Love's Valley Duet: (Spark of Love and Lessons in Love) Read online

  “Running,” she says. “Do you mind?”

  “I do, yes.” I’m being irrationally possessive of a woman I’ve known less than twenty-four hours, hell, I’ve spent less than twenty-four minutes with her, but I can’t stop it. I’m suddenly aware of the possibility of all the single men in town that may see her.

  She gets in my face and challenges me with one word, “Tough.” With her so close to me, it’s quite easy for my hand to reach her ass and give it a sound smack, so I do. She gasps in pleasure or outrage, maybe a bit of each, and takes a few steps forward, the tips of her breasts now touching my shirt.

  Wrapping my arm around her waist, her hands lands on my chest and she goes to her tiptoes. “That fiery hair matches your personality,” I tell her.

  Cecilia simply smirks and warns me, “Careful. You might get burned.”

  “Baby, this fire is already consuming us both.” And then I lower my head and kiss her, pushing her into the room when she moans as our mouths touch. We keep walking until one of the beds hits the back of her knees and she lands on the mattress with me following her down, never losing contact. Neither of us deepen it, quite content with what we’re experiencing, but soon, we need more and, almost in sync, we each stick our tongue out and slide it against the other’s. Cecilia pulls me tighter, seeming to like my weight covering her, and I gladly give it, loving how perfectly my body contours to hers.

  “Mason,” she says on a sigh when we break apart to breathe. Taking the opportunity, I press my lips to her cheek, her chin, and work my way toward the cleavage her tank top offers up, leaving a tender kiss on the swell of her breasts. Her hands go into my hair, and for once, I don’t care that it’ll be a mess, simply because she’s the reason for it. Just as I’m about to suck one of her nipples into my mouth through the material, I hear my mom calling for me, her voice easily traveling down the hall and interrupting my trip to heaven.

  “Shit,” I mutter, not wanting to let go of Cecilia for fear she’ll disappear. It’s too late though, the spell is broken and Cecilia begins scrambling out from under me, the lack of warmth leaving me cold in more ways than one. I need to gather my own thoughts, shocked at my reaction to her. I’ve never behaved like this, nor have I ever wanted to. Hell, that was my first kiss and it was so far beyond what I’d imagined it could be. “I’ll see you soon, Cecilia,” I warn her, then give her a quick peck before opening the door and stepping into the hall. Not wanting to share this moment with anyone, and knowing my mother could easily overwhelm my girl were she to know what just happened, I lie when she turns and sees me. “I left a tool in nine after I finished and was retrieving it when I heard you.”

  “Thank you, son, for fixing that for me. I know you have better things to do with your time,” she says with a pat to my cheek.

  “Always happy to help. You know that,” I remind her as I grab the toolbox and we head toward the maintenance room to return it, wishing Cecilia and I were still pressed against together. And it’s not because I want to continue what we were doing, though I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I’d be content simply being with her. We are far from done. In fact, I think we’re just beginning.

  **Cecilia**

  Why did he lie? Does he not want her to know he was with me? Doubts creep in, insecurities I try so hard not to show, but they’ve become such a part of me I can’t shake them. Oh, I may have been popular at school, but that had more to do with being an athlete than myself. The two did not go hand in hand, and I knew that. If I wasn’t the former, I truly believe none of those people would’ve wanted to be seen with me. My own dad didn’t even want me, so why would anyone else? And the irony is, I was craving the attention of a man that showed me and my sister over and over how little we mattered to him.

  That has to be what it was…Mason is obviously held in high regard here, it’s in the way he carries himself. It’s not arrogance that has him walking tall, it’s confidence, and that only comes when you know your own worth. The thing is, he isn’t misguided in having it either. I could see from the moment we met he was special, and I’m just me – a girl who needs her uncle and aunt to take her and her sister in, who only has a place to stay now because of a stranger’s kindness, and has to figure out how to reimburse the mechanic for repairs we can’t afford. I’m a high school graduate who may or may not want to attend college, and, if I do, I need to figure out how to pay for it. But I can say with almost certainty Mason not only attended but graduated.

  Moving to the full-length mirror on the back of the closet door, I glance at my appearance while remembering his. The differences are obvious, and I’m not referring to my running outfit versus his casual clothes. Even if I had been dressed in the same manner, I still couldn’t measure up. For the moment though, I can’t help but compare myself. He seemed to like the amount of skin showing, and, though I know it isn’t more than the normal amount on display for runners, I wonder if it was possessiveness I saw in his eyes, or something else. And is that why he didn’t tell his mom he was with me? Shame? Embarrassment?

  Shaking off the painful thought, I tighten the laces on shoes that’ve seen better days, grab my keycard and walk out and into the crisp morning air, taking measures so Charlotte, who’d come downstairs to check out the inn’s library, won’t see me. She’d know something is up and I’m not ready to talk about it yet.

  While I don’t think I would’ve let it go further than a kiss, I’m not entirely sure I would’ve stopped it either if we hadn’t been forced to. He felt too good, too right, and the idea of my first time being with him was like a dream come true.

