Taking Shots (Assassins) (35 page)

“
Wow, I always thought she dressed too nice to be photographer, she has a sick style and it isn’t a cheap one.”

“
Yeah, but that was another thing she has never told me. This morning I saw her take some pills, she said they were for hormones.”

“
Hmm, maybe she’s just secretive.”

“
I don’t like it.”

“
Well now that all her shit’s on the table, just ask if there is anything else.”

“
I will,” Shea handed her the last dish, when she was done drying it; he took Grace’s hand in his. “Do me a favor?”

“
Sure,” she said turning to face him.

“
Keep an eye on Elli for me, call her and stuff.”

“
Of course.”

Just then the door open and Elli came in with Amelia on her hip and Ryan’s hand in hers. “I think we’re done,” Elli gushed, breathing hard. Amelia kicked to be put done so Elli obliged. Amelia took off past Shea and Grace, down the hall to where James was coming up.

“
She’s her daddy’s girl,” Grace said with a shrug as Ryan took off running, “So I was thinking we’ll go to the Adventure Science Center tomorrow with the kids before you leave.”

Shea shook his head, grabbing Elli’s hand, bringing her to him. She nuzzled into his side, wrapping her arms around his waist. “No can do, we’re spending the day together.”

“
Oh.”

Elli looked at Grace then up at Shea before looking back at Grace, “Or we can come with you.”

“
Baby, I want to spend the day in bed before I gotta go on a road trip.”

“
It’s fine, Elli,” Grace said a little sharper than normal. “Things change when a new person comes in your life. Spending the day in bed is way more fun than spending the afternoon with your family.”

“
Wow Grace, guilt tripping me?” Shea asked. Grace just looked at him with anger filling her eyes.

“
You’re going to be gone for two weeks, then mom and dad will be here and you won’t have any time for us.”

“
I’m gonna go in the living room,” Elli said as she dropped her arms, trying to get away.

“
No, its fine baby,” Shea said, wrapping her back up, “Grace, really?”

“
What?”

“
Stop, if I do remember correctly, I didn’t see you for three months when you and James first got together.”

“
That was different, I was pregnant.”

“
So you being pregnant made it okay to not talk or see me for three months? But me spending the day with my girlfriend in bed instead of going with you is not okay? When I call and come see you at least every other day?”

“
Whatever, Shea, I’m not arguing with you.”

“
Cause I’m right.”

“
Whatever,” Grace stomped out the room and Elli looked up at him.

“
Maybe we should just go; I don’t want to piss her off.”

Shea put his finger on his lips, just as Grace came back in the kitchen just as he knew she would, she looked at Elli than Shea. “I’m sorry. I’m just not handling you leaving this time very well cause for some reason I feel like something is going to happen, so just be careful, but like I said, I’m sorry,” Shea let go of Elli to wrap Grace up in his arms. He knew that was the reason why they were fighting. When Grace got really nervous or worried about him, she took it out on him by fighting. She had been up his butt ever since he had gotten slashed on the collar. He loved her so much, so he took what she threw at him, she had been doing it to him since they were younger. No telling what Elli thought, probably thought they were crazy, “Just please be careful.”

“
I will, I’ll call every night.”

“
You better.”

“
How did you know Grace would come back?” Elli asked as they drove back Shea’s condo a couple hours later. After a tearful goodbye from Ryan and Grace, Shea had to get out of there. He hated when Ryan cried, but seeing Grace cry; he couldn’t handle it.

“
When she gets real worried about me, she gets like that. She had been a little testy with me the past couple weeks.”

“
I’m glad you knew what was going on because for a second I thought she hated me.”

Shea laughed, “No, baby, she’s just nervous.”

“
I am too; I don’t want you to leave.”

“
I know,” he said taking her hand in his; they drove the rest of the way home like that.

Nothing else was said until after they were washed up from the day, Adler was fed, and they were lying in bed together. The light was still on; the bed was turn down as they laid on top of the blankets. Shea was wearing just his boxers while Elli was wearing his AHL shirt and panties. She was lying on her back, while he laid on his side, tucked up against her side, running his hand up and down her thigh.

“
Hey,” he said since her eyes were closed, she opened them then smiled, “How did you get sick?”

She bit her lip, than shrugged her arms as she looked up at the ceiling, “I don’t know.”

“
How old were you?”

“
Nineteen.”

“
What happened?”

She shrugged her arms again, “It all happen so fast, like one minute I’m on top of the world. I was Roxie Hart for
Chicago
, it was my second show and I was so excited cause I had just signed my contract for a third show. I was dating a Yates, something my mother had wanted me to do since I was born, I had this beautiful apartment in New York, and I was spending more money than I should,” She let out an empty chuckle as she moved her hands under her thighs, he guessed since she was picking at her nails. “I woke up and my jeans didn’t fit, and I was like what the hell? So I stopped eating the way I was and went on an intense diet and started running, but I kept gaining. When I finally got to the doctor, I was already topping over two hundred pounds, had already lost my job, was packing up to come home ,and Justin was livid but he still stayed with me, which made no damn sense then, now it does, but still. Anyways, I got diagnosed with
hypothyroidism and I have been on medicine ever since.”

“
When you got on the medicine did you start losing the weight?”

“
Yeah, but it was slow, it took three years for me to get where I am, and I still have problems. I still get real tired and weak sometimes if I don’t take my meds. I gain weight so stinkin' fast if I don’t watch it, and depression sticks its head into my life every once in a while.”

“
Okay, but you’re okay now, right?”

“
Yeah, if I take my meds and stay away from my mom,” she said with a smile. He smiled back, kissing her temple.

“
Will you get better? Or well you have to take the pills forever?”

“
No, I have to take them for the rest of my life.”

“
Does it scare you?”

Because it scared the living shit out of him.

