by Cara Roman
Chapter 19
Another week passed without word from Ridge. Leigha knew that he wouldn't have stopped calling if she had answered before. She kept telling herself every morning that she would call him tonight after work, and then end up being too damn scared when the time came. Sitting on her couch, cell phone in hand she just couldn't make herself hit dial. She could rehearse the conversation in her head as many times as she wanted to, but Ridge never said or did what she thought he would. They would go off her imaginary script, and Leigha didn't know how she would be able to tell him what she needed to.
Finn was curled up in her lap, purring, while she ran her fingers through his soft orange hair. It was getting late, but she didn't have the heart to move the cat. Her thoughtful consideration didn't matter though, because as soon as the insistent knocking started on her front door he jumped off her lap and ran in the other room. Shaking her head at Finn's quick escape she turned on her porch light and peeked out the window to see who could be here so late. The man standing on the other side of her door didn't look happy in the least. Ridge's eyes were narrowed, his jaw was clenched tight enough to have the muscle ticking, he even had his arms crossed over his chest. But Leigha didn't care one bit about the tangible waves of anger rolling off of him. Fingers fumbling on the lock in her excitement it took her two tries to get it unlocked and throw open the door. Wearing her heart on her sleeve she launched herself at him. Ridge opened his arms at the last second, catching her, but quite clearly shocked at his unexpected welcome.
"OhmygodI'vemissedyousomuch." She breathed into his chest where she had her face planted.
"Wanna run that one by me again Sugar?" Ridge asked pulling them through the door and into the house.
"I said that I missed you so much." Leigha said pulling her head away and beaming up at him.
"Could've fooled me, or is ignoring phone calls how one shows someone they care these days?" He asked.
"I'm an idiot Ridge, a gigantic idiot. I realize that now, okay? I am terrified this is going to hurt, so damn bad." Leigha said staring up into his face, but not letting go of his waist.
"Leigha, I don't want to lose you again either. I'm risking that pain too. You aren't the only one in danger of a broken heart." Ridge said running his hand over her hair, roots to tips. The familiar gesture felt so right. "Being away from you was hard on me too."
"We're a long way from those kids we used to be. We had all the answers back then, and jumped in head first" Leigha said closing her eyes a moment. "But all I did trying to avoid that heart break, was cause some."
"Yeah, you did." Ridge said leaning down pressing his forehead to hers. "But I understand. We've got an awful lot of history between us, and its not all real good. I know that."
"No, not all of it. But someone told me recently that love is never easy, its messy, and painful. But I've got a good man in my arms right now, and I think I'd like to hold onto him." Leigha whispered in a shaking voice.
"I'm still yours, Sugar. I think I've always been yours. Maybe I'm just not the kind of man who can move on." Ridge said as his lips skimmed softly across hers.
"Thank god for that." Leigha said on a sigh and opened her mouth for his tongue to delve inside.
The kiss started out soft and sweet, but their ever increasing hunger for each other had it morphing into deeply passionate quickly. Her hands gripped the back of his head holding on while he took everything she gave him. Leigha's blood felt like molten lava pumping through her veins. Ridge tipped her head back even further, changing the angle as he devoured her. Shivers went cascading down her spine, anticipating all of the pleasure his kiss promised. Ridge reached behind his head and pulled his shirt quickly off, his lips crashing back down to hers. The desperate longing for each other was filled with so much heat. The rest of their clothes came off in a flurry of urgency, landing in disguarded heaps all over Leigha's living room.
His mouth left hers to trail hotly down her neck, and she tipped her head to give him better access to her sensitive skin. "Do you want me Sugar?" He asked.
"Yes." She moaned.
"How much?" He asked as his teeth skimmed up her neck to nibble on her ear lobe.
"So fucking much." Leigha said.
"Is your pussy already wet for me?" Ridge asked.
Leigha nodded her head, loving it when he talked dirty to her.
"Show me." Ridge whispered into her ear, his breath tickling it and making her shiver again. He pulled back enough to meet her eyes.
