Picking up the Pieces

by Jessica Prince

He trailed his lips up and down my neck, and it took all of my willpower to keep myself from melting into him. “I know it’s late, so you should just lay back down. Besides, I’m not letting you go anywhere. I’m nowhere near done with you.” He rolled me onto my back, climbed between my legs and kissed me like his life depended on it.

  I was completely breathless by the time he pulled away and reached over to his nightstand. “Luke, we can’t,” I said with more conviction than I felt. “We shouldn’t have had sex the first time. It was a mistake, and it can’t happen again.”

  His room suddenly lit up, and I had to blink as my eyes adjusted to the light. He’d moved so quickly, I hadn’t even felt the bed shift before he turned on the lamp on the nightstand. “A mistake?”

  Uh oh.

  His anger was almost palpable, and I couldn’t help but cringe at the menacing look on his face. “Did you not hear me last night?” he asked sarcastically.

  I pulled the sheet tight against me, trying to cover myself up. “What are you talking about?”

  “After I nearly fucked you into a coma, I informed you that I wasn’t letting you go. Did you somehow miss that?”

  His biting tone was quickly feeding my own anger. “Just because you said it, doesn’t mean I agree with it. You can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do, Luke.”

  The grin that spread across his face was almost frightening. “That’s the beauty of it, baby. You want this just as much as I do. You were practically begging for me to be inside you.”

  “Fuck you,” I hissed as I shot off the bed in search of my clothes.

  “I plan to.” He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back onto the bed before I could even blink. His hand was doing unimaginable things between my legs as he kissed me. “Tell me you don’t want me,” he said as he brought me closer and closer to orgasm. “If you can look me in the eye and say you don’t want me, I’ll let you go.”

  I let out a whimper and he moved his fingers faster. “Luke, please.” If I wasn’t so close, I might have been embarrassed that he could make me beg so easily. But I didn’t care about anything except my own release at that point.

  “What do you need, baby? Tell me what you need, and I’ll give it to you.”

  “I need…” I couldn’t even form a complete sentence. “I need… inside…”

  “You need me inside you?”

  “Oh God, yes.”

  He quickly donned a condom and turned me on my side. Lifting my leg and placing it over his hip, he entered me from behind so slowly I wanted to cry. I wanted to beg for him to move faster. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, his hand slid down my side and his fingers began to toy with my clit as he moved in and out. It was a sensory overload that had me crying out with an orgasm almost instantly.

  Luke kept pace, dragging out every last bit of my release before finally picking up speed and falling over the edge right after.

  ***

  “Savannah, open up!” I hollered as I pounded on the door and rang the bell over and over and over. “Open up! Open up! Open up! Openupopenupopenup!”

  Her front door was thrown open and she stood in front of me in her Hello Kitty boxers, Sons of Anarchy t-shirt and robe with rubber duckies on it. “Someone better be dead, Emerson Grace. It’s six o’clock in the fucking morning on a Saturday!”

  I shoved my way past her and threw myself down on her sofa. “Oh God,” I groaned into my hands. “Van, I messed up so bad.”

  “What the hell’s going on?” she asked as she sat beside me. “And why do you have sex hair? Wait…” she inhaled a sharp gasp. “Noooooooooo! No, no, no! You didn’t.”

  “Ohgodohgodohgodohgod!”

  “How did this happen?” she shrieked.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

  “Why the fuck do you keep repeating yourself over and over again?!”

  We were both in freak-out mode. “I don’t fucking know, Savannah! I can’t think right now.”

  “That’s because you just had your brains fucked out!”

  I burst into tears.

  “Okay. None of that… come on. Don’t cry.” Savannah never did well with tears. She sat down next to me and started rubbing my back. “I’m sorry I yelled. It’s really early. I haven’t had coffee and you just told me you had sex. It’s too early to process that kind of shit. I’m sorry.”

  “What the hell was I thinking?” I asked on a sob.

