Make My Heart Beat

by Liz King

  “I’m a piece of shit? You’re the one that called her a lying whore! You’re the one that ripped her heart out!” Seth yells over Marcus’ shoulder. “If I hadn’t been down there, she would have fucking broken her neck! She would have lost the goddamned baby!”

  I try to lunge at him, but somehow Wade manages to hold me back.

  “Seth, man, don’t start this. You don’t want to do this,” Marcus says, pushing Seth further away from me. “We all messed up. We are all at fault for fucking things up with Nae.”

  My rage filled mind doesn’t comprehend what Marcus is saying. All it knows right now is that I need to hit something. That something being Seth. I feel Wade’s hands on my shoulders pushing me away in the opposite direction; Marcus is pushing Seth back too. But my feet won’t follow my body. Seth has been one of my best friends. How could he do this to me? And he was holding her? Fucking holding her while she was crying? He made her cry?

  I throw my hands against Wade’s chest and shove him out of the way. Before I know it, I’m swinging my right fist straight into Seth’s face. I feel his nose break under my force.

  “Don’t you fucking touch her ever again!” I bellow. I draw my arm back for another punch, but Wade comes up behind me and locks my arms behind my back, dragging me way. “I love her! I would die for her! Don’t you fucking dare tell me that I broke her! I fucking know it, goddamn it!”

  “Upstairs! Now!” Wade drags me away as Marcus helps Seth off the floor. “I will not put up with this shit again!”

  ~

  The apartment door bounces off the wall as I toss it open. I storm through the apartment straight back to my room. My muscles are coiled tight and I really want to hit something again. The wall. That looks good. I’ll hit the fucking wall.

  “You dumb ass motherfucking shithead!” Wade yells, coming in the room behind me as I’m pulling my fist out of the wall. It’s bloody and already swelling. “Sit your ass down and don’t move.” He walks into the bathroom and comes out with a wet wash rag. “Damn it, you need to go to the ER. You may have broken your hand, dude.”

  I flex my and move my fingers. “Nope. Not broken.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? You’ve known Seth for years. You know damn well that he wouldn’t try to screw you over.”

  Ha! Did he not just have a conversation with him about seeing Lynae behind my back? Did he not just ask if Seth was still, I repeat still, fighting feelings for her? The hell he would.

  “Um, where were you just a few fucking minutes ago?”

  “I was down there when you tried to knock the shit out of one of your best friends. What was that?” Wade stands over me, motioning his hand out towards the front of the apartment.

  “You heard him. Hell, you were yelling at him for the same damn thing. He is trying to move in on Lynae. I’ll be damned if I let him. She’s mine!”

  “And you pushed her the fuck away!”

  “Don’t mess with me, Wade. I will not hesitate to beat your ass too.”

  Wade shakes his head, exasperated. “You know, they say that masturbation is an excellent form of stress relief. I’m just trying to help you out. Why don’t you go fuck yourself and calm the hell down!” he growls, then leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

  ~

  I think I’ve been laying on the bed for a few hours. I’m not really sure. It’s dark outside the window, so it’s past sunset. I hear thunder rumbling off in the distance signaling a coming storm. Just like my mood. I am still so pissed off at Seth and Wade that I can’t see straight. Seriously, I know I fucked everything up with Lynae, but they know I’m doing everything in my power to fix it. She won’t let me in. I look over to the bottle of whiskey on the nightstand; it’s about a fourth empty. I keep debating on drinking some more. My hand hurts like hell and so does my heart.

  The front door to the apartment opens and closes quietly. Must be Gabbi. None of the assholes know how to do anything without slamming doors.

  “I’m not in the fucking mood to talk about anymore of Seth’s shit! Wade can go to hell too!” I call out to her.

  No response.

  I get up to walk into the living room to see what the hell is going on and my steps falter. I must be seeing things. It’s not Gabbi who came through the door. There is no way she could be standing in front of me right now. God, she looks amazing.

  “Lynae,” I breathe out.

  “I—I should go.”

