Surrender (15 page)

Brody

The next night we are all sitting around the table in my dining room enjoying a beautiful meal that Jo prepared. She really is good in the kitchen; if her fashion career fails she could go far in the culinary industry. Ava is sitting across the table from me and I have found myself watching her for most of the night.

I was speechless when she arrived and I opened the door to see her dressed in skintight black jeans that hug and highlight every curve and a low cut black halter top with a deep v that cuts down between her breasts. Her dark hair is pulled into a high ponytail and her makeup is flawless. But it’s the sparkle in her eye that holds my attention now. She just looks happy and carefree and it seems to be contagious as I can’t wipe the massive grin off of my face.

She takes a mouthful of her chocolate cheesecake and I watch her mouth devour the dessert. I am totally envious of the spoon.

“Mmm, this is delicious, Jo.”

I shift in my seat trying to hide the effect of her soft moan and her eyes meet mine across the table. She is driving me insane. I just want to grab her and throw her down on the table to devour her like she is the dessert.

She smiles sweetly at me as she takes another mouthful and I try to push the image of her spread out on the table to the back of my mind. I don’t know why these thoughts are starting to run through my mind. I went to the hospital yesterday for a follow up appointment with Doctor Graham and she gave me clearance to drink alcohol, so I’ve had a couple of beers with dinner tonight and they seem to have gone straight to my head. She also said that apart from my memory I seem to have made a complete recovery over the last few weeks. My ribs and collar bone are healing nicely and my brain function is normal.

Tearing my eyes away from Ava, I glance down to where Jeremy and Jo are sitting at the corner of the table; heads close and deeply engaged in their own private conversation. I’m so glad these two are finally getting their shit together and acting on their attraction to each other. It should have happened years ago, but I guess it may not have been the right time for them until now. I think it took Jo being open about her feelings with Jeremy for him to see his attraction to her. Scanning the others at the table I see Tori sitting in Hunter’s lap whispering in his ear, while he sits there with a massive grin on his face. Those two seem to be getting quite serious too. Luke and Emma are seated side by side and are looking at something in a magazine. It would seem logical that those two would end up together, but they seem to be just friends. My thoughts then turn to my relationship with Ava and my eyes slowly make their way back to her to see her watching me. I remember my life before her and the fact that I swore off relationships and the drama they create. I never let myself get too serious about a girl, as I didn’t feel that I could bring anything to a long term relationship. But, since meeting Ava after my accident, I feel like those thoughts and worries are far behind me. Obviously I was involved in a serious relationship with her and apparently it was going well. Not that I can remember any of it, apart from a couple of flashbacks and feelings of déjà vu.

Ava suddenly stands up to clear the plates from the table and I jump out of my seat to help her. We both reach for the glass in the middle of the table and our fingers touch lightly, sending a tingle up my arm and through my body. The slightest touch from her is enough to make my body react. It’s electric. I draw my hand back and let her pick up the glass while I grab a couple of plates and follow her into the kitchen.

She places the plates and glasses on the bench near the sink and starts rinsing them off and stacking them in the dishwasher. I walk up behind her and reach around her, gently brushing her arm as I place the plates on the bench. She tenses slightly at my touch and I lean in closer. I can smell her fruity perfume as I lean in, my mouth brushing her ear.

“You look beautiful tonight.” I move so that my chest is touching her back and I feel her shiver. I love the way she reacts to my touch, it’s such a turn on.

“Thanks.” She whispers.

Gently brushing her ponytail to the side, I place a series of soft kisses starting on her bare shoulder and moving up to her slender, delicate neck. Her breathing is labored as she sighs, softly leaning back into my chest.

“I want you to stay with me tonight, Ava.”

She sucks in a deep breath and I feel her body tremble. Wrapping my arms around her waist I lean down and rest my chin on her shoulder.

“I need to make a confession.”

She spins around in my arms and gazes up into my eyes waiting for me to finish my comment.

“The night you went out with Jo and stayed here, the next morning when I woke up and felt you in my arms, it felt so good. I didn’t want to let you go. I want to feel that again tonight. Will you stay with me, Baby? We don’t have to do anything; I just want to hold you in my arms again.”

She nods her head gently before placing a hand on the back of my head and pulling my mouth down to hers. The kiss starts out gentle but soon turns desperate and needy. I can’t get enough of her sweet taste and we stand this way for a long time just tasting; needing each other. I run my hands down over her hips and slide them further down over the soft curve of her ass. Unable to stop myself, I gently squeeze and she whimpers against my mouth. Fuck, she feels so good.

As I feel my hardness gently pushing into her hip, I realize we need to stop before I lift her up and ravish her body on the kitchen bench. If we didn’t have a house full of guests I probably would.

I gently pull away from her and my eyes take in every little detail of her face before I take her hand and lead her back out to the dining area. Her cheeks are flushed pink and her eyes are filled with so much desire, it’s going to be so obvious to everyone that we were just making out in the kitchen.

All eyes are on our hands as we go back to the table and I pull Ava’s chair up beside mine. She sits down beside me and I don’t let her hand go. I rest it on my leg and rub circles on the back of her hand with my thumb.

Tori gets up from Hunter’s lap and strolls toward us before pulling a chair over to sit beside Ava.

“Look at you two all sexy and smoldering. You look so good together and I just want to say it was tearing my fucking heart out to see you two go through all this shit and I’m so glad to finally see you both smiling again. Now, we’ve got to get out of here. My man has just promised me a night of pleasure and time’s a wasting.”

