Always You (16 page)

Wrenn

“I just want you to
be sure.”

I shook my head and
laughed. How many times did I have to tell him that he was what I wanted? Many,
it seemed.

“It’s been a month,
Dalton. Trust me, I’ve had time to settle. I’ve had more than enough time to
think about things, and I have no doubt in the world that I want to be with
you.”

“Well, that’s the
best news I’ve heard all month.” He smiled and cupped my chin, smothering me
with sweet kisses. I closed my eyes and relished in the attention, loving every
minute of it.

For the last few
weeks we’d been staying with his mom. Dan and Layna had been down a few times,
especially in the early days of his diagnosis. Those first few days were hell:
everyone was acting like he’d died, mourning for the loss that might still be
thirty years away. Things had settled down now, and were almost back to a
normal routine.

The next week, we
were moving to Boston. We had finalized the lease agreement on a little
two-bedroom apartment not far from the university. I couldn’t wait. Dalton was
looking forward to his course, and because mine wouldn’t start until next year
I was going to look for a job. It was exciting planning a future with the man I
loved.

I tried not to think
about the diagnosis, because I was determined not to spend my time grieving.
I’d done enough of that already.

***

I looked up from the
jobs section of the
Boston Local
and saw Dalton’s smiling face.

“For God’s sake,
Wrenn, enjoy your time off. Worry about work when we get there.” He slid into
the seat beside me, reaching for an apple from the fruit bowl in the center of
the table.

I made a face at
him. “Excuse me, but I want a job. I’m excited about getting out there and
working.”

“That’ll last about
a week,” he chuckled.

I stuck my tongue out
at him.

“Just because you
have a poor work ethic doesn’t mean we all have to,” I said lightly, standing
up and slapping him with the newspaper.

He caught my arm as
I went to walk past and twirled me around until I fell into his lap. “You’re
lucky you’re so beautiful,” he murmured, kissing my neck.

I giggled as he
worked his way to my lips. I would never tire of kissing him.

“You’re fucking
amazing, Wrenn, you know that? Not a moment goes by where I don’t appreciate
how lucky I am to have found you.”

I smiled, wrapping
my arms around him, knowing that I was the lucky one.

“I love you,” I
murmured, my mouth finding his. He kissed me roughly, his hands moving all over
me, like he couldn’t get enough. “I love you so much.”

“God, Wrenn, I love
you too.” He shook his head and looked deep into my eyes. “Whether you realized
it or not, since that first time we met all those years ago, you’ve inspired me
to be more than I thought I ever could be. It was always you…”

THE END

Wrenn

Five years have
passed since I graduated from Tennerson’s. Dalton and I are still together,
still very much in love. He shows no sign of the disease, and some days I see
how healthy and strong he is and think they have to have made a mistake. He
can’t possibly be sick.

I’m in my final year
of law school, and Dalton teaches at a local elementary school in Boston. He
says his third grade students are much easier to handle than teenage girls, and
I agree with him.

I’m getting toward
that age where I think about having children of my own
—t
hen I wonder is it selfish of me to
want that. I dread the day this disease takes hold of Dalton. Is it fair to put
our children through that? I can’t even imagine how hard it must have been for
him, watching his father deteriorate; and as a mother, you’d want to protect
them from that, right?

Even if it means not
bringing them into this world?

Then I think about
what an amazing man he is, and how lucky our children would be to have even
just a few years with him.

I never thought that
at twenty-three, these would be decisions I’d have to make sooner rather than
later. Not once have I regretted my decision to be with Dalton. Everyday I feel
his love for me and think how lucky I am to have found that.

I will make the most
of the time I have with him, and together we will deal with whatever life
throws at us.

Dalton

Every moment I spend
with Wrenn is a gift, and one I am grateful for. So many people never
experience love, and I’m lucky to have found someone I want to spend the rest
of my life with.

I’m symptom-free and
happy, and I try my damn best to appreciate that. I won’t sit here and say it
hasn’t been hard. I wonder what is around the corner, and how we will deal with
that.

You try to focus on
the good, and for the most part you can do that. Then every now and then the
negativity creeps in and you can’t help but think about what you’re going to be
leaving behind.

