Freedom_A Captivating and consuming contemporary romance

by J Grayland

  “Please, Nate now” she whimpers.

  “Tell me, what you want me to do to you?” I growl and her hips grind back into me and she turns her head slightly to look at me and breathes. “I want you to fuck me…. Hard” and with those words, I was done. I scooped up her hair in one hand wrapping it’s blonde silkiness around my fist and gently pull it until her head tilts back. At the same time, I enter her with one quick, deep thrust that makes her jolt against the kitchen island with a loud moan.

  Steadying myself and taking a deep breath just for a moment while I feel her tight inner muscles constrict and adjust, I start to move, slow, deep and hard to start with and it doesn’t take long for my rhythm to change into fast, deep and hard. The louder her moans and breathing get, the harder I fuck into her body to the beat of the music and damn, she’s meeting my every thrust. Leaning down I bite into the skin of her neck again, not too hard but just enough to feel her tighten around me. Her breathing now turning into a mixture of pants and moans .“ Do you need to come baby ?” I growl into her ear.

  “Yes,” she answers, between breaths.

  “Then come for me, baby.” With those few words, I feel her clamp down onto my shaft and let out a compilation of expletives and moans as her muscles spasm and squeeze around me. The sound of her orgasm and her still writhing against me sends me into a spine-tingling frenzy, and I find my own climax soaring and with one last thrust, I bury myself to the hilt and lose myself inside of her, with my own loud moan and a completely drained, “Sweet, Fucking, Jesus”.

  We stayed exactly where we were for some time, with me leaning against her back and bracing my hands on the kitchen island from behind her to take most of the weight from my spent body, until our panting breaths and heaving bodies calm and become sated. Gently pulling myself out of her and tucking myself back into my pants, I place my hands on her shoulders and guide her to stand. When I turn her around to face me, her eyes meet mine and I see so much in those beautiful hooded blue eyes; trust, contentment, and a sweet serenity. Pulling her into my chest with one hand and holding the back of her head with my other hand, my mouth takes hers with the hunger of a starving man. Her tongue dances against mine. Sliding both of my hands up to her face and cradling it between my palms, I pull my mouth away from hers and her eyes move up and search mine.

  “You, consume me,” I whisper against her mouth. “You are mine and I never want to be without you.” I never thought I would ever hear myself say anything like that to anyone but with her, it’s a want; a need, a necessity. I see the small curve of her lips as she whispers back “ and I don’t want to be without you.” Picking her up into my arms, I take her upstairs and to my bed.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Casey

  Laying on my side and looking at the magnificent man lying next to me, I let my eyes roam over his perfect body from his muscled biceps and pecs down to his washboard abs. With the sheet pulled up to his waist, I can see the dark line of hair running from his belly button and disappearing under the sheet. My gaze wanders up to his beautiful face and tousled black hair, and I watch his stomach rise and fall as he sleeps. I don’t think he will ever understand how much he has given me, this man who has protected me from the very first time we set eyes on each other. This same man, whom from that first meeting I saw as an arrogant, egotistical cave man, has become the man that has pushed his way into my heart and soul and somehow has made me fall in love with him and has, unbeknown to him, started to free me from the horrors of my past and brought me back into the world of living. I need to give back to him with all my truths. We’ve come so far together, and I don’t want to keep anything from him at all. I want to lay it all on the line between us and hope that the feelings he declared for me tonight will be enough for him to forgive me, and look past my shame and see the person he has helped to set free.

