Until My Last Breath

by Tiffany Patterson

  “Sure,” I stated rather tersely, not wanting to make a fuss about it right then since I needed to get back to work.

  “Thanks.” He smiled and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You’re the best.”

  A year ago that little display of affection would have elicited a smile from me, but I felt nothing as I watched him out of the corner of my eye.

  “I gotta go.” He gave my left arm a squeeze before heading off, not even waiting for me to rise from the table after paying the check.

  “See ya later,” I mumbled and rolled my eyes. What was I doing with him? Maybe I was just being a bit cranky because of all of the extra hours I’d been putting in. Cohen hadn’t been lying when he indicated my new promotion left me with less time for our relationship. There were weeks when I was clocking sixty or even up to seventy hours. But the cosmetic company I worked for had just acquired another smaller company, and we were working to integrate our two different systems, as well as train some of the employees of the other company on our systems. The acquisition was what had brought about the opportunity for my promotion, so I wouldn’t shun it or the work. But it did leave me with less of a social life for the time being.

  “Excuse me,” I stated, startled. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts about work and Cohen that I walked right into someone. Oddly, a chill ran through me and I felt goosebumps rise along my arms. I was taken aback by my body’s response, not having been cold at all in the restaurant. It was the middle of spring and a beautiful, sunny day out. It wasn’t until he said my name that the puzzle pieces fell into place.

  “Princess.”

  Not Deborah.

  Princess. As if he’d been saying it regularly for the past five years.

  My head snapped up and my throat constricted. “R-Robert,” I stuttered. My voice was airy, just as it seemed to always be around him.

  “What are you doing here?” he questioned, his dark brown eyes lingering on my face, as if trying to memorize a beautiful painting before the museum took the exhibit down.

  “I-I live here,” I blurted out.

  His head lifted and he looked around the hotel’s lobby which we were standing in.

  “You live here?”

  I shook my head, feeling silly. I tried to take a step back, seeing that we were nearly touching, chest to chest, but it was then I realized he still held my elbow in his grasp. Not too tightly, but firm enough that it would take a little bit of work for me to get away … if I’d wanted to. Strangely, I didn’t have the inclination to move from his grasp.

  “Yes, here in the city,” I responded finally. “I’ve been here for a while.”

  “How long is a while?”

  “Five years.”

  His eyebrows rose. “You moved to Williamsport right after graduation?” he surmised.

  I swallowed, nodding. I glanced downward toward the floor, unwilling to allow him to see the anger in my eyes that rose when I remembered how long it’d been since I’d actually seen him. That final day of our ski trip. The morning after we’d slept together and he hurried out of the room for only God knew what.

  “You’ve been under my nose this whole time.”

  The anger in his voice was what brought my gaze back to his. My head jutted backward in surprise. That was when I finally pulled myself from his embrace, stepping back in an attempt to break the spell he seemed to have me under.

  “Under your nose?” I reiterated, partially to make him realize how ridiculous and possessive he sounded.

  But in typical Robert Townsend fashion, shame was nowhere on his radar. He simply stared at me, nodding as if what he’d said made sense.

  “Robert! We need to be going,” the sharp edge of the male’s voice grabbed both of our attentions.

  I was able to catch an agitated expression marring Robert’s handsome face before he turned, glancing over his shoulder at the man who stood a few feet behind him. The man was an inch or two shorter than Robert but much more robust. His face was reddened and looking just as agitated as Robert’s had a moment ago. Despite the dissimilarities in build and age, I could see the resemblance between Robert and the man. This was Robert Townsend Sr. I’d seen his face many times in the business pages of the national and citywide newspapers.

  “I’ll be there in a moment.”

  I glanced back to Robert, whose voice had been just as short and terse as his father’s. Robert Sr. didn’t respond, simply turning toward the hostess.

  “I need to go as well,” I stated, secretly loathing the idea of parting ways with him, but also torn between the anger I felt.

