Light in Mourning m-2

by Adriane Leigh

  “Christ.” Another groan as he scrubbed his hands over his face and into his too long hair. “You love to torture me.”

  “It isn’t hard to do.” I winked at him as I walked to grab my phone.

  “Vixen,” Tristan growled before not so obliviously readjusting the tent in his jeans.

  15

  She was a fucking vixen and she knew it. She loved torturing me, and I loved it. The only thing I loved more than her torturing me about being inside her was actually being inside her.

  I was a masochist, without a doubt. At least when it came to Georgia.

  I heaved a sigh and stood to try and walk off the excess energy. Charlie jumped up and gave his tail a wag.

  “Outside, boy?” I gave him a scratch before opening the French doors to let him out. He ambled down the steps and turned the corner of the house. I walked back to the TV and turned it off, meaning to step outside to keep an eye on Charlie, until I heard Georgia’s voice.

  She sounded sad and forlorn and I instantly knew why.

  She was talking to Drew about the letter. Telling her what it meant. Her fears about reliving the past and that night when two strangers had broken into her house and robbed and murdered her parents, all while a twelve-year-old Georgia hid under her bed.

  I clenched my jaw when I heard Kyle’s name. Why the fuck had Kyle been brought up?

  Dammit, I loved living on the beach just as much as the next guy, but the constant roar of the waves made eavesdropping pretty fucking difficult. I found myself taking a step down the hallway with the intention of hearing better before I caught myself.

  I couldn’t listen to this. This was a private conversation, and it hurt like hell that she was opening up to Drew and not to me, but I understood it. She’d hunkered off to our bedroom for a reason; she’d wanted privacy.

  I ran a hand through my hair and gave a rough yank before turning around and heading out the door to keep an eye on Charlie.

  I ran my hands along the wood grain of the deck railing and let my thoughts run wild. I didn’t know if Georgia would go back and make an appearance for the hearing, but if she did, she would be back in DC, and back with Kyle; the one person she’d always relied on to get her through this shit when it came up.

  It’d been sixteen years, would she still fall into old habits? I had no doubt that Kyle would try and convince her to stay with him and use every manipulative tool at his disposal. While I certainly wanted to fight for her—she was worth it to me, she was worth everything—it was against my grain to fight for someone. If she didn’t want to be with me, I wasn’t going to lower myself so far as to beg her to stay. If Georgia was going to fall back into her old life, then so be it.

  That thought terrified me more than anything else, but I knew it would be hard for her to stay. Every fucking day, I saw it on her face. The battle she waged between her old life and our new one. I held my breath every time her phone rang. Gritted my teeth when I saw Kyle’s name flash across the screen. Deep fucking down in my pain-ravaged heart, I was afraid this time would be the time he finally convinced her to go back, because deep fucking down I didn’t have faith she would stay.

  I didn’t have faith she would break the mold for me, and I knew I wasn’t fucking worth it—knew my past was colored with poor decisions. That was a real kick to the gut; I didn't deserve her. I’d done so much I now regretted, I couldn’t be surprised when she finally came to her senses and walked away.

  I ran another angry hand through my hair and called for Charlie. I needed a beer and to plop myself in front of some mindless TV show to get this endless cycle of negative thinking off my mind. Or maybe do some work. Gavin and I had a big account that needed some attention. The CEO was a bastard who wanted his hand held through the entire process.

  Charlie trotted up the stairs and we headed back into the kitchen. I tossed him a treat and then padded down to the spare room I used as an office. I closed the door behind me and settled into my desk chair for a long night of throwing myself into the comfortable mundane-ness of codes and numbers.

  16

  “Hey, love.” I heard Silas’s voice loud and clear over the phone.

  “Wrong person.” Tristan grinned. “But it’s great to hear your voice too.” A sexy smile tipped his mouth. I wanted him to hang up on my best friend immediately so I could attack those lips. It had been a few days and I still hadn’t spoken to Tristan much about the letter but my mind had been consumed by it. The nightmares had returned; the previous two nights I'd woken up in a cold sweat, memories of that night playing on repeat in my mind. It was the first time I'd had a nightmare since coming back to the beach and now here I was, thrown back into the darkness.

