by Cheri Marie
“Goodnight Ashlan, Damien.”
“Is it okay if I stay?” Landon asks.
“Sure, that’s fine,” I reach out my hand for his. I’m glad he wants to stay, after tonight with Liam I want Landon close to me.
“Okay, goodnight guys,” he says to Ashlan and Damien. They both grin at him and say goodnight as we head upstairs.
I change into a pair of shorts and pull on a T-shirt, careful not to touch my cheek that is currently aching. I climb into bed and Landon climbs in behind me. He pulls me close against him, my back against his front. He plants light kisses against my shoulder.
“Sweet dreams my girl,” he whispers in my ear as he brushes my hair off my cheek and tucks it behind my ear. “You’re safe with me.” As I drift off to sleep, I think I hear him whisper I love you but then, I could be dreaming.
Liam broke into Arianna’s office and is sitting in her office chair waiting for her with his pistol lying on the desk. The shock of seeing him sitting there renders her speechless. He has completely lost his mind. She finds her voice and tries to reason with him. “Liam, please it doesn’t have to be like this.” I hear her voice clear as day begging, pleading with him. He picks up the pistol and swings it, connecting it to Arianna’s temple. She falls to the floor holding her head, crying pleading him to stop. “You were mine first, I loved you. I did everything I could to show you how sorry I am. Every time, you shot me down. If I can’t have you, neither can he, this ends now!” he snarls then he pulls the trigger, once, twice, three times.
Tristan calls me panicking, I rush to Arianna’s office, rage boiling through me like snake venom in my veins and my heart in my throat. I burst through the door as the third gunshot goes off. Arianna is lying on the floor in a puddle of blood. She’s not moving but I can hear her gasping for air. I feel the tears run down my face. No, no, no this can’t be happening! I promised I would protect her and keep her safe from him. I head towards her and I’m met with Liam, holding the gun to my head. “She’s dead,” he snarls. “And now you will be too.” BOOM! The gun goes off.
I wake up screaming, crying and in a panic. I can still smell the gunpowder. I look around at my surroundings. I’m still in Arianna’s room. I look next to me and she’s lying there still peacefully fast asleep. Thank God, it was just another nightmare.
I sit there trying to steady my breathing. I don’t want to wake her and for her find out about my nightmares like this. Even though I’ve barely known Ari a month, I can’t imagine my life without her. This beautiful, successful, amazing woman lying next to me is my soul mate, my angel, my saving grace, my present and future. I will do anything to earn her trust and to keep her happy. After I’ve calmed myself I lay back down, pulling her close and laying my head on her chest, listening to her steady heartbeat I drift back off to sleep.
The next morning I wake overheated. Landon has practically wrapped himself around me. His arms are wrapped around my waist, his head lying on my chest and his legs intertwined with mine. I want to get up but he looks so comfortable, I’d hate to wake him. I lightly run my fingers through his beautiful hair. He stirs a little and mumbles something incoherently but doesn’t wake up. I could lie here all day watching him sleep. He is a beautiful, loving, caring, compassionate man and he’s all mine. How did I get so lucky? I still don’t understand what he sees in me but I’m not going to let the negativity trample on my happiness. Landon stretches and I still, he looks up at me with those beautiful hazel eyes and I nearly melt.
“Good morning beautiful,” he says.
“Good morning beautiful to you,” I giggle.
“I love that sound.”
“What sound?”
“The sound of your laughter, I always want to be the reason for that.”
I can’t help but just smile stupidly at him, he smiles back.
“How long have you been awake?” he asks.
“Not long. I didn’t want to wake you, you looked so serene.”
“Anytime with you is serene. It’s the most peace I’ve experienced in a long time.”
He closes his eyes and tightens his arms around me again. I feel like there is something he isn’t telling me, but I don’t think right now is the time to question him. Just then an idea comes to mind.
“Do you work today?” I ask him as I run my fingers through his hair. He lets out a low moan before answering me.
