Reality Blurred

by Aven Ellis

  My gaze stops there, because next to the wine glasses are two pink cupcakes, covered in colored sprinkles.

  “You said sprinkles make everything better,” he says softly.

  I turn back to him, overwhelmed with what I’m feeling for this man. Maxime wanted to make tonight everything I asked for.

  It’s not a date on an exotic beach. It’s not on a yacht off the coast of Monaco.

  It’s so much better.

  Love surges through my heart as it beats frantically inside my chest. One thing has become crystal clear, in both my head and my heart.

  I love Maxime.

  Love is what this is. Love drove this man to create this kind of moment, one that he knows will mean everything to me. Love is wanting to bring this joy to my face, just so he can see it. He wants it to be romantic and intimate for our first time.

  I turn my attention back to him, this amazing man that I’ve fallen in love with. I’m going to give him all of me physically tonight, but now my heart as well.

  “Maxime,” I whisper, “it’s perfect.”

  His mouth reclaims mine, but this time the kiss is slow, sensual, as if he wants to savor every second of this intimate moment. It tells me the kissing is just as important as the act of making love.

  Maxime skims his hands over my body, causing me to tremble. He undoes the knot on my cardigan, sliding his hands inside of it, where they find my waist. His fingertips slowly, achingly dance up and down, causing desire to swirl within me.

  “I need to touch you,” I murmur sexily against his mouth, causing him to groan.

  I begin to unbutton his sexy lumberjack shirt, and once I reach the last button, I glide my hands up over his T-shirt, trembling as I feel the hard, muscular chest that is all mine to kiss and touch. I remove his shirt, allowing my fingertips to explore his sculpted shoulders.

  Maxime continues his deep, slow kissing, his hands now sliding up to remove my cardigan. I let it fall to the floor, standing before him in a sheer, lace camisole.

  With nothing underneath it.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he says, his eyes moving over me. Maxime lowers his hand to the bottom of my cami and slowly, gently, raises it up, as if he’s unwrapping a precious gift. He carefully lifts it over my head and bares my breasts to him.

  He doesn’t say a word, but his eyes say everything to me.

  This man is going to love me with reverence tonight.

  Maxime moves his hands over my breasts, touching them gently as he explores me for the first time.

  As he does, his lips find mine, kissing me sweetly, carefully, with gentle intimacy.

  I reach for his T-shirt and push it up, my hand skimming over his abs, and I sweep my fingertips across the contours of his defined muscles, shaking.

  Maxime helps me push it up, and then he takes it off. I gasp upon the sight of him, the hard muscle, the developed pecs, and the sexy, glorious trail of dark hair that starts at his chest and leads down to his waist that dips into a V, where his sweatpants hang enticingly from his hips.

  I stare at him, utterly amazed at how beautiful and powerful his body is. I run my hands over him, caressing him, and then I begin a trail of kisses from the top of his chest and move down slowly, kissing him, touching him, and stopping just as I get to his waistband.

  Maxime is shaking. So am I.

  He lowers me to the floor, cradling me on top of the blankets. The light from the fireplace flickers across his face, illuminating him in the darkness as his hands move down to my pajama bottoms. His hands carefully stroke the inside of my thighs as he lowers them down past my hips.

  He kisses me again as he removes them, as if he needs to stay connected with these intimate kisses as our hands explore each other.

  I feel loved.

  “God, I want this,” he whispers as he slowly traces his fingertips around the wisp of my lace thong.

  I undo the drawstring on his pants. He removes them, and I swallow hard when I see how perfect he looks in boxer-briefs. I move my fingertips over the waistband, down to his backside, cupping his tight, firm butt in my hand as he lowers himself over me.

  Maxime dips his head and kisses my neck, down to my breasts, slowly moving his tongue across my body, giving every inch of me attention. I’m shaking. My hips buck against him, and I bite my lip to keep from crying out for him.

  He lifts a pillow and pulls out a condom before his tongue is caressing my mouth again. He gives me a long, deep kiss before breaking away.

