Chapter 7 #2
Her laugh bounced in the air, streaking to my chest and seizing it. I pushed her against the wall and looked into her eyes. Sultry and dark, the hazel shifted to hues of chestnut and gold.
“I love you, Olivia. Don’t ever stop laughing or wearing pink.”
She giggled, grabbing my face with her hands. “And I love you, Hudson. Don’t ever stop making me laugh.”
“I promise if you do.”
“I promise.” Her eyes searched mine before she pulled my face to hers. That kiss. How could I describe that kiss? It reached into the furthest recesses of my being and laid claim on them. Searing her name in the caverns of my heart and clamping a collar on my soul that stated her ownership of it.
Her touch scorched me. Her moan threatened to break me.
We had yet to go all the way. Not that I didn’t want to, but she was delicate, and I was her safety, something I’d discovered when she’d returned from fall break.
It had taken two days for her to return to the girl who pierced me with her laughter and broke me with the mere flick of her lashes.
I didn’t want to risk hurting her or damaging what we had.
I wanted to always be her island, the safe arms that would keep whatever hurt her at home away.
Every part of me screamed to push her and find out what it was that turned her mood, that brought the depths of sadness to her eyes that wounded me, but I knew she’d tell me when she was ready.
Or perhaps she never would because bringing that into what we had made her fearful of losing it.
No matter what, I would continue to be her shelter.
And that was why I hadn’t pressed her to have sex. I was her protector, and nothing I did would ever risk that position.
But her kisses turned more desperate, hungry, and I knew if I didn’t stop now, I’d need to excuse myself and finish off in the bathroom.
She worked me up so much that it had become the norm.
It wasn’t like we hadn’t fooled around, that I hadn’t touched every inch of her body or she hadn’t used that amazing mouth to ease my discomfort. But we hadn’t taken the final step.
I brought my hand to the wall, breaking our kiss and only then noticing the tiny thong that left most of her ass bare under my other hand where I was holding her.
Breathless, she searched my eyes. “Don’t stop, Hudson.”
My heart thundered as my eyes bounced between hers. I stepped back against her, shifting her body so that I couldn’t ignore her heat pulsing through my pants. She tightened her legs, pressing me further into her, and I groaned. “You sure?”
She nodded, her consent doing something to me. Shit, everything she did unleashed some part of me I didn’t recognize. Calling her a good girl as her eyes looked up at me, all kinds of commands filling my mind as I jerked off to images of her.
I brushed my lips over her freckles, dropping my mouth to her ear. “You want me to fuck you, Olivia?”
Her shiver was rewarding, and I brought my hand up her neck and threaded it into her hair, taking a chunk and pulling her head back. “Be a good girl and tell me how bad you want it, honey.”
A shudder wracked her body, and I glanced down to see her nipples taut against the fabric of her dress.
“Desperately,” she breathed, and that was the consent I needed.
I slammed my lips against hers as all hold on my control shattered with that word. Tearing the dress from her, I vowed to keep her in pink for the remainder of our lives as I walked her into my room.
“Hudson?”
Olivia sat across from me in the diner booth, the mature, gorgeous woman she’d become with amber eyes that studied me too keenly, as if she had seen into my mind.
Seen the memory that had taken me hostage.
The fork was still hanging in front of my mouth, my grip on it as hard as the bulge in my pants.
I didn’t know how I was going to hide that.
I stuffed the egg in my mouth, looking down at my food.
“So what do you think about the property?” I asked, hating to turn the conversation to something that would force her mask back into place, but knowing if I didn’t, I would continue to slip under her spell.
For fifteen years I’d fought her hold and failed.
I couldn’t fail now because I suspected if I did, she would devastate me to the point that my heart would cease to function.
It barely did now. Another dose of Olivia Icinda would certainly unravel it completely.
She stayed quiet, and I peeked up at her, seeing how she was observing me.
“And eat some fucking food,” I groused.
The mask slipped back into place, her brows cinching. She picked her fork up and sliced an egg with the force of someone cutting through bone, her eyes not leaving mine as she shoved a bite into her mouth. A low moan escaped her, snapping toward me and making my pants even more uncomfortable.
“These are so…” She shoved another piece in her mouth, and my eyes followed her tongue as she licked her lips. “Good.”
“Butter and fat will do that,” I said. “You should try it more often.”
