by Violet Paige
I thought I saw sadness or maybe it was just realization that reality was headed our way. Fall meant football.
I followed Blake around the side yard to where I could get a glimpse of the party under way on the lawn facing the sound. The event seemed to stretch across three adjacent yards with a white tent at the center as well as a steam pit to the left and a series of round tables to the right. Lanterns were strung from the gnarled island oaks and along three piers that jutted from the three houses.
“This is beautiful.” I stood in amazement. I couldn’t remember the island ever looking so magical before.
“Let’s get some drinks.” He pointed to the bar.
Apparently, things had really changed on the island. There was a full cocktail hour before the ceremony even began.
“Champagne?” he offered.
“One glass should be ok, right?” I took the glass from his strong hands.
“I’ll make sure you get in the right bed tonight, darlin’.” And there it was again. The tingle. The sensation that only Blake could give me. I had it so bad.
We carried our glasses and I followed Blake toward the pier. There was a group of men gathered, smoking cigars. I was skeptical whether I should tag along. I stopped short of the first step on the boardwalk.
“Maybe I should just get our seats,” I suggested.
“Come on. I want to show you off in that dress.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“It’s just.” I felt self-conscious about the whole thing. What were they going to think seeing us together again?
“What is it?” His eyes were dark and smoldering. Holy hell. I’d follow this man off the pier if he asked me to.
I shook my head. “I’m fine. Let’s go say hello.”
I pulled my shoulders backed and inhaled the salty air. My heels clicked against the wood surface and the men stopped talking to look at us as we approached.
“If it isn’t the island quarterback.”
“Hell, it’s the off season.” Blake slapped an older man on the back. I froze. I recognized him. It was his uncle, Roger’s brother. Shit.
The two men had looked a lot alike. Blake was more handsome than his father, but there was a definite good-looking gene in the Wyatt pool.
“Uncle Billy, you remember Sierra Emory from high school don’t you?”
The pit of fear dropped into the center of my stomach. He reminded me so much of Roger. The gray over his ears was more white. And he had more wrinkles around his eyes, but the similarities were eerie.
My hand trembled as I extended it forward. My teeth rattled as I tried to spit out my hello.
“Nice to see you again.”
He took my hand between his calloused palms. “So good to see you, dear.” His smile was warm and generous.
Cole popped up behind us. “Dad, you’re supposed to be seating guests.”
“Oh, am I?”
“Yeah, come on.”
He looked at me then Blake. “Maybe we can catch up after the ceremony.” He squeezed my fingers lightly and walked off the pier.
“Gotta go,” Cole announced. “People around here act like they’ve never been to a wedding before.”
As soon as they were out of sight, I reached for the railing. I took a big breath.
“What the hell is wrong?” Blake asked. “You ok?”
“He … he looks so much like your dad.” I stared off into the horizon. A few late boaters were coming in for the night.
“I guess I don’t see it.” He put an arm around me. “Are you going to be ok?”
I nodded. “It was just a surprise. That’s all. It made me feel like I was eighteen all over again.”
Blake spun me toward him. “Did you hear what I said to you, Sierra?”
My eyes tried to follow his.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you. Ever.”
His strong arms wrapped me toward his chest and I relaxed against his body. He was like a solid wall, daring anyone to pass through him. And in that moment I knew that if someone tried they wouldn’t make it through. Blake had me. He would make sure no one hurt me again.
“Want me to take you home?”
“No. I want to stay for the wedding.”
“Good.” He tipped my lips toward his.
“I guess we should take our seats.”
“Come on.”
He pulled me from the railing and helped me down from the pier. We walked across the grass and waited for Cole to escort me to our seats while Blake followed behind us.
“Glad you came,” his cousin whispered, depositing me in one of the groom’s family seats.
“Thanks. Me too.”
Blake sat next to me. He pulled my hand into his lap.
“Did I tell you how sexy you look?” he asked.
I nodded. “I think you mentioned it.”
He looked over his shoulder. “Do you remember that little beach down there?” he whispered.
I was trying to read through the program. I recognized some of the names from high school.
“Yeah, I think so. Isn’t that where we…” my words trailed off. I wasn’t about to say what we had done there. We were surrounded by wedding guests.
His teeth grazed my ear. “It’s where I—”
“Shh … don’t say it,” I warned him.
He smiled. When he did that I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop him.
“Why? You don’t want anyone to hear about what a naughty girl you were?”
I eyed him. He couldn’t be serious. “Blake, the ceremony is getting ready to start.”
He squeezed my hand. “Just having a little fun, darlin’.”
Before he could torture me further the music started and the first bridesmaids walked down the aisle. I sighed with relief. I was dangerously close to letting him push me to the edge of the fire. To that circle where the flames danced in my belly and I couldn’t help but the let the combustion take hold.