  “Take my card.” He didn’t even wait for me to respond when he grasped my hand with his and placed his business card in my palm. “When you call just tell my assistant your name and she’ll put you through.”

  I assumed with that he would turn and go to join his father. But I was wrong. He stood there, staring for a few heartbeats into my eyes. I was powerless to look away. And my breath hitched in my throat when a small smile touched his lips. For an instant, it felt as if I was viewing the sunrise after a long slumber. He bent low and pressed a kiss to my cheek. To any passerby it would appear innocent enough. However, the shiver that ran through my body when his lips touched my skin, and while he ran his thumb against the pulsing vein of my wrist, told an entirely different story. There was nothing innocent about this contact.

  “I-I have a boyfriend,” I blurted out for lack of anything else to say. I just needed to make it known that whatever he was thinking couldn’t happen.

  Robert pulled back, lifting an eyebrow, and an entirely different kind of smirk covered his face. “Not for much longer.”

  And with that, he released my hand, taking one last fill of me with his eyes before turning and strolling away to meet up with his father.

  It felt like I stood there for minutes when in reality it was likely only a few seconds. At some point, my brain began functioning again and I remembered that I had a job I needed to get back to. It took the two-block walk back into my office building, a ride on the elevator up to the twelfth floor, and the three minute walk from the elevator doors, through the glass doors of the office and to my desk, for me to recall that I still held Robert’s business card in my hand.

  I placed the black card with silver lettering, which read Robert Townsend Vice President, Townsend Industries, on my desk. Below his name and title was his office number and extension. I ran my finger along the raised lettering on the card, and without a second thought, I brought it to my nose, secretly reveling in the faint smell of him. A mix of strength, cardamom, and cinnamon. I hadn’t forgotten that smell in the half a decade that we’d been apart.

  “Deborah.”

  I startled at the knock on my office door. Dropping the card and turning to the voice that called me, I gave a shaky, embarrassed smile.

  “Jake, how can I help you?” I questioned my boss.

  “Our meeting is in ten minutes. Making sure you have the files.”

  I nodded and smoothed down the side of my knee-length, black skirt. “Yes, they’re right here.” I tapped the manila folder that rested on my desk.

  Jake mentioned a few more notes to be aware of for our meeting before departing. As soon as he did, I slid Robert’s business card into the top drawer of my desk. I needed to focus on work and forget any notions I had of speaking to Robert Townsend again. He and I were long over.

  Or so I thought.

  ****

  Present

  Deborah

  “I don’t like that Cohen guy,” Destiny stated, frowning as we sat around the newly furnished conference room.

  It was a Wednesday afternoon and Destiny, Michelle, Kayla, and Patience had taken time off from work or with the kids to help complete some of the last minute work that needed to get done for the shelter’s soft opening the following week.

  I stood from the cushioned armchair that I’d been sitting in to stretch.

  “Trust me, you really won’t like him once you he
ar the rest of the story.”

  “So tell us,” Patience insisted.

  I shook my head. “We don’t have time. The story isn’t going anywhere and we have a few applications to review.”

  Patience nodded. “I do need to complete the application for that state grant, as well as finish registering us with the local library for visits over the next few months. According to our last count, eight of the women who we’ll be servicing have at least one child. We definitely want to get everyone registered for library cards.”

  “Of course you do,” Michelle joked, teasing Patience because she was passionate about reading and starting children off with a book in their hand. “Also, there’s an opening for an intern at my company. I wonder if any of the women would be interested in event planning?” Michelle mused out loud.

  I shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I’ve found that women who are down and out often want more for themselves. Usually, they just don’t know how to get there and need to be presented with the opportunities.”

  “Amen,” Kayla spoke up, waving her hand in the air, causing us all to giggle. Kayla was the most animated out of all of us.

  “But before we get back to work, you could give us a little more of the scoop on Cohen, right? He really had you paying for his lunch?” Destiny questioned, sounding almost incredulous.

