The Last Dance (5 page)

I shook those thoughts away and dialed him.

“Sorry, I had to use the restroom,” I said, the only decent excuse for my quick withdrawal. I was all for heavy conversation but I feared I couldn’t take much more, so I started where we left off on a light note.

“So tomorrow you and Bryce are going to cook a turkey?”

“I’m cooking one of four,” he said casually. “Thanksgiving is kind of ridiculous at my parents’.”

“Yeah, it will be the first one I’ve spent without mine, ever,” I said softly. “I wasn’t thinking about the holiday when I booked.”

“You do deserve to be there. You do deserve this break. Please tell me you are locking the house every time you go in and out?”

The worry in his voice gutted me. Fuck, I hadn’t thought about him having to worry about me, but I was touched that he was.

“I am, I promise. I actually carry mace with me everywhere. I get a little afraid sometimes, but it’s gated and I feel mostly safe here. I have a hard time some days. I’ll be honest, feeling safe was something I took for granted.”

“I’m sorry I brought it up,” he said, his voice low.

“No, I mean it’s valid. I’m in this big empty house, I didn’t think about how that would bother either of us. Honestly, I came to think about my next step, to get my shit together, but I kind of did that before I left. I’d stopped drinking as much, started working and working out,” I said, defeated. “I haven’t written one thing on my bucket list.” I sighed, getting out of the tub. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful here and I have a nice tan.”

“You ran away,” he stated firmly.

“I ran away,” I conceded. I was thankful when he let the subject drop.

“Tell me what you look like right now in the mirror.” His voice instantly put me on edge and made my pulse kick.

“Naked,” I said slowly. “You aren’t going to try to have phone sex with me, are you?”

“No, but if I was there right now...Fuck, the things I would do to that mouth and pussy.”

I was wet, so wet, and I’d already dried myself with a towel.

“Tell me one thing please,” I said breathlessly, feeling my pulse pick up as I watched myself aroused in the mirror.

“I would open you up and lick you smoothly, but only once, from bottom to top with my whole tongue.”

My nipples peaked with that one sentence.

“Okay, a little more,” I begged.

“I would hesitate, because you would be so close to coming. I would work around your clit then plunge my tongue inside of you so you wanted it more … but you wouldn’t have time to ask because as soon as you opened wider for me, I would lick your tip so fast and then drive my fingers in, fucking you until you came hard, closing your legs around my neck. You do that, you know? You close your legs around my neck and squeeze when you come.”

“More?”

“No.” His voice was firm. “Tell me what you are doing.”

“Watching my body respond to you. Should I touch?”

“That’s for me to do. Come back, I’ll do it all in that exact order.” His voice was heated and hungry.

“I will. I just...I hate that house now, Rhys. It’s not a home anymore. It’s a graveyard of bad shit. I think I just figured that out. I’m going to sell it.”

“I’ll show you where home is.” His voice was ragged and I knew he was just as turned on as I was.

“Rhys, I need you inside me so much,” I breathed.

“Fuck, come home now,” he commanded, no longer playful.

“I am. I’m packing. I swore if I could write one thing on my bucket list, something worthy of doing before I die, then I would come home.”

“What will you write?”

“ ‘Go back to Savannah’. I’ll call you with my flight info. No more unannounced visits.”

“Violet,” he paused.

“Yes,” I said, half packed and dying to get back to him.

“I’m in.”

I took a shuddering breath at his words as he paused. I wanted more, so I waited.

His voice was silky smooth as he spoke to me. “I know that’s what you are afraid of. I know why you ran. I should have told you about Bryce, but I wasn’t as sure then as I am now. I know this is all really soon and I know you will barely be divorced, but this is something we both know is worth taking the risk for. There’s no question of what’s going on here. Come back, come fall in love with my son like you want to. He will love you back. There are two men here that could really use you around.”

I sank to the bed next to my open suitcase. “I couldn’t handle falling in love and pushed aside like that again. I don’t think I can go through it again. And with you—with you, Rhys—I know how much it would hurt,” I admitted.

“I’m in.” Those two words were all I needed.

“Okay,” I said hoarsely.

“Okay.”

I hung up with him then called the airlines. I was scheduled to fly out first thing Friday morning, unable to get an earlier flight due to the holiday.

I quickly texted Rhys my flight info and told him I would be at his house by noon on Friday. I couldn’t handle hearing his voice any more tonight and not being with him. I went to sleep dreaming of two sets of grey eyes that held my heart.

R: I burnt my fucking turkey. How is that even possible? Don’t these things have to cook for hours?

