by Carter Blake
Chapter Twenty-Three
Naomi
“Is that everything?” I ask Wesley, feeling an intense sense of relief as the documents get locked back in that safe, exactly where they belong. That’s where I should have left them, that much is obvious, but now I can relax knowing that I’ve undone what I did.
I still don’t know where my life is going after this – especially not with my Dad’s revelation floating around in my mind – but at least I can move on knowing that I have closed this insane chapter of my life.
“I loved Jenny too. I mean, not at first, but by the time Naomi was born I did…then she was taken from me too. I felt like I was cursed, that I made everyone around me leave, and I…I…I didn’t have anything else but what I’d worked so hard towards.”
That’s the most I have ever heard my Dad talking about my Mom, and it’s left my head all over the place. In a way, I’m glad that he loved her, it makes me feel so much better about the fact that I’m alive, but in another it’s made me feel so much worse. I lost him yet another love, no wonder he used me for his revenge, he wanted revenge on me too.
“That’s everything,” Wesley smiles, looking relaxed finally. “How are you feeling?”
I don’t know how to answer that, my emotions are all over the place.
And he’s just being so damn nice. So understanding. I almost destroyed his life, and he’s looking at me like he actually cares how I feel. I can tell that he’s forgiven me, it’s written all over his face.
At this point, I wouldn’t blame him for having me arrested. He still has every right, even though I did get the documents back.
I am desperately teetering on confessing everything, telling him that I’m moving away, just to escape everything that I’ve done, but I can’t.
As soon as I tell him that, he will do everything within his power to stop me. I know what sort of man he is now, and I can’t allow him to talk me out of it. This is the first real decision that I need to make totally by myself, and I don t need any outside influences when it comes to making it.
So instead of saying anything, I cup his face in my hands, and I kiss him lightly on the lips.
He wraps his arms tightly around me, and he kisses me with a deep fiery passion, igniting that spark inside of me all over again.
Can I really do this? Would it be so wrong to say goodbye in this way? After all, it’s symbolized so much of who we are to one another
Desire overcomes Wesley, and he really begins to claim me with his mouth, leaving me with absolutely no choice.
How can I resist him, when he’s holding me so close, consuming me with so much passion? Driving me so wild? As he pushes me back against the wall, pressing his body up against mine, I allow him to take me at will.
“Wesley,” I gasp loudly, as his mouth moves down to my neck.
His hands move over my body greedily, feeling my breasts, my curves, my thighs, then he begins tugging at my clothes, needing them off, needing me to be naked for him. This might be the end for us, but I’m desperate to see that intense desire in his expression once more.
I want his eyes all over me, devouring me, to give me something to remember when all of this is gone.
I step back and slowly peel off my clothes, teasingly, seductively, and the more naked I become, the quicker and more ragged his breaths become. “You too,” I tell him, smilingly. “I don’t want to be naked on my own here.”
As he reveals that amazing body to me, I really struggle to keep it all inside. Tears threaten to well up in my eyes at even the idea of giving everything up, however much I know that I have to. I still find it unfair that the only guy I’ve ever really fallen for, is the one that I can’t have…but then again, I have no one to blame but myself.
“You are so beautiful,” he moves back to me, pushing me back up against the wall, which against my hot, sticky skin feels colder than anything I’ve ever felt before. I squeal loudly, but he just laughs it off, his hands instantly warming me.
“Say you’ll be mine,” he demands, growing against my lips.
How can he still want me?
I cringe inside, trying to ignore the guilt that’s racking through my body, but then he grabs at my knee, lifting it up until my foot is pressed against the wall, and he presses his erection up against me, making forget everything.
“Say it, Naomi.”
“I’m yours,” I murmur, because it’s the truth. No one will ever own my heart the way he does.
He runs his fingers up my thighs, causing me to shiver lightly under his touch, and soon his hand reaches where I’m now aching for him. I need him to touch me there now, more than I ever have before. I arch my back, pressing myself against him, but still he doesn’t seem to get the hint.
“I need you,” I tell him, probably a little too honestly. “I need you, right now.”
“A little impatient, aren’t we?” he teases, slipping a finger in. As he massages my pussy, sending crazy waves of pleasure crashing right through me, I forget the reason why. “God, you feel good.”
I slide my hands down his body, unbuckling his belt, wanting to feel him too, and from the way he groans loudly with joy when I take his cock in my hand, I know he wants it too. I run my fingers up and down his shaft, matching the speed which his fingers are moving in and out of me, and soon we’re both gasping, panting, moaning with pleasure. I feel like I might be teetering too close to the edge of desire already, and that I might just lose it at any second, but then he slips his hand away, and grips his cock.
“Is this what you want?” he asks me in a strained tone of voice.
“Yes,” I moan, the sight of him stroking himself so freaking hot.
“Are you sure, Naomi?”
I appreciate him being careful with me, being cautious with my emotions, but that isn’t what I need right now. I just need to be taken, to be consumed, to be swallowed up whole by pleasure.
