Never Tied Down (The Never Duet Book 2)

by Anie Michaels

  “Did you guys know about this?” I asked his family, my eyes darting between all three of them.

  “No, sweetheart. He didn’t mention anything to us,” Mara said, looking to Halah and Chad. Both of them shook their heads. “What does the card say?”

  “He wants me to meet him somewhere. Back in LA.” All of their faces were blank, just as confused as I was.

  “Well,” Kevin said, “I guess you better get going.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I said, then turned to go pack my stuff, shaking my head the entire way to Riot’s bedroom. I reread the card four times before I finally gave in and packed up all my stuff. When I went back into the kitchen it was with my bag packed and a worried look on my face. “I’m sorry to just up and leave. I’m so confused.”

  Mara came and gave me a big, motherly hug. “Don’t worry. Riot has a plan. I’m sure it’s good news.”

  “I feel bad leaving.” I looked at Kevin. “I hate leaving you here. You came all this way…” My words drifted off as I thought about everything he’d done to be with me on Christmas. Then he was next to me, his arm around my shoulder in a side-hug.

  “It’s okay, baby doll. I got to see you open presents on Christmas morning. That’s all I really wanted. Plus, we’ve got years of Christmases ahead of us. Go. Be with him.”

  At his words I turned fully into his arms and wrapped mine around his waist. My dad and I had a long road of building a stable relationship ahead of us, but his words were genuine and true. I never thought I’d ever spend Christmas morning with my father, so he’d given me a real gift the day he reached out to me.

  “Okay,” I said, pulling away. Everyone walked me out to my car and Jordy helped Chad figure out how to secure my giant vase of flowers so it wouldn’t topple over as I drove. I said good-bye to everyone and that alone took ten minutes. I pulled out, made it to the freeway, and let out a big sigh. I had butterflies fluttering in my stomach, my hands were shaky, and my mind was spinning in a million different directions. Riot was up to something, that was clear.

  I let out another sigh, took in a deep breath, and tried to calm myself down. I had a long drive ahead of me. I turned on some music to try and distract myself and that kind of worked, but being alone in my car only gave me time to think about Riot and everything he’d done for me since I’d met him. I focused on those thoughts as I drove to LA.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  It’s Our View

  Kalli

  Halfway into my solo road trip, I put the address on the card into my GPS to make sure I didn’t get lost. LA was still pretty new to me and I definitely didn’t know my way around well enough to get there without assistance.

  I was surprised when the GPS took me off the highway and brought me onto some roads leading up the back hills of Hollywood. The higher I climbed, and the farther from the city I got, the more beautiful my surroundings became.

  The GPS alerted me that my destination was 1,000 feet ahead on the right and my nerves shot through the roof. I slowly drove along the road and finally came to a house nestled on the edge of the tall hill. The sky was getting dimmer as the sun dropped lower in the sky, and I started to appreciate the view.

  “What in the world…” I said to no one, but pulled into the empty driveway. The house was huge. Not as huge as all the other houses on that street, but it was still bigger than any house I’d been in. It was white with tall windows and two large columns in the front. I put my Rover in park, shut it off, then tentatively opened my door, expecting Riot to appear. He didn’t.

  I walked up to the door and I noticed a piece of paper taped to it.

  The door is unlocked. Come inside. Follow the trail and meet me at the end.

  My nerves were ready to stop my heart. My fingers tingled as I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open slowly.

  The beautiful house was empty and made me gasp. It was magnificent and gorgeous. But besides how beautiful the house was, what had been done to it was even more breathtaking. There were red roses everywhere. Vases and vases of red roses were strategically placed throughout the foyer and great room past it. Along the floor was a path made from rose petals, lit on either side with candles.

  My hand came to cover my mouth and the tears welled, blurring the astonishing vision. Then I heard it. The soft sounds of a piano coming from everywhere. I heard the first word of the song and a sob escaped me. This couldn’t be happening. No one could pull this off. No one except Riot.

