Remember Me

by L'Amour, Nelle

  “You were all dolled up. In a tight little black dress I’d never seen before and stilettos. Your hair and makeup done to the nines.”

  I remember him telling me this when we picnicked in Oak Glen. So not like me even if I was going to go to some kind of awards banquet or black tie event. My taste has always been and still is conservative.

  My gaze stays on him. He swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

  “Skye . . . ”

  The unsettling tone of his voice unnerves me. My stomach knots and my tenor grows tentative. “Yes?”

  “There’s one thing I didn’t mention that day at the apple farm.”

  A short pause, one that feels like an eternity.

  “You weren’t wearing your wedding band.”

  What!? I never took it off. Even to wash my hands. My initial shock gives way to a curl of uncertainty. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Only your locket” He pauses again, his lips pinching. “Skye, I need to ask you something.”

  Dread rising inside me, I silently nod.

  “Were you having an affair?”

  His hot, pointed words pierce my skin like flaming spears. My mind burning, I rub my forehead like I’m trying to put out a fire. I feverishly search for the truth, but for the life of me, I can’t remember that night. Or anything leading up to it. I have only one other place to search for an answer. My heart. Knowing the truth lies within in it, I clutch Finn’s waiting face.

  “Finn, my darling, I’ve only loved you. There’s never been another man in my life. Not ever!” My voice is thick with tears. “Please, believe me.”

  My watering eyes stay on his contemplative face as a wave of sorrow and remorse sweeps over me.

  “I’ve caused you so much pain. Leaving you bereft . . . with the burden of bringing up our little girl all alone . . . thinking I was untrue to you.”

  “Raising Maddie has never been a burden. It’s been the only joy I’ve had in my life.”

  Another sharp pang of sadness. “I wish I could turn back the hands of time. Been there with you to have watched our little girl grow up. Together.”

  Finn’s brows furrow. “I still don’t understand why you stayed away for almost five years.”

  “Years of reconstructive surgery and intensive therapy. My pelvis crushed, I had to learn how to walk again. My windpipe damaged, to talk again. Every day, I worked for hours with physical therapists, speech pathologists, and psychiatrists. Once I was stable, I was told by Detective Billings that someone attempted to murder me. That this person was still out there, and because I was a well-known television personality, this person would likely come after me and be a threat to you and Maddie.”

  Finn’s jaw ticks. “Did he ask if you suspected me?”

  My heart stutters. “Y-yes.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “That it was impossible. That you loved me unconditionally with all you had . . . I mean, have.”

  Silence. Finn digests my words, the skin between his brows creasing. Hoping he believes me, I continue.

  “Because of the extreme damage to my face, I underwent reconstructive surgery. Countless operations. On account of our lives being in jeopardy, I agreed to let the surgeons change my appearance . . . give me new features . . . make me unrecognizable. Then, Detective Billings worked with the Witness Protection Program to give me a brand new identity. A new name and a new career as a tutor. I was told to stay far away from you and Maddie. It was too dangerous for all of us. Then somehow, by fate, I ended up here.”

  “What’s meant to be will always find a way.” The expression on his face softens. Any trace of venom in his voice evaporates and is replaced by tenderness. “My beauty, we were destined to be together.”

  Without warning, I burst into sobs and splutter, “Finn, I’m so, so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

  “My love, there’s nothing to forgive.” He brushes away my tears with his thumbs. “You’ve suffered so much. What matters is that we’ve found each other. Tonight, you’re mine again.”

  Quieting, I watch him slip his hand into a pocket and pull out the necklace. The locket. “I never stopped loving you, Skye. I always believed our love was forever.”

  Overcome with emotion, I let him put the locket back on my neck. Where it belongs. Taking my hand, he puts it to his heart. “This belongs to you, too, my one and only.”

  Wrapping his strong arms around me, my hand still on his chest, he draws me in closer. Our bodies touch. A breath apart, the greatest distance between us is a kiss. He seals the space by tenderly cupping my face and crushing his warm lips on my mine. The kiss is hot, passionate, and possessive. I melt into it. I’ve never been kissed with such heat, such desire, such love.

