Chapter Forty
Aveline
RICKY COCKED HIS eyebrow. “And what’s that?”
“I moved out!” I giggled, clapping my hands together like a little girl. “Mom and Dad and I talked, and they agreed I was ready. You taught me to face my fears and I’m doing it. I got a small one-bedroom apartment right in between my parents’ home and here. I moved in yesterday. It isn’t much, but I thought with your mom working at my parents’ house now and you sharing a bedroom with your sisters…” My voice trailed off and I bit my lip before adding, “Again, very presumptuous, I know. I mean sex isn’t the reason to get an apartment. I was hoping… or thinking… wanting some…” I stopped when Ricky growled, standing straight up from his kneeled position without letting me go.
“I’m driving. Give me directions.” From my place in his arms, I could feel the tension in his entire body.
Nuzzling my nose against his neck, I nodded. He walked us to the door and with one hand gave me the keys. “I opened the door the first time we were here together, now you lock it for the first time.” He watched as I clumsily locked the door, his arms still cradling me to him.
As soon as the key was out of the lock, he was on the move, hustling to my car. Sliding me into the passenger seat with a gruff, “Buckle up.” He moved to the driver’s side.
We peeled out of the parking lot and I breathlessly told him to turn left. Nerves set in and I gripped the door handle, my knuckles turning white from the pressure.
“I should tell you something, as long as I’m being super bossy and controlling.” I looked at Ricky, noticing his lips twitch, but otherwise, he focused on driving.
Looking straight ahead, I forged on. “I’ve contacted Dr. Redmond.”
A furrow developed between his brow, but he only hummed, the sound coming from deep in his throat.
“I explained why you left class and what our story is. I even told her the connection from when I was picked to talk in class until now, today.” I paused, waiting for more of a reaction. “Turn left at the light. I hope you aren’t mad at me.”
Smoothly turning the car, he snickered. “I’m pretty sure you could say anything right now and I wouldn’t be mad at you.”
Grinning like a mad woman, I blurted out the rest. “I asked if you could make up your missed class time and assignments. She agreed. Yay! Oh, take a quick right.”
He did, moving into the parking lot of my complex. The place I had chosen was small and quaint, a good starter community.
“Thanks for doing that, mariposa.” Ricky purred, the sound shooting straight between my legs. “I do want to finish college. And I love that class.” He glanced over at me, his eyes soft and smile warm.
Ricky glided into a parking space, hurried out of the car, and took my hand in his. Holding back peals of over-excited laughter, I told him my place was on the second floor, and with that we were jogging up the stairs.
I fumbled for my keys, unlocking the door and introducing him to my home. He slowed, his breaths deep, as he took in the space.
Cream colored walls, two deep green sofas, and a cream-colored entertainment center filled the open family room. Over the sofa, I hung a painting of a Monarch butterfly, wings spread in flight. His eyes focused right in on it, coming slowly to mine.
“Mariposa,” he breathed.
“This is my home. I hope really soon it might be yours too.” I held his hand, walking through the family room into a kitchen with dark brown cabinets and cream-colored granite countertops. A small brown kitchen table filled the corner. The space was simple, but efficient, and I loved it. A huge vase of sunflowers brightened the center of my table, and I already started collecting cookbooks and kitschy serving bowls and platters.
“Bathroom.” I pointed to my right as I led him down the hall. “And bedroom.”
The only room on the left was a large bedroom. I had purchased all new furniture that reflected maturity. In a deep espresso brown, a sleigh bed filled the center of the room, flanked by espresso colored nightstands. A wide, low chest with a mirror and a writing desk under the window were the only other pieces in the room. The bed was covered in an intricate silver patterned throw with many matching pillows.
We stopped at the foot of the bed, my chin tipped back so that I could look into his eyes.
“How do I thank you for what you’ve done?” he asked me, voice trembling.
My hands ran up his wide, cut chest, stopping at his perfect pectorals. “Love me. And let me love you.”
He brought his face down to me, lips parted, our mouths crashed together. When my tongue slid against his, he groaned a guttural sound that tore through me.
Pulling away, I tore off my clothes, watching as he did the same, lifting and tossing me onto the bed. I landed on my back, and he followed, holding his weight off my body with his arms, as he bent closer to kiss me long and deep, the heat of his mouth making my body burn.
He pulled away, dragging his tongue down my neck, stopping at my breasts. He sucked a nipple into his mouth, drawing and pulling, as I arched my back and cried out. Moving to the next one, he continued his welcomed assault. My hands found his hair and I unwrapped the tie, allowing the long locks to flow around us, blanketing me in his familiar scent of cinnamon, with a faint touch of gasoline.
My hands found him, hard but skin smooth and hot. I stroked, up and down, trying to match the ferocity of his mouth on my body.
But I couldn’t.
He consumed me.
“Aveline,” he said my name on an exhale of breath. Burying his face in my neck, his hands traveled down and touched me, parting my skin and drawing his fingers inside.
“Oh God, yes,” I cried out, as his fingers circled and rubbed, dipped and hooked, bringing me closer and closer to a perfect release.
He stopped before I got there. I harrumphed, a sound of pure frustration, and he chuckled.
“I want to come together. This time seems different. A promise. Our future.” His tongue traced the edge of my earlobe, trailing down my neck.
“Yes, yes,” I begged. I wasn’t sure what I was agreeing to, but with Ricky, I knew it would be good.
Leaning over the bed, he wrestled with his jeans, hand emerging with a condom. My eyes followed his movements as he rolled it on, positioning himself over me, and then thrusting in, filling me.
The past two and a half weeks had been almost enough for my body to forget. But with that possessive claiming, joining us together, all lost memories were gone. I was his and he was mine, just as it should be.
“My girl, my love, my heart.” His breath washed over me as he chanted those endearments in Spanish. I had never felt so blessed by spoken words as I did in that moment.
Arching his back, he thrust his hips harder and harder into me, picking up pace and intensity until I cried out, the explosion I was waiting for engulfing, blinding with white light, heat, and pure, carnal ecstasy.
Ricky stilled at the same time, yelling out as he released, his body pulsing above me, his hair a curtain around us. I reveled in it. The intimacy, the pleasure, the connection. Looking up into his smoldering eyes, I had never been surer.
Our bodies and more importantly, our hearts, were like threads of yarn, interwoven together.