I sobered. “I’m fighting for him, Jace.”
A spark flared in Jace’s honey-colored eyes. He tried to cover it up, but it was too late. I’d already seen it. “Fighting for who, honey? Drew? That boy’s always looking to fi—”
“For Blake. I’m fighting for Blake. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to prove I’m worthy of him.”
Sparks danced around in Jace’s eyes as he leaned forward. “Come again?”
“I said I’m fighting for Bla—”
“I heard that part,” he interrupted. “I want you to repeat the part that came after that.”
I repeated the words quietly as their meaning and the fact that I had said them so effortlessly floated together. “I said I’m going to do what it takes to prove to him that I’m worthy of him.”
“That.” Jace pointed. “That last part. Tell me those last four little words again.” He leaned in closer, cupping his ear.
“I’m worthy of him.” The strength of my voice grew.
Jace sucked in a sharp breath, but composed himself quickly, his hand still on his ear. “I’m sorry. I think I misheard you. What was that again?” he challenged.
Until that point, I don’t think I’d realized that I even felt that way. I was so used to looking at myself with filth that I hadn’t noticed the change until it flew out of my mouth.
Do I honestly believe that?
I thought I did. The awareness of that made my scalp prickle. I wasn’t sure I would ever be one hundred percent, but I knew I could be what he needed me to be. That I could show him more love and devotion than anyone else in this world.
“It’s hitting you, isn’t it?”
My thoughts were halted by Jace’s voice, and I focused my eyes back on him.
“Uh-huh.” Jace relaxed back in his chair and brought his hands together in a slow-clap before raising his palms to the sky. “A-men, praise Jesus, hallelujah. I never thought this day would come.”
“Me either,” I replied, half to myself and half to him.
“This calls for a celebration.” Jace stood, glancing around. “Where’s the alcohol when you need it?”
“Jace, it's ten-thirty a.m.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “You know my theory about that.”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
“Yazzz, sugar. Now let’s go.” He tugged at my arm.
Jessie clicked her pocket-mirror closed then looked back and forth between us, tucking it into her bag. “You guys are really going drinking right now?”
Jace and I stated in unison.
“Yes.”
“No.”
He peaked an eyebrow. “Don’t challenge me. What’s the problem?”
“I can’t go anywhere today. I have plans.”
Jace flung an eyebrow at me. “What could be more important than the biggest breakthrough of your life?”
I sucked my lower lip between my teeth and looked up at him through lowered lashes, finally realizing with certainty since the moment we met he had always been the most important thing in my life.
“Winning him back.”
BLAKE
I STARED BLANKLY at the smile pinned to the delivery man’s face. It felt like I’d been kicked in the balls as a slow ache crept into my lower abdomen. I didn’t know how much more my heart could handle, what I could trust.
“Señor?” The man’s eyebrows rose in a question as he nudged the brown paper bag tucked inside a plastic bag toward me.
Knowing damn well I would never truly deny anything she was offering, I nodded and took a deep breath, readying my heart for its next jolt.
The man seemed to study my movements as I took the package by the plastic handles and deposited it on the side table before turning to him. He clutched an envelope between both hands, close to his chest. Suddenly his demeanor changed, and he seemed unsure of whether or not he wanted to pass it along to me as he swayed from foot to foot.
I held my hand out to him, knowing that I needed that little piece of her to get me through the day. It was what I’d been surviving on these last few months. The little bits of Angel that I’d collected along the way. “For me?”
“Sí.” He smiled before slipping the hard paper into my hand. His eyes found mine, and they told a story about an overlooked wisdom. “She very beautiful, your girl.”
A knot took shape in my gut. I swallowed and extracted the envelope from his fingers, then tapped it against the edges of mine and gave a short, sarcastic laugh, looking down. “Yeah, well, she’s not mine anymore.” Saying those words still felt so foreign even though I was the one to give her the final shove away. I swallowed down the rock in my throat so that I didn’t lose my man-card in front of this guy.
