“So, where did you meet her?” I glance back at my old roommate and chuckle. I have a feeling she may be a stripper.
“Centerfolds. You know me.” He laughs, slapping me on the shoulder. “No complications, man. One is enough. I learned my lesson.”
“Really?”
“Fuck, yeah.” He glances around the room and back at me with his signature shit-eating grin. “Protection, man. Never take a woman’s word for it. I mean, your situation is different.” He points out, raising his eyebrow when he sees what I’m wearing. “What the fuck is up with you dressed like a fucking waiter?”
“Shit, don’t get me started,” I say, envious of my friend in a pair of dark blue jeans and a black button-up dress shirt.
“Shit, you’re in love, man.”
“Yeah, that I am,” I say, glancing over my shoulder to see Elle walking over. “Seriously, though, when are you gonna get serious?”
“We’ve had this convo before, motherfucker. Never. No time now. I’m making moves.” He laughs as he takes the beer from his partner and smacks her ass. She giggles and wraps her arm around his waist while he admires her ample cleavage. “Dude, and listen, that money I lent you…don’t worry about it,” he replies, reluctantly averting his eyes from his date’s chest.
“Nah, man. I can’t have that,” I respond as Elle brushes against me, interlacing her fingers with mine and causing currents of heat to course through my veins.
“Hey, Elle, Happy New Year!” Luke says in an exuberant voice.
“Same to you,” she speaks, acknowledging Luke’s date with a forced smile and gradually turns her attention back to Luke. “I wanted to thank you for what you did for Reed.”
“It’s nothing. He’s a friend,” he says, lifting the beer to his lips. “I was telling him that he doesn’t have to pay me back. Your man has too much pride. I told him it’s on me since he had to put up with some crazy shit being my roommate for the past few months.”
“I don’t know...” she stammers. “That’s a lot of money.”
“Yeah, really you guys think about it. No rush. The offer is out there,” he says, throwing his arm around his date’s neck. “Come on. I’m ready to rock!” he bellows, gulping down the rest of his beer. “Let’s ring in the New Year with a fucking bang!”
We are on the second floor balcony, where we have the best view of the band that is playing. The vast audience is a vague outline of figures. This stage is where I laid my soul bare for everyone to hear. They didn’t know it was happening, but the one person I wanted to witness it did. God, my heart soared when my eyes fell on her standing in the crowd. She was a perfect vision, just like she is now standing next to me. I sat on that stage with my heart beating like crazy, and my mind was only thinking about her and hoping to see her again. Once I did, I wasn’t afraid anymore and I sang my fucking heart out for her.
Leaning in, I take a deep breath, grab her, and plant a kiss onto her lips, taking her completely by surprise. Elle instantly melts into me, and I fucking love it. What’s not to fucking love?
Bright lights illuminate the platform, causing a loud cheer to erupt from the crowd below. Soon after, Crimzen appears on stage. The drummer starts to beat the intro to the first song of their set, “Love’s Broken,” and for the next ninety minutes, Elle and I enjoy the rest of the band’s set. By the time they finish playing, it’s past eleven thirty. We decide to head back to the VIP room to ring in the New Year. The room is so crowded that there is barely any space to move. Elle, Piper, and Luke’s date, Kelly, begin chatting at the bar, so I find Luke and the band. Crimzen really rocked the house tonight. From the crowd’s reaction, it is obvious that they’re going to be huge in a short time. I’m glad I was able to experience their memorable concert.
Fifteen minutes to midnight, I turn to Elle at the other side of the room. She’s standing with her back to me as she’s talking to Piper. I need to get close to her; I need to touch her.
Biting on my lip, I’m unable to think about anything else. I had stopped drinking at four beers because when the clock strikes twelve, I want to savor every little bit of her and remember every second of the kiss I am going to share with her. After about ten minutes, I lunge forward, closing the distance between us. I catch Piper’s eye and shake my head at her. Smiling, she quirks her eyebrow up and plays along.
