flicking my brow.

He smiles, the setting sun reflecting on his face with a golden hue. "It's from Leo and me. Well, and Darby too, technically."

Confused, I look down at the box as he sets it in my hand. Popping off the lid, I find a key chain, with one singular key on it, nestled in the center. Raising my eyes back to him, I only tilt my head.

"It's the key to the boardwalk suite next to Honeysuckle."

"Why?" I ask, having no idea where he's going with this. How this is supposed to be a gift to me?

"Do you remember at Thanksgiving when August suggested a cafe on the Boardwalk?"

I nod.

"Well, we had those meetings you suggested… We just didn't include you in them."

I frown. "Who's we ?"

"Leo, Scarlet, Darby, and me. August came to the first couple as well." He grips my hips a little tighter. "We agreed that the best option for the boardwalk would be a coffee shop, and that led to talks of a bakery, and well…" He smiles. "You're the best baker we know."

"But I'm not a baker." I shake my head, at a loss for words. "And I don't know a damn thing about small businesses."

"Baby," Everett laughs, "you're the marketing director of a small business initiative, and I'm your boss. Don't say that to me."

My mouth clamps shut. "I…I don't know what to say."

"Say yes," he murmurs, feathering his lips against mine. "Let me tell you a secret, Wildflower."

"Hmm?" My eyes flutter shut, head dropping back as his mouth connects with my jaw.

"We don't know anything either. Not me or Leo. Not Darby. We're winging it every day, but we figure it out. Together. Because we're a family." He drags his lips along the column of my throat. "You love baking. It's how you relieve stress. It's your therapy. It's the way you show your love to those in your life. It's your passion, and that shines through in everything you make. You're good, and we want you involved, but we're serious about what we're doing here. It's our family legacy, and we wouldn't offer this to someone if we didn't have faith in them. We're not in the business of failing." He pulls back, looking down at me with bright eyes. "We're giving you this because we believe in you, because we think it'd make you happy, and because you should know it's never too late to find your calling."

Something soft and warm settles over me, like a blanket being wrapped around my shoulders in the cold. Like a sense of belonging, something larger than myself telling me I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. Whatever compass I've been following—while not the direction I intended—finally helped me reach my destination.

"How…How does it work?" I ask.

Everett presses a quick kiss to my forehead. "As soon as you think of what you'd like to name it, we'll help you get a business license. Our gift to you is that we'll cover renovations, get the building up to code and refurbished with a kitchen. Once it's ready to open, you'll take on a lease from Leo, just like your sister has." He grabs my face with both hands. "The rest of the details, we can work out later. All I need you to do right now is say yes, Wildflower."

"I can't believe you guys want me for this."

"We believe in you, Dahlia." He presses his head against mine, flaming eyes blazing right through my soul. "But you've got to believe in yourself, too."

I nod against him. "Okay, I'll try."

He smiles wide and bright and beautiful. "That's my girl."

I'm the one pulling him against me now, sealing our lips together. He lets out a deep groan, opening for me as my tongue sweeps in, dancing with his. He still tastes like chocolate and all my dreams coming true. He tastes warm and enticing and like he was always meant to be mine. That bone-deep feeling of destiny washes over me once more, and for the first time in my entire life, I think I feel true contentment.

"Thank you," I whisper into his mouth. "This is better than I ever could've imagined for thirty."

I feel him smile. "I'm not done yet, baby." Hand snaking around my back and grasping my ass beneath my dress, Everett tugs me flush against him, his hard body aligning flawlessly with mine. His lips drag down my neck before he reaches my collarbone, sinking his teeth into my flesh and causing me to arch and moan. He continues down my chest, using his free hand to tug the cups of my dress down, allowing my breasts to spill over the top of it.

Dark lashes flutter upward, brown eyes on fire in the fading daylight as he looks at me. His tongue snakes out between his lips, landing a teasing flick against my exposed nipple. A moan cascades from my lips, my hips bucking against his, feeling hardness in the places I most need it. He sucks my entire breast into his mouth, pulling away with a delicious tug.

"One last present for you," he rasps. "But for this next gift, I need to know: would you rather receive it sprawled out on my bed, or right here and now?"

I let out a sigh when his face falls back between my breasts. "I think I have a good idea of what it'd look like in your bed," I whimper as he swirls his tongue around my other nipple, "but you've got me curious about how you'd give it to me on the back of this bike."

