The Soul That Redeems Me (The Forever Mine Series Book 3)

by H. J. Marshall

  Shit!

  “Looks like I’m cooking dinner tonight, sweetheart,” I laughed, as I turned around to show her the trap.

  She threw her head back and laughed, the joy in her voice filling my heart with more love than I thought it could hold. She looked relaxed and carefree as she held her stomach and doubled over, happy tears streaking down her face, her hair a mess from the ocean water.

  She never looked more beautiful.

  Catching her breath, she chuckled, “I told you! They go crazy for those little things,” giggling again.

  “Who taught you how to catch crab?” I handed her my empty trap and carried her full one with both hands. Granted, the traps were small, but my girl caught us a feast.

  “Cody did, right after I started working at Andrew’s gym. I wanted crab for dinner and he refused to let me buy them. He explained the waters in Louisiana were full of edible food and he insisted that he could teach me. In reality, he explained crabs like cocktail weenies and Vienna sausages. Pretty easy to remember.” She explained, gaining a barking laugh from me and a renewed round of giggles from her.

  We got back to the lot and we each decided to rinse off in the outdoor shower that was still standing after the storm, a single pole coming out of the ground, no shower head attached. Josh explained they had installed a shower attached to a well a few years ago to rinse off the sand before going into the house. Luckily, it survived so we used the generator to power the pump long enough for us to blast the sand off in the freezing cold water.

  We both dropped our suits when we rinsed off, and I found Josh standing with a blanket to wrap me in after I emerged from the cold water, his eyes never wandering too far from my face. Sitting in front of the fire we had kept smoldering, Josh tossed a few big branches on it and got the flames growing again while he cleaned himself and joined me at the fire, a blanket around his chest, wrapping his body in needed warmth.

  Jake was going to need a bath, but for now, he was content to lay on top of my feet and snore through another nap. Leaning down, I scratched behind his ear before settling back into my chair to watch the fire.

  “He really loves you.” Josh remarked with a smile on his face, his eyes twinkling in the waning afternoon sunlight.

  “The feeling is mutual. I always wanted a dog and Jake is about perfect. Except when he drools on my pillow during his nap. That is something I could do without.” I joked, feeling lighter, happier.

  “If you want to get dressed, I’ll get dinner started. I need to turn the generator on and we can charge our phones and tablets while it is running.” He told me as he got up, the blanket around his waist slipping, exposing his tight ass before he secured it. Leaning over, he kissed me gently and went into the trailer to put some clothes on.

  I walked in behind him, leaning against the doorway as he dropped his blanket and pulled on a pair of black sweatpants and a white sleeveless a-frame t-shirt. The sun had been good to his skin today, the white standing out against his darkened skin, making his tattoos seemed etched deeper into his skin.

  He turned to see me observing him and he smirked as he caught my eyes tracing the tattoos that covered his entire back. “Like what you see?” he husked.

  Feeling bolder than I ever had, freer and uninhibited, I dropped the blanket I had wrapped around me and stood before him completely naked. His eyes darkened as I observed his hand tighten into a fist before relaxing, his need to gain self-control evident.

  I took one step toward him and he raised his hand to stop me. I looked at him, confused before I bent down and retrieved the blanket and hurried to cover myself. Turning to leave the confined space, I felt him grab my upper arm and stop my escape.

  He brought my body flush against his, his strong arms pulling me against his hard body, his lips finding my neck as he pushed his stiff length against my ass and whispered into my ear, “I want you so badly, I can taste it. Do not think me stopping you was a lack of want. It was the exact opposite in fact. I want you, I need you, but I can’t control myself when you stand before me, glowing like a goddess.” His hand reached up and massaging my heaving breasts, “I don’t want to rush, and if you had touched me, I wouldn’t have been able to not make you come.” His lips pressed under my ear as he nibbled on my neck and tweaked my straining nipples.

