One Last Chance (Complete Series Box Set)

by Lauren Wood

  “Come on Cal, where is this girl at?”

  I didn’t like Kyle’s question and I didn’t answer him.

  “She’s all those things and so damn much more. I don’t know what it was about her. It was only one night.”

  I paused because it did sound crazy when I really thought about it. It had been only a few hours and the imprint was there. Talking about her in that way had also made me want her. It was hard for me to not want to relive the best sex of my life. But Mariss didn’t seem like she was all that receptive to me.

  That idea got me taking another shot. I was stuck in the middle and that was before adding Marsha into the equation. What the hell was wrong with me?

  “You going to be okay to drive?”

  “Yeah Jesse, I’m fine.”

  “You’re swaying man, I don’t think you should drive. Come on and I’ll take you home. We can go pick up your truck in the morning.”

  I agreed because I did doubt if I could drive home or not. It wasn’t but a couple of miles, but that still seemed like a long way to go in my present state.

  We got to my place and I was looking everywhere for my keys. “I think I left them at Mickey’s.”

  “It’s closed now. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get them till tomorrow.”

  “Shit just drop me off at my truck and I will sleep it off a little while.”

  “You’re not going to do that Cal. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you got to get your shit together. Come back to my place man. Damn you look like shit.”

  I had to agree. What other choice did I have?

  Mariss

  It was dark, and I was stumbling in the unfamiliar house, trying to navigate far enough to the bathroom. It was hard to see because I hadn’t given my eyes time to adjust to the darkness. It wasn’t an easy as I thought it was going to be and I almost fell when I kicked something that was on the living room floor.

  Pausing so that I didn’t break my neck, my eyes finally started to turn the dark shapes into something that I could distinguish. There were boots on the floor and I didn’t know whose they were. It seemed out of place here and there was no way that Anna would let Jesse leave them out like this. She was partially OCD and there was no way.

  The longer I was in the room observing things, I could start to see the shape on the couch. It was a shirtless man and he had a tattoo on his shoulder that I’d seen before. It was a dragon swallowing up the sun. I never did get it and I asked Cal about it that night, but he hadn’t wanted to talk much about it or anything else really. He wanted to get down and at the time, it was all that I’d wanted in the end as well.

  Now I was able to check him out and I didn’t have to worry about how it all appeared. It was wild that he was here, not just right now, but in general. The city was huge and filled with a lot of people. I didn’t know how it was possible that we would find each other here and he would be the best man at my best friend’s wedding. It just seemed all too much almost.

  His body was visible because he wasn’t even covered up. His chest was broad and covered with sprinkles of wiry hair that tickled my face when I’d laid my head on his chest. The man was made like a Greek God and I could still feel the power that he had inside of him. It was hard to not see it now and not get the same rush of desire from before.

  I was caught off guard by his presence, but more so to the fact that I was getting wet just looking at him. I’d gotten wet in the truck, being so close to him and smelling the same scent that he’d worn before. It brought back all the physical feelings that I’d had for him and there was no way to deny it any longer. I wanted him. It was that simple and that complicated, all at the same time.

  I made a couple of steps towards him before I stopped myself. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, but I knew that I wasn’t going to do that. I was about to back up a little bit and his eyes popped open. I almost made a squeal because I was so surprised, but I held it in. Anna and Jesse were upstairs, and this wasn’t a time that I wanted them racing down the stairs to see what was going on. I would have been mortified to be caught by the whole house watching Cal sleep. It was bad enough that he was looking at me with the same grin on his face as before, I didn’t want anyone else to know what I’d been doing. Now I was glad for the dark to hide the heat in my face.

  “Are you going to say anything?”

  There was an urge to just go back upstairs without saying a word. I don’t know how that would work out, but maybe I could say that he was seeing things, or I was sleepwalking. It was really a thing, right? I could use that if nothing else.

  “I tripped on your shoes. I didn’t know you were down here.”

  “Well here I am Mariss and here you are.”

  He had a slurred speech and it was becoming a little clearer why he was here. After what I told Anna I was sure that she wouldn’t have invited him to stay the night. He had been too drunk to go home. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t been caught checking him out while he slept.

  “I didn’t mean to bother you. I was just going to the bathroom. I will be out of your way in just a minute.”

  “I don’t want you out of my way. I want you to come here. We have some things to talk about.”

  That was not something that I wanted to hear. It was complicated, and he didn’t seem to have a filter tonight.

  “Why don’t we do it in the morning when you’re feeling better?”

  “I won’t be able to get it out in the morning.”

  That was one of the most honest answers that I’d ever heard. I felt the same way sometimes and it made me want to stay. I moved towards him and sat next to him on the couch when he sat up. He was just as handsome as I remembered.

  “What did you want to talk about Cal?”

  He paused for a moment like he was trying to think of what to say and I just gave him time. Cal seemed almost vulnerable in his state and I almost felt like I was taking advantage of it.

  “So, what the hell happened to you Mariss?”