  “I don’t know, honey.”

  I wiped my tears away and looked at her. “Twice, Savannah. We had sex two times. In one night! I haven’t had that much sex in six year!”

  “I told you that your vow of celibacy was a bad idea. I said that, didn’t I? You can’t go without for that long, then be around a hot guy and not cave. It’s like putting cake in front of a fat kid and telling him ‘ha ha, you can’t eat it’. It’s not logical.”

  “This is not helping at all.”

  She raked her hands over her face. “Was it at least good?”

  I couldn’t believe she just asked that. “Are you kidding? Are you being serious right now?”

  “What?” she asked innocently. “It’s already done. You can’t undo it, so you might as well share.”

  It was sad that I found her reasoning sound. “It was fucking amazing. I want to do it again and again.”

  She just stared at me for a long time. “Then can you please explain to me why you’re at my house at the ass crack of dawn?”

  I started twisting my hands in my lap. “I kinda snuck out of his bed and ran over here.”

  “Say what now?”

  I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I didn’t plan on spending the night, but I kind of fell asleep, then when I woke up and tried to sneak out the first time, he woke up and wouldn’t let me leave and we did it again, then I fell asleep again and when I woke up a little while ago, he must have been worn out because he didn’t wake up, so I ran over here because I’m freaking out, and he’s gonna be super pissed when he wakes up and I’m gone because he already told me that I’m his and he’s not letting me go and he seemed really, really serious.” I sucked in a deep breath after spitting that out as fast as possible.

  She just sat there with her mouth hanging partially open, not saying anything for several seconds. “Are you gonna say anything?” I finally asked when I started getting uncomfortable.

  “Is it possible to have an orgasm just from listening to you? Because I think I just totally did.”

  “Not helping!”

  “What do you want me to say, Emmy? You tell me you had sex that was so fantastic you passed out not just once, but twice and that he went all alpha and told you that you were his, and you expect me not to have this reaction? Sorry, not possible. That was totally fucking hot! And you know it causes me physical pain to say that, because I hate his ass.”

  “What am I going to do, Van?”

  “I honestly don’t know. But you better come up with something fast because if what you say is true, he’s gonna hunt your ass down once he wakes up.

  I was so screwed and despite what happened the night before, not in the good way. I had so many conflicting emotions that I couldn’t tell up from down. On the one hand, I really wanted a re-do of the night before, but on the other, I wanted to go home, pack my shit and jump on the first flight to Mexico to get away from Luke. My walls had been completely demolished, and there was no building them back up. I knew it was just a matter of time before he came looking for me. I needed a plan… fast.

  CHAPTER 22

  Around noon, I decided I didn’t need a plan, because there was no way Luke was going to come after me. I was just being ridiculous; this wasn’t some movie where I banged a smokin’ hot mafia dude who’d “claimed” me. This was real life, and real men didn’t act that way. I actually managed to convince myself that if I did run into Luke, he would act like nothing happened and we’d go back to the easy friendship we’d already established.

  I’m a fucking idiot.

&n
bsp; At a quarter after twelve, Luke came barging into the diner, determination written all over his face. “We need to talk. Now.” He didn’t even slow down as he pushed past me and headed in the direction of the office.

  Savannah, Stacia, and Lizzy were sitting at a table off in the corner, and when I turned to look at them, they all had startled expressions on their faces. Savannah had already spilled the beans about mine and Luke’s little bedroom adventures. I turned and started towards the office like a dead man walking. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, my friends jumped up and followed after me.

  I tried to close the door before they reached it, but the three of them pushed their way into the office behind me. Lizzy shut the door, and they stared between me and Luke.

  “Can we not do this here?” I asked.

  He took a step toward me. I would have backed up if it wasn’t for my soon-to-be-ex friends standing behind me. “If you didn’t want to do this here, then you shouldn’t have snuck out of my bed in the middle of the fuckin’ night.” He never raised his voice, but each word that came out of his mouth was scary.

