Our Kind of Love Read online

  I fathom the strength to pull away again to scurry out of my sweats and unbutton her jeans, hauling it down to her ankles. I look at her face for any sign of hesitation before taking them off completely.

  She braces up on her elbows and combs her fingers through my hair, then pulls her blouse over her head, tossing it to the floor.

  When she lies back down, Reign hugs her breasts—still concealed in her blue laced bra. I rub my hands against her thighs and make my way up to her satin panty, taking them off.

  As I crawl back over her exceptionally curvy, sexy figure, she gasps when my hardness rubs against her. Gently, I move her hands away from her chest and reach under her back to unclasp her bra. She releases a shaky breath when I trail my fingers across her nipples.

  “Micah…” she groans.

  I stop and regard her expression; it’s of the utmost nervousness. The kind of look you see on the face of a girl who’s never done this before.

  “I’m a virgin,” she whispers, confirming it.

  Honestly, I’d assumed she’d gone all the way with Nate already. He didn’t seem like the ‘let’s wait’ type. But now I’m unsure if we should go through with what we obviously were going to do only a few seconds ago.

  Easing up on my elbows, I look into her eyes and ask, “Do you want to stop?”

  Reign gently places her hands on my back and pulls me back on top of her. “No,” she murmurs, parting her thighs beneath me.

  As nervous as she is, her voice is peppered with a yearning to satisfy her desire.

  “Tell me what you want,” I tease her, kissing her neck.

  She runs her fingertips down my back as she whispers, “I want to feel you inside me.”

  I reach over to the table by my bed and take a condom out of the drawer. I ease off of her to slide it on, and then gently position myself between her thighs. Her body quivers as I gradually enter.

  Locking my fingers with hers, I move with care, mindful of Reign’s reaction; if it hurts too much that she really wants me to stop. But when I glimpse the pleased look on her gorgeous face and see her eyes beam with anticipation, I know she wants this as much as I do.

  Twenty-Six

  Reign

  HOLY SHIT! This is my first time and it’s…mind-blowing! There’s no candlelight. No slow music or rose petals splattered across the sheets. It’s only me and Micah, and that’s enough. He’s enough. It’s perfect.

  Getting over the icky sensation, my body suddenly bursts open with an immense amount of emotions. I relax beneath him, surrendering to the warmth between my thighs as Micah gently thrusts back and forth, groaning with pleasure.

  “Oh…” I breathe, his grunts accompanying mine.

  I travel up and down his strong, muscular back, pressing my fingers deeper into his skin. To my surprise, I’m braver than I expected, nibbling on his ear and sucking on his neck. I tightly wrap my legs around his lower back and exhale over and over, “Don’t stop.”

  Micah makes love to me until we’re both out of breath, drenched in sweat, and have to peel away from each other because we can go no more.

  Exhausted, he collapses on his back but clings to my hand as I settle my own thrashing heart. He struggles to ease over and kiss me tenderly on the lips, before lying back on his side and placing an arm over me. We stare at each other for a long moment before he closes his eyes.

  And to the calming sound of rain and Micah’s now labored breathing, I shut my eyes as well and give in to sleep.

  When I awaken, I notice it’s still dark and raining out. I don’t have to look for my phone to see the time because I know it’s really late. My parents will be enraged when they notice I’m not in bed, and that my car is missing. But I don’t want to think about that right now. I refuse to leave now and disrupt this beautiful moment.

  Micah’s asleep next to me. He looks absolutely peaceful. His hand is swathed over me protectively. I feel it tighten when I shift just a bit. I move over and kiss him softly on the forehead. His eyes flutter awake.

  “Hmm...You’ve been admiring me, huh?” He nuzzles me closer and grins. “You just can’t get enough.”

  “You’re right,” I say before kissing his lips. “I can’t.”

  We gaze at each other for a while, drowning in adoration. Micah touches my cheek and runs his fingers up and down my arm, sending chills all over my naked body.

  After another minute I break the silence. “I want to know everything.” There’s still a great mystery about this guy that I want to unravel, now that we’ve connected in such a way. “Tell me more about your grams or what your life was like in Haxtun.”

