Freeing Asia

by Abel, E. M.

  “Holy shit!”

  Marcus laughed and finished the job for me, revealing my dream car. A cherry red ’61 Chevy Impala with black leather seats and wood trim. I stood there in awe as I looked at my new car, tears of joy filling my eyes. Marcus came to stand behind me, and he wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “I can’t believe you did this,” I breathed as I squeezed one of his hands in mine.

  He leaned down and whispered into my ear, “I’m living my dream, and now, you can live yours.”

  As I made my way through the gallery, I could still feel my hands trembling. Marcus leaned down, kissing the hand he was holding, and I bit the inside of my cheek as I peered up at him. He looked so incredibly hot in his charcoal gray suit, and my nerves slowly settled when he gave me his sexy smile. He hadn’t spoken much tonight, but I figured he was just taking it all in, like I was.

  My paintings were on display all over the walls, and I was terrified and thrilled at the same time. My palm was sweating against Marcus’s hand, but he didn’t seem to notice or maybe he just didn’t mind. Either way, having my hand in his made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. We stopped when Hailey came running up to me with the biggest smile spread across her face.

  “You just sold another one! I heard that guy in the black suit talking to Stacy about having it delivered!”

  I looked over her shoulder to see Stacy talking to a tall man with blond hair in a suit. They were standing in front of one of my paintings, deep in conversation. It was a painting I’d made when Marcus and I were separated, and I could feel my chest constrict as I remembered the feelings that guided my paintbrush against its surface. I instinctively moved closer to Marcus and squeezed his hand tighter. He released my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling my body tighter to his side.

  “I can’t believe this,” I whispered. I looked around the room full of people drinking champagne and discussing my paintings like they were real works of art.

  “Believe it.” Marcus leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. “You’re amazing, babe,” he whispered against my lips as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

  John walked up with two glasses of champagne and handed them to us.

  “Congratulations, Asia.” He smiled at me and wrapped his arm around Hailey’s waist.

  “Thanks, John.”

  I smiled back at him, and we all clinked our glasses together before taking a sip.

  An hour later, all but two of my paintings had been sold, and it was finally starting to sink in that I had done it. I’d put myself out there and shared my heart with the world, and people actually liked it. Marcus went to talk to a few of his friends on the other side of the room while I talked to my dad, Hailey, John, Nick, and Luke. Shaun was there, but I hadn’t seen him in a while. He was probably somewhere in the crowd, harassing a new girl.

  “This is so fuckin’ cool, Ais!” Nick exclaimed as he stood next to Luke.

  Luke smiled at me with his warm brown eyes. “It is pretty fuckin’ cool.”

  I smiled back as I looked between the two of them. Luke had dark brown hair and whiskey-colored eyes, and Nick had light brown hair and crystal-blue eyes. They made a perfect match, and I was happy that Nick had finally decided to take a leap of faith and give Luke a chance. I had a feeling he was happy he did, too.

  “I’m so proud of you, baby girl,” my dad said. He wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  Just as I was about to ask where Shaun was, I saw him leaving the small bar, walking toward us with a smug grin on his face. I knew that look. He was definitely up to something. When he stopped next to me, I lifted myself higher on my toes to look past him. There was a girl sitting alone with her back to us. She had long auburn hair and wore a red silk dress that fit her perfectly. I looked back up at my brother and raised my eyebrow.

  “Don’t you ever take a day off?”

  Shaun chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry, Ais. Your pussy repellent services will not be needed tonight. She turned me down.”

  My eyebrows raised in shock, and I decided to take a second look at this girl. She already gained some respect from me if she was able to turn down my brother. When he turned on his charm, he was pretty hard to resist. I’d seen it firsthand a million times.

  “Will you stop staring at her? Jesus,” Shaun muttered as he took a glass of champagne from a passing waitress.

  I giggled as I patted Shaun on the back.

  “It’s okay, bro. There’s plenty more fish in the sea.”

  Shaun rolled his eyes at me before something across the room caught his eye. He glanced down at me and then lifted his chin in the direction he was looking. I glanced up to see Marcus standing in the middle of the room, looking at me. He seemed nervous, which immediately made me nervous, too. He reached over, taking a silver fork from a waiter’s tray, and then he tapped it against his champagne glass to get everyone’s attention. I smiled at him as he cleared his throat and tried to loosen his tie from around his neck.

  “Can I have your attention, please?” Marcus announced as he continued to tap the fork against his glass.

