by Lily Graison
“Come here,” she said, laughing. “I’ll warm you up.”
They met in the middle of the pond, her arms wrapping around his neck, her legs circling his hips. Her body was as cold as his was but just the feel of her naked limbs around him was enough for his circulation to start working properly again. Of course, all his blood was traveling south. She gave him a knowing look, tightening her legs around him and rubbing herself against his growing erection.
“It feels as if parts of you are warming,” she said, kissing him lightly on the lips.
“You keep doing that and you’ll find out exactly how warm it can get.”
Trying to tread water with her added weight, slight as it was, was dragging him under. The second time his head sank below the surface, she let go of him and swam away. “I thought you were going to warm me up, Faith?”
“What good will it do you if I drown you in the process?”
He swam toward her, grinning when she turned and dove in, her pert little ass shining in the bright noonday sun before disappearing under the water. He followed her, watching her emerge near the bank. When he reached her, and his feet finally hit the silky bottom of the pond, she swam back to him.
“Feet on the bottom now?” she asked.
He nodded his head, reaching for her when she neared him. “Come here,” he said. “I think you’ve tortured me long enough.”
“Torture?” she said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He laughed and guided her legs back around his waist and moaned when she ground her hips against him. He palmed her ass, holding her to him with his cock nestled between them. “That kind of torture,” he said, pushing his hips forward into her. “I haven’t been with a woman in three months, Faith. Not since the day you left me in Vegas and here you are, stripping in front of me, then taunting me with those perky tits and firm, round ass.” He leaned down to kiss her, his tongue sliding into her mouth. Her nails bit into his shoulders before crawling into his hair. “Rubbing that sweet little pussy all over me. You’re driving me crazy.”
Her arms tightened around his neck, her lips peppering kisses across his face. “Then what are you waiting for?” she whispered, her tongue tracing his lips. “Shut up and fuck me already.”
He couldn’t get out of the water fast enough. The muddy bottom of the pond seemed to drag him back two steps for every one he took. When the cool grass was under his feet, he carried her toward their clothes before dropping to his knees.
The kiss she gave him sucked nearly every ounce of air from his lungs. His chest felt ready to explode by the time she pulled back, gasping for air as her greedy little fingers caressed every inch of skin she could reach. He lowered her to the ground, his lips sliding across her skin before latching around her nipple. She arched her back, her fingers tugging at his hair and her hips rising, that hot little treasure between her legs teasing the head of his cock.
“Faith, I won’t last if you don’t sit still,” he said, grabbing her hip and trying to stop her from moving. “It’s been too long.”
“It’s been just as long for me,” she whimpered, grabbing his head with both hands and kissing him. “Please, Mick. I need you. I want you inside me.”
His dick throbbed painfully at her words. He lifted her, sitting up and forcing her legs across his lap. One quick push and he was inside. She gasped at the intrusion, her fingers tightening on his shoulders and when she opened her eyes and looked at him, grinding her hips against him, he knew he’d do whatever it took to keep her. Drunk induced marriage or not, he wanted her. She was his and he intended on keeping her.
He wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her up slightly before lifting his hips, penetrating her completely before lowering himself. He grunted as he filled her, feeling her muscles tighten around his cock as he drove up into her faster, harder, listening to her breath catch. He palmed her breast, rolling her nipple between his fingers before sucking it into his mouth. The audible smack of wet flesh the only sound other than their mingled harsh breaths. Her hips moved faster, her nails biting into his flesh until he looked up at her. She was staring down at him and with every silky slide into her body, she consumed him, wrapped him in a cocoon of sensual pleasure he didn’t want to spend a day without. She lowered her head, kissed him and bit his lip as his fingers dug into the soft flesh of her ass.
He felt his balls draw up, his veins filled with liquid fire. “Faith, I can’t…”
“Don’t,” she whispered against his mouth. “Don’t hold back.”
He lowered her to the ground, clamping his teeth together as he drove into her without mercy. He fucked her till stars flashed behind his eyelids and her body clenched around him, her screams echoing in his head as he emptied his balls into her. His shout mingled with her own, his lungs burning as he expelled the last of the air they held as wave upon wave of spasms ate his strength. He fell to his elbows, keeping his full weight off of her, and sucked in large amounts of air, gasping in lungs full that nearly choked him. His entire body trembled, his legs weak and shaky.
Mick grabbed her leg, unwrapping it from his waist before collapsing beside her on the ground. He stared into the sky, watching the clouds while his pulse pounded in his ears. Three months was too damn long to go without that.
Without her.
He turned his head and looked over at her. Her eyes were closed, cheeks rosy red from exertion and those full lips parted as she tried to catch her breath. Her chest rose quickly, her breasts swaying with every pull of air into her lungs. She’d never looked more beautiful.
When she opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him, she grinned. “I really hope it was me that caused you to lose it like that and not just the fact it’s been so long.”
He laughed and slid closer to her, rubbing a hand across her stomach as he peppered kisses along her breasts. “You mostly,” he mumbled against her skin. “But I don’t think I’ve ever gone that long without sexual gratification.”
