by Katie Dowe
*****
Christian needed to breathe.
It was odd. He hadn’t felt so suffocated when struggling to draw air into his lungs when there was only smoke.
His family meant well, but they were smothering him.
It galled that he had to sneak out for a walk. But he needed to breathe.
So Christian bided his time until he could sneak away from his mother’s loving but strict eye, and went for a walk. He felt like he’d found freedom, and felt heady with it.
He walked to a park, and sat down on the bench, feeling disgruntled that he was ever so slightly out of breath with just a fifteen-minute walk.
But now that he was alone, he didn’t feel the soothing solitude he’d been looking for; he only felt loneliness.
He missed Heidi.
Maybe he could only breathe when he talked to her. When he saw her smile.
But he’d wanted to get away from his family because of the hints they kept dropping, too. Subtle, they definitely weren’t.
Apparently, they had already gotten him married with a brood of kids, and Heidi was already part of the family.
It should’ve scared him and made him run.
But it didn’t. It seemed to ease that tightness in his heart when he thought about it – when he thought about Heidi, with him.
He wanted them to sit on their porch, sipping something cold on a summer evening, when they were both old and gray. He wanted to watch Heidi soar higher than she thought she could, because she was everything.
He smiled, as his heart settled, slowly. He knew where he was headed.
He was happy with it – happier than he’d thought he could be, when trying to escape his family’s damn matchmaking schemes.
But fate had a way of setting you up in the strangest ways.
He’d needed time to breathe, to get away from everybody. And he had found that what he needed was exactly what his family had been trying to tell him he needed.
What he needed was Heidi.
There wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
Maybe it was time to finally ask his mother for his grandmother’s ring, because in a month, Heidi would be home, and he wanted her and the world to know that she was his.
She would be.
Just as he was hers.
Boy, thought Christian, as he got to his feet and meandered back home, his mom was going to have a field day, telling him she’d told him so.
Heidi would say yes, wouldn’t she? She’d have the world at her feet when she was done with the tour. She could choose everything she wanted.
But he’d be right there, beside her, through every step of the way, if she’d let him.
*****
Heidi had known he’d be there, of course.
She got off the bus and saw him, and everything that was tense inside her seemed to relax.
She didn’t think. She dropped her bags and ran to him, right into his arms, and he swept her up, swinging her around in a circle, leaving her dizzy.
When he finally set her down, she looked up at him, into those eyes, and said the words that sang in her heart.
“I love you.”
He kissed her, and she felt those words swimming through her, from his heart to his, and knew that she was home.
No matter where she went, no matter what she did, she would always come back home. He was her home.
“Let’s go home,” said Christian, and she smiled.
“I think I already am,” said Heidi, and Christian’s eyes darkened with emotion, kissing her again, hard and possessive.
They drove home, and Heidi couldn’t stop touching him, just resting her fingers on his arm, or stroking his face softly.
She had been afraid that she wouldn’t find him there. She had nearly lost him once, and she might not have known what she’d lost.
It terrified her.
That irrational fear had been at the back of her mind for the last month.
But once the fear ebbed away, what was left was need. That need was so powerful that she couldn’t help brushing her fingers against his lips, sliding her hand up his thigh and stroking him, finding him just as needy for her.
“Heidi!” he gasped.
The relief that nothing had changed between them made her laugh.
“I’ve missed you. I missed touching you. I missed how you touched me. Every night, when you texted me, when you told me that you wished you could touch me, when you whispered all those wicked things to me, I needed you. I’d slide my fingers between my legs and touch myself, but it was never enough. I needed you. I need you now.”
Heidi’s words made him grow harder. She stroked him lightly, delighting in how she could make him want her.
The car screeched to a halt, making her chuckle, but it was a breathless sound.
“Inside. Now.”
He grabbed her hand and her keys, fumbling as he opened the door and pulled her up to her door. They were inside in about two seconds, and Heidi found herself being pressed back into the door in a hard, possessive kiss that made her gasp for breath.
There was nothing stronger that the need. It was more than desire.
“Need you,” moaned Heidi as his lips slid over her cheek to her ear, his tongue dipping into her ear and making her shudder.
His hands were everywhere, sliding over her body as if he had to touch all of her at once.
She tugged at his T-shirt, pulling it up and over his head, greedy to feel his skin on hers.
He undid the tie of her wrap dress and slid it open.
Heidi felt his hands moving over her back and arched into him, brushing her breasts against his hard, muscled chest.
He had put on the weight he’d lost. She was glad to see that, to be able to feel that.
Her fingers smoothed over his chest, brushing over his nipples, and she loved how his teeth nipped her earlobe when her nails grazed over his hard, small nipples.
He undid the snap of her bra and slipped the straps down her arms.
