by A. E. Murphy
She instantly melts beneath me and I melt right here with her. Every moan every shiver, every whimper she makes seems to heal every single worry and stress I hold in me.
I can’t help but stare as I sit between her knees and allow my hands to smooth over every inch of her body. Barely touching the places that make her truly squirm. There’s just something about the way she moans and breathes that captures me completely. It makes me want to give her more pleasure than her body can handle. Like watching an erotic movie, desperate to feel but at the same time desperate to see the ending.
I lean down so my chest is against hers and claim her mouth like a man possessed. She doesn’t object, she’s as greedy as I and I fucking love it. In one smooth thrust I bury myself in her again but I don’t move my hips, much to her frustration, I’m only giving her another taster of what will come soon.
My lips and tongue flick at the skin of her neck, my nose inhaling deeply. Fucking cherries. Always fucking cherries and I love that too.
“Lucas, don’t tease me.”
I smile wickedly before getting back to work, each inch I move down her body, kissing every inch of her skin, my dick slips out a little more until it finally pops out. She shudders, I shiver at the loss of warmth and continue my torturous kisses down her body.
“Please,” she begs and I almost give in. Eager to take her as I always do. But not tonight, tonight I want to come home properly, tonight I’m going to take my time.
She gasps when I finally reach her sensitive nub which is glistening with her juices. I dive in without hesitation, teasing her with slow licks and sucks before plunging my tongue into her as far as I can reach before pulling back and starting again.
“Lucas,” her legs tremble against my head. She’s tensing.
“Stop tensing. Relax.”
“I can’t.”
So I stop and work on her thigh instead. She groans and relaxes, I work my way back up. There’s nothing in this world that tastes better than Loryn does. She’s amazing, and she’s mine. I smile against her at the realization that she hasn’t rejected me. After everything I did, after all the heartache I was still redeemable. And now I need to show her that she won’t regret her decision.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Bad Feeling
I wake slowly and smile when I yawn and get a mouthful of dark brown hair. My face at present is buried in Loryn’s thick locks and I’ve never been happier to choke.
“Morning,” I mumble but all I hear in response is soft breathing. Nibbling her neck I pull her slowly so she’s laying on her back, she remains unresponsive. I nibble along her neck to her jaw until I find her bottom lip with my teeth. Mm.
Her brown eyes slowly blink open until they focus on mine, she tries to smile but soon realizes I have her hooked. “Again?”
I press into her and nod, “Oh yeah.” And what an again it is.
Sometime later…
“Hungry?”
“Uh-huh,” she grumbles into the pillow. “I’ll make you something in a minute. Just five more minutes and I’ll get up.”
“I’ll do it,” I kiss her shoulder, pull on my boxers and climb out of bed. “Fruit and yogurt?”
“Yeah but no…”
“Kiwi because it makes you constipated… got it.”
“That’s embarrassing, how do you know that?”
I shrug, wink and pad into the room. Marie looks up with a devilish smile on her face from her perch on the sofa. A bowl of colorful cereal in her hands. “So it was one of those dates huh?”
“Shut up,” I laugh and slap her hand away when she pinches my ass on my way passed her.
Five minutes later I have Loryn’s breakfast and two coffees in my hands and I’m carrying them back through. Marie is still sat on the couch with her legs crossed, her bowl in her hands whilst watching the News. I don’t know why she insists on watching it, she cries when anything major happens which is usually every day. Although she tends to cover up her tears with the excuse, ‘my eyes water a lot in the mornings.’ I’m calling bullshit.
“Tell Loryn I’ll be in, in five. I really fancy screaming as loud as she did last night,” I ignore her cackling and continue forward. “LUCAAAAAS! OH MY GOD! NO! WAIT… DO THAT AGAIN!” I slam the door which only makes her laugh louder.
Loryn is red faced and humiliated. I just feel a smug sense of male satisfaction.
“You’re so much sexier when you scream, she just sounds like a hyena giving birth.”
“I heard that!” Marie calls but she’s still cackling.
Loryn just sighs and snatches the coffee from me, “When do you have to get Amelia?”
“In a couple of hours.”
“Awesome, I’d offer to come with you but we’re opening in two weeks and have a huge shipment coming in today. We need to organize and there’s a problem with two of the sockets that we need to use for straighteners and such.”
I kiss her temple, “No problem. I thought you were going to the shelter like yesterday?”
She shakes her head, “I don’t want to speak to Greg after last night. Maybe when I’m not so pissed off.”
“Yeah,” Inside I’m dancing. Outside I’m pretending to be sad for her.
She laughs, “Don’t pretend to care. I bet you’re laughing on the inside.”
“More like victory dancing.” Yeah, she knows me well. “Did I tell you that I love you?” I say and smile when her breath hitches. “Didn’t think so.” I kiss her lips and suck a tiny splatter of yogurt from the edge of her mouth. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
And then I leave her an hour later as she and Marie have important things to be getting on with and I have a daughter to collect.
Helen greets me at the door with a huge smile, “Lucas. Sorry I didn’t stay long yesterday.”
She means when she picked Amelia up. They had a movie to see. “Don’t apologize. Has she been good?”
