To Hate Adam Connor

Six months later

I believe in sex. Wholeheartedly.

I believe when you’re having sex with the one you love—especially if he is wielding a big one—you experience something out of this world. It’s hard to explain. It’s not quite the same as having sex with someone you’ll only know for one night, even if he happens to be a God in bed. Don’t get me wrong, sex with that guy is good too because orgasms are usually pretty magical things, but what I’m talking about is different.

Hear me out.

Loving someone, having sex with someone who loves you with everything they are, who trusts you more than they trust anyone in the world…it’s beautiful, humbling, earth-shattering, and to be honest, a little crazy.

But yeah, sex with a one-night stand versus sex with Adam…let’s just say Adam hit it out of the park every single time.

Would you like to know what kind of sex I love the most? You know almost everything about me, so it’s only fair that you know that too.

Sleepy sex. I love sleepy sex. I could have sex with sleepy sex, I love it that much.

Specifically, I should say, I love sleepy sex with Adam Connor. To be woken with his mouth on me, to gasp into his hand as he tries to keep me quiet so my moans and gasps won’t be heard by the perfect little human down the hall…to be woken with a magical cock pushing inside me–Adam’s magical cock, just in case you didn’t get that… I approve of that kind of sex each and every time.

So since I love sleepy sex so much, it was the perfect wake-up call on the best day of my life. I woke up with a big hand around my breast, squeezing and pulling my nipple. I groaned, and he shushed me gently. His lips were against my neck, kissing and licking and biting.

“What are you doing?” I asked dazedly, a small shiver running through my body as he softly bit my skin. I was still somewhere in between dream world and the real one.

His hand traveled all the way down from my breast to my thigh, and he pulled my leg up and over his thigh. I smiled, eyes still closed, and helped him by sliding back until my very naked ass rested against his very hard abs.

My leg secured over his thigh, his hand covered my hip, and he pulled me down a little.

“Adam,” I murmured sleepily as I felt his hard cock between my legs. My body was already tingling from the excitement of having that thing so close.

I rolled my hips, as much as I could manage with him behind me, and turned my head back so I could have my morning kiss.

The minute my lips were close enough he took my mouth in a slow, seducing kiss. I moaned and just let my body go soft in his arms when the warmth of him reached deep into my bones. Slowly everything faded away, and I felt nothing but the love between us.

Without his lips ever leaving mine, I felt his hand spread me open, and I could tell he was making sure I was ready to take him. Then he guided himself into me slowly, his hips moving so fucking slowly. When it was all too much to take in, I broke away from his kiss and held my breath. One last inch and he was all in.

Completely mine.

He slid his arm under mine and curled his fingers around my shoulder, holding me still for his lazy thrusts.

“Good morning, Lucy,” he whispered as I let go of my breath as quietly as I could.

I wasn’t quite ready to say anything. “Hmmm,” was all I could manage.

He pulled out, leaving nothing but the thick head inside me, and then pushed it slowly back in as I scrambled to grab his bicep with my right hand.

“Ahhhh,” I murmured, too gone for words.

“I love waking you up like this,” he whispered into my ear, somehow managing to keep his thrusts steady. “You’re so soft, so willing to do everything I say when you first wake up in the morning.” He pressed a kiss on my shoulder and gave me a perfectly timed hard thrust.

Jesus!

“When have I ever not been willing to get in bed with you?” I shot back quietly.

“Never, but there is something different about you when I take you first thing in the morning. I think you love it, too.”

I loved everything with him, period, but yeah, I loved watching him do all the work as he held me in his arms and let me watch him through sleepy eyes. Some mornings I did wake up before him, and if and when that happened, I always made sure he had a good start to his morning…a very good and relaxing start.

“I love your cock, period,” I admitted. “It doesn’t matter what time it is, I love having it in me any time of day.”

I managed to open my legs wider and started to roll my hips downward, urging him to go faster.

“Always so greedy and impatient,” he murmured before sucking my ear lobe into his mouth. “I love you, Lucy.”

With his words, I contracted around him and smiled through his groan.

“I love you, Adam.” There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation anymore. “I especially love when I get to come on you first thing in the morning.”

“You do? You want to come on my cock? Last night wasn’t enough?”