Heidi shivered as he cupped her breasts, felt them get heavier as her nipples became hard and large.
“Christian,” she moaned, as he kissed his way down her neck, over her shoulders. She felt his tongue slide over her collar bone and she trembled in his arms.
His hands stroked and teased, thumbs brushing over her nipples, trapping them between his fingers and rolling them gently.
She moaned in his arms, moving her body against his, feeling him grow harder against her.
Her hands slid between them urgently, moving down to his jeans, undoing the snap and pushing them down his narrow, lean hips.
She felt his manhood, hard and throbbing, against her, and she needed him inside her.
Her body slid against his as she went down to her knees, her breasts brushing down him, her nipples growing even harder as she stroked herself along the length of his body, over his throbbing erection.
Heidi smiled as she pressed an eager kiss to the tip of him, before pulling his briefs down, and she sighed when she saw him.
“I missed you,” she whispered softly and licked his shaft, up and down, swirling her tongue around his head, tasting him.
She loved tasting him.
Heidi gripped his hips and took his head in her mouth, closing her lips around him, using her tongue to pleasure him. She felt his hips move, trying to get closer. His hands were in her hair, now messily tumbling around her face, urging her on.
“You feel so good, Heidi. Don’t stop,” said Christian, and she took him deeper in her mouth.
She reveled in how much he needed her as she felt every shudder that ran through his body, his fingers tightening in her hair, his hips jerking as if he couldn’t control himself, as she moved back and forth.
She removed one hand from his hips to wrap around his thick length as she sucked on his tip, stroking his slick shaft as she slid her tongue over his tip, over and over again, feeling his body beginning to tense against her.
She pulled
away, rising to her feet and kissing him, long and hard, her tongue diving into his mouth in blatant invitation.
“Take me. I’ve dreamed of how you’ll take me again. I want you to fuck me, hard, Christian. I want to feel how much you need me. I want to feel how you thought of me every night for the last month.”
His hands tightened on her panties and tugged. She felt them rip and loved how it made her feel.
He pushed her back and against the door, leaning into her from behind. His hands cupped her breasts as his hard cock slid between her legs, brushing against her, sliding between her slick folds and stroking her hard clit.
She moaned as his fingers rolled her nipples as he moved back and forth, taking her higher and higher with the smallest moves.
“Christian,” she moaned, and she felt him pressing against her, pulling back and pressing against her hot, wet entrance.
She arched her back and welcomed him, as she felt his teeth on her shoulder and felt him push inside her, deeper and deeper, with rocking thrusts until he filled her.
“Oh God, yes,” cried Heidi as he started move in and out of her. She pushed back against him, turning her head to find his lips and welcomed the hard, possessive kiss.
His hands gripped her hips as his thrusts went deeper and deeper, driving into her harder with every move.
She cried out, urging him on, demanding that he give her more.
She wanted it all.
“Don’t stop. Christian, don’t stop!” cried Heidi, and she felt his hands leave her hips, moving to her hands braced on the door, covering them as his body drove into hers, slamming against hers, sliding over hers.
She nearly sobbed with the pleasure that was building inside her. It wrenched everything from her, taking her higher, as she reached for that release that she needed so desperately.
“Christian!” she screamed, as she felt his hand leave hers and move down her body to find that little hard button of pleasure between her legs. He stroked her, firmly, and she tumbled over that peak in a rush of pleasure so intense that she stopped breathing. She thought her heart had stopped beating.
But he wasn’t done. He drove her on again, stroking and pounding inside her, taking as much as she could give and giving her even more.
“Again, Heidi. Again. With me this time,” he said, and she was helpless to do less than he demanded.
She was driven over that peak again, and this time, she felt him emptying himself inside her, filling her with his seed. His body jerked against hers, his arms held her tight as he gave her more than she’d thought she could take. Her legs trembled as she closed her eyes and absorbed every shock of pleasure that rocked her system.
“Heidi!” he gasped, as his hands covered her breasts and his body shook in an orgasm that seemed to go on forever.
They stood there, as if frozen, until that trembling stopped, and they couldn’t do more than just slide down right at the door, into each other’s arms.
*****
“I guess you missed me,” said Heidi, making Christian chuckle.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” he said, and kissed her, softly, on the forehead.
They were still tangled together. Neither felt like moving.
But the door was beginning to dig into Heidi’s back.
“This isn’t how I planned to do this,” murmured Christian.
Heidi sighed and settled into his arms.
She could deal with the door.
“I think it’s pretty perfect,” she told him.
She turned to him, her face serious.
“How are you? You’ve put some of that weight back on. That’s good. When will you be back at work?”
He heard the worry in her voice.
“In a week. But I won’t be fighting any fires for a while. I’ve been cleared, but I still have to wait a while.”
