Tested (27 page)

He bent forward, his tongue sneaking out to run up along the long length of her exposed neck. Every part of her was perfect, even the thin column that arched even more as he placed an open mouth kiss just beneath her ear. She was no longer shying away from him, giving him the first bit of hope he’d had since that last day in the eastern ghetto.

The hand on her stomach slid downward to her thigh, resting there for a moment to wait for any reaction that might say she wanted him to stop. Her only reaction was the quick intake of breath, and a slight shift of her hips that caused her bare bottom to rub against him. He groaned against her skin, kissing his way back down to her shoulder. His hand slid between her thighs, giving one a slight nudge so that she’d open to him.

She did so without any hesitation. The feel of her against his fingers had other parts of him throbbing in envy. He stroked her mercilessly until she was crying out, her entire body now arched as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her. Tyler nipped at her shoulder as he brought her back down until she was limp in his arms.

 He simply sat there, breathing her in as she nestled further against him. Had he ever felt so content? Tyler didn’t think so. If there was heaven, surely this was his. Not some place above the clouds, but anywhere this woman was.

Missy soon squirmed until Tyler dropped his arm away. She lifted off him, turning around in the tub so that her legs were on either side of his hips. He looked up into her eyes, bright and alive. He loved the way they sparked to life when she was aroused. Before he could prepare himself, Missy lowered herself over him until the entire length of him was buried inside her.

They both moaned loudly. His hands gripped her hips, keeping her still so he could get himself under control before he lost it and embarrassed himself. She rocked her hips back and forth until he finally released her, and she raised herself up and back down in a torturous rhythm. It wasn’t long before he could feel her inner walls begin to tremble as another climax built.

Tyler shifted his hips up as hers came down, splashing water over the sides of the tub. He didn’t care about the mess, only bringing them both to the utter heights of pleasure. They reached their climaxes together. Tyler pulled her mouth to his, swallowing each other’s cries. The kiss went on long after, neither one of them making a move to pull apart.

It wasn’t until the water grew cool that he finally suggested they get out. Wrapping her in a fluffy towel, he bent down and kissed the tip of her nose as she shivered, grinning. Tyler wrapped a towel around his waist and then swooped Missy up into his arms. She giggled as he made his way to his room, dropping her unceremoniously onto his bed. They weren’t going to be leaving this room for a while yet, if he had anything to do with it.

It wasn’t until close to dinner that they finally got up and dressed. Missy watched Tyler with a slight smile on her lips. She wasn’t sure if she would ever truly get over everything that had happened, but she knew if there was anyone that could help her heal, it was this man here. Already her heart felt more intact than it had for years.

Tyler must have felt her gaze, his head lifting to meet hers. He tilted his to the side, giving her a curious look. “What is it?” he asked.

Missy shrugged, pulling on her pants. “I’m just happy, I guess,” she replied.

His eyebrows shot up. “I’ve heard that before,” he mused. “You only
guess
now?” He prowled closer to her, causing her body to start to heat all over again. The look he got in his eyes made denying him impossible, even though she already felt as though she could sleep for months. “Perhaps I should do more to convince you,” he said darkly, wrapping his arms around her hips.

Missy laughed, linking her hands behind his neck. “I don’t need convincing. I’m happier than I’ve ever been, there’s no mistaking that.”

He smiled. “As am I, lovely. As am I.”

“So where do we go from here?” she asked, biting her lower lip.

“Nowhere if you keep that up,” he growled.

She gave him a light smack. “I’m serious, Tyler,” she said, her smile slipping. “What are we to each other?”

He breathed in deeply, letting it out in a slow release. “What are we to each other?” he repeated. “Well, I don’t know about you, but to me you are everything.” His hand lifted from her hip to stroke back her hair gently. “You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. You’re the only person I want by my side every second of every day. You, Missy, are the most important person in my life now. I will do everything and anything to make you happy, so long as you let me.”

Missy blinked back her tears as he stared down at her, his expression reflecting every word that left his mouth. She lifted up onto the tips of her toes and brought their mouths together, putting all her feelings into that one kiss. His hand gripped the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. All her senses were overpowered by this man, and now she knew it would always be him to sweep her off her feet and bring her happiness. When they pulled back, he kept their heads close, resting his forehead against hers.

“I love you, Tyler,” she whispered, her voice shaking.

“And I you, lass.”

“I hope you two cleaned up the floor in the bath,” Seamus said when they entered the kitchen. Pete slapped him on the back of the head just as Charlotte uttered a quiet “shut up, Seamus.”

Missy’s face burst into flames as some people looked their way knowingly, while the rest looked down at the table. Had they all heard them? She wanted to turn and run back into her room, but Tyler’s large body was blocking her way. That, and his palm landed firmly on her shoulder, keeping her in place.

“Not another word,” Tyler growled.

Seamus grinned. “She better get used to remarks now if she’s going to be joining you on your little plan,” he said.

Missy sensed Tyler stiffen behind her. “What plan?”

“Who said anything about her coming?” Tyler said, ignoring her.

“We all know there’s no way you’re going to be separated now,” Garrett said, rolling his eyes. “You’ve got that same look my brother and Roman have. There’s no sense in denying it.” He looked at Missy, giving her a wink. “I’d be happy to have little Missy as my wife.”

“Thank the Lord,” Sam muttered. “I wasn’t looking forward to the job.”

Garrett snorted. “Don’t lie to yourself, darling.”

Missy turned to face Tyler. “What are they talking about?” She knew Tyler was planning on going after her sister and Trent, but she didn’t realize there was an actual plan in place, or how she fit into it all. Not that she was going to complain, because she definitely had no intention of letting him out of her sight now.

