Loved You Always

by Natalina Reis

  “I’ve loved you since we were teens in high school, you fool,” I said. “You’re the one who didn’t—”

  Jem didn’t let me finish. He kissed me, swallowing me whole—body and soul. “I did. I always did love you,” he said, letting me go for a moment. “I loved you so much it scared the hell out of me.”

  Supporting himself on one arm, Jem brushed the other hand from my throat down between my breasts and slid it between my thighs. I cried out and wrapped my leg around him, daring him to caress me deeper.

  While his fingers were creating havoc with my senses, he turned his attention to my breasts again.

  “Shit, Jem. I’m going to explode,” I yelled.

  His hard body slid against mine again, prying my legs apart. I could feel his heat against mine, and I lost it. My hands came around him, flattened themselves on his backside, and pushed him hard into me. We were finally one and it was heaven.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  __________

  Healing Old Wounds

  If the world came to an end at that exact moment, I wouldn’t care. Lying in the arms of my best friend and the love of my life I was, without doubt, the happiest I had ever been, and even an apocalypse wouldn’t be able to change that.

  Jem’s chest rose rhythmically, and his heart beat quietly against my ear. I couldn’t stop touching him. As he slept, my hand explored every ridge of every muscle on his chest and abdomen, his strong arms, his beautiful face, his lips…. My lips soon followed my fingers and, before I knew it, I had straddled him and was replaying the most mortifying scene of my life. Only this time, I was sure he wouldn’t call out another girl’s name.

  I reveled in the feel of him reacting to my touch even as he slept. Sliding my hands over his chest, I leaned over him and reached for his mouth. I traced his full, luscious lips, sighing happily when he moaned in response. I followed the caress with my lips, first nibbling and then parting them with my tongue. His arms came suddenly around me and, with a flip, he had me turned around and was now the one straddling me.

  “You were awake all the time,” I said with a pretend pout.

  Jem, ocean-blue eyes wide open, laughed. “I wasn’t sleeping back then, and I’m definitely not sleeping now.” He crushed his lips against mine again, and I swooned. “I never thought of protection, Em,” he whispered, his breath caressing my lips. “You know, a condom…?”

  I giggled softly, my mouth still touching his. “I’m on the pill,” I told him. “We’re okay.”

  Teasingly, he nibbled on my lips inciting a whimper from me. “We’re so much better than okay.”

  “I love you, Jeremy Peter,” I said against his mouth, inhaling his breath. Dropping my hold on his waist, I slipped my hand down between us to touch him. His moan of pleasure made me smile and melt underneath him.

  “You’re killing me, girl,” he said, his head bending backward as I stroked him again. “Holy shit!”

  With a throaty grunt, he bent down to flick his tongue across my breasts and track kisses all along my lower belly, insinuating himself between my thighs in a maddening caress. A flow of energy and ecstasy ran through me. I arched against him, begging for more.

  Just as an inexplicable surge of overwhelming feelings came over me, threatening to explode at any time, I heard a loud noise. At first I thought it was my heart beating, but then I realized it was someone knocking at the door. Jem lifted his head and we stared at each other, surprised.

  What a time to come knocking! “Who could that be?” I asked, still throbbing with yearning. God, I wanted him to resume his loving. The knocking continued, more insistent this time. “Shit! I better go see who it is.”

  As I made to move out of the bed, Jem grabbed one of my legs. “Don’t go!” He ran a finger along my inner thigh. I shivered.

  Whoever was at the door knocked again. I sighed. “Got to go,” I said as I reluctantly slid off the bed and away from him.

  While I hastily slipped into a pair of his sweats—I had left mine in the kitchen—and a T-shirt, he lay on the bed, magnificent in his birthday suit, watching my every move. My heart clenched inside my chest. Was it possible I loved him even more now?

  Closing the door behind me, I left the room to go answer the front door. I looked through the peephole and grunted when my eyes met a bright red head on the other side. Marcy!

  “What are you doing here?” I asked her, trying not to sound too annoyed. She stood in the doorway looking strangely impressive in one of her outlandish outfits.

