Happily Ever After: A Romance Collection

by Amelia Wilde

  18

  Anderson

  I hate working on Friday nights.

  “Jessica Rabbit?” I stare at the picture this bro handed me, then at the guy who giggles like an idiot at the big boobs in the drawing. “This job takes several sessions. You’d have to schedule it in advance.”

  It wouldn’t. A few hours and he could have the hottest cartoon ever created. But not when he wants me to change her face to his girlfriend’s face. What the fuck?

  “Her birthday is tomorrow,” he stutters. His face loses color and jams his hands underneath his armpits. “I don’t have anything else to give her.”

  “You’re planning to give her a tattoo for her birthday?” I massage my temple. These fucking kids have no clue. “The grocery store has flowers. Maybe try a teddy bear.”

  “No, man. She said do something unique.” He looks up at the ceiling smiling like an idiot in love.

  “A tattoo isn’t the answer, not the one you’re planning.” I glance around the store. Perhaps he can buy some body jewelry. Narrowing my eyes at the poor boy, I decide to give him a lifeline and search for the card of another parlor. Damian is my buddy and we like to refer customers to him when we’re busy. “Try him, he might have time for you.”

  Taking the card, he lowers his head and saunters outside the shop without saying another word. Kevin who stood next to me all this time laughs as the kid shuts the door. “Last one of the night. Do you want to grab a beer?”

  “Not tonight.” I press the wireless lock from the reception desk and pick up my phone at my station. Glancing around, I make sure the station is clean. When I look at my phone, I see a bunch of texts from Aspen.

  Aspen: What’s the name of the tequila I had last time?

  Aspen: Never mind.

  Aspen: This tequila is the best.

  Aspen: What time are you done? I want you to meet Austin.

  Aspen: Never mind, Austin found someone to go home with tonight.

  Aspen: I’m not sure Brynn and I are qualified to drive back home.

  Who the hell is Austin? I check the time she sent the last text, only three minutes ago. I decide to call her.

  “Where are you?”

  “Hey, handsome,” she slurs her words. “I want to dance with you.”

  “Where are you, beautiful?”

  “The Silver Moon.”

  “Stay there, I’ll pick you up in a few minutes.”

  “After I dance with you,” she repeats. “Do you want to dance with me?”

  “I can’t wait to have you in my arms, Aspen,” I say, lowering my voice.

  This woman has turned a switch inside me. She’s turning on a bunch of high emotions I’ve never thought I’d feel for anyone. Last night was the best of my life by far.

  Aspen fell asleep in my arms, tucked beside me. Her heart beating the same rhythm as mine, her soft body leaning against my hardness. I didn’t sleep much. Not when the adrenaline of the mission continued rushing through my veins. This mission wasn’t any different from the others I’ve had throughout the years. Except, I had Aspen in mind. The urge to come out of Syria unharmed consumed me. Someone waited for me at home.

  Son of a bitch, I never thought this would happen to me. Am I in love with her? Maybe. The only thing I know is that she’s becoming the most significant person in the world to me. My steel-like balls begged me to wake her up and find some release. Fuck, I was so horny.

  “Are you going back to your mother’s?”

  I shake my head, searching for my truck’s keys. “No, I’m picking up Aspen. She’s at the Silver Moon.”

  “What’s the deal with her?” He grabs his leather jacket.

  My face becomes rigid, jaw clamped tight, teeth grinding. “What do you mean?”

  Kevin looks at me like he’s unsure or confused. “I’m just asking because you seem to be dating her. You don’t date.”

  I sigh in satisfaction. How do I explain what the deal with Aspen Zimmerman is? There’s something about her that intrigues me. It’s the same thing that’s awakening my heart and making me feel things I’ve never experienced in my life. She’s the light I didn’t know was missing in my life. We gravitate to each other. Our energies complement one another and I find myself thinking about her every second of the day. A part of me feels guilty. I feel like I’m stealing her from another man. The guy who promised to marry her and died. But I can’t help to be selfish.

