“By the end of that time, I realized I couldn’t stay in New York anymore. I told my father I needed space. I came out to Lake Tahoe that spring. The place had not been lived in for a few years. That was probably the best thing that happened to me—an entire summer working with tradesmen to bring some life back to the cottage. That was the escape that pulled me out of my helplessness. That, and letting my animal out. By the fall, I was better, but not much. I was functional. The distraction of working on the cottage saved me.
“I made it my home at the end of that summer, and confirmed my resignation at the hospital. My father understood I could not return to New York. He began giving me strategy work at Carrington’s, little by little. I think he sold the condo and the house Emma and I lived in at some point. Actually, I’m not sure. I left everything behind there. The only thing I had taken out of our home was one portrait of Emma and me. That’s all I have of her. Even today, it’s difficult for me to look at that photo.
“I still feel I’m to blame for Emma and that man’s death. I don't think any counseling will ever change how I feel. Since that fall, I had only left the Lake Tahoe area twice before meeting you and your friends. Both times were to help Professor Sansbury. I still don’t know how he was able to get me to leave the cottage. Those two times were more than enough, and when he asked again after that, I turned him down.
“I think that’s the whole story, Abby, but before I finish, I just want to tell you this. You and your friends have been a step forward for me. I didn’t think I could be around anyone, other than my father. I know I’m a long way from getting over what happened two years ago. I know I need help. Probably therapy too. Definitely therapy, to be perfectly honest. But being forced into close quarters with the six of you helped, and then there was you, Abby.
“Getting to know you, falling in love with you, it’s been something I never thought could happen to me again. I didn’t feel I deserved it. I still don’t. That’s the reason I left when you told me you knew about the articles. I figured there was no point, that there was no way I could expect you to want me after finding out about my past. This is why I would completely understand if you don’t want to have anything to do with me again after tonight, but I still want to thank you for taking a chance on this bruised, wounded guy.
“My Dad told me about your note. I didn’t see it after your left. Rob also called. He told me it was his sister who had sent you the articles. For a while, I thought you had done the research and found the articles yourself. That hurt me. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset about it. Any reasonable person would want to know who they’re dealing with. The way I reacted shows I still have a long way to go. I need to deal with my grief, and I have not, and as a doctor, it’s time I accept being a patient. I’m going to get the help I’ve put off all this time.
“I don’t know what that help looks like right now. I’m sure there’s something I can do locally in Lake Tahoe. I don’t know how long it will take for me to feel better, if at all, but I want to tell you this. If you would forgive me, and can be patient with me, I would love to hold you in my arms again. I would love it if you would give us another chance.
“You’re probably exhausted by now. I think I’ll let you sleep now. I’ll be in my room, and you can take your time to digest it all. I’m here tomorrow morning if you’d like to talk about it.” He stood up. “Good night, Abby.”
Abby stopped him. “Andrew, can you wait a few minutes? I just need to think about something. Please, sit.”
He sat in the armchair. “Of course. I’ve been talking for almost an hour. Sure, I’ll wait.”
Abby relaxed on the pillows and closed her eyes. Andrew waited. He was mostly numb from sharing so much. There were so many points he felt he could break down and sob. It was the first time he had shared all of that with anyone, and he felt different now.
After about five minutes, Abby sat up.
Andrew leaned forward in the chair. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Yes. Water please.”
He went to the kitchen for a few bottles, and when he got back, Abby had pushed off the covers and was completely naked in bed.
“Get over here, big boy. Keep me warm.”
Andrew looked over at her in disbelief for a moment, then crossed the room to her. He leaned his head down to her, his lips just inches from hers gazing at her gorgeous face.
She flung her arms around his neck. “I love you, Andrew. You couldn’t keep me away if you tried.”
Andrew got in the bed beside her, pulled her close, and kissed her. Long. Tender. Explosive. Unending.
Chapter Seventeen
ANDREW saw her flash an innocent gaze on him through her lashes. God, he didn’t know what to do with this woman. She smiled as the look between them became more alive. She had such a playful look in her eyes, he was instantly turned on. She drew closer to him, and kissed him intensely.
She rolled on top and he kissed her right back, this time with more need, his hand on her jaw, caressing her face, connecting in such a heartfelt way, he felt they were one.
“Abby I love you,” he said. “Don’t ever leave me again.”
“I won’t,” she whispered, gazing dreamily in his eyes.
Her reply was so soft, so tender. All he wanted to do was claim every inch of her—body, mind and soul.
“Promise me…”
He wanted to say more, but before he could, she pressed her lips to his again. She lowered to him, and rubbed her soft breasts along his chest. She was so confident, so strong, so clear in her silent statement of love for him. Her touch healed him over and over again.
His heart started to pound faster. The desire in her eyes intensified before him. She spread her legs, pressing against his manhood. It drove Andrew insane. His cock was dying to be freed from his pants so he could feel her. Skin to skin.
He looked up at her. “Abby. God, baby, you’re everything to me, and right now, you’re so sexy...”