  When he finally pulls away, I’m breathless. “What are we going to do?”

  His face darkens, his eyes narrow. “We’re going to find the sick fuck who did this to you . . . to us . . . and when we do, his soul is going to rot in hell.”

  As his words flare through me, his face softens and his eyes grow lustful. “Until then, we’re going to do what every husband and wife should do.”

  My eyes meet his shimmering orbs, my heart thudding wildly in my chest as he whispers:

  “Make love.”

  CHAPTER 49

  Moonlight beams into Finn’s bedroom as candles flicker all around us. Bathed in their intoxicating scent, I’m sprawled naked on the bed we used to share, every part of me exposed, including the scars I’ve tried to hide. The painful reminders of that night. My breasts quiver as he hovers over me, his magnificence bared and illuminated by the candlelight. My heart pitter-patters as I stare up at him, soaking in all his virile glory. That breathtaking face with those gem-set eyes and that god-like body with its jutting length. Still so thick and rigid. So big, bold, and beautiful. Licking my lips, I long to hold it, taste it, own it. Make it mine again.

  “Skye, you’re so, so beautiful,” he breathes out as he climbs onto the bed, sitting back on his calves. My eyes stay riveted on his impassioned face as he dips his head to kiss the inside of an ankle. The sensation of his soft lips against this sensitive spot sends a flurry of goosebumps to my arms and another rush of arousal to my core. It’s impossible to quell the fire igniting between my thighs.

  “Mmm,” I moan, my eyelids lowering, as he trails butterfly kisses up my leg. His loving mouth passes over one of my major scars, left behind from one of the many surgeries I had to repair my femur. He reveres it as if it’s a rare work of art, softly brushing his lips against it.

  “I have a lot of scars,” I murmur, worried that by my marred body will turn him off.

  He hushes me. “I loved you without your scars and I love you with them,” he whispers, his warm tongue flicking the ten-inch long rise of flesh.

  I’ve always hated them even though Sister Marie told me to embrace them. “Scars,” she said, “show that you survived.”

  My magnificent husband, lover, soul mate, and the father of my child continues to kiss my imperfection. “Your scars make you more beautiful to me. More special. I want to own them.”

  “Oh, Finn!” I sigh, never feeling more cherished or beautiful in my entire life.

  “Say they’re mine.”

  “They’re yours.”

  “Say you’re mine.”

  “I’m yours. Take me, Finn, please take me,” I beg. “Make love to me.”

  “Soon, baby, soon. After I reclaim every inch of your body.”

  Liquid heat pours down my thighs as he makes his way up them with another stream of flutter kisses. One after another. At the apex, he buries his head between my quivering legs, inhaling deeply.

  “You smell so fucking good. Just like I remember.”

  Remember me.

  Remember us.

  Rubbing his nose across my silky mound, he licks my wet, tender folds.

  “Jesus,” he mumbles. “So fucking delicious.” He continues to tease me, running the tip of his deft tongue over m
y swollen clit. My back arches; my sex throbs. I’m so ready for him.

  “Spread your legs, baby.” Before I can, he spreads them for me with his hands and then repositions himself so he’s on his knees between them. Leaning into me, he begins to kiss, lick, suck, and touch every bit of my being. My belly, my arms, my breasts, my neck. The scattered scars. Randomly. Relentlessly. Kissing and caressing. As I inhale him, my hunger for him matches his hunger for me. Then, I taste him on my lips and I totally succumb. My eyelids stay lowered, weighted down by my desire. Moans of ecstasy and desperation clog my throat, almost suffocating me.

  “Open your eyes for me,” he says against my lips. “I want you to see what you do to me.”

  Breathing heavily, I do as he asks. His scorching gaze meets mine.

  “Skye baby, I’m going to make love to you now. I want you to keep your eyes open. We’re going to take it slow so I can savor every second. Then I’m going to fuck you like there’s no tomorrow.”

  Tears pool in my eyes. “Please, my love. Don’t say that. I can’t bear to ever lose you again.”

