Magnificent Greece almost beat the last breaths from my dying soul, but instead I rise quickly above her ruins into the clean, blue skies. I fly happily now, hand-in-hand with my soul’s salvation.
Chapter 26
LOS ANGELES
A week later
“Mmm, why don’t you make me come again?” I say. “With your tongue.”
“You’re so demanding. This would be, what? Number five?”
“Four,” I say, impatiently. “I’m not greedy.”
“Yes, you are. But I love it.”
He lowers his face between my legs to rock my world one more time. This man is so good with his tongue, it’s a wonder any woman managed to move on from him.
Holy fuck, I think to myself as he laps at me, fingers exploring my wetness. We’re actually having sex on a bed and it’s not even a hospital bed. It’s his bed in his crammed apartment that once belonged to Nate, and we’ve been making love all afternoon and into the evening.
My hands reach for his hair, pulling him closer to my need. “Oh yes, baby,” I scream out. “Lick me like that. Just.Like.That.”
Pleasure overtakes me, racing through every fiber in my body. He keeps his tongue firm against me even as I climb down from Mount Ecstasy until I literally have to pull him off by the hair.
“That was so wild,” I say. “Totally exhausting but totally worth it.”
He kisses my belly button again and again. “I’m here to please you,” he says. “Never forget that.”
How could I forget? Sex with Tomas has been more than a shattering physical experience. It has been all I ever wanted. It makes me feel strong, loving and loved. It makes me want to conquer the world.
I had told my lovers before that I needed them, that they made me come harder than ever, but only because I thought they needed to hear it. Now it’s the first time that I actually know what it means to need a man inside me. To feel complete and whole in his embrace.
“I’ll go wherever you want me to go,” I say. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I can’t wait to start our life, to start living.”
“That’s sweet,” he says, “but I don’t want to take you away from your friends. We can stay here for as long as you want.”
“You’d actually settle down here in LA to be with me?”
“Of course,” he says. “Don’t be a silly rabbit.”
I take a deep breath in. “I’m ready to tell you my story,” I say.
He sits up, drawing me up against his chest. “I’m listening,” he says.
“Okay. Not even Grace knows this. It was before we met in Junior High.”
He nods, squeezing my arm.
“I was eight years old when I was diagnosed with leukemia,” I say.
I feel his whole body jolt a little at my words but he remains quiet.
“I’m not going to go into details. They thought I was going to die. My body did not respond to any of the treatments. All that the treatments did was to make me miserable, so sick I couldn’t get out of bed.”
“Jesus, baby,” he says.
“I should be dead, Tomas. It makes no sense that I’m alive. One day, I went into remission for no apparent reason. Just like that. I’ve been scared ever since that the disease might come back—that it’s not fair to allow anyone to love me. Whoever loves me could end up hurt if I died.”
His chest shakes and I look up to see if he’s crying. Nope, he’s actually chuckling.
“What? You think it’s funny?” I say, confused.
“Taylor,” he says with a sigh, “nothing will scare me away from you. Nothing. We’re not that unique. None of us are.”
“I never thought I was unique,” I say, pouting.
“What I mean is, there’s always a tragedy in our life stories. We’re either running from it or toward it. Nobody can escape that. We’re all together in misery.”
His words cut deep because they’re true. And because they’re not just sappy sentimentality. We’ve both had our share of misery. We’re survivors.
“By the way,” he says. “Is this why you turned into a health freak?”
“What do you mean a health freak?” I say, punching him. “Eating healthy and exercising does not make a person a freak. I’m taking care of myself.”
He’s laughing again.
“What?” I say, punching him again.
“Ouch,” he protests. “Exercising? When did you ever exercise since I met you? You’re a couch potato.”
I can’t help but smile. “I do mental exercises. And Kegels.”
“Kegels?”
“Never mind,” I say, kissing his lips. But he’s right. I have to concentrate on doing the right things again.
“And I do you,” I say. “A lot. I burn wicked calories doing it.”
“That’s true,” he says. “Don’t ever change the way you exercise.”
“Then watch your mouth,” I say. “Or I will go to the gym more and do you less, big talker.”
“Please strike all my previous comments from the record.”
“Case closed,” I say and then kiss his chest right above his heart.
***
Grace takes me by the hand to lead the way to the little office in the back of the aromatherapy shop where I spent endless hours trying to figure out a way to keep the shop going.
“Wow,” I say, as I step in the office. “You didn’t change a thing. Why didn’t you bring your own things in here while I was gone?”
My Christmas mug, my poster of Coachella 2009, even my fancy pens and pencils are exactly where I left them, untouched.
“Don’t be silly,” she says. “This will always be your office. Besides, I liked having your things around. I missed you less.”
“I can’t believe I’m back. Tomas and I were supposed to stay in Greece for another month.”
“Be glad you didn’t stay there forever,” Grace says, squeezing my arm. “You were both incredibly reckless and, yes, I’m still mad at both of you.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to be able to work at all with all the sex,” I say, giggling like a schoolgirl.
“It’s an adjustment,” Grace says with a wink. She starts patting down some envelopes on the desk and then dusts the shelves with a feather.
