by Ariel Ellman
“Yes,” Ani admitted, sticking her tongue out at her sister.
“So are you going to call the poor bastard and put him out of his misery or what?” Sawyer asked her sister.
“I’m going over to his fucking apartment,” Ani decided with a sigh, rising up from the couch. “Even though he’s the one who’s at fault not me!” She grabbed her keys and stomped out of the loft.
The lights were on in Sebastian’s apartment when Ani pulled up in front of the building, and she parked around back in the bar parking lot and made her way up the stairs, knocking on the door softly. It was a beautiful balmy evening just after dusk, and Ani could hear the faint strains of Coldplay playing in the apartment.
“Hey,” Sebastian said quietly when he opened the door.
“Hey yourself,” Ani replied, stepping in. “You in the middle of a workout?” She noted Sebastian’s shirtless chest dripping with sweat and the barbells on the floor by his bed.
“Just finished,” Sebastian replied, wiping the sweat off of his brow with his arm.
“So, were you ever planning on calling me again?” Ani asked softly, reaching out a finger and wiping a bead of sweat off of Sebastian’s lip.
“Eventually,” Sebastian replied, pulling Ani against his sweaty chest and pressing his lips against the top of her head.
“Siobhan and Sawyer have been placing bets on which one of us would fold first,” Ani whispered into Sebastian’s chest. “The fucking bitches.”
“So what happened? Sawyer agreed to split her take with you if you gave in first?” Sebastian asked.
“Fuck off,” Ani replied, licking a line of sweat off of Sebastian’s neck and bringing her lips up to meet his. “Siobhan said I have a lot of cheek,” she whispered, her lips hovering against his. “Are we still in a fight?”
“Yes,” Sebastian replied hoarsely, “but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to throw you down and fuck the shit out of you anyway.” He lifted Ani up and dropped her down onto his bed.
“This is our first adult fight,” Ani murmured as Sebastian rolled her over onto her stomach and pinned her arms above her head. “Remember the one we had when I was fifteen?” she whispered as Sebastian pulled her dress over her head and trailed kisses down her spine.
“Sawyer was placing bets on us then too,” Sebastian murmured, pulling Ani’s underwear off and spreading her legs open with his knee.
“She always bet on me,” Ani whispered with a gasp as Sebastian lifted her up and thrust his tongue inside her.
“And she always lost,” Sebastian murmured against Ani’s thighs. “She always lost because I could never stay away from you,” he admitted, rolling Ani over and staring into her eyes intently. “You said that you doubt me, that you’re the one who has always been chasing me, but it’s not true A. I didn’t ask you to marry me when you were sixteen because I didn’t want you to be the teenage bride who got married because she got knocked up in high school. I didn’t kiss you until you were thirteen because I was waiting for you to grow up. I’m almost two years older than you A. I wanted to kiss you since the day I figured out what the fuck my dick was for, but you were only twelve. I’ve wanted you my whole life. I’ve been waiting for you for fifteen fucking years while I rotted away in prison,” Sebastian declared, pinning Ani’s hands above her head. “And for the last ten of those fifteen years, you’ve been married to someone else. You’ve been fucking someone else and falling asleep in his arms at night,” he choked, staring down into Ani’s wet eyes as she lay pinned underneath him. “You are the mother to another man’s child, and I know it’s my fault because I pushed you away. But you got down on your knees and told me that you choose me. You took your wedding ring off and you gave me your pledge A, and then you let your fucking husband kiss you in front of me and you told me to let it go.” Sebastian pulled Ani’s flimsy lace bra apart with his hands and tossed it on the floor.
“Bast,” Ani gasped as Sebastian sucked her nipple into his mouth between his teeth.
