by Hart, Eve R.
He kissed me like a man desperate to wake me from a long slumber.
And he did.
I came alive under him.
I became needy in a way that I had never been before.
I felt his cock slide between my folds, spreading my wetness around as he slowly rocked his hips against me.
“Please,” I moaned out as I tore my lips from his.
I couldn’t wait any longer.
I needed this man right now.
He reached down, his eyes never leaving mine, never blinking.
I felt him right where I needed him the most, his blunt tip right at my throbbing entrance.
My hands were on his hard ass urging him on. My fingers dug in as if I could move his brick wall of a body the way I wanted.
He hissed as I scraped my nails up his back and with a jerk of his hips, he was deep inside of me.
A moan ripped from my throat as my back bowed into him.
“Don’t stop,” I whispered out as I forced my eyes open to look at him.
“Fuck no,” he said right before he pulled back slowly then sharply thrust back into me.
Over and over again. There was a slow, aching burn as he left me that wasn’t left to linger too long.
His muscles flexed beneath my fingertips as they dug into his lower back. My legs tightened around his waist in hopes of feeling him as deep as possible.
“You’re so fucking amazing, Claire,” he breathed into my ear and I felt his words ooze down every inch of my body.
I was floating. Yep. This was Heaven, I was convinced of it.
I felt amazing. I felt beautiful. I felt cherished.
“Claire.” He sounded strained as he gritted out my name. He was close, I could feel it.
I clenched around him as tightly as I could, feeling him stretch me back open every time he pounded into me.
And as his arm slipped under my knee, pulling my leg up slightly, I felt him rocking against my swollen clit.
“Oh,” I called out sounding way too shocked at the new sensation.
His knee slid up the bed and suddenly, I was even more open than before.
I couldn’t even tell him how close I was because, in the blink of an eye, I was coming harder than I’d ever come before.
I was floating so high that I didn’t even care that I was more than likely soaking his cock and the bedspread below.
My name ripped from his throat, raw and almost angry, as he planted himself deep inside me and came.
As he released my leg, he half collapsed onto me.
I held him close. His fast breaths fanned over my neck and the smile was permanent on my face.
He didn’t say a word.
Neither did I.
Because there were no words to say at the moment.
And it was perfect.
Moments later, he shifted away from me and I winced as he slowly slid out of me. It hurt only because I was still so sensitive.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly and placed a sweet kiss on my lips right before he rolled away.
“Please don’t be,” I said with a smile as I turned my face to look at him.
“Wasn’t too much?” he asked and I could see the pain in his eyes like he was worried that he might have scared me off or hurt me.
“It was perfect,” I told him honestly. Clearly, I was still in a daze.
My eyes felt so heavy and I couldn’t keep them open anymore. However, I still felt the smile on my face, so big it made my cheeks ache.
His low chuckle filled my ears and I did my best to raise a questioning brow at him without opening my eyes. I was faintly aware of him shifting around, removing the condom, I assumed.
“You’re so fuckin’ cute,” he said.
I hummed because I couldn’t do much more than that.
“Are you staying?” he asked softly.
I think I nodded. In my head I did. I wasn’t quite sure so I opened my mouth and forced out the only word in my head right now.
“Please.”
I was half-aware of him lifting me up and then the soft, cool sheets falling over my body. I rolled over into his side the moment I felt him settle in beside me.
I fell asleep instantly, his warm, big hand heavy and comforting on my hip.
“Mine,” I heard him whisper. Or thought I had.
And, well, yeah… I was.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Cable
Yep.
I was keeping her.
Not that I had any doubt about that before.
But now, I knew there was no way I’d let her walk out of my life.
Despite everything she’d been through, Claire was the hottest kind of warmth.
It might not have made any sense and I couldn’t really explain it, but she made something in my soul hum with the kind of song that you only imagined in Heaven.
She was fast asleep, curled up into my side, and I was wide awake afraid that if I closed my eyes she would disappear.
Hours later, she wiggled against me and moaned. My lids blinked slowly as I felt her head tilt to look up at my face.
“You’re still awake?” she asked and a tiny yawn escaped her mouth.
“Yeah,” I said with a small smile as I turned my head so I could look into her beautiful eyes.
“You okay?” Her brows pinched together with deep concern, and maybe a hint of fear, too.
“Just perfect,” I said trying to set all the worries that clouded her mind at ease. I kissed her forehead then looked back into her eyes. “Tired?”
“No,” she said as another tiny yawn slipped out. She shook her head like she wasn’t going to let the sleepiness win. “Talk to me.”
“Okay,” I said and tried to think of something to say. “You said your parents used to take you to play mini golf. You were close to them?”
I wanted her to think of the good memories. I could tell something tragic must have happened and I wasn’t ready to push her on that subject. But maybe if she talked about the good parts of her childhood, she’d feel more comfortable talking about the other stuff when she was ready.
