Lovestrung: A friends to lovers romance

by Karen Ferry

  Thoughts of my life with the Montgomerys – my past with Pippa – filled my mind as I gazed up at the wood, almost torn to pieces by the elements now that no one took proper care of it anymore. I’d lost count of the many times I’d sat there with her, just wiling away time, reading or talking. We could be quiet together, and that mattered to me.

  Before coming here, my life had been filled with so much turmoil, I’d found it a struggle to breathe. Somehow, she knew that right from the beginning, and she gave me what I craved: companionship in silence, patiently waiting until I was ready to fill the air with noise again.

  I’d never met a girl like her, and I knew I never would.

  She understood me, but I feared what it meant. I was afraid of placing my trust – my heart – in her hands. I was scared of giving that much power to one single person, even her.

  So, I wouldn’t – couldn’t do that.

  Maybe one day I’d have the courage to tell her all of this, but tonight wasn’t the right time.

  “Ethan?”

  Vivian’s soft voice pulled my thoughts back to the present, and I half turned to acknowledge her.

  “What are you doing out here all alone?” she asked as she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders. Her kind eyes scanned my face when she stopped next to me.

  I shrugged, not wanting to voice that I’d been lost in the past for who knows how long.

  “Just needed a bit of quiet, that’s all.”

  She nodded, understanding dawning in her eyes. She looked up at the treehouse and sighed. “Yeah, I understand. You’ve always needed that, haven’t you?”

  I nodded. “And you always gave me that.” I jerked my head back at the house. “You and your family.”

  She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s your family, too, Ethan. No matter what happens, please don’t forget that.”

  “I’ll try not to.” I gave her a crooked smile.

  She shook her head, frowning at me. “Why do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Set yourself aside the rest of us,” she huffed. “Henry and me…we’ve always tried so hard to make sure you understood how loved you are. Did we fail?”

  I turned my back to the treehouse and to the past and shook my head.

  “Of course not. You gave me a home – a normal life – after my mom died. How can you even think you’ve failed?”

  Her lips trembled in the darkening light. “Because you shut yourself away.” She grabbed my arms and peered hard into my eyes. “Don’t shut down. Don’t hide from us. Please? You’re so young still…you deserve happiness, like we all do, and each time I see you, it feels like you’ve locked your heart away in a vault a little bit more. If you’re not careful, one day you’ll wake up alone, and you won’t be able to turn the key to unlock it.”

  “I don’t understand.” I forced the words through my lips.

  Another lie. I knew what she meant, but I didn’t have the courage to admit it.

  She narrowed her eyes at me, her gaze not wavering from mine for a long time. “Stubborn boy. It seems like I’m surrounded by them.”

  I grinned down at her. “Vivian, I…”

  “Just promise me you’ll think about what I’ve said, honey? I know how goal-oriented you are – it’s a fine quality to see in a young man – but don’t forget to live while you’re out there, chasing your dreams. Life is more than hard work.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I teased. “Like what?”

  She leaned closer, her smile so alike her daughter’s, it was uncanny.

  “It’s about finding your own happiness.” She nodded once. “It’s about seizing every good thing that comes into your path with both hands, and never letting go of them.” She took a step and looked back at the house, a calculating glint in her eyes. “And if you do that, your dreams will come true.”

  I looked at her, frowning as my thoughts veered off to my girl enjoying her party. “All my dreams?” I muttered.

  “Yes, honey. Work hard at them, believe in them, and in yourself, and they’ll happen. And, who knows?”

  I sensed her eyes and raised my eyebrows in question.

  “What?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe, one day, we’ll celebrate the union of two souls who’ve known each other since they were children right here at this very house.”

  I opened my mouth, but I had no fucking clue what to say to that.

  Did she just give me her blessing to marry her daughter? The very idea made me dizzy, but then warmth spread in my chest, and I blinked when I realized how badly I wanted that future.

  Fuck me.

  “Close your mouth or you’ll catch flies, honey,” Vivian chuckled. “Don’t mind me. But, please think about what I’ve said tonight. It’s important.”