“I’m okay,” I pant, yanking him even closer to me. “Aside from the fact that I need you so bad it hurts.”
He thrusts hard into me, slamming me back even harder against the wall, leaving me gripping onto him so tightly that my nails are digging into his shoulders. I toss my head back and allow my eyes to slip shut, just so I can lose myself in the sensations, but as I do a stark realization fills my mind. It’s almost as if now that I’m in the heat of the moment, I can finally accept the truth.
I love him.
I have for a while now, and I really don’t want to leave. If anything I want to stay here, I want to remain at the company doing the first job I’ve ever felt good at, the first position I have ever found fulfilling, I want to be with Wesley…properly, and I would do just about anything to make that happen.
As the pressure of pleasure builds up inside of me, I clamp my lips tightly shut, trying to keep all of that locked away.
“I love you,” he pants, as if he’s been trying to keep everything inside too. “I love you so fucking much.”
What am I supposed to do with that? As long as I don’t say anything back, everything will be fine.
“I love you too,” I hear myself crying out as the orgasm screams through my body, shattering everything inside of me. As the words I was trying not to say escape my mouth, I feel a large weight lifting from my shoulders.
Once he slides out of me, and we’re both panting like crazy, everything swims around in my mind.
This is too much, it’s too intense, it’s too hard to take.
My head is telling me to run for the hills, to recover from what I’ve been through and discovered by myself, to start again by myself, but my heart wants to grip onto Wesley with both hands. Before I can make any rational decision, tears are rolling down my cheeks and I’m whimpering like an idiot.
“Hey,” Wesley says softly, wrapping his arms around me. “It’s okay, I know you’ve been through a lot, but I’m here.”
“You can’t be,” I burst out through the tears. “You can’t be there for me, it isn’t right.”
&
nbsp; “Why not?” he pulls back to look into my eyes for a second. “What’s going on Naomi?”
“I have to go,” I tell him quickly. “I need to move away from here, to start again. I can’t continue to live here knowing what I’ve done. It just hurts too much.”
“You can’t go.” His eyes narrow on me, darkening.
“But this isn’t right. I can’t do it. I’ve put you through too much, I’ve caused too much damage.”
He grips tightly onto my hands, before looking intently into my eyes. “Both of us had our lives dictated by our parents, and the mess that they created, but it doesn’t need to be that way anymore. We can be free of it all now, we can leave it all behind.”
Can we really do that? Is that possible? I gaze into his eyes, trying to find all of the answers, things to make the pain go away, to stop the confusion.
“I… I don’t know,” I tell him honestly. “I don’t think I can do it.”
“You know as well as I do that we’re strong enough to work through it, we can make each other happy.” He strokes my cheek and looks at me with nothing but love. “That future, the one I’m sure we’ve both been imagining. We can make it happy. It’s up to us.”
My mind spins, my heart pounds, and indecision courses through me. I’m being given another opportunity, a second chance, even if I don’t feel like I deserve it, all I need to do is grab onto it with both hands.
It’s scary though, terrifying to think that I could have everything, because I’m so afraid of losing it all again, of screwing it up. I still have that sense that I don’t know who I really am just yet, and I don’t know how to solve that mystery. Do I stay here and allow Wesley to help me, or do I stick to what I decided all along?
“Say you’ll be mine,” he repeats, rubbing the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip. “Say you’ll stay. With me. Don’t make another mistake from running away from what we can have together.”
I want it so bad. I gaze into his dark eyes, seeing my future there. Knowing I’ll never be fully whole if I walk away from this man now.
“Okay,” I concede, finally, for the first time in my life giving my heart the ruling of the roost. “I’ll stay. I’ll stay with you.”
“I love you,” Wesley exclaims, scooping me up into his arms, and kissing me hard. “You will not regret this. I will make you happy, I promise you that.”
I just hope and pray that he’s right.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Wesley
Two months later…
“Thank you, team,” I announce to everyone at the end of launch day. “This has been one of the biggest challenges that we’ve ever had to face yet, but we did it. When times got tough, when things got hard, we pulled together, and now things have gone great.”
I explained the truth to all of my staff, the day after we got the formula back, before Naomi returned to work, and because I was honest with them all, and I answered all of their questions, they eventually got back on board. Now, they treat her just like one of us again.
“The reports are in, and the drugs have reached everyone that truly needed it, so that’s something worth celebrating.”
Everyone raises the champagne glasses that they’re holding, and we all take a swig.
“Now, everyone, take the rest of the day off, and we’ll start again on Monday.”
People chat among themselves for a while, before slowly filtering out, and the whole time my eyes remain on Naomi.
She’s starting to look a little happier, which is a great thing, that’s all I want for her, and I really hope that doesn’t change when I tell her what I have planned for us tonight.
Now that my Mom and Michael are working on rebuilding their friendship, I finally feel ready to hear him out, so I have arranged for the four of us to have dinner tonight. It could get a little hairy, so I know that it’s a risk, but I feel like it might be a positive step in moving forwards.