“No, I have the day off today. What about you?”
“No, I’m going to text Tristan and tell her to take the day off. Do you want to do something today with Ashlan and Damien?”
“Sure.”
“Okay,” I grab my cell phone off the bedside table and text Tristan.
Hey Tristan. Close up the office and take a long weekend.
We deserve it! Enjoy!
I hit send. Almost instantly I get a reply.
Thank you Miss Taylor. I hope you have a fabulous weekend!
“Okay, that’s taken care of. Now we should get ready and go wake up Ashlan and Damien.”
“Damien stayed the night too?”
“I’m thinking yes. He and Ashlan have become an item. You didn’t know?”
“I kind of had an idea. I didn’t think they were official yet though.”
“Oh yea, Ashlan is completely sweet on him.”
“That’s good. I’m happy for them. But enough about them…”
He begins placing light kisses along my jawline until his lips meet mine. He kisses me fervently and passionately. He stops kissing me, leaving me breathless and yearning but I know if we don’t get out of this bed now, we will be here all day.
“Come on... get up, we have to get dressed,” I climb off the bed quickly before he can grab me again. When I look at him, his jaw is nearly on the floor. I laugh at him, he sighs and climbs off the bed too.
“Are you sure we can’t stay in bed all day?” he whines like a child. I giggle at him again. I reach out and grab his hand.
“Come on, let’s go shower,” I wink at him. An evil, seductive grin spread across his face as he follows me into the bathroom. I start to undress but he stops me.
“I want to undress you,” suddenly I feel unbelievably shy. I look down at the floor, he steps forward. He lifts my face to meet his gaze.
“Arianna, I’ve told you before don’t be ashamed of your body. You’re beautiful, I don’t know how many times I must tell you that, but I will until you believe it. I really want to undress you so I can take in all your beauty, but I don’t have to if you aren’t comfortable with it.”
I think about it for a minute. Can I do this? Can I be vulnerable to this beautiful man of mine? I take a deep breath. Slowly I raise my arms. He gives me his beautiful megawatt smile and I can’t help but laugh at him. He reaches down, grabbing the hem of my shirt and he slowly pulls it up over my head. His hands lightly brush against my skin, giving me goosebumps and igniting my whole body. He tosses my shirt to the floor, slowly he walks around behind me and unhooks my bra. He slides it slowly down my arms while placing light kisses along my shoulders. Hooking his fingers into the waistband of my shorts and panties, he slides them down to my feet. I step out of them and kick them to the side. I watch him as he walks around me looking me up and down. He licks his lips and takes a step toward me.
“I can’t believe this sexy woman standing before me is all mine; mind, body and soul,” he says, as he cups my breasts and fondles my nipples. I lean my head back, letting out a light moan. He runs his hands down my stomach and cups my sex. “Mmm baby you’re so wet for me already.” He slides his fingers inside me, rolling my clit between his fingers. I grind against his hand, letting out a moan.
“Baby, can you do something for me?”
“Anything.”
“I want you to show me how you pleasure yourself.” I look at him horrified.
“Come on baby, please? Show me how you make yourself come.”
He releases me, stepping back to undress himself he doesn’t take his eyes off of m
e.
You can do this Ari, I tell myself. I sit on the bathroom chair, spreading my legs wide. I cup my sex, slowly sliding a finger inside me, I tease and rub my clit. With my other hand I take one of my nipples between my fingers. I roll it around, lightly pinching and teasing it. I moan as I work myself, sliding my fingers deep into my sex, hooking my finger so I hit my G-spot. I moan again, feeling my body building.
Landon can’t take it any longer. He grabs me and pulls me to him, his erection pressing against my abdomen. He kisses me deeply and passionately. I slowly slide my hand down his body to his erection. Grabbing him I start to move my hand up and down his length, lightly teasing the head with my thumb. He sucks air through his teeth and kisses me again. I move my hand faster, feeling him hardening in my hand. Suddenly he grabs my hand.
