Surrender to Fate (Fate's Path Part One: A New Adult Romance Series) (24 page)

The sadness that cloaked the household was numbing. But for Sarah, it was also a lesson in life that she wished she could’ve learned in some way, other than Catherine’s death. Life always had been, but now its fragility was felt to the core of everyone. Life, time, happiness, none of it was a guarantee. Up until now, Sarah had been happily oblivious to the fact that it could all change in a split second, it could all be gone; everything could be different. Time was precious. Sarah felt it deeper and deeper with each passing day, each passing hour, each passing minute, that time was a gift not to be taken for granted. There had been a time in her life for caution, for reflection, and for debate when it came to her future with Will, or her future with Adley. That time was over, and Sarah felt an urgency like never before, to start living her life. Perhaps Will had the same epiphany, and decided not to waste any more time in his life, and he was starting by getting married. For Sarah, she wasn’t willing to waste one more moment. She needed to find Adley.

She walked into the barn and stopped to watch him work. He had picked up where Matty had left on in his chores of taking care of the barn. She watched silently as he spread fresh straw in the stalls, so deep in thought that he didn’t notice her approaching. It was the first time they had been together since the day they had learned about Catherine. She walked closer to him and leaned against the stall door until he caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye and turned around.

He took one look at her, and threw the pitchfork into a stack of straw and took his gloves off. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing the top of her head. She put her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his chest. Everything about him felt so good, and so right. It was almost as if this was what she needed to know: That being in Adley’s arms felt like home, and it had for a long time. Home wasn’t a place. Home was the love in the arms that wrapped around her. At that moment, she realized that he knew her better than she thought. He knew how badly she needed to be held. She squeezed her eyes shut, allowing the feeling to wash over her. She was in Adley’s arms, and she couldn’t wait any longer to tell him. She only hoped he would understand.

“Sarah, I’m so sorry. I’ve wanted to come see you but I wanted to give you your time and space with your family.” He held her tighter, “Oh my God, it feels so good to hold you.”

“Adley, I need to talk to you.” Sarah lifted her head and stepped back, giving her space to fully see him.

Adley took a deep breath and looked at her. “Alright, as worried as I’ve been to hear this, I need to hear this, Sarah.” He stopped talking and rubbed his mouth and chin, and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m listening.”

So much had happened in the past year, and so much had changed. But none of it was as profound as what had happened in the last week after hearing about Catherine. Sarah had finally found the clarity she had been seeking for months. “I’ve thought about this for a long, long time, Adley. I feel like I’ve been thinking non-stop ever since we first got here, and it has been utterly exhausting. I wasn’t planning on you becoming what you have. I left Colorado heart broken, for a lot of reasons. I had to leave everything. I left my home, I left my trees and my creek, as silly as that sounds, and I left a person that I loved.”

Adley shifted his weight and ran his hands through his hair again.

“Please, let me finish. And then I came here. And at first, the only thing that made me feel happy, was the garden. But then, I started to realize that you made me feel things that I never would’ve expected to feel, and I didn’t know what to do with the feelings I’ve had my whole life, and my new feelings since being here. So now, I want to be completely honest with you, you deserve that.”

Adley exhaled loudly and put his hands on his hips. “I had a feeling this is what would happen.” He looked down and slowly shook his head, “Alright, this is going to hurt like hell, but go ahead. I told you that I needed to know, and I do, but...damn!”

Sarah took a few steps to him, but he didn’t change his stance and looked down into her eyes. “Adley, please understand that there are people that I simply cannot forget. I cannot forget my childhood, I cannot forget people that I’ve cared about and that have cared about me. I won’t forget them.”

Adley looked to the floor and nodded his head, “I get it, Sarah. I get it.”

Sarah put her hands on his chest and he took a deep breath before looking back at her. “Adley, I don’t want to forget them, they will forever be a part of my memories, and a part of me. But, I’m hoping that you will be alright with that because...I want to give you everything else, and the memories that I make now, I want to make with you.”

Adley’s eyebrows came together and his eyes moved back and forth, searching her eyes for understanding.

