Cursed Fate: Cursed Series #4 (10 page)

Completely spent, his body falls on top of mine and I fall into a deep sleep with the love of my life connected to me in every way.

Chapter 11

Stepping out of the shower, I reach for the two towels hanging off the wrought iron hook. As I turn to face Ashley, her pink hair is hanging over her face. With my hand, I push the strands away from her hazel eyes and smile.

“What?” She asks with a sexy smirk.

“You’re so beautiful, Ashley. I’m having a hard time believing that all of this is real.”

Taking a step out of the shower, she grabs for the towel and shakes her head. Clutching onto it, I push her hands down and wrap the towel around her small frame. With gentle movements, I dry off her body starting with her shoulders. I make certain to dry every last drop from her skin as I study the curves of her tits and toned stomach. Kneeling before her I pull the towel around her ass, squeezing it and watching as she squirms closer to me. Sliding the towel around her, I slowly graze her inner thighs and her delicious pussy. I can smell her arousal; it’s so intoxicating I can barely contain myself from leaning my face into her mound for another taste. Her hands fall on top of my head, pulling it back so that my eyes are facing hers. With a coy smile she gestures for me to stand, I’m so delirious from her scent that my legs feel weak.

Without taking my gaze from hers, I pull myself up to stand before her. My cock is hard as a fucking rock and with as close as we are to one another; it’s just about poking her in the stomach.

“Someone is a little over anxious today,” she says while stepping on her tips toes to kiss my cheek.

Cloaking the towel around her shoulders, I place a soft kiss on her forehead. Leaning herself into me, I wrap my arms around her.

“Ashley, I’ve been away from you for far too long. There’s a lot of catching up we need to do.”

“I’m all for making up for lost time, Steve, but we need to eat. How about we grab some dinner and spend the rest of the night here. In fact, we can just order in and relax together.”

“That sounds like a plan to me,” I reply draping a towel around my hips.

I watch as her eyes scan my chest and abs. With a laugh, I pull her chin up so that her eyes meet mine.

“See something you like?”

Rolling her eyes, she takes a step away moving toward the bathroom door.

“You know you like it,” I remark with a laugh.

Turning on her heels, she looks over her shoulder to me.

“Steve Zotto, I could stay wrapped up in your arms all day long. I don’t just like what I see, I love it.”

She pauses for a moment turning her head back to the door. Silence fills the bathroom and I can only imagine what is flowing through that pretty little head of hers.

“Ash, what’s wrong?”

Taking a step toward her, I stop as she turns to face me. As her eyes look up to me, I can see wetness beginning to build around the hazel color.

“Sweet girl, what is it?” I ask with panic racing through my veins.

What the hell just happened, she was fine two seconds ago.

Shaking her head she steps toward me.

“Steve, I love you so much. I’ve always loved you. Being here with you right now is like a dream. Last night was incredible falling asleep in your arms and then this morning waking up next to you…I’m afraid none of this is real…I don’t want to wake up. Pinch me, Steve. Tell me this isn’t a wonderful dream that I’ll eventually wake up from.”

My heart skips a few beats as the words fall from her lips. No, this isn’t a dream, it’s very real and I plan on giving her everything she’s every wanted. Never again will I let her or myself down.

With trembling hands, I lift my arms and touch both sides of her face. 

I’ve put her through hell for too long and I know it will take a lot of time for us to get back on track, at least emotionally. There’s no way I can tell her or show her that all of this is real without being one hundred percent honest all of the time. She’s the one I want today, tomorrow, and forever. I may have been cursed by my past, but she’s consumed my mind, heart, and soul.

Leaning down to her, I place my lips against hers. Instead of pushing my tongue into her mouth, I gently kiss her. I can feel her body relax into mine while I wrap my arms around her waist. No words are necessary right now, together our bodies and lips can speak for us.

Time moves in slow motion, and for the life of me, I don’t want this moment to end. I want to cherish her, love her, and protect her from this day moving forward.

Slowly pulling away from her, I dry the falling tears from her eyes with the pads of my thumbs.

“Don’t cry, sweet girl, I’m here…this isn’t a dream.”

Her lips curl up into a smile and I kiss her once more on the lips.

“Let’s get you dressed and something to eat,” I say reaching down for her hand and pulling her through the bathroom door.

As we’re walking into the hallway, the doorbell rings and we stop in our tracks. We look back and forth between each other and Ashley shrugs her shoulders.

“Are you expecting someone?” I ask.

Shaking her head she looks down at the two of us wearing only our towels.

“No, not at all,” she says.

Removing my hand from hers, I walk to the door. As I get close enough, I look through the peep hole to see a blue haired diva standing on the other side of the door.

Turning to Ashley, I mouth, “It’s Etty.”

“I can hear you two in there, now open the damn door….wait unless you’re naked, then get dressed and let me in.”

With my eyes still glued to Ashley’s from across the room, we both begin to laugh.

“Give us a few minutes, Etty. We’ll be right there,” Ashley shouts through the apartment.

“Figures,” Etty’s voice whispers through the wooden door.

Ashley and I both rush into her bedroom, dropping our towels. My eyes are stuck to her as she slides on a pair of panties, her bra, and tight, grey sweatpants with a pink tank top.

“Get dressed, you fool. Etty is waiting on us,” she says with a giggle.

