Redesigning Fate (Revive Series Book 1)

by A. M. Wilson

  “Yeah, man. Glad to be here. Hey, we’ll be back in a minute. If you’ll excuse us,” Elias says as he tugs my hand, forcing me to follow. I’m guessing he missed the stare down between his friend and me.

  “Hurry the fuck up, I’m getting requests for you to play tonight.”

  “Sure, just give me a minute,” Elias replies distractedly before we head to the hall once more.

  We reach the entrance, and I’m surprised to see it’s not a hallway at all. More like an eight foot darkened corner with a stock closet, nothing else. Elias tugs me forward and presses my body flush against the door with his own. From over his shoulder, I have a clear view of the party and the pong tables. His hands cup my cheeks tenderly, making my heart swell. This man pulls reactions from me like I’ve never felt before. Our chemistry is combustible and volatile, and I’m still afraid of being burned.

  His lips take mine in a searing kiss that causes my heart to pound in my chest. One of his hands threads through my hair, wrapping the long strands around his fist and pulls my head back, while the other snakes around my lower back. Feeling his palm splayed against my bare flesh causes a riot of feeling to ricochet through my body. My legs tremble, my heart picks up speed, my stomach flips repeatedly, and the entire time, my clit throbs in time to my pulse.

  A breathy moan crawls past my lips as Elias skates his mouth down my jaw, tonguing my throat, to the swells of my breasts.

  “Need you now,” he murmurs in a deep throaty voice. Before I can even register his meaning, he spins us around so we’re facing the party. His hands band around me, one across my chest, one working the button on my jeans. My eyes widen in surprise as realization hits.

  “Elias, no. No way. We can’t do this here. There are people right there,” I argue in a hysterical whisper. His mouth takes up residence along my neck, licking and sucking my tender skin.

  “Relax, Marlee. We’ll see them long before they’ll see us.”

  Unfastening my jeans, his fingers slip inside the fabric finding me wet and wanting. One thick finger glides deep inside, and my eyes rotate in my head. Biting my cheek to keep from crying out, I taste the metallic iron of blood.

  “Do you like this?” he asks, continually gliding his finger in and out leisurely. My head rolls back and forth against his strong shoulder while I let the pleasure take me higher. The sharp sting of teeth pull me from my high at the same time his fingers stop their plundering.

  “Answer me,” he commands. “Or this stops.”

  “Please,” I whimper. God, I need more. The second his hands slid over my hot, aroused body, my insecurities melted away.

  “Say it,” he growls, punctuating his words with another sharp nip.

  “More. Yes, I like it. Don’t stop,” I beg.

  “Atta girl. Damn, you’re so fucking hot.”

  Keeping one arm banded around my chest, I feel him working the belt of his own pants. Yes, I want to scream. He isn’t moving fast enough for my liking, so I reach behind my back and fumble with the button and zipper on his jeans. Elias grabs the sides, while I grab the front, and together we hastily yank his clothes down to mid-thigh. He reaches forward and does the same to my pants, tipping my ass higher once my entrance is exposed.

  “Hold on, Marlee,” he grunts and fills me in one swift, thick thrust.

  One hand covers my mouth before I scream, while the other grips Elias’s wrist at my chest. He wraps his other arm low on my waist, simultaneously holding me up and using his fingers to rub my clit. My legs tremble with each deep thrust.

  The feelings taking my body prisoner are unreal. The high of this man’s control rivals nothing else in my entire life. But beyond that, it’s the way he’s peppering tender kisses all along my exposed neck, and the way his hand is gently caressing my left breast. The sweetness of it contradicts the way he’s taking my body—hard and fast. Even more than the spell he’s placed on my body, watching a room full of people while I’m being taken so thoroughly, and they don’t even know it’s happening mere feet away, is unreal.

  “God, I can feel you getting closer. C’mon baby,” he coaxes me, his fingers picking up speed on my swollen clit. My body gives a jolt as sensation overwhelms me. I screw my eyes shut tightly and let the feelings wash over me. I’m dangling on the edge, and my body is begging me to jump. My eyes open as my body begins to throb and that sweet, languorous feeling overtakes me. With my gaze locked on the people before me, the wave crests, triggering another orgasm and Elias pulsates inside me.