  “Now,” I pant, desperation filling me. “I need you now.”

  “No,” Maxime whispers. “You need to be worshipped and touched everywhere. I am going to take my time tonight. You deserve to be made love to, to have all of you celebrated. For hours.”

  A cry escapes my lips as he traces them with his tongue.

  I close my eyes, happy tears filling them.

  Maxime is going to make love to me in a way I’ve never dreamed existed. I will do the same, loving this man and his body as we become one tonight.

  I love you, I think as I kiss him back. I love you, I love you.

  And now is the time to show him how much.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “What are you thinking?” Maxime murmurs as he drops a kiss on my head.

  We’re snuggled up on the floor. Maxime is sitting up against the couch, and I’m in his arms, my cheek to his chest, cozy throws draped around us as we sip wine. He’s added more wood to the fire, and I can hear the crackling of the flames along with the beating of his heart.

  “I’m thinking,” I say, turning so I can look up at him, “about how perfect this evening has been and how making love to you has been a life-changing experience.”

  Maxime’s mouth curves up in a sexy smile that makes me hunger for him all over again.

  “Life-changing?”

  I nod. “You made me feel things I didn’t know I could,” I say softly.

  Maxime lowers his mouth to mine, giving me a sweet, lingering kiss. I savor the taste of wine on his tongue, which I find very sensual, and slowly kiss him back, greedily taking as many kisses as I can get from the man I love.

  Love.

  I know without a doubt this is what real love is. It’s not what I had with Tom.

  Love, true love, soul mate love, The One love, is what I have with Maxime.

  We made love for hours this evening, and now I love him more than I did before. He was passionate, giving, sensual.

  I felt cherished by this man, as if I was the only woman he’d ever touched like this. The physical connection between us was powerful and emotional. Making love to Maxime was a reverent experience, one that has changed my life forever.

  I want forever with you, I think as I kiss him with all the love in my heart. Only you, my Maxime.

  Maxime breaks the kiss and gazes down at me with nothing but adoration in his eyes. He combs his fingers through my hair.

  “I’ve never made love to anyone like I did to you,” he says, as if reading my mind. “That was worth waiting for. I’d wait again if it meant making love to you.”

  A powerful wave of love washes over me, leaving a warm feeling radiating through my skin. I touch his face, and Maxime takes my hand and puts my fingertips to his full lips, brushing a kiss against them.

  “Luckily, you don’t have to wait,” I flirt. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”

  Maxime laughs softly, and I do, too.

  “I do have a question,” Maxime says, his voice turning serious.

  “Yes?” I say, wrinkling my brow.

  “What the hell was on your pajama bottoms?”

  I burst out laughing. “Even in the throes of sexual passion, you noticed?”

  “Nothing about you escapes me,” he says. “Including bizarre pajama bottoms.”

  I giggle. “Those were from the Rudolph movie I was telling you about. They had the Abominable Snowman on them.”

  “That is the creature who makes the noise like your stomach?”
/>
  “Yes.”

  Maxime reaches for his wine and takes a sip. “You’re endlessly fascinating.”

  “I know. I’m going to change your life, Maxime Laurent.”

  “You already have,” Maxime says, his eyes flickering with intensity.

  He places his wine glass back on the table and lowers his mouth to mine, and as I kiss him back, I know he’s not the only one whose life has changed.

  Maxime has changed mine, in the most wonderful of ways. I’m full of love, confident in what we are building and of where it will end up. He’s my best friend. My support system. My partner. My love.

  He is my forever.

  With that thought dancing happily through my heart, I begin to make love with him again.

  ***

  I feel Maxime drift off to sleep, his arm draped around my waist. We moved upstairs to his bedroom, and now it’s the early morning hours of the next day. I listen to his rhythmic breathing and feel the weight of the dogs on the end of the bed. Amè and Henri seemed to be happy that I was part of the bedtime routine.

  If only Natasha and Boris were here. Then it would truly feel like home.

