The Falling of Love (10 page)

With delicate hands, he opens her legs wider and then with his tongue he deliberately flicks at her panties. She whimpers softly. She cannot take much more of his delightful torment. Very slowly, he slips her panties off, leaving them resting at her ankles. Excitement overcomes her, as she waits for what he will do next. He teases her, not seeming to be ready to fully give it to her just yet. With his fingertip, he traces around the outline of her sensitive parts, up to her belly button, and in between her thighs. Her body, with a mind of its own, rises off the bed as he rubs her clit with his thumb, the pressure sending shockwaves through her. He smiles with a sense of accomplishment washing over his face. He slides his thumb slowly up and down the wetness that has formed between her legs. As he slides his thumb down, he inserts it into her, and then he gently pulls it out and then slides his wet thumb back up to her clit, moistening it even more and rubbing it more aggressively.

“Oh
my gosh
, Ian!” Grace gasps.

Ian takes his thumb out of her, sucks on it, and then places it in her mouth. Her reaction is to suck on it, even though it completely takes her by surprise.

“I’m so hard for you, it aches. I want to replace all your heartache with desire and satisfaction.”

He grabs her foot, slides her panties from her ankle, and sucks on her toe. She squirms and laughs loudly.

“Ticklish?” he asks, laughing.

“Yes! Ian, stop!” she cries out while giggling.

He laughs and does it again.

“Stop!” She laughs as she tries to shake her foot free from his hand, but his grip on her is far too strong. Every ounce of sorrow has left her, replaced by utter happiness and yearning for him to touch and lick her again.

“Ian!” she cries out as he runs his tongue across the arch of her foot.

“Okay, okay I’ll stop,” he says, with a chuckle.

He then bites her gently on her ankle. She groans with pleasure. With delicate sucks, he kisses up her leg and stops at her thigh. His hair tickles this sensitive area as he sucks heavily on her thigh. His warm wet mouth arouses her.
He is trying to torture me,
she thinks as her body fidgets without her permission. Finally, his hot, wet mouth covers her. His tongue swirls around her clit. He slides his tongue up and down her and she can hear the sound of her wetness colliding with his mouth, and then he slides his tongue inside her and moves his head, making love to her with his mouth. She is astounded. Never before has he done something like this to her. It feels so dirty and so right all at once. She erupts into a long orgasm.

Ian climbs on top of her and lifts one of her legs as he rests it on his hip. With a tantalizingly smooth movement, he slides inside of her, filling her and pressing against her walls. Slowly he moves, all the while looking into her eyes with a loving but seductive expression.

“I love you so much, Gracie,” he looks into her eyes with an intense, deeply lustful look.

He continues his appetizing movements until they both erupt into moans.

Later that night, as Grace
lies
sleeping in his arms, Ian stares at her. The room seems to glow crimson from the dated alarm clock with large glowing red numbers that is on the lopsided nightstand next to him. Ian holds Grace close to his body and listens to the sound of her breathing. A steady flow of breath emanates from her parted lips.

He closes his eyes and savors the feeling of her breath on his bare chest. The feeling of contentment, because he is holding her, is mixed with feelings of nervousness over what is to come, and hurt feelings from the words she spoke earlier that day. Although he wants to put the fight they had behind him, his mind keeps replaying the scene of the fight. Their uncertain future fills him with angst. A crushing amount of guilt sits on his chest from what he has done to her life. Before he came into the picture, Grace was a typical teenage girl whose most stressful plans consisted of which college she would choose, not how they would come up with rent money or money to eat once they arrived in Los Angeles.

He has destroyed Grace’s life, but he can still make it right. He vows to himself that he will take care of her. She will never go without a roof over her head or worry where their next meal will come from. Even if he has to work two jobs, she will live her dreams.
My dreams are coming true, why shouldn’t Grace’s?
Leaning down he places his lips on her forehead and lets them linger there. “We won’t be a statistic. We will prove to the world that we belong together.” He whispers with his lips inches away from her skin, even though he knows she is sound asleep.

