Annabelle
Phoenix softly kissed me before sliding out of my body and walking to the bathroom. He returned moments later with a washcloth and proceeded to clean me.
“I could have done that,” I said, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
“I know, but I wanted to.” He finished his self-appointed task and climbed into bed beside me.
My mind wandered to what Phoenix said about being tested recently. I knew it wasn’t realistic to believe he had been celibate while we were apart, but it didn’t make it hurt any less to have it confirmed. Were there many women? Were they just flings or did he actually have relationships with them?
“So, you’re okay with not using condoms?” Phoenix asked, interrupting my mental trip down the rabbit hole.
“Uh, yeah, it’s fine,” I answered, trying to force my mind to stay in the present and not his unknown past.
“I haven’t noticed any kind of birth control. Aren’t you worried about getting pregnant?” he asked.
Still somewhat distracted by thoughts of him having experiences with other women, I answered, “No, I’m not worried about getting pregnant. I had my tubes tied not long after I left Croftridge.”
Suddenly hovering over me with his nose touching mine, he growled, “You did what?”
“I had my tubes tied so I wouldn’t get pregnant again,” I explained.
“Why would you do something like that?” he yelled, moving off of me and walking toward the window.
“Because I wasn’t going to let another man force me to have his child! Why do you care?” I yelled back. I had every right to have my tubes tied and I wasn’t about to let him make me feel bad for it.
“What if I wanted to have more children with you?”
“What?” I shrieked, my voice a good octave higher than normal. “Are you fucking insane? More children? We’ve spent a few days together after being apart for so many years. Yes, we had sex, but we’re not even together like that,” I said, gesturing between the two of us. “And if that’s not a good enough reason for you, I’m too old and I don’t want any more kids.” I crossed my arms and dared him to challenge me.
And challenge me he did. “Oh, doll face,” he sneered, “don’t lie to me. You remember what happens when you lie to me, don’t you?” I refused to acknowledge his question. Yes, I remembered what happened the two times I told a little fib to him, but that was a different time under different circumstances. I wasn’t going to let him distract me with thoughts of his hand on my ass.
“Keep testing me, Annabelle, you know how hard that makes me,” he said, slowly advancing on me. “Let’s get a few things straight right now. You’re not too old and I think you would like to have more kids, my kids. But, most importantly, we damn sure are together like that.”
He closed the remaining distance between us in three quick strides. Tipping my chin up with his finger, he stared into my eyes as he whispered harshly, “Don’t you dare say different.” Without giving me a chance to say different, he smashed his mouth to mine in a punishing kiss. He poured all of his emotions into that kiss and I drank them down.
Ripping his mouth from mine, he roughly flipped me onto my stomach. With a slap to my ass, he ordered, “Up on your knees.”
I slid my knees under me and pushed up with my hands, only for Phoenix to plant his big palm between my shoulder blades and push me back down. He slapped a hand to my ass and kneaded my cheek while growling, “I fucking love this ass.” He gave my ass one more slap before he thrust into me.
Holding onto my hips tightly, he worked himself in and out of me, hitting all the places that had been grossly neglected over the last two decades. He was so deep it was just shy of being painful, but there was no way he would be getting any complaints from me.
As if he’d read my thoughts, he fisted my hair and pulled me so that my back was against his chest. I reached up and back to cup his head with one hand while the other was braced on his large thigh. Releasing my hair, his hands moved down to hold me against his chest by my breasts.
Pinching and pulling at my nipples, he built me up higher and higher with every touch from his skilled fingers and his rhythmic thrusts. I could feel my body tighten, preparing for my release, and I knew he could feel it, too. One hand slowly trailed from my breast to the apex of my thighs. He rubbed my clit in firm circles, matching the pace of his thrusts. When the tension built to an all-time high, a strangled sound escaped my lips as I exploded in the arms of the only man to ever hold my heart.