  Rolling over in the bed I moved my hand over the empty cold space next to me. Lifting my head and squinting at the clock it was 9.20 am and I dropped my head back on the pillow with a groan. No wonder the bed was empty, Nate would have gone into work. He is always up at the crack of dawn I just keep using the old excuse of me not being used to the whole different side of the world time zones thing. It did work for a while but I’m pretty sure Nate knows it’s a bullshit excuse now, he just lets me get away with it for the moment. Eventually pulling myself from the comfort of the bed, I shower, pull on a sundress and go down to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water. Seeing a note on the bench, I pick it up to read as I pull myself onto a stool to read the words on the sheet of paper. Hey Doc, Last night was incredible and I hope it wasn’t too much too soon for you. I didn’t want to wake you but I will confess I did enjoy watching you sleep for quite some time this morning. I have a heavy day today but come down to my office around 1 pm so I can take you out to lunch. Nate. Dropping the paper on the bench, I chuckle at the sweetness of his note and a plan starts to hatch in my brain about his lunch date.

  After being on my knees for around twenty minutes with half of my body inside the bottom cupboards in Nate’s kitchen, I finally found what I was looking for a square bread basket big enough to fit in all the other goodies I had found in the kitchen. A small French loaf of bread that I found in the freezer and only had to put into the oven for a few minutes to warm and crisp up. In the refrigerator, I found a few different kinds of cheese and olives, a container with chopped up tomatoes, basil and garlic, and some mixed berries, that I put in a sealed container. Pulling a couple of towels from the drawer I lined the basket with one, arranged the food inside, then covered it with the other. Picking up the basket I was just about to head down to Nate’s office when my phone started to ring. Holding the basket in one hand and answering the phone with the other, I see Flynn’s name appear on the screen. “Hey, Flynn how are you?”

  “I’m good but you…you sound fantastic babe.” He said and I knew from the tone of his voice, he was smiling on the other end of the phone.

  “Thanks, I feel fantastic.”

  “It sounds good on you as well. Listen, I just wanted to give you a quick call to say hello and touch base, so I take it everything is good?” he asked.

  “Yes, it is, I feel like a new person Flynn,” I say, and I hear him sigh down the phone. “I feel like I’ve been locked in a dark room for the past twelve years and someone just unlocked the door and let it swing wide open.”

  “I take it the man with the key here is Nate, right?”

  With a smile, I give him a breathy answer, “Yes.” There’s about a twenty-second pause on the line when I say, “Flynn I’m going to tell Nate. I want him to know everything, I trust him… I’m in love with him Flynn and …I think he feels the same way.”

  “Wow babe, I’m really happy for you…you know that right? I just want you to make sure you know what you’re doing, I mean how do you think he’ll react to everything ?” he said with concern.

  Blowing out the breath I just realized I had been holding in, I said, “I don’t know Flynn, I just know it’s something I have to do. I have to rip that open door of its hinges and take a chance.”

  He’s quiet for a moment, then I can clearly see the huge grin on his face when he says, “ I love you, babe, you go for it.You know I will always be here to catch you if you fall.”

  “I know, and I love you for it”.

  After I’d ended the call with Flynn, I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for Nate’s office floor. I walked to his door looking around. There was no secretary at the desk, so I knocked on the door and hear Nate’s voice telling me to come in. Pushing the door open, I see him sitting behind his huge desk dressed in his usual casual style of jeans and a black silk button down dress shirt. He looks so handsome and sexy leaning back in his chair talking into the phone he has pressed against his ear. I place the basket on his desk and he motions for me to come closer to him. Rounding the desk he turns his chair and pats his lap for me to sit and with a brief look up to his face, I see he’s serio
us, so I sit across his lap and he finishes his call, dropping the phone onto the desk he wraps those thick strong arms around me. Burying his head into my neck and placing a warm kiss against my skin. “So what’s in the basket?” he speaks low into my neck.

  “I brought you lunch. Think of it as a picnic in your office.”

  “Mmm, I think I already have something tasty to eat for my lunch right here,” he says, kissing the skin just below my ear.

  “Now, now Mr. King keep it in your pants until later,” I say and swing my legs to stand. I take the food from the basket, spreading it on his desk on a towel in front of him, then I sit back down on his lap taking with me the open container of mixed berries. Pulling out a strawberry, I touch it to his lips and when he opens his mouth I place it on his tongue. I follow that with a dark plump cherry.

