The Beginning of Us (116 page)

“Parker,” I moaned, meeting him thrust for thrust. My vision blacked out at the force of the release. I felt like I was floating, flying into the air and watching myself endure the greatest amounts of pleasure one could only wish to experience.

His mouth trailed hot kisses down my jaw to my ear and with heavy eyes, I watched him in the mirror make love to my body in the sweetest way possible.

The tattoo of the Reaper moved fluidly over his strong back as his muscles tightened with each thrust. Holding both of my wrists in one hand, he brushed the other one down the side of my body.

My nipples and clit still tingled, my body vibrating with desire. The multiple sensations pushed me over the edge as another release crashed into me.

Parker grunted with satisfaction and pushed my knee up to my chest, speeding up his hips. He let go of my wrists, gripping the sheets tight in his hands as he pounded into me with rough thrusts.

Scratching my nails down his back, I dug my fingers into the backs of his legs, pulling him towards me with as much strength as I could muster.

One final thrust and he seared himself deep into my very being. His body tensed and then shook, a roar leaving his lips as he came hard on a growl.

Sweat coated our skin, remnants from our desire mixing as one. I felt light as a feather, my outer body experience simmering some.

Parker kissed me softly and rolled onto his side. “Drink this.”

I sat up and took the bottle from him. I drank half of the water before earning a chuckle from him. My cheeks heated.

He placed a light peck on my shoulder. “You let me do whatever I want to your body but you blush when I tease you about being thirsty?”

I shrugged, slumping back down in his arms. “You made…me…” I yawned. “Thirsty.”

“No. I made you fly,” he whispered in my ear.

“I’m…I’m still…” I sighed. “Floating.”

“Sleep, my beautiful one.”

“Did you fly?” I asked softly. “You said we…would fly…together.”

He pulled the sheets up and around us, wrapping me tight in his arms. “Whenever I’m with you, I fly. You bring me the greatest joy and pleasure. That, pet, is flying for me.”

EIGHTEEN

A month later and we were lying in my bed, wrapped up in each other’s arms just listening to the sound of our breathing. Parker had fed me chocolate after our intense session. He had a bad day at the office; the hacker or hackers lying low drove him insane. To the point where he had taken out his frustration on me. But I gave in willingly. Needing to satisfy him. My submission calmed him in ways only he understood but I was learning. Slowly.

My phone rang, interrupting the silence and with stiff movements, I rolled over and answered it. “Hello?”

Parker kissed my shoulders, massaging and kneading the tight knots in my back.

“Miss Price?”

I frowned at the unfamiliar voice. “Yes?”

“This is Officer McNaw.”

My heart thumped. “Okay…”

“Do you know a Troy Danvers?”

I shot out of bed. “Yes. Is everything okay?”

Parker sat up, his brows furrowing.

“I’m at St. Francis Hospital. I suggest we meet.”

Oh God. “Please. Tell me he’s—” The phone went dead and I looked from it to Parker. “Troy. He’s in the hospital. I don’t…I don’t know anything.” My body shook.

Parker caught me as I fell to my knees, bile rising in my throat. I looked up at him through tears. “If…if he’s gone—”

“Shhh.” He kissed my mouth. “Get dressed. I’ll take you.”

***

Walking into the hospital brought me back to when my parents died. I got a phone call from a police officer and the conversation pretty much went the same. Except this time, I was going to see Troy and before, it was him walking beside me.

A lump had lodged its way in my throat and the excessive swallowing didn’t help. Please God. If something happened to him…I shook my head. No. I couldn’t go there. It wasn’t possible. Troy was fine. He had to be. He was strong. A fighter. One of the toughest people I knew even though he never felt that way. He had saved me. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have moved and who knows if I would have met Parker.

“Keely.”

I looked up at Parker and grabbed his arm, holding on for dear life as we made our way down the long white hall. The stench of lemon cleaner and medicine made my stomach churn. I hated hospitals.

We stopped at the reception and Parker told them who we were looking for. The nurse gave us the room number and as we got closer and closer to Troy, my heart beat louder and louder.