  I spun in his arms and kissed him, smashing my body against his. Pulling back to look up into his eyes, “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” He responded as he kissed my forehead, spun me to face the door, and swatted my ass, “Now, get something on before I say fuck dinner and I eat you instead.”

  I stumbled out into the quiet night, the stars starting to appear in the inky darkness that was overtaking the day. Making my way into the tent, I dropped the blanket and pulled on my cotton yoga pants and a cami-top, choosing to grab a zip-up hoodie instead of a long sleeve shirt.

  He wanted to eat me?

  The thought kept repeating over and over in my head, and it was something I wanted to try, desperately. As soon as the words left his mouth, I felt the moisture begin to build between my legs, my inner thighs drenched from need. I had heard girls talk about how good it felt, but I was always afraid of any sexual act so I filed it away as something that would never happen.

  Having Josh be so patient with me had allowed me to reclaim my sexuality and desire at a pace I was comfortable with. My libido was playing catch up for the years I pushed it down, suppressing any desire out of trepidation. Being able to explore and know I had the power to make it cease at any moment had given me the confidence that I would be able to share that part of myself with him in the future.

  Making my way back to the fire, I watched as Josh cleaned the crab, then seasoned them and tossed them on the grill over the open fire. I had never tried them cooked that way and was eager to experience a new recipe. Twenty minutes later, we are digging into grilled blue crab, fresh asparagus, and a tossed salad.

  We joked and laughed about my mishaps with cooking and how Josh had taught himself to cook growing up. His parents enrolled him in a cooking class after they adopted him, and he had continued going until he left for college. He wasn’t classically trained, but he was damn good at what he did know.

  After we finished eating, we cleaned up and turned the generator off, plunging us into silence as the sound of the waves crashing on shore floating into the campsite. Josh grabbed a hand crank radio and worked on charging it while Jake and I sat in front of the fire, the warmth seeping in where the cool ocean breeze had settled.

  Josh turned the music on low, classical instruments bringing a serene and peaceful feeling into the campsite. I had mentioned to Josh the day we spent exploring New Orleans, all those months ago when we first met, that classical music was a guilty pleasure of mine. The sounds of the baroque music, deep and resonating, staying strong and true through the ages, gave my mind a freedom I couldn’t experience anywhere else.

  As he sat down next to me, he took my hand into his and brought it up to his lips, placing a small kiss on my knuckles before intertwining our fingers and exhaling a sigh of contentment. I looked over at him and found myself falling more in love with him with every passing minute.

  He knew I was stressed over the past week, and bringing me here, to his peaceful place, showed me another side of Josh I had yet to experience. The completely free and tranquil Josh. We had spent the day in each other’s arms, laughing and enjoying the beauty around us, our troubles washed away with the retreating waves.

  Josh stood from his chair and tugged my hand, urging me to join him. Standing up, I found myself lost in his eyes as he wound his strong, tattooed arms around my waist and pulled my body flush against his. I put my hands around his neck and placed my head on his chest as we swayed to the soft sounds of the violins’ and cellos’ delicate notes floating around us.

  The steady beat of his heart lulled me further into his embrace as, periodically, he would kiss me on top of my head and squeeze me a little tighter. I pulled away fr
om his chest and pushed up onto my tiptoes so I could kiss him.

  I needed to kiss him.

  His soft lips pressed against mine as we slowly rocked back and forth to the old-world music playing in the background. The radio suddenly went silent and we never stopped our embrace. Josh used his tongue to lick my lips, provoking a groan from me that had him slipping his tongue into my mouth, our kiss heating up from sweet to spicy.

  He pulled back, our breath choppy, as he slipped his hands under my ass and began to lift me up against him. I wrapped my legs around him as he walked over to the tent and placed me on the soft pallet of blankets he had set up for us. He shushed Jake and zipped the tent as he kneeled down next to me and brought his lips back against mine.

  Reaching up, I thread my hand into his short hair, urging him on. He dropped his lips to my neck, whispering in my ear, “What do you want, Emily. Tell me and it’s yours.” As he continued his leisurely assault on my sensitive neck and shoulder.

