A Promise Made (Promise #2)

by Anissa Garcia

  His eyes stayed on me as our rhythm picked up. “Marla.” My name on his lips sent a thunderbolt throughout me. “Come on, baby.”

  I buried my face in his neck, digging my teeth in his flesh as stars flew and burst inside of me. I cried out, my body pulsing around his. I took my pleasure, but he had yet to take his, and my fingers tugged his hair, as I brought his mouth to mine. “I can’t take anymore,” I said, my body languid against his.

  “Yes, you can. You will,” he growled, grinding his hips into me without mercy. With faster movements, I felt like I was flying up again. My fingers burrowed into his shoulders, our wet skin sliding and sticking as we strove for our gratifying peak. I wanted to slay him, make him act animalistic. I writhed under him, matching his movements, squeezing him inside of me. His groans climbed as his body plunged deeper, his voice guttural as he pressed on. Expletives reverberated from his lips, and I knew he was close. This guarded specimen, so near the point of breaking.

  I was airborne once again, and his mouth caught my cries as he continued to move fast and hard, until he stiffened, his fingers gripping me tight. His body vibrated inside of mine and he stilled, letting out a call of my name under his breath as he finally fell over the edge and lost all power. And it was perfect, as if two souls united, finding each other in a chaotic world and splicing into one.

  He collapsed on me, our breathing trying to steady out. We couldn’t seem to pull away from one another, those big hands stroking me with such graceful attentions. “God, do you know how long I’ve waited to have you in my arms?”

  Mesmerized by his electric blue eyes, my heart squeezed in my chest. “Since you met me?” I laughed as he gave a grin, the weight of his body still over me.

  “Mm.” He rubbed his nose with mine, a sweet Eskimo kiss warming my heart. “Longer.” He pushed himself off of me, the loss of his body left me feeling empty. I watched as he removed his condom, tying the end and setting it aside as he reached for my clothing and tossed them to me. “Get dressed. I don’t want to risk anyone seeing you.”

  I chuckled, grabbing my bra. “I think it might be too late if anyone was already here, Josh.”

  “I don’t care. Nobody sees you but me.” He grabbed my hand, helping me up on my wobbly legs as he leaned toward me and kissed my cheek. “You were perfection, by the way.”

  I felt the heat rise to my cheeks as he smiled. “Not so bad yourself, McKenzie.” I was swimming into the deep, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to stay above the surface ever again.

  Lovemaking on a rock was a far cry from how I had planned the evening to go, but I swore the woman had some sorcery to her. I couldn’t keep my hands away, nor the rest of me for that matter. My body pressed against hers as she shuffled in her handbag for the keys to her home. I wrapped my forearm around her waist, tugging her into me, my lips kissing her temple as I inhaled her cinnamon scent. “You should’ve had your keys out and ready when we exited the car, love.”

  “Mm, well, I figured I had a big bodyguard protecting me for n-now…” a soft moan fled her mouth as I ran my tongue along the shell of her ear. “But you’re also a distraction, so you can’t blame me, big guy.”

  I pushed myself against her hip, letting her feel just how hard she made me all over again. “I’m staying tonight,” I murmured as my hand glided up, squeezing her breast.

  She arched back, her body automatically responding to my hand as it grazed her body. “Good, because I have a lot more I want to do to you, McKenzie,” she said in a throaty voice.

  My body ached for her, and I wanted the minx and all she had to offer. Fuck, it had been too long since I’d slept with anyone. The fact that it was this woman, the one I thought hated me, who was coaxing me for more was beyond my comprehension. “Please tell me you aren’t teasing. I couldn’t take it if you denied me.”

  “If I recall correctly, you’re the one who rejected me several times, Josh. Wanna tell me why?” Her tone was playful, but I ignored the question, and she caught on, not pressing for an answer. Finally locating her keys, she jingled them in her hand. “Well, just so you know, I’m a sure thing, baby.” She winked with a smile and strolled inside, turning on the lights to the living room.

  I shut the door behind us and bolted it as she removed her shoes, throwing them in the corner and setting her handbag down. “I don’t know how you walk in those things.”