  “I had a vision,” she said, sashaying her way into the house. Her sun-yellow ruffled skirt bounced around her as she moved. “I had to come and tell you.”

  My heart fell. Not again! I still didn’t believe in her “visions,” but she seemed to have a knack of having them right before something bad happened.

  “What now?” I asked, dropping to the couch in defeat.

  Her bright hair was decorated with a giant blue bow. “What were you doing?” she asked, shrewd eyes studying me. “Where’s Jem?”

  “He’s still asleep,” I answered quickly, suddenly conscious of the fact I wasn’t wearing any underwear. “What’s going on, Marcy?”

  She waved a long finger in the air. “No, no. You can’t get away that easy.” She looked around, her gaze zooming in on the kitchen. “Your clothes are on the floor in the kitchen.”

  Shit! She had eyes like a hawk. “I was too lazy to pick them up when I went to bed last night,” I lied. Couldn’t I have come up with a better explanation? That sounded lame even to me.

  “Jem’s pants are right next to yours.” It was a statement of fact, not a question. “You guys… did it, didn’t you?”

  I sprang to my feet. “Oh for God’s sake, Marcy,” I exclaimed. “It’s none of your business anyway.”

  As if on cue, Jem showed up wearing another pair of joggers but no shirt, his hair disheveled and his feet bare. My insides turned to mush again.

  “Hey, Marcy! What are you doing here so early?” he asked, coming next to me and putting his arm around my shoulders. Well, the cat was out of the bag.

  The little witch smiled, genuinely pleased to confirm Jem and I were an item now. “Finally!” she said, clapping her hands. “So happy for you guys!”

  My cheeks were burning. “Why are you here?” I asked again, more to hide my embarrassment than out of real curiosity.

  “Oh yeah, my vision.” Snapping out of her daze, Marcy straightened her little black T-shirt. “I had a vision that something big is about to happen.”

  Never a good sign coming from her. I squirmed against Jem. “What do you mean big?”

  “Not sure.” She sat down on the couch. Her pink stiletto heels had to be killing her. “Not necessarily bad, but big, life-changing even.”

  That was helpful. I held back my eyeroll.

  It was Jem who defused the awkward situation and prevented me from saying something I would regret later. “Coffee, anyone?”

  Both Marcy and I nodded enthusiastically, and Jem turned around to go make coffee. I watched him as he moved, my eyes glued to his sexy behind, heat climbing up my neck all the way to the roots of my hair. Marcy was looking at me from the corner of her eye, an amused smile on her lips.

  “He is yummy,” she said. “You have very good taste.” That struck me as funny and I burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?”

  The doorbell rang. More visitors? What is this, Grand Central Station? Marcy got up and ran to the door before I could even react. From the door I heard the familiar voice of my sister. They whispered a few words, and then I heard a high screech.

  “Oh my God, oh my God!” Celia said as she hopped into the house in my direction. “Is it true? You and Jem are together?”

  Hell no! Not Celia as well. I felt as if time had turned back to my middle school days. With a roll of my eyes, I braced myself for the hug that was surely coming. But it never did. Instead, my sister had run into the kitchen and straight into the arms of my love.


  “I’m so happy for you guys,” she was saying as she half strangled poor Jem.

  “You’re choking me, girl,” he said, his chuckle belying his complaint. “You’re not any happier than I am.”

  Still hanging from his neck, Celia giggled. “Don’t be so sure. We’re going to be in-laws.”

  “Emily Rose,” he called out to me. “Your sister is marrying us off already.”

  I laughed. It was impossible not to, surrounded by crazy people. “Watch out! Next she’ll be making plans for our firstborn.”

  Jem made a horrified face and managed to free himself from my sister’s iron grip. “I need to be with my girl.” He leapt over the back of the couch and dropped beside me. “Missed you,” he whispered in my ear.

  Smiling like a fool, I laid my head on his shoulder. “You were in the kitchen for less than five minutes,” I said, giggling.

  He brushed his lips on mine. “Let’s get rid of these girls. I have plans for the two of us in that great big bed of yours.” Tingling replaced all other feeling along my skin.

  Celia sat down next to us. “I heard that. We’re not going anywhere,” she said with a frown. “Marcy is sure there is something major about to happen, and I am not going to let you guys be kidnapped again.”