Early the next morning, they have breakfast in a small, quaint diner, situated next to the motel. Grace’s mood has changed drastically from what it was the day before, and she seems to have a more positive outlook on their new lives. He watches fondly as she chews on a piece of bacon and laughs at the joke he just told, admiring the glow on her face. One night has brought back the Grace he knows and loves, instead of the cruel and broken girl she was yesterday.

After breakfast, they set out on the rest of their trip to Los Angeles, blaring music, and singing to each other, with the windows rolled down, and their hair blowing in the wind. The love Ian has shown her seems to have suppressed all of her anxieties. As he lays his hand on her thigh and squeezes it, she turns from gazing out the window and returns a smile that fills his heart with joy.

They drive for hours, but it feels more like days to Grace. She can barely make out the landscape through the car window in the pitch dark, night sky. Ian’s humming along to the song on the radio catches her attention. “Are you doing okay?” she asks. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine, babe.”

“We’ve been driving for hours. You’ve got to be exhausted.”

“I’m getting there, but I’m okay for now, trust me.”

“If you say so.” She smiles. Grace brings her leg down from the dashboard and slides her butt across the bucket seats so that she can rest her head on Ian’s shoulder. Silently he kisses the top of her head.

“How are you feeling?” he asks, turning his attention back to the road ahead of him.

“Tired.”

“I mean emotionally, babe.”

Leaning up she kisses the side of his face and then settles back onto his shoulder. “I’m good. I feel much better now.”

“I’d never seen you as upset as you were the day we left. You kinda freaked me out.”

“I’m sorry, Ian. I was just upset because of everything that happened. Not only was James a complete ass, but it was so embarrassing.”

Ian lifts his arm and pulls her tightly up against his body. “I’m sorry that all went down. I wish it hadn’t.”

“Everything happens for a reason, right?” she asks, as she lays her hand on his thigh and traces hearts on his leg.

“It does, but I wish things hadn’t of gone down the way they did. I’m just glad you’re feeling better. You had me worried that you were going to go back home and dump me.”

“I would never dump you, Ian. Ever. Never ever. I’m actually excited to start our new lives. No more sneaking around. No more lying. We can just be us.”

“You have no idea how happy that makes me,” he says before he yawns.

“I think we should find a place to stay,” Grace says, sitting up straight to examine him.

His eyes are small and under them are dark circles.

“I just want to hit the California border,
then
we’ll stop. Promise. Now lie back down and get some rest.”

“I’m not sleeping while you drive. I need to keep you company.”

“I’ll be fine,” he says, as he pushes her head back onto his shoulder.

The screech of the tires and the jolting motion of the car jerk Grace out of a deep, peaceful sleep. When her eyes open she sees that the car is far too close to the edge of a cliff, with raging waves below.

“Ian!” she screams as she turns to look at him.

With both of his hands gripping the wheel, Ian struggles to get the car under control. “Blow out! Hold on, babe!”

The first thought that enters her mind is that the last words between her and her brother were hateful ones.
I can’t die
, she thinks,
not with the way I left things with James.

The Nova swerves left, then right, coming dangerously close to the road’s edge. Grace grabs onto the handle and braces herself for the worst as the car swings back to the left and into the opposite lane.

“Hold on!” Ian screams, as he grips onto the wheel and steers the car back to the right.

“I love you!” Grace shouts, fearing the worst as the car skids onto the dirt on the side of the road.

The car comes to an abrupt stop and Ian shifts it into park.

Grace’s heart pounds in her chest and she gasps for air.

“Baby, it’s okay. It’s okay,” Ian says, as he reaches for her and takes her into his arms.

“I thought we were going to go off the cliff!”

“I told you,” he says. He pulls her hair away from her face and clasps it into a ponytail. “I’m going to take care of you. I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

Not only do his arms comfort her, but so do his words. He kisses her forehead. “I gotta go survey the damage. We’re gonna need a damn tire now. Hopefully the spare will get us somewhere that we can buy a new one.”

