Torn (Tattered Heart Duet Book 1)

by Brooke O'Brien

  Tears fill her eyes knowing the direction this conversation is taking. I hate seeing her in pain.

  “I’m going to go up north to Minnesota and stay with my aunt for a little while before I head out for basic training.”

  She lets out a deep exhale as she rubs her hands together before moving around me crossing the bedroom toward her door.

  She raises her arm up, running her hand along her neck, rubbing the tension there before reaching out to lock the bedroom door. When she turns around, her eyes trail up my legs to my face. I can see it on her face, the desire, but I wait for what she’s about to say.

  “Will you stay with me tonight?”

  Nine

  RYAN

  My heart feels like it’s hammering out of my chest. After the way things got heated earlier tonight, I knew Maverick wanted my first time to be special.

  Somehow, in a matter of just a couple hours, things have changed. After tonight, I don’t know when I’ll see him again and my heart aches even considering how long it will be.

  His eyes are searching mine, looking for any hint that I may be second guessing this or hesitating. There isn’t a single inch of my body that doesn’t want him.

  My parents are two doors down the hall and I know we’re running a huge risk of getting caught, especially if Dean comes home. I don’t care though because if this is all I have with him, I want him to leave me with something worth remembering.

  I want to send him off with a piece of me no one else will ever have.

  “Ryan,” he whispers. The uncertainty in his voice crushes me, but I push it aside.

  Closing the space between the two of us, his arms encircle my waist, holding me against him. His hands run underneath the hem of my shirt. My body trembles with the force of the shivers running through me.

  My reaction to his touch is undeniable. Reaching down, I pull my tank top up and over my head. Maverick leans back, his eyes traveling from my stomach up to my chest and back down again.

  His hands loosen around my waist and his fist covers his mouth. He tries to hide the muffled groan. I love seeing his reaction; the desire in his eyes, the warmth of his skin to the way he subtly bites his lip.

  I relish in it. I crave more of it.

  Sliding my thumbs along the waistband of my boxers, I push the material over my hips until they fall to the floor, standing before him in nothing but my sports bra and lace underwear.

  When Maverick sees me gathering the only scrap of material covering me up, he reaches forward and grabs my arm, pulling me quickly into him.

  A smile breaks out across my face and a smirk graces his lips.

  “You are trouble,” he mutters, looking up at me and then back down to my mouth.

  Leaning forward, I press a kiss against his mouth, swallowing his moan in the process. His hands roam over the curve of my ass; he squeezes the flesh in his hands pushing me closer against him.

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” he asks when our mouths break apart.

  “I’m sure,” I say with every bit of confidence I have in me.

  My eyes rake over his body, to the growing erection in his pants, as he kicks off his shoes and drops his pants near mine. I can’t even control the desire pooling in my belly wanting to run my hand over him through his underwear.

  When my eyes find Maverick’s, his are bright with arousal as he pulls his shirt over his head. His abs flex and I can’t hold back the urge to be near him any longer.

  “We should lie on the floor. I don’t want your parents to hear us, or worse Dean.”

  I push the thought of why Dean would be worse than my parents away because as much as I hate to hear it, he’s right.

  Grabbing blankets and a pillow from my bed, I lay them out on the floor. I can’t even remember who moves first or maybe it’s both of us, but it’s as if we can’t keep our hands off each other. Maverick’s coarse hands running over my soft skin cause my body to shiver.

  He helps me lie down on the floor next to him. Wrapping his hand in my hair, his mouth is back on mine, and I let my body soak up every ounce of his attention. I relish the feel of how his warm breath feathers over my mouth as our legs tangle together. He rubs his thigh between my legs, adding a friction which is making me go insane with how badly I want him.

  His hand glides down my back, effortlessly unhooking my bra before his skilled hands take my breast in his. Everything he does to me has me going out of my mind wanting more.

  “Maverick,” I moan, before his mouth covers my pleas.

  “Is this—” he pauses, hesitating. “Is this your first time?”

  I nod as his hand disappears into my underwear as I grind against his palm. He mutters a quiet “fuck”, feeling how ready I am for him before pulling his hand back. He quickly sheds his boxers and I follow along right beside him. I watch as he pulls a condom out of his wallet and quickly tears the wrapper open.

  I bite down on my lower lip to smother my groan, seeing how sexy he is with his hard cock in his hand, before his body covers mine. When the head runs over my aching center, I feel like my eyes are going to roll back into my head.

  “Ryan, I need you here. I need you with me.”

  My eyes open behind the haze of desire as he pushes his way into me.

  “This will hurt for just a second, but then, I promise it will feel better.”

