by Lucy Rinaldi
Right now, this bath is just what I need. Lots of scented candles and the lights turned out. I always find that hot water relaxes my muscles better than anything. But then, I guess it's that way for most people.
I tie my hair up in a bun on top of my head. I don't have the energy to wash it right now. I step into the hot water and sink into it with a sigh. Yes, this is exactly what I need right now. I relax deeper into the water. The sound of something hitting the floor should have shocked me but it didn't. This bath is just too relaxing right now.
My eyes shoot open. Damn, I fell asleep in the bath. How typical.
I climb out, dry myself off, and get dressed into one of band tees and panties. I'm suddenly not tired. How fucking typical is that?
A film will help me drop off in no time. I check on Enzo, he's sleeping peacefully. It's all right for some. I then take myself downstairs, drop on the sofa with a thud, and flick through the channels on TV. There's nothing interesting, just some old eighties movie. That will do.
It isn't long before my eyes droop. I lay my head down on a cushion, pulling my legs under me and closing my eyes.
Dear sleep, I know we're not exactly best friends right now, but if you could find it in your heart to become so for a few hours, it would be much appreciated.
No doubt I'll be dreaming about Enzo and all the things I wish he'd do to me. God, his hands, and mouth all over my body. Or the things I want to do to him. Taste him, suck him, fuck him. And I would fuck him so good.
Or maybe he'd hold me down and fuck the ever living shit outta me. Yes, that sounds perfect right now.
A girl can dream, right?
Eight
Enzo
I need to pull my fucking head out of my ass. Eight fucking days she's been at my beck and call. Eight days. She doesn't need to be here. I don't even need the help, I can get around pretty well. My ribs don't hurt all that much anymore either. But I'm a selfish son-of-a-bitch and I want her here with me for as long as I can keep her. The thought of her leaving me here alone without her terrifies me. I have no idea why.
How fucking hypocritical of me, is that?
I'm being a bastard to her to make her see she's better off without me, yet I can't bear the thought of her leaving.
Does that make me some kind of insane person?
I watch her sometimes, the way she moves around my place as she cleans. That beautiful heart shaped ass of hers as she bends over to pick things up. Or the way her cleavage taunts me each time she leans over. I can't lie, though, when she cut herself this evening I panicked. I saw her eyes through the glass unit on the kitchen wall. They closed on her and her body swayed. I don't think I've ever moved so quickly in my life, even the damn cast didn't slow me down.
I'm starting to really worry about her. She's not sleeping, she's not eating. She's working too damn hard helping me and everyone else around her. And it's all my fault. It was all well and good, in the beginning, make her hate me by treating her like crap. But what if she hurts herself badly because of it all?
There's nothing else for it, I need to send her home. I can't have her running herself into the ground like this. I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to her. I mean, she fucking almost cut her finger off making dinner for me!
No, I have to let her go, no matter how much I want her near me. As much as I wanted her here, I wanted to show her I was the wrong man for her, and I think I've achieved that. I've been a mean fucker to her. If that hasn't turned her against me, nothing will. From the way she side eyes me, I'd say the plan worked wonders. There's no point in keeping her around any longer.
But I really do think that there's something really wrong with Paige, though, and I don't think me being a fucking dick to her twenty-four-seven is helping any. I'm not a total cunt, I let her sleep. But for some reason, she's not. Am I really upsetting her that much she can't sleep?
I don't know, maybe I just feel guilty about the fact I want her so damn badly I've got the worst case of blue balls known to man. I want her but I know I can't have her.
How could I take her and make her mine when I do what I do? Yes, I'm a firefighter and a paramedic, that's my legal profession. As well as owning my own hotel. But I am far more than that.
Okay, bare knuckle fighting isn't all that bad. No, it is, but it's my escape from reality. That, and I'm damn good at it. I haven't lost a fight yet. Not to say that I'm cocky, I'm just smart when it comes to fighting. I learn about my opponent weeks before fighting him. I make sure to know his weaknesses when it comes to fighting.