“She always yours, Señor.” His sincere voice snapped my head up. I sought out his eyes as he sent a shy smile my way. “Read you card.” He clapped me on the shoulder and squeezed. “Please don’t mind if I say . . . sometimes . . . in life . . . people need a second chance.”
I sucked in a breath at the familiarity of those words.
How did he know?
“She very beautiful, your girl.” He winked, reiterating his statement as truth before turning to walk down the hall.
I watched him until he disappeared, contemplating his words and steeling myself for what I was about to find. I needed the right frame of mind to stand toe-to-toe with her. No matter how strong I tried to pretend I was, she always managed to bring me to my knees.
I shut the door and laced my fingers behind my head, feeling the envelope rest against it. Blowing out a breath, I stared down at the brown paper bag. It smelled like the most amazing breakfast food, but I had no appetite to offer it. My nerves were jumping out of my skin, my finger twitching, causing it to brush against something soft in contrast to the hard scratch of the envelope. I brought my hands down to examine it. When I flipped it around, what I saw sucked the wind out of me. Taped to the center of the envelope was a tiny blue flower, its star-shaped center giving it away immediately.
A forget-me-not.
It didn’t look as pristine as I was sure it did when she’d taped it on, but I’d guess we were both a bit worse-for-wear at this point. Below it was Angel’s scrawl—Read me on the couch.
My brows furrowed at her instruction, but as usual, I did as she asked. I lowered myself to the cushion and wiped my sweaty palms along my thighs. Did I want to play this game? I still wasn’t sure that I did, but my curiosity was piqued, and my heart was racing. Deep down, I knew I’d always be a sucker for her. It was just a matter of coming out alive on the other end.
I opened the flap of the envelope. My fingers stilled when they met a familiar glossy feel, and I readied myself for what I would see. With a shaky hand, I tugged and was greeted by an image of Angel. It was my favorite, the first one I’d ever taken of her the day I’d shown up at her apartment with lunch. The look in her eyes . . . She was so unsure of what she was feeling, but she wore her emotions all over her face and her posture. I’d known she was trying hard to push her feelings aside, but when she’d forgotten that bogus guard and looked at me like that—with flushed cheeks and a heavy chest—she told a story without ever speaking. Of a princess locked in a tower. An angel fallen from heaven that was so lost trying to find her way home. I had tried to be that for her, and still, I had failed.
I stared at the stilled eyes staring back at me. She wasn’t even here in the flesh and yet I couldn’t look away. It was as though she was trying to speak to me. Trying to will me to do something. To feel something.
I dragged my fingertips along the image, trying to remember the feel of her skin, the scent of her hair.
Behind her sat a single flower. It had been the point of focus for the first picture I’d shown her how to take. A small smile met my lips as I recalled how flustered she’d become when I’d slipped myself behind her, wrapped my arms around her, and breathed her in. Her scent was a mixture of sweet drizzled with fire. It wa
s unmistakable, and its effect on me was lethal. I’d do anything to get my fix, including, apparently, breaking myself.
Unable to look at that image any longer, I tossed it aside and poked around in the envelope, but my fingers came up empty. My eyebrows drew in as I pulled the edges apart and peered inside its barren opening. Confused, I looked back at her picture for an answer and was met with more of her penmanship. Her note was on the backside of the photo.
To my BFF
I cupped my hand over my mouth and laughed slightly into it, grateful I was alone as I fought the burn behind my eyes.
Good morning. Today is going to be all about you. About us. It seems the roles have reversed somehow, and you’ve taken to running, but I’m going to attempt to slow you down a bit. A long time ago you told me that if I ever forgot, if I tried to run, you’d make me remember. Well, it’s time now for you to remember. At the front of this envelope was a forget-me-not. It’s our second chance flower from the pot of dirt that sat vigil outside my door since you gave me them last fall. You were right, they got a new chance at life. But Blake knows best, right? ;)
I laughed once again, in awe that she was making this type of effort. The girl that I’d chased for months. From the second I saw her, I knew I’d do anything for her. Wait forever if I had to. Somewhere along the line, I had forgotten that part.
