Remembering Us (27 page)

He presses a kiss against my hand in his and smiles at me over it. His eyes are darkened, pupils almost blacking out the amber brown I normally see.

“This just isn’t the time or the place.”

“Oh.” I’m disappointed. But only until Adam pulls me flush against his chest as we reach the elevator bank. The tension between us explodes into a ball of sexual heat.

“Soon, Amy. It will be soon. But I’ve been waiting for months for you to look at me like this. Seeing me without any doubt or fear or nerves, and right now all I want to do is take you back up to the room and make love to you for as long as I can.”

He raises an eyebrow like he’s asking for permission.

“Okay,” I squeak out in a small voice right as the elevator doors open.

We fall onto the bed as soon as Adam drops my duffle bag and lets the door slam shut behind him. Our bodies are tangled together, legs and arms and hands moving in a rush to shed our clothing as soon as possible.

“God I love you,” Adam says huskily as he rips my jeans off my legs and throws them. They land draped over the television and I snort.

“Nice.”

“It will be. I promise.”

His scruff tickles my chest, and when I laugh, trying to push him away, he takes my hands and pushes them into the mattress next to my head.

His chin brushes across my nipple. The scratchy hair makes me writhe under him.

“Do you like that?” he asks, and brushes his cheek across my other nipple until both my nipples are hardened little buds. I can’t decide if I hate the scratchy, ticklish feeling, or if it’s the most erotic thing ever.

Adam is smiling at me, knowing exactly how insane he’s making me.

“I want you,” I tell him as his lips brush against mine.

My hips move against him, feeling his hardness, and I moan, frustrated, when he pulls away from me.

“You do?” He smiles wickedly and presses his erection against me, sliding it up and down, knowing exactly where to press against me.

“Yes.”

My back arches and I fight to get my hands free from him, but Adam holds me tighter, moving against me. So close to where I want him, but not nearly close enough.

“Please?” I open my eyes to stare directly at him. “Please, Adam. I love you.”

His breath catches and his lips press against mine. “I love it when you beg.”

I smirk. “I know.”

He smiles and one of his hands loosens his hold on mine and he guides himself into me.

Stretching me. Filling me. Loving me.

He feels absolutely perfect. Made for me.

I sigh into his mouth and press against him. We begin to move slowly, whispering words of affection. I take them all from Adam like precious little candies and I tuck them into my heart, hoping to never forget how he feels ever again.

Hoping I never forget how
I
feel ever again.

We peak together and Adam’s body crushes into mine as we breathe heavily against one another. His back is covered in a light sheen of sweat as I wrap my arms around him, squeezing him to me.

“I love you,” I whisper against his cheek. Now that I know how I feel, I never want him to doubt it again. I can’t seem to stop myself from saying it.

Now I know that I’ve
never
been able to stop myself from saying it.

I can feel Adam’s grin against the crook of my neck. “I love you. More than anything.” He shifts and presses his forehead against mine, his eyes closed. “I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you for coming.”

I hold him even tighter, not caring if his weight crushes me. “There’s nowhere else I could possibly be. Not now.”

I mean it. Every single word.

“So what exactly is going to happen today?” I ask Adam through the bathroom doorway. I’m standing at the vanity in the hotel applying my make-up and fresh from a shower that just caused us both to get clean, then messy, and clean all over again.

My legs are still a little bit shaky from it.

He walks to the doorway, dressed in a pair of black jeans and an actual polo shirt with a collar. The baby blue makes his eyes shine.

Or the fact that we’ve had sex five times since we entered the hotel room last night is doing it.

Whatever the reason, he’s the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen, and my pulse speeds up just looking at him leaning against the doorframe.

He smiles knowingly and my cheeks flush. At least now I don’t need blush.

“I have to meet with the parole board in the prison. They’ll ask me questions about my dad, and if I think he’s a threat to the public, and if I’d be willing to help with his probation. Keep an eye on him if he gets out.”

I frown in the mirror, my eyes locked on his. “What are you thinking?”

He sighs heavily and runs his hands through his hair, staring off into space.

“I think he’s evil. I never got to tell my story before … what it was like living with him as a kid. I have to do this. I have to make sure they hear what kind of monster he really is.”

My lips purse. I don’t know the right thing to say to him to make him feel better, but I can tell by the dark color in eyes that Adam hates that he has to do this.

I set my mascara down and go to him, wrapping my arms around him. His head instantly drops to my shoulder. I feel him take a deep breath and his arms tighten around me.

“God, I’m glad you’re here.”

I pull back and kiss his cheek. “I want to be here for you. I don’t know what you need …”

“You.” He kisses me and then brushes his lips against my cheek, moving back to nibble on my ear lobe. I squirm in his arms and he laughs. “Just you.”