Right now, I should be getting myself ready for the fight I've got coming up right before Christmas. It's easy to keep my upper body strength by doing a few weights, but my legs? Thigh weights are easy, but Ankle weights? Not a chance.
Hell, I've still got weeks before the cast can come off. Even when it does there's no way I'll have the strength in my ankle to do this fight. It would be suicidal for me to walk into the ring less than one hundred percent healthy.
No, I'm going to have to tell Mike, my manager, that I can't go through with the fight. He'll have to find someone else. I'm not happy about it, especially when I've been waiting to fight this guy for months now.
Conner Billington, or “Crusher” as he's known, is a damn good fighter. He's also undefeated. The fight would have been epic. Hell, I'd been training for it for the past three months before I stupidly got lost in thoughts about Paige and turned and smashed right into a fucking truck!
I never allow myself to think about women and sex in the weeks leading up to any fight. Why the hell did I this time?
She's driving me insane, that's why. Every goddamned waking hour she's in my head. When she's out and about I wonder what she's doing, when she's coming back to me. When she's here, I watch the way she moves around the house, cleaning, cooking. Even when she dances around to the sound of music filling her ears through her earphones.
She may not know it, but watching her when she has no clue that I'm watching her is the highlight of my day. God, she has me hard in .000000001 seconds! I think that's why I'm such an ass to her. If I am it stops the damn tenting in my sweats every time I so much as clap eyes on her. I need to be an ass, I need her to hate me.
That's not to say that my hand hasn't become best friends with my cock since she's been here. I swear to God above it should be illegal for a woman to look the way Paige Monroe does. She has the most perfectly toned legs. Her ass is so full I can't stop thinking about sinking my teeth into it! Her breasts aren't huge but they're more than a handful. Thinking about my mouth around them, my tongue... Down boy!
Then there's her amazing green eyes. Hellfire, I've never seen such eyes. They shine like emerald crystals. They have me mesmerized each time I look at her. I want to look into those eyes as I slide my... Shit!
This is no good I have to get her out of my head. I can't even say I could just sleep with her and she'll be out of my system because, like I said before, I know one night with Paige will never be enough. I know that without even thinking about it.
Lying here isn't doing me any good. And the fact my mind is playing tricks on me is driving me nuts. I can hear sniveling. Quiet, heartbreaking cries. Cries that are so low they can't be real. Still, I drag myself out of bed, careful to grab my crutches and pull myself up. Having a broken ankle is not much fun.
Opening my bedroom door, I realize the soft mumbling-slash-crying, is coming from my living room. I have half a mind to check Paige's bedroom first, but I won't, obviously, she's the one in the living room. Maybe she's spoken to Kyle. Maybe he's yelled at her for being here. What guy in their right mind would be happy about his girlfriend moving in with and taking care of another man for two weeks? Because if she were my girl, there would be no way in hell I'd put up with it, friend or no friend.
It also strikes me a little odd that he hasn't been to see her, she hasn't been to see him either, and I haven't heard her take or make one call to him.
I hated the fact m
y brother had turned my den into a makeshift bedroom while I was still in the hospital. I didn't want to sleep downstairs, I wanted to sleep in my own room. I wanted to be next to Paige. Pathetic, right?
But nevertheless, I forced him to take everything back upstairs, back to my own room. He had no fucking right to touch my stuff without asking first. But I have to admit, right now, I wish to God I'd left everything how he'd put it. It takes me forever to get down the damn stairs and even longer it seems because I need to get down there and make sure Paige is okay.
I finally reach the bottom step and make my way to the living room. It's dark but for the light of the TV screen flickering away. And I realize that's where the noise is coming from. Some old film is playing, some woman crying and begging her guy not to give up on her. My eyes don't linger because there she is fast asleep on my couch. Paige.
She's curled up fast asleep. She's only wearing a T-shirt and I can see the outline of her tattoo on her right outer thigh. I've dated a couple of girls with tattoos, but seeing Paige's tattoo-clad thigh has me solid as a damn rock!
