Beneath the Vine

by Lillian Bryant

  Bennett had distracted me. He distracted me with everything except him, except the truth of who he was. I couldn’t pretend anymore. I knew Gage… even if the details were fuzzy. His character always shined through. I just had to make sure Gage knew there were to be no more omissions.

  I pulled away from his kiss, breathless. His smile spread wide enough his dimple creased. “No more lies, no more half-truths, Gage. I remember…” I let my eyes fall from his as the loss of everything hit me again, “…I haven’t forgotten how much I care about you, about you both. I thought I loved him, but his lies, they changed me. I hardly trust myself, or anyone… anymore.”

  “You can trust me, Gio. I’ll never lie to you. I may have omitted some things, to protect you… to protect the case. But I never lied.”

  He hadn’t. “You never did.”

  The door in the hallway opened and he stepped away from me. The sound of laughter filled the room. Three girls came around the corner. “Oh, shit. Sorry.” I didn’t recognize them. “This isn’t the bathroom?” one of the girls asked as the others tried to hide their giggles.

  “It isn’t.” Gage’s tone was irritated and it made me internally smile. He wasn’t really a people person, but he’d always been sweet to me.

  The girls’ eyes scanned the room. The lights were off and the large window only let the dim city lights scatter shadows across the dark wood of what I assumed was a desk. I’d been so wrapped up in the bubble of Gage I hadn’t bothered to look. They left without offering any further apologies, and as soon as the door shut, I felt the heat of Gage’s palm on my cheek.

  “Come home with me?” His tone was void of its usual strength, and it broke me.

  I should give myself time, time to wrap my head around everything. But as he brought his lips to the corner of my mouth and laced his fingers through mine, I felt safe and I found it hard to say no.

  “Okay.”

  It was my choice.

  It was my downfall.

  Either way, I was tired of missing him.

  I was tired of feeling so horribly alone.

  And the relief I felt in that one word made it that much easier to start believing in myself again.

  She stood in the center of my loft, her back to me, her head tilted to the side as if in deep thought. She was staring out of the window, and the curve of her hip was highlighted by the light that spilled through it. It would be a fucking understatement to say I was eager to have her all to myself, but she was still processing.

  “I don’t want to push you,” I spoke, and it sounded louder than I had intended. The quiet from the ride home followed us into the apartment.

  She turned and smiled at me. “You’re not. That statement alone proves that I’m making a good choice this time.”

  “Choice?”

  She nodded and took a few steps toward me, placing her hands on my shoulders. “I choose to forgive your omissions because I know you’re a good man. You only left out pieces of the truth to protect me, to protect Bennett. Your reasons for misleading me weren’t selfish.”

  “And Bennett… do you forgive him?” I asked and her eyes dimmed.

  “I’m still working on it. He lied to protect himself, he lied so that he could have what he wanted from me… he lied because he was selfish.” Gio’s voice wavered on the last word.

  “He may be selfish, Gio, but he cared about you. I’ve known him my whole life and he cared, trust me.”

  “That’s just it, I do. I trust you, Gage… but Bennett…” She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about Bennett. I’m here for you.”

  “For me?” My lips spread into a smile and she blushed. “Are you ready then, Gio, ready to show me that girl from Brooklyn, that girl that burns so fucking bright it hurts.” I leaned in and kissed her bottom lip and she sighed. “Do you remember her, Gio, is she still breathing?” I brought my mouth to hers again, and her fingertips gripped my shoulders as our mouths moved together with a powerful kiss.

  After a moment, she pulled her mouth from mine. “I’m ready, Gage… I’m ready for you.”

  If this is what she wanted, if she was fucking ready for me, ready to stop denying who she was, I’d give her everything I had. I stepped away from her. “Follow me.” My tone was dark and filled with anticipation. I’d been dying for this, this time with just her and me, here, in my own private realm. I laced my fingers with hers and brought her back to the bedroom. I shut the door behind us, the bedside lamp cast a warm glow across my dark blue bedding.