“Excuse me, do you mind if I cut in?” I say in a low voice, wrapping my arm around her tiny waist before resting my chin on her shoulder. I wink at Piper who throws her hand on her hip and pouts and then glances around the room in frustration.
Elle turns, her breath feathering across my cheek as she raises her eyebrows at my question. “I would love it,” she answers with a slow, sexy smile growing on her lips. She spins and throws her arms around my neck.
“I guess I have to go look for my man who doesn’t have one romantic bone in his body!” Piper exclaims.
“He’s at the bar.” I laugh. “He’d better hurry though. It’s almost midnight.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s never on time for anything,” she quips as she kisses Elle and me on the cheek. “Happy New Year, guys. See you in a minute!” She saunters across the room and finds Link at the bar, patiently waiting for her with his tattooed arms crossed over his chest.
“Cute couple,” Elle breathes over my lips. “I think we’re hotter.”
“Yeah, they have nothing on us.” I look deeply into her expressive eyes that are so full of passion, and I instantly lose my train of thought. I don’t even hear when the crowd in the room starts to countdown to midnight until she breathes it over my lips. “Do we have to wait until midnight to kiss, doll?” I murmur hotly into her ear.
“Patience,” she moans. “Three, two, one,” she chants playfully over my lips. Her eyes widen, and she licks her lip. “Happy New Year,” she speaks as the crowd erupts in celebration around us.
“Happy New Year, doll.” She stands on her tiptoes as I clutch her against my body, crushing my lips over hers. All sense of reason and modesty of our surroundings disappear the second my lips capture hers. I don’t give a shit about anything, but her. Her hands tangle in my hair, curling at the back of my neck as she pulls me into her kiss. Our tongues continue frantically searching and tasting each other. Neither one of us is able to get enough. Our hearts pound against each other as we take what is ours, what we fought so hard to find, neither one of us able to get enough. People move around and indistinct sounds pass over my ears. We block out the spinning world around us as ours remains motionless. It’s just her and I. Here and now. This one kiss.
Our kiss momentarily breaks, but our lips barely part. Our eyes meet, and I can see her thinking and wanting. I run my hand down to frame her face. “I’m looking forward to this year with you.” She takes in a sharp breath, parting her lips as her eyes cloud with desire.
“How about we leave this place, so I can show you how I want to start off the New Year with you?”
Her words cause my cock to strain in my trousers. I glance over at the restroom sign and back down at her as she shakes her head. “Home. Now!” she demands in a breathy whisper.
I tilt my head and scrape my teeth across my bottom lip, tracing a line from behind her neck down to her collarbone. “How can I decline an invitation like that?” I growl. I grab her hand and our coats before anyone can corner us, and we hail a cab to get back to the apartment.
The cab ride is a bit of a challenge. It’s hard for us to keep our hands and lips off each other. I need her so fucking bad. We may have given the cabbie more than he bargained for, so I leave him a big tip to make up for it.
When we arrive at the apartment, Elle drags me up the sidewalk behind her. I watch as she blindly fumbles with the key to the door. She giggles when I push her hair away from her neck and begin hungrily kissing her behind her ear. When we finally stumble into the darken apartment, I turn her to me and devour her luscious lips. She keeps the kiss soft and slow as her whimpers ignite me. She pulls away, ripping off
her coat and tossing it to the floor. She moves toward me and tugs off my coat, making quick work of my damn tie that had been choking me all night then rips my dress shirt off my body, tossing it over where everything else is lying on the floor.
I feel the heat of her soft hands as she trails them down my naked chest. She keeps moving down and starts unbuckling my belt while I desperately fumble with the zipper of her dress. Eventually, I decide to just tear it off. Her fucking dress is the least of my worries. I can buy her another one if she wants. I just need her too much right now. My dick needs her attention. After ripping off her dress, I finally behold her body in a red lace thong and matching bra. She is the treasure that I’ve been aching to touch all night. I kiss her deeply, every breath we take together and every move is in perfect sync.