  The room grew quiet as everyone turned their attention to my boyfriend, and I immediately felt myself blush.

  “First off, I’d like to thank you all for coming tonight. My girlfriend, Asia, has been dreaming about this night for a long time, and you all helped make that dream come true, so thank you.”

  My smile grew, and my dad gave my shoulders another squeeze as he continued to watch Marcus.

  “For those of you who don’t know Asia, let me just tell you a little bit about her. From the very first time I laid eyes on her, I knew she was special. She has a way of finding beauty in everything, and she uses it to create the art you see on these walls. She can light up a room just by walking into it, she can make you smile just by hearing her laugh, and she can do a kickflip like nobody’s business.” Marcus smiled at me as the people in the room laughed at his joke. He kept his eyes connected to mine as he continued his speech.

  “But the most amazing thing about her is her heart. When she loves you, she does it unconditionally, desperately, and irrevocably. If it weren’t for her love and her heart, I would be lost.”

  Marcus took a deep breath and slowly walked toward me as tears welled in my eyes. I couldn’t believe he was doing this. My heart was beating so hard in my chest that I could hear it in my ears. When he stopped in front of me, he handed his glass of champagne to Shaun. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box before getting on one knee in front of me and taking my left hand in his right one. Hailey, Nick, and I all gasped at the same time. I brought my other hand to my mouth as I giggled, cried, and squealed all at once.

  “Asia, you are the love of my life. You are more than I could have ever wished for in my wildest dreams. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and try to make you as happy as you have made me. Will you make me the luckiest man in the world? Will you marry me?”

  Marcus looked up at me with pure love in his eyes, and I used the napkin Hailey had shoved in my face to wipe away the tears that were probably smearing my makeup everywhere.

  “You’re such an asshole,” I said through my laugh as I tried to clean up my face as best as I could.

  Everyone laughed, and Marcus smiled before leaning forward and kissing my fingers. He peeked back up at me through his lashes, and I smiled at him as I studied his face. I wanted to remember everything about this moment for the rest of my life—the look in his eyes, the light stubble on his chin, the way a strand of his hair fell over his forehead, the rough texture of his hand in mine, the smell of his shampoo lingering in the air. When I got to his lips, I watched them stretch into a bigger smile, and I was quickly reminded that everyone was waiting on me to answer.

  “Oh! Yes! Of course! Of course, I’ll marry you!”

  Marcus’s shoulders fell, and I realized he must have b
een holding his breath. Leaning down, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him as everyone clapped and cheered around us. It was the happiest moment of my life.

  We finally separated, and Marcus stood up and opened the box he held in his hand. When I saw the ring, I felt new tears sting my eyes as I put my hand on my chest. It was my mom’s ring. I quickly looked over to my dad, who was smiling proudly at me with tears in his eyes, too. Marcus took the ring out of the box and gently slid it onto my ring finger where it fit perfectly. He pulled my hand to his mouth and kissed the knuckle above my new ring as his eyes gazed into mine.

  “I love you, babe,” he said as he smiled at me.

  “I love you, too.”

  I reached my arms around his neck and hugged him as tightly as I could. His strong arms wound around my waist, and he lifted me off of the floor as he hugged me back.

  This man was my dream. He was my everything.

  The End

  Shaun and Natalie’s Story

  Preface

  Please, God, no. This can’t be happening. What did I do to deserve this? He’s cute. Look at him. He’s got nice hair and pretty eyes, and he even has a nice body. So, please tell me, why? Why is he pounding into me like a fucking jackrabbit on speed? Why?

  I slowly peeled my eyes open to look back up at the man hovering above me. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and his face was sweaty. His arms were flexed and pulled so tight that it almost looked painful. And he was slamming himself into me as if the harder and faster he went, the better. So. Not. True.

  Didn’t anyone teach him the value of foreplay? He had to be at least twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, so there was no excuse. If he didn’t seem like such a nice person, I would’ve just push him off of me and left as fast as my feet would take me, but now, I felt obligated to at least let him finish. By the looks of things, it wouldn’t take long.

  This was all his fault. I didn’t know his name, but his green eyes, perfect lips, and low rumbling voice were branded into my brain. He was burned there.

  “You’re not wearing panties.”

  I heard a deep raspy voice whisper into my ear as I sat at the small makeshift bar in the gallery, sipping my glass of wine. My back straightened, and my breath hitched as my cheeks grew warm. I narrowed my eyes and turned to face the man next to me.