  His face grows tense, but he speaks anyway. “Grams meant the world to me. My whole life I wanted to make her happy and be the best I could….” He trails off as a sad memory crosses his mind. “I guess…I failed her.”

  I crumple my forehead, wondering how this amazing guy could possibly fail anyone. “What do you mean?” I ask.

  Micah glances away from my eyes and looks over at the window. Blue lights consume the room in a quick flash, followed by a terrifying rumble. Startled, I snuggle closer to him.

  He laughs at me. “Ooh, someone’s scared of a little thunder, huh?”

  “Whatever.”

  As it quiets down between us again, I continue to question him. “What happened to your parents? You never told me.”

  He sucks in a razor-sharp breath before he says, “Reign, I might not have a shitload of problems like some, but there are things about me that I’m scared to tell you. My life isn’t pretty. It’s far from it.”

  I ease up on my elbow and rest my head in the palm of my hand. “Micah, I don’t want pretty. I want honesty.”

  Pushing up, he relaxes his back against the headboard. I join him, holding his hand to let him know I’ll never judge him.

  “It’s okay,” I whisper. “You can tell me anything.”

  Micah peers into my eyes. His Adam’s apple bobs as he gulps hard before saying, “Well, for one, my parents weren’t together. I’m the product of a drunken one night stand gone wrong. My mother left me with my dad and grams after I was born. I grew up without her.”

  I rub his arm. “She missed out.”

  He shakes his head and continues, “My dad never gave up drinking, and for most of my life, he was in and out of rehab. Finally, he just gave up and disappeared too.”

  “I’m sorry, Micah,” I mutter lowly, kissing him on the cheek.

  “Don’t be. I never lacked anything growing up. My grandmother was incredible. If anything I was spoiled,” he forces a grin.

  I can’t imagine what my life would be like without my parents. I’m so grateful for them. But my heart breaks for Micah. From the array of emotions in his eyes, I can tell he’s been hurt by his parents and losing the only family he had.

  Stroking his face, I tell him, “Hey, you have me now.”

  This time, his mouth turns up into the natural, sexy grin that I like. “You’re so sweet.”

  “Am I?” I tease, kissing him on the forehead, then on the nose, and slowly make my way to his lips. He grips his arms around me as he deepens the kiss.

  The way he embraces me it’s as if he fears he’ll lose me too, and almost as if there’s still something he’s holding back from me.

  I pull away to meet his gaze. “Anything else you wanna share?”

  That dark shadow covers his face again and Micah breaks away from my eyes.

  “I was in—” he starts.

  My phone buzzes on the floor and it distracts us, or rather provides a necessary interruption that he needs to not say another word.

  “It’s probably my mom,” I sigh, looking at him with a sad expression.

  “Answer it,” he says.

  “But I don’t want to leave.”

  Micah lifts his hands and cups my face. Then he places my damp strands behind my ears. “We have many more nights to come. I’m sure of it.” But his eyes say otherwise. He doesn’t look so sure.
r />   Nodding, I slide down to the edge of the bed and reach for my phone, still inside the pocket of my wet jeans. I look at the screen at my two missed calls. Both are from Mom.

  “I checked with Mrs. Nunez,” she bombards me the instant she answers when I call her back. “She said that Claudia’s fast asleep and you’re not there. Not to mention your car isn’t parked outside.”

  “Mom, I can explain—”

  “Oh I’m sure you can, as soon as you get back in this house.”

  I let out a deep sigh when I get off the phone. Micah comes up to my back and nuzzles me in his strong and very naked body.

  “I have to go,” I tell him.

  He spins me around to face him. “So it seems.”

  Getting up from the bed, I put on one of his t-shirts and sweatpants. I’m in for it, going home in a guy’s clothes, but there’s no way I’m putting back on my drenched attire.

  Eyeing me from head to toe, he grins widely. “Cute. Big trouble, but cute.”

  I shrug. “Pray for me.”