“Uh, uh, uh,” I moan against her lips, stopping her from kicking off her red stilettos. I need for her to have those damn sexy ass heels on. I lift her heavenly body, and she wraps her shapely legs around my waist. Her hands pull at my hair before she tugs my head forward and attacks my mouth with purpose. We deepen the kiss, both of us demanding more, taking more.
“Reed,” she whispers, wrapping her arms around my neck and tightening her legs around my waist. I press her body against the wall and grind my erection into her. The way she pants my name is too much to take. I’m losing control. Fuck! She feels so damn perfect. I’m going to have to rip these panties off her. I’m going to be both rough and gentle with her. Tease her and satisfy her in every way tonight.
The bedroom is only down the hall. I know we are going to get there at some point, but it’s damn near impossible right now. I’m fucking greedy. I need her right here and now, but the cuffs I want to use on her won’t work the way I want standing here like this. Without breaking our kiss, I make my way to the bedroom and throw her onto the bed. Rough. She throws her head back and giggles as she watches me with her fiery eyes. I undo my pants and drop them to the floor, leaving on my boxers. My cock is so fucking hard. Fuck it. Why wait? I peel them off, too. She peeks down at my cock and back up at me, biting down on her lip.
“This is gonna get a little...”I rasp as I crawl over her, putting a knee on either side of her. “Unpredictable for you.”
“Surprises? I love them,” she whimpers as I trap her hands above her head. I move my lips next to her ear and gently take a nip at her neck, my warm breath teasing her skin. Gentle. She lets out a moan, and I feel her legs tighten around me.
I reach over and open the drawer to the bedside table. Taking out the cuffs, I dangle them in front of her. “You mentioned cuffs earlier,” I rasp, keeping my voice low. “I’ll never deny you, doll. Whatever the fuck you ask of me I’ll give it to you.”
“I can’t and won’t deny you either,” she asserts, arching her body to touch mine.
“Good.” I take the cuffs and quickly clamp it around one wrist and then the other and finally fasten them to one of the thin wooden beams of the bed. “Seeing you in this…” I say, tracing my hands down her body and anxiously slide her thong down her smooth legs and over her heels. I dangle the tiny piece of fabric before I toss it across the room. “Torture,” I unclasp her bra, freeing her perfect breasts and wrap my mouth around one, sucking hungrily as I eagerly knead the other. She yelps when I bite down, shaking the chains on her cuffs and digging the heels of her shoes into the back of my thighs.
“What do you want?” I demand, moving my lips from one breast to the other and then up to her semi-parted lips. She’s panting, and her eyes are still closed. I need her to say it, to want it as badly as I do. “Touch me...kiss me. Don’t deny me.”
“I won’t, baby.” She trembles in her restraints as she spreads her legs wide for me. Holy shit. This is the best New Year’s Eve. She is making herself mine by giving all of herself to me. I can feel myself spiraling more out of control. The need to be with her is so great that I’m shaking. I want to do things to her that will take all night.
“Please,” she moans. The words send shivers through me. I will not deny her. I lick every delicious inch of her. I taste her, ravish her, and fuck her. When I release her from the cuffs, we touch each other, tasting everything. We are slow, soft, quiet, fast, and rough and everything in-between. We take what we want and we give it up. It is fucking beautiful and amazing with her, unlike anything that I’ve ever felt before.
All I want is to wake up with her in my arms every morning with her breathing against my neck, and her arms wrapped around my waist. I’ve waited for something like this, for someone like her to come along. It took twenty-five years, and it all happened when I least expected it, when I was running away and not looking. I am insanely in love with this woman who is giving one hundred percent of herself to me as I am doing for her We both chose to fight for our love because we saw that there was something deeper, that we felt something more that we couldn’t deny. You just don’t walk away from it regardless of how difficult shit may get. You fight for it because you never know when you will ever feel that kind of love for a person again. She trusts me, like I trust her. She loves me, like I love her. I am her sun, and she is my moon. This is just the beginning for us, and I am going to make sure that what we have never ends.
