“Because it was her body in the burned car. Not Leah’s. We were wrong, Weston.”
“Don’t, Drew…” I shake. “Don’t lie to me.”
Hundreds of emotions ripple through me, but I just can’t fathom what he’s said to me.
“Her hair was brown. She was in a car, rented under Leah’s name. Given the previous abduction, two and two was put together. We thought it was Leah. I’m so sorry, Weston.” Andrew sits on the ottoman in front of me, blocking my view of Shawshank. “Are you following me, Weston?”
“Yeah, Sara’s dead.”
“And I’m alive,” a voice whispers from the open French doors between the living room and the kitchen.
***
Leah
(You didn’t misread that one, either.)
I stood there, terrified. I hadn’t seen him in weeks…but it felt like forever. I knew what we did had to be done. I knew it was the only way I could get away from her…well, that’s what Hunter convinced me of, anyway.
Little did I know Weston would go to her house and get shot.
“L—Leah?” his voice cracked. “No…”
“Yes, baby.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a step toward him. Only one step. When what I really wanted to do was jump across the room and land in his arms, I had to take this slow. He was hurting.
“You!” Weston growled, his eyes darting behind me.
“Mr. Casey…hello, sir,” Hunter spoke softly, still standing behind me.
“Andrew tell me right fucking now what’s going on.” Weston glared. “Slap me or something, please…This isn’t real.”
Now I’m at the couch, inches from him. I sit. “This is real, baby. I’m here. I’m okay.”
Weston’s eyes pool with tears, and his mouth opens, but nothing comes out. He’s so wrecked. I reach out and touch his bare arm. Sparks tingle in my fingertips, and I know he feels it too when he looks down at my hand.
Just as Andrew stands, I lean in and take Weston’s face in my hands. I need to touch him. I need to kiss him… to make him okay again. “I love you, I love you so much,” I whisper into his mouth through each kiss. “I’m here, baby…”
One strong arm wraps around my body and he pulls me closer to him. He winces when I press against the side of his chest.
“No!” I say, lifting back. “You’re hurt.”
“That’s nothing.” He takes my hand and places it over his heart. “This is where it really hurts.”
I kiss him again. My lips finally touching his…where they’ve wanted to be for so long. But, I had to stay away.
“What happened, Leah?” His eyes search mine. “You were…you died.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t, baby…Hunter? Can you come in here, please?”
Hunter steps into the room, from behind the wall, with Andrew at his side. I can feel Weston’s body tense as Hunter sits down in the chair beside the couch. I touch his face to calm him, and kiss his lips softly. “Let him explain,” I said, whispering into his ear.
Hunter swallows, loudly, in the quiet room. “Mr. Casey…”
“It’s okay, kid…tell him,” Andrew rumbles.
“Mr. Casey...I suspected Elsa was behind everything. I thought I could stop her. She is a bad person. I followed you and Leah all over New York, until she went to Las Vegas. I knew I had to tell her to hide and stay safe. Elsa was a bomb just waiting to go off, I knew it. I could sense it. I found out when Leah was going to be at sound stage, and I followed her there.” Hunter wipes his sweating palms on his jeans. “But you were there too, I knew I couldn’t get close enough to tell her if you saw me. I knew you recognized me, especially since Riley fired me before I even started.”
Weston lets out a tiny chuckle, but still clenches his teeth, his grip not loosening around my body at all.
Hunter continues, “So, by some miracle Leah went to use the bathroom and I followed her. I stole a name tag from a desk and blended right in with the other staff in the building…”
I spoke up. “I freaked when this kid came into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. I was just about to unbutton my jeans, and he stared speaking—quickly, about how I was in danger still. Something in his eyes told me to trust him. He said he could take me somewhere to keep me safe until Elsa was caught. I trusted him, Weston…” I shake my head and smile at Hunter. “I don’t know why… but I did. Maybe he reminds me a little of you.”
“When we found out about the body in the car, I knew I got to her just in time. And Elsa must have thought she won, because Leah was dead and no one suspected her at all.”