  Jem laughed out loud. “What are you going to do? Annoy the kidnappers to death?”

  She looked outraged, a hand lying flat on her chest. “I have skills!”

  It was my turn to laugh. “You sure do, sis,” I said, letting go of Jem to hug her. “You have some serious skills.”

  Marcy was standing by the kitchen, coffee mug in hand. “Coffee is really not my thing,” she said when we all looked at her.

  “What is this all about, Marcy?” I asked, holding my sister’s hand.

  Marcy, teetering on her pink stilettos, sniffed the coffee in her hands. “Not quite sure.” She frowned. “It’s fuzzy.”

  “Come on, red witch,” Jem said. I liked the new nickname. It fit her to a tee. “You have to give us something.”

  With the mug still in her hands, Marcy took a few steps toward the middle of the room. “I just sense something is about to change.”

  Jem and I exchanged a look. Something had just changed. And it was a good change. Marcy noticed our silent exchange. “Not that!” She waved her hand, nearly spilling the coffee. “Something coming from outside.”

  We all looked at the window. “Like outside, outside?” Celia asked.

  “No. More like outside the inner group,” she said, finally putting the mug down on the coffee table and perching on one of the couch arms. “From an outside entity.”

  The phone rang interrupting the silence that followed Marcy’s ominous statement. I jumped to go get it from the kitchen counter where I had left it. A quick glance at the caller ID told me it was Detective Jarvas. Uh-oh, a call from him right after hearing about a witch’s vision didn’t bode well.

  “Hello, sweetheart.” I loved the way he addressed me. It was like somewhere down the line he had adopted me as his surrogate daughter. “I have big news.”

  I chanced a glance at Jem, who along with the other two were staring at me nervously. “Yes?”

  “Tina will be testifying tomorrow,” he said, pausing to cough. “Sorry. Damn cigarettes! She’s arriving from Paris today and tomorrow she’ll be in court. We need you guys there, as well. I’ll have a couple of my guys pick you up tomorrow at seven.”

  “Is this a good thing?” I asked. Jem was mouthing a question I couldn’t answer yet.

  “It’s a very good thing,” he said, a smile in his voice. “Once she testifies, you guys won’t be in danger anymore. You can go back to your normal lives.”

  Would that be such a good thing? As much as I missed my little students and my trips to yoga and the coffee shop, I was having a little too much fun in the confinement of my own house.

  “Thank you, Detective,” I said. “I truly appreciate all you’ve done for us. I guess we’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “I’ll be there with bells on. See you tomorrow.” He hung up, and I held the phone to my ear for a few more seconds.

  When I turned around, three pairs of eyes were fixed on me. “Well?” Jem voiced the question in everybody’s minds.

  “Tina will be testifying tomorrow,” I announced, realizing her name still tasted sour in my mouth. “Our jail time is almost over.”

  My voice must have shown some of the trepidation I felt about going back to our so-called normal lives, because Jem sprang to his feet and strode across to hold me. “I kind of like our prison,” he said, kissing me on the forehead so tenderly I melted into a boneless mass in his arms. “You’re going to let me sleep over a little longer, aren’t you?” He had a wicked sparkle in his eyes.

  Forgetting my sister and Marcy, I tilted my head up, swung my arms around his neck, and kissed him full on the lips. I could hear the girls sucking in their breaths and then a whispered “aww” followed by “That’s so sweet.” I quit listening because the flapping of angel wings in my ears was too loud to allow any other sounds to come through.

  ***

  Tina’s testimony was short and sweet, if a little anticlimactic. After all we had to go through, it seemed like there ought to be a little more pizazz to the whole proceedings. However, everything was over and done in less than an hour. We filed out of the courtroom and sat on a bench outside, waiting to talk to Detective Jarvas and one of the prosecutors for some housekeeping tidy up. Jem, handsome in a well-cut suit, had his hand over my shoulders while we quietly talked.

  “Aww, isn’t that sweet,” we heard. Our heads snapped up to find Tina, with her astonishing dark looks, smirking at us, her voice dripping bitchiness. “You finally got what you deserve, Jeremy.”