  “People change. I changed,” I explain heading to the door. “Do you want to join us?”

  “Does she have a sister or a brother?”

  Fuck, of course. Austin is her brother. How could I forget? We have talked about him.

  “She has a brother and a best friend who is like a sister,” I respond. “The latter is with her.”

  “I’ll take either,” he winks at me, “or both.”

  “No,” I warn him. “You don’t want to make things awkward once you’re done with your flavor of the season.”

  “I’m never done. They’re the ones who can’t handle me.”

  Kevin has exes by the dozen. He never wants to talk about what happened and prefers to brush away the details. We never have heart to heart discussions about his relationships. What can I say? Neither one of us were raised to talk about emotions and shit.

  She hates me.

  Aspen loves to torture me. This is the third time she sleeps next to me and there’s no sex. She’s the first woman I spend the entire night with, and I don’t get to touch except for in a platonic way. Today is the worst. She’s been wiggling her ass against my dick. My balls are turning purple. No, that’s not it. It’s worse than ever. The sight of her hair spilled on my pillow. She’s occupying the left side of my bed. She looks good, as if she belongs right here. As if she belongs to me.

  I’m about to lose it when her eyes open wide. Tilting my head, I appreciate my newfound fascination—Aspen waking nestled in my arms.

  “Hi.” Her voice is drowsy, yet sexy.

  “Good morning, gorgeous.” I lay a soft kiss on her lips.

  “I had fun last night.” She nuzzles my chest, kissing the hollow of my neck. My breath hitches just from the touch of her lips. “You’re fun and kiss like a God.” She nibbles on the corner of her bottom lip. Her eyes widen, her face flushes. I love when she’s flustered.

  “A God?” I lean down, crushing my mouth against hers. Our kiss is explosive. My breath trembles as our tongues duel against each other. My hand skims her soft curves down her belly until I find her thighs. I inch her shirt up; then dip my thumb between her legs.

  Stop.

  “I behaved last night, but do you know what I want to do to you?”

  Her breath fastens. “Maybe I do,” she says in a raspy voice.

  My blood boils as the images of finally having her under me screaming my name rush through my head. “You have to tell me if you really want it.” Fuck, I deserve some kind of medal or badge for good behavior.

  Her eyes lock on mine. “I want you to touch me.”

  Her bold words tighten my gut. My body is burning with desire, lust…and above all the necessity to fuse the two of us into one big fire. I crush her lips to hers. She hisses as I circle her heat a couple of times through the thin fabric of her panties.

  “Like that?” I ask. She nods slowly her lips pressed together.

  “You’re going to have to loosen up a little, Aspen.” My fingers move her panties to the side finding her wet core. She arches, gasping against my mouth.

  “You’re wet. Is it for me?”

  She moans as her back arches. “Please.” Her raspy voice begs me for more. “I want you to touch me, savor me, consume me.” Her fingers trace the tattoos on my chest. “While I do the same. Let me hang on to you as we rock into each other.”

  My balls are about to explode with those callous words. Undressing her and fucking her hard is my immediate response. Taking a deep breath, I slow down. This isn’t the first time for either of us. However, it’s our first time
together. Our kisses are different, special. There’s something about her that magnifies everything that happens between us.

  I pull the shirt she’s wearing over her head leaving her naked, only a pair of black lace panties covering her. I slide my hand up and down her light bronzed skin. “If you let me, I’d write our entire story on your skin.”

  “Our story?” She traces the ink closer to my pelvis, then reaching down her had is on my boxers outlining my cock. Pressing her hand against it, she rubs my length.

  “Fuck, fuck.” I shiver, pleasure shooting down my spine. I swallow hard trying to control my body before I come on my underwear.

  “What story, Hawk?” She smirks, sliding her hand up my chest, giving me an innocent glance.

  “The one where the demoiselle saves the soldier in distress and they live happily ever after.” I push my hand through the elastic of her panties, and dip my finger inside her delicious pussy making her moan. Two can play this game, darling. “She warms his cold, lonely heart and they live an adventurous life.”

