I Need You (Meant For Me Book 1)

by N. Natishna

  “Sure thing, sugar. See you soon.”

  I disconnected and rushed up to my bedroom. I put on a pair of cutoff shorts and a red tank top over my white bikini, and slipped into white flip flops. After I brushed my teeth, I threw my hair up into a high messy bun. Deklan was sure to be here soon so I put my sunglasses on, grabbed my tote bag that my mother had designed and my purse, and made sure I had a towel and sunscreen.

  I looked at Snow and Twinkle where they lay on the bay window. “I’m leaving this door open. I want you two to get out and stop being cooped up in here.” I blew them kisses and fled from the room. When I got to the top of the stairs I sat on the railing and slid all the way down. The first time I had tried that I ended up in the hospital with a broken arm. My mom had blown the roof off the place and I was never allowed to do it again. Of course, I didn’t listen to her, and have been doing it awesomely for eight years.

  I grabbed the picnic basket off the kitchen counter and smiled at Josie and Jay, who were having a cup of coffee.

  “I’m heading to the beach. I don’t want to disturb Daddy, so tell him that if he needs me to just call.” I waved and headed out. “The boys are out back, just let them in when they’re ready.”

  The monitor by the front door rang out and I saw Deklan’s car. I smiled at the confused look on his face as he stared at the monitor out there. He was too cute. I pressed the talk button under the monitor.

  “Hey Dek, I’ll be out as soon as you pull up.” I typed in the code so the gate opened. Deklan smiled and nodded before driving in.

  I hurried outside and hopped down the steps to where his car was parked in front of Miracle. I had to stop to admire the full package that was my amazingly hot boyfriend. He was wearing black swim shorts that went past his knees, and an orange and white stripped t-shirt. His black hair was in its normal spikey arrangement and his blue eyes were hidden behind aviators. I sighed at the vision he made, but then snapped out of it and hopped in the car. I set the picnic basket in the back and waited for him to get in.

  “I was kinda hoping for a kiss, sugar.”

  I nodded and looked back at the house in case my dad was watching. “I promise to give you a big smacking kiss once we get to the beach.”

  He started the car and headed out. When we pulled onto the road Deklan glanced over at me.

  “Is there a reason you’re in such a hurry?”

  “Yes, my dad was home and I haven’t told him or my mom about us yet, seeing as it just happened last night. I don’t want him grilling you on our first date.”

  He nodded and reached for my hand, lacing our fingers together. We drove in comfortable silence and I felt content with just being near him. Every once in a while he’d kiss the back of my hand or rub his thumb on the inside of my wrist. His touch was like electric through my arm.

  “I’ve been hoping to get a tan ever since we moved here,” Deklan told me and chuckled. “There’s not one person around that isn’t dark.”

  I frowned and ran my free hand over his tattooed arm.

  “I love how pale you are. It’s appealing actually.”

  “Appealing? Well, I’m happy that my body pleases you.”

  I blushed at his words and Deklan busted out laughing. He squeezed my hand. “Emma, that’s not what I meant.”

  I bit my lip and nodded. We pulled into the lot and parked. I got out before Deklan could open my door and pulled out the basket from the back seat. When I shut my door Deklan was there, grabbing the basket from my hand and setting it on the hood of the car. He turned me around and pulled me in close. His eyes searched mine intensely, and I couldn’t help but get lost in those dark blue depths. I could see the emotions he’s never hid from me, and it pulled me in deeper.

  He bent lower and inhaled deeply. “You smell incredible,” he said softly as he pressed his nose into my neck. I shivered at the electric butterflies in my stomach as he trailed kisses up the column of my neck and jaw line. “You feel like silk.”

  My lips tingled as I waited impatiently for his mouth to meet mine. When he pulled back and switched to the other side of my neck I moaned.

  “Deklan, come on, don’t make me wait any longer.”

  He just laughed against my skin and continued his pleasurable torture until he reached the corner of my mouth. I angled my head and captured his lips with mine before he could tease me more, pulling on his shirt to bring him down farther to me, because I can only raise so high on my tiptoes. His hands found their way to my waist and he lifted me off the ground until I was level with him. He held me easily as he devoured my mouth, his tongue pushing in and tangling with mine.

