Blessed Tragedy

by HB Heinzer

  Colton slid from under me, scooping me into his arms once he was standing. “Not here...” he panted through more searing kisses. “Let's go to bed.”

  I used the trip from the veranda through the house and upstairs to run my fingers along the ink covering his chest before digging my nails into his bicep. When we walked into the master bedroom I was rendered speechless by the serene beauty. Colton gently laid me on the feather soft king-size bed covered in crisp white and pale blue linens. I moved to the edge of the bed to help Colton out of his clothes but he gently pushed me back.

  “Relax, baby. Tonight's all about you.” The sensual tone in voice brought my core to life. He leaned over, undoing the button on my jeans before slowly unzipping them. His fingers hooked in the waistband, pulling them away from my body so I laid before him in nothing but my panties.

  He bent over to remove his boots, dropping his jeans at the same time so he was standing before me, stark naked. He started kissing the arch of my foot and I shuddered. Noticing my reaction, he lightly licked from my heel up to my big toe.

  “Never took you for a foot man,” I said breathlessly.

  “I'm not, just starting from one end and working my way up. I want every sweet inch of you.” By the time he kissed and massaged his way from my left foot to my thigh I was ready to lose it. I wanted this man. He got close enough that his nose brushed against my damp panties before dropping back, taking my right foot in his hand.

  “Colton, please...” I panted.

  “Patience, baby.” He looked up at me through hooded eyes before returning his attention to my leg. He pressed my knees apart, kissing and sucking on the back of my knee.

  I reached down, knotting my fingers in his hair. “I'm not asking you nicely again. If you don't get up here, I'm coming down there and I will get what I want.” I pulled him up by his hair. He was so worried about giving me the perfect first time together that he was going to drive us both insane if he kept this pace.

  “Will you always be this bossy and demanding?” He laughed. After shifting me on the bed, he leaned over me, his blue eyes staring into my green. “Because I think I like it.”

  He might have said he enjoyed me telling him exactly what I wanted, but apparently that had no influence on what he was going to do. His body pressed against mine as he slid up to meet me on the bed. My hips arched as I felt his bare cock rub against my panties.

  “I think you forgot something,” I moaned impatiently, reaching down to rid myself of the offending material. He pinned my hands over my head with one of his large, calloused hands, the other gently cupping my breast, drawing my nipple into a tight peak.

  The stubble of his beard brushed my cheek as he slowly kissed his way up my neck. “Patience,” he whispered before grazing his teeth across my ear.

  Colton moved his free hand to my aching left breast so tenderly I could barely feel his fingers brushing the skin. My entire body bucked as he took the right breast into his mouth, sucking and swirling his tongue around the tender nipple.

  “I need you.” I had been reduced to a breathless, panting puddle. “Please, Colton!”

  Content with the pace he was taking, Colton grazed the skin of my stomach just as tenderly before dipping his fingers beneath the waistband of my lace panties. Before reaching my pulsing clitoris, his hand pulled out of my pants and he shot me a wicked smile. He knew exactly what he was doing to me and it was apparent I'd lost the battle to see who could hold out the longest.

  “So help me, Colton...” I writhed under his body, desperate to free myself and take control of the situation. It was a futile effort that only served to bring me closer to the edge of my orgasm as he met every jolt of my body with his hard length.

  “Did you want something?” He asked in a sickeningly sweet tone. I felt the pre-come on my stomach as he continued to grind against my body.

  “Fuck you!” I wasn't sure if it was my way of telling him what I thought of him or begging him for what I wanted. My body continued to jerk in vain, trying to free myself from his grasp and he laughed.

  “Such an impatient girl,” he chided. Then his body was to the side of mine, his right hand still pinning both of mine above my head. He reached under me, squeezing one cheek tightly as he found the waistband. This time he worked my now drenched panties from my hips and I violently kicked them to the floor.

  He released my hands from his grasp and I dug my nails into his tight ass cheeks pulling him to my core. His body eased back down until his throbbing cock met my wet folds but he still refused to take me. With long strokes he rubbed himself against my clit causing me to scream his name as my body thrashed against him in my first release of the night.

