Revived

by Christine Michelle

  Instead of responding, the infuriating man simply kissed me, then took my hand and led me up the stairs to the master bedroom. “Fast and hard or soft and slow?” He asked.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he meant. “Which one of those falls under, I need you now, so get naked?” It was a tease, but I knew what I wanted. Hell, what I needed, after waiting so long for him to find his way to me completely.

  “Right,” he told me as he lifted the dress I was wearing right off my body. “We’ll go slow later.” Our clothes quickly fell away, at least that’s what it felt like as each layer was peeled off and we were left standing there, naked before one another. There was a brief moment where we both just looked our fill before I found my bold self again and directed Gabe.

  “Lie down!” It was an order that he instantly moved to follow. Last time, he had dominated our experience, this time, it was my turn. I slipped up his body from the end of the bed, trailing my fingers along his body as I went. I started down by his ankles, running my nails up his legs. Along the outer portion of his lower leg, then circling over his knee before I raked my nails up those remarkable thighs of his. I hesitated a moment when I reached the still angry, puckered scar he had obtained from being shot and the subsequent surgery. I leaned over and placed a gentle kiss there.

  “Mel,” he heaved my name into the air around us, both a desperate plea and something else. I turned my eyes back up to meet his as I kissed there again, and then began moving higher. His fingers immediately sifted through my hair, tangling in the curls as I reached the apex of his thighs. “Mel,” he called my name again. “You don’t…”

  “I don’t have to do anything,” I breathed the words against the tender skin where thigh met groin, and his balls hung heavy while his cock lay hard along his lower abdomen. “I want to do this though,” I managed to tell him before sucking on the tender skin of his scrotum and then lapping my tongue all the way up the length of him until I was kissing the very tip of his cock, already dripping precum for me. Another lick, and his accompanying groan was music to my ears. I licked, sucked, and attempted to take as much of him into my mouth as was possible, pushing past my normal comfort zone as I did.

  Gabe’s hands were my meter. When I was making him feel everything, they clenched tightly in my hair, tugging and pulling me to where he needed the most attention. Then there were moments where he would yield a bit, loosening his hold just so he could watch as my lips slid up and down his cock at a languid pace before resuming a more hurried pace once more. I brought him to the edge, several times before releasing him and sliding my body further up his own.

  Hands that were once entwined in my hair slid down to my shoulders, then cupped my breasts as I positioned myself center just above his saliva-slickened cock. I reached a hand back to grab him and hold him up as I slid down and his responding grip on my tender breasts was almost too much to handle. Sliding down his length was both heaven and torture. He filled me so perfectly that it brought tears to my eyes. This is what we’d both been missing, what we’d both talked ourselves out of with our self-destructive behavior. He hadn’t been solely to blame for the way we collapsed before. We’d both played our parts thanks to the baggage we carried with us. This, the feeling of being so connected to him again, finally felt we were in the right moment, together.

  “Mel,” he groaned my name as I rose up and then impaled myself with his manhood all over again. “Jesus, Mel. What are you doing to me?”

  I leaned down, breasts squished to his chest as he held onto my hips, and I whispered in his ear. “I’m fucking you. You ready for hard and fast yet, baby?”

  “God, yes!” He hissed as I got to it and started rolling my hips while rocketing my body up and down his length. Every time the tip of his cock was all that remained inside of me, I would squeeze my muscles, giving him a little hug and tug before falling back down on him. Each down stroke and grind meant my clit was also being assaulted by his pubic bone. That was, until Gabe decided to take control from the bottom. He’d had enough of giving over the control and began lifting his hips to pump them furiously up, meeting each of my downstrokes with more relentlessness than before. His thighs slapped against my ass, our grunts were part of the symphony we created, and the magic didn’t end there.

  Just as I was about to tip over, he pulled back. The tease. He pulled back and grinned at me as ran his hands up and down my body so reverently I didn’t know how to respond. Instead, I just watched for a moment, my own hands planted firmly on his chest. Then, slowly, I began to roll my hips as his hands made their way back in an attempt to circle my waist and guide my movements. Only, he didn’t stop there and do that. Instead he slid one hand between us until his thumb caressed my clit with every movement I made. The other hand slid back up, cupping my breast again, tweaking my nipple, and then finally he rested it with fingers wrapped around my throat.

  The hold wasn’t too tight, but definitely not loose either. It was just enough to let me know that he was in charge and things were about to shift again. Then, with barely a thought between movements, I was lying on my back and he was grinding his cock into me once, twice, before pounding into me with all his effort. Our bodies slapped together, his grip on my throat tightened for a moment and then released long enough for him to lean in and lick at my lips. It was his ask. He wanted me to open for him and I obliged.

  Our tongues tangled with one another to the same rhythm our bodies rocked together. “You’re mine, Mel. Now and always. Understand?” Each word was punctuated by a thrust and then the tightening of that hand around my throat. I attempted to nod. Gabe just smirked down at me and then released his hold as he instead reached down and tossed my thighs up his chest so that my knees bent over his shoulders, and the heels I’d worn that night – the only thing he’d demanded I leave on when we disrobed – scratched into his back as he continued his relentless pace of pounding into my body. It only took a few more thrusts before I plunged over the precipice and fell into a beautiful oblivion. He chased right behind me, emptying himself into my body with each pulse of warmth that seemed to shatter me even further.