  She’s standing before me in her usual running gear. Tight black pants that show off every curve of her thighs and hips that beg my hands to glide over them, and a racerback tank top. Her mass of dark curls is piled high on top of her head in a bun and there are a few stray strands framing her face. Lynae tucks a strand behind her ear nervously as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. She looks down towards her shoes.

  “It was wrong to come here,” she mumbles.

  She turns to leave, and my feet are rooted to the spot. Move! Damn it! Feet, move! I can’t let her leave. “Please, don’t go.”

  When I finally get my limbs to cooperate, I walk up behind her. Lynae has her back to me, but she stopped moving towards the door. I move so I’m standing directly behind her. I’m so close I can feel the body heat coming off her. God, she smells so good. I know I probably shouldn’t, but I have to touch her. I need to make sure she is real. As soon as I place my hands on her small shoulders, she shudders. My hands grip her tightly and my heart pounds in my chest.

  “Baby, you’re really here.” I breathe across her neck.

  “I need to go. I shouldn’t have come.”

  I wrap one of my arms across her chest and pull her back against my chest. “I have missed you so much.” I lower my head to nuzzle behind her ear. Lynae’s hands come up and grip my arm and she sags against me. Her touch sends tingles zapping through my system. “I’m so sorry, sweetness. Please, you have to forgive me. I need you.”

  She tries to pull away, but I hold tight. I feel her back stiffen and her breathing increase. I won’t let her go this time. I won’t let her run.

  “Connor, I can’t do this,” she says. Her voice is thick. I practically hear the tears lodged in her throat. “I just came to tell you about my appointment on Monday. I have to go.”

  I already know about the ultrasound appointment. Gabbi told me earlier in the week. If Lynae wanted me to know about it, she could have just texted or called me. But she came here. That means something. She came over here on her own. She came into the apartment. She used her key. She wanted to see me, even if she wants to deny it.

  I loosen my hold on her slightly and turn her around. She’s still looking down, refusing to meet my eyes. It’s killing me that she won’t look at me. I could get lost in her eyes all damn night. I tilt her chin up so she has no choice but to look at me.

  “Please. Talk to me.” The pain in her eyes is enough to rip my heart from my chest.

  Lynae jerks her head out of my grasp and pulls away from me, running out the doors and down the stairs. I immediately chase after her, calling out her name. She doesn’t stop. I chase her through the garage and out into the rain now pouring from the dark clouded sky. Thunder echoes loudly. Lynae falls to her hands and knees gasping for breath.

  “Lynae!”

  I crouch down at her side as she shakes uncontrollably. “Talk to me, baby.”

  “Just let me go, Connor!” she cries, trying to stand up. “Just let me go!”

  “No! I can’t! I’ll never let you go!” I grab her arm as she stands up and tries to run again. The rain has soaked her clothes and her hair is matted to her face. “You need to quit running away from me!”

  Lynae steps up to me and starts pounding her fist against my chest. “I can’t make it stop! I can’t stop seeing you, feeling you, thinking about you!” She keeps hitting me and I let her. “Damn you, Connor! I can’t hate you because I fucking love you too much!”

  I let go of her arm and take her face in my hands, tilting her face u
p. The rain pours down on us, mixing with the tears on her face. I can’t control myself any longer. I slam my mouth down over hers. She tries to fight against me at first, but her hands go from pulling at my wrists to tugging on my shirt. When her mouth opens, I’m not sure if it’s tell me to stop or not, but I take the opportunity to thrust my tongue into her hot mouth. She tastes divine. Sweet and spicy. She tastes like home.

  I pour all of my energy into trying to tell Lynae how much I love her and need her with this kiss. I lick into her mouth, and when her tongue starts to move with mine, I almost fall to my knees. It’s too much. It’s not enough. I skim my hands down her face and behind her back, pulling her as close to me as I can get her. I have her in my arms, and I don’t intend on letting her leave them. Ever.

  A whimper escapes Lynae’s lips as I kiss my way from her mouth down her jaw. Lynae leans her head back, exposing her neck and I devour it like a man starved. Her hands have rubbed over my chest and are now locked tight around my neck. She’s standing on her tiptoes pushing her body into mine. I lower my hands further down to cup her perfect and firm ass. I start to pick Lynae up and she immediately wraps her long legs around my waist as our mouths fuse together again.