  Micah walks me downstairs to the main door. He kisses me again and squeezes me tightly in his arms. I pull out of his grasp to open the door and leave, but before I can run to my car, he touches my hand and says, “Thank you.”

  I peer back, smiling as I ask, “For what?”

  He kisses me one more time. “For choosing me.”

  Mom and Dad are waiting for me in the living room when I reach home. Appalled looks engraved on their faces as they do a glance over. They blink wildly, checking if I’m really wearing a guy’s shirt and sweatpants.

  “I’m not even gonna ask about your,” Mom gestures with her hand before saying, “clothes. But I did ask you not to go out tonight and you snuck out of the house, anyway.”

  “When did you even start sneaking out?” Dad adds, rubbing his forehead.

  I’m still so mesmerized by Micah and him being all over me tonight, that I can’t get the way he made me feel out of my head long enough to come up with a sensible excuse.

  “Reign?” Dad prods, growing impatient. “It’s almost three a.m. Where were you?”

  I shake my head and mumble, “Just…out.”

  Amazed by my answer, they look at each other then back at me.

  “Were you drinking?” Mom asks, accusation cutting through her voice.

  “No, I don’t drink.” That much I can say.

  “You used to not do a lot of things,” Dad mutters, “Sneaking out being one of them.”

  They both look so tired…so old lately.

  “It’s late,” Mom finally says, massaging her temple. “We’ll talk about this later. Go to bed.”

  Obediently, I leave them in the living room and saunter upstairs, taking my time to slip out of Micah’s clothes—sure to inhale his intoxicating scent before I crawl into bed.

  Thoughts of him swarm my head while I lie there in the dark, staring at the ceiling. I can’t stop thinking about the way his strong hands felt against my skin, his fresh, out-of-the-shower scent devouring me, and more than anything, the passionate way in which he made love to me.

  Gawd! Losing my virginity turned out to be way better than expected. It’s a night I will never forget, and I only want to be with Micah so much more now.

  I think of him for another few minutes before my brain gets tired and I fall right to sleep.

  I feel the warmth of the sun prick my face and I open my eyes. It’s no longer raining. Birds chirp outside, and it sounds like someone’s playing reggae music downstairs. We haven’t played music in the house in so long.

  Rolling over on my side, I push off the covers and sit on the side of the bed, stretching my hands over my head. I’m tired from barely getting any sleep. When I reach for my phone and look at the time, I see it’s almost ten o’clock. Shit! I’m late for work.

  I rush to the bathroom to shower fast, all the while wondering why Mom didn’t wake me. After showering, I put on a green tribal summer dress, brown sandals, and scamper downstairs, still yawning.

  I’m shocked to see Dad at the stove, making his special hash brown, egg white nests, and Mom’s taking water bottles out of the refrigerator and packing them inside of a cooler.

  They’re both wearing casual clothes. Mom’s dressed in an orange maxi dress and her lightly colored blonde hair is pulled back loosely into a bun, while Dad’s in dark blue shorts and a Hawaii-looking tropical shirt.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

  They look over at me in sync. Mom shuts the fridge door and walks to the island, gesturing for me to come over and sit down at the table as she brings over plates.

  “Well, it’s fourth of July, so I figure I’d close the restaurant today and we’ll have a barbecue. Nice dress by the way,” she says, swirling to go back to the kitchen counter.

  That’s weird.

  “Thanks,” I reply. “But why are you closing? You never close, not even on holidays.”

  She glides back to the table with two platters. “There’s always a festival in the square and we don’t get many customers on days like today either.” She sets them down in the middle of the table. One has Dad’s hash brown egg white nests, and the other has her maple pancake muffins. We always have these on July fourth, but not in a long time.

  “Does this have anything to do with you selling the restaurant? Are you slowly starting to close it?”

  “Honey, let’s not talk about this now,” Mom says, sitting down at the table. Dad joins us shortly.

  Changing the subject so I don’t kill their happy mood, I inquire about this barbecue instead. “Is it just for us or did you invite friends over?”

  “Well, a few of my co-workers are coming, and of course, Claudia and Mrs. Nunez,” Dad answers. “I also invited—”

  “Can Micah come?” I blurt out.

