“WOW.” I STEPPED out of Blake’s car onto the circle drive.
“Yeah. Perks of being the son of a Supreme Court Judge.” Blake half sneered, half smiled, coming around to my side.
“Might as well get use out of them if you’re doing what he wants anyway.” I gave him my famous side-eye.
“Don’t think I won’t kick your ass this weekend, miss.” Blake tapped the edge of my nose as if that were a threat.
“Oooh.” I shivered sarcastically, shutting the door.
The property was massive. Long white columns twined up the front, leading up to a full wrap-around balcony.
That’s a much better balcony than mine.
We left the car next to the fountain in the center of the drive, and Blake cupped his hand around the back of my neck, leading us up to the porch. Before he could get his key in the door, it flew open, and his sister Victoria leaped into his arms.
“You’re here!”
The strength knocked Blake back a few feet with a stumble, my body jolting from the force. “You’re early.” He smiled, setting her on her feet.
“Uh, yeah, I am. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.” She rolled her eyes.
Blake’s mom was a sweetheart, like his sister, but his dad was a monster. I knew that’s who she was so anxious to get away from since she still lived at home. With long legs that seemed to stretch to the sky, Victoria threw herself at me next, nearly taking me out with the extra six or so inches she had on me. When she was done squeezing, she whispered in my ear, “I missed you, sis. I knew you’d be back.”
I choked up at her words. I hadn’t seen her since Blake and I had broken up, and I didn’t realize how much I had missed her spunky personality. “Small hiccup. It’ll never happen again,” I reassured her.
She laced arms with me. “Come on, let me show you around.”
“Lead the way.” I smiled, taking a peek back at Blake.
His face was twisted in a scowl as he slung our bags over his shoulder. The thump of our heavy baggage landed in the foyer as Victoria chattered on about the artwork on the walls. She was so engulfed, she didn’t notice me scale back to whisper toward Blake, “What’s wrong?”
“She’s early.” He frowned.
“Aaand . . . ?” Blake was crazy about his sister. I never imagined he wouldn’t be happy to see her.
He bent, the edges of his hair brushing against my ear as his warm breath coated it. “And I wanted to fuck you on every square inch of this house before anyone got here. Starting with that table right there, next to the expensive fucking vase.” He squeezed my hip.
My throat went dry, my swallow scratchy as I stole a glance behind me to the piece of furniture that sat as the focus of the foyer, proudly displaying an overpriced floral arrangement. When I looked back to Blake, his eyes were intense as Victoria’s words bled into the background.
“Then I wanted you in the pool.” Blake kissed the left side of my neck. “Then on top of the bar.” He kissed the right. “Then on my face as you fisted the wrought iron rails lining the tennis court.” He licked the sensitive swatch of skin right below my ear, sending a rippling wave down to my girl parts.
I stopped breathing.
When his gaze met mine again, he smirked.
“Hello . . . are you even listening?” Victoria’s voice finally had volume, slicing through the intense moment.
I cleared my throat and tried to speak coherently. “Yeah. Sure. Listening.” Fanning a hand to my face, I turned to meet her. “Is it hot in here? I think it’s hot in here.” It would be indecent to fan where I really needed it.
“Hot?” She tilted her head. “The air is set to like sixty.”
“Well, I think it’s hot. Blake, are you hot?” I looked at him.
Another dimpled smirk. “You know I’m hot.”
I fanned faster, turning back to Victoria, whose corner of her lip was raised as though she had seen a bug. “Eww.”
“You were early,” Blake growled.
“You know I’m your sister, right? I don’t want to hear this stuff.”
“But—”
Blake tried to explain, but Victoria cut him off by sticking her fingers in her ears like a five-year-old. “La-la-la-la-laaaa. I can’t hear you!”
Blake laughed, backing off, and Victoria unplugged. “How would you feel if I was talking about some guy like that?”
“Yeah, all right.” His chest inflated. “You’re not dating till you’re like thirty-five.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that, dear brother.”
She patted his bicep and he noticeably tensed. “Uh-huh,” Victoria gloated. “See how that feels?” She swayed her curvy hips as she left the room, calling back over her shoulder. “Make sure you pick the room farthest from mine!”
“Well, there went any hopes of a hard-on.” Blake shiver-cringed.
I looped my arm through his, a grin tilting my lips. “I’m sure you’ll be just fine. Come on, Romeo, show me around.”
The grounds seemed to go on forever, the number of rooms and wings endless. There was even a mini movie theatre and game room downstairs. I guess this was the type of life Mr. Turner wished for Blake to have. As glamorous as it seemed, I didn’t think Blake needed it. I mean, sure, who wouldn’t love to have it, but at what cost? What was the price of one’s soul?
Blake wrapped his arms around me from behind, his chin pressing into my shoulder. “So, what do you think?”
“It’s beautiful.”
Blake twisted us so he could focus on my face, his eyebrows pulling in the center. “What’s wrong?”
How did this boy always know when there was something on my mind?
Tell him, don’t tell him?
I didn’t really want to ruin our weekend.
