Beautifully Broken

by Christa Simpson

  Her lips move slowly, her tongue a dangerous weapon of love. She still tastes of chocolate and wine. He kisses her deeply.

  “What have I done to deserve this?” he whispers between kisses.

  She doesn’t answer him, but she does back-step toward the small boat dock, as he continues to bare his soul to her with his kisses.

  When she releases his hand, he watches her climb up the rickety wooden ladder. She glances at him over her naked shoulder. “Coming?”

  She doesn’t have to ask twice. As he lifts himself out of the water, he catches the thump of her wet bra hitting the dock. When he crawls in front of her, she spreads her legs for him.

  “What are you doing?” he asks, with a smirk. He’d love to have her in the middle of nature. It’d be a first for him. Everything feels so natural.

  She slides her wet clothes over her hips and free from her ankles, until she’s beautifully naked. She spreads her legs for him again.

  His raging body becomes impatient. He struggles to strip from his clingy clothes, knowing that this was not in his plans but not much caring at the moment. Felicia laughs at him, titling her head up to the sky with an open mouth and her breasts exposed for all of nature to appreciate.

  Once Matt too is nude, he climbs over her for a kiss on those smiling lips. His rigid erection slides over her hot curves and begs to be put out of its misery.

  “Felicia, I swear to God, I’ve never wanted something more in my life . . .”

  When he nudges her body, her mouth opens for a moan and her back arches toward the sky. “Then have me right now.”

  She urges him inside of her, uniting their bodies as one. The angle of her body, with her hands flattened out beside her, has his cock swelling with desire. He fills every inch of her, until he can’t get any deeper. But he wants to give her all of him. He slowly pulls out and sits back. She instantly gets on her knees in front of him. She eventually meets his eyes.

  When he holds out his arm to her, she takes his hand and climbs onto him. He pulls her long, silky legs around him and stretches his feet out behind her, until she’s sitting on his lap. He grips onto her ass and fills her deeply. When she squeezes her arms around his neck and starts to rock back and forth on top of him, he slides deeper than before. He doesn’t know how long he can handle such a tight fit.

  The more vocal she becomes, the more he wants to fuck her fast and hard, to make her ecstasy echo into the distance.

  “Take it, Felicia. I’m all yours.” He gets close and he tries not to thrust so hard, but he’s very ready to burst.

  “I’m there!” she shouts, as if her body knows this. She drives herself onto him definitively.

  As her pleasant voice echoes across the water, he too finishes with a violent wave of release that drags him into a state of exhaustion. She crashes on his shoulder and closes her eyes. He wraps his arms around her and holds her there. She feels so good in his arms. It’s like she’s meant to spend time there.

  After a moment given for them each to catch a breath, he starts to back away from her.

  “Wait,” she begs. “Not yet.”

  He gives her what she wants, and remains connected with her as their bodies recuperate from the seismic activity. Without disconnecting their bond, he lies back and takes her with him. She rests her cheek on his chest and they lie there in peace. He closes his eyes and hugs her to his chest.

  Horrible flashbacks linger in the back of his mind, but he brushes them away and stares up at the sky.

  “I never thought I’d be so lucky in this lifetime,” he admits. “I was sure I’d be forced to live a lonely existence, with my ugly scarred body and depressing outlook on life.” He rolls to the side and sets Felicia free.

  She lifts herself onto one elbow and covers her breasts with her other arm. For a second he thinks she’s grown uncomfortable showing him her body, then she releases her breasts and smiles softly. Using her finger, she paints a line over the long scar marring his core.

  “Your scars are not ugly.”

  He snuffs, not believing that for one second. “You don’t have to lie. I know what I look like now.”

  Where was once firm, tanned skin, is now white jagged lines, where his flesh had been torn apart and sewn back together.

  Felicia answers him, softly. “You’re beautiful . . . to me.” She leans forward until her lips descend on his, and it’s unlike any kiss they’ve ever shared before that moment.

  Their mouths mesh together, hers dipping between his lips for a caress of his tongue.

  Matt smiles at her. “It sounds to me that you might like me.”

  Felicia shrugs, but the sweet smile tells all. “I guess you could say that.”

  Matt finds the sudden urge to break some old news to her. “Can I tell you something?”

  Felicia looks a little stunned. “Not if it’s going to take away from this moment.”

  She must feel it too. Something special is happening between them and he can’t explain how that makes him feel. He lifts her chin and gazes into a pair of suddenly somber eyes.

  “No reason to be sad. It’s just about our partnership at the wedding. The name I picked out of the hat: it wasn’t yours.”

  “What?” The stunned expression on her face makes him smile. She pushes him flat on his back and sits on him, giving him a perfect view of her breasts. “Matthew Knight, you didn’t.”

  “You bet your pretty panties I did. How else was I going to get closer to you?”

  Felicia eases her chest closer to him, but keeps enough distance between them so he can’t get their lips to touch. She smiles, knowing the power she holds over him.

  “Kiss me,” he orders.

  She smiles again, but she doesn’t respond verbally.

