Sweet Harmonies (40 page)

But, you and I, my darling, we must face the
truth. You are in love with Ryan, I see that now. And I know you
might never be able muster up the strength to let me go. So I'm
making the decision for you, Karina. I am taking myself out of the
equation.”

He backed away from the microphone
dramatically.

Flinging his arms out wide to his side, he
called, “I am setting you free, Karina Black! Go! Follow your
heart! Be with Ryan! You have my blessing!”

With that, he turned and strode quickly out
of the auditorium. The crowd stood in stunned silence until Sam
took a few steps forward, her face transported. Clearly caught up
in the emotion of the performance, she began a slow clap. Others
gradually joined in until the entire gym was resonating with
thunderous applause.

“
Kyle Austen Reed, everybody!” Sam
cried enthusiastically, “Kyle. Austen. Reed!”

Karina, unable to quite process the bizarre
scene that had just played out in front of her, suddenly had a
realization. In a weird way, Kyle actually had made it clear to her
what exactly she needed to do next.

Of course, the ludicrous thought process he
had gone through and the ridiculous conclusion that he had come to
about the situation meant that he obviously wasn't helping her the
way that he THOUGHT that he was helping her. But, in a roundabout
way, his gallant gesture actually had served to clarify her
thinking.

She turned and ran out the side door of the
auditorium. The only thing left to do was tell Ryan.

Chapter
27

Still wearing her flowing black prom dress,
Karina ran through the empty night time streets of Hope Falls. For
about half a block, she tried to speed down the street in her mile
high stilettos, but could not do it. Stopping, she slipped out of
them and picked them up, taking off again down the street
barefoot.

She realized that she must make an insane
picture: barefoot, tears streaming down her face and bringing her
mascara with them, racing like a wild animal down an empty
street...all, of course, while wearing a couture gown, complete
with Prom Queen sash and tiara. It wasn't something you would see
every day.

Karina ran up to the front door of Sue Ann's
Cafe and pulled. Of course, it was locked, the cafe was closed. But
Karina was not going to be done in so easily this time. When Karina
had related the rather humiliating story of having Sue Ann find her
sitting on the ground outside the cafe door, in tears because the
cafe was closed and she couldn't come in to knock on Ryan's door,
he had laughed and casually mentioned the location of the hidden
key that unlocked the back door.

She scrambled around to the back alley, freed
the key from its secure hiding place, and let herself quickly into
the kitchen, locking the door behind her and setting the key down
on the stainless steel counter.

She ran through the kitchen and up the
stairs, and began frantically pounding on the door, calling, “Ryan!
Ryan, Open the door! I know what I want to choose! Ryan, I
know!”

The door flew open and before her stood a
bemused looking Ryan, hair a bit mussed, barefoot himself, and
wearing nothing but a pair of faded jeans riding very low on his
trim yet strong hips.

She was momentarily distracted by the sight
of his chest, which her eyes followed down, down, down...all the
way to the place where his happy trail disappeared into his
jeans.

She didn't realize that she had actually
fallen silent until Ryan cleared his throat, bringing her thoughts
back to earth. She snapped her gaze up, to meet his knowing, sexy
half smile.

She grinned back, “You were right Ryan, I had
to choose. I had to figure out what I wanted out of life, and now I
know!”

“
Let me guess,” Ryan teased, “It has
something to do with a tiara?”

She was confused for a moment, and then
slightly embarrassed as she realized that she still had on all the
Prom Queen regalia.

She strode into the apartment past Ryan,
taking the crown from her head and setting it on his bookcase with
her shoes, and whipping off the sash and tossing it on his kitchen
table.

She turned to him, grabbed his hands in hers,
and in an intense and sincere voice said, “I choose you. I choose
you, Ryan. Whatever form that takes. If we're here in Hope Falls,
so be it. If we're writing music and going out on tour together,
that's fantastic, too. The realization I had is...it really doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter what our life together looks like. The
only thing that matters is that we're together, and that it's OUR
life.

“
From now on, it's not about me
choosing. Not ever again. It's about US choosing. We're in this
together.”

Karina drew back, placing one hand on each
side of his face, looking up tenderly into his eyes, and repeated
again, “I. Choose. You.”

Ryan looked into her eyes for a moment with
an intensity that was almost too much for Karina, it stole her very
breath away. Then, with a suddenness that startled and thrilled
her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and scooped her off the
ground, pressing his lips passionately to hers. She felt his kiss
all the way to her fingertips and toes. He moved his mouth against
hers hungrily, moaning, his tongue sliding against hers and stoking
her excitement.

He tore away breathlessly and looked her
directly in the face. His expression was one of wonder, disbelief,
affection, and hunger all at once.

“
I love you,” he breathed, “I love you,
Karina Blackstone.”

A cry escaped her involuntarily, and she
smiled up at him, her own level of awe and wonder matching his, “I
love you, too, Ryan! I love you so much!”

Ryan then gently and slowly brushed a stray
curl behind her ear. She loved it when he did that. It made her
feel cherished, and so well taken care of. She hoped with all her
heart that she was able to make Ryan feel as well-loved as he made
her feel.

Ryan reached down and picked her up, carrying
her under the shoulders and knees, like a groom would carry a bride
across the threshold. He kicked the door closed with his foot and
proceeded to carry Karina, as if she were the world's most precious
cargo, into the bedroom.

He laid Karina down on the bed, handling her
gingerly, as if she might break. He again brushed her hair behind
her ear and smiled at her.

She leaned up to begin kissing him again, and
he moved his head backward, dodging her lips. He shook his head
mutely. His fingertips continued their exploration of her soft
skin, trailing over her arms and shoulders, at times making small
circles or curlicues, but never stopping their steady motion, and
never breaking contact from their feather-light touch.

