by Anna Brooks
I swallow and search his face. “I remember everything, Nik. I remember how I felt the moment I saw you, how being with you was too much for me the first time, how you have never given up on me even though you probably should have because I was awful to you.”
“Never gonna happen. I wouldn’t ever give up on you.”
His unwavering kindness makes my heart flutter, and I grab his hands. “Take me home.”
He leads me to his car, and after he shuts my door, I take a deep breath. I want this, I want him, and in order for me to do that, I need to push my fear aside. I need to let myself love again. Once he’s seated and pulls away, I lean over and rest my head on his shoulder and wrap my arm around his waist. I need to feel him right now. I want his strength to ground me.
He steers with his left hand while he uses the right one to play with my hair. “It’ll be okay, baby. I’ll make sure of it, okay?” The usual confidence radiating off him magnetizes me, and I murmur in agreement.
Instead of parking in the street, he pulls into my driveway and kills the engine. I sit up and he kisses the top of my head before he comes around and opens my door. I lead him into the house, and as soon as I shut the door, I grab his hand and pull him to my room. He sits on the bed, and I glance over at my dresser, void of the picture of Brad and me.
Nik notices. “You didn’t have to do that. I understand he was a part of your life.”
“No, I needed to. I was holding myself back, and he wouldn’t want that. I have memories in here.” I tap my head. “And in here.” I press my hand to my heart. “I don’t need pictures.”
Nik presses his lips together and nods.
I walk over to him and straddle him. “I want to make new memories with you. Everything you promised me, I want that. The cold woman I’ve been to you is not the real me. I’m going to try to be someone worthy of you.”
He grabs me by my hips and pulls me tighter against him. “You are, Lisa.”
“Thank you for sticking by me.”
“Thank you for coming back to me.”
“You were the one who chased me.” I giggle.
“I’ll always chase you, baby.”
He hardens beneath me, and I wrap my arms around his neck. Rotating my hips, I make sure to hit all the good spots. “We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready,” he whispers.
“I want you so bad.”
“I want you too, but don’t think this is all I want you for.”
“I don’t.”
“I want everything, Lisa. You have to give me everything.”
I still on his lap and push him down then crawl lower and reach for his belt. He grabs my wrist. “Promise me.”
“Okay, I promise. You have all of me, and I have all of you.”
“Good.” He lets me go, and I undo his jeans then pull them along with his boxers down to his ankles. He toes his shoes off and kicks his clothes to the floor. When I lick the tip of his beautiful dick, he sucks in a breath. “Fuck, Lisa.”
“Not yet.” I slide as much of him into my mouth as I can and hollow out my cheeks then begin bobbing up and down. My fingers toy with his sensitive ball sack, and he grabs my hair with one hand and wraps it around his wrist.
Wetness coats my white thong and I squirm around, trying to get a little bit of relief. He gently tugs me up by my hair, and a loud pop echoes in the room when I release him from my mouth.
“I need inside you.” He undoes my jeans with one hand, and I push them to my knees. “Fuckin’ hell, that’s hot.” His finger traces the outside of my panties where my wetness has soaked through.
I collapse onto my hands, and he releases my hair and grabs my thong, ripping it off me. I swivel and push my jeans all the way off then straddle him again. He places his hands behind his head. “Show me how much you love me, baby.”
I grip the base of his thick cock and rub the tip against the place that’s already pulsing for him then slowly slide down onto him. His eyes slam shut and I lean forward and rip his shirt open to see his chest. He looks shocked then sits up and wraps his arms around me, gripping my butt, kneading the globes in his hands. “Love you, Lisa.”
“I know. I love you, too,” I pant.
“But right now, I want you to ride me like you’re fuckin’ mad at me.”
“That won’t be too difficult.”
He smirks as he slaps my ass. I bend down and kiss his cheek, his mouth, his neck. Then I ride him, hard. Fast. Desperate. He lifts and lowers me faster than I’m able to, and after a while, I collapse against him and he holds me close as I float away into fucking bliss. “Oh my God, Nik …”
He falls back and I go with him. With his hands holding me, he pumps into me from underneath. A whole new set of flames courses through my veins from the nerves he’s hitting in this position. His hips piston into me, and I’m so weak I can’t even lift my head up.
“Give me another, baby.”
“I can’t,” I murmur against his chest. “It’s too much.”
“Not enough.” He bends his knees and scoots us back. “Hold on to the headboard.”
Of course, I want it to be as good for him as it is for me, so I muster up the strength and reach above me, ever so thankful I chose this bedroom set.
“Hold on.” With a renewed force, he fucks me and makes love to me at the same time. Harder and faster and more desperate than before. He uses me like a doll, moving me around until I gasp. “There?” he questions as he slides against the same place again. “That the spot that’s gonna make you come all over my cock?”
“Yes.”
Sweat drips down his face, and as he’s hitting me in the perfect place, he leans up and sucks a nipple into his mouth. I scream out as he growls and slams into me so hard that the headboard puts a dent in the wall. “Fuck,” he shouts. “So fuckin’ good, baby. Nothin’s ever been better.”