  “So let me get this straight, I have a sexy woman sitting on my lap hand feeding me berries and you expect me to not get wood, right?”

  “Too late for that,” I say with a chuckle, moving my ass against the growing bulge under me.

  “You’re testing me Doc,” Nate says in a low growl.

  “Always.” I give him a wink and break a piece of the French loaf off, heaping it with the tomato and garlic mix, and hand it to him, then make one for myself.

  Leaning back in his chair while I packed the now empty containers back into the basket he said, “That was the best lunch I have had for a long time. Thanks, baby” “You’re welcome.” Standing up, he lifts me into his arms and carries me towards the leather couch that sits in his office.

  “What are you doing?” I squeal.

  “Having dessert.” He grins wickedly.

  “Umm, we had mixed berries remember?”

  “Hmm, now I want your berries.” He lays back onto the couch and pulls me to lay on top of him.

  “Nate, we’re in your office,” I whisper.

  “I know, don’t worry, I plan on having your berry later in bed, I just want to lay here with you for a while ok?.” He rubs a hand up and down my back and places a kiss on the top of my head. “Perfectly fine with me”.

  We lay there for a while just basking in the intimacy of the closeness, with gentle fingers stroking each other. It was a calming end to a nice lunch. The silence was eventually broken by Nate’s low voice, “I could get used to this every day you know?”

  “Hmm, me too.” I breathe into his warm chest.

  “So why don’t we make this a permanent thing?” he said, bringing my hand up to his mouth and gently kissing my fingers. Lifting my head to look up at him I said “What?....You and me… a permanent relationship? But on the beach you said…”

  I started the sentence but he cut me off. “I know, but I also know that I can’t let you go, and I’ll probably make a shit load off mistakes but I need you, here, with me.” I lay my head back down on his chest, taking in the enormity of what he was asking, and the realization that if I wanted it too, then I would have to tell him everything. “Your silence is not reassuring me, Doc.”

  “Sorry I guess you caught me off guard.”

  “So what are you thinking ?”

  “I’m thinking it might not be as easy as it sounds, you know, applying for an extension on my visa, a green card so I can work.”

  “That’s why I have a great lawyer to take care of things like that and really babe you don’t need to work.” He starts but I stop him.

  “Don’t even go there Nate, I will never be a kept woman.”

  “A kept woman.” he laughs, “No I can never imagine that of my tough Aussie girl.”

  “Nate?”

  “Hmmm.”

  “We do need to talk about a few things… important things.”

  “Like what baby?” Inhaling a deep breath and letting it out and thinking this is it, it’s now or never, but before I could get the first word out Nate’s office door flung open with such force it sounded like it had just been ripped from its hinges. The loud bang made us both jump and sit up, with Nate going into instant protection mode pulling me tighter into his chest. “What the fuck,” Nate bellowed, then we both looked into the red-faced look of horror on Paxton’s face.

  “Its Lynda, she just rang, she said her water broke,” he said, shoving a hand through his already ruffled hair.

  Nate moved me to his side and stood up. Walking to his desk and opening a drawer, he pulled out some keys. “Come on, we’ll take the Audi its faster.” Paxton looked flustered and confused.

  “It’s ok I can drive,” he said to Nate.

  “Not in your condition. Come on little brother, let’s go get your wife, you’re about to become a father.” I watched as the blood drained from Paxton’s face, he went as white as a ghost and fell down into one of the chairs. Getting up and going to him, I put my hand on the back of his head and guided it down between his knees. “Just keep your head down there for a few minutes and take some nice slow breaths,” I told him. After a few minutes, his head came back up, now with some color. “Holly shit, what am I doing?” Paxton said in frustration.

  “You’re just panicking a little it’s ok, just calm down,” I soothed him.

  “Casey, you need to come, I would feel one hundred percent better with a doctor riding with us.” Looking up at Nate, he gave me a quick nod of his head.