  He slides his hand into her hair and pulls her to his face, taking her mouth. He gives and she takes and they exchange tongues until she is guiding the depth of their kiss and he is controlling the pressure. Their lips slow, as do their breaths, until they’re dropping long meaningful pecks that leave his heart beating heavily in his chest.

  He needs more. This isn't going to be enough.

  Chapter 26: I Want More

  Things on the dock were getting intense, so Felicia takes Matt’s hand and drags him back toward the cabin. After pulling on her wet clothes, she retrieves the half-empty bottle of wine from the muddied blanket and hurries toward the cabin, hand-in-hand with Matt.

  She intends to make conversation, and tries to focus on something other than sex, but the very idea of being alone with this man who has shared his heart with her has her body quivering for him to please it. His smile isn’t something she can look at for any period of time without feeling like she’s wrapped up in a daydream.

  They had made love on the boat dock, moments after landing there. Sure, they’ve had lots of sex in the past, but this was different, like he said it would be. This was lovemaking in its truest form, and it was unlike everything she’s expected and better than anything she’s ever experienced before.

  When they re-enter the cabin, Matt takes his time, stripping her from her soggy clothes and kissing her all over. His warm lips caress her chilled flesh, sending goose pimples across her aroused body. He helps her get completely naked and shows affection toward every part of her body, but shocks her when he starts to redress her. That is sexier than she imagined it could be.

  After both of them are wearing dry clothes, they continue to roll around on the floor, smiling and kissing, interchanging deep kisses with shallow ones. As their kisses grow more distanced, they share meaningful glances that suggest that it’s time for a talk.

  She avoids that conversation like the plague.

  Later that evening, long after they’ve cleaned up from dinner, Matt takes her by the hand and draws her to the back door of the cabin. “Come on, city girl. You have to see this.”

  He has her smiling and that’s before he lays out the fleece blankets on the back porch. He spreads one out first and the other ri
ght on top of it. “Ladies first.”

  She rests on her knees until he joins her and pulls open the blankets, so they’re sandwiched between them. He opens an arm, holding the blanket up, waiting for her to crawl between his legs and settle down. He pulls her gently, until she’s wrapped in his arms and resting back against his chest.

  “Look up,” he tells her.

  She does. The moon is large and golden, lighting up the night, but it doesn’t seem to dim the brightness of the stars scattered throughout the sky in a magical disarray.

  “It’s so beautiful.” She’s never seen anything quite like it.

  “That’s why I wanted you to see it.”

  They share an intimate glance and a kiss. “Thank you.”

  When she shivers, he holds her tighter and they cuddle like that for what seems like hours. It must have been the longest time they had spent together without something more friendly getting in the way. Matt shares his dreams with her and in exchange she tells him things about her only her best friend knows.

  Matt runs his fingers through her hair and it feels so nice. “If you’d asked me eight months ago whether I could see us together like this, I would have said no.”

  She doesn’t respond to that, but her lips turn upwards. She wouldn’t have believed it either.

  “On the other hand, I’m a strong believer of if it’s meant to be it’ll be.”

  Felicia inwardly sighs and gives up trying to hide how she’s reacting to all the right things he’s been saying this weekend. A soft sigh escapes from her lips, which makes him tighten his arms around her. She feels so protected—so lucky—so loved. Everything Matt does makes her feel special. She’s had men in her life who showered her with love before, but it’s never felt anything like this.

  “You’re always telling me about your hopes and dreams and I’ve only told you about my past.” Felicia blushes a little and turns her face away, in a shy attempt at hiding.

  “I figured you would come around in your own time. I don’t expect you to tell me anything you don’t want me to know.” He lifts her chin ever so slightly and kisses her nose.

  “You probably don’t even care.”

  “I care.”

  Felicia shakes her head, not believing it for one second. “You’re only saying that.”

  “You can tell me, Felicia. I would love to know what makes you tick. I want to know everything there is to know about you, your family. Your parents, are they in love? Tell me.”

  She’s shocked by his questions, but she guesses she has to start somewhere. Maybe Matt does care. She certainly wants to tell him.

  “My parents, well, they’re divorced—have been for the better part of my life. I have an older brother, but he moved out west and I haven’t seen him in a few years.”

  Matt tilts her head up, forcing her to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

  “No.” She looks away. “It’s okay. But it’s like I’ve spent my entire life looking for something that has never existed in my life. All I’ve wanted is a good, practical relationship with a man who respects me. Who knew that would be so hard to find?”

  “Is it that hard?” His gaze sears her, as he toys with her heart strings.

  She has to turn away again, to get the fluttering in her chest to calm down. “I guess I don’t know what a functional relationship even looks like. I probably wouldn’t even know if it struck me over the head.”

  “I’ll let you know when I see one.” His fingers brush down the side of her face as he takes in her weakened expression. “Skylar and Destiny. Now there’s a good relationship.”

  She has to agree with him. Their relationship is the only one she’s ever paid close enough attention to, to see the inner workings. They’ve certainly got their shit together.

  “Love at first sight is overrated.”

  She blushes after saying it, realizing that it is exactly how she fell for Matt. He makes her feel so comfortable that she can say anything around him, but then she regrets it.

  “Is it now?”

  “Yep,” she answers, as if there is no question.