  She shrugged, glancing at her tall wedges as she removed her sweater and flung it aside. “I’m used to them.” The swish of her hips as she approached was setting me on fire, my body burning for hers. “Now where were we?”

  The words she spoke sounded like a hymn, and I needed to drink it in, take all the dark things in my past and bring in her light to heal them. The strength of my hands wrapped around her waist, and I was careful with their pressure as I towed her near. “I can’t wait to be inside you again,” my voice barely registered, even to myself as I heard her whimper. Her hands were running through my hair as she tugged my mouth to hers.

  Before I could let my heated lips take her in, she let out a squeal that turned into a straight scream. She ran back, bounded on the couch, and pointed to the floor. I backed up slowly, mostly in shock as she hopped up and down pointing to something that wriggled on the floor, then landed on the wall. “Kill it! Josh!”

  Cries unlike any I’d ever heard expelled from her as she shook her hands. “Shit, you scared the hell out of me. It’s only a lizard, Marla,” I laughed, looking at the small critter.

  “Fucking lizard ran on my foot! I hate lizards!” I could see tears start to form as she clasped her arms around her body. “Kill it!”

  “I’m not killing it. He’s harmless.”

  “Josh, please!” She wailed as she hugged the wall, moving far away from the creature as possible. I couldn’t help but bellow out at the picture this painted. Here was a strong, independent, fierce-as-fuck woman, and she was losing herself over a damn reptile the size of my pinky finger.

  I snuck up on the thing and caught it swiftly in my fingers, holding it up to her. “He’s cute. What should we name him?”

  “Satan,” Marla snarled.

  “Sure you don’t want to keep him?” I got closer to her, but she let out a whimper.

  “Get that thing out of here, Josh, so help me God you will be leaving right along with him.”

  I laughed, “At least take a look at him. He won’t hurt you.”

  She watched as the small guy moved around my hand and she backed away. “Okay, I looked. Please, take him outside where he belongs?”

  I opened the door, setting the lizard down on a bush, telling him to scurry along. I was about to get lucky again, and no fucking reptile in the world was worth losing the fiery fox who was now a ball of anxiety. Upon returning, I saw she had disappeared. The kitchen was empty which left me one other option to check her bedroom. I peered in. The sound of running water caught my attention, and she called for me, standing near her dresser taking out delicates I’d rather she not wear at all.

  I walked in slowly, my eyes traveling over her robe-covered body. She turned to me and smiled. “I can handle spiders, snakes, hell, even roaches. Don’t ever get me near a lizard again.”

  That only made me laugh more, and I was realizing how amazing it felt to be in this woman’s presence. It only made me melt to the idea that this independent woman couldn’t do it all on her own. “No lizards then.” I winked as she took my hand and pulled me toward her shower.

  We said nothing as she pulled off my damp clothing. I helped her along, shucking off my shoes and standing before her. Her breathing increased as her eyes roamed over me, taking in the ink I’d amassed on my body over the years. Small, hesitant fingers traced over one of my many tattoos, but the ones she focused on were the ones I didn’t have the heart to talk about. Her dark eyes met mine, her fingers mapping first over a lily near a cross, and then over the cursive letters on my arm. Ventilabis praeteritum dolorem.

  “What does it mean?”
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  I could think of millions of reasons why I didn’t want to tell her, yet, I could give the translation without mentioning the meaning behind it. “Push past the pain,” I mumbled. The slight nod of her head told me she understood, and she stirred her hands forth, picking up the silver cross and pendant at my neck.

  “And these?”

  I swallowed back a lump in my throat, staring down at the redhead who was so tiny compared to me, I was surprised I hadn’t broken her. I was rough and big, where she was delicate and small. Such femininity next to a brute of a man, and yet, she wanted me. “The cross was my mother’s. The pendant is Saint Maria Goretti.”

  “I’m…” she shook her head, a sheepish countenance over her face, “I’m not Catholic. I don’t really know much about that.”

  “I’m not as devout as I should be, love. But I do pray. It helps me.”