Unable to talk, I pry my hands off the bars and crumple on top of him. He stills inside me, and his heavy breath tickles my neck. I try to roll off him, but he slides his hands up and wraps them around my back. “Stay here.”
“I don’t want to be anywhere else. Always with you, Nik.”
“Only with me,” he growls.
“Yes.”
“Only you.”
I push up and hover over his face, smiling when he does. The weight of this moment bears down on me like no other and he slides the hair away from my face when it falls. “I really do love you.” I want to assure him with the words.
“I know you do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have fought so hard for us.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“Always, baby. I’ll always fight for you.”
One month later.
“MOJITO.” A CUSTOMER REQUESTS the dreaded drink, and Nik laughs next to me.
I elbow him. “I can do it now.”
“Show me, baby.”
He steps back and crosses his arms, scrutinizing my every move. I make a show of bending down to grab my ingredients and laugh when he growls at me. “Lisa,” he warns.
I muddle the mint leaves and lime juice expertly, and when I begin to raise the rum bottle in the air, causing a long stream of clear liquid to fill the glass, Nik kisses my neck and makes me spill.
“Okay, you can do it.”
After I top it with soda water, I throw a mint leaf on top and slide it to the customer in exchange for money. I turn back to Nik, and he holds his hands out so I can cuddle up to his chest, my favorite place to be. His arms tighten around me, and I sigh. I press into him to get closer, and he begins to harden against my belly.
“Woman, knock it off.” He lowers his face to my ear.
A moan of protest vibrates through his chest, and he kisses the top of my head before pushing me away. “Later,” he promises.
“Not soon enough.” I blow a strand of hair out of my face and continue working until Zack comes in for his night shift.
Nik leaves to grab more vodka, and as soon as I finish refilling a pitcher of
beer, I wash my hands. “I’ve gotta run to the bathroom. Be right back.” The bar isn’t too crowded yet, so I’m not worried about Zack being able to handle it.
“Yeah. That’s not obvious.”
“What?” I ask innocently.
“I don’t wanna know. Just hurry up.”
I squeeze his arm as I walk past and hurry to the end of the hall then push Nik back into the storage room as he’s walking out. The door shutting puts us in darkness, and I grab onto his shirt.
“Hey,” I whisper.
“Hey, baby.” The clanking of glass sounds behind me as he sets the bottles down and his hands find my lower back. His cool fingertips slide under my shirt and trail up my spine. He reaches my neck and squeezes then tilts me back, his breath heaving against my collarbone. “Did you need something?” Love bites trail across my chest as he pushes me back against the shelves.
“You,” I breathe. “Just need you.”
“You do, huh?” He smiles against the sensitive skin under my ear and nips at my lobe.
I lower my head, grab his face, and bring it up to mine. Even in the dark, his eyes bore into mine and the awe I see staring back at me is something I want to see every day for the rest of my life. I don’t worry about losing him anymore. Instead, I focus on enjoying the moment and living for today, appreciating yesterday, and praying for tomorrow.
“I do.”
“Remember those words, Lisa, because pretty soon you’re going to be saying them to me when I make you my wife.”
“I will,” I whisper, emotion choking my words.
He pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me, crushing me against his chest. “I need you too, baby.”
A pounding on the door makes me jump. “Seriously, you guys?” Meara yells. “That’s a health code violation!”
“We’ll be out in a minute,” Nik shouts back.
“I never pegged you for a minute man, Nik. I’m disappointed.” Her laughter fades, and I can’t help but giggle at her comment.
His chest rumbles. “You women are all trouble.”
“You love us anyways.”
Nik kisses me and instead of the normal heat exchanged between us, nothing but respect and devotion is passed from him to me. “I love you, anyway, baby. Just you. Always.”
We go back to work, and as the night goes on, people come and go. I try not to be too much of a bitch to the skanks who stare at my man from the other side of the bar, but he’s too good to lose; we worked hard to get where we are now, and I’ll be damned if some hootchie thinks she’s gonna flirt with Nik right in front of me.
Meara may be pregnant, but she’s still spunky as hell. “Come dance with me. I love this song!” She pulls my hand and drags me onto the dance floor.
“You’re crazy,” I shout at her.
She just shrugs and jumps up and down and spins in a circle as she laughs and sings along with the song. I try to keep up with her, but I’m too old for this shit. Thank God the music slows, and as I’m getting ready to go back to work, a pair of hands wrap around my stomach from behind.
“Dance with me,” Nik whispers in my ear.
I turn and wrap my arms around his neck. He leans down and rests his forehead on mine, staring into my eyes. When he looks at me like this, like he can’t believe I’m standing in front of him, it makes me feel like the luckiest woman in the world. We don’t really move, just kind of stand there. He sighs and kisses my cheek then begins to sway his hips. We dance in a circle, and as the seconds tick by, my head becomes heavy and I rest it on his chest.
