The elevator opened and people poured out, all of them staring at us. Then the stairwell door opened and more people ran toward us, all of them with hopeful looks on their faces.
“What happened?” someone hissed.
“He misses stepping on her razors,” another person said.
“That’s not romantic.”
“Yes, it is,” a woman sighed.
“Kat,” I pleaded.
She shook her head slowly, tears filling her eyes. “Eric, we were good together because of Angel. We had that connection, but once she was gone, she took everything good with her. We’re better apart.”
“I don’t believe that,” I argued. “I know that I’m miserable when I’m without you. I know that everything good in me disappeared the moment you walked out my door. I know that you’re just as miserable as I am. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Whether or not we’re perfect for each other is a pointless argument. You and I both know that we weren’t just good together because of Angel. We work because…because despite our differences, we’re still better together than we are apart.” I stared at her beautiful face, watching the tears slip down her cheeks. I was getting through to her. “Kat, we’ve had a rough road, but I would rather spend the rest of my life knowing we’ll have bumps along the way, than spend even one more minute without you.”
She huffed out a laugh and she swiped at the tears dripping down her face. “I’m still a mess.”
“So am I. We’ll be a mess together.” I rushed to her, pulling her into my arms and kissing her hard. Her tears slipped down her cheeks, slipping onto my face, but I didn’t care. I would take her tears for the rest of my life and make them happy tears.
My hand dug into her hair as I kissed her harder. Her arms were wrapped around me, pulling me close. Catcalls sounded around us. People were clapping and cheering, but all I heard was the sound of her gasps as she pulled me closer.
I broke the kiss and stared into her beautiful eyes. “It’s only you, Kat. For the rest of my life, it’ll only ever be you.”
She gave a watery laugh as the elevator opened. Joe and Andrew ran out, followed by an elevator full of people. Joe’s face fell when he saw us together.
“Shit, did we miss it?”
“What happened?” I heard Derek shout, right before I saw his face on Joe’s phone. “Did he kiss her?”
We both laughed and then I pulled her into my arms, kissing her slower this time, taking my time to really feel her against me again. I had her back, and there was no way I would ever let her go again.
Katherine
I headed for the truck with my arm wrapped around Eric. He had his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in close to him, pressing kisses to my temple every few seconds, like he couldn’t believe that I was here. There were police cars parked all over the hospital parking lot, directing traffic. I couldn’t believe that the whole town had followed him here, but it somehow fit.
“See?” Will said from behind us. “I told you this would work!”
Eric took the keys out of my hands and tossed them over his shoulder. “Make sure Kat’s truck gets to the house.”
“No problem.”
He took off, but Andrew and Joe were still with us. “So, what does this mean? Are you back together?” Joe asked.
“You’re coming home with us, right?” Andrew asked excitedly. “I really need my laundry done.”
“It’s just not the same without you,” Joe nodded.
“Guys!” Eric shouted, cutting them off. “Yes, I got her back, but I think we’d like to be alone tonight.”
Joe’s face fell. “No reunion?”
“No pizza?” Andrew asked.
“Guys, we can do that over the weekend. Just give us tonight.”
“After we rushed all the way over here? We missed all of it!” Joe said, kicking at the pavement.
“It’s on Facebook. Someone recorded it,” Andrew said, scrolling through his phone.
“See? You can watch the replay,” I said with a grin. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had been down all day, wishing that I could find the courage to get Eric back, but it turned out that Eric came to my rescue. He needed me just as much as I needed him.
“You guys find someplace else to stay tonight,” Eric said, opening the truck door for me. “I want Kat to myself tonight.”
“That’s not fair,” Andrew whined. “We just got her back!”
“I got her back.”
“That’s not fair. She’s our sister too. We should get to spend some time with her after you were an asshole and didn’t fight for her.”
“Guys,” I interrupted. “How about you guys spend the whole day with us tomorrow. I have the day off. We can play poker or something.”
Andrew shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at the pavement. “Yeah, I guess.”
“I’ll even do your laundry for you,” I added for good measure.
“Kat-“ Eric started, but I shook my head. If this would get them to back off, I’d gladly do their laundry.
“Yeah, okay,” Andrew mumbled. I was just about to get into the truck when he suddenly wrapped me in a hug and pulled me in tight. “Glad to have you back, sis.”
My heart melted and I patted him on the shoulder. “Me too.”
I got into the truck, not missing the way Eric glared at his brothers in warning. When he got in, he just sat there and stared at me for a moment.
“What?”
He shook his head slowly. “I just…” I watched as he swallowed hard and his eyes misted slightly. “I’ve missed you, Kat.”
I interlocked my fingers with his. “I missed you too.”