“Stop,” he says breathless, “I want to be deep inside you when I come. Let’s get into the bath instead.” I release him and walk over to turn on the bath and climb in. He quickly joins me and pulls me astride him.
“You ready? I’m going to make this quick so that we can get going.”
“Yes,” it’s almost a whisper but there is nothing that I want more right now than to make love to this man.
He lifts me and slowly eases himself into me.
“Okay, this is going to be a little rough, if I hurt you, you need to tell me okay?”
I just nod my head because right now I can’t muster any words. He grabs me firmly by my hips and starts to move. He slams inside of me with each thrust, grabbing one of my breasts he puts it in his mouth and starts to suck and lightly nip my nipple. I lean my head back and arch my back giving him better access to my sensitive chest. I feel my body building and my insides start to tremble. We’re really moving now, I’m meeting his every thrust. He slams into me one last time reaching his climax and incoherently calls out my name. Watching him meet his release is my undoing and I come with him calling out his name.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Yes, I’m good. So much for getting a quick shower,” I giggle.
“I know, but I just couldn’t resist you in all your beautiful nakedness.” I feel my cheeks blush and he grins at me.
“Let’s get washed up and dressed so we can go downstairs to see what Ashlan and Damien are doing.”
We finish getting washed up, get dressed and head downstairs. When we get down the stairs I hear a few extra voices that are familiar to me. I hear Landon sigh behind me and look at him just in time to see him roll his eyes. I laugh at him.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Kat’s here.”
“Really; don’t roll your eyes, you know you adore her.”
“You’re right. She’s just so inquisitive, it’s irritating at times. She’s been asking about you and what is going on between us.”
“Well now you can tell her, we’re official,” I wink at him. He smiles and kisses me lightly on the lips just as Kat comes barreling out of the kitchen over to us. She jumps on Landon.
“Where have you been and why haven’t you been answering my calls?” I try to sneak away but Landon grabs me by my belt loop, stopping me dead in my tracks.
“I’m sorry I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy to answer a call from your favorite cousin?” she gives him a pouty look. He laughs at her.
“So what is going on here? Did you fix things?” she asks, waving her hand at the two of us. She’s pretty straight forward, I think that’s why I like her.
“Yes Kat, we’re fine. We’re official if that’s what you’re asking,” he uses air quotes to exaggerate the word official. Kat claps her hands together then hugs us both.
“That’s fantastic! I’m so happy for you two. You two are perfect together, I saw it the day at the barbeque. You both deserve to be happy.”
We all walk into the kitchen where I find Ashlan, Damien, and to my surprise Xavier. Kat walks over to Xavier and puts her arm around him; no shock that they would hit it off great. They’re both beautiful and their personalities are similar.
“Well good morning to all of you.”
“Good morning,” they all say back.
“Well, Landon and I came down to see if Ashlan and Damien wanted to join us on a double date. I didn’t realize we had company. Do you two want to make plans with us too?” I ask Kat and Xavier.
“Sure, we’d love to,” says Xavier. He kisses Kat on the cheek. It’s obvious he adores her. I wonder if Ashlan knew about them before they showed up here today. I’ll ask her about it later. We all sit down at the table to decide what we’re going to do for the day. We decide on lunch, then heading over to a cute little historic town with a bunch of little shops and boutiques to do some shopping; and end the day with going to see a movie.
The historic district is one of my favorite places. I absolutely love the shops and boutiques. It’s a nice change from corporate America. The guys have stopped at a hobby shop with build it yourself airplanes and such. So Kat, Ashlan and I head into this adorable little boutique that has a little bit of everything. When we walk in I immediately fall in love with the atmosphere. While we're browsing through the store, I find an area with military stuff. I decide to buy something for Landon. I find a keychain that reads, “I got your 6!” It’s perfect, plus it’s blank on the back so I can have it engraved. When I get to the counter to pay for it I ask the girl working if she knows where I can get it engraved. To my surprise they do engraving here, so I ask her to engrave 'I’m giving you my heart, please don’t break it. I love you - Ari' on the back. She obliges, cashes us out and we’re on our way. The guys are waiting outside for us when we exit the store. I decide to wait a little while to give him the keychain.