  He pulled back after a while and gulped in air. His normally pink cheeks were even more flushed than usual.

  “We should probably get a move on,” he said raggedly and I nodded in agreement, too breathless to say anything. Deklan put me back on my feet and grabbed the picnic basket, his towel, and a small blanket.

  We walked hand in hand to a spot on the beach where there weren’t as many people. While he fixed the blanket on the sand, I put sunscreen on so I wouldn’t burn. Deklan peered inside the basket and I swatted at his hand as I sat.

  “Let me get it for you,” I said sweetly and pulled out the containers.

  Deklan sighed and shook his head. “This is a feast, baby. You sure know how to take care of a man.”

  “My famous fried chicken, potato wedges, green beans, and of course, chocolate chip cookies for dessert.” I clapped my hands together and bounced on my knees joyfully. He chuckled and leaned in to kiss my nose, pulling my sunglasses from my face so he could see my eyes.

  “It looks perfect, sweetheart.”

  I piled food onto his plate and then did the same to mine and pulled out two sodas. Deklan dove into his food, making me laugh – and I thought I was a big eater. He complimented the food as he finished it off, and I thanked him.

  Deklan rubbed his stomach and sighed. “You’re one helluva cook, Emma.”

  “You can thank my cook. Josie is the best and taught me everything I know.”

  “Yeah, you mentioned that.” His brows drew together in confusion. I found it oddly adorable. “What’s up with the way they dress? I mean, it’s just…strange, I guess, that they look nothing like, staff.”

  I stared at him for a moment, finding the question quite amusing, and then laughed and shook my head. Deklan’s curious expression morphed into bewilderment.

  “You are way too cute, you know that?” I pushed our empty plates to the side so I could scoot over and wrap my arms around his neck. I had to tilt back some so I could see his face. “I’ve been asked that by everyone who walks into my home.”

  “Well, that doesn’t really surprise me.”

  I rolled my eyes and ran my fingers through his hair. “The first time Mrs. Jefferies came to work for us, my mom literally looked like somebody just shit on her Jimmy Choo’s.” I snickered. “Mom took Jay to the mall and bought her a crap ton of suits to wear. Both Josie and Jay wear them. After that, Mom designed a clothing line for house staff.”

  He laughed and nodded. “Okay, that makes sense, I guess.”

  I pulled him down and gave him a loud smacking kiss on the lips. “Now, let’s clean up and go swimming!”

  We tossed the trash in the basket for the time being and stripped down to our swimsuits. I shimmied out of my shorts and pulled off my top, folding them and setting them on top of my purse. Deklan wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me and kissed my shoulder.

  “I am not happy with this suit,” he said in a pained voice. I turned in his embrace and checked out the nice view that was his bare chest. What really caught my eye, though, was the rest of his tattoo. There was a multicolored drum set on his bicep and there were streaks of blue, green, and black filling the space. I traced the intricate designs those colors made, how nicely they mixed in with everything else. The colorful tattoo stopped at his shoulder and I sort of wished there was more.

  “It�
��s honestly not fair,” I muttered and ran my palms over his chest. There was a trickle of hair there and I fingered them playfully. “I’m going to have to beat girls off you today, I just know it.”

  Deklan sighed and took his pointer finger, trailing it across my collarbone. I swallowed a breath and my fingers halted. He watched closely as his finger slid up my neck, then across my chin until he lifted it and kissed my lips. He looked back at me and cupped my neck, his thumbs rubbing over my jaw.

  “How about we make a deal? We stick close to each other, that way people know that we are officially off the market.” He pursed his lips. “I should just do what Zane did when he introduced me. Would you mind me going a little cave man and warning other guys away from you?”

  I pretended to think about it, when really, thinking of him going all Neanderthal turned me om – a lot. “Dek, there are going to be guys that check me out. I’m not a vain person, but I have enough confidence to know that I am pretty.” He nodded, but still frowned, so I placed my hands over his on my face and continued. “I’m new at this whole serious relationship thing, okay? I was never as serious about Cody as I am about you…the funny thing is I’ve known Cody for years, and I’ve known you two weeks.”

