Souls ReAligned (12 page)

Sensing something has suddenly changed in her; he stops and lifts his head so that he can see her face. Finding her utterly glowing, his breath sticks in the back of his throat as he tries to swallow. Unhappy with the space he’s just put between them she pushes her hips against him, silently pleading for him to continue. He’s never felt this way with her before. Every ounce of anxiety has left her body. For the first time she seems unburdened. Feeling a sense of urgency to meet her needs, he reaches down and rids himself of his boxers.

Firmly gripping the edges of her lace panties, he strips her out of them in one swift movement. Opening her legs, she invites him in, and he wastes no time moving between them. Lifting her hips, she spreads wider, as his thick, hard shaft slides between her swollen folds.

Her breasts crave the feel of his warm mouth. She moans, her need overwhelming her. As if reading her mind, he closes his mouth around her tender nipple, dragging the heavy head of his cock against her clit one last time. She almost screams out in pleasure, as he teases her with one last hard nip of his teeth, before reclaiming her mouth. Opening her lips, he lets his warm tongue slip inside, and groans as if it’s the first time she’s tasted him.

Balancing his weight on muscled biceps, he lifts himself off her, and then very slowly, adjusts his position. Lowering himself between her legs, he enters her with gentle penetration. At the very moment of their joining, she is free from her demons. Giving herself to him completely, not just her body, but all of her. He sinks himself all the way inside her and stops. Feeling this new profound intimacy between them makes him feel like he’s strung tight, his cock so full of blood that it’s painfully hard inside her.

Thick, intense desire surges through his body, but he doesn’t thrust, doesn’t move. He just lies there, absorbing the sensation…breath-to-breath…heartbeat-to-heartbeat, soul-to-soul.

Olivia moans restlessly, as the pressure building inside her becomes unbearably intimate.

He acknowledges her quiet intake of breath, his cock surging and lengthening inside her. Pushing his hips against her, he forces himself in deeper.

The connection between them is like a lightning strike, vibrating inside her, right down to her aching clit. It makes her cry out as the force of a powerful orgasm rips through her. He barely had to move to send her there. As her body quakes around him, he erupts, coming harder than he has ever come before.

Coming back to Earth, he rolls to his side, being careful to slide out of her gently. Lying on his back, he lifts his arms over his head. Taking a few deep breaths to further ground himself, he runs his fingers through his hair and then whispers her name, “Olivia.”

Rolling so that she’s pressed against his side, her mouth rests at his ear. Waiting for him to speak, her warm breath makes his senses stir again. Bringing his arms down, he wraps them around her, folding her into his chest and giving himself time to gather his thoughts. Finally, he manages to get the words out, “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

She breathes out a sigh of relief, lifting her head so she can see his eyes. “Me, either,” she confesses. “I don’t even know how to describe what I was feeling.”

Exhaustion consumes them and within moments, Ethan is asleep. Olivia lies awake for what seems like hours, watching him. Occasionally running her fingers across his cheek, needing to feel the warmth of his skin to prove that he’s not a dream.

She can do this, right? For the first time in three years, the strong emotions, beating in her chest, are not driven by fear. What is this emotion? Maybe it’s love, maybe it’s not. She doesn’t have to put a name to it right now. She can just simply surrender and trust him, give herself permission to enjoy this incredible man.

She’s not entirely sure what happened between them tonight. She felt something shift, something profound. It was a celebration; an awakening…
a realignment of souls
. Ethan felt it too.

When Ethan wakes a few hours later, his skin feels cool. Reaching through the darkness for Olivia, he finds her gone. In a panic, he jumps to his feet and throws on a pair of sweat pants. Searching the other rooms on the second floor, he doesn’t find her. His stomach twists at the thought that she’s left him. Needing to find her, he grabs a t-shirt and pulls it on over his head as he hurries down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, he stops abruptly.

She’s there. Sound asleep, curled up in the chair with the leather bound book hugged tightly against her chest,
Romeo and Juliet
. Opened to the page from where he took the quote…

“With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls;

For stony limits cannot hold love out.”

