Breaking Away

by Toni Aleo

  Nipping at her bottom lip, he leaned back, looking at her gorgeous body before shaking his head and saying, “You naughty, naughty girl.”

  She bit in her lip, her eyes dark as she slowly moved against his thumb. When she found the spot she wanted, she ground against him. He was amazed as he watched her get off. He didn’t have to do anything, shit, he couldn’t do anything as she moved against his thumb. Her nub of nerves was hard against his thumb as she moved quickly against him, looking for her release. He fought for breath, his chest rising and falling as he watched her and, when she came undone, screaming out, her fingers biting into his shoulders, he almost went with her.

  “Fuck, Reese,” he murmured as she slowly thrashed against his hand. Her head was bent back, her hands holding her breasts, her neck strained as she gasped for breath. “You are so fucking hot.”

  She took in a deep breath, letting her head fall forward so she could look at him. A small smile came over her lips before she went up on her knees, reaching for his belt. He leaned back, helping her push his slacks down and allowing his jutting cock to spring up between them. She licked her lips before dropping her knees on the floorboard and taking him in her mouth. His eyes fell shut as she went to work on his cock, sucking and licking him in a utopia kind of way. He gasped for breath and groaned loudly when she took him to the back of her throat. He thrust, and she squeezed his thighs as she continued to suck him into oblivion. Pulling his cock out of her mouth, she looked up at him and said, “Fuck my mouth, Phillip.”

  “Okay,” he whimpered before she took him back in. Like she asked, he thrust up, fucking her mouth over and over again, until his legs started to shake and he couldn’t take it anymore, blowing his load in the back of her throat. She sucked him, draining him of anything he had left in him, leaving him completely spent. He lay back, gasping for air as she fell back on her haunches, wiping the side of her mouth as she watched him. When a sneaky little grin came across her lips, he could only shake his head as he reached for her, pulling her back into his lap. He tipped her chin up, taking her mouth captive with his own. While her fingers dusted the back of his neck, he continued to kiss her until the car came to a stop.

  “Oh shit!” She giggled as she pulled up her dress and pulled down the skirt. He laughed as he hurried, pulling up his slacks and buckling the belt. The driver tried the door but it was locked, giving them time to fix themselves before he opened it again. Phillip grinned up at the driver’s knowing look as he got out, reaching for Reese. She giggled as she got out, fixing the bottom of her dress as she looked around to make sure no one saw her. She looked so happy and so fucking beautiful that it hurt. Having all this love for her was killing him because he wanted to share it with her. He wanted to scream it at her, but what if she freaked out and he never got to experience this again.

  When she leaned into him and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on in my life. Thank you for making my first time in a limo very memorable.”

  He winked. “Anytime.” She giggled beside him but then stopped, stopping him too. He looked over at her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

  She eyed him slowly, and then asked, “This is a date, isn’t it?”

  He swallowed loudly before nodding. “Yeah.”

  “Hm,” she said before she started back up the steps of the Luther Arena.

  Since he had to know, he asked, “Is that okay?”

  She paused, a grin sitting on her face as she said, “I get flowers, a limo, and then hot limo sex with hopefully more hot sex, with you, ugh, yeah, it’s more than okay.”

  A smile stretched across his face as he gathered her in his arms. Her eyes shined as she wrapped her arms around his, grinning up at him as he begged his heart to be still before he said something crazy. She was falling for him. He just knew it. She was a part of their family now. He had to control himself until the right moment to say what he had been dying to say since the first moment he knew that he was in love with her. She wasn’t ready for it yet, but they were so close he could taste it. Or maybe that was her he tasted. Either way, he felt great about them, about their future. Bringing his lips close to her, he smiled as he said, “Oh, there is no reason to be hopeful, Reese.”

  “No?”

  “Nope, because I can promise you that there will be so much hot sex once I get you back home that I’m not sure we’ll even make it out of bed in the morning.”

  Her eyes darkened with desire as she moved her nose with his. “I can’t wait.”

