“Sorry, honey, I gotta go,” Cami says. “Will you call me once you get back to Miami? I would sleep better if I knew everything was fine.”
“Of course. I’ll call you tomorrow evening,” I promise.
Then she hangs up, and I put my phone down on the nightstand, staring at the ceiling while I wait.
Time passes, and he doesn’t return. Sleep creeps up on me, because the day was as exhausting as it was awesome. I close my eyes and yield to the sleepiness, even though Linden hasn’t come back to his suite. I can’t stay awake any longer. I fall asleep.
***
“Are you asleep, babe?” Linden asks softly.
I can feel the warmth of his body behind me, so I turn around and blink. “There you are,” I mumble sleepily.
“It took a lot longer than I expected. I’m sorry,” he murmurs, kissing the corner of my mouth. “I wanted to be back with you much earlier.”
“What time is it?”
“Eleven thirty,” he answers.
“You were gone for almost four hours,” I state.
“And I’m really sorry. This is not how I wanted to spend the last evening with you.”
I sigh. “Could you just hold me?”
He smiles a tired smile. “Sure.” Linden opens his arms, and I cuddle up to him.
“Your manager is an ass,” I grumble. “He could have waited till tomorrow.”
“I told him the same thing,” Linden replies.
“What did he want?”
“He wanted to discuss a few things with me. New songs, my current image, and … the breakup with Trish.”
“What does he have to do with your love life?” I ask, surprised.
“A lot, actually, because he has to take care of things whenever I screw up,” he explains. “Though, of course, this separation was not me screwing up. After all, she broke up with me and not the other way round.”
I nod and kiss his bare chest. “I love you,” I blurt out.
That makes him stop, pull back a little, and gaze into my eyes with a slowly forming smile. “I love you, too, babe.” He kisses me tenderly, before pushing down the straps of my nightgown.
I pull them back up. “Although we don’t know a lot about each other,” I whisper.
“I know a lot about you,” he murmurs. “I know you like to listen to the rain, you cry over happy endings. And I know that when you tuck your hair behind your ear, you’re going to put your head on my shoulder. I love knowing all these little things about you.”
Now I am the one who pushes him back onto the mattress and kisses him. I slide onto his lap, rubbing against him, feeling his penis harden in his pants. The tip of my tongue urges him to part his lips, and he moans into my mouth. Our tongues duel and dance, and then he pushes the straps down again. He pulls down my nightgown so my breasts are bare, and then he cups them with his hands. We sit up together.
Linden breaks the kiss. “I need to get out of those pants and into you,” he whispers. “I want to feel you.” He sets me down next to him and undresses me, before chucking his sweatpants.
“You said you were on the pill?” he asks softly.
“Yeah,” I answer in the same tone.
He pulls me up on top of him again, positioning his penis and pulling me down, so he glides in effortlessly. I moan loudly and close my eyes as he fills me, deeper and deeper. It feels incredibly good to do it without a condom. If that makes so much of a difference for me, how much better must it feel for him?
“Oh, God, you’re so hot and so tight,” he gasps, and then I begin to move with him.
I rotate my hips, while he thrusts into me slowly from below. Then he sits up and pulls my nipple into his mouth. He teases it with his tongue and then his teeth, sucking on it to make me moan loudly. His hand massages my other breast. I wrap my arms around him, kiss his forehead, and close my eyes again, while he plays with the most sensitive spots on my body.
We push each other toward the precipice. We’re going to jump right down into the abyss of an earth-shattering orgasm.
His penis rubs against the tiny spot within me, the one that sends seismic waves of pleasure through my body, bringing me nearer and nearer to the brink. I feel my girly parts pulse with that erratic, overwhelming warmth that announces the climax. And then it comes, washing over me.
I push even closer to him, and then Linden puts his cheek against my chest and discharges his load, screaming my name.
After our spasms have subsided, he falls back, pulling me with him. I lay my head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder, closing my eyes yet again.