  I chuckled, shaking my head at my own stupidity once upon a time. “He did.”

  “We’ve all done some sort of stupid for a man at one point in our lives,” Patience stated. Again, we all laughed, recognizing the truth of her words.

  “Hell, I married my first stupid.” Destiny shuddered.

  “It’s okay. Tyler was only what? Twelve when you married your first husband, so he was much too young for you at the time,” Kayla joked, referring to the nine year age difference between Destiny and Tyler.

  Destiny swatted Kayla’s hand away, laughing.

  “We’ll save the rest of the story for another day. We’ve got to finish this work day up by five or your father-in-law will be down here demanding I close up shop for the day.” I rolled my eyes thinking about my husband. I’d said it jokingly but it was the truth. My husband was stingy with my time, always had been, and after forty years of marriage, I recognized he always would be.

  “Heck, all five of them would be down here,” Patience stated. “Especially Aaron, as if he doesn’t work crazy hours.”

  I giggled. “He works hard so that you won’t have to.”

  “I know it,” Patience responded before covering her mouth as she yawned.

  “See?” I nodded. “Being a mother of four is tiring enough.”

  She gave me a smile. “Excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”

  Rising, I watched her exit, heading toward the bathroom down the hall. I turned to see Michelle also watching Patience as she left. I didn’t say anything, simply smiled and turned back to Destiny who was asking a question about the budget of our shelter.

  Chapter Ten

  Patience

  “Oh man,” I groaned while covering my face again with my hand to smother my yawn. I was exhausted, as was typical for this particular stage in my pregnancy.

  Just thinking about my pregnancy had me biting my lower lip. I still hadn’t told Aaron yet, because I was not looking forward to his reaction. The fact that he’d had a business trip earlier in the week had made it a little easier to hide my exhaustion from him. But not much. We FaceTimed throughout the day, and he’d asked on multiple occasions if I wasn’t feeling well. For once, it actually irritated me that he could not only run a multi-billion dollar corporation, and be the best father to our four children, but also be an extremely attentive and overprotective husband. Those were all traits I usually adored in him but not when I was holding in a secret.

  Sighing, I stood from the bed and stretched, the cool material of the silk, magenta negligee I wore sliding over my sensitized nipples. I glanced down, realizing they were actually protruding through the thin material. Thoughts of my husband always elicited this type of reaction in my body. Probably why I was in my current predicament. But after missing him in our bed for two whole nights, I wasn’t in a mood to ruin anything by telling him the news. That could wait for later. Right then, I needed him.

  I smiled as soon as the door pushed open.

  Our eyes connected. His ever present scowl had subsided to what appeared as a neutral expression to the outsider, but his eyes always told more of the story. His hazel pupils dilated and his chest fell and rose just slightly faster. His gaze dropped to my breasts, and I saw the moment he noticed my nipples. He hadn’t even touched me—he was still on the far side of our bedroom and I already begun experiencing a pooling in the silk matching panties I wore.

  “Kyle fall asleep?” I questioned, trying to sound casual.

  Slowly, with the deliberate stalking speed of jaguar, he padded silently across the plush carpet of our bedroom. “Yes.”

  I swallowed. “Did he read to you tonight or you to him?” I questioned, pulling at the blanket that covered the bed.

  My breath hitched when his hands clasped around my waist, tugging me backward so my body hit his chest.

  “Both,” he stated low, next to my ear before licking it.

  I sighed and moaned, leaning back against his strength. “I missed you,” I told him as my eyes floated closed while he continued to lick and bite at the column of my neck.

  His left hand moved around the back of my waist, reaching underneath the negligee. “Why the fuck are you wearing underwear?” He growled, simultaneously pulling at the panties from behind, until his fingers reached my core.

  I moaned.

  Aaron reached up, taking a fistful of my locks into his hand and pulling them so my face turned upright to meet his.

