Life Plus One

by Rachel Robinson

  Her request is hotter than a million filthy things spoken from another woman’s mouth. Leaning down to rest my face in her neck, I whisper, “You already are.”

  Harper clings to my neck as I jut between her legs a few more times and spill inside her deep and hard. I don’t want to move, and Harper doesn’t want me to go anywhere either, her heels digging into my ass, holding me inside.

  “I love you, Benny,” she says, her words lighting my ears like my favorite song.

  “Tomorrow I’m going to make you my wife, Harper Jean, and it’s going to be the best day of my entire life.”

  She sighs, content and warm under my body. “It took so long to get here,” she says.

  “And it will be that much better because of it,” I reply, leaning up on my hands to gaze at her face. She has a huge red mark on her shoulder and neck from my five o’clock shadow. I kiss one of the marks. “I need to get away from you before my dick gets hard again.”

  Wincing, I draw my cock out of her body slowly, deliciously, every inch feeling her tight walls. “Dear God in heaven, thank you for Harper’s body,” I murmur, closing my eyes. “You have no idea how much you affect me,” I admit, palming my cold dick. I want her wetness on my hand.

  She sits up, hair a tangled mess, body flushed and face mirroring the satisfaction I feel. “And you have no idea how much that makes me want you back inside me.”

  I groan, throwing myself away from her, backing into the dresser. “Wicked woman, with your magic pussy powers. Stay back.” I hold out a palm in her direction.

  Harper giggles and climbs off the bed seductively, hips swaying, hands tracing every curve I want on me.

  “No magic here, just Harper.” She winks. Like a sex panther in heat. I want to devour her in the wild. Fuck myself to death. Die in a Harper orgasm fog. Her essence on my lips and my come pooling inside her body. She makes her way to the restroom and I watch my come leak down the inside of her legs.

  “When you look in the mirror you’re going to wish you had some magic. There’s no way they’re going to believe we’ve been writing vows in here with how well fucked you look right now.”

  She shrugs. “It was worth the scrutiny,” Harper says, sitting on the toilet to wipe away what I just worked so hard for. “I have to go make the bouquets for tomorrow. You need to get out of here. What are you doing tonight? Strippers? Killing bad guys? I’m not sure what it is a man like you does the night before he gets married.”

  She flushes the toilet and tries to fix her hair with a comb. She curses when it doesn’t work. “What does a man like me do the night before he gets married?” I ask, walking up to wrap my hands around her naked body. “I thank God I get to marry the woman of my dreams and count down the hours until it happens, while simultaneously praying the world doesn’t come down around us before it happens.”

  Harper grins, pressing her lips to one side. “You’re trying to woo me right now. I’m swooning, Ben Brahams. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  “You want it in you one more time?” I ask, joking.

  Harper’s smile widens the same time as her feet. Then she bends over, pressing her perfect tits against the cold granite. “I need a shower anyway,” she purrs, reaching back to spread her butt cheeks. “If you’re game, that is?”

  “How the fuck am I supposed to say no to that?” I ask, stroking my dick while I stare at one of my favorite sights in the entire world. “Hold that fucking thought,” I say, holding up one finger.

  I pop my head out of our bedroom door to find Martina sitting cross-legged on the area rug with what looks like a million white flowers spread out around her. “Twenty more minutes,” I say, teeth gritted.

  She rolls her eyes. “Take thirty. Her mom left during round two. Keep it down.”

  I don’t think about what that means and lock the door, grab the bottle of cherry lube from a nightstand, and find Harper in the same spot as when I left her.

  The profile of her body, ass popped out, back arched, causes the Neanderthal that lives inside me to come barreling out, pounding his fists on his chest. “Where were we?” I ask, sauntering slowly, appreciating the absolute vision Harper is. “We have twenty minutes.”

  “You were going to put it in me one more time,” Harper says, pressing her lips together in a mischievous smirk. “Wherever you want,” she says, spreading a bit wider than she was before.

  I drop to my knees and lick her pussy and ass. It’s a dick throbbing mixture of Harper and my come. She pushes back into my face as I wrap my hands around her thighs and pull her onto my face further. “You have to keep it down,” I say, pulling away, licking my lips. “Or else no more fun.”

  I see her nod in her reflection, eyes closed. If you told me last year I had the ability to come back to back the way I do with Harper, I would have called you a fucking liar. Not only is every single brain cell attracted to her, but my balls work overtime to mass produce loads meant specifically for her. Sliding two fingers into her pussy slowly, she fucks them by rocking back. I rub her G-spot while I dribble some lube on her ass.

