by Rae, Alicia
His breathing became shallow and heavy, and I knew he was right there with me. I clenched my inner muscles, increasing the compression around him. His erection swelled further and tipped us both over the edge.
Kyle collapsed over me while we both fought to catch our breaths. Gentle kisses bathed the top of my shoulder all the way to my neck until strong arms picked me up and carried me to the bathroom.
He was really spoiling me with the Jacuzzi. In fact, I decided it was now a requirement for all hotels in our future to have one. I let out a long, satisfied sigh as I sank into the bubbly warm water. My overworked muscles instantly relaxed. Kyle pulled me into his embrace, and I closed my eyes against his awaiting chest.
“Feel good?” His hands massaged my shoulders.
“Heavenly,” I whispered tiredly.
It was still fairly early, but with a five o’clock wake-up call on the way we would be turning in early tonight.
“Ready for our long car trip tomorrow?”
“I love car trips. It’s the destination that has me wound up,” I answered honestly.
I felt him nod in understanding against my wet hair.
“Then, we better make the most of our car trip,” he responded soothingly in my ear while his hands cleansed my body.
His phone rang in the other room as he started to wash me. Surprisingly, he ignored it. “We can extend our road trip one more day if you’re not ready.”
“I’m ready.” I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Thank you. This is just what I needed, and I’m ready to finish now.” My voice was calm and confident. With a clear mind, I was ready to make the final push and tie up loose ends.
“Okay.” He kissed my cheek. “Time for bed, sleeping beauty.”
He rose with me before I could protest. As he gathered me in an oversized cream-colored towel, I opened my arms and enclosed him underneath it with me. Leaning my forehead against his, I absorbed his presence.
After heading back into the room, I rummaged through my suitcase and sighed in frustration when I realized my favorite tee was dirty. A loud whoosh followed, and a T-shirt landed on my face. I lifted the shirt to see Kyle’s chest vibrating with silent laughter.
“Funny!” I laughed as I chucked my unused socks at him.
He ducked fast and charged at me. He swept me off my feet, and I squirmed in his arms, trying to free myself.
“You’re not going anywhere.” He smirked, unleashing those big brownish-green eyes on me. “Ever,” he whispered, setting me on my feet.
“Ever,” I agreed softly.
He climbed on the bed and pulled me into his arms. I closed my eyes, feeling a pure sense of belonging, as I drifted to sleep.
Five in the morning wake-up calls royally stunk. I silently thanked the heavens that my job did not require early hours. If it had, I would get fired.
“Ugh,” I grunted unhappily.
Kyle’s only response was to laugh at me.
I stared at him, mystified. Who laughs at five in the morning? It was completely unnatural. I shook my head and yawned as I got out of bed.
My wobbly legs carried me to my suitcase. It was definitely a T-shirt-and-sweats kind of day until my brain could function on all cylinders, which would not be for another four hours.
Kyle easily brought our suitcases through the main lobby and out to our rental car. As he opened my door, I noticed a smile tugging at his adorable lips.
He chuckled at my distracted state and kissed my nose. “My sleeping beauty is charming in the morning,” he teased kindly.
His sexy smile made my heart skip a beat in the early morning hours. I might have grunted my response, humoring him once again.
“Sleeping beauty needs to go back to sleep, I see.”
Once in the car, he pulled up to the main lobby doors and casually strode inside. My eyes were too heavy to question what he could possibly be doing now. My body just wanted sleep. He returned, carrying items in his hand.
“Here.” He handed me a pillow and blanket with the resort’s logo displayed on both items.
I smiled at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Kyle kissed me tenderly and pulled back. “Sweet dreams,” he added, knowing that I would be out cold in seconds.
My tired eyes quickly won the battle. Sleep pulled me back under as I inhaled the vanilla scent from the pillow and blanket.
I awoke later and looked at the display clock. It was 8:47. I felt refreshed and in a much better frame of mind to start my day. I stretched and turned my head to see Kyle’s eyes on the road. The radio was playing quietly in the background as the vents pumped continuous cool air into the car.
“Did you know you sleep almost ten hours every day?” He quirked an eyebrow in my direction.
I noticed three of the four cooling vents were pointed in his direction. He must have kept the windows shut, so I could sleep peacefully.
“Yep.” I yawned.
“Is that even healthy?” he questioned more to himself than me.
“Yep.” I smiled at his overprotectiveness.
“Ah…” Kyle smiled lovingly. “There’s my beautiful girl.”
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow at him. “Sleeping beauty isn’t beautiful?”
“Oh, she is,” he answered correctly. “She’s just a bit scary sometimes.”
I lifted a brow playfully at him while sitting up in my seat. Oh, I can’t wait to hear this. I laughed inwardly. “Scary?”
He nodded. “She has a blonde mop on her head in the morning…” Kyle kept his eyes on the road. “And she grunts,” he admitted sheepishly.
I stifled my amusement. “A mop?”
“Don’t worry. It’s a sexy mop. It’s all wild, like this…” Kyle used his knee to steady the wheel as he swirled his hands through his hair in a circular motion. He chuckled as he turned those humored eyes my way. “It looks as if I just devoured you.”
