The Private Serials Box Set (35 page)

   “Yeah,” I said, quietly.

   “For most our lives we were stuck to each other, Preston.  I knew if I turned around you’d be there.  I could feel your presence all around me, supporting me, backing me up.  It was something I could always count on.  But, suddenly, one of us flipped over and now it’s as if we’re pushing each other away.”

   “I’m not pushing you away, Piper.  I could never do that.”  I’d never heard her talk this way, never gotten this vibe from her at all.

   “No,” she said, turning her head away from me, pretending to look out to the ocean as she used the hand farthest from me to wipe her cheek, trying to hide her tears.  “But, we’re going in opposite directions, and it feels more permanent now than it ever did before.”

   I knew my little sister was trying to come to terms with the fact she wasn’t the only important woman in my life.  I also knew it had nothing to do with how she felt about Lena.  Piper loved Lena—of that I was sure—but this was the first time I’d ever let my future depend on someone else and Piper was feeling the gravity of the situation.

   “You’re always going to be my twin sister, my
baby
twin sister.  My relationship with Lena isn’t going to change that and she wouldn’t want it to; she loves you.  I’ll always be here for you in any way I can.”  Piper still wouldn’t look at me, but I could tell there was more than one tear to wipe away when her hands brushed over her face.  After a few moments, she finally turned to look at me, her face red and blotchy.

   “I’m so happy you found Lena,” she said, smiling weakly through tears.  “This is just the first time I’ve felt truly alone in a while.”

   “You’re not alone, Piper.”

   “I am, Preston.  I am alone, and as sad as I am right now, I know that being alone is what I need.  I am one hundred percent, completely aware of the fact that I need to work on
me
.”  She took in a deep breath and then sighed it out loudly.  “It’s just hard to think about being separated from you again
and
being on my own.”

   She was right.  In all our years together, since birth, she’d never been on her own.  She was either always with me or with a boyfriend.  I hadn’t realized it until she’d said it, but it was true.  And based on her last relationship and how it had ended so disastrously, she didn’t need to be jumping into another one any time soon.

   “I don’t really know what to say,” I admitted.  As much as I felt the need to protect her, to keep her safe, I knew that with Lena was where I was supposed to be.  Lena was who needed me the most.  Piper needed to find herself.

   “Just tell me I’ll be all right and that you’ll never be too far away,” she said, looking exactly half sad and half happy, as if she were torn completely in two.

   “You’re going to be fine, Piper, and I’ll always be here for you.”

   “You’re the best big brother ever,” she said, smiling more, true happiness pushing out the sad.

   All I could do was return her smile, hoping she found herself sooner rather than later.

   We both turned our heads back toward the apartment when we heard movement from inside.  I watched as Lena’s slender body walked out of the hallway and into the kitchen.  She’d put on some sleep shorts and a tank top, looking sexy and sleepy all at the same time.

   “Lena’s up,” Piper said, not taking her eyes off her for a moment.  When she finally looked back to the water, she wiped her face with her hand, making sure she had gotten rid of all the residual tears, then took in a deep breath, stood, and walked into the apartment.  I followed, still worried about her but unsure how to help.

   “Hey, Piper,” Lena said with a genuine smile.  “Where’s Sam?”

   “She’s probably still in a puddle on the floor of the shower,” Piper answered with a smirk.  Lena laughed and the sound of it made the hair on my arms stand up and the beat of my heart pick up as well.  Her dark hair was loose and it fell down almost to her waist in carefree waves.  I shook away the image of her naked back, my hand running up her spine while my other hand grabbed hold of her hair, pulling her back onto me.

   She turned back to the cupboard, opening the door to pull out a mug, and I walked up behind her, pressing my front into her back, loving the way my now hardening dick fit nicely up against her backside.  She yelped a little, surprised by my sudden proximity, then laughed again as she pulled all her hair to one side of her neck. 

   “Sleep well?” I asked, just before I pressed my mouth against the skin of her neck.

   “Mmm.  I slept very well.  Until I woke up and you were gone.”  She accommodated my lips on her skin, never moving away as I trailed my mouth up to her ear, then back down to where her neck met her shoulder.

