Falling Under (33 page)

I lean into her. “He’s never secretive. It’s weirding me out.”

Mom laughs. “I know, honey. But try not to freak out. Oz loves you, and that’s all that really matters, right?”

I nod and try to push away the worry. “Right.”

Eventually, Oz and Daddy come back, and we four have dinner together. Oz and Dad act like nothing at all is amiss, so I try not to as well. Later that night, as Oz and I let ourselves into his apartment, I decide to try a little seduction-interrogation.

As soon as the door is locked behind us, I push Oz’s back against the wall, take his keys from him, toss them aside, not caring where they land. Oz’s eyes are narrowed, as if he knows what I’m planning. He’s wearing a plain white button-down, which I make short work of removing, leaving him deliciously sexy in just blue jeans and boots. I pause to strip, peeling my T-shirt, bra, jeans, and panties off in record time. Naked now, I kiss my way from his jaw to his chest, down his ribs to his navel. I slip the end of his belt out of the buckle, unbutton his jeans, tug them down. The act of getting his jeans past his hips has pulled the waistband of his boxers down just far enough to let the tip of his cock show, and I grin up at him.

He licks his lips and sucks in a deep breath. “Kylie, babe. What are you planning on doing down there?”

I slide his boxers off, keeping my eyes on him. “What do you think I’m planning on doing down here?”

“I think you’re fishing for information.”

I wrap my lips around him and suck hard, tasting his flesh and the essence that begins to seep out of his tip onto my tongue. When he’s groaning, I lift my mouth off him. “Is it working?”

“Nope.” He tangles his fingers in my hair. “You might have to try again.”

I laugh, and then comply. This time, I grip him at the base and slide my fingers around his thickness as I work the head with my lips and tongue. He starts moving in time with my suction, and when I know he’s close, I take my mouth away. “How about now? Tell me what’s going on, and I’ll let you come in my mouth. I know how much you love that, and it’s been a while. Since Montana, right? You know you want it.”

He groans. “Goddamn, Ky. That’s mean. Cruel and unusual punishment.”
 

I laugh and flick his tip with my tongue. “But effective, right?”

He shudders and his hips piston, trying to get closer to my mouth, seeking relief. I don’t give it to him. “Fuck, baby. I’m not…not telling. It’s a surprise. A good surprise. You want it to be a surprise. Just try to trust me on this, will you?” He growls. “I’m going crazy here, baby.”

“Just a hint?” I beg.

He hisses as I pump my fingers up and down his length. “Fuck…
fuck
. If I give you a hint, you’ll make me come?”

“So hard, baby. I swear.”

He laughs, and then lets his head thump back against the wall. I slow my hands on him, drawing it out. He can’t help moving into my touch, and I know I’ve got him.
 

But then he moves like a striking snake. There’s no warning, no chance of resisting. One second I’m in control, on my knees in front of him with his thick cock in my hands and my lips descending to finish him off, and then the next second I’m on my hands and knees, and he’s behind me.
 

I open my mouth to protest, but all that comes out is a gasping shriek. He’s in me, sliding deep, fast, hard, and I can only whimper.
 

“Oz…Jesus, Oz. Oh, god.” All my demands and plans are ruined. He’s in control now, hands gripping my hips, pulling me against him, drawing moans from me.

He leans over me, bites my earlobe. “You want a hint, baby? I’ll give you a hint. It’s a surprise. A really, really,
big
” —he emphasizes this with a hard thrust that has me rocking forward— “surprise.”

I can’t help but move back into him, needing what he’s giving me now. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“Because you have to wait till tomorrow.” He breathes into my ear, his breath hot. “Don’t you trust me, baby?”

“Yeah, I trust you,” I gasp.

“Then let it
be
a surprise.”
 

I’m on the edge now, a few strokes away from coming hard. “Okay, Oz. Okay. Okay. I trust you.”
 

He pulls out, and I whimper in shock. “NO! Fuck, Oz, put it back in, please, I need it, I was right there!”

He chuckles, and I feel the tip slide in, but it’s nowhere near enough. “You trust me, baby?”

