Bound Together (61 page)
Authors: Marie Coulson
Creeping in, we tried to
be as quiet as possible and as a floorboard creaked below my feet,
I winced looking at Ollie who had to stifle a laugh. Setting down
the picnic basket on the kitchen counter he fired up the coffee
machine and gave me a warm hug. “Ahem.” I turned around to see my
father standing at the entrance. His arms folded and with an arched
brow he scanned us both from head to toe. “Up awfully early aren’t
we? And dressed. What’s the basket for?”
Walking up to him I
kissed his cheek and grinned. “Breakfast daddy, what
else?”
He eyed Ollie
suspiciously. “A picnic for breakfast, in the house?” I skirted
around him and collapsed onto the sofa, slightly amused at where
this was going. My father, although perfectly aware that as a grown
woman I was entitled to a sex life, was not one to sit idly by
while someone defiled his daughter under his own roof. I decided to
play. “Actually daddy we took it to the park. We had champagne,
watched the sunrise and made wild passionate love right there in
the open; disturbed only by locals walking their dogs.”
My father’s eyes darted
to Ollie, who sputtered his coffee all over the counter. Shaking
his head quickly, he raised his hands defensively. My father
grinned at me and clutched his hand to his heart in jest. “Oh how
will I face the neighbors? A shot gun wedding it is.”
Ollie breathed a sigh of
relief. “Oh god, I think I nearly had a heart attack.”
Bending over, he held his
hands over his knees and breathed deeply. I chuckled and shook my
head in amusement.
Once mom had spent the
best part of the morning getting ready, we finally did our gift
exchange. Mel had come over once she’d done the same with her
family; as she had done every year since we met. Her parents always
bought me gifts and my parents had done the same with Mel. Sitting
cross-legged on the floor, she began handing them out to everyone.
There was even a small token gift for Ollie. Mel had told her
parents he was coming and her mother had insisted he not be left
out and had given him a small replica of his
Ducati. It even had the hot red paint job and sparkling
chrome. Running his thumb over it, he pouted playfully. “I miss my
baby. Sitting back in that parking lot all alone. All because her
aunt Layla wouldn’t let me ride her here.” Snatching the toy from
his hand I poked my tongue out at him. “You don’t know your way.
Besides, there was plenty of space in my warm, secure
car.”
Kissing my cheek, he
whispered in my ear. “I knew you cared about me
really.”
Of course I did, he was
my friend. Boyfriend? Oh hell. I gave him a half smile and diverted
attention to Mel. “So, shall we do gifts?” I’d bought her a set of
small diamond earrings back when Jared and I were together. I’d got
them at his store and although he’d insisted I not pay for them I
told him they simply wouldn’t be a gift if I didn’t. After being
forced to quit my job I was relieved that once again my
organization skills had paid off and that aside from Ollie, I had
gotten everyone’s gift fairly early.
Shooting up the stairs, I
reached under my bed and pulled out a bag that I’d kept all the
pre-wrapped gifts in. Ollie’s I had in my closet but Mel’s and my
parents were all there. Returning to the living room, I rummaged
through them. Handing them out to each recipient, I stopped as I
came across a small blue gift. Reading the tag I could feel a lump
in my throat. It was the cufflinks I’d bought for Jared. I’d had
them engraved with his initials and a small diamond was in each,
much like our pendants. Grabbing it from my hand Ollie stood and
walked to the trash can before dropping it inside and casually
walking back to me.
“
There,
now it’s exactly where
he
belongs. Dumped.” Although I understood his
reasons for that, I still felt it extremely harsh and found myself
almost wanting to leap to Jared’s defense. Why? He had lied, hurt
me and broken my heart so why should I have given him even an ounce
of loyalty? I knew the answer and Ollie did too as seeing my
irritated expression he scowled at me.
“
No
Layla. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Mel gave me a knowing
look and shaking my head softly I continued to open my gifts. Mel
had given me a beautiful new purse which was white and encrusted
with crystals around the edge. My parents had bought me everything
from makeup, perfume and stunning dresses to chocolate and car
accessories. I was surrounded by a pile of gifts and people I
loved. Missing the one person to make my circle complete I grabbed
my cell and dialed Amy, putting it on speaker phone.
