Waiting to Fall: Book Two of the Waiting Duet

by Alyson Reynolds

  I paused at the door to look back at him. He ran a hand down his face in frustration. “Tell me now. If they want us there then they can wait five minutes.”

  His eyes snapped up to mine. “Princess, what I have in mind is going to take a hell of a lot longer than five minutes.”

  A flush ran its way up my body and I sucked in a breath.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. Go now before I change my mind.”

  My sister looked beautiful, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Cora. It was frustrating as hell that I’d tried talking to her twice and we were interrupted both times. Maybe my timing sucked, but I couldn’t help it. Everything between us was finally crystal clear to me and I wanted to know if she felt the same way. If she didn’t, it might wreck my cold ass heart even more, but on the off chance that she felt the same way, I wasn’t going to let her get away again. Cora wasn’t just my best friend; she was someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

  I walked out of the small parlor after I finally convinced my cock to calm down. No one needed to see what that girl did to me just by breathing. Cora was talking to Olivia as the wait staff was preparing the cake. They were both smiling and laughing at something Nate had said. Olivia looked up and saw me standing at the edge of the crowd and waved me over. She pulled me into a hug and I kissed her temple.

  “I’m so happy for you, Livie,” I whispered into her ear. “You deserve every second of this.”

  “Thank you for being there for me, Finn. I love you so much.” I started to pull back, but she clutched me tighter. “Learn from my mistakes, Finn. Tell her how you feel or you’re going to lose her. Don’t waste time fighting it.”

  My eyes had to be as wide as saucers when I pulled back. She tugged me back down.

  “Did you forget I feel everything you do?” she asked, mimicking my words from last year.

  “I love you too, sis.”

  I pulled her to my side and clapped Nate on the shoulder. “She’s your problem now, man.”

  Nate groaned and Olivia elbowed me in the side playfully. I laughed and stepped back so they could stand together. Cora walked over and stood next to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist as we watched as our friends playfully fed each other cake. The gorgeous smile on her face was enough to make me want to kiss her, but I couldn’t. Not yet.

  They moved to the dance floor when they were done and it almost brought tears to my eyes to see my sister so happy. She had been through so much over the past few years.

  “What’s this? The big bad asshole has a heart?” Cora teased.

  “More than you know.” I threaded her fingers in mine and led us out onto the dance floor. “I want to do this right.”

  She stared at me for a few seconds before asking, “Do what right?”

  “We’ve fought this for so long, but I don’t want to do that anymore. Cora, I want every part of you. I want the parts you’re afraid to give anyone. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to fix all your problems, but damn it, I want to be the one to be there and face them with you.” I cupped her face and she leaned into my hand. “I love you. I’ve been in love with you for a long time, and I don’t want to pretend like it’s not there anymore.”

  She sighed and I felt her tears on my hand. “Princess, say something.”

  When she sniffed, I started to panic.

  “Cora, talk to me, please.”

  “Damn it, you made me cry you asshole.” She choked back a laugh. “Not the most romantic response I’ve ever had.”

  I gave her a crooked smile. “I don’t care as long as you tell me what’s you’re thinking. It’s killing me not knowing.”

  “I love you too, you idiot. I think I’ve always loved you. It’s evolved and grown over the years. When you helped me get through everything that happened with Derek, I think that’s when I started to fall for you. You’ve stolen little pieces of my heart along the way and I never expected to get them back. I love you so much, Finn.”

  I kissed her quickly on the lips. “We need to get out of here.”

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “I have plans for you tonight, Ms. Donovan.”

  She giggled and it was like fucking music to my ears. I wrapped an arm around her waist and she cupped my face with her hands. She smiled against my mouth as our lips met for the first time in front of all our family and friends.

  ____

  We crashed into our cabin in a tangle of groping hands and desperate tongues. Cora bit down on my neck and sucked, soothing away the pain as she flicked her tongue along the sensitive skin, causing me to groan loudly. She gasped when I pulled her up into my arms. Her legs wrapped around my waist automatically, making me thankful for the high slit in her dress. The emotion and heat from the parlor was back between us even more furious than before.

  She tugged my jacket down my shoulders as I walked us back towards my bedroom, peppering every inch of my exposed skin she could with kisses. I grabbed my wallet and struggled to get out the condom I had put inside it earlier. As soon as it was in my fingers, I grinned triumphantly. I tossed Cora down on the bed and she giggled as she bounced on the soft mattress.

  She watched hungrily as I took off my remaining clothes quickly.

  “How do you get this thing off?” I asked looking down at her. There wasn’t a zipper. I had looked already and it was making me crazy that she wasn’t naked already.

  She sat up on her knees and pulled the hem of her dress up higher. I groaned when she bit down on her bottom lip intentionally. The wicked look in her eyes had my cock throbbing. Every tantalizing inch of her skin was exposed to me. I wanted to consume her.

  “Fuck you’re perfect,” I said, as she tossed the dress to the floor next to the bed. She wore only a pair of black lace panties. No garter. No bra.

  “Are you going to let me be in charge for once?” she asked with her hands on her hips, pushing her perky breasts even higher.

  “What do you think you want to do?”

