by W. H. Vega
“What if they find out you took these?” Trace asks me, “I can’t be responsible for you losing your job. Your career. You could go to jail.”
“I know how to cover my tracks,” I assure him, “But even if I knew that stealing these would have cost me my career or my freedom, I still would have done it.”
“You shouldn’t have to pay for my misfortune,” Trace says, letting the photos fall to the floor and resting his hands on my shoulders.
“You’ve paid for mine,” I tell him, throwing my arms around his shoulders, “You’ve sacrificed so much for me, Trace. Let me shoulder some of the burden this time.”
“I don’t think I know how to do that,” he tells me.
“Well tough,” I say, pressing myself against him, “We have to be partners, Trace. We’ve always given each other as much as we’ve gotten in return. Let me give you something, now. Let me give you a chance at getting out of this, no questions asked. It’s the least I can do.”
“They still might come after me,” Trace says, “And you know it, too.”
“Yes...” I admit.
“You might still be making a case that could put me and Garrick back in prison. It wouldn’t be fair to ask you to cover for us. We should pay for what we did.”
“Can’t we cross that bridge when we get to it?” I ask plaintively.
“It’ll still be just as shaky when we get there.”
“Why won’t you let me make this easy for you?” I ask, running my fingers through his short sandy hair. This close, I can count the freckles that are scattered across the bridge of his nose. I don’t want to risk losing him again, so soon after he’s come back into my life.
“Nothing about our lives has been easy,” Trace says, his arms circling my waist, “But look at us, Nadia. No matter what we have to go up against, we always find a way back to each other.”
“But we were apart for ten years, Trace,” I say, “I don’t know if I can risk you being taken away from me again.”
“You know that I never stopped thinking about you for a second that we were apart,” Trace says, “The worst they can do is put miles between us, Nadia. But we’ll always be just as close as this.” He pulls me tightly against him, and I rest my cheek against his. I try to memorize the feel of him in my arms, the way he smells. Soon, memories might be all I have once more.
“Everything will be OK,” he whispers, kissing me on the cheek, “I’m sure of it. Someday, we’ll get to be together, Nadia. Maybe that someday will be now, or maybe it will be when this whole thing finally blows over, but I know that it will happen.”
“You have to promise me that it will,” I say, blinking away the tears in my eyes.
“I promise,” Trace tells me, “Even if I have to serve twenty more years and fight three more wars, I will find a way back to you.”
Sealing his promise, Trace finds my mouth with his. His lips press fiercely against my own, and I meet him eagerly. I open myself to him, a deep pulsing need rippling through my core as his tongue brushes against mine. The taste of him fills my entire world, and all I want is to be drunk on him.
I lay my hands on the solid panes of his chest and push him back toward the wall. Pressing against him there, I can his desire for me growing by the second. I let my hands trail down his firm torso, running over each defined muscle. Trace’s breath catches and I slip my hands up under the hem of his shirt, savoring the feel of his bare skin. I slip my fingers under the waist of his jeans, and he can’t hold himself back any longer.
Trace spins me around and presses me up against the wall. His hands slide down over the rise of my ass and hoist me effortlessly into the air. I wrap my legs around his waist, feeling him pulse against me. Pinned to the wall, I bring my lips hungrily to his, closing my teeth around his full lower lip. Holding me in place, Trace lets his hands travel all across my body. They cup and squeeze my toned ass, then lift my tee shirt up over my head. His deft fingers unclasp my bra in a moment, and my breasts tumble free as he rips the garment off of my body.
As if it were nothing, Trace takes my entire weight into his arms and carries me across the room to the bed. He spreads me out across the comforter, less gently than the last time we met like this. There’s an urgency to his advances, tonight. Every move, every touch is weighted with our knowledge that this might be our last night together. Trace drinks in the sight of me, topless tousled.
“You’re the most gorgeous woman in the world, Nadia,” he tells me. “It almost hurts to look at you sometimes.”
“Then quit looking and get your ass over here,” I tell him, scrambling onto my knees. My hands find his well-loved shirt and pop open the buttons, one by one. I slide the flannel off of his hard chest and arms and bring my lips to his skin. All across his body, I leave trails of kisses, working my way down in a fervor of lust.
“Jesus, Nadia...” he groans, running his hands through my hair, “Can’t we just stay here like this?”
“We can tonight,” I tell him, ripping open the buckle of his belt. I slide his jeans down over his firm ass and move to slip his briefs off as well.
But before I can, Trace lowers himself onto the bed, covering me with his muscular, rugged body. He lowers his lips to my breasts, flicking my sensitive nipples with his tongue. I grab handfuls of the comforter, moaning as he teases me. Trace’s hands find the zipper of my jeans and I’m out of them in a heartbeat. The thin material of our underwear is all that separates us from connecting in that most intimate way.
“I love you, you know,” I tell him, laying my hand against his cheek.
“You’re crazy,” he grins, “And I love you, too.”
