Chapter 24

The Ice on the Floor…

NOW

(Beth)

"You're closing tonight?" I asked Maria.

"Unless you want to switch with me."

"I've been here too long already," I said. "Waiting on my last person to close out so I can leave."

"I'll do it for you," Maria said. "Happy Sunday to you. I won't pocket the cash either."

"I would never think that," I said.

"Hey, what's the deal with Holly?"

"What now?"

"She was breaking up with Brian but now they're good again?"

I rolled my eyes. "She's marrying him. No doubt. We just have to ride this out with her."

"Do we all get to walk her down the aisle?"

"Maybe," I said.

"Speaking of that… are you going alone?"

"To the wedding? I don't know."

"You RSVPed."

"Yeah."

"With someone?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Just to be safe."

"Damn," Maria said. "I need to find a date."

"Take Nelle."

"Ha!" Maria yelled. "She'll have her open for business sign flashing between her legs all night."

"Oh, don't put that into my head," I said.

I checked my phone and looked around the bar.

I hadn't heard from Leith since he stormed out of the bar.

He wasn't answering my texts. Or my calls.

Last thing I needed was for him to stir up old trouble.

Stupid necklace.

"You okay over there?" Maria asked.

"I'm good. Are you okay with closing that out for me?"

I nodded to the guy sitting at the corner of the bar staring down into his third glass of scotch. He was quiet, with dark eyes, and looked like he either got dumped or fired.

I tried to ask.

He didn't want to talk.

"He's fine," Maria said.

"Thanks. I need to get out of here."

"Looks that way," she said. "Have fun."

I grabbed my stuff and ran through the back to get to my car.

I wrestled with my phone with my keys in my mouth as I tried to send Leith another text.

Before I could type a letter, I saw the glow of cigarette from the parking lot.

I froze in place and opened my mouth.

My keys fell to the ground.

Leith pushed away from my car, smoking a cigarette, the left side of his face cut and bruised.

He looked like a monster as he walked toward me.

"Leith…"

He took a deep drag of his cigarette and flicked it away.

I had never seen him look like this before.

"What did you do?" I asked.

He closed right in on me.

He lips crashed down to mine.

I tasted the smoke on his breath.

His tongue danced in my mouth for a few seconds before he pulled away.

He showed me his left hand.

There dangling from it was the necklace.

"What?" I called out.

I slapped Leith on his shoulders and ended up driving myself back.

He held his left hand up even more.

The silver chain with the angel pendant on it. And in the angels wings and face were the diamonds. The cheesy, fake diamonds. The necklace was so terrible but it was from Leith. And it was an angel. He did that to mess with me. But it was sweet and romantic.

Now his face was bleeding because he…

"You fought for it?" I asked.

"He looks worse than me," Leith said. "But here's your necklace."

Leith stuck his hand out.

I pushed his wrist aside. "No."

"No?" he asked.

"I don't want that now."

"Are you fucking serious, angel?"

"I'm dead serious."

"I just went to Joel's house for this," Leith said as he shook his hand. "For you."

"You did it for yourself," I said.

"What?"

"You wanted to prove something to yourself. You wanted to prove you could get rid of Joel and my marriage. Because it hurt you so much."

Leith moved toward me again. "Hurt me? Of course it hurt me, Beth. I watched you move on to another so easily. And then you stayed. You fell in love. You got married. What happened to us?"

"A lot," I whispered. "And what I was trying to say is that I don't want that necklace right now, Leith. I want you to come home with me so you can put it on me. Like you did the night you gave it to me. And I'll get you some ice for your face."

I saw the look in his eyes.

I still had it.

The ability to pull him to the edge but not let him go over it.

That's what I loved most about Leith and me.

We knew each other's limits. Even if we sometimes pushed too hard, that was okay. To me, we always found our way back to each other.

And tonight maybe proved it more than ever.

"Last one to my place is a rotten egg," I said.

Leith made another wild move at me.

His hand sliding along my face.

I smelled like a bar.

He smelled like smoke.