  Struck mute, I couldn’t do anything but nod when she placed her hand on my jaw.

  “Good boy.” She suppressed a yawn and pulled her shawl closer. “Now, I’m going to head back inside. Are you coming, or do you need to be alone again?”

  “I’ll be in in a minute,” I muttered.

  She gave me another small smile and then left me alone.

  Mind reeling, I rubbed a hand across my eyes.

  First Max warning me off, and now Vivian giving me her blessing? What the fuck was I supposed to do? My body trembled, and I hung my head, feeling more confused than ever. I didn’t know what to do, or where to go from here. Did I ignore the advice from one and follow the other’s?

  “Fuck,” I whispered, too confused to make sense of everything that had happened tonight. But one thought stood crystal clear.

  And that was that one day, after I’d gotten my degree and was settled on my path to success, there was an important girl in my life who deserved a good man. Whether that turned out to be me, well…that remained to be seen. But come hell or fire, I’d always be there for her, whoever she chose. Because if there was one thing I knew without a shadow of a doubt, it was that I couldn’t lose my sunshine. I would become whatever she needed me to be, and I’d respect her decision.

  I had to. The world would be an unbearable place for me to exist in if I didn’t have her in one way or form, and that was unacceptable. I only hoped that, when the time came, Vivian would be right. That if I worked hard at reaching my dreams, they’d come true.

  The brightest dream of them all had always been her.

  And it always would be.

  23

  Surprises

  Present Day

  “Did you have a good time with your parents today?”

  We were cuddled up on my couch, the sound of the TV hanging on the wall in front of us turned down low and the dogs snoring on the big carpet next to the coffee table. I’d dimmed the lights after we’d finished dinner, making the apartment feel less like a bachelor pad and more like a home. Penelope was wearing one of my shirts, and it sent unfamiliar possessiveness through my entire being to see her wearing my clothes. She was tucked into my side, half of her body on the couch and her legs stretched across my thighs. I couldn’t stop running my hands up and down her bare legs, and it struck me then and there that for someone who used to abhor being touched, to be intimate with someone else, it felt so natural with this woman.

  It shouldn’t have surprised me. I thought back on the years I’d known her and realized that it’d always been that way with us – being close to Penelope was as easy as breathing. When we were just children, we’d often sit together, our bodies close, and after I’d gotten over my instincts to run in the early days, I’d gotten used to it. I’d stopped thinking it was strange. Even then, my body seemed to recognize Penelope’s somehow, trusting her not to hurt me. And now, my heart did the same.

  Year by year, Penelope being the kind of girl she was – open, honest, and caring – had made me feel whole. I’d lost my aversion to physical intimacy – I’d never have been able to work at Privé if I hadn’t – and I was grateful for her.

  “I did, yes.” She fiddled with the drawst
rings of my sweats, and I had to force my dick not to react. Fuck, it was hard – no pun intended – but we needed to talk. I needed to let go of my past fears and trust her; she deserved that much.

  She raised her head. “Are you going to tell me you’re okay with them knowing about us, or are you worried?” The serene smile on her lips reassured me that everything was fine between us, but I gave her question serious thought.

  I sighed and rested my head on the back of the couch. “I’ll get used to it, I guess. I don’t really mind them knowing, unless it means your dad will hunt me down and beat me to a pulp for seducing his baby girl.” I frowned, only half teasing. “Do you think that’s a possibility?”

  She giggled and cuddled closer, her arm around my neck. “I doubt it, baby, but don’t worry. I’ll save you if he comes knocking.”

  “Much obliged.”

  “They just want me to be happy,” she whispered against my neck. The touch of her lips against my skin set me on fire. It was sheer torture, having to keep my control in check, when all I really wanted was to flip her on her back, lose myself in her body, and make love to her until she was hoarse from screaming my name.

  “Sure they do,” I murmured.

  “Do you like to dance?”

  My eyes shot open at the topic change. “Uh, yeah, I guess. Why do you ask?”