I laugh so hard my ribs ache as Tori kisses Ava goodnight and then waves to everyone else as she practically drags Hunter out the door.

“Thanks for dinner, Jo.” They both call out before swinging the door closed behind them.

Luke offers to share a cab with Emma and they both thank Jo and me for dinner before gathering their things and leaving.

Glancing down at Ava, I see her covering a yawn with her hand, so I stand and pull her up with me.

“Come on you, let’s go to bed.”

Jo and Jeremy’s eyes snap to us, both with looks of shock on their faces.

Ava walks over to Jo and places a kiss on her cheek and thanks her for a lovely dinner before coming back to me and placing her hand in mine.

We walk into my room and I go straight to my closet and pull out one of my Pink Floyd tanks for Ava to sleep in.

She takes it from me and turns around before kicking off her high heel boots and stripping off her halter top. Her back is gorgeous with smooth, golden skin, and I catch a glimpse of the roundness of one of her breasts as she lifts her arms over her head. She unbuttons her jeans and slides them down her legs, letting the shirt fall down around her hips, As she bends down to remove her feet from her jeans I can see her black lace panties and my dick responds. She stands up straight and the shirt rests just above her thighs. She turns to face me and raises her hands to remove the hair band from her hair revealing the front of her boy short panties. Her hair falls in soft waves, framing her gorgeous face as her arms fall back to her sides and her beauty takes my breath away.

“You are truly the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, Ava.”

She smiles and pulls back the covers on my bed before climbing in.

I pull my shirt over my head and remove my shoes and jeans before crawling onto the bed beside her, dressed in just my boxer briefs. I don’t know how I am going to sleep beside her and keep my hands to myself all night. It’s going to be torture.

I switch off the lamp beside my bed and settle down on my pillow, facing Ava. I can see her eyes, shining in the moonlight peeking through the blinds. She studies my face as I grin at her.

“Brody, I know you’re probably not ready for me to say this to you…and in no way do I expect you to say it back to me…but I just need to tell you this. I love you. I have never loved anyone so much in my life.”

I pull her into my arms and kiss her with every ounce of passion in my body, and then I tuck her under my arm, her head resting on my chest and have the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had.

Ava

Ash is walking around on my lap, digging his claws in trying to get comfortable. Stroking down his back I think back over the last few weeks. Brody and I have been hanging out a lot. We have had coffee together almost every day and have gone out to dinner twice. I even talked him into taking me to the movies a couple of times. There haven't been any more overnight stays since the dinner party but we are trying to take it slow. Waking up to him that next morning was just amazing. It was so nice to just be held by him all night. That night went a little bit faster than I expected, I think the alcohol helped to make him feel a little more comfortable around me, but nothing happened. We haven’t even talked about being exclusive, not that I'm interested in other people, him I really couldn't say, but I know Brody and so I would say he isn't even looking at other girls. We are just taking things slowly and getting to know one another again and that’s it.

Bending down, I place Ash in his bed before I stand up and brush his fur from my clothes.

"I have to go to work. I have an interview with Finn, they are an amazing band and I can't be late so you behave. Don't mess the house up while I'm gone, Brody is coming to dinner and he can't wait to see how big you have grown." Shaking my head I can't believe I'm talking to my cat. Walking out the door I wonder how Jo is going. It’s been a while since I spoke to her and as I remember how close she and Jeremy were at the dinner party, I can’t help but wonder if anything has developed between them yet. Brody did tell me that they have seen spending more time together over the last few weeks. I wonder if Jeremy has feelings for Jo. Now that I have gotten to know her I think they would be perfect for each other but I feel it will be a very slow process. They have been friends for so long it would be hard to get out of that routine. Holding my hand out to signal the taxi I wait for him to stop before climbing in.

“Where to, Miss?”

"Treble magazine thanks."

***

Making my way to the conference room I go over some notes I have prepared for Finn. Taking a seat at the round table I set up my tablet and wait for them to arrive. Voices in the corridor draw my attention to the door. I make my way to the door as a young, very tall guy enters the room and I hold my hand out in greeting. His dark hair is shaggy and his arms are covered in sleeve tattoos. He definitely fits the bands punk rock image.

"Hi I'm Ava. It's nice to meet you. Take a seat.”

A smooth deep voice greets me back.

"Hi Ava I'm Jake, the drummer."

Smiling up at him I move to greet the next person. A stunning red head saunters into the room. She too has that punk rock look, but in a totally sexy way.

"Hi, I’m Ava, thank you for coming today."

The girl smiles back at me and her sweet voice fills the room.

"Hey I'm Lara, lead singer and electric guitar."

Turning from her I greet another girl, the last band member.

"Hi I'm Ava, it's great to meet you all."

"Hi, I’m Ashley, bass guitar."

Sitting down at the table I smile at the band. "So during this interview I'll have a few questions to ask but this is about your new album ‘Taking Tomorrow’, so tell me how it came about and why it's different to your others."

An hour later I am sitting at my desk typing up the answers to the questions from the Finn interview. They were all so nice and friendly, especially Lara. The other two only answered the questions I asked them, but she actually seemed to want to know about me too. There have been some stories published in the tabloids that they are all total divas in their industry, but I saw nothing of that today. They were very down to earth and were happy to answer my questions. I glance at the clock on my desk and wonder what Brody is up to at this moment. I know he was a little nervous about the upcoming press conference today, but the only advice I could give him was to be himself and be honest about everything. That’s the only way to disprove the crazy stories circulating about the band at the moment. I hope he gets through it okay.