by Vicki Green
His grip tightens on my arms and the look of concern on his face fills my heart. “I just…. This is all so new to me. I’m….” I look into his eyes, mine pleading for understanding. “It’s just so new. I….”
Suddenly, I’m in his arms. I’m holding my leg up so I don’t put any pressure on it, but in his strong arms, I’m not budging. He kisses my forehead, gently. “You scared me. I thought I had hurt you.” He pulls back a little and looks down at me. “I will never hurt you intentionally, Irish. I promise. This is new for me too, in a sense, but it’s something I want so badly.” I stare into his eyes, my heart beating so fast from all the feelings overwhelming me. “I’m not sorry for what we shared, Irish. I hope you know how much it meant to me, what you gave to me. I won’t ever take that lightly.” I can only nod as tears fill my eyes. He pulls me back into him but then he bends with me and lifts me into his arms. “Let’s go get some sleep. I know you’re excited to go see Taren tomorrow.” I nod into his chest as he takes me back to bed.
Once he’s got me tucked in, he takes the plate back to the kitchen. I lay there on my side, staring out into the darkness. He’s been so good to me. Can I open my heart completely to him? I want to. I want to so much. I also know he can destroy me at any given moment. I come to the realization that I too am falling for love, falling for him, but I also know I could fall in love with him so easily that it scares me. Soon I feel the mattress dip as he climbs into bed behind me. He doesn’t hesitate to put his arm around me, his hand finding mine. He weaves his fingers through mine and squeezes. I know he’s really tired when it doesn’t take long to hear his light breathing. Right now, I’ve never felt safer being in his strong arms with his body pressed against mine. We fit perfectly together. I let my eyes close and immediately his face appears in my dreams.
“Mmmmm.” A moan lets itself free as I awaken to him kissing all over my stomach. I lift my arms up over my head and stretch. I can’t stretch my legs because of him being in between them so I wrap my good leg around his large back, trying to hold onto him tightly. “Caylan,” I grunt as his magical mouth moves down south, licking, sucking. Gah! I look down just as his eyes move up to mine.
“Are you okay this morning, love? Sore?”
I wiggle my butt and watch as his eyes change from their normal glorious green to a darkened shade in desire. “I’m good,” I choke out, my voice filled with sleep and my own lust. My eyes stay on him as he moves down just a little then my head tilts back. My eyes close when he begins kissing and sucking where I want him to be the most. My hips buck of their own accord. I reach down and grab some of his locks of hair and tug hard. “Ugh, Caylan.” He’s making me crazy, in a good way. I fist his hair harder when I feel the heat building in my core, traveling its way up my body. “Oh, my God!” I scream, my eyes shutting tight as my release overtakes me. I feel foggy, weightless, when his cock enters me, hard. A loud moan fills the room. I open my eyes and see him through haziness. My mouth is open, and I figure out that moan came from me. When I look down, I watch as he pulls out then rams back into me. Damn, that was hot! I look at our bodies joined. Perfect, like we were made for each other. I’m tiny in contrast with his size, but I feel safe and secure. I’ve never needed protecting before, someone to watch over or look out for me. Suddenly, I feel tears brimming in my eyes. He wants to be that for me.
My body begins its climax again as I watch him come undone. Can you have more than one orgasm so close together? He tilts his head back, his eyes close, and his face almost looks pained. The most beautiful sound erupts from deep within him. I wish I could capture the way he looks and record his sound. Beautiful. That’s all it took for me as I release again but this time it overwhelms me, and I come completely undone.
Protected. Safe. Strong arms. Gentle kisses.
“Irish. Are you with me?”
A tender grip of his hand on my face. Warm breath.
“God, what have I done?”
I open my eyes, lazily, and smile.
My smile drops when I see the concern in his eyes and on his face. “Damn, love. I thought I’d lost you,” he whispers, lovingly, reverently.
I reach up, my arm feeling weighted, and cover the side of his face. “I didn’t go far. But God. That was amazing.” He leans into my hand then looks back at me. “I think I blacked out. Best orgasm ever.” My smile grows as he laughs. Sweetest sound.
“And how many orgasms have you had?”
I look up and pretend like I’m thinking hard, counting. Then I look back at him and smile. “Three.”
