Winter

by Michelle Love

  “I want to talk to you.”

  I follow along and he sits me down in the kitchen and pours me a glass of milk and places two cookies in front of me. “You sick of me?” I ask with a laugh, sure he’s about to tell me it’s time for me to go home.

  “Never,” he says as he tweaks my nose. “I want to talk to you about Blake. I called him today.”

  I look down and frown. “Max, I know you mean well, but you shouldn’t have done that. He needs to get on without me.”

  “No, he does not.” He sits down on the bar stool next to me. “You and he have something, Shelly. It doesn’t come along every day and I’d be no kind of a big brother if I let you blow it all off.”

  “Max, I…”

  His finger touches my lips, stopping me. “Rachelle Stone, you are a viable woman who is worthy of love. If you don’t pursue this thing you have with Blake, you will end up with the wrong man after the wrong man. Much the same as your mother did when she turned away from your father, destroying them both. I can’t sit idly by and watch you do that to yourself. I mean what kind of a big brother would I be if I did?”

  “I guess a crappy one,” I say with a frown. “But, Max, Blake has to hate me.”

  “He doesn’t. Sure he’s hurt, but do you know how many times Lexi and I hurt each other before we came to our senses?” He nudges my shoulder with his.

  “Yeah, I do as a matter of fact. Lexi told me. By the way, I’d love to meet some of the people she told me about. The little French girl who you call your angel and that man she married, the model guy from those steamy book covers with Lexi.” I pause and look at him. “How did you handle your true love all up under those gorgeous men like that?”

  “It wasn’t easy, believe me.” He gets up and gets himself a beer from the fridge. “Now, don’t be pissed at me but I did something behind your back.”

  My eyebrows go up to the top of my head and I say, “Well, before you tell me, hand me one of those beers so I can chill and not tear your head off when you tell me something I can tell is going to make me mad.”

  “You’re right,” he says as he grabs me a beer. “Here, take a long drink then I’ll fill you in.”

  I do as he says then he takes my chin in his hand and looks at me with those deep green eyes of his. I remember them from when I was three. “Do you remember me telling you that you had pretty eyes when I was little?” I ask.

  “I do.” He lets my chin go and runs his hand through my hair. “Remember me telling you that you did too?”

  I smile as he does remember. “So weird how you remembered me after all these years. I was only there for a few weeks before my grandparents found me, after all.”

  Slow strokes he makes through my hair as he gazes into my eyes. “You were so little and helpless. I took it as my responsibility to keep you safe and help you not be so sad. Your eyes held such sadness back then. You were utterly confused by being left there.”

  “I am starting to recall those memories.” I laugh a little. “A complete stranger on the airplane I rode into Austin on told me I needed to deal with my memories instead of trying to hide from them. I thought he was an ass for talking to me that way.”

  “People don’t always mind their own business. I think it’s something they’re supposed to do, to be honest. I was just like you and when people talked like they knew anything about me or what I had gone through, well, I thought they were idiots.” Max leans back against the bar and smiles at me. “We’re probably more like brother and sister than most real siblings. We’ve been through much the same things.”

  “Okay, so what did you do that’s going to have me mad, bro?” I ask with a chuckle.

  “I sent your grandfather’s truck back to him. I had one of Hilda’s cousins drive it. I want you to use one of our cars and I want you to go to Lubbock and surprise Blake.” He looks at me for my reaction.

  I blink several times and look down. “Why?”

  “Because your classes are starting again soon and you need to see him before you go back to L.A. Just so you know, I’m not taking no or I’ll think about it as an answer.” He touches my cheek, making me look at him. “Wanna know why?”

  I nod and whisper, “Why?”

  “Because I love you. I can’t stand to see you cheating yourself out of a love that can bring you so much peace and happiness. You asked about my angel and she was the one who made me stop being stubborn and push past my insecurities and seek Lexi out. So I’m going to be your angel, because frankly, you need one.”

