Our Lives Entwined

by Lilliana Anderson

  Pulling back on his hair, she gazed down on his distraught but beautiful face. She allowed herself to study the small lines that creased around his blue eyes, the pale pink of his soft lips, the strong lines of his nose and jaw and the dark stubble that never seemed to shave away. She loved him all right. She loved him so much that it hurt, and knowing that a mother she’d never known had looked upon him in the way she had now made it hurt even more.

  Leaning down, she pressed her lips to his momentarily, her mouth quivering with emotion as she pressed her forehead to his and whispered, “Please, let me go.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Please, Cayd.”

  “If I let you go, you might never come back.”

  “If you don’t let me go now, you’ll lose me forever, Cayd. Please, let me go. I need to go. I need time. I just… I can’t handle this. I can’t be here right now.”

  Slowly, Cayd released his grip, sliding his hands along her arms as she stepped away. As he caught her hands in his, she was still holding the ring and tried to return it to him.

  “No,” he said as he took hold of it. “It’s yours and you’re mine.” He kissed her hand and slid the ring back on to her finger. “This is far from over.”

  Nodding, Mia pulled her hand away, her heart breaking as she watched him turn away when she took her suitcase from beside him on the bed.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, as she turned to leave the room and her love behind.

  “Don’t be sorry, Mia. Just come back.”

  Chapter 14

  AS ONE relationship seemed on the verge of falling apart, almost two thousand miles away, another relationship was finding a new beginning. After the failed attempt to approach her birth mother, Natalie had broken down in tears of devastation, and when Eric had taken her back to his flat to talk, they had spent hours doing just that.

  They spoke about why Natalie felt that finding out who her birth mother was would help her to find her own identity. And they spoke about why she needed that – why she had always felt so lonely and disconnected from the world.

  Slowly, their conversation turned and focused more on who they were to each other and how they felt now that they were in each other’s lives again.

  “For a long time, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to forgive you. I thought that I needed to feel bad for what I’d done – for what I knew but wouldn’t admit. I thought I deserved to be alone. But none of us deserve to suffer and be alone, Natalie. Despite our mistakes, we still get to be happy. We just have to choose it.”

  “You should never feel bad or suffer, Eric. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was all on me.”

  “No, babe. I knew something was up. I knew you weren’t her. I just didn’t want to believe it. It’s on me too.”

  “I regret what I did so much. I was just lucky that Mia didn’t have me arrested, otherwise we could be having this conversation through a thick sheet of glass.”

  “She works with kids who get angry and do stupid shit all the time. If anyone knows that people sometimes do things that are out of character because they’re hurting, it’s her.”

  “I suppose. She’s a good person. I had hoped that finding our mother would somehow bring us together – that it could somehow be that thing that helps us build a bridge. But now… what am I supposed to do? She practically slammed a door in our face and made it obvious that she isn’t interested.” She pulled at the long sleeves of her blouse, ensuring they were properly covering her wrists as she shook her head. “I just wish one of them would talk to me. I feel so alone, Eric,” she whispered, a lone tear escaping her eye. She wiped it away as quick as it appeared.

  Eric ran his hand, gently down the length of her back. “You’re not alone. I’m here with you.”

  Still looking at her hands as she played with her shirt cuffs, her voice was small as she spoke. “I worry that you’re going to get sick of me and go back home to Melbourne,” she confided in him, finally voicing a concern she’d had from the beginning.

  “Babe, I’m not going to leave you.” He reached out and lifted her chin, tilting her head up so she was looking at him. “I’m here. I’m with you. I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

  He brought his mouth to hers, kissing her slowly as he brought his hands up to cradle her face. The connection between them was so delicate, yet so strong at the same time. Their souls seemed to be made for each other, and each knew that would always be there. But the actual possibility of a long-term relationship between them seemed so fragile that someone could reach out and crush it with a firm grip, taking away everything they had come to find so dear.

  It’s why they still hadn’t taken their relationship any further. They were so afraid of getting too involved emotionally only to be ruined by their love once again. Neither wanted to go through the past year without each other again, and it made them so much more careful, or fearful even. But as Natalie returned Eric’s kiss this time, their passion, constantly simmering beneath the surface began to boil over.

  Slowly, Eric laid back on the couch, pulling Natalie down so she was on top of him, their mouths moving together as their hormones raced through their bodies. His hands wrapped around her, sliding down to cup her arse as she made sensual movements against him, causing him to grow painfully hard.

  A low groan escaped his throat as her hips rolled. It was at this point that they’d normally stop and cool things down, but this time, Natalie sat back and with her eyes locked with his, she began to unbutton her blouse, revealing her creamy white skin and pert breasts for Eric to see.

  His hands moved over the soft skin of her stomach, gliding over her ribs, skirting the edges of her white lace bra.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked, as she took hold of his hand to urge them upward to cup her breasts.

  “I’m sure. I want you, Eric. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

  Sitting up, Eric held Natalie by the waist, and lifted her off his lap with ease then stood her on the floor in front of him. Facing her, he kept her in front of him as he slowly moved his hands up her body to her shoulders where he pushed the blouse off her shoulders.

