When It Hits You (The It Series Book 1)

by Nicki Elson

  “You want the short, non-committal answer or all the painful, intimate details?”

  “How about something in between?”

  He filled her in on his business dealings and then asked about her work—and actually listened. He laughed at all the right times, poured more wine before her glass was empty, and was an all-around excellent date. By the time they’d finished eating and passed on dessert, they’d fallen into a comfortable flirtation. She felt inclined to invite him up to her apartment afterward for a bit of kissing.

  He held her light leather jacket while she slipped her arms in. After she draped her billowy cotton scarf around her neck, they stepped into the mild spring evening. The rain seemed to be done for now, but March in Chicago always carried moisture in the air. Acoustic, coffeehouse-type music spilled onto the sidewalk from one of the neighboring businesses, setting a relaxed mood. Sean laced his fingers through hers.

  “Mind if we stop by a cigar shop Chuck told me about?” he asked. “I think it’s about a block from here.”

  “I know the one.”

  “Yeah?” He raised an intrigued eyebrow. “Would you like an after-dinner puff?”

  She tilted her head, giving him a coy grin. “Sure.”

  After a soft chuckle, he slipped his fingers out of hers and used them to touch her chin and lift it toward him. “Well then, I suppose I should get this out of the way before you get cigar breath.”

  His eyes dropped to rove over her mouth, but before he leaned in, a familiar gait—or was it his cologne carrying on the wind? Or maybe an extrasensory perception—caused Lyssa to turn her head to the side. Hayden was no more than two yards away, heading straight toward them. Of all the sidewalks in all the neighborhoods in all of the city, he was walking down hers. It was impossible for her to pretend she didn’t see him. His eyes locked onto her, and they both plastered on fake smiles.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked as he drew closer.

  “My favorite men’s store is a few blocks away. I was getting fitted for one last suit.”

  “Oh.” Shaking off her surprise at seeing him, she said, “Sean, this is Hayden. We work together, or did until he got a better offer on the East Coast.”

  “Yeah? Where on the coast?” Sean asked, offering his hand.

  “Boston.”

  “I’m in New York.” The men pumped once and let go.

  That’s when the awkward silence set in. Lyssa was afraid to look directly at Hayden again. She didn’t want to see pain or frustration written across his features. Did he realize she and Sean were on a date? Had he seen the almost-kiss?

  “Well, I’ve got a lot to get packed and squared away, so…” When Hayden’s voice trailed off, Lyssa braved a look up. His smile looked less tight than it had before. She saw neither pain nor frustration in it. What she saw was determined acceptance. “Nice to meet you, Sean. Take care, Bates.”

  He stepped around them, and Lyssa watched as he continued down the sidewalk. The mellow, beatnik tunes that flowed from an unidentified source seemed to bounce off of him, and a range of emotions surged through her. She was losing him. Or maybe she already had. His “take care” had sounded like a permanent goodbye. He disappeared around the corner, and the anvil was back, crashing straight through her ribcage. She couldn’t breathe. She was losing him.

  “Where were we?” Sean said, moving in close. He guided her face toward his and ran his thumb over her lower lip. Why was she willing to give this guy, this stranger, a chance while she let everything she cared about walk away? Hayden loved her; she believed that, and she loved him. In the history of risk taking, had there ever been a better reason to take a chance than genuine, heart-pounding, scary-ass love?

  Sean bent to kiss her.

  With both hands to his chest, she held him back. “I have to go.”

  One side of his mouth raised and he half chuckled, but when she balanced herself with a hand on his shoulder, pulling off her high heels while she babbled in a rush, “I promise I’m not a horrible person. You just keep catching me at really inconvenient times. You’re a great guy, really, and maybe in other circumstances—”

  He straightened, causing her to wobble. His smile vanished. “You are not fucking serious.”

  “I’m so sorry.” She backed away with a shoe in each hand, the bottoms of her bare feet chilled on the cold sidewalk. “I love him, and I have to tell him right now.”