Linden caresses my back with his fingertips. “You can’t know how much I will be missing you.”
“Oh, but I can, because I’ll be missing you just as much,” I whisper.
His heart beats hard and fast against my breast, and I suspect mine is just as excited. When Linden puts his hand on the back of my neck and strokes me there, I sigh happily.
“I wish you would stay.”
“I can’t, Linden,” I reply, my voice muffled. “I need to go to class and take a few more exams before break starts. I’ll see you again soon, in Austin.”
“In almost six weeks! That’s a long time,” he counters.
“They’ll pass in a heartbeat once we’re busy with what we both need to do,” I say.
“They can’t pass quickly enough.”
“Stop being so negative. We’ll talk on the phone, text, or even see each other via Skype.”
“But that is no substitute for this kind of closeness. We can’t cuddle or kiss. That bugs me,” he admits.
“How did you manage with Trish? She didn’t go everywhere with you, did she?”
“Yes, actually, she did. She was with me almost all the time.”
I take a deep breath. “Maybe you could come see me on a weekend,” I suggest. “I mean, you guys have a private jet, so you could just fly to Miami when you have a break.”
“I didn’t even think of that.” He grins, and I can feel his laughter in the vibration of his chest again.
“So will you come and visit me?”
“If time permits,” he answers and slips out from under me. We arrange our bodies next to each other, and he holds me in his arms.
I study his face. He looks tired and a little exhausted, maybe even sad. That puzzles me for a moment, but then I remember that the discussion with Pierce might have been a bit trying.
“Shall we sleep now?” Linden says. “Tomorrow is another day, and I need to get up early.”
“Okay,” I answer and snuggle up to him.
“I love you, Thally.”
“Sleep well, Linden,” I whisper and breathe another kiss on his chest, before nestling my head against it and closing my eyes.
***
Someone shakes me, and not in a considerate way. “Let me sleep, Linden,” I complain without bothering to open my eyes.
“Miss Leroux, please wake up,” a voice says.
I open my eyes and see Pierce Cunningham looming over me. “Where’s Linden?”
“He’s not here.”
I pull the sheets up to my chin before sitting up. “Did something happen?”
He shakes his head. “Miss Leroux, Linden no longer wishes to see you. I think it would be best if you got dressed and left.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Why … d-doesn’t he t-tell me that?” I stammer, as a lump forms in my throat, which makes it hard to even breathe normally.
“Just get dressed and leave the penthouse. Linden is willing to pay you a generous sum if you agree not to tell the press that you were merely a summer fling and that he cheated on his fiancée with you.”
WHAT? He’s still engaged to Trish?
My inner voice is screaming in shock.
“O-okay,” I stutter. “Could you turn around so I can get up? I don’t want to run around naked.”
“I’ll be waiting in front of the door. Don’t try to call Linden. He already has a new phone number,�
�� Pierce explains before leaving me alone.
I can’t hold back the tears, and once they start to roll, it’s as if the floodgates have been opened. I drag myself into the bathroom and wrap my hair in a bun, then step into the shower and quickly try to wash Linden’s scent away, and everything else, too. How could he tell me he loves me one day, and then send me packing the next? The pain reminds me of the day Damon broke up with me, but at least he had balls to tell me in person. How low is it to send a friend—or an employee—to do this?
I step out of the shower, dry off mechanically, and brush my teeth. I don’t need any makeup today. The endless stream of tears would smear it immediately. I walk back into the bedroom and get dressed. I put all my stuff into my suitcase and sit down on the bed, utterly confused.
“It sounds as if you’re ready to go,” Pierce says.
I didn’t even realize he opened the door, but now I raise my eyes and nod at him.
“Oh, honey, don’t pretend you didn’t know this was bound to happen. Linden Priest wouldn’t leave his long-term girlfriend and fiancée for someone like you,” he says, a gleeful grin pasted to his face. He holds out a large manila envelope. “This is for your expenses, and for your silence. Don’t talk to the paparazzi.”
