“I’m not.” That doesn’t even sound convincing.
“You are. It’s okay, I like it.”
I swirl my finger over his chest, tracing an imaginary heart over his right pec. “Yeah?”
His arms come down and wrap around me, pulling me close to his naked body. “Yeah, anything you do I think I’ll like it.” His thumb rubs along my shoulder, my eyes growing heavy again since his touch relaxes me. “How do you feel? You okay?” he asks.
“I’ve never been better,” I say honestly, pressing a kiss to his side. My body starts to wake up, and so does his by the rising erection tenting the sheets. “I see someone else is feeling great too.”
“You’re touching me. Of course I’m great.” He flips me over and tries to kiss me, but I turn my head away because, hello, morning breath. “Give me those lips,” he orders.
I shake my head.
“Now.” His voice deepens with a threat.
“But my breath…”
His hand grabs my jaw, and he forces me to look straight at him. “I said I want your lips. I want them any time of day or night.” He slams them on me and guides his cock between my legs. I’m swollen, hot, and still dripping from his come from how many times we had sex last night. “Are you going to deny me?”
I shake my head and try to kiss him again, but he rears back.
“I want to see your face when I’m inside you. There isn’t anything like it.” Right as his cock lodges at my entrance, the phone rings. He drops his head to my shoulder and groans. “No,” he whines.
“Ignore it,” I say, sliding my hand down his back and taking the sheet with me as I go.
“I can’t. It’s Jaxon’s ringtone.” His eyes widen with a memory. “Heaven!” He rolls off me and grabs his phone off the nightstand. “Hello?” he answers. “Yeah? He’s awake? We are on our way.” He hangs up the phone and drops the sheet, his cock semi-hard and my mouth watering, but I know our time is cut short.
And it is for something much more important than sex.
I can’t help how Owen makes me feel. He says he has woken up after twenty years, but I’ve woken up too. I’ve been afraid for so long, I’ve forgotten what it is like not to be afraid.
“He’s okay?”
“He’s okay, and he is asking for me. I’m scared as hell. I nearly killed my best friend.” His hands shake as he jumps into his blue jeans. He buttons his jeans and reaches for his shirt. “I bet he hates me. He has every right to hate me. I can’t believe I did what I did, Jolie. I can’t. It’s like I saw him… but then it wasn’t him. I don’t even know who I was looking at. I don’t even know.”
I stand from the bed, naked as the day I was born, and walk over to him. “He doesn’t hate you. What matters is that he is alive. Everything is going to be okay.” I grab my own jeans from the hanger, along with my shirt, and get dressed.
“I love you,” he says, wrapping an arm around my waist just as I was about to put my messy hair on top of my head.
“I love you too, Owen. It’s going to be okay. I have a good feeling.” We double check the room to make sure we didn’t forget anything and run out the door. The walk is quiet, but not like last night; there is still tension. It isn’t toward me, but toward Heaven. Owen really is afraid that his friend is going to disown him.
The air slams against our faces when the double doors open. It’s quiet. The world isn’t awake yet, and it’s peaceful. Hand-in-hand, we walk to the large white building ahead of us. There are a few cars in the parking lot, but not as many as there were yesterday. Owen blows out a breath, and I tighten my hand in his, letting him know that I’m here, that I’m not going anywhere. No matter what.
If Offi
cer Howard arrests him and Owen goes to jail, then I’ll be here waiting for him to get out. Owen is my other half, and people don’t give up on their other halves when times are tough.
Before we know it, we are inside the hospital and pressing the button of the elevator, waiting for it to come down from the seventh floor. Owen is bouncing on his heels, clicking his tongue, and the closer the elevator gets, the more nervous he gets.
I’ve never seen him like this before.
“It’s going to be okay,” I say again.
“I’ll lose my entire family if Heaven doesn’t forgive me because what I did was unexpectable. I’ll be by myself.”
“No, you won’t. You’ll have me.” I bring his hand to my lips and give him a quick kiss just as the elevator dings. The doors open, and the empty box is waiting for us to enter. I step in first, and Owen follows me only because I have a tight hold on his hand. The elevator smells like death, plastic, and blood. It causes me to wrinkle my nose. “Floor?” I ask Owen.
“Third.”