From the Wreckage

by Melissa Collins

  “Uh huh,” she mutters, breathless and seemingly satisfied.

  “Good.” Smiling at her, I reach behind her to unlatch the door. “Now let’s get back to my place and get to work. I have a feeling you’re the type to feel better once they’re elbow deep in work.”

  She smiles back, her eyes shy and her lips full. “How’d you know that?”

  “Just a lucky guess, but I’m the same way.”

  She slides into her seat and me into mine. For the ten minute ride back to my apartment, she talks about a few ideas she’s having for her lesson. I wouldn’t call myself uneducated, but English Lit is most definitely not my strong suit. But listening to her ideas, her passion about reading and writing becomes crystal clear.

  She’s intelligent and articulate.

  And ridiculously adorable as she weighs her options aloud.

  Her rambling continues as we walk up the stairs to my apartment and it isn’t until she flops back on the couch that she even realizes where we are.

  “So it’s three now. How about we both get two solid hours of work in before we take a break?” Handing her the bag with her books in it, I slide next to her on the couch. Moving my books to the other side of the table, I settle back against the cushions.

  “What are you working on?” she asks, eying my binder. There’s more than a little surprise in the tone of her words.

  “Nothing, really,” I deflect. Not one for attention, I close the binder and try to refocus the conversation back to her lesson. “So what are you–”

  “Oh no.” Laughing, she waggles a finger in my face. “You told me you were studying. So what is it?”

  “There’s a lieutenant’s test in a few months. I’ve been really busy with my parents, so I need to catch up.” Patting the top of my binder, I tip my chin at her bag. “So let’s get to it, huh?” With my glasses back on, I open the book and remove the cap on my highlighter.

  “Hey?”

  I look up. “Yeah, what’s up?”

  “Oh, nothing,” she coos. “I just needed to do a double take.”

  “These?” I ask, sliding them off my face.

  “Yeah those.” Her voice is thick with something.

  “Hate them, but can’t read without them. I guess I have both of my parents to thank for that.” Laughing, I deflect the usual discomfort I feel over having to wear reading glasses. Having dealt with them since I was thirteen, they’re the one thing in my life over which I feel self-conscious. Genetics are a bitch like that.

  “You can hate them all you want.” Her pink tongue slips out of her mouth, tracing along the plump line of her lower lip. “But I think they make you look hot.” After a brief pause, she says, “Hotter, actually.”

  Well, then.

  Score one for the glasses, finally.

  “Music okay with you? Or do you need silence?” With the remote in her hand, she’s poised to turn on the television. “There’s a channel that plays classical music.” Crinkling her nose, she looks adorably beautiful, explaining, “I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it helps me think. There’s actual clinical research proving–”

  “Grace,” I cut her off mid-sentence. “I don’t need a dissertation.” I laugh. “If you want to listen to some music, that’s fine. I don’t need it to be quiet.”

  Her responding smile lights up her entire face, and the room for that matter. Once the piano notes fill the room, I’m glad for the background noise. Without it, the sounds of her breathing would be the only ones in the room. Then it would be impossible not to watch her inhale and exhale, loving the rise and fall of her luscious chest, wondering what her breasts would feel like in my hands.

  Yep, Mozart has my appreciation right about now.

  An hour later and neither of us have spoken a word, letting the music fill the space around us. Needing to stretch out my legs, I stand from the couch. “Beer?” I ask, walking past her into the kitchen.

  Without even looking up from her paper, she says, “Yes, please.” Turning back to the living room, I stop and lean against the counter. Grace is hunched over her books on the coffee table. Rubbing her shoulder, she tries to stretch out her neck. Her hair is tossed into one of those impossibly messy buns that threaten to swallow up her entire head. There’s a pen sticking out of one side of it and one dangling from her mouth. With her body swaying to the rhythm of some soothing song playing from the television, she looks so at peace. It’s as if I’m seeing her for the first time—the real Grace.

  That’s not to say the interaction we’ve had up to this point hasn’t been real. I’ve loved every minute of it, but there’s something pure about watching her like this. She’s unapologetically nerdy, painfully sarcastic, and naturally beautiful.

