Eighteen
Bishop
I grip her hips tighter and force her to stop moving. “Slow down, Princess. What’s the rush?”
A smile takes over her face. Her cheeks are flushed, the signs of the whisky we drank earlier shining in her eyes. She doesn’t answer, just tries to move against me, but she’s helpless in my grip.
“Slow. Wanna feel every stroke, baby.”
Her smile changes and she leans forward, kissing me like it’s the last one we’ll ever have.
“That’s it,” I whisper against her mouth as she grinds into me. I keep my hands where they are, helping her move, keeping the pace I like.
“Fuck, Ollie,” she breathes against my neck.
“Kinda what we’re doin’.”
She pushes against me harder, moaning my name, and the tension starts building as she moves.
“Watch it,” I warn. “Or this’ll be over way too soon.”
“Can’t help it,” she groans as she bears down and squeezes me.
I flip us over, pin her hands above her head, and push into her. “Said I want it slow, baby. I’ve missed out on too much of you. Let me enjoy you.”
She practically melts underneath me as I start to move. Every stroke is deliberate and measured, pulling sounds from her that I’ve never heard before. Her nails dig into my back each time she calls my name, but if she draws blood, it’ll be worth it. This moment, this perfect point in time, is what I dreamed about to get me through the hell of my past. I want it to last forever, but the minute she starts to come undone beneath me, I let go. The orgasm hits me, rolls through my body, stronger than any drug.
“Jesus, Princess, hell of a way to tell me goodnight.”
She kisses me once more, soft and sweet, but there are tears in her eyes when she pulls away. “Don’t leave me tonight.”
“What?”
“Please don’t leave. Stay with me tonight.”
The tears that were lingering finally fall and I wipe them away before reassuring her that I’m not going anywhere. I haven’t left this place since we hooked up. “I never leave.”
“Yes, you do,” she whispers. “You leave the bed. I cry myself to sleep every night when I feel you kiss my scar and move to the floor.”
I open my mouth to tell her I can’t help it, but she deserves more than that. The anguish in her voice is breaking my heart. I had no idea she knew I was slipping out of bed each night.
“Come here,” I whisper and pull her close to me. I want to look into her eyes when I explain this. Hell, I don’t know how to explain this, but I need her to understand that I don’t want to hurt her. “You know what happens when I dream at night. You saw firsthand what I’m capable of. What I did to you, what happened that night, that’s only a fraction of what I could do.”
“I trust you.”
“I don’t trust myself. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you. I love you.”
She gasps and sits up. “You love me?”
“Christ, Viv, yes I love you.”
“I didn’t know.” She’s crying again, but she’s got a huge smile on her face. I can’t help but match it.
“What the hell did you think all that talk about havin’ my last name and carryin’ my babies was about?”
“I don’t know,” she tells me, but it’s muffled because she’s kissing all over my face and neck. “I didn’t know you still loved me.”
“Never stopped, Princess. Might have not liked you for a while, but never stopped lovin’ you. Not for one damn minute.”
She picks her head up. “I love you, too, Oliver Bishop. I don’t think I ever stopped, either.” I thought the fact that we just shared that would make her tears go away, but they keep falling. “I’m so angry. I want that time back. Every minute, every second we spent away from each other should have never happened.”
My gentle kiss does nothing to erase the anger off her face. “Sorry to say we can’t get it back, but we can work on makin’ the time we have now count.”
“It’s not fair.”
“I know Mrs. Tallulah taught you life isn’t fair. Nothin’ we can do about that lost time now.”
Don’t think there’s anything I can say to pull her out of the rage she’s in, so I let her vent. “It’s all my mother’s fault. I want her to be sorry. I want my letter.”
“Think she’s sorry.”
“She thought she was doing us a favor, but it only made things worse.”
“Let it go, Vivi.”
“I can’t.”
She’s gone from laying sweetly beside me, to pacing the room, hell bent on fixing the past. She’s not thinking rationally right now. I stop her from moving and thread my fingers through her long, dark hair.
“Maybe I could help you get your mind off it.”
“You could try,” she pouts, the tiniest smile appearing.
And I do just what she says. Try - all damn night - to make my girl happy and get her mind off the shit of our past.
By the second orgasm, Vivi’s mind wasn’t on anything but us.
_____
“Made you some coffee.” It’s early morning, the sun just rising over the tree line behind the house. I don’t know if either of us slept last night. I was not gonna leave that bed after she begged me not to, which meant I sure as hell wasn’t gonna let myself fall asleep. Each time I moved, she’d move with me, I guess afraid I would move to the floor.
“Thank you,” she says. She’s quiet this morning. I can tell something’s on her mind. After handing her the coffee, I sit on the swing and pull her legs into my lap. It’s starting to get colder, which means things’ll slow down for me at home. I can start spending more time working on the house.
We need to have a conversation about that. What’s she gonna do when the house is finished? Is it even feasible for her to stay here and run her company? Could she go back and forth between Bellemere and New York? Is that something the two of us could handle? Truth is, I don’t want her anywhere but here. She’s not the same person who came here after Mrs. Tallulah’s death. I can’t imagine her heading back to New York, forgetting about this town. Forgetting about us. I’ve been in a shit ton of scary situations in my life, but nothing scares me more than the prospect of losing Vivienne.
“You’re quiet this morning,” she says as she snuggles into my side. I pull her close and kiss the top of her head.
“Just thinkin’ about what I need to do to the house.”
“You haven’t really done anything lately.”
“Hard to when you won’t let me leave the bedroom.”
“You complainin’?” she teases.
“Not one fuckin’ bit.”
“I have some amazing design ideas,” she says, sitting up and pulling her legs underneath her. “Davis and I have everything arranged. Let me go get my laptop and I can show you my Pinterest boards.”
“Whoa.” I put my hands up. “Didn’t sign up for any of that. I’m purely construction.”
“Don’t you want to see what it’s going to look like when I’m finished?”
I want to ask her what she’s planning on doing with it when the renovations are complete, but I don’t know if I’m ready to hear any answer but the one that involves her staying here in Bellemere. So, I take another sip of my coffee and answer her.
“Go get it.”
“Yay.” She hops up and claps. It’s obvious I just made her morning. I don’t know what the fuck a Pinterest board is, but if it makes her that happy to show it to me, then I’m more than happy to look.