Waking the Lion

by Lacee Hightower

  Friday proves to be an excellent day. Two months since Kass told me Addison Hair Company was going up for sale, the day starts with her lips around my cock, a perfect beginning to any man’s morning. Then, I close on the deal with Darci, which just happens to be on Kass’s birthday, and we shut out the Penguins 4-0. I’ve called my parents and told them Kass and I have moved into the new house together and that I plan on asking her to marry me sooner rather than later. I also share the news that I’ve gotten the financial backing for my part in the apartment complex Reese and I plan on purchasing and that we’re also considering a hospital that’s in financial trouble. Reese and I speak briefly and he tells me about a new woman he’s met at Blue Martini, a strip club he frequents from time to time. I give him shit about it because my brother seems to have a new spark in his voice when he mentions Taylor.

  Addison Hair Company is already under construction. Determined to give things a brighter, more contemporary look, as well as adding three more stations, Kass has also decided to bring on a second esthetician. I grin for a minute at our conversation early this morning.

  “Should I change the name? Johnson Hair Company maybe?” She shrugs her shoulders and looks at me for direction.

  My lips bend into a smile. “How about Color Me Gentry or Gentry Palace?” I ask, her eyes instantly widening at the name I intend on offering her before too long. I lean over and kiss her nose, the deep connection we’re sharing ending after she starts laughing for a minute before her giggles dissolve into tears. “Why are you crying, beautiful?” I ask, suddenly confused at her turn of emotion, which isn’t the first time. Her eyes narrow, and for a minute she’s silent. Then, she curls up her nose.

  “Color me Gentry? Really?” I shrug and give her a smile. “God, that’s absolutely awful, Rhett.”

  ****

  In a back table at Luigi’s, I’m eating an Italian seasoned rib-eye while Kass scarfs down lobster ravioli, her pretty hair back in a long ponytail, showcasing the perfect bone structure of her face.

  “God, I could easily become the size of a small horse if I ate here as much as I’d like.” Her soft, kissable mouth curves up into a breathtaking smile. I lean over and kiss her, lingering, then nipping at her bottom lip, tasting a dab of lobster-infused cream sauce.

  “I hardly think you could ever be the size of a horse, sweetheart.” I pull her against me again and cup her cheek. “But I’d love you just the same.”

  “Liar,” she teases, squinting her eyes. The sudden need to tell her just how serious I am pulls hard at me, my body growing hard as I consider what I would do, what I will do just to keep her happy and safe. And confident. Her hand settles on my thigh, caressing my leg under the table, my skin heating just by the simple touch.

  “I’d never lie to you, Kass.” My cock thickens against my zipper, and as soon as we get out of this place, I plan on showing her just how committed I really am. After I redden her sweet little ass for considering I’d ever base my love on the size of her body, I intend on tasting every damn inch.

  Deep into the night after an impetuous surge of passion, we lie together in bed. Asleep, Kass is breathing deep against my chest as I stay awake and consider everything that’s happened to me over the last year. Happiness turned into heartbreak so raw and grim that I’d gone months thinking of ways to end my life. Then this beautiful woman beside me appeared out of the blue, giving me a reason to live again. And now, I appreciate everything, regardless if it’s something wonderful or something heinous. Life can come and go in the blink of an eye. What’s perfect and beautiful can be swept away forever in just a few short seconds. All we have is today.

  Right now, everything feels back on track. I’m happy. Kass is happy. We both love our jobs and look forward to the future. And sometimes, like now, when the love of my life is sleeping peacefully up against me, I still get that feeling that someone is close by. Patting me on the shoulder and giving me a shove of approval.

  ****

  A little over an hour after Kass left for work, I’m looking forward to a bye week with no game and some much-needed rest and relaxation. Instead, I’m walking through the one place I swore I’d never set foot in again, after being informed they still have some of Lindy’s belongings.

  While I head to the office, grief I try ignoring pinches and pounces behind my chest. I feel like utter shit that I hadn’t even considered the fact that the place might still have some of Lindy’s things, mainly her damn wedding ring. Fuck! I’d insisted that first night that the hospital leave her ring on even when they performed surgery because Lindy never took it off. Said it was bad luck.

  After I retrieve the rings, guilt and emotion creep back inside my head while my mind ponders back on that awful night, and I wonder what to do with the wedding set. Give them to Lake? File them away somewhere? My mind an emotional blur, I have an idea, yet something about it seems fucked up in a way.

  I try thinking of something else as I return to my car, but my mind is running back in time, refusing to slow down. I push at my temples, returning to that one day when I proposed to Lindy. Out of the blue and spontaneous, I had no ring at the time. Hadn’t planned a damn thing.

  I want to love you for the rest of my life. Please share your life with me. Marry me.

  I twirl the rings between my fingers, that same eerie feeling creeping up like it’s done more than once. Like somebody is sitting beside me. Giving me their approval to go with my gut feeling and do what I’m considering with the rings that no longer serve a purpose. I look down at the rings one last time and slip them in the pocket of my pants. Then, I call Detective McKee to see if he’s around.

  He is.

