Ransom (40 page)

The euphoria expanded, tripled, then quadrupled, until I thought I would explode with bliss. The air filled with the sounds of my rapture. I gripped his thick hair tighter, pushing his head against me, working my hips in rhythm with his tongue and mouth, churning with a need that I hadn’t known existed until that very moment. Then our eyes locked and it was almost too much to see the pure eroticism in his gaze, that said he was as into my pleasure as I was. His hand found my breast and twisted my nipple, the slight pain took me up another notch on my way to a climax that would probably go down in my history books.

 
“Yes Ransom, yes, that’s so good,” I cried out, low and guttural.

 
Then in less time than it had taken me to say his name, another wave crashed over me. My breath came out in stilted pants as I shuddered with unremitting gratification. Even as the orgasm converged on me, I couldn’t wrap my mind around how rapidly everything could work. Ransom was swiftly showing me that there were no bounds to the satisfaction he could give me.
 

As soon as his mouth was gone, I felt him slide into me, rock hard and absolutely ready to finish what we had started. As much as I had appreciated what he had done for me, it mattered that he was as satisfied as I was. Everything about the moment that he entered me felt different than before, as if we hadn’t actually had sex before, as if this was the first time for us. He pushed in deeper until our pelvises were flush against one another. I moved against him, sliding up and down on him.
 

In a move that had me gasping for breath, he flipped over on his back and I was on top of him. In this position he seemed to fill me more than before. He cupped my breasts, rubbing his fingers over the nipples a little roughly, it felt better than amazing. The expression of wanting on his face only heightened my yearning to take him to the place where I had already been twice.
 

I leaned
 
down and kissed him, sucking on his tongue as my hips worked up and down on him. His breath came out in a rush of air that seemed to go directly into my lungs. I had never felt as linked to someone as I did right then.

“Lexie you’re so fucking hot,” he said, his eyes half-closed, his lids fluttering with every move I made against him. Then everything seemed to speed up and I knew he was getting close. Seeing the pleasure I was giving him made my body come alive again, in what could only be described as a triple header. He took hold of my hips, moving my body in beat with the thrust of his pelvis. He drove up into me, each time harder and faster. He moaned, clutching at the cheeks of my butt. I slipped my hands under his ass, helping to push him even further inside me.

I felt the same divine feeling work its way through me one more time until I was ready to splinter with pure euphoria. Just as I let go, I felt Ransom do the same. I locked on his gorgeous face, allowing the orgasm to spread like an electrical shock through me, up me, until I had no thoughts but the sensation of pleasure and the quenching of an eternal thirst.
 

His breath came out in fast puffs of air, his face shone with absolute and complete ecstasy. Even though I had thoroughly enjoyed every second of what Ransom had done for me, it paled in comparison to his expression of complete contentment. I couldn’t help but feel good that I had played a large roll in putting that look on his face. He pumped into me one final time then his hands dropped to his sides, as if he no longer had the strength to do anything but lay there like a limp piece of spaghetti.
 

I slid off him, then curled against him. He pulled me in closer, planting a kiss on the top of my head then released a long satisfied sigh.

“So does this mean you liked your gift?” I said, running my fingers over the taut muscles of his chest, tracing the lines of his tattoos around his nipple.

“That would be a resounding yes,” he said with a chuckle and closed his eyes. Sleep took him moments later. I lay against him, listening to the steadiness of his breathing and the crackle of the fire.
 

Lying there beside him everything seemed perfect, and it was right in that very moment that I made a startling realization. It was gone, the obsession to talk to Mom, to fix what couldn’t be mended. The necessity to see Gabriel Sanders and have him contact my mother. All the things that had propelled me forward since the second I had found out she was dead, were gone, and I knew without a doubt that she had done it. She had actually done it, Mom had sent me an angel and his name was Ransom Sanders.

30. RANSOM

We had managed to work through a good portion of the box of condoms that Lexie had admitted to buying on spec. It more than turned me on that she had been thinking about sex, probably as much as I had been, maybe even more. My only regret was that I wished I had known sooner because though the time spent hanging together had been great, the added dimension of sizzling hot sex would have taken it to the next level for sure.

Somehow we had made it back to Lexie’s parents room. It still felt a bit weird being in there. All those feelings went out the window when Lexie started fingering the barbell in my nipple, sending a shiver through me. I hadn’t realized when I’d had it pierced that it would feel as good as it did when someone played with it. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was two in the morning. Not only hadn’t I slept very much yet, but from the way my body was tuning into Lexie’s hands, our night wasn’t even close to being over.

All the lights were on in the room, something that Lexie hadn’t wanted at first, but had finally agreed to when I had reminded her that it always made it better for me to see everything that was happening. With our history, where I hadn’t even known it was her the first time we’d had sex, it mattered more than ever for me, and I hoped her too. I glanced down at Lexie. Her head was resting against my shoulder, locks of her silky hair draped the soft curve of her cheek. I knew after being with her I would never again be able to see my chest and shoulder without remembering her nestled there.
 

“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
 

The statement came out without much planning on my part, but even as I said it I knew it was true this time. In the past I had used that line on more women than I could count, this time I really meant it. Lexie was beautiful, like no one I had met before, and it wasn’t just how she looked. Her beauty came from the passion she had for life and how she felt things, good or bad with all her being. How she could find a joke at just the right time, and how she seemed to want me, just me, and not because I could please her in bed, but because she liked being with me, talking and just hanging out.
 

Her eyes met mine. I knew from her expression that she in no way believed what I had just said. I kind of already knew that she had no idea how gorgeous she was.

“Really?” she asked.
 