I tentatively made my way into the room with Parker right at my side. I gasped when I saw Troy sitting up in bed, talking quietly to Patrick. A large police officer stood on the other side of him, taking notes.

All eyes fell on me at that point. Parker let go of my hand and I ran into Troy’s arms.

He grunted but returned my embrace. “I’m fine.”

“You scared the shit out of me,” I said, tears running down my cheeks.

“Baby girl, I’m fine. Honest,” he said, his voice laced with pain.

I leaned back and cupped his cheeks. His left eye was swollen shut, a split marked his lip, and a white bandage was wrapped around his waist. “What the hell happened?”

He grimaced, taking deep and ragged breaths. “I got jumped.”

“What?” My eyes went wide. “By who?”

Troy looked from Parker to me and sighed. “Sit.”

“I—”

“Sit, pet,” Parker whispered in my ear.

The soft demand made my heart skip a beat and I did as I was told. Holding onto Troy’s hand, I squeezed it with everything in me.

“Officer, let’s take a walk.” Parker kissed my head. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I nodded. “Tell me what happened,” I said to Troy when Parker and the police man left the room.

“I’ll give you guys some time alone.” Patrick went to walk by us when I grabbed his hand, stopping him.

“Please stay,” I said softly.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. You’re family.” I smiled.

His eyes shone and he nodded. He sat on the other side of Troy, holding his other hand.

“Now tell me what happened.”

Troy took a breath. “I was meeting Patrick at Dale’s Deli for lunch and then we were going to come back to the apartment and veg. We were also celebrating because I got into culinary school.”

I gasped, throwing my arms around his neck. “I’m so happy for you.”

He chuckled.

I pulled back and caught the wince on his handsome face. “Sorry, honey.”

He sighed. “Anyways. So I decided to walk because it was beautiful out. Well I…I don’t remember much after walking by this alley. But I do remember getting pulled into an SUV and here I am.”

My heart raced. “Troy.”

“I saw Devin, Keely.”

I shot to my feet, pacing back and forth just as Parker came back into the room.

“Devin was involved,” he said.

“Yeah. I know,” I mumbled.

“There’s something else.” Troy pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me.

I opened it.

I will go through every single person that you love before finally making my way to you, princess. You wanna know why? Because I want you to fucking suffer.

I handed it to Parker and slumped onto the bed. Usually when I got these creepy letters from Devin, my palms became sweaty, my heart would race, but this time? Nothing. And that scared me even more.

Parker cursed and shoved the note in his pocket. He pulled me to my feet, switching me spots and wrapped his arms around my middle. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head.

“Listen.” Parker clapped a hand on Troy’s shoulder. “I want you both to stay at my cottage. You’ll be safe there. Both of you.”

Troy shook his head. “We couldn’t.”

“I insist. Please. For Keely,” Parker pleaded.

Troy nodded slowly, bringing Patrick’s hand up to his mouth. He placed a soft kiss on it. “Can you handle living with me?”

Patrick winked. “The real question you should be asking is, can you handle living with me?” He waggled his eyebrows.

Troy grinned and turned back to me. “I love you, Keely.”

Tears welled in my eyes and I swallowed a couple of times before I responded. “I love you. You’re more than my best friend. You’re my brother. My true knight in shining armor,” I whispered and hugged my arms around his neck. “You’re the only man that hasn’t hurt me.”

“Please for the love of God, be careful,” he said softly, running a hand in circles over my back. “It would kill me if something happened to you.”

I kissed his forehead and hugged Patrick. “Take care of him.”

“I will, sweetheart.”

“My driver is out front. His name is Jones. He’ll take you where you need to go and he has a key. Only he knows where my cottage is.”

I frowned at his lie. “Parker.”

He met my gaze. “Devin won’t show up twice. It’s not his thing. I also have the main driveway blocked off.” He turned back to Troy. “You
will
be safe. I promise you that. My housekeeper’s name is Anne and I have no doubt that she will love you two.” Parker rose to his feet and reached for my hand but I circled my arms around his waist instead.

“Let me know when you get there,” I told Troy.

“We will.”

