by Vivian Lux
I crawled up to him and he sealed his mouth to mine in the most bruising kiss of my life. When I blinked back, breathless and gasping, his eyes were darker than I’d ever seen them. “There’s a condom in my nightstand right there,” he rumbled.
My fingers trembled in excitement, making the process of extracting the foil packet from the package feel like it took eons. “Can you?” I asked him shyly. “I’ve never…”
With a warm smile, he deftly plucked the wrapper from my hand and I watched, fascinated, as he gripped himself and quickly unrolled the condom onto his cock. “You’re gonna ride me, right, baby? Because I’m getting really addicted to looking up at those tits.”
I bit my lip. This was an addiction I could definitely support. With his eyes on me, I felt like the most beautiful thing in the world as I straddled him once again and guided his cock inside of me. “Slowly, baby,” he murmured as I hissed at that first burning stretch. “I’m not in any rush. You make it good for you.”
I nodded and slid myself down in tiny increments, feeling the way he filled and stretched me. He hissed again as I began to move, taking him in with short shallow strokes. “Oh my god,” I breathed as I looked down to where his cock was sliding inside of me.
“Look at us, baby. We fit so good together,” he said, reaching out and cupping his hands around my ass cheeks, guiding me deeper. When he sank in all the way to the hilt, we both gasped. I could feel him throbbing inside of me, growing even harder.
“Shit,” I whispered, leaning forward. His pubic bone ground into my clit as I started to ride him, gasping. He growled and put his hand on my back, pressing me down so that all the movement was concentrated right in that spot as he somehow thrust upward. I was on top of him, but he was in control, taking me closer and closer to the edge every time we came together.
“Yes, like that, Jesus, get there, Everly, because you feel too fucking good. Right like that, I can feel you. You’re so tight, fuck, I want you to come on my cock, you hear me?” There was no teasing in his voice now. He was all authority and animal desire. “I’m gonna fuck you like this until you come for me.”
That exquisite friction was driving me out of my mind. I planted my hands on his chest, and I could feel his heart racing under my fingers in a pace that matched my own. “Gabe!” I cried, half begging, half triumphant, and the wave of pressure that had been building broke across me.
I exploded. I fucking lost my mind.
“Gabe!”
I rode him like a wild woman, chasing that incredible sensation as it went on and on, shocking me with its intensity even as I wanted it to go on forever. When I thought it was starting to ebb, I felt his cock twitch inside of me and Gabe roared, sinking his fingers into my hips and pulling me down so hard our bodies slapped together, skin on skin, the drum solo in the concert we were putting on for each other.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gabe
I pushed myself up to catch her as she fell against me. Our breathing slowed and synced up. Holding her like this, feeling the sweat on her skin and smelling our mingled scents, was important enough to me that I was able to ignore the sharp pain in my ribs from supporting myself like this.
I kissed her shoulder. Running my hand up the curve of her spine, it was a wonder to me that I had ever not known her. Once I had her in my arms it was as clear as muscle memory that she was the girl I’d been dreaming about all this time. “Baby,” I breathed.
She knew at once what I was about to say. “Lie down,” she ordered.
I grinned. “Yes, nurse.”
She nodded and slid off the bed and yanked on her clothes. “Be right back.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I reminded her.
She disappeared from the room and returned with a wet cloth. “Hygiene is an important part of the healing process,” she intoned with a cute little smirk on her face.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a good thing you’re my nurse, because I wouldn’t let anyone else in the world do this.”
Her eyes widened as she watched me clean myself. “It is a good thing I’m your nurse,” she agreed, moving to kiss me. Then she stopped with a stricken look on her face. “Oh my god.” She buried her face in her hands.
I shook my head and gently tugged them away. “None of that.” I leaned up, searching her face. “You’re freaking out. Why are you freaking out?”
“I’m going to lose this job,” she said.
I wanted to laugh and tell her it didn’t matter, but I knew how much it mattered to her. How much she needed the money. I stifled my laugh and was about to protest that I’d make sure she was taken care of when something flickered across her face. Her chin jutted stubbornly. “Right. I’m done with it.”
“What?”
“This job. I slept with my patient. That’s completely unprofessional. I’m definitely fired.” She looked almost relieved.
“Does that mean you’re not coming over anymore?” I slid my hands between her legs.
She arched into it. “Don’t know why I would,” she said, but there was something I loved about the way her lip twitched in glee.
“Hmm, you don’t know why?” I flicked my tongue out. “Maybe I can persuade you to stop by once in a while?”
“Not as your nurse,” she said firmly. “I officially quit.”
I grinned. I knew how important this was to her, that she stay professional on the job. So of course it would make sense that she wouldn’t want the job any more. “Yup, you don’t even have to give your two-weeks notice. But maybe you could come over as my girl?”
Her face lit up like she had the sun shining from inside of her. “As your girl?” Her grin grew crafty. “Yeah. I suppose I could do that.” She leaned over and kissed me. “I should go now, though,” she whispered.
It broke my heart that she couldn’t stay. I wanted to lie next to her and listen to her breathing deepen as she fell asleep and press the curve of her body against mine. “This fucking hospital bed,” I growled. “It’s too tiny.”
