Redemption (Forgiven Series)

by Brooke, Rebecca

  His fingers never stopped the slow circles. “You know what I love?” he whispered.

  The feel of his hands made it impossible to speak so I shook my head, knowing he could feel the movement.

  “I love when you take control.” The whisper laced with desire, I knew it was more a suggestion than a statement.

  Take control? A thought was trying to penetrate my lust-induced thoughts. Then it hit me.

  That was exactly what had happened that first night.

  That first night was the only thing running through my head. There were so many excuses I could use but truth be told, I had never experienced anything like it before, or since.

  She pulled back as much as the wall would allow her, and searched my eyes. Hers were filled with desire and a little confusion, or maybe that was embarrassment? We hadn’t talked much about that first night. Once I had gotten Lauren to agree to go out with me, I really hadn’t been interested in giving her a reason to change her mind, so I didn’t bring it up again.

  “Me?” she whispered shakily.

  “Yes, you,” I murmured against her lips. “Since I was the injured party, I want you to make me feel better.” I pushed my bottom lip out in a pout to let her know I was teasing but damn, I wanted more than anything for Lauren to take charge, even if was just in the beginning.

  Pulling back, I watched for her reaction while I moved my other hand up her shirt and began to tease her other nipple through her bra. Instantly, something in hers eyes changed. Her hands slid up over my shoulders, around my neck, but her right hand continued up into my hair, fisting into it almost to the point of pain. The moment her lips connected with mine I knew there was something different about this kiss. Every time I kissed Lauren the blood left my brain, but this time the promise of what was to come had me harder than I had ever been.

  Taking my bottom lip between her teeth, she lightly bit down, causing me to open wider and allowing her sweet tongue into my mouth. With my mind preoccupied with the feel of her mouth possessing mine, she took advantage and, using her foot as leverage, she pushed us away from the wall.

  Lauren’s dominance continued as she forced me backward in the direction of my bedroom. Not that I was complaining because that was exactly where I wanted her. When we reached the bed, she turned and pushed me down.

  “Lauren,” I groaned. “You are so fucking sexy like this.” The mischievous gleam in her eyes had me reaching for her, only to have her take a step out of my reach.

  “Oh no, no, no,” she admonished. “I’m in charge, which means I call the shots.”

  “So, that’s how we’re going to play this,” I chuckled, trying to calm my raging hard on, knowing there would likely be a lot of teasing.

  Lying back on the bed, I closed my eyes and waited to see what she did next. After a few moments I felt the bed dip under her weight. She crawled on top of me and although I was enjoying the feeling of her being there, I still kept my eyes closed and my hands to myself, not wanting things to end before they got started. “Open your eyes,” she whispered against my lips.

  What I saw had my composure slipping another notch. She was completely naked, her beautiful breasts crushed against my chest. I growled as I ran my hands down her gorgeous ass and squeezed. “The things you do to me.”

  “Look who’s talking,” she said before she kissed me quickly and sat up, still straddling my hips. “Give me your hands,” she ordered.

  I did as I was told, excited to see where this was leading. Taking my hands, she pulled me into a sitting position and let her hands glide up my arms, squeezing my biceps as she made her way down to the hem of my shirt. Slowly, she took the fabric and lifted it over my head, throwing in the corner of the room.

  “That’s better,” she said, lowering her head to take my nipple between her lips.

  The feeling had me jerking my hips up against her. The friction from the denim of my jeans must have had an effect on her because she bit down a little harder. “Ahh,” I groaned, fisting my hand into her hair and leaning up so that I could capture my mouth with hers. Like a carefully choreographed routine, she opened and my tongue darted inside the only place it wanted to be—twisting and tangling with hers.

  Unable to control myself, I pulled my mouth from hers to suck a path down to her breasts. I may have wanted her to take control, but they were too irresistible.

  Closing my mouth around the tight bud Lauren threw her head back forcing her chest closer to me.

  “Josh,” she hissed.

