by Marla Monroe
“So, what? He begged you to forgive him. He didn’t mean to do it, but something set him off. Do I have it right?” He sounded a little accusing in the way he seemed almost made when he said it.
“Pretty much.” Celeste shrugged.
It didn’t matter what Tyler thought. She was only telling him about it because she’d thought he’d given her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she’d been wrong.
“Why?”
“Why what?” His question confused her.
“Why did you stay with him? I can see the first time being a one off, but after what, the second, or the fifth time you finally had enough. What was it that set you off?” He jumped up and paced over to the window that looked out over the back parking lot. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, he deserved it after the first time, but what was it that made you finally say enough already and shoot his sorry ass?”
She didn’t have to think about the answer to that one. It remained the star in all of her nightmares and the hope of her favorite dreams. To tell him would inevitably stain those dreams with the nightmares for a while, but she’d started the story, so she needed to finish it.
“He took away my baby. He killed my baby.”
* * * *
Celeste could have sworn that Tyler took a physical blow when he almost fell back a step. One hand went to his chest even as he reached for the wall behind him to catch himself. She’d never seen anyone react like that over a simple story. Strangely enough, the tight ropes that held her heart together loosened a little and the pieces didn’t feel as if they’d slip away.
“He beat you until you lost your baby.”
The way he made it a statement took the burden of saying it herself away. It made it a slightly easier to bear ripping the bandages off once again. This time, the light of day didn’t blind her so badly or burn her as deep as before.
She simply nodded. One lone tear broke away to roll down her cheek. She’d thought she couldn’t cry anymore, and yet there it was.
Tyler walked back toward her and lifted one finger to take the single tear from her cheek before it rolled off of her chin. Then he did the sweetest thing she’d ever had a man do for her. He kissed the tear on that finger then brushed a gentle kiss across her lips and pulled her into his arms and rocked her.
She wasn’t sure how long they stood in the middle of his room just holding each other, just being. At some point Tyler picked her up and carried her over to his loveseat and sat down with her on his lap. She curled up and dozed with her arm around his neck and her head on his shoulder.
Even while she drifted, Celeste was very aware of him and the fact that she could smell his scent wafting from his neck each time she breathed in. She could breathe him in from then until the end of time and not be able to get enough of the comfort and strength it represented to her now. She no longer felt as if she bore that burden alone now. He shared the hurt, the pain, the disappointment, and somehow that made it a little easier to live with.
Little things registered while she lay there in his arms. His heartbeat seemed to set the tone of her rest. The steady bump, bump, bump along with his rhythmic breathing kept her body attuned to his. The heat from his skin against her cheek comforted her, reminding her of childhood days when she’d drink hot chocolate with her mom while they sat curled up under a quilt her grandmother had made.
The silence in the room didn’t bombard her because she wasn’t alone anymore. Instead, the beat of his heart and whoosh of his breath left their own notes in the room around them. Celeste began to heal.
Hours later, or maybe it had only been one, she slowly settled back into herself and uncurled from Tyler’s lap. Pulling away from the heat and comfort hurt a little, but it was time. She needed to separate them so that she didn’t lose sight of herself when he left. He would leave. That was the kind of man he was. He’d told her that himself.
When she stood up, Tyler remained in the chair looking up at her. He didn’t say anything, just lifted the edges of his mouth into a small smile. His hazel eyes once again held the greens and browns that sparkled when he smiled. She liked his eyes. Liked them a lot.
“Thanks, Celeste.” He beat her to it.
“I think you have that backward. I was telling you thanks for listening and for…” She lifted her shoulders, then just let them drop. “Just being quiet with me.”
“I had it right. Thank you for sharing that with me. For trusting me with something so hard and painful and personal.” He still didn’t move to get up.
“So.” She let her mouth lift into a full grin. “No more singing. Right?”
“No promises.”
“Lynyrd Skynyrd it is then.” She nodded at him one more time, then walked across to the door and let herself out.
Instead of returning to her apartment, Celeste walked downstairs to the bar and popped the cap off of a Corona. Not because she needed it, but because she didn’t. She carried the frosty bottle back to the office and locked herself inside to work on the books. She didn’t mind doing them but hated making them balance. That was always the tricky part for her. Even when she’d been in accounting back in the two years of college she actually finished, she’d struggled to keep a passing grade.
Right now, she was in the black if you didn’t count the occasional all-out bar fight that cost her more for furniture than she managed to collect from the assholes who broke it. Lately she’d had a few more fights that ended with broken furniture over her goal though, so she was dipping into the red. Red was not her favorite color.
Maybe now that Tyler was there she’d be able to stop a few fights before they ended with another hit to her bottom line.
But for how long? He might leave tomorrow. Where will I be then? Maybe it is time to sell this place and move on myself. I only stayed to piss old Lyle off after the way he smeared my name all over the town. I should have called it quits years ago.
