by Ellie Jean
Like a stalker, I basically creep up to the bathroom, unprepared for what I find. I hold in a silent gasp.
Ocean, now standing under the shower, purple bruising mingled with his tattoos, his face down and water cascading over his entire body.
“Does it hurt?”
“No. My entire body’s numb.”
My fingers move and undo the buttons on my shirt, moving to my skirt. My heart squeezes, unable to pump looking at my man. Next, my panties and bra are discarded, and I straighten my back and stop thinking for once, and do.
Moving in behind him, my cold body heats quickly. Skin on skin, I wrap my arms around his waist, my front to his back, laying my head on his upper back. Slow breathing calms my rapid pulse beating and I try to match my breathing with his. “I’m here.” Stroking his chest with my fingers gently, the water continues falling down over us both.
“I don’t know why. I’m supposed to be a savage, yet I’m weak and broken, Phoebe. My mother had it right, I don’t deserve anything.” Quiet and slow, Ocean is defeated.
“You’ve been fighting so long to keep everyone happy, it’s now your turn to be loved and helped. You deserve that and so much more.” Turning his battered body around, I look at him, lifting his chin so his bloodshot eyes are on mine. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to be in this together.”
A vulnerable smile pulls at his mouth.
Grabbing the soap, I lather it up and circle his chest and shoulders. His hands which were by his side, softly cup my ass. The water washes the bubbles down and I lay my head on his chest. The thud of his heart pounds strongly. My arms wrap around his neck. Ocean is a savage and one that won’t be tamed. I’ve witnessed some of his brutal force and I’ve gone over it in my head many times while I was alone, how many people he may have killed, or the laws he’s broken but I don’t want to change him, I only want him to do what he needs to do and love and care for me at the same time.
“Is that okay?”
“It sounds perfect.”
Standing on my tippy toes, our lips meet tenderly insuring that it will all be alright. The softness of them expelling any fears I had within. Shivers stream through me. Our connection is powerful yet so new and fragile.
In that beautiful second, we become one.
Every single breath becomes each other’s.
Together and in time, we will heal.
This is the beginning of our lives.
“Do you trust me?”
“You let me drive your Chevelle, so I guess I should trust you since you trust me with your pride and joy.” Her bright eyes and happy face makes my heart skip a beat.
Lying on the lounge resting after I’ve been keeping her busy for the past three days looking after my sore and sorry ass, Phoebe smiles delicately and looks to where I am standing by the cabin door.
“Come here.” I’d organized for a caterer to bring out some food and a few other things for our week-long stay at the cabin so we could escape the brutal world and be together and now that I can move more, I have hung up fairy lights to make it special for Phoebe. She deserves everything to be special in her life from this precise moment.
Twinkling against the night sky, I’ve made the veranda cozy like it was the night before we were called back to business and laid some blankets and cushions on the ground. We need to be comfortable. After I tell her what I need to, I don’t think she will feel like celebrating but I have alcohol and a cheese plate here in case we need it, including strawberries and grapes.
“Ocean.” Her small gasp tells me it was worth the pain in my ribs putting up the lights. “It’s spectacular. What are you up to?” Her eyebrows draw in.
Reaching out my hand, she takes it and sits next to me against the cushions. “I need to talk to you.”
“Okay.”
“You haven’t asked me about your brother. Why?” Bringing this up could go either way, but she needs to know the truth and just like she has stood by me, I’ll stand by her in her decisions.
Shrugging, she crosses her feet and looks out to the small flowers. “I didn’t really know how to bring it up. I’ve tried a few times but stopped myself.”
“Why?” I lay my body down and our faces are opposite one another.
“For one, he killed your sister. I still don’t know how you can stand the sight of me and accept me in your house.” Her eyes stray to the darkness.
My insides drop.