“Grace?” I say. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah,” she says. She lowers her eyes before she locks them on mine. “Except I have this new condition where I put on pounds steadily.”
“What the hell, Grace!” I say, overwhelmed with excitement. “No!”
She nods yes and I don’t believe it until she says it. “I’m pregnant.”
“You’re lying,” I say.
“I’m not,” she says, beaming.
It takes me a second to absorb it. “Oh, my god,” I say, taking her in my arms. “I’m so excited. I’m going to be an aunt.”
Grace smiles at me, saying nothing.
“It’s good news, yes?”
“I hope it is,” she says slowly.
“What does Nathan say?”
“I haven’t told him yet.”
God, give me patience. “What are you waiting for?”
She taps her fingers on the desk before she answers my question. “I just don’t know how he will take it.”
“What do you mean? He’ll be thrilled. Call him now. This is a moment for the two of you to be together.”
Silence. More finger tapping. Lord, this girl can be her worst enemy. “You know how these men are. I don’t know if he’s ready for a child. I’m just scared it might be too much too soon.”
“Grace Marie, there’s only one way to say this. You’ve lost your mojo again. Big time. Get it back on and go tell him,” I say sternly. “The sooner the better. There’s nothing Nate wouldn’t do for you or that baby.”
“Maybe you’re right,” she says.
“Baby girl, I know I’m right.”
Ashley knocks on the door. “Grace, Taylor,” she says, “we have customers.”
“We’re in the middle of something, Ash,” I say, opening the door. “Can you take care of the business?”
“Nope, I can’t. They’re asking for you.”
All three of us walk to the front of the store where Tomas is waiting for us with Nathan and Jesse.
“What’s this?” I say. “The three Musketeers?”
“More like the three Stooges,” Tomas says, putting his arms around me, pressing his body against mine.
“Put that back down,” Grace says, sternly. I turn to her to see her scolding Nate for picking up a small lavender bottle.
Okay, that does it. “Wait,” I say, slipping away from Tomas. “Nate,” I say, “Grace has something to tell you.”
If looks could kill, Grace would be my assassin. I gently take her hand and then Nathan’s. “There, go talk in my office,” I tell them, nudging them forward.
Nathan’s eyes question me for a second but he finally follows Grace, rubbing her butt which earns him a slap of the hand.
“What’s going on?” Tomas says.
“Don’t you worry yourself about that, dude. Just kiss me.”
Tomas gently lifts me off my feet to give me a quick, wet kiss.
“Ahem,” Jesse says, “we’re right here.”
Tomas puts me down just as some excited squeals and laughter come from the office in the back.
“Will you tell me what’s going on?” Tomas says.
“You’ll find out soon enough, big guy.” I turn to his dazzlingly handsome brother. “So Jesse, have you met Ashley?”
“Nice to meet you,” Jesse says extending his hand to Ashley.
Ashley looks at me before she takes his hand.
“Don’t ask me,” I say. “I don’t know where they keep the factory that makes these guys.”
“Taylor!” Ashley scolds me, fire on her cheeks. Yep, I guessed right. She likes him. But who wouldn’t like a hot, twenty-six year old artist who happens to reside in Paris?
I grab my purse from the counter and fold my arm around Tomas’s elbow. “Get me out of here,” I say. “The store can survive one more day without me.”
“As you wish,” he says.
The sky outside is storybook blue, clear and fragrant. The parking lot is busy with shoppers and their everyday comings and goings, people scurrying for something to eat or wear.
“Nathan and Grace are having a baby,” I say suddenly, unable to keep the news to myself any longer.
Tomas’s jaw drops so low, I think he dislodged it.
“It’s true,” I say, answering his unspoken question.
“Wow,” he says. “Will you, um, be wanting one of those, too?”
“Maybe,” I say, sticking my tongue out. “If you bore me too much.”
“You know what?” he says. “I heard that the harder and longer the orgasm, the cuter the baby.”
“Really?” I say, grinning at him. “You work every angle, don’t you?”
“Are you complaining?”
“Not even a little.”
“We’ll have to experiment,” he says. “And I mean we need to be dedicated. If I am to tie my life down to have a crying, pooping baby that will grow up to be a teenaged asshole, it better be the cutest baby ever.”
“You’re a nincompoop.”
He becomes serious. “I leave these things up to you,” he says, burying his face in my hair. “I’m a work in progress but I will work to be the man you need. I’ll do whatever you want. No questions asked.”
“I want you to have a voice,” I say, growing dangerously emotional. “And I want you to be happy. That’s all.”
We kiss sweetly now, more gentle than ever. Quiet fireworks buzz through my belly. Every part of me yearns to feel the electricity of his vulnerability and love. This is all still beyond my dreams. I wake up every day and fear it will all be gone, that I will be alone again but then his warmth finds me in our bed, his arms wrap me up and his love shields me from my fears.
And now here, standing and kissing in this parking lot, he whispers to me the same thing he whispers every morning when he wakes. “I love you,” he says. “Every day more than the last.”
