Breaking the Seventh

by Allie Gail

  “Show me, then.” I touch his cheek, and as he leans into me I whisper, “I want to feel you inside me, Myles. Just you. Nothing but you.”

  He groans softly, his breath stirring my hair and tickling my neck. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to ask twice.” With one hand he grips his cock and rubs the silken tip against my entrance, wetting it with my arousal. “Is this what you want? Hmm? Is it?”

  “That…” I wrap my legs around him in an effort to draw him closer. “…is exactly what I want.”

  Never taking his eyes off mine, he slides all the way into me in one long, sleek stroke. I arch my back in pleasure, biting my lip while exhaling a whimper. This is the part I love most. More than kissing, more than foreplay, more than oral sex even. The delectable sensation of him filling me, stretching me, fusing our bodies together in a way that’s as beautiful as it is primal. Nothing can compare.

  “Fuck, baby,” he rasps in a husky voice. “You have no idea how incredible you feel. Like a dream. So damn good…”

  “So do you,” I whisper, quivering beneath him. Sweet Jesus – he has no idea how wrong he was. How could he think I wouldn’t tell a difference? This is amazing! Without the clammy rubber between us, the friction is smoother, more fluid somehow. He feels like thick warm velvet inside me, and just knowing there is nothing there to separate us makes the whole experience infinitely more erotic.

  I strain upward to meet him, thrusting my hips, letting him know in no uncertain terms that he needs to stop holding back and start fucking me good and proper. And I don’t mean yesterday or next week. I need it now. Right now. I need it like I need my next breath. I’m so close to the edge I can feel myself bracing for the fall.

  “Harder,” I urge him shamelessly. “I won’t break.”

  In lieu of a response, he slides both hands underneath my derrière and pounds away without reservation, his hips hammering a rhythmic pattern that’s almost in sync with the frantic beating of my heart. It’s almost scary, what he does to me. The effortless way he has of making me lose control. Not only that, but wanting to lose control. Welcoming it. Craving it.

  I’m his – I was his from the very first time I looked into those soulful blue eyes – and he doesn’t even have a clue.

  “Myles…” My fingers dig furrows into his back, and I have a vague realization that I might be hurting him. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. On the contrary, my enthusiasm seems to be adding fuel to his fire.

  Without breaking his fast and steady cadence, he lifts his head and gazes down at me with sweat on his brow and passion in his eyes. “Are you ready for me?”

  “I’m…I’m…God, yes…” I grind myself against him, savoring every glorious surge of ecstasy as the climax engulfs me and sweeps me away. Over the edge, to someplace so exotic and fleeting it can only be a glimpse into heaven.

  “That’s it…that’s it, baby…oh, fuck…” He slams into me, so deep it’s almost painful, swelling and throbbing inside me as he blows like Mount Vesuvius and I feel it, I swear I do, although it could just be my imagination because I want to so badly. He’s coming inside me, while the lingering aftershocks of my orgasm are still rippling through me. And whether I really can or not, I imagine I can feel every pulsing stream of his release.

  He collapses over me, groaning, my name still on his lips as he rains kisses down my neck. Closing my eyes, I smile to myself and absently ruffle his hair with my fingers.

  After a moment he rolls us both over onto our sides, his soft cock still nestled inside me. We lie there in the afterglow for who knows how long, relaxing in the comfortable quiet, his arms around me with my face burrowed into his chest. I think I actually drift off for a while, because I’m startled awake by the sound of his voice just above my head.

  “I think the rain’s stopped.”

  Rain? Oh, yeah. The rain. I try to summon the energy to reply, but “Uh-huh,” is all I’m able to muster.

  I can feel him shaking against me as he tries to suppress a laugh. “Thought you were in such a hurry to go outside and tackle the world.”

  “The world can wait,” I mumble. I’m perfectly content right where I am, thank you very much.

  “Just gonna sleep the day away?” he teases me gently.

  “No. I’m not tired. I wanna do some stuff.” Eventually.

  “Okay. So what do you want to do?”

  Stifling a yawn, I remind him of our former plans. “Let’s take Charlie to the dog park. He can run off some of his energy before we go to the WaveRunner place.”

