Chapter 25

Twenty-Five

SARA

Fully satiated,we laid in each other’s arms, watching through the open patio doors as the sun warmed the early morning back to life. Tom sealed our lullaby with a kiss. It was a touch of melodic sensation that rocked me harmoniously to a slumbering peace.

A few hours later, I awoke to an empty bed.

Just when I was about to jump out of the comfort of his crumpled sheets, I noticed a folded piece of paper on his pillow. I rolled my eyes as I reached for it, clearly expecting another sappy love note. What I found was a pencil sketch of me sleeping. Scripted on the bottom, he wrote:

I wanted you to see how beautiful you are to me.

Tom

Jeez, he was so corny. But he was my sappy cornball, and I wouldn’t have him any other way. I clung to the piece of paper and held it against my chest in silent glee. The sun shone bright through every window. The digital clock bleeped eight-thirteen a.m. on its screen. The last thing I remembered was me encased in Tom’s arms at the early dawn.

I didn’t want to leave his bed. Memories of our bodies tangled together and making love swam through my head. It had been so amazing. What moved me, though, was his sincerity and how he opened up to me. He’d shared things with me he hadn’t with anybody. Love was coming back into my life and I wasn’t petrified anymore. I beamed and must have looked like an idiot if anyone had seen me at that moment, but I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know what I was beginning to feel. I was falling for Tom.

Hard.

Not bothering to check where Mr. Charming had escaped to, I trotted naked to the bathroom for a refreshing shower. Eyes closed, I blissfully enjoyed as the water splashed on my face and trickled down my body in rivulets. It was a rain shower that quenched my skin of its thirst. Blindly, I reached for the washcloth, but when my fingers found nothing but air, I opened my eyes and almost screamed.

Stark naked, Tom stood in the large shower with me. It was an open, all-stone shower with only a half-glass wall. He’d walked right in and I hadn’t heard him. I wanted to punch him, but his broad smile disarmed me.

“Exactly how long have you been standing there?” I asked accusingly.

“Not long enough,” he said, his eyes narrowing over me, crackling with lust as he skimmed my body up and down with his gaze. “I was thoroughly enjoying watching the water slide off your naked body.”

I glanced down to his groin with a smirk. His long cock was already aroused. “So, I see.”

He walked over and showed me the washcloth in his hand. “Turn around,” he uttered in a soft command that left no room for negotiation. His voice was deep with seduction.

My eyes widened as the blood in my veins simmered beneath my skin in response to the heat of his gaze. I swallowed hard; the look in his eyes was feral, raw. If he ever wanted to consume me, this was it. We’d made love mere hours before, yet his cock was harder than I’d ever seen it, engorged and greedy for more.

When we were both under the stream, the warm water dripping down our faces, he leaned in close to my ear, and sending shivers down my body, he whispered, “I said turn around, baby.”

I obeyed and pivoted, planting my hands on the wall, feeling the fire of his body as he brushed against mine.

“Good girl,” he continued near my ear. “Now part your legs.”

He poured soap onto the washcloth and lathered my body, starting at the neck and down my chest. Soap slicked down my front as he cupped both my breasts, caressing each one in circular motions. My back arched in response. He held my neck back with one hand while the other continued to wash my abdomen, hips, and thighs. My legs trembled, wishing for his hands to reach between them. Tom knew what I wanted, my body nearly screamed for it, but he slid the washcloth down my legs, scrubbing every inch of skin, ignoring my silent plea.

I reached down to grab his hand and led it to my center, but he waved his finger at me. “Nah ah, I didn’t say you could take your hands off the wall.”

“But—”

“On the wall,” he replied sternly.

I had no choice but do as he said and continue to endure his cruel but tantalizing game. He made sure my calves, ankles, and toes were well scrubbed. Even the soles of my feet received their own personal attention.

“I think you are all clean now,” he drawled behind me.

“Actually, I think you missed a spot.”

“Is that so? Hmm, I thought I scrubbed everything…”

“Nope. Not everything.” I turned around and looked straight at him, my eyes piercing and demanding. I took his hand and gently guided him between my legs where my other wetness showed him exactly how much he had missed. He closed his eyes, water beading on his long, dark lashes as he released a growling moan.

With a smirk, he said, “Seems I did in fact miss a spot.” He parted me before sliding his finger inside. In a few moments, the familiar circular motion almost brought me down on my knees, and as I felt my release about to peak, he pulled out.