  Taking a deep breath, I free my mind as I start out at a slow walk, then increase the pace until I’m jogging. The sound of my feet slapping on the pavement calms me and I’m able to think clearly. Of course, not being near Mason helps with that as he overwhelms my senses. I feel something for him other than attraction, have since meeting him despite his view of the world, his certainty there’s only two sides. I don’t believe that though, I can’t. It doesn’t leave room for error or improvement.

  Hours later, my mind is still reeling from seeing a tank masquerading as a man kissing my sister, and the realization he’s Mason’s brother, making them both Bea’s sons. Not to mention, I have the legend she shared with continually taunting me, having me wonder if Charlotte is Levi’s other half, and whether I’m Mason’s.

  I still don’t have an answer when he comes to the inn and invites me to join him for a late lunch, an offer I can’t refuse because I want to spend time with him. We have a great time. No awkward silences, and I learn he’s a science teacher and I can see how much he enjoys it, then we walk to the ice cream parlor, yes, it’s called that here. Leaving there, I share a funny story about a track meet, only to lose my train of thought when he pushes me against a building and, well, there’s no other name for it…ravishes me. I can taste the mint chocolate chip he’d chosen, and while I’ve always liked it, it has never been as delicious as it is with Mason’s own flavor mixed in. We forget where we are, that people can see us, and just revel in what we’re doing, until the honk of a horn breaks us apart, chests heaving as we both try to take air into our deprived lungs.

  Holding my hand, he asks, “Would you like to see my place?” I know what he’s implying when I say yes, but it ends up being so much more. He makes us something to eat, then we watch a movie, our bodies gradually getting closer the whole time. Having enough of the ruse, he plops me on his lap, then looks straight in my eyes, seeking an answer.

  I nod, but he waits a few minutes longer, I guess to be sure I don’t change my mind, then he stands with me in his arms and strides down the hall. His bedroom is pure man, dark blues and grays with minimal décor, and definitely lacking a woman’s touch. He sets me on my feet and we slowly undress one another, kissing skin as it’s revealed.

  Once more eye to eye, or as close as possible with our height difference, he swoops in and kisses me, my body falling backwards, his closeness stopping me from b
ouncing when I make contact with the mattress. I know I should tell him I’m a virgin, but I’m too swept up in the moment, in the emotions he’s invoking in me.

  Mason seems just as affected if the gentle way he’s touching me is any indication. With a quick kiss to my lips, he proceeds to trail them to my center, and when I begin twitching from his ministrations, he takes my wrists in his left hand and keeps them contained as he returns to what he was doing. When I feel his tongue enter my pussy, it’s a jolt to my system, one I thoroughly appreciate, and each gets stronger the more he does it until I’m panting with need and shouting his name through an orgasm.

  He makes me come a second time, denying my plea to explore him. “If you touch me,” he says, “this will be over too soon.”

  “Next time?” I ask, and he responds with maybe. Unsure how to take that, but choosing to believe he means I test his control; I rear up and kiss him, sighing into his mouth when I feel the head of his cock at my entrance.

  Looking directly into my eyes, he tenderly works his way in, nibbling on my neck to distract me as he pushes through my barrier. He soothes me with his words as the pain registers, not continuing until it starts to fade and I adjust to his size.

  What happens next is a blur as passion kicks back in and he takes me like a man possessed, and I let him because I want him to possess me. As we make love, he pulls a nipple into his mouth and showers it with attention while my hands roam his skin, my nails dragging across it. He appears to enjoy it, so I press harder, surely leaving marks, which causes him to thrust so deep he bottoms out and I come with a silent shout.

  Mason groans, yanks me tightly against him, and rolls so I’m straddling him, then pushes up as he holds my hips down, bathing my walls with his seed. “That was…” I start, unsure if there’s a word to adequately describe what I just experienced.

  Sounding as out of breath as I feel, Mason finishes my sentence with the perfect sentiment. “Worth waiting for.” Then we fall asleep, my head nestled on his chest, and wake with our arms still wrapped around each other to the sound of an alert on his phone. He reaches over, picks it up, types something, then sets it down. I glance at the clock on his nightstand, surprised to discover it’s only five o’clock, which makes me curious as to who texted him, but he doesn’t say and I don’t ask, though I want to. Mason stands, grabs his boxers off the floor, then drops a kiss on my head and walks into the en suite bathroom, closing the door.

  I stare at his cell, debating whether I should, but knowing if I don’t it’ll drive me crazy and my mind will come up with all kinds of possibilities. The water turns on, sounding like he’s about to take a shower – Okay, that isn’t promising, right? Shouldn’t he want to smell like me or something? – and my curiosity gets the better of me. When no code or fingerprint is requested, I find his message app and click on the most recent, knowing the whole time I shouldn’t do it, but my brain isn’t fully functioning yet either, still reeling from orgasms to adhere its own advice.

  The contact is listed as Smith. I don’t know who that is, but he’s obviously a friend of Mason’s, and a good one at that.

