Twisting Fate
Page 26
My assigned book was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I remember an excerpt about what a soul mate was and its role. Basically, it was that your soul mate is a mirror to our own; a perfect fit in another person. It talked about how your soul mate only came into your life briefly to tear down your walls and to reveal layers about yourself that you didn't know you had; to change you. It seemed silly then, but now...
The things that it said were exactly what Breyson was to me; so much so that it's scary when looking at them in comparison. Could he have been sent to me by the higher power to wake me up from the person that I was and the person that I was on the path to becoming? It seems paranormal, but weirder things happen all the time. There are so many things we don't understand.
I'm done trying to figure out the question of why. It's like running around in circles. It's exhausting and you end up exactly where you started. Preston is still looking at me, saying nothing more. If Breyson was sent to me to show me the kind of life I was missing by living the way I was, then it worked. I can't go back to the person I was before I met him. I want to live in love and happiness. "Okay. We will wait until we're married. When do you want to get married?"
He smiles an earth-shattering smile, the type of smile that is rare and to be cherished. "December."
"What's so special about December?"
"Bryce will be here and it'll be long enough after you deliver that we can properly enjoy our honeymoon," he says matter of fact. Of course, his business side comes out.
"Okay. December it is."
He kisses me and I can feel him harden beneath me again. "You've made me a happy man. The company is hosting an event at the end of August. It's to announce a buy in for some land overseas. Dad wants to expand globally and we're starting with a resort in Greece. I have to be present to oversee groundbreaking in December. We can honeymoon there with Bryce and we'll be back in January for the opening of your cheerleading studio. The renovations are already confirmed and you can supervise it until we leave."
Why am I getting the feeling I'm not going to like the rest of this conversation. "What exactly are you asking?"
"It's similar to the charity event we had a couple of weeks ago, but this one is going to be bigger and with more people. I'm starting to show up in the magazines as one of the most eligible bachelors, because of my age and family's business reputation. I want the world to know I'm a taken man. I want to announce our engagement at the event."
The bomb has been dropped. He knows I hate charity events or large masses of money hungry people. I will never be a trophy wife and he knows this. "Preston," I whine. "You know I hate attending stuff like that. All those people make me nervous."
Tugging my hair downward, my neck is bared to him. He licks from my collarbone to the lobe of my ear. A moan unintentionally escapes my lips. "You'll be fine. I promise I won't leave you and I'll make it worth your while."
"I don't know..."
As if he won't take no for an answer, he places his thumb in his mouth and sucks. He places it over my clit and begins rubbing in circular motions. It feels so good I can't think straight. "I'll do whatever it takes until you agree. A satiated woman is a happy woman. I can be very convincing," he says seductively.
"Yes," I say as he brings me to the edge. "Right there."
I can feel his smile pressed against my neck as he delivers the orgasm I needed. "I knew you'd see it my way." He kisses me on the lips as he throws his legs over the side of the bed. "Just remember you said yes. No backing out. It's always been our most absolute rule."
Shit. I should have known...
The one rule we made up when we used to play in his fort and conjure up daredevil schemes to occupy our time as kids in the summer. I would always agree in the heat of the moment and then try to back out when the worry set in of what I had agreed to. I was always one of those people that didn't like to break the rules, so he made a list of fort rules to keep me from backing out at the last minute, and stupid me never even caught on until I was older.
"You ass." I laugh and try to push him backward by pressing on his chest, but he already has a tight hold from behind.
He stands with me, pregnant and all, in his arms. I wrap my legs around his waist scared he'll drop me. "Hey, don't hate just because my plan worked."
"Where are we going?"
"To make out in the hot, steamy shower. Then, I seem to remember a concert on the beach that was mentioned in passing yesterday." I rub my fingers through the back of his hair. I'm finally starting to feel a little of the excitement that has been absent for some time now.
My stomach begins growling uncontrollably. I guess I shouldn't wait so long between meals to eat. After finally getting over the whole pregnancy sickness thing, I don't want it back. It's a little after lunch and having a shower makes me feel so much better. Wrapping the fluffy white towel around my body, I tuck it and begin walking out of the bathroom and across the bedroom towards the stairs.
I stop when I reach the door. Preston is sitting on the bed with his laptop and phone in front of him, as well as papers scattered all around him. "I'm just going to make me some lunch. Do you want any?"
"Sure," he says and looks at me. "I have to work for an hour or so and then we can go. I didn't figure you wanted to be there all day anyway. Is that okay?" The beach event is supposed to be an all day thing. There will be several bands that perform well into the night; some I know and some I don't. I have no desire to be there until evening when it starts to cool off. Pregnancy and heat do not mesh well; besides, the thought of wearing a swimsuit disgusts me.
"That's fine. I'm sure I can find stuff to do. Mom shipped some more boxes I need to unpack. I'll leave you to it." I open the door and he calls out my name as I walk down the hall a few feet.
"Hey, Kinzleigh." I peek my head back into the door. "What do you think of me converting the basement into an office for when I need to work at home? I can be home with you more that way. I'd rather save the bedrooms in case we ever need them. Did you have any plans for it?"