  Two fingers plunged into me, pulling against my still tight walls taking me higher once again. “I think you're ready now,” he proclaimed, removing his fingers. He licked one digit clean before offering me the other, “See how sweet you are? Fucking amazing.” Never before in my life had I willingly tasted myself but there was no way I would deny this man anything. I took the finger into my mouth, drawing it deeper until it was licked clean of my essence.

  Despite the central air conditioning, our bodies slid against one another devoid of friction thanks to the thin sheen of sweat we'd worked up through foreplay. When Colton was positioned with the tip of his cock at my entrance, he stopped. “There's no turning back, you're sure about this?” His brow was furrowed and his eyes were filled with concern that I might actually change my mind. How he thought I would have been capable of telling him to stop in the state he'd put me in I'll never know.

  “Yes, dammit!” I screamed, jerking my hips to meet his. Never in my life had I felt as full as I did when that one move thrust him inside of me to the hilt. “Fuck!”

  Colton drew in a sharp breath and growled at my sudden movement. “Jesus, woman! Are you trying to kill me?” He stilled himself, trying to regain control before slowly pulling back to the point where only the head remain inside me.

  We lay there together for a moment, our eyes locked on one another, breathing shallow and fast, before he slowly eased himself deep into me. A slow and gentle rhythm developed; in, out, back in and then gently rocking his pubic bone against the top of my mound.

  When I felt his balls tighten, I reached down, gently pulling on them, tracing one finger along the tender skin. With three fast, deep thrusts, he sent me over the edge as he exploded inside of me. We laid there for a long moment, still joined together trying to catch our breath.

  He eased himself down so his forearms were holding him above me. “I told you...epic.” Colton then proceeded to shower my face, neck and shoulders with quick kisses.

  “Epic,” I agreed sleepily, pulling him close enough to bury my face in his neck.

  “When I get back, I really hope you won't try that slow, teasing shit again.” I'd managed to go longer than I cared to admit without having sex, but now that I'd had a taste of the best sex on record, I wasn't looking forward to a week or longer without it.

  “Oh, trust me; I'll make sure it's worth it for you.” Colton shifted so he was laying next to me on the bed, our arms still wrapped around one another.

  The sun flooding through the full length windows pulled me out of one of the few restful sleeps I'd had in the past month. I smiled at the sight of my naked body tangled with Colton's before trying to figure out how I would get out of the bed without waking him.

  It was already after seven. If I was going to make my flight home, I had to hurry. After an awkward call to the cab company that forced me to not only go outside but to the end of the block to give them the address, I took a quick shower in one of the guest bathrooms so as to not wake Colton. He didn't need his sleep cut short and I wasn't in the mood to fight with him again about him staying here.

  With a quick note placed in front of the coffee pot, I quietly walked through the front door. Realizing it was just as hard to leave him now as it had been when my mom died, I knew without a doubt that Colton wasn't the on
ly one in love.

  Chapter Eleven

  It only took two days and seven hours for word to hit the streets of Lexington that a “celebrity” was in their midst. Honestly, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to people making a big fuss about me, especially when I'm sitting in the breakfast nook at my dad's house trying to enjoy a cup of coffee, but it is what it is. When I jumped online only to find a picture of myself walking out of the local doughnut shop with powdered sugar on at the corners of my mouth, it made me more than just a little crabby.

  “Dammit, why can't people in this town mind their own damn business?” I said to no one in particular since I was sitting alone in the kitchen.

  Well, I didn't mean to say it to anyone but my dad chose that moment to come downstairs. There was definitely something going on with him if I was waking up before he was, I just hadn't found the right time to broach the subject. I needed to get on that since I told the guys I'd be gone ten days, tops and I was already on day three.

  “What's going on, Moo?” I tried to ignore the bags under Dad's still dull eyes and the hollow cheeks. He didn't look good at all this morning.