Panic is replaced with the warmth of love. Carefully prying the book out from under her hands, he returns it to the shelf. Opening her eyes, she grins at him, as he lifts her into his arms and carries her back upstairs.

Lowering her to the bed, he crawls in beside her, pulling her against his chest.

Trailing kisses across his neck toward his ear, she gently slips her hand around his already awakening erection. Taking a deep breath, he holds it while she strokes him with a firm hand.

Making good on his promise, Ethan thoroughly makes love to every inch of her body. Finally feeling like she’s given all of herself to him, he lay spent in her arms. Tangling his legs around hers possessively, he stakes his claim. Falling asleep beside her, he never intends to let her go.

Over the next couple of days, Olivia finds herself stressing over Ethan’s trip back to Ireland. She doesn’t like the fact that she doesn’t want him to go, not one bit. He’s asked her several times a day, for the past three days, to change her mind and go with him. He’s begged her, in fact. She’s trying so hard to let him in to her life, wanting to give him what he needs; but determined not to lose sight of her independence. That’s not easy with Ethan, by any means. Things…
emotions,
rather, have happened too quickly. For Olivia, it feels right, but it’s terrifying.

Olivia’s co-workers all gather in the kitchen for afternoon break and decide on a plan for this evening’s
Girls Night Out
. A tradition they’ve tried to keep going every couple of months over the years. Olivia has always found a way to be unavailable, but this time they’ve convinced her to join them.

It’s been two days since Shannon has returned home to Ireland, and she’s starting to miss her company. Rachel is busy re-kindling her romance with Scott, and Ethan is focused on landing a new client.
Thank God!

They haven’t slept apart since the night of the grand opening. Actually, they haven’t slept much at all. She might have reconsidered staying, if she had known that Ethan often wakes in the middle of the night with a rock hard erection and rapacious needs. She’s never met a man with such a voracious sexual appetite. He claims that it’s all
her
doing; that his self-control simply unravels when she’s near him.

With Shannon gone, there’s definitely an imbalance of power. Now she’s left to deal with John and Ethan alone. A night out with just the girls is definitely something she’s looking forward to.

“We should all go together,” Kelly suggests. “You know, reduce our carbon footprint.”

“Good idea. I vote Olivia drives,” Margaret says. “It would be so much cooler than arriving in Diana’s minivan or your Volkswagen, Kelly.”

“Yes, that would be awesome,” Diana agrees. “Is that okay with you, Olivia?”

She shrugs, “Sure. I don’t drink much anyway, so it makes sense that I’m the designated driver.”

Having entered the room without being seen, Rachel stands at the counter making herself a coffee. “Sounds like you’ve just been
voluntold.
And, you don’t drink much? Who are you kidding?”

“Hi, Rachel!” Diana greets her with a huge smile. “Are you coming with us for ‘girl’s night out’? We’re going for all you can eat Chinese food!” She tries to entice her.

“Sounds tempting,” Rachel says, fixing her strawberry blonde hair in the reflection of the vending machine. “But tonight is date night with my hubby.”

Olivia smiles. “That sounds romantic.”

Rachel rolls her eyes, “Not really, it’s his turn to pick so we’re going to see the latest Quentin Tarantino movie. Unless you find that kind of violence romantic.”

Olivia looks at her watch, “Shoot! I have a conference call in a few minutes. Text me your addresses.” Hurrying down the hall, she disappears into her office.

The afternoon goes by quickly. As the workday ends, she finds herself excited about dinner with her friends. Standing at her kitchen counter sorting through the flyers and the bills, when she comes across one that catches her attention. Sliding her finger under the seal of the envelope, she opens the letter that bears the logo of the automobile garage where Ethan had her car fixed. She becomes nervous, afraid that there’s been a problem with the payment arrangements she made. The document inside is neatly folded and her check is stapled to the corner.
Non-sufficient funds?
They were kind enough to let her pay the bill over the next three months. She’s meticulously taken care of her account, ensuring that there’s enough money to cover it. Lifting the check out of the way to read the attached letter, she finds a copy of the invoice marked PAID IN FULL.

