Beautiful Broken Promises
Page 21
“You’re even closer now,” she whispered.
“I cannot believe you made yourself sick, almost to the point of death,” I said into her neck.
“I got us out. Four years late, but I got us out.”
I needed her. I needed her now. I shoved down my shorts and boxers. Her panties weren’t difficult as they slipped away with my clothes. Before I could take another breath, I was back at her mouth, taking whatever she would give. I felt her hand reach down between us and she guided me inside of her.
She was slick but so f**king tight. Besides this morning, I knew she hadn’t done this in years so I clenched my teeth and tried to ease her into this. Even though my mind was running laps around the bed, shouting at me to, ‘Go, Go, Go!’ When I felt her little hands on my ass, her fingers clenching the taut skin and forcing me to move, I knew I had the go-ahead.
Our mouths never parted. I wanted our second time to go slower with more exploration, but she’d set my nerves on fire with every detail of her experiences. I needed the comfort and I needed to do the same for her.
Her heat felt so amazing around me and when her hand cupped over my lips, I realized that my groans were becoming a bit too audible. I nipped at her fingers until they moved and I leaned forward for her mouth again.
“Oh god, oh god, god, god…” she whispered harshly. Raegan was much better at keeping our activities quiet than I seemed to be. The egotistical side of me wanted to make her scream… loud. But the father in me didn’t want to push my luck. I’d get her to scream like that some day.
My pace quickened and the headboard began to slap against the wall like thunder. I couldn’t stop my movements so I lunged forward to hold the flimsy wood against the wall. My stretched-out position invited her fingers to run across my chest and stomach, and I savored those touches.
“Yes! Just like that, stay like that,” she managed to grind out through her clenched teeth. I had a feeling she wasn’t opening her mouth much so she wouldn’t let anything louder than her whispers escape.
I watched her tits bounce beneath her shirt and I mentally slapped myself for not getting that shirt off. Regardless, the feeling of her squeezing around me in her release, the look of pure bliss on her face, and the way her body went absolutely stiff beneath me… I couldn’t hold back any longer.
Thank God I had the forethought to remember I didn’t have a condom on—yet again—so I pulled free. I’m not sure what was wrong with me, because I never went without those rubber guys. The second I pulled out, Rae’s hand clutched tightly around my length.
My hands dropped from the headboard and she pumped me forcefully one, two, three times.
“Fuuuuck,” I groaned into her neck, while I released all over her stomach. I lifted up and shivered when her hand slid across my now oversensitive skin. I stared down at the area I had once again marked. I had never done this to a girl, and yet with Rae I’d done it twice.
“I think you’re forgetting a condom on purpose now,” she chuckled.
“I am kind of enjoying the way this looks,” I brazenly replied. The comment didn’t slide without a good pinch to my side, but nothing could have brought down my high right then.
- THIRTEEN -
LANE -
Now that Raegan and I had broken the proverbial seal, we let loose on one another. Anytime Braden and Kate were down for naps, we jumped all over each other. If they got sucked into playing a game in the nursery, we hid out in the master bathroom, devouring each other’s bodies. Since the kids had officially taken over the bed in the nursery, each night was much of the same for us. I couldn’t get enough. She couldn’t get enough. The past three days have been f**king phenomenal.
This morning I slipped out at breakfast time to catch a quick run. It was time I started doing more than just the exercises I had been doing around the apartment. Kate was just digging into her eggs and bacon when I swore I would return soon.
I decided to run the bridges, considering those would provide more flow of air than in the city, where the hot, muggy air became trapped amongst the buildings. I ran across the Brooklyn Bridge, up the East river, and cut back down the Manhattan Bridge. It didn’t take me long, but I should have been able to do it much faster.
I pushed through the door with my shirt draped over one shoulder. I wasn’t going to admit that I had taken it off on my way up the stairs because I liked the way Raegan ogled my body, but… it may have been a factor in my actions.
The alarm was still set when I walked in the door, which had made me feel better about leaving them behind for a just a little bit. I knew I couldn’t keep Kate in my sight twenty-four seven, so going for a run today was like ripping off a very painful Band-Aid. But the house was much too quiet for two kids. I sped into the kitchen and sighed in relief when I noticed Raegan’s handwriting on a piece of paper.
We’re just down at the playground. Come join us!
Her underlining the word ‘the’ meant she was at the playground she had refused to return to. I felt proud of her for making that effort, and I felt better about them being right around the corner instead of eight blocks away.
As soon as I shut off the spray of my shower, my phone started ringing. I knew who it was immediately by the ringtone—Audrey. I rushed to pull on my shorts and snatched up the phone before the last verse blasted through the bathroom.