  They glance at me with widened eyes. “Of course,” Mom says, “But why only him? I’m inviting them at the restaurant to come by, anyways.”

  “Oh,” I smile awkwardly.

  Dad studies me with suspicion coated over his face as he bites into his muffin. Swallowing what’s in his mouth, he says, “We still need to talk about last night.”

  “Later,” Mom tells him, sensing the awkward vibe.

  I lower my head to my plate and cut into one of his egg white nests not saying another word.

  After breakfast, Mom runs out to buy supplies and fireworks, and I help Dad set up chairs out on the deck.

  The whole time I notice his forehead wrinkling and he keeps flashing me these curious stares, like he wants to talk to me about something but not sure how to begin.

  While he sets up his tiki bar and I bring out paper plates and plastic utensils, he finally comes out and says something before I walk back into the kitchen.

  “You know, your mom and I never really talked to you about…” he pauses and scratches his head, searching for words that will sound appropriate for this conversation. Oh gosh, my dad’s trying to talk to me about sex. Like seriously? I’m almost nineteen now. Isn’t this conversation a little too late?

  “It’s just…” he rambles, “We want you to know we love you and…you’re a special girl…and…guys should appreciate you…respect your…well, you know?”

  I nod at every word and stifle down my laughter. “I understand, Dad.”

  “Hola,” Mrs. Nunez chirps, coming out of the kitchen with Claudia right on her heels. I feel so relieved. They’re saving me from this uncomfortable situation.

  “Happy Fourth, Aldridge!” Claudia squeals. She sashays up to me in her sleeveless green maxi dress, blowing on a red star clacker.

  “Oh jeez,” Dad fans her off and walks over to the grill. He busies himself with setting it up while Mrs. Nunez prepares refreshments.

  Claudia tows me to my room, wanting to know everything that happened last night. “So, did you guys do it?” she asks the second I shut the door.

  “Uh, talk about no filter,” I scoff, plopping down on my
bed.

  She sinks down beside me and bumps my arm. “You two sure move fast. I guess you had a lot of sexual tension between you from start to not want to wait any longer.”

  I titter. “Who said we did anything?”

  “Puh-lease,” she snorts. “Thalia told me your mom was looking for you last night. So I figure you were at his house and there’s no way you can convince me that you guys didn’t hook up. So, how was your first time?”

  “Is it sluttish of me?” I ask. “I mean, I’d just broken up with Nate.”

  She jolts up on her elbows. “No! Of course not.”

  I ease up and sit cross-legged in the middle of the bed. “It was amazing, Claudia. Being with Micah is…” I suck in air and smile to myself. “It’s just…beautiful.”

  “Aww, how sweet.” She lies flat on her back and plays with my pillow. “So, are you gonna tell your parents you’re seeing him now?”

  “Maybe I should wait a bit.”

  She narrows her eyes as she asks, “Why?”

  “Well, I still need to tell them I broke up with Nate first, and I’m not sure how Mom’s gonna feel about me and Micah seeing each other.”

  “Pff,” she snorts. “You’re always so worried about what your parents think. Honestly, I cannot wait until we go to Miami. I’m definitely gonna get you to loosen up.”

  The trip! I haven’t told Micah about it yet.

  “So, any plans for your nineteenth bday?”

  “Nothing major, just a party with you and my parents…and Micah,” I gush at his name.

  Claudia laughs at me.

  We hang out in my room for a while until I hear the door and Mom’s boisterous laugh as she greets her friends downstairs. The next thing she bellows for us to come down.

  When I hit the bottom step behind Claudia, I see Micah and John in the entrance, strolling in behind the Richards’. Micah’s dressed simple in a white shirt, washed out jeans and sneakers, yet there’s something really exotic about him. It’s as if I’m seeing him in a new light.

  His gorgeous sea blue eyes find mine and my heart begins to sprint. A sly grin spreads across his sexy lips, igniting the fire between my legs. I want to feel him inside me again, to sprawl me across his sheets and have his way with me.