Chapter 25

The Angel Hiding Somewhere Sweet…

NOW

(Leith)

Her hands were pressed as hard as she could against my chest. Her hips were as beautiful as I ever remembered. The way they rocked front to back, moving with my body as I pulsed, leaving me gritting my teeth and slowly thrusting up at her.

Her hair was messy. Her breasts were full, her nipples hard. My right hand explored both breasts as my left was latched to her hip, never wanting to let her go.

She finally collapsed to my chest, our bodies worn out and hearts racing.

I kissed her head and she smelled like a bar.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight against me.

She was still taking deep breaths, her breath hitting my chest.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Let's take a shower before we go to bed."

"Are you saying I smell?"

I laughed. "I'm saying we've both had a long night."

Beth lifted her head and put her chin to my chest. "So what are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"Let's go take a shower," she said.

With that, Beth popped up off me and climbed out of the bed.

She was perfect. Every inch of her body. Every curve of her body, the subtle ones and the not so subtle ones, they were all part of her own story. She looked different from the first time I saw her naked, which was such an amazing thing. Time touched her in a way I could maybe never do. Time made her stronger and more beautiful. She tucked her hair behind her ears, standing sideways, giving me a view that made it hard to swallow.

I reached for her and she skirted out of the way.

My eyes battled between the way her hair and her breasts bounced when she moved like that.

I swung my feet off the bed and stood up.

Beth was already out of the bedroom.

I stood there to catch my breath.

I heard the shower turn on and I looked down at my jeans.

It was time to start and make everything right again.

The water grazed her body as she had her hands crossed, touching her shoulders. Her breasts were pressed together as the water soaked her hair, her face, and the rest of her body. The wall was tiled with an ugly light green color. There was a small, frosted window that was Beth's height. That's where she kept her shampoos and soaps. The bathroom and shower lingered with the soft and sweet smell of her skin.

Her hips curved like an hourglass, making me wonder what we were counting down to. Love? Pain? Forever? Another terrible break up?

Beth opened her eyes and looked forward at me.

Water dripped from her eyelashes and nose.

She smiled.

That was the heart jumping feeling that I missed.

Right there.

Looking at her like this.

I could literally feel my heart hitting so hard, it jumped.

"Brought you this," I said as I showed her the necklace again.

She smiled bigger.

She slowly turned, offering her back to me.

She used her right hand to hold her hair up.

I reached around her and wrestled with the cheap clasp to put the necklace on her.

Before she let her hair go, I leaned down and kissed the back of her neck.

Not just once either.

My left hand touched her left hip. I slid around to the front of her body and pulled her against me again. She put her head back to my chest and shut her eyes.

I kissed her cheek.

She opened her eyes and turned her head, looking at me.

Oh fuck…

We kissed.

And each time we did, I told myself this was the greatest kiss of our lives. But that was always a lie. Our next kiss was the greatest kiss of our lives. And the one after that…

My left hand slipped along her wet skin, the shower water hitting my hand and her body. I touched between her legs, feeling a warmth greater than the water. I pressed my fingers against her slit, slowly making circles as she opened her legs for me. Her folds curled open like flower pedals and I thrust two fingers into her.

She jumped and groaned, breaking our kiss and slamming her nose against mine.

"Oh, shit," she said.

"Shhh," I whispered.

I guided her lips back to mine.

I curled my fingers and eased my way out of her body. I inched up, using my fingertips to move around her clit. I waited for her hips to start moving before I touched her. When I did, she cried out into my mouth. She put her right hand to the wall and her left hand reached up and back, digging into my hair.

And I didn't fucking move.

I stayed right there, kissing her, teasing her lips and tongue with my tongue. My fingers nestled comfortably between her legs, bringing her to another climax. One that was so good, she moved to her toes and lost her balance, leaving me wrapping my right arm around her to keep her from falling right there in the shower.

When I moved my hand from her sex, I rested my palm flat against the stubble on her mound. My claim to her. I wanted her. Not just tonight. But all we had was tonight.

Beth moved her right hand from the wall and reached behind her, cutting her hand between us. I pulled my lower half away from her so she could grip me. I sucked in a breath and hissed as her hand traveled the length of my hardness.