Seeing his desire for her burning in the green depths she grabbed his hand. She ran his hand down the front of her body, and between her legs. He kept his hand completely still, and she slid it between her folds, drenching his fingers. His eyebrow flicked up, but he still didn't move his hand. Leigha circled her hips, grinding her clit down into his palm while the tips of his fingers hovered at her entrance.
"Are you gonna fuck my hand Sugar?" Ridge growled out.
All Leigha could do was nod her head. Drowning in his eyes, her body on fire. Ridge curled two of his fingers up sending them inside of her pussy hitting her G-spot perfectly right. Leigha gasped and moved her hips faster, her hand gripping his wrist, holding him where she needed him most. Her legs started shaking as the pressure deep inside grew. She was panting, hurrying to drag air into her lungs, as her body raced towards the promise building within. Leigha cried out as the orgasm washed over her in near violent pulses. Her knees gave out, but Ridge picked her up before she could face plant the carpet of her living room floor. His dick pressed hotly between them, and Leigha needed to feel the thick length of him in her with a near painful ache.
"Need you Ridge. Need you right fucking now." She said urgently.
Ridge nodded his head, and lowered her body until he slipped through her wetness. Using his hands on her hips he lifted her up and down impaling her with his dick, which had the added benefit of her clit rubbing against him with each stroke. Leigha dug her heels into his ass, and her head fell forward onto his shoulder as she struggled to absorb everything she was feeling. Her pleasure receptors were definitely working overtime tonight. Her fingers were digging into his scalp, but she couldn't make herself let go. Nothing in her whole life had felt as big as what was building between them. Ridge was panting with each powerful stroke.
Her screams bounced around the room, echoing off the walls. Leigha was sure the neighbors could hear, and she didn't give a damn. Being with Ridge was primal, it woke up everything inside of her, and made her feel so good it bordered on pain. Her body started trembling, as she got closer and closer to the climax.
"It's time to come Sugar." Ridge growled in her ear. "I wanna feel your pussy squeezing me."
His dirty words nudged her over the precipice she had been balanced on, sending her slamming head first into the biggest orgasm of her life, so far. Her inner muscles milked him as her body was filled with wave after tingling wave of pleasure. Ridge squeezed her ass, pulling the cheeks apart as he worked her even faster over his dick. He let out a hoarse cry and she felt the warmth of his orgasm filling her.
Everything felt intensified, like she was drunk on the way he made her feel as she struggled to breathe evenly. Ridge took a few shaky steps forward, and sat abruptly down, Leigha straddling him, still locked intimately together. He tucked her wild hair behind her ear, and gave the ends a gentle tug. "I love you Leigha, so fucking much its like I can't breathe sometimes." He whispered.
She looked down into his beautiful green eyes, and let the words settle over her like water rushing over her parched soul, soothing all the cracks. Leigha nodded her head, and tears filled her eyes. She opened her mouth to respond, but Ridge held his hand up, fingers pressing against her lips.
"You don't have to say anything, not right now. I just needed to say it, needed you to know it. If you say it right now then it will just be like you echoing it back to me. I want it to feel like its ripping up from your soul, and there is no way you could keep it in a minute longer when you
finally say it."
Chapter 20
Leigha slept peacefully, curled into Ridge's warm body in her bed. Being locked within the comfort of his arms settled all of the frayed edges inside of her soul. There was no room for fear, or worries to invade the space. It was just the two of them, the love he professed to her, and the promise for so much more still between them. She reached for him again in the middle of the night, with the need burning hotly through her veins. He answered her, his demands always mirroring her own desires. Now that she wasn't working so hard all the time to keep the walls up around her heart she could admit to herself that being with him breathed life back into her. She had been so afraid of anchoring him down, like dead weight in his life, tying him somewhere he shouldn't be. Afraid also of the dragging weight of heartbreak on her soul she thought was inevitably coming her way. Instead she felt like she was floating, flying recklessly, and gloriously through the sky. Being with Ridge was right, had always been right for Leigha. She was finally understanding that. Maybe he always was the right guy, all along, the timing just wasn't ever right before.