“You pitched a fit because your lesbian sister’s girlfriend is hot when I didn’t even look at her, and then you sat in your living room in front of me and took your husband’s hands in your own,” Sebastian murmured, pushing Ani’s legs apart and sliding his finger inside her, stretching her open. “And then you told me to get over it, only hours after you admitted you would rip my wife’s eyes out and stomp on her heart if I had one.” Ani moaned under his probing finger. “You know something Mackenizie,” Sebastian whispered, pulling his shorts and underwear off with one hand while he kept Ani spread open underneath him. “Sawyer’s little Dublin guttersnipe is right.” He pushed inside Ani roughly. “You do have a lot of cheek,” Sebastian gasped as he thrust into her again and again, claiming her.
“Bast,” Ani moaned underneath him, lifting her hips and wrapping her legs around his waist. “I love you.” She pressed her lips against her name on Sebastian’s neck. “A rún mo chroí,” she murmured as Sebastian finally collapsed on top of her with a groan.
“You should have let me hit him A,” Sebastian murmured sleepily against Ani’s neck before he rolled off of her and pulled her into the crook of his arm. “You were right, it wouldn’t have erased the last ten years, but it still would have felt fucking great,” Sebastian muttered before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Two
A month after the big showdown in the loft, Jordan asked Ani if he could take Raffi to Nantucket for two weeks. The summer was half over and they’d only signed Raffi up for a month of camp because they’d been planning on spending three weeks at Jordan’s family summerhouse on Nantucket like they did every summer. All the bakery’s customers knew that for the last week of July and first two weeks of August, they had to do without their cream scones and brown sugar cream cheese frosted brownies. Jordan usually joined them for the first two weeks and then Ani stayed with Raffi on her own for a week while Jordan went back to work.
“I don’t know Jordan, two weeks is a long time,” Ani murmured, fidgeting with her car keys as she stood in the doorway of the brownstone.
“I know it is Ani, but I already took the time off for the trip and I’m willing to give her to you for two weeks over Christmas break if you want,” Jordan responded.
“But why two weeks Jordan?” Ani asked, still unconvinced. “Why not take her for one week and then I’ll take her and you can do something on your own for the other week of your vacation.”
“God you’re unbelievable sometimes,” Jordan muttered angrily. “I don’t want to do something on my own Ani, I took the fucking time off to be with my wife and daughter and my wife decided to divorce me for her childhood lover, so now I’d like to at least spend the Goddamn two weeks with my daughter.”
“Fine,” Ani replied, throwing up her hands. “But I want her for the other week when she gets back from Nantucket, and I still want the two weeks over Christmas break.”
“Whatever,” Jordan replied, walking away from Ani without looking back.
Sawyer was sprawled out on the couch reading a book when Ani got back from dropping Raffi off at Jordan’s, and Ani sank down next to her with a sigh.
“So Jordan finally seems over me,” Ani said, stretching her legs out across her sister’s lap.
“Oh yeah?” Sawyer replied mildly, putting her book down on her chest and raising her eyebrow at Ani. “Good for him.”
“Has he said anything to you?” Ani asked her sister searchingly.
“About?” Sawyer replied questioningly with a raised brow.
“About me, about anything?” Ani replied testily.
“What do you want to know A?” Sawyer asked wearily. “Is he over you? What does that even mean? You walked out on him months ago, you’re in the process of divorcing him, and you told him you’re never coming back in front of your lover. Of course he’s trying to move on. Is he over you? Not yet, but he sure as hell is trying to move on, isn’t that what you want?” Sawyer demanded in exasperation.
“Of course it is,” Ani replied softly. “He just seemed so angry at me tonight when I suggested he only take Raffi to Nantucket for one week and he spend the other week by himself.”
“Would you want to spend a week of your vacation alone if Jordan had left you for his old girlfriend?” Sawyer asked her sister wryly. “Don’t be a fucking idiot A.”
“Is he dating anyone?” Ani asked softly.
“A little,” Sawyer admitted with a challenge in her eyes.
“That’s good,” Ani murmured sincerely. “I want him to be happy Soy, I really do.”
“Then go easy on him A; let him spend time with Raffi. Stay away from him and let him heal and fall in love again,” Sawyer advised gently. “He deserves that.”
“Yes he does,” Ani agreed quietly, getting up and grabbing her keys.
“Are you going to Bast’s?” Sawyer asked as Ani headed out the door.
