When she couldn’t breathe, she slipped away from my lips and I moved my mouth down to her neck, where I suckled lightly on her skin and then kissed her hard from her neck to her arm.

  I squeezed her ass as I plowed deeper into her and held onto her. She was everything I would want in a woman and I was ready to show her just how I felt about that. As my cock grew inside of her, dripping with my desires, she started to shake beneath me. Her body was moist in my hands and I pulled my lips from her skin and just focused on the throbbing sensation in my erection. She released a scream and then we came together. I collapsed on top of her, already tired from the exertion that my manhood had gone through.

  As I was still buried inside of her, I landed my lips on hers and we kissed, rocking our hips slowly and methodically together. Our tongue twirled around one another and every doubt shattered. “Don’t leave me,” she gasped as we kissed.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” I grabbed onto her and flipped her around, so she was now on top of me and her hair fell over my shoulders as the kiss deepened. We were in this together and I never wanted to let go.

  We were wrapped up in each other’s arms throughout the rest of the night. When morning broke and the sun shone in my window, I opened my eyes to find that she was still in my arms. Her head was resting on my shoulder and it felt right. I couldn’t believe after all this time; I was really with the woman that I wanted to be with.

  She smelled amazing and my heart was excited about the future and prospects of it. Yet, when she opened her eyes and looked at me, I found someone that was thinking of every reason why it wouldn’t work. She sat up and I pulled back.

  “Good morning,” I said.

  “Good morning!” She rubbed her eyes and looked at me, then shook her head and pulled back the covers to get out from underneath them. “Last night was…” Her words fell off, so I used the moment to add my own thoughts.

  “It was amazing…perfect…amazing…surprising…and did I mention amazing?”

  She looked at me. “It was surprising; I’ll give you that. It was interesting, for sure. It was…so many things, but it was also foolish.”

  It was like a slap in the face and I sat up. “Foolish?” I asked.

  She looked at me and tilted her head. “Come on…with all my complications and things, the last thing either one of us needs is for you to get involved with me.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know why you would even think that,” I stated.

  “Because…somewhere out there my ex is roaming and he has a vendetta for me. I can’t let you get involved with me when that could only hurt you in the end.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed…I’m already involved,” I said. “I know what I’m getting myself into and it seems to me that you should just accept that I want to.”

  She kept getting dressed, barely looking me in the eye. When she did, she had some words of her own. “How do you know that it’s what I want? It isn’t just about you.”

  I thought back to the previous night. “You asked me not to leave you and now you’re pushing me away. There’s a reason for that and you know it. You are running scared and I get it, but you don’t need to do this alone.”

  “Just forget it,” she said. “Last night was a mistake and we’ll just leave it at that.”

  “It wasn’t a mistake, so stop trying to minimalize it,” I said.

  I grabbed my clothes from the floor and got dressed, while we talked, but she was defiant in saying that anything good could come of what we had done. “We’re too different,” she said.

  “No…it’s not that we’re too different. It’s that you think nothing good can come to you, but you’re wrong.”

  “Wyatt is still out there,” she said.

  That was her biggest concern and I could see that, but that didn’t mean that she needed to run from me. “And we’ll take him down…together. Nothing is going to change.” I went to her and touched her hand. She still was hesitant.

  “I don’t know that I prepared myself for this and I certainly didn’t prepare myself for falling for someone. I’m going to need time.”

  I slowly nodded and let go of her arm. “How much time?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Until I can figure out if this feels right.”

  It felt right to me, but I wanted to be respectful of her. “Okay…I’ll give you that time,” I said.

  “Thank you!”

  She turned away and went to the door. When she opened it up, Cammy was there; her hand raised to knock. She dropped her arm and stared at Desiree and then stared at me. “Wow…isn’t this just the coziest little thing,” she said. “You don’t wait more than a day before jumping in bed with the first person you come to? Or, perhaps you were sleeping with her, while you were sleeping with me.”

  “What are you doing here, Cammy?” I asked.

  She arched an eyebrow and gave Desiree a look of disgust. I could only consider how Desiree was feeling. “I came to talk to you; I didn’t know I would meet your bimbo at the door.”

  “I’m outta here,” Desiree mumbled.

  She left the room but didn’t get far, before Cammy spoke to her. “You can just leave. You’re fired.”

  “Cammy!” I hollered. “What are you doing?” I stepped closer to the door to find that Desiree was staring at her. She finally shrugged and then walked off. I wanted to run after her, but Cammy blocked my way. “That was un-called for,” I said. “Desiree doesn’t deserve any of that.”

  She looked at me. “Really? That’s your response. I catch you red-handed and you say that Desiree doesn’t deserve this. What do I deserve?”

  “We already broke up,” I said. “I can spend time with whomever I want.”

  She crossed her arms. “We broke up because of something stupid and I was going to try to make things right with us. Who knew that you were already shacking up with someone else.”

  “I need you to leave,” I said. I turned around, but she stayed there.

  “You can’t deny it because I caught you,” she said. I didn’t opt to respond to her.