  “Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.” Gazing at me thoughtfully, he slowly traces my lips with his forefinger. “Maybe we should wait a couple of hours for the grass to dry out first, though. And you know, since we’re staying a little longer, we could always wait and do the jet ski thing on Saturday.”

  “True.” If I manage to get through Friday unscathed, that is. Hopefully the following day won’t find me in a full body cast. “Why wait, though? Was there something else you wanted to do?”

  “Not something, lamb chop.” A thrill of excitement surges through me as I feel him swelling and stirring to life inside me. “Someone.”

  “Again?” Fully awake now, I stare back at him with wide eyes. “You’re like a sex machine, you know that?” I have to admit, though, I am impressed. His stamina is admirable. Not to mention flattering. No one’s ever made me feel this beautiful, this desirable. He has me convinced that I’m just as irresistible to him as he is to me.

  “What do you expect? You just gave me the keys to the candy shop.” His mouth curves into a wickedly naughty grin. “And now we both know that candy tastes a hundred times sweeter unwrapped.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  She looks so peaceful when she’s sleeping.

  A distinct contrast to when she’s wide awake and going full steam ahead, guns blazing. She’s so cute. All curled up with the covers pulled up to her nose, tousled hair fanned out across her face, pink lips parted as she breathes softly. Blissfully relaxed, oblivious to everything. No worries. The picture of serenity.

  Knowing how she feels about this day, I almost feel guilty for waking her. She's convinced that today will bring her nothing but bad luck.

  It's my job to make sure that doesn't happen.

  “Hey.” Shaking her gently, I coax her awake in a low voice. “Hey. Wake up, sleepyhead. Rise and shine. You have company.”

  Pushing a tangle of hair out of her face, she opens one eye to peer up at me groggily. “Hum-uhh?”

  “Wake up. You have a visitor. Someone stopped by to wish you a happy birthday.”

  “Really?” she croaks in a raspy voice, lifting her head a fraction of an inch. “Who? Who’s here?”

  “I don't know, you’ll have to ask him. He hasn’t bothered to introduce himself to me just yet. I think he prefers to talk to you.”

  “Wha-aat?” Kicking back the covers and sitting up, she catches sight of her new bedmate almost immediately.

  Both hands fly to her mouth, but not in time to stifle her delighted laugh. Propped on the pillow beside her is the stuffed Salad Fingers I’ve been keeping hidden in the back of my Expedition. If you ask me, the thing is ugly as sin. It looks like Kermit the Frog and Edward Scissorhands hooked up and had the world’s creepiest baby. I hope she doesn’t question my sanity for buying it.

  “Oh my God, how stinking cute…” Snatching it up, she hugs the plush doll tightly to her chest.

  Grinning at her reaction, I shake my head. I’m glad she likes it, but let’s face it, only Leah would refer to that mutant eyesore as cute. “I wasn’t sure you’d even know who he was.”

  “Are you kidding? I love Salad Fingers!”

  It figures.

  “I’ve seen every episode,” she informs me. “More than once, actually. I just can’t believe you know about him.”

  “Yeah, well…you’d be surprised what I know.”

  “You mean you’ve watched it?”

  “I may have.” It�
��s almost embarrassing to admit, but once I started watching, I couldn’t make myself stop. There was something strangely fascinating about the bleak, surreal cartoon. It was like having a front row seat to someone else’s nightmare. And the eerie background music, though unsettling, was hypnotic.

  Quinn was right. It was about as weird as weird gets.

  “What’s this?” Noticing the silver chain wrapped around the doll’s arm, Leah carefully unwinds it and lifts the necklace so the charm is dangling between us.

  “I don’t know. Looks like he brought you a present.” In retrospect, maybe I should have attempted to wrap it, but Martha Stewart I ain’t.

  “Myles…” She gazes at the yin-yang symbol, part onyx and part mother-of-pearl, the two inverse sides split in half by a curving wave of miniature diamonds. “I don’t know what to say. This is…it’s beautiful.”

  “It represents balance.”

  She pulls her eyes away from the necklace to give me a questioning look.

