Kissed by Reality

by Carrie Aarons

  My heart spasmed and melted. This gorgeous, amazing man had given me a second chance, and now he was talking to my mom like that? It was a miracle I wasn't sobbing and rocking back and forth in the fetal position.

  "Hi mom." I smiled and moved towards her, hugging her a little too tightly but breathing a sigh of relief when she hugged me back with more strength than I'd thought she had.

  "She isn't giving you too much trouble, now is she?" My mom spoke to Finn over my shoulder as she hugged me.

  "Well...it was a rough go of things at the beginning, but we worked through it. I understand I have you to thank for that."

  He gave the full-Finn Wyatt smile, his dimples popping out like a sexy male stripper in a birthday cake. I had to shut the thoughts of me licking them out of my brain.

  “I’m glad.” She patted his hand as she held it. “Now that she’s come crawling back, you put that ring back on her finger now, okay?”

  “Mom!” I admonished her but smiled.

  “What? It’s my dying wish to see my daughter with the man she loves.”

  Finn’s smile was tight but didn’t falter. “You had to go and play that card, huh?”

  It felt like there were rocks in my stomach, weighing me down into the muck of my life, drowning and suffocating me. My mother couldn’t die. She was my mom, Mary Aldridge. Sharp as a tack and more beautiful and saucy than any person I’d ever known.

  “I love you, Leighton, but I have a whole seven days with you. Go away so Finn and I can talk. You too!”

  She made a shooing motion at the camera men who, despite their obliviousness to feelings, apparently took into account how deathly ill my mother was and scattered out the front door.

  “Go! Make us some coffee.” She all but pushed me out of the room with her strong will.

  Finn came into the kitchen 20 minutes later, an expression on his handsome face that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

  “So…what did she say?”

  “Well, your mother sure is a cougar…” He licked his lips and adjusted his pants, clearly trying to get me to smile or hit him with his joke.

  “Har har, but really, what did she want to talk about?”

  “She swore me to secrecy. I’ll never tell.”

  I spanked his gorgeous ass over his jeans for good measure.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Leighton

  Finn’s departure brought mixed emotions. On one hand, I didn’t want him to leave. We were falling back into ourselves, the Finn and Leighton of old times, conjoined at the hip and so in tune that it felt like a piece of my heart was cleaved off when he wasn’t around.

  On the other hand, I was happy to get some peace and quiet with my mom, just us. And on the other other hand, if I had three, I was skittish and anxious that he was off gallivanting in three other girl’s hometowns.

  The only one I was really nervous about was Erin. I knew they were growing closer, I knew he had some kind of feelings for her, not that we’d talked about it. I pondered as I moved the tea bag around in my cup, watching as the sun set in front of the bay window.

  “Oh stop worrying, Bunny, the man is madly in love with you. None of those other girls hold a candle to you.”

  I grinned, her ability to read my thoughts had always astonished me. “How can you be so sure?”

  “First of all, I raised one hell of a daughter, that’s how. Second of all, that boy practically melts and/or wants to rip the clothing off of you whenever he glances in your direction. That’s how.”

  I sighed and took a sip of chamomile. “I don’t know. This…I’ve never been in this situation before. My entire life, I’ve never needed anything. Never been so desperate for something that I resort to begging, to taking whatever I can get.”

  My mom chuckled and reached her hand out to me from where she gently swayed in the rocker.

  “Honey, there is nothing in life that is worth having if we don’t pursue it with a ferocious need. Desperation, fear, anxiety, wanting…these are just all signs that you’re alive. That you’re living to the fullest of your abilities, scared as all hell but saying fuck it and doing it anyway.”

  I giggled at my mom cursing. “How do you feel?”

  Some of the light vanished from her hazel eyes. “Tired. Exhausted. So damn done that I wish I could watch this sunset and just close my eyes peacefully.”

  My throat suddenly clogged up, the ability to breathe and talk escaping me. Blinking rapidly, I tried to stem the tears that threatened to fall.

