Renewed (Shattered #3)

by Heather D'Agostino

  “That is so fucking hot,” he growled as he yanked me flush with him. One hand gripped the back of my head holding me to him while the other skimmed down my back until he reach my rear. He squeezed one cheek with his palm as he began attacking my neck with his mouth. "You're so perfect," he muttered as he lifted me into his arms and began carrying me towards the bed.

  Once he got us across the room, and he threw me onto the bed, and crawled up, so he was on his knees looming over me. I smiled as I reached for his tie and began pulling it from his neck. “You’re wearing entirely too much right now,” I teased as I propped myself up. Nick rocked back to sit on his heels as I went to work on the tiny buttons of his shirt. By the time I’d gotten the second one undone, I was so frustrated I grabbed a handful of material in each fist and gave it a yank. Tiny buttons clinked as they scattered from shirt and hit various objects as they made their way to the floor. Nick's shoulders shook as he tried to hold back a laugh.

  "What?" I giggled. "It was taking too long."

  “I couldn’t agree more,” he groaned as he leaned forward and covered me with his body. His tux pants were still intact, but as he peppered my face and neck I attempted to rid him of them. "Leah," he gasped when he felt me get the zipper down and slip my hand in "I know I promised to go slow the first time," he swallowed "but I don't think I'm going to be able to."

  “It’s ok,” I panted. “I want you too.” I pushed the fabric off his hips and down his thighs as he wiggled his legs.

  He paused in his movements and met my gaze as his eyes softened with emotion I hadn't seen before today, "I don't think you know how much I love you. After everything, we've been through…I don't think you realize how much of you is a part of me." He looked away for a moment before returning to me, "If anything had happened to you, I wouldn’t have made it. I would have left this earth with you. My body would have been here, but it would have been soulless. We're one…you and me. We're not complete when the other isn't around. It takes both of us to make a complete person." He shifted his weight to his left elbow as he lifted his right hand. The touch was almost feather light as he swept the hair off my forehead with his fingers. "Do you understand?"

  I nodded as I sunk my teeth into my lower lip. I knew what he meant. I knew I would’ve felt the same way if the circumstances had been turned around. “I love you too,” I reached up and cupped his cheek. “You’re my other half. I wouldn’t make it without you either," I offered a soft smile as I lifted my head slightly so our lips could touch. "Make love to me," I whispered against his mouth.

  Those words set him in motion, and before I knew it he'd gotten us both out of the last remaining pieces of clothing. "You're so beautiful," he murmured as he dipped his head to capture my breast in his mouth. As he licked and sucked at the nipple bringing it to a hard peak, he used his hand to massage the other one. I could feel my back arching off the bed as the desire I'd been holding a bay for most of the day rushed to the surface. "Oh Nick," I moaned.

  “I know baby,” his hand abandoned my breast as it began to skim down my stomach in search of other areas. When he was met with the wetness, he growled, "You're soaked for me. You want me that bad?"

  “So bad," I muttered as I felt his fingers begin to circle and rub in all the areas that hadn't felt him in months. It's true; we had pleasured each other before Emma came along, but we hadn't made love since we stayed at my dad's house back in December seven months ago.

  I could feel him pulsing against my thigh, and wanted to bring him just as much pleasure. I reached blindly towards him, but when my fingertips brushed against the heated skin, he froze and pulled away. "Don't!" he hissed. "If you touch me it's going to be all over."

  “We can do it again,” I began kissing his neck as I reached for him again.

  “I want this to last,” he slid his knee so he could block my advances. "I want this to be just as good for you as it is for me."

  “Ok,” I relented. “Come here,” I grabbed his face in my hands and tugged him back down to me. “Stop holding back!” I lifted my right leg and wrapped it around his hips trying to convince him I was ready. I’d heard that after you’d had a baby that it sometimes hurts the first time. Nick and I had talked about this, and I think that might have been causing him to hold back. He blew out a breath as he shifted to align our bodies, and his eyes connected with mine as he broke the kiss. As we stared at one another, he pushed his hips forward and slid into me for the first time as husband and wife. There was a small burning sensation just like when he took my virginity. I winced slightly, but made myself relax as he forged forward.