I look at Wrenn and
I see this incredible woman with such inner strength that every day, she amazes
me. I want to give her the children she craves so badly, but I worry. Seeing my
dad go through the final stages of this was hell
—
something I’d never want to inflict on
another human being, let alone my own children. But is it fair of me to deny
Wrenn the gift of being a mother? Because she would make a fucking amazing one.
I don’t know what the answer is.

For now, I’ll
continue to live my life and be thankful for what I have. There are so many
worse off than me. I could have an aggressive cancer, or lose my life in an
accident. We know what is coming, and no, it’s not an easy thing to live with,
but we still have today, and the next day, and the day after that.

Before I met Wrenn
and when Dad was still alive, I remember sitting with him, watching him
struggle to breathe and thinking to myself if it ever came to this I would end
my life. I wouldn’t let my family suffer the pain of watching me die. Now? I
don’t think I could do it. I couldn’t rob her of those few precious extra
moments together.

This disease sucks,
but I refuse to let it define me. I’m determined to fill our lives with such
happy memories that after I’m gone, Wrenn remembers only the wonderful moments
we shared. Every day I make sure she knows how much she means to me. If there
is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you can never tell someone enough how much
they mean to you, because you never know when the day is going to be your last.

“Live each day like there is
no tomorrow, but don't forget to live each day like there was no yesterday
either. Live in the present, for it is a gift from God. That's why it is called
the present.”—Emily Austen.

Looking for your next
read? Check over the page for some great reccommendations.

Very Bad Things
, the #1 New Adult Romance from
bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills.

"Very Bad
Things is maddening, passionate, heart-breaking, all-encompassing, and about a
million other adjectives." Books to Breathe

Synopsis:

Born into
a life of privilege and secrets, Nora Blakely has everything any
nineteen-year-old girl could desire.
 
She’s an accomplished pianist, a Texas beauty queen, and on her way to
Princeton after high school.
 
She’s
perfect…

Leaving
behind her million dollar mansion and Jimmy Choos, she becomes a girl hell-bent
on pushing the limits with alcohol, drugs, and meaningless sex.
 

Then she
meets her soulmate.
 
But he doesn’t
want her.

When it
comes to girls, twenty-five-year old Leo Tate has one rule:
 
never fall in love.
 
His gym and his brother are all he cares
about until he meets Nora.
 
He
resists the pull of their attraction, hung up on their six year age difference.

As they
struggle to stay away from each other, secrets will be revealed, tempers will
flare, and hearts will be broken.

Welcome to
Briarcrest Academy…where sometimes, the best things in life are
Very Bad
Things
.

Excerpt~

I purposely walked outside to the
patio and strolled by his table, shooting him and his companions a flirtatious
smile while he glared back. Then I went to the bar and ordered a glass of
water. And waited.

It took fifty-three seconds for him
to appear beside me.

“Not drinking today?” he said in a
low voice, sending delicious tingles all over my body. He settled himself
beside me on a stool.

“No fake ID,” I said, putting my hand
on his inner thigh and caressing the taut muscles there. “You seem tense. Is
there anything I can do to help you relax?” I asked, my lips curving up in
invitation.

He stared at my stroking hand and
swallowed but didn’t move away. “I just came over to see how you’re doing,” he
said with a face like stone, not giving anything away.

I scowled and pulled my hand back.
“Why? Because you feel bad for the poor little rich girl with all the
problems?”

He looked away from me.

I said, “Let’s go in the bathroom and
fuck.”

He exhaled heavily and stood up from
the stool.

“No?” I said, feeling ashamed for the
words coming out of my mouth, yet completely powerless to stop them. “You know,
one of my favorite books has this sizzling chapter where the main characters go
to lunch together. And even though it’s a first date, they end up fucking in a
bathroom stall because they can’t wait to get at each other. He just bends her
over and gives it to her, hard and fast. I’d like to reenact that scene.” I
took a hasty sip of water and got my nerve up. “All we’d have to do is pick the
biggest stall, and then you flip my dress up and take me from behind. Or I
could get on my knees for you?”

He paled and pinched the bridge of
his nose. “You don’t want me, Nora. I’ll fuck you and when I’m done, I’ll leave
you.”

