Chapter 38
LENNON
The sun is setting when I pull up to the cemetery. I stick a small flashlight in my jacket pocket as I make the trek through the stones to find London’s. We had the one with my name moved over beside where London’s real one now rests.
I glance at it briefly. Part of me died with her…a big part that’ll stay buried with her here. The wind whips around me as I turn my attention back to her name etched in stone. London Skye Tyler.
“I know you’re physically here, London. But I feel closer to you pretty much everywhere else I am.
I guess it’s because we’ve always been one heart with two souls.
So, I carry you with me everywhere. I see you in the mirror.
I feel you at times as though you’re really standing beside me.
I hear your whisper in my dreams. I guess that means you might already know, but I wanted to come tell you in person, I won the race today. It was my big comeback race.”
I hear nothing but silence.
“Things seem to finally be getting back on track except for how much I miss you. It’ll never be okay for you to be gone.
You should be here with me. But somehow, winning this race made me realize I’ve got to at least try to keep my promise to you.
The one I made to live this life for both of us.
Hiding in the shadows of grief isn’t living.
It’s silencing both your voice and mine.
Since I’ve found mine again, yours can finally be heard again too. ”
I rub our bracelets on my wrist before saying, “Goodnight, London. I’ll be back soon. I love you.”
I wipe the tears from under my eyes as I make my way back to my car. But when I reach it, I realize I’m not out here alone. A man leans against my GTO waiting on my return.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
He stands upright from where he was leaning.
“You were right, Valkyrie. I do know you. That’s how I knew I’d find you here.”
I glance around the empty lot.
“I don’t understand how you got here,” I say.
“Audrey. She might like you more than she likes me,” he says with a smile.
“Why are you here, Dash?” I ask, still trying to figure out what’s going on.
He moves close to me and tips my chin up to meet his gaze.
“I can’t make myself stay away from you anymore, Lennon.” He takes my hand and presses it over his chest where I can feel his heart beating under my palm.
“I feel you in here, in this heart of mine, every second of every day. I haven’t been able to breathe without you.
I thought keeping you for myself, holding on to you would be selfish of me.
You deserve the world and so much more than me.
You and me, we’re fire and ice. You struck the match that I handed you, and you melted my heart with it. ”
I lean into his hand now cupping my cheek.
“You’re the world to me, Dash. You’re all I’ve ever wanted,” I tell him.
He smiles as he leans his forehead against mine.
“After all your memories returned and I learned my car was used to frame me for the accident, I thought you’d be better off without me.
I was afraid I’d hurt you even more if I stayed in your life because someone had already used me to do it once.
Then, I saw you with Hendrix and I couldn’t deny he’s the better man.
He could give you the life you deserve. Safety and happiness.
Not the danger of chasing a checkered flag like me. So, I stayed away,” he says.
“Hendrix and I are just friends, Dash. I care about him very deeply, yes, but not in the same way that I love you,” I admit.
“You didn’t sleep with him?” he asks.
“No. In full transparency, he did touch me…once. And you know we had kissed before I knew. But I never had sex with him. I couldn’t.”
Dash’s eyes close and he relaxes into me further.
“Did you…did you sleep with anyone since we…since me?” I ask, afraid to hear the answer.
“No, Valkyrie. When I told you my heart belonged to you, I meant it. There’s been no one else.”
“And the girl tonight? And the others you’ve been spotted with?” I ask.
He chuckles and I feel his breath whisper over my lips.
“Not a clue who she was. And the others were simply standing near me, not with me. You know how the media loves to twist an image for their own story,” he explains.
Tears fall down my cheeks and hit his hands still framing my face.
“Don’t cry, Valkyrie. I’d never break the pieces of your heart you’ve allowed me to keep,” he says as he kisses my forehead and then the tip of my nose.
“Don’t you understand, you’ve had every inch of my heart since the moment I said I love you. I never took it back and I never will,” I tell him.
He gently pulls my face up to crash his lips against mine. It feels like one of the final pieces of my heart just found it’s place again.
When he deepens the kiss with his tongue, a quiet moan escapes my lips.
He pulls back so we can catch our breath.
“I need you now, Valkyrie.”
“We can’t here. Let’s go to my place, it’s close,” I say.
With one more kiss, we pull away from each other to get in my car, and as I drive away with Dash beside me, I think of London telling me love always wins and I smile, hoping she’s right.
The front door to my house is kicked shut behind us as his lips only leave mine to pull his shirt over his head. Then, he’s back on me.
He backs me against the wall and kisses my neck causing chill bumps to erupt down my body along with the tightening of my nipples against my bra.
He stops again to help me out of my leather jacket and top leaving me in my bra and jeans. He kisses my lips again as he reaches around me to unclasp it, and it falls loose around my shoulders. He never misses a beat when he pulls it from my body.
He simply lifts me so that my breasts are level with his mouth. His lips close around one nipple and then the other as one hand holds me up and the other pops the button on my jeans before pulling down the zipper.
He lets me down just long enough to help me out of my jeans and panties, leaving me completely exposed to him. He stares at me for a moment as he unbuttons and unzips his jeans before he pulls them down just enough to let his hard length spring free.
He doesn’t waste any time; he slides his arms under my legs and lifts me up once more against the wall. I wrap my arms around his neck as he stares into my eyes. I kiss his lips and pull back just in time for him to slide inside my center.
He keeps me pinned to the wall as he thrusts in and out, working us both up to the edge. He kisses my lips again as I feel the waves of pleasure start to crash over me. He breaks the kiss.
“Let me hear you, Lennon. Don’t hold back,” he says gruffly, sounding like he’s barely hanging on.
A moan falls from my lips. “Oh, Dash, I love you. Don’t stop.”
He falls over the edge as a shiver rolls through me. He kisses my lips while still holding me in place as we both come back to earth and our breathing slows.
“I love you more, Valkyrie.”