“
Merry
Christmas Layla!” The sound of her voice made me grin as Mel and
Ollie shouted down the phone at her. “Merry Christmas Amy!”
She giggled. “Oh, Merry
Christmas guys. So how’s everybody doing?”
We all talked about our
gifts, how we would be spending the day and how we couldn’t wait to
all be together again. “Layla, could you take me off speaker
please? I need to talk to you.” Curious as to what she could
possibly need to say to me that she couldn’t tell the others, I
complied and walked out of the living room to the hall. My parents
were in the kitchen drinking coffee and mom was beginning to make
preparations for lunch.
“
What’s
up?”
She sighed. “Have you
seen a newspaper this week?”
“
No,
why?”
“
Felix’s restaurant chain has been completely destroyed.
Apparently one of his biggest investors pulled all funding and now
the whole thing has collapsed like a house of cards. Layla, was
Jared at all involved with Felix’s business? It would make an awful
lot of sense.”
I thought for a moment
back to that evening at the ballroom. Jared had told me he was
invested in a restaurant and Felix had asked if he was seeing that
his money was well cared for. “I think you’re right Amy. Jared did
say he had stakes in a restaurant. But if he hated Felix so much
why would he invest?”
“
I
don’t know, but what I do know, is that he is fucking livid Layla.
Felix went all crazy at a journalist who asked if the sudden
collapse had anything to do with the young woman he had recently
been involved with. You were pictured as his date, remember?” Shit.
Things just got messier.
Exhaling loudly, I
massaged my temple as a tension headache began to throb. “Great, no
doubt I’ll now have a whole heap of trouble heading my way. Thanks
for the heads up Amy.”
“
Sorry
Layla, just thought you outta know. I gotta go but I miss you all
like crazy and I can’t wait to see you.” Hanging up, I stared at my
cell. My fingers hovered over the key pad as I fought with myself.
Typing out a quick text I hit send. Too late now. It buzzed in my
hand a second later. Glancing into the sitting room, I saw Ollie
and Mel looking through the pile of classic rock CD’s I’d gotten
him for Christmas. I bolted up the stairs to my bedroom, took a
deep breath and answered. “Layla.”
Oh good lord. My legs
turned to jelly as his voice purred down the phone at me, causing
me to quickly take a seat on my bed. “Hello Jared. I just heard
that Felix’s company has gone under and that the press seem to be
looking at me as a possible cause. I just need to know if this is
something I should be worried about.”
“
It’s
true his company has now come into difficulty but you should be
fine Layla. He has yet to disclose details of your association with
him and after the warning I gave him, he won’t be. Was that all?”
His tone was clipped and his patience short. I felt as though we
had just discussed a business deal and deep down, that hurt.
“
Um,
yes, I guess so. I just needed to be sure. Thank you for your time.
I realize you probably have a lot going on today. Merry Christmas
Jared.”
The
line went dead. Inhaling sharply I fought back the urge to cry. No,
I wouldn’t do this to myself anymore. I had to move on. He’d
clearly left his feelings for me in a dumpster so why shouldn’t I
do the same. Straightening up, I left the cell on my bed and headed
back down to my family and friends. A distinct sparkle in his eye,
Ollie smiled at me and my bad mood melted away.
Jared
who?
seemed to flash right before my eyes. After Christmas break was
over we’d all come back to reality and seemed to settle right back
into our old routine. Classes were getting more intense and my
stack of books seemed to increase a foot every week. So whenever
Friday night arrived, our weekly trip to the bar was a welcome
reprieve from reading. I hadn’t spoken to or heard from Jared since
Christmas morning and to be honest, I was glad. Without him
constantly invading my thoughts I could finally try and move on
with Ollie. Forming our own two person study group for Dr. Harman’s
psych class, we’d been dating for well over two months. We went to
movies, out for dinner and sometimes I’d hang out with him and the
band while they rehearsed. Nick had tried to ban me by saying that
I was a distraction after Ollie kept persistently messing up during
rehearsals. Kissing me and giving me that sexy smile of his, he
would often miss a note, key change or in one case an entire song,
completely because he was too busy making out with me on Eric’s
couch. Things were intensely hot and heavy between us and whenever
we were alone for more than five minutes I ran the dangerous risk
of getting totally carried away. We still hadn’t had sex and I was
getting the feeling Ollie’s patience and his junk were becoming
very, very tired of waiting.