“Last night it was just two times. You were tired, so I didn’t want to press.” I turned my face to him. “It’s your fault,” I whispered, my eyes finally catching his. “I don’t feel satisfied unless you make me come three times in one go. It feels like there is something missing.”

“Hmmm, so I have to make you come three times now?”

I smiled up at him and a small moan slipped out of my mouth when he changed his angle and hit my sweet spot. He knew all my angles, all my corners now.

“Shhh,” he quieted me as he kept working his cock into me, pushing me toward something I wasn’t quite ready for. “You don’t want Aiden to hear you and come to your rescue, do you?”

I shook my head and grabbed his forearm, whatever I could reach. Those lazy strokes were long gone; now he was on a mission to make me come, and he knew exactly how he could get me there. I loved Aiden with all my heart, but him coming to rescue me from his father was the absolute last thing I wanted. I wanted his father to ruin me, though in reality, he already had.

He took me exactly where he wanted to take me by pushing deep into me and grinding deeper and deeper. Oh, it was everything. I grabbed his hand and pulled it over my mouth as I came around him, and he didn’t stop working me until my leg started to shake, and he had to pull it down to keep it still. Even after that, he gently pushed me onto my stomach and positioned his legs on either side of my hips.

A new angle, a tighter fit, still slow yet deeper thrusts. He gave me his everything that morning, and I took it all.

“You make me crazy for you, Lucy,” he murmured into my ear at some point while I was trying not to pass out from all the sensations. “You make me happy.”

If you think those words didn’t hit the deepest, darkest corner of my heart, think again.

He gave me four orgasms that morning, and I gave him two—because yes, I was that good, too.

With that extra one, I should’ve known something was up.

***

“Good morning.”

“Arrgggh, nooo.”

“Good morning, Aiden.”

“No. Just a little more, Lucy.”

“But you have to wake up.”

“Why? Why? I’m really sleepy, Lucy. I don’t feel like I have to wake up yet.”

“But I really want some pancakes, Aiden. I asked your dad, but he won’t help me. I thought you would, but…”

He turned over and opened those eyes that looked exactly like his father’s. “He won’t help?”

I shook my head and tried to look very sad.

“You really want pancakes? Like really really want them?”

I nodded. “I’m afraid so. I really really want some pancakes with maple syrup. Lots of maple syrup.”

Aiden released a suffering sigh and hit his bed with his little hand. He had turned six just a month ago, but he was still so little in my eyes. It hadn’t been pleasant having Adeline over when we had his birthday party, but she was Aiden’s mom—at least as far as he knew. Seeing that big, big smile on his face when he saw his friends, all the balloons and toys, and the huge, colorful bounce house in the backyard…his joy made it worth being in the same room as her.

To be fair, after Adam made her release a statement basically apologizing to me, she didn’t do anything that would piss me off too much. Since Adam had bought the sex tape—which I was curious to watch, but I knew he’d already destroyed it—she wasn’t being all that bitchy. She even signed over the papers that gave sole custody to Adam.

Oh, Aiden still spent time with her, still spent some nights at her place, but he was always happier when his dad was around. Just like me.

“Daddy will owe me. Big time,” he muttered as he swung his legs over and got down from the bed.

“You’re gonna help?” I totally knew he was gonna help. He loved pancakes just as much as Olive and I did.

“You already woke me up, so I guess I should so I can eat pancakes. You always eat more than me and Daddy. How come you do that, Lucy? Girls aren’t supposed to eat that much.”

“Ah, excuse me. That happened only once, and I was starving.”

Heading toward his bathroom, he looked at me over his shoulder and smiled brilliantly. “You’re always starving, Lucy.”

The little squirt.

So with my helper on my side, we made pancakes as his dad took a shower and got ready for his day on set. As per Aiden’s request, we also invited the Thorns over for breakfast. Since Adam and Jason were costars, the five of us spent a lot of time together, on set and off. Luckily, their call time for that day was a few hours away.

Olive helped me set the dining table as Aiden and Jason protected the pancakes from us. Trust me, Olive was just as enraged as I’d been when Jason backed up Aiden on the subject of us eating too many pancakes.

Jason was smart enough to slide his arm around her waist and kiss Olive just after that declaration, and he was lucky Olive didn’t see him quietly high five Aiden.

When Adam came out of his shower wearing a sleek black suit, I had to do a double take.