“Hey, doll.”
“I miss you! Are you coming back yet?” she asked, not missing a beat. I smiled when I heard the happiness in her voice.
“I’m about ready. I know we’re all tired of being here.”
“So… all of you will be coming?”
“That’s my plan.”
“How are you getting along with Raegan?”
“Are we playing twenty questions, doll?” I laughed into the phone. “We’re all happy and Raegan and I get along great.”
“Oh God, what did you do?” She dropped her voice and said, “Lane…”
“What?” I chuckled. “I didn’t do anything…” Guilty was my middle name.
“You slept with her!?” she shouted. I had to hold the phone away from my ear at her shrill volume. “Oh my God. You better bring that little princess of yours to Texas so I can hug her and spoil her to death. But also bring Raegan!! I need to meet her!!” The sheer excitement in her voice made me want to backtrack the crazy train this conversation was on.
“You’re getting a bit outrageous.”
“You didn’t deny it! Now why would you put the moves on that poor girl? She must be gorgeous for you to cross that line,” she started to ramble.
“I didn’t cross the line. She did! She came into my shower.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I bit into my tongue harshly. Why the f**k did I just say that?
“Ohhh… so she’s more like Emerson,” Audrey chuckled with a smile in her voice. Em was our friend back home. During college, she had the reputation of being the promiscuous girl on campus and I’d heard many rumors of how she seduced Jaxon. They’re married now, but they still talk about her philandering days, much to Jaxon’s discomfort.
“No! She’s not like Emerson.” I didn’t want her to think Rae was slutty. That wasn’t what was going on here, and I felt the urge to defend what was happening between us… even though I had no clue.
“Hey! I take offense to that,” I heard Emerson’s voice shout through the line.
Heat rose up in my cheeks. “Audrey…” I growled into the phone. I heard her speaking on the other end of the line, but she must have had the mouthpiece covered because I couldn’t make out her words clearly. Finally, she sounded closer than she had before.
“Sorry, Lane! They just wanted to see how things were with you… and then… the conversation took that turn!”
“They?” God, if the guys were there, I would never hear the end of it.
“Just the girls. Em and Quinn. I swear.”
“Don’t call me on speakerphone anymore,” I grumbled.
“I promise, I won’t. So you really like Raegan, huh?”
“That seems to be the direction it’s going at the moment…” I was over this gossip session. I started walking toward the living room to find my shoes so I could join the people I really needed to be with right now.
“Eek! I’m so excited for you! I can’t wait to squish little Kate in my arms. You have no idea. I dream about it every night.”
“Please, don’t squish my daughter.” I started to chuckle again.
“I can’t help it. I love her so much already, Lane. I seriously can’t believe you just said the word ‘daughter,’” she said, and I heard the hitch in her words.
“Oh, doll, not the waterworks right now please,” I begged. A girl who’s crying is bad. A girl who’s crying over the phone is so much worse because you’re absolutely powerless to help. I needed to divert her. “Hey, can you start doing me some favors?”
“Of course,” she responded.
“Can you start getting my place ready for us to come back? I don’t have anything for two four-year-olds. Well, almost five-year-olds now. I’m gonna need your help, but don’t go overboard!”
“I’m on it!” I started to hear her name off all of the things Raegan and I would potentially need in the house, but the sound of the key turning in the lock redirected my attention.
My body began to perk up at the idea of seeing all of them. I was ready to hug Kate and get back to our chess game. I was ready to finish reading that comic book with Braden. And I was just ready for Raegan, period. Primed and ready to go for anything she wanted from me.
Raegan slammed the door open and I watched as she rushed both Kate and Braden through the doorway in front of her. Something wasn’t right. She had a death grip on both of their hands and didn’t let go as she kicked the door behind them with her foot. Her face was in absolute panic mode.
“Audrey, gotta go,” I quickly bit out, tossing my phone to the couch and rounding it all in the same beat.
With Braden’s hand securely clutched in hers, she reached up and turned the lock. Then I watched as she slumped against the closed door with her eyes tightly sealed. Her breaths were moving raggedly in and out. Her chest was heaving erratically and her obvious discomfort had my own heart rate speeding up.
As far as I could tell, they weren’t harmed, so I tried to keep the calm by walking quickly but with a pace that wouldn’t distress Kate and Braden. I reached over Braden’s head and tapped in the code to arm the alarm system.
“Hey, did you two have fun at the park?” I asked with a bright, forced smile.
“Yeah! Then we raced mommy home!” Kate exclaimed animatedly.
“But mama cheated because she wouldn’t let go of our hands,” Braden laughed while still trying to catch his breath.