   “Miss me?” I mumbled, purposefully scraping my stubble against her, loving the way her breath caught from the friction.

   “Something like that,” she said as she pressed her ass further in to me.

    I bit down, a little rougher than I intended, but knew my point had gotten across when she gasped.  “Careful, Lena,” I said quietly into her ear, then licked the spot I’d just bitten.

   “Would the two of you knock it off?”  Piper’s voice interrupted my thoughts of Lena’s ass against my cock, and thinking about my sister just in the next room calmed me down quite a bit.  Lena turned her head and smiled at me right before she pressed a small kiss against my lips.  Then she poured coffee in her mug and took it to the table, sitting across from Piper.

   “What’s with the midday nap?” Piper asked, a smirk still stretched across her face.

   “I was tired,” Lena answered before she took a sip of her coffee, trying to hide a smile behind her mug.  I walked to the table and took the chair between them.

   “Piper wants to go to a luau tonight.”

   Lena’s face lit up with a bright smile.  “That sounds amazing.  Great idea.  I’ve never been to one before, but always wanted to go.”

   “Great, now we just have to convince Sam.”

   “Sam will go.  It’s right up her alley—attractive shirtless guys playing with fire?  Done deal.”

   The girls laughed and I was glad to just sit back and watch them interact.  Piper had never disliked any of my girlfriends.  In fact, she’d become friends with many of them and that was important to me.  I wasn’t interested in dating anyone who didn’t get along with my twin sister.  But I wasn’t
dating
Lena.  I wasn’t trying to woo her, wasn’t even trying to see if she fit into my life.  She was mine and my life was now wherever she was, and it was of paramount importance for Piper to like her, to love her even.  So to see them laughing, and to know that for two months they’d built a friendship without me in the picture was something that brought me a lot of peace.

   “Well,” Piper said, taking the last sip of her coffee, “I’ll go pick Sam up off the floor and tell her to get ready for an exciting evening.”  She walked to the sink and deposited her mug, then walked to the door, stopping and turning to us once it was open.  “I’ll make the arrangements and let you guys know what time it starts, all right?”

   “Sounds good.  Talk to you later,” Lena said with a smile.

   Piper gave me a warm smile and a wink.  I winked back, glad she was leaving with a smile on her face and the tears she had shed earlier seemed to be gone.  When the door closed behind her, my eyes went to Lena.  She sat quietly at the table and looked to be lost in thought.  I let the silence settle, content to just look at her, fresh-faced and comfortable.

   “I love that you get along with my sister,” I finally said, my eyes still captivated by her ease and beauty.

   She looked at me, her gaze meeting mine.  “Piper saved me when I first got here.  I don’t know what I would have done without her.  Even though I know you sent her, she was and still is truly a great friend.”  She paused, considering her next words.  “I need good people in my life.  Besides Sam, who’s the best, I’ve been surrounded by people who didn’t care about me or my happiness for most of my life.  I was lost in the shadow of my sister and then used as a tool by my father to climb the corporate ladder.  It’s good to finally feel as if the people in my life don’t need me for anything, but want me for everything.”

   “Come here,” I said, crooking a finger at her, needing her close to me.  She smiled shyly, but stood and walked to me.  I tried not to notice how tiny her shorts were, failing miserably as my eyes were drawn to the expanse of the creamy skin of her thighs.  When she stopped in front of me I spread my legs wider and tapped my knee, signaling for her to sit.  She obeyed, sitting sideways on my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck.

   I placed my finger under her chin, lifting her face just slightly so I could look her in the eyes.

   “I need you for everything,” I said, not looking away.  “I want you for everything, too.”

   “Everything?” she asked, an air of vulnerability in her voice; she was obviously asking more than a rhetorical question.  Her tone worried me, but I didn’t flinch, didn’t let my concern show on my face at all.

   “Everything, Lena.  I want it all.”

   Her face pulled down and I let my finger fall away.  She took in a deep breath and I could feel her steel herself.

   “There’s something I should tell you, then.”

