Unbreak Me
Page 4
“Connor, I don’t care who or what you are. I am not here to pass judgment on you,” Molly said.
“Then you are the first person to not give a shit.”
Molly slid in the seat next to him at the small table. She rested her chin on the backs of her hands as she stared at him. “You know, if you were to spend less time caring what others thought of you, and more time on the amazing person you are, then you’d be a whole lot happier.”
“You think I’m amazing?”
Molly’s cheeks blushed and she tried to look away, but it was impossible to deny the now-burning attraction between them. For the first time in as long as she could remember, a feeling she’d never experienced before ignited in the pit of her stomach. A whole new sensation that made her want the handsome stranger.
“Well, yeah. I mean, you’re lovely.” She blushed as the words came out.
Connor smiled. The attraction between them was mutual and Molly couldn’t help but take a sharp intake of breath when he reached out his hand and touched the small of her back.
“I think you are pretty amazing too,” he whispered as he moved his hand up her back and touched the side of her face.
Molly turned toward him, saying, “I don’t usually do this. I mean… I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Do what?” he asked, his lips inches from touching hers.
Breathless, Molly found it hard to resist him. “This… Letting my guard down.”
Before she had the chance to resist any longer, or play emphasis on her excuses, Connor brushed his lips against hers. At first it was gentle, soft and perfect, as if he were afraid of hurting her. But as soon as she began kissing him back, he responded by pulling her against him.
Connor kissed her with so much passion that Molly saw stars as her head spun from the dizziness. She couldn’t believe how much she wanted him. This wasn’t her. This wasn’t who she was, but she was relishing every last second of it.
Connor ran his tongue across her bottom lip, looking into her eyes as she opened her mouth to let their tongues explore and taste each other. Running his fingers through her hair, he pulled her in closer, kissing her as if he were afraid of never feeling that way again. Molly, willing and hungry for his touch, held on to him, responding to every kiss and touch with light murmurs.
The butterflies fluttered hard in her stomach. It had been a long time since she had been last intimate with anyone, but that didn’t stop her letting her hair down and just going with the flow.
Molly broke the kiss and pulled the shirt over his head. She glanced at his chest, then her eyes rose and met his. Taking him by the hand, she turned and led him toward her bedroom. Connor’s fingers lightly brushed against her shoulders as he slipped her dress over her head. Goosebumps prickled her skin. The touch of his hands sent a sensation that was new and thrilling, running through her.
They stood at the foot of her bed and Molly began trembling as she stood facing him. Bending down, he kissed the tip of her nose as she held her breath, eagerly waiting for his lips on hers again. Falling into his arms, she kissed him passionately. He returned her kisses, her mouth opening wider with each caress of his lips. His tongue explored her mouth as he slipped his hands behind her and unhooked her bra, revealing her breasts. Connor cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples as her back arched and she pushed her breasts into his palm.
“God, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he ran a finger along the lace of her panties. Sliding his fingers inside the material, he touched the throbbing spot between her legs, gently stroking her.
Letting out a moan, Molly trembled from his touch.
Connor moved Molly against the bed and gently pushed her down onto her back and pulled her panties off, throwing them to the floor. Kneeling between her legs, Connor lifted her feet to his shoulders as he began kissing, nibbling and licking at her very core.
Molly let out a deep moan, writhing under Connor’s greedy mouth as she arched her back. The hot sensation built fast as she was about to explode. The orgasm took a hold of her, making her cry out.
Not giving her a second to breathe, Connor slipped one finger, then two inside her as he used his thumb to rub her clit in small circles, allowing the orgasm to begin to build again. Moaning, she rode his hand and held him there as her insides clenched around his fingers. She was lost in his touch. The way he handled her lit her body on fire.
Then she came again.
Finally, they couldn’t wait any longer.
“I want to be in you now,” Connor panted as Molly lay back, spreading her legs, inviting him in. Reaching for his jeans, he pulled a condom from his wallet.
“It’s okay,” Molly whispered. “I’m on the pill.”
Smiling, Connor shook his head and put on the condom. “Just to be sure.”
He rubbed his hand along his shaft and entered her. Connor bent his face down over Molly’s and they kissed. Connor began making love to her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Molly tensed her inner muscles, squeezing him as he thrust in hard, making her moan with each force, sending pulsing waves of heat through her belly. They were completely lost within each other. His eyes found hers as he started moving in her again and she tried hard to keep eye contact. His thrusts grew faster and she found it impossible not to close her eyes as she lost herself in the pleasure.
Molly’s breath came in quick gasps as the orgasm grew little by little this time, slowly moving through her, working itself up from the inside. Intense pleasure had every nerve of her body standing on edge.
Molly gazed up at Connor as he reached his peak. She smiled as he bit down on his lip before letting a series of soft moans escape. The warmth of his touch sent her climax through the roof.
Connor slipped a hand behind her head before he kissed her again and rolled onto his side, pulling her with him as he kissed her slowly. That single kiss was full of meaning. Their breath danced together. Finally, he pulled away and looked into her eyes, satisfied.