  Gently, he brushes them away. With a tear-stained fingertip, he scrolls a heart on my tummy. “You’re not going anywhere except into the stratosphere with me.”

  On my next rapid breath, he’s stretched out and I’m covered with his body. Blanketed by his heat. Anchoring his hands by my head, he pushes his rock-hard cock inside me slowly and reverently, filling me as my muscles expand around his length. Given how hard he fucked me earlier, I should feel sore, but instead his fullness is euphoria, and with tenderness, he makes love to me. So different than before. Than ever before. Taking his time. Each stroke deliberate and precise like the skilled artist he is. Propelled by love and adoration. As if my body is his temple, my pussy his altar, and he’s worshipping me.

  “Baby, are you okay?” I hold him in my gaze as the warmth of his breath grazes my neck. His voice is like velvet, filled with so much concern. So much love.

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “I’m not hurting you?”

  Shaking my head, I utter, “Uh-uh.”

  So in the moment, he kisses me passionately as he picks up his pace.

  “You feel so fucking good, my beautiful wife.”

  “You do too.” Maybe I look different on the outside, but on the inside nothing has changed. Though because of my internal injuries, I’ll likely never have another baby again. Another passionate kiss kicks this sad thought to the back of my mind. It’s something we don’t have to discuss, at least right now.

  He continues to thrust inside me. The strokes long and slow. So deep and controlled. “I want us to come together.”

  My eyes still open, I nod, not knowing if I can hang on as the insane pleasure he’s giving me saturates my body. Wrapping my legs around him, I fist his damp hair as his thrusts deepen and quicken. Oh, yes! Harder! Faster! My hands move to his buns of steel, cupping them, and with bucks of my hips, I rock with him in unison. His eyes stay on me, like two glittering stars, as he takes me to the edge. Makes me one with him.

  “Skye baby, I love you so fucking much.” Each breathy word comes from a place deep inside him. “Come with me.”

  His cock begins to spasm. His entire body quakes and as he peaks inside me, a tornado of love whirls through me, taking every nerve, every cell, every molecule of my being with it. Leaving no words in my head except his name. My mouth parched, I choke it out.

  “Oh, Finn!”

  “My Skye,” he whispers back, his head falling to my chest. “You’re home.”

  Stroking his hair, I tell him I love him. Only words are not enough.

  It’s not the last orgasm of this explosive, mind-blowing night. We can’t get enough of each other, hungrily making love in every position we can. Our bodies and hearts melded. Our limbs tangled. Our tongues twined. While I’ve been here for over a month, I’ve missed him so much. The emotional and physical intimacy we used to share. His heart, his body, his mind.

  After another earth-shattering orgasm, our lips swollen with lust, our bodies slack and slick with wet heat, my beautiful, attentive Finn suggests we try to get some sleep. He rolls me off him and repositions me so we’re lying side by side, my head resting on his chest. His heart beats into my ear like a song of love while the warmth of his body permeates mine. His head atop a stack of fluffy pillows, he wraps a strong arm around me and draws me closer to him.

  We don’t go to sleep. At least not right away. Pillow talk. Something I’ve so missed. We ramble on, the two of us drunk on an intoxicating cocktail of lust and love. I snuggle closer to him.

  “Finn, did you ever suspect who I really was?”

  “There were similarities. The way you looked at me . . . your eyes . . . that first kiss . . . the way you danced with me and followed my lead. Plus, how you and Maddie took to each other. There were other little things, but I ignored them, thinking it was impossible.”

  “That morning at the motel, did you see my tattoo when I was in the shower?”

  “To be honest, I saw something on your gorgeous ass. But in the steamy frosted-glass stall, it looked more like a bruise.”

  “You had a lot of nerve going into the bathroom while I was naked in the shower.”

  He chortles. “Hey, I needed my clothes.”

  I laugh back. “I needed you to fuck me.”

  “You’re making me hard again.”

  “Maybe that’s the plan.”

  A saucy smile crosses his lips. Tenderly, he brushes a fingertip over the one-inch scar that slashes my eyebrow.

