Plush lounge chairs lined the crystal blue pool, all facing the spectacular rock formation waterfall. The magnificent desert backdrop extended to the horizon. It was quiet, still early. A lone chair in the far right corner had two bare legs with perfectly manicured crossed feet. I’d seen this photo before; in fact, it was etched into my memory from the second I opened that text. But this wasn’t a moment captured and recorded in time. This was live. This was real.
A thick lump formed in my throat as I blinked away the sting in my eyes. My heart drilled against my ribs, spinning in complete three sixties. This was the moment of truth, a battle I wasn’t willing to lose.
God, it had been too long. Way too long. I walked up alongside her chair, casting a shadow along her gorgeous body. Her thin frame looked even more defined if that was even possible, covered only by a tiny black triangle bikini top and a matching sarong. I focused on every single ab that was staring back at me, and fuck me, if I didn’t want to run my tongue across all six of them. Her hair was pulled up off her face in a high ponytail and she was radiating a sun-kissed glow. Her eyes were covered by her shades but I could tell they were closed and her breathing was even. She stole my breath away; she was stunning. A quick ripple of jealousy rolled through me knowing every asshole at this place had probably appreciated her beauty and gawked at what’s mine. What I could only hope was still mine.
I smothered that question, not willing to dwell on the past. It couldn’t be changed, but I’d be damned if I lost one more second of our now. Not wanting to wake her peaceful nap, I rounded the other side and reclined in the adjacent chaise. I waited.
“Hey, you.” Her voice was the music my world had been missing for too many weeks. Her choice of words melted my heart.
“Hey, you,” I said back. Because she was my you.
She turned her face so her cheek rested on the pillow-topped lounger and her eyes found mine. “You shouldn’t squint, Ace, you know it causes wrinkles.” Her lips curved into a life altering smile and the burn that took up residence in my chest twenty-nine days ago evaporated. I grinned so big I wouldn’t be surprised if the stretch was permanent, just like that damn cat. “What took you so long?”
Her whispered words barely left her lips and I was up and kneeling beside her. I entwined our hands and brought them to my mouth, silently praying this was real, that I was getting my woman back. Hope coursed through my bounding veins and I could barely control my breathing. I had a million things to say, so much to explain. But I knew I needed to win back her trust first. She needed to understand she was my everything. I rehearsed my grovel all last night and the five hour flight this morning and in the end I spoke straight from my heart.
“I love you. God, I love you so much.” These were the only words that seemed important. The only words that mattered.
I leaned up and thumbed her cheeks and she lifted her sunglasses so I could see her eyes. They were molten and glistening. “Show me,” she breathed.
“I’m gonna kiss you now, it’s gonna be slow and soft and then it’s gonna be hard and hungry. There’s a good chance I’m never gonna stop.” I hoped those words sounded familiar. I watched as her chest froze and her jaw opened, inviting me in. My mouth descended on hers like it was the first time and the million times after knowing that these lips were never not gonna be mine. She tasted better than I remembered, mint and sweet, soft and warm, she tasted like … home. The only reason I stopped was when her tears wet my thumbs. I pulled back slightly and pressed my forehead against hers.
“Teeps, you’ve got to promise me something,” I uttered against her lips, trying to slow my ragged breath. “Next time I fuck up and you decide you need to fix us, please—don’t leave. I’m gonna trust you to knock some sense into me instead. I won’t survive that hell again. I don’t want to. I know you said it to me and you definitely showed me, but I was too blind to see and too deaf to hear, but you were right. We’ve got one shot at this. Only one. And without you, without us, it all means nothing.”
She swallowed back her quiet sob and whispered, “Pinky swear.”
And I breathed, a huge deep cleansing breath. The first one since the night of the accident. This right here, right now was the start of our new chapter.
“Damn, I missed that sassy mouth, I missed this face, I missed you. You’re going to kill me, you know that?”
Her tiny smirk told me she knew exactly what she was doing to me. She blinked back the remains of her tears and not only was her gaze full of love, but I saw desire. Oh hell yeah. She repeated her wish, “Show me.”