Her brow furrows in confusion, when she realizes that the other two checks are attached as well. Someone has clearly marked VOID across them. Obviously, there’s been some kind of mistake, she’ll stop on her way and get it sorted out.

Pulling into the parking lot of the modern looking garage, she notices that it’s uncharacteristically clean; compared to any other automobile shop she’s ever been to. A handsome young man stands smiling at her, from behind the customer service desk, just inside the door. She smiles back at him, “Hi, do you remember me?”

“Of course! Vintage Mustang, right?”

“Yes, that’s me. I think there’s been some kind of mistake with my bill. It says here it’s been paid in full.” She hands it to him and waits.

Reading it over, he punches something into the computer. “No, there’s no mistake.”

“But I still have 2 months left to pay and my checks have been returned.”

The women sitting at their desks behind the counter are now exchanging glances; pretending that they aren’t eavesdropping.

“A man came in last week and paid your balance.”

“A man? Just walked in and paid my bill?” She bites her lip and shakes her head, “Do you know his name?”

“No, Ma’am. He paid cash.”

She’s annoyed that this young man, only a few years younger than her at the most, would refer to her as
ma’am
. “What did he look like?” She crosses her arms in front of her and leans her weight on one hip.
As if she doesn’t know
.

“Well, he was quite a handsome man. Not that I lean that way,” he clarifies. “In his early thirties with short brown hair.” He leans forward and whispers. “He had the ladies in the office all a flutter.”

Gah! “Irish accent?” She already knows the answer.

“YES! You know him then?” He folds the receipt and hands it back to her.

Sighing as she takes it from him, she tucks it back in her purse, “Yes, I know him.”

“Good! I’m glad we got to the bottom of that. We’re here anytime you need us.”

She glances past him; distracted by the women behind him that are now whispering and staring, “Thanks.” After pushing open the door to the parking lot, Olivia stomps angrily to the car
. How dare he!
How is she supposed to have a relationship with him when he does stuff like this? Why is the concept of equality in a relationship such a foreign idea to this man? Frustrating! She’s barely slid in behind the wheel when Ethan sends her a text message.

Ethan: Hey! Taking a short break. What are you doing?

Olivia reads it and tosses her phone onto the empty passenger seat. She’s way too angry to talk to him right now. Ethan is not a patient man, and she doesn’t get very far before her phone beeps again.

Ethan: Hello?

She can’t stand it anymore.

Olivia: I don’t want to talk to you right now!

Ethan: ???? Why?

Olivia: Because I’m annoyed at you.

Ethan: What did I do?

Olivia: Think hard O’Connell. You’ll figure it out.

Sitting in a small café taking a break between meetings, Ethan scowls and scratches his head.

John looks at him with curiosity, “What’s going on?”

Ethan shrugs, “I have no idea, but she’s upset with me for something.”

Ethan: Help me out here. I do a lot of things that annoy you. Can you be a little more specific?

Olivia: Think transportation.

Ethan: OK, I think I know what you’re talking about, but I still don’t know why you’re angry with me?

Olivia: I’m going out with the girls tonight, so I won’t be available to chat.

Trying to push Ethan and his aggravating
inner control freak
out of her mind, Olivia picks up all the girls and gets them to the local Chinese food restaurant for dinner. It’s the perfect place to spend the next few hours chatting and giggling. This is exactly what she needs tonight, she only wishes Rachel and Shannon were here.

When they’re done, they’re contemplating the wide sampling of desserts when Kelly has a great idea, “Let’s go over to ‘The Headwaters’ for a few drinks.”

“It’s called ‘Ireland’s’ now,” Margaret corrects her.

“No, it’s too busy we’ll never get in,” Olivia, advises, filled with dread at the suggestion.

“How busy can it be?” Margaret searches for something on her phone and then passes it around for everyone to see, “Have you seen a picture of the new owner?”