What the hell? I've never been turned on by tattoos, I can't even see what her tattoo is of. My eyes follow the length of her toned leg, her little feet. Damn, she's perfect.
My heart is pounding as I lower myself into the seat next to her. She doesn't even stir.
A thought just occurred to me. Is this where she spends her nights? On my couch? She should be in bed, not out here. She's not even covered up and it's not exactly hot in here right now. Well, it wasn't until I walked in and saw her lying there in next to nothing.
My hearts in my throat as I take the hem of her T-shirt and lift it slightly, revealing her tattoo. A vine filled with Cherry Blossoms and the words:
You do not choose Love, Love chooses you.
When you are chosen, Love is yours forever.
I smile to myself while stroking my finger over the words engraved on her thigh. All the crap she went through as a child and she's so full of love. She believes in love and I find that so amazing.
I gave up believing in love when I was ten.
My brother?
Not at all, he's been in love with Callie since he was a little boy. She kept his belief in love alive.
This beautiful girl lying on my couch deserves to be loved. She deserves to be somebody's everything. And by that, I do not mean Kyle. That son-of-a-bitch does nothing but cheat on her, and I wish she'd wake up and see that sooner rather than later.
God help me, what am I doing touching her like this?
This is all going to backfire on me in the worst way, I just know it is. I can't want her, but I just can't stop myself.
Nine
Paige
I open my eyes slowly. Enzo is sitting beside me, stroking my thigh while looking down. I close my eyes, I don't want him to know yet that I'm awake. I like the feeling of him touching me. His fingertip is sending shivers of arousal right to my core. My clit is throbbing with pleasure and he isn't even doing anything to me other than stroke my thigh with his fingertip. If that's how he makes me feel with his fingertip, how the hell would it make me feel if he actually touched me with his hands?
God, I am so a goner.
I've been lost to him for so long now that this feels natural to me. It doesn't feel like he's doing anything wrong. Even though in reality, touching someone like this while they're sleeping – pretending to sleep – would be deemed perverted, I like it.
Okay, I know if anyone else were touching me, even like this, I would break their faces for daring to think it would be okay to do so. But this is Lorenzo Ryker, the man I have loved for so long, I feel like he belongs to me in some way. No matter who he's ever been with, I've always felt like he'd find his way to me in the end.
But why is he touching me like this? I'm confused. He's been such a bastard to me this past week. Was that just so he didn't think about wanting me?
“You are so beautiful.” He whispers, and my heart is beating so hard in my chest I can feel it in my throat. “You've always been so goddamned beautiful.”
O.M.G! Is he really saying this to me or am I imagining it?
Am I really asleep and I'm dreaming all of this?
I hold in the gasp trying to escape me as he takes my legs and places them over his thighs. Holy fuck, I am dreaming, that's the only way to explain this. My nerve endings are all tightening to the feeling of his hands on me.
He slides his hand from my right ankle slowly up my leg and back to my thigh and down again. I can feel his erection pressing against my foot. Jesus, he'd rock hard! I flex my toes against it, he groans a primal groan, and my panties are now so damp they're bordering on soaked.
“You're skin is so soft. I could get lost in...” He groans again without finishing what he was trying to say. His erection is so hard against my foot that I can't help but flex my toes against it harder. “Jesus, Paige. You drive me insane.”
“You do the same to me.” His hand stills on my thigh, his eyes lock with mine. Those steely-blues boring into me with an intensity I've never seen. “Don't stop.” I manage to whisper. The last thing I want is for him to stop touching me. Every part of me is tingling with both arousal and anticipation.
“Paige,” He says my name in a warning tone. But I know he wants this, he wants me. I can see it in his eyes. But something is stopping him and I don't know why. “This can't happen. I shouldn't have...”
“Why?” I cut him off. I still haven't sat up yet. But then he's still holding onto my ankle. Tightly.