“Yeah, Jordan and I actually switched days today and Sebastian thinks I’m with Raffi so I’m going to go down to the dock and surprise him.”
“Don’t forget to bring him a snack,” Sawyer called out teasingly as Ani headed out the door.
“It’s already in the car,” Ani murmured to herself as she climbed in her car and headed down to the wharf.
Ani arrived at the dock just as the Raphael was pulling in alongside another lobster boat, and she grabbed the ice cold thermoses of fresh squeezed lemonade and bag of scones she’d made and headed over to meet the O’Reilly lobstermen.
“I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Sebastian grinned, jumping off of the boat and accepting the thermos of ice cold lemonade from Ani. “Ani brought lemonade da,” Sebastian called out to his dad as he tilted his head back and chugged gratefully.
“Does it taste as good as it did when you were a teenager?” Sebastian’s father called out with a hearty laugh as he walked over to a buyer from a local restaurant to negotiate the price of tonight’s main course.
“I have to go fill lobster totes,” Sebastian murmured, handing Ani back her thermos and stealing a quick kiss before he hopped back onto the boat to transfer the lobsters from the holding tank to totes to be weighed.
“I love you,” Ani called after Sebastian, plopping down on the dock to wait for him to finish. Sebastian and his father finished unloading their catch pretty quickly. They didn’t have a big haul today, and there was only one other boat at the dock offering competition. A lot of the Boston lobstermen sold their catch directly to the area restaurants these days, making deliveries to the back doors several times a week, but there were still some chefs and fish market owners that liked to come to the docks and buy their catch as soon as it was hauled in.
“Can you come with me or will your father kill you if you abandon him for the ride back?” Ani asked Sebastian after he’d finished up and come back over to Ani to steal another kiss.
“He’s a big boy, he can manage on his own,” Sebastian whispered huskily against Ani’s lips.
“Well I see some things never change,” Sebastian’s father called from the boat. “Always had to peel you off of Ani when you were a teenager. At least you’re a better worker now. You spent more time kissing that girl on the dock than you ever did unloading our catch when you were a kid,” Liam O’Reilly laughed.
“Well she always smelled a hell a lot of better than the lobsters,” Sebastian called back to his father with a grin.
“And I suppose you’ll be taking off with her now too then?” Bast’s father called as he started up the boat’s motor.
“Might as well since you’re leaving without me anyway,” Sebastian called back with a laugh.
“It’s like going back in time, seeing you two on the docks together again,” Mr. O’Reilly yelled over the roar of the motor as he steered the boat away from the dock.
“Makes me miss your brother,” Ani murmured quietly, leaning her head against Sebastian’s shoulder as they watched the Raphael disappear out to sea in the setting sun.
“I miss him every day,” Sebastian sighed, shedding his stinky wet coveralls and pulling off his gloves.
“C’mon, let’s go back to your place and shower together,” Ani said, slipping her hand in Sebastian’s and walking over to her car. “I brought scones,” she said, tossing Sebastian the bag as he settled into her seat.
“No frosting?” Sebastian grinned wickedly as he bit into a scone.
“Hmm, I’m sure I could whip something up at your place,” Ani replied saucily.
“I doubt I’ll be able to take my hands off of you for the time you’d need in the kitchen,” Sebastian murmured huskily as they pulled up behind his apartment.
“Is that so?” Ani replied with a laugh as Sebastian chased her up the stairs to his apartment and all the way into his bathroom.
“I missed you today,” he said thoughtfully as his eyes swept over Ani while she undressed.
“You slept over last night and you saw me this morning when you walked me to the bakery before you left,” Ani laughed, dropping her clothes onto the floor in a pile.
“I didn’t want to go this morning,” Sebastian murmured as he shed his own clothes and pushed Ani into the shower in front of him. “I hate leaving you in the morning. Sometimes I feel like all we have are stolen moments.” He lathered his hands and washed the smell of fish off of his body.