We stood when Alex’s bride appeared. Blake held my hand through the vows and afterward when the bride and groom kissed. It was sweet, but quick. We moved to the cocktail area to let the staff breakdown the ceremony seats and convert it into the reception site. Everything was all in one place.
Blake handed me another glass of champagne.
“I don’t know if I should.” I eyed him. I wasn’t exactly tipsy, but there was something about the night. Something in the air that was making me buzz with excitement.
“I think you should drink it.” He knocked one back. “I like it when you’re a little more daring. You let down your hair and let me do all the things I dream about doing.”
My core burned at the suggestion.
I touched the glass to my lips and felt the fizzy bubbles slide down my throat. It was sweet. It warmed me to my toes on a surprisingly chilly night.
The band started up. We watched from the sidelines as the bride and groom took to the dance floor and went through the obligatory list of dances with each other and their family.
“Come on.” Blake tugged me by the arm.
I thought he was trying to coax me onto the dance floor, but he was headed in a completely different direction.
“Where are we going?” I stumbled behind him. It was hard to keep up in my high heels.
“You’ll see.”
We moved through the guests until we were on the other side of the tree line.
“You’re not serious?” I looked up at him.
His mouth crashed against mine. “I’m fucking serious.”
I melted in his arms and surrendered every last sensible thought in my head as Blake stripped me in the moonlight on the same beach where I lost my virginity to him.
27
Blake
I pushed the pink straps over her arms and the dress over her hips and thighs.
“It was right here,” I whispered, turning her to face the water. I cupped her breasts, pinching her nipples between my fingers.
She nodded into my chest. “It was.”
>
My hands coasted over her navel and between her legs.
“This was the first place I fucked you, Sierra.”
She trembled as my hands slipped between the fabric of her silk panties and her skin. I pushed a finger between her slit, rubbing a line from her entrance to her clit. I groaned when her hips jerked forward.
My other hand pried her folds wide as I toyed with that swollen bud. It was hard to the touch as I moved my fingers back and forth.
She mewed softly, her lips parted slightly. Her eyes closed as she leaned into my shoulder.
“You remember that night?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Everything about it.”
I bit her ear.
My fingers sank deeper inside her. She clutched around me. Her walls caving in around my fingers with unbelievable strength.
“God, you’re sexy.”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this. All those people are just over there.” Her head rolled in the direction of the reception.
“You want me to stop?” I pulled my fingers away, leaving a trail of honey along her thighs.
“No, don’t,” she pleaded.
I chuckled in her ear. I knew she wanted the same things I did. I reached for my belt buckle and shoved the suit pants from my legs. My cock sprung free, large and swollen with want for her.
I twisted her to face me before I lifted her feet from the sand. Her legs clamped around my waist and I grinned adjusting my cock to find her wet hot entrance.
“Oh God, this night has been so perfect,” she moaned as I pushed up inside her.
I braced my back against a tree while she began to rock her hips into me.
“Fuck me, baby. Fuck me like you mean it.”
“I do mean it.” She held onto my neck, pressing kips against my mouth. Her tongue swirled in and out. “I mean all of it. I love this. I love being on this beach with you.”
I grabbed her ass roughly and sliced into her. Her head flew back. “Ohh, Blake. That, I love that.”
“Fuck, baby. So do I.” I did it again until we were both trembling from how fucking good it felt.
She had the most incredible body. The most gorgeous breasts. The most kissable lips. And there wasn’t a part of her sexuality I wasn’t fucking insane about. She could move her body like a dancer. She could take me to my knees. Her swollen clit. Those tits. The way she sighed with pleasure. All of it.
I was going to explode inside her. Fill her with my come. She bounced wildly as I stiffened and my dick shot my release deep.
“Damn.” I breathed into her neck.
She held on to me, clinging to my neck while my dick twitched with a life of its own. My hands wrapped around the small of her back when I felt her convulse and shiver. I watched in awe as she rode out an orgasm. Her pussy clutched my cock. Her breaths were erratic and quick and she mewed the sweetest fucking sound I’d ever heard.
My eyes met hers when she came down from the wave.
“That was fucking hot.”
She kissed me. “It felt hot. You bring out a wild side in me, you know that?”
I laughed, kissing her forehead. “I think you’ve always had that wild side.”
“And you like it?” she asked.
“Don’t you know by now?”
She nodded and I took her mouth with a hungry kiss. God, I would starve without this girl. I needed her like air to breathe.
28
Sierra
The sex was epic. Mind blowing. Cataclysmic. I had just launched off this planet when Blake took me on the beach. He owned me. That man owned my body. Every square inch. Every morsel. Every taste he wanted. It was his.
“We can do that every day when you’re in Orlando.”
“Logistics.” I breathed. “Just let me figure it out. Please,” I begged. I didn’t know if I’d ever catch my breath.
He pulled me into his arms.
“The only logistic you need to know is that you belong with me. You always have. I think there’s a tree on this island somewhere that says so.”