  I laugh and give him a tiny smile. “Since you’re not taking no for an answer what choice do I have, Max. But don’t be surprised when Blake tells me to get lost. I don’t even know what his address is, anyway.”

  “He lives next door to Lexi’s brother, if you will recall. So I can put the address into the GPS of whichever car you want to take and boom, you’ll be there in no time.”

  “Boom! Just like that, huh?” I ask as I shake my head. “You really are going to make me put myself out there, aren’t you?”

  He nods. “I am, tomorrow morning as a matter of fact.”

  “What can I do to get out of it?” I ask as he pulls me off the bar stool and back out to Lexi and their kids.

  “Not a damn thing. It’s time to face your fears and deal with the damage you’ve done. If nothing comes of it, but the fact you pulled up your big girl panties and faced the things you’ve done and find you can live through that, then so be it.”

  Lexi smiles at me as we get to the table. “Did he get his way?” she asks.

  “Doesn’t he always?” I ask with a laugh. “Seems that I must face the music with Blake. Hope he wants to dance to it and not sit this one out.”

  Blake

  The remodel team took only a couple of days to demo out the master bathroom and put in a new jet bathtub and a beautiful, tiled separate shower, big enough for two people. It all looks gorgeous and I only wish Mom and Dad could’ve enjoyed using it.

  I moved out of my childhood bedroom and have the remodeling crew working on it today. With the master bedroom all redone and now the attached bath finished, I’ve moved into it, a new large, four post bed and everything.

  A huge flat screen hangs on the wall. I plan on leaving every stick of furniture and all the things I’ve bought new for this house when I give it away. I’ll be taking my clothes and that’s it.

  I have a box full of my memories of Mom and Dad that I’ll take too. Everything else is going to stay to welcome some unfortunate family get back on their feet. I do think it’s what my parents would’ve wanted me to do with the place.

  In the back yard I sit, sipping on a frosty, cold beer and relaxing in front of the little swimming pool I had put in the small backyard. There’s a nice, relaxing waterfall that I hope some lucky kids find fun jumping off of.

  The back door opens as the last little bit of sunlight leaves the sky. “Hey, boss, we’re heading out,” the foreman of the remodeling crew tells me.

  “Thanks, man. See you guys tomorrow,” I say and give him a wave.

  He leaves and I turn back and click the remote to turn the lights on in the swimming pool. I imagine a little family cooking in the outdoor kitchen I had put in as they have fun with a little family time out by the pool.

  The doorbell rings inside and I sigh as I get up to go see who is interrupting my dreamtime. “Who is it?” I holler as I walk through the kitchen and into the living room.

  “Me,” the light lilt of a feminine voice calls out from behind the closed door.

  The sound of her voice stops me.

  Why is she here?

  I’ve been fine without her and now she’s here to rope me back in. I don’t think I should open the door. My feet move forward anyway. My hand touches the doorknob and I pull it back.

  “Blake?” she asks on the other side of the door.

  It’s all that separates us and I need the thick wood to keep her from me. I look at the lock and see it’s not latched and I
need it to be latched so damn bad. I turn back and try to walk away. I try to open my mouth to tell her to leave me alone.

  “Blake, I’m not here to beg you to give me another chance, if that’s what has you leaving me out here like this. I only wish to see you and tell you I’m sorry, in person. I don’t expect you to even accept my apology, but I want to face you as I should’ve done a long time ago.”

  Is she being sincere? Can she even be sincere?

  I open the door and look down to find her wearing a little, white T-shirt and some old blue jeans and flip flops. Her hair is in a ponytail. She’s not even trying to look all evil seductress like I thought she would.

  Instead she looks tiny and sweet like she always does. “Hi,” I manage to get out of my dryer than hell mouth.

  “Hi, Blake.” She looks up at me and her eyes shine like a beacon in the night. So blue and gorgeous. “I just wanted to tell you, face to face, I’m sorry for being a coward.”