Weston’s chest heaves as he takes in our words. “Why? Why would you do all this?”
Hunter smiles. “I don’t know. I guess…I guess, I felt like I owed you. Sounds stupid, yeah. That day you came into the office, caught me under the desk,” he blushes, “I started to see things little different, you know? She was using me. She didn’t want you anymore, but she didn’t want you to have anyone else either. She became obsessed with you two. I guess Sara was just…interested in you. Andrew doesn’t think she was even a threat. She must have dyed her hair and rented the car to pretend to be Leah…in some weird way.”
Andrew crossed his arms and let out a sigh. “Hunter is good, Weston. He saw me with you. Right after Leah was taken. He tucked her away and kept eyes on us. He learned I was a P.I…”
I looked at Hunter, he curled his mouth into a small smile.
“Fuck,” Weston whispers, kissing my hair. “Leah, I’m sorry.”
“Weston, you have nothing to be sorry for. You didn’t do anything wrong,” I say, searching his eyes. “I love you.”
“What about the bracelet? Leah’s wallet?” Weston asks, his eyes welling.
“She must have taken the bracelet at some point, I don’t remember the last time I wore it. I had my wallet in my purse when I got to Vegas. She got a hold of it somehow, that’s how she was able to rent a car in my name,” I answer, trying to fill in the blanks.
“Elsa is on a plane to Vegas as we speak. She’s being formally charged with Sara’s death.”
“What about Leah’s kidnapping in New York?”
“Let Vegas have her, Weston. Let ‘em have her. Trust me. She doused that poor girl and watched her burn.” Andrew stands and shakes my hand. “Quite the turn of events, eh buddy? Someone should write a book on this shit.”
“Poor Sara,” Weston whispers as he squeezes me tighter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Leah
My palms are sweaty. My head is buzzing—in a good way. And I’m two seconds away from throwing my hands up in the air and asking if this is actually happening.
“Ready, sweetheart?” Neil asks, bumping my shoulder with his. Then he wraps his arm around me and kisses my hair. “I can’t believe this is real.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
Neil threads his fingers through mine and asks me once more if I’m ready to walk out there and stand in front of so many people. I almost say no.
The screaming is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before in all my life. I’ve been to concerts before, and I don’t recall anything of this magnitude. I’m sweating buckets, and my nerves are completely shot.
You would think that after everything I’ve been through, that I could handle anything. I’d have big brass balls…nerves of steel. No, not really. Maybe tin foil, but not steel. I’m still the same girl. The one from Maine with a dream and a nice voice. I definitely got all fan-girly when I finally met the guys from Florida Georgia Line during our sound-check yesterday. They are…*sigh* delicious. Maybe not as dreamy as Weston, but they’re still pretty swoon-worthy.
I live my dream. I walk out on to the stage at Madison Square Garden, and smile at the thousands. Thousands. I can’t wrap my mind around. Standing in the same place as so many have before me. Legends, musical geniuses. The biggest acts in the history of music have played here. And now, little Leah Marshall from Bangor, Maine… is
about to sing her little heart out for the masses.
I should have taken Weston up on his offer for sex before the show. It would have calmed me down a little. Actually, it probably would have knocked me right out. He tends to have that effect on me. He’s like a machine. Especially now that he’s healing so well, his stamina is almost back to what it was before.
I clench my thighs together and bite my lip. It’s now or never.
“Hello, Madison Square Garden!” I scream out.
“We love you, Leah!” cries from the crowd come to me, like warm arms wrapping around me.
“I love you, too!” I tell them.
Neil’s drums kick to life, Jett and Aaron’s fingers find their strings. And we begin.
***
Weston
It’s now or never.
I keep telling myself that. Over and over. Working up the courage. The ring is burning a hole in my pocket. I need to do this now…it’s the perfect moment. I want the world to hear how much I love Leah.
Mike, South of Marshall’s new manager, gives me the nod to let me know they’re on their last song before the set is over.
