Alive (Mended Hearts #1)

by Beth Maria

  Maisie told me never to contact her again. I couldn’t do that, though. I had to see her, to try to sort our relationship out. If she never forgave me, then I would have to live with that for the rest of my life.

  I went to her house every day for the next three months, to no avail. Her dad wouldn’t let me past the front door. I’m surprised he didn’t kill me for what I did, actually, though he wasn’t too pleasant whenever I saw him. I wasn’t giving up on her, though. No way.

  I heard she had left for college when I started at the local one that we were both supposed to attend together. Someone from out graduating class told me. I was so pissed off at myself.

  Anyway, I didn’t hear any news on her for months, until about a month ago. Some girl called Tiffany added me on Facebook. I’d never heard of her before, but she looked pretty hot if her profile picture was anything to go by, so I clicked accept. A message came through straight away, asking if I knew a Maisie Peterson. My heart dropped, wondering if something bad had happened to her. When I replied yes, Tiffany asked how I knew her.

  She told me that Maisie was dating someone named Jesse Cohen, that Maisie stole him from her. When I didn’t reply, she said she wanted my help. She wanted me to help her get Jesse back. I didn’t know who this girl was. She could have been bullshitting, for all I knew. Plus, the Maisie I knew wasn’t like that. She must have had the wrong person. I told her I would let her know.

  When Maisie let slip her boyfriend’s name, I knew that Tiffany was telling the truth.

  She had finally moved on, forgetting all about me. Maisie isn’t supposed to be with anyone but me. She is it for me, and I won’t let anybody else have what I can’t.

  Back in my car, I watch Maisie pull out of the parking lot. I’m fuming.

  Opening up Facebook on my phone, I send Tiffany a message, telling her “It’s on.”

  If I can’t have her, then no one else can either, especially not this Jesse guy. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get her back where she belongs, which is with me.

  Chapter 15

  Jesse

  It’s Thanksgiving today, a day to celebrate and spend with family. I never enjoy it, though. What’s there to enjoy when it’s only me and my mom? Don’t get me wrong; she goes all out trying to make it special for us. It just gets lonely, you know? Most people are surrounded by their huge families, but not me.

  Also, I miss Maisie so much. I haven’t seen her for three days. It’s not very long to most people, but to me? It’s been the longest three days of my life. We usually spend most days together, and that’s how I like it.

  I miss staring into her chocolate colored eyes while I make love to her. I miss holding her in my arms, when we’re all worn out, trying to catch our breath. I miss the way she blushes when she’s uncomfortable. I miss all of that.

  We’ve been talking on the phone every night until one of us falls asleep, which is usually her, but it’s just not the same as seeing and talking to her in person.

  I’ve decided to sleep in this morning, so I don’t have to spend as long being bored and missing her.

  After getting a shower and getting dressed, I head downstairs to see if Mom needs any help. I’m just about to walk into the living room when female laughter, that isn’t my mom’s, stops me in my tracks.

  It can’t be. I must be hearing things that I so desperately want to hear right now. Maisie’s in San Francisco with her parents, so she can’t be sitting in the other room. She would have come upstairs to see me if that was the case. Wouldn’t she?

  I walk into the living room and stand still at the sight of Maisie sitting with my mom on the sofa. I’m shocked, to say the least. I seriously thought my ears were playing tricks on me.

  Maisie breaks the silence first by saying, “Hi.” She stands up from the sofa and slowly makes her way toward me.

  I still don’t reply. I still feel like I’m dreaming. She isn’t really here, not when she could be with her family. I close my eyes and pinch myself to wake up. Ouch, that fucking hurt. I open my eyes and stare straight into the ones I have dreamt about endlessly for the last three nights. I blink a few times, double-checking that she’s really here and that I’m not dreaming.

  “I’m really here, Jesse,” Maisie says, chuckling at my reaction.

  I register what she’s saying, processing everything carefully. Yup, she’s definitely here. I scoop her up into my arms at the speed of light, and then kiss every inch of her face. Her strawberry scent wafts up my nose. Mmm, I’ve missed that smell.