I chuckled. There were girls who would pretend they didn’t think they were beautiful, but all the while they would have absolutely known that they were hot; Lexie wasn’t one of those kind of girls. The one thing that baffled me the most was how she had never hooked up with a guy before me. Not that I was complaining because if she had been with someone else they probably would never have let her go, and we would never have met.

“Shit Lexie, you just don’t see yourself the way the rest of the world does, do you?” I said, shaking my head.

She lifted her shoulders in response, clearly not buying into my comment. I grazed my hand down the length of her spine, caressing the supple skin that felt like satin to the touch. She shivered in response.

“I guess I really do need to spell it out,” I said.

“If you must,” she said.
 

She rolled onto her back and laid her hand across her forehead with a dramatic flare, that mimicked a lady from the days of Jane Eyre. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was embarrassed by my statement. But right then I didn’t care if I embarrassed her or not, she needed to know how I felt about her.
 

How I saw her.
 

I placed a hand on the hollow of her stomach, spreading my fingers across her flesh as far as I could.

“See that?” I asked.

“What?” she said, staring down at my hand.

“There’s a point at which you can’t spread your fingers anymore because it’s humanly impossible for your fingers to stretch apart farther. It’s called your finger span. If you’re a piano player you want it to stretch as far as you can because then you can hit all the notes. Hands are used in greeting and for practically everything we do on a daily basis, and of course to do amazing things to gorgeous girls,” I said, arching an eyebrow.
 

Lexie squinted at me, showing me she was completely lost. I liked keeping her in the dark, for a few moments at least.

 
I closed my eyes, knowing the next part was going to get rough, but also realizing that I needed to let Lexie know exactly how much she meant to me.
 

“Every night before I went to bed, Ma would lay her hand across my stomach just like that,” I said, motioning to my hand still on her stomach. Lexie’s eyes softened at the mention of my mother. Seeing her shift made it even more difficult to speak, but I pushed on anyway. I cleared my throat before I spoke again.

“And she would say that anytime I was scared, like when Pa would lock me in the closet for hours at a time, that I was to remember her hand there on my belly, just like that. And know that even if I couldn’t see her she was there, protecting me. She said that no matter where I was, or how big I grew that her hand would always be there, that she would never let me go. You’re the first person I ever told that story to.”

I swallowed a few more times, allowing the wave of emotions to wash over me then away.

Lexie placed her hand over mine. It looked so small and delicate, kind of how I had remembered Ma’s.

“What I’m saying is that for the first time in my life, I’ve found someone that I never want to let go, someone I want to give my hand to, like Ma did for me. And that person is you Lexie. I want you to know that no matter what happens in the future, whether we’re apart or together, you have my hand. I’ll always be there to hold you, protect you and maybe if I learn how, to love you.”

Lexie’s face filled with emotion, tears streamed down her cheeks in a constant flow and I realized that I was crying too. But instead of feeling like a pansy like Pa would have called me, I allowed the feelings to come. I didn’t push away how broken I felt about Ma dying, or how much it killed me that my father had hated me from the time I was born.
 

In that moment I saw my life for what it was, and what it had never been. I realized that no matter who you were, what you looked like, or how many mistakes you’d made in the past, there was always someone to see the good in you. Despite how you might have felt broken beyond repair, when you least expected it, love and belonging could grow on the ruins of what once was your life.

31. LEXIE

It had been a week since Ransom’s birthday and we still couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. I had quickly learned that as green as I was in the sex department, Ransom was red hot. It was like he’d had lessons in how to pleasure a woman. I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to get out of bed with him, as if all the years I hadn’t know what I was missing could be reclaimed with Ransom.
 

We were still sweaty from our last romp. Ransom was passed out asleep, apparently I was wearing him out based on the state he was in. I felt a little guilty for how greedy I had been, and wanted to give him something back, something that only he would enjoy. The one thing I had noticed about him was that he was never game if I wasn’t satisfied first, like he needed to please me before he could even think about pleasing himself. I wasn’t sure if that was the case with all guys or just him, either way I counted myself lucky. I reached for his hand, limp with slumber then laid it on my belly, stretching his fingers out across my bare flesh.

As had been the case since he had told me the story of his mother, all I could do was remember his words and the absolute beauty of them. Locked away in the seclusion and safety of the cottage everything was possible. In the place that had once held so many painful memories, hope and a life with Ransom grew in my imagination.
 

But as soon as I remembered the truth of it all, how Sanford was no closer to getting proof that Ransom was innocent than before, or that I knew we couldn’t hide forever, someone would eventually come looking for me, for him, I felt lost inside. I didn’t want to think that every part of my reality, that seemed more like a dream, could be snatched away at any moment. I shook my head, determined not to let anything get between me and enjoying every moment I could have with him.

 
“Roll over onto your stomach,” I said, touching his shoulder with the palm of my hand.
 

As usual, Ransom was an immovable force when he was asleep. I shook him until he finally responded in a groggy voice.

“Haven’t you had enough yet?” he asked, not bothering to open his eyes.
 

“Please Ransom,” I said.
 

I danced my fingers across his chest. His pecs were by far two of the finest specimens I had ever seen, head and shoulders, above all the shirtless guys I’d ever had a chance to look at in the movies or magazines.
 

He groaned for effect, but didn’t move.

I pressed my naked body against his side. I slid up and down his slender hip, then wrapped my leg across his pelvis, skimming my calf over his body in just the right spot.

“Out of commission until further notice,” he said.
 

He slitted his eyes at me and smirked. Judging from his body’s response beneath my leg, that wasn’t entirely true.
 

“Turn over or…” I waggled my eyebrows at him and pointed in the direction of his erection, steadily growing without his bidding.