  “Apparently, I can't leave the house in this forsaken town. Some asshole took a picture of me yesterday morning.” I flinched at my curse, expecting Dad to say something but he simply sat across from me listening to me rant. “Seriously, why is it that big a deal if I get a powdered doughnut? It's not like I'm Hannah-freaking-Montana or something. I'm the lead singer of a decent band that hasn't even headlined yet.” I slumped back in my chair with a puff, trying to get the ruby red bangs out of my eyes. This getting up in the morning thing didn't seem to be going so well for me.

  “Can I point out the obvious?” Dad cupped his coffee in both hands and I saw a slight tremor as he raised the mug to his lips. “When you walk around a town this size looking the way you do, you're going to attract attention. And that hair is like a neon sign saying 'Look at me, I'm Rain Maxwell'.”

  He was right, of course, but I had never been a fan of disguises. To me, the thought of throwing on a baseball cap and sunglasses screamed “Look at me, I'm somebody trying to make sure you don't know who I am!”

  That was what led me on an adventure that was sure to piss off Tanya, our well-meaning and overbearing manager. Of course, being home, I wasn't living in Rain Maxwell mode, I was simply Maddie Neumann, the almost twenty-five year old daughter of Thomas Neumann of Lexington. That wasn't a good thing because I wasn't thinking about needing to consult with anyone before acting on my impulses, doing things like drastically changing my appearance.

  Eight hours after grabbing the Mazda keys off the hooks inside the front door, I replaced them feeling amazing, liberated and perhaps just a bit paranoid of the fallout. The ruby red curls that had become my signature were gone. I felt good about the new razor cut, nearly black 'do with a bright blue undertone. With a little – okay, a lot – of help from a flat iron, even my dad admitted that it looked good. Yes, my conservative dad who I'd avoided for so long was now complimenting me on the bright blue in my hair. On top of that, I'd made the decision to ditch the green contacts in favor of my natural eye color, even going so far as to pick up a pair of funky glasses for daily wear. With the hair, my light brown eyes resembled the color of steeped tea. It was a seriously killer look. I just had to hope it was different enough to throw the locals off my trail long enough to take care of business and get the hell out of dodge.

  Having the day to myself, with no one demanding anything of me, was just what I needed to refocus my mind. I'd been avoiding talking to my dad about what was going on but there was no denying something wasn't right with him. After dropping my bags in my bedroom, I bounded down the stairs to the rec room.

  “Hey stranger! Dad spilled the beans you were here but I figured he was losing it.” Mike pulled himself off the couch and lifted me off the ground in a tight hug. “Keep this up and we're going to expect you home for the holidays.”

  I glared at Mike, not wanting to get into the reasons for my trip home with Dad sitting on the sectional watching baseball. Knowing I was going to be heading back to Florida soon, I decided I'd start by talking to my brother, see if he knew anything. If nothing else, he could keep an eye on things while I was gone and let me know if anything happened.

  “Is Dad sick?” I blurted once I had dragged him to the back patio.

  “Not that I know of. Why?”

  “Why?” That question worried me far more than it should have. “Have you looked at him? He looks like shit; he's barely eating and he's been sleeping until after nine every morning.”

  Mike sighed. “Moo, you can't expect him to get right back to living. It hasn't even been a month since Mom--”

  I cut him off, not letting him say the dreaded word. Yes, she was gone, but I hadn't once been able to verbalize that fact since coming home.

  “It's not that. Seriously, Mike, do you think I'd be home if I thought it was grieving?” It was actually somewhat surprising to me that Mike hadn't questioned why I was home but that was beside the point.

  “I think you're in hyper-vigilant mode after what happened with Mom. I love you, you know that, but don't you think we'd know if something was going on? Matt and I are over here all the time and he hasn't said anything.”

  Through the French doors from the house to the patio, I saw Dad was, once again, sound asleep. He'd managed to stay up for nine hours before having to sleep this time; and that's if he didn't nap while I was gone. Maybe things seemed normal to Mike but they definitely weren't and it was obvious to me that I needed to at least get confirmation on the what within the next week so I could get my brothers on board with taking care of him once I had to leave.