V: I’m sorry. I just pissed in my bikini laughing at you. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

R: It’s only noon and this day is a disaster.

V: If it makes you feel better, I forgot to thaw my chicken and have to eat a frozen burrito.

R: No, it doesn’t. It makes me sad. There are three other turkeys left for us. I’ll save you some. We can have a picnic in bed.

V: A picnic in bed sounds kind of romantic.

R: I can be romantic. I can do one even better. I heard a song while I was cooking and thought of you.

V: Really? You have a song for me?

R: Yeah, with a kick ass guitar solo.

V: Uh huh. Send me the link.

R:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFAcjKnak1M

Oh God, I was pretty picky with my music. I sat staring at the link, wondering what kind of music he could possibly be thinking of me to. I bit the bullet and clicked the link and damn near had a heart attack on the beach.

The man was a fucking miracle.

It was Thanksgiving and I couldn’t get to him fast enough. Halloween—aka my birthday—had sucked as well. Christmas better damn well be good to me. After another day of sunbathing, I took to my favorite chair on the back deck and called my mother.

“Hi, Mom. Happy Thanksgiving,” I said, hoping she didn’t hear the sadness in my voice.

“Baby girl, I sure hope you are relaxing and enjoying yourself.”

“I am. It’s beautiful here, Mom,” I noted, staring at the ocean as the waves rolled in and the sun blazed in the background, making it’s descent.

“Good girl. Have you talked to Rhys?”

“Every day for hours. Mom, he’s wonderful, like a truly amazing person.” I felt my voice shake. Why the hell was I getting emotional?

“He is,” she agreed, waiting for more.

“He has a son. A baby named—”

“Bryce, I know, honey. He told me in the hospital. He showed me a picture. He’s got to be the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen, aside from you, of course.”

“Wait,” I interrupted, “you knew about his son?” My whole body came alive in a jolt as she confessed to me.

“Yes, he told me he hadn’t introduced you yet but would remedy that when you got home in one piece. That man is in love with you, Violet. I got to know him pretty well. It can happen when two people are worried sick and stuck in the same room together for hours.”

He’d told my mom, which meant he had every intention of telling me. My heart filled then burst.

“Mom, remember when you told me I didn’t need a man for anything?” The quiver in my voice returned, along with a burn in my throat.

“Of course.”

“I think I need him,” I said, wiping tears from my face. “That’s why I’m here. I can’t
stop
needing him.”

“Oh, baby, you are in love with him. You
want
him. But if you had to do it alone again, could you?”

“Yes…no…I don’t know. When it comes to him, he’s got me pretty good,” I said, burying my head in my free hand and trying desperately not to fall apart on the phone with her. She would only worry, when the truth was they were tears of relief.

“You are coming home early, aren’t you?” She was smiling. I could tell.

“Yes, Mom.”

“See you soon.”

V: I’ll be at your house in twenty minutes.

R: Jesus, did you just send me another picture of you half-naked on the beach?

V: I took it yesterday.

I got no response
.

My heart was pounding out of my chest. The entire plane ride all I could do was think about his smile, his laugh, his kiss, his touch. I knew so much more about him, and yet it seemed like useless details compared to … simply … the way we felt. When he and I were together the world fell away and I knew for certain this—
this
, what I was feeling right now—was the way you were supposed to feel when you fell in love. I pitied the previous me who had lived so long without it.

I all but ran through the airport, dragging my luggage like it was a nuisance. I couldn’t remember ever wanting someone this bad. I had proven to myself that I was capable of being alone the last year of being married to Alex.

Now the truth of it was, life was just much fucking better with Rhys.

I would do this for me. I would allow myself to be happy. I would take a chance with Rhys and I would do it afraid.

I parked on his pavers next to his sedan and flew up his steps, running my fingers through my hair.

Suddenly the door was open and there he was. My chest was rising and falling as I took Rhys in. His forearm rested against the jam and he was leaning casually as he studied me. I heard the song he sent me playing in the background and my eyes filled. God, I was gone on this man. He took me in from head to foot and I couldn’t move as he drowned me in a sea of grey.

“You’re becoming very cheesy and romantic,
Sir
,” I said, my voice raspy and breathless.

