Just Breathe Trilogy Box Set

by Martha Sweeney

  “Just tired and I’m freaking out about my toast for tomorrow,” I explain.

  There’s no need to hide the truth from him.

  “Can I help?” he sweetly offers.

  “Yeah . . .” I perk up a little. “Write it for me.”

  Joe laughs at my forwardness. “That I can’t do . . . but I can help.”

  “What did you write down?” I investigate.

  “I don’t have anything written.”

  “Then, you don’t have anything either?”

  “I have the gist of what I’m going to say. I’ll let the moment pull it all together,” he comments.

  “Great . . .” I sarcastically reply.

  “You’ll do great,” he encourages.

  “If you haven’t noticed, I’m not one for talking, let alone expressing my emotions to even the people closest to me,” I remind.

  “That doesn’t mean that you will have a challenge tomorrow,” he cheers.

  “You’re too . . .” I pause trying to find the right word.

  He’s too chipper, enthusiastic and calm which is a little sickening. How can he be so calm?

  “What?”

  “I don’t know . . . but it’s not helping,” I inform.

  “Well, how can I help? Do you want me to come over?”

  “That would be nice . . .” I begin to admit.

  I hear a knock on my suite’s door a few seconds later.

  “I didn’t say right now.”

  “Why not right now?”

  “Because I’m in the tub,” I notify him.

  Joe clears his throat, but doesn’t say anything for a minute. “How long have you been in?”

  “Just got in. Why?” I explain.

  I hear him groan and I find myself giggling.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You,” I confess.

  “How about you text me when you’re done and you can come over like last night,” he sinfully suggests. Before I get a chance to say anything, he ensures, “Just snuggling. I promise.”

  “Okay . . .” I quickly agree, perking up.

  “Yeah?” Joe sounds a little shocked.

  “Yeah.”

  “You done yet?” he playfully examines.

  “No . . .” I giggle.

  “How about now?”

  “You’re incorrigible. Give me about fifteen more minutes,” I request.

  “Sure. I’ll leave the door propped open. Just come on in,” he discloses.

  “Okay.”

  Neither of us say anything for a minute. I don’t want to hang up and from the sound of it, or the lack thereof, neither does Joe.

  “I’m hanging up now,” I announce with a smile.

  “Okay.”

  I turn on some music and let four songs play before I hop out of the tub. My feet still ache, but they’re much better between Jared rubbing them earlier and now the bath. Not wanting to dress too cute or sexy, I put on a light grey fitted v-neck, a pair of underwear and three-quarter length black, cotton sweats. I curl my hair into a bun and wrap my hair tie around it twice. I brush my teeth, use my mineral salt deodorant, and add some coconut oil to all my exposed skin.

  Even though I know he’s leaving the door propped open with the security bar, I text Joe as a heads up. I don’t know what I could walk in on and want to make sure no one else is in there before I just pop over. Once I know the hallway is clear, I tap on his door before pushing it open.

  “Come on in,” he says in a loud whisper.

  Closing the door behind me, I turn to see Joe sitting on his bed with a book. “Hey,” I greet.

  “Hey,” he returns, putting his book down on the nightstand. He stands up when I get close to the bed and pulls me into him. He doesn’t kiss me right away, he just looks at me.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” he assures grazing his fingers along my cheek before they slide to the nape of my neck as his mouth moves in to welcome me.

  I eagerly accept his lips, sliding my hands to his waist and pulling him further into my body. I moan with each slow, seductive kiss. Some of the tension in my body relaxes, stirring the kitten inside from slumber. I growl when he takes his lips away from mine.

  With a chuckle, Joe says, “Come on.”

  He takes my hand and leads me to the bed. We curl up before looking for something to distract us on the television. Once we settle on an action movie, Joe’s strong hands tenderly massage my neck and shoulders. My body instantly surrenders to his touch. After some time, long enough for me to drift in and out of consciousness, I wake to his hands stopping. Joe laughs when I moan my objection. I groan louder when he gets out of the bed.

  “I’ll be right back,” he comforts. He disappears into the bathroom for a minute.