One thing everyone knew about Celeste was that she was stubborn as the day was long. At some point, it had become nothing but stubborn pride that kept her here. Maybe it was time to let go. Maybe she’d held on a little too tightly and a little too long. It had been easier to be stubborn and fight them to keep her bar up and running than it would have been to try and start over somewhere else right after the trial. She had needed the bar to settle her and keep her alive. If she hadn’t had to work so hard to keep it open despite the pressure Lyle kept on her, Celeste wasn’t sure she would have woken up one day.
She didn’t need this anymore. She didn’t need any of it. It was just easier to stay and keep on keeping on than to start over. Celeste hadn’t been raised to be a coward or to take the easy way out. Maybe she’d needed to after losing the baby, but that was then and today she was different.
Today, Celeste only needed to make the bar work for her so she could…
Would I really sell it? Can I? Lyle would buy it in a heartbeat just to get it away from me. I can let it go now and it not bother me.
She smiled. She had a plan now. First she’d build the thing up and drain all the money out of it she could. Then she’d sell down the booze until she only had a bare supply and that’s when she’d offer to sell it to him. When he bought it, there’d be next to nothing in inventory and only broken furniture to work with and she’d be long gone.
But where would I go? I don’t have a home to go back to now that everyone’s gone.
She’d lost her mom in a car wreck that was just a fluke and no one’s fault really. Her dad died of lung cancer four years later. She’d been an only child so there were no siblings or nieces or nephews. She could go anywhere she wanted to. Start from scratch or buy another bar. Or not.
Celeste propped her chin up with on hand and an elbow on the desk. When she had a world full of choices and no one or nothing to limit her, making a decision seemed impossible. She’d just have to let that simmer for a while. It would be a few months before she’d be ready to sell anyway. First she’d knock out all of her debt then build up some c
ash reserve. After that, she’d start selling down her inventory and repair the furniture instead of replacing it.
She leaned back in the rickety old chair and crossed her arms behind her head. Pure adrenaline raced through her bloodstream for the first time in too long. Celeste hadn’t felt this excited about a plan since she’d first bought the place. It felt good. Really, really good.
A loud bang from upstairs startled her out of her daydream. She listened but didn’t hear anything else after a few quiet seconds. She wondered if she needed to check on Tyler. If he hadn’t been cleaning like a Merry Maid she wouldn’t worry, but if he fell off of something and hit his head, she’d feel guilty if she ignored the loud sound from above.
She closed everything up in the office and turned off the light before locking the door behind her. The closer she got to the stairs, the more urgent the need to make sure Tyler was safe grew in her gut. It puzzled her, but she’d think about it later. Right then, all she wanted to do was see that he was okay. She had to make sure.
No one was more startled than she was when she threw open his door without knocking to find Tyler doing pull ups on a bar he’d rigged between the living area and the bedroom doorway. No shirt, no shoes, no jeans. Just boxers. Boxers. Black silk boxers that went from hanging like a dream to standing out like a pro.
The fact that her eyes instantly noted that change and continued to watch for any new movement should have embarrassed her, but Celeste was beyond that now. She knew he watched her watch him, watch his dick grow to an impressive and drool worthy size. When she licked her bottom lip, Tyler dropped to the floor and stalked toward her, backing her up against the wall in less than two seconds. She could have sworn he moved faster than was possible, but maybe everything inside of her had slowed down as a result of all of the blood leaving her brain.
She finally looked up to find his rich hazel eyes dark, the gold in them seemed to glow as he deliberately lowered his head in a slow path that would connect their mouths—eventually. Was he waiting on her to say no, reject him?
I want him. God, help me, but I want him inside of me. I know he’ll make me feel again. I want to feel again.
Celeste started to open her mouth to ask him to hurry, but as if he was afraid she was about to tell him no, he took that possibility out of the picture by taking her lips in a hard, hot kiss that stoked the fast-fading, glowing coals deep inside of her back to life.
She whimpered as he grinded his hardened cock against her core, dipping his hips down to make sure he pressed against her pussy before slowly standing up straight again, dragging the hard length of him across her clit before it rested like a silent reminder of things to come against the soft curve of her belly.
His answering moan had her wrapping her arms around his neck in an effort to keep him with her. She wanted to climb inside of him in that moment. Feel every part of him like he did. This wasn’t like her. She’d never gotten this turned on or physically possessive over a man before.
I’m losing my mind. I’ve finally broken. Thank God Tyler is the one to witness it. He understands. I just know he does.
But Celeste couldn’t keep her mind on any one thing when his lips where touching hers, his tongue pressing against the seam of her lips. She didn’t even have to think about it, Celeste opened to him. Instantly she felt at home. Everything seemed to click into place and that scared her more than when she made the decision that she’d kill Burt the next time he lifted a hand to her.
“Celeste?”
She’d stepped out a second because she hadn’t even realized they’d stopped kissing. When she opened her eyes it was to find him only inches away staring down at her. Uncertainty wavered in the way he seemed so totally focused on her. What was he uncertain about? Her? Getting involved with her?
I told him I didn’t date employees. No fraternizing and all. What are we doing here? Now?
She guessed he had a reason to look uncertain. She’d just allowed the very thing she’d told him wouldn’t happen to happen. Now where did that put them? Did she need to fire him?