My woman didn’t need to ask twice. I glanced around searching for her chair, screw it, I’d come back later, she needed to be in my arms. I scooped her up and she instinctively wrapped around my neck, resting her head on my chest. My heart jackhammered against her ear, there was no way she could miss it. I squeezed her tighter, wanting her closer. Her warmth seeped into my skin, causing desire to course through my vessels—every single one … the swell was uncontrollable.
“Where are we going? Please say your suite is in this building?” I groaned. With each step I prayed I wouldn’t lose it. It had been way too long. Then again a premature release would give me time to focus on her every need. I was willing to take the hit to my manhood, if it meant I could concentrate on loving my Tal.
She giggled against my neck when the elevator door closed. I was so excited I forgot to ask what floor. “Third floor, three eleven.” She read my mind. Didn’t matter though, I could have carried her back to Boston I was so pumped. I’d carry her forever. With her squirming in my arms and kissing my neck I was practically running down the hall. By the time I jimmied the handle I was ready to crawl out of my skin. Locked. Son of a bitch, her key card had to be in her wheelchair back by the pool.
“Shit,” I muttered beneath my breath. Come on, could you blame me? I was starved to have my woman naked and beneath me. I needed to love her, feel close to her, and be inside her, however possible. And I wasn’t about to wait a second longer.
I was ready to stalk back when Tal said, “I’ve got the card.”
Thank you. Relief must have washed across my face because she gave me another knowing smirk. But I was confused. She was in a small ass bikini—which only continued to add to my frenzied state—and her hands were now palming my cheeks. Where the hell was the card?
“Ace, put me down.”
“Where? I’m not putting you on this floor. What do you mean?” I questioned, staring into her beautiful milk chocolate eyes. Then it hit me like a ten-ton brick, squeezing every molecule of air from my lungs to the point my heart physically ached. I could have sobbed. How did I not see it? Crossed feet. How did I not feel it? Squirming. The golf ball-sized knot in my throat made it impossible to speak.
“It’s okay, put me down,” she whispered through a cascade of tears.
“Teeps.” My voice cracked as my own eyes pooled and spilled over. There was no stopping the floodgates. What was the point? “Are you sure?” I barely uttered as I felt my arms begin to tremble. I was terrified to let her down, to let her stand—what if she fell? My heart would be shredded.
“I can’t wait to show you.” She beamed through her wet face. Her smile gave me the strength I needed to place her bare feet on the ground. I realized in that moment that if she fell, she’d get back up, she always did. She was strong enough to handle it and always had been. And holy hell, did I love her that much more.
I lowered her to the floor and she braced her arm against the door jamb. She straightened her back and legs and started to giggle. Shock and elation rocketed over me. Hell, my legs were shaking so hard it wouldn’t have been surprising if they were the ones to give out. I had no words. None. Months of praying and hoping for a miracle and it was standing in front of me.
“You’re standing,” I mouthed and swatted away some of my tears.
“It feels real now. With you here, it finally feels real,” she whispered, wobbling a little and gripping the door.
My first instinct was to reach for her. But I tightened every muscle in my body and held back. I wouldn’t do that to her. “Can you believe it? I can lift my foot too and shuffle a little.” She looked down at her feet and my eyes followed her gaze. I held my breath then she wiggled her toes a couple times and I grinned.
She had this.
She had us.
In a very slow and shaky movement, she lifted her right foot off the floor. It looked like it took a Herculean effort, but she did it. My woman took a step. Then she inched her left foot forward too. She regained her balance and met my watery eyes. Her left hand gripped the railing lining the wall, but her right hand was now outstretched and reaching for me. With two more small shuffles she was in my arms again. And I was spinning her around like a fool.
“You walked,” I yelled. My woman fucking walked. To me. I wanted to scream it at the top of my lungs. I could’ve punched through steel. I could’ve dove headfirst out of a plane. I was ready to drop to my knees and thank every God, superpower, or spiritual entity that made this possible. I thought I knew what it was like to experience joy and true happiness. I had no clue. Or maybe I had and this feeling—right this very second—had yet to be named, because I couldn’t imagine many people had ever felt this surge of overwhelming, all encompassing emotion.