He shifted her body up and gently took one of her perky nipples between his teeth. He heard a soft moan from deep in her throat. He wanted to let her know how he felt—with his touch. He wanted to bring pleasure to her face, and be the only one who would ever give her that kind of happiness.
“I want to make you happy, Abby. Tell me what you want me to do to you, baby.” He breathed the words into her neck, just below her earlobe so he could convey his need to satisfy her in every way.
“Mmmm. Oh God, Andrew. Just take me.”
The tone in her voice as she told him to take her was so incredible, so sexy. He would make her the happiest woman alive.
“Please baby,” she said, gasping as he licked and caressed her neck. “Just take me, then hold me. I need you, Andrew.”
He didn’t wait for any more of an invitation. He took her neck and ravaged her collarbone, sucking and gently kissing them, conveying his love with his lips and tongue and breath. He pressed his hand firmly on her back and turned again, moving his body so she was underneath him. He laced his hands into hers and gently pulled them up over her head. She groaned, arching her back and spreading her legs as she waited for him to touch her again.
He lowered his head down between her breasts, kissing and licking as he made his way to her stomach. He used one arm to keep her hands above her head. Andrew loved how she said being bound this way heightened her sensations. He moved lower still, devouring the tender skin below her belly button. Her stomach pulsed when he kissed her there. She let out a soft giggle. She was ticklish, and that soft laugh made his cock throb with need. Tonight was not about him, though. It was about making Abby happy. That was his new mission in life.
He alternated with licks and soft kisses as he moved closer to her well-trimmed bush. Her musky, sweet scent was mild, inviting; just subtle enough to make him want to bury his tongue deep in her pussy. He inhaled a deep breath and took it slowly. He slid his free hand up and down her side, caressing her rib line. She arched her back and groaned with
pleasure. His fingers trailed across all the spots he knew were sensitive on her, and gazed at her face for her reaction to his touch.
“I love tasting you,” he growled out, finally making it to her mound.
His words were a whisper. He tilted his neck to look in her eyes. Abby met his gaze and her lips parted. She mouthed the words ‘I love you’. It made Andrew’s chest tighten. He loved her dearly.
Her hips began to rotate under him, beckoning him. He asked her not to move her hands from above her head, and let go of her wrists. Both his hands moved down her body. Grasping the top of her thighs he massaged them and nipped at the skin above her pelvic bone. He looked up at her again. Her face showed her growing need. She was entering that faraway place again, where nothing mattered but his touch on her body. There was something in her eyes that aroused him completely, filling him with abandon as her body was splayed out for him.
He slowly parted her legs wider with his knee. He felt the heat of her core near his face. She was grinding on him now, begging to be touched and entered without saying the words. Her pleasure was building up, and pulling him in, tempting him to partake with her. He wanted her so much he was going crazy, but reminded himself this long, sultry pleasure ride was for her. She begged him to come inside. He wanted to give her his all, and knew she would love every minute of waiting. He told her to be patient.
“Wait for me Abby. Trust me and I’ll make every cell in your body want to scream.”
She forgot his earlier instruction, and began to move her arms from above her head. Andrew looked up, reminding her to keep them where he had placed them, and she moved them back, her face still wanton, still needy for his touch. He made his way down her legs, and kissed every spot, all the way down to her toes. She moaned again, and bucked her hips, gasping and hissing, nipples hardening, already reacting so strongly from his touch alone.
“Don’t stop, baby,” she groaned.
The expression in her eyes was one of indulgence, inviting him to take her. He moved back up her legs, growling in response. Andrew was losing control of his need. Without breaking away from their locked eyes, he slid his hands up her body and back down. He slowly began to stroke her slit. She was swollen and dripping wet, so ready for him. Not wanting to rush, desperate for her pleasure to last, he took her to the edge but not completely over, stretching out the moment, before making her come again and again. That was what she loved, and tonight, he wanted to take her farther, beyond anywhere she had ever been before.
Abby moved under his touch, and without her hands, pulled herself up into his arms. He fell in love with her again, the way her head was thrown back, eyes closed, lips slightly parted. He used one hand to hold her at her hips, keeping her still as he intensified his touch. She groaned when he began to circle her throbbing clit without actually touching it. He got closer with each circle, spiraling softly to her, drawing out all her pleasure before hitting the spot.
She was panting and squirming under his touch. Whimpers became pleas. He decided he wouldn’t tempt her anymore. Without delay, he lowered his tongue to her clit and slid two fingers deep inside her, right to the hilt. She let out a scream of pleasure. He massaged inside her soft, tight, wet pussy, burying his fingers inside her and caressing her walls before pulling out and licking her clit again.
Abby’s face showed her freedom. Andrew loved being able to set her free like this. She was almost gone from her mind when her eyes closed again, head snapping side to side in pleasurable torment from his touch. He wanted to give her even more. His fingers glided in again, curving back inside her to meet her G-spot.
She groaned and begged, “Andrew, please. Oh God. I’m gonna come, baby. Please make me come.”