  “What do you mean?”

  This was starting right from the meat of things and I braced myself. I couldn’t believe he really wanted to talk about this. Was it weighing on his mind as much as it was weighing on mine?

  “You know what I mean. You took off while I was sleeping, and I never heard from you again. You knew how to get ahold of me.”

  “It wasn’t like that Cal. I had a lot going on. I had to take care of my aunt and that meant that I didn’t have any time for anything fun or for myself. You were both. I had to leave, and I didn’t think that it would matter if you heard from me again. I knew your reputation.”

  “Wow, I don’t know what to say. I guess I have done some things that I’m not proud of, but you didn’t even give me a chance.”

  “Like I said Cal, it didn’t have anything to do with you. My aunt got sick and I had to drop out of school. I never even got to go my first day. If I would have stayed and been around, I’m sure things would have turned out differently.”

  “Yeah?”

  He was looking at me with these hopeful eyes and it made me wonder what would have happened. I mean, really wonder. Would we still be together? All these years later. It seemed unlikely at best. But then why did I think that maybe it wasn’t as farfetched as it seemed?

  Cal

  She was a little blurry, but I could see her just fine. I woke up to Mariss looking at me and it made me think it was a dream. A damn good dream, so real. She was saying the things I wanted to hear. This couldn’t be real. She was right next to me. I could reach out and touch her.

  My hand went to her face and it was soft underneath my fingertips. I could feel the heat coming from within. She sure the hell felt real.

  “Yeah Cal. There was something going on between us. I would have liked to have seen how it all played out.”

  I leaned in and kissed the apparition. Nothing was this perfect in real life and I was convinced that this couldn’t be real. Her lips were
too soft and too giving as I started to kiss her. Her body was too soft when I pulled her closer. Everything about it was just too perfect.

  “You taste like you used to.”

  “Taste?”

  “Yeah, your lips, your skin, all of you. I still remember the way you taste from last time.”

  She tried to squirm free.

  “That was a long time ago Cal. You can’t remember that.”

  I chuckled and told her that I had a good memory when it came to her. I’d never had a dream where I argued with her.

  “I do.”

  My hand slipped underneath the T-shirt that she was wearing, and I found out that she didn’t have any panties on. I felt the wetness and my hand stalled. Sliding one finger inside of her wet heat, I heard a distant moan. She was soaked, and I brought the taste to my mouth.

  “You do taste just the same.”

  She covered her face with my shoulder and wouldn’t look at me. I moved my hand back down between her legs and started to rub and push my digit deep, tasting it and then kissing her until she looked at me.

  “Nice and sweet.”

  “Then you should do it properly. I remember things too and your mouth was very well trained.”

  That had me laughing. I don’t remember her being such a delight. We should have talked more that night.

  Pushing her back and opening her legs, I leaned in and took the first slow lick on her hot flesh. She jumped a little and I had to hold down her hips so that she couldn’t get away. Whimpering, I could feel her trying to raise her hips to meet me, but I wasn’t going to let that happen. She was trying to rush me, but this was my dream and I wasn’t going to let her. I wanted her nice and slow, knowing that I was going to wake up and Mariss was going to be gone.

  The soft whines and moans were new, and they seemed to take over my ability to think. Her hips and hands were insistent, pushing me for more, needing more from me. “Please Cal, I’m so close!”

  I’d heard her say that before and it did no less than it did the time before. She felt so damn good, tasted so good, I grew hungrier and wanted what she said she was so close to. I needed to taste the pleasure in my mouth.

  Sliding a finger inside to push her over the edge, Mariss called out loudly and I tasted a flood of her fluid. It overwhelmed my senses and I remember thinking how real it all seemed. This was the realest dream that I’d ever had.

  “Fuck Mariss. Why can’t you be real?”

  She looked at me confused and both of us had the same look when the light came on. It flooded the room with brightness and I could see very clearly the woman underneath me, as well as the couple that was standing by the light switch with a look of surprise on their face. My mind took a minute to realize who they were and where I was.

  “Mariss!”

  It was Anna yelling at her friend. Mariss was quicker to get up then I was, and I could see her face now. It was red with embarrassment and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say. I wiped my mouth because it was still wet with her juices and for the first time since I woke up and found her standing over me, I realized that this wasn’t a dream. She was real, this was real, and the consequences were going to be real as well. I’d really messed up.

  Anna and Mariss left the room after she gave me a dirty look. I was a bad influence on everyone I assumed she thought. Maybe she was right because I wasn’t supposed to do that.

  “What the hell are you doing Cal?”

  I was still trying to get with it and reality was setting in. What the hell had I been doing besides tasting a woman I hadn’t tasted in a decade? I’d wanted it too much and now that I had, I knew that I had fucked up.

  “I don’t know. Fuck, I thought I was having a damn good dream.”