  When I hear the door open, I jump up to take my turn. Joe delivers a glorious kiss before letting me pass. Returning to the bed after relieving myself, I give Joe a quizzical look when he’s not in the same spot as before. Without a word, Joe taps a spot behind him on the bed. I place my hands on his shoulders as I tuck my feet under me, slipping in behind him.

  “What are you doing?” he questions when I start to rub his shoulders.

  “I thought you wanted a turn,” I confess.

  Laughing, Joe instructs me to lean back. As I shift, I feel his hands reach back and pull my legs out from under me. He moves closer to me where my sex is literally against his lower back. My hands slide up his arms, ready for their task, thinking he’s now ready. After the first squeeze, my hands stop when I feel Joe’s hands firmly begin to work their magic on my left foot. I let out a whimper from the pain and pleasure. Joe leans back into me where his back is against my chest and our heads are practically even. I slide my hands down onto his chest, resting them as he continues to relieve all the aches from the muscles in my feet.

  At some point, I feel Joe tuck his arms under my waist and shift me on the bed before I’m covered with the blankets.

  “Goodnight, beautiful,” Joe hums quietly in my ear.

  “Nigh,” my voice breathes out as a smile curls on my face.

  Once his body settles, I curl into his delectable form before sleep takes me over again.

  Forty Four

  As I attempt to lift my heavy eyelids, I discover a hazy darkness surrounding me. Blinking slowly several times, my half-opened eyes won’t focus to give me any clear indication of what’s around me and where the blurry, flashing lights above are coming from. My body feels heavy. Still unable to open my eyes all the way, I perceive that I’m laying down somewhere. A cool dampness near my left cheek reveals itself as a slight gust of air brushes past my face. Sliding my right arm up the side of my body like a snake, my fingers creep to my lips. Drool — or, at least I hope so.

  Two large and oddly shaped figures materialize in front of me. They are so close, only a foot or two away. Voices suddenly emanate from the now more defined silhouettes. Their speech sounds muffled and trails off into the distance even as I try to concentrate on their words. Who are they? What are they saying? Why can’t I understand them? One of the voices almost sounds feminine.

  Another mumbled sound gradually becomes more apparent as it grows louder and the ringing in my ears subsides. It’s the engine of a car. My brain starts to put the fuzzy pieces of evidence together. I must have fallen asleep in the back seat. The front right figure turns to face me, but the face is blurry at first until my eyes adjust to the odd lighting.

  “Maggie?” my throat squeezes out in a raw, breathy, hoarse tone.

  “It’s your turn,” her voice replies in a low sluggish tone.

  A sudden rush of nervousness enters my belly. The car feels as if it’s flying down the road like a rocket ship as the speed of the flashing lights zooming above my head all blur into one.

  “Maggie,” I shout, but not a single sound escapes my mouth this time. Confused, I try again. “Maggie!”

  She doesn’t hear me. I don’t hear me.

  A single, bright white
light races towards us, growing larger by the second. Maggie turns her head towards me smiling. Why doesn’t she hear me? How does she not see the light?

  “It’s your turn . . .” her voice says deeper and slower than before.

  My body lurches backward as I scramble to grab for Maggie. Suddenly, my arms and legs are tied to the hood of a car. Stark white lights blind me as I yank at my hands to get free. I feel the rope burn into my flesh as the blood starts to drip, staining the car red.

  “Maggie!” I yell again without a sound coming from my mouth. My head jerks back as I see Maggie behind the steering wheel. “Maggie?!” my throat shrieks with emptiness.

  The sound of the car engine reviving reverberates through my body before Maggie steps on the pedal, sending us flying into the air.

  “Maggie . . . no!” I howl as the vehicle launches towards what I can now see are hundreds if not thousands of other cars in front of us. My heart is filled with horror and fear as I desperately scream out one more time, “No!”

  I gasp for air as my chest heaves from fright.

  “Emma?! What’s wrong?” Joe says with grogginess in his voice.

  “Nothing . . .” I evade.

  His hands are on either side of my face. “Emma,” he pleas.