“What’s the occasion?” I asked lightly as he raked his fingers through his damp hair.

“Something special.” He caught me in his arms and gently kissed me on my lips. I put down the fruit plate in my hands and turned to him in surprise.

“What’s that for?”

“It’s been five months today,” he declared.

I knew that one. It had been five months since I’d moved in with him and Aiden. There wasn’t much moving involved because I’d never had the chance to rent that apartment I’d had my eye on. One day all my clothes were at Olive’s place and the next day they weren’t. I didn’t exactly get a say in it, but I wasn’t complaining either. Like I said, sleepy sex had turned out to be my favorite kind of sex.

And Aiden…his reaction to the whole ‘your dad and I are in a serious relationship now, is that okay?’ talk was to give me a part sweet, part sly smile. He was so much like his father.

“Does that mean he will get to kiss you whenever he wants to?” he asked, his smile still in place.

“Yes, I guess that means he’ll get to kiss me whenever he wants to. If I’m angry at him, he doesn’t get to kiss me at all, though.”

He giggled. “What else does it mean?”

It meant a lot of things his little ears couldn’t—shouldn’t hear, but I kept all of them to myself.

“If you are okay with it, it would also mean that I’d get to stay with you guys.”

“Here?”

“Yes.”

“Here in this house? You won’t live at Olive’s anymore?”

“No, I’d live here.”

His eyes grew big. “You’ll live with us? Forever?”

“Let’s slow down there, little human. If he pisses me off, I’m not sure how I’d feel about seeing your father’s face forever. Yours, though…” I bumped his chin with my knuckles. “Yours I wouldn’t mind seeing forever.”

Laughter filled the room as he ran off to tell his father I preferred him over Adam.

I had mentioned that he was the perfect little human before, hadn’t I?

Adam laid another kiss on me, this one more forceful, more intense, somehow even more beautiful and pulled me back to the present.

“And this one?” I asked when he let me get in a breath.

“This one was because today is our wedding day.”

The smile that was on my lips slipped away in an instant, and I took a step back from him.

“What?”

“It’s our wedding day.”

“Again…what? Did I somehow time travel and miss the proposal?”

He closed the distance between us and stopped me from moving backward—I hadn’t even been aware I was moving backward.

“I’ve been proposing to you every day with every kiss, Lucy.”

“You have?”

“It’s not my fault you took your time giving me an answer. Now you don’t get to ask for a proposal. It’s too late for that.”

“It is?”

“Yes, Lucy. I’m sorry.”

“But I want a proposal, Adam. I really, really want it. Propose. Please.”

He leaned down and brushed a gentle kiss on the edge of my lips. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“So no proposal? What does that mean exactly?

“It means we’re getting married.”

“We are? When?”

“Today.”

“What?” My voice was barely audible

Suddenly Olive came around the corner, and I froze in my place when I saw what she was holding.

A wedding dress. A fucking wedding dress, and I had to admit, a very fucking beautiful wedding dress.

My hands flew to my mouth, and I just stood there, taking it all in.

There were tears streaming down her face so, obviously, there were some streaming down my face too.

“I-I…” I stuttered.

Aiden moved, and I saw him reach for his father’s hand as he smiled up at me. I still had no words.

Then Olive was by my side.

“I wish you all the happiness in the world, Lucy. I wish you all the smiles, all the laughter, all the love.” She laughed and wiped away her tears. “You deserve so much, my beautiful friend. You deserve the best love story, you deserve the very best ending, and I’m honored that I’ll be standing right next to you when you marry the love of your life.”

I dropped my hands and a laugh escaped my mouth—but don’t worry, I was still crying. “Who said he was the love of my life?” He totally was. “And I don’t remember asking you to be my maid of honor either, my little green Olive.”

She handed the delicate dress to Jason and flung herself in my arms. “You don’t get to have a say. Try to remove me from your side, I dare you.”

Just as she finished speaking, Jason stepped in and pried her out of my arms, holding her against his body as Olive relaxed against him. Neither one of us looked all that pretty with our red, crying faces.

“And I guess, since you never asked before you started calling me Daddy, I’m not asking your permission to walk you to this guy,” Jason said before pressing a kiss on my cheek.

I laughed and looked up at his smiling face through my tears.

Aiden dropped his father’s hand and ran to my side. He was still in his Super Man PJs.

