One Last Chance (Complete Series Box Set)

by Lauren Wood

  When I left the restaurant, I had Ernest drive me back to the school and I waited another ten minutes for Danny to get out. The kids were all fleeing like the place was on fire and I remembered wanting to get out of there just as badly. Some things never seemed to change and it was comforting to know that.

  Danny was beautiful as she walked out of the school. She looked a lot different than she had at the reunion. Gone was the tight dress that showed too much of her long legs or the makeup that made her eyes even more needy and tempting. She had been sex on a stick at the reunion, but even muted down and her hair all up was not enough to take it away. Maybe it was because I already knew what it was like to be with her, I don’t know. But damn if there wasn’t something about her that drew me to her like a moth to a flame.

  I opened the door for her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek as she got in. I wanted her to get used to me touching her again and the small little touches were going to open it up later for the ones that were going to turn her brain off enough for me to have it all.

  “You look beautiful Danny.”

  “I’m wearing the same thing that I was wearing earlier Mack.”

  She was always downplaying everything, but I knew that she liked when I complimented her. She was still a woman, even if she was a hard one to pin down with her differences.

  I got in next to her on the other side and smiled at her. It was good to see her again and it came out before I could stop it.

  “You keep saying that, but we both know what you really want Mack.”

  I paused and then asked her what it was.

  “You want back in my bed.”

  “Or my bed, but yes. Ever since I saw you again, I want to be inside of you. As deep as I can go until you get that breathy sound to your voice again.”

  She looked at me a bit bewildered and then swallowed hard. Now she was thinking about what I was and I knew then that she was going to be mine again. Someone wasn’t quite taking care of her needs, if she was with anyone. I was going to make sure to fill in the gaps. Danny deserved that. She was too much woman to not be laid out every night of the week.

  “Then what?”

  That was a question that I didn’t have a quick answer for. There was a lot going on in my head and I didn’t know what would happen next. All I could think about was her naked on top of me at the moment anyways. That was all I could think of and the more we talked about it, the worse it got.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

  “You never did. Now I need to know what happens next. I’m not the same girl anymore.”

  “Isn’t mind blowing sex enough?”

  It was said light heartedly, but she didn’t take it that way. “Not really anymore. I know that you can do things to my body that no one else can, but I also know what it’s like to not have you around. I don’t want that to happen again. So you getting me all riled up and then taking off isn’t going to work for me Mack, no matter how good you are in bed.”

  I was stunned if I was honest. I never really thought about the after effects. I’d missed her like crazy, but life got wild and I was able to do other things to take my mind off of it. After a while she was just a faint memory that I had from time to time. It was impossible for me to know that I would have all of those old feelings flooding back now. Seeing her again had changed something inside of me and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to go about it.

  When I didn’t say something for a few minutes, she told me that she had a feeling that I didn’t know either. I’d never had a woman tell me that I wasn’t enough, what I was offering wasn’t enough. Danny knew what I could do to her and still she would rather not be with me. It was not a feeling I was used to having and I was almost speechless with it all.

  “So where are we going?”

  “Um, to a restaurant.”

  She giggled at my lost expression and I can’t say that I found it all that funny. It was one of those times that I saw happen to other people, but not to me. I didn’t like the way I felt and I didn’t like that she had gotten one over on me. Danny was a complicated woman and by the looks of it, she’d gotten more complicated since I saw her last.

  “Okay, well I guess that will do. I’m starving.”

  “Still like shrimp?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well good, because I was going to take you to the best place that I’ve found for it.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  There was a quiet that came over us as we drove. My romantic night was not going as I’d planned it, but I was committed to getting it back on track. The smile on her face when we got to the air strip I had outside of the city was enough to give me hope. She may talk a good game now, but I was curious how she was going to be when it came down to it. Danny had never been able to deny me before. Why would I think that it would be any different? She was still mine for the taking. I was sure of it.

  Danny

  I knew I was being a little harsh, but now I didn’t know what to think. We pulled up to an airport and knew then that he had something more in mind then a dinner out. He was going all out and after what I just said to him, I felt a little bad. I knew how he was, what he wanted, but it wasn’t that long ago that I’d wanted the same things. I was saying and doing it more out of fear than anything else. I was afraid that he was going to hurt me again and I never wanted to feel that way again, ever.

  “A restaurant huh?”

  “Yeah with the best seafood.”

  “I thought you meant in the city.”

  “It’s not the best though.”

  I was tempted to ask him where we were going, but I knew that I was just going to have to wait it out. That’s what he liked to do and while I didn’t like surprises, I had a feeling I was going to like this one. As long as he knew that this was just dinner.

