Sin for Love Read online

  Tessa let her hair out of the towel it had been bundled in and let it fall down her back before she climbed to the middle of the bed, looked back over to me, and held out a wide-toothed comb.

  “Comb it for me?” she asked.

  I walked over and climbed on the bed to sit behind her and work the tangles out of her hair. When Tessa’s phone started going off, I jumped off the bed, flipped the switch to turn it to silent, and put it in the desk drawer. “No phones, Tessa. No phones, no internet, no outside world. Just us for the next two days.” That was when Tessa realized that all of our clothes were gone.

  Looking around the room, she said, “Reese, where are my clothes?”

  “You’ll get them back. All you need is this beautiful light blue robe, but it does look better on the floor,” I said as I reached over and pulled on the belt holding her robe on her. As her robe fell open, her fantastic tits came into view. I made slow love to her until we both fell asleep tangled in the sheets and each other.

  “Tessa”

  “What the fuck are you doing?” The loud yell had come from Reese, who was violently tossing and turning next to me. “Get away from her!”

  I jumped off the bed to avoid being hit by arms that were now punching out, trying to hit something that wasn’t there. As hard as it was to do, I stood and watched as the nightmare played out. I knew from when Alayna was little that if I were to touch him it could make it worse. She’d had the worst night terrors after Ruby died.

  So I stood by the side of the bed, watching the man who was stealing my heart struggle and fight against his dreams, wondering what he had been through that could cause him so much pain. He grunted some more words that I couldn’t make out and then his body went still. Now I could wake him up. I spread out on the bed next to him, careful to keep a few inches of space between us, laid my hand on his chest, and shook him gently.

  “Reese, hey, wake up. I think you were having a nightmare. Are you okay?”

  He started moving and stretching a little, signaling that he was waking up. He blinked a few times to open his eyes before looking at me. “Sorry, baby,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s been a really long time since I’ve had a nightmare. I just need to go splash some water on my face. I’ll be right back.”

  While Reese was in the bathroom, I picked up my robe from the floor and wrapped myself in it. When he came back out, his short hair was wet and spiking up on his head. Even after the nightmare, he was beautiful in the morning.

  You don’t have many mornings left with him.

  I pushed the painful thought from my mind and asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Reese climbed back on the bed and kissed my forehead. “Just some shit that happened at a carnival almost ten years ago that comes back to me every now and then. I’ll be okay.”

  He must have thought the look of horror on my face had to do with being scared of clowns or elephants. He has to be talking about a different carnival, right? I mean, he couldn’t have possibly been at the same carnival, could he? When I found my words again, I asked “Reese, what carnival?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I don’t want to scare you with the story. It was just some bad shit that happened when I was in college. I got some help after, but I still have a nightmare from time to time.”

  My mind was reeling. “Reese. You shouted, ‘Get away from her!’ What carnival?” I demanded.

  He let out a long sigh. “You aren’t going to drop this, are you?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, but I’m not giving you details. You don’t need to hear that. It was actually here.” My whole body went tense. “A bunch of us from college were up here for baseball camp one summer, and Myles had heard that there was a carnival in town that weekend, so we went. At first, it was fun. We were drinking beers. I’d heard that it took a lot of 3.2% beer to get drunk, and after my sixth cup, I was finally feeling something. Myles didn’t fare so well after we went to the fortune teller, so he was off in the bushes, losing all of that weak beer and the hotdogs he had been eating all night.”

  They went to see the fortune teller Madame Miranda too? When the cops interviewed her, she’d said that she had warned Ruby to leave. I had to know what she had told Reese and Myles.

  Reese continued. “Myles sat up, wiped his chin, and then said, ‘What the fuck is that over there?’ while pointing into the trees. We saw a large form that we thought was a bear crouched over something smaller.”

  Oh god, he saw her! My hands came up to cover my mouth, but Reese was still looking down at the bed and didn’t take in my reaction.