“I’d need to up my Pilates to five days a week if I ate like this all the time.”
“What do you need that fancy shit for?”
“To maintain my figure. Geez, you’re as bad as Gabe.”
“Sounds like a smart man. There’s nothing wrong with your figure except that you need to gain a few pounds.
You look like I could snap you in half.” She froze, her lips parting, and I wanted to kick myself for the words because damn if I didn’t want to be in that position with her under me and my massive body eclipsing hers.
I dropped my fork and sat back, grabbing a piece of toast and a packet of jelly.
I needed to stop, and she needed to be out of my sight.
Too many years of burying my desire for her with reminders of how much I hated her were crumbling to reveal that the depth of that desire was a well that couldn’t be filled.
Just like the love that refused to fade even after I locked it away.
I would always love her; I’d known that the day I met her.
And no amount of convincing myself otherwise had succeeded in changing that.
Her eyes flitted to the jelly as I smeared it on my toast.
“What is that?” she asked, her nose crinkled.
“You’re kidding, right?” I stuffed a piece into my mouth and took a big bite.
“No.” She picked a packet up and turned it around in her hands. I tried to think back to our time together. We’d gone out to eat, but mostly fast food or places on campus. Maybe we’d never gone out for breakfast. But how did she not know what jelly was?
“It’s jelly,” I said between chews.
“I see that,” she replied with a huff. “It’s just not in a fancy jar or scooped into a glass bowl.”
“Seriously? You need to get out more.”
“I get out. I eat out most days unless I order room service.”
My brow lifted. “Room service?”
She dropped the packet like holding it longer would give her some disease. “Yes, the kitchen prepares my food when I want them to.” I continued to stare at her. “I live at the hotel we own.” She said it like I was an idiot for not knowing.
I set my toast on my plate and folded my arms. “Let me get this straight. You live in a hotel, never have a home-cooked meal, drink fancy coffees, and go to Pilates instead of traveling. Do you ever do anything fun?”
“Do you?” she snapped.
I slammed my mouth shut, searching for the answer and realizing I didn’t.
“The ranch takes a lot of time,” I grumbled.
“Well, running a billion-dollar company takes a lot of time.”
“But you don’t run it. Your father does.”
“Actually, my brother does. Another long story. But I’m the COO.”
“Who probably complains when she has to get up early,” I teased.
“I have a very important job.”
“Mm hm,” I said, taking another bite of toast.
I could almost hear her teeth grinding, she looked so angry.
“Don’t you dare diminish what I do.”
Fire. That was another thing I loved about Olivia.
She may have been fragile, but she had fire and pride.
She had been a straight-A student, graduated top of her class, smarter than anyone I knew, and proud of it.
It had always seemed she was proving that to someone, and that was why she worked so hard.
“I wouldn’t dare. But when you worry about chipping a nail, check your lip gloss, and complain about how you can’t get some fancy yogurt…” Her lips thinned further, “…it demeans how intelligent and amazing you are.”
And there I went, vomiting out words that needed to stay put.
She blinked, her brows furrowing, and I could see her mind working. The subtle shifts of emotion I recognized from when we were young. A moment I wasn’t privy to, where she was battling something I couldn’t see.
“Can I refill your coffee?” Jessie asked, causing Olivia to jump.
“No thanks,” I said. “I’ll just take the check.”
That woke Olivia up. She reached into her bag, pulling out her wallet.
“What are you doing?” I asked, the words coming out with a growl I hadn’t intended.
“I’ll just leave this here,” Jessie said, placing the bill on the table.
I snatched it as Olivia threw daggers at me.
“I never let you pay,” I said. “You should remember at least that much.”
She slammed her black credit card on the table.
“I remember a lot,” she said.
“Then you’ll remember I pay the bill.” I pushed the card back to her and grabbed my wallet as I stood. “Clear more of that plate like a good girl while I pay.”
I turned my back on her and stormed to the register where Jessie was waiting, an amused grin on her face.
“Good girl?” she asked as I handed her two twenties. “That’s a new one.”
“It’s not, and it’s hers,” I blurted before I could stop myself. Her brow quirked, that twinkle returning to her eyes. “Just take the damn cash.”
“It’s too much,” she said as I stalked back to the table.
“Keep the change.” I snatched my jacket and held Olivia’s out to her while she stood. “There’s still food on your plate.”