"It's all yours, babe. I never go down there. You don't have to ask, this is your house."
"It's our house," he retorts. "Everything that is mine is equally yours."
I roll my eyes. "Whatever you say. Lunch will be ready in about thirty minutes. Come down when you're ready." I disappear down the hall and run my fingers through my wet hair as I descend down the stairs. Walking into the kitchen I spot the pantry. Digging through the contents, I pull out random things. I guess I'm going to have to learn to cook more things. If not we are going to starve or get fat from eating out.
Setting the various objects on the counter, I remember the chicken breasts in the freezer. I guess chicken sandwiches will suffice. As I open the freezer door I hear the doorbell chime. I wonder who that could be.
It rings three more times before I'm able to make it to the front door. Of course someone decides to visit the one time I don't put on clothes. Looking down at my body I make sure all the inappropriate parts are covered. I crack the door just enough for me to stick my head out. I was in no way prepared for who is standing on the other side.
"Macie?"
"Hey, Kinzleigh." She looks around and then back at me. "May I come in?"
"Oh crap, of course." I use the door as a shield and open it, keeping my body covered. She steps inside and her eyes go wide as she takes in our house. I shut the door and clutch the towel in my hand afraid it may come untucked. "Are you okay?"
She is carrying a duffel bag strapped to her body. "I know I should have called first, but the only people that I knew had your number hate me. The truth is, I needed to get away for a few days. I didn't know where. I went to the cemetery to tell Beau I wouldn't be back for a while and I thought of you."
She starts to look a little embarrassed. "I found out where you lived and went by your house. Your mom was there and she told me where to find you. I guess I could've gotten your number from her. I'm sorry, maybe I should go."
/> She turns around and takes a step toward the door. If she leaves now I may never see her again. She looks as awful now as she did the day I saw her at his grave. "Macie, wait..." I grab her arm stopping her. "You can stay here for as long as you need."
The look in her eyes is one that says a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. You can tell just by looking at her that she has been living in agony since he died. It makes me realize how much Preston has helped me to slowly let go of Breyson, making the pain of missing him more bearable. I've learned that when you truly love someone and lose them, you'll never totally rid of the pain, but it's how you learn to carry on living with the pain that makes the difference.
She doesn't have anyone in her life like Preston, Adalynn, Braxton, Briar, or Londyn. She's completely alone. Everyone has judged her and left her to wallow in guilt and sorrow on a daily basis. I don't know how I can help her, but I will spend every second that I can trying. "You're coming with us tonight. You need a night to be free, to be free with no exploitation from the people around you. No one knows you here; no one will pass judgment for who you were or who you will become. They will only know you for who you allow yourself to be right now."
She blinks and a tear is dispensed from her eye. "I need you to teach me how to be someone else. Please teach me how." The begging in her tone breaks my heart. It's evident that she is dying inside.
"Of course I will teach you how," I say in the most absolute way I know how.
Chapter 21
Kinzleigh
I come bursting through the bedroom door slamming it behind me. Clenching my towel in my fist I lean my head against the bedroom door. Preston is walking around the room in a pair of faded denim jeans with the band of his boxer briefs peeping out the top. He's rubbing his hand through his hair as he speaks into the phone held up to his ear with the opposite hand.
For some reason this image is sexy. Think, Kinzleigh, think. He glances at me standing against the door and stops. "Finish briefing me later. Something has suddenly come up." He slides the phone in his pocket and walks toward me. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost? Are you hurt?"
"I'm probably fixing to drop a bomb on you," I say nervously. I probably should have asked before I volunteered to let her stay. It's just good manners and a sense of respect to others living in the house. I give him my best fake smile in hopes that he doesn't get mad.
"Go on..." He looks amused, that's a good start.
"Well...it's kind of funny, really. I was downstairs and the doorbell rang as I was deciding what was for lunch, so I went to see who it was."
"You answered the door in that," he asks, interrupting me. All the questions he could have asked and that's the first thing he thought of. Men; they are all the same.
"I was kind of limited in option. That's beside the point. Anyway, when I opened the door it was someone from back home. That someone is going through a rough time, like me, but she doesn't have anyone to help her through it like I do with you." Maybe if I just get it all out he won't think about it. "I told her she could stay with us for a while."
I close my eyes as the last syllable escapes my lips. A moment later, I peek out of one. He's biting his lip with a smile breaking free. Clearly, he's trying not to laugh. Fully opening my eyes I push off the door. "What's so funny?"
"Did you really think I was going to be mad?" He closes the distance between us, and stops in front of me.
"Yes. I realized, after the fact, that I probably should have ran it by you first." He inches his face closer to mine.
"When are you going to get it through that thick skull of yours that what's mine is yours...and vice versa," he purrs and closes his hand around the tucked towel above my breasts. He tugs, releasing the fold between the two and the towel falls to the floor in a pile. He grabs a breast in each hand and walks me backward until I'm back against the door with a soft thud. "You wear my ring, Kinzleigh Baker, and soon you'll take my name. Anything I have is yours. All I want in exchange is to call you mine, forever."