  She hummed low, the softness of her breath sending goose bumps all over my body. “I was thinking we could go out with my friends on Friday? Eliza and Hugo travel home to Oxford on Sunday, so it’ll be the last time I see them in a while. And…” she moved quickly to sit astride me, arms caging me in and the mischief in her green eyes captivated me. “I’d like for Ella and Luke to come as well. What do you think?”

  Grinning, I put my hand on her hips, pressing her down so she had no trouble feeling how hard I was.

  “I’d like that. I haven’t been out in a while.”

  The smile she shot my way almost blinded me. “Thank you. You know, I’ve always wanted to dance with you.”

  “You have?”

  She pushed down, making me lose my breath for a second. I dug my fingers into her soft flesh.

  “Mm-hmm. I can’t wait to find out what it’s like.”

  “I didn’t say I was a good dancer, darlin’,” I teased her. “Only that I like it. Maybe I’ll spend the whole night stepping on your toes.”

  She shook her head. “Not possible. The way you move when you fuck me tells me otherwise.”

  I gasped, stunned at her throwing out the f word so casually. This girl kept surprising me.

  “Yeah?”

  She leaned down, her lips resting on mine. “That tells me you’ll be a fantastic dancer.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Well,” she nibbled on my lips, teasing me, while she started to rub against me. “You’re intense, thorough…even graceful when you move inside me. You make sure I feel you everywhere.”

  I licked my lips, lifting her up, then down again. My abs clenched when she whimpered. “Tell me more,” I grunted, intoxicated by the flush on her cheeks and her eyes that had darkened to a mesmerizing, lustful sapphire green.

  “Baby,” she rocked faster, “I love your hands on any part of me…the way you lead me, playing my body as if it’s the piano. When your hot mouth closes on my nipples, sucking them, you light me up and I see stars and moonbeams behind my closed eyes.”

  Groaning, I sat up and ran my hands under the shirt until I found her gorgeous tits. They were full and heavy in my hands…simply perfect. Fuck me, if she kept rubbing against me like this, I’d spill in my sweats, but I didn’t care. I wanted to feel her erupt on me…to smell her arousal all around me. I took pleasure in the low sound of her moan when I rubbed her peaked nipples, but I needed more, and so I grabbed the shirt and tugged it over her head, baring her before me.

  “Fuck, you take my breath away,” I breathed, my eyes raking over her naked form. Her breaths were coming harder, and the blush on her body…fuck, she was stunning. “Keep talking.”

  Her lips feasted on my neck and my eyes rolled back in my head as desire coursed through my veins.

  “Your tongue is magical,” she puffed against my flushed skin. “No man has ever made me come as hard as you when you work my pussy. I can’t think, only feel when your mouth is on my skin.”

  I could feel the leash on my control was about to snap, and I pulled her flush against me. Her hard nipples against my skin almost made me frantic with lust.

  “Come on me, darlin’. Get yourself off. I’ve got you.”

  “Oh, God, oh, baby,” she mewled, tightening her arms around my neck. My breaths came as hard as hers as my lips closed around the pulse beating in her throat. I could feel her wetness through my pants as she rubbed against my dick. Her body went taut for a second, then she started to tremble as sighs and moans fell from her mouth, and that’s when I felt it – my leash snapped, and I couldn’t wait any longer to taste her.

  My palms on her ass, I stood up only to flip her and put her down on the couch. That hazy afterglow that always brought me to my knees when I’d made her come was in her eyes as she stared up at me, her hair fanned around her.

  “My turn.”

  I pulled the drawstrings of my pants and as they pooled at my feet, I covered her body with mine. I took her mouth, running my tongue around hers in a sensual dance while I kicked my pants off my ankles. Finally, I was free of them, and I focused only on her – her sounds as I kissed her; her hands in my hair, tugging at it as I moved down her body; her body writhing when I reached her pussy, still glistening and wet from her orgasm. I groaned when she spread her legs. One leg rested on the arm of the couch, and I licked my lips at the sight before me.

  “Eat my pussy, baby,” she moaned, inviting me to feast on her.