“Well, then you have everything you need.” I pull away and walk back to the mirror, finishing my make-up and smiling haughtily.

“That I do,” he confirms seriously, and leaves me to get ready.

Today, it feels as if the last three months are a dream. Something that wasn’t quite real. I know we’ll have to work things out. I most likely will have doctor’s visits to make sure my memory coming back means that everything that was wrong – whatever it was – is better now.

But we’re not dealing with it today.

Because today we’re making sure Adam’s dad stays in jail. I shudder at the thought and go to find him.

When I walk through the doorway, he’s looking down at the ring box, smiling at the ring that I still haven’t seen except for in my memory. But I’m dying to rip it out of his hands so I can feel it on my finger.

“Ready?” I ask.

He snaps the box closed and shoves it in his pocket. My eyes follow it.

“Yup.”

I hesitate as he walks toward me, still staring at the box.

“You’re not going to ask me?” I raise my eyebrows when he gets closer to me.

He shakes his head with a grin.

“Nope.” I frown and squish my nose up. He taps the tip of it and laughs. “I will. But not today. Do you really want to remember getting engaged on the same day we go to prison?”

I scoff. “We’re just visiting. And besides,” I tell him, grabbing my purse as he leads me out the door, “It’s not like I don’t already remember you asking me.”

“And look how well that day turned out,” he mutters.

I pull on his hand, stopping him in the hallway so I can see his face.

He looks … guilty?

“That wasn’t your fault.”

He shrugs and squeezes my hand tightly. “If I hadn’t insisted we go there that day, if I had picked somewhere else …” his voice trails off. I can only imagine the horror Adam lived through that day.

“Enough. It was an accident, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” I smile and pull him into the elevator, tugging him until his body is flush against mine. “Let’s go send your dad to jail.”

We laugh at the absurdity. He silences me when his lips find mine and then we make out like teenagers until the door opens in the lobby. We ignore the judgmental looks from the wrinkly women with curly blue hair on our exit.

Walking into a prison is a lot less intimidating than I thought it was going to be. We sign in and are assigned our “visitor” stickers. We have to leave my purse and empty our pockets into a locker that looks like a small gym locker. Then we’re ushered through a metal detector and down a maze of white hallways. I don’t know if I was expecting armed guards at every entrance and men in orange jumpsuits raiding the hallways like zombies, but the overall experience is a bit of a letdown.

I’m let down by not being mauled by prison inmates. I shake my head at the ridiculous thought and let out a garbled sound.

“Are you okay?” Adam asks as we’re ushered into a waiting room. It’s as pleasant as my dentist’s office.

“Yup.”

I regain control of myself and turn to Adam who stands with the guard. I’m not allowed into the private meeting room where he’ll be meeting with eight members of the parole board. This is my home for the next who knows how long. I have no idea if it’ll take hours, or minutes, and I’m suddenly annoyed and flustered that I don’t at least have my phone with me.

Although I doubt they have free Wi-Fi in prison.

Adam leans in and kisses my cheek. He squeezes my hand. I wonder if he knows how often he’s squeezing it, or if he’s just nervous.

“I’ll be back soon, okay?”

I nod, not knowing what to say.

“Have I mentioned that I’m really glad you’re here with me for this?”

I chew on my bottom lip and nod again, smiling.

“Once or twice. I love you.”

His hands reach out and cup my cheeks, framing my face in his slightly rough hands. I ignore the security guard watching us.

“When we’re done here, we’re going to put all of this and the last three months behind us.”

“And then?” I choke out.

“Then we get to the good stuff.”

He winks and plants a kiss on my lips that still has my head swimming long after he has left the room.

While they’re gone, I mindlessly flip through an entire year’s worth of People Magazines. I couldn’t care less about the celebrities; I just have nothing else to do with myself. So it’s either mindless magazines or my fingernails are going to be a mangled, nasty looking mess by the time Adam gets back if it takes too much longer.

Just as I’m considering flipping through a ratty looking motorcycle magazine, the door opens.

My eyes fly to Adam and I’m instantly on my feet and holding him in my arms. His hair is a wreck like he’s been pulling on it for the last hour, and his eyes are red-rimmed.

“Are you okay?” I ask, trying to pull away so I can see his face.

Adam feels like he could collapse in my arms. He holds me tightly to him and shakes his head. “That fucking sucked.”

I squeeze my eyes closed, holding him quietly and trying to be there for him.

There’s nothing I can say that will make him feel better about talking about the abuse he and his mom suffered with for years. The guard clearing his throat is our cue to leave, so we follow him back out into the barren hallways while Adam keeps an arm wrapped around me, leaning his weight on me.

He’s exhausted and I want to do nothing else besides take care of him.