  The song that was being softly piped through the whole house was familiar and I recognized it as the one and only song we’d ever danced to. The song from Tilly’s bar, the first night I’d let myself open up to him.

  Holding back more sobs I followed the path and found myself at French doors leading to a balcony. I saw Riot through the glass, but his back was to me. He was looking at the view.

  When I opened the door he must have heard me because he turned around with a brilliant smile on his face. His smile didn’t falter when he saw my tears; I’m sure he expected them. He did, however, hold his arms open to me and I wasted no time going to him.

  “You’ll be okay, baby.”

  And he was right. I would be okay. I hadn’t been for a while, but I’d pulled myself together over the last few months and tried to get to a normal place. I did most of the hard work, but I was helped by Riot so much. My success was his victory too. His support was invaluable to me. I should be planning surprises for him, leading him on romantic treasure hunts, not the other way around.

  “I love you,” I said into his chest, trying to keep the tears under control.

  “I know,” he said as I pulled back to look at his face, his brilliant smile just sparkling all the more. “I love you too.”

  I looked past him to see the most gorgeous sunset. “Wow,” I said on a breath. He turned his head to see what I was looking at, then turned himself and brought his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his side. I gladly went, wrapping my arms around his waist, resting my head against his chest.

  We stood there for a while and watch the sun lower slowly, beautiful oranges and reds painting the sky.

  When the sun was barely above the horizon, I looked back up at him. “I can’t believe you planned all this so we could watch a sunset together.”

  He laughed. “You don’t like it?”

  “No, I love it, I’m just surprised, I guess. All this for a view and a sunset.”

  “It’s not just any view. It’s our view.” I heard his words and they didn’t strike me as unusual for a few moments, but as my mind processed them, I suddenly understood.

  “Riot, what did you do?” My voice was wavering again, hands shaking.

  “I bought you your very own viewpoint,” he said, his lips pressed against my temple.

  I knew Riot Bentley was the perfect person for me, knew it to the depths of my being, but I learned right then, standing on the balcony of a house I’d never been to before, watching a sun descend into the ocean, that he might have been the most thoughtful and astounding person alive.

  “You bought a house?” I asked, my lips quivering with emotion.

  “I bought this house. For you. For us.”

  “You bought this house?”

  He laughed, then turned slightly, bringing his hand up to cup my cheek, which I promptly leaned into. “Yeah, I bought this house. Do you like it? If not, I can sell it again and we can pick one out together, but I couldn’t pass up this view,” he said, looking directly into my eyes, making them water and sting with happiness.

  “I love this house.” Tears streamed down both cheeks. He wiped them away and then kissed me.

  “You haven’t seen it all.”

  “I don’t care. You bought me a viewpoint.”

  “Yeah.” His thumb brushed down my cheek, his eyes blazing into mine. “I have to admit though, my intentions aren’t 100 percent selfless. I figured,” he said, looking at the land surrounding the house, which was clear as far as the eye could see, “if I wa
s ever going to get to go all the way with you at a viewpoint, it would probably have to be privately owned.”

  My heart melted at his sweeping romantic gesture, and also pounded at his naughty words. He had always tried to get lucky at viewpoints.

  “You think because you bought me a viewpoint you automatically get lucky?” I said, my voice teasing and hopefully sexy.

  “Yeah,” he replied, moving his hand to the back of my neck. “Was I wrong?”

  “Not even a little bit.”

  His eyes blazed at my words and his mouth parted slightly. I could feel the thumping of his heart underneath my hand at his chest. Then his mouth was on mine. He took everything I had to give, and I gave it to him happily.

  Epilogue

  Riot

  I heard water lapping against the stilts our private cabana was raised up on. The rhythmic sound of the water crashing against the wood had put me to sleep not long ago, but now it was a soothing way to spend a few minutes with my arms still wrapped around Kalli as she slept.