She pulled her shirt over her head and leaned over to kiss my nose. “But I told you I was coming back.”
I nodded firmly. “As my girl.”
“As your girl.” She kissed my lips.
“Good night, Everly.”
“Sleep well, Gabe.”
“I will. You wore me right out.”
She blushed and ducked her head as she scurried out the door, but I took a perverse sense of pride in seeing she was walking a little bowlegged.
I was still feeling blissed out and sated when I mindlessly reached out to my phone to check what time it was.
“Fuck,” I whispered when I saw the missed call notification. I recognized the area code. I knew who it had to be, but part of me didn’t dare hope.
I pressed the play button and my producer’s voice boomed out of the speaker. “Gabriel! Listen, sorry to be calling so late. I know you’re probably asleep or something, but I wanted to get ahold of you with the good news as soon as I got it. We’re renewed!” I heard him slap his palm on his thigh and could picture him sitting there in the corner office late at night, his feet up on his huge oaken desk.
Kit Lomber was the producer of King of Pain. Me taking giant risks on camera had pretty much paid for that ritzy corner office. “Call me as soon as you get this and we can talk scheduling,” he went on. “I know we need to work around your recovery and all, but I know you’re gonna be back on your feet and jumping off buildings again real soon, buddy.” He paused like he was about to hang up, then repeated his plea with a note of desperation in his voice. “Call me.”
I looked at the screen, my finger already hovering over the call back button. Getting back to the show had been all I wanted these past few frustrating months. Getting paid to do stupid, thrilling shit? Hell, I’d fucking do it for free. I couldn’t wait to get back.
Except.
I glanced at the door. Everly’s scent still hung in the room, clinging to my skin and filling my lungs. She�
�d said she’d come over as my girl, but would she still want to be my girl if I told her I was leaving? Was I leaving?
If you’d asked me last week if I planned on staying in Crown Creek once I healed, I would have laughed at you. But now?
Now I wasn’t laughing at all.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Everly
It was one of those days where everything lines up.
I woke before my alarm with a ton of energy. I weighed myself and noted with glee that I had lost two pounds—probably from the workout Gabe gave me last night, I remembered with a pleasing warmth in my belly. I brewed my coffee perfectly and the newly restored Grim started right up, as obedient as a well-trained dog. I hit all the lights on my way in to class and I didn’t even mind that all of my classmates were still discussing when the boards results would be posted. I was going to take them the next time they were given. No big deal.
Who was this new girl that everything came easily to?
Me, I thought giddily as I snagged a parking spot right next to the door.
I was so used to everything going wrong that I’d padded a lot of time into my morning out of habit. Since everything had gone right, I was the first one to arrive for class, a full half hour before it was supposed to start.
I stepped in and let the door close behind me, but a gust of wind from someone entering down the hall caught it and sent it slamming shut with a bang that made me jump.
A muffled cry came from behind the podium. Startled, I looked down the rows to see a face poking out, crumpled with a yawn. Her tight French braid was fuzzy and falling down with sleep.
“Rachel?” I called.
She leaped to her feet. “Please don’t tell,” she said, yanking at her rumpled clothes and re-tucking her shirt in.
I stared at her, horrified. “Is this where you sleep?” I asked her.
She pressed her lips together, and I cursed myself for even asking. “Is class starting?” she asked, and I realized it was more words than she’d said to me thus far.
I shook my head. “No, I’m early.”
She looked relieved and stifled another yawn.
I felt my heart tweak in sympathy. I didn’t know the girl, but I had the distinct feeling that she and I had a lot in common. We both moved around the edges of things, wary and waiting for someone to notice us.
Gabe had noticed me. I’d noticed her.
This was the morning where everything was going right. That was the only reason I had the courage to suggest what I said next. “In fact,” I said, setting down my books. “I was just heading over to the student union to grab some coffee.” I hadn’t planned on this at all, but she didn’t need to know that. “You want to come?” I asked hesitantly. “You look like you could use some help waking up.”
She looked at me warily. She had soft brown eyes that held some kind of childish innocence. Even braided, her dark blonde hair fell to the small of her back. She seemed far too young and naive to be an adult in the working world, yet that’s exactly what she was. “I have to start working in half an hour,” she said in a warning tone that sounded like it was a reminder to herself.
I grinned. “That’s more than enough time.”
A flickering fear danced across her face, but she quickly composed herself. Nodding, she followed me as we hurried through the lashing rain across the concrete plaza to the student union building. “Their coffee isn’t the best here,” I yelled over the wind, needing to fill the silence somehow. “But it’s hot and warms my hands up, and at least makes me feel like I should be awake. Maybe it’s a psychosomatic response, you know?”
I glanced at Rachel, who smiled but only slightly. She followed behind me through the ordering line. “What would you like?” I asked her.
“The same as you,” she demurred.
I paid for both of them, then handed hers over. “Thank you,” she said, holding it away from her body like she was afraid of it.”
I set mine down at one of the wobbly tables and took off the lid. “Do you take milk and sugar?” I asked.