  “Oh Leighton, don’t do that.” She looked over and squeezed my hand as I tried to keep my emotions in check. “You can’t keep me here, no matter how many tears you shed or how angry you get with the world. When its my time, it will be my time. We knew that this could happen from the start.”

  I swiped at my nose, the sniffling and wracking sobs only being held back by a thin thread.

  “But what will I do—“ I choked on my words, not even able to from the coherent thought of this world without my mom in it.

  She pulled on my arm with all of the strength she could muster. “You’ll survive, that’s what we Aldridge women do.”

  I moved to the floor and laid my head in her lap as she played with my hair. In that moment, I felt like a child again.

  “I think I should stay here…I think I need to leave the show—“

  “Absolutely not.” Mom gave a little tug on my strands. “You listen to me, Bunny. You’re going back to that show. You’re going to capture Finn’s heart and show yourself, and the world, once and for all that you and that man are destined to be together. And you’re not going to worry about me.”

  I nodded into her lap, trying to conceal the argument bubbling up in me and the tears pooling in the corners of my eyes.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Finn

  When I finally trudged up the castle grounds, my leg aching with every step, it was almost one in the morning.

  The past week had been a blur. Families. Women. Kisses. Dinner parties. Rural USA.

  Bullshit.

  It was all bullshit.

  Because as much as I tried to play the eligible suitor, meet the girls’ families with an open mind and heart, I could not get Leighton, and Mary, out of my head.

  I thought about them sitting in their homey little bungalow in Burbank, Leighton flitting around taking care of her mother, sealing off the emotions running through her veins. I wanted to be there to hold her, take her hand in mine just so she could squeeze it when the pain of reality became too much. I knew what it was like to watch people that you love die, I could shoulder it for her.

  And Mary. Fuck. She’d looked like a ghost of the vibrant woman I’d once known. She was so frail and sick, even if her tone of voice and attitude deceived the state of her illness.

  I just wanted to fucking be there. When I was in Texas with Kennedy’s family, I couldn’t, or didn’t want to, concentrate on her strict father grilling me about my religious views. Or in Maryland with Ashley’s family. The girl had only made it to the final four because I suspected she was offering favors to the crew, because I hadn’t had more than three conversations with her the entire two months. Which just goes to show how fake “finding the one” on this show could be.

  Even when I was in Illinois with Erin. I tried, really I did, to concentrate on impressing her family, seeing if I could fit into the dynamic. Except every time her mom called me sweetie or her dad offered to “teach me how to shoot,” as if I hadn’t been trained in sniper courses in the Marines, I blanched. They were kind people, and Erin was a special girl, but the flash of ink black curls and a certain saucy smile remained at the front of my consciousness 24 hours of the day.

  I dropped my bag on the floor of the guest house living room, glad to be back in my temporary-home, shrugging off my jacket like I shrugged off the fake personality I put on in front of the cameras. Shit, I couldn’t wait for this to be over. I don’t even remember why I’d agreed to do this in the fi
rst place.

  Oh yeah, Leighton. No matter which way I turned, everything always led back to her.

  As if my mind conjured her, a petite form laid still, nothing but even breathing filling the silence, on the grey comforter covering the king bed of the guest house.

  She’d snuck in here and waited for me to get home.

  My heart stuttered and went burning hot, igniting my body from the center out, like the engine of a car. My dick revved as I set a knee on the bed, Leighton’s curves inviting me to take a ride.

  “Baby…” The nickname popped out of my mouth, surprising me. I hadn’t used it for almost six months.

  Leighton stirred, hazel eyes opening to stare up at me in sleep awe. “Hi bub.”

  She smiled and burrowed herself into my chest as I wrapped my arms around her, pulling us down so that we were lying on our sides entangled in each other.

  “I missed you so much.” I surprise myself with these words, as well as her. I hear the tiny gasp sighed into my shirt.

  “I missed you too. Long week?”

  “You have no idea. Or…maybe you do. How’s your mom?”