  While the dogs and Maxime sleep, I think about the past, of how I was so sure I knew what true love was when I fell for Tom. The world came crashing down when I discovered my feelings were one-sided. But if I didn’t go through that, if I didn’t know that pain, I wouldn’t have what I have with Maxime now. I wouldn’t have known what it is like to be with a man who genuinely listens to what I say and who is happy for my successes and wants me to follow my career dreams. Now I have a man who fought for me when I thought about walking away.

  That’s it, I think, my brain whirling. Other women need to hear this story.

  They need to hear about how I found everything beautiful about love when I found Maxime. I want them to know men like this exist, and not only in movies and in books but in real life. The right guy might not appear when you expect it, but if you can put aside your fears and take a chance, the most amazing things can happen.

  I need to write this, I think, excitement taking over. The love I feel now is the biggest part of my story, and I want to share it.

  I carefully remove Maxime’s arm. He murmurs for a moment, and I lay still until he resettles into sleep. Both Amè and Henri lift their heads as I quietly swing my legs over the side of his bed, but they resettle just like their dad did. I smile as I see the three of them sleeping, knowing this is my forever.

  I find my pajama bottoms on the floor and slip them on. Then I put on my cami and cozy cardigan. I creep down the stairs to the living room and retrieve my phone out of my purse. I grab one of the thick throw blankets and curl up on the sofa, opening a notepad app.

  Of course, I know Maxime is a private person. He might not want any of this shared, but I’m going to write it, let him read it, and then edit out things he thinks are too personal. If I explain to him why I’m doing it, he might be more open to the idea.

  The final call will be his, even though this story is mine, too. I love him too much to make him uncomfortable.

  So, with love as my guide, I begin to write.

  ***

  “Skye?”

  I blink my eyes open, confused. I look around, finding myself on Maxime’s sofa. Shit. I must have fallen asleep while writing.

  “Skye, where are you?” Maxime calls out.

  I hear the dogs come down the stairs, followed by Maxime’s footsteps. I push myself up to a seated position just as Maxime enters the room.

  “What are you doing down here, mon chérie?” he asks.

  I don’t answer for a moment. His sweat pants and lumberjack shirt are back on, and his waves are a sexy mess on his head.

  “I was inspired to write some stuff for my book,” I say as he takes a seat next to me.

  “You’re working so hard,” Maxime says, his eyes reflecting concern for me. “I worry about you.”

  I grin. “This coming from a man who just came off a grueling eleven-day road trip.”

  “Yes, but I have one job: to play hockey. You—you’re a TV reporter, you’re a blogger, you’re active on social media, and you’re writing a book. I don’t want you to burn out.”

  “I’m not going to lie; it’s a lot to handle,” I say, moving my hand to his silken locks and re-arranging them on his head. “But I can do it.”

  Maxime nods. “Okay. Make sure you take time to relax, though. It’s important.”

  I’m lucky to have someone who cares so much, I think.

  “I promise,” I say.

  “What are you doing for Boulder Live this week?”

  “Well, I have my reality roundup segment on Wednesday. Oh, and I will be giving Aly a heads-up that she will not, under any circumstances, discuss that cheesy tabloid article that came out on Friday.”

  “You mean the one about our wedding?” Maxime asks, flashing me a grin.

  I gasp. “You said you wouldn’t read them!”

  “Skye, the captions on the photos were so cheesy, I had to read it,” Maxime explains. “Besides, the guys are already giving me shit about it. I was going to know regardless.”

  A heat-filled shame comes to my cheeks. “I’m sorry, Maxime. I know it’s embarrassing, and I know even if you don’t say it, you hate this.”

  Maxime is quiet for a moment. “It’s an insignificant price to pay to be with you, Skye. I’ll handle this a thousand times over to be with you.”

  He leans in and kisses me as if to punctuate his point.

  I break the kiss and frame his face in my hands. “I’m lucky. So, so lucky to have another chance with you. I can’t imagine not being with you now that I am.”

  “I feel the same way,” Maxime says seriously. Then he clears his throat. “I don’t have practice today. Coach is feeling generous after that road trip.”