I nod and try to rock to get the fullness back. “Yeah, Oz, I trust you.”

He flutters his hips, giving me tiny, shallow, insufficient, teasing thrusts. “You wouldn’t want to ruin my surprise, would you?”

“No…no.” I seek relief, unashamedly begging. “Please…please…”

He’s groaning, growling. “You were sneaky, Kylie. That was a very sneaky and devious thing you did.”

“I’m sorry…I’m just…I’m dying of curiosity.”

He pulls out, and I whimper, but then he rolls me to my back, lifts my heels over his shoulders and drives in, sudden, hard, and perfect. “You’re afraid, is what you are.”

“Yeah, you’ve never kept any secrets from me.”

“I know. But this is a good secret.”

“A good secret?”

He slides out and back in, and I’m whimpering abjectly. “Yeah, sweetness. A very good one. That’s all the hints you’ll get.”

“It almost worked, though, didn’t it?” I ask, watching him through the “V” of my legs.

He nods, eyes fluttering and shuttering closed. “Very…very nearly. Why do you think we’re doing this on the floor? A few more seconds, and I would’ve told you.”

I groan, partly in frustration and partly in delighted pleasure as he starts to rock into me hard and fast. “Fuck, Oz. I almost had you?”

He groans. “Yeah, baby. That sweet mouth of yours…oh, shit. I’m right there…”

“You’d better not stop, Oz. You’d better not fucking stop…”

“Hell no…”

And then we explode together, my heels wrapped around his neck, and then he’s leaning over me and my legs are clenched like vises around his back and we’re gasping and trembling and rocking together, breathing together.

A few moments of his weight resting on me, and then Oz stands up, lifts me in his arms, and carries me to his bed. “I can’t believe you tried that.”

I laugh and curl into his arms. “What, tried to suck the truth out of you?”

“Yeah. Is it that hard to just trust me?”

I feather my fingers over his cock, needing more already. “Yeah. You’ve been acting really weird, babe.”

He huffs a laugh, then moans as he starts to harden in my hand. “God, Kylie. Insatiable, aren’t you?”

“Would you have it any other way?”

“Fuck no! I’m the luckiest guy on earth, sweetness, and well I know it. But do you really think I’d ever do anything to hurt you?”

“No,” I say, throwing my leg over his hip and straddling him. “I just…I guess I still can’t believe how much I love you, how happy you make me, and I don’t—I don’t want anything to change that.”

“Nothing can, Kylie. Nothing in the whole world.”

This time, it’s slow and tender and gentle, and his eyes never leave mine, and as we implode together, his lips meet mine and our breathing merges and time stops and the heaven itself shatters through us, weaving our souls together.

*
 
*
 
*

Sunday, the day of the concert. Pre-show jitters have us all a little on edge. This is the biggest show any of us have ever done, even Mom and Dad.
 

The Harris Mountain Boys go on first, Mom and Dad second, and Oz and I third. At the end of our regular set, Mom and Dad come out, and the four us play a few songs together, and then Amy, Gareth, and Buddy come out, and we all jam for almost half an hour, and the crowd is going crazy.
 

Finally, the show is over. We’re all saying thank you, bowing, basking in the wild energy of the crowd.

The lights go down, and we all make our way off-stage.
 

And then the lights go on, and Oz and Daddy are back on the stage, plugging their guitars back in.
 

“Ya’ll don’t mind one more little song, do you?” Daddy asks into the mic.

“
NO!
” comes the enthusiastic response.
 

Mom and I glance at each other. This wasn’t part of the planned set; this is the surprise.

“Good, ’cause Oz and I here have a little surprise.” He claps Oz on the shoulder.
 

Oz seems really nervous. I can tell by the set of his shoulders, by the way he scuffs at the stage floor with the toe of his boot. “This surprise is for you guys,” Oz says, “’cause ya’ll are what make us able to do this, and we love you for it. But it’s also a surprise for the girls. For Kylie, especially.” He turns and waves me over. “Come on out, baby.”

Colt looks at Mom. “You, too, Nelly.”

Everyone is confused. Mom and I go back out on stage, and two stagehands bring us stools. We sit three-quarters turned, facing the stage and the guys.