  It puckers from the coolness and my cock flexes at the visual. “Relax,” I coax, laying a hand on her lower back. “Arch and relax.”

  Harper obeys.

  I pull my fingers out of her pussy and line up my dick and slide into her ass in tiny juts that eventually seat my dick all the way in. I close my eyes when Harper moans.

  “Fuck me hard,” she says, meeting my gaze in the mirror. It reminds me of a time I fucked her so long ago. Even then I didn’t feel like she was mine.

  This time when I fuck her ass and watch her come, I know without a shadow of a doubt she’s mine. When my balls feel like they might explode, I grimace, fuck her to the hilt, and come in her. Again.

  And it’s never enough. Will never be enough to make up for all the time I didn’t have this connection. This power.

  This love.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Harper

  I’ve never been happier in my entire life. That’s a bold statement. One I’d repeat a million times if it means I get to feel like this every day for the rest of my life. My dad is walking me down the aisle, just sand marked by white flowers on either side, to the man of my dreams.

  Ben is standing barefoot by the water wearing a white shirt, untucked, and a pair of khaki pants. We’re getting married in the exact spot he proposed. There are about ten chairs on either side of the aisle, all filled with our closest friends and family who could make it on such short notice. We didn’t send out invites or make a registry, or do anything stereotypical brides and grooms do. That’s for everyone else. They can keep the customs and pomp. We just want each other. My dress, a white lacy, curve hugging number, flares at the bottom in a mermaid cut. Ben came with me when I tried on dresses and said if we’re doing it on the beach, I should get my Ariel fantasy.

  “I love you both, so much, baby. You don’t know how happy this is making your mother and me,” Dad says, squeezing my arm. “After all this time. You’re finally doing it.” It’s a statement as much as it is a question.

  I squeeze his hand resting on my arm. “Thanks, Dad. Took a little longer than it should have,” I whisper, laying my head against his shoulder. The pride that oozes from his body is enough for a million daughters instead of just one. He’s always been proud of my scholarly and work accomplishments, but somehow validating my lifelong love for Ben is enough to wash all of those away. It’s because I’m finally being honest with myself, finally taking the chance I never took. “I love you,” I tell him.

  He sniffles next to me, and I have to focus on Ben to keep from tearing up and ruining my makeup prematurely.

  My hair is down, because I know that’s how Ben likes it. I took a photo of Lyla Garrity, C/O Minka Kelly with me to the makeup artist. She did an amazing job replicating the look, and it’s a small tilt to a weird way this was all brought to a close. The sun is setting just enough so that the heat isn’t severe and the clouds a
re that beautiful color they become just before night hides them away.

  Ben’s smile is this huge, beautiful work of art. It reminds me of when we were kids and we had the inability to stop laughing at some stupid joke. We’d look at each other and start cracking up all over again. This is a smile he won’t be able to wipe away. My dad hands my hand to Ben and they share a quick man hug before he takes his seat next to my weeping mother. She has a tissue in each hand and a smile that matches Ben’s.

  Ben hugs me straight away, ignoring all normal wedding rules. “Harper, you are stunning. The most beautiful girl in all the world.”

  “Thank you,” I reply. “You look pretty handsome yourself.” I squeeze his biceps and he laughs. His eyes are so happy, so jubilant, that I’m truly transported back to when we were innocent, happy children. Smiles for miles and not a care in the world. And isn’t that how you want a marriage to start? I lean up on my tiptoes and Ben’s on the same wavelength. He kisses me on the lips once, very chastely, and then on the bridge of my nose.

  “Get a room,” Tahoe calls out, causing everyone to giggle.

  Ben glares at Tahoe and turns the megawatt smile out to everyone else. “I’ve waited too long for this! I’ll kiss her when I want!”

  More laughter followed by clapping. My mom sniffles some more.

  The pastor starts in on the simple ceremony. We listen, but we don’t take our eyes off each other, like maybe the words he’s saying will telepathically melt into our systems. Ben touches my face, my neck, my shoulders instead of merely holding my hand. He’s checking to make sure it’s real. I’m real.

