20. Dove
We had so much fun last night. It was hard watching Reighvyn in that ring fighting, because I winced every time he took a hit or a kick. In the last two rounds, he dominated, and it was like watching a different person. He became a beast.
I thought about what he once told me when we were on the island for that month.
He’d said that all his aggression throughout his childhood for the abuse and neglect he’d suffered, the humiliation and taunts from other children, and the lonely ache of missing his mother, he released it in the ring.
I saw that tonight. I guessed that was why he was undefeated as well.
Despite the aggression and brutality of the sport, there was also a certain calmness Reighvyn radiated in the ring. Every move was implemented with methodical self-discipline, calculated control, and flawless execution.
After the fight and our initial reunion, he had taken us to Prime Steakhouse in the Bellagio. We had gambled at the casino and enjoyed ourselves until we all staggered back into our rooms at three this morning.
“It’s the most beautiful sunset that I’ve ever seen.”
I turned around at the sound of Reighvyn’s raspy, sleep-ridden voice behind me.
“Good morning,” I greeted with a smile. I had been on the balcony of our hotel suite watching the sun rise and thinking about Reighvyn and me when he joined me.
“Good morning. What are you doing up so early? You’ve been asleep less than four hours,” he stated, folding me into his embrace.
I sighed and relaxed against him, basking in the comfort he gave. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Why not?” He wrapped me in his arms.
“I’m still so angry at you, Reigh. This was just like how you gradually disappeared from my life when you dropped out of college. Why didn’t you contact me while you were away? Why did you stop taking my calls?”
I couldn’t help the tears that fell down my face.
“I was wrong, but it was something that I needed to do.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t understand why. If it wasn’t for Paloma, I would have thought that you’d given up on me. That hurt me, Reigh.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, baby. After I called and told you that I arrived and talking to you those first few days, I knew that I needed some space and time to gather my thoughts and clear my heart.”
“Of what?”
“Mama.”
“Paloma said you went.” I sniffled and wiped my eyes.
“I’ve always avoided seeing her before a fight. I should’ve this time, too, but I needed to face her before moving on with you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m ready to move on with my life and be happy.
I spent years trying to chase an idea in my head, an idea of what my mama would look like healthy and mentally strong.
I found so many similarities between her and Daniella that I embraced it.
Ella’s distant, nonchalant attitude drew me in.
I needed to separate that from my mind and heart this time.
I needed to release the idea and accept that Mama is and will always be sick.
Letting go of the fantasy was the only way that I could move forward in a healthy manner.
“I needed time to grieve the loss of my ideas about Mama, and I needed to truly grieve the loss of Ella. I spent five years with that woman, thinking that I would change her in time and make her my wife. The entire time I was at camp, I was angry and depressed. I rocked back and forth between the two emotions the whole time I was there. You deserved better than that.”
“I deserved a phone call.”
“You did, baby. I swear that I’ll never do that to you again. Please forgive me and give me a second chance.”
“I’ve already forgiven you, and there’s no need for a second chance, when you never lost the first one.
I stayed by your side, and I hung in here because I love and believe in you.
When Lo told me that you’d gone to visit your mama before leaving, I kind of thought that was what you were going through, but I wasn’t sure.
It would have been nice to have a conversation about it, Reigh.
“I mean, I haven’t forgotten how hard it was when you were living with the Reeds, and your mama would come for supervised visits; it took its toll on you.
When you were a little kid, you would cry endlessly for days after her supervised visits.
When we got to middle school, you would always get into fights after her visits.
By the time we were in high school, you withdrew from the world and shut everyone out.
“I used to hate whenever y’all had to see her, but in our adult years, I understand that not only is it necessary, but you have to work through your feelings about it.
If I can’t be here to help you through that, then at least give me the option to pray for you.
Please don’t shut me out again. I don’t want that for us, Reigh. ”
He squeezed me, and when he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion.
“I swear that I won’t. God, what did I do to deserve you?”
He released me and stared down into my eyes.
“How did that make you feel—seeing her again?” I asked.
He cleared his throat before he spoke.
“I experienced so many emotions. My heart broke, it rejoiced, and it was bitter. She looked healthier and happier than I had seen her in a long while. A part of me resented that she didn’t fight that hard to stay on her meds, stay in therapy, and get all the help she could for herself on our behalf when we were kids.
The other part of me wondered when she would disappear again.
“It made me think about all the years I spent with Daniella, seeking what Mama couldn’t give to me, and then it made me question my relationship with you. I wondered if I was still trying to replace Mama with love, and then I wondered if I would ever have a healthy relationship.”