  Pressing his lips to her, he whispered, “I can’t either, now let’s go get this party over with.”

  “We can’t skip?”

  He laughed. “Nope, Elli is staring at us.”

  She looked over at where Elli stood, looking stunning but obviously waiting for them, and waved before giving him a wide-eyed look. “How long do we have to stay?”

  He bit into her lip before running his tongue along it. He then smiled as his eyes met hers again, his heart singing for hers. He felt like a teenage boy, the way his heart was beating out of control and his cock was throbbing back to life but, at the same time, he loved it. He loved her and loved the way she made him feel. It scared him because he was pretty sure he would never stop loving her, not even her leaving him could make him stop. It would kill him, but he would still love her. Unconditionally and for the rest of his life, but hopefully none of that happened. He wasn’t going to waste any more time thinking about it. Instead, he wanted to enjoy this moment with her. Their official first date.

  Kissing her nose, he said, “An hour tops.”

  “Thank God.”

  He couldn’t agree more.

  WHEN REESE woke the next morning, the first thing she saw was him. He looked angelic in a way. The sun shining behind his blond hair, giving him a halo, and his sweet lashes lying against his cheeks. His breathing was steady; his arms wrapped around her, holding her close, only a breath away. The night before had been magical. They stayed longer than she wanted, but she didn’t mind it. She liked meeting his friends and spending time with her sisters and friends. Word about Elli’s pregnancy got out and everyone was teasing them while Elli and Shea stood there, both so happy, the picture of a perfect couple. It was nice and Reese found herself feeling at home in Phillip’s arms as they stood around with the rest of the team, discussing the upcoming playoffs. It was fun, and the night was perfect in her eyes.

  All because of him.

  She reached out, moving her finger down his temple to his jaw. Who would have thought that this guy could take her on her first date in centuries and not give her a panic attack? If anything, she felt great. He wooed her, something she thought no one could ever do. After wooing and dancing with her until her feet hurt, he came home and burned the sheets with her. It was unbelievable, and her body was still humming from his touches and kisses.

  Moving her thumb along his lip, she smiled when he flinched, but then he opened his eyes and smiled when his gaze met hers. He cuddled closer, pressing his lips to her collarbone, sending butterflies into a frenzy in her belly.

  “Stop staring at me,” he said, his voice thick with sleep.

  “Well, excuse me,” she teased as his lips made a trail up her neck. He smiled before taking her mouth with his in slow, deliberate kisses. She was starting to believe that kissing Phillip was as natural as breathing. His kisses were swoon worthy, breathtaking, and something she yearned for. Hugging her closer to him, he released her mouth, placing sweet kisses along her jaw before resting his nose in her hair.

  “Shh, go to sleep. I’m not ready to get up.”

  She smiled moving her hand up and down his back as he slowly did the figure eights with his fingers at the base of her back. She felt so content, as if she was made to lie in this bed and lazily move her fingers along his back and the nape of his neck. She didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to call to make sure everything was ready for the recital, or even for Harper’s baby shower. She just wanted to lay here with Phillip an
d forget about the rest of the world. She wanted to get lost in his kisses, in his body, and maybe they could find a way to transport Claire in until they wanted to get tangled in the sheets and she could transport out again. Pausing, she rolled her eyes at that thought. She needed to lay off the Star Trek because there was no way they could transport her, but Reese wished they could because she wanted both of them all the time.

  She loved them…oh fuck.

  Sitting up quickly, Reese grabbed her chest and heaved in a lungful of air. She did not just think that. She did not. It was a figment of her imagination. Yeah, that was it, but when Phillip sat up too, running his hand up Reese’s back before asking, “Baby, what’s wrong?” she looked at him and knew it was true. Hopping out of bed, she grabbed a shirt and then some underwear, inwardly freaking the hell out because what was she thinking? What was she doing?

  “Reese?”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, heading for the kitchen.

