Tapped (Totaled Book 2) (32 page)

            Backing away, he stood beside the bed, his eyes never leaving mine. He hooked his thumbs under the waistband of his pants and dropped them, his cock springing free from the restriction of the fabric. He was striking, more virile and impressive than I recalled, and if he didn’t take me soon, I thought I would die. My heart was in my throat, beating faster and harder than ever before. My stomach was in knots, my breaths uneven, my eyes devouring his body as a delicious shudder heated mine. I was needy, fiendish, wanton, and I didn’t hesitate to pull my panties down myself, flicking them onto the floor with my foot.

            His pupils dilated with desire when I opened to let him see how wet I was for him. When I lowered my own hand, slipping my fingertips into my wet folds, his breath caught. He stroked himself as he stalked forward, like a hunter closing in on his prey. I wanted him to feast on me like I’d never wanted anything before. As I circled my fingers in pleasure, he looked at me hungrily and settled his body over mine. He stopped his advancement and grabbed my hand, aggressively pulling it away from me and towards his face. When he brought my two glossy fingers into his mouth, sucking on them, I almost came undone right then.

            “I wanted to taste you so bad…but I want to be inside you when you come,” he demanded with a husky voice. He positioned himself over me and placed his elbows on each side of my face, reclaiming my mouth, his kiss crashing into me.

            I writhed beneath him, the head of his cock teasing my entrance, until I couldn’t help myself. Lifting my legs to wrap around and encircle his hips, I dug my heels into his backside and pulled him closer. He pushed into me, hard and fast, then halted all movement. I clenched and squeezed, adjusting to his size. I relished the full feeling. He stopped our kiss, pulling back and looking into my eyes with adoration.

            He drove himself into me with long, slow movements, prolonging both of our climaxes until I felt faint with ecstasy. After a few minutes of letting him worship and cherish me, I needed more. Lifting my hips to allow him to be even deeper inside me elicited a moan from him and he began plunging faster and with more power. My breasts jumped as he pounded into me and every inch of my body felt enflamed, the slow burning ember now a full blaze. I felt the pressure building and tightening deep inside my core and couldn’t help but verbalize it.

            “Drew…please…oh, yes…please…” I screamed, my voice echoing through the room.

            He dug his hands under my arms, gripping my shoulders and pulling me towards him like he was doing a chin up, but he only pushed into me deeper and harder. “Let it go, baby,” he instructed, his tone velvety but commanding.

            And I surrendered.

            I let go and the release exploded within me, causing bursts of lights behind my eyes. He rode out each and every aftershock by continuing to move, sliding slower and slower until I could catch my breath. All the while, he spoke to me in whispers and spread kisses all over my neck and chest, staying with me as I rode the wave.

            “I love you.”

            “I need you.”

            “You are my everything.”

            “I want to see you like this every day…”

            “For the rest of my life.”

            “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

            “I love you.”

            “I love you, Bree.”

            He moved gently and slowly until I snapped out of my orgasmic bubble and felt empowered to give him the same pleasure he had just given me. I shoved his chest back and twisted my hips around, encouraging him to roll with me. He went along with me and I settled myself on top of him, his shaft surging into my wetness and disappearing. When I was fully seated, I leaned back and began to move up and down.

            “Drew…watch me.”

            “I am, baby. So fucking beautiful,” he insisted as his breathing picked up. He brought his hands behind his head and lifted his eyes to see where our bodies were joined.

            I impaled myself on him over and over, drugged from the control. I leaned down to let my nipples graze over his chest and place a lingering kiss on his swollen lips, all the while continuing to move. I braced my hands against his chest and when I saw his fingers gripping and fisting the pillow beneath his head, I knew I was close to delivering. I rode him harder, leaning back and letting my breasts bounce before him.

            “Bree…oh God…” he moaned and I suddenly felt like I was going to come again.

