“I’m sorry,” she says with emotion crackling in her voice. “I can’t do this.” I’m so stunned by her reaction that at first I can only stand and watch her run out the door.
For a second I’m torn in two. Do I stay at my brother’s wedding or go after the woman I love?
Fuck it all! I go after her. Justin will understand.
~*~
Chapter Forty Eight
Kristine~
I know it should be a happy day. My best friend just married the man of her dreams! But I can’t help that my own heart is breaking. I can’t be in the same room as him and pretend to be happy, when all I want to do is cry.
The air has cooled down some. It’s late afternoon, and the pavement is still warm from baking in the sun the whole day. I unlock the door to my store and feel miserable as I open it. Usually seeing my store brings me a sense of peace, but not tonight.
I start to close the door when someone pushes their way inside. I’m both shocked and happy to see that it’s Garrett. He closes the door behind himself and locks it. I’m still searching for words, wondering what he’s doing here when he turns an intense gaze on me. I take two steps back but he matches me step for step. I make it to the first book shelf when he slips an arm around my waist, and pulls me hard against his chest. He still hasn’t spoken a single word to me the whole day. Well, accept for asking me to dance, and that doesn’t count. So when his lips come down hard on mine and he kisses me the same way he did that first time, devouring me as if I’m his last breath, I’m confused.
He pushes me backwards using his whole body, until I bump into the table I keep the coffee supplies on. He lifts me, and places me on the edge of the table. I feel his hands take hold of my dress and he pushes it up my legs, never ending the kiss. His hands work their way up to my panties and he quickly drags it down my legs.
I can’t break free from the kiss. I don’t want to. I want to drown in him, too. I fumble until I reach the zipper of his pants. I pull it down and make quick work of his belt. I don’t want this moment to end. If it’s all he’s willing to give me, then I’ll take it.
I shove his pants down over his hips and open my legs wider. One of his arms goes around my waist and he pulls me right against his hardness. He fills me with one deep thrust. His other hand tangles in my hair and he grabs a fist full. He pulls my head back and kisses a burning path down my neck as he starts up a hard and unrelenting pace. I wrap my legs around him, and grab hold of his shoulders.
My stomach tingles and I tighten my legs around him. The cups rattle around us. He quickens his pace more, stealing the breath from my lungs. I can’t even moan as I suck in breath after breath. He engulfs me completely. His presence, his strength and the way his eyes burn over my skin, it all dims my surroundings until there’s only him.
“Come for me,” he whispers out of breath. “Show me how much you want me.”
My whole body tightens at his words, every muscle tensing at his command. I let go and scream as my body orgasms around him. A few more deep thrusts and Garrett’s hold on me tightens to the point of bordering on delicious pain as he empties himself in me.
This man is my weakness.
He lets me slip from the table and I leave him standing there. I go up to my apartment and straight to the bathroom. I clean myself and then splash some water over my heated face. I don’t know if he left and I’m too scared to go check, so I keep hiding in the bathroom for a few minutes.
When I gather enough strength I peek out the bathroom into my apartment. I’m surprised to see him in my kitchen, drinking a glass of water. His eyes snap to me as I take a step out of the bathroom. He tilts his head to the side and I wonder what’s going through his mind.
After several minutes anger starts to simmer in me. “Say something!” I yell when it all becomes too much.
He places the glass on the counter and walks around the small island. He comes to stand in front of me and I suddenly feel naked as his eyes rake over me. This man has the power to make me feel utterly vulnerable and I hate it.
“What do you want me to say?” he asks, confusing the hell out of me.
“Why are you here?” I throw my hands in the air, feeling frustrated. “Say anything. Thanks for the fuck … anything will do right now.” I look at him with my heart in my eyes. “Or just maybe … just maybe, that you missed me too!” My breaths come heavily, my chest rising and falling with each one.
“What do you want from me, Kris,” he snaps. We’re like fire and oil, the one igniting the other. “I tell you I love you and you tell me what I feel is crap, a fiction of my imagination. I tell you I want to protect you and you run. I gave you your freedom so you could finally be happy. I fucking killed for you! What more do you want from me?”