  “At that age, we thought we were pretty invincible, so we started moving toward the bear. Myles was still weak from puking, so he was stumbling a little and wasn’t watching where he stepped. When a branch that had fallen tripped him, he fell to the ground with a loud oomph. I still had my eyes on the bear, but when it stood, I saw that it wasn’t a bear at all. It was a man. And then I saw the broken body of a girl at his feet.”

  That was Ruby and he saw her. He saw that she was broken. By this time I had tears running down my face, but Reese still wasn’t looking at me.

  “When his eyes connected with mine, he knew he had been caught, so he started running. My body leapt into action and I started chasing him. He darted out of the trees and started running across the field towards the parking lot. I was a pretty fast runner back then and was gaining on him until I didn’t see the orange plastic fencing that had fallen to the ground. My feet got all caught up in it and I went down. I went down hard. My ankle didn’t move like it should have when my body twisted and I shattered it. That was the night that ended my baseball career. The next day, in surgery, they had to fuse the bones in my ankle together. But the worst part about the whole thing is that I almost had him.” He finished speaking, took a deep breath, and looked up at me.

  By this time, I had completely lost it and was trying to cover my face with my hands as the tears were flowing down my cheeks.

  “Tessa, what’s wrong? Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said while wrapping his arms around me.

  “You saw her,” was all I could get out between sobs.

  “Saw who?” Reese asked while rubbing circles on my back.

  I looked up at him and said, “You saw her. You saw Ruby. You were there. You saw her broken. Oh my god, Reese, you saw him!” The realization that Reese had been there was more than I could handle. My breathing was getting faster and faster, but I felt like I couldn’t get any air. Then everything went black.

  I don’t know how long I was out, but when I came to, Reese was holding a cool washcloth on my forehead, asking me to come back to him. When I opened my eyes, Reese smiled a little and said, “There’s my girl. You had me worried there for a minute.” Then he helped me sit up and placed some pillows between my back and the headboard. Tucking my hair behind my ear, he asked if I would like some water and helped me take a drink from the glass that was waiting on the nightstand.

  Reese took both of my hands in his and asked, “Tessa, did you know that girl?”

  I nodded my head and, fighting back tears, said, “She was my best friend.” The words starting rushing out of me, and Reese pulled me into a tight hug, rocking me back and forth as I spoke. “She was my best friend and I wasn’t there for her, Reese. I abandoned her to make a stupid wish. She needed me to protect her and I wasn’t there. I just had to wait for the clouds to part so I could see the first star and make a wish. It was something I did every night. Ruby got sick of waiting, and while I was staring up to the sky, she walked away. I never saw her again. They wouldn’t let me see her body. Dad said she was too… She was too broken for me to see. I couldn’t understand how someone could be broken. But Dad held me tight and said it was like she was one of the porcelain dolls that I collected. She was hurt and too broken for me to see her.”

  I pulled back and looked into Reese’s eyes as I realized what he had lost that night. “But you were there. Y
ou made him stop breaking her, stop hurting her. Oh my god, Reese. Your whole life changed because you didn’t just look the other way!”

  “Tessa, ever since that night, I have believed that everything happens for a reason. If I would have kept playing ball, I would have never opened my first shop, done the things I have done, or lived the life I have lived. I would have never met you, Tessa,” he said and then gently captured my lips with his, kissing me with more emotion and need than I had ever felt before.

  Reese kissed the sharp pain of losing Ruby away. It felt as though we were breathing life back into each other, like we were being healed by the hot caress of lips. We fell into the bed and were lost in each other, worshiping each other. Reese’s hands trailed over my skin like I was the most precious thing to him, like he was committing me to memory.

  Reese had shifted to put me beneath him, his chest pressing against mine and my legs wrapped around him. His head was buried between my neck and shoulder like he couldn’t get close enough to me as he slowly moved his hips against mine. I could hear words coming from him but couldn’t really make out what he was saying. It sounded like ‘please let her be the one to make it’ over and over again. He rose up on his elbows, put his hands on each side of my face, and then claimed my lips with his once again. I had never in my life felt so connected to another person. The thought that I would never feel this way again was washed away as Reese and I found our release together, my body on fire, burning like a sparkler lit up on the Fourth of July.

