And then he was thrusting inside her in one long, measured surge that nearly made her black out, such was her pleasure.
“Yes,” she murmured, smiling as his lips claimed hers once more.
He retreated at a deliberate pace, letting her savor the friction of their joining before plunging fully inside her once more. Their union couldn’t be measured by the pleasure he brought her body, but by the way her heart swelled to almost bursting.
“I love you,” she told him, meeting his gaze as they danced together, hips moving in ancient rhythm.
JT laced his fingers with hers and set their hands on the pillow beside her head. Without breaking his steady stroke into her body, he kissed her gently on the lips before murmuring, “You’re my everything.”
His confession caused her body to spasm. Her orgasm rolled over her in slow waves of ever-increasing pleasure that slowly faded. When she opened her eyes, she found JT watching her. Her lips curved at the wonder in his expression. He began to move against her powerfully, chasing his own finish. In seconds his body shuddered as his climax claimed him. He let her watch every emotion play across his face.
Breathing harshly, JT collapsed on his stomach beside her on the bed. He peered at her from beneath his long lashes, a wryness in his expression making him look younger than his thirty years. Or, Violet corrected, he looked exactly the age he was and she’d grown accustomed to how stress and unhappiness had made him seem older.
She rolled over on her side and cupped her hands beneath her cheek. “I’m here to stay.”
“I assumed that when I saw all the packing boxes in the hall.”
“And by here I mean wherever you are.” Her lips firmed. “I fully intend to fight dirty if that’s what it takes to save our marriage.”
“There’s nothing to save.” He lifted one hand to forestall her heated rebuttal. “Let me finish. I simply mean that I was wrong to push you away and that I’m fully committed to spending the rest of my life with you.”
Violet let him see her delight. “Good. I think you made a wise choice.”
“So do I.” JT rolled onto his side until their noses were an inch apart. His heart rate had returned to its regular resting pace, but every third beat or so it skipped a little as he realized just how happy he was.
“Feel like telling me how the shareholder vote worked out?”
Why did he get the sense that she already knew?
“Strangely enough, it came out in our favor.”
“Really?” She did a lousy job of sounding surprised. “How is that possible?”
“From what Brent was able to gather after I left, Casey didn’t vote his shares.”
“That’s odd. Any idea what happened?”
JT decided Violet’s poker face was improving, but he knew her well enough to pick up on the trace of amusement in her eyes.
“I don’t know if you remember but he was in the midst of a nasty divorce.”
“I seem to recall something about that.”
Now JT knew she’d been up to something because she’d been the one to point that out to him in the first place. “He let his wife have his four percent of Stone Properties stock in the settlement.”
“You don’t say.” Violet looked suitably fascinated. “But if his ex-wife had the shares, she wouldn’t be able to vote them because she was no longer family.”
“True.” JT let the rest of his explanation hang in the air, but Violet didn’t press him to continue. And why would she? JT suspected she already knew how it ended. “Without Casey’s four percent, my father and I controlled an equal number of shares.”
“So how did we win?”
“That’s an excellent question. Perhaps you’d like to explain to me.”
“Me?” She sounded innocent, but a smug smile tugged at her lips. “Why would you think I had anything to do with it?”
“Because I’ve met the ex-Mrs. Casey Stone and she’s greedy and beautiful, but not particularly bright. I don’t understand why she wanted the shares at all.”