We stayed like that the whole ride home, and when we pulled up to his house, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was home. This was where I was meant to be. He opened my door for me and held my hand as we walked up the steps.
I glanced over at him, his smile warming my heart. He slid his hand through my hair to the back of my head and pulled me in close. “Welcome home, Kat.”
His mouth slid over mine, his tongue slipping inside. My body ignited from his touch. It had been too long since I felt him against me. I hadn’t realized in my grief how much I needed Eric to ground me. We just drifted apart, and the further I sank into my depression, the less I connected with him in any real way, until there was nothing left between us. But after I moved out and my head cleared, I realized that what my heart needed and what my head was telling me were two different things.
“Kat, I need you,” he murmured against my lips. “Is it too soon?”
I shook my head. “No, I need you too.”
He pressed his lips to me one last time before taking my hand and leading me upstairs. When we passed Angel’s room, I stumbled slightly. With my heart in my throat, I opened the door and looked around the room. I felt Eric slip his arms around me from behind and rest his head on my shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s funny,” I sighed. “I thought it would hurt more to look in here. Do you think it’s bad that I don’t think about her all the time?”
“I think it would be bad if you did, honestly.” He turned me to face him. “Kat, when we lost Angel, I felt like we both lost everything. You were drowning and I didn’t know how to save you. I wish that I had handled things differently. Maybe we never would have spent months apart.”
“No, I think I needed the space. As much as I needed you, I needed to learn how to move forward on my own. Everyone was holding me up. It took moving away to realize that I couldn’t just sit there all day. I had moved away from everyone that was taking care of me, and then it just hit me. I had to survive. I had to go back to work and push on. If I hadn’t done that, I might have continued to sit around here staring at the wall and blaming you for not grieving the same way I did.”
“But I have you back now?”
I smiled up at him. “Yeah, you have me back. I’m not saying that I’m all fixed, but I’m re
ady to move on with you.”
I stepped toward the bedroom, holding his hand in mine. He watched as I slowly took a step back, pulling him with me. When I had him in the bedroom, I slowly pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it on the ground. He stared at me, his eyes blazing a fiery trail over my body as I slowly peeled off my clothes. By the time I was standing in front of him naked, he was clenching his fists hard to control himself. But I didn’t want his control. I wanted all of him, the way it used to be.
I stepped forward and unzipped his pants. I could feel his hard erection pressing against the zipper. I wondered for a moment if he had been with anyone else, but I quickly pushed that thought aside. That wasn’t like Eric. Deep down, I knew he would never bring anyone else home, not unless he had a connection with her. And I knew he didn’t, because he was still stupidly in love with me.
I felt my flush of arousal as I pulled him out and swiped my thumb over the tip of his cock. He hissed when I played with his piercing. Slowly, I jerked him, working his cock in my hand until he was panting.
“Kat, it’s been too long. You’ve gotta stop.”
I smiled up at him and dropped to my knees. He shook his head, like he couldn’t believe I was really doing this. I flicked my tongue and grinned when he groaned. Pumping him in my hand had never felt so good, but when I slid my mouth around his cock and felt his hips jerk, I felt higher than the first time I did this after his piercing.
“Kat,” he moaned. I swirled my tongue around the head and took him deep in my throat, moaning and driving him insane. He didn’t last more than a few thrusts before he was filling my mouth with his cum.
He pulled me up against him and kissed me hard. He scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the bed, kissing me with everything he had. When he laid me down, his hands immediately slid over my body, brushing lightly over my breasts and down to the apex of my thighs. He never touched me where I needed him, just drove me crazy with the touch of his fingers gliding across my skin. His lips skimmed over my body until he was there, licking and sucking, giving me everything I needed. I gasped as he pushed two fingers inside me, pumping me until I came hard.
He quickly stripped out of his clothes and then he was over me, pushing inside me. I gasped and gripped his arms, stopping him from moving.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not…We should…” I swallowed hard, trying to find a way to tell him what I needed. But he must have understood without me saying it.
“I won’t come inside you,” he promised.
I nodded slightly. “I’m just not ready to risk that.”
“I know.”
He kissed me lightly, and then he was moving inside me. I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him closer to me. He stared at me the whole time, kissing me and telling me he loved me. It was like the last few months were erased and all that existed was us.
“I’m gonna come,” he said, thumbing my clit as he pulled out. I grabbed his cock in my hands and jerked him until he poured his release on my stomach. When I saw his cum splash against my skin, it ignited something inside me and I came hard, riding out my own orgasm against his fingers.
He bent over and kissed me, wiping my sweaty hair away from my face. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I smiled back. “I missed you.”
