Running From Forever (25 page)

“What you don’t know is that I love her. That
I’d do anything for her. And you standing in the way is not
something that I give a fuck about.”

Rage filled his face as he gripped the front of
my suit with his right hand. I prepared myself for the blow, but
everything came to a stop at the sound of Kayla’s voice from the
end of the bar, screaming at us to stop.

His grip immediately weakened before loosening
his hold all together. My attention immediately moved to Kayla, my
heart filling my chest, seeing my girl in front of me.

“Merrick!” she continued to yell, making him
step back and his eyes move from mine to hers. “What are you
doing?” she asked once she reached him behind the bar.

I didn’t like the space between us. I wanted to
wrap my arms around her so badly. She was in nothing but sweats and
t-shirt, but still looked unbelievably beautiful to me. Even with
her hair up in an unmaintained mess, she was stunning, taking my
breath away instantly. My body was already weakening; I had to have
her. I couldn’t handle the separation. I was desperate, hopeless
for our love.

Merrick began to speak, but I wouldn’t hear any
of it, cutting him off with my sole focus on my love.

“I miss you!” I practically shouted. “I miss you
so incredibly much I think I might be dying. Please believe I never
meant to hurt you,
never
would that
ever
be my
intention.”

Her eyes drooped and her posture relaxed at my
words; her stare in line with mine.

“I love you, baby,” I continued. “I love you so
frickin’ much I can hardly stand it. Please forgive me. Please let
me explain,” I begged and pleaded, careless of what others around
me could hear. It was only Kayla and I in the room; no one around
us mattered.

She didn’t speak, just stood there staring, her
eyes dropping to my lips and then back up to my eyes. I wanted to
reach across the bar and grab her, to pull her into my chest and
never let her go again.

A tear trickled down her face and that was my
undoing. I stood, striding purposefully down the length of the bar
to retrieve my love. She turned and came towards me, closing the
gap between us. Even though my first instinct was to pick her up
and hold on for as long as possible, I restrained myself. I needed
to regain her trust before devouring. I was still climbing the
ladder, but I was feeling the top.

We stood toe to toe, me looking down and she
looking up. I cupped her right cheek with my hand, causing both of
our eyes to temporarily shut at the connection. My heart was
thumping out of my chest while my body filled with pure,
unadulterated emotion. Her eyes had never looked more stunning as
they fluttered back open with a sheen of wetness covering them. My
tongue wet my lips before whispering, “I am so sorry, baby,” in a
tone that only she and I could hear.

Another stray tear swept her face as others
followed. She faintly nodded her head. I couldn’t handle it any
longer, wrapping my arms around her, holding her tight against my
chest. Her body caved and she heaved sobs in my arms, drenching my
suit. I kissed the top of her head over and over, repetitively,
feeling her emotion transfer to me.

“Oh, God, I missed you,” I continued to whisper
into her hair, loving the way her body felt flushed to mine.

She couldn’t speak, she just kept weeping in my
arms. My eyes wandered up, finding Merrick, again with his back
rested against the back of the bar, head down and arms crossed. I
was still unaware of their relationship, but I couldn’t worry about
it in that moment. My focus was on Kayla.

With both hands, I gently gripped each side of
her face, holding her eyes connected to mine.
Beautiful.
Everything about her was. Nothing on Kayla was flawed; she defied
perfection in every way. She was stunning…breathtaking. It was
crazy to think that we fell in love in such a short period of time,
but we had, and I wasn’t challenging it. I had never felt anything
so deep within my soul. Never had I ever found someone worth
climbing the ladder for. Kayla made it all worth it, though. She
was my new reason for living; my new reason for fighting for what I
believed in.

I gently pressed my lips against hers, holding
them there for a moment before releasing and touching our foreheads
together. “I’m so sorry,” I told her again.

She shook her head. I added only enough space
between our faces to see her eyes, glossed with wetness, but still
undeniably beautiful.

“I should have told you from the beginning.
Trevor…I never should’ve…” I began to tell her everything, but her
two fingers pressed against my lips, making me stop.

“I know. I know everything. You don’t have to
explain,” she said.

I looked at her, puzzled. I hadn’t realized she
knew.

“I finally called my sister tonight. After all
your thoughtful gestures this week, I finally asked. I had to know
your involvement, but wasn’t ready to ask you. She told me what
Trevor did to you and then to her,” she said softly, like the words
coming from her mouth were toxic. Then she paused, looking down and
taking a deep breath before peeking back up to me. “I can’t believe
he would go through all that trouble to get back at me.” She hung
her head, shaking it in disappointment. “I can’t believe he did
that to my sister.” She began to weep again. “I can’t believe he
sought her out and then took advantage of her like that.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” I could see and hear the
shame in her words, lifting her head to look at me. “You didn’t put
her in the café that he happened to be building a master plan in
that day.”

She took a cleansing breath, knowing deep down I
was correct, but still felt remorseful about the situation. “I wish
she knew who he was that day, instead of the other way around.”

I nodded my head, agreeing. “I know. Me too,” I
said softly, genuinely. Though the way my fist connected with
Trevor’s nose after Kayla left that night, I knew he got what he
deserved, but I wasn’t about to get into that with Kayla right
now—I would tell her eventually.

She didn’t speak, just stared at me a moment
longer. It was then that I realized that Merrick had moved closer
and was standing just behind her. Kayla turned, noticing my
attention focused on something else.

“Just don’t fucking hurt her,” he warned,
sounding defeated. “She’s the closest thing I have to family. Don’t
hurt her again.”