  I tried to keep my mind off the parole hearing during the day by marketing the rental. I’d posted it on some websites and had a local realtor who specialized in summer rentals walk through. I had inheritance and life insurance money in the bank account, but I'd been taking so much from it over the last year that I needed to start renting this house and get some funds going back in.

  “Here she is.” Tristan handed the phone to me. I placed a peck on his cheek and then put the phone to my ear.

  “How’s it going, baby girl?” I heard the grin in Silas’s voice from across the phone line. I pictured his brown eyes dancing, his blond hair styled just perfectly. My mood instantly lifted.

  “It’s okay.”

  “That doesn’t sound like okay.”

  I sighed and picked at the frayed edges of a hole in my jeans.

  “Spill, love.” Silas hit me with the sternest voice he could muster. It worked like a charm.

  “I got a letter.” I turned to frown at Tristan. I really didn’t want to get into this at all. He rubbed my leg. I’d only just gotten it a few days ago, spilled my guts to Drew last night, still hadn’t spoken much to Tristan about it, and yet here I was. I heaved a sigh and lifted off the couch, headed for the kitchen and a bottle of wine.

  Tristan followed me in and took the bottle from my hands, mouthing that he’d take care of it. I smiled at him thankfully before I started in on the letter I’d received and how I was feeling. Tristan tried not to hover, although he rubbed my neck every now and again when I was especially tense. That was until the wine seeped through my veins and had tingles lighting up my body.

  I relaxed as I finished my story, telling him I needed to go back to DC for the hearing in May, a few months from now. My best friend listened patiently, murmuring and offering comfort when necessary.

  “I wish you were here,” I finished dejectedly.

  “Me too, love,” Silas answered.

  “So enough of this sad stuff. Can we talk about you? How’s Justin?” I took a long draw of my wine.

  “Well, we’re moving down there.”

  “What?” I squeaked.

  “I’m letting the lease go on my place. Moving in with Justin in the spring.”

  ‘Oh God, Silas! I’m so excited.”

  “We can’t be apart, love. Not good for either one of us.” Silas laughed.

  “Definitely not. So I guess that means you two are doing well?”

  There was a long pause.

  Too long.

  “Silas?”

  “I have something else to tell you.”

  “Okay . . .”

  “You’re not going to like it.”

  “Okay . . .”

  “You may want to kick my ass.”

  I groaned. “Silas, please just tell me.”

  “Justin and I sort of . . . eloped.”

  My heartbeat thudded in my ears. I shook my head in confusion, my wine glass suspended halfway to my lips. I couldn’t have heard that right. Silas—my commitment-phobic best friend—married? To someone he’d been dating for just a few months?

  “Say something, love.”

  “I don’t think I can.”

  “Shit, I’m sorry, Georgia. When we were in Mexico for spring break, it just happened. We were having such a great time; it was
perfect. The sun was out, the water was warm, the bed was big. He just asked me and I said yes. We did it an hour later on the beach. I don’t think he was expecting to do it. It just happened, Georgia, and I knew you would be pissed that I did it without you, but it felt so right,” he finally finished.

  “I . . . I don’t even know what to say.” I was still in shock. My brain wasn’t computing what he was telling me.

  “Congratulations, maybe?” Silas asked.

  “God, I’m sorry. Congratulations. Of course, congratulations. I’m thrilled for you. I’m sad I wasn’t there, but I’m thrilled. Just shocked.”

  “I know. This doesn’t seem like me, but Justin, he’s—”

  “He’s perfect,” I finished, a grin pulling at my cheeks. “God, Silas. You’re married.” Tears sprang to my eyes when I thought of my best friend finding someone he loved so completely that he promised to spend his life with him.

  “I know.” I could hear him tearing up on the other end. “You’re making me cry, Georgia.”

  “I’m crying too.” Emotion shook my body as tears streamed down my face. I wiped them with the back of one hand.

  Tristan came up and wrapped both his arms around my body from behind. “Congrats, Silas,” he muttered into the phone before tucking his face into my neck and kissing at the overheated flesh.

