Chapter 20 #2
My pulse climbs as I listen to the lyrics Elodie wrote about my daughter, echoing her sentiment that she spoke to me about a few weeks ago—how my little girl has made her see the world differently, and how she worries Remy won’t remember her because she’s so young.
That sting of tears returns because I don’t want Elodie to be someone that only exists in my memory. I want my daughter to know her too, to be raised by her, to look up to her, and run to her when she needs a woman to talk to.
Sure, she’d have Dilynne and Laney, but this little girl deserves a mom and a dad. She deserves the life I didn’t have.
Meghan didn’t want her, but I think Elodie just might.
When Elodie finishes, Laney is wiping tears from under her eyes and glances over at me. “Wow,” she mouths and all I can do is nod.
“Thank you, everyone,” Elodie says before reaching for her guitar and strumming the chords to another song she wrote when she was in college about following your heart. When she’s done with that one, I check the time on my watch and note that she’s got to be toward the end of her set.
“So unfortunately, our time together is coming to an end, but there’s one more song I’d love to play for you.
You okay with that?” The crowd cheers and I draw the blanket tighter around Remy to ward off the cold.
“Perfect. This one doesn’t need an explanation because the lyrics speak for themselves. It’s called, ‘On Borrowed Time.’”
Goosebumps break out on my skin under the layers of my coat, but not from the cold.
No.
It’s from listening to this woman tell me in a song everything I’ve been feeling since she crashed into my life.
Your eyes say more than your mouth,
Your touch says more than your eyes,
And each time you look at me,
All I can think about is our inevitable goodbye.
But what if this didn’t have an end?
What if you decided to let me in?
I know you can be that man,
You just have to want it.
I know that you’re scared,
Because I’m scared too.
You have the power to destroy me,
And I can do the same to you.
But we can be scared together,
Life can change on a dime,
Or are these feelings only fleeting?
Because we’re on borrowed time?
***
“Fuck, you were incredible.” My words are barely audible as I mumble against Elodie’s lips, leading her to my bedroom after putting Remy to bed in her crib. That little girl passed out the second we started driving back to my house, and at this moment, I’m extremely grateful for that.
“Thank you.”
“Seriously, Elodie. I couldn’t take my eyes off you,” I say as I lift her sweater and throw it to the other side of the room before dropping my lips to her neck and kissing her sensitive skin.
“I know. I could feel your eyes on me.”
“I didn’t want to look away.” When I lift my eyes and meet hers, those gray orbs hypnotize me. Leaning my forehead against hers, I let out a shaky breath. “Fuck, there’s so much I want to say to you.”
“We can talk later,” she says before bringing her lips back to mine, telling me that she needs our physical connection right now more than anything. “I just want to be with you right now.” She palms me through my jeans.
“Damn, baby. I need you too.” We make quick work of our clothes and then I’m crawling across the bed, hovering over her while testing her wetness with my fingers.
She swallows roughly. “Henley, I’m on the pill and I—” She pauses before saying, “I really don’t want anything between us tonight.”
I grow even harder from her request. “Jesus, are you sure, El?”
Her nod is confident as she reaches for my cock and strokes the entire length. “Yes. Please…”
I look down to where we’re about to be joined as I drag the head of my cock through her slit. “You’re gonna feel every inch of me tonight, sweetheart.”
She pushes her arms above her head, reaching for the metal bars on the top of my headboard, her breasts rising as her back bows. “That’s exactly what I want.”
Without another moment of hesitation, I line myself up to her entrance and push forward, watching her stretch around me, feeling her silky heat envelop my cock in one of the most intense sexual experiences of my life. “Fucccckkkk…”
“Holy shit,” she moans, pushing herself up on her elbows to watch the juncture between her legs where we’re joined. “It’s so good, so different, so...”
I reach down and rub her clit softly with my thumb. “You feel incredible, baby. So fucking wet.” I bend my head toward hers and capture her lips, continuing to rub her clit and trying to focus on anything but how exquisite she feels.
I’ve never been bare with a woman before.
But none of them have been her.
Her legs start to quiver as her orgasm blooms. Her breaths grow shallow and her eyes close tight as I keep up my relentless pace. “Henley, I’m—”
“Fall apart for me, baby.” She breaks and tweaks her nipples as she does before I lean down, bat her hand away, and take her nipple into my mouth instead. “Goddamn, you’re even wetter now.”
“I—I can’t catch my breath.”
I press our foreheads together. “Stay with me, El. Keep letting me make you feel good.”
“You always do.”
With each flick of my hips, the woman beneath me writhes and meets my thrusts, egging me on, encouraging me to fuck her harder and deeper, edging us both until I can’t hold back any longer.
“Fuck, baby. I can’t hold back anymore.”
“Come for me then, Henley.” She lines her lips up to my ear. “Fill me.”
“Ah, shit,” I groan as the first spurt of cum leaves my body. I keep pumping through my orgasm and Elodie finds her second one, clenching tightly and fluttering all around me.
By the time we’re both done, I’ve collapsed on top of her. “Jesus.”
“Henley…” Her lips meet my ear. “Thank you.”
I lift my head to meet her eyes. “No, thank you. Fuck, El. I—”
Her yawn cuts me off. “I’m so tired. Can we talk in the morning?”
Pressing my lips to hers, I pull out of her slowly, watching my cum seep out of her pussy as I lean back. “Yeah, baby. That’s fine.”
And as we lie in bed together and drift off to sleep, I decide that our date on Tuesday is when I’ll lay everything out there. I’ll tell her how I feel, that I want her to stay, and that I want to make this work.
But I should have seen the writing on the wall—our time was borrowed.
And one phone call was about to prove it.