Intertwined: A Redemption Novel

by Sasha Brümmer

  “Please,” he replies as he removes his fingers from their prime position on my body and proceeds to zip and button me up all the while staring at me like he sees more in me than he ever has before.

  I unlock my ankles from his back and move my hands farther up his chest. I feel his chest vibrate before I hear his voice, and it sends a massive wave of goose bumps running down my arms. “So you dropped your phone in the bathtub?”

  “Guilty.”

  He chuckles and kisses me once more before helping me down from the hood. “The fucking plane wouldn’t get me to you fast enough.”

  “To that, I agree.”

  “I bet, but shit, I could sleep for two days straight right now.”

  “It’s a good thing that I have the most comfortable bed in the city then, huh?”

  “It is. What do you say that I drive us home and then hold you against me until I wake up again? Then, I’ll ravish you like you deserve. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  He starts to turn around to grab his things, but quickly stops and glances down at me before moving a hand to my midsection and over my stomach.

  “She’s there?”

  A smile splits my face at his assumption. “She? What makes you think that it’s a girl?”

  “The fact that I’ve been saving them for years. Maybe this is my reward, you know? Having two for myself. When do we find out?”

  “Actually, my guess is as good as yours. I’m new to all of this too. I guess that I need to order some pregnancy books because that one pamphlet did nothing for me.”

  “You’ll need to share it with me.”

  “Not while you’re half asleep. Let’s go before you pass out on the gravel.”

  “I’ll be fine to drive,” he says as he grabs his duffel and a larger bag that looks like it should carry a rifle. I choose to ignore it and open the trunk for him to place it inside.

  “I’ll drive,” I tell him.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “All right. Let’s get my sorry ass into bed.”

  I squeeze his hand, and he walks me to the driver’s side and opens the door for me. I stare at him for a second, tempted to look behind him to see where he’s hiding my best friend, but instead I ignore the little voice, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before I get in, and he closes the door behind me. Two seconds later he’s getting into the passenger seat and buckling in as I start the car up and pull back onto the road, heading in the direction of Navy Pier.

  The sun has started to rise when he reaches over and wraps his fingers around my inner thigh. I look over at him while I stop at a red light, but he’s already drifted off to sleep. My heart constricts in my chest as I pull through the intersection.

  I don’t know how we went from one side of the ocean to the other in a single conversation, but I do know that both of us must have been ready to make the journey or it would not have happened so quickly. Being around him seems to be all of the therapy that I need because all of the negativity that was physically holding me down seems to have vanished the moment he drew me into his arms.

  I’ve fallen in love with this man simply because he is who he is. Through the thick, the thin, and the good and bad, he hasn’t lost the person who he’s been since the first time I met him.

  If someone told me almost ten years ago that I’d be dating this jackass and expecting his baby, I would have laughed in that fucker’s face, but great relationships don’t simply happen. Just like any relationship, this one is the product of a consistent investment of affection, patience, and time. We might just be starting out, but something tells me that this might actually last. That something is deep down in my belly where our love is growing to form a little human.

  Before I know it, I’m pulling into my parking spot and shifting the vehicle into park before I turn it off. I unbuckle, trying to not disturb his hand on my thigh before I lean over and place my lips against his.

  His chest expands on his inhale before he opens his bloodshot eyes and moves his hand from my thigh up to my waist as he pulls me over the center console and onto his lap.

  “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

  “It’s okay, I just won’t be able to carry you inside like you’d be able to if the roles were reversed.”

  His chest vibrates with a silent chuckle as he moves his hands down to my thighs.

  “Bed?” I ask as his eyes start to droop again.

  “Please.”

  I somehow manage to push the door open and climb off of him, and he follows behind me. “We can grab your stuff later.”

  “Sounds good.”

  He locks his fingers around mine as we make our way up to my loft and then up to my bedroom. Watching him as he lazily strips down to his boxer briefs, I take a moment to admire this masculine specimen in front of me and find myself insanely aroused by the simple act of his baring himself. Perching on my side of the bed, my eyes roam down the sharp ridges of his stomach and down to that bulge. He should really be painted or sculpted because he’s just that beautiful. He puts me in a heady trance that brings back all of the butterflies. Every single one that was once lost has returned to its place of origin.

  It doesn’t matter how much I’ve tried to distance myself from him, my attraction to him only seems to grow. He gazes at me before getting underneath the covers and pulling me down next to him once I’ve kicked off my jeans. He holds me against his warm chest and seems to fall asleep almost immediately.

  “Love you, babe,” he mumbles.

  I turn around to face him and run the palm of my hand against his cheek, which causes him to raise his eyelids for a brief moment before closing them again.

  “Love you,” I say as he pulls me as close as we can possibly get to each other. I tilt my head up and touch my lips to his in a slow kiss. I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me back, but he does ever so lightly before his lips stop moving altogether and I know that sleep has finally claimed him.

  I’ve got everything and nothing to lose with Liam Jensen. He’s crossed the border into my heart tonight where he’ll leave his love behind. My body jolts when he runs his hand down the side of my ass and to my thigh where it remains as I drift away from the conscious world.