I swallow. Unable to get rid of the lump in my throat, and the deafening thumping from the pulse in my ears.
Leah’s last song is a ballad. No drums, no guitar. Only Jett is standing beside her, quietly strumming his bass to her soft melody. I try to ignore that I’m walking out onto the stage at MSG, and more than the entire population of little Sheridan, Wyoming is in attendance tonight. Over eighteen thousand people are here. Witnessing what I’m about to do.
“And then I think of you…” she sings her final line and lowers her head, smiling.
The crowd goes wild. All cheering, some pointing, probably to me, but she doesn’t seem aware. Jett sees me though, he knew this was happening.
Just as he nods toward me, smiling, my heart starts hammering even harder than ever before.
Fuck.
“Leah…” I speak into the microphone Mike handed me on my way out.
“Weston!” She gasped, her hands right to her face as she sees me start to kneel.
“Leah Marshall, I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you. I never thought I’d have this chance. And now that I do, I’m taking it. Marry me, Leah. You’re my forever and ever, because…” I smile, trying not to become a sappy pile of fucking mush. “…I can’t imagine anything else without you.”
Leah’s lip trembles. She drops her microphone and falls to her knees in front of me. I forgot about the crowd until they started cheering and shouting for her to say yes. She turns and smiles at them, smiling as she cries and looks back at me. Holding my face in her soft hands, she kisses me. “I love you, too.”
“What!” the masses begin shouting rhythmically. “What!?”
She takes my mic from me. “Yes, Weston Casey. I will marry you. I love you.”
I slide the ring on her finger.
I’m surprised the roof hasn’t blown off from the combined force of my elation and the screaming from the fans.
I stand and take Leah up into my arms, carrying her off the stage. Jett says something to the crowd and I hear laughter.
“Where are you taking me, Weston?” Leah giggles.
“Anywhere.”
I don’t make it much farther. I find her dressing room and carry her across the threshold. Locking the door behind me as Leah kisses my neck and under my ear.
***
Leah
Weston lowers me onto the plush sofa and starts kissing me. His hands grab my hips and pull me down against his crotch. I can feel the bulge from his erection straining against his jeans. I almost cry out just from that contact.
My fingers shake as I fumble around for the hem of his shirt, lifting it off his body and whimpering when his hands leave my body for the seconds it takes to pull his shirt off.
“Touch me, kiss me…I want to feel your mouth against me, Weston.”
He growls and starts kissing hot and wet marks down my neck and chest. Across my collar bone, to each shoulder…he’s drawing this out, teasing me.
“I need you,” I whisper, not sure if I’m able to hang on much longer without feeling him inside of me.
“You have me.” He lifts my dress up, and I raise up a bit so he can pull it off my body. His fingers delve into my bra, pushing the cups down, letting my breasts pop out. I see his eyes flare and he licks his lips. “Mmm…”
Taking a nipple in his mouth, he swirls his tongue around my sensitive skin, and I gasp from the delicious torture. His teeth clamp down around it, making me cry out.
“I have two, you know.”
“Mmm, yes, you do,” Weston says sucking hard, then letting it pop from his mouth. He moves to my other breast and re-enacts the same luscious attack.
I’ve soaked my panties by now, I’m sure of it.
Kissing down my stomach, from hip to hip, Weston keeps taking his sweet time. His stubble tickles my stomach, as he twirls his tongue around my belly button. Flicking lightly, like a feather, down to the top of my underwear, his tongue leaves wet imprints on my skin.
Lifting my legs to rest them on his shoulders, I grin greedily, knowing what he’s about to do, and what I’m about to get.
“I’ll have to write a new song…” I breathe. “Bare feet.”
Weston chuckles. His mouth humming and vibrating over my sensitive flesh. He pulls down my underwear and tosses them on the floor with my dress and his shirt. Soft and gentle heated breaths of air blow from his perfect lips, sending tingles and torturous flashes through me. Right to my core. I’m buckling at the anticipation.