“Me too.” He kissed me and then hopped off the bed, picking up his shirt to wipe the cum off my belly. When he laid back beside me, I saw a flash of ink on his skin and pressed my hand to his chest.
“What?”
I looked closer and saw a set of angel wings tattooed over his left pec. “When did you do this?”
“A few weeks ago.”
My eyes widened in shock. “You willingly went to get a tattoo?”
“Well, Joe did it for me. He’s actually really good.”
I ran my hand over the wings and smiled. “He’s very good.”
“I was thinking of having him give me another tattoo.”
“Oh yeah?” I grinned.
“Yeah, a pussy cat.”
I bit my lip as I laughed. “Really. And where would this pussy cat be located?”
He raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Where any good pussy cat belongs.”
I burst out laughing, shaking my head slightly. “Do you really think your brother is the person that should give you that?”
His eyes roamed off as he thought about it and then he shook his head. “You’re right. I’ll have Decker do it.”
“That’s fine, but I get a tattoo as well, then.”
“Yeah? What’s yours going to be?”
“I’ll let you choose, but I know one thing’s for sure. Where I’m getting that tattoo, your brother won’t be allowed to see.”
He groaned and buried his face in the crook of my neck, kissing me and sliding back inside me again.
Eric
“Eric, where are we going?”
I gripped her hand tighter and took a deep breath. I was playing it cool, or I thought I was. Deep down, I was terrified. I had never done something like this before, but I knew this was what we needed. I just hoped that she saw it the same way. Shit, I was gonna piss my pants.
“You’ll see,” I said confidently. “We’re almost there.”
We had been driving for hours to get here. Andrew, Will, Robert, and Joe all came in the other truck to watch. They wanted to get it on camera. If I died, at least my idiocy would be recorded.
A half hour later, we pulled into the adventure park where I had booked our appointment. Kat looked at me strangely, but didn’t say anything as we got out. I gripped her hand in mine, squeezing a little too tightly. She winced and I smiled down at her.
“Sorry. Just a little nervous.”
“Eric, what are we doing?”
“We’re taking a leap of faith and starting over.”
She looked at me strangely. “A leap of faith?”
I pulled her into the office and stepped up to the counter. “Hi, I’m Eric Cortell. I made a reservation to go bungee jumping.”
“Let me take a look…Right, here you are. Jimmy will be out in just a minute to take you out to the site.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. Kat stood in front of me, staring at me intently.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Eric, this is…”
“Crazy? Insane? The most idiotic thing I’ve ever done?”
“Well-“
“I mean, this place has a good record. They haven’t lost anyone yet,” I laughed nervously.
“Eric and Kat?” a man said, stepping out from the back.
“That’s me-us. We. I mean, we’re here,” I rambled.
He smiled at us. “First time?”
“Yes, well, not her. But, yes. You caught me. Bungee jumping virgin.”
“Well, it looks like you picked a pretty lady to pop your cherry with. Let’s head on over and get you set up.”
I nodded, but I felt like I was going to pass out. The guy took us out to the jump spot, or whatever the hell it was. Hell, it looked like a bridge of death or something. My hands were shaky and my knees were weak, but I knew I had to do this. It was like a reset for us, a chance for us to take a leap of faith and move forward. I listened intently as the guy walked through the whole process with us, all the while squeezing Kat’s hand like my life depended on it.
Before I knew it, it was time and we were about to plummet to our deaths. But if I went, I was going out with Kat. I just hoped I didn’t piss myself on the way down. Kat and I stood together, staring into each other’s eyes as we stood on the edge of the bridge. It was now or never.
“Kat, I just want you to know that I love you more than anything in this world. And if we survive this, you know, don’t smack the ground and end up flat like a pancake, I don’t want to waste another minute of my life. I want to do crazy things with you and…get a tattoo on my ass or whatever.” She laughed as I stood there mumbling and making a fool of myself. I slid my hand into my pocket and pulled out the ring that
I had picked out with my brothers. Of course, they all had to have a say in what ring I got. I still wasn’t sure why.
I held it out in front of me and watched with bated breath as her eyes widened in shock. “Kat, take this leap with me. Tell me you’re mine for the rest of our lives, because I know that you’re all I want for the rest of mine.”
She smiled and laughed, nodding her head. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
I slid the ring on her finger and kissed her hard, stumbling over my own feet to get to her. She started to slip and I reached for her. Then we were both flying off the bridge, holding onto one another as we leapt into our future.
Also by Giulia Lagomarsino
Thank you for reading Kat and Eric’s story. You can read more about The Cortell Brothers in the next book, coming in December, Collateral Damage.
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Are you a new reader? See where it all began with the For The Love Of A Good Woman series. And continue with some of your favorite characters in the Reed Security series! Or follow the individual links down below!
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