  “Jesse, put me down!” she chuckles into my ear. I’ve missed that sound too. I’ve just fucking missed her so much. I never want to go that long without seeing her again. Next time, I’m going with her.

  “Nope, not going to happen, Firecracker. I’m never letting you go again.”

  “You two go upstairs and catch up. I’m going to prepare lunch,” Mom interrupts, shooing us away.

  She doesn’t need to tell me twice. I spin us around and smack Maisie’s ass, causing her to screech, as I take the stairs two at a time.

  I gently lie her down in the middle of my bed and climb on top of her. My arms framing her head, I stare into her beautiful brown eyes. I could seriously look into them forever. They are hypnotizing. They are the window to her soul. I can always tell if something is wrong just by looking into her eyes, and right now, there is something wrong. She’s missing her usual glint.

  “I thought you were spending Thanksgiving with your family?” I ask, treading carefully. If I ask correctly, she may tell me. Then again, she might not. She still hasn’t told me about what happened in her past to make her so wary of men.

  “I just missed you. Plus, it wasn’t like my family was going to be lonely without me. My grandparents are down for the week, and my aunt and uncles are coming down today. There are plenty of them to fill my place,” Maisie replies, giving me a warm, loving smile. I’m not buying it. I believe that she wanted to see me, but would she choose me over her whole family? No. Something happened.

  “Did something happen, Maisie?”

  She averts her eyes from me before answering, “No, nothing happened.”

  Gently taking hold of her face, I hold it in place. She still doesn’t look at me, though. She really isn’t good at lying. “Maisie, baby, look at me, please,” I ask calmly.

  She begrudgingly looks at me. “Tell me what happened, baby,”

  “Nothing happened, Jesse. Just drop it already.” Maisie pushes against my chest, and I move willingly. She obviously needs her space right now. I’m not giving up that easily, though. We aren’t leaving this room until she has spilled what happened.

  “No, Maisie, I won’t drop it. You never want to let me in. You always want to keep everything to yourself. We are in a relationship, aren’t we?” I ask, putting my hands on my hips. I don’t know where else to put them. I’ve never been in this situation before with all these feelings and shit. It’s not me.

  She stops her pacing and stares at me all wide-eyed. “Of course we are. Why would you say that?” She sounds all worried.

  “Well, act like we’re in a relationship then, Maisie. People in relationships share their problems with each other, not keep them bottled up. We won’t work if you do that. I want to be there for you. I can’t if you don’t let me in, though. You have to decide if you want us to work.” I turn, heading for my bedroom door. I’m the one needing space now. This isn’t how I expected things to go when I next saw her. I was going to carry her up to my room and fuck the living shit out of her. Maybe I should still do that. It might make her remember what she has.

  “Jesse, wait!” Maisie shouts desperately, stopping me in my tracks.

  I turn around to face her, waiting for her to continue. Wringing her hands, she doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. I’m about to turn back around when she blurts out, “I caught my boyfriend cheating on me.”

  I’m shocked into silence. Why would anyone cheat on Maisie? If anyone could be close
to perfection, it’s Maisie. She’s the sweetest, kindest person I know. I’m lucky to have her. Hell, anybody would lucky to have her, and that fucking dick went and ruined it, messing her up in the process. No wonder she has trust issues. If I ever see that fucker, I’m going to punch him straight in the face for hurting the best girl in the world. Then, I’m going to shake his hand and thank him for fucking up, because if he hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have had a chance with her.

  I’m about to speak up when Maisie continues, “I was supposed to meet him for a party at his house after a game. We’d had an argument earlier in the day because I said I was arriving with Chloe. Anyway, when I got to the party, I couldn’t find him anywhere. I found one of his friends, who told me he was probably upstairs as he’d already drunk a lot. So, I went upstairs to try and find him. I was about to walk into his room when I heard a girl moaning, so like an idiot, I listened. She said his name. I had a feeling that he was in there, so I walked in to confront them. Matt was fucking a girl named Megan. That girl had been trying to split us up for years, and she’d finally succeeded. He came groveling as soon as he was dressed, saying he was drunk and he was sorry. I haven’t spoken to him since.” When she’s finished, she starts laughing hysterically.