I reached up and wiped the tears that streamed from his eyes. I could not understand that depth of pain when I had two parents who fiercely loved my sister and me and protected us with their very lives.
“How do you feel now?”
“I’m good. Well, I’m as good as I can be.
I’ve moved to a state of acceptance. This is what life will be like with her, and there isn’t a damn thing that I can do to change it.
That part makes me feel helpless and sad, but I’m glad that she’s trying for however long she decides to try. I’ll accept that over defeat.”
“That’s good. All you can do, baby, is take it one day at a time.”
“I’m so sorry that I hurt you, Dove. I thought being around you, talking to you when I was like that would hurt you even more. I wanted time to deal with everything that I held within so that I could move forward in my future with you without regrets.”
“Just never push me out again. I hated that when we were kids. I’m here. If no one else understands how it hurts you, I do. I’ve seen it for years. Please let me in. Please let me love you.”
“Always,” he whispered and kissed my lips.
“Speaking of dealing with things, I did the same. I called Neal’s wife and apologized to her.”
“Word? How did she take that?”
“She wasn’t happy to hear from me, obviously, but she was grateful that something positive came from her learning about us. She said that she realized that he’d been having affairs before me, and she hoped I never experienced the type of hurt that I brought her.”
Reighvyn lifted my chin and stared into my eyes. “You never will experience that type of hurt, baby. Not as long as your heart is my responsibility. I will always handle it with care. You can bet on that shit.”
I kissed him deeply, and he lifted me into his arms and carried me from the balcony back into our suite.
Reighvyn carefully pulled back my robe, and he stared at my body as though it were his first time seeing it. He bit his bottom lip as his eyelids lowered. “Mm-mm-mm,” he mumbled in a low, sexy voice.
He lowered his head and kissed me sweetly before he pressed those same tender kisses all over my face, neck, shoulders, and breasts.
He planted unhurried kisses on my arms and belly before he lowered to his knees and kissed down my legs, even to the soles of my feet. I swear there wasn’t an inch of my body that he didn’t kiss, especially considering that he circled behind me to kiss me all over the back of my body as well.
When he returned to the front, he placed me on the bed and spread my legs wide.
The attentive kisses he placed on my pussy had my toes curling and my teeth bared.
I gripped the sheets as I struggled hard not to rip them from the bed.
All the while, my hips and ass jerked upward with a mind of their own, wanting more of his kisses, more of his sucking, more of his fingers, more of everything.
He used all those things to gently coax me to a tumultuous orgasm that left me torn in two.
When he finished, he climbed between my legs and spread them before him.
I welcomed his erection into my body, stretching me wide, filling me up, and leaving no room for the next breath, let alone anything else.
I was out of my mind with pleasurable delirium as Reighvyn shifted in and out of me, taking me with ease and control.
His hands worked their way over my body, lips brought a sweet sensation everywhere they kissed, and his dick turned my body inside out.
He dominated my body like he dominated men in the ring.
I underestimated what was first perceived as gentle and tender because it quickly became more passionate, more aggressive, and more dominant as he gave and took and then took some more.
I had no complaints. He was making up for what we’d missed out on over the last several weeks, and I wanted even more. I shifted my legs up and hooked them over his shoulders. I felt like I would be split in half, yet I still begged for more.
He flipped me over onto my hands and knees and transitioned lovemaking into pure, hardcore fucking. Tears seeped from my eyes, and I was grateful to connect with him the way that we had.
“Damn, you feel so good, Reigh.”
“Not half as good as you, li’l bit. Swear I can’t get enough of this good pussy,” he grunted through clenched teeth as he rocked hard up inside of me.
He lifted one of my legs and stroked slow and deep, but the angle allowed him to hit curves that I wasn’t prepared for, and he knocked the breath out of me.
The moment that he did, I swear that it must have unlocked something in both of us, because he sped up like a wild man, and I squirted all over his dick like crazy.
“Gahdamn, this pussy leaking like a broken faucet. I love this shit.” He roared as he slammed into me repeatedly and smacked my ass a couple of times.
It wasn’t much longer after that when I felt him releasing inside of me.
I was thankful because I doubted that I would be able to hang in there with him much longer the way he was tearing into my body.
We collapsed side by side and stared into each other’s eyes as we tried to regain our breathing.
“You miss me much?” I teased, recalling his words from yesterday.
He chuckled. “Can you tell?”
I laughed and pinched my thumb and index finger together. “Just a bit.”