  “Symmetry,” I attempt to explain. “Opposing forces that are interconnected. Like night and day. Fire and water. Good and evil. Meaning that for every negative thing that happens, something good has to happen to counterbalance the bad.”

  She fingers it thoughtfully. “So you’re saying it’s sort of like a good luck charm?”

  Taking it from her hands, I fasten the clasp around her neck. “More like a reminder that there’s never any loss without some gain.”

  She eyes me with trepidation, misunderstanding my meaning. “And you. Are you to be a loss or a gain?”

  “Well, I hope you view me as a gain.” I lift my chin and announce with a grandiose flair, “Personally, I think I’m quite the catch.”

  Laughing, she throws her arms around my neck and squeezes me in a tight hug. “Personally, I’d have to agree. Thank you, Myles. I love it.”

  “You’re very welcome. Happy birthday, baby.”

  “Thank you,” she repeats. Holding up the plush doll, she presses its goggle-eyed face against my cheek. “Salad Fingers thanks you, too. He wants to give you a kiss.”

  “Tell Salad I don’t swing that way.”

  “No? Well, in that case…” She moves the stuffed toy out of the way and replaces his ‘kiss’ with one of her own. “I’ll give you a better one after I’ve had a chance to brush my teeth,” she promises.

  “I’m holding you to that.”

  “How long have you been up, anyway?”

  “About half an hour. I took a shower in the other bathroom so I wouldn’t wake you.”

  “You didn’t have to do that. I’m a heavy sleeper. You wouldn’t have bothered me.”

  “You talk in your sleep,” I divulge. “Which shouldn’t surprise anyone.”

  “Really? What kind of stuff do I say?”

  “Mostly just oh Myles, give it to me, harder, faster…”

  She swats my arm playfully. “Oh, shut up! I do not.”

  “Actually, most of the time you’re just mumbling. So I usually can’t make out what you’re saying. Although I think at one point last night you asked if I let the squirrels out of the closet.”

  “Those darn squirrels. Always messing around in my closet.” Grabbing her cell phone off the nightstand, Leah whistles for Charlie, who instantly comes running. He leaps onto the bed and licks her face, tail wagging exuberantly. “Where’ve you been, you stinker? You haven’t been one-clicking stuff off Amazon again, have you?”

  I’m pretty sure she’s joking, but with that dog, who knows? “I already fed him,” I tell her.

  “Ah. That explains why he wasn’t doing jumping jacks on my stomach this morning.” She scoots closer to me and holds up the phone. “Time for a Salad Fingers selfie! Everyone smile!” Crossing her eyes, she tilts her head to one side and sticks out her tongue.

  “What are you doing?” I laugh as the phone makes a shutter sound.

  “Sending this to Autumn. She’ll love it.” Maneuvering around a wiggling Charlie, Leah fires off a quick text before lifting her head to smile at me. “And then I’m turning off my phone so there won’t be any distractions. Now. What’s the plan for today?”

  “Once you’re dressed and ready, we’re heading to Panama City.”

  She gives me a puzzled look. “We are? Why? What’s in Panama that isn’t here?”

  “New restaurant. Thought we’d give it a try.” I wait for her to argue that there is no reason to drive an hour and a half out of the way when there are plenty of good places to eat right here. Can’t say I’d blame her. From her end, it probably sounds pretty stupid.

  Instead, she agrees with a chipper, “Oh. Okay. Guess I better go grab a shower then.”

  I watch TV with Charlie until she comes breezing in from the bedroom half an hour later, looking like a jewel in a bright blue sundress. Her shining hair swings loose around her shoulders, the way I like it, and my slacks become uncomfortably tight at the sight of azure silk swishing around bare legs.

  I never realized calves could be so sexy.

  “Hey there, hot stuff.” I abandon ESPN to gather her in my arms, swinging her in circles until she begs me in giggles to put her down. I do, but only reluctantly. She’s so beautiful, I don’t want her leaving the sanctuary of my arms. Plus, she smells good. Like…I don’t know, fresh baked cookies or something. “You look nice. I like the dress.”

  “Do you? Melanie picked it out, actually. The perfume, too. They were a present from her and Shane.”

  “Your sister-in-law has good taste.” I nuzzle her neck, tickling her with feather-light kisses. “Mm. I almost forgot. You’ll need your swimsuit.”