  “Oh, Hawk,” she groans, her center squeezing my finger, her pelvis seeking more friction. She’ll have to wait. I move my hand out of her heat and place it on top of her soft belly.

  She lifts her face, nibbling my jaw. “Your touch, your words and your kisses mend my broken heart.”

  I press a kiss on each of her eyelids, her nose, her lips, and her chin. I want to reciprocate everything she’s done for me. Skimming my lips down her throat, I stop at her nipples that are hard as pebbles. I cup one tit as I suck the other. “I love everything about you: your hooded eyes as I kiss your silky, golden skin. The lust dripping through your pores when I nibble your beautiful tits.”

  “You are so beautiful,” I reassure her slipping off her sexy underwear as I move down her body. I kiss the birthmark she has right on the side of her left knee. I open her legs and continue my way up, running my lips up the length of her smooth skin until I find it. A tiny feather with the word life is inked close to her crotch.

  “Who touched you?”

  “It was during my graduation trip in New Orleans.” She laughs. “It’s supposed to have birds flying away from the tip of the feather. He was making me uncomfortable and I made him stop.” I trace the tip, figuring out where the birds should’ve been inked. “I’m sure it wasn’t his intention.”

  “I can finish it for you.” Leaning forward I kiss it, tracing the place where I could bring out the birds. “We can add a hawk if you want.”

  She laughs. “Are we talking shop, Hawk?”

  “Nah.” I spank her lightly, spreading her legs open, burying my face between her legs. “Hold on to the headboard. Don’t let it go.”

  I bring my hands up at her center, holding her thighs, kissing her clit. A small gasp leaves her lips as I plunge two fingers inside her pushing them deep. I find her g-spot as my tongue licks her clit, teasing it while enjoying her exquisite flavor. I plan on feasting on her all day.

  “Hawk,” her voice trembles, her breathing is shallow. “More, please.”

  “Fuck, your mouth.”

  Each moan, word, and pant feeds my need to thrust my fingers deeper and faster. My mouth devours her pussy. Her voice suddenly disappears, she stiffens for a second, then her mouth calls my name while her body explodes in pleasure. My body misses her as I stand up to look for the condoms, tearing the wrapper and rolling it down my cock.

  Kneeling on the bed, I place myself between her legs. I lean closer to her. Our gazes meet. There are no barriers, no walls. The darkness has been replaced by shimmering light. She’s beautiful, breathtaking and as I look at her I hope this is the first of many years of lovemaking.

  Aspen takes my length, pressing it against her entrance. “I need you—inside me,” she begs.

  “I need to be inside you,” I whisper, thrusting inside her. Her lips part, her eyes shine blindsiding me. Being inside her is different, she feels perfect, heavenly.

  I push so deep I feel like I’m inside her soul. “Thank you for finding me.” The phrase is a declaration, a promise, a prayer. She moans as I claim her, as I become hers.

  Finally, I found my home.

  19

  Aspen

  “That’s a lot of money,” I stare at the budget Brynn and I made. Opening our own practice is like starting a small business. “What are our options?”

  Brooklyn deflates. “Apply for a loan, rob the bank.”

  “Pole dancing?” We both burst into a giddy laughter.

  “Not sure if we qualify for that amount, we might,” I say out loud. “I just finished paying my med school loans.”

  “The start up cost is ridiculous,” Brynn agrees with me.

  “What if we try to find a practice of a soon to retire doctor?” I suggest. Asking for a loan is scary. If my father were alive, he would help me with the cost. I just know it. “Or I can sell one of Dad’s properties.”

  When my father died, he left me his apartment in New York and the house in Maine. I haven’t had the time to visit them since he died. I pay a company to clean them monthly. That’s money I should’ve saved to open my practice. I have to ask Austin what he did with his properties. If he sold them, I can ask him to back me up until we’re settled. Though when can I do it? He avoids talking about Dad and anything related to him.

  Me: Hey, I want to run something by you whenever you have time.

  Austin: That’s two days in a row that you’re contacting me. Are you feeling alright?