  She stood in front me and let her eyes meet mine. The emerald color of her dress intensifying the rose in her cheeks. I stalked toward her and placed my hands at her waist. I turned her body so that she was facing away from me; the movement surprised her and she gasped. My fingers slowly unzipped her dress, and as I pulled the zipper down, my thumb brushed along the length of her spine. Her bare silk-like skin made my pulse increase. Gio stood in a pool of fabric wearing only a pair of black panties.

  My lips skimmed lightly along the pulse below her ear. “Take your hair down.” I stepped away just enough to watch her as she raised her arms and loosened the tie that held her hair up. The chocolate waves fell down her back, and my dick responded. “Turn around so I can see you, Gio.” The command in my voice only made me harder, and the goosebumps that erupted over the surface of her body made me smirk.

  She faced me, and the perfect slope of her breasts, the pink of her nipples, drew me in; she was a fucking vision. She silently observed me as I shrugged out of my suit jacket and began to unbutton my shirt. Each button undone caused her respirations to heighten, and she pulled her top two teeth across her bottom lip. “Will you restrain me?” she asked in a hushed breath as I slipped out of my shirt.

  “I had planned on it.” I undid the buckle of my belt, and the sound of it brought her eyes to my waist. I pulled it free of my pants and held the leather in my left hand.

  I moved toward her and enclosed my right palm around the back of her neck bringing her in for a rough kiss. She nipped at my upper lip, and I groaned. My hand trailed down her shoulder, along her arm, and to her wrist. I guided her backward towards the bed, not once breaking our kiss. Once we were close, I pulled from her lips.

  “Face the bed.”

  She did as I asked without pause.

  The leather of the belt moved smoothly through the loose buckle. I took her wrists with one hand and slipped them through the small “O” shape of the belt, pulling it tight against her delicate skin — not enough to hurt her, but enough that I knew it was secure. “Is this painful?”

  I pulled on the slack and she shook her head. “No, it just feels tight.”

  “Good.”

  I offered her little conversation as I curled my fingers under the top edge of her panties. They slid easily down her legs, and she stepped out of them without having to be asked. She was standing with her legs slightly parted. Her hands were bound behind her back, and with the black leather of my belt against her fair skin, she looked stunning, and it made it impossible for me to keep things at this slow of a pace.

  “Are you nervous?” I asked as I stepped closer and she shivered.

  “No.” She dropped her gaze to the bedspread, but she owned the word.

  I kissed her neck. “There you are, Gio.”

  She turned her head and kissed me deeply over her shoulder. The taste of her mouth was spiced, and as her tongue swept along my upper lip, I almost gave in. “Kneel on the bed.”

  I undressed completely as she did what I had asked. Her strong thighs held her balance on the mattress. Soon, she would be face down and filled with just me, only me.

  “Gage?” Her voice shook.

  “I’m right here.” I stood just behind her at the edge of the bed and traced my fingertips along the line of her hip and her ribcage. I cupped her breast with one hand, the pad of my thumb pressed against the nipple, and she moaned. The sound of her need made each movement more calculated. I gripped the back of her neck wit
h my left hand and pushed her body down. She was still in a kneeling position, but her left cheek was flat against the blue fabric of my bedspread. My jaw tensed as I slipped two fingers inside her. She was served up to me, wet as fuck, and as she groaned, I tightened my hold on her neck and added a third finger.

  “Please.” Her plea was mumbled.

  “Not yet,” I growled as I pulled my fingers from her body and released my grip on her neck.

  I stood behind her, still, and watched as her thighs began to tremble. I wanted to taste her, but she was ready and I couldn’t hold out. I aligned myself, soaking the head of my cock as I pushed gradually inside her. The muscles of her body clamped down, rushing me, and I slid all the way in with a hard stroke. I grasped the belt with one hand and her hip with the other. I wasn’t gentle, and she whimpered and grunted through each forceful thrust.

  “Fuck.” She groaned and her legs began to shake. I stopped and pulled myself from her body withholding her release. She was breathless and I smiled.

