Embracing Series Box Set #1-6

by Delisa Lynn

  As we pull into Zander’s driveway, I notice how beautiful and peaceful it is here. The house isn’t very big. It’s a white, two-story colonial with black shutters on all of the windows. The porch is huge. There’s a small balcony off the side of the house that looks like it leads from a bedroom. A Saint Bernard comes running toward us. It’s huge and fuzzy and slobbers everywhere. I stand behind Zander, a little afraid the massive dog will hurt me.

  “It’s okay, she wouldn’t hurt a fly. This is Berry. I found her when she was just a puppy. She was on the Martin’s berry farm.”

  “You named your dog Berry?” I laugh. This is a huge ass horse of a dog and he names it Berry.

  “Yes, she’s a Saint Bernard, and I thought Berry fit her considering where I found her. Come on, I’ll show you around.” He grabs my hand and drags me through the yard. Berry licks my legs. “She already likes you,” he says as we round the corner.

  “This is beautiful. Why would you want to leave this place?” I ask as I see the back. There’s a barn and a huge pool. The barn door is open, but I don’t see any animals. “Do you have animals other than ‘the berry’ living on this farm?” I giggle.

  “Nope, just little Berry. Eventually, I will, but for now, I’m content without them. Unless you want some. I can have some animals here tomorrow.”

  “You could get a horse or two. Maybe a few chickens.”

  “Anything you want, I’ll get. Just say the words.”

  “Swim with me. We haven’t swam together since your graduation party.” I walk toward the pool.

  “Ahh, you remember shooting me down that day, do ya?”

  “I always shot you down. You don’t want me. You can’t be with just one woman, Zander Kelley.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, my love. I want you, all of you, today and every fucking day. Come with me.”

  He pulls me to the pool. My heart is racing. I clear my throat and whisper, “Are we skinny dipping? Because I didn’t bring a suit.”

  “Strip. Better yet, I’ll help you.”

  He pulls at my dress. I want to wrap my arms around him and never let him go. He lifts my dress above my head and yanks my bra off. He kisses my neck and pulls his boots off.

  Standing there in nothing but my thongs and stilettos makes me so fucking wet. I want him to fuck me so bad. The hell with swimming, I want to feel Zander deep inside of me. I watch as he takes his jeans off. Commando, just the way I like it. I lick my lips as I pull at the corner of my mouth with my teeth.

  “You like what you see?” He grins. “You want to taste me, Audrey? It’s been far too long.”

  “Hmm, I do. Here, though?” I stutter.

  “Trust me, doll, no one will see us except for Berry.” He rips my thongs off. “Those are in my way.”

  I drop to my knees in front of him. His beautiful cock stares me in the face. He places his hands in my hair. I take his length in one hand as I massage his balls with the other. I place my lips around the head of his glorious cock. I move my mouth all the way down to the base. He tugs my hair.

  “That’s it, show me how much you missed me.” He groans. “Enough, I have to be in the sweet pussy. You can suck me later. Right now, I need to fuck you hard.”

  My pussy clenches at his words. I get on my hands and knees and wiggle my ass in his face.

  “You like what you see?” I giggle.

  “I do, but turn over. I want to look at you while I come in my pussy. You hear me, mine.”

  I turn over and lay on a towel that’s next to the pool. I wonder if he had this planned. He kneels between my legs, lifts one leg up, and places it on his shoulder. I’m so wet and ready for him. I want to grab his ass and push him into my opening.

  “Still on the pill? If not, too bad, because I’m not wearing a condom.”

  “Ye-Yes, I am.” I gulp. He asked that same question the first time we had sex. Memories of Blossom shoot through my mind, bringing tears to my eyes.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

  “Oh, nothing. I’m okay. I missed you, is all.” That’s not a total lie, at least. I really did miss him.

  I moan as he enters me. He’s bigger than I remember. He doesn’t ease in. He pushes in me so hard that I scream—a joyful scream.

  “Oh, Zander. God, I’ve missed you so fucking much.”