  “Ooh, does that mean a lazy Sunday for us?”

  “No. First, I’m going to make us a huge breakfast,” Maxime says, threading his fingers through mine. “Brioche and sprinkles, oatmeal, eggs, fruit, bacon, and coffee.”

  “You had me at sprinkles,” I tease.

  A beautiful smile lights up his face. “You’re easy to please.”

  “Okay, so big, huge breakfast. Then what?”

  “We need to run to the pet store. I think we need some cat things around here.”

  My heart holds still. “Do you want the babies to come over?”

  “They are a part of your family,” he says. “They should be here when you’re here. We need to get them used to the dogs and to traveling in the car.”

  I love this man so much.

  “I’d like that,” I say, keeping the love card silent for now.

  Maxime smiles at me. “Good. Then I have one more thing to do.”

  “Lots of sex?”

  An adorable blush sweeps across his cheeks.

  “Well, yes, that is definitely going to happen, but if we are to have a fire, I need to cut some more wood,” Maxime says.

  Hello, my fantasy is going to happen, I think with a wicked grin.

  “Ooh, I get to see you go all lumberjack.”

  “Funny. Most women like the fighting hockey player, but you like a man who can cut wood.”

  “Oh, speaking of that,” I say, removing my hand from his and lightly sweeping it over the cut on his face, “you don’t have to be Gavin, you know. Fighting isn’t your style. Your teammates know you have their backs. They aren’t expecting you to be Gavin. They are expecting you to be you, Maxime.”

  He’s silent for a moment. “Gavin is a good captain,” Maxime says, choosing his words as if this has been weighing on him. “I wanted to show them I could give them that same leadership in his absence. His injury has left a huge hole on the ice, Skye.”

  “But the team knows you aren’t Gavin,” I counter. “You were selected as alternate for all the reasons you are different from Gavin.”

  “I don’t want to let the team down,” he says. “I don�
�t know if I’m enough.”

  For the first time, I hear the ghost of his past creep into his hockey game. He fears being himself isn’t enough.

  “You are more than enough,” I assert. “Your coach believes it. Gavin believes it. You need to believe it, too.”

  “How did I get so lucky that you picked Brussels on a map?” Maxime asks, staring at me in wonder. “And that I met you again? That you moved to Boulder and here we are?”

  “It was meant to happen,” I say. “We were meant to happen, Maxime.”

  As his mouth finds mine for a kiss, I know it’s true.

  This is my destiny. This life, here with Maxime.

  He hasn’t said he loves me, but I know he does. I can see it in his eyes. I can feel it in his touch.

  Which is all I need.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Celebrate Life with Sprinkles—The Blog

  Re-evaluating the Situation

  I’m walking down the hall with a terrible cup of coffee at the Boulder Live studio. It’s Monday morning, and I’m blissfully happy as I get ready to attend the morning production meeting.

  Amazing what real love can do for you, I think with a smile.

  I spent all day yesterday with Maxime, and then he came over to my place to bond with the kittens. Much to my absolute delight, Boris came out and flopped on his side, letting both of us pet him. I was so moved by his utter trust, to put himself in that vulnerable position, that tears came to my eyes.

  I understood what was in his tiny heart as I felt the same thing when I put my trust in Maxime.

  Despite my fear of being vulnerable and my vow not to blindly trust fate, I embraced this new relationship.

  I have never made a better decision in my life.

  My fears of him not being able to handle my life have evaporated. I know he can now. I think I might have misjudged him in the beginning, based on my fears of his private nature. Maxime doesn’t seem to be bothered at all by what is written in the tabloids. I love that we were laughing about the most recent article this weekend. I know they all won’t be gushy like that, but at least I know he believes they don’t say anything of value.

  I’m glad he’s home all week. Maxime has a game tonight, which I’m going to, of course, as well as one on Wednesday and Saturday. It couldn’t have come at a better time, as we’ve taken a huge step in our relationship by sleeping together.