Love Is Louder (14 page)

“Come home. I got out of the office early.” His deep voice rumbles into the phone, causing my entire body to tingle with want, as if he’s reading my thoughts, or perhaps we’re both on the same page. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head today.”

He is
.

My pulse spikes as excitement builds inside me. Hearing his words is making me wet. I want to go home and have him between my legs tasting me. Holding the phone between my shoulder and ear, I buckle my seatbelt and start the car. I didn’t take a shower after my yoga class, so I hope James is open to joining me, too.

“I’ll be right there,” I confirm as I pull out of the parking lot and check for oncoming traffic.

“See you soon, babe.”

“Love you.” I hang up and pull onto the main street when everything is clear. I turn on the radio as Neon Tree’s “Everybody Talks” flows from the speakers once I stop at the red light. Tapping my hands on the steering wheel, I wait for the light to turn green, thinking about James waiting for me at home while soaking in the hustle and bustle on this warm summer day. My fairy tale can still be saved.

My heartbeat accelerates, and my fingers throb as they tighten around the steering wheel. I can’t understand why my body automatically seizes up on me at the sight of him.

At this moment, Mason’s muscular, tanned arm is draped around a pretty brunette in front of the floral shop, Lily of the Meadow. My attention lingers on them while they chat comfortably. As she hands him a bouquet of lilies, he laughs before kissing her on the cheek. I swallow what is a swirl of emotions I cannot comprehend—the thrumming heart and the clammy hands—all triggered by this stranger who happens to know my husband and whom I happen to be attracted to.

I’m so lost in my thoughts that the impatient driver behind me lays on their horn, jerking me from my daze and causing several unwanted stares in my directions, including Mason’s.

We stare at each other, and the temperature inside my car seems to skyrocket. I can feel the heat of his gaze run through my body. It’s as if we were the only two people in the universe in that moment.

A smirk dusts his lips.

I blink my eyes…one, two times.

Giving him a short, clipped wave, I gently hit the gas and drive past. Quickly averting my eyes from his, I slowly put distance between the embarrassing situation and us.

I furrow my brow as butterflies jump in my stomach. This is messed up. I was caught staring at him like a dumb ass while causing a fucking traffic jam. It doesn’t help that my mind is still captured by him.

Why does it matter that he is with someone
?

It doesn’t. I try to convince myself.

I turn up the radio to kill my thoughts and listen to Pharrell Williams sing “Happy.” That’s what I am. Happy that my husband wants me home and wants me again. I guess now I’m going to have to break the bad news to Ava that ‘Mr. Fuckable Sex-on-Legs’ is taken. I know she’s going to be extremely disappointed, and honestly, I feel it a tiny bit, too.

“James,” I call out, setting my things down onto the living room sofa before checking the mail neatly piled on the coffee table. There’s no answer. My voice echoes in the cavernous quiet house as music flows from the back. The grandfather clock chimes, signaling that it’s six o’clock, which is early for James. It makes me warm inside, causing an ache for him to blossom. I pick up his coat that’s lying across the couch and hold it to my nose, inhaling his familiar scent. His briefcase sits next to the couch, and his wallet and keys are on the table. Life has gone back to normal. I have to remind myself that we had a momentary setback and that it will not ruin my forever. I want to feel that love with him, and I want him to feel it and believe it, because we’re worth it.

Setting his jacket down, I soak in the furnished room with large white pillars, creamy white walls, and a white sofa with black and white throw pillows accented in red. I never finished decorating the room. I didn’t have it in me after James and I drifted apart. Why decorate a house when the other person doesn’t want to be there?

I follow the music down the hallway and through the kitchen to open the French doors that lead to the back patio. It’s serene, and the air has cooled to a perfect temperature. The sounds of splashing water, crickets, my breathing, and faint fireworks in the distance fill the night air. I slip off my sneakers and socks and set them near the lounge chair as I admire James.

His powerful arms slice through the water as he swims several laps. When he finishes, he emerges from the water like a Greek god, revealing his taut abs and muscular chest dripping with beads of water. I let out a deep breath, and my core clenches watching him for several seconds. He must have heard me because his eyes heat before a devious grin lights up his face. He strides purposefully to the wall with the last of the sun falling across his strong features.

“How long have you been standing there?” He strokes his jaw while his eyes rake over my body.

“Not long.” I pause, pulling my hair out of my ponytail, placing the elastic band around my wrist. “How was work?”

“Busy, and you?” he asks, placing his hands onto the edge of the pool so that the sinewy muscles in his biceps and triceps pulse with power. He smiles, allowing his dimple to pop out.

“Busy as usual with engagements and newborns.” I notice the way his brow creases at the mention of babies, and it makes me sad. Why should I hold back? We haven’t talked about having a baby since we moved back here. I want to discuss it, but I want to take things slowly. We still have time.

“Get over here,” he says, quickly changing the subject. Avoidance is his defense mechanism, and I’m not in the mood to argue. We just started to rebuild our relationship. I have to be patient and make sacrifices.

Has James made any for me? Will he?

“You had yoga class tonight?” James’ lips curve into a slow, sexy smile, and his eyes darken seductively. I can stare at him for hours and never tire of how he makes me feel at this moment. Possessed and obsessed. I never felt this way for another human being.

“Yes.” I sit down at the edge of the pool, slipping my feet into the tepid water as he places both of his arms beside me, caging me in. I never told him much about why I took up yoga since we’ve barely talked about anything during the past few weeks.