  As if by mutual accord, we both stood. There was no way this incredibly gorgeous woman was going to look down on me, literally or figuratively.

  “What exactly do you mean, Tina?” I asked, my hand flat on Jem’s chest. I could feel his muscles coiled and ready to spring into action.

  “He was always such a baby,” Tina said, her eyes roving Jem’s body with despisement. “Always missing his mommy and daddy. And his best friend, Emily Rose. Oh, what was he going to do without her? He drove me up the walls with the whining. Not even his pitiful lovemaking could make up for what I had to endure.”

  My hand stopped Jem from moving forward. “You’re just bitter he left you as soon as he could,” I said, my heart bleeding at her words. A little for Jem, but also for myself as she reminded me that they did indeed have a sexual relationship at some point.

  “Oh honey,” she said, her Italian ancestry coming out in her voice and gestures. “You can keep him. He wasn’t that good in bed anyway.”

  Okay, I’m not the violent kind. Hell, I’m not even the reacting kind. I’m the girl who never posts back on Facebook if someone says something nasty, and who goes out of her way not to argue with anyone about anything. But Tina had me really hot under the collar.

  I stepped forward, grabbed her by her scarf—her shirt had such a low cut there was nothing else for me to hold on to—and, rising on my tiptoes, got in her face. “You listen to me, bitch.” I emphasized the last word for flavor. “Jem almost died because he was kind enough to volunteer to be your companion in this adventure of yours. He. Almost. Freaking. Died. Do you understand that, you dim-witted bitch? You should be thanking him, but instead you’re very happy to put him down. Sour grapes, that’s all it is. You better apologize, or I’m going to throttle you right in the middle of this hallway.”

  I must have sounded dead serious because, in spite of my tiny five-foot-two compared to her five-eight, she took a step backward, visibly shaken.

  “All right, all right,” she said, her hands up in front of her. “Don’t get your panties all in a twist. Jeremy, I’m sorry.”

  She didn’t sound sorry at all, but I figured that was the best we were going to get from her, and I let her go. “Now don’t you ever bother u
s again,” I added for effect. I watched as she walked away in a huff, her too-perfect butt moving from one side to the other, and her heels click-clacking on the marble floor.

  I turned to Jem, who, I belatedly realized, was too quiet. His deep ocean eyes were clouded over and his jaw was clenched.

  “I’m sorry, Emily Rose,” he said in a quiet voice, his arms dropped alongside his body.

  “What are you sorry for?” I asked, a little bitterness in my voice.

  “Everything.” He swallowed hard. “Taking off to France with Tina, sleeping with her… fuck! Sleeping with all the other women I slept with so I didn’t have to face my feelings for you. I wish I could erase all of it, but I can’t.”

  My heart was conflicted, but I was sure of one thing. “I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt me to think about it, but all that matters is now,” I said. “And now I love you and you love me. We’re together after all these years of fighting a losing war.” I managed a little smile. “Let’s not spend any time regretting what it was, and just enjoy what we have.”

  Hesitantly at first, he opened his arms and took a step toward me. There was no such hesitation from me. I was craving the contact, the safety his arms offered me. I wanted to linger there forever and forget the last five years—leave it all behind. As his warm lips latched on to mine I wondered for a brief moment how I had survived that long without it.

  “I love you, Emily Rose,” he whispered into my hair as he bent down to cocoon me with his body. “I love you so much it scares me.”

  “That’s because she’s a scary one,” my sister’s voice butted in.

  We both let go a little and looked at Celia, who had just arrived from her shift in the hospital. Sporting her scrubs and funky-looking Crocs, my sister smiled huge. “So good to see you guys all lovey-dovey.”

  Typically, she threw herself into the middle of our hug. “Group hug!” she yelled, her voice muffled by Jem’s and my bodies.

  “Can I join?” It was the good detective, his nicotine-yellowed fingers wiggling in the air.

  We all laughed and pulled ourselves apart. The courthouse was getting very crowded, so we decided to go sit in a nearby coffeehouse and talk for a while. I so wanted to thank Jarvas for all the protection and support he had given us throughout this whole ordeal.