by Nicole Thorn
Wilson took my hips again after my bra was off. He turned me around sharply, dipping his hand into my panties for a few brief, torturous seconds. I smiled and skipped over to the bed, hopping on and bouncing as I moved back. I crooked a finger at him, and he hopped on as well.
Our bodies were flush for a few minutes before I got his pants off. Not much more now. He left more fiery kisses down my torso as he made his way over to my legs. Several kisses later, I was naked under him. Then he was naked over me.
I panted through a smile when he settled between my thighs and I put my hands on his shoulders. He kissed me for a good long while before I started getting impatient. My hips twitched, moving up to meet his. To beg him to push forward.
“Wilson,” I pleaded against his mouth.
He smiled, moving to the side of my neck. “The anticipation is the best part, Cookie.”
“Fuck anticipation.”
His eyebrow arched, and he stared down at me. “Well, that did something inexplicable to me.”
I smirked and bumped his hips again. “Prove it.”
He pushed forward, and there was a sharp pain as he entered me. I didn’t hate the pain, but I didn’t love it like I might have before. Pain and pleasure wouldn’t be the only things I could feel anymore. But I liked how it felt to have him this close to me. Connected.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I answered with a little wave of my hips against his. He breathed as his hands found purchase on either side of my head. He was careful and slow at first, but I was consumed by the heat he was sinking into me over and over again. So warm and so real.
The pain eased, and I was able to put more into it, forcing harsh kisses on him while he picked up the pace. The motions were divine, and I wished I’d made him do this weeks ago. My nails met his flesh while my eyes rolled back into my head.
It took no time for me to climax, and my whole body tensed at the sensation. My legs had found their way around Wilson, and there was nothing gentle about the hold I had on him.
His eyes brightened, and his strokes became harder, like he was losing control. Good. I wanted him to lose control with me. I wanted to see him when he couldn’t stand it any longer.
He groaned and pushed forward one more time, making me moan out some version of his name that didn’t sound human at all. Not that his noise was very human… it was still wonderful to hear.
He pressed his forehead to mine, catching his breath. “Oh, my God.”
I laughed. “Good?”
Wilson smiled. “Very… very… good.”
He laid himself out beside me, pulling me until I was halfway on him. It took almost ten minutes for us to catch our breath after what we’d done. It was nice, just lying there and not having to say anything. Not when it was all so clear already.
“You are definitely staying over for a while.” Wilson laughed. “Move in. Stay forever. Marry me. Have my babies. Hold the remote. All of it.”
I smiled and looked up at him. “Maybe ask me some of that when you’re not still simmering in the bliss of post-sex peace.”
He sighed. “It’ll be the same.”
“I believe you.” I kissed his chest.
Then we went back to lying there, watching the rain hit the window and knowing that we had so many more days like this to come. We could do whatever we wanted with our time because no one was a prisoner anymore. We were home, and we were safe, and we would be for all time. Anything that came our way, we could handle.
There was love, and peace, and so much joy.
hh!” Layla cried out. “Don’t forget the Snowcaps, Benny!”
He was right behind her, running out of the kitchen with hands that were far too full. “Never!” he vowed.
Adalyn and I were setting the soda cooler beside the couch while Wilson set up the movie we were planning on using to kick off the All Night Movie Sleepover Extravaganza.
“It’s not a movie marathon without Snowcaps!” Layla yelled as she caught a falling box from Bennett’s hands.
“You’ve told me before,” he said with pure adoration.
Layla smiled and reached up on her toes to peck his lips. Or that was her intent. Pretty soon it dissolved into the proper, drop the candy and shove the girl against the wall kissing.
“Come on,” I said. “Can’t you save that for when it’s dark?”
Without stopping, Layla flipped me off. Then she grabbed Bennett’s face and held him to her.
Wilson came back to me, sitting on the edge of the couch and pulling me to his lap. He glanced at the couple and shook his head.
“Disgusting,” he joked. “Imagine some couples, just always with the PDA.”
I smirked and kissed his jaw. “I couldn’t even if I tried.”
Once all the snacks and pillows we threw were picked up, we all gathered at the couch. Adalyn was beside me, Layla beside her, and Bennett on the floor between Layla’s legs. She ran her fingers through his shaggy brown hair and tilted his head back to kiss his forehead. He handed her a box of Snowcaps and they exchanged mushy words.
“We all set?” Wilson asked, looking over the mess of candy, soda, chips, pillows, and ice cream we had out.
Adalyn went over each item on her checklist, making sure we weren’t forgetting anything. We’d had this planned for two months now, so every detail was perfect. We always got together for movie night once every week, but this was special. Layla’s family was all out for the weekend, and we had it to ourselves. So we could be as loud as we wanted to be. And we all had the weekend off.