  “Reese”

  I woke up before Tessa the next day and ordered a full breakfast, knowing she would be hungry when she got up. She was still asleep when they delivered it. I knew the perfect way to wake her up. I just hoped she was a deep sleeper. On our first date, when Tessa opened up and told me that she didn’t date because no one could keep up with her in the sack, I’d felt the rush of a primal instinct to prove to her that I could.

  I pulled down the bag of toys I had purchased yesterday from the top shelf in the closet and found the silky light blue belt to her robe at the foot of the bed. After placing everything I needed on the nightstand, I started moving Tessa so that she was in the right position—on her back in the middle of the bed with her arms raised above her head. Going slow to not risk waking her up, I wound the blue belt around one wrist and then the other. After making sure they were lightly but securely bound, I tied the other end of the belt to the frame of the bed above her head.

  She looked so perfect, tied up in my bed, her messy hair spread out to frame her face, her mouth open just slightly, and her body ready and waiting for me. My cock twitched in anticipation as I stood at the foot of the bed watching her sleep.

  I knew I had to do this right or it would be a total fuck-up. I grabbed the light blue vibrator I had purchased yesterday off the nightstand and walked back to the bottom of the bed. As I climbed up, I nudged her legs apart until I could kneel between her thighs. I placed the vibrator next to my knee on the bed and leaned over to suck on one of her nipples, letting it pop out of my mouth and blowing on it gently to help the nipple harden. Then I gave her other nipple the same kiss.

  I wanted to see the moment she woke up and realized this wasn’t a dream so I kept my eyes on her face as I made my way down her body, kissing her smooth skin as I went. Her expression changed and her mouth opened a bit wider when I reached her mound. Not wasting any time, I lowered my mouth down to her clit, licking around the bud and sucking it into my mouth.

  Now her body started moving more, her eyes fluttering as her mind realized that she couldn’t move her arms. Not yet, I told myself. She’s almost there, but she isn’t ready yet. I remembered how she had moved against the stream from the jet in the tub and spread her thighs more to open her to me. Flattening out my tongue, I slipped it between her lips and started rubbing long strokes up and down, all the way from her opening to the tip of her clit.

  Tessa’s eyes began to blink open and I knew it was time. Without stopping the strokes between her lips, I reached down by my knee and grabbed the vibrator, turning it on low. Just as her eyes opened and connected with mine, I slid the toy deep into her pussy.

  The look of pure ecstasy on her face was all the confirmation I needed to keep going. I pulled the vibrator out of her slick pussy then quickly turned the setting to medium before pushing it back inside. Tessa pulled at the silky material that bound her hands above her head and arched her back, pushing her exquisite breasts up in the air.

  I still had my mouth on her, sucking gently on her clit while I fucked her with the toy. I knew she was only struggling because she wanted something to hold on to. She wanted to run her fingers through my hair and push against my head while she raised her hips up. That’s why I had tied her hands up, making her unable to touch me while I played with her pussy.

  I had planned to untie her before I entered her, but watching her strain against the bonds trying to free herself was too hot. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to have her. I had to possess her. I had to show her that she belonged to me. Knowing she was seconds away from release, I pulled the vibrator out in one slow movement, turned it off, and placed it on the towel that was on the nightstand.

  I could see the confusion and then frustration build on her face as I turned back to her. Settling back between her thighs I leaned over her and reached up to her bound hands. I was sure she thought I was going to untie her, but I was just making sure they were still tight. Once I was satisfied, I sat back up, placed my hands on her hips, and pulled her legs over my shoulders, angling her perfectly for my cock. Then I took her, punishing her hips with mine as I slammed my cock into her tight pussy.