  Her filthy words sent me into a tailspin and I could do nothing more than obey her. I spread her lips with my thumbs and closed my eyes when the strong scent of her arousal met my nostrils. My head descended as I opened my eyes, needing to see her as I took as much pleasure eating her out as she did.

  “Eyes on you,” she promised, no longer needing me to tell her.

  Then I ate her, swallowing her wetness as she rubbed against my face. When I pushed my tongue inside her, her cries were like music to my ears, spurring me on so much that I almost began humping the couch, I was that desperate for release.

  “Baby, I’m gonna come again,” Pen shouted, and as I felt her trembling thighs around my head and her wetness in my mouth, my ravishing gentled, but I still craved more. My dick leaked with pre-cum, almost making me dizzy, and I crawled up her body, placing small, wet kisses everywhere I could reach her. My dick jerked at the first touch of her wet pussy, but then it hit me as hard as if a bucket of cold water had been poured down my face. I lifted up on my hands and panted.

  “Fuck, we need a condom.”

  Penelope wrapped her arms and legs around me, preventing me from leaving. I kept rubbing against her and took her lips in another hard, wet, long kiss, before I needed to fill my lungs with air.

  “Darlin’, we need to be safe,” I groaned, biting my lip. Holding back was difficult, especially when I felt my dick breaching her, and I jerked back.

  She teased the seam of my lips with her tongue, her eyes so dark now that they were almost black.

  “I’m on the Pill, baby. We’re safe.”

  Her revelation hit me so hard, I almost came then and there.

  “Do you trust me?” I wheezed.

  “Always,” she breathed.

  In one, long thrust, I planted my dick inside her, almost spilling my cum from feeling her without any barriers between us for the first time.

  “Fuck, you feel…fuck me, darlin’, you feel incredible.”

  “You feel so good,” she whimpered and licked my Adam’s apple. “Move, baby. I need you…so much.”

  I stared into her eyes, my arms straining at holding my weight off her tiny body. “Hold on. I’ll fuck th
is tight, little pussy so hard. You want that, don’t you?”

  “Yes, baby, oh, yes.”

  Her heels digging into my ass, her legs and thighs clenched around my hips, begging me to fuck her, made me see stars as I began to move.

  “One of these days, I’m going to take your ass, darlin’.” I ground deeper, my sweat dripping into my eyes as I looked down to where we were joined. “I’m going to rim your sweet, pert ass first until you’re begging me to let you come, and when you’re ready, I’ll fuck you.” I bared my teeth at her when she gasped, as if I were an animal that had been unleashed on its prey. Lust and power poured through my being as I raised my eyes to hers. “And you’re going to love it.”

  She moaned alongside me when I licked the salt of her sweat on her collarbone. Devoid of any thought, I lost myself inside her, but I needed her eyes. I needed her to see me…to see how deeply my feelings for her ran.

  “Baby…” She kept my gaze locked with hers as I raised her left thigh higher, changing the angle so I could hit that sweet spot that always made her go wild. This time wasn’t different. She clung to me, moaning my name over and over, and when her inner walls clamped around me, I had to let go.

  “Pen!” I shouted as I came inside her, thrusting so deeply her body slid up the soft leather underneath her. I shuddered, sweat coursing down my chest, as I glided gently in and out of her, needing to prolong the contact with her for as long as possible.

  “Fuck, you wreck me,” I whispered. I looked down again and took her lips. This kiss was different somehow. I poured all my love – my need, my gratefulness, my everything – into it, and when she hummed, I sighed, completely spent. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been as content as I was now.

  I made to pull out of her, but she shook her head. “Not yet. Let me feel you for a while longer.”

  Still semi hard, I gave her what she wanted but turned slightly to the side, resting my arm on the leather so as not to crush her.

  “You are so beautiful,” I whispered as I looked down at her. Seeing her satisfied like this was a dream come true. Her glowing cheeks and swollen lips were my favorite look on her. I feasted on the flush covering her body, memorizing the way she looked underneath me. My eyes landed on her breasts, and my dick twitched at the sight of her rosy nipples. They were still hard, and I couldn’t resist another taste of them. I swiped my tongue across them.