  I still couldn’t believe that Cammy up and fired her, when Desiree already had so much on her plate. I needed to get to her, but that would require getting Cammy out of my room. “You shouldn’t have fired her.”

  “She’s a big girl and she’ll move on,” she dryly stated.

  I turned to her. “Why do you have to be so cold?” I asked. “I’m sure she’ll move on, but this is her dream and livelihood too. You’re messing with someone’s future.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to apologize for something I believe in. That’s not me, so you might as well forget it.”

  I shook my head. She wasn’t even comprehending what I was saying. “If you can’t apologize and mean it, then fine…don’t, but you just fired someone for doing nothing wrong. She didn’t shame you. You and I were already over and that’s when something happened, so, I need you to go.”

  She stood in the doorway, looking dumbfounded, then heaved a sigh. “Fine! Do what you must, but she’s not the only one I’m firing. You’re fired as my security guard. What do you say to that?”

  I couldn’t have been happier because otherwise, I would have quit. “I think it’s for the best,” I said.

  She opened her mouth to speak, but then when words failed her, she turned on her heel and left the room. I closed the door behind her. I was going to get dressed and go after Desiree. It was the only thing that made sense.

  It was two hours later when I reached Desiree’s door. I knocked on it and stood back, waiting for her to respond. After several minutes of no response. I pounded on her door. “Desiree? Open up…I need to talk to you.”

  I waited and there was nothing. I tried once more, but again, to no avail. I was about to knock again and plead with her to open up when I heard a voice. “You’re going to have to pound pretty hard for her to hear you.”

  I turned around and found the maid there. I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “She checked out earlier.” She shrugged and went to the door. “I was just coming to clean it.”

  I stepped back and stared at her. She couldn’t be serious. “Oh…well thank you!” I turned around and went to the elevator. I took the elevator to the lobby and went to the front desk. Kelly was standing there.

  “Hey, Xander,” she said.

  I tried to smile. “Hey! Did Desiree Hawkins check out this morning?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, just about ten minutes ago. You could probably reach her if you need to talk to her.”

  “Thanks!”

  I turned around and quickly walked through the lobby and out the main door. I looked both ways to see if I could see her, but it was like she had vanished into thin air. I felt dejected as I stepped back into the hotel and pulled my phone from my pocket. I dialed up her phone number, but it went straight to voicemail. I then typed her out a message.

  Xander: You asked me not to leave you and then you leave. Please talk to me.

  I could feel the weight of my worry on my chest. I called up Michael and he answered right away. “You never did find Wyatt, did you?”

  “I’m sorry, Man. We looked everywhere,” he said.

  “Okay. Thanks!” I hung up. The next call was to the police, someone I should have called a long time ago. I needed to tell them what was going on, to try to get help in finding Wyatt and protecting the woman I was in love with. If I couldn’t be with her, then I could try to protect her from afar and that’s what I planned on doing.

  With the cops on the prowl and myself still doing some research to see what I could locate, two weeks went by. Desiree wouldn’t return my calls and when I tried to reach back out to Meghan Parker, I was told that her agency was now closed and she couldn’t be reached. That led me to believe that maybe she was in on helping Wyatt to find Desiree and that was all on me.

  I tried to search for Desiree Hawkins online, as well but didn’t find anything. That is until two weeks later when I was online and came across a publicity shot. It was advertising a new club opening and it stated the talent that would be showcasing their skills and Desiree’s name was first up. At first, I thought I saw things, or maybe it was coincidentally another Desiree Hawkins, but it had to be her.

  I decided to go to opening night and see if I could talk to her. When I went down to the lobby, I spotted Cammy and we nearly bumped into one another. I hadn’t spoken to her since the day she fired Desiree and myself, so it was pretty awkward. “Good evening,” I said.

  “Good evening,” she responded back. She didn’t even want to look at me.

  “How are you doing?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Fine! You?”

  “Fine!” I said.

  Michael had been put in charge of her security and through him, I got a few pointers, such as she hired three new backup singers, but was still horrible to them and they probably wouldn’t last. Yet, that was all I really got from him. He always said he was just doing his job and I warned him not to get involved with her, which brought us both to chuckle.

  “I’ll see you around,” I said, anxious to get away from the uneasiness.

  “Yeah…bye!”

  I brushed past her and hurried out of the hotel and to my car. I wanted to get to the club before Desiree went on to perform.

  The club was twenty minutes away, so I drove there, thinking about what I would say to her first. I wanted to start off with I’m lost without you, or, I love you. Don’t leave me again. However, I needed to see how things would go and consider it then.

  When I pulled into the club, it was packed. I was impressed that the acts that night were bringing in this much business, but I was happy for Desiree. I got out of my car and went up to the club’s entrance. The woman at a podium, stood at attention, just waiting for someone to enter. I smiled as I approached her. “Hello, may I assist you?” she asked.

  “Yes! Do you know where I could find Desiree Hawkins?” I asked.

  She smiled. “Well, she goes on stage in just thirty minutes, but I haven’t seen her. Ironically, she’s a popular woman tonight. You aren’t the first guy to inquire about her.”