I giggled. “You carved that in an old water oak. It’s probably gone by now.”
“It’s not.” His voice was dark.
“Oh. I just assumed a hurricane wiped it out.”
“It’s this tree, baby. The one we just fucked on. The one that made you come even after the sex was over.”
I lost my breath.
“Are you going to stop fighting me now?” He asked. “Turn in your notice. Pack up your shit and get your ass to Florida where it belongs.”
His eyes flickered under the moonlight. “As much as I love you bossing me around in bed, because I do, it’s not the same in real life.” I saw the anger on his face. “I have a job. I’ve been completely on my own for eight years. You think you’re going to be in charge of my every move?”
“Do you want me to be?”
And that was the question. How far did I want his control to go? When I was seventeen and had given myself to him it was different. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was young and naïve. But I’d made it on my own since then. I went to journalism school and paid for it myself. I never took a cent of his dad’s money.
I sighed. “I’ll give my notice.” I held up my finger. “But I want another job first. I want to move and have something on my own.”
“Fuck, Sierra. You do have something. You have me.”
And we were back to the impasse. To the thing that kept us on separate sides of the same goal.
“I know. But can’t you see I want something too? You have football. I’m not asking you to give up being a quarterback. I’m not asking you to leave the AFA. You don’t have to quit your job. You just have to be patient.”
“I’ve waited eight fucking years for you. Damn it. Don’t do this.”
“I’m only asking for a little time. I have to get my resume together and call some contacts in Orlando. I should be able to have something in six months. My work in Dallas is really strong.”
“Six months?” And that’s when I knew he was over the talking. He was done with all of it.
There wasn’t enough moonlight on the water. There wasn’t enough sparkly champagne or romantic slow songs. He was done.
I looked up. “It’s not that long.”
He buckled his pants.
I wiggled trying to rearrange the skirt of my dress. It was full of sand.
“When you think you’ve found the love of your life again and she tells you to hold off because it’s not convenient, you start to think otherwise.”
He started walking toward the small set of trees that separated us from the reception.
“Blake, don’t go like this. Stay. Please stay.”
He looked over his shoulder. “Good luck, Sierra. I mean it. Good luck this time.”
“No.” I ran barefoot to chase him. “Just stop. Please.”
“I can’t. Not this time.”
He stormed through the brush onto the manicured lawn at the edge of the party. No matter what I said, or did he wasn’t going to turn around.
“Don’t do this, Blake. Don’t say goodbye. Please.”
I watched as his dark silhouette disappeared. I lost him when he joined the crowd.
I stood, trying to cover up my lacy bra, and realized I was more bare than I’d even known.
I looked up at the house where I had spent part of the summer. The breeze blowing off the sound skirted through the wind chimes. Three weeks ago, I had thought I was going to hate my trip back to the island. It was only going to drudge up painful memories. And maybe for the first week that was true, but looking out across the sound to where the lighthouse stood, I knew I had grown to love this place and all its quirks all over again.
I had fallen in love a second time. I didn’t know it was possible.
I tossed my purse in the front seat. I knew I was stalling, but everything about this moment was surreal. It felt like I was walking through a fog.
I didn’t want to leave without
saying goodbye. I didn’t want to drive over that bridge a second time without saying the words. But Blake wouldn’t answer my calls. He didn’t answer the door when I knocked.
He wasn’t in the boat barn. I couldn’t find him anywhere on the island.
He was the one who had escaped this time.
I slid into the seat and turned the keys in the ignition. She rolled the window down to inhale the last whiffs of the salty air. I didn’t know when I would be back to work on the house. It would sit and wait for me. It wasn’t the first time it had been through a storm.
I exhaled and put my foot on the break. It was time.
I put the car in reverse as I pulled away from the house. Away from a place that had become home. Away from where love had found me.
29
Blake
“Get your asses out here,” I yelled at the team.
The receivers were on the sidelines like they didn’t have routes to run and two of the tight ends were sitting on the bench.
“What the fuck is going on around here?” I looked at Coach. He shrugged.
He was worried about the personnel issues he had with the new coaching staff. We had too many new hires. Not enough seasoned talent.
This was how the first part of the season always started. A complete cluster fuck. But I needed it to go smoother than this. I needed to control it.
The season opener was in two days. Camp was over. The pre-season kicked our asses royally. No one had any faith in the Thrashers. They didn’t think we could pull off a winning season. Looking at this group of lazy ass grown men, I knew why. No one gave a shit. No one had an ounce of passion. An ounce of drive.
But I did.
I shouted at the linemen. “Are you ready?”
They nodded.
“Good. Then let’s go.”
If the guys on the sidelines didn’t want to practice, I was sure some of the rookies did. And if they could catch the ball, I’d request they start on Sundays. All I cared about was getting the W.
I heard the receivers grumble on the field. “Thought he went to some fishing hole. He is not relaxed.”