  She sighs, fisting her hands in my shirt and shoving her nose into my neck as if she’s trying to inhale me. Tiny zings of comfort and lust mix together as they ping through my veins.

  “Tired. Sick. God Finn, I don’t even recognize her sometimes. I’ll walk into a room and think, ‘Who is that?’ It was rough being home. But it was even worse leaving.”

  “Do you want to go back?” I rubbed her back over the thin material of her cotton shirt and felt my growing erection slide against her yoga-pant clad thigh.

  “She doesn’t want me there. Told me to come back or she’d kick my ass.”

  We both chuckled as we continued our slow exploration of the exposed skin on each other’s bodies.

  "Mmm yes..." Leighton's voice is barely a murmur as I trailed my tongue along the seam of her jaw, hitting the spot below her ear that I knew would make her hips buck.

  Not a second later do I feel her grinding up against the steel pike hammering against the zipper of my jeans.

  "Finn, I need you."

  Desperate hazel eyes meet mine, and I feel our lust and wanton energy circling in the air like a tornado.

  "Fuck, I need you too, baby." I fisted my hands in her black curls and dragged her head slowly back so that our mouths were aligned perfectly before I descended onto her lips.

  She writhed against my body like a sexed up feline, scratching her nails down my back and pulling on the button down I still had on. Our tongues tangled, each suck or lick sending shots of erotic dizziness spiraling out through my nerve endings.

  "Take your goddamn clothes off..." Leighton wrestles with the material on my body as I chuckle, the sound coming out as more of a gasp and a growl when she gently begins to knead my balls through my jeans.

  "Fuck...I can't move with you doing that." I sit up, awkwardly pulling off my shirt and undershirt. The angle at which I'm positioned, my hard cock jutting against my jeans, and the way my prosthetic is angled is not conducive to fluid, sexy movement.

  Leighton scoots off the bed, quietly planting her feet on the floor and turning to face me. I cease all movement, mesmerized by the beautiful creature standing in front of me.

  "Need some help?" She grins and takes hold of my pant leg, and I unbuckle my belt and pull down my zipper to allow her to pull them off.

  "This makes me feel like a six-year-old," I grumble.

  "Well this makes me hot, so shut up. I get to see all of your muscles ripple and appear as I peel these jeans off of you."

  Her eyes flash and suddenly I don't care about the childish undressing. I just want her to look at me like that again.

  When I finally pull my legs free, I don't get a minute to adjust before she's pushing me back and crawling towards me, stalking me like I'm her prey. My cock involuntarily shoots up to salute her when she pulls my boxers over my hips.

  "I think you've been away too long. I think I might have to show you exactly what you've been missing."

  Her lips form an O, the soft, cherry-colored skin puckering just before she bends to place a searingly gentle kiss over the tip of my dick.

  "Jesus fuck!" I see stars from just the tender, open-mouthed lick, her warm, wet tongue nearly sending me over the edge.

  She does it again, this time following it up with a slow, teasing lick all the way around the rim of my head.

  "Take off your shirt. I want to see those beautiful tits while you suck me." It's pissing me off that I can't see her rosy buds harden as she takes pleasure in giving me pleasure.

  Leighton takes her arms off the bed where she'd been balancing on all fours and hovers just above my cock as she pulls the shirt from her body in one smooth move. Her skin is flawless, like rich, creamy almond milk displayed for me.

  My cock punches the air at the sight of her heavy breasts hanging only centimeters away from it. I reach down and palm one, running my calloused hands over the milky skin and puckered nipple. Leighton rolls her neck, closing her eyes and inhales through her nose at my touch.

  "You like that, baby?" I croon to her from the top of the bed, my lust momentarily pushed aside as I watch her unravel just from my exploration of her peaks.

  She tries to snap her eyes open in mock-anger at my distracting her, but the move takes just a second too long, her eyes just a little too drowsy.

  The sardonic chuckle makes its way out of my throat, and her annoyance dies on my lips as she lowers hers to my shaft, swallowing me in one breath.