Reaching across her stomach, I tug her gently so we are touching. “I don’t blame anything that happened with Melody on you. You don’t control your family any more than I can control mine.” I laugh a little considering our families are both beyond help. “We are our own people, baby, it’s us only now.”
“Okay. I like that.”
“I do too. But I did find Colton and we had a conversation.”
Phoebe’s body tenses beside me and her eyes slowly look to mine. I keep a good hold of her waist.
There’s no way of sugar-coating what I found out. “Colton may not be your brother and possibly your father isn’t your biological father either.” I stroke her side, hoping it will calm her a little.
Phoebe jerks forward and sits up completely. Our contact gone.
“What do you mean? How?”
“I asked him why he wanted to hurt you. I couldn’t understand how he could hate you so much that he would want to kill you.”
A sadness overtakes her eyes and I pull her alongside me, her head rests on my shoulder, my arm around her back cradles her. “It was because I reminded them of others, wasn’t it?”
“No, baby. Colton confessed that when you were tiny, a woman came to your house and dropped you to your father. It seems the mother you knew wasn’t your biological mother. Your father had some drunken affairs and knocked one of the women up who was your mom. But your father wasn’t convinced you were his. His wife took you in and gave you a home, but it became too much for her and she left. Colton said she hated being reminded day in day out that her husband slept with other women. He blamed you for his mother splitting.”
Her small body trembles against me, and I absorb her heartbreak. “So the woman I knew as my mother wasn’t, and my father might not be either? Two mothers didn’t want me?” She whispers the last part, shattered at my words.
Trying to comfort her, I lift her chin so she’s looking at me. “Baby, I know it’s a lot to take in, but you have me now. I’m not going anywhere.” Droplets form in her brilliant blues and fall onto her delicate skin. Using my thumb, I brush them away and lean in for a small kiss.
“It explains why they hated me so much.” Her voice is small, and I hate hearing the sadness in it.
“We don’t have to think of them again. They made your life hell, and you were only a child. None of this was your fault, Phoebe. They were grown adults and you got caught in the crossfire.”
“I know, but it hurts thinking for all of those years I was abused and tormented, wishing that the woman I knew as my mother would come and save the day when in reality it wasn’t her job but another woman’s job who abandoned me first.”
“None of them deserve you.” I smile at her and her sad eyes brighten a little.
“For now, let’s concentrate on building us. If you want to explore who was your mother and possibly your father down the road we can but for now, I’m happy to be your family and you’re my family.”
Sniffling, she stands a little straighter and wipes her eyes. “We both deserve happiness. If others don’t want to be in our lives, then it’s their loss. We have all we need being together.” Phoebe’s determination is filtering through even with the revelation. She must be in shock finding out this about her parents and down the track I will revisit this topic again but for now, if she’s happy to leave it, I’ll let it go.
“You and me. Us being at the forefront together. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that sounds perfect.”
Leaning in again, it’s probably too soon, but I kiss her face wh
ere the tears rolled down and continue to her lips. Soft and full, I drag her closer, moving together and my tongue enters her mouth, hers doing the same with mine. Traveling down with feather-light kisses, I plant my lips to her neck, inhaling her delicious scent sending my hairs on my limbs into a frenzy. I move to her shoulder and caress her smooth skin, sliding my hand over her bare skin and remove her bra strap. Nibbling her collarbone, murmurs leave her lips and she melts into my body. Her fingers dig into my waist.
My hands travel down her body, while my lips linger on her slender throat and I remove her summer dress. Her hand traces over my ink and I undo her bra, my touch turning ravenous. I’ve missed our connection.
“Is this alright?” Worried I’m moving too fast, I let her know she can set the pace.
“It’s amazing. You are amazing, Ocean.” Her voice is breathless, and I want to hear her screaming my name.
Phoebe’s peaks are hard and I flick them with my tongue. Caressing them with my lips and nipping them relentlessly, her body shifts in pleasure.
Another louder moan spurs me on.