  “We’re going swimming?” she asks, a little breathlessly.

  “Nope. No swimming today.”

  “To the beach, then?”

  “Somewhere in the vicinity, yes.”

  “Could you be any more evasive?” she grumbles good-naturedly.

  “I could. Speaking of evasive, where’s that kiss I was promised?”

  “Oh, somewhere in the vicinity.” Lifting her chin, she presses her soft mouth against mine, her tongue sweeping my lips before finding its way inside to pursue mine. She melts into me, kissing me with her whole body, and I can taste sweet peppermint and the warm, honeyed flavor that is distinctly her. Kissing Leah is like coming home. I could lick every square inch of her and still want more. Where every other woman in my life has been discount Thunderbird, she is Château Margaux.

  I can never go back to bottom shelf wine after this.

  Never.

  Pulling away, I clear my throat and huskily tell her, “Grab your swimsuit and let’s get going. Now. Before this dress ends up on the ceiling fan and you end up…with your end up.”

  She saunters off with hips swaying, tossing a coy grin over her shoulder.

  Later in the car, I notice that she seems restless. She keeps checking her seat belt and her eyes are constantly darting around, as if she expects a semi to suddenly rear end us out of nowhere.

  In an effort to distract her, I comment idly, “I feel kinda bad, leaving Charlie by himself all afternoon.”

  She stops checking the rearview mirror to stare at me. “He spent three hours running around the dog park yesterday, not to mention all over the yard last night while we were grilling. He’s fine. And he’s got a whole basket of toys to play with. He knows how to entertain himself – what do you think he does all day long when I’m at work?”

  “You did make sure the bathroom door was shut, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. I always shut it, out of habit.”

  “Do you think we left enough dry food out?”

  Wrinkling her brow, she tries to hide a smirk but doesn’t quite succeed. “Wow. You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were becoming attached to my dog.”

  And if I didn’t know better, I’d think I was becoming dangerously attached to both of you.

  Rather than vocalizing that epiphany, I unwrap a piece of Dentyne and pop it in. Hopefully the chewing wi
ll keep my mouth busy enough that my foot doesn’t wind up in it. There are a lot of things I could say that I know damn well I shouldn’t. Not yet. It’s far too soon and I don’t want to send her running for the hills.

  Funny, you’d think I would be the one sprinting in the other direction. She brings out emotions in me I didn’t even realize I was capable of experiencing.

  How did this happen? For that matter, how did it happen so fast?

  She goes back to perusing her surroundings with an eagle’s eye.

  “Waiting for the meteor to hit?” I finally ask mildly.

  “Meteor? Oh great, thanks a lot! That’s one I hadn’t considered.” Grimacing, she gives me an apologetic look. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be so paranoid. Just waiting for the inevitable, I guess.”

  “Nothing’s going to happen,” I reassure her. “Or at least, nothing we can’t handle. Trust me on this. The universe isn’t out to get you.”

  “Uh-huh.” She doesn’t sound particularly convinced.

  “Ah, come on now. Do you really think I’d let anything bad happen to you?”

  Fingering her new necklace, she quietly considers this for a moment. Then, unexpectedly, her face lights up with a bright smile. “Hey. Maybe you’re my good luck charm.”

  “Maybe I am,” I agree, smiling back at her. “And if that’s the case, then you’re safe with me. Right?”

  “Sounds logical to me.”

  “So no more talk of curses or evil eyes or anything jinx-related, okay?” I shift in my seat, trying to maneuver the vibrating cell phone out of my pocket without getting my hand caught in the seat belt.

  “Okay. You know, you’re right – I’m being silly, aren’t I? I’ll try not to be such a downer. You were nice enough to come here with me and then stay and spend the day with me so I wouldn’t be alone and all I’m doing is...is, uh…” Her voice trails off as she notices the change in my expression. “Myles? Is something wrong?”

  I press my lips together, scowling at the screen while debating whether or not I should just throw the damn phone out the window and get a new one. With a different number. I would’ve already blocked her if I thought she’d be bothering me, but Embry is the last person in the world I ever expected or wanted to hear from again.