Page 81 of Four Times Taken

I pressed myself deeper onto him, reveling in the steadfastness of his erection, needing him to go further. After last night, the guys understood that with Eric leaving, we'd need some alone time. We spent the rest of the night sleeping in each other's arms, sharing pillow talk whenever we'd awake in the wee hours of the morning, stealing kisses, gazing into each other's eyes, and basking in the warmth of our embrace.

With the sun strong in the sky, closer to midday, I still didn't want to get out of bed or leave his arms. I was thankful the other guys were tending to my mother's basic needs. There was time yet to give her a bath when I got up. But right then, I wanted and needed more of Eric. The guys all provided something different, and his leaving would cause a hole that wouldn't be filled until I saw him again.

"Promise you'll video call me every night?" My voice shook through the trembling aftermath of his kisses.

"I'll video call you every night." He smiled against me, and I felt the upturn of his lips as he kissed my shoulder. "Remember to connect me to the security footage so I can keep my eyes on you when I'm away. Especially in your bedroom, when you're stripping down for bed," he rasped and grinned.

"Hmmm. You like watching me, don't you?" I recalled the two times we all had sex together and the way he looked at me. Moaning at the memory, I moved his hand lower, ready to stop talking and get the most out of the rest of our time together.

"Damn, I love every inch of your body," he grunted as his fingers slipped into my slick folds. The wind was knocked out of me, and I gripped the sheet, closing my eyes and moaning into the mattress. He let me have my release before flipping me over and getting on top. "I want to look into those beautiful eyes," he demanded, holding my arms above my head and rubbing himself against me.

I squirmed as he captured my soul through the snapshot of his eyes, holding my gaze captive. My breath became desperate, and he hissed at the sight of my jutting breasts. "You're so fucking beautiful," he groaned before releasing my arms to taste their fullness. He licked and kissed every inch of my body, right down to my toes. "I want to show you how grateful I am to have found you again. Damn, I'm going to think about this right here, every night and every day." He spoke against my pussy before sucking on the clit.

"Oh, my..." I gasped, throwing my head back and when I looked down again, I caught him watching me intently. My walls clenched at the sex craze in his eyes, and I came undone.

"Eric, fuck. I love you. I love you so much," I echoed throughout my bedroom, uncaring who heard it as he maintained steady pressure through the end of my climax. When he came up for air, I pulled him down on top of me, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing my sex off his lips. My legs straddled his hips from underneath, and I whispered through the kisses, "Fuck me. Fuck me, slow."

His face tensed, but his body caved as he entered me. His length pulled along my walls like an infuriating tease, and I howled from the madness. He continued slow fucking me, and all my senses came alive. It's delicious, the way we lock together, breathe together, match each other's rhythms.

We've said 'I love you' so much, we should be tired of hearing it, yet we're not. Each utterance ignites us further until we're riding through the storm of our release together.

"Damn, baby. How am I ever going to survive weeks away from you?" he panted against me, his head against my chest.

Weeks. I didn't want to think about it. We hadn't discussed a specific timeline. I didn't know when to expect him back, but I knew I needed to be strong for him, and unselfish. His parents needed him right now. So, however long it took, days, weeks... months? I hope it's not months, I groaned internally. Wrapping my arms tighter around him, I kissed the top of his head. As long as I saw him again, that's what mattered. And I'd see him again, I'm sure of it. My heart pounded through my body; I didn't know how he's still lying here as if it's not beating the hell out of the side of his face. Just as I thought it, he pulled out of my embrace, and I held back my tears.

Eric

There’s this deep sense in my gut that if I leave now, things will be different when I get back. After all, this is still new for us. This romantic relationship thing. It hasn’t been two months. What if she realizes that she doesn’t need or want me as much as she thought she did, when she has a surplus of men to replace me?

Okay, it’s not a surplus of men; they’re my best friends, and that sounds wrong. But I don’t want to lose her to anyone, more so to my best friends. How would I even come back from that? There’s no ‘bros before hoes’ bullshit with us. We’re grown enough to appreciate the different roles and their places in our lives. But when the two collide? Was it a bad idea to share the woman I love with my closest and dearest friends? I can’t fathom the idea of pretending to be okay if things go south, and she chooses my best friends over me. I’d have to go on being best buds with all of them because I value them too much to let them go. That would be torture.

Stop. I intervened, cutting off my unfounded fears. My friends are the reason I can visit my parents without worrying about Lily’s safety or whether she’ll be loved or cherished. Is it bad for me to hope they can’t love her as much as I can, that she won’t love them as much as she loves me?

Man, I’m tripping. Everything will be just the way it was when I get back. Nothing will change between us.

I saw her unshed tears as she gripped my hand tight on the ride over to the airport. Mrs. Thornbread was in the van with Matt and Ryan. Ethan was our taxi, agreeing to respect this need for privacy between us. See, that alone should put me at ease. He respects what we have. I respect what they share.

Her head rested on my shoulder, and I inhaled her strawberry-scented shampoo. I love that it’ll still be on my shirt when I get to Miami. I won’t wash it during my stay there. However long that will be, I gulped. It’s fine.

What Lily and I have, has survived over a decade on nothing but a memory of each other. It’ll last for sure this time. Without a doubt. I won’t have to start from scratch again. What we have is far from fickle.

Then why do I have this impending sense of doom?

Oh, I don’t know, Mr. Intelligent, maybe it has something to do with the fear wreaking havoc on your nerves at the thought of your parents? I got smart with myself in my head. I’m nervous about seeing them. I don’t know what to expect. I’ve pictured them enjoying their retirement after an arduous couple of decades in the Army, not suffering even further, unable to find peace.

They’ve always been strong and independent. I don’t know how I’m going to handle them needing me. Not because I have a problem with them needing me, but because if I know my parents, they’ll have a problem with needing anyone. I don’t suspect this will be smooth sailing.

Yeah, I’m an adult, and I know they love me, but that doesn’t mean they still don’t scare me a little. It’d be nice if I had my boys with me, and Lily, to soften the transition. But Lily needs them, and her mother needs her, just like my parents need me. This is also new for me. Going off on my own. I haven’t had to do that since I was eighteen or nineteen. For years, almost as soon as we met, the guys and I have done everything together. I didn’t think of myself as co-dependent, until now. The nerves thundered through me as Lily stroked her thumb across our hands locked together.

“You okay?” Ethan made eye contact with me through the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine.” I nodded. “I just don’t know what to expect, you know?” My parents haven’t needed me before. Even now, it was the nurse who had to tell me what’s happening and invite me down there. “I kinda don’t know how to act, whether I’ll say or do the right thing.”

“I’m sure your parents will be happy to see you,” Lily reassured me.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself. You can’t know how anything’s going to play out until you get there. You just be you, and everything will work itself out. Remember, we’re just a phone call away.” Ethan finished the last part like a mom sending her kid off to college.

I grinned, allowing myself to relax, even if my heart broke into two pieces, one for leaving Lily and two for the overwhelming concern for my parents’ wellbeing.

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