Grabbing my jeans, I peel them off so we are touching skin on skin. My cock warm against her, my fingers knead her ass and her fingernails dig into my back as I bite her breast.
“You’re so goddamn delicious, Phoebe. I can’t resist your sweet smelling skin and with each murmur, my cock hardens more desperate to be deep inside you.”
“Ocean, please…” Groaning, Phoebe grabs my hair and tugs it shamelessly. Confidence oozes with her alluring and sexy smile to send me into immediate action.
Moving my hand to her ass, I cup it and move her alongside me closer until my dick is lined up at her entrance, promising to fill her completely. My hand snags her under the knee and I pull her leg over me and latch on to her lips, slowly and deeply. On instinct, my ass pushes forward and I push her butt forward, entering her wet pussy easily. Filling her completely, her breath releases and I rotate my hips around slowly. Tiny zaps of electricity pulse at my feet and course up my body fast, shooting sparks throughout me.
“Fuck, baby…”
Hypnotized by her louder moans, and her gripping my cock with such force, I quicken the pace to match her rapid breaths. Our hips move rhythmically in tune and I thrust in harder and deeper like a madman. Phoebe’s contracting walls and high-pitched whimpers are making me crazy.
“Ocean… I…”
“Come apart, Phoebe.” Demanding almost, I pump in and out forcing her body to accept all of me.
“Ocean…” Loud and urgent, her voice scalds me. Tugging on my hair, her body clenches with power, my cock has no escape from our fervor. Her body shudders against mine going taut riding the waves and I pound in and out ricocheting me into paradise.
“Hell, Phoebe…” A low growl shreds my throat.
My body jolts and jerks, refusing to stop. Moving in and out spasmodically, her pussy squeezes every last drop from mine.
Her lips feather mine and I respond trying to steady my pulse and my breathing so I don’t accidentally blackout from lack of oxygen.
“You take my breath away, Phoebe.” Our faces almost touch and her flushed cheeks tell me she’s riding the same glorious wave I am.
Nodding slightly, her eyes close. “This past week’s been difficult for you but if you will let me, I want to stay by your side, making a go at a life together.”
“It’s time we both found true happiness, baby. What we have will surpass even that.”
Her lids open, her eyes sparkling like large blue crystals. “If I think back, fate knew we would be together eventually. Sometimes you just have to wait.”
“Fate could have done it a little sooner, if you ask me.”
Giggling, her body shakes against mine. “Good things come to those who wait patiently, Ocean.”
“Fuck, you’re so much more than good. Phoebe, you are generous, enthralling, patient, captivating and have me wrapped around your tiny finger, I would do anything for you. You have my entire heart and soul.”
“Everything I have is yours, Ocean. There’s not a single person that could understand me or I trust to hold my heart.”
Kissing the tip of her nose, the fairy lights dance off her succulent skin and I’m mesmerized, putting all the darkness for a little while behind us.
My cell rings in the cabin and we both ignore it.
All we need is here, on the cushions, at this second.
“The day I nearly ran you over, I was on my way to the cabin to decide if I stay with my brothers and try the legit route or do I do what I crave and live for, staying true to my savage ways. If I’m being truthful, I already knew I would take the dark and ruthless path. It’s all I knew from the summer I abandoned you and I wasn’t going to have any of my family hurt because of my selfish ways. But then, bam. It all changed. You kept thanking me for saving you, and I told you I’d explain it one day it wasn’t necessary because you saved me. From myself, from enemies, and from sliding down a dark hole I would never recover from. I owe you my life. Thank you is so small but it’s everything.”
Arms wrap tighter around me, and I hold on to her as though I depend on her for air. Because in reality, I do.
One hand touches my cheek and I study her eyes that I’ll never tire looking at.
“The time may have not been right before, but it’s perfect now. And thank you for your thank you.” She chuckles, knowing I hate it when she says thank you.
Grinning, I breathe in her scent, nipping her earlobe. A slight shiver races through our connected bodies.