  “I told you it was late and I needed to go home,” I whispered.

  “And I specifically remember making it clear that wasn’t gonna happen.”

  “Oh shit,” Savannah whispered from behind me. She knew his misogynistic attitude would set me off… and she was right.

  “And I clearly remember saying you can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do. I didn’t want to stay the night in your sorry-ass excuse for a bachelor pad, so I didn’t. Do not mistake one night of good sex for something else, Lucas.”

  He got in my face as he hissed his next words. “It was one night of fuckin’ amazing sex… that will be happening again. Trust that. You wanna try and hold on to the anger from the past to keep me at a distance, you go right ahead. But I’ve already set my mind on making things right, and once I set my mind on something, there’s no changing it. You’re mine, Em. You became mine when you gave yourself to me eight years ago, and you’ve been mine every day since. I will not lose you again. I’m going to get you to forgive me and I will earn your trust back. No matter how long it takes.”

  He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me to him. There was nothing soft about the kiss. It felt like he was claiming me right there in front of my friends. When he finally pulled back, I was out of breath and unsteady on my feet. By the time I was able to open my eyes, he’d already walked out the door.

  “That was so hot!” Lizzy exclaimed. “You’re so right, Van. I totally just came.”

  I hated my friends.

  “You’re all banned… for a week!”

  “What?!”

  “Oh, come on!”

  “Noooooo.”

  All three of them started whining and complaining almost instantly.

  “And no pie for two weeks. You bitches don’t deserve my pie.” I turned and headed out of the office and towards the front of the diner, the girls hot on my heels.

  “You can’t do that,” Savannah whined. “You know I depend on that pie as a replacement for all the sex I’m not having.”

  “Y’all were no help at all back there, at all!”

  “Well, what did you want us to do? He got all possessive and sexy, and we just got sucked into the moment.” This came from Stacia. I cut my eyes in her direction.

  “You’re lucky it’s only for a few weeks. I could ban y’all for a month. You’re lucky I like you, now get outta my diner.”

  Savannah stuck her bottom lip out as they headed to the door. “You suck and we aren’t friends anymore.”

  I went back to serving my customers and silently freaking out. I had no clue what I was going to do about the whole Luke thing. He’d made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t taking no for an answer, and while part of me wanted to continue to fight the attraction that was between us, the other part of me wanted to give in and see where things could go. But I just didn’t know if that was a risk I could take. I’d nearly been destroyed the first time around. Was I going to be able to handle it if it went bad again? I didn’t have an answer to that question.

  ***

  LUKE

  My day had started with so much potential. All of that went down the toilet the minute I rolled over and discovered that I was in my bed, alone, with nothing but the smell of Emmy on my sheets. After searching the apartment and coming up empty, I glanced out the window and saw that her car was gone. “Goddamn it!” Rushing back to my bedroom, I threw on clothes and started for the door when Trevor came walking in.

  “Whoa, where’s the fire, man?”

  “Move outta my way.” I tried to shove past him, but his hand clamped down on my arm in a vice grip.

  “What’s going on, Luke? I’ve never seen you this pissed. Tell me what happened.”

  I raked my hands through my hair and stared up at the ceiling. “I swear to Christ. When I find her, I’m gonna cuff her to the goddamned bed after I put her over my knee.”

  “Uh… What the fuck are you talking about?”

  I told Trevor about the night before, getting more and more pissed as I thought of her sneaking out of my place before the sun even came up.

  “Okay, you just need to breathe, brother. You can’t go after her until you calm the hell down.”

  “Fuck that. Now move.” I pushed him hard, but he stepped back in front of me.

  “I’m serious, Luke. If you go after her now, when you’re this pissed, you’re gonna end up saying something you can’t take back. You need to get your shit straight first.”

  It was a sad day when Trevor was the voice of reason. I sucked in a few deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves. “Fuck, you’re right. I’d likely wring her neck if I saw her right now.”