  I frowned. “I’m not?”

  She shook her head. “Her dressing room is behind stage. You’re more than welcome to go back and see if she’s there.”

  She pointed me in the direction and I thanked her and hurriedly went through the club. It worried me that another guy would be looking for her that night and I immediately thought of Wyatt. I got back to where the dressing room would be and the door was open. “Desiree?” I went inside, but she wasn’t there.

  I felt my heart skip several beats. I left the backstage area and spotted a guy at the corner of the stage. “Can I help you?” He gave me a weird look, probably wondering why I was snooping around the backstage area.

  “Do you know where I can find Desiree Hawkins?” I asked.

  “I think she might be in her room still.”

  “Okay…do you know where that is?” I asked.

  He laughed. “Dude…I’m not giving some random dude her hotel room number. Especially when I saw her earlier and she was heading off with some other guy.”

  I took a deep breath and withdrew my phone. I pulled up the picture of Wyatt and showed it to him. “Was this the guy?” I asked.

  He looked it over and shrugged. “Yeah…could be. Why?”

  “I have reason to believe she’s in danger.” I shot him my badge and looked at him. “Where is she staying?”

  His eyes bugged out. “Ummm…the hotel is right out that door and take the elevator to the second floor. Room 222.”

  “Thanks!” I hurried away from him, falling into a jog. There was no time to waste. I got in the elevator and took it to the floor he said, then got off and rounded the corner to where her room was. I snuck up to it and listened. I heard mumbling and then I swore it was muffled crying. There wasn’t any time to hold back. I held back and withdrew, then kicked in the door and it went flying open.

  I rushed in and found a startled Wyatt on top of her as he was pinning her down to the bed and she was yelling for him to get off of her.

  “Get the hell off of her!” I yelled. I pushed him off and Desiree rolled off of the bed and got away from him. Wyatt glared at me and came charging towards me, but I ducked and then grabbed him and forced him to the floor.

  “You don’t know who you’re messing with,” he cried.

  I sat on him and pinned his arms behind him, then handcuffed his wrists together and got up. I roughly turned him around. “So help me...you’re lucky you’re not dead right now. Shut your damn mouth!” I yelled. I turned to Desiree. “Are you alright?”

  She nodded and ran into my arms. “How did you know where to find me?” I asked. I reached over onto the nightstand, where an advertisement for the club was crumpled up. I picked it up and she pulled from the embrace.

  “The same way that I’m guessing Wyatt did,” I said.

  She nodded and looked down at him and then turned back to me and threw her arms back around me. “Just hold me,” she mumbled against my chest.

  “Don’t worry. I’m never letting go,” I whispered.

  Wyatt could rot on the floor, for all I cared. I had the girl in my arms and I was going to always protect her.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  We had finally made it to this point. Desiree was showcasing her big debut as a lead vocalist and I couldn’t have been prouder of her. I watched her from the sidelines and periodically she looked out at me and smiled, sometimes even tossing me out a wave.

  I was the happiest I had been in a long time and from the look on her face, she was too.

  Wyatt was put behind bars for aggravated assault from two guys at a bar, raping another woman two towns away, and all the attempted harm he did on Desiree. I was just so glad that he didn’t hurt her even worse than he had. He would be in jail for a long time, but he wasn’t the only one. Meghan Parker was also off to jail, for her assisting Wyatt along the way. When asked why she did it, her response was she was in love. I had to laugh at that.

  As for C Jay, she was off to another town, probably to see what other guys she could mess with, but it wasn’t my problem anymore to deal with.

  The crowd cheered as Desiree finished up her last number and I was cheering the loudest. I would always be her biggest fan. She waved and thanked everyone for coming and then I met up with her backstage. She was on fire with happiness. “I can’t even believe this is all real,” she said.

  I moved in and wrapped my arms around her. “Believe it, baby. All those cheers…that was for you.” I pulled back and we kissed.

  “I have never been happier than I am at this very moment,” she said.

  “I hope that will one day change,” I said, winking at her.

  She tilted her head. “What do you mean by that?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “Just saying…” I grinned. “Go get changed and we’ll get out of here.”

  She smiled and turned around. She headed into her dressing room and got changed. I took a seat on the couch and waited for her, but could feel the nerves as they took over in my body. I had never been this much in love before. The thought of what was to come was new and exciting. It was everything I longed for. When she came out of the dressing room, she had her bag over her shoulder.

  “Ready to go home?” I asked.

  As in home, I was referring to the two-bedroom ranch house we had just bought together. She seemed hesitant, at first, to take the plunge, without a long-term commitment, but I knew what I was doing. She nodded. “Home…what a wonderful word.”

  I wrapped my arm around her and we headed out of the back and into what she wasn’t expecting, my surprise for her. There were candles all throughout the club, a place she had just left and hadn’t seen this part of it. She looked up as we fell to a small step.

  “Wow!” she breathlessly stated.

  She looked around, her eyes lighting up as it slowly dawned on her. Soft music started to play and there were very few people now in the club that was once jam-packed full. When she looked at me, I was already down on one knee.

 

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