  “You ok?” he watched me with a pained expression.

  I nodded as I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck. He relaxed as he covered my mouth with his, and pulled his hips back before rocking into me. We groaned in unison, both of us realizing how much we missed each other.

  “Oh fuck! You feel so good,” he leaned in and bit down on my ear “Better than I remember.”

  I wrapped my other leg around his waist, and ran both hands up into his sandy hair as I tugged on the soft strands. "Nick?" I whimpered as he continued to slide in and out slowly.

  “Yeah baby?” he panted. I could feel the flex of his muscles in his butt as he worked us into a frenzy.

  “Go faster,” I begged. “Please…more,” I ran my hands down his back and grabbed his ass as I crushed him with as much force as I could muster into my hips.

  “Are you close?” he froze as he waited for my answer. "Leah?" he pinched his eyes shut before looking down at me. "Are you?"

  I nodded. I knew I was right on the cusp, and if he sped up I would fall over it with him. With that affirmation, he released a deep growl as he began slamming into me. Our sweat slicked bodies slapped against one another as Nick set a lightening pace. His entire body worked to bring the pleasure I was yearning for.

  "Oh god!" I squealed as my body began to tremble and shake. My eyes rolled back as my head thrashed from side-to side. "Nick! Oh god! More!" I screamed.

  “Oh fuck!” he roared as his hips rocked faster. I felt him swell inside me before he stiffened and collapsed on top of me as my body quivered and squeezed, milking him dry.

  We laid there for a few moments trying to catch our breath before Nick rolled off me. I stared blankly at the ceiling before turning to face him, "That was…um."

  “Fan-fucking-tastic?” he chuckled. “Holy shit Leah!” he blew out a breath and rolled onto his side. He tugged me until I was flush against him and wrapped in his arms before placing a kiss to my head. "I think you might have broken me."

  "What?" I jerked my head back so I could see his face.

  "I had plans to go all night," he smirked. "I don't know if I can do that again.

  “Well,” I reached up and brushed the hair back off his sweaty forehead “we’ve got three whole days. We don’t have to leave this room if you don’t want to.” I pointed at the phone, “We can order room service and put the ‘do not disturb' sign on the door."

  "Sounds like a plan to me," he sighed as he took a deep breath and blew it back out.

  “How about a bath?” I smiled as I kissed him lightly. “We can relax, and you can recuperate for later.” I pointed at the jetted tub in the corner of the room. There was a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket beside it. “We can do things on our own schedule this weekend. Sleep all day, stay up all night,” I cocked my head to the side as I moved to stand beside the bed. "We can even repeat that pool experience here in the privacy of our own room."

  "You don't have to ask me twice," Nick chuckled as he too stood. "I love these, by the way," he leaned down and grabbed my discarded panties. “I think I’m going to have to get you more of them."

  "That could be arranged," I winked as I turned to run towards the tub. "Come on," I waved at him "I want see what your sexy ass can do to me in here."

  Nick laughed as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle. He swayed us from side-to-side bef
ore pressing a kiss to my neck and whispering, “We’ve got the rest of our lives baby. Let's enjoy these days alone and take it slow."

  I grinned as I turned my head to meet his lips. Yep, we had the rest of our lives together. No more running, no more secrets, no more trying to hurt the other…we were here. We'd finally found our happily ever after.

  Epilogue

  3 years later…

  Leah

  I never realized how much work was involved in planning a kid’s birthday party until I had to do it. Emma had asked for a princess party, and I had gone above and beyond my norm this year. I knew our lives were going to be changing in the next few days, and I wanted my baby to have the best of everything.

