Reclaiming Us

by Richard, Nicole

  “Addie.” Crouching down in front of her, I placed both my hands on her knees. In slow movements, her eyes shifted from my hands, trailing the expanse of my face until her lips started to tremble.

  “What happened? What did he do to you?” I asked carefully. Thoughts of that asshole and what he might have done to her had me wanting to find the son of a bitch and ram his head into the fucking drywall.

  “Shh, babe.” I kissed her bare shins. “Come here,” I comforted as I stood and carried her in my arms. Even in pain, she was beautiful.

  “What are you doing?” Addie barely managed to say around her sobs. I didn’t answer. I walked us to her bed and laid her down. From over her shoulder, she watched with wide eyes as I unbuttoned my jeans and slid them off.

  “RJ, what are you doing?” Her voice shook, and her eyes filled with apprehension.

  “I’m going to hold you while you sleep.” I slid in behind her, pulling her close to my chest and wrapping my arms around her. She was tense at first, but I didn’t let go, and eventually, her body relaxed against mine.

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  “I’m here, whatever you need.”

  From deep in my gut, I knew that I would do anything for this woman. I loved her still, regardless of the seven year separation. Our teenage promise could never be broken.

  “He cheated on me,” she admitted softly before turning in my arms to face me. I masked my rage just in time.

  “Wanna tell me what happened?” She shut her eyes and took another short pause.

  “I wasn’t supposed to be there until Monday, but after everything with Lilly and . . .” I kissed her forehead, letting her know it was okay to continue. “I decided I needed to be in Charleston, but when I got there, something wasn’t right.” She hid her face in my chest. “I caught them fucking in the shower, and I lost it. I swiped an empty wine bottle from the coffee table and swung. Glass shards shot everywhere.” She chuckled, but a sob slipped through, and she looked at me.

  “I bet it felt good to break stuff.” I got another smile for that one.

  “It did. I was so angry that I wanted to hurt them, like really hurt them.” She took a deep breath. “I felt like such a fool, but Jase cheating isn’t really what’s bothering me right now.”

  What could possibly upset her more than a cheating bastard of an ex‑fiancé? Confused, I waited for her to elaborate, and when she didn’t, I asked, “What has you so upset then? Why were you crying?”

  She closed her eyes, taking a few seconds to answer. “I couldn’t bear to see the pain and anguish in your eyes. The way you held out hope . . .” She opened her eyes and looked directly into mine. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore. I’ve done enough of that. None of it was your fault, and yet here you are.” She squirmed out of my arms, backing herself against the headboard. “Why does it have to be like this?” Her tears started to fall freely, and she did nothing to hide or rid them from her sad face.

  I slid closer to her and held the side of her face in my hand. “I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to erase years of hurt and remind you how much we mean to one another. How much we belong together.”

  Leaving no time for her to protest, I lowered my mouth to hers, and when our lips touched, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. My first thought was her lips had a faint taste of whiskey, but my memory argued it was bubble gum. My chest squeezed, and I swiped my tongue past her parted lips, tangling mine with hers, needing more. Needing all of her.

  Addie let a soft moan slip, and her hand caressed my neck, traveling to the back of my head and bringing me closer to her. I groaned and grabbed her hip, pulling her soft body into mine. She wasn’t close enough. She would never be close enough. I rolled, pressing her body between my own and the mattress.

  “Addie . . .” I tried to pull away, to make sure she was okay with this, but she pulled me back, cutting off my words.

  Knowing I couldn’t let this continue, no matter how badly I wanted to, I bit at her bottom lip and smiled as I pulled away.