She shook her head and I lost her eyes for a second when she looked away.
“No,” she said softly. “I’m sorry but I can’t. I keep those in a box. It’s mine. The one piece of me that I’ve gotten to keep all this time. I’m afraid if I share it then I’ll have nothing left of myself that’s whole. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” I said with a small smile. “I get it.”
My heart broke to hear that, to know that was how she felt. That she felt like she had to keep them locked up like that just so she wouldn’t lose herself. I didn’t know everything that she’d been through, but I was smart enough to grasp that she probably had to do things she didn’t really want to do. I didn’t judge her for it. How could I? Not only had I never been in some of the situations she had been, but I also had never been to the point where I was so afraid that I wouldn’t make it that I’d do anything to survive.
So I couldn’t blame her one bit for wanting to keep a little piece to herself.
“What about you? Are you close to your parents?” she asked.
“Yeah. Well, it’s just my mom now. My dad passed away from a heart attack four years ago. She loved my dad like crazy but she’s also not the type to let it get her down.”
“Does she live close?”
“About four hours from here. I go down a couple times a year to see her.”
“Siblings?” she asked to keep the conversation going.
“Nope. Mom always said one was enough for her. I was… maybe a bit of a hellion when I was younger.”
She laughed and looked at me with wide eyes.
“I can’t see it,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me like she was trying to picture it. “No. You’re so… calm and easy going. I don’t know. I just can’t believe you were a troublemaker.”
“I was. My mom was forever telling me that I just gave her another gray hair.” I
laughed as I imagined her yelling at me with her frustrated finger pointed in my direction. She was a short woman and I was taller than her by the time I was fifteen. But that didn’t make her any less terrifying when she gave me the angry mom face. “They were good parents though. Always loved me, no matter how much shit I got into.”
“How did they meet?” she asked.
So then I told her the story of how it all started.
My dad was in his early twenties and one of his friends had one of those destination weddings on a beach in Mexico. My dad was one of the groomsmen. The night before the wedding, all the guys went out to a bar and had a round. My mom was a waitress there.
“Dad said the moment she smiled at him, he knew. And he said he wasn’t going back home until she came with him. He ended up staying there for three weeks. Spent all the money he had saved up and even lost his job.”
I shook my head thinking what a horrible example he made. But then again, could you really hate a man that did all that for love.
“My gramps threatened to go down there and drag his ass back. But my dad didn’t care,” I went on. “He asked her to marry him every day he was there.”
“I’m guessing she finally said yes,” Claire said and I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Yep. When she did, they went out and found someone to marry them that night. And her parents weren’t all that happy about it and pretty much disowned her.” I let out a sad sigh.
My mom never much said anything about them. She made the choice to leave despite what she was losing. I never could figure out if it was because she was so young and didn’t really think things through, or if there was something with her parents that she didn’t mind walking away from.
I blindly reached out and felt around in the drawer on the nightstand. I pulled out a stack of pictures I kept in there. I’d been meaning to put them out but it felt a little weird to have my parents staring at me while I did some of the things I did in here. I had them ready and waiting for that day when I felt the need to get a place of my own. And a living room that I could display them in.
“That’s them,” I said as I held up one of the pictures. “This one was taken the day they bought their house. Mom still lives there.”
With gentle fingers, she lifted the picture so she could see it.
“Clearly, I get my height from my dad and my skin color from my mom,” I said like it wasn’t obvious.
“It’s a good combination,” she said with a little giggle. “Wow, she’s so beautiful. They look so happy.”
“That’s how I always see them in my mind.”
I handed her another picture. This one a few years later. My dad had his arm around my mom and they both had the exact same expression on their faces as they had in the picture before.
Claire’s smile grew wider as she took it from me.
Then another one, taken at the last wedding anniversary they got to spend together. Their faces held more wrinkles and lines but the same spark of happiness was still shining brightly in their eyes.
“And before you ask, no I don’t speak Spanish,” I stated because I got that question a lot.
“Really?”
“Nope. I mean not beyond high school level and let me be honest about that, I didn’t really pay that much attention.” I gave a little shrug. “My mom sort of left everything behind when her parents disowned her. I’m not all that sure why. Whenever my dad wanted a burrito she made him leave the house to go get one.” I let out a short laugh. “I think she felt like she needed a fresh start. She already knew how to speak English because she worked in a tourist town. So, I think she just stopped speaking Spanish altogether once she moved here. I got the sense sometimes that my dad didn’t agree with that decision, but he loved her no matter what she chose to do.”
“So, you don’t know anything about her side of the family. You know, heritage and culture and stuff?” She sounded a little sad about that.
“Not much. It’s strange though, the older I get, the more she lets it in a little. I think she’s starting to realize that just because she left her family behind doesn’t mean that she had to leave herself behind as well. I don’t know. That probably makes no sense.”