  “Answer me.”

  “I was checking on the babies.” Andreas and Thiers, our two youngest sons, had been put down an hour prior to Kyle and Kennedy.

  Aaron frowned, obviously still not liking the fact that I was wearing underwear. I was just relieved that he hadn’t ripped this pair. Lord knows I spent enough on panties because of all of the pairs he’d destroyed.

  I began panting from the movement of his fingers inside of me, gliding in and out of my wetness. Reaching up on my tiptoes, I angled my face toward his. “Kiss me,” I whispered.

  He didn’t hesitate, giving me what I want when he smashed our lips together, his hand still in my hair, holding me at just the angle he needed to take ownership of the kiss.

  His hand slid from my hair to wrap my throat.

  I grew wetter.

  His fingers increased in speed, his thumb began gliding over my distended button, and within moments, I was coming. Just that quickly my orgasm had overwhelmed me, nearly causing my knees to buckle. Only when I was pregnant did I come that quickly.

  Aaron pulled back, breaking the kiss to watch me. We both panted, needing oxygen after our exchange of energy.

  “You missed me?” he questioned, his voice ragged.

  “Of course.”

  My quick response satisfied something in his eyes. “Let me show you how much I missed you.”

  Within a half a breath, he’d bent me over the side of the bed, going to his knees, and I heard the distinct sound of tearing fabric.

  “Dammit, Aaron!” I screeched at his impatience. He could’ve just pulled them down, no need to rip yet another pair of my underwear.

  “Oh!” I yelped from the smack he’d given my ass.

  “I told you to stop wearing underwear in the first damn place,” he grunted.

  I wasn’t given time to respond when his strong hands spread the tops of my thighs and his mouth covered my sex. My arms folded, my head nearly hitting the mattress as my legs began trembling. His hold on the backs of my thighs was firm, not allowing me to move anywhere, even if I had wanted to. My hands twisted in the sheets, grasping for something to anchor myself to as he licked and lapped me up furiously.

  I mumbled his name into
the sheets of the bed, my hips thrusting backward, seeking more of the pleasure he was delivering. Again, just like the first time, my orgasm came upon me quickly. So fast, in fact, that I didn’t have time to brace myself. I screeched and gasped for air as it singed the nerve endings in my body; all the while, Aaron continued to take his fill of my body, until the last tremble.

  My entire body shook as I stood upright, Aaron using his hands to pull the negligee over my head. At least he didn’t rip that.

  He stared at the entirety of my frame, drinking me in with his eyes, adoringly. Even after four children, he still looked at my body as if it were the most precious thing in the world, and made solely for him.

  “I love you,” I murmured, moving closer to him and lifting the T-shirt he wore over his head. I ran my hands over the hard planes and contours of his chest, feeling the faded scars that’d been with him since his childhood. He no longer flinched when I touched them, and the tension in his body always subsided when I put my lips on them, which was what I did then.

  As I kissed along the largest scar that ran across his chest, I felt his hand go to the back of my head. It was soon joined by his other hand, cupping the side of my face, pulling me to stare up at him.

  “I love you so much it hurts.” His voice was so hoarse, and I nearly wept at the vulnerability I saw in his eyes.

  “Take me, Aaron,” I begged, needing to be filled up by him.

  I didn’t need to ask twice. He lifted me up by the backs of my thighs, causing my legs to wrap around his waist, as he strolled over to the bed, laying both of us down. He moved fast, removing the plaid pajama bottoms he wore.

  “Oohh!” I sang loudly as he penetrated me. My husband wasn’t a small man by any stretch of the imagination. But, as it always did, my body adjusted to his size and girth.

  I clawed at his back and shoulders as his hips created a rhythm for me to keep up with. My eyes rolled to the back of my head every time he pushed deeper inside of me. My back arched and my mouth became dry from moaning so much and calling his name. I couldn’t believe I’d gone almost three days without this feeling of him being inside of me.