  “I want…” I moaned, desire coursing through my veins, my need for him growing higher.

  “What, baby?” his fingers tweaking my hard nipples poking through my tiny top.

  “I want…I want you to taste me.” I whispered into the tent.

  He pulled back with hooded eyes as he turned me to face him, “Say it again.” He urged, licking his lips.

  With a growing confidence, I replied, “I want you to taste me.” A warmth overtaking my face.

  He swallowed thickly and sought my eyes again for confirmation. I wanted him to know the depth of my need for him so I said it again.

  “I want you to taste me, Josh. I want to experience that, with you.” As I leaned in and kissed him, my tongue darting out and licking his bottom lip before I pulled back and looked back into his eyes.

  “You need to stop, you say stop, and I stop. Agreed?”

  I nodded my head and he placed a hand against my chest and silently urged me to lay back. My heart rate started to increase and my palms began to sweat as he settled between my spread legs and leaned over to kiss me. His large hands explored my tits, massaging and kneading them as he pulled my cami off and placed it above my head.

  His mouth descended to my nipples, pulling and sucking one into his mouth before switching to the other to show it the same attention. He took his time working me up, playing with my sensitive breasts, rubbing his covered cock against my aching core before he slowly started kissing down my stomach.

  When he reached the waistband of my yoga pants, he slipped his fingers into it and pulled it away from my skin as his tongue kisses and licked the skin underneath. I found myself squirming and bucking under him, needing more of his mouth on me. He slowly started to remove my pants, placing soft kisses on the exposed skin as he worked on leg off, then the other.

  With each new section of skin, he worshipped more and more of me with his mouth, except for the one area still covered by my panties. As he looked into my eyes, he pulled my panties off, my wetness evident on the garment. He placed my soaked panties in his pocket and allowed his eyes to take in the full site of me exposed to him.

  I had never been fully naked in front of a man before tonight and his expression was one filled with love and lust. He brought his hand up to my throat and with one finger, he traced down my collarbone, to my engorged breasts, gently rubbing my sensitive peak before he continued his inspection of my body. He began to shift his body away from mine, as he slowly traced my hip bone and finally, the short hair above my pussy.

  His finger moved alongside my hips, never making contact with the area that was now throbbing for his touch. I looked down as he smiled at me and leaned over and kissed my quivering stomach, his tongue darting into my navel before he kissed the path his finger had just taken. I felt his breath nearing my wet pussy and I was starting to get a little nervous.

  Sensing my hesitation, he asked, “Do you still want this, Emily?” as he blew cool air over my wetness, my core contracted around nothing as my clit throbbed for attention.

  “Yes.” I moaned into the darkness as I felt the tip of his tongue lick my clit, causing an explosion of heat inside my body.

  I moaned loudly as he framed my pussy with his hands, using his thumbs to spread my lips apart, and licked slowly from back to front, flicking my clit, before starting all over again. I felt my hips starting to rock with his motions, needing more. His hands reached up and one finger began to stroke my opening, he licked and sucked my clit, making me buck against him.

  The faster he sucked and licked me, the more I needed, “More, please.” I groaned out loud, selfishly asking.

  I felt the finger stroking my opening begin to breach me and as I looked down, he had his eyes locked on me, looking for signs of distress. I reached down and stroked his hair, his eyes closing with a groan as he pumped one finger into me and sucked my clit into his warm mouth. The tingles I felt building were unlike anything I had ever experienced and I was afraid of the orgasm he was about to pull from me.

  Just as I was about to reach down to halt his actions, he curled his finger and hooked into a spot that had my back bowing off the ground. He pulled my clit between his lips and grazed his tongue rapidly against my clit, his finger rubbing a magical spot that had me seeing stars before I burst apart with the most intense orgasm of my life.