  I find myself wanting to ask him how he knows, but I don’t want to ruin the moment knowing this may be our only time together. My body begins to tremble with need as Maverick trails a kiss along my collarbone, whispering it’ll be okay.

  Letting out a shaky breath, I give him a small nod as he continues. His eyes never leave mine as he pushes his way in. With every inch, I feel the grip he has around my heart tighten.

  I wrap my arms around his neck wanting him closer to me, needing to hold onto this moment, preserve it forever, and never let it go.

  “I’m going to move now, baby.”

  Nodding my head again, I seek out his mouth, pressing a hard kiss against his lips. He pulls out slowly before rocking his way back inside of me. With every thrust, I find my body relaxing, passing the threshold of pain, and riding the high of pleasure.

  A quiet moan slips out of Maverick’s mouth and I quietly beg him for more. Maverick releases a shaky breath, leaning back and watching as he fills me over and over.

  “Ryan,” he moans, reaching up to grab my breast in his hand. Covering his hand with my own, I can feel my release building with every hurried thrust. Judging by the hard look on Maverick’s face, he’s not too far behind me.

  Adjusting his angle, he runs my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. The sharp pain is followed by pleasure as I release a moan. He quickly moves his hand up to cover my mouth.

  “You have to keep quiet, baby.”

  Lights flicker before my eyes as I squeeze them shut as my body quakes with my release. I’m thankful Maverick hasn’t moved his hand as he covers my muffled moan. Maverick continues to thrust into me, riding out his release before collapsing on top of me.

  My hands wrap around him, my fingers trailing lovingly along his heated skin.

  We lie together for a few minutes before Maverick pulls out of me. Reaching down, Maverick pulls a blanket from the bed onto the floor and covers us up together. It’s a risky move falling asleep without getting dressed, but I don’t have it in me to care anymore.

  Maverick’s arm slides underneath the pillow before he pulls me in closer to him. With my back pressed against his front, he wraps his arm around my chest. I hold onto him, soaking up anything he is willing to give me.

  I hate knowing, in a few hours, when we both wake up, this will all be over. So much has happened in the span of only a few days. I went from knowing Maverick as my brother’s best friend and my high school crush, to feeling something more with him. Something deeper than I have ever felt before and it scares me.

  What scares me the most is the fear that when I wake up, when he’s gone and
moved on with his life, that I’ll be left with only the memories of what it felt like to be in his arms. I’m afraid of never knowing what it will be like to love again. Even more, I’m scared that I’ll never be able to heal my torn heart because I know he’ll be the only one who can.

  My thoughts eventually calm and the sleep, that seemed to elude me for over an hour, comes. Maverick’s quiet snores and his warm breath against my neck soothe me into a deep sleep. When my eyes open the next morning, the warmth I felt was replaced by a bone chilling cold from not having his body against mine.

  With the blanket wrapped around my body, I hold the material to my chest sitting up in a panic as my heart drops into the pits of my stomach. Immediately I search for his bag sitting near the closet, hoping and praying for some indication he is still here.

  There’s no way he could’ve left without saying goodbye.

  My eyes fill with tears when I realize how wrong I am. It’s as if my heart cracked open in my chest. I fall back onto our makeshift bed, curling my legs against my chest and cry until I am certain there isn’t a drop of tears left in me.

  A little while later, after I convinced myself to get up, I go through the motions of taking a shower and getting dressed. Standing beneath the hot spray, I cry as I wash away all traces of last night from my body.

  Walking back into my room, the first thing I notice is the sketchbook and pencils Maverick gave me sitting on my desk. I feel my heart sink further when I notice the words written on the page.

  Ryan,

  If you’re reading this, I know it means you woke up and found me gone. I’m sorry, fuck, I’m so sorry. I hope you know how much I wanted to be there, to be able to say goodbye to you. I hope you don’t feel like last night didn’t mean everything to me, because it did. If I’m honest, it meant the world to me to fall asleep next to you again, to feel the peace only you have been able to bring me.

  I wish I was strong enough to stay, to look at you when tears streamed down your face as we said goodbye. I just couldn’t do it though. I wanted the last memory to be of the love you had in your eyes last night.

  I promise I’ll carry it with me while I’m gone.

  Love,

  Mav

  Clutching the sketchbook against my chest, I feel another wave of tears flow down my cheeks. I don’t know how it’s possible for me to cry any more than I already have, but I do.

  I slide a pencil out from the box sitting on my desk and open to a clean page in my sketchbook. When the lead touches the paper, everything I had been feeling flows out of me and into my drawing. Maverick had asked me to draw him something, knowing anything I drew would mean something.