Hell, maybe I need to fire myself.
“Celeste?” he asked again.
“I—what?” She didn’t know what the question was.
“Are you okay with this? God knows you warned me off of starting anything, but there’s just so much I can take and the way you looked when you busted through the door said you needed me.” His darkened eyes had slowly lightened again. The gold flecks were softer while the browns and greens could be seen again.
She hesitated long enough that Tyler began to let her go and step back. “Wait! I don’t want you to stop. I’m not sure exactly what I want, but I know that I don’t want you to stop.”
“You’re sure?”
She nodded, then used the arm she still had loosely around his neck to pull him back to her. When they were as close as they could get with her still wearing clothes, she tilted her head up, deliberately looked at his parted lips, and licked hers.
“Kiss me, Tyler.”
Chapter Five
Tyler took what was offered and made it his. Her lips tasted of beer and need. He licked them, nibbled them, and then shoved his tongue between them. Inside he found the true taste of her. Celeste was a ripe nectarine with a tinge of fine whiskey and a hit of Jose Cuervo. She held all of the makings of a killer drink that would leave him devastated if he continued to sip it.
There was no if in his mind. He had to drink her in and swallow her down. She ignited something inside of him that he’d been missing. Not even his supposed love of Amanda felt like this. He’d been wrong about how he felt about her. He’d cared deeply for her, there was no doubt, but it had nothing to do with love.
Celeste had the potential to crush him or make him a god. That’s what falling in love had the power to do. Could he resist?
Hell, I don’t even want to. It might not last any longer than this moment, but I want whatever it is that has my fucking balls burning and my heart pumping like a freight train. I’d rather live with the memory and a broken heart than go through life never having known how this feels. I damn well want this—her.
He bathed the inside of her mouth then swept his tongue across the ribbed part of her upper palate, loving how she shivered in his arms and made a squeaking sound. He wanted to keep doing that just to feel her shiver, but there were other ways to do that. He planned to try them all before the night was over.
She slid her tongue alongside his then poked his with the tip of hers. Tyler sucked the tender flesh deeper into his mouth then pushed his deep into her mouth. She quickly caught it and sucked in a rhythm that had him pressing his hard cock against her belly in tandem.
Fuck he was hard.
Tyler pulled his mouth from hers before he shot his load over a kiss. He had more control than that, but why push his luck? He kissed the corners of her mouth then nibbled her chin, along her jaw, and a slow line down her neck until he reached that soft spot at the junction of her neck and her shoulder. There he stopped to lick and suck until she wiggled in his arms.
If they were going to go any farther than this, and Tyler knew he sure as hell wanted to, she had to lose some clothes. He was in his boxers and she was fully dressed. He didn’t like that setup.
“Take your clothes off, Celeste.” He released her and walked into the bedroom to sit on the edge of the bed. “Slow. Real slow.”
The quick flash of uncertainty nearly had him tell her never mind, but then a small smile tilted the corners of her mouth upward. She pushed off the wall where he’d trapped her earlier and strutted over to the breakfast table and turned one of the chairs around so that the ladder back faced her. To his complete amazement, Celeste lifted one leg and rested it over the top of the back of the chair and proceeded to untie her shoe and then pull it off. Next, she pulled off her sock and held it out to her side by the toe and let it drop.
This was more than he would have expected of her. Hell, maybe she’d danced before. He’d have to ask h
er—later if he could remember anything after this.
She grabbed the back of the chair with both hands and slowly swung her leg off and down only to replace it with the other one. Again she untied the laces but instead of removing her shoe like before, she let her leg down and turned her back to him before bending over almost double to pull her shoe then her sock off that way.
Holy hell!
She looked at him from between her legs before standing back up again. Gone was the earlier hesitation. In its place a sexy, sassy, sex-kitten stood with her hands grasping the hem of her T-shirt and slowly pulling it up to reveal pale pink skin beneath.
At first only an inch showed. As she pulled at the material so that it accordioned in her hands, more and more of her showed. Just at the point where he glimpsed the edge of a pink bra, she dropped the material back down and turned her back to him once again. He swore he groaned out loud.
Hell, maybe I did.
If she heard him, Celeste didn’t acknowledge it. She wrapped her arms around her so that her hands showed at her back when she began to inch the T-shirt back up her body once again. This time she allowed it to reach just below her underarms before she adjusted her hands and pulled it the remainder of the way off. All he could see other than her pale skin with the faintest of freckles across her shoulders were thin strips of pale pink lace and material that made up the shoulder straps and waist of her bra. Tyler didn’t think he’d ever been this hard before. His dick felt like someone had wrapped it in athletic tape with no give to it.
“Celeste, you’re killing me, babe.”
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. “You told me to go slow. Real slow.”
“Fuck!”
“Maybe. Eventually.” She winked at him, then turned her head back to facing the doorway once again.
The next part got better—or worse, depending on how you looked at it. Tyler decided not to play that game as she reached around and unfastened the three hooks that held the ends of the bra together. She didn’t pull it off, she let it drop to the floor between her feet.