  An hour later, I’ve handed over Lindy’s engagement and wedding bands. McKee will take them over to Jeremy and Joseph Miller’s mother, Jessica, and offer her whatever cash is received for the rings. He’ll go with her to sell them back to Reese’s jeweler buddy, who I originally purchased them from, and hang on to the cash until she’s upheld her part of the bargain. She’s lost everything. One son headed to prison, the other to juvy. No husband to speak of. No real income. Struggling with drug addiction for years, the thirty-something year-old woman lives in a rathole and works part-time jobs here and there. Maybe the cash from the rings can help her get a new start on life. After I’ve already agreed to pay for her to attend an intensive outpatient rehab program, according to McKee, she’s doing really well. The deal is, she proves she’s clean and can stay that way. Then, she gets the cash from the rings. Not enough money for a substantial change in her life, it’s enough to move into a safer place and buy a few pieces of furniture.

  “Take care, Rhett. I’ll give you an update when I have one.”

  After a strangely surreal day, I’m finally headed home, calmer than I’ve been in many months. Only one thing fills my thoughts. A beautiful romantic night with Kass, and, I hope, a yes when I ask her to marry me.

  Chapter Forty

  Kass

  The kitchen is clean after steak and asparagus, and I tell Rhett to go on to bed. After I cover the leftover apple crisp, I’m heading to the bedroom. With a new hair stylist prospective to visit with in the morning, I’m ready for some sleep before the early appointment.

  All quiet once I get inside, Rhett is underneath the comforter, his eyes closed. He’s already asleep, and I’m so thankful he’s finally able to rest at night. I stand and look at him for a minute, enjoying the view. Damned if the man isn’t drop-dead beautiful. Thick, corded muscles. Beautiful wavy hair and that perfectly shadowed jaw. Though what has my belly fluttering the most is that damn happy V-trail of his peeking out from the sheets that sets my body in motion.

  God, I love this man.

  Knowing what rests less than an inch underneath the covers, I suck in a breath, really considering lowering the comforter and doing what he likes best—taking him in my mouth. But I don’t. And I won’t. He needs rest. Like me, he has an early morning tomorrow to shoot a magazine cover with Sports Illustr
ated. And what a cover it will be. My man is some serious damn eye candy.

  I quickly undress and tiptoe toward the lamp beside Rhett’s side of the bed. Reaching to flip the switch, I yelp when a heavy, sexy arm slaps my ass and a very godawful Texan accent asks me, “Help you with somethin’, darlin’?”

  “Rhett!” I can’t help but giggle at his pathetic attempt to sound Texan but love it just the same. “You weren’t even asleep! You dog!”

  He pulls me down on top of him, lowering the comforter to show me his bare body. He’s thick and hard, teasing my belly.

  “And you, doll, are wet. I thought for a minute I may get to watch you touch yourself—like this.” He lowers a hand and slides it through my slick folds. His eyes darken, and he grins up at me.

  “You don’t play fair,” I whisper, his finger sliding inside me.

  “Never claimed to be fair, sweetheart. And you know you made yourself wet staring at my chest.” His finger probes deeper inside me, pulling a moan from my throat.

  “Well, aren’t you proud, Mr. Gentry?” I lower my lips against his, nibbling on his lip.

  “Couldn’t be any more proud, baby,” he says softly. His finger slips out of me, and he groans, tugging me down against him.

  “God, I love you, woman.”

  “Then show me,” I respond, so full of love. Already aching with need.

  “We Texans aim to please.” His hand takes my hips and lifts me, and I guide his heavy length inside.

  “Oh, God. You feel so good.”

  He reaches for my breasts, which feel more tender than usual, probably from his lips earlier in the day.

  “And you’re so very beautiful.”

  Our bodies glide together like silk while his fingers tug at my sensitive nipples. The heavy sensitivity sets me off, and I start riding him hard and deep, reaching behind me and grasping his firm thighs.

  “Oh, baby. Fuck, that’s good.” He lifts his hips, stroking me way deep inside.

  “I love you, Rhett,” I whisper, emotion tangling deep inside me as my eyes pool with tears. “Be with me forever.”

  “I’ll always be right here,” he says softly. “There’s only you and me, doll.”

  “Ahh.” I’m clenching, rocking against his body, the sensation building so deep that I shudder with such an intensity that I can’t catch my breath. Beautiful, sweet satisfaction slides through me in deep delirious waves as I swallow back a sob. I’m coming, and he’s holding my hips, thrusting deep. I ride him harder, my clit shamelessly brushing against the root of his erection.

  “You’re my forever, Kassidy Johnson. I’ll love you ‘til the day I die.”

  I burst into emotional tears at his words, falling to pieces as he fills me with his warm jetting pleasure. Seconds later, I fall forward, my head against his as we both try getting our breath back. I try speaking but can’t. More emotional than normal, I don’t understand where the heavy sentiment is coming from, but I know one thing. I love this man more than anything in the world.

  I roll onto my side after long minutes.

  “Why all the tears, baby?”

  I shrug, unsure.