  I swallow hard and say, “You aren’t a coward, Rachelle.”

  She nods her little head. “I am, and you deserve better than what I’ve given you. You deserve an explanation for how I’ve treated you. For how I’ve left you. I’d like to offer you that, if you’d let me.”

  Though I should close this door. I take a step back and gesture for her to come inside. She comes in and the smell of her lavender scented shampoo fills my senses. I gulp and try hard to maintain my composure.

  “Please have a seat. I’ll be right back,” I say then go into the kitchen.

  I take three beers out. I chug one then throw the empty bottle in the trash. I take the other two with me. Handing her one then I take the chair across from her. I eye her warily as I take a sip of the beer I just opened.

  She takes a drink then sets it on the table next to her. “I don’t need the liquid courage. I don’t really deserve to have any. I’ve done terrible things to you and all because I don’t value myself. I just want you to know none of it was you. You’re a wonderful person and it was my pleasure to know you. Especially how we knew each other.”

  “The sex?” I ask as I take another drink to cool my burning insides.

  “The way you made love to me, yes. I was lucky to get to ever feel you like that,” she says then leans forward. “Those are memories I’ll always cherish and never will I forget how you treated me so respectfully and with the utmost kindness at all times. Thank you for that, Blake.”

  “So is that all you wanted to tell me, Rachelle?” I ask as I place my beer on the table and stand up.

  Her eyes go wide and they follow me as I stand. She nods and moves to stand up herself. I take her small shoulders in my hands and press her back down, then sit next to her.

  “I’d like to say some things to you, Rachelle. Some things I’ve ached to tell you when you left me like that.”

  She bites her bottom lip and looks at me as her eyes glisten. “Okay, give it to me. I deserve it.”

  “You do,” I say then trail my fingers along her delicate jawline then over her collarbone. “You deserve to know I think you’re brave and courageous. To come here and face me is not a thing I thought you could ever do.”

  Her throat swells a little as she gulps and her body shakes a bit. “Really?”

  I nod and lean into her, inhaling her scent. “You deserve to hear I’ve never stopped loving you. You deserve to hear I forgive you. And you deserve to hear that I accept you for who you are, which is a magnificent woman.” My lips are close to hers and I look into her eyes. “Can I kiss you?”

  The slightest of nods she gives me and I take her lips. The sweet heat fills me with our touch. Softly she pants and wraps her arms around my neck. I’ve missed her too much to waste time.

  I pick her up and kiss her all the way down the hall to my new bedroom. I lie on the bed, laying her out next to me, our lips never parting. Her fingers fumble with the button on my jeans and she seems to want me as bad as I want her.

  Leaving her lips only long enough to undress her then myself. We exchange long looks at the other’s body. Her lips curl into a smile. “You’ve been working out like a manic, haven’t you?”

  I run my hand down my tight abs. “You noticed, how sweet.”

  She wiggles her finger at me and I come to her. They way her hands slip over my body makes my male member spring to attention. She leans up and runs her tongue over my nipple and chill bumps sprout all over my body.

  “I want to kiss every last inch of you,” she says in a growl.

  “I’d like that,” I say with a growl of my own.

  I lie down and pull her on top of me. She kisses my chest and runs her mouth down my abs, trailing her tongue over the ridges and valleys. It’s me who aches to be inside her. As if reading my mind, she slides her body up mine then down again, filling herself with my throbbing cock.

  We groan in unison. She sits up on me. I’m all inside her and she’s still for a moment, letting me spread her open to accommodate my girth and length. With a slow smile, she begins to slide up and down my length and looks at me as she runs her hands over my stomach.

  My hands move to her tiny waist and I lift her up to help her stroke me a bit faster. He little body weighs nothing and I move her easily up and down my hard as nails dick.

  They way her boobs bounce as I move her captivates me. Sitting up, I take one in my mouth as I continue to lift her up and down with the other hand. She moves her legs, so she’s sitting on my lap and we move together.