EIGHT MONTHS LATER…
Elle got accepted into Texas Southwestern Medical School, which means we have one more month in Boston and then we move to Texas. Juju and Tommy were nice enough to find us a condo not too far from the medical campus that allows dogs. Cooper will be my responsibility when I move back, and Tommy couldn’t be happier about that. I have to say that I am going to miss this city that brought this woman into my life and some friends that I will keep in my life for a long time.
On our last visit to Texas, the entire family made the trip to Galveston, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico so that Momma could finally enjoy the ocean for the first time. On this day, she was perfection and so at peace with her life. Every minute of that day is forever etched in my brain, with the wind ruffling her hair that was just growing back from her chemo and the sparkle in her eyes that matched the sparkling pristine teal color of the ocean as she walked to the edge of the water and felt the waves and sand tickle her. Now that I know about her love of the ocean, I’ll take her a million times. She promised that she will make the trip to the Gulf of Mexico until she can’t anymore. When Elle and I move to Texas, the first thing I plan to do make that drive back to the coast with her.
Mindy had a baby boy. They named him Deacon, and he looks just like Luke with the same green eyes and blonde hair. Luke underestimated himself. He’s a good dad and has become attached to the little guy, but he is adamant that he and Mindy are not moving in together anytime soon.
Thanks to the coaches from both Texas A&M and Boston College making a recommendation with the Cowboys’ coaching staff, I’m now a backup wide receiver for the Cowboys, given none of the current starters are retiring or leaving. Plus, with Romo having back surgery, it could be a rebuilding season. The owner and coaches were instantly impressed with me at my first practice with the team, and who knows, I may not be a backup for too long. All my training paid off for me.
When Elle’s classes start, I’ll be tied up practicing with the team, but it will all work out. We have our nights and weekends together. As I sit peering out at the sun, my thoughts drift to her. She means so much to me, and I am going to show her today. She has no idea what the real reason for this trip to one of her favorite places, Crane Beach, is for. I brought her back here, before we leave for Texas, to express my love for her. The weather is perfect, in the eighties, and not a cloud in the sky. She’s wearing the red string bikini I picked up for her. I don’t know why I torture myself like this watching her. Breathless, that’s how this girl leaves me. Simply breathless.
I remember all the things she loves from the first time we met: the ocean, puppies, and warm summer nights. I would give her the world if I could. Maybe I can and will. Never say never. I admire her as she emerges from the water, the setting su
n glistening on her golden skin. She smiles as she closes the distance between us and leaps into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck. Fuck. I love her. Being with her feels natural, like breathing. She is my life now. I inhale the inebriating smell of her and the ocean water on her skin. She laughs. I love her laugh. She thanks me for bringing her here and lavishes me with her sweet kisses. I am one fucking lucky man. She pulls me back into the water. I hold her, feeling her body against mine and the water caressing and immersing our skin as the waves crash around us. I will never let her go.
I take her hand, interlocking her fingers with mine as we walk back to a secluded spot on the beach where our blanket, picnic basket and a bottle of wine are waiting for us. Everything had to be perfect. I told her we were celebrating our move to Texas. It’s hard trying to keep things from her, so I had to keep everything very simple. I pull on my T-shirt as she slips on a white sundress over her bikini and takes a seat on the blanket while her silky, brown hair blows in the wind. She is an angel on the beach. Picture perfect.
I pull out what we brought for our late afternoon lunch, cheese and crackers, grapes and turkey sandwiches. She nestles closer to me as we feed each other grapes and talk about what she wants to do once we get to Texas. She says she wants to learn how to ride a horse and line dance. I’ve never done the latter myself, but I’ll be a fool for her any day. I turn on the radio and Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” fills the warm summer air as she rises to straighten her dress and to stretch. I stand up in front of her and pretend to stretch as well before I pull out the dessert from the picnic basket, one chocolate and one vanilla cupcake both topped with vanilla frosting.
“Doll, I can’t wait to eat this dessert, but I wanted to offer it to you first. Because once I start, there may be none left for you.”
“Well, that’s not nice.” She turns to me, arching her eyebrow as I extend the cupcake to her.
Wanting Reed (Break Me) BOOK 2 Page 44