  “Goddamn,” he pants, slowly pulling out of me. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

  “Hmm,” I reply sleepily and begin to draw my pants up my quivering legs. The sensation of something tickling my inner thigh causes me to use my hand to investigate. Trying to abate the feeling, I rub my skin and encounter something wet. Sure enough, when my hand surfaces, my fingers are sticky with our arousal. “Shit, Elias. Shit!” I exclaim a little too loudly, considering where we are and what we just did.

  He looks up from fastening his belt, and his eyes widen fractionally.

  “We didn’t use a condom,” I confess ruefully.

  Taking in my defeated posture, Elias approaches and wraps his arms tenderly around my body. I can’t help the safe, protected feeling I get from being enclosed next to his warmth. He sighs and drops his forehead to mine.

  “I’m sorry for being so careless. I promise you, everything will be okay. Try not to worry about something that hasn’t happened yet. If our carelessness comes to fruition, we’ll deal with it then. Got it?”

  I want to laugh because not worrying is impossible for me. Worry is a part of my everyday life. Since I’m still riding the high of our quick rendezvous, I simply agree. “Okay.”

  “Good.” He kisses me chastely on the lips. “Let’s get back out there so I can play these idiots a few songs. Then I’m all yours for the rest of the night.”

  Elias is going to play? The thought has my stomach flipping over. Musicians are so sexy. We may need to revisit our little nook before the night is through.

  “Yes, please play! I love watching you.” I thread my fingers through his own and tug him behind me.

  He laughs at my eagerness but pulls my hand to stop me. We simply stare at one another, his crisp blue eyes taking in all of mine. I know he’s seeing things I usually hide. It’s too hard to keep my shutters closed around him. Adoration and heat reflect back at me, and I catch my lower lip between my teeth.

  His hand slides into my hair to cup the base of my skull, and he tugs me forward into a bruising kiss that leaves me breathless.

  “I take that as a go ahead,” he says. “Come. You can stand up by me.”

  Once we get on the stage, Elias slips the strap of a guitar over his head, plugging into the PA system, and stands next to the microphone. As soon as he starts playing a few warm up notes, the crowd begins assembling. Elias pulls me so I’m no longer in the mass of partiers; instead, I’m standing off to the side, where Shelby and I once sat during his set.

  The heaviness of our morning has dissipated. Looking at Elias, all I see is this lighthearted, carefree, beautiful man. His eyes are bright, excited, and the grin plastered to his face is infectious. I find myself wearing an identical grin to match. Elias makes me feel so balanced and grounded.

  For once in the past few weeks, I don’t feel myself looking over my shoulder at every noise. The anxiety isn’t creeping over my skin as it normally would. I’m finding it hard to remember that Travis is still out there, his threat always present in the back of my mind. I’ll save you. I don’t need him to save me. I need saving from him. And I’m beginning to find my hope in Elias. I don’t feel like I’m merely existing anymore. Elias makes me feel alive.

  The beginning cords of See You Soon by Coldplay wash over me, and I slam into the present. My thoughts drifting into some other subconscious part of my brain. I find myself swaying to the music, and by the second line, I’m singing along. The crowd is singing out the lyri
cs, hands thrown up in the air, cheering him on. My attention locks on Elias, watching him play as he commands the crowd. Girls are dancing in front of him, trying to get his attention, but his eyes lock on to mine as he sings. It’s as if he’s singing only for me. I watch his strong hand hold the different frets, his other hand strumming, and I’m acutely aware of how turned on I am by him.

  As soon as the song is over, he rapidly switches into A Girl, A Boy, and a Graveyard by Jeremy Messersmith.

  He follows up with Where is My Mind by Trampled by Turtles, and by the next song, Selena and Shelby make their way up next to me and we’re soon dancing together. I’ve never really danced with a girl before, but the liquor is getting to me, having polished off a Captain and Coke during the previous song. I’m turned on and wanting to dance. It feels good having another body rubbing against me, even if it is a woman. Selena plasters herself to my back while Shelby takes the front, and I barely hear the catcalls and whistles over our rowdy giggles.