Landon greets me with a kiss on the forehead.
“Did you find anything?” he asks.
“Actually I did. I bought you a present.”
“Really? Can I have it?”
“Not yet,” he gives me his adorable pouty face.
“Why not?”
“Because I want to save it until later.”
“Okay,” he says as he puts his arm around my shoulders. I put my arm around him and rest my head on his shoulder as we walk down the street. The smell of him is intoxicating but relaxing at the same time. We pass all these beautiful shops when Landon stops us.
We meet back up with the ladies. Arianna told me she bought me a gift. I’m excited to see what it is, coming from her I’m sure it’s something I’ll love. We walk down the strip heading in the direction of the movie theater. We pass many different little shops and boutiques. Each store front has something different; clothes, flowers, handmade items. I think about what I think she would like.
As we’re walking, I remember that one of my favorite shops is just around the corner. I know I can find something there that she’ll absolutely love. I stop and ask the guys to come with me to the shop. Xavier has known Arianna her whole life, he can confirm whether she will like something, and I value Damien’s opinion. I kiss Ari on the cheek and we head off in the direction of the shop, leaving the ladies to decide on a movie.
I look at Landon questioningly but he gives nothing away.
“Okay,” I tell him. He kisses me on the cheek and they take off.
“What was that about?” asks Ashlan.
“I have no idea. Let’s sit over there on the benches and decide what movie to see.”
We sit and discuss the movies that just came out in theaters that we have wanted to see. Eventually we decide on this love story based on a book that sounds amazing. I check my watch again, the guys have been gone for almost 45 minutes. What is taking so long?
“So Kat, how long have you and Xavier been seeing each other?” she blushes.
“Well we had exchanged numbers at the barbeque. We really hit it off, and he’s gorgeous! So we’ve been talking and hanging out ever since. He’s so sweet and amazing.”
“That’s great, I’m really happy for you two. You can tell he adores you,” she blushe
s again but doesn’t say anything.
“It’s about that time; if we don’t hurry we’re going to miss the movie,” Ashlan says. I look up and the guys have just come back around the corner headed towards us.
“Okay miss bossy,” says Damien.
“I am not bossy!” Ashlan shouts. I can’t help but laugh at her. Sometimes I think she forgets how old she is.
“Is everything okay?” I say quietly to Landon so no one else can hear.
“Yes, everything’s fine,” he smiles and kisses me sweetly on the lips.
“Okay....”
“So did you ladies pick a movie?” he asks all of us.
“Yes, we want to see that new love story that is based on a book.”
“Okay, cheesy romance it is!” Everyone laughs and we head across the street to the theater.
We get our tickets, drinks and snacks. We get to our seats just as the previews are ending. We settle into our seats, Landon grabs my hand, kissing the back of it before resting our arms on the arm rest. I look at him out of the corner of my eye while he’s watching the movie. I don’t know why this beautiful man wants to be with me, but I’m glad he does. I can feel myself falling for him more and more every day. As much as I want to fight it I’ve decided to let it happen, and I just pray that he never breaks my heart. He catches me watching him.
“What?” he whispers.
“Nothing, just thinking,” I smile at him.
“About?”
“How lucky I am,” he flashes me his megawatt smile. Leaning over he kisses me.
“I thought I was the lucky one,” he whispers in my ear. I feel my cheeks flush and go back to watching the movie.
By the time the movie ends I’m in tears. It was a great movie, everything I expected it to be. The main character reminded me of myself so I could relate to her; she got her happily ever after so that gives me hope. We wait until the theater clears out some before we leave our seats. We head out onto the street. It’s chilly out and I suddenly wish I would have brought a light sweater with me. Landon must have felt me shiver because he pulls me into his side and tightens his arm around me.