“I close the bakery for three weeks every summer at the end of July and beginning of August,” Ani murmured as Sebastian soaped up her breasts and pulled her against him. “And Jordan is taking Raffi to Nantucket for the first two weeks.”
“Let’s go to Ireland,” Sebastian murmured in Ani’s ear as he turned her around and pressed her against the shower wall.
“Ireland?” Ani gasped as Sebastian spread her legs and guided himself inside her. “I can’t leave the country.”
Sebastian trailed kisses down the side of Ani’s neck and slid out of her turning her around. “Wrap your legs around me,” he instructed Ani hoarsely as he lifted her up and slid her down onto him with a moan. “You’re so beautiful,” Sebastian murmured as he slid in and out of Ani slowly, leaning her against the shower wall and lowering his head down to lick the beads of water from her breasts. “You look like a wood nymph that just stepped out of a pond with the water streaming down your neck,” he whispered huskily, thrusting into Ani with a deep groan.
“More,” Ani moaned, wriggling against Bast and sliding down the shower wall.
“You want more?” Sebastian teased Ani, turning the water off with one hand and holding Ani firmly on top of him with the other.
“Yes,” Ani panted against him, placing her hands on Sebastian’s shoulders and pulling herself off of him and sliding back down. “Now,” she murmured, sinking her teeth into his shoulder.
“Say no more,” Sebastian murmured back, carrying Ani out of the shower and dropping down onto the bathroom chair still planted firmly inside her.
“Do what you want with me,” he challenged Ani, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back against the wall as he thrust teasingly inside her.
“Oh my God,” Ani moaned, gripping the sides of the chair and pushing herself up and down as Sebastian reached between them and began to stroke her.
“I like you in charge baby,” Sebastian whispered huskily as Ani increased her speed and began to tighten and tremble under his fingers.“Just like that,” Sebastian moaned as Ani rode him until they both finally collapsed against each other with a gasp.
“What would we do in Ireland?” Ani asked Sebastian softly as he stroked her back.
“I want to make love to you in a meadow filled with sheep,” Sebastian murmured, wrapping his arms around Ani as he stood up and carried her out of the bathroom and over to his bed. “I want to meet your grandmother and see if you have her eyes.”
“I used to hate when you and Raffi went to Ireland.” Ani curled up against Sebastian’s chest. “You were gone for a whole month every summer and a week at Christmas! And you love
d it at your grandparents’ house in the country so much I used to worry that you wouldn’t come back,” Ani confessed.
“I probably wouldn’t have, if it hadn’t been for you,” Sebastian admitted.
“How about a compromise?” Ani whispered against Sebastian’s neck.
“How are we going to compromise on a trip to Ireland?” Sebastian asked Ani in amusement. “Are we going to hang out downstairs in my cousin’s bar and watch rugby and drink Guinness?” he teased.
“I can’t leave the country right now,” Ani murmured, “It’s too far from Raffi. But let’s rent a cottage in Maine by the sea for two weeks. We’ll hike through the forests and pick blueberries and sit out on the porch and drink coffee while we stare at the sea.”
“Hmmm……” Sebastian pondered Ani’s suggestion while he nibbled on her ear. “Maine is definitely not Ireland,” he said with a laugh. “But if I can make love to you in the forest and eat blueberries off of your body, I’ll consider your compromise.”
“I insist that you make love to me in the forest and eat blueberries off of my body,” Ani murmured in reply, snuggling into Sebastian’s chest and closing her eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Since Maine was Ani’s idea, Sebastian left the trip planning up to her with a gentle warning that he was planning a trip to Ireland for them soon. Ani had only been to Maine once with Jordan when Raffi was a toddler. They’d spent the week in Camden, hiking with Raffi in a backpack and eating fabulous seafood and buying local pottery. It was a wonderful trip, but Ani wanted something very different for her and Sebastian. She didn’t want the upscale inns and restaurants that she and Jordan had stayed in, and she didn’t want any memories of her and Jordan haunting them. She wanted a secluded cottage by the sea. She wanted to cook their own dinners and spend long nights in front of a fire pit under the stars, away from the touristy art galleries and shops.