“I don’t want your money,” I say hoarsely.
“Miss Leroux, I checked your purse and you have no more than sixty dollars in your wallet. So please be sensible and take this. You need to book a flight back to Miami after all.”
I take the envelope with a trembling hand.
“I don’t want to see you near Linden ever again, Miss Leroux. Goodbye,” he says, before leaving the bedroom.
I put the envelope on the bed, take my things, and leave the room. I quickly cross the large common are, ignoring Alexis and Gavin, who greet me as I pass them. My tears blind me as I hit the elevator button, hoping the damn thing will come and open its doors quickly.
“What’s wrong, Thalia?” Gavin asks. Suddenly he and Alexis are next to me by the elevator.
“I’m sure you know,” I cry.
“Uh, no. What happened?”
“Tell Linden I don’t want his money,” I spit.
The doors of the elevator open. I freeze.
Linden’s in it. “What’s wrong, babe?” he asks, sounding genuinely concerned.
I take a step toward him and slap him so hard that the palm of my hand burns. “I hate you!” I shove him aside and press the button for the first floor. The doors close immediately.
“Thalia, what … ?” I can’t hear more, because the elevator doors close.
He knows exactly what’s wrong with me! He sent his damn manager to break up with me! When I reach the bottom floor, I hasten to leave the building, practically running for a taxi at the curb. As I get in, I hear Linden yell behind me, “Wait! Please!”
“JFK Airport, please,” I tell the driver, and he steps on the gas.
My phone rings. I take it out and see Linden’s number, but I dismiss the call.
I don’t want to hear any explanations or apologies; I just want to be left alone now. To bask in the heartache that’s threatening to choke me. I can’t tell my friends about this, because they’d only smother me with their clever sayings and meaningless advice. I can’t face any of that. No, I need to be strong and keep silent when I see my friends again. Need to get up in the morning and smile, even if I spend the whole night crying. I didn’t think a man could hurt me like this. My phone rings again. When I see Linden’s number on the screen, I switch it off.
“Could you tell me what time it is?” I ask the driver.
“It’s eight thirty, miss.”
“Thanks,” I say and stare out the window. Maybe I could call my dad and ask him to book me a ticket back to Miami. Of course, I’d counted on being flown back by private jet. Or I could call Delsin and see whether his dad’s plane is available. No, that would be far too expensive for just one person. I realize how confused and scrambled my thoughts are. I pull my phone from my purse again, switch it back on, and wait for it to start up. Why do these things take so long to boot? With the older phones, you just switched them on and they were ready, but now they’re always synchronizing something or other, taking forever. Gah!
“How long until we reach the airport?” I inquire.
“We’re in the middle of rush hour, so don’t expect to get there before nine. Maybe even nine thirty. It depends,” the taxi driver says, unhelpfully vague.
“Thanks,” I sigh and decide to dial my father’s number. I’m just glad I have my I.D. with me, for without it, I’d have a real problem now.
“Leroux,” my dad says.
“Daddy?” I sniffle.
“What’s wrong, love?”
“Could you book a flight from New York City to Miami for me?”
“Why are you in New York?” he asks.
“I came here with my now ex-boyfriend, and I was supposed to be taken back in his damn private jet, but he just sent his manager to break up with me.” That pretty much sums it up.
“This jerk didn’t even have the courage to look you in the eye and tell you in person?” my father thunders angrily.
I flinch. “Apparently not. Could you book a flight for me, please?”
“Of course. I just don’t know how soon a flight I can get you on, love.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” I sigh.
“I’ll call you when I have the time and gate for you, okay?”
“Okay. I might not make it to the airport before ten. I’m stuck in traffic. Oh, and it’s JFK. Airport.”
“Got it. I’ll look for a flight at around eleven then.”
“Thanks, Dad. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Thalia. I’ll call you back.”