I thought it was impossible to love this woman any more. But I was wrong.
Nothing was impossible.
I crushed her against my chest and showered her hair with kisses and tons of I love yous. There was no way I could ever tell her enough but I was sure as hell gonna try. Pulling back, she swiped at her fresh tears and lit up the hall with her smile again.
“PTs say I’m getting stronger every day and you know what’s crazy, I can actually feel my muscles working. This wasn’t exactly my vision of how I was going to show you, though.” She laughed, glancing around at the elaborately decorated corridor. If my chest swelled any more I was going to crack ribs.
“It’s perfect.” She knew I didn’t give a fuck about the location. “You moved your legs. Teeps, I just watched you move your legs. That was the hard part, making them stronger … that’s the part we have forever for. You’re perfect.” This was perfect. Everything was perfect.
She mischievously bit her bottom lip and my lower half whose blood supply was abruptly cut off with her first step sprung to life. “Forever sounds perfect. But if I recall, before I interrupted your male mission with my little walking escapade, I think you were looking for this.” Her long fingers disappeared into the miniscule triangle of fabric covering her right breast, revealing enough skin to drive me wild before magically whipping out a credit card sized key card.
“Well, that was one hell of a perfect interruption. But if I recall, you promised me clothes with pockets.” I raised my brows to see if she remembered.
She chuckled. “Yoga pants and hash brown morning.”
“Yup. And now that I have you back in my arms, let me tell you something else. The next time you decide to wear this, I better be there, or I can’t make any promises on what might happen to the assholes’ jaws I’m picking up off the ground. You hear me, Tal? I’m serious. This bathing suit is for when my ass is on the chair next to you.”
She ran her tongue across her bottom lip. “Fine. I won’t wear the suit … without you. Promise. Besides I bet you’d like it best on the floor anyway.”
“Ah, Tal. Fuck. We aren’t even gonna make it to the bedroom if you keep that sassy mouth up.” We had some serious celebrating to do.
In one swoop the door was thrown open and she pointed in the direction of what I could only assume was the master. Her suite seemed more like a penthouse. She could have been in a closet, it wouldn’t have mattered—I wanted these bits of fabric gone.
I lay her down on top of the bed, and she was a sight to behold. Her bronzed skin was a sharp contrast to the crisp white comforter beneath her. And her blonde hair looked just like the sun. I kicked off my shoes and crawled on top of the bed. I watched in awe as she bent her knee with the help of her hand to scoot back. It was like she had been maneuvering herself like this forever. And as crazed as I was to have skin on skin I needed to know, “When? How long?” I asked as I continued up and over her, supporting my weight on my arms. We were mere inches apart and just where I wanted to be. Well, almost where I wanted to be, other parts wanted to be closer.
“It was kind of all of a sudden.” She looked up at me and scanned my face, landing on my eyes. She pushed some hair from my forehead and I smiled. She loved my hair. “I bent over and picked up the weight ball Julius and I were tossing back and forth, and I lost my balance in the chair. It had happened a dozen other times before then and my first instinct was always to put my foot down, but it never moved. That day it just did.” She wiggled her legs beneath me. It was the way it should be. The way it should have always been.
I peppered her face with soft kisses, I was so happy for her. For us. And I was torn between wanting to hear every last detail of her recovery or wanting to hear every last detail after I stripped us bare and made love to her. I found the sweet spot on her neck and trailed my tongue along her jaw, sucking her soft earlobe into my mouth. When her back arched off the bed needing more contact and my pelvis returned the favor, I decided after was the way to go. And since I was unable to really think or compute with the majority of my blood perfusing the wrong head, I simply asked, “Julius?” Mentioning another man was not usually part of my foreplay, but to my knowledge Tal hadn’t worked out with Julius since before she left.
The calm in her eyes turned to a slight panic. I hated and instantly regretted saying anything. “Please don’t be mad, I wanted to tell you ... I did. But I didn’t want to get your hopes up. I knew it was a good sign, but we were excited before, and I couldn’t bare for my recovery to monopolize any more of your life.”