If you listened to me, you’re sitting where we officially began all those months ago. When I came to you so scared, but so sure that I wanted to be with you forever. I’m sorry I got lost along the way, but I feel as strongly today as I did that day that we are meant to be together. If you’ll come find me.
Remember to always remember.
Remember to forget me not.
Love forever and always,
Angel
I dropped my head into my hands and drew in a hefty breath. There was a pound in my chest that wasn’t there before. It banged my blood into and out of my veins, forcing a bit of life through limp limbs at the prospect of there being hope for us.
Second chances. Hope.
I had asked her to live me like I lived her, but I think we both died a little that day, along with those words. Flowers were one thing, and I talked a good game trying to convince her we could have the same scenario, but I wasn’t convinced we could resuscitate what we’d had. How could I trust that she would stay still this time?
With a heavy heart, I raised my head, and my gaze immediately fell to the brown paper bag. I moved the package to the table in front of me and split the seam.
The first container I pulled out was eggs. Taped to the top was a packet of salt. That memory brought a smile to my lips as I remembered the first time I’d heard her laugh outright the day I’d tossed it on her desk. Seeing the packet there brought my thoughts to what had prompted me to toss it at her in the first place—those pretty pink nails that I was trying to salvage because she was chewing the hell out of them. A tightness began between my legs, and my dick twitched against my thigh, reminding me that I still had one.
“Easy there, professor,” I spoke aloud, adjusting myself.
I placed the container on the table and reached into the bag, removing the next item. A short-stack of pancakes. I’d called her that on more than one occasion because of her tiny frame. I was beginning to see a pattern. And damn her to hell, I was beginning to like it. A grin played on my lips, a thrum ticking in my heart.
Next, I extracted a slice of angel food cake. A label was placed on top of the container. In smaller words, it said, “I know it’s not Tuesday, but . . .”
EAT ME.
Pussy. I swear I’d turned part-pussy because I couldn’t deny that punch gave me fucking butterflies. My dick purposefully slapped me that time.
Was she fucking kidding me? The least she could have done was give me a fighting chance, the cunning little minx.
God, I fucking loved her.
She knew just how to get to me. Put a burn in my veins, a fire in my heart, a dilation in my pupils. This tingled all the way to my scalp, and I wasn’t about to walk away from the feeling of it any time soon.
The next item I pulled out of the bag was a peach. It was supple in my hands, ripened to perfection, and my mouth watered. She tasted just like a fucking peach. Below it, resting at the bottom of the bag, was a small manila envelope. Beneath the hard, orangy-yellow paper were three mounds. Like an anxious kid, I couldn’t wait to see what was inside. Pulling back the metal tongs, I released the flap and let the contents drop into my palm.
The first item was unmistakable. It was a small canister of lavender scented bubble bath. The other two had me perplexed. They were vials containing about an ounce of white liquid in each. I peeked inside the envelope and, sure enough, there was another letter.
Can you feel that? It’s me taking shape in your pores, in your veins. Feels good, doesn’t it? Like your body is remembering life? You always demanded that I tell you what I wanted and that’s what I’m going to do. I want you to keep feeling . . .
All the way down.
A hard gulp rode my throat.
If you’re wondering what the white juice is, you’ve tasted it before. Though I might have added an extra ingredient with my finger this time ;)
Fuck me.
Crack it open and put a small amount on your tongue and see if you can remember. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
My cock stiffened like a rock, forcing me to widen the part of my legs. I opened the vial and its sweet scent dispersed into the air. It smelled familiar. I dipped my middle finger into the liquid and braced myself as I slid it into my mouth. My eyes closed, recalling her words, knowing drops of her were undoubtedly mixed into the sweet concoction on my tongue. The familiarity of this taste sent a wave tingling along my skin. I shuddered, allowing myself this moment. Unable to stop myself, I emptied the entire contents down my throat, its fiery sweetness reminding me of the taste of my devilish Angel.