Turning, she watches Ian slide along the car, being careful of the traffic passing by. When he gets to the passenger side of the car, she reaches out the window and adjusts the side mirror so she can watch him work. She does not know anything about changing tires, but she wants to help. She grabs her sweatshirt from the backseat and hops out of the car. She pulls her sweatshirt over her head. The wind whips her hair around her face, and she takes an elastic band out of her pocket to pull her hair up as she walks toward Ian. Crossing her arms, she stands over Ian, who is crouched on the ground, jacking up the car.
He looks up at her with an eyebrow raised and an amused smile. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Helping?”

He laughs while shaking his head. “Okay, cool. Let me get these lug nuts off and I’ll hand them to you. Whatever you do, don’t drop them. We’d really be screwed then.”

“I won’t!” she says, laughing.

Ian pushes on the tire iron and Grace licks her bottom lip. The muscles in his arms flex and the sight of this makes her tingle between her legs.

“You’re so
flippin
’ hot when you work on cars, Ian. I should have been in the shop watching you work from the day you started there.”

He rolls his eyes, but the wide smile that spreads across his face says he is flattered by her comment.

“Okay,” Ian says, as he pulls the tire off the car, “now I just have to put the spare and the lug nuts back on, tighten them up, and we’ll be back on our way.”

As Grace watches him finish up putting the tire on, she is overwhelmed with respect and admiration for him. The simple act of him changing the tire makes her feel secure and unafraid of what lies ahead.

After they find a service station to put on a new tire, they continue down Highway 1 through Ventura. While the scenery stuns Grace, she is astounded by the number of cars on the freeway, bumper to bumper and moving at a snail’s pace. “I’ve never seen so many cars crammed onto one freeway in my life,” Grace says, as she reaches into the glove box for her lip gloss.

“Welcome to California,” Ian says, as if he has been there before. “Baby, can you look at the map? Do I take that exit?” he asks, pointing to a sign.

Grace examines the map and nods.

“I think we’re only about an hour away,” Ian says, with a gleam in his eyes.

“Make that three in this mess.” Grace laughs.

Just as Ian said, they arrive in Los Angeles about an hour later.

“Holy shit!” shouts Ian, his eyes wide, as he leans forward to take in the view of the city. “This place is huge!”

He parks the car on an overlook off of Mulholland Drive and gets out in a quick stride, waving for Grace to join him. Ian grabs Grace and sweeps her up into his arms, flinging her in the air. Millions of lights twinkle in the massive valley below.

“We made it, baby! We freakin’ made it!” he shouts, before planting a long, passionate kiss on her lips.

Before they made their way up the road, Ian stopped at a gas station to use the phone to get directions from Jaden. Ian reaches into the pockets of his jeans and pulls out a small piece of paper with his handwriting scrawled across it. Grace watches as he studies it.

“I guess he lives on the outskirts of the city. These directions are crazy.” Ian says, as he walks back to the car, Grace in tow.

“So you and Jaden have known each other since what grade?” asks Grace, forgetting the exact number.

“Since fourth grade,” Ian says, proudly.

“And he was in your band, in Massachusetts?”

“Yeah, he sings like me, writes amazing songs, and he can also play killer guitar!”

They climb in the car and fasten their seatbelts.

“Well, you’re here, babe! Finally starting to live out your dreams,” Grace says, with a huge smile on her face. She is truly excited for him.

“Jaden already has some guys lined up for our band!” Ian exclaims.

“What?” Grace shouts. “You didn’t tell me that!”

“He just told me when he gave me the directions. As soon as I told him we were on our way from Ocean View, he got right on it,” says Ian.

Things are moving so quickly
, Grace thinks nervously.

Grace squints as she tries to make out the foliage that lines Mulholland Drive, the city lights now far beyond her gaze. The twisting and turning of the roads is equal to the nerves that are stirring in her stomach as they get closer to Jaden’s home. She worries if Jaden will approve of her and if she will be comfortable living with two people she has never met. The wide eyed, excited look on Ian’s face, when she turns to look at him, helps to diminish some of her nerves.