  As the thin cotton fabric left her body, Natalie flinched a little, gripping the blouse as it reached her hands to keep it at her wrists.

  Eric took her hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to her closed fist, then uncurling her fingers and pressing another to her palm. “I want all of you, Natalie. Don’t hide from me,” he told her, as he pulled the blouse from her arm, revealing the angry red scar that remained from her attempt to put an end to her suffering.

  Gently, he ran his fingertips down her forearm and kissed the healed flesh on one wrist before doing the same to the other side. Then he pulled her toward him, and brought their mouths together once more.

  The kiss started out gentle and loving, then as their need grew, so did the voraciousness of the kiss. Unable to keep his hands off her, Eric stood and lifted her in his arms, carrying her to his bedroom where he lowered her feet to the floor and pulled her small frame against his large one. His hands roamed the soft skin of her back until he found the clasp of her bra and unhooked it with a skilled twist of his fingers.

  For a moment, they separated as he pulled the bra from her body and let it fall to the floor. His eyes travelled over her slowly, taking in the soft curve of her creamy breasts and the tight rose of her aroused nipples. Licking his lips, he found his hunger for her and actually caused him to salivate at the thought of taking one into his mouth.

  Reaching out, he hooked his finger into the waistband of her jeans and pulled her toward him.

  “You are so fucking beautiful. You know that don’t you?”

  “I only know what you tell me,” she whispered. “And I know how I feel.”

  “How do you feel?” he murmured, slowly undoing the button and then the zip of her jeans.

  “Like I need to feel your skin against mine. Like I want you more than I want oxygen.”

&nb
sp; She reached out and pulled at his shirt, pushing it up his torso as she slid her hands over his toned abs and pecs. She wanted to press her chest against his as they kissed and she didn’t want anything in between.

  Lifting his arms, he helped her remove his shirt and let it fall to the floor. “I missed this body,” she said, running her hands back down over his chest until she found his button and pulled at it to undo his pants. “I need skin on skin. Take it all off.”

  “Hmmm,” he growled, as her fingers brushed the tip of his throbbing cock. “You first.”

  Gripping her hips, he lifted her off the floor and dropped her onto his bed, following her down and holding himself over her to finally get those tight rose bud nipples in his mouth and swirl his tongue around their tip as he kneaded the flesh of her breast.

  “Oh god,” she moaned, her hands sliding through his hair and pulling at his brown locks as her orgasm built and pooled between her thighs.

  Moving down her body, he trailed kisses down her stomach until he reached her jeans and gripped her waistband, kissing her softly, just above her mound where the zipper was open before he pulled the denim, along with her panties, down her legs.

  “I missed this body,” he murmured, looking over her with an intense hunger in his eyes. He knelt down in front of her, sliding his hands up and down the smooth skin of her legs, sending chills through her body as he paused at her knees and parted her thighs to expose her core. “And I’ve craved your taste,” he added, as he leaned in and closed his mouth over her centre, gently sucking on her clit as she moaned and writhed beneath him, so close to exploding from his touch.

  It had been so long since she’d been with a man and the weeks of sexual tension meant her body was primed and ready, with a swirl and a suck of his tongue, her hips bucked beneath him as her orgasm burst from her body in a mind blowing eruption of joy and beauty and love.

  “Inside me, Eric,” she gasped as he continued to lap at her fold. “I need you inside me.”

  With one last slow lick upward, he moved up her body, kissing her belly before gripping her hips and sliding her up the bed while he crawled over her and gazed down into her chocolate coloured eyes.

  They didn’t speak for a moment. There was something passing between them that didn’t need words – only touch.

  Natalie ran her fingertips up and down Eric’s back as he dipped his head and took her mouth, sliding his tongue against hers as they both closed their eyes and lost themselves to the bliss of being together.

  Moving her hands to his waistband, she urged his pants and boxers to be removed from his hips. Complying, Eric slid off the bed and let them slide to the floor before he reached into his bedside table and removed a condom.

  Natalie watched as he slid the rubber over his long hard erection, aching inside with the need to be filled.

  As Eric positioned himself between her legs, it dawned on the both of them that this was the first time they were making love with the full knowledge of who Natalie was, and the moment he pushed into her depths they gasped and groaned in pleasure. Somehow the truth in their union was making something that had already been amazing something so much more.

  As their bodies moved together, the feeling could almost be described as transcendent. Time seemed to stop and the world ceased to exist. All there was were two people, joining in the most primal way, lost in each other, loving each other.

  Slowly, their panting and rhythm increased and Natalie let out a short gasp as her insides trembled and she climaxed again. Her gasp was shortly followed by a long satisfied growl as Eric pulsed within her walls, expelling his own climax as he dipped his head and kissed her passionately before rolling them both over so she was laying on his chest, her strawberry hair splayed out to the side as she listened to his breath and his heart as they took a moment to calm down.

  “That was better than I remember it,” she murmured, pressing a light kiss in the groove between his firm pecs.

  “That was fucking unparalleled, babe,” Eric returned, causing Natalie to chuckle.