  “I don’t care how long we’ve known each other, Emma,” Deklan said fiercely and I was captivated in that intense look that he only gave me. “I’m new at this, too, baby, but it feels so natural when it comes to you.”

  I gulped and tried to return my heartbeat back to a normal pace. The things he says to me… “It feels natural to me, too, Deklan. I was going to tell you that even though guys check me out, it doesn’t change the fact that…that I’m yours.” I didn’t know if that sounded a little too clingy, but it was the truth. When one side of his mouth kicked up into a lazy grin, I knew I’d said the right thing.

  He gave me a quick kiss and let go of me. “I feel much better now. Let’s hit the water.” I literally jumped with joy like the little cheerleader that I am and wrapped my hand around his right one as we bounded towards the water. Well, I bounded; Deklan just took long, normal strides. He laughed as he looked down at me.

  “I’ve never met somebody as perky as you.”

  I shrugged, but kept smiling. “I wasn’t exactly my normal self the day we met, though.” I shook my head in amusement. “You know, you’re the only person that ever brought that side of me out.”

  “You were like a seriously pissed off kitty cat; all sharp claws and hissing…I loved it.” We both laughed and then we stopped when the water came to our ankles.

  “I love the way wet sand feels beneath my feet,” I told him on a sigh. I grabbed his hand and pulled him out farther. “Let’s go!”

  I ended up dropping his hand when the water came up to my waist, so I could dive under. The cold water was refreshing against my skin as I swam farther out. When I resurfaced I looked around for Deklan. He splashed above the water a couple feet ahead of me and looked back at me with a wicked grin, before ducking back under. His hands gripped my waist a few seconds later and he lifted me, and then I was airborne. I screeched when I saw how high I was right before I crashed down into the water. When I came back up I sputtered and spit water out of my mouth.

  “Deklan!” I called. He was laughing his ass off and I had the mind to call him a jerk. He looked at the anger on my face and sighed, swimming over. He stopped in front of me and tried to grab onto me. I huffed and pushed his hands away. “I don’t trust you not to do that again.”

  “Come on, baby, you can’t tell me that nobody’s ever done that to you.” He pouted and I rolled my eyes. Damn the guy.

  “I’m not mad, just a little skittish at how high you just tossed me.” I let him pull me close and hoped we’d be able to stay above water. He brought me around to his back and told me to hold on, so I wrapped my arms and legs around him. He swam back to shallow water and stopped when the water came up to his chin.

  “Deklan, did you forget that you’re over a foot taller than me. I can’t reach.”

  He pulled me back around and I kept myself wrapped around him. “This is nice, having you so close to me.”

  I nodded and kissed his cheek. He rubbed his hands up and down my back.

  “I’m yours, too, Emma,” he told me seriously. “I just wanted to let you know that, okay? I’m all yours.”

  I sighed with the relief of hearing him say it out loud. Smiling, I kissed him, softly at first, and then harder when Deklan cupped my bottom.

  “People are staring at us,” he said against my lips. I pulled back and looked behind us. Sure enough, there were a couple of little kids snickering at us, and their parents were glaring at us as they pulled the kids away.

  I smiled at Deklan and shrugged. “So? Let them stare.”

  He looked at me skeptically. “You don’t care?”

  I shook my head.

  His eyes searched over my face before coming back to my eyes. “You’re an anomaly.”

  “A what?” I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an insult. Although, I highly doubt Deklan would insult me after confessing his feelings for me not even 24-hours ago.

  He kissed the bridge of my nose. “It means you’re apart from what’s expected…or normal.” My eyebrows rose and he shook his head. “That’s a good thing, Pixie. I’ve seen a lot of people in your social class who are cold, greedy beings that think they’re better than us lower class. You…you’re nothing like that. You ooze pure innocence, and you actually give a shit about people.”

  I laughed at his description. “I give a shit? What a neat way of putting it.”

  “You do, and you’re perky. Let’s not forget that you’re sexy as hell and you’re not afraid to admit it.”

  “I don’t recall saying that I was sexy, but I’ll take your word for it.”