“What?” she said. “You can’t tell me you haven’t even beat off since Vegas.”
“Ah, masturbation. What would a man do without his hand?”
“Fuck anything that moved?”
“Probably.”
“And?”
“And what?” he asked.
“You haven’t even masturbated since then?”
He snorted and bit her nipple. “I jerked off twice a day thinking about you. Thinking about shooting come all over these pretty little titties of yours.”
“Lord, you’re so nasty, Mick.”
He leaned up on his elbow and grinned. “And you love it. Admit it.”
She raised her arms, wrapping them around his neck. “Yes. I love it.” I love you, she thought, but kept the words to herself.
“Good,” he said. “Now, what do you say we sneak back to your house, grab you some clothes and get the hell out of this town? I have three weeks before we head to Europe. Sounds like just enough time for a proper Honeymoon. What do you think?”
Faith stared up at him not entirely sure she could answer him. The lump in her throat grew with every passing second and she had to take several deep breaths just to try and slow her pulse down. A Honeymoon? He wanted to take her on a Honeymoon? Like … a real married couple? The tears started to burn her eyes the second she thought it and she kissed him to keep from blubbering like a fool with one thought running through her mind. He did want her.
* * * *
They arrived back at the house after stopping by the Inn to tell the others to pack it up and be ready to go in an hour. Mick wanted to be gone by nightfall and Faith couldn’t wait to start her new life. Of course, she had to squeeze out of the old one first and to do that, she had to actually get out of the SUV and go inside. For some reason, facing her father had her scared shitless. She glanced over at Mick who was staring at her. His face showed nothing so if he was nervous he hid it like a pro.
“I guess we should get out, huh?” she said.
Faith nodded her head. “We could do that.”
Neither of them moved.
She sighed heavily and finally reached for the door handle. “Are you coming in or playing it safe?”
He grinned. “I’d love to play it safe, Tink, but I’m sure that would just give your father more reasons to hate me.” He opened his door and said, “Let’s go.”
They made it to the front door before Faith felt her stomach roll in on itself. If she could do this without throwing up, she’d treat herself to an entire chocolate crème pie, using Mick’s abs as a serving dish. She took a deep breath before opening the door and walking inside.
She stopped when she saw her father sitting in his chair by the fireplace. He didn’t say anything but the look on his face made her feel like an eight year old that’d been caught being naughty.
“Daddy,” she said, taking a step further into the room. “I’m…” her throat closed off and she found it hard to breathe all of a sudden. She heard the door close behind her and wondered if Mick was on this side of it or if he’d chickened out and stayed on the porch. She got her answer when she felt his hand on her back.
“Let me guess. You’re leaving,” the Reverend said, glancing past her to Mick. “With him.”
Faith glanced at the floor. His tone of voice told her how disappointed he was.
“You don’t have to answer, Faith. I can tell by the way you can’t even look at me.”
She sighed heavily and looked up, forcing eye contact with him. Tears burnt her eyes as she did. The look on his face was her undoing. She’d broken his heart … again. He stood, taking them both in before shaking his head.
“I raised you the best I could, Faith. I can see now I failed in some respect.” He crossed the room, stopping at the end of the sofa and looking past her to Mick. “Never in all my life did I think you’d turn out so rebellious. None of your brothers were.”
“They’re not the angels you think they are,” Faith said. “Their souls are just as stained as mine.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But the stain isn’t visible for every person who looks upon them to see. I’m not so naive as to believe my children have all walked the path I set them on but I do believe they’ve all tried. Well, the boys have. You, I’m not so sure about. I’m beginning to believe you purposely defied me just to see if you could get away with it.”
“I’ve never purposely tried to do anything to hurt you, daddy. Why would you even think such a thing?”
He laughed but there was nothing amusing about the sound. He stared at her for long minutes; the only sound in the room the soft ticking of the clock on the fireplace mantel. When the silence became deafening, Faith took a step toward him. “Daddy, you always said all you ever wanted for any of us was for us to be happy.”
“And you are?” he asked. “You’re happy with him? You’re happy about this baby? Happy that every person in town thinks of you not as the sweet girl you were but of a wanton young woman who has disgraced her father.”
“I’m sorry, daddy.” She hung her head. “I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment to you.”
“You’re not a disappointment, Faith, but your actions have disappointed me. I raised you better than this. I trusted you to behave yourself in a respectable manner and put you on that plane to Vegas knowing you would still be the proper young lady I raised, but I was wrong.” He shook his head and the look of disgust on his face tore at her heart. “Drinking. Partying. Having sex with a man you know next to nothing about. A man I’m almost positive will tire of you once the reality of his situation sinks in or the next pretty girl who crosses his path jumps into his bed.”
“You know nothing about me, or how I feel, Mr. Weston,” Mick said, speaking for the first time.
“And how do you feel, Mick?” the Reverend asked. “Let me guess. You took a girls virginity, soiled her and now you feel like a man. Is that it? Is that how you rock stars get your kicks nowadays?”
“I don’t need a woman to make me feel like a man,” Mick said. “And her virginity was the farthest thing from my mind. It wasn’t there anyway.”