  “I am going to murder Chuck and Amy and all their future offspring while they sleep!”

  His abruptly prickish attitude alleviated some of her guilt. She didn’t have time to deal with his tantrum, so she shouted, “Give them my regards!” and pivoted away from him. She didn’t look back as she dodged pedestrians on her way to Hayden. Navigating around the corner, she searched through the stream of people and spotted the black waves at the back of his head. He was already so far away, and she panicked, feeling like he could evaporate out of her vision at any second and she’d never be able to find him again.

  “Hayden!” she screamed. Along with several other faces, his turned toward her. After assessing that it was only a crazy lady, all but one head swiveled back around. Only Hayden’s gaze stayed steady upon her. His eyebrows pulled together, and his mouth pressed into a straight line, as if he, too, thought she was nuts.

  She was.

  “Hayden.” Her whimper was so quiet that even she almost didn’t hear it. With her eyes fixed only on him, she sprang back into the throng, her feet slapping the cold concrete. Hayden took one step toward her, keeping an eyebrow slightly cocked, but then he stopped and stood in place, watching her. After all her waffling, she couldn’t blame him for being unsure about what she was up to now.

  As she drew closer, she saw only one way to make her intentions absolutely clear. Launching off one foot, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her mouth on his. She’d never been so glad for her penchant for pants than when his hands cupped around the tops of her thighs and lifted her so she could circle her legs around his waist. His hands slid to the small of her back as his mouth opened under hers, and they indulged in a full-on make out in the middle of the busy sidewalk. She was barely aware of the clapping and catcalls in the background.

  When she emerged from his all-consuming taste, she continued to touch small kisses to his lips, whispering, “I love you, Hayden. I love you. I want to try.” His hands lightened their pressure on her back, and she unwound her legs, lowering her feet to the ground. But she kept her arms crossed behind his neck, a shoe still in each hand.

  Cradling the side of her face, his thumb tickling her cheek, he said, “Let’s do this right, okay?”

  “’Kay.”

  “Lyssa Whatever-your-middle-name-is Bates, will you be my one and only girlfriend?”

  She giggled through her yes, and they kissed again. But soon, she slid her shoes to either side of his face and used the heels of her hands to pull him back. When he opened his eyes, her expression fell into a foreboding scowl. “Before we go too far down this road, there’s something you should know.”

  His eyes flicked over her face, and the goofy grin that had flirted upon his lips retreated. “What?”

  When the crease between his eyebrows was fully indented, she answered, “My middle name is Marie.”

  Within milliseconds, his mouth was back on hers, and she felt his wide smile match hers until they once again melted into each other.

  Chapter 22

  Exactly One Year Later

  “I’VE GOT A SURPRISE,” Hayden said.

  “Me, too.” Lyssa smiled.

  Hayden had flown into Chicago to celebrate their one-year anniversary, which they’d decided to define as the date on which they’d started kissing and never stopped. They sat in the same Old Town restaurant where she’d dined with Sean that fateful night.

  “You go first,” Lyssa said.

  “Okay. This is a good news/bad news kind of thing. Which one should I start with?”
r />   Lyssa scowled. “Anniversary surprises aren’t supposed to have bad things attached.”

  “Sorry, hun. This one does. So which will it be?”

  “The bad.”

  “I thought so. The bad news is that my travel schedule is going to increase.”

  “By how much?” His current slate of business trips already put a dent in the amount of time they could spend together.

  “It’ll likely double.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t want to be unsupportive of his career, but there was no purpose in hiding her disappointment; he already expected it. “I think I need a shot of the good news now.”

  “The reason it’s going to increase is because I’ll have to spend one week a month in Boston.” He watched the confused crease form in Lyssa’s brow, and his lips spread into a grin. “Carlo agreed to let me base myself out of Chicago—on a trial basis.”