  We’d finally made it to Bora Bora, and it had only taken more than a year to get there. Kalli had purchased the tickets with a spring vacation in mind, but we bought the house and got caught up in life and never made it to the tropical paradise. Not to mention that just a few days after our first Christmas together we found out both our television shows were picked up for another season. And then again a few months ago. It was unlikely and rare, but we’d both managed to be hired on to two of the most successful shows in network television in the past two years.

  The timing of our careers taking off couldn’t have been better; it allowed us to be together without our jobs forcing us apart. I woke up with Kalli every morning, starting our days looking out of the oversized picture window in our master bedroom that gave us a breathtaking view.

  Not unlike my view right now.

  Blue water, islands, and even bluer skies were all I could see through the cabana doors. That and the newly tanned skin of Kalli’s entirely naked body lying next to me in a California king-sized bed. Unless we left the cabana to head to the mainland for a meal or activity, I’d made it clear no clothes were allowed. If we were in the cabana or on the private deck, I preferred her naked. She didn’t seem to mind, especially since the rule applied to me as well. This made for a beautiful toasty-brown color of a tan, with no tan lines from a bathing suit. She was sun kissed everywhere.

  I raised my head to look at her face, which was peaceful and soft. Her blonde hair, which she’d let grow even longer, was everywhere—just the way I liked it. I placed my hand on her shoulder, my skin lightly grazing hers, and ran it softly all the way down her rib cage, past her waist, and over the swell of her hips. She stirred slightly, not fully waking, but jostling a bit. My hand continued to roam over her hip, across her thigh, until my fingers were barely sweeping over her sex.

  I applied pressure there, wanting her to wake with my hand between her legs, with my fingers sinking into her. Her body cooperated, rolling toward me as her eyes fluttered open. I watched as she blinked, trying to gain her bearings as her legs fell open, granting me the access I was looking for. I spread her lips with my fingers and slowly pushed one in. Her eyes went from hazy and confused to immediately sharp with arousal.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” I whispered as my finger slowly moved in and out of her. Before she could answer I slipped in a second and watched as her mouth parted with a sigh.

  “It’s not morning anymore,” she responded, her words spaced between sharp and rapid breaths. “It was morning a few hours ago when you woke me up and took me outside to make love while the sun came up.”

  I had done that. It was my best idea of the day, watching Kalli come as the orangey-pink light of the sunrise washed over her. But my fingers now easily moving inside Kalli’s warm and wet sex would run a close second.

  She gasped as I moved my fingers to her clit, drawing circles around it, then lightly smoothing over it in a way I knew would drive her mad.

  I moved over her fully, pressing a kiss to her lips, then slowly moving downward as my hand still worked her over. I stopped and dipped my tongue in her navel, leaving kisses all around it, then continued lower, moving my whole body to rest between her legs.

  By the time I made myself comfortable she was writhing, her body begging me for contact while her mouth was too busy gasping to ask for what she needed.

  “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll take care of you.” I lowered my mouth to her and my body, which was already desperately turned on, reacted just to her taste and scent. I loved everything about Kalli, but I was addicted to her pussy. I dove in deep, fucking her with my tongue, loving the way her hips jolted up. I wrapped my arms around her thighs, holding her legs open to give me unobstructed access to her wetness. My tongue moved up to circle her clit and that’s when she started climbing into the stratosphere.

  “Oh, God, Riot,” she crooned loudly, aware that there was no one around to hear us. I’d fully enjoyed her body since we’d been there and the way she was bare to me, holding nothing back. There was nothing that turned me on more than listening to her, hearing her, when I was inside her. Knowing I was making her feel that good, so good that she couldn’t contain herself, could bring me from simply aroused to painfully hard in seconds.

  “That’s my girl,” I said, before wrapping my lips around her clit and sucking. Her hips tried to buck up off the bed, but my hands held her down, kept her right against my mouth. I loved watching her get off, loved watching the way her nipples hardened, the way her breasts heaved up and down, faster and faster, with her breaths. I loved watching her try to figure out what to do with her hands; they always started at her head, gripping her hair, but then as the orgasm built they moved lower to her breasts, palming them and pinching her nipples as if that would bring her some relief.