  “Nothing . . .” I repeat a little more calmly.

  “You had the dream again,” he states with concern.

  “Yes . . . No . . . kind of,” I answer, confused by the vivid images rattling in my brain.

  “What do you mean kind of?”

  “It was different,” I admit.

  “How was it different?” he searches.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I declare, throwing my arms around his neck.

  Joe tightly wraps his arms around me as he lowers us back down on the bed. The sound of his breathing and heartbeat pull me back to reality. I press my lips to his, seeking distraction from the images of the nightmare. Joe returns my heated embrace until my hands slide to the bottom of his shirt trying to desperately remove it. My brain and body are willing to do anything to get those pictures out of my head.

  “What?” I question confused by his sudden rejection. Not wanting to hear his answer, I seize his mouth again, this time trying to remove my own shirt.

  “Not like this,” he contends, blocking my arms from rising higher.

  “Why?” I ask, seeking his mouth.

  Joe kisses me back, but I can sense his restraint. “You know why,” he points out.

  He’s right, but there’s still a small part of my ego that is hurt by the rejection. I turn away from him embarrassed.

  “Hey,” he calls, pulling me into him. “It’s okay.”

  “No . . .” I object.

  “Yes, it is,” he confirms.

  “I should go,” I announce pulling away.

  “No . . .” Joe tightens his grip around my waist. “Stay . . . please,” he begs in a softer tone, kissing me sweetly.

  It takes a few more times of Joe requesting for me to stay before I sheepishly agree. Joe holds me firmly to his body, and after a few minutes, he relaxes and his fingers are running through my hair. It doesn’t take long for me to fall back to sleep with him comforting me.

  Forty Five

  By six forty-five, I wake from the alarm I set on my phone. The alarm is still chiming as Joe tries to keep me in bed with him a little longer. “I need to turn it off,” I whine, slipping from his grip.

  As soon as I turn off the sound, Joe scoops me up and carries me back to bed. He plants himself on top of my body as his lips greedily take mine, barely letting me breathe for several minutes.

  “I need to go,” I state in-between kisses, finally getting the chance to get some air.

  “What time do you need to meet up with them?”

  “Eight,” I laugh as I can hardly free my lips to answer.

  Joe turns his head for a second before immediately returning his mouth to mine. “You’ve got plenty of time to stay for a while.”

  As I slide my hands down his chest, Joe growls with delight until I wiggle my fingers to tickle him. “Hey!” he objects, squirming to get me to stop.

  “I need to get up.”

  “You don’t need an hour to get ready,” he reports. “You’re already beautiful.”

  My heart flutters like a baby bird learning to flap its wings. Panic at the feelings stirring inside me alter my mood abruptly. “I need to go,” I say in a more serious tone.

  Joe lets me up, but he follows me like a puppy to the door. Not waiting for me turn, Joe spins me into him before my hand reaches the door knob. His sturdy, morning wood presses into my belly as my ass hits the door. My left leg lifts up, wrapping itself around his waist. Hot moisture releases from my cave as my lips part and come into contact with Joe’s erection with only a few layers of clothing in between. My sex can feel the heat coming from his throbbing penis as she rocks into him. Joe yanks his lips from mine and our lungs pant from lust and need.

  “I should go,” I restate the obvious, knowing that it’s just a matter of seconds before I’m naked, whether my nakedness is done by me or him is unknown and doesn’t really matter.

  Joe doesn’t say anything. He just stares into my eyes, holding me, but keeping himself just far enough away.

  Once the hallway is clear and I’m able to get back to my room, I quickly swap out the batteries for B.O.B. and have a three-way with him and Master P. The boys do their job, curtailing the kitten’s itch for the time being with two intense orgasms.

  Good thing I was already packed and prepped to head to Maggie’s suite last night, or else for the first time in my life I would have been late. All I needed to do was shower and grab my bag.

  By the time all the bridesmaids are in the suite, the breakfast I scheduled to be delivered arrives. In the living room, we sit for a few minutes eating and chatting before Amelia and Barbara go over details with all of us and make sure everyone has their copy of the schedule I handed them last night. Jimmy and Allen pop in to say hello and see what we’re all doing — the men aren’t getting ready quite yet.