  The door was opened by his driver and I got out. The plane’s lights were on and there was someone waiting to take us in. It was smaller than commercial by far and it made me really nervous about what was going to happen next. I wasn’t afraid of flying, but this way was a lot different than what I was used to. I was used to not seeing the cockpit when I walked in. There was no mystery and the plane looked more like a tin can than I expected it to.

  “You okay?”

  Mack must have seen the worry in my eyes when I looked back at him. “Yeah I guess. You have a plane now?”

  “Does that impress you?”

  Since he’d said that he wasn’t trying to impress me, it seemed like he was trying to do that very thing.

  “Yeah I think your own plane is pretty damn impressive. What do you do now?”

  “Just a little trading of antiquities.”

  I wasn’t sure what that meant, but it felt illegal and knowing Mack and his scruples, it was most likely that. I wasn’t going to ask though. I guess I didn’t want to really know. I knew enough and I was still impressed, no matter how he got it.

  The plane was plush on the inside with eight seats total. There was a flight attendant that offered me something to drink and considering the day I was having, it seemed like the thing to do. My nerves had been shot since he bombarded me this morning at the coffee shop, really since I saw him at the reunion and he insisted on a kiss. That kiss had played with my mind and body and now this. When it came to Mack, I never saw him coming, then or now.

  The champagne was crisp and the bubbly made me feel a little bit better. Mack was eying me and I chose to ignore him because the last thing I wanted to do was meet those hard eyes of his. I knew what he was thinking, so I knew what would be held inside of them. He was quick to tell me if I would have asked his answer still in my mind. He was purposely trying to get me to remember how things used to be. I did, but now I was also full of the way things were when I left and me and him didn’t see each other again. We went from every day to nothing for ten years. It’s a hard way to say goodbye to someone, especially as much as I wanted him. I’d been in love.

>   God, this was all so confusing and Mack staring at me like he was didn’t help matters at all.

  “So where are we going?”

  “We’re going down south to a friend’s place that has the best seafood in the country.”

  I believed him and I sat back in the chair and sighed to myself.

  “This really makes me question why I went to college.”

  He chuckled at me and then shrugged. “Well you wanted to be a teacher, you are. Money isn’t everything.”

  “You know that only people who have too much think that about money, right?”

  “Maybe. I have enough, that’s for sure.”

  He didn’t say anymore and again I wanted to ask him what he was doing to get all of this. I wanted to know, but at the same time, I didn’t. Mack had almost never been on the right side of the line and now he didn’t seem any more inclined to do that. I had to wonder if there was a reason that he was not boasting more. It wasn’t like him to keep it in. It must be something that he knows I wouldn’t like.

  “So are you happy Mack? I didn’t get to ask you the other day. I see that you’re doing well, but are you happy? It’s all I ever wanted for you.”

  I figured if I couldn’t have him, I wanted him to find someone to love and to be happy. There were never any hard feelings about it. Some maybe that he didn’t want to come with me, but it was my choice in the end to go. His only fault had been not stopping me and I don’t even know if that was really a fault or not.

  “That’s a hell of a question Danny. Most of the time I’m happy.”

  “You don’t sound so sure.”

  “Are you?”

  I had asked the question, but back at me, I don’t know if I actually had an answer for it. I really didn’t if I thought about it. My answer would be the same. I wasn’t sure if I was really happy in all aspects of life, but some I was at least content with. I liked my teaching job, but my love life was definitely one part that could use some improvement. I of course wasn’t going to say that sort of thing out loud, not to him when he was offering to fix that part of my problem. If not only temporarily.

  “I guess so. I’m not like deliriously happy all the time, but life is good. I love my job and the kids. What else can I ask for?”

  It was as close to the truth as I was going to be able to get. There was a big part of me that wanted to take him up on his offer, but the fear of what that would mean for me held me back. I didn’t know if having him for a night or two was worth losing him all over again. I couldn’t see it working out any other way.

  “That doesn’t sound so convincing Danny.”

  “I know, but it is what it is. You can’t have it all.”

  “Why not?”

  It was a good question that I didn’t have an answer to. We were always told that, so it was something that I had taken away and made my motto. I wanted things to be the way I wanted them, perfect like it was for the short time that we were together, but I’d learned since that nothing lasts forever and the better it is, the quicker it’s gone. I’d become a little cynical as time went on and Mack being here wasn’t helping.

  “I don’t know, you just can’t. Do you have everything that you want Mack?”

  “Almost.”

  His dark eyes were staring into mine and I had to look away before I got myself in trouble. It was one of those moments that I could swear that he knew what I wanted and how badly I needed him, but he said nothing. He did nothing. It was a sharp contrast from before because before he would have taken advantage of the situation. It was just who he was. I didn’t know the new man standing in front of me. I didn’t know him at all.

  “So what is it that you’re missing?”

  “You know the answer to that Danny. I don’t have you. I had you once and then you left. I want that part of my life back.”