  “Really?” Her face exploded into a smile, and she instinctively reached her hands across the table, where his jumped up to receive them.

  “Yep.”

  “I didn’t even know that was a possibility.”

  “I didn’t want to say anything because I wasn’t sure he’d go for it. It’s taken a couple of months to convince him, but pretty good timing, huh?”

  “Yeah. The timing’s definitely interesting.” She looked down at the table and ran her thumbs over the sides of his hands.

  “But you caught the part about trial basis, right? After three months, we’ll evaluate how it’s going, and there’s a possibility they’ll want me to move back out east. But I promise you—I’m going to do everything I can to make this work. Even if they call me back, I can start looking for different job opportunities around here.”

  “You’d do that?” She glanced up.

  “To be with you more, of course I would. I’m tired of having to say goodbye to you, Bates.” He squeezed her hands and stared directly into her eyes. “But since it’s all tentative right now, I’m not sure it makes sense for me to sign a full year lease on an apartment, and short-term rentals are so damn expensive, so I was thinking…”

  “You want to move into my place.” Uncertainty pinched Lyssa’s features.

  “Yes. If you’re ready for that step. I am. But if you’re not, I’ll figure something else out.”

  Lyssa shook her head, “No, Hayden, it’s fine. You’re welcome to move in. It’s just that nobody else will be there.”

  Hayden’s grip on her hands slackened, and he leaned back, a shadow crossing his handsome face. Lyssa slid her hands completely out from under his and reached down to pull an envelope from her purse. She unfolded the letter that was inside and handed it across the table. It was an acceptance letter to the MBA program at Boston University.

  Hayden stared at the paper for several moments. Then he slowly lifted his gaze with the hint of a smile playing on his lips. “You never mentioned BU.”

  She shrugged. “I wasn’t sure I’d get in, and then it was all reliant on getting approved for a partial grant that came in last week. I didn’t want to say anything ahead of time and jinx it. They have a really great two-year, full-time program, and I’ve decided full immersion is the right route for me.”

  “You’re definitely going?”

  “That’s the plan. It’ll mean loans in addition to the grant, but when I mentioned graduate school to my parents, my dad showed the first ounce of enthusiasm I’ve seen from him in a while, and he wants to help out.”

  Hayden wagged his head from side to side, grinning. “I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

  “Well, I’ll need to be frugal on living expenses, so if you know of anyone looking for a roommate…”

  Hayden pulled out his phone and started tapping away.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Texting Carlo with a huge never mind.” He stopped tapping. “So this means…you’re ready to move in together? You’re sure?”

  She bit her lip and nodded. Hayden catapulted from his chair and kneeled beside her, attacking her face with tiny kisses while he threaded his fingers into her hair. Lyssa would’ve liked to have kissed back, but she was laughing too hard.

  Later that night, on Lyssa’s futon, their kisses were slower, longer, and deeper. Gripping the thick waves at the back of his head, she opened her eyes. Even after a year of being a couple, she sometimes needed these reassurances that it was really him. She loved him so much, and her affection increased every day. She’d expected to have moments of distrust, especially with him living in another city, but once she’d made the decision to give this relationship a chance, she refused to let doubt in until he gave her a reason for it. So far, he hadn’t.

  Closing her eyes again, she ran her hand up Hayden’s firm chest. His hands roamed over her hips and thighs, his fingers pushing beneath her bikini panties to grab hold of his favorite of her assets. They kneeled in front of each other, and he pulled her to him.

  Hayden had been right all along—the Vibster couldn’t replace real men entirely. There was no satisfactory substitute for having the warm body of someone she loved wrapped around her. But Vibrizzio was still in the picture. Her faithful friend was a godsend for getting her through her boyfriend’s absences. She and Hayden often brought him out to play when they were together, but not always.