I was tired.

He was beat up, literally.

It was perfect.

"Angel… I'm not sleeping on a couch tonight."

I smacked the bag of ice against Leith's face purposely hard.

He groaned and snapped his head back.

"Dammit," he whispered.

"Oops," I said.

Leith put his hand to the bag of ice and leaned back in the chair.

I watched him.

His jeans looked scuffed up. His shirt a little stretched out, even if his chest, shoulders, and arms still filled it out.

I wasn't sure I could ever remember Leith looking so… dirty. Sexy.

He reached into his pocket and took out the necklace again.

"Your prize, Beth," he said.

"Prize," I said. "I didn't ask for that prize."

"What happened?"

"With?"

"Everything," Leith said.

I laughed. "That's the best you've got? You take a few punches and think you can just get into my heart and past?"

"Maybe I was hoping to get into something else," Leith said.

"Bold," I whispered.

Leith leaned toward me. He slid the bag of ice off his left cheek.

"If you don't keep that on your face, it won't work."

Without even looking, Leith dropped the bag of ice to the floor.

His hands cupped my face again.

His right hand was warm. His left hand cold from touching the bag of ice.

As our lips touched, I sighed into his mouth.

He took the sigh and gave back a kiss layered with intention.

I was the one who stood first, but Leith was right there with me.

Kissing harder. Faster. Deeper.

I struggled to breathe, not wanting to miss a second of the chance to kiss him again.

My hands touched his shirt but skipped clutching it. I wanted him. I wanted to touch him.

I moved my hands under his shirt, feeling warm and hard skin. A familiar territory just years later. But the memories guided me, reminding me what was about to happen.

I put my head back and sighed with relief as Leith kissed down my neck.

My hands retreated down the front of his stomach, hooking my fingers inside his jeans. My thumbs touched the button of his jeans. Knowing how close I was to… him .

Leith's thumb stroked my cheeks as I kept my head back.

He moved to the other side of my neck, always being fair.

I slid my right hand over the front of his jeans, helping myself to his thickness as it bulged from the inside of them.

Leith moved his hands from my face to my chest. Gently pushing me so I would back up. I did, until I hit the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room.

I groaned as Leith's lips crashed on mine one more time.

The kiss was hotter than ever. His body pressed against mine, his knees bending, making sure I felt him.

With his right hand, he gripped both my wrists and moved them above my head.

He broke the kiss and stared at me with intense eyes that spoke louder than any words could have done.

His left hand touched the bottom of my shirt.

I was dressed in all black from working at the bar. Everything a size too tight. I was achy and wanted to be out of it all.

And that's what Leith helped with next.

I kept my hands up as he took my shirt off.

As it fell to the floor, Leith kissed my chest. I turned my hands and dug my nails into the wall. I looked down as I took heavy breaths, watching Leith kissing a crooked line down my body. Over the swell of my right breast, down to my stomach, where it kept fluttering as I couldn't catch my breath.

His fingers teased at the front of my pants. Opening them in a second, his hands pulling them down my body. I pressed my back to the wall and arched my hips forward, lifting my legs one at a time. Watching as Leith was on one knee before me, undressing me.

Of course my bra didn't match my panties.

I wore a black bra and my panties were a pink color.

I wasn't sure if I ever had anything that honestly matched.

"I can't help myself now, Beth," Leith whispered as his breath tickled my lower stomach.

I curled my toes. "Don't… let go, Leith. Of everything."

His hands returned to my hips, quickly sliding my panties down next.

I let out a breathless gasp and my mouth stayed open, looking down again, watching him.

His hands touched the front of my legs and I began to melt even more.

Sliding up, skin against skin, gently cutting to my inner thighs. I opened my legs, feeling his touch getting closer to my center. My muscles tightened as my inner core shivered with need.

I gasped for another breath and wanted to say something to him.

Anything.

Romantic. Funny. Dirty.

Leith's eyes looked up at me for a split second and that was almost enough to make my heart explode.

His lips kissed warm skin, an inch above where I wanted him next.

