Ruined by You (25 page)

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he said. “Let’s go up to the room.”

I grinned. That sounded perfect.

* * * * *

Haden led me back through the hotel to the elevator bay. Three elevators were spread apart to usher the guests to their rooms. The Lodge wasn’t huge, and its height paled to the buildings back home, but it was big enough. We climbed on board the first available, and Haden slipped his keycard into a slot, and pressed the top floor button. It had a small label next to it that identified it as the ‘Presidential Suite’.

“You’re staying in a suite?” I said, incredulously.

Haden gave me an embarrassed nod, and shrugged his shoulder. “I figured that if I was going to be staying for a while, I might as well stay somewhere nice.”

“But isn’t it expensive?” I said. “Those kinds of rooms are thousands of dollars a night back home.”

He grinned. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Green Falls isn’t exactly the Big Apple.” He gave me a wink, and I blushed.

I clung to him tightly until the elevator came to a stop on the eighth floor. The door slid open, and I was introduced to even more of Haden’s secretive world.

“Wow,” I said, following him off the elevator.

The room was magnificent. No,
room
wasn’t the right word for it. It was like an apartment that took up the entire top floor. The elevator had opened to a small hallway that led into what must have been the living room. It was furnished in a similar style to the lobby downstairs, with earthy tones and furs adorning the area in front of a fireplace. A vaulted ceiling made the room feel even grander. A huge flat screen TV sat next to the fireplace, and voices chirped from it.

The living room gave way to a kitchen area, and a hallway led back to what I guessed was the bedroom area. In the corner, near the fireplace, sat three guitars, each with their own stand, and an amplifier. Two of the guitars were acoustic, one of them with only four strings and big knobs on the top, and one I recognized as the electric guitar Haden had used earlier. It had a cord running from it to the amp, and a red light was buzzing, letting me know that it was turned on.

“This room is magnificent,” I said, awestruck.

“The whole suite is pretty nice,” he said.

He smiled as he watched me taking it all in.

“There are so many things I don’t know about you,” I said. I grinned. “But I want to know everything.”

He gave me a stern look. “I’m all yours,” he said. “Ask whatever you want, and you can have everything. All of me.”

A flood of emotions crashed through me as I considered what he was saying.

“I’m yours for the taking, too,” I said. “All of me.”

We stood there smiling at each other for a long minute before he finally looked away.

“Please, forgive me, I’m being rude,” he said. He led me over to the couch. “Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine,” I said.

He smiled and walked to the kitchen. He pulled out a glass and dropped a few ice cubes into it before filling it halfway with the Coke.

“What’s your last name?” I asked, suddenly. The question popped in my mind and out my mouth before I could stop it.

Haden glanced at me, his face confused, then amused. “Cooper,” he said. “Haden Cooper.”

I grinned, rolling it around in my mouth a little--trying it on for size. I liked it. It was simple Not plain, just simple.

“The lady downstairs said they didn’t have anyone named Haden staying here,” I said. The question wasn’t direct, but it hung in the air for a moment, anyway.

He sipped at his drink and sat on the couch next to me.

“That’s because I checked in under a different name,” he said. “I wanted some privacy, so I used a fake name in case anyone came looking for me.”

“Like Kyle?” I said. He nodded. Another silence settled over us as I looked around, again. “Where is Kyle, anyway?” I asked, not that I wanted to hear his condescending voice ever again.

“He needed some space,” Haden said. “I was pretty hard on him after you left.”

“He was an asshole,” I said. Haden didn’t defend him.

“Speaking of which,” he said. “How’d everything go with your mother?”

I groaned. “I don’t even want to talk about it.”

“She seemed pretty upset,” he continued.

“She’ll be fine,” I said. “She always overreacts to everything. Especially when it comes to guys.”

He nodded once, and took another sip of his drink. I watched him for a long time without saying anything, suddenly nervous. Had my Mom embarrassed him too much? After all, I was still the little girl that lived at home. Was he already having second thoughts about me?

