Breathless (51 page)

“Then let’s move to the bed,” I said with urgency. “I’m ready.”

He chuckled and gave me a quick peck. “Hold on, there’s something I want to show you first.” He set me down and stepped away from me.

“Uh, okay,” I said, sighing heavily.
What could be more important than us making up for lost time?

He smirked at my surly expression, kissed the tip of my nose, and grinned like he had a secret.

“Come over by the window.” He laced our fingers together and led me over to the floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over Dallas.

I let him guide me, watching how his powerful body moved across the floor in his low-slung jeans and black wife-beater. I wanted to rip that shirt off him and lick all over his dragon. I wanted to toss him on that bed and show him a few new things I’d thought of this weekend.

Because smart girls are creative.

And he wanted me to look out the window.

We reached it, and he held me tight with one arm while his other hand pointed up at the dark sky. “I know stars are important to you because your face gets all dreamy when you look out this window…and sometimes…I can’t help but wonder what you’re thinking about when you gaze up at them.”

“About you. About us,” I said, my heart full. “Stars give me hope.”

“And you’ve never given up wishing on stars. You told me so.” He paused and glanced at me sheepishly. “Honestly, you’ve inspired me a little, and well, I’ve been doing some reading up on stars myself.”

I blinked.
I inspired him?
He
was the one who loved others selflessly.
He
was the one who’d taken over the care of a child at eighteen.
He
was the one who’d seen past my bad list.
He
was my inspiration.

“What did you find out during your research?” I asked.

He pointed up at one of the constellations. “That group of stars over to the left is called Orion the Hunter. It was named after a fierce warrior in Greek mythology.”

I looked up and nodded, recognizing the familiar group of stars in the winter sky.

He continued. “The two stars at the top are his shoulders, the two toward the bottom are his legs. In the middle, you have the three stars that make the belt and then…and here’s the important part…there’s several stars going
down
from the belt. Those are his sword and that’s what I want you to see…that like Orion’s sword,
you’re a star too.”

“I’m not a star,” I whispered, turning to look at him, blinking at the sudden dampness in my eyes.

“You’re better than a star.”

I bit my lip and peered back up at the heavens. “How?”

“Look at the sword. Hard,” he said. “Can you tell that one of the stars is fuzzier than the rest?”

I squinted and then nodded. Sure enough the stars going down from the belt were not as clear as the others. Not as bright.

He said, “It’s blurry because one of those isn’t
really a star at all. It’s something much more beautiful.” He turned me to face him. “It’s a nebula…
a real nebula
…where new stars are being born every day, every minute, becoming part of our universe. That fuzzy star actually creates life. That star, just like you, is a beginning. It’s life, it’s truth, it’s hope, it’s what we are
made
of.” He paused and shook his head as if in amazement. “That star is creation at its best, and just like those new stars being born,
so are you
. You are starting all over, with a fresh slate, and the night sky is all yours, Nora.”

He kissed my hands with reverence. “Inside you right now is the life you’ve always deserved, a soulmate, a family, happiness.”

Tears streamed down my face at the conviction I heard in his voice.

God, how he looked at me. How he loved me. How I loved
him
.

His thumbs gently rubbed my tears away. “Did I make you cry? I didn’t mean to.”

“Happy tears, Leo,” I said. “It’s been such a long road, but here I am, in your arms. Life doesn’t get any better than this.”

He slid to his knees in front of me.

I stared down at him in confusion.
What?

He spoke quietly, yet with assurance. “A hundred years from now nebulas will still be creating the universe. A hundred years from now…if we are still around…I will
still
love you. I want to be with you for as long as we both have left in this world. I want to be the one to wipe your tears, soothe your heartaches, rejoice in your successes. I want to help you destroy the demons that haunt you. Someday, the bitterness and hurt you carry will fade. I can see it already, and I yearn, and I mean physically yearn to be
there
with you.”

His hands tightened around my hips. Like I was his lifeline. “Let me be part of your beautiful chaos.”