Sarah smiled and ran her hands up his chest to his shoulders. “I want you, Adley. You have my body
and
my heart.”

Adley’s tense expression released into a smile, but almost just as quickly returned, “Are you sure, Sarah? Absolutely sure?”

Sarah ran her thumb over his forehead, forcing the creases to relax. “I’m sure, Adley. Life is full of choices. I can either choose to follow my heart of the past, or I can choose to follow my heart right now. I choose right now.”

Adley let his forehead fall to rest on hers and closed his eyes. “Oh my God, Sarah. I thought you were going to tell me that you wanted…him.”

Sarah’s mind went to Will, and admitting only to herself that she felt a sharp pang deep inside, and tried to remind herself that he too, had chosen to move on with someone else. She wondered if in the moment that he became engaged, if she had crossed his mind. She pulled herself up to her toes to reach Adley better and wrapped her arms around him. The time for wondering about Will, wondering what he was doing or thinking, was over. It was going to be a hard habit to break, but she knew if she were truly going to move on with Adley, she would have to. As he enveloped her with his strong arms and pulled her off the ground, she realized that this would probably be the most fun she ever had, breaking a habit.

Adley set her gently back down to the floor of the barn, but gave her no time to talk as he was suddenly pulling her in to meet his kiss. She parted her lips, and their tongues slowly and gently reunited. Adley pulled away and closed his eyes, “Sarah, I was afraid I would never feel that again.”

She smiled, completely understanding his fear, as she had wondered the same thing. But before she could speak, a blinding flash of light shot through the boards of the barn and an enormous clap of thunder shook the whole building. Sarah and Adley instinctively grabbed each other’s hands and crouched down to the floor. A torrent of rain began pounding on the tin roof as they looked at each other and laughed.

“That scared me half to death!” Sarah said covering her heart with her hand. “I’ve never been that close to lightening.”

“Yeah, me neither. That was crazy. But with a storm like this, I’d say we’re going to be here for a while,” Adley said as he pulled her in to his body.

“Don’t worry though, I’m sure I can think of some way for us to pass the time.” He smiled and Sarah immediately recognized it, and her heart kept the same pace that the bolt of lightening had produced.

“Oh, I don’t mind. I’ve always loved the sound of rain.” Sarah did her best to pretend that she had no idea what he was thinking about.

“Well then you’re going to love the sound of rain even more after tonight,” he said as he slowly kissed her neck.

“Oh? And why is that?” But Sarah was already finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on having a conversation.

“Because after tonight, the sound of rain will bring back memories of what I’m going to make you feel. You will hear the sound of rain, and you will remember my lips,” he paused to leave kisses down her neck and along her collar bone. “You will remember my hands,” he moved his hand down to her breast and slowly started to cup his hand around it. “You will remember my body,” he brought her hand to his body and squeezed her hand around the hard ridge that was bulging against his pants. “You will remember my body, giving your body more pleasure than you ever knew could exist.” He came crushing down on her mouth; the time for slow, gentle kisses was clearly over.

Sarah closed her eyes and gave in to his words and his actions. She didn’t know if she would fully give in to his intentions, but she would have time to decide that later. Right now, she wanted all of him. His lips, his hands, his body, were all a part of her plan to begin living, and right now, life was very good.

He took her hand and led her to the tall, wooden ladder that led to the hay loft. He helped up the first couple of rungs, then, followed closely behind until they reached the expansive top floor of the barn. The rain on the roof was almost deafening being this close to it, and Sarah was filled with even more exhilaration. She watched Adley go to the edge of the loft and come back with a large, white folded cloth.

“These drop cloths ought to work. I just picked them up to begin painting the house. But I guess they were meant for something else instead.” He smiled mischievously, and walked over to the big mound of hay and spread the cloth over it like a huge picnic blanket. He came back to Sarah, who had visibly begun to shiver. “Come here, let me warm you up.” He took her hand and helped her gingerly step onto the cloth. Sarah was amazed at the comfort and warmth of the haystack, and watched as Adley lay down on the cloth next to her. He pulled her on top of him and wrapped his arms around her. She shifted her body, but he held her tightly on him. “No, don’t move. I want to feel you on me. I want to feel every part of you on my body, Sarah.”