  “You need time. You need to process . . .” She gave a huff of frustration and tried to pull me close again. It was this painful back and forth we were in, and I knew I was running the risk of her thinking I was rejecting her, which was so far from the truth. So, I settled my weight in the cradle of her thighs and let her feel just how badly I wanted her. “This isn’t easy, but—”

  “If I asked you to make love to me, would you?” Waiting for my answer, she searched my eyes. “You could never be the other man, RJ. I made a promise to you, and although it may seem like I haven’t kept it, deep down, I could never love another man like I promised to love you.” She pressed a soft kiss to my lips, and I shifted to lie on my side, my arm secured across her waist. “I knew something changed between me and him months ago. At first, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but subconsciously, I started to slowly pull away.” She took a deep breath. “Then coming home, how we avoided one another for a while, Ty’s death and you. I think maybe . . . I know now that I was never in love with him. I cared about him a lot, I mean I would have had to if I was going to marry him, but I should have known that the promise you and I made . . . no one could ever really come between us. So, I need to know if you would make love to me if I wanted you to.”

  I was unable to answer her right away. My cock begged and pleaded for me to say yes, but my mind reeled around her answer, causing a war within myself. I wanted to do the right thing, but who was to say waiting any longer was the right thing to do? We had already wasted seven years. She was free to be with whomever she chose; there wasn’t anyone to stand in our way. So, why was I questioning this?

  “If we go there again, there is no going back.” She nodded and managed a tiny smile. “We can take this at whatever pace you need, but if I make love to you tonight, there’s no going back. You can kick and scream, you can try to run, but I am never letting you go ever again. Do you understand me?”

  She nodded without hesitation, and my painful erection stood overjoyed. I hitched her leg over my side and pressed my cock into her heat. Her body was so warm, and I could only imagine how warm she would be once I was immersed deep inside her. I kissed her then, long, deep, and slow, willing everything I felt for her into it.

  My hand moved to the back of her head and tangled with her soft hair as I brought her tighter against me. We were as close as two people could be, but it wasn’t enough. Then my hand roamed down the side of her neck to her throat. I paused for a bit when it reached the peak of her swollen breast. I kneaded and thumbed her hard nipple, trying to take things slow. She arched into my touch, urging me to give her more, and my control turned out to be short lived.

  My senses overloaded. My body trembled with excitement as I kissed my way down her body and lifted her nightshirt. Her bare breasts came into view, and I needed to taste her soft skin. I bent my head and latched onto her nipple, swirling little circles with my tongue and causing her to squirm beneath me.

  My free hand trailed its way down her stomach, her smooth skin felt like silk beneath my rough hands. I peeked up at Addie’s face to find her eyes closed and a beautiful smile on her lips. Her skin flushed with lust. She pressed her head into the pillow, and her smile melted. Her lips parted into a gasp as my hand slipped into her panties, my fingers massaging and teasing before they sank into her heat.

  Feeling her beneath me reduced me to the teenage boy I once was, and if I didn’t find my control, I would definitely be delivering like one.

  “Your hands feel so good.” She grabbed onto my shoulders and rocked against my fingers.

  Pumping her, massaging her sex, I didn’t want anything in the way of bringing her pleasure. I slid her panties down her legs and rid myself of my boxer briefs. When I settled between her knees again, I palmed my erect cock, silently willing myself to be patient.

  I dragged the tip of my nose along Addie’s toned calves, pressing soft kisses on the inside of her thighs. When I reached her sweet s
pot, I took an added second to admire how anxiously she waited for me. I licked her sex from bottom to top, sucking on her swollen clit and lightly rubbing my two‑day old stubble against her sensitive flesh, reveling in the taste of her. Still so sweet.

  “RJ.” Addie’s moans echoed off the walls.

  “Right here, babe, I’m right here.” I gently blew on her sex before spearing my tongue in and sliding my hands under her ass and holding her to me. When I glanced up, the sight of her pebbled nipples caused an invisible string of control to snap. Making sure I tongued her deep, I reached up and palmed her breasts, twisting her nipples and causing her to arch off the bed and scream out. Grinding against my mouth, moaning, she gripped the hair on my head. Pleasuring her had become borderline torture, but I kept up my assault until her words became noises mixed with pleas and her body was trembling. I needed to be in her, filling her, claiming her once and for all.

