In A Heartbeat (10 page)

”Do you want to meet us for dinner tonight before we go back? I have to get back in there and help Ivy finish taking pictures. The bride and groom will be leaving soon.”

“That sounds great! Come by the house after you are finished and we will sort out the details. Miss Avery, come with me.”

“I want a piggy back ride.” She starts to whine and get upset.

“I will give you a ride to your car. Hang on!” I watch as he bounces and swerves down the hall making Avery laugh and giggle out loud. My mom turns to give me a thumbs up. I think Talon just won over the last two females in my life that matter. Now we just have to get my dad to approve.

I return to the reception room in time to help with the pictures of the bride and groom getting ready to leave for their honeymoon. I am completely focused on what is visible through my lens when I feel warmth against the backside of my body. I know this is not Talon. I jerk around to see who the hell is standing that close to me and come face to face with Brandon.

“I’ve been watching you. Don’t you think you should be wearing something a little more appropriate?” I glance down to look at my dress wondering what he is referring to. It lands just above my knees and the neck is cut just above my cleavage. The upper portion of the back is cut out, but not so low that I can’t wear a bra. It is not inappropriate.

“What are you talking about
? And don’t touch me!” I snap at him and flip around to resume taking pictures. Unfortunately he moves in closer, this time whispering in my ear. He runs his hand down my side toward my butt.

“This dress just barely covers all the boundaries. It leaves every man wanting an inch to give in any direction. You are not a tease, Eaven. This dress belongs on someone sexy enough to wear it.” His words hit me hard in the gut. He has always put me down about my appearance. If I ever tried to look nice, he would degrade me until I would either stay home or change into something more conservative. I start to think back to all the times that he made me feel like I didn’t deserve to be his girlfriend. It is all about control and mind games with him. If it weren’t for Ivy and her constant reassurance, I would have never had any confidence.

“You should have seen me in the dress I wore last weekend asshole! It was backless. I went without a bra and my nipples poked through the whole night. At the end of the night it was ripped off of me along with my g-string panties by a man who appreciates how sexy I am. He fucked me against the wall of his bedroom as I screamed out in at least four orgasms before he groaned out in pleasure from his own. Oh wait, you wouldn’t know what it is like to hear a woman scream through her orgasms because that doesn’t happen for you. Come to think of it, I didn’t have four orgasms the entire time we dated. Now get off of me before I have you removed.” I notice Talon walking up to me just as I finish my ranting. Brandon slowly moves away as he notices a much larger Talon towering over him. Thank God he isn’t wearing that big ass pink bow anymore.

Talon quickly replaces Brandon against my back, except we
melt together as I lean back into him. “You are so fucking sexy when you are confident. I can’t wait to get you out of that dress and give you exactly what you just described.”

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Talon

That asshole Brandon had better step the hell back. I
am not sure what he said to my girl, but I love how she put him in his place. It is a good thing that I know how to pleasure a girl multiple times or she would have me running scared from the pressure.

We are supposed to meet up with her parents tonight for dinner, but I wish we were doing something else. I need to blow off some steam after I heard what she said to Brandon. Maybe I should have a one-on-one with lil
’ ol’ Brandon before we leave to help release some of this tension. That little fucker must have fled the scene quickly because I can’t see him anywhere.

I begin to enjoy watching Eaven in action. She is taking her jo
b serious. She and Ivy work well together at getting different angles and making sure the whole process runs smoothly.

We arrive at her parent
s’ house shortly after we left the wedding. Their house is a few miles outside of town and is surrounded by land. The nearest houses were a couple of miles down the road.

After we have been there a few minutes and we have had a chance to ch
ange out of our church clothes, Eaven leads me to the barn. She straddles a four wheeler and pats the seat behind her for me to ride bitch. This is not my usual reaction to riding any moving vehicle. She looks so damn sexy right now so there is no way that I will deny her the control that she is requesting. She revs up the engine and takes off with a speed that I am used to riding with against my brothers. I have no choice but to grab her hips and hold on. She slows down just as we hit the creek and she splashes mud all around us. Holy shit, my girl likes to kick up mud.

She continues along the creek and eventually climbs out of it to follow it until we reach a pond. She drives right up to a small dock that reaches out over part of the pond.

“This is
my
place that I like to come to find peace. I love to lie on the dock and look up at the stars at night, or come out here to look out over the water. This is my grandparents’ property. I spent a lot of time here with them over the years.”

I find it instantly just as peaceful and we both walk to the dock hand in hand. I can’t help but enjoy the privacy out here. There are trees very thickly surrounding the pond on all sides except for the path we just came from. The p
ath from that direction has fewer trees, but the visibility is still difficult because of the rocks and shrubbery.

She sits down on the dock and I sit beside her. It is a few moments before either of us breaks the silence.

“So what did Brandon say to you today?” I ask hoping she will tell me what I missed.

“I don’t want to talk about him.” She says in a monotone voice that sounds as if she has no emotion about it at all. Her reaction to him at the wedding states the complete opposite though.

“He must have said something to piss you off for you to react as strongly as you did. Hey, don’t be mad, I just want to know what to avoid with you, and whatever he said should apparently be avoided.”

“It’s not a big deal and you two are not the same, so I am sure you won’t say anything like that
.” She wants me to just let this roll off. I just continue to look at her curiously, wondering what in the hell he said.

“He told me that I needed to wear something more appropriate and that I am not sexy enough to wear that dress. Does knowing that make you feel better?” She says
, frustrated and tears begin to well in her eyes.