  “Have you thought about the fact that with everything going on with Mom he wouldn't say anything? You know him better than I do, and unless something's changed, he wouldn't have wanted anyone paying attention to him when they should have been paying attention to her. Admit it.”

  Mike focused on his feet as he kicked stones off the patio. “Yeah, you're right about that. And, I suppose, if something is wrong, you would be the one to see a drastic change.” My brother was actually conceding defeat. He was agreeing with me. If there really is a Hell, I'm pretty sure it froze over in that moment. “So, what do you suggest we do, oh wise baby sister?”

  “You might not like my answer.”

  “No, I might not. And I might surprise you and love it. Tell me.” I'd never been close to Mike, but tonight felt like we'd had this relationship our entire lives. It was nice to feel so normal for once.

  “Call Matt, tell him to meet us down at the bar. I don't want to talk about this around Dad just yet, and if Matt shows up, he's going to suspect something.”

  From the outside looking in, I'm sure the Neumann family looked just like any other family. What no one could know is I'm just as much a stranger to them as they are to me. That's why it surprised me when he was on board with my idea, picking up his phone before I could finish explaining.

  “You gonna call Mark to let him know what you're thinking?” Mike asked while he waited for Matt to pick up. I knew what he was getting at; that I had been upset when I wasn't kept in the loop and therefore he expected me to let Mark know. I had no intention of doing that. Not yet. The way I saw it, there was no point in worrying him until we knew there was something to worry about. And knowing Mark, he'd do nothing but freak out as soon as he knew anything.

  “Nah, let's keep it the three of us until we know if there's a problem. But then, we are going to call him. And if something happens after I go back, I want you to promise me here and now that you will not keep me out of the loop again.”

  Matt agreed to meet us at the bar an hour later, so I left Mike to keep Dad company while I found something to wear. Had I realized I'd be back so soon, I would have left the suitcase I'd brought home for the funeral in the closet. Instead, I was forced to find something that didn't make me look like I was either trying to hang onto my teen years
or I was a fashion reject who didn't realize times had changed.

  Never one to shy away from going out, I felt apprehensive as I finished putting on a pair of short denim shorts with a plain black t-shirt and flip flops. Knowing at least one person in town was making their way to being best friends with the gossip sites, I worried about what people would think if pictures of me dressed like this got out. Then I realized the bigger issue would be if Tanya saw pictures of me out on the town and it had nothing to do with my clothes. In an effort to give the guys a heads up, just in case, I snapped a quick picture of myself on my phone, complete with the most incredible duck lips I could manage because duck lips make everything fun, and sent it off to Colton. After that, I reminded myself that I'd spent years not giving a damn what others thought and tonight was not the time to do so.

  Matt was sitting at one of the high tables along the front wall when we got there. Luckily, he was prepared and had the first pitcher of beer ordered.

  “Hey Moo, found your way back home?” He asked with a smirk. Apparently, after spending so much time avoiding everyone, this was going to be my punishment for a while. In the long run, I figure it's a small price to pay to get things back to how they should be with my brothers.

  “Something like that,” I said dryly. “But don't worry, I'll be out of your hair again soon enough.”

  Things with Matt definitely weren't as easy as they could have been. Then again, he and I were never close; I was the much younger sister always getting in the way.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when Mike sat down next to me. It was a small gesture, but to me, it told me that he was on my side when it came to talking to Matt about our dad. He reacted much the same as Mike had, telling me I was out of touch and the only thing wrong with Dad was that he was tired from taking care of mom when she was sick and now grieving his loss. Mike didn't let on he'd said the same thing at first and he backed every observation I made, to the point of telling Matt I was probably the only one of us in the best position to actually see what was going on. By the time Matt stood to leave in a huff thirty minutes later, it was apparent that this was going to be a battle Mike and I fought on our own; Matt was perfectly content to let Dad live his life however he saw fit. That saddened me but didn't surprise me.