  Her eyes widened, vulnerability oozing through, and I knew as much as she tried to hide it, the existence of it couldn’t be denied. “With what?”

  I curled my hand behind her neck, hauling her close, letting my lips touch hers in a tender manner. “Life, baby.” My forehead rested on hers for only a moment, before I reached for the ties of her robe and loosened them. In a swift motion, I tugged the fabric off of her and we both stood facing one another, completely naked, downright exposed. I tilted my head to the running water. “Get in the shower.”

  Despite my raging hard-on, my body screaming for hers, we took turns washing one another, our hands slowly discovering every part of our bodies. It was the most intimate, transcendental thing I was in the midst of feeling. Growing up in a tumultuous home, trust was a difficult thing to procure, but with her, I finally felt at peace.

  The water stopped and her breathing was the only thing I could hear as I began to dry her off. She gave a giggle when I ran the towel over her long hair, frizzing it up and making it a tangled mess. She in turn dried me, and we walked to the bed where I pulled down the covers and watched her slide in.

  “Get your English arse in here, McKenzie,” she said in jest, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I scooted in beside her, our bodies melding into one another.

  “I’ve got some Scottish in there somewhere, love.”

  “I figured. That whole McKenzie thing gives it away, you know.” She kissed my chest and my heart quickened as she then pressed her lips to the lily and cross. “These are all really beautiful tattoos, Josh.”

  I cleared my throat, letting my hand run through the locks of her damp hair that smelled of cinnamon and caramel. “Thank you.” Before she could ask me more, I bent toward her, taking her mouth to mine. She parted her lips enough to let me dip my tongue inside to taste her the way I would always want to. “My gorgeous girl,” I whispered, cupping her breasts, feeling her nipples peak against my coarse palms. “I need inside you, or I’ll go crazy.”

  Before I was sane enough to move any further, her hand clasped over my length and she started pumping as her mouth made her way down my stomach. The beautiful cherry lips I’d fantasized about were sucking, tugging, and nipping at me as I dug my hand in her hair in guidance. And when my eyes rolled back into my head, I groaned, because that’s when I was in her mouth, her tongue sliding over the hard ridges.

  I didn’t want her to ever stop, yet I craved to be in her, coming together. I tried to speak, but my brain wasn’t coherent as her hand moved in time with her mouth. The release would be fast if she didn’t halt soon. My hips jerked up that strain climbing throughout me. I wanted to speak, but my throat was closing up on itself, in need of my head to tell my tongue what to say. “Marla,” I moaned, trying to get her attention, but the pressure mounted as she moved her fist harder. “Stop. I need you.”

  Her mouth popped off of me as my hand tugged her hair leading her up and our lips collided, a tangle of tongues and teeth and mangled breathing becoming frantic. “Condom…” I groaned, remembering my wallet in my tossed aside jeans.

  She reached over and opened her nightstand, pulling one out and unwrapping it, our breathing labored as her fumbling fingers hovered over me. I helped clasp her wrist, steadying her hand as she slowly rolled it over me. I hissed through my teeth as her fingers moved down the base and stroked back up.

  In haste, I grabbed her, pinning her under me, ready for my body to fill hers. “I’m not going to be gentle right now, love. I’ve waited too long…”

  I got on my knees and saw her splayed open, awaiting me with anticipation. I positioned myself and pushed inside with insistence and desperation. I glided in so easily, and she was so tight, it drove me mad, each thrust getting rougher as my grunts began to fill the room along with her moans. I gripped the edge of the bedpost, my body filling her to the hilt. She was soft like silk, and the sounds of our bodies hitting each other was music. The bed was moving, driving me faster and higher as her cries filled the air. Louder and louder, the beautiful noise was drawing me in. I pulled her hips higher, hoping to hit her perfect spot, and she finally shattered.

  Her unraveling was my undoing. The pulse of her body around mine tugged on me as I drove inside her brutally, taking as much as I could. Her orgasm peaked again, and she was riding along with me. My growls were loud as I pushed inside her, then stilled, pouring into her, sinking over her, and enfolding her to me. Our heavy breathing matched one another, and I found myself emotionally entwined with her.