  I’m confused. Why is she laughing? She’s finally explained why she has trust issues, and now she’s laughing.

  I watch her for a few minutes, trying to understand what has just happened. She doesn’t calm down. “Maisie, why are you laughing, baby?” I ask.

  She looks at me and replies through her laughter, “Oh, it’s just funny, isn’t it. Don’t you think?” I think she’s gone crazy.

  Pulling her to the bed, I sit us both down. “I’m really confused right now, babe. Care to explain what’s funny?” I’m sure my eyebrows are at the top of my head right now.

  “I was so upset when Matt did that to me, but when I saw him the other day, I felt nothing but disgust. You should have seen his face when he realized he has no effect on me anymore.” That’s why she came back. She may act like she doesn’t care, but deep down, she’s ruffled. She wouldn’t be here if she was okay with it. She stops laughing, staring at me seriously. “You wanted to know why I came back?” I nod my head. “I came back because it was digging up the past, a past that I don’t want to remember anymore. Bumping into Matt helped me realize that.”

  “Baby, you can’t not go back home because of something that happened in the past. That’s not moving on. I’m proud of you for facing this Matt guy, really I am, except you’re parents live there too, baby. You’re going to have to go home from time to time. If you want, next time you go home, I’ll come with you if it will help.”

  I’ll go anywhere she asks. This way, I won’t miss her when I have to go days without seeing her. I might get her attached to my hip, so we’ll have to be together all the time. If only…

  “I would love that. Oh, and by the way, my parents want to meet you. Jake told them I had a boyfriend, and I got the third degree from my dad, but luckily, Jake spoke highly of you. I was thinking about going to see them in a few weeks, since I left early today. Would you come with me?” she asks sweetly. How could I say no to that?

  I’m scared shitless deep down. I’ve never done the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing before. I can only give it my best shot and hope they like me, right?

  “Of course, baby. I’d love to meet them.” I give her my best fake smile. Luckily, she buys it. I’ve got a lot of preparing to do for this. Shit!

  She’s biting that damn lip of hers again. My cock springs to life just from that little action. Fuck. I need her. Right. Now. Growling, I jump on her and push her onto her back. Smashing my lips against hers, I kiss her. Hard. I kiss her like a starving man. I’ve been starved of her sensuous lips for days now. My tongue seeks entrance, and she willingly accepts.

  “Mmm,” she moans, the sound vibrating straight through my body.

  She grinds her hips, her clothed pussy brushing my cock. Sitting her up, I take her top off in one swift move, exposing her beautiful hour glass figure to me. I’ll never get enough of her body. Her pink, lacy bra comes off next, leaving her pert breasts rising and falling with her breathing. I need to taste them. Sucking her nipple, her sweet taste fills my mouth.

  There’s time for foreplay later. Right now, I need to be inside her.

  I stand and rip my clothes off in record speed, while she takes off her remaining clothes.

  Lying Maisie back down on the bed, I gently lay on top of her smooth warm body, everything touching in the right place. Her hard nipples graze my chest. My pulsing cock rests perfectly in her wet folds.

  Staring down into her lust filled eyes that I love so much, I gruffly tell her, “This is going to be hard and fast.”

  I don’t wait for her reply. I hike her legs up around my waist, holding one up with my hand, and then in one swift move, I enter her completely. Jesus! She’s always so tight.

  Holding still to let her adjust around my man hood, I slowly kiss her. God, I’m going to cum before I’ve even started moving at this rate. I break the kiss and start to move my hips, watching my rock hard cock moving in and out of her sopping cunt. My cock is dripping more and more the longer we go.

  “Oh, Jesse,” Maisie moans, arching her body off the bed.

  “I’ve missed you so much, baby,” I tell her, speeding up my tempo.