“What do you say we break the curse of these steps right now?” He took two steps forward and I was in his arms, his mouth covering mine with his kiss. We both moaned, desperately pulling and pushing with tongues and hands. And then I was in the air with my legs wrapped around him, holding on tight as he carried me into the house and up the stairs. As the music grew more intense, I buried my head in his neck, breathing him in. I had listened to the song at least a hundred times by now and felt every word. Soap and spice filled my nose and I moaned a hello as I welcomed it. He put me down on my feet at the top of the steps and stood back, taking off my shirt slowly. I stood with my breasts exposed and peaking for him as he slowly unbuttoned my jeans, keeping my eyes on his. My lips parted as he slid them down my legs along with my panties and removed my shoes. I waited naked before him as he perused my body. He cupped a breast and moved his hand slowly up to my face, tracing the scar under my eye with his thumb. I let a tear escape me as his thumb slid up and down my cheek gently. He moved his other hand to my face and pulled me to him, capturing my mouth, thrusting his tongue deep. My knees buckled and he caught me, hooking my legs with his arms and taking me to his bedroom. He laid me on the bed and spread my legs, eyeing my drenched middle as he pulled his shirt over his head with one hand. Moving slowly, he tugged his jeans and briefs down, and then I was covered by his sculpted chest and his broad shoulders and the face that had ruined me for all others. He slid his fingers inside me and I heard his groan. Grazing my clit lightly, his eyes filled with lust and I mourned the loss of his fingers as he pulled his hand away to remold and shape the contours of my body. His lips traced my front half, covering every inch of skin; then he turned me over and repeated his explorations with his lips and tongue. My limbs hummed as he turned me again, pulling me under him, spreading me out and massaging my thighs as he dipped his head and licked the divot in my neck. His tip was at my entrance and I gasped at the feel of him. He put my hand over his chest.

“This is home.”

With one thrust I was gasping his name. He moved inside me, grinding his thick cock so hard I dug my nails in his shoulders roughly, wrapping my legs around him tight as I pulled him deeper. He traced the scar on my neck with his lips as he circled his hips, making love to me slowly but with so much friction, I was on edge. I ran my hands over his chest and down his arms as he lifted me with his strokes, his eyes telling me everything.

“Rhys,” I whispered as his lips hovered above mine, my whole body shaking underneath him. He kissed me deeply, capturing the gasp from my orgasm and not letting me free. When my spasms subsided and he had no more breath to steal, he tore his mouth from mine. I looked up at him with everything in me and said the words that had been on the tip of my tongue that I could no longer keep inside. “I love you.”

He closed his eyes and came.

I had exhausted her last night before we finally took a bath together, passing out just before dawn. When I opened my eyes this morning, she had stolen my breath. I traced the curve of her hip with my fingertip. The scar on her cheek had healed so beautifully, if I didn’t know it was there, I might have missed it. The larger one on her neck was a beautiful shade of pink. I moved my fingers over it gently. I couldn’t stop touching her. Her tan lines had me hard again as I traced every single one. Her hair was a little lighter than it was the last time I saw her. Her breathing was sweet and even, passing through the most perfect set of lips possible on a woman. I knew she was sleeping well and had to resist with everything I had to keep from waking her. I trailed my finger around her nipple and it pulled tight for me. She moaned before her lips slowly formed a smile.

“You were faking?” I said, smiling down at her as her eyes fluttered open.

“Only for the last few minutes,” she whispered. I was instantly on her.

“You aren’t tired of me yet?” She grinned as she opened up for me, wrapping her legs around my hips, urging me to sink into her.

I looked down at her beneath me and pulled her bottom lip into my mouth as I mumbled around it. “I really hope you don’t have any other plans this weekend. Come here.”

I pushed my need away and sat with my back to the head board and pulled her onto my lap.

I placed her between my legs, facing away from me so I cradled her. Her breath hitched as I rubbed her nipples with my fingertips, burying my head in the side of her neck, tonguing it and pulling at the skin gently.

“Rhys,” she begged as I opened her legs between mine, lifting them at the knee. I smoothed her stomach with my hands then brushed her sides gently with the backs of my fingers. She tilted her head back and moaned as she looked up at me. I took her mouth, thrusting my tongue in slowly. She kissed me more aggressively and I dipped my finger low and felt her growing wet. I grabbed her hand and brought it between her legs, tracing the tip of her clit lightly back and forth with her fingers. She gasped in my mouth then pulled away.

“Rhys, I can’t,” she said as she attempted to pull her hand from my grasp. I kissed her deeply and brought it back down, dipping her fingers inside and pulling it back up to her clit, making slow circles and pressing it tightly just where I knew it affected her the most. She gasped again and I knew she’d felt it. Her breathing picked up as her perfect breasts rose and fell with her spike of desire.