I hang up and put my head against the cold windowpane. It’s pouring again, so I try to concentrate on the clicking, rapping sound of it as it pummels the roof of the car, blocking out the honking of other drivers, and the swearing of mine. My heart feels as if it’s been smashed into countless shards, which are now stabbing my inner organs. My lung is being attacked the most viciously, so I have trouble breathing evenly.
I close my eyes and struggle to think of something beautiful. I need to push back the thought of the brief exchange with Pierce, and the wonderful time with Linden, which now seems like a shiny red apple that turns out to be rotten inside. How could I be so stupid and fall in love with him so quickly? I’m usually more cautious with giving away my heart, but he’s thrown me completely off balance. First with his eager interest in me, and now with his craptastic way of kicking me out of his life again.
Last night was too short, my sleep restless and filled with uneasy dreams. Now I know why. I probably sensed that something was wrong, the way he was acting before we went to sleep.
I really shouldn’t waste any more thoughts on him and his shitty behavior, but it is so hard to let go. He’s branded into every single razor-edged shard of my heart. When the tears overwhelm me again, my breath comes in hitches and sobs.
“Aren’t you feeling well, miss?” the driver asks.
“No, but I don’t want to talk about it,” I sniffle.
My phone rings again. Linden. Just to make it stop, I answer. “What do you want?” I hiss.
“I want to talk to you. What happened?” He sounds worried. “Why did you run away?”
“I think you know that,” I say as calmly as I can, just before hanging up.
It doesn’t take a whole minute for the ringtone to start blaring again.
“WHAT?” I all but scream when I take the call.
“If you tell me what is wrong, I can do something about it,” Linden says.
“Ask your manager and then go marry Trish!” I rant at him. “You never broke up with her, nor she with you, you fucking liar!” I hang up a second time.
I can’t switch off my phone now, because I need to wait for my dad’s call. I hope he can get a direct flight, because I couldn’t stand layovers or other co
mplications right now. All I want is to go home, crawl into my bed, and never get up again.
***
Sitting in one of the clumps of chairs at the airport, I impatiently wait for my father’s call. It’s eleven now, and he still hasn’t called, nor can I reach him.
But as soon as I think of him, my phone rings. Finally! “Yes?” My voice is weak when I answer.
“I’m sorry you had to wait. I booked a flight for you. Twelve thirty was the earliest I could get,” Dad says and then gives me the details.
When I hang up, I make my way to the counter to check in. I want to get away from this all-too-public place, where Linden could show up any time. What am I thinking? He’s probably spending the day with Trish, having a good time in order to forget what we had.
I don’t know if I’ll feel strong enough to attend Wednesday’s classes, and I really shouldn’t think about that yet. I’ll see how it goes. I don’t want to run into my friends when my world has broken to pieces.
Chapter 13
“Thally!” Cami calls out when I step out of the airport building. I can identify her voice among a dozen others, even in the noise and bustle of the pick-up area.
I look around for her. I’m glad I’m wearing my sunglasses, because I don’t want her to see that I’ve been crying. But of course she senses my sadness from a mile away.
She comes over and hugs me close. “Your dad called me, because he thought you’d need someone to talk to,” she says softly. “I’m so sorry about what happened.”
“There are worse things, I guess,” I say hollowly.
“Come on. I’m taking you home. Or rather, I want to take you home with me, because that way, you won’t be alone.”
“I’m not alone at my place,” I murmur as I pull out of her embrace. “Draven and Nate are there, too.”
“I would feel better if you stayed in our guest room for a few days,” she says.
“I have no more clean clothes,” I protest weakly.
“I already went to your house and packed a bag. I thought … ” She breaks off with a shrug.
I nod slowly. “Yeah, I’ll come and stay with you guys, but first I need to get my car. It’s still at Linden’s damn mansion.”
Linden: Rocking Pleasure: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 3) Page 21