With that, Trace rids himself of his last scrap of clothing and helps me out of mine, too. We’re alone together, in this tiny corner of the wide world. There’s nothing between us, nothing keeping us apart. I spread my legs as Trace lowers himself on top of me. He keeps his eyes trained on mine, his strong body poised above me. I can feel the staggering length of him against me, just as I feel myself aching for him to fill me. I run my hands along his broad back and tug him ever-so-gently toward me.
A low moan escapes my throat as Trace sinks into me, inch by inch. My head falls back on the pillow and my breasts billow against his torso. His eyes close blissfully as he pushes deeper, then draws back. Again and again he presses, and I meet his every pass, leaning into him. I want to feel him in the very core of me, in all the places I’ve kept protected, that I’ve been saving for him. We were built for each other, Trace and I. I knew it before I felt what it was like to take him inside of me, to share this with him. But if there was ever any doubt, it’s erased by every thrust of his powerful hips.
I gasp as Trace lays his hand against my inner thigh. As he moves harder and faster above me, his fingers find that throbbing place, the center of my outrageous pleasure. He strokes me there, rubbing and kneading me as he presses all the way through my body. The ecstatic pressure mounts within me, building up in every cell of my body. I lock my arms around him, feeling myself hurtling toward the edge.
“Trace,” I cry, clutching onto him, “I’m...I’m so...”
But my words give way to a wordless howl of joy as the levees burst within me. Sensation courses throughout my entire body, and I feel Trace meet me there. He pulses inside of me, filling me as rippling pleasure courses through my every nerve, my every fiber. Together, we ride to the peak of bliss, soaring away beyond any earthly thought beyond the other’s body. I wish that we could go on, blasting out of this city, this world, this universe that’s challenged us time after time.
But what goes up must, in the end, come back down the earth. The overwhelming sensation sweeps through us, leaving us alive and sated in its wake. Trace and I collapse together, a tangled collection of limbs and heaving chests. Without bothering to get under the covers, I turn my back to his chest. Trace scoops me up in his arms, resting his cheek against mine. Sleep rushes in to claim him at once, and I feel his breath against my skin, feel h
is chest rise and fall.
Whatever happens to us next, this moment is one that I’m keeping locked away forever. We’ve had so few moments to treasure, Trace and I. Never in our lives have things gone totally right. But this, tonight, feels more perfect than anything I’ve known. And I’d go to the ends of the earth to protect it.
***
We rise before my cell phone alarm even begins to ring. The sky has barely begun to lighten by the time we find our clothes and dress in silence.
“Remember how we used to wake up early when we were kids?” Trace smiles.
“Of course I do,” I tell him.
“When I was overseas, I’d get up at the crack of dawn, too. I knew we were on different sides of the world, so we could never share the same sunrise. But I still felt close to you, all the same.”
“We’ll get to share plenty of sunrises,” I tell him, grasping his hand in the early morning light. “I promise you that.”
He smiles back at me sadly. I know his hopes are not high for an easy out from this mire we’ve found ourselves in.
“I know you have no reason to put your faith in justice,” I tell him, “But you can put your faith in me. I’m going to get you through this. I’m going to get us through this.”
“You’re incredible,” he tells me.
“I’m just a woman,” I reply, “A woman who cares deeply for an innocent man.”
“You’ve got a funny definition of innocence,” Trace laughs.
“Fine then,” I say, “How about ‘good’ instead?”
“You...think that I’m good?” Trace asks quietly.
I take his hands in mine, looking up into his emerald green eyes. “I think you’re the best man I’ve ever met,” I tell him honestly, “No. I know that you are. And if the rest of the world can’t see that, well...fuck ‘em.”
“Language, Miss Faber,” Trace laughs, “People will think I’m corrupting you.”
“Speaking of corrupt,” I say, “I bet that Skidmore and his cronies are rattling off names by now. We should be ready for anything.”
“Always am,” Trace says.
“I love it when you’re cocky,” I tell him, “Now let’s get ourselves a cup of coffee and a game plan, O’Conner. We’ve got work to do.”
###
Table of Contents
Copyright
Forward
PART I
Prologue Where am I?
One - Officially an orphan.
Two - Sweet Sixteen.
Three - Him
Four - Who is this girl?
Five - Don't fuck with my friends.
Six - A New Home
Seven - Creepy Fucking Paul
Eight - Almost Happy
Nine - Hard Truths
Ten - Girlfriend and Boyfriend
Eleven - The Cold of Winter
Twelve - All Alone With Paul
Thirteen - Merry Christmas
Fourteen - Trace's Gift
Fifteen - Dead Fucker
Sixteen - Another End Of The World
PART II
One All Grown Up
Two - Safe and Sound
Three - Stateside
Four - Work Work
Five - Lost and Found
Six - Daffodils
Seven - Reunited At Last
Eight - Two Single People
Nine - Nothing Ventured
Ten - Happy Birthday to Me
Eleven - Like a Dream
Twelve - Late to Work
Thirteen - Ratted Out
Fourteen - Together Again