He pulls me into his arms, quickly, hugging me tight. I can’t breathe but oxygen is overrated. I feel safe in his arms. Loved. Something I’ve never felt. Never had. Is this like the Stockholm syndrome? Am I feeling this because it’s something I’ve never had before and he’s the first to give it to me? God, I hope not. I want this. I need this. Need him. I don’t ever want this feeling to go away.
“Come on, love. We need to get showered and dressed so I can get you over to Taren’s. She’ll kill me if I don’t.” He laughs as he sits up, pulling me with him. He leaves me long enough to climb out of bed and then lifts me up into his arms and starts walking towards the bathroom. He’s looking straight ahead and has a serious look on his face. “And since I have other things in mind to do to you in the tub, we’re already gonna be late.”
My smile can’t be any bigger as I wrap my arms around his neck.
We’re more than a little late getting over to Taren’s. I’m proud to say I’ve had four orgasms now and wonder how in the hell I’ve ever lived without them. Of course, the person who gave them to me hadn’t been in my life before now. For a man who used to infuriate me, he’s now someone I don’t think I can live without. Lord, help me.
He ends up fixing me a huge breakfast, telling me I don’t eat enough and how now I need all my energy and endurance so he can make love to me as many times as he wants. When I got dressed, it didn’t go unnoticed that he had hung up my shirts in his closet and put my pants, undergarments, and t-shirts into one of his dresser drawers. Sigh. He gave me a drawer.
It’s after noon by the time we get over to Taren and Brocks. “Oh! I’ve missed you!” Taren pulls me into a hug when the door opens and I almost drop my crutches. But then, who needs crutches when my man – my man – lifts me up and carries me inside, straight to the couch in the living room. Brock walks in, leans down and kisses my cheek, then pats Caylan on his shoulder.
“Let’s go into the kitchen and grab a beer. I think our girls need some time to visit.” Brock smiles.
Our girls.
I think my heart just leaped into my throat.
Caylan leans down, his face but a breath from mine, and gives me a quick kiss. “Holler if you need me.” He winks, and I let out a sigh as I watch him walk out of the room. The couch dips next to me and I feel Taren put her arm around me.
“Okay. Spill.” I let out another sigh, still looking at the doorway he left from. “Wow! You’ve got it bad.” Her arm squeezes me. “I’m so happy for you.”
I tear my eyes away and look at her. “God. I’m so fucked.” I don’t mean literally.
“What?” Her eyes widen. Concern and confusion sweeps over her face.
I look her straight in the eyes. “I think I’m falling for him.”
Her eyes soften. She removes her arm but instead takes my hand in hers. “Honey. I think you’ve already fallen.” I nod, tears suddenly appearing. I lay my head down on her shoulder and let them fall.
“How can I go from hating all men to falling in love? The world is ending.” I sniff. My head bounces with her laughter. I look up at her and pout. “It’s not funny. He wants to take me to meet his family.” Her eyes widen. “I know, right? It’s all over. We’re all done for.”
She pats the top of my head. “Love finds us at the strangest times. The world isn’t ending, Irish. Dramatic much?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Hey.” She pushes me back and then p
laces her hands on the sides of my face. “Snap out of it, Irish. Embrace it. Open your heart, let him in, and take a damn chance. If you don’t, you’ll never know what could have been. What if he’s Mr. Right? What if he’s your soul-mate? What if?”
She squishes my face until I feel like I have fish lips. “What if he’s Mr. Wong?”
“Mister Who?”
I grab her hands and pull them down. My lips feeling puckery. “What if he’s Mr. Wrong, Taren? What if I meet his family, give him my freaking heart, and then he crushes it in his large beefy hand?”
She lets out a sigh. “Oh, my God, Irish. Quit being so whiny. Where’s my bestie that’s always been the strong one? The one who beat up Joey McDowell in the third grade? The one that stitched up Brock when he was injured and then kicked Kane’s ass when he was being a jerk?”
“I’m not sure where she is anymore.”
“Who beat up who?”
I sit up straight, my hand whisks back my long hair over my shoulder as Caylan and Brock walk into the room carrying their beers. Shit.