Weston opens his mouth and looks up at me. “I love you,” he whispers, just as he lowers his mouth and laps me on my most sensitive skin.
I fall back and close my eyes. The feeling is too much. I’m going to shatter.
As I’m building and falling, screaming and crying out, Weston unbuttons his jeans and pulls his erection out, slamming it right into me.
“Ah!” I scream as he stretches and makes room for himself inside of me.
He’s kneeling still, making his angle perfectly perfect. He’s quite literally balls-deep. Dropping my legs from his shoulders, Weston places them gently around his hips and thrusts harder and more powerfully into me.
“You’re so beautiful,” he says, each word gets its own pumping thrust. “You’re all mine.”
“Yes! I’m yours!” I whimper, reaching for his face to pull him down for a kiss. His lips soft and hard, the perfect blend. He tastes like me, and I gasp into his mouth. Turned on even more. Kneading my breast with one hand, he pushes himself up with the other against the sofa. “I want to ride you, baby.”
Weston growls. “Fuck!” And pulls me up into his arms, kissing me all the while, and turning around to drop back down to the couch. I’m on him now, I’m the one in control.
He’s still inside of me. Still stretching and moving in his most favorite place in my body. I move up and down on him, swallowing, devouring, and completely owning him.
“Touch yourself,” he roars through gritted teeth.
My eyes widen and his flash passion. He takes my hand and puts two of my fingers in his mouth, wetting them, sucking and licking the pads of my fingers. He hums, moans, and takes them out of his mouth. Guiding my hand down to myself, pressing my fingers against my sex. Our fingers entwine together as we feel my swollen flesh and his stone-hard mass moving in and out of my body.
“Fuck, that’s so hot. Don’t stop,” he commands, pulling my neck to his mouth by my hair.
“I—I need to…I’m going to…”
“Let it go, baby…Give it to me, Leah.” His voice surges over the sound of my own cries. Weston finds his release just as my muscles clench down around him, choking him, milking him, taking everything he is giving me, and more.
Our bodies move and pant as we come down from our high. Rippling, crushing, climaxes shatter us and I fall into him. His head resting against my ch
est, his hot inhalations gusting over my over-sensitive skin in bursts as he tries to catch his breath.
I clutch and curl my fingers in his hair, not wanting to let him go. Not wanting to get off his body and pull from the deep contact we still have. We fit together so perfectly.
“I love this,” I say, staring at my ring, my fingers now combing through his hair. “It’s beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you.” He kisses my chest.
“Where are we going to live?”
“Doesn’t matter, as long as we’re together.”
I laugh and push back to look into his eyes. “I don’t want to live in New York.”
“I don’t either.”
“But it’s where you work.”
“I quit.”
I gape. “You quit Montedesco? What’s Josh going to do?”
“He’ll be fine. He was just helping me get away from…everything.”
“We could move to Wyoming.”
Weston curls his lips. “I don’t know if I could live there again. Not very many happy memories.”
“What about the agency? What about Riley?”
“What about it? She’s got it handled. Believe me, she wouldn’t want me there, anyway.”
I laugh. “You’re probably right. She’d just put you to work.”
“She would…What about Maine?”
This time I curl my lip. “No. Let’s find our own State. Somewhere neither of us has been…”
“We have forever to find it. Now, come here.” Weston grabs me and turns to throw me back down on my sofa. “I’m hardly finished with you yet.”
THREE YEARS LATER…
Weston
The small and fragile cries wake me. Sitting up, I look over at Leah. She’s sleeping sweetly, curled into a pillow, smiling about whatever she’s dreaming of.
I climb out of bed, run my hands over my face and yawn. It’s nearly four in the morning, and I don’t think I’ve slept a solid eight hours in months.
“You’re going to wake up mommy, sweet girl.” I reach down and pick up the baby. “My little Hazel, my littlest love.” I gently brush my nose against hers. It’s tiny, soft, and perfect. Just like she is.
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