  “Are you on birth control?” I asked as I kissed up her body, and she nodded, not that it mattered one way or another. If I got her pregnant, I would be the happiest son of a bitch around. We weren’t kids anymore, and starting a family with Addie would be a dream come true.

  “No going back,” I whispered against her lips.

  “No going back.” They were all the words I needed, but then her hand found mine in the dark, and she hooked our pinkies together. “I promise.”

  Having his warm, masculine body braced above me put my head into a tailspin. As he slowly pressed into me inch by inch, I reveled in how good it felt to be back in RJ’s arms. How glorious it was to be under him as he worked himself in me, swiveling his hips, slowly pulling out only to slide back in.

  “Fuck, babe, you’re so warm . . .” He struggled to breathe but never took his lips away from my neck, trailing warm kisses along the side before biting softly on my shoulder.

  Spreading my legs wider, I pulled him deeper, rocking my hips in time with his. The build to my orgasm was like a slow burn. Each powerful, yet gentle, thrust had me curling my toes, waiting—needing this with him. The burn ignited, and I stopped hearing his soft, sweet nothings he was breathing against my skin. It was only the throbbing, the pulsing . . . the heat. My whole body tensed and vibrated at the same time, and I knew he could feel me. Read me.

  His thrusts got harder, stronger. Drove me higher. “Babe . . .” His voice struggled as he called for me. His hand moved down my body to hold my hip as the other sank into the back of my hair. He pulled me closer to him and pushed deeper still, anchoring me as I tripped and fell into bliss.

  “Fuck, babe . . . I’m gonna come . . . Addie Mae . . .”

  A few more powerful thrusts, and he stilled, his chest heaving for breaths against mine. RJ stilled, barely bracing himself on his elbows so he didn’t fall on top of me. When he finally had himself under control, he rose to rest on his forearms, his hands framing my face and a lazy smile on his lips. Seconds later, he pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, trailing his soft lips to my cheeks, to my eyelids, my forehead, and back to my lips.

  “You’re perfect,” he breathed into my mouth. “We’re perfect together.”

  Pulling away from my lips, he gazed deep into my eyes, a mirror of love and sated lust floating between the two of us. Before I knew it, RJ had me laid out on top of him as he grinned up at me like a fool.

  “You have no idea how happy I am to be here with you like this right now.” He had no idea. This was where we were meant to be—with one another.

  “I am, too,” I answered lazily and laid my head on his chest, soaking up the warmth his body provided. It was strange to think a heart truly didn’t measure feelings against time. It knew what it wanted.

  “RJ?”

  “Yeah, babe?” He tangled his hand in my hair and started massaging my scalp, as if he knew I needed his touch.

  “What happens now?” I tilted my face so I could see him, and he kissed my forehead.

  “What do you want to happen?”

  “I want you. I want to be with you. But I’m not sure what to do.”

  “Seems like we never forgot.”

  I laughed. He was right. We hadn’t forgotten how to be with each other, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. “I was engaged to another man only hours ago, and now I’m here . . . in bed with you. Does that bother you? What kind of woman does that make me?” I avoided his eyes, hating that I cared what other people might think.

  “Addie, it makes you a normal, living, breathing person. Are you having second thoughts about ending it with him?”

  I let out a short bark of laughter and shook my head. “No. After what he did and how malicious he was with his words and actions, I want nothing to do with him.” I gently grazed his cheek with my hand. “But aside from that, I could never go back to him because of you . . .” RJ remained silent, and that was a part of him that I could do without.

  He took a minute to think about it. “Noted,” he said, lacking any kind of expression. That was until a slow grin appeared and he pulled me closer, holding me, telling me he really never would let go. “That was the last out I’m ever going to give you. Now, you’re stuck with me, no turning back.”

  I kissed his cheek. “Noted.” I felt my smile on my face and in my heart. Resting my cheek to his chest, I asked, “Now what?”

  “There’s still a lot more we should talk about.” He squeezed me a little tighter. “And I do have one more question.”

  “Okay.”

  “That picture you sent, what was that about?”