  “Sorry? What the hell, come to bed, no reason to be sorry. I’ll cook us breakfast later, or we can go get Claire, go to IHOP or something.”

  She shook her head. God how she wanted that, but she couldn’t. She fucked up. How did she allow this to happen?

  “I think you should go,” she uttered, her heart breaking in her chest as she choked back a sob.

  “What?” he asked and when she looked back at him, he was standing up, pulling his boxers up. “What the hell is going on?”

  “I fell for you,” she said and it stunned him, his eyes going wide. Her lip trembled as she looked up into his piercing blue eyes. They stood for a very long time—her not knowing what to say, while he just stared at her. His hands at his side, his eyes searching hers as she tried to catch her breath, but she was finding it hard to do. She felt her chest constricting, her heart pounding against her ribs, and she couldn’t think because oh, God, she loved him. A lot.

  When his head cocked to the side, she held her breath as he took in a deep breath before resting his hands on his hips. “Okay, and you’re sorry for this because?”

  Well, she sure didn’t expect him to say that. Placing her hands on her hips, mimicking his stance, she said, “This is supposed to be fun, and I fucked it up by falling for you. I’m so sorry. Please, I can’t believe I did such a stupid thing. I know that we said we’d end this when it got boring, but I think we need to end it because I fell and I’m stupid and I—”

  “Will you shut the hell up, please?”

  She looked up to see him pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “I’m trying to tell you that I am sorry because this can’t happen. I can’t be in love with you because it—”

  “Didn’t I ask you to shut up?” he asked, a little more forceful this time. She closed her lips tight as she watched him drop his hand and look at her. His eyes were darker than storm clouds as he held her gaze. “Did it ever occur to you that I fell? That I fucking love you?”

  She fell into her chair and slowly shook her head. “No, Phillip, because we don’t want that, we want this to be light, fun, and easy. We don’t want messy. Don’t say you love me because I did.”

  He shook his head. “No, I’m saying it because I mean it. I may not have wanted to fall for you, but I don’t regret it at all. I want messy, I want hard, and I want fun as long as it’s with you because I love you. With everything inside me. I have for a long time. I just haven’t had the balls to tell you because I knew you’d act like this.”

  “Act like what? I’m being real here. This isn’t what we wanted; this isn’t how we planned this. This wasn’t supposed to happen!”

  “You can’t control what we feel, Reese. I love you. Do you know how amazing it is to say that to you right now? It’s like scoring the winning goal in game seven of the playoffs. It’s perfect.”

  She shook her head, running her fingers through her head as he took a step towards her. “Oh my God, Phillip, don’t go all hockey on me!” she yelled, standing up to move away from him. She had to put distance between them before she did something crazy, like wrap her arms around him and kiss him.

  “That’s what I am. I am a hockey player, I am an uncle, and I am yours. Those are my identifiers, and I’m fucking proud of them. I need you to stop,” he said, reaching out to stop her from moving. “I need you to look at me and know that I only want you, that I am completely yours, and that I would die before letting anyone or anything, including myself, hurt you.”

  Her lip started to tremble as she looked into his eyes. She had heard those words before and then Kevin ruined her. “I can’t do this. I can’t. Because if I allow this to happen, if I throw everything into this, if I allow myself to love you, you could destroy me if this goes south.”

  He nodded, cupping her face with his large, strong hands. “And you could destroy me, Reese, but the thing is that we have to choose not to destroy each other. To only love each other. Support each other and be happy. I know I come in with baggage, but she is a really cool kid that loves you like I do. I’m not asking for forever, Reese. I’m asking for now and hopefully that will lead to forever. We are good together. You know we are.”

  “You knows it’s not Claire and I know that we are, but I don’t think I am made for this. I don’t know how to do this again.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? We’ve been doing it, Reese. We just haven’t been labeling it and we still don’t have to. But when I look at you, you will know I love you and I’m probably going to say it because I fucking want to.”

  “No… No, Phillip, this could end,” she stressed.