  “Tell your hunk of a boyfriend thanks,” Silas said.

  “Hey, you’re a taken man now.” I laughed.

  “Just ’cause I’m off the market doesn’t mean I’m dead.”

  “Heard that.” Tristan pulled his sensual lips from my neck and sang into the phone before attacking my lobe with his teeth.

  “God, wait, you let me ramble on and on about my bullshit and here you’d gotten married, Silas?” I felt so selfish.

  “You needed to get it out. I understand.”

  “It’s not anywhere near as important as your news. You should have stopped me.”

  “It is important, love. But thanks. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” Another happy tear trickled down my cheek. Silas had been through so much over the years, been so ravaged by the pain and judgment put on him by his parents, it was overwhelming that he’d finally loved himself enough to give his heart to another. I wouldn’t have thought it possible a year ago, but now, it did feel right.

  “I’m going to let you get back to what you were doing. I can hear him sucking on you.”

  I laughed as tears rolled down my cheeks. “See you soon?”

  “See you soon, love.”

  “Silas?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Congratulations again.”

  “Thanks,” he murmured before hanging up the phone. I set my cell on the counter and spun around on the stool to land in Tristan’s arms.

  “I can’t believe he got married.”

  “Why?” Tristan whispered as he made his way up the column of my neck, sucking on my flesh as he went. I arched away from him to get his attention.

  “Because it’s Silas. He’s such a slut.”

  “Was a slut. Find the right person and suddenly it becomes not so hard to change your habits.” He latched onto my neck and ran his hands up my shirt. His words didn’t have time to resonate because he overwhelmed my body with his lips as I locked my arms around his neck and gave into his sensual assault.

  17

  “This has got to stop, seriously.” Tristan arched one eyebrow at me as I sat curled in his lap on the couch watching The Notebook while a light spring rain pattered against the windows.

  “What are you talking about?” I grinned up at him as he stroked his long fingers through my thick hair.

  “I’m talking about the sappy shit. It’s got to end. I can’t take it for another minute.” He pushed himself off the couch and snagged the remote on his way.

  “Hey! You can’t deprive me of Nick,” I screamed and darted for him as he flicked to an action movie.

  “The sappy shit is only for girls who aren't getting any, and you’re getting it, right here.” He poked his thumb at his chest.

  I rolled my eyes. “You are so full of yourself.”

  “Call it like I see it.” He lifted one shoulder.

  “So do I, and I’m callin’ bullshit.” I angled around a corner of the island in my quest to get the remote back.

  “Oh, I don’t think so.” He walked backward with the sexiest smirk lighting his face. “I’m quite sure I keep you satisfied in all departments.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

  “You are so corny.” I shook my head and lunged for the remote in his hands. He dropped it on the countertop and caught me in his arms, pulling me tight to his body and wrapping one warm palm around my neck. Leaning in, he took my lips in a predatory kiss. I moaned into his mouth and arched my body into him. I was putty in his hands. His lips, his deft fingers, that smile had me melting in a puddle at his feet and he knew it.

  “You don’t play fair.” I pulled away from his lips.

  “Playing fair is overrated. I know my talents and I use them to my advantage.” He arched my neck to the side and sucked on the flesh. I moaned and savored his lips on my skin. “You’re so beautiful, Georgia. Have I told you that? Because I need to each and every single day. You’re so beautiful and I can’t get enough of you.”

  I groaned in response as he pushed me back against the counter. I was pinned between the hard granite and the wall of his chest, and it was heaven. With one hand at the small of my back, he bent me backward and slid his hand up my chest and along my throat, arching my neck to reveal more flesh to him.

  He trailed his lips along my skin and murmured, “I can’t get enough of my lips on you. Tasting you. Exploring your beautiful body. I want to be inside you every day. I ache when we’re apart.”

  “Oh God,” I moaned and hooked my legs around his waist, pressing my body into his, rubbing and grinding, seeking relief from the tension that was building.

  “Let's get married,” he blurted as he ran a hand up and under my shirt.

  “What?” My eyes fluttered open. I must have been hearing things. There was no way Tristan just asked me to marry him. Not after we’d only been together a few months. Not after we’d started out on such rocky ground.