  I screamed my release into the night air, my chants of love and devotion disappearing into the night sky. I felt myself shatter into a million pieces before they realigned and I floated back to earth. Josh remained between my legs, his head resting on my thigh as he lazily pumped his finger into me and he would reach over and kiss my pussy before he put his head down and signed a content sound.

  I found myself rubbing his head as I recovered from my orgasm, a smile on my face. I looked down again and saw Josh smiling up at me, his head still within inches of my most intimate spot. This is where I should feel self-conscious or scared. Instead, I felt contentment and relief. I had allowed a man to guide me through pleasure, trusting he would stop if I needed him to and I had been rewarded for it.

  I giggled at first, finding it turned into a full laugh as he climbed up between my legs and leaned back on his heels, a questioning smile on his face. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  I sat up, naked as the day I was born, and threw my arms around his neck, peppering his face with small kisses as I kept laughing. “Nothing’s funny. I’m happy.” I explained as he began to tickle me, resulting in more laughs.

  “I’m happy that you’re happy. Let’s get you dressed and we can grab some dessert.” He responded leaning down to kiss me, the taste of my release overtaking me and revving my desire back up.

  He pulled away with a smirk as he grabbed my cami and pulled it back on. He reached over and placed my feet into my yoga pants, leaving my ruined panties in his pocket before helping me stand up. I looked down at his straining erection and glanced at him, a silent question asked between us.

  Shaking his head, he took me by my hand and he unzipped the tent to a very anxious Jake who, it appeared, had not left the front of the tent area since Josh locked him out. After a reassuring pat on the head, Jake trotted over to the fire and laid down, warming his belly.

  Josh and I made s’mores over the fire and fed each other the gooey, chocolaty treat as Jake snored next to us. We cranked the radio and found a more modern station as we listened to music and talked about the upcoming weeks well into the night.

  We were leaving for Chicago in a few days and I was getting more and more excited about a life list item I had wanted to add but didn’t have the book to list it. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I tell him we are going to be Tilted.

  We went to bed a short while later and Josh tucked me into his chest, not allowing me to show him the kind of affection he had shown me tonight, “Tonight was about you. There will be plenty of time for me later.” He kissed me, and we fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  The brief getaway had done wonders for mine and Emily’s
mood. Laughing and holding hands, we rolled down the highway surrounded in a bubble of happiness. I had never seen Emily so carefree and relaxed. Since I met her, she had lived with a façade of happiness, and this weekend I got to see the beautiful glee and joyous soul that she had hidden away for so long.

  We got back to the apartment to find my parents lounging on the couch, waiting for us to return from our beach adventure so they could take Jake home with them for the week. We ordered take-out for dinner and sat around talking about plans for the Mexico Beach house construction, set to begin in a few months.

  Emily became so animated when my parents asked for her opinion on how our room should look that I couldn’t contain my laughter at her flailing hands and enthusiastic gestures. She and Mom had the entire house and garden planned by the time we were finished eating, Dad and I were completely happy to listen to our women’s plans for our future summers.

  Before we knew it, Mom and Dad loaded Jake’s toys to head back to their house, located northeast of the city about an hour away. Emily sat down on the floor and Jake walked up to her, allowing her to give him a hug, loving the special attention she gave him. I heard her whisper to him to be good for his grandparents and how much she was going to miss him. She promised him we would be back soon, and she couldn’t wait to pick him up.

  I looked over at Mom and Dad and they were in an embrace watching the love of my life cuddle with my dog like she was saying goodbye to our child. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she told him she would bring him something back from our trip and how much she wished he could go with us. Okay, she was telling our fur-baby good-bye and it dawned on me how much I wanted to have children with her in the future, when we were both ready for that step.

  Emily stood up and I pulled her into a hug and kissed her on top of her head as Mom and Dad left with Jake, and we were alone in the apartment. She turned in my arms and pushed up to place a sweet kiss on my lips before she settled back flatfooted and hugged my midsection, her head barely up to my chest.