That's where he went, his tongue curling against my folds, helping himself to my desire.

I let out a groan as the tip of his tongue swirled around my clit.

He suckled against my body, making me rock forward against him, wanting more.

Leith kissed up and away from me, leaving me a second to try and catch my breath.

He dipped back down, his hands tighter against my inner thighs. His tongue moving slow and thorough, savoring me in a way that only Leith could ever do.

In some way he forever owned my pleasure.

He knew what to do, when to do it, and where to do it.

There was no guiding him or begging myself to finish.

Leith slipped his hands from my inner thighs to my ass. Cupping my cheeks tight, pulling me closer to his mouth. His tongue wrote a slow love story that made my knees shake with the burning need to come.

His hands inched their way up to my lower back. His strong fingers dug into the achy muscles of my back and I groaned with relief in more than one way.

When he started to kiss up my body again, I whimpered, not wanting that feeling to go away.

Each kiss he offered my body was louder than the previous one.

All the way up to my breasts where he flirted, wresting against my bra.

That's when I finally moved my hands.

I had enough of waiting.

I all but clawed at his shirt with force, knowing what I wanted from him.

Leith pressed his body against mine again.

Everything stopped. Except my racing heart.

He put his forehead to mine. "Tell me this is terrible idea, angel."

"Oh, it's really terrible, Leith," I said.

"That makes me love you, Beth."

"I know," I said.

He brushed the tip of his nose to mine. "Terrible idea… but those are my favorite."

When my hands finally touched his bare chest, it was like heaven opening up above me. I left little marks that disappeared in seconds. They were replaced then with my lips as I kissed him. Tasting his hard skin, groaning each time I did so, craving more.

I had his jeans open in seconds as his fingertips gently slid up and down my arms, making goosebumps break out along my skin. There was just something soft and sweet about Leith that showed all the time, even in the wildest of our moments.

I didn't bother worrying about taking his jeans off. I knew what I wanted. I knew what I needed. And as my fingers touched his hard thickness, I looked down, putting my forehead to his chest. I saw him as I touched him. My hand stroking root to dip, my eyes remembering how much Leith had to offer. What every inch of him felt like and tasted like. The rush of memories attacking me as my body shook for more.

For right now.

For this moment we had.

I lifted my head and looked up at him.

His left cheek swollen, the cut dried with blood on it.

What he did for me.

What he did for himself.

What he for us.

He knew what everything meant to me.

He knew everything about me.

It was almost unfair to be in his presence. But I couldn't imagine another person touching me the way he did.

His gentle touch on my arms was suddenly a tighter grip. He stepped forward and guided me down to the bed. I let out another groan, licking my bottom lip, watching as Leith moved down at me. My hands touched the back of his shoulders as he touched between my legs. My hips bucked as I sucked in a deep breath and held it.

He bent his elbows and brought his mouth to my left breast. It had been relief to feel him take that last piece of clothing off me. I was all his now. All his.

As he kissed my breast, he pressed forward with the lower half of his body.

The heavy swell of him opening me made my back arch, seeking relief already.

The instant pressure only became greater as he moved deeper into my core.

He brushed his lips from my breast up my chest to my neck.

He didn't kiss though.

And that was torture.

He stopped at my ear where he left out a grunting breath as he offered the rest of himself to me.

I cried out and dug my nails into his back.

"Leith… fuck…"

He growled as he pulled back and thrust forward again.

We were together again. At least in bed.

I hooked my ankles around his body and tried to pull myself as tight to him as I could. I never wanted him to leave again. I never wanted this to end.

And as he began to add speed, the pleasure had already began to crest.

I took my turn and buried my face into his neck. Smelling his skin. His soap. His sweat. The lingering smell of the fight he had, mixed with the smoke.

The man I always loved.

Back in my arms.

Back in me.

I nibbled at his neck and groaned as I began to climax.

Leith kept going, knowing how to take care of me.

I told myself in my mind that it was just about tonight.

I could not let the idea of forever with him hurt me again.