  As I walked outside to grab the last of the paper plates off of the tables around the pool, I slumped against the deck railing. You would have thought we’d had the party professionally catered with the amount of stuff that still covered the yard. Pink was everywhere. Streamers in the trees, and on all the railings. Balloons were hanging from anything that stood still long enough, and glitter everywhere. I'd told Avery that we didn't need glitter, but she'd insisted. Now, Emma along with everything else was covered in the sparkly stuff.

  "Tired?" I heard his voice come from behind me.

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “It was worth it though. She had a blast."

  “I think she’s just as worn out as you," Nick pointed to our daughter who was curled up on a chair by the pool sleeping. She was still wearing the pink princess dress Avery had bought her.

  "I think we might have put her in a sugar coma," I laughed. "I think she ate more frosting than anything."

  "It was worth it," Nick mused. "I've never seen her so happy." He grabbed the plates I'd picked up and shoved them in a nearby trash bag. "I'm going to carry her into bed, then why don’t you and I try to get some sleep?"

  "Sounds good to me. I'll come kiss her goodnight in a minute," I called as I made my way over to where several tiki torches were still burning and began snuffing them out.

  Nick nodded as he turned and leaned down beside Emma. After scooping her into his arms, he shuffled up the steps and disappeared into the house. I waited a few minutes before starting up the cleaning process once again, but then thought better of it and stopped. I don't know why I was so concerned. It could always be finished tomorrow.

  I turned to face the ocean, and leaned against the railing. You could hear the waves crashing on the beach, and see the moonlight casting a soft glow on the sand. It was peaceful, and nothing like what my life had been a mere three years ago. I never thought I’d see this day. A day where I would celebrate my daughter’s life. With the news I’d been given about her birth, I had been resigned to giving over these future memories to Nick. Miracles do happen though, and now as I watch her grow each day I don't know how I could imagine life any different.

  “Thought you were coming in?” Nick called from behind startling me. I hadn't heard him come back outside.

  “I am,” I murmured.

  "Whatcha doin'?" he moved to stand beside me as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my temple.

  "Just thinking," I placed my arms on the railing and leaned back to look up at the stars.

  “About what?” he wrapped his arms around me giving me a light squeeze.

  “All kinds of things," I shrugged. "My mom, and how she's missing out on being a grandma. Emma and how close we came to not having her in our lives," I paused before placing my hand on my belly "And this little guy, and how different things have been with him."

  Nick didn't say anything, only squeezed me tighter as he placed his palm over mine and laced our fingers together.

  "Our family's getting ready to change again…in a significant way," I tipped my chin up so I could look in his eyes. "Are you ready for that?"

  “I can’t think of anything I want more. I’ve loved every minute of this,” he began caressing my belly as he leaned down and put his chin on my shoulder. "I can't say that when you told me about him, I wasn't worried, especially after what we went through with Emma. However, I'm already in love with this baby. I can't wait to meet my son, and knowing that will be sometime next week makes it even better."

  “He’s excited to meet you too,” I grinned as I pulled our joined hands down to cover the spot that the baby was now kicking at excitedly.

  "How about we head into bed? I'll rub your feet…you can try and get some sleep?" he kissed the side of my neck before standing up straight and stepping back.

  "Sounds great," I turned, and leaned into his side as we made our way up the stairs and into the house.

  My life was perfect. I had everything I ever wanted. A daughter, soon a son, and Nick. Nick had renewed my faith in love and happily ever after. He'd given me the fairy tale that I'd always dreamed about. He'd shown me that wishes do come true, and with a little patience and understanding we could survive anything.