###
Author Note
I hope you have enjoyed MAGNIFICENT RUIN! Join my mailing list to receive news on upcoming releases & promotions: Author Alison Foster
If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. All reviews are greatly appreciated and help make books visible.
Coming soon
EVERLASTING RUIN
Everlasting Series – Book 3
a steamy, new adult suspense novel by Alison Foster
Jesse Keller fell hard for his best friend when he knew he shouldn’t. Now he has a secret to hide and it’s not going away any time soon.
Have you read BEAUTIFUL RUIN yet? If not, keep reading for an excerpt of the first chapter of the story of Nathan and Grace—which is also the story of how Taylor got to meet Tomas in the first place!
BEAUTIFUL RUIN
by
Alison Foster
Grace Kendall knows what it’s like to have life knock you on your butt. She’s been through hell and made it back. She’s fine with trusting no one and expecting nothing until a night wind blows something quite unexpected onto her doorstep in the rain.
The scruffy, yet gorgeous enigma known as Nathan Henley steps inside her apartment and brings with him all those feelings Grace has tried so hard to tuck safely away. Beneath his bruised and damaged exterior, she senses all the dark and beautiful secrets lost within the tarnished diamond of his lonely heart.
Like everyone before him, he must be too good to be true. She resists his mystery as long as she can, but she knows that any woman would gladly throw themselves against his rock hard chest and shatter helplessly into a million lustful pieces.
When Grace finally decides to trust again, her ex-boyfriend Jack returns to her life with his crooked grin and the past comes crashing down. With the world spinning all around her, Grace must do more than trust, she must fight for the salvation of her own lonely heart.
Please keep reading for an excerpt of the first chapter.
Chapter 1
Under the fluorescent lights of the supply room I silently stare at the sparkling bottles and vases. Each one contains its own distinct fragrance or exotic scent. That lovely calm feeling is interrupted when Ashley returns and pulls the curtain closed to hide the stocked shelves.
The glittering menagerie of glass and crystal vanishes. I was content spending hours just taking in the colors and smells of the elegant essential oils, lotions and diffusions.
“You are not allowed to let customers back here, Grace,” Ashley says. “If they ask for a product that’s not on the front shelves, you come back here to get it yourself. If they try to follow you, you stop them politely. Do you understand?”
Of course I understand. I’m not a fucking moron. Although I don’t know what it would take to convince Ashley of that.
“Why all the secrecy? Are you stashing drugs back here?” I say, doing my best not to look at her. She would not appreciate my irreverent expression.
“Don’t assume you can answer specific questions about the products just yet,” Ashley goes on, ignoring my attempt at humor. “You should direct all those to me.”
I don’t know what her deal is. I get that she doesn’t like me but I fail to see why. We’ve barely exchanged ten words over the past year and it’s not like I have to answer to her. She doesn’t own this place. Taylor does. Taylor likes me. Maybe that’s it. Ashley doesn’t like that I’m Taylor’s friend.
Taylor and I have been friends since junior high and even when she moved away for a year, we stayed in touch. We have always been able to rely on one another for support and honesty. I have to focus on that and not let Ashley get under my skin.
The little aromatherapy shop that Taylor inherited from her late grandmother has always held a certain kind of appeal for me. As soon as Taylor sugge
sted it, I agreed to work for her. She doesn’t pay much but that’s cool for me right now.
I’ve been unemployed for two months, ever since I walked out of my job as an assistant to a real estate agent named Harley Moss. Having worked so long for a chauvinistic and unpleasant man makes Ashley’s condescending tone nothing but a minor annoyance.
Only two things held any value of any sort to Harley. Money and making people – women especially – feel inferior. Nothing else seemed to give him any shred of satisfaction. Add to that the snobbishness and entitlement that came along with most of his Beverly Hills clients and it became obvious that I had to get out of there before I lost my mind. Wealth and elitism make me feel tiny and depressed. The pay was better but not worth the stress.
“You’ll regret it, girl,” Harley told me when I handed him my resignation. “Working for me was your one chance to make something out of yourself.”
I wanted to tell him how sad and pathetic his life was to me, but instead I just said, “Thank you, Harley.”
The bells on the front door jingle. Ashley rushes out to the front of the store to greet the incoming customer. I see my chance and pull the curtain back from the shelves to take one more look at the lavish products I will be handling for the next few months.
I reach out to take a tiny purple bottle of lavender into my hands. Taylor has told me on many occasions that lavender essential oils can soothe a troubled mind and lessen anxiety. My future doesn’t exactly seem exhilarating right now so I undo the cap to sniff the miraculous concentrated essence when Ashley races back with hasty steps.
“Put that back,” she says sternly.
Her appearance is not without charm. She’s a tall, thin girl with beautiful big blue eyes. It’s her expression of constant discomfort – almost as if she’s walking around with trapped intestinal gas twenty-four hours a day – that makes her countenance unpleasant to the eye.
“I’m sorry,” I say and immediately wish I could just defy her and tell her we’re equals here. Taylor runs the place. Ashley might have been working here for almost two years now but we’re both essentially sales girls. Nothing more, nothing less.
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