  “Mmm, that’s what I like to hear. Tell me how much you missed me.”

  “So much, oh God. Fuck me harder, please,” I beg. His rhythm increases and his thrusts gets harder.

  “I have to come in you, baby.”

  “Come in me. Please, give me all of you.” My pussy clamps around his throbbing cock. I can feel his juices running through my core. He falls onto my chest. His breathing is so heavy.

  “Amazing is all I can say,” he mumbles. “Now, let’s swim.”

  “So, you make love to me and then want me to swim?”

  “Yep, get in the water now,” he orders.

  “Okay. When did you become so damn bossy?”

  “That’s the only way I can get what I want. Would you have gotten in if I had just asked you to? No, didn’t think so.”

  “You’re still an ass.”

  “An ass that you love.” He pulls me close to him. “Tell me you will stay. I can’t let you walk out of my life again. The last three years have been so fucking crazy.”

  “Zander, I can’t. There is just too much that we don’t know about each other.”

  “What would you like to know? I haven’t had a relationship ever. I’ve only been fucking a few girls here and there. Always with a condom. Never in my bed. Anything else?”

  “It’s not that, I just can’t. Can we please drop this for now?”

  “Yes, but you will tell me what the deal is. You aren’t leaving until you do.”

  “Let’s go shower. I’m really tired.” I walk away from the pool. I can’t tell him about Blossom or my mother and his father. All of that is the reason we can’t be together. How the fuck do I tell him?

  ***

  Audrey

  The inside of his house, which is bigger than it looks from the outside, is just as perfect as the outside. We walked into the kitchen through the back door. There’s an island in the center. Two double ovens are along the wall. There’s a grill in the middle between the burners. This is every woman’s dream kitchen.

  The next room we walk into looks like a game room. Someone must have helped him decorate everything.

  “Okay, who is your decorator?” I blurt.

  “My mom helped me decorate everything. You like it?” He chuckles.

  “I love it. This is a beautiful place. Are you sure you want to move?” I tease.

  “Depends on where you want to live.” He kisses my cheek.

  I don’t reply to his comment. I simply say, “Please show me to the shower.”

  “This way, baby.” He takes my hand and leads me up the stairs. We walk into a huge master suite. There’s a king size bed. Then I see the closet. It’s bigger than my bedroom. There are suits of every color on one side of the closet. On the other side, there are jeans, polo’s, and Henley’s. He has more boots than anyone I know.

  “Zander, your closet is bigger than mine.”

  “A man of my stature has to look good at all times, ya know.”

  “Oh please, you are so full of yourself. After I shower, we should talk. There are things you should know, if we are going to make this work.” I motion my hands between the two of us. “If you hurt me, I swear to God, I will chop your balls off myself.”

  “Christ woman, I would like to keep those. And if you want me to keep pleasuring you the way you like, then you want me to keep them to.”

  “Like I said, you hurt me and they’re gone.” I snicker. “Now, shower with me.”

  “I’ll clean the other closet out for you tomorrow and there is also a spare bedroom you can make into an office. We can put your condo up for sale unless you just want to rent it?”

  “I told y
ou we have to talk. There are things you don’t know.”

  “Audrey, there is nothing in this world that is going to keep us from being together. What is so bad?”

  “Fine, you want to know now? Sandy, my mother…You know, the one that gave birth to me and hated me? Well, she was in love with your father.”

  “Whoa, wait. My father? Explain this better, baby.”

  “Ugh, my mom was in love with Dexter. They were together before he joined the army and met your mother. That’s why I wasn’t allowed around y’all when we were younger. My mother hates your mom and dad now. I guess they were supposed to get married and he came back engaged to your mom. Then she met my dad and ended up pregnant with me and has hated me ever since.”

  “Baby, that’s not your fault. Or mine. Why would that stop us from being together? I love you and nothing will change that. I have wanted you for so damn long. You can’t keep pushing me away. You want me as bad as I want you.”

  “God, Zander. I do, I really do, but I am so fucking scared. We’re like dynamite. We can explode at any time and then my heart will be shattered. It took me years to tell you this.”