“She’s been fine, although I found her at about eight last night playing on a games console with Wesley.”
“She kicked my ass too,” I hear Wes laugh from somewhere in their humongous house.
“Yeah, her Uncle Chris is to blame for that.”
“Ah, that’s okay then. I was worried you’d be angry,” I follow her in and to the kitchen where Wesley is sat at the bar using his IPad. “It’s either those bloody consoles or this.”
I laugh and shrug, “I can’t get the hang of them if I’m honest. My eyes go weird after a while.”
“Daddy!” Amelia climbs up me and hugs me tight. “I went to see Monsters Inc.”
“You did?” I smile and kiss her nose. “How was it?”
“Awesome!” Tegan and Bailey announce together. “It was really good.” Now that’s just freaky.
Wesley looks at his kids and blinks before shaking his head on a sigh and looking back at his IPad, “That’s just plain weird. Give them blonde hair and white eyes and we have those freaky children that kill their parents.” I laugh quietly with them, Helen rolls her eyes at us both before ushering the girls out of the room.
“Lunch?”
I shrug, “As long as I’m not intruding.”
She rolls her eyes again and starts pulling stuff from the refrigerator.
By the time we get home it’s two in the afternoon and I’ve texted Loryn twice with no response. I’ve put it down to the fact she’s busy, we made no official plans for the day. I guess I just kind of hoped that when she was done she’d get in touch. Maybe I’m being a whiny bitch but I have a really bad feeling. I’m probably just scared she’ll change her mind about me.
When it reaches eight at night I really start to worry. I call her twice but get no answer so I text her again.
Loryn: Are you getting my texts? I’m worried about you xxx
I get no response, so I text Marie. She doesn’t respond either. So of course I call Maya and she insists she hasn’t heard from them either. My heart rate skyrockets, no doubt my blood pre
ssure would be off the charts. Something just isn’t right. I just don’t know what.
Summer tells me I’m being stupid when I call her and ask her to come over. I insist, she relents with a deep sigh and reminds me again how stupid I’m being but when the sun sets I know something is wrong. Even Summer seems worried when she comes in.
“Marie always answers her phone,” because the silly female has it practically glued to her hand. “Jacob hasn’t heard from her since one in the afternoon. Do you think they’ve left their phones at home?”
“Both of them? I’ve tried calling the store but there’s no answer. I’m just going to their flat and the store, if I can’t find them then…” I don’t know what I’ll do. “Call Greg. I know Loryn had plans with him this evening. She cancelled but may have changed her mind and Marie could have joined her.” I’m actually praying for this to be the case but my gut is telling me different.
The drive is long and torturous, but as soon as I reach their apartment I bang on the entrance door until someone buzzes me in and then proceed to bang on the apartment door. My body becomes clammy with sweat, I feel nauseous. Something is horribly wrong.
My legs carry me back to my car, I slip in and put my foot to the floor in an attempt to get to the store fast enough. Please be okay, everything is okay. I’m being paranoid, I’m going to find them doing each other’s hair whilst getting drunk on wine. Yep. That’s what I’m going to find.
The car door echoes in the deserted street. The first thing I notice is the fact the newly installed metal shutters are up and the store is dark. Loryn would never leave that open.
I slowly creep to the door and try the handle. It easily clicks open and the alarm doesn’t go off. Fuck. I should have brought a baseball bat. My heart begins to hammer in my chest, my palms become sweaty. Something isn’t right.
“WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?” I jump at the bellowing screech coming from the back room. Dana. I’d know that voice anywhere.
“I don’t have it!” Loryn, she’s okay.
What do I do? Is this some kind of feud or is she in real…? SLAM. What the fuck was that? The noise is followed by glass breaking. And then Loryn screams. I don’t waste another second before going in there completely unarmed.
“Lucas!” Loryn gasps. I look her up and down quickly, both she and Marie seem unharmed. Dana is to my right, her hands trembling and gripping a gun, a large man is stood beside her with his own pistol held in steadier hands. “Get out of here!”
I don’t have a chance before Dana turns the gun on me. My hands instantly go up.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” she shrieks at Loryn but her eyes don’t leave me. Red liquid pools around the edge of a changing cubicle. Holy shit.
Marie remains calm and pressed up against the wall, seemingly unaffected. I meet her eyes, she even smiles a little. Crazy bitch. What’s going on?
“Dana I told you, I lied to get you safe,” Loryn tries to explain calmly. “I never had the money. I just said I did.”
What’s going on? I just want to go over to the women, make sure they’re okay but that bitch still has the gun trained on me and fuck if I don’t feel like kicking her in the face. Unfortunately she looks too unstable for me to dare make a move, she’d set that thing off by accident at this rate.
I keep my eyes on the girls, Loryn’s face is pail and shiny with tears. Marie gives me a signal, her eyes slightly widen and then she glances to my left. The beige floor tiles are speckled with the blood of whoever is in that cubicle bleeding to death or… shudder… already dead. Why is she making me look here? But then I see it and quickly look away. I give her a quick blink to show her I know what she’s trying to tell me.
“But I can get it,” Loryn adds. “You know I can. If you need it I’ll give you it like I always do.”