My cheeks pinked, knowing that I was a deep sleeper and maybe even a bit of a bed hog. I couldn’t help that my hair had a mind of its own after the fact.
I laughed at my early morning riser. For someone who was so serious most of the time, it was truly entertaining to see him open up.
“Aren’t you funny in the morning?” I smiled.
Kyle reached over to grab my hand and kissed it. “Just for you, beautiful.” He turned back to face the road. “We have a long drive today, so I hope you have something to keep you busy.”
Oh, do I have a treat for myself today. I pulled out my iPhone and started flipping through my apps. I waited in silence, knowing Kyle wouldn’t be able to hold back his questions for long.
“Your phone?” he probed, glancing at me like I had two heads. “That’s all you have to keep you occupied for another ten hours?”
I refrained from rolling my eyes as I opened my one and only favorite app. I leaned over and swiped my finger down the screen. Hundreds and hundreds of books on my digital bookshelves continued to scroll across my screen.
“You’re going to read on your phone?” he asked, like it was the most boring thing in the world.
“Yes.” I let out a dreamy sigh. “I have a long-awaited date with a novel I’ve been dying to get my hands on.” I clicked on the beautiful cover to open the book. “Now is the perfect time to read it.”
Kyle shook his head in amusement. It was safe to assume he didn’t reciprocate my love for reading. I chuckled, knowing it was one of our many differences.
“Have at it.”
“Oh, I will,” I answered, not paying him any attention anymore. My eager fingers flipped to the preface of the novel. I was thrilled that this book had caught my attention.
The story started off with a vision of five years in the future. The female lead seemed happy and in a good place. Emotions rolled through her beyond what I could imagine. It was as if she wasn’t human but something else, something that was ruled strictly by feelings.
It was a good thing
Kyle did not try to engage me in conversation because I was immediately pulled into the emotionally intense book. I reclined my seat and eagerly dived into chapter after chapter.
After the preface, the story introduced the traditional girl-meets-boy scenario, but secrets lingered in the corners of their relationship, waiting for each layer to slowly unveil itself. Apprehensive nerves awaited judgment. Of course, the largest secret was always saved for last. Could they make it that long? Each time they were together, their passion grew, and a connection formed. Their bond strengthened quickly, which was immediate and life-changing for both of them.
“I said, time for lunch, beautiful,” Kyle must have repeated himself.
I nodded as I tried to read one more sentence…or maybe one more paragraph. When he opened my door, I squinted at the bright light and slowly stood to his side. I put my screen on full brightness, hoping I could read it outside. Oh, thank God, it worked.
Kyle’s voice was full of amusement. “Good book?”
“Uh-huh.”
I swiped across the screen to go to the next page while Kyle led me into the restaurant with my free hand. I swiped to another page, needing to know how their first fight would end. I wanted the male lead to comfort the female and apologize in his soothing, manly tone, but this particular male was stubborn. It would break my heart if he walked out on her. She needed him.
I vaguely heard Kyle order me a cheeseburger and fries with a Coke. I didn’t even care about what I was going to eat as long as this book turned out the way I envisioned in my head. I wanted their perfect fairy-tale ending.
I practically cried out at the loss of my phone. My eyes flared, following the path of my phone. Only then did I realize Kyle was laughing his ass off.
“Wow.” He looked completely stunned. “I have never seen you so speechless for that long. It must be a really good book, or you need to join a bookaholics-anonymous group.”
I loved books as much as I loved to write. I didn’t want to give too much away. “Uh…um,” I stuttered. “It’s a really good book.”
He chuckled. “It must be for all the laughing, gasps, and grunts I’ve heard for the last few hours.”
“I did not do any of those things!” Okay, maybe I get carried away sometimes. Hell, I love to read more than I like watching movies.
“Oh yes, you did,” Kyle retorted, tucking my phone into his pocket.
I smiled kindly at the waiter as he set our drinks on the table before leaving us. My eyes flickered back to Kyle’s pocket and then gradually up to his eyes.
“You even elbowed the car door in frustration.” He was chuckling away now.
My eyebrows rose from not remembering when I’d hit the door.
“What happened? Did they break up? Or did the dude get put in the doghouse?”
A smile tugged at my lips from seeing him somewhat genuinely interested in something I loved.
“They had their first fight,” I confessed. I took a sip of the Coke in front of me. “The guy made a mistake, or assumptions I guess you would say. He needs to apologize and make it right.”
Kyle’s eyebrow quirked in that adorable way of his. “And you’re positive it was just his fault?”
I frowned. A relationship was about learning, trusting, compromising, and loving in equal gives and takes. I guess she was to blame for some of it. “No.”
“Thought so.” He smirked. “Maybe they should compromise,” he answered way too easily.
He was messing with me. I just knew it.
“Compromise?” I asked. “Do you even know the definition of that word?”
“Of course.”
“Uh-huh.”
The waiter came with our plates. He served Kyle first and then me before he graciously filled our glasses and went on his way.
“Cheeseburger?” I laughed and then took a big bite of the grilled perfection before me.