“Nothing.” I leaned my neck to his lips, signaling he should press a kiss there. He obliged, skipping a tingle down my spine.
“Liar.”
“I always tell the truth, even when I lie.” I curled my lip with my best Scarface impersonation.
“Okay there, gangsta.” Blake spun me to face him and then draped his forearms over my shoulders. “What is it?”
The corner of my mouth puckered and I shrugged. “It’s just a bit much, no? Is this what you want to have one day?” I couldn’t keep the disappointment from my voice.
“If I get to be with you, I wouldn’t mind living in a shoe box.” He kissed the tip of my nose and rested his forehead against mine.
“Is that true?” I peeked up at him.
“Of course that’s true.” He became serious, taken back. “Why would you doubt that?”
Hope ballooned in my chest as I rushed out hopefully, “Then cancel your internship. Spend the summer with me. We can spend the rest of our lives in a cardboard box, singing and writing and taking pictures of it.”
I could tell my eyes were alight with life as Blake’s began to dim. “Angel, please don’t do this. Can’t we enjoy our one weekend away?”
“Well, yeah.” I lowered my voice. “I just thought, if you really meant it, that I’d be worth giving all this up for.” I took a step back. I didn’t mean to sling a guilt trip on him. I knew how he felt about me, it was just . . . I loved him. More than life. And I’d push as hard as I had to if it meant he would be happy in the end.
Blake looked at me with all the love in the world. “You’re worth giving up air for, and you know it.” At my silence, Blake exhaled a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. Finally, he stepped toward me. “I’ll make you a deal.” I stared up at him as he combed a piece of my hair behind my ear.
“Let me do this just for this summer. Get a feel for the real life of it. And if I really truly hate it, I’ll stop.”
I took inventory of his reactions to see if he was really telling the truth. “You mean it?”
“I mean it.” Blake’s gaze was unwavering, truth shining through his eyes as he stared down at me, hopeful.
I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed. “Thank you.” I peppered his smooth cheek with kisses. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
He chuckled. “You’re all I’ll ever need, baby. Don’t you ever forget that.”
As I pulled back, I fingered my necklace, which reminded me of the day Blake had originally given it to me inside the new journal. Which in turn sent my thoughts to the old one he had yet to read. I dreaded that day and hoped that, once he did, he would still mean those words.
“Ditto.” I kissed Blake long, deep, and slow, resolving to love him every minute of every day that he would have me. I wouldn’t let fear be my ruler anymore. I would always be okay, no matter what.
“Hey . . .” He slapped my ass lightly before resting both palms on it. “Ever play tennis?”
“No, but I’m intrigued.” My lips curled. “Does it involve you sweating while we’re playing it?”
“It does.” Blake smirked. “Wear your bathing suit underneath whatever you put on. We’re going there next.” The glint in his eye sparkled with whatever was up his sleeve.
The wrought iron fence.
I swallowed hard. Blake’s smirk spoke volumes as my eyes sought him out.
“So th-that’s the, um . . .” My eyes went back to the fence.
“The fence that you’re going to white-knuckle if you lose? Yep, that’s the one.” He swatted my ass with the racket, sending me to a skip.
I rubbed it, mumbling. “Hardly seems like a punishment.” My eyes brightened. “I forfeit. Can I just lose now?”
Blake tipped his head back with a hearty chuckle, and I loved the way the sun danced across his features.
How did I get so lucky?
“Trust me, Angel, we’re both winning.” He stepped closer. “I’m still gonna kick your cute little ass, though.”
I had no clue what the rules were, and I had no idea if Blake was even keeping the proper score. All I knew was I was having a blast. Tennis was a lot more fun than I expected and probably the ultimate workout. I would have to let Drew in on the secret. I swatted the ball with the backhanded swing I had perfected over the last hour.
“I think I have tennis elbow,” I called across the net.
“Tennis el—Oof.” The ball bounced off Blake’s gut, and he folded forward, holding his middle.
“Sorry.” My hand reached out.
“Nope. Nope. My fault,” Blake coughed. “I hardly think you can get tennis elbow in one afternoon.” He half-laughed, half-winced.
“I’m telling you, it hurts in here.” I stepped to the net, pulling my arm around to try and inspect it as Blake met me on the other side.
“Let me see.” He took my arm in his hands. “Where? Right here?” His fingers moved gingerly over my sensitive skin as he probed, testing.
“Yes.” I flinched.
Keeping his blue eyes on mine, he raised my elbow to his lips and placed an open-mouthed kiss on the tender spot. “Better?”
My breathing caught as I watched the motion, witnessing the small shimmer of kiss he’d left behind. “Not yet.” I shivered.
Blake brought his smiling lips back to my injury and began to suck-kiss it. “How ‘bout now?”
“It seems to be traveling. It’s radiating up my arm.” My eyes never left him.
“Well, we can’t have that now, can we?” He kissed up my arm, creating a tingling heat throughout my limbs. My head dropped back with a gasp when his greedy lips met my collarbone. “Here?” He licked.
