Losing You (Stars On Fire Book 4) (26 page)

Ripping his mouth off her breasts, he stepped back and began to unfasten his pants. “Fuck . . . on your knees, Lizzie.”

“Hell yes,” she said in a whoosh of air as her knees hit the tile.

“Open up,” Tom ordered, the tip of his penis hitting her lips. Her tongue lashed out against it before doing as he’d requested.

His fingers thrust into her hair just as his cock did the same to her mouth. He held her in place as he moved his dick in and out of her.

“You’re so good to me, Bits. So . . . fuckin’ . . . good—hell, woman,” he called out when she cupped his balls. “You keep doing that and I’ll come in your pretty mouth when I want to come between your legs. Skirt . . . take it off,” he directed between his slowing thrusts until he stopped. “Now,” he added, yanking out his wallet from his back pocket and pulling out a condom. Her legs spasmed in excitement of what was to follow.

“Skirt, Bits.”

“Oh, sorry,” she said, pulling her eyes from his cock. She stood before him and pushed down the maxi. He smiled wickedly when his eyes landed on her.

“No panties, huh?”

She shook her head. “No. I was going to tease with that knowledge, but you beat me to it.”

“I did . . . walk to the counter and face it.”

Stepping out of her discarded skirt, Lizzie crossed the small space to the counter, her eyes fixed on Tom behind her. His gaze stayed on her reflection as he walked to her, his body up against hers, pushing her into the counter. One of his hands snaked around and cupped her breast.

“I’m gonna fuck you hard, Lizzie. You okay with that? I’m not gonna be gentle,” he said against her ear, his fingers pinching her nipple to the point of pain . . . glorious fucking pain.

“Yes. Please,” she begged, wanting him to let go on her.

Tom paused a moment to put on the condom, then with his hand to the back of her neck, pushed her against the counter, her body tensing at the contact with the cool counter. He teased her with his cock before slowly entering her. Putting her mouth to her arm, she tried to contain her moan. His grip on her hips tightened, yet he stayed still. That was the last calm moment before he fucked her like he’d been starving for days—which he pretty much had.

“Look at us in this mirror. You see it? You and I are so fucking hot together.”

She’d believe him. Lizzie could barely keep her eyes open, let alone focus on what was in the mirror.

“Look,” he repeated, pulling her up by her biceps. Her eyes rolled at the change in position, the orgasm starting. “Fuck . . . don’t look. Come, Lizzie,” he urged, ramming into her. If he hadn’t been holding her up, Lizzie was sure she would have collapsed with the force of her release. Her body convulsed in pleasure, pulling the ecstasy right out of him. A long groan vibrated against her ear as the grip on her arms strengthened.

“Holy fuck, Lizzie,” he swore, nipping at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

“Yeah,” she said, her head falling back against his chest. It was all that she could think of to say.

His lips traveled up her neck, her jaw, and stopped on her lips and captured her whimper when he pulled out. They stayed on her mouth as he fixed her bra and sweater.

In silence, they cleaned up. She was wondrously swollen because of the fucking he’d just given her and would feel it for the rest of the night.

“Can we do this again?” she asked, fixing her clothes.

“Got a condom?” he replied, tucking his hammer back inside his jeans.

“No,” she pouted.
Note to self: add condoms to purse.

“Then you’ll have to wait until we get to my place,” he said, his arms encircling her waist and his lips feather-touching hers. “Though there are things I can do to you, especially with that skirt and your lack of underwear.”

“Oh hell,” she said, squeezing her legs together.

“Come on, Bits. We need to rejoin the party. You go first,” he said, unlocking the door.

“Okay,” she said, waiting to be kissed one last time.

Instead of the kiss she’d been hoping for, he kissed the tip of her nose. She huffed and his lips slowly descended to meet hers and the sweet tenderness of his caress made her quiver. “See you upstairs,” she said, stepping away and out of the bathroom.

Heading down the hallway towards the back steps, a hand wrapping around her arm blindsided her. “What the?” Lizzie said, whipping around to see who it was.

Gwen.

“Bangin’ Tom, huh?” she asked as they stepped into the stairwell. Lizzie slipped, her hand on the railing the only thing keeping her from sliding down the stairs.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, good for you,” Gwen carried on. “It’s about time. Ollie and I have been wondering since high school when this would happen.”

“How’d you find out?”

“When nature calls, you go, except when there is someone already in the bathroom. You are so not quiet. From the sounds of it, Tom was doing you good.”

Lizzie blushed in embarrassment, her face on fire. “You heard us?”

“Yeah, then I hid to get confirmation, and I got that the moment you walked out.”

“Did you tell anyone?”

“Of course not, whore,” Gwen said, affectionately wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they walked into the kitchen. “Though, I’d love to hear how this happened. God, I still can’t believe it. You and Tom!”

The smile on Lizzie’s face couldn’t get any bigger. “Believe me, I can’t either. It’s been so damn wonderful. My best friend is my lover.”

Gwen smiled knowingly at her as she grabbed them both a beer, then the two girlfriends headed into the currently empty family room where Lizzie told Gwen how she hooked up with Tom. About thirty minutes later, Tom and Ollie found them.

“Hi ladies,” Tom said, sitting on the arm next to Lizzie, and Ollie took the empty spot next to Gwen.

“Hey Thor . . . how’s your mighty hammer?”

Lizzie burst out laughing. She couldn’t believe her friend, but what a way to get it out there that she knows. Tom shot a “what the fuck” look at Lizzie before answering.