  I open my eyes to make myself see that she’s really here, not just some figment of my imagination. The rain continues falling on us, making my vision blurry. I can see her eyes are closed tightly. Without putting her down, I start walking back to the garage and up the stairs, stopping only to set Lynae down on the kitchen island. I don’t care that we are soaking wet and dripping water everywhere. I need her. More than I need air.

  Chapter Ten

  Lynae

  What am I doing? This is wrong. But, oh God, it feels so right. Connor’s mouth on my neck is making me forget that I was just running away, again. After the extremely awkward afternoon with Seth, I had driven over to the beach and just sat on the sand looking out at the waves. My mind was going in a million different directions. Every single thing that happened at Dean’s reminded me of Connor. It made me miss him and want to run to him. Except the way Seth was acting and looking at me; it made me feel so uncomfortable, but that’s all washing away with the rain and Connor.

  I don’t know how I ended up at Connor’s apartment. After leaving the beach, I guess my car just made its way there. His gruff voice and angry attitude had me wanting to bolt right back out the door, but his disbelieving voice stopped me, briefly. Just standing in his kitchen was enough to make it difficult to breathe and my throat felt like it was closing up. I couldn’t take it. By the time I had made it out of the garage, it had started pouring rain. The dark clouds rolling in over the ocean matched my mood. Tumultuous and melancholy. Connor’s voice calling out to me had me tripping over a crack in the pavement and I crumbled to my knees.

  All the anger and pain poured out. I couldn’t keep it in. I beat my hands against his chest and told him how much I hated that I couldn’t hate him. Connor took it all, took every bit of my pain, then his mouth crashed down on mine and I lost all sense of reason. I lost all the resolve I had tried to build up within myself.

  Connor lifts me from the ground as if I weigh next to nothing, then carries me back inside; so now I’m sitting on the kitchen island and it feels like I can’t get close enough to him. My eyes are closed and my head is leaning back as Connor kisses a trail from my jaw down to my collarbone. His hands are digging into my hips so hard that I’m sure I will have imprints and bruises later, but I don’t care. My legs wrap tighter around his hips and I pull him to me.

  Rough stubble moves across my skin, igniting the fire within. It doesn’t feel like Connor has shaved in days. Memories of what that stubble feel like on other parts of my body has me panting in need. My hands move from his shoulders down to the hem of his shirt. I want it off. I need it off. Connor takes his mouth off of me only long enough to yank his shirt over his head and he sends it sailing across the kitchen. When his mouth comes back to mine, I don’t hesitate; I open for him and thrust my tongue against his.

  I feel Connor’s grip on my hips loosen as he moves his hands up my sides and to the top of my shirt. He grips the top of my tank and tugs. I feel my shirt ripping along the center seam that goes down the middle, joining the two colors. My eyes pop open at the aggressive move, and Connor’s mouth leaves mine and dives to devour my breasts that are now exposed since I’m not wearing a bra. I gasp at the wet heat of his mouth and fall backwards so I’m lying on the cool countertop. Connor follows me, his mouth never leaving my body.

  “God, I missed this, sweetness. I need you so much.” He breathes over my flushed skin.

  My mind is screaming at me that I should stop this, that I can’t let myself get sucked into the passion and turbulence that is Connor Reeves, but my heart and body are begging me to continue. My body’s desire wins out the moment Connor sucks hard on a pebbled nipple and bites lightly.

  “Ah! God! Don’t stop!”

  “I’m never gonna stop. I love you. I can’t get enough of you.” Connor braces his arms on the counter, pulling up and away from me. His gaze bores into me, straight to my soul. My heart leaps up into my throat. I feel more tears burning, wanting to escape. Connor bends down to capture my mouth again.

  His weight presses down on top of me and I feel his hands moving behind my back to pull me off the counter. Without taking his mouth from mine, he pulls me up into a sitting position. My legs are still wrapped tightly around his waist. Connor drags me to the edge of the counter and presses his hands firmly against my shoulders. Our chests are skin to skin and the heat between us is searing.