  “You are, now let’s swim.”

  We were in the water for two hours, until my arms started to burn and my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Deklan really knew how to have fun and keep me entertained. When we walked back to our blanket we dried ourselves as best we could before putting on our clothes.

  “I don’t think I got tan at all,” Deklan told me as he examined his arms. I picked up my things and folded the blanket.

  “Good. I like your body just as it is.”

  “Yeah?”

  I grinned up at him. “Of course, silly. I’d like to quote you in saying ‘you’re sexy as hell.’”

  “Whatever.” His smile was smug and I knew that he was very aware of how hot he was. He bent to pick up the picnic basket and I went up behind him.

  “Let me ride on your back.” He sighed dramatically, but bent farther down so I could jump on his back.

  “Did a butterfly just land on me?” he teased and stood back up. I slapped his shoulder, but couldn’t help but laugh with him.

  “I am not that little, butthead.”

  “Butthead? Listen here, woman, let’s not forget who has the keys to our ride home.”

  “Ha! You wouldn’t dare.”

  “True. If I left you stranded here, something tells me you wouldn’t have trouble getting a ride back.”

  We stopped at the car and he lowered me to my feet. “I’m hungry,” I said and rubbed my stomach. Deklan put our stuff in the back seat and then looked over at me.

  “We just ate not even three hours ago.”

  I scoffed and shook my head. “Yeah, but we just worked it all off. Let’s get some Chinese!”

  He rolled his eyes and held the door open for me to get in. I kissed his chest as I brushed past him and he shut my door.

  He got in and started the car. “I wanna enter you in a food eating contest. I’d bet we’d make a fortune.”

  “I’m a pie eating champ around here, Dek. Don’t even get me started.”

  He laughed and grabbed my hand as he drove out of the lot. I told him how to get to the best Chinese restaurant; Happy Garden. When we got there ten minutes later, Deklan parked. My mouth watered as we walked i
nto the building. Chinese food was so delicious.

  The restaurant owner, Mr. Yu, was behind the counter when we walked in. He wasn’t much taller than me and had thinning grey hair. He lit up when he saw me and clapped his hands in the same cheerful manner as always.

  “Miss Emma, how good to see you!” he cheered as he came around the counter. I let go of Deklan’s hand to squeeze Mr. Yu.

  “How are you, Mr. Yu?” I chuckled and looked back at Deklan, who was trying to hold in his laughter. I loved greeting Mr. Yu like that; it was just too funny to pass up. I waved Deklan closer. “This is my boyfriend, Deklan. Deklan, this is Mr. Yu; he owns Happy Garden.”

  Mr. Yu enthusiastically shook the hand Deklan held out. “Very nice to meet you.” He turned to me and gestured to the tables. “Please, sit where you like. I send out everything fresh.”

  “We’ll take two Cokes, please,” I told him as I pulled Deklan to the booth I normally sat at, near the display window. We sat across from each other and I slid my hand over the table so he could grasp it in his.

  “So, how long have you known Mr.…Yu?” Deklan asked hesitantly. I ran my other hand up over the tattoos on his arm and sighed contentedly.

  “This is where my sister, mom, and I have lunch every other Saturday. My brother-in-law used to work here when he and Kat were in high school. Kat used to come here and eat when Jonathan worked. I guess you can say I’ve known him for a long time.”

  Mr. Yu came out with our drinks and pointed to the buffet. “Fresh food, Miss Emma. Enjoy your meal, I check on you soon.”

  I skipped up to the buffet and stacked my plate high. Deklan trailed after me back to our table when we were through. As soon as I sat down I took a big bite of my egg roll first.

  “So…tell me more about your sister and her husband,” Deklan said while pouring soy sauce on his rice. I perked up and finished chewing my egg roll. I loved talking about Kat and Jonathan, and how they got together. It was the more romantic story in our family.

  “They were best friends since they were about eight. Kathrynn was on the playground at school and some little kid wouldn’t stop picking on her. Jon came in like a bat outta hell and pushed the kid away from her.” Deklan was nodding along as he ate his food. I chuckled and bit into a piece of chicken, chewing and swallowing before talking.