“If I asked you to marry me right now, what would you say?”
My head snaps up at the unexpected question. “I’d say you’re insane.”
“About you, I am.”
He stops moving and digs in his pocket. “Nik …” I breathe.
Without words, he slides a ring on my finger with a square diamond in the center. A very large diamond. It’s simple but beautiful.
“Nik … I …”
“Lisa, I know this is fast, and I know you might not be ready. You don’t have to answer me right now, but I can’t work with you for one second longer without every single fucker who eyes you all night knowing you’re taken.”
I smile. “Why don’t you just piss on me?”
“Because men are visual and if they see a big ass rock on your finger, they’ll get the hint. And if they don’t, then I have a reason to break their eye sockets because clearly—”
“I’ll marry you.”
His frown tilts up one corner at a time and he moistens his lips. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I love the hell out of you, Nik.”
“Damn, baby. I love you too.”
“Just so we’re clear, though—”
“I didn’t only ask you to mark my territory. I asked you because I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to get a house together, I want to have babies with you, and I want to have a life with the woman of my dreams.”
Tears sit at the brim of my eyes and I fight them back from spilling over, but I lose the battle and they slide down my cheeks. “I want that with you, too.”
“Then that’s what you’ll get.”
He wipes the tears off my face then gently presses his lips to mine. “I love you, Lisa. So fuckin’ much.”
“I know.”
He links our pinkies together as we walk off the dance floor and right past the bar.
“Hey, where are you guys going?” Meara yells.
We ignore her and he leads me to the stock room then shuts and locks the door. “You really want to marry me, baby?” Nik asks as he unbuttons my jeans.
“Yes.”
“I’m gonna make you so happy. I promise.”
“You already do.” I moan when his fingers side over my damp panties.
“I’m about to make you really, really happy. There’s just one thing I want from you, the only thing I’ll ever ask of you.”
“What?” I lower my voice at his somber tone.
“Don’t ever fuckin’ forget me again.”
“Never, Nik. That won’t happen again.” I kiss him and grab onto him as hard as I can to try to show him. “When I couldn’t remember, my heart never forgot you.”
“Even if you do, I love you enough for the both of us. I’ll always love you, baby. I loved you when you didn’t like me. I loved you when you didn’t remember me. But I like loving you the best when you love me back.”
Acknowledgments
Nik was only ever going to be a secondary character, and having people love him so much that they asked if he was going to get a book is like a dream come true for me. I have never felt pressure before for when writing, but with Nik, I wanted him to live up to the expectation he’s built up for himself. I hope you loved reading him as much as I loved writing him.
Thank you to Kelly Lincoln, Nikki Belaire, Nicole Richard, Crystal Singer, and Shannon Ferguson for beta reading and telling me what I could do to make Nik even more lovable.
The girls in Anna’s Allies … you guys make me laugh and I count my blessings that you’re there to support me. Thank you isn’t a good enough word.
The amazing Kari from Cover to Cover Designs, I’m in love with the absolute beauty that this cover is. I’m so lucky that I found someone who is able to bring my vision to life. Thank you for your dedication.
Jenny from Editing4Indies, I appreciate your hard work so much and I know my books wouldn’t be the same without you. Thank you for continuing to work with me.
Bree from Vivid Words Editing, you put the finishing touch on my books when I can’t stand to look at them anymore. You’re so wonderful to work with and I’m grateful that you have the time to squeeze me in. Thank you for your hard work.
Stacey from Champagne Formats, even when I throw something on you last minute, you always come through and deliver such a flawless product. I’m so thankful for you.
“Let Me Down” by Three Doors Down is an older song that I happen to come ac
ross again right when I started writing Nik and Lisa’s book. The second it started playing on the radio, I had an instantaneous reaction and knew it was the song for their story.
A HUGE thank you to all the bloggers. I love all of you for your devotion to this Indie community.
One truth can explain everything.
Declan Kelly has spent his entire adult life saving people, all the while avoiding any real connections or emotions. He’s already been destroyed once, and after she ruined him, he knows he’ll never love again.
Almost two decades later, Declan moves back home to raise his daughter around his family. He tried to prepare himself for how he would react when he saw Amie, but could never have anticipated just how hard it would be to remain unaffected.
Amie Dotson knew from the moment she lied that Dec wouldn’t forgive her… but she didn’t want him to. Lying was easier than the truth because he would have stayed for her, and she didn’t want him to miss out on his dreams because of her.
Harboring more than one secret, Amie tries to avoid Declan when she discovers he’s back in town, but when he sees the evidence marring her body, she knows he’ll do whatever it takes to remove the fear from her eyes.
When the truth is revealed, can two people finally find the happiness they lost but never forgot?
Give Me This
Copyright © 2016 Anna Brooks
Published by Anna Brooks
Cover design by Cover to Cover Designs
Editing by Editing4Indies
Formatting by Champagne Formats
Proofreading by Vivid Words Editing
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