  24 – Revived

  Waking up next to Mel was a dream come true.

  It’s what should have happened the first time we were ever together. Our timing was still off then. Even I could see that now, thanks to the ongoing therapy I was getting. We were both getting. Mel was going to see someone too, in order to work through her feelings about what happened with her previous marriage and her family. She still wasn’t speaking to them, but her therapist assured her that was okay. For now. Eventually, she’d need to face things and make her peace with them. Whatever that meant for her. No matter what, I’d be there when she did.

  A knock on the door roused me from my thoughts as I pulled Mel tighter to my chest and made sure she was covered up. “You up?” Chevy called through the door.

  “Yeah,” I called back as I felt Mel stirring beside me too. She quickly pulled the sheets up tighter so that the only portion of her nude body that could be seen was her shoulders, neck, and head.

  “That better have been Mel you were banging in there all night long,” he called out and several different rounds of laughter let me know my son wasn’t out there alone. My eyes narrowed immediately.

  “I think you’d know better than to disrespect Mel by talking about her like that, and to an audience.”

  “Shit!” We heard Chevy hiss out. “Sorry, Mel.”

  “It’s a good thing I’m the one here, or your dad would be in big trouble right now, Chev,” she called out, much to the amusement of my son’s brothers.

  Chevy stopped chuckling long enough to respond. “We’re grabbing breakfast, want me to make any for you guys?”

  “Yeah, we’ll be down in a minute,” I answered.

  Mel’s brows rose in question. “Sweetheart, we went four solid rounds last night, and the chicken tacos did not withstand that energy output.” It was her turn to laugh at me, but then h
er stomach growled, and I just gave her an ‘I told you so’ look.

  Mel sat up and popped my chest lightly with her hand. “Speaking of, I’m proud of you. I didn’t think you had that many rounds in you, old man.”

  “Old man? I’m not even 40 yet!” I grabbed for her, but she was too quick and on her feet beside the bed before I could get purchase.

  “Yeah, but you’re so close to being over the hill,” she teased. I might not have caught her before she leaped out of the bed, but I did manage to get a hold of the sheet that was still wrapped around her though, and I tugged, hard. The sheet tumbled off her body, leaving her body bare to my sight. There were some light bruises along her inner thighs as well as some pretty notable hickies on the swells of her breasts.

  “Was I too rough with you last night?”

  “Not even close, Mr. Northman.”

  “Good. Later, I’m going to see if I can’t plant matching purple marks on the bottom of those luscious tits too then.” Mel laughed before moving into the bathroom and getting the shower started. “Mind if I join you?” I asked as I walked up behind her and wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulder while pulling her back to my front.

  “I was hoping you would,” she told me. “Though, this is just for water conservation purposes. I think I might actually need a breather, and some food, before we go again.”

  Mel didn’t look tired, just sated. I trailed my hand down her satiny skin and then gently turned her to face me. “Seriously, was it too much?”

  “No. My body just needs a minute.” She flushed from chest to cheeks again. “I’m a little sore,” she finally admitted as we both ducked under the dual shower heads.

  “Whatever you need, sweetheart. We’ll get you some Motrin with breakfast.”

  “Oh great!” Mel barked out a laugh. “Chevy will never let me live that down, and you’ll be the stud of the year for all of them.”

  “Good. Let them follow my example.”

  “And what example is that?”

  “Hold out for the woman you can’t live without, and then never let go, even if that means you have to wear her out so she can’t walk away.”

  “You are too much,” she told me as our laughter melted in a kiss under the stream of hot water that washed away all of our old bullshit and put a shine on what was to come.

  ~*~

  6 months later

  “Mel, are you ready?” I called from outside the guestroom door where John and Jade had graciously allowed us to stay for the past three weeks. Mel had been picked, by an actress she worked with on set in Georgia, to accompany her to a movie set in Los Angeles. Since I no longer had my own house there, John put us up. He maintained his place there while having a new house built in John’s Creek so that all of our families could be near one another.

  “I’ll be down in a minute,” Mel called out. Little did Mel know, she was coming downstairs to a completely changed house. It had been a challenge to have things set up while she was still in the house, but her schedule at the studio had changed, so there was no getting around it.

  “You sure you’re ready for this?” My son asked me as we put the finishing touches on everything.

  “Never been surer of anything in my life.”

  “That’s good, because you might be my dad, but if you fuck up and hurt her, I will end you!”

  I pulled my son into a hug and held on tight for a moment. “I appreciate that you think so highly of Mel that you would end me for hurting her. I want you to hold true to that, always.”

  Chevy had come in late last night to be here for this. It was the three of us in the beginning, learning who we were around one another, and I thought it was only fitting that he should be there as we took the next step in our lives too. Upon hearing the bedroom door click shut upstairs, we both moved to the bottom of their stairs where she would be able to see us and we’d be able to get a look at her. I’d told her to dress as if we were headed to an award ceremony.