“If anybody out there is old enough to have watched Nell and me play when we were first starting out, ya’ll might remember a particularly memorable night in New Orleans.” Daddy’s looking at Mom with eyes that speak of their love, that speak of the secrets of twenty years of marriage. “I played a song that night. A very special song. One we haven’t played live in…oh, hell, ten years? Anybody remember that show? Which song I played?”

Oz is fiddling with the tuning knobs of his acoustic guitar, fixing a capo onto the strings. I watch him, and his eyes meet mine. The nerves are obvious in his eyes, and I smile, trying to reassure him.

The crowd is restless, muttering, and I hear a single voice shout from way in the back, “‘Falling Into You’!”

Daddy nods. “That’s the one. Ya’ll are about to hear a very special version of that song. Oz and I tweaked it a bit for this occasion, so now we’re calling it something different. This is ‘Falling Under.’”

He taps the flat of his guitar to count out the beat, and then they both start playing. Mom is watching, hand over her mouth, and then she turns to glance at me, and her eyes are already wet. She’s twisting her diamond ring on her finger. Oh.
Oh.
Realization hits me as Dad and Oz start in on the first verse.

“All my life it seems

I’ve been barely keeping

My head above the water

And then I saw you

You saw all the pain

Hiding in my eyes

And you wanted
 

To take it away

But I had no words for you

’Cause I was falling under

And I am falling, falling under with you

I can’t resist you, baby

I’m falling, falling under with you

Your love healed me

Fate has intervened

Conspiring to draw us close together

And tangle our lives

The siren of your song

And the music of your heart is calling

Whispering my name

And now I have the words for you

’Cause I’m falling under with you

Now I’m falling, falling under with you

I can’t resist you, baby

I am falling, falling under with you

And I’m falling still

I’m falling still

Now that fate has intervened

And drawn us close together

Past our fears and all the pain

Behind our eyes

Despite the ghosts trailing around us

Like a fog of haunting souls

You’re still trying hard to heal me

To take my pain and make it yours

Your beautiful eyes are smiling

Into mine

Now I’m falling, falling under with you

I can’t resist you, baby

I am falling, falling under with you

And I’m falling still

I’m falling still

I’m falling still

Falling under with you.”

Dad keeps playing, but the sound tech turns the volume down, so the melody is a faint refrain, a soundtrack for what’s about to happen. Oz swings his guitar around by the strap to hang from his back, turns toward me, grabbing the mic off the stand.

“Kylie…this is it. Are you ready?” He grins at me, stands in front of me. I can only nod and try to breathe. “Twenty years ago your dad played that song for your mom. I wanted a special way to do this for you, and your dad thought this might be perfect. I actually watched a video of that proposal, and I don’t mind admitting to being jealous of your Dad’s awesomeness. I’m just grateful he doesn’t mind me stealing his idea, and even conspiring to help me make it that much more perfect.”
 

He takes a deep breath, reaches into his hip pocket. “I love you, Kylie. You’re it, for me. You saved me, you know. Life had me running. Had me by the throat, and I really was falling under, losing hope. And then I met you, and you gave me a reason to keep my head above water. You taught me to swim. You taught me to live. And instead of giving up, I fell in love. I fell under your spell, Kylie, and every single day since, I’ve fallen further and further under for you.”
 

I’m crying, unabashedly weeping, and I don’t care who sees. I stand up and reach for Oz, but he falls to one knee at my feet, holding up a ring. It’s a small ring, simple, a thin white-gold band and princess-cut diamond but, to me, in that moment, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Except for Oz’s face and the love in his eyes.

He looks up at me, clearly struggling with his own emotions. “Kylie Calloway, will you—”

I don’t let him finish. I fall to my knees and lunge into him, crash my lips to his. We fall backward to the stage, and the crowd is going crazy, howling, cheering, clapping. Oz kept hold of the ring and the mic so, with me lying on his chest, he lifts the mic to his lips.

“I take it that’s a yes?”

I hold up my left hand, and he slides the ring on. I take the mic. “Yes, Oz! Of course yes. With all my heart yes.”