  This time, however, as I gazed up at her, she looked down at me. That was rare. Not the eye contact, no, I looked her in the eyes all the time when my cock was inside her and I was face to face with her. Rarely did she ever watch me as I went down on her. It was as if she were afraid watching me work her over with my mouth would make it too intense.

  We watched each other, but I kept my mouth on her, loving the way her hips started to move up and down, the way she was trying to fuck my face. I let go of her clit and swiped my tongue over her, listening to her cry out, then pressed my tongue against her, letting her use me to find her release.

  “Oh, Riot,” she said, her voice shaky and weak. “I’m gonna come…” Her thighs clamped around my head with her words and I watched as the sensations rolled over her body. Her eyes closed, her head lolled back, her hands gripped her breasts, and I felt her pussy clench. It was gorgeous. One of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen; my girl coming apart for me.

  After her legs relaxed I wasted no time sliding up her body and plunging into her with one long stroke.

  “It’s too much,” she whispered, her eyes still closed, body still trembling from her orgasm.

  “It’s just right,” I said, pressed into her as far as I could go, as far as her clenching walls would let me.

  “No,” she said, opening her eyes and looking at me, her hands coming to frame my face. “It’s too much, the way I feel about you, the way you make me feel, it’s too intense.” I answered her by pulling out but diving right back in, watching as her eyes rolled back in pleasure at my movement, but then opened again an instant later. She pulled my face down to hers and our lips met in a frantic and deep kiss. Her arms wrapped around my neck, her legs circling my waist, and I used a hand to lift her hips just a little, giving me the deepest angle I could get as I slid in and out of her.

  I lost myself in her then, my tongue taking wide sweeps through her mouth, one hand gripping her beautiful golden hair, the other hand loving the way the flesh of her ass gave way to my strong fingers. I was being a little rough with her, as I knew she liked it, and I would never deny that the idea of my fingerprints on her ass later in th
e day would do nothing but make me hard again.

  “I’m gonna need you to come again, Kal. I want you to come while I’m inside you.” She didn’t respond other than to moan. So I added, “I want to feel you coming, baby. Rub your clit.” I backed away from her, pressing her knees wide, giving me a fucking amazing and unobstructed view as she reached down with tentative fingers and started gently stroking her clit. “Fuck, yes,” I growled as I watched.

  As she started rubbing faster, I started thrusting harder, and soon we were both climbing to the top of the same peak. She came with one hand working her clit as the other gripped my shoulder, her pussy clenching and convulsing around me. That sent me flying, soaring, and I was spilling into her, swearing as I came, sweat dripping off my forehead and landing right between her breasts.

  “Jesus,” I groaned as her body coaxed every drop from me. When we both started floating back to reality, she reached up and brought my mouth down to hers again, but that kiss was much slower and smoother.

  I rolled so we were both on our sides, capturing her face in my hands, loving the way her arms wrapped up my back, holding us together.

  Once we’d both calmed, our bodies lax and sated, she pulled away and gave me her sleepy smile.

  “What’s the point of paying to go somewhere fantastic for vacation if all you’re going to do is have sex all day and nap in between?” she asked with a smile. “We could have done this at home.”

  “Ah,” I said, pushing her hair behind her ear, “you’re no fun. I like making love to you while I can hear the ocean. And I love what the tropical sun has done to your skin.” I punctuated my point be pressing my lips to her shoulder. “Plus, at home, there’s no room service.”

  “Well, you have a point there.”

  “Are you hungry?” My hand slipped down her back, bringing her body even closer to mine.

  “Getting there, but I think we should leave the room. The people who work here are going to start wondering if we’re alive or not. We need to make a public appearance so they don’t come knocking on our door.”