  Not wanting to ignore her other breast, I kissed my way over and closed my mouth around her, sucking hard. She held my head, keeping me close, with one hand, while the other slipped down my chest to the button of my jeans. Quickly, she popped the button and slid down the zipper and, dropping her hand inside my jeans and boxers, she wrapped it around my too hard cock and began to stroke.

  My mouth lifted from her breasts for a moment. “Holy shit,” I breathed. Up and down, up and down she stroked, making me almost lose it. This self-confident Lauren was going to be my undoing.

  When she started to grind against me…

  I needed inside her.

  Wrapping her legs around me, I stood up but she never stopped the stroking movements of her hand. I lowered her to the ground and her strokes became harder and faster.

  “I need—” I started to pant but stopped when I felt my body heading to the point of no return. Grabbing Lauren’s hand and pulling it from my jeans, I held both of them by her sides. “Wait here,” I said through labored breaths.

  “You didn’t like that,” she said innocently, giving me her best puppy-dog eyes.

  “You know I did, but I need in you, now!” I reached for the drawer with the condoms, making quick work of dropping my pants and opening the packet so that I could slide it on, being careful to touch my dick as little as possible.

  She leaned up onto her toes to capture my lips with hers. The minute her tongue made contact with my lips I was done. Needing this to be fast but still good for both of us, I took her shoulders and roughly turned her to face the bed. Putting pressure on her top half until her torso was on the bed but her feet still on the floor, I slid my hands over her back and down her thighs. I heard her whimper.

  “Josh?” she whispered hesitantly.

  I bent over her, making sure every point of my chest touched a part of her back. “Don’t worry, I just need to be as deep in you as possible. You’ll love it,” I murmured in her ear, rubbing the head of my dick over the only place it wanted to be. She was already so wet that I slid in with ease. I gritted my teeth. God, she felt so warm.

  “Josh, you’re so deep,” she groaned. “Oh my God!”

  That was it. I had no more control. With my hands on her hips, I pulled back and began pounding in and out of her. The sounds of pleasure coming from her had me taking my right hand and sliding it over her hip, to touch that sweet spot between her legs. My dick started to throb and I knew it wasn’t going to be much longer.

  “Oh God, Lauren,” I panted. “I’m not sure how much longer I can hold on.”

  I continued the fast past movements, when I felt her insides begin to tighten around me. Surprised that it was even possible, I managed to pick up the pace.

  “Oh God,” she cried out, her hands tightening in the sheets.

  A few strokes later and I got the release I’d needed since the restaurant. “Lauren,” I called out, letting all of the stress of the afternoon go.

  Every ounce of strength had been sucked from my body and I dropped down onto Lauren’s back, unable to hold my own weight on my arms. Her skin was slick with sweat and I felt her shudder beneath me as I tried to catch my breath.

  After my breathing returned to normal, I stood up and went to throw the condom in the trash. When I came back, Lauren had moved to the middle of the bed and pulled the sheet up to cover her beautiful body. Lifting the sheet, I crawled in and pulled her into my arms. Her hand lightly caressed my abdomen, stirring feelings of desire
in me again but I sensed her exhaustion from the day and was content to just hold her in my arms.

  Lying there in the silence, it was the first time I’d had to really think about my feelings for Lauren. Caught up in everything that had happened, I realized that I hadn’t told her how felt.

  Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Her chin tilted up and I caught sight of those dazzling eyes, but it was hard to focus on her eyes with her delicious lips only inches from mine. I couldn’t resist their invitation. I touched my lips to hers. This kiss wasn’t the ravenous, all-consuming kiss of earlier, but one that was filled with emotion I wasn’t sure how to verbalize. What seemed like hours later, her lips pulled away from mine and the words that she spoke shook me to my core.

  “I love you,” she breathed.

  Immediately her eyes opened wide, then quickly closed again, and a beautiful blush spread all across her body. Using all of her strength, she tried to pull away but I held on tight. I wanted to tell her how I felt, but it wasn’t something I was going to do with her eyes closed.