  So tight her body is, and it conforms to mine as if we were made only for each other.

  I wonder is this means she’s back.

  Rachelle

  My body finally feels like mine again. I’ve been distant even from myself. Not letting a lot go into my brain as I try to come to terms with what has happened to me in very low doses.

  I slip over Blake’s monster cock. As he fills me, it takes me to another place. A place only he can take me. A place I’ve been afraid of, but for some reason that fear is gone.

  He rolls me over and lays me back on a mountainous pillow, my body still inclined towards his. He never lets us part and moves in and out of me as he looks down, watching our bodies connect and disconnect as he pulls all the way out of me with each long stroke.

  It’s as if he’s seeing that he can live whether he’s inside me or not. That life can go on whether I stay or run. Then his eyes look into mine and I see it. I see the acceptance he’s giving me.

  “I love you, Rachelle. No matter what you ever do, I love you and always will.” His body presses to mine and he takes my mouth to his, swirling his tongue over mine.

  It doesn’t feel like he’s trying to dominate me like before. It doesn’t feel as if he’s trying to make me his. It feels like he wants us just to be. Just as much as I’ll allow us to be.

  It feels perfect.

  His blonde curls I wrap my hands in. Their soft and it’s one of the things I’ve missed most. One of my hands runs over his back and I moan as his muscles bunch with every soft, long stroke he makes into me.

  He moans back into my mouth and one of his hands moves into my hair and he wraps it around his fist, pulling at it lightly. The softness is great, but I want more and I arch against him, trying to convey my need for him.

  A little faster he moves, a little harder he thrusts, a little tighter he pulls my hair. My stomach grows taught as my insides tighten and my legs wrap around him.

  His mouth moves off mine and he takes my neck in a hard bite as he begins to pound into me, taking my breath with his first really hard thrust. He sucks and bites my neck and it sends me into a frenzy.

  I want him all, I need him all. I arch up to meet every hard thrust, bucking beneath him. All I can think about it how fantastic it will feel when his liquid heat fills me.

  His lips touch my ear, his words hot, “Come.”

  One single command and my body does as he’s said. I break apart inside and he strokes me that much harder. It’s made things a lot slicker, an
d he flows in and out of me faster.

  My body pulses and pulls for him to join me in this ecstasy, but he holds on. His teeth clenched together as he holds onto his own release. He grunts a little and takes one of my breasts in his hot mouth and sucks hard.

  The feeling goes straight down into my lower regions and I feel the ache of another hard orgasm building. Long, hard tugs he takes on my breast and I fall apart. Only this time he comes along for the ride and releases my breast as we both let out hellacious moans.

  He rocks against me as our bodies come down off the high mountain top he took them to. I pepper little kisses over his neck and shoulder. Then I place my lips to his ear and whisper the words I know he’s longing to hear, “I love you, Blake.”

  The way his body collapses onto mine leaves me with the knowledge he needed to hear those words from me like he needed the air he breathes. His face is the only thing he pulls up, and he looks into my eyes.

  His eyes are still dark with emotion. “I love you, Rachelle.”

  One sweet kiss he leaves on my pulsing lips. Then he rolls off me, leaving me cold in his wake. To have his body on mine for all eternity is a thing I wish I could have.

  Rolling to his side, he pulls me to him, my back to his front, and he runs his arm around my waist. His soft lips touch the back of my neck. “I’m not holding you down, baby. I’m not holding you like you belong to me. I am merely holding you to feel your body next to mine, the way our bodies were meant to be together.”

  His words bring something to my heart it had been lacking, though I had no idea it ever was. A sense of companionship. A sense of compassion, and a sense that this man knows me. Inside and out he knows me and he accepts me, big, fat, ugly flaws and shortcomings, and hurtful ways included.

  Never have I felt more lucky!

  Blake

  My mind is peaceful. She is back where she should be. Nestled in my arms and sleeping like a baby.