“That’s a mom’s job,” he said, finally. “They worry about their kids. My mom’s the same way.”

I smiled at him, a sense of relief calming me. He gave me an intense look. It was long and deep, heavier than I’d expected.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking about some stuff,” he said.

“Like what?” I asked.

He set his drink on the coffee table, and clicked the television off with the remote. He turned to face me again. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he that he didn’t know how.

“What is it?” I asked.

He smiled nervously, and his cheeks turned red.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m not usually this nervous.”

I shook my head. “You don’t have to be nervous around me.”

He smiled and gave me a determined nod.

“You’re right,” he said. “I can be myself.”

Haden walked over and grabbed one of the acoustic guitars. He slung the strap around his shoulder, and I felt the excited jitters coming over me.

“Are you going to play me something?” I asked.

He smiled at me, and then he looked down at the guitar.

“Yes,” he said, finally. “I had something I wanted to share with you. And I’ve been trying to figure out how.”

I cocked my head sideways, suspiciously.

“Well, you know I play guitar now,” he said. “So I’ll just play it for you.”

I could feel myself blushing, and I didn’t even know why. “That sounds amazing,” I said. “You’re so good at it.”

He gave me a tight smile, and then looked down at the guitar, again. He shook his hands a few times, loosening them up. Then, he put his fingers on the neck, and began picking at the guitar, lightly. He wasn’t playing any particular song—rather, he was just strumming along with a few chords. But, it still sounded beautiful It was so simple, and elegant. It seemed impossible for him to put his hands on the guitar and not create something magical, even when he wasn’t really trying.

He glanced up and gave me a quick smile before looking back down at the guitar. His cheeks tinged red. “Sorry, I get a little embarrassed when I play for someone.”

“You played for a lot of people earlier,” I said. “You did just fine.”

His smile widened, and sent my pulse racing. “That was a performance,” he said. “This is different. It’s just for you.”

Now it was my turn to blush.

“Don’t be nervous,” I said. “I’m going to love anything you play for me.”

He began strumming, again, this time with more purpose. His hands moved around the fret board as he jammed out to chords that sounded only vaguely familiar. I found myself biting my lip uncontrollably, watching his every move. His eyes went distant, and he got lost in the music. He was at total peace with a guitar in his hands. It was like he was in his own world, where nothing ever went wrong.

It wasn’t for a full minute after he began jamming that the song took a turn and I started to recognize it. His hands shifted along with the tempo, and my jaw dropped when I realized what he was playing. The song wasn’t exactly like it sounded on the radio, but there was no mistaking it.

He was playing “Falling”, the song Sarah and I had sung on the way to San Antonio. I told him just that afternoon that I loved the song, and he
remembered
. He was more talented than I’d given him credit for, if he’d learned this in only one afternoon. It was amazing, and looked difficult to play.

My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach, and I stood up clutched my hands tight too my chest. I felt my knees bobbing in time with his strumming, and my hips swayed back and forth, too. Before he even made it to the first chorus, my feet had closed the distance between us.

Haden was the most beautiful person I had ever been around - and it wasn’t just the way he looked. He had stuck up for me when he had no reason to, he had been there for me even when I was ready to give up on myself, even when I’d given him every reason to leave me alone. And, now, he’d learned my favorite song, a song I’d only mentioned in passing.

It was too much, and I couldn’t take anymore.

I wrapped my hand around the neck of the guitar. The strings still vibrated with his strumming. He beat out a muted rhythm for a moment before he looked up at me.

Our eyes connected. There wasn’t anything that either of us needed to say. I was certain he could see the hunger in my eyes, every bit as much as I could see it in his.

I reached my arm around his neck and pulled him down toward me. Our lips met. The kiss was soft and gentle at first, and then it was more intense. Then we parted. My lips buzzed, vibrating with the energy left by him.

“You didn’t let me finish the song,” he said, quietly.

“You can finish it later,” I said. I pushed his hair back with my hand.

He shook his head. “But it’s important,” he said.