“You are amazing.”
Not saying anything, Molly rested her head against him and fell asleep, their bodies fitting together perfectly.
Chapter Seven
Connor stared at Molly as she slept and couldn’t believe that the pretty girl from the bridge had saved him for a second time. But now she was more than just a passerby who’d done a good deed, she was someone he knew he was falling for fast, and there was no way in the world he wanted to risk losing her.
With everything that was going on with him, Connor needed something to live for and Molly was it. She was good, she had a heart of gold. She didn’t try to be something she wasn’t. Above all else, she saw him, saw past the money, the hijinks, and accepted him, his flaws and all.
Connor smiled as he brushed her hair from her face and looked at her, observing the small line of freckles that were speckled across the bridge of her pretty little nose and the way her lips pouted as she slept.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered as tears filled his eyes.
No matter how much joy Molly had brought to his life, there was still the relentless pain from the depression that refused to leave him be.
Stirring from her sleep, Molly groaned as she began to awaken and looked over at him before pulling her sheet and hiding under it.
“Oh my God, I’m…dying,” she mumbled.
“Well, I certainly hope not,” Connor replied. “Don’t be shy, though it’s cute. I don’t think you’ve anything to be embarrassed about.”
Molly peeped out from under the covers and her eyes lit up as Connor bent forward to kiss her. “I…haven’t been with a guy in nearly three years,” she confessed. “I know, I was practically a born-again virgin.”
Connor pulled her into his arms and wrestled the sheet from her grip. “Well, I don’t care. Because from here, you’re damn perfect.”
“You do know that perfection is just something created by the media to corrupt young minds?”
“Really?”
“
Nah, but still, no one is perfect. It’s not real. I am just me, little Molly Rice. Dreamer, thinker, good Samaritan or whatever tag is suitable.”
“Girlfriend?” Connor said, making Molly pause, her look saying it all.
“Girlfriend?”
“That’s what I just said.” Connor smiled. “You could be the perfect girlfriend.”
“I didn’t realize I was girlfriend material.”
“Why ever not?”
“You have no idea what skeletons I have in my closest, Connor,” she said as she got out of the bed, tying her robe around her waist.
“Molly, did I say something wrong?”
“I think you should go,” she said.
“Molly?” Connor could sense her resentment.
“Connor, please… Just go. I can’t do this. Not now. I’m sorry.”
Connor, not being one to ask twice, grabbed his stuff and hightailed it out of the small apartment. He felt terrible. How something so wonderful turned ugly in a split second annoyed him. He didn’t understand what he’d done wrong. From the way they had made love, to the way she had awoken next to him, he’d never imagined her getting angry and rejecting him like that.
Miserable and pissed, he hailed a cab and went back to his apartment, and to the waiting entourage.
* * * *
“Where have you been all night?” his mother asked as she lifted her head from reading the morning paper.
“Nice to see you made yourself at home,” Connor replied, ignoring her as he marched through to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Connor, this behavior is something I’d expect from a fourteen-year-old, not a grown man.”
“Then go home, Mother. Go back to Dad and fill him in on all the gory details.”
“What’s going on with you?” she finally asked. “Is it drugs? Money? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Jesus Christ, Mom, it always comes down to those things, right?” he shouted. “Fuck, I’m not James. I don’t need coke or prostitutes to make it through the day.”
“Then what in hell’s name is wrong?”
“I’m depressed, Mom. I’ve been depressed for the best part of the past year and the merger deal pushed me over the edge.” His voice faltered. “I wanted to die… I still want to, but…”
Eleanor looked uncomfortable at the revelation. “I don’t understand. You have no reason to be feeling like this.”
“No reason, huh? I’ve just spilled my guts to you, but you still don’t get it,” Connor shouted.
“There is no need to be rude,” his mother quipped. “We will get you a therapist. This is something that is easily fixed.”
Frustrated, and let down by his mother’s refusal to accept the truth, Connor walked away from the lounge. He couldn’t stand looking at her a second longer. She just brushed his feelings and pain under the carpet and wouldn’t offer him something that told him she loved him. Eleanor was as cold as ice and there was no way in hell that Connor could trust her.
Connor switched on the shower and the steam began to build. He looked at his reflection.
“What did I do wrong?” he muttered to himself as the influx of anxiety began to build again. His walls began caving in, suffocating him as he tried to breathe—there had to be a way out of the hell he was in, but he didn’t want to lose Molly, not now—not when he’d had a glimpse of what true happiness could feel like.
Kneeling on the tiles in his bathroom, he controlled his breathing, laying his focus on the small design in the tile. “Get a fucking grip,” he stormed to himself.
Pushing himself back onto his feet, he stumbled into the shower and stood under the steaming water, letting the heat penetrate his skin, making him feel again. He wanted to experience the pain, have the numbness gone completely. The horrid emptiness that plagued his core. He needed to live again.
A knock on the bathroom door sobered him up. “Connor?” his mother called.
“What?”
“Someone is here to see you,” she said.