  “Lay down.”

  I grinned at her as I lay back on my elbows. She licked her lips once and crawled over me. My head fell back on the pillow. I rested my hand on her thighs as she kissed her way up my chest. I groaned as she took my cock in her hand and jerked it slowly.

  “Cora.”

  “Shh.” She put her fingers over my lips and I kissed them gently. Her lips tipped up in a smile. “I think I’m going to torture you like you torture me.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked smirking.

  “Nothing.”

  She kissed her way down my body, lightly brushing her nipples against my cock as she teased me. The visual was blowing my mind. Every time I moved to touch her, she smacked my hands away. Cora was doing a good job working herself up too. Her breathing was coming in rapid pants and she moaned as she teasingly licked the head of my cock. She looked up at me through her long lashes as she ran her tongue up and down my length.

  “Princess, if you don’t stop that, the fun is going to be over before it’s even started.”

  I grabbed the condom from the nightstand and held it out for her. God, I wanted to be inside her. She opened the package quickly and rolled it on. I couldn’t bite back the groan of pleasure and she grinned. She shimmied out of her panties and lowered herself onto my waiting cock. We both moaned as I slipped fully inside.

  “It’s—Finn.”

  “I know.”

  This time felt so different. Maybe it was because we weren’t hiding anything or maybe because it meant something more, but I wanted it. Her lips met mine as her hips started to move. She cupped my face and I grabbed onto her forearms, trying to hold back and make this last as long as possible. Cora pulled back from our kiss and her mouth fell open in a silent moan. I kissed the shell of her ear and she tugged lightly on my hair.

  I was so worked up that I wasn’t going to last long, but I wanted to make sure she got there. My fingers traced down her stomach and circled her clit. With each swipe she let o
ut a breathy whimper, telling me she was just as close as I was. Her body tightened around mine and I was finally able to let go. With a few quick thrusts I was coming with her. She clung to me through her release. I wrapped my arms around her and held her to my chest.

  Finn pulled me into his lap and I giggled. His scruff brushed against my neck and I tried to push him away playfully. Olivia sat across the plane from us with a huge grin on her face as she watched us. We had been waiting on the plane for almost fifteen minutes already. The flight attendant had already given us drinks and now we were blissed out on alcohol, plus the morning sex we’d had before coming to the airstrip didn’t hurt.

  “You two look like you’re the ones on your honeymoon, not us,” Nate said as he sat down next to Olivia.

  I snorted. “Like you’re ones to talk, we didn’t see you once except for Christmas Eve and half of Christmas day. At least we went outside the cabin.”

  “I saw those new pictures and changed statuses on Facebook,” Olivia said pointedly. “It’s adorable and I for one am happy that you both pulled your heads out of your asses.”

  Finn glared at his sister. “Seriously? You want to go there?”

  Nate laughed and winked at me. “I think we’re going to have to put them in time out in a few minutes.”

  “So what did you guys do when you left the cabin? I know you left a few times, but we never saw you on the grounds or the slopes.”

  “We went to have dinner a few nights and Nate took me ice skating. What did you guys do?” Olivia answered.

  “I think we went skiing almost every day. We played in the snow a few times. On Monday night Finn took me on a horse-drawn sleigh ride. It was really sweet. He had this whole picnic packed up and the snow was beautiful.”

  Nate looked at Finn. “Why do you have to keep fucking up the curve? I take your sister on a perfectly acceptable candle lit dinner date, then you do some horse-drawn sleigh shit. You’re making me look bad.”

  I laughed. “You gave Liv a cabin in the middle of the mountains for your wedding. Your wedding was freaking perfect. I don’t know that Finn can top that.”

  Finn poked me in the ribs. “Hey lady. You don’t know what I have up my sleeve yet. Not that we’re to that point but, I mean, one day maybe,” he stumbled over his words and I tried not to laugh.

  “You mean you aren’t proposing right now?” I said pouting. Panic flashed in his eyes and I couldn’t hold back any longer. I cracked up and he glared at me. “I know we aren’t to that point. I would be freaking out right now if you actually thought we were to that point.”

  He visibly relaxed. I kissed his nose and he smiled. “You love baiting me.”

  “It’s too easy.”

  I moved over to my seat and fastened my seatbelt. He lifted his arm and I curled into his chest. My eyes closed and with Finn rubbing my back lightly, I drifted off and slept the entire flight home.

  ____

  “It’s been going on for how long?” Olivia asked in disbelief.

  “Since the beginning of the school year,” I said, miserably. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “It was supposed to be a one-time thing. Then it was supposed to be just sex. After a while, I started to have feelings for him, and then we just sort of happened. Did you say something to him?”

  She ignored my question. “You’ve been dating other people though.”

  I shook my head. “Not since the beginning.” I scrunched my nose up. “I lied. I’m so sorry.”

  She stared at me incredulously. “You’re telling me that the day I came into Finn’s room that was you?” I nodded. “Holy fuck.”

  She sat back in her chair in shock.

  “I’ve been miserable keeping this from you.”

  “Oh honey, he’s been talking about this mystery girl for months now. I’m finally putting together the pieces and it totally makes sense. Nate told me to let up on the Hannah thing because he liked someone else.”