  The End

  Other works by H.D’Agostino

  Unbreak Me (Second Chances #1)

  The Boy Next Door (Second Chances #2)

  The One That Got Away (Second Chances #3)

  Inside Out- A Second Chances Novella (Second Chances #3.5)

  Fallen From Grace (Second Chances #4)

  The Family Next Door (Second Chances #5)

  The Shattered Trilogy

  Shattered (Shattered #1)

  Restored (Shattered #2)

  Renewed (Shattered #3)

  Destined (Shattered #0.5) releases fall 2014

  Untitled (Shattered #4, Cam & Avery) releases winter 2015

  Privileged

  Irreparably Broken- releases Sept 2014

  Continue Reading for a sneak peek of Irreparably Broken

  by H.D’Agostino

  Chapter 1

  Maddie

  “Hi, my name is Madison,” I waved my hand around at the group of strangers surrounding me. I’d never been to this group before, and I still wasn’t sure about whether I would become a regular or not. It had been a long day at work, and this spot happen to be closer to where I was at the moment then my usual one.

  “Hi Madison,” the chorus of voices called as I slumped back into my chair. I twisted my hands together, and sighed. When would I be to a point where I wouldn’t need these meetings? When would I get to that place in my life that everyone kept promising was in my future? It had been five years now, and it seemed that I was never going to escape my past. Every time I thought I was rounding a corner, something would trigger a memory and send me stumbling back into the darkness.

  ooooooooo

  After listening to yet another stranger spill their guts to the room about their latest triumph or downfall, I blew out a breath. Maybe I could sneak out. Maybe I could skip just this once, and the dreams would stay away. I was exhausted after all. Whenever I was tired, the monsters of the past seemed to leave me alone. Who was I kidding…I knew deep down that as soon as my head hit the pillow I’d been battling Richard all over again.

  “You’re new,” a young blonde bounced up beside me as the group leader was closing the meeting.

  “Uh yeah, I guess,” I muttered as I pulled myself to a standing position beside her. She was petite, and I stood a good head above her with my tall frame. I turned to head for the door, not really wanting to talk to anyone, but this girl had other plans as she bounced along beside me.

  “You wanna grab a coffee or something?” she smiled at me. “I’m usually too worked up after one of these to go home.”

  “Maybe another time?” I begged as I draped my jacket over my arm. “I’m rather tired tonight.”

  “Sure…ok,” she dropped her chin and began kicking her toe at the ground as she turned away from me.

  I don’t know why I felt bad for ditching this girl I didn’t even know her, but my instincts told me she needed a friend. I sucked in a breath as I looked longingly at the door before glancing back at her. “I guess I could put off going home a little longer.”

  “Really?”
she beamed up at me. “I just thought…” she trailed off.

  “No, its ok,” I motioned towards the door for her to go ahead. “I’m Madison by the way, but you can call me Maddie.”

  “Erin,” she stuck her hand out. “I’ve been coming here awhile, but I’ve never seen anyone my age before.”

  “Really?” I followed her as she shoved open the heavy door and we made our way out onto the busy streets of Boston.

  “Yeah,” she nodded as she led us around the corner to Cool Beans. “I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind spending time with the older crowd, but I’m only thirty. I don’t have much in common outside the group with a forty-five year old.”

  “I guess you’re right,” I heaved the door open and held it for us as she made her way in and up to the counter. “It’s like that where I work,” I shrugged. “My boss is younger than me, married, has kids…we only really have our job in common.” I didn’t want to tell Erin that everything Hannah had, I wanted too. I longed for a family that loved me. A husband who would come home and wrap me in his arms, children running and squealing through the house. I wanted it all. I had thought that I’d get it with Richard, but I was sorely mistaken.

  “What do want? My treat,” Erin nudged my side bringing me back to the present.

  “Just a house blend,” I mumbled as I glanced around the small store. I’d never run into Richard on this side of town, but I was always hyper-vigilant when I was out.

  “You ok?” Erin handed me my steaming cup as she turned and searched for a place for us to sit.

  “Sure,” I muttered as we sank down onto the plush cushions of a nearby sofa. “My ex doesn’t live far from here. I don’t like being in his neighborhood,” I scanned my surroundings again before beginning to relax.

  “You have a restraining order, right?” Erin sipped her coffee as she watched me fidget.