I couldn’t even begin to describe how much I admired Raegan in that moment. Whatever was disturbing her, she never let it filter down to the children and that made her the greatest mother I had ever known.
“Okay, go wash your hands, get a drink of water, and then can you guys find some books for me to read?” I asked.
Thankfully, Ash and I had built up a pretty good little library for Kate while Ash was still pregnant. We hit up thrift stores and yard sales every time we saw one, and each time we picked up tons of discounted texts. Happily, they agreed and ran off down the hallway.
Raegan’s eyes were screwed shut and her body was ever so slightly shaking. She had her fist clenched and braced against the door as if she were blocking out all of the evil on the other side.
“Babe,” I whispered, slowly approaching her. “You’re worrying me. What happened?”
Her breath shuddered as she tried to speak, but she was too shaken up. I scooped her up into my arms and moved away from the foyer, closer to the front coat closet. At least over here we were out of eyesight of the kids down the hall.
I slid down the wall so I could sit on the floor and hold her. I began to take deep, steadying breaths in and then slowly releasing them. Over the span of about ten minutes, she started to breathe in time with me. I felt her shaking subside and the racking shudders weren’t so violent anymore. Finally, I sensed the clutch of panic leave me as I felt her take a breath that seemed to be more relief and less anxiety.
My hand ran over her hair and down to her back. The continuous motion seemed to bring her heart rate down to a normal pace. Her nose pushed into the side of my neck and I bent down to kiss her temple—right over her scar. The scar that brought my daughter back to me. I didn’t care how unpleasant Raegan thought it looked, I’d always love it.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” she repeated.
“Don’t ever be sorry. Please, just tell me what happened.”
“I can’t stay in New York, Lane. It’s suffocating me. The buildings and the noise and the people. I can’t breathe…” She said the last word as if she were literally grabbing her next lungful of air.
“Then we’re out of here,” I responded quickly.
“Just like that?” she asked. Her body shifted and she moved her legs so she was straddling my lap while looking up at me.
“Just like that.”
Her arms squeezed around my neck tighter and her lips grazed the skin under my ear. “I ran from an elderly couple,” she whispered, almost silently.
“Come again?”
“There was a couple walking around the playground. For some reason, I just felt like it was them. I know she’s dead, but I got the crazy sense it was her. I grabbed the kids and ran. I’m such a nut case now.”
“I cannot believe you made yourself sick, almost to the point of death,” I said into her neck.
“I got us out. Four years late, but I got us out.”
I needed her. I needed her now. I shoved down my shorts and boxers. Her panties weren’t difficult as they slipped away with my clothes. Before I could take another breath, I was back at her mouth, taking whatever she would give. I felt her hand reach down between us and she guided me inside of her.
She was slick but so f**king tight. Besides this morning, I knew she hadn’t done this in years so I clenched my teeth and tried to ease her into this. Even though my mind was running laps around the bed, shouting at me to, ‘Go, Go, Go!’ When I felt her little hands on my ass, her fingers clenching the taut skin and forcing me to move, I knew I had the go-ahead.
Our mouths never parted. I wanted our second time to go slower with more exploration, but she’d set my nerves on fire with every detail of her experiences. I needed the comfort and I needed to do the same for her.
Her heat felt so amazing around me and when her hand cupped over my lips, I realized that my groans were becoming a bit too audible. I nipped at her fingers until they moved and I leaned forward for her mouth again.
“Oh god, oh god, god, god…” she whispered harshly. Raegan was much better at keeping our activities quiet than I seemed to be. The egotistical side of me wanted to make her scream… loud. But the father in me didn’t want to push my luck. I’d get her to scream like that some day.
My pace quickened and the headboard began to slap against the wall like thunder. I couldn’t stop my movements so I lunged forward to hold the flimsy wood against the wall. My stretched-out position invited her fingers to run across my chest and stomach, and I savored those touches.
“Yes! Just like that, stay like that,” she managed to grind out through her clenched teeth. I had a feeling she wasn’t opening her mouth much so she wouldn’t let anything louder than her whispers escape.
I watched her tits bounce beneath her shirt and I mentally slapped myself for not getting that shirt off. Regardless, the feeling of her squeezing around me in her release, the look of pure bliss on her face, and the way her body went absolutely stiff beneath me… I couldn’t hold back any longer.
Thank God I had the forethought to remember I didn’t have a condom on—yet again—so I pulled free. I’m not sure what was wrong with me, because I never went without those rubber guys. The second I pulled out, Rae’s hand clutched tightly around my length.
My hands dropped from the headboard and she pumped me forcefully one, two, three times.