  The first thing I saw were his piercing green eyes. I’d never seen anything like them. They were the lightest color green, and they were surrounded by the darkest black eyelashes I’d ever seen. As those eyes stared directly into mine, I felt so exposed that I moved my elbow off of the bar to drape my arm across my lap. It wasn’t much, but it made me feel less vulnerable, less open.

  The corners of those eyes were slightly narrowed because of the smug grin that was playing on his lips. His lips were a rosy pink, and the bottom one glistened like he had just licked it. I could just barely make out one small dimple on his left cheek. My heart was racing. I didn’t know how this man’s presence engulfed me, but I was surrounded. He obviously didn’t have a shy bone in his body, and he clearly said whatever he felt like saying, whenever he felt like saying it.

  “Excuse me?” I asked, being sure to sound agitated.

  He leaned back toward me, and this time, I could smell him. He smelled like the ocean.

  “I said, you’re not wearing any panties,” he whispered again.

  My hair tickled my ear as I felt it move with his breath.

  Tilting away from him, I twisted my neck, so I could look at him while putting distance between us. “And you felt the need to tell me this, why? You do realize that I’m aware of what I have on, right?”

  His lips curled into a full smile, and my hand tightened around my wine glass. Holy crap! He was gorgeous before, but when he smiled…oh my god. I caught myself staring at his mouth when he tilted his chin down and looked at his feet, chuckling. Which sounded incredibly sexy, too. Then, he peered up at me through those thick lashes, and my heart thumped even faster.

  “Yes, I just wanted you to know that I’m aware of what you have on and what you don’t have on.”

  No matter how much I wanted him, there was no way I would sleep with this man. No way. From the instant I heard his voice, I knew he was in control. He knew what he was doing, and I would not get caught up in that.

  “Well, it’s been noted but I’m not interested.” I replied as I turned in the stool, so my back was to him. I took a sip of my merlot.

  That was when I felt the front of his shirt against my back. I could feel his heat seeping through the fabric, and it sank right through to my core. My back straightened again, nipples instantly hardened, and I sucked in a deep breath.

  “Too bad. I was really looking forward to lifting that red dress up around your hips and testing how wet I could get you before you begged me to fuck you,” he murmured beside my ear.

  Then, he walked right past me, the shoulder of his suit jacket grazing my arm as he went. I watched as he approached the artist, but I swiftly turned my back to them, resting my elbows on the bar again, as I tried to control my breathing. That man’s aura was spellbinding, intoxicating, and completely dangerous.

  So, here I was, getting humped by a man who fucks like a teenage boy because I was stupid enough to think I could extinguish the fire Mr. Green-Eyes had set inside me with a quick one-night stand with someone else—someone a lot less scary and a lot easier to control. Boy, was I wrong.

  To Aly, for taking an interest in my blog and writing to tell me how much you liked it. Thank you for taking the time to help a clueless writer find her way in this crazy world of self-publishing and for offering to help me without expecting anything in return. You’ve been a great friend and a HUGE help. One day, I’ll buy you that drink I’ve been promising.

  To Jen, for always giving sound advice. Thank you for answering all my questions, no matter how busy you were or how annoying they might have been, and for offering a helping hand when I needed it the most. You listened to my crazy rants and complaints when things weren’t going my way. Thank you so much for your friendship, and your drink is coming, too.

  To my editor, Jovana—I’m nervous to even write this because I’m sure you’ll find a mistake in here somewhere. Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication. Your help has been priceless.

  To all of my Goodreads friends—When I first joined Goodreads, I had no idea I would be building such strong friendships with other women who were as enamored and obsessed with books as I was. Your unwavering support and crazy-ass GIFs have kept me going through some challenging times. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  Most especially, to my crazy girls at The Spot—It was so refreshing to find a group of women who were just as goofy and riDICKulous as I am. Our love for books might have brought us together, but it’s our morbid minds that keep us coming back. I love you all. *creepy wink*

  And to my M&Ms—You know you hold a special place in my heart. You’ve been great friends, and you’ve supported me through a lot. I love you for it!

  And, of course, to my readers—When I began writing this novel, I did not intend to publish it. This was just something fun for me to do. It was another way to express myself and keep my brain working. As a result, you are getting an uninhibited glimpse into my mind and the things that go on there. I hope you enjoyed reading this half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Just knowing that my words may touch your life, even in the smallest way, means the world to me. So, thank you for giving Freeing Asia a chance.