On Valentine’s Day, he’d
taken me for a ride on his motorcycle up to the hills where he’d
prepared a candle lit picnic dinner for just the two of us. Sitting
astride his Ducati he was more than hot; he was off the thermometer
scorching! His black leather pants and matching jacket made him
look every bit the rock star. Holding out his hand to me, he
grinned.
“
Wanna
take a ride on my monster? It’s big, powerful and can go from zero
to ‘
oh good fucking
god
’ in sixty seconds.”
I rolled my eyes and
smiled. Climbing onto the beast and sitting behind him, my arms
wrapped tightly around his waist, my thighs pressed against him, I
could feel the heat radiating between my legs. I really wasn’t sure
how long I could go on waiting. With the best intentions we’d
continued to hold off giving into our sexual urges but that night
in those hills, he’d successfully rounded second base and was
sliding his way quite literally into third. We’d finished our
picnic and laid there gazing up at the stars as I snuggled into the
crook of his arm. Turning his head to face me, he gave me one of
his trademark heart stopping Oliver Green smiles and I swear the
elastic on my panties snapped, just looking at him. His flushed
pink lips begged to be kissed and my own were only too happy to
oblige whenever the demand was made. His cool metallic lip ring
against my warm lips always made me smile and I couldn’t help but
flick my tongue over it, every single chance I got. He was
delicious, sexy as hell and hot, hot, hot. My insides were
practically begging for him to give me ecstasy but whenever we came
close, my heart would pull out that megaphone and give me that ‘Are
you sure you want to do this?’ warning. Once we had sex, things
would be different between us and we could never go back to how it
was.
Pressing his lips to
mine, he groaned and I could feel how much he was struggling to
contain himself as his hand slid over my hip, lifting my shirt and
skimming over my waist. “Oh god Layla, I want you so
badly.”
I moaned into his mouth,
taking his hand in mine and guiding it slowly across my stomach and
down to the waist of my jeans. He hesitated and pressing his
forehead against mine, he breathed hard. “Are you
sure?”
Undoing my button and
pulling down the zipper, I placed my hand on his and slid it gently
down underneath my panties. Gazing into my eyes, his breathing
hitched and he took in a sudden sharp breath as his fingers grazed
the fleshy folds of my sex. I felt like a virgin again and Ollie
seemed so nervous. I actually began to wonder if he’d ever done
this before. But as he teased his fingertip up and down my moist
slit, I knew he was an expert at this game. I wriggled underneath
his gentle fingers. Closing my eyes I licked my lips as a shiver of
anticipation ran down my spine. I could hear his breathing becoming
harsher and the warm sensations of it on my skin were putting me
firmly under his spell. His eyes glistened and sparkled as he
clenched his jaw and groaned gently. His long finger slid slowly
between the lips of my sex and grazed my clit ever so slightly,
making me gasp and bring my knees up, pressing his hand firmly
between my thighs.
His teeth nipped gently
on my earlobe before his tongue slid sweetly into my ear, causing
my body to tremble and quiver at the tickling sensation. I let out
a tiny giggle but was silenced by his mouth closing over mine. His
fingers moved gradually further and further down and as I felt him
touch the opening to my sex, I thrust my hips upwards and held his
wrist firmly with my hand, forcing him to push inside me. He
chuckled but obliged, swirling and sliding two of his perfect
fingers in and out of me. It had been months since I’d had sex and
my body was practically convulsing as he touched, stroked and
fingered my g-spot. “Oh my god, Ollie.”
be as quiet as possible and as a floorboard creaked below my feet,
I winced looking at Ollie who had to stifle a laugh. Setting down
the picnic basket on the kitchen counter he fired up the coffee
machine and gave me a warm hug. “Ahem.” I turned around to see my
father standing at the entrance. His arms folded and with an arched
brow he scanned us both from head to toe. “Up awfully early aren’t
we? And dressed. What’s the basket for?”