            I felt my cheeks flush and began to groan as he took charge again. His firm hands grabbed my hips, his powerful grip holding my body still as he surged up from beneath me. Once, twice, three times, and another until we both came in unison, embracing each other as our love shattered anything left unsaid.

Chapter Forty

DREW

            It was almost five in the morning when Bree left my house. We made love and remained entwined in each other for as long as we possibly could before she had to go home. We were in agreement that she needed to be home before her dad woke up. Neither of us wanted any drama or to have to take any shit in regards to our relationship before I left for the Middle East.

            When I finally crawled out of bed, well worn out from our hours of becoming reacquainted with each other, I had only a short time to double check my luggage and gather my things to head to the airport. As I walked into the kitchen to grab a water bottle, something caught my eye, sitting in the center of the counter. A small gift bag, black with an emerald green ribbon tied around the handles sat idle, assumingly for me to open. My mouth turned up into a smile, once again surprised by Bree’s thoughtfulness and constant outward showing of her love.

            Inside the bag was a wooden box, a smooth, rich dark brown with detailed, embossed edges. Before I opened it, I unfolded the note next to the box.

Drew,

I am so proud of you,

and wish you the best of luck in Abu Dhabi.

But win or lose, I will always be proud.

I love you.

More than anything!

This gift is a symbol of my

hope that you never feel lost again.

You come back to me, Drew Dougherty!

Come back home.

            I opened the box to find what appeared to be a gold pocket watch. When I opened it though, the top flipped up, revealing the most beautiful golden compass. The compass was intricate and quite stunning. I marveled at the tiny points. On the inside cover was a set of engraved numbers. I stared at them for a moment, the numbers not making any sense until it occurred to me that they were coordinates. Rushing to my laptop, I used a search engine to pull up a site where I could locate a destination via the longitude and latitude digits.

            Fernandina Beach, Florida.

            My home.

            Not wanting to leave my car at the airport and pay for it to sit in a lot all that time, I took a cab. On the way, I made sure to call the security company I’d hired to watch over Bree. Now that she no longer needed to be there in the middle of the night, I could cancel their services, which was a huge weight off of my shoulders.

            I stood in line in front of our airline counter, hating that I had to check a bag. There was just too much equipment and too many clothes to shove it all into a carry-on for an almost two week long trip. Brett and Tony both arrived while I was still waiting, joining me to check their bags, and Pat and Liam showed up shortly after we were all checked in.

            I found it a bit stupid that we didn’t all share a cab and ride together, but I didn’t care enough to get into it. The truth was, I wanted to board the plane as soon as possible and catch up on a few hours of sleep. I caught myself grinning at the reason for my lack of sleep.

            “What are you smiling about?” Liam asked as we sat down in the waiting-to-board section.

            “Nothing,” I dismissed.

            While Tony, Brett, and Pat were chatting with each other across the aisle, Liam was eerily silent.

            “You okay?” I inquired, sincerely. “Nervous about flying?”

            “Kind of… I guess… I mean, I’ve only flown once before and that was to Atlanta with you,” he confessed feebly. “This is going to take a lot longer.”

            “Don’t be nervous. We’re more likely to die in a car crash,” I offered, immediately regretting my words when I saw him slightly wince, making me realize what I’d actually just said. Even Pat lifted his eyes from his conversation across the aisle. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to… Well…I’m sure we’ll be fine.” God, I was an idiot. Bree’s and Liam’s mother had died in a car crash, hit by a drunk driver, when they were just teenagers. I sounded like such an insensitive prick.

            The awkwardness was soon saved by the brash announcement over the speakers that the first group was okay to board. People lined up with their carry-ons in tow and another announcement was made.

            “Brian Dougherty, to the desk please. Brian Dougherty to the desk.”

            What the hell? Our whole team looked at me with that exact expression and I shrugged in ignorance. I approached the small desk next to the walkway and introduced myself.