“No. I get it.”
Her hand slid up my chest and then her fingers were lightly grazing over my beard. I wasn’t sure if she was even aware that she was doing it.
I liked having her hands on me and it felt nice, so I wasn’t about to say anything.
“I like your beard,” she finally said after a long moment of silence slipped by. “It’s soft.”
Her fingers skated over my lips and I kissed the tips.
“So, this club thing… I’m not sure I understand it all,” she said. “Sketch talks about you guys a lot but he doesn’t really talk about the club and all that. You know? It is like a life thing or something?”
“Not really sure what you mean but if you’re asking if this is the place I see being for a while, then yeah. This is my home. These people are my family. They accept me for who I am and they have my back, even if I don’t know that I need them to have it.”
“I think that was what I was searching for… for a long time. I was a kid and I didn’t know anything. I just felt unwanted and unsafe everywhere I turned.” She got quiet on me and I thought that maybe I’d lost her.
My fingers lightly skimmed over her skin, touching her everywhere that I could just so that she would know I was there.
“Sketch was there when I didn’t think I’d be able to go on,” she said, her eyes still looking unfocused. “He found me when I was lost and it was like he cared right away. He didn’t have to. It’s hard enough watching out for yourself out there, let alone someone else. But he did it for me. And not just me, too. I’m glad he has people to do that for him now.”
“He’s one of a kind, but he’s still a brother,” I said with a small chuckle.
“He’s so different now but still the same. It’s strange.”
“I didn’t know him back then but I’ve seen glimpses of the marks that life left on him.”
“Yeah,” she said in a whisper. “I don’t think that ever goes away.”
“Claire,” I said softly in an attempt to get her to look at me. She eventually dragged those beautiful eyes up to meet mine. “I think you’re amazing.”
It wasn’t the most epic thing I could have said but it was the best I could come up with. And it wasn’t a lie. I really did think she was pretty fucking amazing.
The blush hit her cheeks instantly and I tilted her face up so I could kiss her lips.
“Now,” I said as I softly brushed the hair off of her forehead. “Get some sleep. What time do you work tomorrow?”
“I have to be there at eleven.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure to have you home in time to get ready.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, her head rolling to rest in the crook of my neck.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Claire
A few weeks had gone by since Cable dropped me off at my door and hesitantly left. He told me that he wanted to take me to work but that he knew that I wouldn’t want that. He told me that he understood and I was glad.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to spend every waking and free second with him, it was that I didn’t want to get instantly wrapped up in someone and lose myself again. I truly believed that he understood that. And the fact that he seemed to respect it, well, it made me fall even more for him.
I split my free time between my apartment and hanging out with him. I didn’t want to become one of those people that forgot about her friends when she met someone. I had my nights where I hung out with Lavinia in my not-so-sexy pajamas while we stuffed our faces with sweets and watched half-naked men go into battle and whatnot.
And of course, there were nights when Sketch was there too.
Then I had my Cable nights.
Sometimes we’d hang out on my couch and relax. Sometimes he’d pick me up and tak
e me somewhere. And sometimes we ended up at his place. We’d laugh for hours and talk and, well, you know.
He wasn’t necessarily gentle with me but he was patient. He watched me. It was like he was there with me the whole time and it was the most amazing thing I’d ever experienced.
Sex with Cable was better than pizza.
And that was saying something.
Because I fucking loved pizza.
Just thinking about sex with Cable had me squirming on the couch.
“Really?” Lavinia asked in a tone that said she couldn’t believe me right then. Was I really that obvious? “You’re thinking about that now? This movie is scary as hell and that chick just got sliced open. Like guts hanging out and all. And here you are thinking about sex with Mr. Delicious.”
My head fell back as a laugh rumbled out of my throat. Even the horrified scream that came from the TV didn’t cut it short.
“Mr. Delicious?” I asked with a raised brow in her direction.
She shrugged and tossed a piece of popcorn into her mouth.
“Well, he is.” She sounded like she was stating a fact. Which, yeah, I couldn’t disagree with her.
“How long have you been calling him that in your head?”
“Since he walked away from you that first day in the diner. That ass… need I say more?”
I laughed again. She was so right.
I loved his ass.
“Such a great ass,” I said breathlessly only half aware that I was talking out loud.
“You are so stupid for that man.”
“I am. I won’t even try to deny it,” I said with a smile and a nod. “He’s just…”
“Everything you deserve?”
I sobered then, really looking at her this time.
“What?” she said with a shrug. “I’ve seen the flowers and stuff. I see the way you come home all walking on air and practically singing like a cartoon princess.”
Wow, that was an image.
“He’s really sweet to me.”
“I know. A man that brings you flowers and kisses every inch of your body. Even the parts that make you feel like you’re not worthy. Yeah, you better hold onto that one real fucking tight. Marry him, Claire. Like now.”