Chapter 33
I’m not sure I know how to say goodbye to her. -Brian
Brian
I brace my arms around her, holding onto the railing of the riverboat. The lights of Savannah twinkle in the distance and there’s a raucous from the people celebrating the coming New Year’s behind us. But here, where my arms surround her, it’s just the two of us.
She leans back into me. “This was the best New Year’s surprise. I love it.”
Dinner, dancing, this cruise…I wanted her to have the time of her life tonight and forget the deadline looming in front of us.
“I was hopeful.” I kiss the top of her head. “What’s your New Year’s wish, Reina?”
She turns in my arms and looks up at me. Her dark eyes swirl with so much emotion that I almost forget to breathe. I still haven’t gotten used to the way she looks at me sometimes, like I’m her everything. Somehow, I’ve charmed this cynical girl and I don’t want to let her go.
“For you not to go, and for things to stay this way forever,” she says softly.
“Fuck, Reina, I wish I could. But…”
She places a finger on my lips. Her mouth curves up in a sad smile. “I know you don’t have a choice. But that would be my wish if you know, like a blue genie showed up or something.”
I look around us. “Nope, no blue genie. Just a guy in a blue suit using one of the poles on here as a pretend stripper pole.”
Her head whips around and I laugh.
“Made you look,” I say and nuzzle into her neck.
She gives me a light slap on the chest. “You’re such a dork.”
“Your dork?” I question.
“Of course,” she says and kisses me lightly on the forehead.
“Ten, nine, eight…” The other people crowded onto the boat are starting to yell the countdown.
“Shit, how did we miss that?” I ask.
I pull back and we stare into each other’s eyes as we countdown to the New Year. When we kiss at the stroke of midnight, it feels like a promise between us, the best kind of promise. That this year will be the first of many to be together.
An hour later, we stumble into the hotel room I purchased for the night. We’re both more than a little tipsy.
She attacks the buttons on my shirt with a fervor that makes me laugh. “Reina, slow down. We have all night.”
She growls. “You’ve been in this white shirt all night, and all I’ve wanted to do was rip it off. Give me a break.”
I chuckle and spread my arms wide. “Tear away, princess. I’m all yours.”
So, she does, buttons flying. Her frantic pace spurs on my own. I push down the straps of her red dress and it falls to her feet. She’s wearing absolutely nothing underneath.
“Fuck, are you telling me that you were walking around all night with nothing underneath there?” I ask in a garbled voice. I’m not sure I can speak clearly right now. Speech feels incredibly overrated right now.
She pushes down my pants and palms my length in her head. “Yep, and I’ve been dying all night for you to get your hands underneath this damn dress.”
“Fuck me,” I breathe.
She pushes my boxers down and wraps her hand around my hard cock. “No, fuck me, Brian,” she growls.
“Not a problem,” I reply and walk her back towards the bed.
She falls back onto it and looks at me with a cocky smile. “I want you to take me from behind so I can feel you deep. I want to feel everything.”
“Fuuuck.” Yep, not capable of real speech right now.
She turns over and gets on all fours, wiggling her butt in front of me.
I slap it and she moans. I grin as the redness from my hand spreads, and I slap her butt cheek again. She squeals and I cup her mound.
Damn, she’s so wet. Perhaps I should have tried the spanking thing before?
I find my voice again. “Damn, so fuckin’ wet baby. So wet for me.”
She looks over her shoulder at me. “Fuck me now. I’m dying, Bri. Fuck me hard.”
She wiggles her ass and I decide now is not the time for slow. Now is the time to get inside my girl.
I push my fingers in her, making sure she’s completely ready. She’s dripping, and the anticipation of getting inside her is almost too much for me. My cock is leaking, craving her warmth.
The first push inside of her is such a rush that I feel light-headed. She moans long and hard. I pull out of her, loving the fact that I can see her juices on my length. I ram in and out of her, setting a fast pace. Reina loves it.
“Harder, Brian, harder,” she moans. I unleash everything, feeling my balls slap against her ass as I drive into her.
I slap her ass again and the growl she lets out is fierce. “Turn over, Reina. Please,” I add.
For some reason, I want to see her face as she comes this time. I want to look at her and know I did that. As hot as this is, I want her to see that it’s me she’s fucking.