  Mesmerizing.

  When she arches her back, twisting it to each side, she catches me staring at her. Over her shoulder, she gives me a sweet, almost shy smile. “Hey.” Her voice is tired and I can only imagine the exhaustion she’s feeling from both the adrenaline of receiving that phone call and the dedication to her work.

  “Here you go.” Staying behind the couch, I give her the beers from over her shoulder.

  She laughs. “Trying to get me drunk,” she jokes, wiggling both beers.

  “No,” I answer seriously. “I’d never take advantage of you.” When I drop my hands to her shoulders, she jumps slightly. “They’ll warm up in a second,” I explain away the coolness the beer left on my fingertips. Her shoulders are twisted, like the knotted roots of some ancient tree. But rather than easing into my touch, she stays tense. “Relax, Grace.” With the gentlest touch, I pull her back further to me. She sighs as my fingers knead into her neck and shoulders. My pride swells when I feel goose bumps dotting her skin. She actually shivers when I graze my short fingernails up the nape of her neck and along her scalp.

  After no more than a few minutes of a massage, her body goes limp. “That feels so good,” she moans softly. Covering my hand with hers, she pulls me from the back of the couch to sit next to her.

  To her surprise, I keep her facing away from me, running my hands over her shoulders and arms. Leaning back into me, she rests her head against my chest, pushing me back against the arm of the sofa. As carefully as I can, I unloop the elastic from her hair, letting it fall in waves of coconut scented dark red strands. Combing my fingers through her hair relaxes both of us. It takes a matter of seconds for our breathing to synchronize, our chests rising and falling to the same beat.

  Trailing my finger along the shell of her ear, she shudders. The atmosphere changes as she presses her ass deeper into my lap. Tracing the same finger lower, it skims the neckline of her tank top. Her back arches, pushing her breasts into my touch. “Grace,” I growl, asking permission yet warning at the same time. “I don’t think–”

  “Then don’t,” she says, spinning around impossibly fast. Straddling me, her warmth blankets over my body, making me vibrate with anticipation. She lifts her tank top over her head, letting it fall to the floor. The lacey cream bra leaves little to the imagination. Her skin—it’s perfect, every inch of it. “Don’t think at all,” she pleads, pushing a strap down one arm. “Let me think for both of us.” She pushes down the other strap, revealing what I could only call a work of art. Shivering out of what I hope is desire, she inhales a shaky breath.

  Settling my hands on her waist, I’m frozen to the spot. Rubbing sensual circles on her sides, I slowly move my hands up. With my eyes trained on the deep blue depths of hers, I unhook her bra, letting it fall to my lap. With one hand holding steady at the nape of her neck, I use the other, still wrapped around her waist, to pull her down to me.

  Our lips are so close, her exhales become my inhales. Her existence flows through my veins and it becomes a basic necessity to feel her lips against mine. Sweet and sin rolled into one, our soft kiss intensifies, pushing our passion to the limits.

  The warmth of her mouth, the heated thrash of her tongue against mine, the gentle nips of her teeth tugging on my
lower lip, it’s all almost too much for me to take. “Oh, God,” she calls out as she rolls her hips against my erection, lying hot and heavy between us. “David,” she groans.

  Arching her back, she pulls her mouth away from mine affording me the chance to rain kisses long her jaw and neck. With just the tip of my tongue, I lick the upper curve of her breasts. Murmuring against her heated skin, I tell her how beautiful she is, how perfect. Though she offers no verbal reaction, her body tells me all I need. She stiffens slightly as she slows her hips. It’s only for the briefest of seconds, but it’s enough to clue me in on her insecurities. “Look at me,” I demand her attention, angling her head back to mine. “Grace, you don’t think I’d lie to you, do you?” Grazing my knuckles along her cheek, she closes her eyes, but says nothing. “Because I wouldn’t. Not about anything, and most definitely not about this.” Trailing my hand lower, I flatten it out just beneath the hollow of her neck. “Open your eyes, Grace.” Her eyes flutter open, the sapphire gems flickering to life.