Walking up to him I
kissed his cheek and grinned. “Breakfast daddy, what
else?”
He eyed Ollie
suspiciously. “A picnic for breakfast, in the house?” I skirted
around him and collapsed onto the sofa, slightly amused at where
this was going. My father, although perfectly aware that as a grown
woman I was entitled to a sex life, was not one to sit idly by
while someone defiled his daughter under his own roof. I decided to
play. “Actually daddy we took it to the park. We had champagne,
watched the sunrise and made wild passionate love right there in
the open; disturbed only by locals walking their dogs.”
My father’s eyes darted
to Ollie, who sputtered his coffee all over the counter. Shaking
his head quickly, he raised his hands defensively. My father
grinned at me and clutched his hand to his heart in jest. “Oh how
will I face the neighbors? A shot gun wedding it is.”
Ollie breathed a sigh of
relief. “Oh god, I think I nearly had a heart attack.”
Bending over, he held his
hands over his knees and breathed deeply. I chuckled and shook my
head in amusement.
Once mom had spent the
best part of the morning getting ready, we finally did our gift
exchange. Mel had come over once she’d done the same with her
family; as she had done every year since we met. Her parents always
bought me gifts and my parents had done the same with Mel. Sitting
cross-legged on the floor, she began handing them out to everyone.
There was even a small token gift for Ollie. Mel had told her
parents he was coming and her mother had insisted he not be left
out and had given him a small replica of his
Ducati. It even had the hot red paint job and sparkling
chrome. Running his thumb over it, he pouted playfully. “I miss my
baby. Sitting back in that parking lot all alone. All because her
aunt Layla wouldn’t let me ride her here.” Snatching the toy from
his hand I poked my tongue out at him. “You don’t know your way.
Besides, there was plenty of space in my warm, secure
car.”
Kissing my cheek, he
whispered in my ear. “I knew you cared about me
really.”
Of course I did, he was
my friend. Boyfriend? Oh hell. I gave him a half smile and diverted
attention to Mel. “So, shall we do gifts?” I’d bought her a set of
small diamond earrings back when Jared and I were together. I’d got
them at his store and although he’d insisted I not pay for them I
told him they simply wouldn’t be a gift if I didn’t. After being
forced to quit my job I was relieved that once again my
organization skills had paid off and that aside from Ollie, I had
gotten everyone’s gift fairly early.
Shooting up the stairs, I
reached under my bed and pulled out a bag that I’d kept all the
pre-wrapped gifts in. Ollie’s I had in my closet but Mel’s and my
parents were all there. Returning to the living room, I rummaged
through them. Handing them out to each recipient, I stopped as I
came across a small blue gift. Reading the tag I could feel a lump
in my throat. It was the cufflinks I’d bought for Jared. I’d had
them engraved with his initials and a small diamond was in each,
much like our pendants. Grabbing it from my hand Ollie stood and
walked to the trash can before dropping it inside and casually
walking back to me.
“
There,
now it’s exactly where
he
belongs. Dumped.” Although I understood his
reasons for that, I still felt it extremely harsh and found myself
almost wanting to leap to Jared’s defense. Why? He had lied, hurt
me and broken my heart so why should I have given him even an ounce
of loyalty? I knew the answer and Ollie did too as seeing my
irritated expression he scowled at me.
“
No
Layla. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Mel gave me a knowing
look and shaking my head softly I continued to open my gifts. Mel
had given me a beautiful new purse which was white and encrusted
with crystals around the edge. My parents had bought me everything
from makeup, perfume and stunning dresses to chocolate and car
accessories. I was surrounded by a pile of gifts and people I
loved. Missing the one person to make my circle complete I grabbed
my cell and dialed Amy, putting it on speaker phone.