“I can’t help it. My sexy girlfriend is dressing right here in front of me. Do you really expect me not to watch your every move?

“You’re insane, Steve. Get dressed. I’ll go out and let her in.”

Rolling my eyes at her, I pull on my jeans and tee-shirt. Since I don’t have any clean clothes here, I’ll just have to go commando until I can get back to my place.

As I walk out into the hallway, I can hear the conversation brewing between the two girls.

“Yuck, it smells like sex in here,” Etty says holding her nose.

“Shut the hell up, it does not,” Ash says swatting Etty on the shoulder.

Reaching the living room, Etty eyes meet mine.

“Well, hello there, Romeo. I’ll assume things went well last night?”

Walking up alongside of Ashley, I wrap my arm around her waist.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Clapping her hands, Etty moves to the large reclining chair and plops herself down.

“Good…great! You two were really starting to drive me nuts with your whole ‘being apart’ shit. Glad to see everything is back to normal…now for the reason I’m here. We have to discuss the ‘plan’.”

Looking between the two girls, my brows raised, I can’t fathom what the hell Etty is talking about.

“What plan?” I ask.

Chapter 12

I can’t help but laugh at the way Etty barges her way in here and makes herself comfortable on my chair.

Steve’s face is priceless as he stands there looking completely dumbfounded over what Etty just said…her plan, rather our plan.

As Steve rests himself on the arm of the couch, I walk around and take a seat.

“Spill it, Etty. What plan are you referring to?” He asks placing his hand on my shoulder.

Looking up to him I smile, knowing very well the insane idea our blue haired friend has concocted.

My eyes roam the room and fall back on Etty; she’s taking in a deep breath and wringing her hands on her lap.

“Okay, so I picked Jo and Linc up from the airport last night. It was so great seeing them after all this time. I broke down like a loon on the sidewalk.”

I watch as her eyes begin to fill with tears. Moving from the couch, I slide in alongside of her on the chair. Pulling her into me, I let her cry on my shoulder.

“Shh, it’s okay,” I whisper while I run my hand up and down her arm.

“It really was so good to see them,” she replies between sobs.

“I know, I can’t imagine how hard all of this is for you. Did Linc have any news?”

Shaking her head, the sobs become louder and the wetness of her tears begins to saturate my arm. From the corner of my eye, I see Steve move from the couch and head down the hallway. Not sure where the hell he thinks he’s going, I continue to comfort our distraught friend. While holding her close, I feel our bodies begin to rock. I have no idea how she is dealing with everything. The love of her life is gone and there’s nothing she can do to bring him back.

Steve walks back through the hallway with a wad of toilet paper wrapped around his hand. Stepping in closer to us, he hands the paper to Etty.

“I couldn’t find any tissues, so I hope this will do.”

Looking up to him, I return a wide grin. Warmth fills my chest at his kind gesture. No matter how torn we all may seem right now, there is still a goodness that lives within our souls.

“Thank you, Steve,” Etty replies while wiping her face…and then my arm. “Sorry, Ash, I didn’t mean to snot all over your arm.”

A giggle escapes both of us as I pull away.

“I’m sorry to be such a sap. I thought I was done crying over all of this. Seeing Linc again just brought back so many good memories, I don’t know that I’ll ever forget him…ya know?”

“You don’t have to forget about Dault. He’ll always have a place in your heart, in all of our hearts.”

“I need to get him back here, Ashley. We can do it…our plan can work, I know it can.”

Letting my eyes move back to the couch where Steve is now sitting, I watch as his expression turns from empathy to complete confusion.

“Etty, I think we should explain said plan to Steve before he has an aneurism from wondering what the hell is going on.”

Her body begins to tense next to mine and the wad of toilet paper is now a wet pile of shreds on her lap.

“What if he thinks I’m crazy, Ash?”

My head turns to face her, the look on her face of pure desperation. Pulling her hands into mine I soothe her by rubbing circles on the top of her palms.

“Listen, Etty, I know your plan is going to work. It may seem a bit much, but you have us to help you. Without a doubt, I’ll be by your side whatever you decide to do. We are a family and families are there for one another through the good times and bad…we’ll make this work.”

“Hell yea, what she said. Tell me your idea and I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” Steve interjects.

Glancing at Steve with a smile, I look back to Etty. Her eyes are free of tears and now filled with hope.

“Okay,” she says releasing a burst of air.

“Do you want me to tell him?” I ask.

Shaking her head she moves to stand from the chair.

“I’m good; just want to go wash my face. I need a second to regroup.”

“Of course, you know where the bathroom is. We’ll both be here waiting for you when you’re ready.”

She puts her hand on my arm and squeezes it before moving through the living room and into the hallway. I watch as her figure falls out of my line of sight and turn to look at Steve.

“Is she going to be okay?” He asks.

Getting up from the chair, I move to the couch and sit down next to him.

“I can’t imagine how hard it is to watch the one person you love with your entire heart walk away and not come back.”

Steve grabs my face into his hands and places a hard, urgent kiss to my lips. As he pulls away, I look to him with confusion.

“What was that for? Not that I’m complaining, but what…”

“Let’s just say, I kind of know how she feels. I watched you walk away from me all those years ago, Ashley. I never in my wildest dream thought you’d be brought back into my life. I don’t care what you do or say, I’ll never let you walk away from me again.”