  She meets me thrust for thrust in perfect sync, pushing me closer and closer to climax. She feels so good, like a tight glove around my dick. Her moaning becomes more frantic. She’s close. Oh so close. I can already feel her walls tightening, getting ready to milk me dry.

  Lifting her legs up higher, I drive in deeper. “Come on, baby,” I tell her. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. Maisie always feels so fucking good.

  “Oh God, Jesse.” Maisie’s walls grip me like a vice as her orgasm hits, her juices washing all over my cock.

  That’s all it takes; I’m a goner. “Fucccccccccck,” I groan, pumping a few more times.

  I collapse on top of Maisie, our sweaty bodies sticking together, and we both lay there trying to catch our breath.

  Smoothly rubbing her soft skin, I tell her, “Every time with you feels like the first time.”

  I don’t risk looking at her. This is tough territory for me. She sighs softly, my head rising and falling with her breathing. “I know what you mean. Every time gets better and better.”

  I don’t reply. I don’t need to. She just summed it up. I continue on rubbing her soft skin, loving the feel of her beneath me. I could lie here like this forever, not a care in the world, just us two and these four walls.

  Unfortunately, life isn’t like that. I have a mother downstairs waiting for us.

  After pushing myself off of the bed, and instantly missing Maisie’s body heat, I begrudgingly put my clothes back on. “As much as I would love to stay in bed with you all day, darling, my mom is waiting downstairs, and if dinner is ruined because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants, she will kill me.” Maisie laughs at me, still not making any attempt to move. Damn it. She’s still spread eagle, my semen coating her entrance. My cock gets hard again just at the sight of her like this.

  Mom is waiting downstairs. Mom is waiting downstairs. Mom is waiting downstairs. After giving myself a pep talk, I shake my head to clear the dirty thoughts that are running wild right now.

  “I’m going to go downstairs to help Mom,” I say, looking anywhere but at her. I can’t right now, or we will never leave this room, my mom be damned. She will have to drag me out of the room.

  “Why aren’t you looking at me? Have I done something wrong?” she asks worriedly.

  Shit. She’s got the wrong idea.

  Still not risking looking at her for my own sanity, I tell her honestly, “No, baby, you’ve done nothing wrong. If I look at you right now, we will never leave this room. I will fuck you all night long, until you can’t walk anymore. That, baby, is the reason I can’t look at you righ
t now. I’ll see you downstairs. I need something to take my mind off of my dirty thoughts right now. Maybe cutting some vegetables will help.”

  I close my door behind me and shrink back against it, closing my eyes, and release a big sigh. What is Maisie doing to me? I’m insatiable when it comes to her. If I had my way, and I could go that long, I would be inside of her for twenty-four hours straight. Unfortunately, I think my dick might fall off if I could. Maisie’s definitely going to be the death of me.

  ****

  Lunch is so delicious and just what I needed after my strenuous session with Maisie earlier. Luckily, Mom always makes enough to feed ten people, so I get seconds and plan on having more for dinner. I’m a growing man. It’s allowed.

  Usually, Thanksgiving is just another day for me. I’m not usually thankful for anything. I’m not ungrateful or anything, it’s just I’ve always been dealt the shit cards for as long as I can remember. Today always makes me remember what I went through as a little boy. This year, though, is different.

  Today, I have Maisie. I have the most beautiful girlfriend who decided to spend today with my mom and me, instead of her own family. She’s selfless, and I admire her so much. From what she’s told me, she’s been dealt the shit cards too recently. She is so strong, though. She just doesn’t realize it yet. I’m going to help her realize it. I’ll spend the rest of my life making her realize how strong she is, and I won’t even care. I’ll be one happy man if I get to spend the rest of my days with Maisie. She really is one in a million.

  Mom is really happy today, as well. Usually, we have lunch, watch a few movies, and then go to bed. It’s a hard day for her. She always tries to make it a special day for me, and I appreciate it, but sometimes, no matter how hard you try, bad memories just won’t go away; For either of us.