“Everywhere,” I panted. “It hurts everywhere.”
Blake’s smile widened as he licked a trail to my ear, his words grazing the lobe. “I win.” With no other notice, he scooped me up and lifted my tiny frame over the netting that was separating us. I instinctively wrapped my legs around him, whimpering into his mouth as his tongue found mine. He tasted like mint and sweat and lust as he carried me, palming the spandex covering my bottom under the almost non-existent tennis skirt I had borrowed from Victoria.
The fence knocked the wind out of me as my back slammed against it, the push of Blake’s pelvis into me forcing a whimpered moan from my lips. Blake bit that moan as he clasped my bottom lip between his teeth, eliciting a second whimper. “I want you.” He fingered the thin material covering my pussy.
Do that again. “It’s the middle of the day . . . Victoria . . .”
“Is shopping.” With no effort, Blake had the silky strap aside as he pushed a finger inside of me. I gasped, but he swallowed that up, too. “Grab the fence,” he ordered into my mouth.
I hastily untangled my fingers from the back of his head and reached behind me to wrap my fingers around the iron. Blake’s grin was deliberate as his eyes raked over my trussed up body, his fingers making quick work of his pants. His gaze fell to my panting chest and then his face disappeared between it as he inhaled a deep breath of me, biting down on the heaving flesh as he slid himself inside of me. My head dropped back between the bars as he allowed my body to adjust around him, my full weight sitting on top of his erection. Without words, his eyes asked if I was ready, and without thought, my pussy clenched in response.
There’s the dimple I love.
Blake’s hips began to rock, his tongue mingling with mine once again. His breaths matched his pace as both quickened.
Thrusting.
Panting.
Pawing.
Loving.
I cried out, the back of my head riding between the bars, my arms burning as they held on while he nipped and sucked my jaw, my neck, my collarbone. He palmed my chest, driving into me. I squeaked and cried and moaned as he grabbed the back of my head, forcing my air to pant into his lungs once again as he dragged in each of my harried whimpers.
“I love you,” he spoke into my mouth, and my grip tightened on the bars as I exploded around him.
“I love you more.” I let go and wrapped my arms around him as he lowered us to the ground, each of us finishing in a slow, magical rhythm. I melted into his embrace, neither one of us willing to move.
This man was my lifeline, and I would let him carry me to the edge of the earth or the top of the sky. Wherever it was, I knew I’d be grounded. And after years of falling into the pits of nowhere, it felt good to finally feel solid enough to land.
“Hold on.” Blake’s smile was mischievous as he tightened his hold around my bottom and got to his feet, taking off in a small sprint.
“Where are we going?” I hugged myself to his chest to stop from jostling too much.
“Round two.” Blake’s smile widened further before he slanted to the side and free-fell with me in his arms, my half-screech muted by the rush of water over my head. When we resurfaced, we were both laughing and trying to catch our breaths.
Finding his footing, Blake stood in the pool, my legs still wound tightly around his waist as his hands found the sides of my face. I wondered what he was thinking as he drew in each of my features, his gaze drifting about. I stared at his eyes, glistening a glittering blue as the sun and the reflection of the water danced amongst them, and I thought I’d never seen anything more magnificent.
“I love—”
“Marry me, Angel.” Blake’s words swallowed mine, making them insignificant.
I couldn’t answer, though, because they stole my breath.
“I know we’re crazy, young. It doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow. I don’t know when, and I didn’t even plan to ask, but I know it’s what I want.” His breaths evened out as calm washed over him. You would imagine the opposite happening with such a declaration, but the release of it seemed to provide him with solace more than anything.
When my tongue stayed silent, and my stare remained stunned, he continued. “Nothing functions right unless you’re by my side. When you’re gone, I wonder when you’ll be back and when you’re here, I wonder how I can get you closer.” He brushed the pads of his thumbs along my cheekbones, still cradling my face. “Marry me. One day—every day. Make me the happiest man alive. You make me whole. You’re my air and my sun. My—”
“Yes,” I answered without thought. “A million times, yes.” My words were soft despite the banging in my chest. I’d never been more certain of anything in my life, though, and I harbored no fear about tying myself to him for eternity. I’d do it today if he really wanted to.
Blake’s head dipped lower, a question in his mesmerizing eyes. “Yes? You’ll be my wife?”
“Yes. I’ll be your everything. Your wife, your best friend, your air, your heart. You’re already all of those things for me. My soul already married you the day it met you.”
Blake took my lips in his. I felt his smile suck me up before he started peppering kisses on my face. “I love you, Angel. I’ll make you the happiest woman in the world. I’ll love you forever and ever and take care of you.” He continued to sprinkle promises around my face, but his words began to melt into one another as what he was saying really began to settle in.
I would never be alone again.
I would never have to be afraid. No matter what, I’d have him by my side. But, before I could allow him to fully solidify that promise, we needed no secrets between us.
“Blake—” I spoke between his kisses.
“Yeah.” He still roamed my neck and jaw.
“You need to read the journal.”
Suddenly, they stopped.