He tugged something from his jeans and opened it.

The world held its breath.

With quivering hands I lightly touched the diamond solitaire ring resting inside the teal box, half afraid it would suddenly disappear.

“Nora Grace Blakely, will you marry me? I want it
now,
but it doesn’t have to be tomorrow or next year, but I need to know you’re mine. I promise I will never waver again, never be unsure. I was half a man until I met you. I thought I had it all together, but I was dead wrong. I want to be committed to you…long term.” He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. “Be
my
star, Nora.”

I cupped his face, slid down to my knees and nodded, mute.

With shaking hands, he slid the ring on my finger.

This was our new beginning, the creation of our future.

“I belong to you,” I said softly.

His mouth tipped up in a grin. “That’s a yes, then?”

I looked into his opal eyes, the ones that had captured me in that parking lot months ago. That fateful day, his gaze had given me strength and hope. Destiny had intertwined our lives, had thrown us together time and time again.

Some people say that true love is a myth, that soulmates don’t exist. I feel sadness for those cynical souls. They’ll never know the high that comes from being with the one you’re meant to be with. They’ll never experience the absolute rightness of finding their true mate.

“Hey, you gonna answer me?” he murmured, lifting my chin up.

“Yes, Leo. Yes, yes, yes. I want to marry you. I will follow you wherever you go. I want to have little Tate babies who play the guitar and piano. I am
yours.”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His eyes misted as he rested his forehead against mine, as if in relief. “Best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten,” he said.

We stared at each other for a long time, our bodies fitting like pieces of a puzzle, our hearts beating as one.
This
was one of those extraordinary moments I would never forget;
this
was a moment that would sustain me in times of strife;
this
was the universe aligning;
this
was perfection.

This was love.

He breathed me in. Minutes passed, perhaps hours. I don’t know. All I knew was
him
and the way he made me feel. Exquisite and precious. Like I was the queen of his world. As the constellations watched from above, as the night sounds of the city buzzed in the background, as people went about their normal lives, we combusted. Like the most delicious white-hot fire.

We lunged for each other, both of us falling to the ground in a tangle of legs and arms.

He stripped me in seconds, his hands shaking with emotion.

I tore his tank off and traced every part of his tat with my tongue. I kissed his face, his neck, his shoulders, his chest.

“Forever,” he whispered against my bare skin, the devotion in his voice making my heart fly.

“Forever,” I promised.

Nora’s List of Good Things

1. Be true to myself. No more lies. No more Mother. No more hate.
   
2. Love Leo. My tiger. My soulmate.
   
3. Take Sebastian shopping for boots. He must lose the loafers.
   
4. Go to college and pay for it with my own money. Be independent. Maybe major in fashion design. Yes, yes, and yes.
   
5. Be happy.
   

Bonus Scene: Snapshot of the Future

This scene was written for Denise Milano of Shh Mom’s Reading Blog

http://shhmomsreading.com

Leo

“If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I bet they’d live a lot differently.” –Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes)

Sometime in the future…

We were late.

“Let’s go. We have an appointment to keep, woman,” I called up to Nora from the landing at the bottom of the stairs. She was in the loft getting ready after her workout, and I was getting impatient. And nervous. I kept picturing her face when she realized where we were going and what I was doing. God, what if she didn’t like it?

Either way, I wanted to capture this day with film. Nora had started a scrapbook of all the places we’ve visited, and although this wasn’t like our island getaway last year, I still wanted the memory. Going into my office, I opened the desk drawer, pulling out the Nikon camera I’d purchased when I’d taken Nora to Paris for her twenty-first birthday.

It was Sunday evening and the gym had closed already, and as soon as the last client had left, we’d gotten our own private workout. We’d tried to get in a full hour, but we’d had a hard time keeping our hands off each other. First we’d made love on the weight bench, then the butterfly press—creativity at its best—and then on the mats. And when I couldn’t move another muscle, she’d dragged me to the shower and showed me all I had to do was stand there while she took care of everything. That’s my girl. Hot, sexy, brilliant.