  “It’s fine. That was between our parents, not us.” He pulls me into his arms.

  “No, no, no. That’s not all. You will hate me for what I am about to tell you. I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to tell you, then Ian showed up…

  “Three years ago, I went shopping and bought you a hat. I even bought new lingerie, hoping that when I told you, you would want to make love to me again. Then he showed up. I tried to get away, I tried not to hurt her. Zander, I tried. I wanted her so bad. She was ours and she died in my stomach. All because of that stupid fucker chasing me.

  “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you before. I didn’t know how. I was so scared. You are the only one that knows. I have never told anyone. A part of me died that day when they sucked our Blossom out of me.” I cry. I’m shaking so bad. Tears form in Zander’s big brown eyes.

  “Are you saying you were pregnant with my child when you fell down the steps? You never fucking told me?”

  He sits on the bed. His face is pale and his fists are clenched.

  “Yes, I was going to tell you that night. Then Ian showed up and fucked everything up. I could feel her inside of me. When I was sick and thought it was food poisoning, I went to urgent care and found out. I didn’t tell anyone because I wanted to tell you first.”

  “When you kicked me out of the hospital room, you couldn’t have told me then? You were all alone. You just lost our baby and you didn’t think to fucking tell me? How the hell could you keep something like this from me, Audrey Renee? She was my child too. How far along were you?”

  “I tried so many times, but it never seemed right. I was a little over three months. I still have the ultra sound picture. I carry it with me. Zander, I loved Blossom. It broke me. I couldn’t even think straight after I left the hospital. I wanted to tell you then too, but you were doing your own thing and you moved out.”

  “You couldn’t have made time to tell me that when that son of a bitch forced himself in our loft, you were carrying my baby, the baby we made together the first time we made love?”

  “I’m so sorry. You’ll never forgive me. I’ll call a cab to take me back home. I’m so sorry that I’ve hurt you the way I have. Please know I love you more than anything and I always have. I knew we couldn’t be together. We just wouldn’t work together.”

  “The fuck? You aren’t going anywhere. Sit back down. This stops right now. You will no longer run from your feelings. You will no longer run from me. I am very disappointed in you. You know you can tell me anything. You chose to keep that from me. I hated leaving you alone. Had I known you were pregnant, I would have never left. You didn’t even tell Tatum this?”

  “No one knows. Just the nurse and doctors at the hospital, but no one else. Every year on that day, I put a message in a balloon and send it through the air. I know that she knew we loved her. In every letter, I tell her about you too.”

  “Audrey, how have you managed to go through all of this alone?” Tears stream down his cheeks. Seeing him so upset is killing me. Zander doesn’t cry.

  “I had to. I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. My father would have killed me himself if he knew. Not because of you, but because I let Ian in. I tried getting away from him, I really did. I knew if I played along with his stupid ass I could get away.

  “Once I started running down the stairs, I grabbed my stomach and told him and he started yelling and cussing at me. I haven’t seen him since then, but if I ever see him again, I may need bail money, because I will kill the bastard.”

  “Oh, trust me, he will pay for what he did. Audrey, look at me, baby. I love you. We will get past this. Please don’t ever keep anything from me again. You have to promise me.”

  “I love you and I promise I won’t.” I walk into the bathroom. “Can I take a shower now?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Audrey

  Zander and I have had a great weekend. I love Berry and Zander’s house. Today, we’re going to his parent’s house for dinner. Then we’re picking up my car. I’ll also have to pick up some more clothes. It felt so good to tell someone about Blossom. I can see the pain in Zander’s eyes, though. I swear I thought he was going to hate me. I’ve decided that I will not run anymore. He loves me and I know he will always be here for me.

  “I’m going to tell my parents about the miscarriage,” Zander says. “That way, when I go to jail for murder, they will understand.”

  “What if they hate me for it? I didn’t even tell Ta and she is my best friend. Hell, she doesn’t even know that you and I slept together. She’ll be very upset with me.”