Tyler must have seen the determination in her eyes, because his shoulders slumped in a way that said he knew he was fighting a losing battle. He sighed. “Garrett is going to pose as a head hunter and I’m going to pose as the fighter he picked up. Sam was going to come too and pretend to be his wife, but I guess that privilege now falls to you.” He looked over her shoulder at Garrett with a narrowed expression. “For pretend only. Any excessive touching and you’ll find out just how good of a fighter I really am now.”

The idea of going into another dangerous situation had her palms breaking out into a sweat, but she knew that this was something she
had
to do. Not only did she not want to be away from Tyler again, but this was
her
sister they were talking about. It meant more to Garrett and Missy than it would to Tyler, so it only made sense that the two of them go.

Missy nodded, her nerves settling as her resolve hardened. “When do we leave?”

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Brush Strokes

A Novel

One

Life imitates art far more than art imitates life – Oscar Wilde

Olivia

The blank canvas glared at me mockingly
. Go ahead
, it taunted.
Paint something
. I blew a piece of my bangs out of my eyes and sat back, the unused paintbrush dangling in my hands. What the hell was wrong with me? I’d been home for a week now and hadn’t been able to paint one thing. It was unheard of!

“You’re such an asshole, Olivia Banks.” I looked up to see my best friend, Ella, standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, mouth turned down in a frown. Her clear blue eyes narrowed as I met her gaze.

“Well hello to you too,” I said with an easy smile.

She sputtered, walking further into my room. “Don’t you ‘well hello to you too’ me! I just saw your mother down at Bulk Barn and
she
had to tell me that you’re home. And guess what?”

I knew what, but I played along. “What?”

“Seems you’ve been home for a
whole freakin’ week
! What the hell, Olive?”

I turned back to my yet-to-be-even-started painting and decided that it was useless. There was no way I’d get anything done with Ella here, not that I was getting far before she arrived. Placing the brush on the easel, I looked back at her, guilt sitting heavily in my stomach.

“I’m sorry,” I offered. She rolled her eyes, throwing herself down on the edge of my bed. “Look,” I started, “it really hasn’t been a whole week. I got home Saturday, and I’ve just been so busy unpacking and getting settled that I haven’t had time to call anyone.”

“It’s Saturday, Olive,” Ella replied in a bland voice. “So, yeah, it has been a whole week. And that excuse you just gave me? Complete bullshit. You’ve been gone now for two years, and when you finally come home you can’t take five minutes out of your ‘busy’ schedule to call your
best friend
?”

Okay. So she was mad. I got it. I’d be mad too if the situation was reversed. The truth was, I hadn’t been home for so long I was worried that things would be too different between us. Sure, we spoke on the phone off and on, and we’d send each other emails and cards for our birthdays and what not, but after being away for so long one would assume things would be a bit…I don’t know…awkward.

I’d been away at the best art school in the country for my sophomore and junior years. I felt – out of touch with things back home. And it was a small town, so being away for two years pretty much made you a leper in everyone’s books. I had no idea what was going on with most of the people I had grown up with. Well, except Ella. Damn. I really should have called her. Now I felt like an ass.

“I really am sorry,” I said, getting up to sit down beside her. “You have every right to be mad at me. I’m a terrible friend. I guess I was just afraid to see people again.”

She turned to look at me with her big eyes all round and puppy-dog-like. It was like a physical punch to my gut. I was used to that look, it had gotten us out of trouble countless times in the past, especially if it was one of our dads who was giving us crap. I don’t think any man with a beating heart could look at her sad face and not give in to her every whim. It was a talent really. I wish I had it.

“Even me?” she said with a small pout. I shrugged, speechless. “I’ve been waiting for forever to have you back, Olive. I’m so damn happy you’re here I want to crawl out onto your roof and scream it to the whole neighbourhood.”

“Please don’t do that,” I said quickly.

“Fine. The point is, we’re best friends, no matter how long we’ve been apart. You shouldn’t be scared or worried to see
me.
We’re BFF’s. That second ‘F’ stands for FOREVER, Olive. Forever. Got it?”

I laughed, hooking my arm around her neck and giving her a tight squeeze. How could I have ever thought it would be weird between us? It’s Ella. We’d been twin souls since she moved here in grade four and we both showed up the first day of school wearing the same purple dress with white polka dots. If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is.

Ella rested her head on my shoulder. “I’ve missed you, Ollie. Things were so lame without you here.”

“Aw, it couldn’t have been that bad.”

She sat up, cocking one eyebrow. Another one of her talents that I lacked. Damn my untalented eyebrows. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been dying here without you. You’re the only thing that keeps me sane half the time.”

“Then I’m not doing a very good job,” I teased.

“Ha ha. Seriously. I can’t wait for the first day of senior year when I get to walk into that school with you by my side again. I’ll finally be able to have real conversations with someone, instead of what sales are going on at the mall, and what colour of nail polish is in season. I swear to God, Olive, I’ve pictured killing Reagan so many different ways in my head, I’m afraid for her safety.”

“I’d actually love to hear some of those,” I said with a laugh. When Ella first told me she had become friends with the most popular girl in our school, Reagan Kennedy (no she’s not related, although she’d like people to think she is) I almost threw up. It had left a sour taste in my stomach and I ended up having one of my panic attacks that night when I went to bed. I was so scared Ella would turn into another one of Reagan’s robots that she wouldn’t be the same Ella I had grown up with. But thankfully the armour we built over the years of wit and intelligence stood against the mind-numbing stupidity that emanated from her and that whole group of girls.