She looked so sweet. All her cares were gone. Surrendering to him now, she was begging for what he wanted to give to her. That was all he wanted, to satisfy her with his mouth, and then with his manhood buried deep inside her, to make her scream and beg for more, to make love to her over and over again that night, until all she could do was hold him and sleep.
The look on her face transformed before his eyes. She went from tension, to need, to rapture as she spread her knees farther apart. Her hands were still above her head, one clutching the other as she struggled to maintain the pose. He grasped her ass with his free hand, and flattened his tongue against her clit, briefly coming to a stop, allowing her to feel its warmth, and the firm pressure of his touch.
“Oh God, Andrew. Fuck.”
He hummed at her bud, letting the vibration affect her even more. Abby was wound up completely. He licked down to her slit again, and back to circle her clit, tracking her writhing hips and the expressions of desperate pleasure and need on her face. She was wild, heading straight for a peak.
Before Andrew knew it, he lost all control. Watching her wasn’t enough anymore. He lifted himself up and pulled off his clothes, and Abby’s hands moved down to touch herself as she waited. He looked on, feasting his eyes at her body writhing against her hands, her voice groaning with urgency.
All his clothes were removed, and all her need laid out on display. There was no more waiting, no more tempting. There was just the two of them, ready to satisfy each other, ready to hit the heights of pleasure. He grasped behind her knees and pulled her gently into position underneath him.
“I want to hear you scream, Abby. Don’t hold anything back.” He whispered in her ear. He blew hot, salacious breaths on her neck as his rock hard manhood nudged closer to her hot pussy. He nipped on her ear and her moans grew louder. He slid the tip of his cockhead inside her, and felt her walls tighten around it. Abby lifted her head and found his lips with her own, kissing him softly.
“Fuck me, Andrew. Please, fuck me hard and come with me.”
Her wild eyes told him she was close to coming. He let go of all restraint and plunged deep inside her channel, they both cried out in pleasure. He inched back out slowly, and penetrated her again, sinking right to the root. Sliding his hands around to her ass, he lifted her into him, tipping back her pelvis to go deeper still.
He looked down at her soft, tiny body beneath him. All he wanted to do was protect her, and love her. She let out a noisy breath and ground her hips into his crotch as he entered her again. Her hips twisted and tilted, moving in circles as his cock grew harder still inside her hot, tight wetness. He held her hips firmly again, ready to see her on top, to feel her ride him, to see her breasts sway and her eyes look down at him as he plunged into her.
He rolled and pulled her on top without slipping out, clamping her down on his throbbing cock by gripping the back of her neck. She was close to the edge now, with her hand down to her clit, flicking it as she rocked on his member. Her body bucked and bounced as she moved, and he was closer to his orgasm. He met her wild movements with his own firm thrusts, and right away, Abby threw her head back and screamed. They came together, rocking through their crescendos, their voices connected as much as their bodies, with her walls rippling and flexing around his shaft. She collapsed on top of him after she came, resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight without pulling out.
“I love you, Abby,” he whispered after a few minutes. “I won’t ever hurt you or hide anything from you again.”
“I know, honey.” She looked up at him. “Do you want to know why I’m so sure?”
“Tell me.”
“My father will come after your bear. That’s why.”
He smiled.
Epilogue
Three Months Later
ABBY looked out as Andrew’s limo driver pulled up on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport. A pilot stood waiting at the private jet. The engines hummed as the crew waited for them to board. One of the uniformed male flight attendants, sporting sunglasses, walked up and opened Abby’s side of the limo door. He helped Abby out of the car, and Andrew climbed out behind her.
Abby looked down at her dress. She wore a floor-length black evening gown with a t
ouch of pink in her sweetheart neckline. She hoped it was formal enough for whatever Andrew had planned for them. He had told her it was a pre-graduation surprise. Taking Abby’s elbow, he led her across the tarmac to the foot of the jetway stairs. The flight attendant followed behind with a piece of hand luggage Andrew had brought along.
“We’re all ready to go, and should be cleared for takeoff in twenty minutes, Mr. Carrington,” the pilot told him.
“Excellent.”
Abby held up the hem of her dress and boarded the plane. When they were aboard and buckled up in their seats, Abby had to ask. “Do I get a hint of where we’re headed?”
“Los Angeles,” he answered.
“Any other hints?”
“I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”
“Will it just be us?”
“Yes and no.”
“Well, that doesn’t help.”
“True, but that’s all you’re getting,” he said, smiling broadly.
“My curiosity is definitely piqued, then,” she answered, leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek.
The co-pilot announced the plane was cleared for takeoff, and ran through the safety announcements as the plane moved along the landing strip. After takeoff, the flight attendant offered them glasses of wine. Andrew took one for each of them.
“How about a toast?” he asked, raising a glass.
“Sure. To what?”
“Let’s see,” he answered. He looked intently at his glass, seeming to search for inspiration. Finally, he turned and looked her in the eye. “To hope, chance…and redemption.”
Cabin Bear Heat Box Set: A Paranormal Fantasy Bear Shifter Romance (A Bear Shifter Romance Retelling of the Billionaire Redemption Series Book 2) Page 39