She couldn’t help the sigh of relief.
“But I need to do it, Heidi.”
Heidi nodded.
“I know. I would never try to stop you. But I can’t help worrying, either. You know that.”
He nodded, and changed the subject.
“So, you conquered the world, did you?”
Heidi chuckled.
“Not quite. But I’ve got a few lines to tug now. A few offers from agents. Maybe I’ll let one take me on. Apparently I’m pretty hot property now.”
Christian went still.
“Heidi, do you want to go on tour again?”
Heidi shrugged.
“It’s not what I want to do all the time. I like performing. But I love making music a lot more. Touring is necessary, so I’ll have to do it for a couple of months a year. But for the rest of the time, I’d rather be home.”
She felt Christian relax.
“Why?” she asked.
Christian hesitated.
This wasn’t how he’d planned to do it.
Not at all.
But they hadn’t done anything the traditional way, had they?
It worked for them, apparently.
So he leaned over and grabbed his pants.
“Going somewhere?” asked Heidi, startled.
“No. Something I need to get,” said Christian, reaching into a pocket.
Of course, it was in the last pocket he checked.
Heidi sat up, trying to see what he had in his hand. But he kept it in his closed fist.
“Heidi, I have something to ask you.”
Heidi looked alarmed, but she nodded.
Christian smiled. She looked like the goddess he knew she was. Naked, dark, glowing – she was everything he needed.
The tense little knot inside his heart loosened a little bit.
Suddenly, he wasn’t unsure. He knew.
He knew that they belonged together.
He knew that they always would.
“Heidi Richards, I love you. I fell in love with you when all I could do was feel. I gave you my heart when my heart was all I had to give. I gave you myself when I couldn’t say the words. All I could do was hope that I could have the chance to say the words. Now that I do, I don’t ever want to stop saying them.”
“Christian,” said Heidi, her eyes soft and shimmering with tears, and leaned forward to kiss him softly.
“Wait, I’m not done,” said Christian.
Heidi sat back, her lips curved in a small smile.
He opened the fist, and she saw a ring in the palm of his hand. It was gold, with a ruby set in it.
“This is my grandmother’s ring. Her name was Ruby, so my grandfather bought her a ruby. My mother told me that when I met the woman I was going to marry, she’d give this to me. She gave me this ring the day I made up my mind to ask her for it. But she gave it to me before I asked her.”
Heidi felt her heart beat faster, and faster.
“Heidi, will you marry me?”
Heidi had to swallow once, then once again, before she could say a word.
There was only one word she needed to say.
“Yes,” she whispered, and flung herself into Christian’s arms.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes!” she cried, as if now that she had said it, she couldn’t stop saying it.
“Thank God,” whispered Christian, holding on to her as if she were his life.
She was his life. She was everything.
“We’ll figure out the details. We’ll move wherever your career takes you. Firemen are needed everywhere, after all. But you’re mine, Heidi.”
“And you’re mine, Christian,” said Heidi, and kissed him, long and hard.
When they broke apart, they were laughing.
“We’re getting married,” said Heidi.
She looked absolutely delighted with the idea.
“We are,” said Christian, and he looked as happy as she felt, too.
“We need to tell everybody,” said Heidi, laughing, springing up.
“First this,” said Christian, and held out his hand.
“I almost forgot the ring. Can you
imagine? I almost forgot to let you put the ring on!”
Christian laughed and slid it on.
“It fits,” said Christian.
Heidi looked at it and smiled.
“Of course it does. We fit. So it fits. Everything’s right, Christian. We’ll make it all fit.”
Heidi hesitated for a moment.
“Gina gave you the ring?”
Christian nodded.
“What do you want to bet that Mrs. Spinelli has listened to the whole thing? And is on the phone to Gina?”
Christian went pale.
“How much do you think Mrs. Spinelli heard?”
Heidi laughed, long, loud and deep.
“Oh, I bet she heard plenty. And I have a feeling she’s going to hear a lot more. If they already know, we don’t need to get dressed and go out to tell them, do we?”
Christian shook his head.
“I guess not. Got anything in mind?”
Heidi’s grin was wicked.
“Lots of things. But this time, I’d like my soft bed. And I think you should move in with me, for now.”
“Already so bossy,” said Christian, following her to the bedroom.
“Very bossy. Now I’m going to tell you exactly what to do, Christian, and you are going to do it all to me.”
*****
Later, Heidi wondered if she’d ever be able to sing the song in her heart. She held Christian as he slept in her arms, and knew that it would be the truest love song of all, if she could sing it.
Maybe one day, she would.
It would be a hit, and she’d thank Christian when she got her Grammy.
Dreaming big had gotten her that far. Heidi had no intention of stopping.
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