“Fuuuuck,” I groaned into her neck, while I released all over her stomach. I lifted up and shivered when her hand slid across my now oversensitive skin. I stared down at the area I had once again marked. I had never done this to a girl, and yet with Rae I’d done it twice.
“I think you’re forgetting a condom on purpose now,” she chuckled.
“I am kind of enjoying the way this looks,” I brazenly replied. The comment didn’t slide without a good pinch to my side, but nothing could have brought down my high right then.
- THIRTEEN -
LANE -
Now that Raegan and I had broken the proverbial seal, we let loose on one another. Anytime Braden and Kate were down for naps, we jumped all over each other. If they got sucked into playing a game in the nursery, we hid out in the master bathroom, devouring each other’s bodies. Since the kids had officially taken over the bed in the nursery, each night was much of the same for us. I couldn’t get enough. She couldn’t get enough. The past three days have been f**king phenomenal.
This morning I slipped out at breakfast time to catch a quick run. It was time I started doing more than just the exercises I had been doing around the apartment. Kate was just digging into her eggs and bacon when I swore I would return soon.
I decided to run the bridges, considering those would provide more flow of air than in the city, where the hot, muggy air became trapped amongst the buildings. I ran across the Brooklyn Bridge, up the East river, and cut back down the Manhattan Bridge. It didn’t take me long, but I should have been able to do it much faster.
I pushed through the door with my shirt draped over one shoulder. I wasn’t going to admit that I had taken it off on my way up the stairs because I liked the way Raegan ogled my body, but… it may have been a factor in my actions.
The alarm was still set when I walked in the door, which had made me feel better about leaving them behind for a just a little bit. I knew I couldn’t keep Kate in my sight twenty-four seven, so going for a run today was like ripping off a very painful Band-Aid. But the house was much too quiet for two kids. I sped into the kitchen and sighed in relief when I noticed Raegan’s handwriting on a piece of paper.
We’re just down at the playground. Come join us!
Her underlining the word ‘the’ meant she was at the playground she had refused to return to. I felt proud of her for making that effort, and I felt better about them being right around the corner instead of eight blocks away.
As soon as I shut off the spray of my shower, my phone started ringing. I knew who it was immediately by the ringtone—Audrey. I rushed to pull on my shorts and snatched up the phone before the last verse blasted through the bathroom.
“Hey, doll.”
“I miss you! Are you coming back yet?” she asked, not missing a beat. I smiled when I heard the happiness in her voice.
“I’m about ready. I know we’re all tired of being here.”
“So… all of you will be coming?”
“That’s my plan.”
“How are you getting along with Raegan?”
“Are we playing twenty questions, doll?” I laughed into the phone. “We’re all happy and Raegan and I get along great.”
“Oh God, what did you do?” She dropped her voice and said, “Lane…”
“What?” I chuckled. “I didn’t do anything…” Guilty was my middle name.
“You slept with her!?” she shouted. I had to hold the phone away from my ear at her shrill volume. “Oh my God. You better bring that little princess of yours to Texas so I can hug her and spoil her to death. But also bring Raegan!! I need to meet her!!” The sheer excitement in her voice made me want to backtrack the crazy train this conversation was on.
“You’re getting a bit outrageous.”
“You didn’t deny it! Now why would you put the moves on that poor girl? She must be gorgeous for you to cross that line,” she started to ramble.
“I didn’t cross the line. She did! She came into my shower.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I bit into my tongue harshly. Why the f**k did I just say that?
“Ohhh… so she’s more like Emerson,” Audrey chuckled with a smile in her voice. Em was our friend back home. During college, she had the reputation of being the promiscuous girl on campus and I’d heard many rumors of how she seduced Jaxon. They’re married now, but they still talk about her philandering days, much to Jaxon’s discomfort.
“No! She’s not like Emerson.” I didn’t want her to think Rae was slutty. That wasn’t what was going on here, and I felt the urge to defend what was happening between us… even though I had no clue.
“Hey! I take offense to that,” I heard Emerson’s voice shout through the line.
Heat rose up in my cheeks. “Audrey…” I growled into the phone. I heard her speaking on the other end of the line, but she must have had the mouthpiece covered because I couldn’t make out her words clearly. Finally, she sounded closer than she had before.
“Sorry, Lane! They just wanted to see how things were with you… and then… the conversation took that turn!”
“They?” God, if the guys were there, I would never hear the end of it.
“Just the girls. Em and Quinn. I swear.”
“Don’t call me on speakerphone anymore,” I grumbled.
“I promise, I won’t. So you really like Raegan, huh?”