  My heart feels like it’s been torn in two. In that moment, I make a promise to myself never to forget this feeling. I’ll carry the tattered pieces of my heart with me, keeping Maverick with me from this day forward.

  I just wanted to help heal him, but in the end, he broke me.

  To be continued...

  Coming Next

  Grab Tattered, Book 2 in the Tattered Heart Duet, available to order on Amazon!

  Books by Brooke

  Where I Found You (Heart’s Compass, #1)

  Ellie & Callum

  Lost Before You (Heart’s Compass, #2)

  Brea & Mason

  Tattered (Tattered Heart Duet, #2)

  Ryan & Maverick

  COMING SOON!

  Until I Found You (Heart’s Compass, #3)

  Halle & Graham ~ Coming Summer 2018

  Wherever You Go (Heart’s Compass, #4)

  Kinsley & Wes ~ Coming Fall 2018

  Playlist

  Check out Brooke’s writing inspiration, along with some of Mav & Ryan’s favorites.

  Scars – Papa Roach

  Your Guardian Angel – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

  Only One – Yellowcard

  Addicted – Saving Abel

  Broken – Seether

  Without You – Hinder

  Life After You – Daughtry

  Here Without You – 3 Doors Down

  The Reason – Hoobastank

  Second Chance – Shinedown

  Alone – I Prevail

  Listen to the Playlist on Spotify.

  Author’s Note

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading Torn. Maverick and Ryan’s story is one that may not be easily understood, but it was written from my heart. I’m so grateful that you took a chance on me and their story.

  This isn’t the end for them and I hope you’ll join me in reading Tattered, the anticipated conclusion to their story.

  If you enjoyed reading this book, please consider taking the time to leave a review or recommend it to a friend. Reviews are incredibly important to authors, especially new authors like myself. Reviews not only help other readers decide whether to buy my book, but they also inspire me to continue following my dream.

  Thank you again for your support!

  xo, Brooke

  Acknowledgments

  I have so many people I want to thank for helping me on this amazing journey. I’m grateful beyond words for everyone who has been there for me, especially those who took a chance on me in the beginning.

  Thank you to my amazing readers for picking up my books and taking a chance on my stories. To everyone who has left a review, sent me a message or a comment, THANK YOU! I can’t even begin to tell you how happy it makes me when I hear from you. To all the bloggers who support me and help spread the word of my releases, you matter! I couldn’t do this without you and your love for books.

  My Boys - Everything I do in this life is for you. I could never find the words to describe how much I love you.

  Asha (a.k.a. Smash) - We’ve been through a lot together over the past few months, but I’m so grateful to have you as my sister bestie. Thanks for always being there for me, through the thick and thin. Love you!

  To my AMAZING beta readers Giovanna, Julia, Erin and Ana - Thank you for sparing your time and reading Maverick and Ryan’s story in the rawest form. You are always so honest with your feedback. I owe a big hug and a thank you to my editor, Rox LeBlanc, and my proofreader, Julie Deaton, for helping me polish off this story and making it the best it could be. I appreciate all of you for being patient with me on this one.

  To Nicole French, Jane Anthony, Harloe Rae, Kimberly Reese, Liv Moore, Ava Alise, Paige Fieldsted, CL Stacey, Jessica McCrory, JL Davis, and Meg Anne (a.k.a. #SquadPod) - I’m so glad I found you on this crazy ride. I can’t imagine trying to navigate this journey without your endless support, motivation, inspiration, humor, and of course the #dickpics.

  To Elisa, Kate, and Stacey - Thank you so much for being there for me. We may not always talk everyday, but I hope you know how grateful I am to have you as my friend.

  To Najla Qamber with Najla Qamber Designs - Thank you to you and your amazing team! You are so incredibly talented and always such a pleasure to work with. You put up with me and my numerous changes, but always end up blowing me away by bringing my vision to life.

  And to the man who inspired the connection between Maverick & Ryan, you were woven into every word written of this story. I only hope one day you’ll read it.

  About Brooke

  Brooke O’Brien is the author of the Heart’s Compass series.

  Growing up Brooke always had a love of writing; she started out writing poetry when she was young and began journaling her thoughts as she grew older. Diving headfirst into a good book has always been therapeutic for her. Now her two passions have collided.

  She believes you can cure any bad day with chocolate. Brooke enjoys going on long drives with no destination in mind. She's found that's when her characters talk to her the most! If she's not reading or writing, you'll probably find her spending time with her family, watching NBA basketball, going to the movies, or collecting signed paperbacks.

  Connect with Brooke

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