  She writhed against me, struggling to get loose. “Josh, please, let me go,” she begged.

  Instead, I rolled her to her back and covered her body with mine. She threw her arm over her eyes and turned her face away from me. Not willing to let her withdraw from me I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger and guided her face back to mine. “Lauren, open your eyes and look at me.” When she didn’t answer I continued. “Please?” Unsure if it was the “please,” or the sound of desperation in my voice, but I couldn’t have been happier when she sighed and moved her arm away, slowly opening those beautiful hazel eyes and blinking rapidly to focus.

  When I was sure she was looking, even if it was in muted misery, I told her what I’d been longing to say since that moment at the park today.

  “I love you, too.”

  Her eyes widened again, searching mine as if they were trying to see into my soul. “You do?” she asked, almost hesitantly.

  Without hesitation I kissed her, putting all of the love I felt for her into it. “Yes, I do,” I said against her lips. Slightly hurt at her shock, I had to ask, “Why are you surprised by that?”

  “I thought… I thought that wasn’t something I would ever hear out of your mouth,” she admitted, looking at something over my shoulder—something she did whenever she was nervous.

  “Lauren, look at me,” I demanded. “Is that why you got so embarrassed when you said it to me a few minutes ago? Or did you not really mean to say it?” I asked, bracing myself for the answer I didn’t want to hear.

  “Of course I meant it, why would you think I didn’t? I was embarrassed by the fact that I’d said it because I didn’t know how you would react.” Once again, she tried to push me away but I grabbed her hands and pinned them up next to her head to stop her.

  She’d thought she’d never hear that from me? As pissed as I was, I knew being angry was not going to help this situation. How many times had I seen anger get the best of someone, only for it to blow up in their face? I also had to keep in mind that Lauren had nothing to go on. I’d never been in this position before, so how was she supposed to know what to expect from me?

  I let my lips briefly touch hers. “If you promise to stop fighting me, I’ll let your hands go.” When she nodded, I let go of her hands and brought one of my own up to cup her cheek, using my thumb to caress her soft skin.

  “I told you from the beginning that there has never been anyone like you for me. You are different from anyone else… and I love you.”

  Watching me intently, she seemed to finally let what I was saying to her sink in because the corners of her mouth turned up into the most gorgeous smile.

  “I love you, too.”

  I slanted my lips over her in a sweet kiss that helped me to make another decision. Ending the kiss, I pulled away to ask her to do something I’d never asked any girl before her to do. “I want you to come with me on Saturday to meet my mom.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. I’ve already met your dad—”

  “Yeah, and that went over real well.”

  She rolled her eyes and I covered her lips with my finger. “I wasn’t finished. I already met your dad, but I’d also like to meet your mom, so I figure it’s only fair if you get to meet my mom first.”

  “You want to meet my mom?” she asked. “Don’t guys usually avoid that at all costs?”

  “Ahh, just like you are different from other girls, I’m different from other guys,” I reminded her. “Besides, how else am I gonna know what you’ll look like when you get older.”

  What the hell was I talking about getting older with her? Damn, I really had lost my mind over this girl.

  She smacked me on the arm. “I will always be gorgeous,” she joked.

  I let my eyes move down her body in appreciation. “Yes, yes you will be.”

  After a few moments of silence she answered me. “Okay, I’d love to meet your mom.”

  Letting go of the breath I hadn’t realize that I’d been holding, I took a nice deep one, released of the stress that had been building since she said ‘I love you’. “What time do you have practice on Saturday?’

  She groaned. “Early.” Lauren was definitely not a morning person.

  “Okay, so how about you get a ride to practice and I’ll pick you up from there?” I offered.

  “I like that,” she murmured taking little nibbles at the underside of my jaw.

  “That’ll give us enough time to visit…” I stopped to catch my breath her mouth was doing wicked things to my body. “And still make it back in time to go out for Nick’s birthday,” I panted out. The feel of her teeth against my skin made me quickly lose control.