“No,” I gasped, but he was kneeling in front of me and lifting my right leg in an instant. He placed my foot on the stone ledge carved out of the wall for seating. There was no time to react. His tongue was already buried in my cleft, licking and flicking the hard nub of my sex. I braced myself on the shower handle and the wall, trying not to collapse.

As I neared my orgasm, he stood and picked me up, my legs wrapping around his waist. I straddled him as he stood, then he slowly lowered me onto his cock. Our bodies raged with need for each other. He gripped my ass firmly as he thrust fast and hard. With my arms roped tightly around his neck, our rhythm synchronized.

Tom was relentless as he drove his dick deep. I’d given him so much of me, I barely had the energy to hold on. He lowered me back on the shower floor and planted a hot kiss on my lips. “I’m not done with you.” He turned me around, bent me over the stone ledge, and slapped my ass. The sharp sting sent a surge of sexual pleasure up my spine.

My hips gyrated in circular motion, inviting him to take me from behind.

“I like it when you do that,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“You look so hot, baby girl. Spread those fucking ass cheeks for me.”

I reached behind me with both hands and spread my ass further apart, showing him everything he wanted to see. “I want you to fuck me hard, Tom. Like I’ve been a bad girl…” Oh, my God. I didn’t know what came over me. Why did I say that? I wanted to hide under a rock, but also…I wanted him to do exactly that. Fuck me hard.

I reached underneath between my legs and touched myself, giving him a full view of what I liked to do with my fingers, moaning as I pleasured myself.

“Sara, I’m gonna come just watching you do that.”

“So why aren’t you inside me yet?”

He laughed. “Bratty much? Get on your knees.”

As I did what he asked, he came around me and pressed his dick against my mouth. “You want me to fuck you like you’ve been a bad girl, is that it?”

I nodded yes as I wrapped my lips around his cock and sucked on the head real slow.

He gathered all my hair in one hand and palmed my head with his other as he gently pushed his dick deeper in my mouth. “You like that, don’t you?”

I reached up with my hands and squeezed his shaft up and down while my tongue swirled around his head.

“Oh, baby, the way you do that. Fuck. But I’m not coming in your mouth this time.”

As I smiled triumphantly, he pulled out of my mouth and moved behind me. He parted my legs then slid two fingers inside my silky flesh and finger-fucked me until my pussy was so wet, it dripped. Then he penetrated me, but this time, he didn’t prime me. He just pushed his hard shaft completely in with one thrust.

I gasped in shock as he wrapped a hand around my hair and tugged. My scalp tingled as he thrust hard and fast, flesh smacking against flesh, both of us breathless and moaning.

“You like being fucked like this?” he asked as he pushed deeper into me.

I couldn’t even form a coherent answer as he drove me into bliss. His cock hurt but the pain dripped with ecstasy and all I wanted was more and more.

He reached for by breasts and squeezed as he thrust from behind. “God, you’re so hot.”

“I’m…almost there.”

His hand tightened around my hair, and he beat so fast into me, my whole body shook, my orgasm ready to crest. I pushed into him as well, demanding his release. Our bodies went rigid as we both came, the sounds of our moans reverberating off the bathroom walls. I felt his warmth spilling into me, filling me, and I nearly orgasmed again knowing he’d come inside me.

Spent, I stood, legs shaking and slick with his cum as it slid down my thighs. “I think,” he said, kissing me. “That you need another shower.”

We washed each other in silence, making sure to lather and rinse thoroughly, several times.

* * *

After another round of shower sex followed by another shower, I sat on his bed wrapped in a luscious cotton robe, towel-drying my hair. My eyes feasted on Tom’s naked ass as he prowled around his room, looking for his clothes and getting dressed. I’d never tire of looking at him, not when he was the embodiment of pure physical perfection.

To my dismay, he pulled on a pair of black boxer briefs, a pair of dark-wash denim jeans, and a slim-fit gray shirt. I preferred him in his birthday suit. He scurried over to the bathroom where he brushed his teeth and barely combed his hair before rushing back out. Our eyes met as he exited the bathroom.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, noticing my smirk.

“You,” I replied quickly. “Have someplace to go? You seem to be in a hurry.”

“Actually, we have someplace to go,” he replied, looking in drawers for socks.

“Mind telling me exactly where we’re going?”

He sat next to me and put on his white designer sneakers. “Breakfast. You make me work up an appetite. I know this great little hole in the wall that makes the best waffles.” He jumped to his feet, kissed me on the forehead, and ran out the door, but not before turning and pointing to his watch. “Twenty minutes.”