  “Marry me. I want you every single day for the rest of my life. My day isn’t complete until I wake up to your beautiful face. Your smart mouth. I need it to keep me in line.” A sexy smirk danced across his face.

  “Okay, I agree with that last part, but are you nuts?” I shoved him off me.

  “Head over heels for you,” he murmured and sucked my earlobe into his mouth.

  “Stop, you’re trying to use your talents to sway me.” I giggled and pushed him off me again.

  “Whatever it takes, baby.” He grinned unapologetically.

  “I’m not marrying you.”

  I watched hurt flash across his eyes.

  “I don’t mean that. I mean, I’m not marrying you now.”

  “Why?” He watched me, the most endearing, perplexed look on his face, as if he really didn’t understand why I would say no.

  “I’ll ask again: are you nuts?”

  “I already told you, I’m head over heels for you. Completely drunk on you. If I know one thing for sure, it’s that you and I are it. I told you—you own me.” His voice lowered as he finished.

  “I know, but—”

  “No buts. It is what it is.” He snaked his hands around my waist and pushed his hips into me. “Say no all you want, Georgia, but I’m not taking it back. You’re mine.”

  “Are you saying this because you’re worried because of the letter? Because I have to go back to DC?”

  “No fucking way. Not even close. Don’t read more into it than what it is. I want you, end of story.”

  “You always want me,” I murmured, referring to his hard as steel erection pressed between us.

  “No hiding it, no denying it.” He dipped his head to catch my lips with his. “Come on. Silas and Justin tie
d the knot.”

  I heaved a sigh. “You are relentless.”

  “I like getting my way.” He kissed me: exploring, tasting, owning. I popped the button on his jeans and slid them and his briefs over his thighs before I took his cock in my hand.

  “I like getting my way too.” I peered up at him from beneath my lashes before dropping down on my knees and lapping at his throbbing dick.

  “Fuck.” He sifted his hands through my hair as I worked up and down his length.

  “Hands off,” I instructed between licks. “Put them on the counter.” This was about me being in control and denying him what he wanted.

  18

  “Christ, Georgia,” I groaned and clutched at the edge of the counter. She sucked so fucking hard, I thought my mind would explode. I wouldn’t last more than a few more strokes, and I knew this was a power play on her part. She was trying to divert my mind from my impromptu proposal and fuck if it wasn’t working. She did own me. And she was just proving that ten times over by dropping on her knees and putting her mouth on me.

  “Fuck, I need to touch you,” I moaned and threw my head back, the muscles taut in my throat, my breathing heavy, my chest wracked with desperate pants.

  “Can’t get everything you want,” she mumbled around a mouthful of my dick.

  “Fuck,” I groaned as my hips thrust involuntarily into her face. My hands fisted around the countertop until my knuckles turned white. “You drive me insane,” I gritted through my teeth. “My dick between your lips is a beautiful thing, but I need to come inside you.” I threw caution to the wind and lifted her up to stand, yanked her pants down her legs and ran my fingers down her wet slit. “Turns you on sucking me off, hey, baby?”

  “Yes . . .” she moaned, her beautiful body thrown back in pleasure. I ran my fingers between her lips and pulled at her swollen clit, causing her body to arch and buck into me before I thrust two fingers inside her.

  “So fucking hot.” I lifted her shirt with my other hand and ducked my head under the fabric to attach my lips to her nipple. I sucked and elongated the peak, kneading her flesh with my palm. I massaged circles around her clit with my thumb as I thrust my fingers in and out of her until I felt her body quiver and start the descent into falling apart. “Ah, not yet, beautiful.” I pulled my fingers from her body and traced them up her neck to land at her full lips. “You’re going to come with me inside you.” I traced my fingers, wet from her juices, along her lips before plunging them into her mouth. Her eyes shot open and she sucked my fingers as tightly as she’d been sucking my cock just minutes ago. Her chocolate brown eyes peered up at me from beneath thick lashes, hooded and lustful, and driving me to fucking distraction. She looked so innocent, but that was the last thing she was. She embraced her sexuality completely and it was just another reason she owned me completely.