“That seems to be the direction it’s going at the moment…” I was over this gossip session. I started walking toward the living room to find my shoes so I could join the people I really needed to be with right now.
“Eek! I’m so excited for you! I can’t wait to squish little Kate in my arms. You have no idea. I dream about it every night.”
“Please, don’t squish my daughter.” I started to chuckle again.
“I can’t help it. I love her so much already, Lane. I seriously can’t believe you just said the word ‘daughter,’” she said, and I heard the hitch in her words.
“Oh, doll, not the waterworks right now please,” I begged. A girl who’s crying is bad. A girl who’s crying over the phone is so much worse because you’re absolutely powerless to help. I needed to divert her. “Hey, can you start doing me some favors?”
“Of course,” she responded.
“Can you start getting my place ready for us to come back? I don’t have anything for two four-year-olds. Well, almost five-year-olds now. I’m gonna need your help, but don’t go overboard!”
“I’m on it!” I started to hear her name off all of the things Raegan and I would potentially need in the house, but the sound of the key turning in the lock redirected my attention.
My body began to perk up at the idea of seeing all of them. I was ready to hug Kate and get back to our chess game. I was ready to finish reading that comic book with Braden. And I was just ready for Raegan, period. Primed and ready to go for anything she wanted from me.
Raegan slammed the door open and I watched as she rushed both Kate and Braden through the doorway in front of her. Something wasn’t right. She had a death grip on both of their hands and didn’t let go as she kicked the door behind them with her foot. Her face was in absolute panic mode.
“Audrey, gotta go,” I quickly bit out, tossing my phone to the couch and rounding it all in the same beat.
With Braden’s hand securely clutched in hers, she reached up and turned the lock. Then I watched as she slumped against the closed door with her eyes tightly sealed. Her breaths were moving raggedly in and out. Her chest was heaving erratically and her obvious discomfort had my own heart rate speeding up.
As far as I could tell, they weren’t harmed, so I tried to keep the calm by walking quickly but with a pace that wouldn’t distress Kate and Braden. I reached over Braden’s head and tapped in the code to arm the alarm system.
“Hey, did you two have fun at the park?” I asked with a bright, forced smile.
“Yeah! Then we raced mommy home!” Kate exclaimed animatedly.
“But mama cheated because she wouldn’t let go of our hands,” Braden laughed while still trying to catch his breath.
I couldn’t even begin to describe how much I admired Raegan in that moment. Whatever was disturbing her, she never let it filter down to the children and that made her the greatest mother I had ever known.
“Okay, go wash your hands, get a drink of water, and then can you guys find some books for me to read?” I asked.
Thankfully, Ash and I had built up a pretty good little library for Kate while Ash was still pregnant. We hit up thrift stores and yard sales every time we saw one, and each time we picked up tons of discounted texts. Happily, they agreed and ran off down the hallway.
Raegan’s eyes were screwed shut and her body was ever so slightly shaking. She had her fist clenched and braced against the door as if she were blocking out all of the evil on the other side.
“Babe,” I whispered, slowly approaching her. “You’re worrying me. What happened?”
Her breath shuddered as she tried to speak, but she was too shaken up. I scooped her up into my arms and moved away from the foyer, closer to the front coat closet. At least over here we were out of eyesight of the kids down the hall.
I slid down the wall so I could sit on the floor and hold her. I began to take deep, steadying breaths in and then slowly releasing them. Over the span of about ten minutes, she started to breathe in time with me. I felt her shaking subside and the racking shudders weren’t so violent anymore. Finally, I sensed the clutch of panic leave me as I felt her take a breath that seemed to be more relief and less anxiety.
My hand ran over her hair and down to her back. The continuous motion seemed to bring her heart rate down to a normal pace. Her nose pushed into the side of my neck and I bent down to kiss her temple—right over her scar. The scar that brought my daughter back to me. I didn’t care how unpleasant Raegan thought it looked, I’d always love it.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” she repeated.
“Don’t ever be sorry. Please, just tell me what happened.”
“I can’t stay in New York, Lane. It’s suffocating me. The buildings and the noise and the people. I can’t breathe…” She said the last word as if she were literally grabbing her next lungful of air.
“Then we’re out of here,” I responded quickly.
“Just like that?” she asked. Her body shifted and she moved her legs so she was straddling my lap while looking up at me.
“Just like that.”
Her arms squeezed around my neck tighter and her lips grazed the skin under my ear. “I ran from an elderly couple,” she whispered, almost silently.
“Come again?”
“There was a couple walking around the playground. For some reason, I just felt like it was them. I know she’s dead, but I got the crazy sense it was her. I grabbed the kids and ran. I’m such a nut case now.”