“
Merry
Christmas Layla!” The sound of her voice made me grin as Mel and
Ollie shouted down the phone at her. “Merry Christmas Amy!”
She giggled. “Oh, Merry
Christmas guys. So how’s everybody doing?”
We all talked about our
gifts, how we would be spending the day and how we couldn’t wait to
all be together again. “Layla, could you take me off speaker
please? I need to talk to you.” Curious as to what she could
possibly need to say to me that she couldn’t tell the others, I
complied and walked out of the living room to the hall. My parents
were in the kitchen drinking coffee and mom was beginning to make
preparations for lunch.
“
What’s
up?”
She sighed. “Have you
seen a newspaper this week?”
“
No,
why?”
“
Felix’s restaurant chain has been completely destroyed.
Apparently one of his biggest investors pulled all funding and now
the whole thing has collapsed like a house of cards. Layla, was
Jared at all involved with Felix’s business? It would make an awful
lot of sense.”
I thought for a moment
back to that evening at the ballroom. Jared had told me he was
invested in a restaurant and Felix had asked if he was seeing that
his money was well cared for. “I think you’re right Amy. Jared did
say he had stakes in a restaurant. But if he hated Felix so much
why would he invest?”
“
I
don’t know, but what I do know, is that he is fucking livid Layla.
Felix went all crazy at a journalist who asked if the sudden
collapse had anything to do with the young woman he had recently
been involved with. You were pictured as his date, remember?” Shit.
Things just got messier.
Exhaling loudly, I
massaged my temple as a tension headache began to throb. “Great, no
doubt I’ll now have a whole heap of trouble heading my way. Thanks
for the heads up Amy.”
“
Sorry
Layla, just thought you outta know. I gotta go but I miss you all
like crazy and I can’t wait to see you.” Hanging up, I stared at my
cell. My fingers hovered over the key pad as I fought with myself.
Typing out a quick text I hit send. Too late now. It buzzed in my
hand a second later. Glancing into the sitting room, I saw Ollie
and Mel looking through the pile of classic rock CD’s I’d gotten
him for Christmas. I bolted up the stairs to my bedroom, took a
deep breath and answered. “Layla.”
Oh good lord. My legs
turned to jelly as his voice purred down the phone at me, causing
me to quickly take a seat on my bed. “Hello Jared. I just heard
that Felix’s company has gone under and that the press seem to be
looking at me as a possible cause. I just need to know if this is
something I should be worried about.”
“
It’s
true his company has now come into difficulty but you should be
fine Layla. He has yet to disclose details of your association with
him and after the warning I gave him, he won’t be. Was that all?”
His tone was clipped and his patience short. I felt as though we
had just discussed a business deal and deep down, that hurt.
“
Um,
yes, I guess so. I just needed to be sure. Thank you for your time.
I realize you probably have a lot going on today. Merry Christmas
Jared.”
The
line went dead. Inhaling sharply I fought back the urge to cry. No,
I wouldn’t do this to myself anymore. I had to move on. He’d
clearly left his feelings for me in a dumpster so why shouldn’t I
do the same. Straightening up, I left the cell on my bed and headed
back down to my family and friends. A distinct sparkle in his eye,
Ollie smiled at me and my bad mood melted away.
Jared
who?
Chapter
40
Steady As She
Goes
seemed to flash right before my eyes. After Christmas break was
over we’d all come back to reality and seemed to settle right back
into our old routine. Classes were getting more intense and my
stack of books seemed to increase a foot every week. So whenever
Friday night arrived, our weekly trip to the bar was a welcome
reprieve from reading. I hadn’t spoken to or heard from Jared since
Christmas morning and to be honest, I was glad. Without him
constantly invading my thoughts I could finally try and move on
with Ollie. Forming our own two person study group for Dr. Harman’s
psych class, we’d been dating for well over two months. We went to
movies, out for dinner and sometimes I’d hang out with him and the
band while they rehearsed. Nick had tried to ban me by saying that
I was a distraction after Ollie kept persistently messing up during
rehearsals. Kissing me and giving me that sexy smile of his, he
would often miss a note, key change or in one case an entire song,
completely because he was too busy making out with me on Eric’s
couch. Things were intensely hot and heavy between us and whenever
we were alone for more than five minutes I ran the dangerous risk
of getting totally carried away. We still hadn’t had sex and I was
getting the feeling Ollie’s patience and his junk were becoming
very, very tired of waiting.