Good thing the cleaning lady came tomorrow.

Club Vita had been doing well lately and was almost running itself, giving me and Nora time to spend with each other. I’d put a lot of work into this place, and it showed. People came because it had the rep as a serious gym. Even big-time bodybuilders and models showed up to work out. Last year, we’d also gotten a few of the Dallas Maverick basketball players to join…thanks to Cuba who knew most of them. Of course we didn’t charge the VIPs. Having them here only raise the street cred of the place.

“Still waiting,” I called back up, checking my watch. The owner of the business was staying open late just for us.

“If you’d tell me where we’re going, I could figure out what to wear. Do I need a dress or jeans?” A drawer slammed shut. Sounded like Nora was miffed, and I grinned. That girl couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on, and I guarantee she was up there, trying to suss it out. I bet she even had a little wrinkle right there on her forehead.

Even in the middle of our intense weight bench moment, she’d been begging me to tell her, and even though I’d been tempted, I held out.

“Just wear something I like,” I told her.

Footsteps came across the floor. “Like this?” She leaned her head over the balcony wearing a luscious pout and a white towel draped toga style around her torso. Long, tanned legs got my attention through the slats of the railing, and I gave a mental groan, knowing exactly how good she looked underneath, her body all pink and clean from our shower.

“No,” I said.

“That’s funny. I thought you preferred me in nothing at all.” She gave me a low-lidded look. Naughty.

“I love you naked, I love you clothed, I love you anyway I can get you. But your luscious body might be a little to risqué for…” I cut myself off.

“You almost told me, didn’t you?” she said with narrowed eyes.

I chuckled, half amused, half exasperated. “Just dress like you’re going to the movies. I think you’ll love where we’re going.”

“Alright. Be down in five minutes,” she promised, turning to sashay back into the loft area. I watched her until I couldn’t see her anymore, knowing it’d be more like twenty minutes.

She came down wearing a tight pair of skinny jeans, red heels, and a black Vital Rejects t-shirt that clung to her breasts. I’d had the shirts made for the band before the last gig even though I was officially no longer the guitar player. Sebastian was still the front guy, but Teddy and I had moved on. I’d decided to manage the band instead, to keep Sebastian steady in a world full of manipulative wolves. He needed me to guide him, and it gave me purpose in music and left more time with Nora. Maybe someday I’d change my mind. Maybe I’d want back in, but for now, I didn’t. Life is too short to not love well, and Nora was everything.

She consumed me, not music.

Teddy had left because the stress of playing clubs and being on the road had been hard for him. He craved routine, so he was back at the piano bar on the weekends, keeping the place packed. Nora and I had just been there last night to see him.

Nora grabbed her purse and we left, both of us quiet as we got in the Escalade. She said she didn’t like surprises, but what that really meant was that if I was going to surprise her, it had better be a good one. So I’d this planned for weeks. Doing it was long overdue, too.

She turned up the radio when an Ed Sheeran song came on, and I bit back a smile at her serene expression. Underneath that placid façade was a clever girl who was racking her brain trying to figure out where the hell we were going on a Sunday evening when most people were at home.

The song ended. Minutes ticked by. “Just tell me where we are going.”

“No can do,” I said.

“At least give me a hint.”

I exhaled a fake sigh and nodded. Fine. “We’re going somewhere we’ve been before, but never together,” I said, shooting for mysterious. “Oh, and it’s bigger than a breadbox.”

“That could be anywhere,” she said with a little huff. “Canada, Nordstrom’s, Los Angles.” She scrunched up her face. “Burger King?”

“Not flying anywhere tonight, babe. And no, I am
not
taking you to Burger King.”

I saw the shop I wanted and pulled into a parallel spot in front of our destination.

“What are we doing at the tattoo parlor?” she asked with a bemused expression, craning her neck to look up and down the empty street. “And when have
you
ever been to Shayla’s shop? You haven’t gotten a new tat since we met.”