Chapter Eight
Caylan
Brock and I walk into the kitchen and I lean my arms down on the breakfast bar as he gets us a beer. “So. How’s it going with Irish?”
He walks over and hands me a bottle and I twist off the cap, taking a much needed drink.
“It’s going…. Good.” I take another drink and get a curious look from him. I can’t help the smile that appears. “Okay. It’s more than good. It’s fucking great.” My face scrunches as fear takes ahold of me. “She’s a hard one to get through to though. I’m worried she’ll run from me.” I’m not worried. I’m terrified.
He leans down on the counter in front of me and nods, slowly. “Yeah. She’s pretty hard headed. Tough one, she is. I think you’re good for her, Caylan.” I feel a little relief. Brock’s known her all his life. Surely he’ll know if we can make this work. “She’s strong. Got a tough exterior but inside she’s all woman. She needs someone to show her that they really care for her. Her. What’s inside. She’s also had a shitty childhood. Had to grow up way too fast. Stupid mother only thinking of herself. It’s a wonder she turned out as well as she did. But it also made her the way she is today.” I nod, really thinking about what he’s saying. We both finish our beers. He takes my empty bottle and walks over, throwing them away, then heads to the refrigerator. He takes out two more and turns to come back. “Just be good to her, Caylan. I won’t have to kick your ass because she’ll do it.”
I laugh as he hands me a beer. “Yeah. I definitely know that. Thanks, man.”
We decide to take our beers into the living room to check on our girls. Our girls. I get excited just thinking she could be my girl. I’ve never had a girlfriend before. Hell, I’ve never had a second date with the same girl before and here we’ve been together for three days now. Almost. Thing is, I know I’m gonna have to work really hard to show her how much I care for her. Probably will have to work harder than anything else I’ve worked for in my life. She’s worth it. We come into the tail end of a conversation that makes me more than curious.
“Who beat up who?”
She looks alarmed as she sits up straight. When she sweeps her long hair over her shoulder I want to grab it, wrap it around my hand and tug on it hard as I bury my cock into her so deep. Damn. I’ve got it so bad.
“Uh….” Her mouth opens but she can’t seem to speak.
“Oh, that was nothing. I was being picked on out on the playground in third grade, and Irish calmly walks over and beats the crap out of Joey. She got in trouble but he never looked my way again.” Taren looks proud as she recounts the event. Gotta say, I’m feeling a bit prideful myself. That’s my girl.
I hold my chuckle in when Irish smacks Taren’s arm.
“Why don’t you two stay for dinner? We’d love to have you,” Brock says with his own grin on his face.
I look at Irish and shrug. “That would be amazing.” She pushes against the cushion on the couch and winces as she almost falls over. I set down my beer quickly and jog over, catching her just in time. “Oh, sorry. Got a little light headed.”
I bend down, looking into her eyes. “Are you okay? Do you need a pain pill?”
Her eyes shift to Taren and then back to me. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, my gosh! You have nothing to be sorry for,” Taren says looking concerned. “Caylan. Why don’t you take her up to one of the guest rooms so she can rest for a bit. It’ll be a while before dinner anyway.” She looks at Irish. “You poor thing.”
I don’t wait and lift her up and into my arms. Right where she is meant to be. “I can walk, Caylan.”
“Too cute.” Taren smiles.
“So stubborn,” I say as I carry her to the stairs then up to the spare bedroom. I set her down on the bed then walk into the bathroom, grabbing one of the paper cups and fill it with water. When I walk back into the room, she’s watching me intently. I take her pills out of my front pocket, hand her the water, and grasp her hand, turning it over and placing a pill in her palm. “Take it.” Her eyes are wide as she looks up at me, frozen with the pill in her outstretched hand. “Please,” I add quickly. She pops it in her mouth then drinks the water, handing me the empty cup. “Good girl.” I set the cup down on the nightstand and pick up her legs, gently moving them onto the mattress. I see a blanket folded at the end of the bed, pick it up and spread it across her. She watches my every move. I lean down, rub my thumb across her forehead, and kiss her soft skin. “Sleep now.” I’ll be back up to check on you.
