OBSESSED Series

Chapter 35

Those words are like shock paddles to my comatose boyfriend. All at once, he seems to realize I’m in the ocean, shaking, my skin turning blue and he makes an anguished sound, tucking me against him beneath one arm and kicking toward shore. “Stella. Stella, you’re cold.”

It’s not long before he is able to touch the bottom with his feet. He crushes me into his arms, leaping over waves until we hit dry sand. And then he begins to run, his breath loud in my ears. All I can do is cling to him and issue mental prayers of gratitude that I reached him in time. I don’t think he would have ever come up. Oh God. Oh God.

The magnitude of what might have happened hits me all at once and I start crying. Loud, pitiful sobs into the crook of his neck. I cling to him tight, so he can’t go anywhere. I hurt him so much, he wanted to die. How could I do that? How?

Gage’s steps grow uneven. “No. No crying. Please.”

His animosity toward my tears only makes me cry louder.

I hear the tinkle of metal and recognize the sound of his keys. We’ve reached his truck. Quickly, Gage unlocks the rear cab and sets me on the seat, leaving me there long enough to start the engine at the front of the truck and crank the heat. In a flash, I’m being gathered back into his arms, his hoarse breaths bathing my forehead. He cups my cheek in a hand, tilting my face up and scrutinizing me frantically. “Be okay. Be okay. Please be okay.”

“I-I’m okay.” Not very reassuring when I can’t unclench my teeth.

He issues a broken sound. “I’m going to strip you down. Body heat will help. It has to help.” His hands are shaking violently as he peels off my sodden shirt, tearing off my bra when he can’t undo the clasp right away. Then I’m against him again, his arms wrapped tightly around my body. He rocks me, wheezing, praying, cursing. “Come on, honey. Come on.”

“I should be more worried about you,” I hiccup, my body pliant enough now to straddle his lap, Gage drawing me as close as he’s able, my jean skirt riding up around my waist, dripping with ocean water. “I want to warm you up, too,” I say, tremulously, scrubbing my hands up down the hard contours of his back. “You were down there l-longer than me.”

“I’m still down there, Stella. I’ll be down there forever. I’ve lost you.”

I bolt upright in his lap, absorbing the total misery on his incredible face and a strip is torn clean from my heart. “No. No, you haven’t.” I press our foreheads together. “I’m sorry. Didn’t you hear me? I’m sorry for running away and not waiting for an explanation. B-back on the beach, I believed you, but I was still hurting and feeling vulnerable, so I pushed you away. But I am the girl who marries the quarterback, if the quarterback is you, Gage. Please, I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it.”

He isn’t breathing now. “You…you’re mine again? You’re coming back to me?”

Hot tears rain down my face. “Of course I am.”

His chest begins to heave. “You’ll be my wife, Stella?”

“Yes. Yes.”

I’ve barely gotten my second yes out when his mouth locks onto mine. Tears slide down our faces and blend into the wetness of our kiss. A kiss that turns heavy, consuming and frenzied. I can feel both of us realizing how differently tonight might have turned out and we rejoice in finding our way back to one another. We glory in being back together with greedy sweeps of our tongues, restless hips and seeking hands.

“I’m so proud of your win tonight,” I manage when we come up for air, cupping his face in my palms. “You were amazing out there. You won. I knew you’d win.”

He shakes his head slowly. “The real victory is getting to spend my life with you, Stella.” His eyes glitter in the darkness of the truck, his heart beating loud enough to hear. “I’ll never, ever hurt you again.”

“I know.”

Relief washes over his features, but his expression quickly grows heated. Color suffuses his cheeks, his nostrils flaring. “You’re definitely warm now. Your cunt is melting me straight through those panties.” His hands travel from my hair, down my back to my buttocks, molding my cheeks in his hands. “You need to ride my big prick?”