“That’s not enough time to get ready,” I yelled after him.

With no time to waste, I threw on a pair of jeans, a cute white shirt, and a pair of silver flats. I hauled my hair up into a messy bun with a clip and dotted on a bit of make up just as Tom came in from the garage.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Where are we going?”

“Patience. I’ll tell you on the way.” We took off in the Maserati and ten minutes later, we pulled into the famous World of Pancakes lot.

I pitched an eyebrow. “Wait, this is your hole in the wall?”

“Okay, so technically it’s not a hole in the wall…but they do make the best waffles.”

“Technically?”

“You have something against breakfast at WOP?”

“No.”

“Then quit your yapping and let’s go. I’m freaking starving.”

The waft of maple syrup and sizzling bacon permeating the air made my stomach grumble, and reminded me why everyone flocked there. We were quickly seated at a booth.

“So, you love waffles, huh?” I started.

“Just the ones from here.”

A petite older lady, probably in her late sixties, greeted us. Her silvery, short hair was held in place by a hairnet, her blue and white uniform was spotless and crisply ironed. “Welcome to WOP, my name is Betsy and I’ll be your server,” she said as she handed us the large laminated menus. “Can I start you off with something to drink, coffee perhaps?”

“Yes, please,” I said eagerly. I didn’t realize how much I missed coffee until I walked in and nearly fainted from the aroma.

“And for the gentleman?” she asked.

“Coffee is fine and a glass of orange juice, too, please. Thank you.” He flashed her one of his charming smiles.

Once she walked away, I leaned in and quietly chided him, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You could have given her a heart attack. You really have no idea what you do to women when you show them those pearly whites of yours.”

“Sara, she could be my mother for Christ’s sake.”

“It doesn’t matter. You really should know when to turn off that overwhelming charm.”

“Are you done?” he teased. “I’d like to look at my menu.”

“You already know what you are going to order.”

“Do you?”

Good point.

I grabbed the menu and struggled to decide. Everything looked way too scrumptious. After perusing the pages for a few minutes, two scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and a short stack of pancakes topped with strawberries and whipped cream seemed like a good choice. Tom barely looked at his menu. He had his mind already made up on the steak and eggs with a stack of his favorite waffles.

Betsy placed our coffee pot down followed by the milk and sugar. Her hands trembled a little. Finally, she took our order and left. Tom reached for the steaming pot of coffee and poured us each a cup. “I know it’s not fancy shmancy, but—”

“Tom, please, it’s breakfast,” I said as I dumped two teaspoons of sugar in my coffee and lightened it with some milk. “By the way, I have no idea how you stay in shape after seeing the way you eat lately.”

“I work out every morning.” Tom took a sip of his coffee, showing no interest in sugar and milk. I’d forgotten my lion liked to drink crude oil.

“And speaking of morning, is that where you were today, working out? I hate waking up and not finding you there.”

He leaned back on his seat and gave me an easy smile. “You looked so peaceful sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“What time did you get up?”

“Well, usually I’m up by six, but today I actually slept ’til seven. I was kind of shocked, really.”

“We didn’t go to sleep ’til late.”

“It doesn’t matter what time I go to sleep; I can’t go past six. Probably ingrained in me from my military training. We were always up at the crack of dawn. I don’t sleep much anyway, so I’m sort of used to functioning on limited sleep.” He tried to say it nonchalantly, but I had a feeling there was something else he wasn’t telling me.

“Is that all?” I asked, circling the rim of my cup with the tip of my index finger.

“What do you mean?”

“The reason you don’t sleep much?”

“Kind of early for so many questions, don’t you think?” His tone was short, his gaze detached from mine.

“I’m sorry. I was simply trying to understand.”

He snapped his eyes back toward me. “There’s nothing to understand, Sara. Everybody knows about it. Soldiers coming back from war, dealing with post-traumatic stress.”

I paused, realizing his trauma went even deeper than I’d thought. I’d been through this before. With my father. It wasn’t easy. “My dad suffered from it.”

Tom scoffed, a tinge of bitterness hiding behind his narrowed eyes. “You say it like it’s some kind of disease afflicting us. You know what? Maybe it is. You can’t experience the horrors of war, see the shit we’ve seen, and come home and be normal and act like nothing changed. Everything changes. Life is never the same. But doctors want to stamp a label on you and give you a prescription for happy pills.”

“Does it help?”

“The pills? I took them at the beginning, and they helped with the recurring nightmares. I haven’t had to take them in a while.” He shifted in his seat and picked at some invisible fuzz on his shirt before looking away.