  Things didn’t improve any as the day dragged on. I finally felt calm enough to confront Emmy a little after lunch, but that didn’t exactly go like I was hoping. Everything about her demeanor screamed that she was going to fight me at every turn. I spent the rest of my shift in a foul mood, lashing out at everyone who crossed my path.

  By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was have a few beers and watch the football game on TV. When Jeremy called me earlier to tell me their band was playing at Colt’s, I really didn’t want to go, but when he said everyone was coming to the show, there was no way I was passing that up. I could only hope my mood improved before I saw her again.

  CHAPTER 23

  EMERSON

  Walking into Colt’s in my “I’m a groupie and proud of it” t-shirt, I had a sense of dread at seeing Luke again. Trying to convince myself that I didn’t want him was no longer an issue. It wasn’t just a physical craving that I felt for him. It was an all-encompassing need to be with him. I had stupidly dropped all guards and had fallen in love with the asshole all over again.

  “Stop it,” Lizzy hissed at me. “You look like you’re waiting to be executed.” I knew she was just kidding, but that’s how I felt. It was like the countdown had started on how long it would take for him to break my heart all over again. I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s night, so I tried to make light of what Lizzy said.

  “Shut up.” I gave her a playful shove. “I still don’t like you.”

  “Whatever. Your pie’s not that great anyway.”

  I leaned back and gasped. “Take that back.”

  Lizzy looked at me with a smug grin. “No.”

  “Take it back right this minute, or I’m gonna un-friend you on Facebook. And you know that shit’s legit.”

  It was her turn to feign terror. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Just watch me.” I pulled the phone out of the back pocket of my skinny jeans, brought up my Facebook app and held my finger over delete.

  Savannah and Stacia picked that moment to walk up to us. “What’s happening right now?” Stacia asked. “This looks intense.”

  Neither Lizzy nor I broke eye contact. “This bitch is threatening to un-friend me.”

  “What? Why?!” In Stacia’s
world, being un-friended was one of the worst things that could ever happen.

  “She said my pie wasn’t that great.”

  Both Savannah and Stacia took a step back. “Them’s fightin’ words, Lizzy,” Savannah told her.

  I started to count down. “Five… four… three…”

  “Alright, alright! I take it back. You’ve got the best pie in all the land.”

  Stacia let out a relieved sigh at Lizzy’s surrender.

  “Damn straight I do,” I said with a triumphant smile.

  “Now that that’s over with, can we please get up to the stage so I can see my man play?”

  I turned to Stacia and laughed. “Did you bring your panties this time?”

  “Damn it,” she said as she stomped her foot. “I knew I forgot something.”

  The four of us laughed as we made our way to our coveted spot at the front of the stage. As the night wore on and Luke didn’t show, I slowly started to relax. The four of us drank, danced, and sang along to what the guys were playing. I was in the middle of some serious ass shaking as they played The Ataris version of “The Boys of Summer,” when I felt a pair of hands snake around my hips. “Jesus Christ, baby, do you have any clue how fuckin’ good you look when you dance?”

  My brain instantly malfunctioned as Luke whispered in my ear. It felt so damn good to have him wrapped around me.

  I started to pull away, but he grabbed my shoulders and spun me around so that I was facing him. “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked as he slid his hands over my ass.

  “What’s it look like I’m doing?” he said in my ear as he traced his tongue along the sensitive cord of my neck. “I’m dancing with my girl.”

  “I’m not your girl,” I mumbled weakly. I might have said the words, but nothing about my body language backed them up. I latched on to the front of his blue button-down as he slid his thigh between my legs. God, everything about that man felt good.

  “In a few minutes, I bet I can get you singing a different tune.”

  In a few minutes, I was going to be a big puddle of goo on the dance floor. “Luke,” I tried to protest.

  He brushed his lips gently against mine to silence me. “Just dance with me, baby girl. I just need to feel you in my arms.”