  Hayden’s warm lips traveled over her clavicle, past her bra strap, and to her shoulder. She adored it when he took his time building up to the act, peeling off clothing bit by bit, easing into it slowly, deliberately. He could be a very patient—and taunting—lover. Of course, she’d also liked it earlier that day, when minutes after arriving, he’d stripped her bare and taken her roughly against the inside the front door. If any neighbors had been in the stairwell, they’d gotten a good earful. She loved every time with Hayden.

  “I have another surprise for you,” he murmured. Pulling away, he reached into his weekend bag on the floor next to the bed.

  Lyssa was still half in a daze from his kisses when he handed her a wrapped package. Shaking her head into focus, she unwrapped it and found a garish, elongated monstrosity inside. It was huge, longer and wider than any iteration of Vibrizzio she’d ever owned, and made of transparent, silvery plastic that revealed the guts of the complex operation. Three rows of colorful beads wrapped around its middle like a Mardi Gras choker, and a smaller limb branched out from the side, topped with what looked like wispy cockroach antennae. At its base was a small panel filled with buttons.

  A proud grin stretched across Hayden’s face. “This is the iPhone of Vibrizzios—it does everything.”

  “Yeah, including terrify me.” She let out a nervous laugh, and he took the package from her, ripping apart the casing and pulling off the batteries that she now noticed had been taped to it.

  “Hush, you’re going to love it. Look.” He inserted the batteries and pressed a button. “It even lights up.” Sure enough, Darth Dildo glowed.

  “Why?”

  “All the better to see you with?” He stared curiously at the contraption and then flicked another button. The entire thing whirred, sending the wispy bits flailing about while the head pulsed and rotated halfway in one direction before whipping around in the other. Another flick sent it into hyper drive. When he moved it toward her, Lyssa yelped and scurried to the edge of the mattress. “Darling, that’s rude,” he said. “You’re going to make your new lover feel bad.”

  “Look, I appreciate the thought, but that thing is far too advanced for me. I’m really quite fine with my standard models.”

  “Oh baby, quite fine isn’t good enough for the future Mrs. King.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Did I miss something at dinner? I don’t remember a huge rock being placed on my finger.”

  “Think of this as a test to see how big you can handle.” He inched the monstrosity closer and she scooched back one inch too far. Her hand met empty space and plummeted downward, taking the rest of her body with it.

  She thudded onto the f
loor. “Ow,” she whined as she propped herself up with her smarting arm.

  Hayden peered at her over the edge of the bed. “No worries. I think this has a massage mode.” He pressed yet another button and sent the entire thing undulating from base to tip. It throbbed, emitting a steady moan that sounded distinctly like the groan of a cow in heat.

  Lyssa was taken over by a fit of giggles and crumpled back onto the floor.

  Hayden laughed, too, and asked, “Are you okay?”

  He shut off the monster and helped her back onto the bed, where they got more serious. Between kisses and caresses, she agreed to give the new toy a shot, and he agreed to take it slowly. The kisses turned to bites and suckles and the caresses into gropes. Somewhere amid it all, the new Vibrizzio got pushed aside, completely forgotten as Lyssa’s body responded to Hayden’s rocking inside her. Her leg kicked out, shoving the machine to the floor, and neither of them even realized it was gone.

  THE END

  Note from the Author

  Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Lyssa’s story. If you have a minute, please share your thoughts about When It Hits You with other readers by posting a short review at Amazon (or a long one, if that’s how you roll).

  The It Series continues in When It Holds You, available at Amazon. Read the first chapter right here after the acknowledgments.

  Sign up for Nicki’s News, my monthly e-newsletter, to keep up with my writing adventures and gain exclusive access to cover reveals, excerpts, and giveaways. You’ll receive a free e-single prequel to The It Series just for subscribing!

  Acknowledgments

  You might think a woman who writes about vibrator love would be entirely self-sufficient. I assure you, I am not. Praise God I don’t have to be as I’ve been blessed with the support of many wonderful people in my life.

  My A Team on When It Hits You: