Emergence (Awakening Series Book 2) (2 page)

"Slow baby. Slow. I'm not going to last with you trying to ride me like that. I want to enjoy it. I want you to enjoy it," I said, gripping her hips and pulling myself out of her. I missed her warmth immediately.

"No! Please," she said, trying desperately to bring me back inside her.

"Shh. I'm going to give you what you want, but I want to do it right," I said, sweeping her up in my arms and  pulling her bra all the way off as I walked to the bed and laid her down gently.

She pushed herself up onto the pillows as I crawled onto the bed between her knees. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. I watched her chest as it rose and fell quickly and stared at her, willing her to open her eyes and look at me. When she did I lightly circled her slick opening with my finger, drawing a moan from her, and then slipped two inside her hot wet entrance, pumping lightly. She bucked off the bed and I felt heady with desire for her. Then I covered her body with mine, leaning down to kiss her as I slowly moved my hips forward and entered her again in one long thrust.

"Christ, you feel good," I whispered against her mouth.

Her body felt perfect against mine, sheathing me tightly, driving me to amazing heights of pleasure. The world fell away as I began to move within her, her lips lingering on mine, my hands tangled in her hair.

She worshipped me with her hands, grazing her nails over the muscles in my back, gripping my biceps as I drove into her with strong and steady strokes. She lifted her hips as I felt the pressure building in my spine. Arching into me, she took everything I had to give and gave just as much in return.

"Oh, god yes! Right there," she cried out. "I'm gonna come!"

"Do it baby, come for me," I whispered to her.

As soon as I felt her tighten around me I let go of my own release, chasing her to the edge of sanity as I pumped into her, and relishing the feeling of her squeezing me and pulling me even deeper with each little contraction. I had never felt anything close to that much pleasure before in my life. I was wrecked.

I lowered my lips to hers, kissing her languorously before rolling onto my side and tucking her head into the crook of my neck.

"I don't know what I expected when you asked me to come up here with you, but that was certainly not it," I sighed into her hair.

"I hope that's a good thing and not a bad thing," she said, raising her eyebrow.

"Definitely good, sweetheart," I assured her.

I slipped out of the bed, walking into the bathroom and then I cursed myself. I'd forgotten a damn condom.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I warmed up the water and then brought a damp washcloth back to clean her up. Afterwards I tossed it on the floor and climbed back into the bed as she wrapped herself around me.

I marveled at how well her body fit against mine, how she seemed made for me.

Where had she been hiding all my life?

Her left hand rested on my chest drawing tiny circles as she drifted off to sleep. It was then that I noticed the emerald and diamond ring on her finger.

Well, fuck. I'd finally met my future wife, and it appeared she was already married.

Chapter 1

Present

Carson

As soon as the coffee maker dinged that it was done brewing I snatched a mug out of the cabinet at my parents' house and filled it up. My legs were on fire from my early morning run, but after drinking two tall glasses of water and taking a lukewarm shower, I was sure that curing my coffee craving would have me feeling my old self again in no time.

I turned, leaning against the counter as I heard footsteps on the stairs. Caroline, my older sister, walked into the kitchen but didn't notice me at first. She had been jumpy for as long as I could remember.

"Morning sis!" I said more loudly than necessary, taking a sip of my coffee and smirking to myself as she leaped a foot.

"Shit! You scared me!" she said, throwing a hand over her chest, but then walking over to give me a hug. "You look really nice for your big first day! You smell good too, trying to impress somebody?"

I just had on some black suit pants and a blue button down, didn't seem like anything more than work clothes to me.

"Nah, you know that's not how I roll. Just trying to look professional." I smiled, taking her into my arms. "You want to carpool?"

"I can't. I'm going back to Bluffton after work."

My grandmother had passed recently and my mother and Caroline had been spending a lot of time out in Bluffton trying to get her house ready to go on the market. I would have been out there too, but I had just come home from college over the weekend, after having graduated last month, and today was my first day at the new job.

I watched Caroline, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder, as she grabbed a travel coffee mug from the cabinet and poured herself a cup.

"Mom still have a lot left to do?" I asked.

"Well, she has a couple rooms left. I think another week or so and she should have most of it wrapped up."

"Sounds good," I said, sipping my coffee.

"Listen," Caroline said, turning toward me, her big blue eyes focusing intently. "Eva's in my room. She's going to be staying here for a few days. Can you give her a lift to pick up her car from Anne Marie's when you get home tonight?"

I cocked my head in her direction. Back when I was younger I used to think Eva Williams hung the moon. She was my sister's best friend, and gorgeous with her long red hair and sparkling blue eyes. We had hooked up a few times. She was every guy's wet dream, but she slept around a lot, and I wasn't into girls like that anymore.
Not since Meg.

"I'll take care of it," I smirked.

"Thanks. Oh! And Wednesday night Eva and I are going out for drinks. You want to tag along?"

"I'll be there. Just text me the details."

"Sounds good. See you at the office!" She snapped the lid on her coffee mug, grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

**

I was just locking up my desk for the evening when my dad walked into my new office.

"How was your first day son?" he asked.

Jack Foster was a big guy, most people told me I looked like him when he was younger, broad shouldered with dark sandy blond hair and blue eyes, where mine were green. He was only in his late forties, but was already starting to grey around his temples.

"It was good Dad. A little overwhelming, but hopefully I'll pick up on things pretty quickly." I stood and turned off the light as we walked together to the front door.

Foster & Company Marketing had been in our family for generations. My great grandfather had started it in the twenties, and it had grown from a three man operation into the privately held powerhouse it was now. I wasn't sure I wanted to come home and work for the company but my dad had made me an offer I couldn't refuse and it seemed I was going to be groomed to take over one day.

"Are you going to be home later?" Dad asked me.

"I have to check out a couple apartments and run Eva to get her car from Anne Marie's house. Caroline asked me to help her out. We're probably going to get a bite to eat first, but I'll be home later."

"Sounds good, son. See you then," he said, as we walked out into the hot and humid Savannah summer, heading for our respective vehicles.

As I drove through downtown Savannah, I passed Churchill's, a bar I used to frequent when I was in town. I'd to go there to pick up women, some of whom occupied my nights, and all my high school buddies hung out there when they were home from college. The last time I'd been there was well over a year ago. I'd met Meg that night and I hadn't been able to get her out of my head or return to the bar scene since.

After that night I'd cleaned up my act, stopped drinking excessively and stopped sleeping around. I had an amazing connection with Meg, I'd never met anyone like her before and the realization that I had absolutely nothing to offer her was nauseating. And that prompted me to get my shit together. If I was ever lucky enough to feel a bond like that with someone again, I wanted to have something to bring to the relationship.

When I arrived at my parents' house, Eva was waiting for me in the kitchen.

"Hey hot stuff!" she said, as I walked through the door.

"Hey yourself," I replied, dropping my briefcase on the island.

"How was the first day?" She smiled as she sauntered towards me, swinging her perfect hips on the way.

"It was good... You want to grab some dinner before we pick up your car?"

"Ooh! That sounds great! I know a place not too far from here." She launched herself into my arms, planting a kiss right on my lips.

"What the fuck Eva?" I pulled back, scowling at her.

"Oh come on Carson, we used to mess around all the time," she wiggled her tight little ass and I couldn't resist reaching around her and squeezing her into me. I had gone far too long without a woman in my bed.

A second later, she wrapped her legs around my waist and pried my lips open with her tongue, delving into my mouth. She smelled incredible, and she was soft, warm and pliant in my arms. For a few seconds I contemplated taking her up on her offer, carrying her upstairs, and losing myself in her like old times, but Meg's face kept flashing in my mind and my body cooled quickly, even as Eva was in my arms.

I pulled my mouth away from her, watching her flushed face and swollen lips as she tried to regain her composure.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked, brows drawn together, as she lowered her feet to the floor and stepped back, putting a little distance between us.

"You're gorgeous, Eva, you know that. But I'm not that guy anymore."

She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment before they lit up and she smiled at me.

"Oh well. Your loss!" She winked and I couldn't help but laugh, relieved that things weren't going to be awkward between us. "So, who is she?" Eva asked, looking up at me through her lashes.

"Who is who?"

"The girl that's got you turning over a new leaf. Don't play coy with me. I've never been turned down for a good time before, unless it's over another woman. So," she said, jumping up on the island and swinging her feet back and forth, "who is she?"

I hadn't told anyone about Meg other than Caroline. The morning I woke up in the hotel and she was gone I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I had frantically called my father since I knew she was interviewing at the company, but when he read me the list of interviewees for that day, there wasn't anyone named Meg on the list. There wasn't even a female on it. Caroline was the only person I had told the whole story to. She had been there when I got home from spending the entire day at the airport, hoping Meg would wander by. I had had to pack my bags and head back to Athens with my chest feeling ripped open and raw.

Somehow, the fact that only Caroline knew about her comforted me. I could pretend Meg only existed in my head.