She’s going to fucking kill me.
With that tingly burn added to my veins, I picked up her note and continued.
So can you guess? That’s right. That’s Angel’s Tit on your tongue (and some extra Angel juice). I was sure you’d never forget the taste of that special shot I hand-picked for you. Now, here’s what I want you to do. Bring this pair of tits, the peach, and the bubble bath to the tub with you. It’s the same scent you bathed me in the night we got together. Remember, baby? I want you wet, I want you hard, I want you eating and drinking me, and I want you playing with yourself, imagining the day I played with you in that very same tub.
Holy shit. My hands were visibly shaking as I tried to make it through the rest of the words on the page.
When you’re done, and you’re nice and relaxed, come back here and eat your breakfast. There’s another note taped to the bottom of the bag. Now go. I’m waiting for you in the bath. Make me feel it.
Hugs & Kisses,
Angel
Holy mother of God, I think I might have come in my pants. My dick was so fucking hard, I didn’t know if I’d make it to the bathroom. Somewhere, I knew I shouldn’t be doing this, but I was swimming in a fog of Angel-infused lust so thick I was near-drowning in it. There was no way I could go another second without a release. I grabbed all of the items she mentioned and jetted to the back of the apartment.
I turned on the faucet and twisted off the cap of the bubble bath, taking a pull of its scent before tilting the bottle into the stream and watching the tub fill up with rainbow-tinted circles.
I hooked my thumbs into the waist of my pajama pants and tugged down, wincing when they got stuck on my stiff cock in the way. When I tugged harder, it bobbed free, eager and anxious. The smell of lavender coated the misty air filling the room, taking me back to the day we’d shared this very spot together.
After laying the peach and the vial containing the shot on the edge of the tub, I lowered myself into the steamy, soapy water and shut the tap, letting my body adjust to the temperature. I’d been trying to block her from
my mind for so long that, now that all of these reminders surrounded me, I had to retell my body what she felt like. Convince it that it was okay to let her in, even if only just for now.
I closed my eyes, and a vision of her in this very tub took shape clear as day. Her back pressed against my front as my dick played against the crevice of her ass, the head licking the base of her spine. The look of the creamy, ivory skin at the back of her neck, daring me to lick a sample of the droplets of sweat mingled with bathwater.
My head dropped back against the tile, and my eyes pinched shut as I sought out the base of my cock that was now swollen and throbbing. Parting my legs further, as though she still rested there, I fisted my shaft and tugged up slowly as her giggles seemed to echo through the air before slipping into a moan as I brushed the pad of my thumb along her nipples.
She was alive in this room now, and every action I made seemed to coincide with what I imagined I was doing to her. And what she was doing to me.
I pressed the pad of my thumb into the slit along the head of my cock, spreading my own pre-cum over it, mimicking what I envisioned doing to her hardened nipples. A hiss escaped my lips as I palmed my swollen head and then closed my hand around it again to descend back down.
Although I was harried inside, I took my time, wanting the feeling of having her here with me to last as long as possible in case I never got to feel it again.
With one hand on my cock, I used the other to seek out the drink she had given me. The name of it alone was enough to make me blow. I used my thumb to twist the cap off before bringing the vial to my nose and taking that in, mingled with the lavender fumes from the tub. My eyes rolled behind my head, and I licked my lips.
Picturing the liquid poured onto her ample chest, dripping between the peaks of her breasts, almost did me in. I drizzled the liquid onto the back of my hand and licked it off, envisioning my tongue lapping it up from between her perfect tits.
I reached for myself once again, grunting, my movements becoming a bit more desperate. Keeping my release at bay was proving to be a task. Before I finished prematurely, I took the soft-as-fuck peach and sunk my teeth into it with a throaty groan, letting the juice roll onto my tongue and down my throat, wishing with all I had that I was sucking up her juices instead. I strangled my cock, squeezing as I rolled my fist up and down, pumping up then sliding my palm over the head.
Breathe You (Pieces of Broken Book 2) Page 20