  “Speaking of Hannah, she found out a few months ago.” Olivia looked at me like what the fuck. “I swear I didn’t tell her! She put everything together one night when I came home and was crying about a huge fight that Finn and I had.”

  “It’s fine. I know you two didn’t keep it from me to hurt me.”

  “We didn’t. It was to protect you, so if things went south you wouldn’t be put in some awkward position. Plus we didn’t even know if it was what we wanted.”

  “I get it. I’m just trying to wrap my head around everything. This is big news.”

  “Would you have been upset if we’d just come clean in the beginning?”

  “No, because I’ve always thought you guys would be good together. You’ve been friends for a long time and I’ve watched you guys go through a lot together.”

  “Liv, there’s something else that I need to tell you.” I curled the pillow to my stomach and wrapped my arms around it tighter. “It’s important. I should have told you a long time ago, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

  She moved closer to me on the bed. “What is it? You’re starting to scare me.”

  I closed my eyes. “While you were pregnant, I started dating someone. He seemed like a great guy. Everyone liked him, he had a great job, and he seemed to have his shit together. Finn didn’t like him, but he never liked anyone I dated.” I took a deep, calming breath. “Last summer break, a lot of our friends from high school came out here and we decided to go bar hopping on campus corner. Derek didn’t like that I was drinking. Honestly I hadn’t had that much, but he didn’t care. There were a few guys around that kept flirting with me. We went outside to talk and things got bad.”

  Tears streamed down my face. As much as I didn’t want to continue, I knew I needed to tell Olivia this. She deserved to know from me. Each time we saw people from back home I was afraid someone would slip and say something in front of her. I could hear the sound of his fist hitting my flesh again and again, over and over in my mind.

  “He started by just yelling at me, but the more I protested, the angrier he got. I remember he backed me into an alley where people couldn’t see us. The back of my head hit against the bricks the first time he hit me and everything went fuzzy.” Olivia gripped my hand in hers.

  “Oh, Cora,” she whispered. Tears were pooling in her eyes and I had to look away.

  “After Derek beat me, he decided to drag me to the park across from campus corner. I don’t have a clue why. No one did, and he never told anyone. If Finn hadn’t got concerned and started looking for me, I would have died.” I choked back another sob. “I was in the hospital for a week and Finn stayed by my side. I begged him not to tell you. You had just had Ellie and you weren’t in a good place. I didn’t want to add onto your stress.”

  “I would have been there for you in a second.” She sounded hurt and I didn’t blame her. I would be too.

  “I know you would have, but I wanted to protect you for once. You’ve always put everyone else first and you needed that time to heal yourself. If you had been there, you would have used it as a distraction.”

  She nodded slowly, understanding exactly what I was trying to say. My best friend was more selfless than anyone else I knew.

  “So what happened to this Derek guy?”

  “I pressed charges and my stepdad was able to get him locked up for three years. Derek’s family is involved in politics. His dad is a senator and of course they tried to get him off, but there was too much evidence against him.”

  I stared out the window while I tried to prepare myself for the rest, the part I hadn’t even wanted to admit to myself.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do when he gets released.”

  “Cora.” Olivia wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “It’s going to be okay.”

  I nodded. “I’m sure it will be. I’ve got all of you here for me. Between Nate and Finn, no guys will come close,” I tried to joke. Concern filled her eyes, but I was thankful f
or the one thing I didn’t see.

  Pity.

  That was something I hated to see from so many people. All of our friends from home looked at me with pity each time they saw me. I was the girl that had been attacked. It reminded me of how weak I felt and I hated it. Olivia didn’t look at me like that.

  “Everyone tells me I’m so strong,” she said quietly. “But I think you’re a million times stronger than me. I don’t know that I would be able to come back from something like that.”

  I laid my head on her shoulder. “I don’t think I’m strong at all. It took a long time for me to come to terms with what happened, and you know what I’ve discovered Liv? All we can do is wait. We wait for the pain to pass. We wait to breathe, and we wait to fall. You waited and you found love. I’ve been waiting to fall apart for years.”

  “Finn will never let you fall apart. I think he’s been waiting for you to fall for him for years.”

  My lips turned up in a small smile. “Maybe.”

  “Definitely, not maybe.” Olivia and I both turned towards the door at the deep voice. Finn stood there staring at me. “I was just too dumb to suck it up and make the first move until I had an entire bottle of tequila for liquid courage.”

  Olivia squeezed me once and stood up from the bed. “I’ll let you two talk.”

  “Thank you.”

  She winked. “I didn’t do anything, but I love you kid.”

  My smile was a little watery, but I was actually able to do it. “Love you too, Livie.”

  Olivia patted his shoulder as she walked by her brother. He walked over to the bed and settled against the headboard. I leaned into him and laid my head on his chest.

  “I’m proud of you, Princess.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve wanted you to tell Liv for a long time because I thought it would help both of you heal. She needed you just as much as you needed her. I get why you didn’t tell her at first because you’re right, she would have used it as an excuse not to deal with her emotions about the adoption. But I also know you’ve felt guilty about it for a long time.”