            “Yes, hello, sir. We’ve received an alert in the system that there has been an upgrade on your tickets. You and your party will be seated in first class,” she informed with a gleaming white smile.

            “Really?” I was shocked and figured that Chris Gibson was probably to thank for the change in our seating status.

            “Yes, sir. If you’ll bring your boarding passes, we can scan you in and get you seated now.”

            I returned to the guys, sharing our good news, and got hoots and hollers from everyone except Liam, who smiled but lacked the appropriate excitement. I assumed he didn’t really understand what’d just happened. We submitted our tickets and walked single file down the corridor to the plane.

            Once on board, I sat against the window with Liam next to me; in front of us were Brett and Tony. Pat didn’t have anyone next to him and I was envious of the extra space, but the first leg of our flight wasn’t very long, only Jacksonville to Dallas. The second leg was Dallas to Abu Dhabi and over fifteen hours long. Thank God it was overnight.

            Once I saw how much more leg room and seat space we had in first class, I thought I’d never be able to ride coach again. I shot a quick text message to Chris thanking him for the surprise.

Me: It’s not even my birthday. Thank you!

Chris: No problem. You can pay me back with a win.

Me: I’ll do my best.

Chris: Fly safe. I’ll see you all tomorrow.

            My agent was flying in from Atlanta, so he’d arrive a few hours after us. I was grateful that I wasn’t going to be stuck next to him on such a long flight. I had Bree to thank for that one. Apparently, Chris was going to fly to Dallas just to be able to be on the same international flight as the rest of us so we could all arrive together, but somehow, Bree convinced him to avoid the extra step in his travel. I was relieved that I didn’t have to sit next to him for fifteen hours, listening to him try to advise me on all the PR ins and outs of the business. I appreciated his professional advice and certainly had benefited from it in the past, but I preferred the CliffsNotes version. And I wanted to rest.

            The flight to Dallas was smooth and uneventful and Liam and I actually had a good time playing a few card games. Until he discovered that I had no idea how to play solitaire. He was flabbergasted that he knew something I didn’t. It was embarrassing, but no one had ever taught me. So he did. He beamed with excitement at being able to instruct me from start to finish and I caught Pat’s smirk from across the aisle.

            The following morning when we touched down on foreign soil, I was borderline miserable. Even being in first class didn’t help my six foot four inch, two hundred fifty pound body from being uncomfortable. The seats reclined to lay almost completely flat but there just wasn’t enough room. Liam, close in size to me, was miserably uncomfortable for a while but ended up taking some over the counter sleep aid and conked out. I had tried to walk the narrow aisles of the plane back and forth a few times and made a couple bathroom trips, but time crept by too slowly. I’d never been so happy to be back on the ground.

            When our eyes met the country we were guests in, I was convinced that I’d died and gone to heaven. It was absolute paradise. The airport was impressive enough but when an Arabic host met us to escort us to our hotel, the royal treatment really began. The hot air hit us in the face when we walked outside and we were told it was 109 degrees. I did a double take at the gentleman—dressed in a head-to-toe robe which was obviously the standard garb for natives. He had to be dripping with sweat underneath that thing. Luckily, it wasn’t as humid as Florida, and once I adjusted, I didn’t find it to be as warm as it initially sounded.

            The luxuriousness of everything was overwhelming. Every building was huge and grandiose, with high rises towering over the bustling city below on every block. We were all driven in a Mercedes Benz Sprinter decked out to the nines and given a mini tour of the city.

            The moment we pulled into the entrance drive of our hotel was when I really felt out of place. It wasn’t a hotel at all—it was a resort…actually, more like a palace. Tony muttered, “Holy shit,” to which our escort promptly warned him against any profanity in public. He’d actually reiterated many of the cultural differences from Bree’s packet during the ride from the airport to our hotel…or resort. I thought of her with each and every beautiful thing he pointed out, wishing she could be with me to share in the experience. I made a promise to myself to one day bring her back here.