She turns over and looks up at me. I crush my mouth down on hers. “Had to see my princess,” I say in between kisses.
I push inside of her again, feeling her close tightly around me. Her hips strain up and I know she’s close to coming, that she was already so close before. All it takes is one swipe of my finger at her most sensitive spot and she’s coming, spreading her sweet cream all over my cock as I pull out of her and thrust inside of her again.
I look down at her flushed face and closed eyes. “Reina, look at me,” I order. Her eyes snap open.
Those damn dark eyes. The sight of them watching me with so much passion and adoration pushes me over the edge. I release everything I have inside of her. When I finally pull away from her, I watch in satisfaction as my release trickles down the inside of her thighs.
She watches me with a lazy smile. “You know that’s kind of gross, right?” she teases. “We’re a mess.”
I send her a wolfish grin. “I like seeing me all over you.”
That night, as she drifts off, I hold her close and wonder how the hell I’m going to say goodbye in two days.
Two days later, I stand in front of Hartsfield with Reina and my sister. I said goodbye to my mom the day before. That was hard enough. This feels freakin’ impossible.
Reina didn’t want to come inside the airport. She says she’s seen way too many romance movies with people running through airports to say bye or some such shit. She tells me that she would just rather have a dignified farewell from the busy sidewalk, so it doesn’t really feel like goodbye. I don’t totally get it, but I decide to let her have her way.
My sister dodges a guy pushing a cart and steps to the side. “I’ll just let you guys have a few minutes.”
“Thanks, sis,” I say and turn to face my girl.
Her eyes are downcast and she’s examining her shoes with way too much care. I know she’s doing everything she can to hold it together and I am too.
I tip her chin up. “Hey, this isn’t goodbye, right? I’ll be back. And when I do come back, it’ll be for good.”
Her brown eyes are luminous with a sheen of tears that sends pangs of guilt straight to my heart.
“I know. I know you’ll be back. It’s just scary.” She shrugs and then smirks, “Maybe I’m just used to regular sex now. What am I going to do without you now?”
I pull her into my arms and kiss her temple. “We have our letters, princess. I’ll write all the time. And put as much dirty stuff in there as I can. I promise.” I give a dry chuckle and tighten my arms around her. “We’re going to make it through this. And then we’ll have forever.”
She snuggles into me and kisses the side of my neck. “And then we’ll have forever.”
“Bri, I think you need to check in. We’re running a little behind,” Sophie interrupts looking guilty and anxious.
“Yeah, I got you sis.” I kiss Reina’s forehead again and then pull back.
“I love you so damn much,” I whisper.
“I love you, too, soldier boy,” she murmurs.
I give her one hard kiss and then turn to go.
I look behind me as I’m opening the double doors to go in. She stands there, looking lost and so very, very sad. I open my mouth to say something else, but then close it. I don’t have anything. Nothing profound. No words of wisdom. This just sucks.
Sophie wishes me goodbye at the entrance to security. “Be safe, brother,” she mutters, “come back in one piece and don’t do anything stupid.”
I give her a tight hug and then let go. I gulp when I realize that time has come again. The time to leave the familiar and go back to a world where my future is unsure, where every day is not promised and the people I love most are an ocean away.
“Brian! Wait! Brian!” My head flies up at my name being shouted by a very familiar voice.
I swing around to see Reina running through the airport like a crazy person. My face splits into an easy grin.
I barely manage to catch her when she launches herself at me. Her long legs wrap around my waist. She rains kisses on my face, and I barely manage to keep up.
“What happened to not making a big fuss? And not running through the airport like a crazy person?” I ask when she finally stops kissing me.
She pulls back. “I was an idiot. You’re worth running for. You’re so worth it. I love you, soldier boy. Love you so damn much.”
I kiss her, tangling our tongues together in a rough kiss that is probably not suitable for public viewing, but feeling no shame about it. This woman.
“I love you, princess,” I whisper when we finally pull apart.
I put her down and she gives me one last lingering kiss. “You can go now. I don’t want you to. But you can.” She grins and her eyes still glitter with a trace of tears.
“I’ll write you, Reina. I’ll write you all the damn time.”