On Valentine’s Day, he’d
taken me for a ride on his motorcycle up to the hills where he’d
prepared a candle lit picnic dinner for just the two of us. Sitting
astride his Ducati he was more than hot; he was off the thermometer
scorching! His black leather pants and matching jacket made him
look every bit the rock star. Holding out his hand to me, he
grinned.
“
Wanna
take a ride on my monster? It’s big, powerful and can go from zero
to ‘
oh good fucking
god
’ in sixty seconds.”
I rolled my eyes and
smiled. Climbing onto the beast and sitting behind him, my arms
wrapped tightly around his waist, my thighs pressed against him, I
could feel the heat radiating between my legs. I really wasn’t sure
how long I could go on waiting. With the best intentions we’d
continued to hold off giving into our sexual urges but that night
in those hills, he’d successfully rounded second base and was
sliding his way quite literally into third. We’d finished our
picnic and laid there gazing up at the stars as I snuggled into the
crook of his arm. Turning his head to face me, he gave me one of
his trademark heart stopping Oliver Green smiles and I swear the
elastic on my panties snapped, just looking at him. His flushed
pink lips begged to be kissed and my own were only too happy to
oblige whenever the demand was made. His cool metallic lip ring
against my warm lips always made me smile and I couldn’t help but
flick my tongue over it, every single chance I got. He was
delicious, sexy as hell and hot, hot, hot. My insides were
practically begging for him to give me ecstasy but whenever we came
close, my heart would pull out that megaphone and give me that ‘Are
you sure you want to do this?’ warning. Once we had sex, things
would be different between us and we could never go back to how it
was.
Pressing his lips to
mine, he groaned and I could feel how much he was struggling to
contain himself as his hand slid over my hip, lifting my shirt and
skimming over my waist. “Oh god Layla, I want you so
badly.”
I moaned into his mouth,
taking his hand in mine and guiding it slowly across my stomach and
down to the waist of my jeans. He hesitated and pressing his
forehead against mine, he breathed hard. “Are you
sure?”
Undoing my button and
pulling down the zipper, I placed my hand on his and slid it gently
down underneath my panties. Gazing into my eyes, his breathing
hitched and he took in a sudden sharp breath as his fingers grazed
the fleshy folds of my sex. I felt like a virgin again and Ollie
seemed so nervous. I actually began to wonder if he’d ever done
this before. But as he teased his fingertip up and down my moist
slit, I knew he was an expert at this game. I wriggled underneath
his gentle fingers. Closing my eyes I licked my lips as a shiver of
anticipation ran down my spine. I could hear his breathing becoming
harsher and the warm sensations of it on my skin were putting me
firmly under his spell. His eyes glistened and sparkled as he
clenched his jaw and groaned gently. His long finger slid slowly
between the lips of my sex and grazed my clit ever so slightly,
making me gasp and bring my knees up, pressing his hand firmly
between my thighs.
His teeth nipped gently
on my earlobe before his tongue slid sweetly into my ear, causing
my body to tremble and quiver at the tickling sensation. I let out
a tiny giggle but was silenced by his mouth closing over mine. His
fingers moved gradually further and further down and as I felt him
touch the opening to my sex, I thrust my hips upwards and held his
wrist firmly with my hand, forcing him to push inside me. He
chuckled but obliged, swirling and sliding two of his perfect
fingers in and out of me. It had been months since I’d had sex and
my body was practically convulsing as he touched, stroked and
fingered my g-spot. “Oh my god, Ollie.”
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