  He’s smirking now. “That’s a lie. You totally fell for me when we first met.”

  “I did not!”

  “We’d known each other for all of five minutes before you attacked me in that living room in there. You almost took out my teeth with that first kiss.”

  “You kissed me first!” she scoffs.

  “Yeah, after you wrapped your legs around my waist.”

  She covers her eyes as if she’s mortified, but still smiles. “I would have never done it if I wasn’t sure you were all for it.”

  He smiles at her with knowing lips. “You were right. It’s okay to admit that you had a special feeling arise in you that made you just know. You affected me like that too. You are a very attractive woman, Felicia, but better yet, you have a stunning intelligence to pair up with those perfectly kissable lips.”

  Felicia twists around so he can steal a kiss. One of his hands slides back into her hair and the other one rests on her cheek. Everything he says and does makes her swoon for him. Whether he means any of it is anyone’s guess, but she likes how it makes her feel just the same.

  When he leans back, she feels like reminiscing. She uses her finger like a pencil and draws all over his hand, tickling his thick masculine skin. “That weekend was crazy, but fun. At least I thought so, leaving out the accident part.”

  “Minus the accident,” he agrees.

  She nudges him away from her and turns around to face him. “I didn’t think you’d even remember me after the accident. Our time together was so short. I started to wonder if the entire thing was a dream. I thought maybe you’d wipe your memories of that weekend clean and I’d be gone—poof!— like that.”

  He retrieves her hand and kisses it softly, speaking with a voice just as forgiving. “That’s where you would be wrong.” He closes his eyes. “I had a lot of time to think while I was recovering. Besides the pain, you’re all I thought about.”

  They stare into each other’s eyes, stopping only for a blink. Then Matt gets on his knees and lays Felicia out beneath him. She thinks he’s going to make love to her, but he doesn’t. Instead, he wraps her in the blanket and swaddles her from behind, hooking his arms under hers and holding her tightly.

  Her body aches for him, but cuddling like this is a new experience that she realizes she has been missing out on. The warmth of his body soothes the ache and, eventually, she feels nothing but the strength in his arms and the rise and fall of his chest behind her, as she drifts into a peaceful slumber.

  Sometime later, after resting in a companionable silence, she hears a rustling bush in the distance. Immediately her eyes flash open.

  “What was that?” she asks in a hurried whisper.

  Matt nuzzles against her neck and presses his warm lips across the excitable goose pimples on her flesh. “It’s probably just a deer—”

  “But it could totally be a bear, right?” She can feel his smiling lips, but it doesn’t dim the fear in her heart.

  “Well, yeah,” he answers, being completely honest.

  She leaps from his arms with a screech and claws at the frame of the door, trying to get it open. She’s so worked up that Matt actually has to tear her away and open it for her. He lets her in and takes her in his arms.

  “It’s okay. I won’t let anything hurt you, remember?” He runs his fingers over her hair repeatedly, in a soothing motion.

  “Except you can’t control fate.”

  “Huh?”

  She is doing it again. Right when she gets him where she wants him, she pushes him away. “You’ll protect me just like I protected you when you got hit in the accident and nearly died?” She pulls away from him.

  “Felicia. Come on. That’s different.”

  “Is it so different, Matt? What’s to say something else bad isn’t going to happen to us?”

  He grabs a hold of her, clutches her tightly and stops answering the
ridiculous questions. He begins to sway side to side, with her in his arms, until the rapid beat of her heart slows and matches his. He does it again. She doesn’t know how he does it, but once again she’s completely at ease, yielding to all of his motions.

  The next evening is much of the same. He’s so easy-going that she feels like it’s her duty to discuss their relationship. They play a perfect balancing act. When she is dramatic, he is calm. When she is depressed, he is enlightening. Together they lie on the sofa in the living room, just listening to the sounds of the night.

  She takes the press of his body and steals his warmth, kissing his mouth and touching his exposed chest where his shirt is unbuttoned. She breaks away from his face, shuffles to her knees and provocatively slides her hands over her fitted cardigan, from her chest to her waist.

  “Are you sure this is all you want from me?” She asks it like a tease, but hopes he’ll see right through the sudden charade.

  Matt curls to a sitting position and stuns her with his honesty. “No. I’m afraid I want a whole lot more.”

  He grabs onto her and they roll onto the floor, until she’s pinned beneath him and he’s kissing her. That single sentence says a lot more than either of them are prepared to hear out loud. When she spreads her legs, her short, flowery skirt pools at her hips. He growls as he slides his hands over a pair of tanned thighs and presses his hand against her.

  “What do you say, Felicia? Will you fuck me and only me, exclusively?” He drags his hand away from her, and props himself up.

  His proposition surprises her. She was the one hoping to spark the conversation, but he manages to stake her with his forwardness. Her answer? There’s no doubt in her mind that he’s all she needs to keep her completely satisfied both in and out of the bedroom. Unfortunately, though, something nags her in the back of her head, telling her to zip her lips. Her hesitation seems to bother him.

  “You plan to continue to play me like a fiddle?” He sounds hurt.

  Felicia breaks free from his stare and squints at him. “I don’t understand. You invited me here. We’re giving it a try.”