Chapter 2

Lou

"Come on sweet girl," I said to Carly as I picked her up from her bath in the kitchen sink and wrapped her in a soft pink hooded towel. "Mama's going out with a couple girlfriends tonight, so you be a good girl for Kelly okay?"

I carried her to my room, laying her down on my bed and dried her soft blonde head before reaching for a diaper and onesie. She smiled up at me, squinting her beautiful blue eyes and grasping her feet in her hands, cooing.

Somehow over the past year I had landed my dream job, gotten divorced, had a baby, and moved to a new town. There were days I didn't think I'd make it on my own, but coming home to Carly every day and seeing that smile made every struggle worth it.

"I want you to stop taking your birth control pills. I think we should start trying to have a baby," Derek said to me after taking a bite of his steak.

"You want to have kids now?" I asked incredulously.

"Babe, we've been married for a year now. We love each other. We should try to have the family we've always dreamed of."

"But I'm only 19," I reasoned. "We have plenty of time for things like that. And I'm still in college. I'm not sure if we I have time for a baby right now."

Derek put down his fork and knife and ran his hands through his dark hair, staring at me. We had been high school sweethearts, although he was older than me by a few years, and had gotten married the summer after I graduated. Then we moved to southeastern Virginia immediately for Derek's job. He was incredibly book smart and had finished college in three years while I finished high school.

"Louise," he began and I grimaced. I could
tell he was getting irritated at me by the way his jaw was twitching. And I hated it when he called me Louise, no one called me that except him. I had always been Lou, since the day I was born. "Louise," he said, and I raised my eyes to him. "I love you, and I want to share this experience with you. Now is as good of a time as any."

"Derek, can we even afford a baby right now?"

He leaned forward over the table. "Well, I was thinking about that too. Maybe you should get a job. That way, we could have some more cash laying around. Plus, if we keep postponing until every little thing falls into place, we'll never be ready."

I considered his suggestion. I could get a job. I wasn't sure what kind of place I could find a decently paying full time job with my limited work experience, but I supposed I could look around.

"I guess I can look for something," I said, shrugging at him.

"Good! I knew you'd see it my way," he said, picking up his fork and knife again while beaming at me from his side of the table. "Plus, my mother had me when she was twenty, so this is perfect timing!"

I rolled my eyes. Derek's mother was constantly getting involved in our relationship, and the worst part was, Derek let her. Sometimes I wondered if he'd ever do anything without her input and I gathered that she'd probably put him up to this baby talk.

The doorbell rang, snapping me back to the present as I finished dressing Carly. I picked her up and walked to the living room to open the door.

"Hi sweet angel!" Kelly said, coming into the house and taking Carly. "It's just you and me tonight baby girl!"

Carly went right to Kelly, giving her a two-tooth smile while grabbing a fist full of her blonde hair and drooling on it.

"Thanks so much for doing this for me," I said to Kelly as I dug my license, cash, and lip gloss out of my purse and moved them to my clutch.

"Please Lou, you totally deserve a night out. You work like crazy and the only fun you ever have is sitting on the porch with me drinking wine after Carly goes to bed, and I'm not even sure you can call that fun," Kelly said, following me into my bedroom as I dug shoes from my closet.

"I would definitely call it fun. Kelly, you are the best neighbor I could have ever asked for. Who knew when I moved in to this house that I'd be getting a best friend and a nanny out of the deal?"

Kelly and I lived in the same duplex. Her side mirrored my side perfectly. When I had moved in back in January, she had been the only person to knock on my door and welcome me to the neighborhood. She'd also been there to help me with Carly countless times and had officially become Carly's nanny when I started my job, which was a huge weight off my shoulders.

"I love you too, Lulu. Now, get your sexy ass out of here and don't worry about us!"

I stopped to survey myself one last time in the mirror. My dark hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that still hung down to the middle of my back. I had done a smoky eye with brown, nude, and golden toned eye shadow which made my blue eyes pop and was accented by my cream off the shoulder top. I turned around, looking in the mirror over my shoulder at my bottom, which was rounder after having Carly, but I was happy to see that it looked firm in my dark skinny jeans.

"Which shoes?" I asked Kelly, holding up a nude stiletto and tan wedge.

"Definitely the stilettos girl! Hands down."

I laughed as I slipped on the shoes, gave her a side hug, and kissed Carly on her soft chubby cheek.

"I won't be out too late. You've got my number if you need anything. I left you a note saying when to give her a bottle and how much formula..."

"Stop!" Kelly interrupted. "We'll be fine. Go enjoy yourself! I've got this!"

I smiled at her and kissed Carly once more before grabbing my clutch and heading out the door.