“If I let you go now you’ll call the police,” Dana starts sobbing. “This is so fucked up.”
The huge black haired guy beside her keeps his gun on Marie but finally talks, “Dana. You better sort this shit out right now. There’s no way I’m going to prison for this.”
“What do you expect me to do?” she shouts hysterically and waves her gun at Loryn. “This bitch doesn’t have it! She won’t get it… I’m not stupid!”
The guy nods to me, his eyes deep blue and dangerous looking. He doesn’t notice me edging along the wall to the changing cubicles.
Dana’s eyes light up, “That’s it. You genius.” He didn’t say anything but she clearly knew what he was saying.
“No, don’t bring him into it. Please.” Loryn begs and her eyes find mine, she mimes the word ‘sorry’ and more tears fall down her cheeks.
“Tell me… how is she going to get the money when all of the banks are shut?” Marie sighs nonchalant as if she’s getting her hair done rather than on the verge of death.
“Fuck,” Dana hisses, her bubble clearly burst. “Fuck.”
“Shut the fuck up you stupid bitch,” Loryn shouts at Marie startling us both. “Christ. Will one of you just shut her the fuck up?”
Marie’s mouth drops open, she glares at Loryn, “Way to sell me out buddy.”
“Go fuck yourself. You’ve done nothing but antagonize them since they came in. That guy wouldn’t be dead if you’d kept your damn mouth shut!” Loryn is really distressed. Both Dana’s and the dude’s eyes are on them. Crafty, I sure hope this is for display and Loryn isn’t actually selling Marie out.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Dana pleads and grips her hair with her hands, even the one with the gun in it. “I can’t think.” She’s going through withdrawal, I’ve seen her like this before. Looks like she did unfortunately get back into drugs. There’ll be no compromising with her in this state so I remain quiet hoping they’ll forget I’m here so I can act. If I do anything stupid right now I’ll probably die before I can help the girls and this scares the shit out of me.
“When have you ever been able to think?” Marie snorts and crosses her arms over her chest.
This is it, this is my chance. I lean down and snatch the cool metal in my hands. Nobody notices.
Marie moves and shit it’s fast, she grabs the wrist of the guy, pulls it back and slams her elbow into his nose, he grunts at the same time there’s a cracking noise. Dana shrieks and jumps back when Marie manages to pry the gun from his fingers. He grabs her by the knee, she falls back onto the ground. Loryn gasps and jumps on his back to help Marie. I move, Dana aims, and her shaking hands manage to point at Loryn’s back. I aim and shoot, the fucking gun clicks. Empty barrel. No.
This must be why I got a second chance, this must be why I survived the crash. So I could save Loryn, right now I’m clinging to that so my daughter forgives me for giving my life for another. Amelia and Loryn are everything to me, I just pray I told them both enough.
My last thought echoes through my mind as I throw myself in front of the woman I love, I won’t fail this time. I will save her.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Everything goes black.
EPILOGUE
My Name is Loryn
Tears shouldn’t soak my face but they do. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry but how can I not?
Everyone crowds around the deep hole as the Priest says a few words and the coffin is lowered into the ground. My heart breaks with each inch that it sinks.
“Are you okay?” Marie asks softly and wraps her arm around me. I nod and wipe at my eyes. “It’s okay to cry you know.”
I shake my head, “I promised Lucas I wouldn’t.”
She nods and keeps me tucked to her side. We throw the dirt onto the coffin followed by a few roses. My heart continues cracking, my eyes burn and my body tingles with remorse. Maybe there was something I could have done… but I can’t keep letting myself think that. I promised Lucas I wouldn’t.
Lucas… he saved my life.
“Come on,” Summer says softly.
Even though I said my goodbyes and made my promises and my peace I’ve still cried. “I
need a drink.”
“Yeah,” Marie and I agree at the same time.
She’s a god damn warrior. Even at gunpoint this woman stayed calm and collected. She battled with a man for a gun for crying out loud. Every chance she got she instructed me on what to do, she knew someone would come and so we made that stupid plan. To argue and distract to give whoever it was the time to grab the gun that Daniel had dropped when his buddy turned on him to run off into the sunset with Dana. They thought I’d bring the hundred thousand dollars they asked for in return for my cousin. I didn’t. Marie had a plan for that too. She was going to grab Dana and run, we had it all mapped out, but then Dana and that asshole turned on Daniel last minute. He’s not dead, even though he got shot four times in the chest by Dana’s fuck buddy, who is now awaiting a sentence.
Another wave of tears flow freely down my cheeks and even a sob escapes me. The girls are on me in an instant, soothing me, telling me it’s okay and we’ll get through it. But there’s only one person I want to see, Lucas, and he’s not here.
“Are you okay?” Summer asks.
“There’s one more promise I need to make,” I say softly and step away from everyone. “I need a moment.”
“I’ll wait here,” Summer nods to the others to leave, they do, Chris stays by her side. “Thank you,” I mumble weakly and head back in the direction I came. I continue past the fresh grave and follow the path around until I catch sight of the two identical headstones, both heart shaped but one is bigger than the other.