  My hand print was bruised into the soft skin of her hip. Her arms were shaking from the stress of being restrained. I was breaking her down and she fucking loved it. “I want to watch you come, Gio. I want to see it when you break down just for me.”

  I moved onto the bed helping her move into position before I leaned back and allowed her to straddle me. She maneuvered herself just above my cock, and I watched as I guided myself into her body. Our eyes locked as the relief of the connection ran through me with a groan.

  Her moan was a soft, deep sound. Her ache for release pulsed as she leaned backward. Her hips moved in a seamless rhythm. I pulled my palm down the center of her chest, between her breasts and down her stomach, resting my thumb against her clit. I was ready to let go, ready to come inside of her, give her the satisfaction... the control.

  “To know every inch of this fucking body... to own your soul... Gio, it’s all I can think about... it’s all I ever want to know.” I didn’t care how vulnerable I sounded. I never did with her. Gio made me want to tell her every truth I’d ever fucking known.

  She started to whimper again; the pulse of my thumb quickened as she rocked her hips harder and faster bringing us both to climax. I sat up and gripped her waist, pulling her against me as we came. Our lips collided and I drank in every sound. I released the belt from her wrists, and she tangled her hands in my hair, taking away any space between us. Her breasts were hot against my chest, our lips moved together, and our bodies remained linked as I worked my fingers into the muscles of her arms, relieving the ache of being restrained for so long.

  Once our breathing became less erratic and our mouths moved lazily, pulling our kiss to a close, I felt her smile against my lips.

  “What?” I pulled away enough so I could see her eyes. They were filled with amber; it was the lightest I’d ever seen them.

  “I like your words. I like that you tell me what you feel and that you’re not afraid to show me who you really are.” She kissed the corner of my mouth, and then smiled again her hands on my cheeks.

  My eyes searched hers. “When it comes to you, I mean every word.” I wanted to tell her I had fallen for her in New York. Tell her that tonight, having her like this, just the two of us in my bed, was all I’d thought about from the day I stepped foot in that fucking winery. Back then it was more about the fuck, but now, she surrounded me entirely, no end in sight, and I was giving myself up for the slaughter.

  She smiled nervously. “I wasn’t prepared to miss you as much as I did.” The strain in her voice was apparent as she tried to swallow down her emotion.

  I rested my forehead against hers. “I wasn’t prepared for you at all.”

  “I’m glad I’m here now.” I could hear the smile in her voice.

  I cradled the back of her head with my fingers, and my thumb traced along her jaw. The tips of our noses almost touching, we sat in silence and I tried to synchronize my breathing with hers, but the loneliness of this past month, it curled around my ribcage and the pressure of it made my chest feel tight.

  “When I saw you, that first time in Manhattan…” I leaned back so she could see the truth of what I was about to say, “…all I thought about was how you would look, bound in satin, at the wrists, lying naked in my bed. I wanted to fuck you. See the elegance drip away. I saw it then, the real you, that spark in your eyes, and I craved it… coveted it.” The thought made me hard, and I felt myself stir inside her.

  “I felt fear when I saw you that night, but I liked it.” She circled her hips and I rolled her onto her back.

  I pushed the stray strands of her hair behind her ears as I hovered over her. “The first morning I spent with you, I would have stayed with you all day. It was that morning, Gio, that fucking morning I found my future in you and then watched it slip through my fingers. I was never supposed to care and you were never mine to have. So, when I say I wasn’t prepared, what I meant to say was that I wasn’t prepared to care about you like I did, like I do… like this.” Our bodies moved effortlessly together in slow waves as I pushed and pulled from her body, each stroke a loss, each push… sweet relief.

  “Tell me something,” she said in a breathless whisper. Her sweet breath saturated my brain.

  My mouth turned up in the corners at the familiar phrase. “You feel like home.”

  A small breath parted from her lips. “So do you.”

  The three words weren’t traditional, but I felt their true meaning.

  Prepared.

  Nothing prepared me for this.

  For him.

  For Gage.