  Elias rolls into his own rendition of The Trapeze Swinger by Iron & Wine. The girls and I slow our dance into a slow rock of the hips, hands resting on each other as we grind and roll to the music. I catch Elias’s eye as he plays, and his gaze is heated and dark. I can’t tell if he’s angry or turned on, but I can’t say I really care.

  We continue to belt out the lyrics to song after song. The room is becoming hot. Too hot. I strip off my t-shirt down to my tank top. I bend over to flip my hair in a quick ponytail, wiping the beaded sweat from my neck. Elias pauses to take a drink, and I pounce on him for a quick mid-set make out session. He pulls me to him, gripping my back tightly as he slips his tongue inside of my mouth. I answer by groaning at the sensation.

  “Mmm, you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” he says as I stare up into his cerulean blue eyes. He runs his fingers down my flushed cheeks, grazing my lips, continuing down my neck to run across the lace of my shirt on my breasts. “You’re not switching teams on me, are you?”

  “No, at least not permanently,” I reply with a wink. His mouth pops open briefly, before he closes it with a smile that stretches ear to ear.

  “I’m okay with that,” he says. He pauses, indecision written on his face. Pulling his guitar back around to his front, he strums some chords I’m unfamiliar with. I listen with rapt attention; it’s clear he’s playing only for me. The soft melody wraps around me, holding me in its grasps as he starts to sing. The chorus in particular catches my attention.

  Tears spring to my eyes as the crowd joins in on another round of the chorus. Elias stops playing to swoop me into his arms once again.

  “What was that,” I whisper, unable to control the emotion flooding my voice.

  “It’s called We’ll Keep Running Forever by Joshua Radin,” he responds, still holding me tight to him.

  “I really like it.”

  “I really like you,” he says reverently, his eyes roaming over mine, my face and my lips. Always searching, always memorizing, his eyes never miss a thing.

  He leans down to kiss the tip of my nose. “I know it’s too soon for love and forever, but I feel so strongly for you. We may have a shit storm to deal with outside, but when it’s just you and me I feel everything. I don’t want you to forget that through everything else. You’re mine.”

  Everyone else melts away. Dredging up every emotion of the last month, from the first moment I laid eyes on him, to that first kiss, him saving my life, holding me after I fainted, fighting last Saturday, to his heartfelt declaration, I pour it all out into my kiss. Parting my lips to take his between mine, I breathe his breath into me, savoring the sounds I’m pulling from his mouth. My mind is reveling, but one thing is starkly clear: I’m his, but he’s also mine.

  I place my hand on his cheek, rough with day old stubble, and peer into his clear blue eyes.

  “I won’t forget. I’m yours.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Imagine a lifespan of eighty years. A handful of weeks seems like an insignificant amount of time when compared to the entirety of a life. Yet, a few bad days here or there have the power to cripple a person for months, maybe even years. Death, heartache, disease; there are multiple ways confidence can crumble, faith can be demolished, and pain can consume. I spent months enduring the pain at Travis’s hand, and for what? Walking away from him was the best decision I ever made. Because the opposite is also true. A day, a week, a month—miniscule periods of life also have the power to heal.

  Lately, I find myself comparing what my life is like now, to what it was only a few short months ago. I went from being this shell of a person, living each day robotically, unable to take a deep breath because I had been so thoroughly wounded, to feeling like my heart is so full it could burst, looking forward to every minute of each day, breathing deeper than I ever have before. Eight weeks seems like such a short amount of time to know somebody, to love somebody. To me, it’s been more than enough. I feel like I’ve known Elias my entire lifetime and the previous one before it. His presence is comfort, and his voice is a soothing balm; He’s my place of solace.

  There may be things untold between us, but I have to trust we’ll share them with time.

  Contemplating myself in the mirror as I get ready for work, I realize a few things have changed. My eyes are brighter, more excited and full of life. My skin has a bit more color, with softly pink cheeks. The blossoming anxiety is nearly nonexistent. Whereas, I used to face it almost daily. Being around Elias has brought happiness back into my heart. He’s breathed life into me. Every day is brighter because he’s in it; every thought is positive because it’s usually about him. He erupted into my life, and no matter what happens I will never be able to remove the permanent mark.