***

A couple of weeks later, we were sitting in Parker’s office when a disturbing call came in. Of course it was none other than Devin.

“You get off on fucking with my mind, don’t you?” I bit out, gripping the phone tight in my hands.

Devin chuckled. “You don’t know me at all, do you?”

“I thought I did but little did I know that you were a sadistic bastard.”

“Oh you always knew, princess. You just enjoyed it. Especially when I ripped into your pure body the first time.” He groaned. “Fuck, Keely. Not so pure anymore, now are you?”

“You are a sick fuck,” I shouted, slamming the phone on the receiver.

Parker pulled me into his arms, whispering to me, soothing me with just his words.

The calls and letters were coming in more frequently and I was just waiting for Devin to show up himself. But he hadn’t. Yet.

It got to the point where I just didn’t care anymore. Troy and Patrick were safe, living at Parker’s cottage. Of course Parker made sure to keep The Room of Anticipation, our special room, locked, but there were other bits and pieces spread out through the house that hinted at our lifestyle. Troy wasn’t dumb. If he saw the cuffs that were attached to the feet of the couch, or the new table that could fit a person under it, he never said anything.

I wasn’t sure why Devin was waiting. I knew all along that he had wanted me to work for him but I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why he didn’t force me. It messed with my head and made me paranoid as hell.

Over the past couple of weeks, Parker had been able to get the proof we needed that I was no longer married to that bastard. It gave us peace of mind and allowed us to explore each other and our new relationship. I did everything in my power that I could to earn Parker’s full trust but even I didn’t give that trust completely. I was learning. We both were.

Parker turned on his laptop and placed my hands on the keyboard. “Do your thing, pet. Distract yourself.”

“Distract me with your body. Please,” I begged.

He kissed my cheek. “Sex isn’t everything. As much as I love being inside of you, we both need to learn control. Over our emotions. Our feelings. That undying need for each other.”

I brushed my thumb over his bottom lip. “I like needing you.”

“Keely,” he said, his voice filled with warning.

I grinned. “You tell me that I’m beautiful constantly,” I said softly, running my fingers down his cheek. I placed a peck on his chin, the scruff of his jaw tickling my lips.

“You are beautiful.”

“So are you. You’re this big powerful Dominant man. The Alpha to my Omega.” I kissed his nose. “I know we haven’t talked about my confession several weeks ago…but…”

He brushed his fingers inside the vee of my white shirt, placing a soft peck above my heart. “You have to know how I feel about you. But saying those three words…it scares the shit out of me.”

My blood pounded in my ears. Maybe this was it. Maybe he would finally tell me. I held my breath, waiting.

“My father was my mother’s everything. Her world. Her life. She allowed me to read her journals when she went into the hospital and the words…” his voice wavered. “Keely, when he died, he took a part of her with him. That scares me. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”

Wrapping an arm around his neck, I curled onto his lap. I fingered his collar, trying to form my thoughts before I just blabbed that I loved him. Again. “My parents were high school sweethearts. They were your typical couple. He was a jock, played football and she was the head cheerleader. They went to college together, married young and then had me. Before they died…they were trying for another baby. They were older but didn’t care.” Tears formed in my eyes at the loss we both shared.

“I love you, Keely.”

I sat up straight. “You…what…really?”

Parker cupped my cheeks, wiping the tears that had slipped down my cheeks. “You surprised?”

“No. I just…I wasn’t expecting you to say it. I…” I inhaled a shaky breath.

He grinned and kissed my mouth. “I’ve been in love with you for a while, pet. You opened up something inside of me. Yes it scares me. This whole relationship thing scares me but…”

“What?” I whispered.

He pinched my chin. “I’d give up everything to keep you for one more day.”

My breath caught. “I’m yours.”

“You my sweet angel, are the best thing that has happened to me. You embraced the BDSM lifestyle with a passion I crave. You—”

“I love you too,” I blurted.

He chuckled. “I know, angel.”

I straddled his lap and hugged him around his neck, deepening the kiss. “I really love you.”

His hands roamed down my back, cupping my ass. “I know that,” he purred.

“Really really—”