My breathing picks up from his touch. He has to stop saying things like that. I like hearing it a little too much. It's strange to be honest, right? "So, she can stay?" I don't know why I asked. I suppose to occupy my mind.
He runs his hands down the sides of my body and snakes them around until he cups my derriere. He kisses below the lobe of my ear and traces the tip of his tongue down the length of my neck. "If you want her to stay, she stays." How is it that he can turn me on at the drop of a few words and touches to my body? It has to be the pregnancy hormones.
I get the strangest feeling. It's one of those feelings that takes over your body and controls your limbs. Grabbing the back of his neck I pull his lips to mine. I need to feel the heat of his kiss. I want to feel his skin against mine. What does this mean?
His hand descends downward until it reaches my thigh. He picks up my right leg and wraps it around his waist. I can't get as close as I want to because of my stomach. It's not enough. I deepen the kiss and it becomes a hunger that I can't feed; a thirst that I can't quench. I have no idea what is wrong with me, but I can't stop. I don't want to stop. I want him to take me to bed...
"Preston," I moan in shortened breath as I release my lips from his.
"Tell me what you need."
"I need you to make love to me."
As if I've just released a monster he picks me up and turns for the large unmade bed. His kiss is rushed and needy. "Are you sure? I thought we were going to wait. We really need to wait..." His words and his actions speak two different languages.
I have no idea why, but I'm completely sure. I don't understand these feelings. I've only loved one man and those feelings were different and many things: uncontrollable, life altering, earth shattering, even deadly, but this...this is different.
These feelings get stronger every day. They grow instead of hitting you like a freight train at full speed. These are heightened in the presence of him and dull in absence, whereas, with Breyson, always constant and amplified at full force. Why is that? I can't love two people, can I? Is it possible to love two people in different ways? "Yes. I'm sure."
"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that. Damn." Placing his knee on the bed he lays me down in the center. He stands at the side of the bed, looking at me, as he unbuttons his jeans. His eyes are burning into mine, never leaving their sight on me. From my peripheral vision I can see him hook his thumbs under the band of his briefs and lower his jeans and underwear in unison to the floor, before stepping out of them completely.
He's rock hard. Picking up my foot he places it to his lips and kisses my inside ankle gently. "You have no idea how many times I've visualized this very day; the best day of my life. I love you, Kinzleigh; I always have and always will, of that I'm sure."
Placing my foot flat on the bed he grabs underneath my knees and spreads me before him. He rests on his bent knees and closes the distance between our bodies. He caresses his hands from my knees to the crease next to my most intimate place. His touch is light enough to send my need for him into overdrive, but hard enough I feel every brush. "I love you too, Preston." My voice takes on a needy whisper and I didn't even mean to say it aloud.
His breath catches. It's the first time I've actually said it as a lover’s term of endearment and not in conversation of a friendly manner like the night in the hotel room. I haven't really thought much of it. It just came out of nowhere. I can't take it back and I am not sure I want to. I miss having love, and being in love. Is that so wrong? It is kind of soon, but do we really get to pick and choose when it happens or with whom?
He places one hand on the bed to hold his weight and the other on the side of my stomach, alongside my rib cage where my tattoo resides. He lowers his lips to mine and I can feel the tip of his dick touching my entrance. It ignites a desire in me that I haven't felt in months. I need this. I need a pleasure that will blanket every inch of me, inside and out. I need a freedom from the pain left by the
absence of the only man that has ever claimed me this way. You don't have to understand it; I'm not asking you to. Judge me if you dare, but if you were in my shoes, you might be surprised what you would do to eliminate the constant nagging of the hole in your chest.
Wrapping my legs around his waist I dig my heels into his buttocks, trying to pull him closer. "Do you want it, baby," he says as he lets go of the hold on my lips. Our faces are so close that I can feel his breath when he speaks, warming my already heated lips.
"Yes." One word is about to change everything. I always thought Breyson would be my one and only, but expectations get you exactly where I am today; a different path than you originally thought. I haven't wanted this since Breyson and I never thought I would again, but for some unknown reason I want it with Preston.
He aligns himself, ready to enter, when something painful shoots through my side. "Ouch," I say. It wasn't enough to cause alarm, but it was enough to take my breath away and catch me off guard.
His eyes widen. "Was that the baby?"
"Was what the baby?" I'm a little confused.
"You don't feel that? Right here under my hand." When I actually pay attention, I do feel him move underneath his hand. I think that's actually the first time someone other than me has felt him, movement from the outside. It's why his question caught me off guard.
"You can feel him?" A cheesy grin spreads across his face. Bryce moves again. When he does a pain shoots through my leg, leaving a numbing sensation. It's enough to make me squint my eyes and leave a crazy expression on my face as the aftermath, I'm sure. It feels like a pinched nerve.
"Kinzleigh, maybe we should wait until after your doctor appointment to have sex. Besides, I don't think any form of pain is supposed to be a good thing. I don't think those kind of looks are good for a guy's ego. Are you okay?"