She moved slow, inch by inch, rubbing her hand against my tip, squeezing at the right moment, making me drive myself forward through her tiny and tight grip.

She groaned when I did that.

I lasted maybe a minute before I turned her around and put my left hand to her face. I put my forehead to hers.

The water soaking us as the steam filled the shower.

Her hand moved endlessly, holding me tight, with each stroke bringing me closer to the edge. I moved her with, kissing her when I felt like it. She bit at my bottom lip and groaned each time she grazed her thumb over the tip of my cock, knowing that was the spot.

She moved faster and faster.

I kissed down to her chest again, my tongue acting drunk and sloppy as I demanded myself to kiss every part of her again. I rolled my tongue over her right nipple, then hurried to her left nipple where I kissed and pulled away with a loud kissing sound.

The back of my legs tightened with the wild need to finish.

I retraced all my kisses back to her mouth and gently kissed her one last time.

I drove myself forward, almost pinning her hand and myself between us.

Beth moved to her toes and groaned into my ear as I started to come.

I grunted as I felt the release spilling between us.

"Fuck, yes, Leith," she purred into my ear.

I slammed my hands against the wall and caught myself thrusting, never wanting the feeling to go away.

Then entire time Beth whispered and purred into my ear as her other hand dug into the muscles of my back. And her hand never stopped moving, just slowing when she needed to.

I bent my knees so I could be eye level with her.

And we just stared at each other.

I already knew what was going to happen next.

We were going to fall in love all over again.

"Never thought I would see this," Beth said.

"What's that?"

"Us. Awake. You getting ready to go to work."

I laughed. "Just have your breakfast and relax over there."

"How's your face?"

"Feels great," I said. "How'd you sleep?"

I wiggled my eyebrows and Beth laughed, almost spitting coffee out of her mouth.

God, it took me back to another life.

We never got the chance to live together.

It was something we always wanted, but it just never happened. We were working toward it though. Never sure if it was the right move to make or not. And before we knew what was right or wrong, everything had crumbled around us.

I stood at the table, wearing the same clothes from the night before.

Beth was in a tank top and panties. With no bra, her cleavage looked tempting, as did her nipples as they showed through the soft cloth of the shirt. She had her hair pulled up way too high, but it kept her hair out of her face. This was her morning look.

I wanted to quit my job and never leave her apartment.

And when she looked up at me and gave me a smart ass look, I felt my fingers twitching to look for my phone and do just that.

"When can I see you again, angel?" I asked.

"When you blink and open your eyes," she said.

"Ah, I love that attitude."

She shrugged her shoulders.

The necklace I got back for her was still around her neck. Although the angel was tucked between her breasts. It almost made me jealous of that fake diamond angel.

"Does this feel weird to you, Leith?"

"I don't know." I pulled a chair out and sat down. "You know, part of me doesn't want to jump back into where things were. But a greater part never wants to lose you again."

"We should have never lost each other in the first place."

"I know."

Beth touched the necklace and pulled the angel from between her breasts.

She was getting nervous.

She looked down at her coffee. "I don't want to talk about this now."

"Then we don't have to."

She stood up and walked into the kitchen.

I went after her, touching her waist as she stood at the sink. "Hey. It doesn't have to be like it was. Ever."

"We both said this was a terrible idea."

"Yeah, we did. If you want me to leave, I will. If you don't want to see me for a week, month, year…"

Beth turned. "No. I want to see you. I want what you want. It's just… so much."

"Of course it is," I said.

Beth licked her bottom lip.

I hurried to touch her lip. "Don't worry about anything."

"I never do, Leith. Unless I'm near you."

"Why do we make it so much harder than it has to be?" I whispered.

"I don't know. Holly's wedding…"

"What about it? She okay with everything?"

"Yeah. She's fine. Her wedding is coming up. And I RSVP'd for two."

"And?"

"I want you to go, Leith. With me."

My heart sank a little.

A wedding.

The wedding.

Any wedding.

The word itself… wedding …

"I don't know what it means for us then," she said. "The past. The present."

I kissed her forehead. "We'll take everything on together."

"If you say so," she said. She reached up and touched my face. "I can't believe what you did."

"You wanted your necklace back. Of all the things in the world, Beth, you should have that necklace. Always."

"I… I really appreciate it."

I smiled. "I really appreciate it too."