“
No, not too bad. I’m used to it now, I guess. I guess when I get pregnant I’ll probably be worried, since if I don’t take my pills and take care of myself, it could hurt the baby.”

Shea nodded as he looked her over, she was so beautiful, he hated that something like this could happen to her, but in a way he was happy it did. He knew it was selfish but her going through what she did brought her to him, and now that he had her, he could never imagine her not being there.

“
Do you miss it?”

She shook her head, he was surprised she knew what he was talking about; he guessed they were that connected, “No, when I was singing I thought I would never be happy doing anything else, but I love what I do. I love taking pictures of people for them to keep that moment forever. I make good money, I can pay my employees, and pay all my bills and still have money for my shopping addictions. I have a beautiful house that I love, a dog that loves me when you are not around, and for the first time in a very long time, I’m happy.” He smiled as she turned on her side, putting her hand on his cheek and the other on his neck. “It’s cause of you, you know.”

He gave her a sheepish grin, because if she knew how much she changed his life, she would probably run, he wanted to scream at her that he loved her but instead said, “Really?”

“
Yes Shea, I have never loved my life, but you came along and flipped it upside down and I couldn’t be happier. You make me so happy.”

His hand slid down her back from her hip, and he pressed her closer to him, meeting her mouth with his, kissing her hard. She melted against him, kissing him just as hard as she wrapped her arms around him, basically molding her body with his. He moved his hand up her body, pulling her shirt up as he went, and she let him causing him to smirk against her lips. She smiled back as he moved himself over her, pulling her shirt off and throwing it on the floor. Her arms folded over her stomach and she looked up at him with worry in her eyes.

“
Shut the lights off,” she said, he shook his head as he kissed one side of her mouth, then placed a kiss on her lips, bringing his lips to the other side of her mouth kissing it.

“
No, I want to see you,” he whispered as he sat back on his hunches, her thighs were touching his as her legs wrapped around his waist.

“
Shea, I don’t want you to see me naked in the light.”

“
Oh, but baby,” he said as he tried moving her dead locked arms away, he smiled down at her, “I want to see you.” He finally got her arms moved and looked over her naked chest, her perfectly voluptuous breast, with her rosy hard nipples, her smoother than silk skin.

“
Don’t look at my stomach.” she complained, trying to cover it again, but he wouldn’t let her. He looked down her ribs to her soft looking belly. Her little belly button was surrounded by little white jagged lines; they ran along her hips too. “Shea quit, you’re making me self conscious.” He looked back up at her beautiful face.

“
Show me what you think is a problem.”

“
I know you can see em, stop looking and kiss me.”

“
No, show me.”

She let out a frustrated breath, and pointed to the marks around her belly button, “They are disgusting.” He smiled, leaning his head down, placing feathery light kisses against each one of the marks. She let out a breathy sigh as he followed up her hips,
to the side of her breast before taking her nipple in his mouth. He gave the same attention to her other breast before reclaiming her mouth with his. He pulled back to look down at her beautifully pink flushed face.

“
I think you’re beautiful,” he kissed her again, before pulling back to look deep in her eyes, “I love every imperfection on you, because they make you perfect, Elli.” He kissed her nose as her eyes went wide, and tears rushed to her eyes, “You’re perfect to me.”

A tear leaked out the side of her right eye, and he smiled as he leaned his head down, kissing her with all the feelings that were welling up inside him. Kissing her before he bore his heart to her, telling her everything he was feeling, that he loved her with every ounce of his being, that he would never want anyone but her.

He slowly left her mouth, going down to her neck, where he suck and bit his way down to her collar bone, going back to down to her nipples, where he took her between his teeth as he gently kneaded and stroked her other breast. Her breathing picked up, coming out quick and shallow as he feasted on her swollen breast. When he got his fill he moved down her body, kissing her stomach, before pulling her panties off and continuing the kisses onto her hip bone. He placed soft wet kisses along her damp, moist needy place that he wanted nothing more than to be inside. He slowly opened her, and became harder at the site of the slick wetness of her excitement. He dove in, licking and sucking as he drove her to the edge. Her breathing was more erect, along with the hottest moans he had ever heard. She drove her hands through his hair pulling him closer to her, as her leg went over his shoulder, her other wide and open just for him. When she reached the edge, she came, wildly, explosively under his mouth as he just grinned cockily, he loved making her squirm and come just for him.

He bought her leg down, looking down at her body that was glistening with sweat. Her eyes were half lidded as she looked up at him with a small satisfied grin. “Damn, you’re hot,” he said as he reached into his night stand, ripping off his boxers as he grabbed a condom out of the drawer and sheathed his hot, bulging shaft. He was rock hard, and ready to be inside her. She looked down at the evidence of his arousal with a sexy little grin, before turning over, getting on her hands and knees, looking over her shoulder at him.

He almost came at the sight.

He moved behind her, giving her a grin as he moved his hand over her sweet round ass, then to the inside of her thighs before sliding two fingers inside her, getting her even hotter than she already was. She let out a deep, shuddering moan as he moved his fingers in and out of her. He watched as her fingers tighten around his pillow and couldn’t take it no more. Without much warning, he replaced his hard fingers with his even harder shaft, taking her inch by inch, slowly until he was inside her fully with a ragged gasp. She took in a breath as he moved out, then slammed back into her, losing all control as he moved into her lower body in a frenzied fervor.

Elli met every thrust with a soft sound of pleasure as sweat dripped down Shea’s back. She looked over her shoulder at him, and he leaned forward taking her mouth with his, kissing her sloppily as she came uncontrollably, shuddering against him as her body clinched around his hard swollen shaft. With that he pulled back, grabbing a hold of her hips, and slammed into her once, twice, then a third time before he let out a cry of satisfaction as he released inside her.