   I reached up to her face, my hand moving over her cheek, threading through the hair at the nape of her neck, gently gripping it there.  “I’m here.  What is it?”

   “After that morning in front of my house back in Portland, after Derrek showed me the picture of us, after I thought everything in my life had fallen apart around me, I just kind of shut down.”

   I felt my stomach drop and my grip on her tightened.  I hated knowing she’d been hurting without me, because of me.  Hated thinking of her all alone, thinking she’d lost everything, when in reality, I’d never let her go.  “I’m sorry, sweetheart, for everything.”

   “Shhh,” she said as she gently put her thumb over my lips, effectively shushing me.  “You’ve got nothing to apologize for.  I know why you did what you did, and I’m glad you did it.”  She inhaled again, her eyes darting between both of mine.  I got the feeling she was trying to tell me something and she was afraid of how I would react.  I could tell she was nervous, feel that she was tense beneath my hands.  “I left my house that morning and went straight to a hotel.  I didn’t have anything with me, including,” she said softly, her eyes falling away to her lap, “my birth control pills.”  She sighed heavily, obviously lighter once the words left her.  “I haven’t taken them since that day.”

   I took in her words, processed them, then looked at her, trying to gauge how she felt about her admission.  I knew how Lena felt about children.  I knew we’d been sleeping together nearly nonstop for a week and neither of us even mentioned condoms—we’d never used them in Portland.  I also knew her husband had denied her a family but then started one with someone else, stringing her along for years with promises of babies down the road.  Promises he never intended to keep.  I imagined she felt guilty for not telling me earlier, but I also thought she might feel hopeful about the situation.

   I pulled her face to mine, gently kissing her, feeling her relax against me.  Her arms came back around my neck and I breathed her in.  My free hand roamed up her back, feeling her soft skin under her tank top, loving the way she pressed further in to me.

   “I’m sorry,” she whispered when the kiss broke.  “I should have told you sooner.”

   I knew she wanted words from me, but I had none.

   I wrapped my arm around her waist and stood, letting my other arm catch beneath her knees, and carried her to the bedroom, kissing her the entire way.  When I sat her on the bed, her eyes looked worried, but I could do nothing besides kiss her again.  I wanted to reassure her, wanted to ease her fears, but needed to do it with my body. 

   My knees rested on the bed on either side of her hips, straddling her.  She raised her arms as I lifted her tank top over her head, tossing it on the floor.  Her dark hair fell over her breasts, her nipples hard and peeking out through the strands.  Her chest was moving up and down rapidly with her breath, and a flush was starting to cover her throat and cheeks.  My hands cradled her face and my mouth found hers, kissing her insistently.  She moaned and my cock jumped at the sound.

   She leaned back, lying fully on the bed, and my body ached to cover hers, to feel her beneath me.  Just as eager as I was, she lifted her hips and removed her shorts.  Her hair fell away from her body, uncovering her breasts.  I sat up again, looking down at the beautiful woman who, even after I’d lied to her, chose to believe in our love and give herself to me again.  And not only that, but chose to let me give her everything in return.  I was in awe of her.

   My hands started at her waist, caressing gently up her stomach and over her full breasts.  I watched as her chest rose and fell, her breath shuddering, eyes closing, mouth opening.  When she pushed her breast further into my palms, I knew she was aching for me too.

   I wrestled with the urge to give our bodies what they craved, or feed our souls what they needed.  In the end, I decided to go with both options. 

   I sank into her, our bodies connecting, both of us groaning as sensation took us over.  I brought my face directly level with hers, our eyes searching each other’s, bodies pressed together, and breaths intermingling.

   “I want to have everything with you,” I managed, even if it was just a strangled whisper.  My voice was gone somewhere, definitely overtaken by the enormity of the moment I was sharing with her, humbled by the idea that she would give me the gift of being the person she made her children with.  It was almost too much for me to process.  So, instead of thinking and analyzing, I kissed her.

   I kissed her as I brought us both to a place where nothing that had happened in the last two months mattered, where our pasts were forgotten, and our future was painted in bright lights.

   When we came, we came together, eye to eye, mouth to mouth, and everything in the world ahead of us.