  He shook his head, squeezing her hands. “And it couldn’t. We could get married, have babies, and grow old together. Who knows! All I do know is that I need you and Claire in my life. My heart belongs to you two.”

  She shook her head, wiping her cheeks free of the stupid tears that rolled down them. She couldn’t do this. Kevin ruined her, she thought she couldn’t love anyone the way she loved him, but somehow she fell for Phillip and that completely blew her mind. How could this happen? When did it happen and why didn’t she shield her heart from this? She couldn’t, wouldn’t, be ruined by another man. No matter how much she loved him. This was going to kill her to do this, but she had no choice. She had to protect her heart.

  Hiccupping a sob, she looked away as she whispered, “I’m sorry, but you scare the shit out of me. This is so hard for me. You don’t understand how hard it is to sit here and tell you that I am scared out of my mind. I can’t do this because I am scared. I usually hold all of it in because I don’t want people to know what I am feeling, but it’s different with you. I’m scared of what you could do to me if this goes south, and I can’t let myself get hurt again. I’m sorry, Phillip.”

  Phillip was silent for a moment and when she looked up at him, all she saw was rage and sorrow in his eyes.

  “I won’t hurt you though. I’d die before I allowed that to happen.”

  “I’ve been told that before. I can’t risk it. I can’t let what happened before happen again because you are different, way different, and I know I won’t come back from being hurt by you. I’d rather just part ways as friends.”

  He shook his head slowly. “Friends, fuck, Reese, you make me feel like a fucking girl right now. I’m standing here, telling you how much I fucking love you, how much I need you and how much I’ll never hurt you. I mean, I’m putting my heart out on a platter for you and begging you to take it and all you are doing is standing there, telling me you’re sorry. I know you love me, stop saying you’re sorry, that you’re scared, that I’ll hurt you, because you aren’t a fucking psychic, you don’t know this! Take the chance with me. Love me… don’t let anything change what we have because it doesn’t have to change. We can keep being happy and loving each other.”

  All she could do was blink, her eyes pooling with tears, spilling over before rolling down her cheeks. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her breathing ragged because she didn’t know how she was going to watc
h him walk away and stay intact but she knew she had to. Not trusting herself, she just looked up into his eyes before taking a slow step back.

  “Say something!” he yelled, causing her to jump.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, sucking in a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t let me walk away, Reese.”

  Clearing her throat, she whispered, “I have to.”

  “NO! You don’t! We can have it all, but you’re just too scared to jump in with me. Yeah, it’s fucking scary. I’m scared shitless of you, but that doesn’t keep me from loving you, Reese.”

  “I can’t let you destroy me.”

  “I won’t. Baby, I am going to be there to support you, to help you soar. We can do it together.”

  She shook her head as her lip quivered, and she looked away. She felt him watching her for what seemed like hours but it was only seconds before he whispered, “Don’t do this.”

  “I have to,” she said, looking up at him. “I have to protect myself.”

  “No, let me protect you, let me love you.”

  “And what happens when you stop… because he did. He stopped loving me and let me go. I can’t let it happen again.”

  His eyes widened and then he looked away, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t do that but it doesn’t matter what I say because you’ve made up your mind, you’ve put me in his category, and there is no way out for me.”

  With his shoulders falling in defeat, he headed for the door and swung it open when he reached it. Turning to look at her, he shook his head and she could see the tears in his eyes. “You are going to realize the mistake you just made and I can’t promise you that I’ll be there to take you back so, if I were you, I’d take my head out of my ass and follow your heart. I know you have one, it’s in there, but you have that sucker locked down tighter than the Pentagon. It’s time to stop that because letting me walk away will be the biggest mistake of your life. You will miss me and you will hurt over me more now with the regret than if we had let this play out and see where it went. Which I know how it would have gone… it would have been great and we would be happy, working as a team to raise Claire, but instead of taking the chance on me, believing in us, you chose to be alone. Yeah. Good luck with that.”