All the air was taken out of me and a
searing pain squeezed my heart so hard I thought I might cry out. “Well, if not
you, then someone else will do,” I said, looking around the bar. “Who should I
choose? There’s the young guy over there in the corner with the power suit and
buzz cut who’s been trying to catch my eye since I sat down…although I think I
see a wedding band on his finger. He’s out, I suppose. Even I have standards.
And, there’s the fortyish-looking guy sitting across from me. He’s been staring
at my breasts.” I smiled and waved at the gentleman in question, and he waved
back, a hopeful look on his face. “Oh yeah, definitely interested.”

I opened my purse, pulled out a pen
and wrote my name and number on a bar napkin. I pushed it over to Leo. “Do me
favor? Take this over to him and tell him what a great girl I am. How good I
am. How you know I’m not really
bad
.”
I stared at Leo’s crotch. “Maybe tell him how hard you get when I talk about
fucking.”

He pulled me off the stool so quick I
didn’t know what had happened until I was standing right next to him, both of
our chests heaving and tempers flaring. His eyes flashed. “Go back to your
table. No fucking today, Nora,” he bit out.

I smiled and batted my lashes. “Tomorrow?”

He growled at me and I thrilled at
the sound, imagining him doing it while he made love to me. See, here’s the
thing: this was a whole lot more than just wanting to do bad things. I couldn’t
blame this on meaningless sex. No, this was all about him. About
Leo
. He sparked this insatiable, urgent
need in me, one that I hadn’t quite wrapped my head around yet. I’d never felt
more alive than when I was with him, even if we were antagonizing each other.

“Are you high?” he asked me, his eyes
boring into mine.

I laughed. “God, no. This is all me,”
I said bitterly. “I don’t need drugs to be a whore, Leo. I can do it all by
myself.”

 
Connect with Ilsa:

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page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7059622.Ilsa_Madden_Mills

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Chapter One Excerpt~

Drake walked in wrapped in only a towel. The toast I
was bringing to my mouth suddenly dropped from my fingers as my eyes roamed
over his perfectly toned body. My eyes followed down to his perfect V that went
just below the towel.

“Breakfast in bed and a show? I’m one lucky gal,” I
teased, leaning back against the headboard enjoying the view.

“Someone sounds like they are feeling better.” He
smiled.

“Well, I for sure am now.”

“Really? Well, perhaps I should take advantage of
that.” He grinned, slowly unwrapping the towel from around his waist. I smirked
as I watched him tease me, putting on a show as he finally released the towel.
I watched it fall to the ground. I let my eyes wander up and down his
body—appreciating every single chiseled curve of muscle.

“It’s not nice to tease,” I reminded him. “You better
put out or get out.”

“Oh, I love it when you talk dirty,” he quipped,
laughing. “I can’t decide if I love or hate your pregnancy hormones.” He
grinned. It was true—I had a love/hate relationship with them as well. On
top of always wanting to sleep and eat, I also wanted sex—
all the
time.
Not that Drake minded, but some days, I was all over the place. I
felt like I had no control over them. They were beginning to drive me mad.

“Can you be a little late for work today?” I asked, placing
the tray of food on the bedside table. I didn’t take my eyes off him as I
watched him walk over to the bed. “I’d hate for you to get into trouble.” I
grinned.

“I could probably weasel my way out of it with the
boss.”

“You are the boss.”

“I know.” And with that, he made his way on top of me,
brushing the covers off. “I think I can spare a few minutes…” He pressed his
lips across my jaw, slowly moving to my neck. He bit it gently, making a moan
escape my mouth at his touch and eagerness. “…
for
you.”

His hands slid up my sides, taking my shirt up with
them. I arched my neck to the side, giving him better access as the sensations
riveted through me.

I reached down, pressing him harder into me. I felt his
hardness against me, making me desperate and needy for him.

The hormones made my body respond to him so much
more—not that I didn’t before—but it was magnified. It was
intensified, and I felt desperate to have him.

“Screw the foreplay. I need to have you right now,” I
demanded, pushing his body harder against mine.

“Such a romantic, aren’t you?” I could feel him smiling
against my neck as he continued softly kissing.

“I mean it. I’m going to explode,” I breathed out
rapidly. Just his touch could undo me completely.