I whisper as I start a new onslaught, “I’m the luckiest savage alive.”
Four Weeks later
“Hear that, the low grumble like she’s ready to pounce? Is it missing a slight beat?”
Emerald rolls her eyes and if I’m not mistaken, she’s ready to swing a left hook at me. “I know exactly how she sounds. I fixed your pansy-ass engine so it wasn’t an embarrassment to us all.”
Grinning, I’m stalling for time while the girls set up the private room at The Gem for a belated wedding reception. The guys and I played rock, paper, scissor to see who would keep her side-tracked while the ladies went to work. All I can say is, I fucking lost.
“There’s no freakin’ miss, I tuned her last week. Remember the night before you wanted to take Phoebe racing for the first time. What the hell are you talking about?”
“I swear I could hear a rattle or something this morning when I started her. I thought it best to bring it back to you in case I damaged it more.”
“Good idea. But you’re insane.”
My cell rings, Phoebe’s calling. “I just have to get this.” Emerald sticks her head in the engine bay and tries to find the non-existent problem.
“Hey, baby.”
“We’re ready this end. It looks amazing in here.”
“With your flowers and Crystal’s way with decorating I’m sure it does. Did Lace manage to get the lights sorted?”
“She’s so talented. How she’s made this room shine is nothing short of a miracle.”
“Didn’t you like the room?” I hear a snigger and I know what she’s thinking.
“The numerous poles are now covered with flowers cascading down them, Crystal added white draping material to some of the areas to brighten the room and enhance the lighting, we’ve brought in new cushions to line the booths and a few other touch-ups have subdued the private entertainment vibe.”
“It sounds transformed. Although I was kinda hoping one night, we could try it out, just you and me.”
There’s a slight gasp and I can feel her heated cheeks through the phone. “Sounds interesting. I’ve always wanted to try twirling around a pole to see what the fascination is all about.”
It’s my turn to chuckle. “It’s a date. I can give you some pointers.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can. Years of study, no doubt.” Sarcasm drips from her mouth.
“There’s only one gorgeous woman I want, and she has the most
beguiling blue eyes, a sensual body, and is perfect inside and out.”
“You’re a sweet talker.”
“It’s all true.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just get Emerald and your delicious butt here and we can discuss the dancing options later. Don’t be long.”
Hanging up, I walk back inside and see Emerald underneath the Chevelle.
Crap. I need to get this moving.
“Maybe if you come for a drive with me, you’ll hear it inside the car.”
She slides out from underneath in annoyance. “Like I can just drop paying customers to take a spin with you? Not happening.”
Kyle was still in rehab and we were reluctant to ask about him. I was still too raw to care and Tanner was on the same page. Slate didn’t mention it and Emerald looked tired and washed out keeping the business running.
“You know Slate will pay for anything you need. You don’t even need to do the run-of-the-mill cars now. You should be focused on what you love, fast, powerful engines and race cars.”
A sadness takes over her features for a second before she lifts her chin. “Kyle will need to come back to something.”
“Yeah, I guess. But could you spare five minutes pretty please?” I sound like a whiny cat. Fuck, the things I do.
“Christ… yeah. If you promise to leave afterward when we work out there is no problem and never use that pathetic voice again.”
Shaking my head, I agree. “Sure.”
Emerald wipes her hands and I shut the garage doors, locking them. We won’t be back tonight.
The engine roars to life and there’s not a fucking problem with it. I try to hide my surprise and take off before she can say another thing about how fine it sounds.
“How is Phoebe?”
“Considering she’s learned two women abandoned her and that her father and brother probably aren’t blood-related, she’s doing okay. I honestly think a weight’s been lifted knowing that she doesn’t have to explain to herself how she can be treated like nothing by blood relatives.”
“They did a number on her.”
“Yeah, but she’s back at the shop doing what she loves to do. Seeing her smile is everything.”