  “Please.” I moan around his mouth. I’m not sure what I’m asking for. I just know that I need him.

  Again, picking me up as if I’m a feather, Connor lifts me and carries me to his bedroom. He turns around and lays back on the bed so I’m now on top of him, straddling him. His hands are running up and down my back, making my spine tingle. I feel Connor’s hard length underneath me. Only the thin material of my running pants and his shorts are separating us. Without a thought, my hips move up and down, pressing us together, making him moan into my mouth.

  I sit up and shake my head. My hair is still dripping wet, and most of it has fallen out of my ponytail holder now. I look down at Connor laying beneath me. My eyes rake over his strong jaw; I can see the pulse point in his neck beating frantically. I look at his chiseled chest. My eyes rake over the tattoo over his right pec and shoulder. There is so much about Connor that I don’t know, that he keeps locked up within himself. I just want him to let me in. He’s seen all of me. I wish he would do the same.

  “I need you.” Connor’s voice breaks through my thoughts.

  I don’t say anything. I’m not sure I could find my voice, even if I tried. I move off his lap and toe off my shoes and socks. I pull my pants and panties down quickly. I’m not thinking, I’m just giving into my body. It’s craving this connection with him. It’s craving just him. Connor sheds his shorts in one fast sweep and tosses them over the side of the bed. His erection springs free, rock hard and throbbing. As I move back towards him, Connor grabs my wrists and pulls me roughly down on top of him. His hands tangle in my hair, and I feel him pulling the hair tie out. He sits up with me straddling his lap again.

  I raise up on my knees and line myself up with his waiting and willing cock. As I lower myself down on him, I feel the barbells of his piercing gliding along my walls, creating the delicious friction my body has been missing. Connor groans beneath me. He looks up with hooded eyes, full of hunger and love. “I have you in my arms again, and I’m never letting you go.”

  I’ve never been in this position before. Connor has always been on top or had me pressed up against a wall. As I move my hips in sync with Connor thrusting up, I feel so full; he feels so deep within me. I can’t even begin to describe how incredible he feels. Connor glides his hands up my sides to cup both of my breasts in his large hands, his thumbs brushing over my sensitive nipples.

  �
�Oh! God!”

  “That’s it, baby.”

  Connor continues to thrust up and into me as I grind down onto him. My body is humming with need. I can’t get close enough to him. I brace my hands on his shoulders and dig my nails into his taut flesh. My mind goes completely blank. I have no coherent thought at all. I am nothing but sensation as I pick up my pace. Connor’s hips come up and meet mine every time. We’re both panting and moaning.

  Connor leans back against the pillows, and it feels like his cock gets impossibly deeper within me. I toss my head back, pushing my breasts out and into his hands even more. His hands aren’t gentle as he squeezes and massages them. They feel full and heavy with want. I’m so close. I feel the tight coiling low in my belly, and Connor is growing thicker and harder. The end of his cock and that incredible piercing hitting me in a spot I didn’t even know existed before have me begging for more.

  This isn’t the gentle lovemaking Connor and I have shared in the past. This is a raw release of all of the tension, pain and heartache we both have been holding onto. I’m letting it all out. I feel even more vulnerable and exposed now than I did the first time Connor touched me.

  “I fucking love you!” Connor grunts, pulling down on my hips so hard that I’m sure I will have bruises where his fingers are digging into my skin. “Oh, fuck!!”

  “I—I…” I can’t form words as Connor moves one of his hands to rub between us. He presses right at the spot where we are connected and I splinter into a million pieces on a series of whimpers as I spasm around him. My body can’t hold itself up any longer and I collapse on top of his chest, barely able to catch my breath. My entire body feels like it’s on fire. Connor stokes an inferno within me that will never be extinguished.

  Connor thrusts up two more times before I feel him release inside me with a loud groan.

  “Missed. You. So. Fucking. Much.” Each word is panted out. “God. I. Love. You.” He bands his arms tightly around my back, stroking up and down my spine. When his breathing finally evens out, he nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck and whispers hoarsely, “Sweetness, I will do any and everything I can to keep you where you are right in this moment.”