Karina shuddered and relished the sensation,
but after a few moments, reached out again and attempted to embrace
Ryan. He smiled and pushed her shoulders back onto the bed, leaning
down and whispering in her ear, “Just relax and let me touch
you.”

After he breathed these words in her ear, he
gave her earlobe the tiniest little nip with his teeth. A shudder
of excitement worked its way through Karina's body, and she
honestly didn't know if it was caused by the sensation of his teeth
grasping her earlobe ever so slightly and squeezing – or the gently
commanding words he had whispered in her ear.

She suspected that, like so many of Ryan's
erotic talents, it was the combination of ingredients that he mixed
together and timed so perfectly that gave her entire body the
thrill of pleasure that currently ran up and down the length of
her.

She relaxed her body against the soft
mattress, her head resting against a mound of Ryan's overstuffed
pillows. It wasn't in her nature to so willingly relinquish control
– in bed or anywhere else – but she was learning to, with Ryan.

This was one of the things she loved so
deeply about him. Again, in bed or anywhere else, they shared a
crackling, sparring balance of power. One of them would be in
control, then the other...and then the balance would shift. It was
never entirely equal one way or another, but it was never on one
side or the other for too long. Their subtle game of emotional and
sexual “King of the Mountain” was one of the most intellectually
and erotically stimulating things that Karina had ever experienced,
and it was one of the things that she could see making their
relationship fun and fresh years – even decades – into the future.
They would constantly be surprising each other.

Not only that, she thought with a wicked
smile, but experience has definitely taught me that – at least when
it comes to sex – there are pretty amazing surprises in store
anytime I let Ryan take the wheel.

As Ryan slowly caressed and massaged her
skin, inching ever farther downward as the minutes wore on, he
subtly nudged her gown downward. When it was around her waist, he
lifted her hips from the bed and slid it off in one smooth
movement.

He returned to the task at hand – caressing
her, slowly, methodically, and lovingly. He ran his hands in
patterns down her belly and upper thighs, always making sure to
steer clear of the one area that Karina most wanted him to turn his
attention to.

He smiled at her, “Patience, love.”

He grasped the sides of her panties and slid
them slowly down her legs, taking his time, letting her feel the
fabric as it passed over every inch of skin. He slid them over her
pointed toes and tossed them aside, turning back to her.

She watched his gaze take her in, slowly,
from head to toe. She had been naked with him before – more than
once as a matter of fact – but never had she felt so naked as she
did now, lying on the bed while he stood, clothed, next to her and
examined every inch of her naked flesh.

He leaned down and began to caress her again,
paying closer attention to the areas that he had glossed over
before. He slid his hands up and down the length of her sides, her
outer thighs, and then moved again to her inner thighs. His
fingertips lightly played over the skin there, edging ever closer
to the wet, throbbing center of her arousal, which was now aching
for his touch.

Her skin was completely covered in goose
bumps now, her breathing was shallow and rapid, and her chest was
flushed with arousal. Her hips bucked impatiently, a totally
involuntary response, as she met his eyes and mutely begged him for
what she needed – the feel of his fingers on her most tender
flesh.

He smiled at her and never broke eye contact
as his hand again traveled upward, and her legs parted, even wider
than they had been before.

Still looking directly into her eyes and
smiling, he began to run his fingers up and down her hot, wet
mound, teasing her by never giving too much attention to her
pleasure button, the one place where his caresses might actually
put an end to her sweet torture. No. His fingers would brush there,
quickly, just long enough to make it throb with intense pleasure,
just long enough to make her cry out and arch her back, and then
they would skitter further down again.

Finally, even these pleasurable up-and-down
caresses of her slick flesh became too much to bear, and she
grasped his forearm, pleading with him even more desperately with
her eyes, begging silently for him to give her release.

At this, he smiled at her again. He was still
maintaining his intense eye contact with her, and she was
determined not to be the first to break it. No. Even as he brought
her to the highest plane of ecstasy, she was going to exercise
every ounce of her steely will not to roll her eyes back in her
head, or even to toss her head back. No. She would look him in the
eyes as he gave her body the ultimate pleasure.

As Karina still held his forearm in her
desperate grip, Ryan moved his hand slightly forward and slipped
two fingers inside of her. She gasped and her body immediately
tightened around them.

Ryan began to slowly work his fingers inside
of her, moving them slowly and steadily in a beckoning motion, and
it seemed to her that he was hitting every single sensitive spot
the existed inside her body. Every single motion of his strong and
sure fingers sent new and powerful electric waves through her body,
and her breath began to speed up out of control. Her back arched
and her grip tightened on his arm. Her eyes widened, still looking
into his, and she gasped deeply.

Ryan, sensing that he had pushed her as close
to the edge as he could without actually sending her over, raised
his thumb and began to caress her swollen center of pleasure at the
same time as his fingers continued to work their magic inside of
her.

Immediately, she exploded. Fireworks of
pleasure burst deep in her torso, radiating outward, making her
lightheaded but never entirely stealing her consciousness this
time. This time, she wouldn't let it. This time, she was bound and
determined to look into Ryan's eyes throughout her entire orgasm,
no matter how powerful it was.

When he saw what she was doing – convulsing
in orgasmic pleasure but never letting her eyes tear themselves
away from his – a satisfied smile spread across his face.

Even before she had finished coming, he used
his free hand to free himself from his jeans and slide on the
condom that he plucked from his nightstand.

With her orgasm still pulsing through her
body, she watched Ryan remove his hand from her, climb up in
between her legs, and plunge himself inside of her.

She whimpered as she wrapped her arms and
legs around him, his slow strokes drawing out her pleasure, leaving
her breathless and weak. She caressed his face and stroked his hair
as he moved gently inside of her, breathlessly declaring, “I love
you, Ryan. I love you,” over and over in his ear.