“Yep.” He let gave me a drop-dead sexy smile. “I asked you three times what you would like, but you seemed to be deep into your book, so I took it upon myself to order for you.”
“Good call,” I praised. I dug into my sandwich again. I wasn’t sure why I was so hungry, considering I’d been sitting on my bum all day. Truth be told though, I was starving, and the burger was hitting the spot just right. “So, what time will we make it to my house?”
“Probably around ten tonight,” Kyle answered, sitting back in his seat. “Are you ready to go back?”
I was, but I wasn’t. It was a love-hate relationship that my inner thoughts were battling over. Remembering my victory flag at the top of the mountain was the only thing that kept me going. I was ready to close that door once and for all. I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way.
“I am.” I looked back up to see Kyle’s sincere expression.
He was always so worried about how I was feeling or if I was going to be okay.
I wanted to be strong again. “I’m ready to move forward.”
Kyle reached his long arm across the small table and enclosed my hand in his. “Me, too,” he said, his voice soft and tender.
***
I immediately went right back into my book. I impatiently turned each page, waiting to see how the story would turn out. At the end, I knew I would be mad at myself for finishing it too quickly. I was so eager to know how it turned out, but at the same time, I would miss the characters and storyline. This was also known as a book hangover. And this particular book was bound and determined to give me one.
The main couple’s first argument in the novel turned out to be the least of their problems. I was awed to see how easily they worked together, how they stood united, how they fought for their love and then came out on the other side stronger. They needed to beat the obstacles in front of them. Everything was trying to tear them apart. From the beginning, it was as if they were jinxed with a dark cloud destined to break them. It was heartbreaking.
I wanted to jump into the story, so I could defend and save them from the pain and heartache surrounding them.
When I couldn’t see the words anymore, it took me a moment to realize why. My vision was blurry with tears. I rapidly wiped them away and darted my eyes to Kyle to make sure he wasn’t observing my emotional meltdown.
But he was.
Mortification and embarrassment filled my senses. I felt my whole face flush while he took in the depths of my emotions.
Kyle’s right hand left the wheel and folded around mine. He squeezed gently. “It’s just a book, Lily.” He tried to soothe with a soft, gentle tone. His confused expression showed he wasn’t sure how to process my over-the-top emotions.
After all, it was just a book. I should not let it affect me so deeply. “I know,” I said more to reassure myself than him. “Sometimes, my silly emotions just take over before I can reel them in.”
“What happened in the story now?”
“They broke up.” My voice was quiet. I was filled with dismay…over characters. My mother had always told me I had a sensitive heart.
Kyle looked at me, silently telling me to continue, so I did.
“He lied, and she can’t forgive him. She felt betrayed. It was too deep,” I added, knowing my answer wouldn’t make sense to him.
“What did he lie about?”
“His past. He kept big things from her.”
Kyle was quiet for a moment. At first, I thought he was going to say something, but then he was in driving mode. He veered to the right and switched highways.
“Lied or withheld things?” he probed.
I guessed the male lead didn’t technically lie. He just didn’t offer certain parts of himself. But, to me, that seemed like lying.
I shifted in my seat. I was uncomfortable from being in the car for so long. The sun coming in through windows felt hot, so I turned on the air before facing Kyle again.
“Withheld things.” I let out a sigh. “Important things.”
Kyle was quiet again. I could see his thoughts turning.
&
nbsp; “Maybe he wasn’t ready yet, or maybe the time wasn’t right. It doesn’t mean that he loves her any less. It means that those things have to progress over time. I’m sure he will confide in her when the time is right.”
“What if the time is never right? At what point does keeping secrets become unfair and hurtful to the other person? She gave him her heart, and she wanted his back…without secrets.”
“Lily, when a man truly loves a woman and he can’t imagine his life without her, I believe the rest will fall into place. A man in love wouldn’t keep secrets. He would wait for the right time to share himself with her. Nothing could ever come in the way of their love. It would be constant and always growing.”
My mouth was agape. I was stunned by his speech, and his words repeated over and over in my mind. Wow, the man has a way with words. My sexy, rough, and tough alpha seemed to have a hidden inner romantic side.
I bit my lip and then smiled, thinking of how very much I loved that. Every time he opened up, my heart swelled, and I fell in love a little more. I wasn’t sure how it was possible to love him more than I already did, but it happened every time he revealed more of himself. I loved his words and simple gestures, his overbearing protectiveness, the way he wanted to take care of me and shield me from heartache, and so many other things.
“Constant and growing?” I repeated, loving the sound of that.
Kyle smiled tenderly and winked at me. “Every day,” he promised.
My heart swooned on the spot.
Quickly, he kissed my lips, and then he focused back on the road. “Finish your book, beautiful girl. I’m sure they’ll get their happy ending.”
I settled back into my seat again, making myself comfy for the long haul as I put my feet on the dashboard. I drove right back into the next chapter in my book. The lead female claimed she needed space and time to process her feelings and decide what her future would hold. She had been so strong and confident throughout the whole book. I admired her. I wanted her strength. I wanted to be able to let go and move forward as easily and gracefully as she did.