  “Oh well, we’ll just have to accept that she may be upset. They all need to know. You will tell your parents too. That bastard needs to pay for what he did. I will make sure he does if it’s the last thing I do. I love you. My parents love you and so does Tatum, so don’t think they will hate you. Come here,” he orders as he wraps his arms around my waist.

  “Goddamn it, why do you have to be so sexy and demanding?”

  “That’s just the way I am. I told you, you aren’t going anywhere.”

  “As long as you are by my side, I can do this. I still don’t know about telling my parents, though. That can wait.” I shudder. My dad will have a stroke if he finds out.

  “I will always be by your side. From now on, it’s you and me. Well, and Berry.” He winks.

  “That damn dog woke me up licking my toes. I guess I better get used to her, huh?” I laugh.

  “Oh baby, that wasn’t Berry, that was me.” He smirks.

  “Whatever. I know it was her, you big dork.”

  “We better go. Mom and Dad are ready to see you. She’ll be mad if we’re late.”

  We head to Zander’s parents’ house. The closer we get, the more nervous I feel. I’ve known them all my life, but telling them that Zander and I are together scares me. I hope Mr. Kelley doesn’t judge me because of mother. There is no way in hell that I’ll become like her. I haven’t spoken to her in years. She stayed away the first few years, then she started calling around my senior year.

  Dad and Mom told me that if I didn’t want anything to do with her, that would be fine, so I asked her to stop calling me. Once the phone calls stopped, letters started coming. I didn’t reply to any of them. I know I should forgive her and move past this, but she hurt me really bad for many years. I lost all this time with the love of my life because I was so insecure because of her negativity.

  When we pull into the driveway, my stomach falls to my toes. Zander looks at me and squeezes my hand. His big mocha eyes makes me feel safe. If he says it will be okay, then it will be okay.

  Evan and Tatum are sitting on the porch. She looks so pitiful. I can’t believe that bastard tried to kill her. I know she’s going to be upset with me once she finds out I kept my pregnancy from her. I lean over and kiss Zander. A
ll the love I have for this man that I’ve kept bottled up for so long is coming out full force. I need him to know how much I love him.

  ***

  Audrey

  “Zander, are you sure about this? I think I’ll tell Tatum first. Is that okay?” I ask as we walk toward the house.

  “Yes, I’m sure. You can talk to her first. I’ll sit with Evan and not say a word to my parents until you talk to my sister. Look at me. We are in this together.” He kisses my cheek.

  “I know. I love you, Zander.”

  “That’s my girl. Tell me again. I love hearing those words come out of your mouth.”

  “I love you. I will never push you away again.”

  “Hey, y’all. Is it official?” Tatum grins.

  “Sis, your friend here finally realized what a catch I am.” Zander laughs.

  “Tatum, can we go out by the barn and talk?” I grab her arm, the one that isn’t in a sling.

  “Of course. Zander, keep my man company.”

  “It won’t take long. I just want to tell you about something that happened.”

  “Whoa, do I need a drink for this?”

  “Actually, you may need a new best friend when we finish. Just let me get it all out, then you can kill me when I am finished. Okay?”

  “Kill you? What did you do, sleep with Evan?”

  “Hell no, you know I would never do that. I slept with Zander three years ago when he was staying with me at NYU. Actually, the weekend when you were there and I thought I’d gotten food poisoning, I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t get a chance to tell Zander. I wanted to tell him, but he was here and Ian showed up. Then I fell down the stairs. I knew Blossom was gone.” After getting that all out, I sigh. “Please don’t hate me.”

  “This happened three years ago and I’m just now finding out? Why would you keep this from me? From Zander? He was the baby’s father. You never told him?” She seethed.

  “I didn’t tell anyone. I just told Zander a few days ago. I hated myself for letting Ian chase me out of my loft. He scared me and all I was thinking about was getting away. While trying to get away, I tripped and then there was blood everywhere. Ta, my baby died inside of me. Then they cleaned me out like she was never there. Please don’t be mad at me. I know I should have told you. I just didn’t know how.”