  When I arrive at the office, the news of Katie’s disappearance and the current investigation have spread wildly. The recent report of finding her car in the Mississippi River has brought everyone’s attention to the fact this isn’t merely a case of a college student chasing her wanderlust. Something happened to her, and it’s visible in the faces of her colleagues. An eeriness hangs in the air around the building like a bad draft because tragedy always brings to the surface ones’ own mortality.

  The elevator dings, and I look up from the brief I’m proofreading to see a familiar police officer enter my floor. It doesn’t take me but a second to place him as Officer Gonzalez, the detective who came to Elias’s apartment this past Saturday. His step falters as he sees me, recognition flares in his rich brown eyes. Recovering quickly, he makes his way over to my desk.

  “Miss…Marlena, was it?” He asks stopping in front of me, his head cocking to one side, puzzled, yet intrigued.

  My legs feel unsteady as I stand up to shake his hand. His palm is warm and dry against my own, and I pray he can’t feel the dampness collecting on my skin.

  “Yes. Marlena Aldrich. What can I do for you, Sir?” I ask politely. Although, I’m shaking in my heels. Why is he looking at me that way?

  “I hadn’t realized on Saturday that you worked with Miss Martin as well. I had presumed you knew who Miss Martin was because of your boyfriend. However, the fact you are a coworker of hers, as well as dating her ex-boyfriend is…interesting.” He reaches into his breast pocket, pulling out the familiar notepad and makes a note of something.

  “Katie and I are hardly acquaintances. At most, we would bump into each other in the break room. We rarely dealt with one another at work. And up until Saturday, I was entirely unaware that Katie had had any relationship with my boyfriend.” He’s scribbling furiously the entire time I’m speaking. The rough scratch of his pen grates on my already frazzled nerves. What is he writing down that is so important? He can’t possibly think Elias or I had anything to do with this, can he?

  “Do you have an alibi for Saturday, April 27th, between six and nine P.M.?” His writing pauses as he gazes at me intently.

  “Is this a joke? You can’t possibly be serious,” I defend before I remember whom I’m talking to. My cheeks flame hot
with embarrassment and remorse.

  His brows pinch together questioningly. “I’d suggest you answer the questions without the attitude,” he reprimands.

  “I’m sorry.” My hands tremble. I tuck them behind my back as the familiar ache opens up in my chest.

  “I’m awaiting your answer, Miss Aldrich. Saturday a week ago, you were…?” He lets the question trail off, and the words linger in the space between us.

  “I was at Elias’s apartment at that time. Last Saturday was his birthday, and I had been making a surprise dinner for him,” I mutter.

  “And was there anyone else there? Someone who can confirm your whereabouts?”

  Shit!

  “No, nobody was there with me, Sir. I did call my friend Carly twice that evening, though. As you are aware, Elias was with Sin, so I had been on the phone with my friend complaining that he was late.” I really do not have a solid alibi. I talked to Carly for maybe 15 minutes total between two phone calls. The rest of the time, I was entirely by myself.

  I try to hold myself tall and confident as I speak. However, I’m not feeling it. My insides are a weak, quivering puddle of what used to be my organs. How did I find myself in this mess?

  “Well, Miss Aldrich, I will need to have the information to contact your friend, but as I’m sure you are aware, being an employee here and all,” he says, waving his hand around to gesture where we are, “that is not much for a solid alibi.”

  “It’s the truth,” I whisper, at a loss for what else I can say.

  I scribble down Carly’s information with the times I talked to her and hand him the sticky note. He sticks it in his notepad before placing it back in his breast pocket.

  Giving me a hard glare, he leaves me with a hollow pit in my stomach. As he turns to leave, he says, “We will be in touch.”

  The elevator doors shut with such finality I feel like all the air is sucked from the room. I pick up my headset and dial Elias’s number, needing some comfort immensely. After a brief explanation, he agrees to pick me up for lunch at noon. Having only forty-five minutes to wait, I throw myself back into editing my brief, hoping to keep my brain focused on one task.