Connor grabbed a towel and dried himself before throwing on a fresh pair of slacks and shirt. He wasn’t in the mood for more interference, and certainly not another lecture from his mother.
He walked out barefoot into the small hallway and heard hushed voices in the sitting room. As he stepped in, he was surprised to see Mark, his friend. “I’ll leave you two to it,” Eleanor said as she lifted her purse from the side table and left the apartment.
“Want to tell me what’s been going on?” Mark said as he undid the buttons on his jacket before sitting on the couch.
“I suppose she filled you in.”
Mark sat forward, rubbing his hands together. “On the contrary, the press are having a field day out there.”
Shaking his head, Connor threw himself down on the couch, letting out a sigh before resting his hands behind his head.
“Of course they are,” he muttered. “The whole Lanscorp shit has done enough damage.”
“Man, you’ve got to give me more than this bullshit,” Mark said. He clenched his jaw and let out a long exasperated breath. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What’s to tell? I fucked up. I’ve lost all hope of salvaging that part of me. I’m done with it all.”
“Connor, you can’t just walk away from this. You, of all people, know that your parents would never allow it. You are part of a huge empire. And let me be blunt, you will never be free from this,” Mark said as he observed his friend.
“The sad thing about it all is that I feel so guilty. The guilt alone is destroying me. I should never have walked into the boardroom.” Connor’s voice broke. “My heart wasn’t in it… It hasn’t been for a long while now.”
“Then tell me what’s happened. Something must have set this off.”
“That’s the thing, I’ve no idea what’s happened. I’m just so…lost. I don’t know how to explain it. That day on the bridge, I was actually relieved. Like I was free. It was the best feeling in the world, then she walked into my life.”
“She?” Mark asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Molly. The girl who called it in.”
“Ah, a girl.”
Connor stared at Mark and he nodded. “Yup!”
“So tell me about this Molly,” Mark said, sitting back on the huge cushions, staring at his friend as if he was looking at a stranger.
“She’s just amazing,” Connor gushed. “I spent last night with her. It wasn’t planned… She saved me again, and I don’t know… I think I’ve fallen for her, and that is just crazy, right? I mean, I barely know her, yet I am being pulled toward her.”
“Listen to me. It’s natural that you’re going to cling on to the first piece of skirt that comes along.” Mark was cold. “You’ve had a rough time. She served a purpose, and it’s nothing serious.”
“How can you sit there and say that?”
“Connor, you know that Marissa won’t wait forever, but she is the one you need to focus on. She’s the kind of woman you need, not some girl who happened to walk into your life. It was a chance meeting, but it’s not real.” Mark stood, walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink. “By all means, fuck her as much as you want if it helps get whatever this is out of your system, then do what you have to do. But you need to get some perspective. Besides, your family would never allow an outsider to come along and destroy all their plans—you know that.”
Connor looked at his friend, completely dumbfounded. “We both know that’s not how I function.”
“Then you need to re-evaluate your choices. Is this Molly Ellison material? Would she cut it in the world we live in?”
“I told you, I’m done with it all,” Connor shouted. “Why can’t you just listen to me, Mark, instead of judging her, writing her off before she’s even had a chance?”
“Because if this girl means anything to you, you will spare her any pain. You and I both know Eleanor would eat her up and spit her out. Could you live with that?”
/>
Connor knew Mark was right. His mother would never allow any kind of relationship to flourish, especially if it had not been orchestrated by her. She had chosen exactly whom her children would marry and would stop at nothing to make sure the family’s bloodline was strong and not tainted with the likes of Molly.
“I’m willing to risk anything to be with her,” Connor muttered as he stood looking out of his bay window. “If you’re my friend, Mark, you will help me. Don’t judge me, okay?”
“Man, I’ve never judged you in my life. How long have we been friends? In all that time, have I ever treated you like your opinion didn’t matter?” Mark sounded hurt. “You were there for me through some pretty shitty times—I don’t forget—but you need to be sure that you know what you’re doing.”
“I need to know if there is something worth fighting for with her. If she doesn’t want me, then I’ll walk away, but I can’t not try.”
“Then you’ve got my support. But you need to fix this thing with your folks soon, because the press isn’t going to leave you alone.” Mark walked over beside Connor and looked at his friend. “Connor, as your friend and attorney, you need to prepare a statement, take some control of the situation before it blows up.”
Connor sighed and ran a hand down over his face. “I guess I’d better do a little damage control of my own.”
Chapter Eight
Molly cried as she sat on the bathroom floor. She felt weak, stupid and dirty. She couldn’t get over the fact that she had allowed herself to fall for him so quickly. It wasn’t meant to be this way. Not for her. Things had moved too fast and it didn’t bode well with her insecurities.
She rubbed her eyes and sat in silence for a moment before deciding on facing the day ahead. It was at times like this when she craved a drink the most. She wanted to kill the pain, numb the feelings and eradicate the sense of filth running through her. Everything she’d thought she had control of was lost in a single moment with Connor.
Who am I kidding? she tormented herself.