  “Fucking unparalleled?” she laughed, as she lifted her head to meet his eyes. “Yes, I suppose it was.”

  Contracting his abs, he curled towards her to kiss her again. “You up for another round?” he asked, still hard and still aroused inside her.

  She grinned and clenched against him internally. “Does that answer your question?” she said as she gripped him again and rolled her hips, biting at her lip seductively as she watched his eyes roll back in ecstasy.

  “Oh my god, that’s heaven,” he moaned, before lying back and enjoying her movement while they lost themselves in each other’s bodies.

  And for a while, they could forget about everything in the outside world and focus only on each other.

  Chapter 15

  “CAN I just interject a bit here?” Josh asked, as he listened to Mia and Louise talk about the fact that Cayd had had some sort of relationship with Belle ‘Belinda’ Fleming. While he understood why Mia was upset, he didn’t think she should be quite so upset at Cayd, and told them as much.

  “There’s no way he could have known she was your mother. And I’m pretty sure it all happened at least ten years before he even met you. You can’t get angry at a guy for not being able to see into the future, Mia” he reasoned.

  Wiping at her eyes, Mia looked up at Josh. She was sitting on the couch in Louise and Josh’s townhouse with Louise beside her, rubbing her back consolingly as she cried out her upset, while Josh sat across from them where he’d been listening quietly before he decided that Cayd needed someone in his corner.

  As far as Josh was concerned, Cayd was a good bloke. Whatever he did in his past shouldn’t have any bearing on his current relationship, especially when Mia was just a teen when it happened. It wasn’t as if Cayd could have possibly been her father – he was twelve when she was born. So he just couldn’t understand why Mia was so upset.

  “Can’t you understand how I feel right now, Josh?” Mia sniffed. “I feel like I’m sitting in the middle of some incestuous swingers party, and all of my family members are pulling the keys of my boyfriends out of the bowl. I have had two men in my life. Two – that’s it. And somehow, by some awful twist of fate, both of them have slept with members of my long lost family. It’s so ridiculous that it’s almost laughable, and if this were some plot in a book or a movie – I probably would laugh. But this is my life, Josh. And knowing that both Natalie and Belle or Belinda – whatever her stupid name is – have known the same men I’ve known… it just hurts, ok? It hurts. Why can’t I just have one thing for myself? Why couldn’t Cayd have been the one part of my life that was only for me? Why did I have to share him too?”

  Tears poured out of her eyes as she tried to explain how much pain and hurt she was going through. So much had happened in her life over the past twelve months and right now, she felt as though she was never going to be the same. Everything just felt… wrong.

  Josh met Louise’s worried eyes. She was so upset for her friend and could see the problem from both sides. It pained her that only hours before, she and Mia had been talking excitedly over the prospect of a combined wedding and now, well, Louise didn’t know what was going to happen. She just hoped that her friend wouldn’t give up her chance at happiness just because she didn’t like his past. Louise was a strong believer that present and future actions were much more important than past ones. In her own life she had seen people who she had thought of as friends become afraid of her just because of her deafness, and she had seen people, who she would never have dreamt would be so accepting, go out of their way to successfully communicate with her.

  “I don’t know what to say to that, Mi,” Josh said, as he reached out and gave her knee a squeeze. “I just know that you and Cayd were made for each other. Don’t let something from the past ruin your future.”

  “What’s wrong?” Eric asked Natalie the next morning as they sat together eating breakfast. She had picked up his phone and frowned
when she looked at the screen. “Who do you think should be calling me?”

  “I sent Mia the photo of Belinda from your phone. She hasn’t responded.”

  “Did you say it was from you?”

  She placed the phone back on the counter in front of them. “Yeah. I told her who she was and that we were going to see her. I don’t know. I suppose I thought she’d at least want to talk to me about it.”

  “Maybe she just hasn’t seen it yet,” Eric offered, knowing full well that that scenario was unlikely.

  “Maybe,” she agreed, as she finished her bowl of cereal and rose from her stool. “I might take a shower. You interested in joining me?” She slid her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

  Wrapping her in his arms, he returned her kiss before pulling away slightly. “That is very tempting – so very tempting. But you go ahead. I have a few things I need to do first.”

  With a slight whine, she trudged off to the shower alone, telling Eric that he was going to owe her big time later.

  Laughing and promising to make it up to her, he waited until he heard the shower switch on before he picked up his phone and made a call. There was a certain girl he felt had a bit of explaining to do…

  After being plagued with dreams of walking in a room to find Cayd with other women, Mia finally gave up on sleep, knowing that she was never going to be able to rest properly in Eric’s old room – it was all making the nightmares so much worse.

  Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she pressed her feet to the cold floor as she leant forward and held her aching head in her hands. She felt a wreck, her eyes felt dry and swollen and her nose couldn’t seem to stop running.

  When a buzzing sound came from her phone, she looked up to see it alight with a photo of a smiling Eric. She let out her breath, knowing that he probably wouldn’t be calling her with anything that would make her smile right now.

  Reaching out, she picked up the phone and swiped to accept the call. “Hi,” she said quietly as she pressed the phone to her ear.