I looked deep into those fiery green eyes, and I knew I was about to sink into him. I leaned forward and brought my lips right up to his ear.

“This is important, too,” I said. I could feel him trembling.

“What is?” he whispered, his breath washing over my neck.

I kissed his cheek once, twice, three times. Lower, each time. Then, I ran my tongue up along his neck, back to his ear.

“Take me to bed,” I said.

Haden didn’t need me to tell him a second time. He grabbed me by the hand and led me toward the back hallway. After a couple turns, we were in a dark room. He flipped a switch, and a tiny light near a bed illuminated. Long shadows stretched up the walls, giving just enough light to manage the room safely.

I didn’t care about how nice the room was. All I cared about right then was Haden. As he pulled me to the bed, the need between my legs grew. As I swung around to face him, I could feel the desire creeping up heavy - heavier than ever before.

Haden stared at me for a long, hard second.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

His eyes were soft, beckoning. I jerked my head once.

“I’m sure,” I said. “I’ve never been so sure.”

“Once I start, I’m not going to be able to turn it off,” he said, his voice growing huskier. “Not like last time. There’s no going back.”

I leaned into him and pressed my lips to his, gently.

“Stop talking, and take me,” I whispered.

Haden didn’t need any more encouragement. With a deep breath, his lips sunk into me, kissing me more passionately than they ever had before. As our bodies pressed against one another, I could feel his erection pressing through his jeans and into my hip. I could feel his need for me, and it was liberating.

Every doubt and hesitation I’d washed away. Everything was perfect. Everything was exactly like it needed to be.

I pulled his mouth in even closer to my own. Our tongues lashed at each other, leaving a hot wake all along our lips. His hands wrapped around my waist, and he lifted me effortlessly onto the bed. I sunk back, pulling him along with me, until his body pressed firmly on mine.

My hands scrambled down his back, tugging and pulling at his shirt. He lifted his body up and his arms stretched back. Grabbing the shirt, he pulled it high over his head. The shadows washed over his muscular frame. The angles and curves were perfect. The tattoos snaked along his arms and around the tops of his shoulders. They stopped there, and his chest was bare and smooth. His entire body flexed once, and then he descended on me.

Haden’s lips pressed along my neck, following its curves down to my collarbone. His hands slid along my sides until they found my breasts. There was a time, not so long ago, that I would have been too embarrassed to have a man touch me like that. I would have felt inadequate—like there was no way I would ever be able to please him. But Haden had made me forget all of those fears. I knew I was enough for him, just like he was enough for me.

“Oh, Haden,” I breathed.

His hands pressed into me even harder, pushing my breasts together as his tongue dove beneath the top of my blouse. My tiny bra gave way to his tongue, and he found my piercing, hard nipples with it. Sensations buzzed through me as his tongue swirled around the tiny bud. My legs convulsed and spread apart instinctively.

Haden tugged my blouse up and over my head, then, almost effortlessly. My body responded, and my arms rose to help. Then, with one sharp movement, he reached around behind me and my bra gave way. It was so fast I almost didn’t notice it happen. With a sharp tug, he ripped it off and threw it on the floor behind him. His hungry eyes looked down over my exposed body, and I did my best to not tremble before him.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his eyes drinking all of me in. “You’re perfect.”

I bit my lip, feeling nervous for the first time.

“I’m yours,” I said.

A smile spread across his face.

“Yes, you are,” he said.

Hunger flashed in his eyes again, and his head dipped down to my stomach. He ran tender kisses all around my belly button, and then started moving even lower. My legs spread even wider as I ran my fingers through his hair. I pulled his face deeper into my body, and his kisses deepened in response. My breathing intensified, in rhythm with his tongue. My hips lifted and swirled as his hands navigated their slender length.

My vision blurred as I moaned his name again. There was a tug on my jeans, and both the buttons and zipper were unleashed. Haden’s face, his tongue, pressed down even further.

“I want to taste you,” he breathed, heavily. His hot breath bathed me.