  Mel did not disappoint. She wore a black, shimmery dress with thin straps holding it in place on her shoulders, while the swells of her body were accentuated with each movement she took. It was like liquid sex, as she began to descend the stairs, still not having taken notice of us yet. Her thigh peeked out as she stepped down again. It was then that I leaned over and covered my son’s eyes. He definitely shouldn’t see his soon-to-be stepmom looking so completely, breath-takingly fine. It must have been the movement I made that had her glancing up from the steps toward us. I should have known, she was probably so intent on each step, to keep from tripping in those ridiculously high heels she had on.

  “Oh my God!” She called out as a hand flew up to cover her mouth. “Chevy! What are you doing here?” She called down to him before starting to make her way to us a bit quicker.

  “Maybe I should be jealous,” I joked.

  My son winked at me and then smiled broadly at the woman who was quickly closing the distance. “Are you saying you missed me, Mel?”

  “Of course, I missed you!” She cried out, and it was only then that I noticed she really did have tears in her eyes. “It’s been months since I’ve seen you.” When Opal finally put her foot down about their relationship being over, Chevy took off for a while to go find himself and explore some different styles of music. His brothers were still in school, and Kendra had put a firm foot down about them finishing school before they ran off to be rock stars. It was something we were all still working on her about.

  Chevy hadn’t returned until two days after we had departed for California, so this was the first time they had seen one another in person since. “You look well, that’s good,” she cooed as she finally made it to the step just above where we stood. Mel launched herself at my son, wrapping her arms around him, and vowing to never let go again so he couldn’t wander off and leave her worried again. Her unconditional love of the both of us was why tonight was happening. There wasn’t a day in our future that I wanted to live without her. In the past six months, we both had birthdays. She cried on hers and made me celebrate mine. I knew why she cried. The older she got, the more hopeless having a baby seemed. Not that we’d been officially trying, since I wanted to be married first. We hadn’t exactly been careful about things though.

  “I missed you too,” Chevy whispered into her ear, but the emotion, thickening his voice, made it sound out loud and clear to me too.

  “So, tell me, what are you doing here and why are we all dressed up tonight?” Mel finally asked as my son and the love of my life finally let go of one another.

  Chevy turned his cocky grin on me and then shot a wink back to Mel. “Might want to ask my dad that question. Seems he has something up his sleeve tonight.”

  Mel turned curious eyes my way, but only momentarily, because it was then that the rest of the grand room behind us finally came into focus for her. Her gasp was precious as her hands once again shot to her mouth in an attempt to hide her surprise. If only her wide eyes didn’t reflect the shock she felt back into the world. She glanced between the decorations, my son, and then me. “Are you serious?”

  That was when I got down on one knee and took Mel’s hand. “Melanie Gusterson,” I said, calling out the name she had kept even after her divorce. That was the other reason this needed to happen. There was no way I’d continue to let her live with that name as her own. “I love you with all that I am; and there is not a day that I have left on this Earth, that I don’t want to spend it breathing the same air as you.”

  “Gabe,” she breathed out.

  “We started this journey together, getting to know one another, and thought Chevy should be here when I asked you to become a permanent, legal part of our family.” My son chuckled then.

  “So much for the romance,” he quipped under his breath. I ignored him.

  “Will you marry me, and take us both as your family from now until forever?”

  “That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard,” Melanie managed to g
et out in between sobs that started. She took the last step off the stairs and then squatted down so that our faces were even. “We’ve been a family all along,” she told me. “But yes, I will marry you and remain yours, forever.”

  “That’s all I ever wanted,” I managed to get out as I slipped the antique cut diamond ring onto her finger.

  “All right, so are we headed to Vegas to make it official tonight, or what?” Chevy teased. Though, his idea had some merit.

  “Don’t even think about it, Mister. We’re going to have a real wedding, with our friends there as witnesses because this is the one that I want to remember forever.”

  “I never knew how much I’d let myself just die inside until you two came into my life. Thank you, both,” I told them. “I’ve been revived, and you’re the reason.”

  “The Reason, huh?” Mel teased, reminding me about how I once sang that song to her as an apology for being an asshole. Thank fuck she heard me.

  Epilogue

  Two years later

  “Just breathe,” I coached. Then another contraction hit me, and it was all I could do to stay upright. That time, Gabe noticed.

  “Sweetheart, you have something going on over there?”

  “I’m fine,” I tried to say, though the fact that it came out through gritted teeth probably made my words less convincing than the fact that I’d used the two most hated words a woman can use with a man.

  “You don’t look fine,” he told me as he moved closer and put a hand on my belly. “Jesus Mel, that thing is rock hard.”

  “What’s going on?” Chevy asked as he ran back in the room with the ice chips the attending nurse had failed to bring earlier.

  “Oh, not much. Mel’s been helping your girl through her contractions while trying to hide her own,” Gabe told him in a rather nonchalant way.

  “What?” Chevy shrieked. “No fucking way.”

  “Watch your mouth, I don’t want the baby’s first word to be the f-bomb,” the other woman in the room called out.