“Because it can't. You're my best friend's little sister.”
“I'm not a little girl anymore, Enzo.”
“No, you're not.” His eyes follow the length of me, burning fire into my skin, yet making me shiver at the same time. “Look,” He places my legs beside him and scoots forward in his seat, and I feel the loss of his touch shudder through me. “I just wondered why you were asleep on the couch. You need to be in bed.”
“I can't sleep. I haven't slept much in... I don't even know how long.” I pull myself into a sitting position and scrub my hands over my face. Being tired is a normal feeling when you're exhausted, but I'm so far past exhausted that I don't know what's real and what's not anymore.
“I'll get Sonny to take you home tomorrow.”
“What?” I almost jump out of my seat. I most definitely bump my chest into his arm. “No, I'm here to help you. I don't need to go home.”
“You're exhausted, Paige. You've taken on too much.”
“No, I haven't. I've just had a lot on my mind, what with Kyle, and...”
“Kyle?” He turns his head to look at me, our eyes locking again. And I can feel the sexual electricity crackling between us. He may be trying not to want me, but I know that he does. And now I know that, I won't stop until he's mine.
“What's he done to you?” Holy fuck, my eyes almost rolled to the back of my head. The authoritative, angry tone in his voice. The, I will kill Kyle if he hurt you, tone has every part of my sexual anatomy throbbing like crazy. “Paige, what did he do to you?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head with a smirk on my face. Does he seriously not realize how turned on I am by the way he's speaking?
“Well, unless you count the fact he's slept with half the town behind my back. The fact he got some other girl pregnant,” I sense his anger, and I swear, I'm an inch away from straddling his lap and forcing him to fuck me. But I continue, “The fact when I told him I didn't want to be with him anymore,” I notice his eyebrow raise in confusion.
I still haven't yet told anybody about Kyle and me breaking up. I don't know why I haven't said anything. But then no one's asked me why Kyle hasn't been around. I guess they all just thought he would stay away because I'm helping Enzo.
“He tried to tell me I couldn't leave because we're getting married.”
“You're getting married?”
“Do I look stupid? Of course, I'm not getting married. Not to him anyway. He never asked and I
would never have said yes if he did. Anyway, we're not together anymore.”
“You're not?” I shake my head and look down at my lap. “You miss him? Is that why you can't sleep?”
I didn't mean to burst out laughing, but I did. He's looking at me like I'm crazy, but I see the smile on his face. “Oh my god, Enzo!” I clasp his thick bicep. Fuck it all, it feels amazing, so strong and thick. God, I'm in big trouble. “No,” I'm no longer laughing. “We haven't been together for a couple of weeks.”
“Why didn't you say something? When I asked you if he minded you being here you just told me he was fine with it.”
“I didn't want to put my troubles on you. You needed my help.”
“That doesn't mean I wouldn't have listened to you, Paige. Jesus,” He rakes his fingers through his dark hair. “I feel like...”
“Don't,” I press my fingertips against his lips. “Kyle and I weren't anything special. I know that sounds bad when we were together for over a year. But, he really wasn't my One. It would never have worked between us in the end. He couldn't keep his dick in his pants, and I believe I'm worth more than that.”
My eyes close when he tucks my hair behind my ear and strokes my face with the back of his hand. “You are worth so much more than that.” His lips are a hairs breath away from mine. I can feel his breath against my lips. I can hardly breathe. I can feel my chest rising and falling in fast succession. I have dreamed about this moment for years. Is he finally going to kiss me?
He leans his forehead against mine. “I shouldn't want you like this. But I don't know how to stop myself when you're all I think about.”
“Really?” My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat.
My eyes close as he tucks my hair behind my ear again. I bite my lower lip to suppress a moan.
“It's wrong of me, Paige. I can't want you.”
“Why not?” I open my eyes slowly to him looking at me with such a tortured expression on his face. What could be worrying him so much? There's nothing wrong with us wanting each other. There's nothing wrong with us being together.