  The past few weeks had been bleak after I’d first arrived in Los Angeles. But, seeing Gage last night, laying with him in his bed, alone — I felt it in my soul; he had always been the one to trust with my heart. I missed Bennett. I missed him more than I thought possible, but, if I let myself think about him, think about all that I’d fallen for, it would ruin this precious moment with Gage. The gray morning sky filled Gage’s bedroom and set him in fogged light as if I was staring at him through a filtered lens. His full lips were parted, his jaw was dark with scruff, his right arm above his head, and his left hand rested on his chest. Peaceful. His breathing was measured as I traced the tattoo on the inside of his right bicep. He wanted to break limits with love — my limits. He hadn’t said it, but I felt him. I felt him in every pore of my body. Gage wanted me for me.

  “Good morning.” Gage’s voice was full of sleep and as he spoke in his deep timbre; I smiled.

  “Hi.” I placed my cheek on his chest, and he let his right arm fall over me. “Do you work today?”

  He groaned. “Not really, but I have so much I need to do. If I’m going to convince Bennett to come here, I’m—”

  “Here?” The fear in my voice was tangible. I didn’t want to see Bennett.

  “Yes. We want to bring him into protective custody.” Gage shifted and sat up, causing me to roll onto my back. I felt cold. I closed my eyes fighting all the crazy shit in my head. “Is that a problem, Gio?”

  I could feel his eyes on mine. “I still care about him. I don’t want to hurt you, but, Gage… I’m still healing. I might’ve only fallen in love with the idea of what he and I could’ve been, but seeing him… it makes it all real. It brings me back to all of us together, and I can’t go there again. I can’t split myself in two.”

  “I’m not asking you to, Gio…” He paused. “Open your eyes so I can see you.”

  I swallowed down my anxiety and when I opened my eyes, instead of anger, or jealousy, I found warmth. “I want you, Gage, but Bennett… he was, he—”

  “He’s a good guy that loved you and made fucked up, shitty decisions, and in the end, lost the best thing that ever happened to him. You. It’s sad, Gio. It’s fucking tragic. But, Bennett made his own bed, and all I want to do is help him fix all this shit so he can have an actual future, one that doesn’t land him six feet under.” He let his eyes sweep down my face before he locked his stare on mine, and my h
eart thundered in my chest. “Gio, I can’t make you forget him, and I don’t want to.”

  I let the tears fall from my eyes. I needed time, but I didn’t want Gage to think it meant we couldn’t be together. “I want to be with you, but I need you to be patient with me.”

  “We asked you to give us your body. We asked you to share yourself physically and tried to pretend that it wasn’t going to destroy you emotionally. I’m a patient guy. I’ll wait for you, even if it’s from the sidelines. I’ll wait because, Gio, this, me and you, this is where your feet should always land. I’m not just going to let you fall apart. I’m going to always show you where you belong. Remind you, when you forget, just how fucking incredible you are.”

  He leaned down and kissed me, marked me — his lips making sure I knew I was his. Each kiss, each touch, each word was sewing me up, salving the wound Bennett left behind.

  “You’re not real.” I smiled against his mouth.

  “I’m real, sweetheart.”

  I laughed. “Like I said before, you play dark and dangerous really well but I like that under it all, you’re soft.”

  His eyes hardened and a pleasant shiver ran up my spine. “Should I show you just how dark and dangerous I can be?”

  I suppressed my smile by chewing on my lip and nodded.

  He took the sheet between his thumb and forefinger and slowly peeled back the fabric. The cold air hit my skin, and the hair on the back of my neck rose as Gage let his eyes penetrate through my body. His smile was wicked as he watched the goosebumps erupt down my belly and arms. He brought a nipple between his teeth and I shuddered. He leaned over me and opened his bed side drawer.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  His hand in mine felt good, it felt right. I dropped my gaze to our linked fingers. His right hand tangled with mine on my thigh as he drove me home from our date. An actual date night. The music played quietly from Gage’s car stereo, and when I flicked my gaze back to his face, his lips spread into a dimpled smile.