She smiles as I turn and walk to the doorway. Grabbing the door, I start to close it, not intending to close it all the way, when I hear her voice. “Thank you.” I turn and look at her, my heart beating in concern for her.
I give her a wink, hoping to lighten things. I want her to be comfortable, show her that I’ll take care of her. Always. “Get some rest.”
I walk downstairs, my concern and worry increasing. No one is in the living room so I head to the kitchen, hearing their voices. I stop right outside the entry, feeling like I’m eavesdropping. Okay, maybe because I heard my name so I am.
“I just don’t want Caylan to hurt her.” Taren’s voice is soft but serious.
“He wouldn’t do that, Taren. He’s a good guy.”
“Oh! I know he is. I love him like a brother but…. He could unintentionally. She’s my bestie. She’s kind hearted and has never really opened up to a guy before. You know that. I just….”
“I know, babe. She’s had a hard life. I get that. She’ll never find anyone to love her if she doesn’t open up and let someone in. Life sucks and so do guys.” He chuckles. “I am one, ya know. If she doesn’t try, she’ll never find someone. I know that he really likes her. Maybe even loves her.”
“Yeah, but you’re not just any guy, baby.”
I hear the sound of their kissing, and now I feel really bad for listening. I’m glad they know I’d never intentionally hurt her, but they know as well as I do that relationships are a two-way street. It takes both people to work hard and there will be occasional disagreements. I just hope any time we have one, Irish doesn’t go running. I don’t want her to think if we have a fight that I don’t love her any less. Love. Yep, I’m definitely in love.
I clear my throat as I walk into the room. As I suspected, they’re wrapped in each other’s arms making out. I hope Irish and I can have their kind of love. I wish that with everything I am.
“Hey, guys.”
They break apart, Taren continues to cut up vegetables on a cutting board in front of her at the breakfast bar and Brock turns around to get something from the refrigerator. “Hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” She has a slight flush on her face and is beating up that carrot with her knife. I chuckle. I can’t contain myself. She looks up and smiles.
“Oh, no! We’re just getting dinner ready.” She stops and her facial expression changes to concern. “How is she?” She stands there, knife restin
g on the unsuspecting carrot, awaiting my answer. I walk over to the breakfast bar and sit down on a stool in front of her, picking up a piece of the already mutilated carrot and pop it in my mouth.
“She’s okay. I think. Took a pain pill. I told her to get some rest.” I pop another piece in my mouth. “Does she have a doctor she normally sees? The ER doc said someone should look at her knee by Friday to make sure it’s healing okay.”
She shifts her stance. “Geez, I dunno. I don’t think she has one. She really hates them. I remember one time I made her go see mine because she fell when we were jogging, don’t ask, and she ended up needing stitches. No way could I get her to go to the emergency room. I barely got her to go to my doctor as it was. That was before she started suturing her own injuries, saying she could do just as good as a doctor could.” She rolls her eyes. “Come to find out, she really can. Then again, I think she can do just about anything she sets her mind to.”
I rub my hand over the scruff on my jaw. “Yes. Seems she can. But she can’t do an x-ray to make sure everything’s healing okay.” She nods in agreement. “Is she always this stubborn?” Brock laughs along with Taren. He walks over and sets down a plate of hamburger patties on the counter.
“Ha. No. Sometimes she’s way worse.” He winks and walks back to the fridge.
I let out a big sigh. “That’s what I figured.”
Taren reaches across the counter and pats my shoulder. “Well, I’ll write down my doctor’s name and phone number. At least she’s seen him before, even though that was about five years ago.” Her eyes widen. “Maybe you can bribe her somehow.” She smiles. “I’ve had to do that before too,” she mumbles.
An idea hits me and I grin. Bribery. Hmmm. Maybe it will work.
“Something tells me, you’ll get her there.” She looks at me, her own grin spreading.
By the time dinner is ready, Irish hasn’t come downstairs. I walk up there to check on her and she’s sound asleep. I figure I can get Taren to give me a “to go” bag when I take Irish home. Home. What I wouldn’t give for it to be her home too. I’ve not seen her apartment but I’ve learned from Brock that it’s not in the best neighborhood. Makes me worry even more about her. I like having her at my place. I can take care of her. Smell her. Feel her. Sigh. I’m so in love.