  He couldn’t look mad for long, that much was clear. He was smiling behind the knitted brow that he was trying to maintain. I wished that I was able to feel some guilt, but I didn’t. Not even a little bit of guilt ran through me, not one little ounce of it. She felt too good and being with her was well worth the consequences, some that only a couple of hours before I was so worried about. Now it didn’t seem to matter. If I lost my job, so what?

  “I see that. Anna is going to chew my ass out for this.”

  I apologized to him. That was the only thing that I felt bad about. I wished that he wouldn’t get bitched at for it.

  “It was worth it on my end man. I will cover for you sometime as payback.”

  He just shook his head. “What the hell were you doing?”

  “I think you saw.”

  “Yeah she’s loud and woke us up.”

  “I always liked that about her.”

  He just shook his head. “Maybe she’s right, you are a bad influence on people. Her friend hadn’t even been here a couple of hours and you have her committing sin with you. Does she know about Marsha?”

  Hell, I hadn’t even remembered about Marsha in those minutes. I hadn’t thought it was real. Truly, I’d thought that it was all a dream. It wasn’t the first time that I’d seen her and touched her in my dreams over the years. She had a reoccurring role.

  “No and you can’t tell her. She would be pissed off at me for not telling her.”

  “I have a feeling that she is going to know soon enough. Anna likes Marsha and she’s going to say something. I wouldn’t be able to stop her. You know how Anna is.”

  That had me worried. I didn’t want Marsha to know. I needed time on that front, but more than that I didn’t want Mariss to find out that I wasn’t available. I was. Agreeing to get married was a mistake from the beginning, but now it was a huge one. I had to fix it. It was just that simple.

  “I do, but I need to tell her first.”

  He held his hands up and told me that he couldn’t help it. Jesse was my good friend, but I could see what side he had to stand on in this one. I didn’t blame him. Anna was going to be his wife in a couple of days.

  “Well, I guess whatever happens, happens.”

  Jesse scowled, and he looked about as excited over the prospect of it as I did. This was not going to turn out well.

  Mariss

  “What were you thinking Mariss!?”

  “I wasn’t thinking Anna, that’s the problem. It always was with him. I don’t know what hold he has on me, but that’s no excuse. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen, in your house no less.”

  She waved me off and told me that she wasn’t worried about that, but that it put her in a tight position. I didn’t know what she was talking about and the look she gave me sent a hard knot into my throat.

  “What should I know that you’re not telling me?”

  “I’m going to tell you Mariss, I’m just not sure how to. I know that you and Cal had something going in the past and when you told me about it I should have listened better and told you that he wasn’t single, not by far. He’s engaged to be married to someone that I know and like very well, Marsha.”

  My face fell and there was no way to stop the reaction that her words gave me. It made me sick inside and no matter how much I wanted to believe that it was wrong, and she was somehow mistaken, I knew that what she said was true, no matter how much I didn’t want to hear it.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, they are getting married a month after me and Jesse are getting married.”

  “Oh.”

  It was a stupid answer, but one that I kept repeating because I really didn’t know what to say. I was stumped and the more I thought about it, the more I got upset. Why had this happened if he was getting engaged? I felt like he had lied to me, even though there really hadn’t been that many words. It was all talk of the past, nothing of the present or the future. It had all just happened.

  “Now you can see why this is a problem. I like Marsha and I know her well, but he’s Jesse’s best friend so if I say something, it might start something between me and Jesse. I don’t want that.”

  “Don’t say anything. If he loves her, he’ll tell her. I won’t mess with him
anymore. I didn’t know, or I wouldn’t in the first place.”

  “How did this even happen?”

  She asked like she didn’t know, and I realized that she didn’t. She didn’t know that I was the one that had found him and stared, getting caught, then letting it all get out of hand. Cal was sort of drunk and sort of sleepy, but his kisses and words had set something alight in me and I hadn’t cared.

  “I don’t know. It just did. I didn’t know that he was getting married. He didn’t say anything.”

  “Well to be fair Mariss, it didn’t look like he had much of a chance to say much of anything.”

  I turned a little red because I knew what she was talking about. She was talking about the fact that he had been in between my legs. It had been a good way to get him to be quiet. Give his mouth something to do and he hadn’t said a word.

  My legs pressed together with the idea of him doing that and I waved myself off. I really had to get him out of my head. He was married. How did he forget to tell me that? I was going to find out because I wasn’t done with him. He’d been the one that wanted to talk and now I was the one that wanted answers.

  “Yeah, I know. Damn he is good at that. I’m sure Marsha will forgive him, just to get the feeling of what he can do with his mouth. He is quite talented.”

  She just shook her head and told me that I was crazy. Maybe I was, but at the end of the day it was because I knew that I was going to have to let him go. The sad part was that I didn’t want to. I wanted him with me, in me and I don’t know if the idea of him a fiancée having really ruined that for me. It had been so long since I’d been pleasured like Cal could do. He had a way with my body back then and he had the same control over it now to my chagrin. I didn’t like to think that anyone had that sort of control over me, no matter how handsome they were.

  “I can’t believe you Mariss. This isn’t like you. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk like this before.”