  “I had to go to school and you refused to go.”

  “I know. I also know that I made a mistake in letting you go without a fight. I shouldn’t have and it took me a long time to realize it and I had worried that it was too late.”

  “Mack, I don’t think you have worried about a thing in your life. Look at you now. You’re rich, successful and still a lady’s man from the looks of that little woman you had last night. I don’t know why you are trying to start this back up. What will it do?”

  “You’re really hard headed, you know that?”

  I knew I was and I was with him more so because of the defense radar that went up inside of me. I knew that I had to keep myself far away from him, but it was hard to do when we were in such close proximity to one another.

  “Yeah, you’ve told me that before.”

  “Still true.”

  I agreed with him because I knew it was still true. I was never going to get ‘over’ that trait. It was just part of who I was and I couldn’t help it, even if I wanted to.

  “Don’t you ever think of us together and how it used to be back then?”

  All the time.

  “Not really. I think about you occasionally because you were a big part of my life a long time ago, but not too much anymore. I know that there isn’t a reason to make this into something more.”

  He cut me off leaning in for a kiss. It wasn’t a soft kiss though. His fingers dug into my face and I made a sound as he pulled me to him. I wasn’t going to be able to get away from his kiss and the more I tried to, the more futile the action was. I wanted him so badly and he knew it. His lips were insistent and I finally relented with a sigh. This is what I was afraid of the whole time. Mack was trouble. Always had been and that was another thing about him that hadn’t changed.

  I couldn’t take the feel of him against me and I started to push back, but he deepened the kiss and made me realize how much I’d missed him. I missed the way he touched me and the way his body seemed to know everything about mine. He’d always known it better than I knew it myself.

  We’d landed before I got my bearings about me. I was confused and that kiss on my lips sent me into overdrive. God, I wanted him so badly it was ridiculous.

  “We’re here.”

  I didn’t care because my mind was full of Mack and that kiss he had given me. He said the words so causally, it was impossible to imagine the kiss that we’d just shared. Did it not faze him like it did me?

  I looked down to his pants and I saw that I had affected him in the same way.

  “What if I’m not hungry anymore?”

  His smile fell and he wasn’t sure what I was talking about. I was done playing games and I figured that I might as well give him what we both wanted. It was the only way that it was going to work. He was going to leave, I knew that, but at the same time I also knew that he would make it worth my time. Mack always did and he was right when he said that I was in need of it badly. I did need him badly. More than I wanted to admit and I was sick of denying myself. This is why I didn’t want to be around him. I couldn’t say no to him.

  “So you don’t want to go to the restaurant?”

  I could tell that Mack was confused. I knew that he was still trying to seduce me, but save for that mind-shattering kiss; he hadn’t put in much more effort than words. It wasn’t like him and I wanted the randy man that I once knew back that was always thinking about me and what he wanted to do to me.

  “Not yet. I want to work up an appetite first.”

  It took a second to let the words seep in and then he smiled. “Oh, well I can certainly help with that.”

  I smiled at his answer because I certainly knew that he could. He always had in the past.

  Mack

  Her words were like music to my ears and I didn’t waste any time, getting her back into my arms and my lips back where they belonged on hers. She felt good in my arms, much like she had before and I wanted nothing more than to give her what she needed. Her eyes had been telling me what she wanted for some time. It appeared that Danny was missing something in her life.

  I liked to think that it was me, but it was more likel
y the hard cock between my legs that she was grabbing. Danny had never been one to want too much foreplay. When she wanted it, she wanted it right now and it was one of those times and I have to say that I was thankful for that personality trait more than anything else.

  The only thing that I wished was that we were somewhere else where I could take her properly on a bed. Instead of taking her from behind, bent over one of the chairs, I pulled her down to the ground with me because I wanted to watch her face as she came. It was one of the best things for me as far as I was concerned and I wanted it more than the feel of her tight wetness clamping down around me.

  The beige carpet underneath us was soft and cushioned her as I pushed Danny down with my body weight. Her eyes were closed and her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me towards her for a kiss that I was more than happy to give her. I had missed her and thought about her a lot through the years. Danny’s earnest was always remembered with a smile on my face.

  “Please Mack. I need you inside of me.”

  “You’re not even undressed.”

  Her arms moved from around my neck and she pulled her skirt up to her waist after she unzipped the side.

  “I don’t need to be. Don’t make me wait.”

  My intention was to take her slow and to have her screaming out my name over and over again all night. Of course this was pictured back at my place after dinner. I’d planned to make it special, but now I was dealing with a cat in heat and she wanted it right now. Her hands moved to my dick again and started to rub me through my pants. She wasn’t going to let it happen and when Danny made up her mind, I was the one that was left unable to deny her. It had always been that way and she knew it. That was why she was so determined to drive me wild.