Wilson’s boss was currently sitting in a jail cell thanks to some poor decisions on his part that involved characters a lot shadier than the ones Wilson liked to get tangled with. The investigation was unpleasant and scary, but we got through it. The cops questioned us lots, and I did everything that Wilson told me to do. We lied and got away with it. I felt awful, but I was glad Wilson was free now. Sherman was long gone as far as we could tell, now that his well dried up. Wilson said he would just need to find another way to make money.
With the owner of the shop gone, he gave it to his newly married niece, who didn’t want anything to do with an old, burned down auto repair shop. Wilson’s father took out a loan to buy it off of her and fix it up. It would take years to pay off, but we had a future to work with now. Wilson and I would work in the shop and pay his father off as soon as we could, since we were in this together now.
A deal was struck with my parents. I would go on some medication to try and help me with my PTSD, and they would ease up on the Wilson hate. He pointed out to me that maybe he earned it a little, but I didn’t buy it at all. Either way, things were settling down and I was getting along with my parents as well as I could.
We’d been home for about six months now, and it was starting to feel like this was normal. Nights with friends, dinners together, simple things. Everything just felt easier. The weather was getting warmer now that it was May, and it brought happy feelings.
“Everything,” Adalyn said, setting the clipboard down. “Wilson’s pick is first. We’re watching Scooby Doo.”
We all cheered.
Layla began shoving candy into her mouth without shame while her other hand kept running through Bennett’s hair. He loved it, obviously. Layla’s leg was over his shoulder, and he brushed his fingertips up and down her skin.
And so we began our mega-marathon. The goal was to make it to sunrise without falling asleep. I was always the first to lose that, but it wasn’t my fault I liked sleep so much. I was all tucked up beside Wilson, and that was my favorite place to be.
Home was a better place to be too. Mom and Dad calmed down. They finally accepted I was home for good and they didn’t need to keep me trapped there to keep me safe. I could live a life and be fine. The worst of it was behind me.
I watched my friends all around me, knowing they felt the same peace I did. It was a fight for each and every one of us, but it was worth it. It was always worth it when someon
e get this kind of happiness out of it.
Layla started singing along with the theme song of the movie, much to the enjoyment of the rest of us. We joined in and sang with enthusiasm and earnest that Scooby Doo totally deserved. He was the best dog over. My boyfriend was lovely for picking this.
“I feel like a talking dog should get more attention,” Layla said, shoving candy into her mouth. “I mean, he’s fucking huge.”
“He also has an odd speech impediment,” Bennett added. “How did that happen?”
“Rut are rou talking about?”
He laughed at her and kissed her leg.
Eventually, Layla got lonely and forced the boy up to the couch with her. She sat on him like I was sitting on Wilson. His arms were wrapped all around her, and his chin rested on her head.
Adalyn was all by herself in the middle, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was the only one who didn’t. She was fine alone. She spent her days with her father and us, so that was enough for her. But I wanted her to have what the rest of us did. Minus having to fight tooth and nail. I thought Layla was going to break down for a while. But we all pulled through. Adalyn would too.
There would be a day for that, because we had so many stretched out before us. There was nothing we couldn’t do. No dream we couldn’t make come true. That was why I wasn’t scared for Adalyn. One day she would have what we did. She’d know the peace of waking up beside her soul mate. They just had to find her first.
“Snowcap, my love?” Layla offered the box to her beloved.
“You’re so generous,” he said as he took a handful and popped them in his mouth.
We were all relaxed in our sleepiness as the hours passed us by. I was making it longer than I normally did, and I had high hopes of staying up it all the way through for once. I snuggled against Wilson as we watched Adalyn’s choice of Fiddler on the Roof. So sad, but so wonderful.
I started blinking slower, finding it harder to open my eyes as I thought about all the other things I wanted to do. Tomorrow, the day after, and after that. I mastered the art of driving, and I had a long list of other things. Wilson had some promises to keep that I looked forward to seeing through. The day we moved in together, having gotten our own house, getting married, having kids. I was far less scared to be a mother now. I felt like I could do it all.
And I couldn’t wait to try.
Nicole “Cappie” Thorn was born in California but, after a stint in Kansas, moved to a suburb of Phoenix. She spends a lot of her free time knitting and reading from her massive book collection. Her days are also wasted discussing fictional characters with her writer friend, and having very serious opinions about which house she would want to be sorted into at Hogwarts.
She likes to write about rainy towns that are infested with the things that go bump in the night. Her eclectic tastes, like Disneyland, Buffy and all things London, carry into her writing. She started writing in her early twenties and finds it wonderfully addictive.
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Appetizer:
Book Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Quote
Main Course:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Interlude
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Interlude
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Interlude
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Interlude
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Interlude
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Interlude
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Interlude
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Interlude
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Epilogue
Dessert:
Closing
About the Author
Copyright & Publisher
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