He pulls away, smiling wickedly as he places one hand at the center of my chest and slowly pushes me backward. "Lay down." I do as he says, falling flat onto the leather and arching my back over the saddle of the seat. "Lift your arms above your head." His other hand slides tortuously slowly down my bare thigh, hooking beneath my knee and lifting my leg to wrap around his hip. "Hold onto the handlebars."

I imagine the view I present to him now: laid out on his motorcycle, my breasts spilling out of my top and my dress hiked up to my waist, the sun setting on the ocean behind my back. My breath flies from my lips in short, intense bursts, anticipation stirring in my core and driving me mad.

Everett towers above me—both pure love and feral lust in his features. He's breathing just as rapidly as I am when his hands reach the buckle on his belt, releasing it before unbuttoning his jeans. He lowers them just enough for his cock to spring free—hard and glistening with arousal.

He reaches between my legs, pulling my panties aside and running a finger through my center. "Mmm," he groans. "Just what I thought. Soaked for me."

Feeling a flush run to my cheeks, I bite my lip and nod.

Everett guides his cock between us, and I lift my hips to grant him entrance. We let out a simultaneous moan as he slides inside me, burying himself to the hilt in one thrust. Falling forward, he fists one hand in the fabric of my dress where it's bunched at my midsection, using it as leverage to fuck me hard, both our bodies slamming together with the delicious sound of flesh meeting flesh.

It's wild and fierce and ferocious, the way he claims my body with a punishing pace.

Using his other hand to reach behind my head, he knots his fingers in my hair and pulls me up so our faces press together. Heat shoots through my core, setting fire to my veins that reaches every inch of my body. Tightening my legs around his hips, I lift mine to meet him thrust for thrust, desperate to be closer, so entwined that there is no untangling the two of us.

"Tell me it's real," he growls into my mouth.

"Real," I breathe.

"Tell me you're mine."

"Yours," I moan. "I'm yours."

"Fuck," he whimpers. "Mine. You're mine."

"Yours."

With each thrust of his body into my own, he whispers against my lips.

"I."

"Love."

"You."

"Dahlia."

An unexpected orgasm slams into me as those words filter their way into my being, etched into the fabric of my soul, tattooing themselves across my heart. My hands fly off the handlebars, grasping behind his back to hold him closer to me as I unravel. The wave crests, pure ecstasy washing over me as stars cloud my vision and my body goes taut.

"Everett," I cry. "Everett. Everett."

I cling to him, feeling his cock pulsate inside me as ripple after ripple of pleasure rises and crashes, sparks dancing along my skin. I can't see or think or comprehend. There is only this moment. Only him. Only those four words and the connection of our bodies. The binding of our souls.

"Dahlia," he whimpers, bringing me back to reality. I realize he's gone still, his hips straining in an attempt at pulling back, but the lock I have around his waist isn't letting him move. "Baby, I'm going to—"

I loosen my legs, and he pulls back, fisting his cock in one hand. "Can I—" His voice is strained, cutting off his words.

The feral look in his eye tells me what he wants—what he needs. I sit up, pulling the straps of my dress down my arms and lowering it entirely to my waist. I press my breasts together, nodding at him in silent submission.

Claim me. Mark me. I'm yours.

I don't say the words out loud, but I know my eyes send the message he's looking for when his head falls back, a moan loud enough to rock the mountain we sit upon tearing from his throat as he loses himself.

Ropes of cum shoot across my chest, painting me in his release. " Fuck ," he groans, chest heaving, legs trembling as he falls against the back of his bike to hold himself up.

A moment of silence passes as we both float back to Earth, catching our breath. When he lifts his head, those brown eyes are hooded and satisfied—alight with love and awe.

He reaches out, fingers dancing along the hollow of my throat and smearing the release spread across my skin. "You look so pretty with a pearl necklace."

Shocks shoot through my core at his words, eliciting a moan from me. He takes the opportunity to slide two fingers past my parted lips, forcing me to suck his cum away.

His smile is fierce as he slowly pulls out of my mouth, reaching into the backpack and grabbing a spare t-shirt. He softly wipes the remnants of his climax from my chest before throwing it back inside.

Everett wraps a hand around the back of my neck, bringing my mouth to his as he kisses me hard. "My plan was to fuck you from behind so you could watch the sunset." He laughs, and I just realize that it's now near dark.

"This view was better, anyway." I smile.