  “David,” she begs, her cheeks flushing pink. “Please.” She arches again, making her demands perfectly clear.

  “Oh, I will. The Earth splitting in half couldn’t keep me away from you now.” I move my hand lower still, but not low enough to actually touch her where she wants to be touched. When she closes her eyes again, I stop. “Keep them open. Keep them on me. Listen to me.” Refocused now, she takes a deep breath. “Good girl.”

  She sighs.

  My hand moves.

  She shudders.

  Skimming lower still, I watch in amazement as I feel the goose bumps dot her skin.

  With only a single finger, I circle her breast, making smaller and smaller circles until I’m unbearably close to the pointed, pink tip. Cupping the underside with my hand, my thumb grazes her nipple and her head lolls back. “On me, Grace.” Moving my hand away from her, I wait for her eyes to find mine again. “There we go.”

  There’s fire in her blue eyes, ecstatic and piercing. With as soft a touch as I can manage, I roll her nipples between my fingers. “Oh, God,” she cries out, all while keeping her eyes on mine.

  “That’s it, baby. Keep looking at me. Show me how you come apart.” Reluctantly, I move one arm back around her waist, pulling her closer to me. Trailing wet kisses down the center of her breasts, I can actually feel her breathing become more and more uneven. When I pull one tip into my mouth, kissing, licking, sucking it, she bucks wildly on top of me. Moving to the other, her body alternates between rigid and soft, hard and pliant.

  “Fuck! You’re so sweet.” My lips tease at her nipple. Pulling her mouth down to mine, her mouth tastes just as sweet. Her tongue delves into my mouth, taking everything it wants, leaving nothing but passionate need in its wake. “I need to touch more of you.” When I run my nose along hers, she nods, granting me and my itchy fingertips the permission I so desperately need.

  With a gentle smoothness, I roll us both to our sides, tossing the cushions from the back of the couch down to the floor behind us. “Much better.” Her body molds to mine, our legs entangled and arms wrapped around each other.

  “David?” Her voice is uncertain, nervous.

  “Shh, baby.” I try to calm her, soft touches roaming over her shoulder and down her arm. “Trust me?”

  Without missing a beat, she nods, pressing her lips to mine. “More than I should,” she whispers before kissing me deeper.

  “Good.” My fingers dance along the waistband of her shorts. Never in my life have I ever been more thankful for running shorts. With a little wiggle and some finesse from me, her shorts are crumpled in a ball at the foot of the couch. Her hand moves to her chest, covering up every inch I just had in my mouth. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s too much. I feel so exposed.” There’s raw honesty and hidden pain in her voice. “Please.”

  It’s enough to stop me in my tracks, ice flowing in my veins. “It’s okay baby. Shh. It’s okay.” After dropping a quick kiss to her nose, I pull us up so that we’re sitting side by side. Using both of her arms now, she’s trying to cover herself up. But she’s failing and I see the look of anguish on her face. Reaching behind my back, I pull my T-shirt over my head. “Here you go.” Keeping my eyes closed to give her the privacy she needs, I hand her the shirt.

  “Thank you,” she mutters, her voice filling with shame.

  “Come here,” I implore, pulling her into my arms. The back of the couch is hard with the cushions missing, but feeling her against me is all the comfort and warmth I need.

  I only hope my body offers her the same feelings.

  Pressing my lips to her temple, I comb my fingertips through her hair. “You don’t have to tell me what happened, why you pulled away, but if you want to, just know that I’ll listen.”

  “Thank you,” she murmurs, resting her head against my chest.

  We sit like that for a few minutes and just as I’m about to suggest getting dinner and forgetting about everything, she speaks up.

  “It was Blake.”

  Her words slice through me, setting a raging fire to my anger and protectiveness.

  “What?” I ask for clarification through a clenched jaw.

  “My ex,” she clarifies the wrong point. I’ll never forget the asshole who laid his hands on her. And that was what I saw in public. Who the fuck knows what he did to her in private.