She moved her hips to be over his and whispered, “Are you always going to tell me what to do?”

“I hope so. Now stop talking and kiss me.”

She did as she was told and immediately felt his hands go to work. He rubbed up and down her back, and down to her hips to press her body harder into his. She could feel how hard he was, and for the first time, she could feel how well all of her body fit his; soft against hard. Her body came alive when he began tilting his hips up into her, as he clenched her butt cheeks in his hands and pressed her down onto him even harder. Sarah could feel herself becoming wet, her muscles constricting, and her hips began to move in sync with his.

He moaned low and deep into her mouth. “Do you know how much I want you right now? Can you feel me, begging to feel you, begging to be inside of you?”

Sarah didn’t want to talk, and she didn’t want to have to decide if now would be the time or not, for her to fully consent to Adley’s wants. She had always thought that she would wait until she was a married woman, but each time she was like this with Adley, that was becoming more and more less likely to happen. She knew that there might come a time when she could not resist his advances. More than that, she wondered if she would even want to resist.

But for now, under the flashing sky and rhythmic pounding on the roof, there was only this moment. She had declared her heart as Adley’s and all she wanted to do now was to prove to him that she was his. He had spared no effort in making her body succumb to wave after wave of ecstasy, and she was prepared to do the same for him.

She sat up and spread her legs to straddle over his hips. She pulled on the bottom of his shirt until she could feel the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips. He slowly rubbed the length of her arms as she twisted the button of his pants open, and slowly unzipped his zipper. She slid the waistband of his boxers down far enough to reveal the length of his shaft in its entirety. He raised his hips slightly, allowing his pants to be pulled down far enough for Sarah’s liking, and eliminating any hindrance to her mission. Only the occasional flicker of lightening provided a glimpse of Adley. His eyes were closed with his head slightly tilted back, and Sarah once again reveled in the control she could have over him. She ran her fingers over the ripples in his abdomen and he twitched at her touch. She brought her fingers down the trail that led to his waiting rod, and she caught her breath when the next blue flash of light revealed its glory of length and girth; that made Sarah’s body respond with a rush of warmth between her legs. She wrapped her fingers around him, and he tightened his grip on her arms. His breathing was becoming more and more erratic with every slide of her hand over his smooth, taut skin. She brought her finger over his tip, and found that it had already released its drops of warm liquid and was waiting for her to find it, and use it to her advantage.

Sarah slid her knees further down his body and he released her arms. She wedged her knees between his legs and put her hands around him once again. Slowly, she began her massage of him, tightening and loosening her grip, feeling how he reacted to each sensation.

“Your mouth,” he hoarsely whispered. “Put your beautiful mouth around me, Sarah.” Her heart pounded against her chest, wanting to comply with his demand. She stroked the length of him and his hips arched and flexed with building desire. She knew it was time to kiss Adley in such a way that he would know she was his. She leaned over him, her lips just barely grazing his swollen tip. He froze, and she heard him inhale and hold his breath. She moved just her lips over his sensitive skin, and felt a new drop come from him and slide over her lips. Circling her fingers around him, she pressed her lips against him, and slowly left a soft kiss just on his tip.

Adley sucked in a breath of air and his whole body tensed. “Sarah, oh my God. Your lips are so soft. Do you know what you’re doing to me?”

Sarah wasn’t certain what she was doing, but knew that whatever she did, Adley would take pleasure in. She was going to give him the gratification of being in her mouth, and it was indisputable what they would both remember the next time it rained. She bent over him, kissing his tip again. But instead of stopping there, she parted her lips to let him slowly enter her mouth. Adley moaned deeply and the sound of his voice vibrated through her. She used her tongue to encircle his tip, barely dipping along the ridge that seemed to become more and more pronounced with each sweep of her tongue. Adley’s hips began to flex and he moaned her name. She opened her mouth around him. Holding her position, she moved her tongue back and forth and around him with the slightest hint of sucking, pulling him further into her mouth. “Yes, Sarah,” he reassured her. “Just like that, baby.”