Turning my head, I greedily took his mouth while my body continued to ripple with pleasure. While I was coming down, he found his release, groaning into my mouth as he did.
“Phoenix,” I whispered against his lips.
“My Annabelle,” he whispered back, gently caressing my face.
We didn’t need words right then. We both knew how we felt about each other, how we’d always felt about each other. Our bodies conveyed our feelings far better than any words could.
He was true to his word and fucked me until sunrise, each time just as passionate and intense. He finally let me fall asleep in the early hours of the morning and woke me about four hours later. I had no idea how we were going to manage a full day of riding with only a few hours of sleep. It’s not like I could offer to drive for him. Well, I could—Token taught me how to ride a motorcycle years ago—but Phoenix riding on the back of his own bike was as likely as finding tits on a bull.
“Are you sure you’re okay to ride? I can go down and arrange a late check out so you can sleep for a few more hours,” I offered.
“Woman, I’ve already told you, I’m fine. Now quit nagging me and let’s go,” he grumbled. I wasn’t sure if he was joking or if he was really irritated with me, but I was leaning toward the latter. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to irritate him further, and followed him to the bike.
We had been on the road for a little over an hour when we came upon the first construction zone. Traffic was backed up and moving at a snail’s pace. Normally, this wouldn’t have bothered me very much, but it was the middle of summer and I was in riding gear. In other words, I was fucking hot. I was contemplating stripping down to a tank top when we started moving again. We were only delayed about 30 minutes, but I could tell it did nothing for Phoenix’s mood.
Three more construction delays and one major car accident had Phoenix exiting the highway and taking an alternative route. We stopped for lunch and fuel before continuing our journey on a country highway. Phoenix had been relatively quiet the entire day, but he did hold my hand to and from the diner and he gave me an inappropriate for the public kiss after he filled his gas tank. Just those few little displays of affection gave me more comfort than I cared to admit. He was probably just tired and I was overreacting.
Feeling a bit better, I took the time to take in the scenery. I had never been through this part of the country. While I didn’t think I would like living in the Midwest, I was thoroughly enjoying passing through. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around Phoenix’s waist, giving him a little squeeze.
“You okay, doll face?” he asked, scaring the absolute shit out of me. I was so absorbed in my own thoughts and the gorgeous views, I completely forgot we were connected via Bluetooth.
“Sorry, your voice startled me,” I cleared my throat, my voice a little hoarse from not being used. “I’m fine, just wanted to give you a hug. It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s beautiful, but I’d much rather be closer to civilization,” he grumbled.
I leaned back in my seat. I wasn’t going to let him spoil my good time. He could grumble and gripe all he wanted, I was going to cherish every moment I could. I pulled out my phone and started snapping pictures. Hopefully, I could print some and have a nice collage for the wall in my drawing room.
I don’t know how long I had been lost in my thoughts again—I blamed the lack of sleep—when a cool gust of wind blew, sending shivers down my spine. Glancing around, I noticed that it seemed to be a bit darker than it was before. Still, the scenery was gorgeous, so I snapped a few more pictures with my phone. Making the decision to be a complete and total dork, I flipped to the front camera and held my phone up to take a selfie. When I looked down at the picture, I gasped.
“Phoenix! It looks like there’s a bad storm behind us!” I shouted into my helmet.
“Yeah, I know,” he said nonchalantly. I huffed and started to lay into him when he spoke again. “It’s not like I have a lot of options right now. I can drive and hope we outrun it or we can stop and wait for it to pass. Seeing as how I haven’t seen a single building in the last 30 miles, I thought you’d appreciate it if I kept driving.”
The wind picked up and the sky darkened, but we kept going. I leaned forward and pressed myself against Phoenix’s back. We didn’t have many storms on the west coast and I didn’t much care for the handful we did have. I wasn’t exactly scared, but I had a bad feeling about the storm. I tried to stay positive and remind myself that at least it wasn’t raining.