  When I peel my eyes open, I’m surrounded by darkness and the sweet smell of roses and vanilla from Isla’s Valentino perfume that she loves so much. I know it because I introduced it to her a year or two ago. I’d be able to recognize it anywhere. I shift onto my back on the bed and look over to her side where she’s curled up into a ball and as far away from me as possible while she sleeps.

  I grumble and reach over to her, pulling her petite frame toward my larger one. “What the hell are you doing all the way over there?”

  When her skin comes into contact with mine, I almost pull back at how cold she is. I turn her around so that she’s facing me and pull her flush against my bare chest. She exhales and nuzzles into me before pushing one of her legs between mine.

  “What are you dreaming about, doll?” I ask as I run my thumb over the tension lines between her eyebrows. She doesn’t respond to me, and I don’t want to wake her up just yet. I’m unsure of when she actually fell asleep or what the time right now is. All I know is that I’ve slept the day away instead of spending it with her.

  I throw a glance over my shoulder to the nightstand that holds my phone. I reach over and unlock it, squinting at the time and date. It’s well past three in the morning of the next day. Jesus, I’ve slept for almost a solid twenty-four hours. I set the phone back on the table before again looking down at her.

  I cannot believe that she’s carrying a part of me inside of her. I slide the palm of my hand up her front and underneath her clothing until I can rest it against her stomach. I place my lips against her temple before I move her out of my arms for a couple of minutes. I head into her bathroom and shower off my travels and clean myself up before heading downstairs to grab something to eat.

  She’s f
illed the freezer with more pints of ice cream than I’ve seen in a while. I question whether they are because of how I made her feel or if it’s pregnancy cravings.

  Holy fucking shit.

  She’s pregnant.

  The weight of those words hits me hard and fast, but instead of the sudden sinking feeling that I’d expect to pull me down, a lighter one lifts me up, and I can’t help the smile that it brings.

  Despite the time, I start a pot of coffee and lean back against the kitchen island as it starts to brew. The bittersweet scent begins to fill the loft when soft footfalls draw my attention to Isla as she walks toward me.

  “Morning, doll,” I tell her as she reaches me and stands between my outstretched legs before leaning her body against mine.

  “Mmm.”

  “I’m going to guess that pregnancy won’t help with the grumpy mornings, will it?”

  “This doesn’t even count as the morning,” she grumbles against my chest muscles.

  “No?” I lock my arms around her shoulders and kiss the top of her head while I enjoy the warmth of her breath moving across the skin of my chest.

  She sighs in response and tightens her arms around my torso. “I like having you here.”

  “You humble me, Isla.”

  “Quit bullshitting me.”

  I pull back to look down at her. “I wouldn’t. I might be losing my mind because I’ve decided to stop fighting what I feel for you and follow the fucking arrows pointing in your direction, though.”

  “By arrows do you mean your dick?” she counters while I’m trying to be sincere with her, but I give in and laugh along with her. “We might be together, Jensen, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to change my spots.”

  “Thank God for that. I’m unsure if my cock can handle a prissy little bitch.”

  She shoves me, and I catch ahold of her wrist, trapping her hand behind my neck and then reaching for the other, placing it in the same position as she leans into me.

  “You’re such an ass.”

  “One that you have rather intense feelings for, so don’t go bitching about my behavior. Plus, we’re just getting started, and we wouldn’t want to scare anyone away.”

  “Who the fuck would we have to scare away? Your parents?”

  “Jesus, no. They seem to adore the fuck out of you.”

  “You should tell them that I’m pregnant. I’m sure that your sister will be beside herself. She’s always wanted her younger brother to aspire to more than just a drunk bastard.”

  “Don’t say that too loudly. My mother might cut your damn tongue off.”

  “We’ll have to see what she does, won’t we?”

  “After having an affair and giving birth to me nine months later, what can she do other than be thankful?”

  She shrugs and runs her fingers into the back of my hair. “She loves you and so does your biological father as well as your dad. You were blessed to have so many people there for you.”

  “As much as that is true, it was difficult to grow up in a world that was surrounded by lies. Did I ever tell you that my mother lied about my being hers for the first eleven years of my life?”

  “She did what?”

  I nod and move my hands down her waist to her ass. “Yeah. She made up some story about her sister passing and her inheriting a nephew. It was all a cock-up, but it was my life. Shit, she had me believing that bullshit for years until my father came back into the picture when he found out about me.”

  “That’s who you got your trust fund from, right?”

  “Correct. It’s more than likely the only reason why my mother confessed the truth about me in the first place.”

  “How did your dad react—the man who’s married to your mother?”

  I place my lips on hers before pulling back. “He told me not to look back and keep taking steps forward in my life because there’s no use in throwing glances over your shoulder when you’re not going that way.”

  “He sounds like a wise man.”

  “He is, and I’m sure my mother and both of my fathers would like to finally meet you.”