Her face fell. All at once she sat down in the chair like someone had swiped her legs out from under her.
My nursing instincts kicked into high gear. “Are you faint?” I demanded. “Have you eaten?”
She looked up at me. “I’m okay,” she said. I widened my eyes when I heard how different her voice sounded. Gone was the breathy deference, and in its place was a kind of steely confidence that made me wonder what this girl had gone through—and wonder about those she’d left in her wake. “I was just realizing that I have no idea how I like my coffee.”
The way she said it, it sounded like a huge confession, but I couldn’t figure out why it was a revelation. “I think it’s better with a little bit of cream and one teaspoon of sugar,” I said.
She nodded. “Okay.”
Confused, I went over to the creamers, carefully prepared hers exactly the way I prepared mine, and brought it back. “Here you go,” I said.
She took a deep breath before taking a sip, then she licked her lips. She looked up at me. “This is the first time I’ve ever tasted coffee,” she said in that new, confident voice.
I blinked. “First time?”
She set the cup down and closed her eyes, then opened them like she was making a decision to trust me. “My religion forbade it,” she said.
“Your religion? Are you Mormon?”
She shook her head and looked down.
The realization hit me in slow-motion waves, lapping at the shore again and again until I was able to say it. “You’re one of God’s Chosen?” I asked. I’d never seen them working out in the community before. I’ve never seen their women wearing pants before, either. I’d also never been spoken to by any of them as they moved like shadows through our community, ghosts we all saw but never spoke of.
Rachel wasn’t a ghost, that much was clear.
She lifted her gaze to me and her eyes were direct and clear and more than a little fierce. “Not anymore,” she said firmly.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gabe
I stomped around the quiet house, boredom nipping at my heels. Everly had class all day and then clinical hours at the hospital, and the knowledge that it would be at least twenty-four hours until I could be with her again had me pacing like a jungle cat at the zoo.
I was mostly healed now. As long as I moved carefully and took frequent breaks, I was able to move normally again.
Normally for regular people, anyway. For me it was almost worse than before, to have command of my body again but not be able to do what I wanted with it.
My family could see that the cabin fever was getting to me. Yesterday, my mother had come home with an armful of thick, heavy books, plonking them down on my bedside table with a wordless smile. She’d brought me a bunch of true-adventure stuff, memoirs of risk-takers doing incredible things.
She meant well, and I tried to appreciate it. But I’d read exactly ten pages of one of them before I needed to stand. Sitting there reading about other people’s lives being lived to the fullest while I sat there in the quiet bedroom made my skin itchy.
I stalked around in the house, my mind a perfect blank, until I ended up in Beau’s room.
If you’d asked me right then what my plan was, I would have sworn that I had none. I hadn’t come in here with any purpose in mind.
Then I saw it.
My tablet.
I knew why I was there.
He hadn’t even attempted to hide it. Probably thought I was well enough to be trusted, now. A promise was a promise, so I wasn’t about to start watching the video of my fall again.
I grabbed it and sat down, stretching my legs way out. I hesitated, then tapped a few keys, calling up YouTube. Then I tapped a few more keys and settled back. There it was—that same illicit thrill I felt when I watched my fall. In a way, this was the same as watching my old self die.
A few chiming notes sounded, and then an overblown “ah ah ah”
choral that made me grimace. Hands fluttered across the screen, then turned into a dove.
Then—
Noelle.
I inhaled sharply when my ex’s face filled the screen. I stared as she sang, that sweet voice that used to raise goosebumps on my skin.
She had torn out my soul as well as my heart, but there was still that ache in my chest that she’d left behind. As I watched, I slowly realized that ache was a part of my old self that had belonged only to her.
I wasn’t that guy anymore. That old self had died, and I was here now. I watched her, waiting for the feelings to resurrect themselves, like ghosts in my cells. But the more I watched, the more I felt…
Nothing.
She was just another pretty blonde girl. Bubbly and sweet-voiced, nothing more and nothing less. I didn’t feel angry anymore, only a strange kind of nostalgia. She was a part of my life that had passed. It was over, and I’d moved on to something better.
I pressed stop, freezing Noelle in place. I lifted the tablet and stared into those wide blue eyes. “I’m done,” I told her.
Then I closed the browser and carefully set the tablet back onto my brother’s desk.
When I walked away, I didn’t even limp.
I got exactly as far as Beau’s doorway, only to come face to face with my younger brother as he came up the stairs.
He’d caught me red-handed snooping in his room. If it had been Finn, I’d be getting a beat-down even now. But since this was Beau, he gave me one of his level looks. “You need something?”
I let out a long breath. “Yeah. A dirt bike and a hundred-foot jump.”
He grinned. “Yeah…you’re not gonna find that in my room, though,” he pointed out. Then he widened his eyes a little. “But what you will find is this.”
He shoved past me and went right over to his guitar stand. “Here,” he said.
I swallowed and stared at the instrument. My brother held it out to me in some mix of encouragement and accusation.
I hadn’t played since the band broke up. Without my brothers around me, the idea of making music didn’t seem the same.