The alarm started buzzing early in the morning, demanding attention. Half asleep Leigha swung her arm out in a practiced move with perfect aim, shutting it off. Stretching as she sat up she looked down at where Ridge was still asleep next to her. His brown hair was disheveled from sleep, and her hands cruising through it the last time he was moving inside of her. He hadn't shaved his face in a few days, at least, if the stubble along his jaw was any indication. She wondered if he was too busy to bother, or if he had forgotten about it entirely. With a smile tugging on her face Leigha, remembered the first time Ridge attempted to grow a beard. Like most teenage guys he started shaving as soon as there was peach fuzz sprouting up on his face, trying desperately to encourage more growth. He got it in his head over the winter their junior year that a beard would keep his face warmer in the blustery Michigan weather, and make him look like a bad ass, of course. After a whole month without a razor touching his face he had what looked like three scraggly hairs on his upper lip, a half dozen on his chin, and another three or four scattered on each of his cheeks. To say it was less than a success was an understatement. Running her hand across his square jaw, feeling the hairs prickle deliciously against her fingertips she got out of bed. It finally grew in nice, and he did look beyond sexy with it.
Glancing at the clock and a quick calculation on time Leigha gave a little sigh and walked out of the bedroom to grab a shower. She would have preferred some company truth be told, but if she invited him to join her it would take much longer, and she would be late. As much as she wouldn't mind some steamy shower sex with Ridge to start her day she had a coffee shop to open. People were counting on her. Once she had finished her routine of washing her hair and body she turned the water off, and pulled the curtain back to reach for a towel. Ridge stood there leaning against the bathroom counter, her towel already in his hand. She took it from him and wrapped it around her body, tucking the end in to hold it up. He had pulled on his boxer shorts from last night, but nothing else. The sight didn't exactly help her reign in the libido that had just been clamoring for shower sex.
"You didn't wake me up." He said. His voice was still rumbling and deep from sleep. Just the sound of it made her clench her thighs together in anticipation.
"I figured you could grab an extra few minutes while I showered." Leigha said, grabbing a second towel and wrapping her hair up in it.
"Thanks, but I'd rather have spent those extra minutes in the shower with you." He said leaning down to press a soft kiss to the top of her shoulder.
"I'll set my alarm for a little earlier next time." Leigha said with a smile. "I've got an extra toothbrush you can use." She opened a drawer and grabbed the unopened box out handing it to him. "I always keep a spare, ever since I came home from work and found Finn dragging mine through the house one day."
Ridge was laughing as he took the toothbrush out of her hand, and opened the box. "Yeah, I can see that being necessary after a sight like that."
They brushed their teeth at her sink in a comfortable silence. Their eyes kept meeting each others in the mirror. "Are you hungry?" She asked as she set the toothbrush back in its holder.
"How about I scramble up some eggs real quick while you get dressed and ready for work?" Ridge replied.
"Sure." She said smiling. He leaned down and kissed her smiling mouth quickly before walking out of the bathroom. Leigha stood there a moment feeling the shimmering flutter inside of a dozen butterflies taking flight. "Yep. I'm in deep." She whispered to her reflection.
Back in her bedroom Leigha checked the weather on her cell phone. It had been warm so far as they headed into spring, but with Michigan you never really knew. Deciding on the lightweight short sleeved sweater in a sunny yellow with a pair of dark jeans. Looking in the mirror she decided the color matched how she felt inside. Bright, happy, and filled with warmth. Walking back into the bathroom she tipped her head upside down, releasing her dark hair from the towel and gave it a quick shake. She ran a wide tooth comb through it, before slathering on moisturizer on her face. Grabbing an elastic from the same drawer she had pulled a toothbrush out for Ridge she shoved it on her wrist for later.
The smell of bacon had her smiling as she walked into the kitchen. "Thought you said eggs?"