  Straightening in my seat, I twist to face her. “I know who he is,” I ground out. “Tell me what he did. If he laid a hand on you . . .” My words trail off knowing it would probably do more damage than good to voice how I’d beat the shit out of him if I found out he hurt her.

  “Not like that. It’s just . . . it was only once . . .”

  “Once what, Grace?” My patience grows thin. The idea of driving over to his place and dragging him out to the curb by his collar is a very enticing one.

  “It was the first time we were . . . uh . . . together.” Pausing, she evaluates my response. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

  “Yes.” My answer is barely audible through my clenched jaw.

  “I haven’t had a lot of boyfriends. Only one in high school that was somewhat serious, but we never . . . you know. There was only one other guy in college besides Blake. I wasn’t as interested in dating as most girls.” Discomfort and shame color her voice.

  I nod, trying to keep my wits about me. But the fact that she feels ashamed for not having had too many boyfriends nearly breaks me.

  “I tried to give him . . .” Her faces flushes red and her words stop.

  “Grace, look at me.” She lifts her head. “You can tell me anything you want. You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.”

  “I’ve never told anyone this, not even Jade.” After a deep breath, she straightens her shoulders, seemingly reinvigorated. “He laughed at me. Told me I did a shit job. Seemed disgusted that he’d have to teach me how to suck his dick properly.” Her eyes fall to her hands as they twist together in her lap. “Pretty much every time we did anything, he found a way to make me feel like I was doing something wrong. After a few times, I felt broken. Like something was wrong with me.”

  I want to say, That motherfucking asshole.

  But I stifle my anger, choosing instead to focus on her courage. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.” Lifting her chin with my finger, I search her face, wishing I could make the hurt in her eyes vanish. “You are beautiful and intelligent. You’re the funniest person I know. I’ve laughed more with you in the few times we’ve hung out than I have in a long time, Grace.” There’s a pleading tone in my voice. “Please believe me when I tell you, it was not you. Any guy who has to make a woman feel less than perfect, who has to blame her and laugh at her for a lousy time in bed, isn’t really a man. Did he ever make you happy? Was he ever there to take care of your needs?” Clearly confused by my question, her brow furrows, distorting her beautiful face in misunderstanding. “Did he ever make you come?”

  With a movement
almost too subtle to see, she shakes her head. “No,” she mutters, almost embarrassed.

  “Well then, he’s the fool who should be laughed at. Because a real man would always take care of his woman first, make her feel like she’s the only person on the face of the planet who deserves his love and attention.” She nods, but there’s something in her face and body language letting me know she doesn’t truly believe me. Holding her face in my hands, I press a soft kiss to her quivering lips. “You’ll see. I’ll show you. Not tonight, but when the time is right, I’ll show you how beautiful your body is. How perfect you are as you come apart beneath me.”

  Swallowing hard, she nods, a small smile cracking her lips. With another kiss to the corner of her mouth, I stand and gather her clothes. Shyly, she says “Thank you” when I place her bra and tank top back into her lap.

  “Now, how about you go get dressed and we’ll finish these beers. Then we’ll get dinner and go out to make your copies for tomorrow. I want to get you to bed nice and early. Make sure you’re well-rested for your big day.”

  Standing, she nods, still uncertain and shy. Taking a few steps to her, I pull her into my arms. With her back to my chest, I wrap my strong arms around her, pressing my lips to the top of her head. “You fit perfectly here,” I whisper into her auburn locks. “I’ll prove it to you. In more ways than just sex. I’ll make you see how I see you.”

  Spinning in the circle of my embrace, she wraps her arms around my bare waist. My heart beats a frantic rhythm in my chest as her cheek presses against my skin. When she looks up at me, the pain that was in her eyes is no longer there. “Thank you. I didn’t mean to lead you on.”

  “Shh.” I kiss away her concerns. “You didn’t. Not for one second.”

  Smiling, she nods. Her hands move to my chest. Running her fingertips over my skin, she says, “You make everything seem different.”

  “So do you.” And one final kiss seals our words in something that feels stronger than a vow.