“I don’t want anything to ruin this, to take you or this away from me.”
“Derek, are you talking about our jobs?” I squeezed his hands back. “Because we don’t have to let them affect what we have. I mean, one of us will be out of a job anyway.” I smiled. “It will probably be you, but I wouldn’t mind being a sugar mama until you find something else.” My chest flooded with relief at the sound of Derek’s chuckle at my joke. “I love you, too, Derek Carter. I probably have for a long time. I thought you were gone from my life forever, but after seeing you again and spending all of this time together, it just feels like…” I drifted off.
“… we were always meant to be together.” Derek finished my thought. I nodded, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him with everything I had in me. I wanted to tell him how muchI loved him, how much I’d always loved him, in a way that words would fail to accomplish.
“I wanna be with you, Jasmine.” He smoothed his palm on my chest and gently pushed me back on the mattress until I was fully reclined.
“You are with me,” I whispered. “You’ve always been with me.”
He lowered his body onto mine, and we kissed again. I spread my legs for him, and he pressed his boxer-clad hips between my thighs, caressing my bare sex with his erection.
“I need you, Derek,” I whispered into his ear, grinding myself into his waist, desperate for the pressure and friction of his body. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough with this man. “Make love to me, now, right now.”
He reached between our bodies and freed himself from his boxers, teasing the head of his cock through my slick folds.
“Protection,” he said in a pained whisper. “We need protection.”
“No, we don’t,” I protested. Nothing short of an act of God would make me move from this spot when I was so close to getting what I wanted. “I’m on birth control.” He opened his mouth to protest again. “I want to feel you, all of you, even if it’s only one time.” My expression must have matched the desperation I felt in that moment, because in the next, I felt Derek press himself into me.
He entered me inch by scintillating inch, and it felt more amazing than I could have ever imagined. I’d spent my entire adult life comparing every man I’d been with to Derek. Now that fantasy had become reality, my dreams couldn’t compete with the way Derek made me feel with every powerful stroke, every gentle caress, and every whispered word of pleasure and emotion.
“Why are you so perfect?” he murmured as he rolled me onto my belly and kneeled behind me. His fingertips dug into the flesh of my waist as he tugged my hips up to meet his before entering me again. He leaned forward to cover my shoulder and back with kisses. He painted the cheeks of my ass red with slaps that sent delicious shock waves to every nerve ending in my body.
I’d never made love like this before. It was powerful and punishing while also so filled with love.
Then we shifted so we were lying on our sides, facing each other with one of my legs draped over his waist as Derek punctuated each thrust with a groan of ecstasy between tender kisses. His movements became erratic before he clutched my hips so tightly, I was sure I’d have bruises. Another declaration of love was shouted as he filled me with his release before rolling onto his back, his chest heaving and covered with sweat.
“Damn, girl,” he whispered and pulled my body into his, planting a kiss on my sweaty forehead.
“Exactly,” I responded and draped one leg over his and rested my head on one of his pecs, listening to his heartbeat slowly return to normal.
I’d sent Eleanor two messages letting her know that I would be running late before I could tear myself away from Derek to take a well-earned hot shower. We said goodbye over lingering kisses while my taxi waited outside. By the time I made it to Eleanor’s, I felt like I was floating.
“I’m so sorry I’m late,” I called after removing my shoes and stepping into the slippers Eleanor had left out for me.
“You don’t have anything to apologize for, dear,” she called over her shoulder as I followed her into the kitchen. “I was a newlywed once.” She shot me a knowing smile, and I felt my cheeks flush with heat. “You know we could’ve rescheduled.”
“Oh no.” I snapped back to the present and away from the bed I’d shared with Derek this morning. “I was really looking forward to this. I love baking, and I can’t wait to hear all about the Founders’ Day picnic.”
“Good.” She smiled and handed me an apron. “I’m glad you’re here. I was looking forward to today, too. You remind me so much of my sister, and I miss spending long afternoons cooking and gossiping.”
“I didn’t know you have a sister.” I tied up the apron before washing my hands in the giant stone farmer’s sink.
“Had.” She sighed. “She’s been gone for about five years now, but I miss her every day.”
I really wanted to ask more about her sister and what happened to her, but I wasn’t going to dig for more information than Eleanor was willing to give. Instead, I said, “I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“I appreciate that.” She smiled before she pulled out a large, worn-out yellow binder. “I’m sure you’d expect me to have some kind of fancy digital system to organize my recipes.” She was right. Based on everything else in their house, I had expected a more high-tech filing solution. “David keeps offering to do it, and I will let him one day, but this book makes me feel connected to every person who used these recipes before I did.” She placed thebook on the countertop and carefully opened the pages. There was a mix of pages and plastic sheets stuffed with scraps of paper and index cards. The handwriting varied from page to page.
“There are recipes from David’s family dating back over a hundred years. A few of these are from my family, though my mother didn’t really care for cooking, and some of them”—she flipped to the end which held newer pages—“are mine,” she finished proudly.
“This is amazing.” I sighed. I was awestruck as I carefully flipped through the pages of recipes for everything from cake to cough syrup. A familiar ingredient seemed to feature in almost every recipe. “I meant to ask you before. What exactly are Pike berries? After dinner last week, I tried to Google them, but nothing came up.”
“Well, it wouldn’t.” She turned away from me and began pulling ingredients from the cabinets and setting them on the counter. “Pike berries don’t exist outside of Miller’s Cove.” She handed me a jar of perfectly round pink, purple, and red berries floating in a clear liquid.
“How is that possible?” I took the jar from her hands and examined the berries from every angle I could. They were bigger than cranberries but smaller than grapes.
“Did Derek tell you how Miller’s Cove was founded?”