  Her mouth formed the perfect shape as she gasped in surprise. Her legs started to shake and I knew she was close. “Look at me. I want to see your eyes when you come on my cock,” I commanded. More than wanting to watch her eyes light up when she came, I wanted to show her how I felt. I knew words would scare her off, so the only other option I had was to pray that she could see how I felt about her. Picking up my tempo, pounding into her, I felt her pussy tighten as she screamed out my name. My only thought as I came was primal, possessive, and clear. She. Belongs. To. Me.

  “Tessa”

  Reese was lying next to me on the bed, lightly tickling my skin after waking me up in the most amazing way possible. Staring up at the ceiling, I didn’t see the fan circling above us or the morning sun breaking through the windows. All I could see was the memory of the look in his eyes when I was under him. He’d asked me to let him see me and my fear that he might see that I was falling for him was washed away by his demanding tone. Can he be feeling the same thing? The possibility made my head swim and my heartbeat pound in my ears. My stomach took that moment to let us know it needed food by grumbling loudly.

  His hand stopped, hovering over my breast, and he started laughing. “Guess it is time for me to untie you, huh?”

  “Uh yeah. I’m starving!” I replied.

  We dressed in our robes, ate breakfast, and drank coffee while sitting by the window and watching the world buzz around us.

  “Is there something wrong, Tessa?” Reese asked, breaking me from my trance.

  “What? Oh, no. It just feels like there was something I was supposed to remember to do. I hope I paid the electricity bill this month. I dunno. I can’t remember.” I tried to play it off like it wasn’t important, but it was still weighing on my mind.

  We spent the rest of the day locked away from the world, just enjoying each other, mind and body. Reese challenged me to a card game of War and we played for hours until he finally won. I think he changed the rules though. I didn’t remember a rule about giving a blow job every time I lost a war. Maybe that was why our game lasted so long.

  Reese had just stepped out into the hall to grab some more ice from the vending machine room when I heard a buzz coming from the desk. Thinking he had stashed another toy in there that had magically turned itself on, I walked to the desk and opened the drawer. Sitting
inside, glaring at me with its evil little red eye, was my phone.

  Not being able to help myself, I picked it up and turned on the screen to find that I had seventeen missed calls from a number I didn’t recognize and four messages. I hit the button to retrieve my messages and my heart sank to my stomach when I heard Abigail’s sweet voice. “Auntie-poo, where are you? School is out. Are you gonna be here soon? Love ya, bye!” I quickly went on to the next message, her voice sounding more annoyed this time. “I’m waiting! Where are you?” In the next message, her voice had switched to angry, using a tone I had heard from her mother Emily too many times. “Tessa Rain Donahue, you get your little butt over here right now.”

  The last message had me sinking to my knees on the carpet, as it was more of a whisper. “Auntie, the school is closed and I don’t know how much longer this nice lady is going to let me use her phone. I’m at the playground. Please come get me.” I looked at my phone to see the time was just past six o’clock and Abigail had left the last message almost two hours ago.

  Just then, Reese came back into the room with a pail of ice and said, “What are you doing on the floor Tessa?”

  “I need my clothes.”

  “What happened? Don’t leave. Stay one more night.”

  I stood up, knocked the ice bucket out of his hands, and raised my voice. “I need my fucking clothes!.”

  He put his hands up in surrender. “Okay. Calm down. I can have them brought up.” He walked over to the phone and called down for our clothes.

  I started pacing the carpet, clutching my phone, checking the time every few seconds. I tried calling both Emily and Kurt, but when they didn’t answer, I remembered that they had signed up for a dance class tonight because I was going to have Abigail. Every second felt like an eternity knowing she was out there alone, afraid. Or worse. What if she isn’t alone?

  Reese put his arm around me to ask what was wrong but I threw it off, pointed to the window, and said, “Abigail, my six-year-old niece, is out there. She’s out there alone, Reese. She’s out there alone because I was supposed to pick her up but I didn’t because I was here pretending that the outside world didn’t exist.” My own words were too much for me to take and I burst into tears. “She’s out there alone because I abandoned her, Reese. Do you get that? I abandoned her just like I abandoned Ruby.” My hands shot up to my mouth and my knees went weak. “Oh god, Reese! I abandoned her!”