If the floor had opened up in that moment, Faith would have vaulted over anything in her path to be the first one in it. The look on her father’s face froze her lungs and caused her heart to leap in her chest. When he turned his gaze on her, she wanted to crawl into the deepest, blackest hole she could find.
“You weren’t a virgin when you went to Vegas?”
Faith’s tongue felt like it grew three sizes and the inside of her mouth felt as if sawdust coated every inch. She couldn’t speak and was finding it hard to breathe. When her father took a step toward her, she took a step back, bumping into Mick.
“Is the baby even his?” the Reverend asked, looking past her to Mick. “Or do you even know?”
The comforting wall of Mick’s body behind her was suddenly gone and she stumbled to gain her balance. A glance over her shoulder confirmed what she thought. The doubt now shining in Mick’s eyes tore at her heart and she just wanted to start this entire day over again.
“I can tell by the look on your face that thought never entered your mind,” the Reverend said, looking at Mick. “I guess Faith’s actions are now a mystery to us both. I hope you’re both happy with the lives you’ve created for yourself.”
When her father turned and walked out of the room, she swallowed the lump in her throat. “The baby is yours, Mick.”
“Is it?”
The fact he even questioned it broke her heart. “I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”
“So you’d lie to me about something else instead?”
“No,” she said. “That’s not what I meant.”
“What did you mean, then?”
Faith raised her hand, pushing her hair out of her eyes. How had things gone from bliss to a total disaster so quickly? “Mick—”
“The day I met you in Vegas, you said you knew who I was.”
“Yes,” she said. “A person would have to have been living under a rock not to know who you were.”
“The fact I was a member of Wicked didn’t have anything to do with you jumping into my bed so quick? Were you just out to make it with a rock star or did you have bigger plans, Faith?”
Faith gaped at him and tried to speak three times before getting her tongue to work properly. “What are you implying, Mick? That I planned this? That I purposely threw myself at you, poured liquor down your throat and dragged you by the hair to the nearest wedding chapel and married you before you sobered up? Oh, and I just happened to get knocked up in the process? Is that what you’re saying?”
His face had turned red, fire shined in his eyes and a mask of inconsolable hatred so noticeable on his face nothing would have penetrated the barrier he put up. “I think you spelled it out quite nicely, Faith. Thanks for the history lesson. Not only am I a fool but I’m an idiot as well. Your real name wouldn’t happen to be Jennifer, would it?”
She gasped. How dare he even imply she was anything like his ex! There wasn’t a magazine in the world that hadn’t plastered his nasty divorce from that woman on every cover for over a year. To even be put in the same category with her left Faith feeling as if he’d punched her square in the face. Her blood boiled. She felt it racing through her veins, heating her limbs before rushing past her ears. “How can you even stand there and accuse me of playing you, Mick?”
“Well, other than a very brief family history, and that you’re a wildcat in the sack, I don’t know a damn thing about you,” he said. “For all I know you were in league with Jessi from the minute we stepped foot in Vegas. Our tour schedule is plastered in every available medium there is. Did you two follow us just to sink your claws into a couple of rich, rock stars?”
“So, you’re saying Jessi trapped Christian as well? Are you insan
e?” She stared up at him and laughed until tears leaked from her eyes. She turned and walked across the room, staring at nothing. How had this gone so wrong? How did they go from running away together to nasty accusations being slung at each other? Why did he let the first hint of doubt cloud all judgment and cause him to believe the worst of her?
If he loved me, he’d have no reason to doubt anything I said.
She turned back to face him, watching him stare at her. The look on his face ripped a sob from her throat before she sucked it up and straightened her spine. She wouldn’t cry in front of him. She wouldn’t let him know the mere fact he doubted her broke her heart. That she was foolish enough to think he loved her and now knew differently. “You know what, Mick,” she said, clearing her throat when it cracked. “Just … forget it. Go back to your glitzy lifestyle, and your loose women, and leave me alone.”
The tears were unstoppable now and she bit her tongue to keep from bawling in front of him. When he just stood there staring at her, she turned her back to him.
The divorce papers were on the coffee table.
Crossing the floor, she snatched them up and walked to the desk in the corner, grabbing a pen and signing them without even reading them. “There,” she said, turning and walking to where he stood. “It’s over. Here’s your fucking divorce papers.” She shoved them into his hand and turned, walking to her bedroom. When the door was shut, and locked, her knees gave out. She slid to the floor, her heart breaking into a million pieces. When she heard the front door slam shut, the first sob broke from her chest.
She knew without looking Mick was gone.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter 7
“Aren’t you missing something?” Devin asked.
Mick ignored him, throwing his bag into the back of the SUV before walking to the side door. “Let’s go. I want to get out of this shit-hole town.”
They all stood staring at each other and Mick wanted to scream, or punch something. He’d left Faith’s, the tires on the SUV burning as he peeled out of her driveway, his head feeling as if it would explode at any moment. He’d made it back to the Inn, walked straight to his room, grabbed his bag and told them to head out. He was ready to go and thankfully, so were they.