We want to say we love each other. But we won't. We can't. Yet.

I kissed her, tasting her sweet lips and tasting the early morning hours on her breath.

"I'll talk to you later," I said.

"Have a good day at school," Beth said.

I inched away from her and eyed her up and down one more time.

She was the same temptation as before.

Maybe worse now.

Because I knew what it felt like to lose her.

Before I could say another word, Beth pulled down the front of her shirt.

I gritted my teeth.

"Mr. Leith… I think I've been bad today," she whispered.

"You're so fucking perfect, Beth," I said. "And I hate myself for having to walk away right now."

I made fists and left her apartment.

The air felt crisper and cleaner.

I hadn't felt this way in years.

And now I had to somehow get the images of Beth's body out of my head and become a teacher again.

Good luck with that, Leith.

I was instantly the talk of the school.

Everyone who saw my face did a double take and wanted the story.

The kids thought it was cool. And gross.

Most of the boys thought it was cool. Most of the girls didn't. Of course, Anastasia was quick to give me advice on how to make the swelling go down because I didn't want to have it become infected.

All I could do was laugh.

I told them that I fought off a bear.

Only a few of them believed it.

At lunch, Charlie called me into his office.

I had been expecting it though. Rightfully so. It wasn't a good look to have a teacher walking around looking like he had gotten his ass kicked in a bar fight.

"I'd ask how your weekend was, but I can see part of it on your face," Charlie said.

He adjusted his glasses and smoothed out his tie.

He was laid back most of the time. But when he put on the principal hat, he wore it hard.

"You should see the door."

"The door?"

"Yeah. I walked into a door."

"Did this door have five knuckles?"

I laughed. "Charlie…"

"Leith. It looks bad."

"It's not bad. What do you want me to say?"

"What happened?"

"I put myself in a bad spot," I admitted. "Okay? Something happened. I had to step in."

"Had to?"

"I was defending a woman."

"Amy?"

"No. We're not together anymore, Charlie."

"What? When did that happen?"

"It was in the making for a while," I said. "Things just didn't work out. She went to New York and decided to stay. And you know what? I think she's happy. And if she's happy, I'm happy."

"Are you sure you're happy?" Charlie asked.

"What do you want me to do here? Take time off? Because of a cut on my face?"

"That's more than a cut."

"I'm sorry. But it was either this or someone else get hurt."

Charlie folded his hands and sighed. "Is there anything going to come of this?"

"Meaning?"

"I'm assuming you fought back, Leith. You don't look the type to just take a punch and walk away."

"I don't?"

"You know what I'm getting at here."

"Charlie, nothing is going to happen. I wasn't partying in some underground poker ring, okay? There's no mobsters coming to the school. Or cops. Or trouble."

"The trouble is on your face right now."

The trouble is in my heart, Charlie. What I did for Beth was nothing compared to what I would do for her.

"You're telling me in the history of this school no teacher has ever gotten hurt? A car accident? Broken limb? Stitches?"

"How about you put a bandage over it?" Charlie asked. "And then tell everyone your door story."

"I told the kids I fought a bear."

Charlie laughed. "I'm sure that went over well."

"You know the kids. They love it. They laugh. We move on."

"You know, I want to be really mad at you, Leith."

"I get it."

"I'm not going to give you a speech."

"I appreciate that."

"But you know what I'm thinking."

"Loud and clear."

Charlie stood up.

So did I.

He was tall but I still had plenty of height on him. Charlie had the build of a soccer player or a track and field player. I was probably twice his size.

We shook hands and he smacked my arm. "I'm really sorry about Amy. I hope that's not messing with you too much."

"Hey. The kids are having a great time. They're learning. They're amazing. I love being here."

"That much I can't argue. You might be the best teacher we've got."

"Now if you don't mind I'm going to go to the nurse and get patched up."

Charlie laughed. "Careful. She might slip on a unicorn bandage and you'll never know."

"Do you think that would bother me?" I asked.

"Nope," Charlie said.

He walked to his door and opened it.

"Have a good one," I said.

"Take care of yourself. Watch for any stray doors."

I laughed.

It wasn't the doors that were going to do me in. Or even a bar fight or two.

I knew what was going to take me down.

Beth.

And I wasn't going to do a damn thing to stop it.