  My hips rear up off the bed, the sensation of my cock hitting the back of her throat has my balls drawing up tight and my thighs burning for release.

  "Holy shit, baby. Slow down. I'm going to come in your mouth and that is not how I want this to finish."

  She picks her head up, that magical mouth mocking me. "What if that's how I want you to finish?"

  "Too fucking bad." Although the thought of shooting my load into Leighton's hot mouth makes my brain melt a little, I latch onto her nipples with my fingers and gently tug up, my woman following the attention I'm giving her tight buds through.

  She's half laying on my body, mewling into my ear and I know I don't want to waste anytime. Have you ever thought about what the most comfortable sexual position is for an amputee? No? Well, for me, it's laying on my side with my good leg under me, barreling into a woman as she lays on her side.

  Or as Leighton calls it...cuddle-fucking.

  “Move in front of me and take off your shorts, baby.”

  I feel her skin flush with goosebumps at my command. She does as she’s told as I roll onto my side, facing her back as my dick head tingles with anticipation. Once she’s fully naked and spread out in front of me, I run my hand over her hip, down and around, seeking out her wet heat.

  “Oh baby,” I sigh and drop my head onto her shoulder, biting into it as I feel her arousal soaking my fingers.

  “Finn, now. Please.”

  She doesn’t have to tell me twice. I scoot in further behind her, palming the inside of her thigh and lifting it into the air, pressing down on her leg so she’s almost doing a straddle split laying down.

  “You look so fucking sexy I could jack off to you right here. To your pussy. It’s quivering for me. Do you feel it?”

  Leighton, ever the feisty, demanding lover, snarls. “Yes I feel it. I want to feel your cock. Put it inside of me, Finn.”

  I prop up on my elbow and guide my cock to her entrance, nudging her wet slit with my head, the move only engorging my dick in more flames that lick down my shaft and sizzle when they hit my balls.

  Our moans filled my room when I finally slid into her, my eyes tracking my cock as it slid past her ass and disappeared into the beautiful lips of her pussy.

  “I fucking love this position.” I breathed in her ear as I pumped lazily in and out. “I can see your gorgeous curves, the way your skin flushes wherever I touch it. Those perfect tits are on d
isplay just for me. I know your nipples are getting even tighter as I stare down at them.”

  I felt Leighton clench around me, her walls tightening and gripping my cock like a vise. “Oh fuck, babe. Keep talking to me.”

  I’d do whatever she asked. “I love holding your thigh in my hand, I’m practically splitting your body in half. Or I could slip my hand around and do this.”

  I release her leg, but she keeps it there, tensing her muscles and spreading legs wider apart for me. I slide my fingers over the top of her hip and around her body until I press them into her clit, which is throbbing between her thighs.

  I found her hardened button and began massaging it, swirling my fingers in the wetness coating her skin while I continued to lazily thrust in and out of her slit.

  "Finn, fuck...that feels so good." Leighton whispers, her body arching back against mine, sliding against the sweat coating my chest. I'm trying so hard not to shoot inside of her yet, not wanting this to end.

  The friction of her pussy against me is too good though, and I can feel the beginnings of a tsunami-sized climax barreling down my spine.

  "I want to hear you. Louder, Leighton."

  I'm rubbing her clit furiously now, ramming her with my cock in fast, shallow strokes. She's clawing at the bedsheets, arching into me so hard that she's moving us backwards on the mattress. I feel like I'm running a marathon, the finish line is so close for each of us that the burn in our muscles feels like sweet agony.

  "Oh my god. Oh my god. Finn. I'm going to..."

  She doesn't have to finish her sentence because I know she's coming as soon as I feel her walls grip my dick like they're trying to squeeze me dry. Those velvet folds spasm again as Leighton cries out, and its like she's pulled the pin from the grenade. All at once I go off, shooting my come deep inside of her and barking out a harsh growl. I clamp my hands down on her hips as I prolong our orgasms for what seems like hours.

  I hold her like this, trapped against my body and my cock, until my vision clears. We're both panting and shaking, the intensity of everything depleting us.