When the phone makes its way to Olivia, she’s shocked to see that it’s a Google image of Ethan, shirtless on a beach somewhere. His chiseled abs and chest, bronzed to perfection. She’s not sure how old the picture is, but his face is completely clean-shaven making him look very young. Beside him, a beautiful blonde with very long legs, in a skimpy bikini, looks up at him in adoration. It’s clear that he’s enjoying an intimate moment with his significant other. For Pete’s sake, he really does have a type.

His hair is longer, the way it was the first day she saw him. Blowing in a gentle ocean breeze it falls in soft, gentle curls just below his ears. Placing the pad of her finger on the touch screen, she slides it to the side scrolling through hundreds of other pictures of him at various different events. There’s even one of him in a tuxedo, with Hannah by his side, at a charity event hosted by Aurora Technologies Canada.

“His hair is short now,” Diana adds. “My cousin’s husband knows him. She said that he has the sexiest Irish accent.” Looking over Olivia’s shoulder, she squints at the picture, “He sort of looks like the guy who delivered lunch to you a few weeks ago.”

“Really? I don’t think so,” Olivia says quickly. She considers that, maybe for the sake of publicity, it’s best that nobody knows about them. She is, after all, the girl that everybody talks about. Besides, these girls would make a huge fuss over it and she really doesn’t want to talk about him tonight.

When Olivia hands the phone back, Margaret takes another long look at the picture and adds, “Well, I sure wouldn’t throw him out of bed for eating crackers.”

“No kidding,” Kelly adds. “I’d throw him out of bed just to watch him crawl back in.”

Olivia remains silent as her friends discuss Ethan’s body and their theories about the size of his manhood. She wonders how they’d react if she were to tell them that she could describe every inch of it, in meticulous detail. She could also confirm that they were grossly mistaken in their theory. His fancy car and expensive clothes are definitely not his way of making up for the diminutive size of his cock. They couldn’t be more wrong. For a moment, she misses him and his dick.
How wrong is that?

“Okay, it’s settled then. We’re going over there. Olivia you’re good with that, right?”

Olivia scrunches up her face, “I don’t know. I’m not really feeling it.” She’s in no mood to deal with Ethan tonight.

Sometime between tea and finishing their desserts, some heavy arm-twisting takes place and Olivia is persuaded to go. When they get there the line up is out the door and half way down the sidewalk along the side of the building.

“Told you,” Olivia reminds them. Exposing way too much cleavage to the cool evening air, she shivers. If she goes back to the car to get her sweater, she may be tempted to leave.

Margaret comes back from having spoken with the security guard at the door, “He says it could be up to an hour wait…
if
we get in at all.”

“It’ll be worth the wait if the sexy owner is here tonight,” Kelly giggles.

Margaret elbows her friends, “Hey, who’s that guy? Check out those muscles!” They watch as a very distinguished man approaches, meticulously groomed and casually dressed all in black. He’s older, but very attractive. Holding his hand over his ear, he covers the head set, trying to hear something above the noise of the crowd. “Yes, immediately,” he says into it as he reaches them.

Olivia looks up to see John McCabe standing in front of her.

Oh No!
“Hi, John,”

“Olivia,” he nods. “Please, follow me.” Stepping back, he holds out his hand, directing her toward the door.

“Oh, um… it’s okay John. I’m here with my friends this evening.” She avoids their addled stares.

“Olivia, your friends are more than welcome to join you. Please…” talking into the headset, he motions them toward the door, “Four guests to be seated at the table reserved for Mr. O’Connell.”

The girls step out of line one by one and glance at Olivia in amazement. As the security guard opens the door for them, a hostess immediately seats them in a booth right in front of the dance floor. John follows them to make sure they’re taken care of. Olivia finds a moment to speak to John, inconspicuously, while her friends enjoy the VIP treatment.

“Thank you John, but this really wasn’t necessary.”

“Wasn’t it? How angry do you think Ethan would be if he found out that I left you standing outside in the cold waiting to get in?” He gives her a half grin.

“Good point,” she wrinkles her nose and asks hesitantly, “Is he here?”

John shakes his head, “No, he’s at a dinner with some business associates in Toronto. He’ll come by later.”