  Our sweaty, slick skin rubbed over each other as I pulled out of her and laid by her side. She rested her head over my heart as I continued to pant, trying to control this overwhelming feeling of something that couldn’t be explained. After each person I slept with, there was this feeling of isolation that I never understood. With her, I felt renewed. Alleviated from loneliness and desolation. Not so frightened of losing control. It was nothing short of miraculous, truth be told.

  “You’re shaking,” Marla stated breathlessly as she peered at me with curiosity. “Are you alright?”

  I grabbed her hand with mine, our fingers linking. “That was amazing, Red.”

  A playful smile spread across that angelic face as she kissed over my heart, then rested her head against me. “The best,” she whispered, her fingers lightly combing the sprinkle of hair on my chest. She propped herself up on her elbow looking down on me. “How long had it been since you’ve slept with someone?”

  I thought back to my last one-night stand. It wasn’t satisfying, and I certainly hadn’t felt cared for. I realized then that the girl had been hurt when I never called her back. I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. Days of empty screwing were gone. “Almost seven months.”

  “What?” She looked at me in shock. “That’s…wow. I’m impressed.”

  This woman’s responses never seemed to floor me. Her reactions seemed to throw me for a loop. “You were a bit of a distraction for me.”

  “I was a distraction?” She shifted to lay her body on top of mine. I let my hands tangle through the locks of her beautiful hair. “Why did you reject me before?”

  I trailed over the worry line between her brows, gazing into those brown eyes I always got lost in. “I wasn’t rejecting you.” I swallowed, demurely continuing, “I was waiting for the perfect moment.”

  Her bright eyes glistened, and I wondered if she was on the verge of tears. “Any moment would’ve been the perfect moment, Josh.” She leaned up and kissed my cheek. “Thank you for this.”

  “Sex?” I chuckled under my breath.

  “For making me feel beautiful.” I pulled her closer to my body, wanting her all over again.

  “Oh, love, you are.”

  She spoke again before I could steady my voice. “It takes a special person to make another person believe it.”

  I held back what I ultimately wanted to say. I could spend the rest of my life letting her know it was true.

  “Come on, you wanker, get a bloody move on,” I yelled as we sat on the sofa in Evan’s living room staring at the telly.

  “Shut the fuck up, Josh. Don’t do this
to me, man. Pay attention!” Evan cried like a little girl as he shot his submachine gun. “Was that you?”

  “No, I’m on the cruise ship right now. You in the dining room?”

  “My controls are off, bro. I don’t know what’s going on.”

  We sat beside each other but kept our eyes glued above to the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 game we played on his Xbox 360. Yeah, sometimes we acted like kids, but why the fuck not, right? “Is that a sniper? Shit, he took you down, mate.”

  The sounds of our shouts echoed through the house, and we continued playing as the front door opened and closed. The jingling of a collar let me know that Zach had entered with my dog. Hank took a seat on the couch between me and Evan as Zach plopped on the recliner nearby. “You guys are still playing that stupid game?”

  “It’s not stupid. You’re stupid,” Evan teased.

  “Why is it when you two play this thing, you turn into idiots?”

  “Because Zachary, we don’t typically act that way in everyday life, unlike someone sitting in this room,” I said mocking him.

  “Now, now, don’t hurt Hank’s feelings,” Zach shot back quickly. “Speaking of which, I used your dog to pick up chicks all weekend. It’s no wonder you take him everywhere with you.”

  The game I was playing disappeared, and I no longer cared if I lost. “You’re a dick.” I put my arm around my dog, scratching his fur and kissing his head. “Did that mean man bother you, Hank? I’m sorry.”

  Evan took a breath in and hesitated, looking at me in speculation. “Wait a minute. Why was Zach taking care of Hank this weekend?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” I said, putting the controller down. Zach snatched it up and started playing in my stead.

  “Yeah, it does. You take that dog everywhere with you unless you’re on a date.” Evan’s expression showcased a sly grin. “Uh-oh, someone got down and dirty this weekend.”