  Me: Yesterday you contacted me. And yes, I’m alright.

  Austin: I’m finishing up some work stuff, give me a few.

  Me: Work, today?

  Austin: Yes, I’ll explain later.

  “Or both,” I say, putting my phone away. “It’s not like I use them.”

  “Do you want to sell them?” She picks her water bottle, her light blue eyes narrowing on me. “We don’t have to, there’re other options.”

  I frown because the house in Maine is a memory I want to preserve, and the apartment is Dad’s favorite place.

  “Why don’t we start searching for offices? There are a ton decisions to be made. Like the location, here or Seattle.” I pick up the paperwork we have to fill out for the state licenses, attaching it to the budget. My eyes skim the numbers for the millionth time. My heart sinks into the floor, a lump forms in my throat. Those properties meant something to Dad, mean something to me. They shouldn’t. They’re just pieces of land, and nothing I can take with me if I die. Still, they are memories of Dad. Our old home is where I felt the safest. The apartment he loved so much. “I’ll contact real estate agents. On second tought, I’ll call my godfather, he lives close by and might be able to help me.”

  Walter takes his role as a second father seriously. He says I’m his only and favorite child. He has two failed marriages, no chidren, and he spent a lot of holidays with us. I’m ot sure why he couldn’t make the marriages work. I was too young to comprehend during the first, and too involved in my high school drama to pay attention to the second one. The man is amazing, and I love him. I have no doubt that if I ask for help he would find the real agents to sell my home.

  “You have a godfather?” I jolt as I hear Anderson’s voice imitating the voice of Vito Corleone. Turning around, I spot him marching toward me. He lifts a finger and says, “I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

  “Not a bad Marlon Brando impersonation,” I concede. “My godfather doesn’t talk that way, though. He’s fun, and might laugh if you do that in front of him.”

  “It’ll be a pleasure to meet him,” Anderson adds with that beautiful smile plastered on his lips and the sadness behind his eyes.

  Anderson leans down to kiss my cheek. “It’s chilly, why don’t you take this party inside?”

  “The cold breeze,” Brynn answers to his question.

  He arches an eyebrow, crossing his arms giving me that ‘I don’t get it” gaze.

  I pick up the budget, handing it to
him. “We’ve found it’s easier to discuss important subjects while we are in an uncomfortable place.”

  “Phew, those are too many zeros,” he states the obvious.

  “Tell me about it.” I huff, frustrated with myself, our situation, and our lack of options. Applying for a job at an already established practice is a solution. Finding a practice who will hire the Brynn and me at the same time is impossible. “How’s Sophia?”

  His mom is flying to New York tonight. Her sister will meet her there. They’re staying in the city for a couple of days to watch Hamilton and then they’re traveling to London on Tuesday morning.

  “Okay. She texted before taking off.” He shrugs. I take his hand and squeeze it. “I respected one of her wishes, but sent her with a bodyguard and a nurse. The world isn’t safe. Her body isn’t as strong as it used to be and…fuck.”

  He combs his hair, squeezing his eyes tight for a second. “What if something happens to her? I wish she had let me go with her.”

  Sophia wants to spend two weeks in Europe with her sister. They always dreamt of going to Spain to watch Spanish style bullfighting. A trip she pushed for another day.

  “You have to live every day as if it’s the last with an open heart,” she said to me. “The heart of a child who is learning about the world and can’t get enough of it. Only then will you enjoy your life fully.”

  The message was clear. Brynn and I jumped into action. Here we are, trying to live our lives. Finding that the benefits of a medical practice are insignificant when facing the cost. Choosing a different path is harder than making the initial decision. The verdict was easy to make, finding a way to make it happen is going to take a lot from us. How long can I stay in the hospital without breaking down? I’m going back to work tomorrow. I talked to my boss about Sophia’s health. Once she’s back from her trip and her health begins to decline, I want to dedicate my time to her. I’m going to help with her daily care. A hospice isn’t the place for her. I know in my heart that she’ll be more comfortable at home.