“Alright, hold on, baby.” He lowered his body and in
one swift motion, slid my panties down. I wasn’t looking for romance right now.
I needed him just as much as I needed to breathe.

I threw my shirt over my head and unclasped my bra. It
was still weird seeing my body naked with the way it was changing so fast, but
it was also a constant reminder of the love Drake and I shared.

Instead of pressing into me like I wanted him to, he
tenderly laid kisses over my stomach and in between my breasts. He was
torturing me. He knew it, too. I was practically grinding against him, yet he
refused to give in.

“Baby, please,” I moaned out desperately.

“I can’t help it. You are just so beautiful. You have
the most beautiful pregnant glow.” He continued to lay kisses around my bump,
slowly, taking his time.

“That’s great,” I huffed, cupping his face up to look
at me. “I’m going to handcuff you to this bed and straddle you if you
don’t—”

He forced two fingers inside me before I could finish
what I was saying. I moaned loudly at the surprise sensation, arching my hips up
to greet his fingers.

“You’re feisty when you’re desperate.” He laughed as he
worked his fingers in and out of me, hitting the perfect spot over and over.

I ignored him and grabbed the bedrail behind me,
arching my body up to him as I needed and wanted to feel him inside me.

“How badly do you need it, baby?” Drake whispered with
a hint of humor in his voice.

“You know how badly,” I snapped, unable to open my
eyes. Still, I could hear the amusement in his tone. He enjoyed torturing me
and secretly loved it.

“Say it,” he demanded, pressing harder into me,
twisting his wrist, and practically taking all the air out of my lungs. “Say
what you need, baby.”

“I need you! I need you inside, right now. God, I
swear, I’ll do anything,” I pleaded, willing to do just about anything to get
what I wanted from him.

“Anything for my sweet girl,” he hummed, lowering his
lips to where his fingers were. He sucked hard, leaving no time for me to
retaliate. My back arched, enjoying the sensations that released inside of me.
My body shivered with pleasure, unable to control my own breathing as I moaned
out.

He lifted his head and covered my body with his. I
watched as he licked his fingers, moaning out pleasurable sounds.

“Keep your hands up,” he ordered. I continued hanging
onto the bedrail, tightening my grip as he finally pushed himself into me. The
feeling was overwhelming as I took him all in, finally feeling full and
satisfied.

He leaned down and kissed me gently as he rocked his
hips into me. His breathing quickened as the air blew over my lips. His mouth
wandered to my ear, blowing and licking over my lobe, making it harder to leave
my hands up. I wanted to dig my nails into him and drive him insane as much as
he was doing to me. He lowered his hand and cupped my breast, squeezing gently.
I screamed out his name, pushing my breast into his hand urgently, desperately
needing the release.

He lowered his face and took it into his mouth,
swirling his tongue around my peaked nipple. He grabbed one leg and placed it
on top of his shoulder, allowing him to get deeper inside me. That was enough
to set me off. I screamed out, not holding back as I greeted his hips with
mine, soaking up every pleasurable second.

It wasn’t long before Drake did the same, milking his
own release as he grinded into me. He lay on top of me as we both tried to get
ahold of our breathing, panting into each other.

“Well, if this wasn’t the best morning I’ve ever
had—breakfast in bed
and
sex all before my shower.” I grinned. My
legs felt like jelly as all my muscles were stretched and aching.

“Glad to be of service.” His voice was filled with
amusement. I’ve been like this for the past few months—needing sex on
demand. I felt bad, as if I were using him, but I figured it wasn’t much
different from before I got pregnant.

“Must be horrible for you, always needing to fulfill my
needs, and all.” I stroked his back with my fingertips as he continued lying on
top of me.

“It’s not always easy being the boss. Sometimes I have
to do the dirty work.” I could feel his smile against my chest as we bantered.

“Oh, you poor thing. I almost feel sorry for you.” I
rolled my eyes.

He kissed me lightly on the lips before rolling off the
bed. I just watched as he walked to the bathroom. I listened as the shower
started and steam began filling the room.

“Come on, let’s shower together.” He smiled, holding
his hand out for me.

“Definitely the best morning ever.” I grinned, taking
his hand in mind as I followed him in.

And it
was
the best shower ever.

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