“It’s been busy.”

“Doing a lot of pounding?” Gwen continued her questioning.

His lips twitched trying not to smile. “Yeah. Same forecast for tonight.”

“Yeah. I heard.”

“You did?”

“Oh . . . yes.”

“Good job making her scream,” Ollie added.

Both Tom and Lizzie whipped their heads in his direction. Ollie had a smug smile on his face. Then Lizzie turned on Gwen. “You didn’t tell me Ollie was there too!”

“Oh . . . my bad,” Gwen said with an unapologetic laugh.

“Seriously though,” Ollie spoke again. “You two together . . . it’s good. Don’t let any past stuff affect that, okay?”

Lizzie knew what past stuff he was referring to—Marc. She didn’t want to think about that, about when he would come back. About how she would react. The first picture in her head was always wrapping him in her arms. That’s as far as she got.

Never any farther.

Maybe that was telling.

Or maybe her brain was just a big ol’ chickenshit.

Lizzie

June 2009

She whipped her head up so fast at the knock on her office door, Lizzie swore she pulled a muscle. Standing in the doorway was her boss, Parker. “Do you have a minute?” he asked.

Even if she didn’t, her answer would still be affirmative. “Sure. What’s up?”

He sat down at the chair closest to her desk, straightening up the papers on the small meeting table next to him.

“You know how I feel about your work. You’ve proven yourself over and over. Those projects are routine to you now. Nothing seems to faze you, so I was thinking that I needed to do something big to challenge you.”

While there was a big wave of pride at what he just said, there was also a small fissure of apprehension in her gut. She had no idea what this something big could be.

“You know how we’ve been planning for the new office in San Fran?” he continued. “Well, I want you to head up opening it.”

Shit . . . that wasn’t big—it was huge!

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No,” he chuckled. “I’m definitely not joking. Very serious here.”

Panic clawed its way up her body. “I’ve not done anything like this . . . I—”

“You’re wrong. How many projects have you led from beginning to end? Same kind of concept but bigger . . . I’m your client as well as your boss. I’m not going to leave you hanging. I want you to succeed. You have questions, you ask me. But I know you’ve got this, that’s why I’m putting you in charge of this.”

Holy fucking shit!

Normally she’d try to keep her cool, but she completely failed when a smile broke out on her face.

“So . . . you up for the challenge?”

“Most definitely!”

“Eva has already booked your flight and your accommodations. She got you an apartment this time around since you’ll be out there for so long . . .”

Parker kept talking but she stopped listening when she realized how long she’d be gone. Her excitement plummeted when reality sank in. At least one month away from Tom. Minimum. Not the kind of challenge she was looking forward to.

“By chance do you know when I’ll be departing?” she asked.

“Two weeks from now, I believe. Eva has the exact date.”

She nodded . . .

Yeah . . . this totally sucked.

When she arrived home, the sound of Foxy barking greeted her. Smiling, she went around the house to the backyard and spotted Tom’s truck in the driveway.

“Hey there, sweet girl. Where’s your daddy?” she asked the dog.

“
Woof
,” the dog answered and pounded up the stairs. “
Woof
,” she repeated.

Lizzie trucked up the stairs after Foxy and let her in, the wonderful aroma of garlic hitting her as she opened the door. She dropped her bag on the bench and went to the kitchen where Tom stood at the stove, stirring whatever smelled so good.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he said over his shoulder. “Pour yourself a glass of wine and sit down. Dinner’s almost ready.”

She did as told, kicking off her heels and shrugging off her suit jacket. “So . . . Pooh bear . . . why the meal?” she asked, then took a long sip of the delicious wine.

“Just wanted to do something special for you.”

“Well, thank you.”

“How was work?” he asked as he went about plating the food.

“Well . . . it was definitely interesting.”

“Do tell,” he said, placing the food in front of her.

Inhaling, she groaned. “What are we eating?”

“Just a dish my mother always makes me. Has no name. It’s just chicken, smoked sausage, potatoes, onions and squash all mixed together. Mama’s specialty.”

“Your mama is Mrs. Myers to me . . . always will be.”

“Despite her repeated requests otherwise,” he said before taking a bite.

She did the same and groaned yet again. This was a meal she could eat every single day. “So damn good, Tom.”

“Now, get back to telling me about work.”

“Yeah . . . work was interesting,” she stalled, nervous to tell him.

“You said that . . .”

“My boss offered me an awesome opportunity. To lead the opening of our new office,” she told him, pushing her food around on her plate.

“Where’s that?”

“In San Francisco.”

“Oooh . . . Miss Fancy Pants. That sounds really cool. So, why aren’t you more excited?” he said, stabbing at his food and lifting it to his mouth. Her best friend was way too insightful. He seemed genuinely excited for her, but she wondered how that reaction would change with her upcoming words.

“I leave in two weeks and I’ll be there for at least one month.”

His fork froze mid-air. “Oh.”

“Yeah . . .”

“A whole month?” he asked, his eyes flicking to her face.

She nodded.

“No coming home?”

“Probably not,” she said, shaking her head.

“Oh,” he said again, setting his fork down and picking up his bottle of beer, taking a long drag. Resigned to what was coming, he looked into her eyes. “I’ll miss you.”

“And I you.”

He leaned over and kissed her, slowly letting the kiss end. “I will throw you the most epic going away party,” he said, his voice a little too chipper.

“Tom?”

“Yeah?” he said, busying himself with putting the plates in the sink.