  “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

  Epilogue

  The next two weeks pass in a blissful blur. Christmas has come and gone, and I’m wearing a beautiful engagement ring on my finger that Rhett had designed after the most romantic proposal a girl could ever want. We’ve purchased new furniture for the house, had additional landscaping done in both the front and back yard, and I’ve taken not one, but three pregnancy tests that all have the same result—negative.

  I walk in the kitchen and see Rhett impeccably dressed in a black suit with black shirt and a navy-blue tie. He has another afternoon game and I’m feeling rundown, so he’s decided I should take it easy today and stay home. It’s Sunday. I don’t have to work today or tomorrow, so I’m feeling good about that. Just not so sure about how my body’s feeling right now. It’s most likely nothing more than stress from the salon and trying to decorate a new house. I’m not worried and shake off his threats to take me to the doctor himself if I don’t make an appointment.

  He kisses me, and we talk a few minutes before he kisses me again and leaves for the arena. A sip of my coffee with chocolate Coffee-Mate has me grimacing at what tastes bitter and downright nauseating. With Polar at my feet, I look outside at the pool and newly sodded grass, tears biting my eyes at how thankful I feel right now.

  Minutes later, I dump my coffee and return to the bathroom where I take a shower and pick out a soft blue maxi dress and flat sandals that, oddly enough, I’m still able to wear at this time of the year. No real winter at all so far with crazy Texas temperatures, and I find myself wishing for some cold weather before spring rolls back around. Planning a special dinner for the two of us when Rhett gets home later in the day, I choose to wear a red lacy bra and matching panties underneath my dress, an outrageous stir of heat building inside me just at the thought of how he’ll respond.

  By late afternoon, I’ve made another apple crisp because they’re his favorite, and have steaks marinating and fingerling potatoes ready to stick in the oven to roast. I open a bottle of chilled Chardonnay and pour a small glass while I walk outside, suddenly getting a visual of a small dark-headed little girl kicking a ball across the yard.

  “Whoa,” I whisper to myself, my stomach suddenly rumbling with the same bolt of nausea that I’ve had for the last few weeks. I push off the side of the wall I’m standing beside and walk in the house, the smell of cinnamon bringing on another wave of sickness. Rhett should be heading for home about now and I consider calling him, but don’t want to create worry for nothing. I’m fine. Probably stress or maybe a touch of a stomach virus. It’s nothing. Or then again, maybe it is. I have another pregnancy test in the bathroom, but right now I need some 7UP or Sprite. Something to ease this queasiness.

  Thirty minutes later, I hear the sound of the alarm dinging as Rhett walks through the door. I saunter into the kitchen to greet him. His eyes are dark and needy. God, I love that look and what it symbolizes. He scoops me up off the floor like I weigh nothing and walks us the bedroom, where he undresses in thirty seconds flat, showcasing a hard erection projecting forward. For a few seconds, he stands and lets me stare at his bare body, everything between my legs already warm.

  “Strip.”

  Adrenaline spirals through me, and I lift the long dress over my head, exposing my new red lingerie, which he gives a blazing hot once-over, sending a flood of pleasure through me. His gaze hot and hungry, he lifts me again and settles me onto the bed, unclasping my bra and tossing it to the floor, before kissing his way up my inner thigh and lowering my panties. His tongue strokes into my sex, and a sound rises up his throat that is so primal-sounding that my fingers instantly tug at his hair, urgent to have him inside me. I’m so damn turned on by what he’s doing that I feel like I’m already seconds from bursting into orgasm.

  “Umm,” I whisper. “Feels so good, baby.” So close. So close.

  “Not yet, doll.” His rises up my body, kissing me, giving me a good long taste of my pleasure as his steel-hard erection pushes through my sex. In seconds, he’s pressing inside me with long, deep strokes, his hands gripping my butt. Then, he flips over onto his back, rolling me on top of him, still hard inside me.

  I reach behind me and hold onto his legs, riding him harder than I ever have as he cups my breasts. Stroking. Teasing. The tenderness is unusual, but nevertheless good.

  “That’s right, baby. Ride me.”

  He sits up and twists my arms around his shoulders as I rock and sway against him until we both reach the ultimate edge and collapse against each other. For long minutes, we don’t move. My head is against his neck. I’m sobbing hysterically and have no real idea why. He pushes back and looks at me with narrowed eyes.

  “Are you sure you aren’t pregnant?” he asks, pressing his lips against mine that won’t stop trembling.

  “The tests say no,�
�� I whisper.

  A smile spreads over his face. “Take another one. Now. I know you have a test in the bathroom.”

  Fifteen minutes later, we have our answer as we tangle together underneath the sheets. We aren’t even married yet, and this concerns me. It could be too soon. Or then again, the timing could be perfect. I tell myself not to worry. Rhett seems happy with the outcome. And there’s this. Us. Together. Everything will turn out the way it’s meant to. It always does. No idea what kind of wife or mother I’ll make, I’ll give it my best shot at being the best I can. As long as I please Rhett and he knows just how much I love him, every day will be a good one.

  His hand suddenly rubs my stomach, and he leans over kissing the tip of my nose. “To a new life, sweetheart.”

  To a new life…

  The End

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