She hasn’t really spoken to her Dad since everything happened.
To be honest, she’s been a little like a lost lamb, just trying to find herself, but I’m doing all that I can to support her with that. I’m being there for her, listening when she wants to talk, and distracting her when she needs that too. I even told her to take some time off work that we would sort the PR out ourselves, but she’s insisted on keeping on working.
I can’t help but worry about her.
“How are you feeling today?” I ask her once we’re alone, placing a small kiss on the end of her nose. We aren’t keeping us a particular secret anymore, but I would rather not act upon it in front of the others. I want to keep what we are just for us, not to be a subject of gossip. “Are you up for going out tonight?”
“Why, what do you have planned?” she asks, sending me a weary smile. “I suppose I can work up the energy if I need to.”
“I think that it might be time to speak to your Dad,” I tell her honestly. “So I have booked a table at the local Italian restaurant.”
Her expression hardens, but she eventually sends me a quick nod. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. It might be time to finally put all of this behind us,” she sighs thoughtfully for a second. “It’s all been a bit much, but I think I’m coming to terms with it now. I think it would be better for all of us if we didn’t worry about it anymore. There’s no point in dwelling in the past, I want to focus on the future.”
I smile brightly, glad to hear something so positive come from her mouth. That has to be a good step. We’re moving forwards now, which means that soon enough we’ll all be in a good place.
That’s all I care about.
***
“I cannot imagine my Dad acting that way. He was always so…serious.” I can’t believe it. I’m having dinner with the man who was my enemy for such a long time, and I’m actually enjoying his company. He’s telling me tales about his relationship with my Dad before things went sour, and he’s really making me smile. “That’s incredible.”
“I know, and when he really got drunk… well that’s another story entirely.”
There’s a warmth between him and my mother, and I can’t help but wonder what it is. Are they really just friends, or is there a spark between them? Something more real developing? And how do I feel about that? I mean, my Dad has been gone for years now, it isn’t unreasonable for my Mom to move on…but with Michael, the love rival? The man who tried to destroy my company? How would Dad feel about that?
“Oh, remember that night he tried to steal the pub sign?” Mom joins in laughing too.
The man I knew was always so serious, always looking down on me for being crazy. Now I learn that he’s been bad too? It’s absolutely crazy.
“Thank you for having me,” Michael suddenly says seriously, completely changing the atmosphere around us. “I mean, I know it must be hard for you to look me in the face again, so I want you to know that I really do appreciate it. I don’t think that I would be able to be as good a man as you.”
“I think it’s just time,” I say honestly. “I know that this has all been a long time coming and that a lot of bad feelings were floating under the surface for many years, but all I want now is to move forward.”
Naomi holds my hand under the table, giving it a gentle squeeze. She’s comforting me in the way that I have been her in the last few weeks, and that makes my chest swell with love.
“We’ve turned over a new page now, and I think we can move forward in the right way.”
“That’s great news.” He smiles thinly at me. “I have to admit that I feel really ashamed of my behavior, and that your Mom has helped me to see what a fool I’ve been.”
They share a look of love, one that I can’t even begin to process.
“Well, there’s more.” This is something that I haven’t told anyone yet, not even Naomi, but I’m sure she’ll be happy with me. “I actually want you to come back to work for me, at the company. I want you to head up the research and production team, doing what you’ve always done bes
t. You too, Mom. I know you were a huge part of Future before you had me, and I would love you to come back in. I’ve been doing okay by myself, but as Naomi showed me when she came in with her brand new ideas, I could use the outside perspective of some people I can trust. Some people that only have the best interests of the business at heart.”
I really have thought about this long and hard, and this feels like the best solution to me, the one that keeps everyone happy and progresses the company too.
“Now, I know you have your teaching job and this might not be something you want, especially working under my rules, so I understand if you refuse–”
“I would love to,” he interrupts quickly, his eyes clouding. “That’s incredible that you would even ask.. All I’ve ever wanted is to be back at the company I started, especially after I screwed it up. I won’t let you down, I promise you.”
“And you, Mom?” I smile at her, hoping that she’s say yes. She must have been amazing in her heyday, and I would love to see that in action. She deserves some happiness too, and if this can help her with that, then I’m all for it.
“Of course, I would love that. I’m only doing part-time though, I don’t want it to become my whole life again.”
“Okay sure,” I laugh happily at her. “Whatever you want.”
I glance around the table, looking at everyone in turn, and I realize that everything feels right with the world again. I feel like I’ve done something good, and that I can be proud of.
***
As I drive Naomi back to her house, there’s a thick silence hanging over her. I want to ask her what’s wrong, but I don’t know if I really want to hear the answer. If she tells me now that she doesn’t want me to invite her father to work with us, then I’m about to find myself in a very sticky situation – one that I won’t be able to get myself out of. I can’t exactly un-hire him now, can I?
“Was there something going on?” she eventually asks, looking at me curiously. “Between our parents, I mean?”