“Fuck. Your body is already perfect. You don’t need it.” He slides his hands down my body to rest on my hips where he tugs at the waist of my yoga pants. An ache pools to my core, and goose bumps spring up over my skin.

“It’s relaxing,” I moan as his touch acts like the lighter, and my body is the gasoline.

“I know a better way to relax,” he rasps, breathing warm air against my ear.

“Yeah…tell me,” I whimper as I drive my hands through his slick hair. I press my lips unto his neck, keeping them still for a few seconds before trailing them down his wet skin. He skims his fingertips along my jawline, causing my eyes to pinch shut so I can concentrate on the way his fingers feel on me as he slips off my yoga pants and sports bra.

He effortlessly lifts me with his powerful arms into the cool water so that I’m standing in front of him. As his fingers slide down the lines of my body, my heart skips at the sight of his bulge pressing against the flimsy fabric of his trunks.

“God…my wife is gorgeous.” He tilts up my chin with his finger and looks at me with his dusty blue eyes. The backs of his hands trail up the length of my arms, and then the tips of his fingertips trace my collarbone like he’s remembering every inch of me. My pulse roars in my ears. I need him to fuck me. He spreads his palms over my ass before sandwiching me between his rock hard body and the wall behind me while his lips brush against mine.

“Did you forget something?” I ask, glancing down at his trunks as he thrusts his hips against mine, his erection spearing my stomach.

“I did, huh?” A teasing, gravelly tone underlies the lust in his voice as he tugs off his trunks and immediately hoists me into his arms, wading into the deeper end of the pool. He kisses my chin and then slowly kisses up to my ear. “I want this to work. I’m trying to repair this with you, make it better.”

He traces his tongue along my lips, coaxing them open, dipping into my mouth with soft lashes of this tongue. I pull back a fraction, dazed on his taste that’s driving my already aching body to the edge. Heat prickles beneath my flesh as I press my lower body onto his hardness. He trails hot opened mouth kisses along my neck that have me breathless for more as I arch into his touch.

The combination of the summer air, his body against mine, and the waves of intense desire running inside me are too much to take. After tonight and his apology, I can’t help but feel that he wants exactly what I want. He is the last person I want to see before I go to bed and the last voice I want to hear when I close my eyes.

“James,” I murmur, placing my hand over his cheeks. I melt into his body, his body tightening against mine. He stares into my eyes so I see my eyes reflected in his. I want him to look at me like this, always.

“You are mine. No one will have you. Just me, Brie. You understand?” he demands, tugging at my hair and exposing my neck to his hot lips. “I want to fuck you. Do you want that?”

“Yes, don’t hold back. I don’t want it slow or nice.”

The warm water laps at my skin as his hard body moves against me. I relinquish everything, so we can be what we used to be. My heart twists as my core melts, and my mind spirals into another place where it is only James and I.

“I won’t.” He eyes smolder as he gazes at my naked body, lingering on my breasts and taut nipples. Renewed arousal burns in my blood at the long, filled sound of his voice. “You’re so damn sexy, babe.”

He kisses the hollow of my neck, travels downward, and lingers just above my breasts, sending shivers down my skin. I close my eyes as his mouth teases my nipple, and his tongue slips over it. He sucks on it hard, and I lose the ability to breathe. I tremble with every inch he touches with his tongue and his hands.

“James, I need you,” The desire to have him takes over my thoughts. Sparks fly through me with the anticipation of him embedded inside me, stroking and pulsing.

“Hush, I’ll take care of you.”

Lifting me just enough so I feel his hard length tease my entrance, he backs me into the wall and slams into me fast. It’s a delicious shock, the sudden pulse of his long, hard length filling me. I tighten around him, and the instant he starts to thrust, everything vanishes. Gasping, I wind my arms around him, crushing my breasts against his chest, moaning his name as I grind my hips in tune with his movement. His hands explore my hips and waist as I wrap my legs around him to allow him to plunge deeper, my body begging for more.

“Damn, baby.” He teems with want as he pounds into me. Need builds in my lower spine, radiating through my belly to grip his cock.

He drives so hard his cock hits the spot inside me that makes everything go white. My whole body floods with a raging heat, as I get closer to my release. I take his mouth in a deep kiss, and he takes my next breath from me.

I grip his biceps and arch against him, craving the explosion of pleasure just beyond my reach. His body tenses underneath me, his tongue joining mine in a sensual heated game of tug-of-war. My legs vise-grip around him, and the longer he devours me, the fiercer his mouth gets and the hotter my thighs burn. I run my fingers through his hair, grabbing onto as much of him as possible.

His grasp on me strengthens, and he continues to plunge, his groan rumbling against my neck. He reaches between us and flicks my clit, and his name leaves my lips in a hoarse cry. Colors explode behind my eyes as my body seizes around his, the vibrations rocketing through my core. We continue to rock together, the push and pulls of his hard plunges as his thrusts increase right before he finds his release.

“Christ, Brie.”

He groans deeply and heat exudes through me like warm honey as he scrapes his teeth along my collarbone. After riding the final pulses, his lips search mine. The warm summer night envelops us as Matt Nathanson’s “Come on Get Higher” fills the air as James’ tantalizing kisses tease the skin on my neck.

“Did I take care of you?” His voice is gruff. Clutching my limp body against him, he rests his forehead against mine while our breathing returns to normal, and I shut my eyes for a minute.

Opening my eyes, I look into his eyes, hoping and praying the James I experienced tonight is here to stay.”Yes, James,” I whisper, sated and satisfied.