I reached for his hand. “Tom, I…I’m really sorry. I can’t even imagine what—”

He pulled his hand away slowly and ran it down his face. “It’s not you and I’m a jackass for letting it get to me. It’s just…I’d rather talk about something else.”

Although his words had a frosty bite, I let it slide. This was not the time or place to dig up demons. “Okay, so where did you go workout this morning?”

He sighed, hopefully relieved to be talking about something else. “I went for a run along the beach. It’s my morning routine. I usually take Bax with me when I’m back home.”

“It’s a shame you didn’t bring him with you to Santa Monica. I’m sure he’d love running through the water on the beach.”

“Yes, he would, but I travel back and forth too frequently.”

“Who watches him when you’re not home?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

Tom played with the paper napkin on the table, folding it into triangles as he talked. “My neighbor looks in on him and takes him out on walks.”

“Well, that’s a very nice neighbor.” I was curious to know who this friendly neighbor was, but Tom didn’t seem too chatty. Talking about his military life still hovered over him like a storm cloud.

Our breakfast finally arrived, piping hot and delivering a mouthwatering aroma. The mood suddenly lifted. He cracked his knuckles like he was about to enter a fight. “Let’s dig in,” he said, then he took his fork and knife and cut into his steak.

I shoveled in a mouthful of eggs and hash browns smothered in ketchup. “So, what you got planned for today?”

He took a bite of his steak, chewed, and swallowed, smiling as he took a gulp of juice.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

As he prepared to answer, his phone rang. He frowned as he checked the screen.

“What is it?”

“It’s Jake. I have no idea why he’d be calling this early or why he wouldn’t text. I don’t typically like to answer my phone while eating, but it must be urgent. Just give me a sec.” Annoyed, he took the call. “Jake, what’s up, man?”

I couldn’t make out what was being said on the other side, but it sounded like a frantic male voice.

“Jake, slow down. What happened? You’re where? No, I’m not home. Out to breakfast with Sara. Jake, you gotta calm down, man. I understand. Okay… just tell me what happened.” His tone went from annoyed to worried, his brow creased with several lines. I didn’t know what was happening, but whatever was going on with Jake wasn’t good. Tom placed a finger over his ear to drown out the din of the restaurant.

“Wait, how much? Listen to me, you are going to be fine. Tell him you’ll get the money; you just need to buy more time. Well, make time. Look, you don’t have to remind me. All I’m saying is you better start getting your act together. ’Cause I’m tired of bailing your ass out every fucking time you screw up. Get your shit together. I’ll call you when I get back to Santa Monica.” He hit the end button and dropped the phone on the table. “Fuck!” The ire erupting in his eyes was incendiary.

The young couple sitting across from us with their two little kids heard Tom’s expletive and shot us a dirty look. I shrugged and offered a silent apology on our behalf then turned back to Tom. “What’s the matter?

“Well, there go my plans.”

“Plans for what?”

He sighed and looked down. “I wanted to drive you up the coast and show you the views of the cliffs, stop and get some lunch at a local restaurant, maybe stay anywhere there’s a vacancy. Make love to you all night.” He raised his gaze and gave me a seductive look that awakened my body in all the right places.

I chewed my eggs and hash browns as the heat radiated throughout my body, thinking about how I’d always wanted to drive up the Pacific Coast highway, in a convertible, with a hunky man at my side. Inside my head, it played out like a movie, and I was the starlet of my own flick—Love by the Sea. “Well, why can’t we still go?”

He nodded toward his phone. “Jake.”

Seemed this guy loved ruining my time with Tom. I took another sip of my coffee and peered up at him as I held the cup close to my lips. “I guess you don’t plan to elaborate?”

“It’s nonsense.”

“If it’s nonsense, then why are you so upset?” I asked, putting my cup down.

“Don’t worry about Jake. I’ll handle it.” He reached for my hands and puffed out a breath.

I didn’t like how blanched his face looked. Whatever Jake told him, plagued him.

“Tom, you can trust me. What’s going on?”

He forced a mirthless smile. “I know. It’s just…” He paused, and the hesitation worried me that he’d change his mind about confiding in me. “Just wanted to make today one of your most memorable trips you’ve ever taken.”

“You are making this trip memorable. I’m fine spending the whole day with you back in your bed.”

His eyes widened with interest and the glum smile morphed into a wolfish grin. “Now, that, my beautiful woman, is a helluva proposition.”