“Don’t cry, Lucy. Don’t you want to marry us?”

“Buddy, you can’t ask her that, remember?” Adam interrupted.

“But why? I don’t understand.”

“Yeah, I second that. I don’t understand either. Why can’t you ask me that?”

He walked to my side and cupped my face in one hand. I barely registered Aiden letting go of my hand and going to Jason’s side. Adam always did that to me, always made it impossible to look away from him.

“Because I don’t want you to think. Because I don’t want you to have the option to say no to me. You’re mine, Lucy. When there is only one answer to a question and you already know what it is, it’s pointless to ask it. You will get married to me today. You will become my wife and you will always be mine.”

His wife.

His fucking wife.

I gulped and nodded. “You’re right. It’s pointless to ask when you know the answer.”

His other hand came up, and he held me still. “So, yes? You’re going to do it?”

“I thought you said I didn’t have the option to say no.”

“You don’t,” he repeated in a low voice, his eyes moving over every inch of my face. “But I can never be sure of what you’ll do.”

“I understand. So…okay.” I lifted my shaky hands and put them over his. “Let’s get married. And why not today, right? It’s as good a day as any, and if all my favorite people will be there, well, that means it will be the best day.”

He smiled slowly, as if he had actually been afraid I’d say no, as if he didn’t already know I couldn’t.

Then as his smile got bigger, my eyes filled with more tears.

“That’s enough, Lucy,” he murmured, kissing my leaking eyes. “That’s enough, my beautiful warrior.”

My body shuddered, and Adam wrapped me up in his arms before I could slip away and meet the floor.

His whispers were the only things that were getting through to me.

“You’ll never be like them, Lucy. You’re not cursed, sweetheart. You never were. You were just waiting for me to find you.” His voice was so tender, so loving. “Who am I kidding? You couldn’t even wait for me to find you. You fell right into my backyard, got right up in my face.” Still crying in his arms, I held on tighter.

He had found me.

He’d never acknowledge it, but yes, Adam had found me.

“I love you,” I whispered into his now soaked shirt.

“And I love you, my Lucy.” I felt his lips on the top of my head and closed my eyes.

He was perfect. He was everything I’d always been afraid to want for myself.

Lifting my head, I looked into his eyes and managed to give him a shaky smile. “You are the hero of my story, after all, Adam Connor. You are my unexpected prince who broke my curse. Who would’ve thought, huh? I think I’m glad it’s you because I would’ve hated to start from scratch and teach someone else how to kiss properly.”

He laughed, his eyes going soft. “I’m afraid you’ll never get to kiss anyone else but me again. You okay with that?”

I nodded, my heart still feeling wonky in my chest. “I can live with that.”

“Good.”

“So, Lucy, will you marry us or not?” a voice chimed in.

I let go of Adam and leaned down to kiss Aiden’s cheeks. “Thank you for asking, my little prince. My answer is a definite yes.”

“Good. Now can we eat the pancakes? I’m really hungry, and I’ve been waiting very patiently.”

I laughed and straightened. “Yes. Yes, we can eat the pancakes.”

A now tear-free Olive sent me a quick wink and went to help Aiden and Jason with the pancakes.

Adam drew me back into his arms, and I welcomed his warmth and closeness.

“Thank you, Lucy.”

“For what?”

“For spying on me. For being mine.”

“That’s a lot to be thankful for.”

“And I plan on thanking you every chance I get.”

“You should do that. Three times every time, please.”

Adam smiled, and I melted.

He leaned down and whispered into my ear, “Thank you for trusting me with your beautiful heart.”

So that same day, after pancakes, I said I do to Adam freaking Connor with stupid, happy tears in my eyes.

After our shockingly gentle first kiss, I pulled him down and whispered a little secret into his ear.

I’d never forget the look he gave me…the one that said I was his world.

His hand resting on my stomach, on our little baby, he gave me another perfect kiss, another one I could add to the list.

That little girl who had spent her days crying, who had tried her very best to figure out why her mother couldn’t love her enough to hold on to her, who couldn’t understand why her grandmother would never love her like she needed to be loved…that same little girl who along the way had understood and accepted that not everybody gets to have their own happily ever after in this world…that girl in me…that hopeful little girl in me just smiled that day.

She smiled, and smiled, and smiled, and smiled.

THE END