  “Sure, we’ll take the SUV instead,” he said opening a draw and swapping keys. As we drove towards the beach house Paxton had Lynda on speaker phone and she sounded pretty calm. It was Paxton who was having a hard time keeping his cool and I kept on giving him a reminder rub on his shoulder, and when Lynda said that she wanted to take a shower before we got there, Paxton did lose his shit. “NO, no shower honey, you might slip.”

  Lynda’s voice came through the line calm and together, “Babe I have never slipped in the shower before, I’m pretty sure I can handle it ok?”

  “NO it’s not ok, hell Lynda this is not a time to think about preening yourself. Please just sit and wait, we’ll be there in about ten minutes.” Hearing Lynda blow out air in frustration with her husband, I had to grin when she said, “fine I’ll wait.” “Thank you,” he said sounding relieved but I could tell with the tone of Lynda’s voice that she was just placating him and she had no intention of turning up at the hospital without taking a shower first.

  As soon as we pulled up out the front of the beach house Paxton jumped out of the car and ran into the house with Nate. I was close behind them. Paxton looked around for Lynda and called out to her, “Honey.” Moving further into the house, we could hear the shower going. “Fuck me,” Paxton spat out as he went to the bathroom and opened the door. Nate and I stood back at the end of the hall but it wouldn’t matter where we were, we could hear Paxton’s mouthful of curses and coo’s at his wife as the sound of the shower stopped. “Jesus Babe, do you ever listen to me?”

  “Yes honey I do,” Lynda said with a slight touch of sarcasm, then “What are you doing Paxton? I can dry myself” then, “Paxton just go grab my things for the hospital and leave me to dress myself.” Then, “Paxton get out of the friggin bathroom,” then a sound of a door slamming, lots of banging and cursing, then Paxton moving up the hallway with his arms full of pillows and bags. Nate took some of the things in his arms and they headed back out to the car. I went to the bathroom and knocked lightly on the door. “Lynda, it’s Casey.” Opening the bathroom door she was dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a long sweater, rubbing a hand over her belly.

  “Oh shit Casey, he dragged you here as well?” she said exasperated.

  “Its fine, he’s just a little jumpy.”

  “Ha, that’s an understatement he’s acting like a lunatic.” She sucked in a hard breath with her last word and gripped her belly.

  “How are you doing?” I ask.

  “Pretty good I think, that was only the third contraction.”

  “Ok, and when was the last one?”

  Her eyes squint as she thinks “Around fifteen, twenty minutes ago.”

  “Ok,
where were you when your waters broke?”

  “In the kitchen, I was just washing up a few dishes.” I start to walk towards the kitchen and she follows behind me.

  “Did you clean it up yet?”

  “No.” she grimaced.

  “Good, I just want to check that it’s nice and clear with no signs of blood in it, ok?” She’s close behind me when I examine the pool of waters spread over the kitchen floor. “It’s fine, come on let’s get you to the hospital, somewhere more comfortable to give birth.”

  “Yes, preferably with lots of drugs,” she said with a laugh.

  Paxton sat in the back seat with Lynda on the way to the hospital, rubbing her belly gently, placing little kisses on her cheek together with sweet words of endearment. It was a wonderful thing to watch and hear, the love of two people about to embark on parenthood, it made my eyes begin to get watery with the sight. Nate turned to look at me, but I turned too fast for him to see anything, and looked out of the window.

  By the time we arrived at the hospital Lynda’s contractions had become a little stronger and closer in duration. As soon as Nate pulled up and put the SUV in park, Paxton was out and helping Lynda out of the car and guiding her through the entrance doors, while Nate and I grabbed their bag and pillows and followed behind. Nate and I were directed to a waiting room, while Lynda was sat in a wheelchair and wheeled down a hallway. We sat for about an hour just idly chatting and laughing at Paxton in panic mode. I had just leaned my head back to rest it on the back of the wall when the door opened and Paxton came in. “She’s been examined and they said it could be another few hours, so I came to get her things.”

  Nate stood and placed his hand on Paxton’s shoulder. giving it a squeeze. “Are you ok?”