  Jared and Nathan are wearing black tuxedos with red bow ties and handkerchiefs that match the red floral lace in the bridesmaids’ dresses. The groom and groomsmen have the same style tuxes.

  The dresses are delivered by ten and the seamstresses are checking our fits one final time before they are steamed in the bathroom. Mŭqīn and Nǎinai are wearing matching gold qipaos with a lucky dragon pattern that have three-quarter length sleeves and trail all the way down to their ankles. For the bridesmaids’ dress, we also are wearing qipaos, but ours are red, with a lace collar and shoulder area. The lace drapes over the tight fitting solid red silk gown down to our ankles as well. The bridesmaids’ dresses have an open back that is elegantly draped with the red lace.

  Maggie’s dress is the most exquisite of all of the custom pieces. Ali Jacobs created a mermaid style silk white dress with cap sleeves that round Maggie’s arms just below her shoulders. A see-through white chiffon circles around Maggie’s neck, down to her sleeves and flows out and over the edge of the poof bottom with a ten foot train in the back. Hand sewn into the chiffon are red floral lace and dragon designs that leave enough space to see Maggie’s collar bone area and half of the white silk fabric underneath. When Maggie turns, she has a more pronounced open back dress that starts from the base of the lace collar, stretches out towards her cap sleeves and ends at the small of her back.

  All female bridesmaids and the bride are set to wear matching diamond strappy Jimmy Choo four inch heels, ruby stud earrings and ruby and diamond bracelets. Maggie gave us the bracelets last night at the rehearsal dinner.

  Our nails and eyebrows are checked before we start to get hair and makeup done. Maggie is just getting to have her hair done when all of the bridal party flowers are delivered to Maggie’s suite. Once I’m dressed and finish pinning a red rose on Jared and Nathan I head over to Henry’s suite to pin the groom and groomsmen since I have a
few minutes of time before Maggie will be getting dressed.

  “Sexy!” Jimmy shouts when I enter the door after knocking.

  I ignore his comment since I’m pressed for time. “I need all of you to line up with your jackets on.”

  “What’s up?” Henry inquires.

  “I need to pin you,” I explain, holding up the box of roses.

  I watch the men gather together and I struggle to keep my eyes off of Joe. I purposefully dart my eyes around watching them, but my body’s response to seeing him dressed up is making it challenging to focus. Henry’s up first and seems calm considering how edgy Maggie was when I left her a few minutes ago. Next is Jimmy and then Allen who, once I’m finished with them, hover and verbally make comments about my dress and how I look. It takes everything I have not to show my nervousness as I pin Lee and Richard next. Fŭqīn follows with tears collecting in his eyes.

  “You okay?”

  “If you look this beautiful, I can only image how beautiful my daughter is right now,” Fŭqīn’s voice shakes.

  With a smile and a tear threatening me, I confirm, “Definitely!”

  Fŭqīn kisses me on either cheek. I know he wants to hug me, but is refraining from the outward gesture as to not mess up my dress.

  “Mŭqīn and Nǎinai look lovely as well,” I add sweetly.

  “I don’t doubt it for a second,” he returns with a tear escaping from the corner of his eye.

  I lift my hand to wipe his face and Fŭqīn gently captures my wrist, kissing my palm. “Do you want me to come and get you when she’s dress?”

  “No. I want to see her just as I’m about to take her to Henry.”

  I nod my understanding.

  Joe steps up for his turn as I clear my throat to evade getting choked up. Just as I’m about to push the pin in, Joe yells, “Ow!”

  Joe and the rest of the guys chuckle as I punch him in the arm. “Not funny,” I remark with a lump in my throat.

  Joe leans in to apologize as I finish putting the rose on. His scent alone sends my hormones into a frenzy and I feel the heat in my cheeks elevating. My gaze bounces back and forth from my hands and his eyes. The kitten purrs as she rubs up against the cage door inside. Focus, Emma.