  “Another one of your scars?”

  “Yes. It used to be a lot worse. It still bothers me. An ugly reminder.”

  “I think it gives you character.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’m going to add it to your portrait.”

  His words move me. How much I love him!

  “Did you deliberately play Springsteen’s “Brilliant Disguise” when you painted me this afternoon?”

  “No, it was just a coincidence.”

  A beautiful coincidence. A beautiful surprise.

  “Then, when Maddie showed me the locket, everything changed in an instant. I went crazy. I had to know.”

  Leave it to our daughter to unite us. To end the charade.

  “Oh, Finn, I’ve missed you so much.”

  With his fingers, he draws lazy circles on my chest. “What did you miss?”

  Everything. Every inch of your being. Every minute away from you. Where do I begin?

  “The way you used to bring me coffee in bed every morning. Just the way I liked it.” A creamy caffè latte with steamed milk.

  “Uh-huh.” I can hear the smile in his voice. “What else?”

  “The way you pretended to be Springsteen.” I flash back to our second night together when he performed “Thunder Road.” How sexy he was! Then afterward we made explosive love on his futon.

  “Do you still have the guitar I bought you?” My wedding present.

  Looking forlorn, he shakes his head. “No, baby, I gave it away after you died . . . I mean disappeared. I couldn’t bear to play it anymore.”

  “Aww, baby.” My turn to look forlorn, I caress his jaw. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

  “Thanks.” His face brightening, he strums my chest. “Did I do The Boss good?”

  Remembering the way I used to tease him, I let out a laugh. “Pretty good.”

  Slightly deflated, he asks, “Only pretty good?”

  The truth: his rock star imitation was always amazing. His musical talent matching his artistic one. A total turn-on. “No, the best. You were always my Boss, baby.”

  And in more ways than one. From the beginning, Finn was always the master of our bedroom. With his insatiable sexual appetite, calling the shots and choreographing the positions. With my high-powered job, I loved relinquishing control to him, allowing him to program our orgasms and bring us to ecstasy.

  “That’s better.” Pleased, he rewar
ds me with a kiss and asks, “One more thing you missed?”

  I search my mind; an answer comes to me quickly. “I missed watching you shave.”

  Once more, I stroke the bristle along his jaw. “I love the feel of your stubble.” I love the feel of you.

  “After you left me, I stopped shaving as much. It was hard looking in the mirror and not seeing you there.”

  Still stroking his jaw, his scruff now thicker, a pang of sadness stabs me. “Most of all, I missed having you in my bed.” The warmth of your body. The thrum of your heartbeat. Your intoxicating scent. The touch of your lips. That morning smile. Your every breath. “Sometimes, the pain of not having you next to me was more unbearable than the physical pain of my injuries.” Another sharp pang. “And I missed Maddie. So, so much. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about the two of you. Picturing you holding her. Wondering . . . worrying if you were okay.”

  Unconsciously, he plays with my locket.

  “My beauty, I never stopped thinking about you either. Remembering you.” He slides the gold heart close to my own. “How could I? Every time I looked at Maddie I saw you.”

  I weigh the intensity of his words and an alarming reality hits me. “Finn baby, what are we going to do?”

  “About what?”

  “About us? About Maddie?” About her. Kayla’s name stays stuck in the back of my throat.

  A shaky breath follows as I hear Finn inhale and exhale, feeling the rise and fall of his chest beneath me. “I don’t know yet. It’s complicated.”

  Complicated . . . that’s an understatement. Our situation is like a soap opera. So over-the-top crazy in every way. The kind of story some whacked out romance writer would come up with.

  He twists his lips. “I’m going to sleep on it.” He pauses. “With you.”

  On my next heartbeat, he rolls me over so I’m on top of him, his lustful eyes shining in my face.

  “One more time, my love.”

  I kiss him madly. My lips clinging to his.

  Love me like it’s the first time.

  Kiss me like it’s the last time.

  Never let me go.

  In the morning when I wake up after the best sleep I’ve ever had, he’s gone.