Kayla smiled before wrapping her arms around his
waist, hugging him with all her might. He held her face in his
hands, but not like lovers would; more like a big brother giving
his sister a stern talking-to. “I’ll always be here…for anything.
If you need a place…”

“I’m done running,” she said, cutting him off.
“I don’t want to run anymore.”

Merrick smiled, moving his arms to wrap around
her neck then kissing her forehead. Before he let her go, he held
her arms so that she was looking square at him. “I never believed
you were lost.”

Smiling and nodding her head, Kayla agreed. “I
know. I was just at a crossroads, but now I know the direction I
need to go.”

I took Kayla home, but not to her apartment,
needing her all to myself. The entire walk our arms were wrapped
around each other, me pressing countless kisses against the top of
her head. I couldn’t get enough. The happiness that was soaring my
veins was so unbelievably high that I questioned pinching myself to
confirm that this was all real.

When we reached my building, we took the
elevator in silence, periodically exchanging heartfelt glances and
randomly kissing her knuckles. I envisioned kissing every last inch
of her body.

By the time the elevator doors opened, my hand
was laced with hers, leading us into my bedroom. Although I wanted
every ounce of me inside of her, that wasn’t my initial intention.
I needed to cleanse us; clean the seed of hate planted within us. I
needed the events that occurred in these last days to be washed
from our bodies. We needed a fresh start; we needed our love to be
the only thing between us.

I took us straight to the bathroom, opening the
shower door to turn on the water then undressed Kayla before
myself. She didn’t offer any resistance, nor ask the reasoning for
the shower. She trusted me, filling my heart with joy. All I had
asked God for in the last few days was to have Kayla’s trust and
love back, and both were granted. She was here, standing before me,
and I was the happiest man on earth.

I couldn’t resist dropping a kiss at the crook
of her neck once her clothes were completely discarded. A small cry
of pleasure echoed throughout her body, making my insides hum with
need. Too indulged to stop, my mouth carried down to the base of
her throat, kissing the small indent at the bottom. I was savoring
her, moving slowly, taking my time, indulging in the sweetness of
her skin.

She sighed as my mouth carried up along the
other side of her neck, her hands finding my hair, tangling and
massaging her delicate fingers against my scalp.
I have to
stop.
Though everything in me was rooting to continue, I had to
stop. It’d been too long since I’d seen her; had her in my arms—I
wasn’t going to jump the gun right away. I needed time to coddle
her, caress her skin, clean away the ugly past before consummating
our love again.

I slowly backed away, undoing my belt and
slipping off my shoes. She watched, her eyes never wavering from
mine, studying each move I made. I loved it. I loved the way she
watched me with softness in her stare and passion in her eyes. I
could see deep. I could see the woman I fell hopelessly in love
with within just five days. To anyone else, I’m sure we just seemed
crazy, but I didn’t care. I knew what we had was real. No one had
ever filled my insides with so much love. Kayla and I were put on
this earth to be together. I’m not a religious man, but I did
believe that God worked his magic by putting us together. This was
fate and I was now a firm believer.

I stepped out of my pants and briefs and Kayla
took a step forward, placing her hands at the top of my shirt,
undoing each button in a flawless rhythm, taking her time, eyes
following each one as it came loose. After opening the last one,
her hands slid up my chest, slipping underneath the shoulders of my
shirt before slowly pushing it down to fall lifelessly to the
ground.

Now completely exposed to one another, I took
her hand in mine and stepped backwards, leading us into the now
steaming shower. With water pouring from both walls, our bodies
were instantly soaked, her hair wet and heavy, slicked back and out
of the way. I placed my hands on each side of her face, holding it
close to mine, kissing her forehead first, her nose second, and
then ending on her lips. Her mouth immediately cracked, allowing my
tongue to taste her sweetness for the first time in days.

I continued to move slowly, savoring each time
our tongues passed, feeling each transfer of love and desire ripple
down my body. With one hand cupping the back of her neck, and the
other holding her rear, I kissed her passionately, methodically,
until my body couldn’t take any more. Mindlessly walking her
backwards, her back pressed against the tiled wall as my hand slid
down her thigh, gripping the back, bringing it up to the side of my
waist, aligning her opening perfectly with my length. My mouth
traveled down her neck as her hands slid up my back, stopping and
tangling in my hair again. It was a pleasure I never knew I
enjoyed, but with every knot and tug of her beautiful fingers, my
cock grew impossibly harder. It was intoxicating and incredibly
hot.

As my mouth progressed down her neck and over
her chest, Kayla’s whimpering and moans increased. I pulled her
peak into my mouth and her control was forgotten; so was mine.
Delectably running my tongue back up her body from her chest to her
neck to her plump lips, I pressed my forehead against hers,
whispering, “I love you,” as my erection slipped into her.

Only soft kisses in between heavy breathing were
exchanged as I moved in and out of her, connecting on a level we
had yet to reach. It was sensual yet passionate, intense yet soft,
mind-blowing yet enduring—lovemaking like I had never experienced
before.

Entranced with the overwhelming amount of
pleasure consuming our bodies, my pace increased, causing her face
to turn and breathing to accelerate. With her right cheek against
the tiled wall, my lips carried down her neck and up to her ear,
breathing heavy into it, moaning, and repeatedly telling her how
much I loved her, all the while pumping in harder and harder. The
feeling was intense, amazing—inconceivable. Within minutes, our
bodies unraveled and the flood of pleasure rippled down our frames,
releasing in a delicious, heart filled orgasm.