  “Lauren,” I moaned.

  She pushed her hands into my hair and we started all over again, this time letting everything go.

  Standing in the parking lot, I waited for Lauren to get finished practice. She’d gotten a lift to practice because I’d dropped her off the night before and held on to her car so that I could pick her up and drive her to my mom’s.

  I had to admit I was nervous as hell. I’d never introduced a girlfriend to my mom before, but then again, I’d never had one until Lauren. Not even in high school. Mom usually avoided the subject because I think she knew she wouldn’t like the answer.

  The pacing started as soon as I pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. I knew I was early, but I’d been driving Caleb and Angie crazy with my nervous energy. Looking at my watch, I counted down the time until Lauren would be finished, getting more and more freaked out by the second.

  Hearing her giggle across the parking lot, I stopped in my tracks and waited for her. With her was the tall blonde girl I’d seen at the games, behind the plate, catching for Lauren.

  Watching her walk towards me with the sexy sway of her hips, that she was completely unaware of, my thoughts turned to the idea of being between those hips. Shaking my head, I tried to get my thoughts under control.

  “Hey, Josh, I wanted you to meet my catcher, Kendra,” she said, gesturing toward the blonde next to her.

  Kendra reached out her hand to me. “Nice to meet you,” she smiled. “Had to say, I was impressed someone could tame the infamous Josh Walker, but if anyone could do it, Lauren could,” she said, gesturing in Lauren’s direction.

  Shit. Had she really just called me the “infamous Josh Walker” in front of my girlfriend? Holy hell, was I ever going to live that reputation down? I didn’t really care what people thought about me, but I didn’t want it constantly thrown in Lauren’s face either.

  “Kendra,” Lauren admonished, her face turning red. I couldn’t blame her, I’d be embarrassed too if I had to keep listening to people tell me what a manwhore my boyfriend used to be.

  “What?” Kendra shrugged. “I’m just telling the truth.”

  Irreverent as she may be, she was Lauren’s friend and I trusted her judgment. “It’s nice to meet y
ou, too.”

  Lauren shook her head and took a step forward to stand beside me. She looked up at me, her eyes pleading with me to forgive her for her friend’s comments.

  “I can see why she likes you as much as she does,” Kendra said as she appraised me with her eyes, making me feel a little uncomfortable. In a split-second her whole demeanor changed, and she pointed her index finger at me, almost poking me in the chest. “And you better not hurt her, if you know what’s good for you.”

  Wow, what the hell? Part of me wanted to laugh but I knew that wasn’t the way to treat Lauren’s friends. So, I made the same promise I’d made to Emily over a month before. Pulling Lauren to my side I vowed, “I’d never do anything to hurt, Jersey.” Looking down with a smile on my face, I noticed her eyes were filled with relief that I hadn’t gotten mad with her friend’s, somewhat, outrageous behavior.

  “Alright, Kendra, now that you’ve checked him out and threatened him, do you think we can get going? We have a long drive,” Lauren asked.

  Kendra’s eyes blinked and back was the smiling friendly girl. Damn, she reminded me a little of Emily. Good to know. “Sure,” she smiled. “You guys have fun!” And that quick, Kendra turned and started toward her car.

  Lauren’s arms tighten around me. “I am so sorry,” she giggled. “I had no idea she’s was going to do that. She’s usually pretty normal.”

  “It’s fine. It actually took my mind off things for a few minutes,” I said, kissing the top of her head.

  “Don’t tell me you’re nervous about going to your mom’s?” she asked, looking up into my eyes.

  “N—”

  “You are,” she said, cutting me off. “Isn’t it me who’s supposed to be nervous?”

  “Alright, I’m nervous,” I admitted. “I’ve never brought a girl home before.”

  “Never?” She blinked rapidly in shock.

  I sighed. “Not even in high school. This is a first for me.”

  She reached down and entwined our fingers. “I will be on my best behavior and as long as she doesn’t hate me, everything will be fine.”