"Got those too. But you had the bacon, so I figured what the hell." He said with a shrug. Ridge's back was to her, as he turned the eggs over with a spatula in the pan. The bacon was popping in a second pan in front of him. He glanced over his shoulder at her and the look in his eyes nearly stopped her heart. There was wonder in those beautiful green depths. Seeing a man look at you with his eyes full of heat was thrilling, exhilarating to be sure. But watching awe bloom in his gaze as he took you in wasn't something to be missed, and the slow smile that spread across his face was worth more than all of the money in the bank. "Damn, you're absolutely stunning Leigha. I am one lucky man."
Going on impulse Leigha walked over to him as he turned back to the stove, and wrapped her arms around his middle, pressing a kiss right between his shoulder blades. "You're not so bad yourself Ridge Bradley."
"Glad you think so." He said as he reached over to grab down plates from the cupboard.
They ate the simple breakfast standing up in the kitchen. Leigha loaded the dishwasher while Ridge went to get dressed. He invited her over for dinner at his house that night as they walked out of the house together. She, for Caffeinated Sprinkles, and Ridge headed out of town for home. On the quick drive Leigha cranked the radio and sang along, off key, but loudly to the music. Her soul was drenched in light, and she was basking happily in the rays.
When Dani walked in the door a little while later, her arms loaded down with boxes of goodies she stopped and watched Leigha smiling dreamily as she ground the coffee beans for the day. Sighing happily she walked in, she kissed her best friend on the cheek before heading back into the kitchen. "Ridge." She whispered as she set the boxes down on the work table. Turning the kitchen radio on she smiled. "Spring is in the air, and its gonna be a damn good day."
Chapter 21
Leigha picked up the phone with a smile in her voice, "Good afternoon, Caffeinated Sprinkles, how may we help you?"
"Hey honey." Came the voice on the other line.
"Hi Mom. What's up? Is everything okay?" She asked, wondering why her Mom wasn't calling her cell phone like she usually did.
"Of course, everything is fine honey. Your Dad and I just want to see you, come on over for dinner tonight." Leigha noticed she wasn't being asked, so much as being told what to do.
"Tonight? I uh, kind of already have plans." Leigha said remembering Ridge had invited her over for the evening.
"I heard Ridge was back in town again, bring him along with you. Then you can do the rest of those plans later on in the evening." Her Mom said with a knowing laugh. Leigha had hoped to avoid this situation longer, maybe even forever if she could manage it.
"I love how casually you talk about my sex life, Mom." Leigha said with more than a little embarrassment. "But it doesn't sound like I have much of a choice. " She said feeling her mood droop.
"You're not a child anymore Leigha, of course you have a choice. If you don't want to come home for dinner with your parents, then we can bring dinner to you. Will you be at your house, or his? And everyone should have a satisfying sex life honey, its one of the best parts of being alive." Her Mom easily maneuvered her into a corner.
"Wow, quite nicely done Mom. I hope I'm half as smooth when I have children." Leigha said with a sigh, and ignoring the other comment. She was happy her parents had a strong marriage, but she didn't really need to know about what went on in their bedroom.
"Oh, years of practice honey, years of practice. So see you at seven then?" Her Mom said with a completely guiltless laugh.
"Yeah, do you need me to bring anything? Desert, wine, copious amounts of hard liquor?" She said thinking getting sloshed might not be a bad idea.
"I've got it completely covered, I'm making a cobbler, a la mode too. Stop being so dramatic silly girl. It will be just fine. We just want to see how Ridge has been all these years, catch up." Translation, grill him mercilessly. Hopefully they made it all the way through dinner to desert, her Mom did make the absolute best peach cobbler around, so that was something at least.
Leigha hung up with her Mom as come customers walked in the door making it ding musically. She plastered a smile on her face as she greeted them, even though the conversation with her Mom had tarnished the lovely shine of her mood today. After getting the coffees, lattes, and pretty cookies for everyone in line she picked up her cell phone.
Mom called to let me know they're expecting us for dinner at their house tonight.