“Hell no, I don’t feel better. He is a fucktard. He is just playing with your mind. You are sexy as hell
, and everyone at that wedding knew it.” I am pissed off and I want to blow up and go crazy, but I can see that she is deeply hurt by what this asshole said to her. She may have put on a fighting face when he was near, but now he is winning the battle because she believes his words.

“You don’t believe him do you?”

“I know he has always tried to control me. It doesn’t make his words any easier to take. I wish I had the confidence that other women have, but I don’t. I am working on it.” I hear her words and decide right then that I will make it my personal mission to build this woman up until she knows how powerful she is on the inside as well as the outside.

“Well don’t work too hard because I don’t think I can take you any sexier than you already are. I already have to take cold showers daily to tame the beast.” I get a smile from her and decide to go in for a kiss.

I guide her backwards until she is lying on her back. I hover over her and begin to kiss down her neck. We have made out enough times that I know some of her special spots. I pay very close attention to every moan or gasp she makes when we are together. I make it a mission to focus on those exact spots until she seems to be going as crazy as I feel. She has been very clear that she wants to wait a while before we have sex.

I am not sure how much longer we will hold out. The only thing good about this whole thing is that we have proven that we have a lot in common in addition to our sexual chemistry. I know we are going to be very compatible in the sack by the way we respond to the simple actions up to this point.

“You wreck me. How am I supposed to stop this? I want you Ev.” I struggle to get the words out.

“I know. I feel the same way, but not here.”

“Where? I will drive us there now.” I say eagerly. She starts laughing at me. That is not really the reaction I was hoping for.

“Soon, I promise!” She says softly placing her index finger over my lips. I work my way beside her and place my head on her chest. I turn my head so I can look at her face. I can hear her heart beating in her chest. I begin to tap my finger on her arm to the same beat as her heart.

“What are you doing?”

“Listening to your heart.” I start to think about how much I care for this girl.

After we spend most of the afternoon in that exact position, we begin to make the drive back to her parents’ house. I insist on driving this time and enjoy every second of her arms wrapped around my waist. I have never been with a girl as sexy as Eaven is right now. There is something about a girl who loves the outdoors and who isn’t afraid to get muddy with the best of us.

I slow to a stop once we reach the stream. I kill the engine and instantly notice the sound of water flowing and birds chirping.
The sounds that only come from nature flood my ears, and it’s like we are the only two people in the entire world.

“Come here.” I reach for her and guide her in front of me. She straddles the 4-wheel
er facing me. I brush the hair that has fallen off of her face, letting my thumb glide over her face as I do.

“Ev, you
are so sexy.” I let my thumb slide to her lips and push a little harder as I brush across her bottom lip. She adds to my sexual tension by flicking her tongue out to spread wetness that gleams in the sunlight. She grabs my hand and begins to swirl her tongue around my thumb. Her actions are so sensual that I instantly begin to swell in my denim jeans.

I pull her closer as my eyes never leave her succulent mouth as it is doing things to my thumb that I wish she would do elsewhere. I pull my thumb out of her mouth and run my index finger down her neck through the center of her breasts.
She arches toward me as my tracing runs over her nipple that is very apparent even with layers on. She shifts closer to me until she is straddling my waist. Her hips begin to rotate and grind on my lap and I am using all of my will power to keep from losing control.

She dives into my mouth with such force that I almost didn’t hear the sound of a motor coming toward us. I pull away from her and she finally realizes that we have company. I begin to search around and I can’t see anything through all of the trees that block the view.

“Dad is coming.” She says as she flips around in front of me to take over driving. I would protest more, but I will need her to block my raging hard-on from her dad’s view.

“You two get lost out here?” Her dad says, eyeing me the entire time.

“No sir. We were just headed back.” I say, knowing that my nerves are showing through to this man. I have to respect him. He is only trying to keep his daughter safe.

“Dad, you know I don’t get lost out here.” Eaven attempts to draw his attention away from me. I notice the gun rack mounted to the front of his 4-wheeler and make a mental note to never touch her out in these woods. I will only feel like a sniper is targeting my back, or penis, the e
ntire time. Laid back and easy-going, my ass.

“I know honey. Mom just wanted me to make sure you knew that it was almost time to leave.” We follow her dad to the house. I can’t help but feel like I have not measured up to the man his daughter deserves as I ride bitch behind my girl the entire way back.

We drive to the restaurant for dinner. Her parents left Avery with a babysitter so we can talk without interruptions. Ivy came with us also. The three women kept the conversation going. Eaven’s mom reminds me so much of mine. They are both very concerned with what is going on in the lives of their children. It’s not in a way that is controlling or over-bearing, but supportive. She asks each of us how our classes are going and if Ivy has met anyone special.

Her dad is quiet. He just seems to sit back and take it all in. I guess when you live with four girls, you learn to just observe and let them take the stage.
I notice him watching me every once in a while. I feel like I am still on the receiving end of some critical glares and stereo-typing at its best.

We finish dinner and say our goodbyes to her parents. Her mom forces a hug and I make sure to shake her dad’s hand. He responds with a
tight squeeze in warning for any bad intentions I may have with his daughter.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Eaven

The weeks have been flying by. My parents seemed to love Talon last weekend. My mom called and said Avery has not stopped asking about Talon and said she
wants to come see us. He melted my heart when he focused on Avery. None of my previous boyfriends gave her any attention. I didn’t realize it was a problem for me until now that I see how Talon treated her. He can tell I love my little sister and he treated her with as much respect as he did my parents. That is the first reason my mom jumps on the Talon band-wagon to support him when my dad tries to be a little skeptical.