  “Harper and Ben have written their own vows to each other and they would like to share them with you today. Ben,” the pastor says, clipping a small microphone on the edge of my capped sleeve and one to the open collar of Ben’s shirt. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Ben bites his lip in a grin. “I love you, Harper Jean, sneeze queen. Every moment and mistake in our lives have led to this right here. It could have happened earlier,” he says, looking at the audience when they laugh. “But it wouldn’t have meant as much as it does right now. Standing here after trials and tribulations that would make Gandhi question our sanity means that despite everything else in our past, we choose each other. You are the part of my life that has been constant because of how much I love you. I’ve never been scared of the depth of my feelings for you because I fell for you gradually. A little bit at a time during each phase of our lives. Now I’m at a level so deep I’ll never make it back to the surface in this lifetime. It’s only deeper from here to eternity. I vow forever to you. You hold all of my yesterdays and I vow to give you all of my tomorrows.” Ben works down a hard swallow and cradles the side of my face. “You’re my girl now. I knew you’d be my last dance.”

  It’s my turn to sniffle, sob, and halfway choke on emotion. “I love you,” I say to Ben, laying my hand on top of his. “How am I supposed to follow that?” There’s tittering from our audience as I try to compose myself enough to get my vows out.

  Ben smiles wide and pulls me into another hug. “Finally!” he announces. “I made her cry out of happiness!” Everyone roars with laughter at that comment, and while highly inappropriate, it’s also pretty endearing at the same time. We’re allowed to poke fun at our torrid past.

  I pull away from the hug. “All right. I’m ready,” I reply, sucking in a deep, cleansing breath. The sun is almost gone and the sky sets the perfect backdrop for this moment, and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. How could I possibly appreciate a life with Ben without realizing how challenging it’s been without him?

  “I could say a million things to you about how our marriage will be one that stands the test of time, but you already know that. I could tell you how everything about you is what I love, but you know that too. The fact that we’re standing here right now is a testament to our love. A weaker variety would have run in the opposite direction, would have sneered at computer pairing logistics.” I smile when I see tears form in Ben’s eyes. “My vows to you are simple, because after all these years I think this is the vow that means the most.” I have to clear my throat. “You are the person who knows me most in this world. Every single piece of me, down to cellular level is imprinted with your kindness, your understanding, your love of country, your persistence, your knowledge, your love.”

  I pause, pressing my lips together. “I vow to be your best friend because those are just as important as wives. I promise to never take another breath for granted. I promise to take all of you and love it the best way I know how.” If you don’t believe in magic, I’d tell you to look skyward. The answers are out there. You just need to know how, and when, to look. I’ve never seen so clearly than I do in this moment.

  I cross my hands in front of me and with tears filling his eyes, Ben does the same, grabbing onto mine. I take in a deep, jagged breath and say, “Harbenny, Harbenny, getcha, bitchen some, we rule the world, you’re my life plus one.”

  Our parents stand, cheering like maniacs, the only people in on the joke, and the pastor pronounces us husband and wife. I leap into Ben’s arms and we kiss like our lives depend on it.

  At this point, they kind of do.

  ++++

  There are those stories that speak to an author on soul level. LIFE PLUS ONE is one of those stories for me. I honestly can’t think about Ben and Harper’s love without getting a little misty eyed. There’s different kinds of love everyone experiences throughout their lifetime, but the kind that is the most devastating is the kind you don’t embrace fully. In the first draft of this novel, the story ended at the water tower. Ben and Harper looking into the distance—a sky half-dark and half-light, the atmosphere tinged with equal parts sadness and happiness. I envisioned their future, and it always, always ended in a forever after, but showing it was hard, painful almost, because of all of their missed chances and because of how much time was wasted not embracing this epic, life altering love.

  To my readers: thank you for coming on the journey with me. You make my dream possible! Thank you to all of the people that made this story possible: my early readers, my Racy Readers, my editor, and proofreader, and formatter. They take my blood, sweat, and tears, and polish it, validate it, and hold my hand thorough the process. Your support means more than words ever will.

  Thanks, as always, to my ultimate, lifelong muse, my husband. You’re all the best parts of my characters and I wouldn’t have them if I didn’t have you. You choose to run in the direction of chaos and destruction. Like Ben, 9/11 was a deciding factor in serving your country, and that is the greatest, most respectable decision one can ever make. You’re my life plus one. Always.

  Other Titles by

  International Bestselling Author

  Rachel Robinson

  CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

  CRAZY GOOD SERIES:

  Crazy Good

  Set in Stone

  Time and Space

  THE REAL SEAL SERIES:

  Black and White Flowers

  Hero Hair

  Life Plus One

  ROMANTIC COMEDY

  FROG HOG NOVELLAS:

  Frog Hog – Valen and Hutch

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  The Dom Games

  Visit Rachel Robinson online

  www.racheljrobinson.com

  https://www.facebook.com/racheljeanrobinson