  “So the shared video calls over the nine-plus years don’t count as meeting?”

  “No, baby doll, they sure don’t.”

  “Well, I’m so fucked.”

  I raise my eyebrows as she moves out of my arms and pours a cup of coffee before handing me the black gold.

  “Why?”

  “For one, I have to charm the pants off of not one but two fathers, and your sister, well, let’s just say that I remember her calling me out on my whorish behavior our freshman year in college.”

  “Fuck that, and fuck her big mouth. We’ve never gotten along because of our eight-year age difference and because I’m literally the bastard in the family.”

  “You are, but I love you.”

  “Yeah?” I take a drink of my coffee and hold out the mug for her to take a drink, but she shakes her head no.

  “I can’t have caffeine for a while.”

  “Is that some pregnancy rule?”

  “Apparently.”

  “Then who the fuck am I going to share my damn coffee with?”

  She smiles and runs her hands up my abdomen to my chest and then skates her nails against my skin before dragging them down to the edge of my boxer briefs.

  I groan as my cock jerks to life between us.

  “I’ll assume that this conversation is over.”

  “So over,” she says breathlessly and pulls her sweatshirt up and off.

  The next time I wake up, I have Isla’s naked body wrapped around mine, and the room smells of her and the sweet, unforgiving scent of sex. It’s a heady sensation that I’d like to get used to waking up to. I groan when I shift on the mattress: the muscles that I haven’t used in a long while ache just below the surface of my skin.

  Fuck, this little vixen likes to play.

  “Shh,” comes from the sexiest set of lips that I’ve ever used before I get up and make my way into her bathroom, and they inspire my next move.

  I open more drawers than one would assume might be filled up in the bathroom before I find what I’m looking for.

  I walk back to the bed, hard as fucking stone, and sit down beside her.

  “Doll?”

  “Go away,” she mumbles and pulls a pillow over her head.

  “I have a favor to ask.”

  “Does it involve your woody?”

  “You know that it does.”

  She pushes the pillow off of her face and glances down at my lap where my cock is straining against its own skin, and then to my hand that’s holding her favorite tube of red lipstick.

  “Sit up.”

  She does as she’s told as I uncap the lipstick and hold it out for her.

  “What’s this for?”

  “I like the stains that you leave behind after you suck on me.”

  “Oh? This is news . . . sort of,” she says with a giggle.

  “If you don’t get on your goddamn knees in front of me in the next thirty seconds, I’ll take matters into my own hands and fuck that pretty little mouth of yours until it’s raw.”

  That gets her to react.

  She frantically shoves the comforter off of her and takes the lipstick from my hand, applying it effortlessly over the surface of her lips. Fuck me running. Her cherry-red lips make me want to do more than just watch her suck me off right now.

  She leans over to place the tube of lipstick on her nightstand and then sits back against her headboard and stares me down.

  “Is that a dare?”

  “Take it as you will, Jensen.”

  The deep rumble that leaves my chest surprises even me and causes her to jump as I launch myself at her and hold her body against the headboard.

  Her lips part as her breathing becomes labored with a need for me. I grab hold of her jaw, and she opens wider for me, inviting me inside of her warmth. I manage to keep her in place as I stand up and position myself at her now-closed lips
.

  “Open.”

  She complies and I push the length of myself between her sex-red lips. She puckers them around my shaft as she swallows me whole. I pull out slowly, and she tongues me when she gets a drop of my pre-cum, red stains marking my skin already.

  I slide back into her as she hollows out her cheeks. I grab hold of her ink-black hair as she shields her teeth and I start to fuck her pretty mouth.

  Her tongue slides along the bottom of my shaft as I repeatedly pull out and shove back in. I feel the heavy pinch at the small of my back as my release works its way through my body. She must feel my shaft thicken and the skin tighten around me because her hands move to my chest as she starts sucking on me harder.

  “Fuck, doll, you’re gorgeous.”

  She hums against me and the vibrations fuck me over. I start to pour myself down her throat as I slide against her. She drags her nails down my chest, leaving stinging lines all the way down as I surrender myself to a desire laced in agony.

  “Jesus,” I spit out as she swallows me completely before I pull back and out of her mouth. She gives me a little show by keeping her lips around my crown awhile longer and sucking on me before I pop out from her lips.

  My chest is heaving from the sheer pleasure, and I glance down at her before me. Her lipstick is smeared, and the majority of it paints my cock. I fucking thrive on this shit.

  “Well?” she asks innocently as if she did not just ask me to fuck her mouth and enjoy it at the same time.

  “Damn.”

  “Good,” she replies and slinks away from me, walking her bare ass into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

  Once the two of us cleaned up, I had enough time to retrieve my shit from her SUV. I manage to open my laptop long enough to check my RW email, and I’m rather astonished at what I find.

  To: Liam Jensen

  From: Grady Kent

  Subject: RW Break-in

  Mr. Jensen,

  It pains me to write to you like this, but I just received news that RW’s central Sydney office was broken into last night. I have attached a detailed list of what was taken. Please feel free to look over it.