  Oh, the embarrassment of that darn picture. “That was supposed to be a small piece of payback for Jase. After I left Jase’s house, I called Evin, we had a little Bash Jase Pity Party, and then she suggested we go out and celebrate.” I looked at his face again, a playful smile on my lips. His eyes narrowed, which was cute. “When we were out, we ran into Jaxson, who was there with his wife, Melody. Anyway, we got to chatting, and after my second . . . no, third shot, I ended up telling them about my epic breakup. One thing led to another, and Melody filled my head with the idea that revenge was a good thing when warranted, which led to her suggesting the picture. Well, you know how it ended.”

  He stroked his chin lazily, finally shaking his head. “That is a pretty freakin’ awesome idea. I think I like this Melody. Evin seems pretty cool, too—girl’s got spunk.” He chuckled.

  “Evin’s great.” I cuddled back in his arms and absorbed every feeling. Content, safe, cherished, and loved. But I knew that as easy as it was to put us back into our own little bubble, something or someone could easily break it.

  He lifted my hand to his lips and peppered little kisses to my wrist. “Let’s sleep. Tomorrow’s a new day for me to think of more stuff to say to make your toes curl.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me as we slept.

  It wasn’t the warmth of the sun warming my cheeks or how deliciously sore my muscles were. It wasn’t even the sound of running water that woke me. It was the sound of someone pounding on my front door. Hard. Figuring it was Evin coming back from the hotel, I got up, threw my robe on, and made my way down the hall to the door. I flung it open and squinted against the light, and then I glared. “What do you want?”

  “We need to talk.”

  “We have nothing to talk about.” I heard the shower stop, and then I crossed my arms in front of me. “Fine. You have two minutes before I slam this door in your face.” I spat, but Jase stormed in, bumping me to the side. “Would you watch it? I didn’t invite you in.” I slammed the door shut.

  “Since when do I need to be invited in?” I scoffed. Was he for real?

  “Why don’t you go over to Jazmin‑Michelle’s, you know the girl you’ve been fucking.” I raised one eyebrow, and my hand itched to slap his ugly face. “I’m sure she’d be more than happy to invite you in.” I really freaking hated him.

  “Addie,” Oh, no. No. No. No. I knew that tone. That slightly patronizing tone that told me he thought I was acting like a child. Fuck him.


  “Talk, asshole—you’re down to a minute.” I crossed my arms again and shot daggers at him with my eyes.

  “What the fuck is this?” Jase shoved his phone in my face, but I didn’t bother to look. I knew what he was showing me. I stared at him, letting him see every single ounce of anger I had inside me over what he had done. Jase huffed. “Addie, look . . . I’m sorry—”

  I held my hand up. “Cut the bullshit, Jase, you are not sorry—the only thing you could ever be sorry for is the fact that you got caught.” At this point, I no longer cared whom he was with. It wasn’t going to be me, not ever again.

  “Addie . . .” both men said in unison.

  Shit!

  “Babe.” RJ approached the two of us, stopping a hair’s breadth from my back. “What the fuck is he doing here?” RJ took a possessive grip to my hip, silently advising Jase that he lost. I almost shivered with delight from the warmth I felt with my back pressed to his bare chest.

  “Who the fuck is this?” I would never admit—not aloud at least—but it felt really good to see that look flash in Jase’s eyes. Good. I hoped he realized just what he threw away.

  “Babe?” RJ pressed a kiss on the top of my head. “Let me handle this.” He snuck a finger under my chin, turning my face toward his. When his lips met mine, I remembered how he would stake his claim in front of other guys, letting them know I belonged to him.

  Forgetting all about Jase standing there, I turned into RJ’s arms, held onto his warm hard chest, and let him kiss me, losing myself in his touch.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” Jase roared. RJ removed his lips from mine and shielded me behind him.

  “I’ve got this, babe, go back to bed.” RJ said, and I turned to leave. Jase, however, didn’t wait for me to clear the room before he was pushing into RJ’s face, pushing me back and away from them.