I lightly brushed her lips before I set her straight. “First of all, you’re my life, get used to it.” This time my tongue sought to taste, there was nothing quick about my second kiss. When I spoke again, our breathing was labored. “Second of all, I’m done with being mad or hurt or any other useless waste of our time. All I care about is here and now and the fact you can do more than feel those beautiful legs. I’m so happy for you, Teeps.” It was true, forget the how, it was irrelevant.
“Me too,” she whispered with genuine elation. Her electric smile set fireworks off in my spine. “But we still have a long way to go, I won’t be skiing black diamonds anytime soon.”
I loved that she said we. We were perfect and I used my mouth to show her just how perfect we were. Slow and soft was done and it was way past time for hard and hungry. This time when my tongue sought entrance to dominate our dance, Tal beautifully submitted, allowing me to find our passionate rhythm. She writhed under me, feeding fuel to my already scorching fire. I pulled at her hair tie, releasing her ponytail. Digging my fingers through her blonde silk and massaging her head, she let out the most erotic moan.
Starved for air, I pulled away mumbling, “Fuck the diamonds, they’re overrated.”
“What, no gentleman?” she panted. Her sass made my rock hard cock twitch.
“Fuck no.”
“Thank God.”
In no time we were stripped bare and Tal was right, the tiny scraps of fabric were much better on the floor. Her already sun-kissed skin was darkened by the Arizona sun, highlighting her most intimate flesh triangles. I loved that these were reserved for my eyes only. I gawked at her beautiful body, memorizing every tiny detail all over again.
“I need you so bad, Teeps, I’m gonna explode. Tell me you want this. You’ve got to tell me.” With one hand she clawed at my back, and with the other she reached between us to palm my cock. I sucked in a sharp breath. “Fuck, I missed you touching me, so much.”
Her hips shifted as she struggled to lift up off the bed and pull me to her entrance. She was as crazed as I was. I swiped my fingers through my mouth to wet her silky folds. Her head shot back
when my finger dipped inside her warm channel, swirling to find her sweet spot before I moved to tease her clit. Every little sound that escaped from her lips had my dick begging for release. But not yet.
“Inside, I want you inside,” she groaned when I released her hold on my throbbing cock and raised both of her hands above her head.
“I can’t wait to fuck you, Teeps. But first you, you’re gonna come for me.” The memory of the last time we attempted sex was too vivid—the outcome unacceptable. The fact that my woman never orgasmed had been eating me alive. Never again. And it damn well would never be after me either. Lifting her back, I began exploring her perfect chest, circling her taut nipples with my fingertips before letting my tongue have just as much fun. I kneaded and savored each breast before moving down. The pulse of my straining length sliding against her sick abs reminded me of how bad I wanted to lick each one. I had a shitload of time to make up for and I was in no rush. I might blow my load before I actually got inside but that was why we weren’t stopping after round one. Finally I arrived at what I’d been craving for weeks. I buried my face in my fine aged scotch and breathed her in. “You have no idea how much I missed this. All of it. Your touch, your taste. So fucking sweet.” I wrapped my arms around her legs and shimmied her to the edge of the bed. “Can we open you wider? I need more. Fuck, I need more.”
“Yes,” she whimpered. “Help me a little.”
I carefully bent her legs up a little more and her muscles contracted against my fingertips. She was working so hard. For us.
“Fuck, Tal. You level me. I love you so much. I wanna hear you scream as I make you shatter.” My tongue took charge and made long smooth strokes from her tight ring to her sweet bundle of nerves. With every lap I pressed a little deeper, relishing in every movement or tiny thrust of her hips. Her small moans, which lacked a crescendo last time, were coming faster and louder. “Yeah, Teeps, give it to me, let me feel you.” I caught her eyes and held her hooded gaze. She repositioned, bracing her weight on her forearms so she could watch. Fuck yes. Her mouth was open, her chest heaved, and her stomach muscles tensed. She was close. I could feel it. When I reached for her tits, she pushed them up against my hands and I rolled and tweaked her pebbled nipples. She began to clench. I dipped my tongue harder and faster, I wanted to give this to her so bad.
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