  Kissing in public? Awful risqué for the mayor’s son that wants the job himself in a few years. Tsk. Tsk. Unless the Love Family Legend has struck again…

  Mason’s dad is the mayor? I didn’t know that. Neither he nor Bea mentioned it. I wonder if Charlotte knows? Pushing those thoughts aside until later, I read Mason’s reply which has me gasping for breath, the pain in my chest too much to draw any in.

  Shut up. You know I don’t believe in that shit. It’s chemistry, nothing more.

  Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I return it to the nightstand, trying to remember the position it was in, then quickly gather my clothes, hopping out of the room as I pull my shorts on, my shirt over my head. My bra and panties get shoved in my purse, which is hanging from the doorknob of his coat closet by the entrance. At this point, I no longer care if he hears me, wanting, needing, to get the hell out of here. I slip my shoes on outside, then start running down the street. Even knowing he doesn’t feel the same, my heart aches. I’m leaving behind the man I’ve fallen in love with, and taking with me the knowledge that, once more, I’m not enough.

  Chapter Three

  Mason

  June 9th…

  The Love Legend is real, and my dumbass let it slip through my fingers. For an educated man, I sure can be an idiot. I had the best night of my life, a first for me in all ways, only to let a text from a friend shake me up. Then, instead of owning up to having fallen in love, I deny it in the worst possible way.

  When I came out of the bathroom after washing my face, as if I could wipe the stupidity away from what I’d said to Smith, and she wasn’t in bed where I’d left her, I thought maybe she’d gotten hungry and was in the kitchen, or looking around. But she was gone, taking all her stuff with her, which let me know she wasn’t coming back. I’d hopped in my car and took off after her, but didn’t find her walking like I’d hoped.

  It doesn’t take but ten, fifteen minutes to get into the center of town, and, with her being a runner, she could easily make it in half that. Swiping my phone to call her, to find out why she left, I had my answer as soon as I saw my screen when the text popped up. I know I hadn’t left it on the screen, a habit of mine being to clear out any apps before setting my phone down.

  Going back home, I finish getting dressed, then go to the inn, prepared to beg forgiveness, to prove to Cecilia she means everything to me. But I never get the chance. Not only does my key not work, which is suspicious, but the numerous calls and texts to her go unanswered. The latter all show as having been delivered, telling me she’s getting them, but she doesn’t want to hear or read what I have to say.

  Knowing I’m the last person she wants to see right now, I reluctantly return home alone, giving her space for the time being. My penance for so epically screwing the fact I can still smell her on me and my sheets. Wrapping them around my naked body, I bury my head in the pillow hers rested on far too briefly, not surprised to find the material becoming wet. The realization that my family’s legend ends with me is too painful to bear. Cecilia is it for me. My first and my last – my only – but I was too stubborn to accept it, too sure of the science I built my career on. So, I refused to listen to my heart, breaking hers and mine in the process.

  Chapter Four

  Mason

  June 10th midnight…

  Sometime later, the room is dark as I didn’t want a light on when I first came in here. Without it, I can pretend Cecilia is still with me, that I didn’t run her off. When my phone rings, making me realize that’s why I woke up, I glare at it, then realize it might be Cecilia and quickly snatch it from the table. Disappointment hits when the screen shows my brother’s name. It’s not like I’ve got anything going on besides sulking, but I want to be left to it.

  “You better have a good reason for calling me this late,” I warn him.

  “Our women ghosted us.”

  “What the fuck?” I ask, positive I didn’t hear him correctly.

  “I dropped Charlotte off around eight and haven’t heard from her since.”

  “You two fight?”

  “Why would you ask that?”

  “It’s a reasonable question with your grumpy ass.” Levi is not a people person by any stretch of the imagination.

  He tells me how great things are between him and Charlotte, or Dot as he calls her –

  and you take your life into your own hands if you try to do the same – then ends it with, “So help me God, Mason, if she left because of something you said or did to CeCe, I’m gonna beat the shit out of you.”

  “And I’d deserve it,” I tell him sincerely.

  “What. Did. You. Do?” I remind him I don’t buy the legend, to which he reminds me everyone knows that, science being all I do believe in. “But you know what, love isn’t logical, and trying to explain it cheapens it. It just is.”

  “I’m beginning to se
e that,” I admit. We talk and theorize their family must’ve picked them up as their SUV is still at the garage, but we don’t know where they live. Thankfully, I finally start using my brain and remember I can find them through Cecilia’s phone. Telling him to come pick me up, I throw on whatever I can find as I stumble around my still dark room, then wait for him on the porch.

  The ride drags on, we get scolded during it from our mom via three-way calling. I’m finally starting to think clearly though, the fog of losing Cecilia fading the closer I get to her. She’s mine and it’s time she knows it, too.

  **Cecilia**

  I’m such a bitch. My hope for forever was ruined, so, like a shrew, I lambasted Levi and insinuated Charlotte hadn’t found the man of her dreams. Yeah, I’m a great big sister. Not only am I my own worst enemy, apparently, I’m hers, too.

  Something I figured out on the drive to Uncle John and Aunt Maggie’s, but wasn’t able to share with him in the front seat, nor could I after we arrived. Our aunt was hovering, and we let her, knowing she’s been worried about us, even before our ride broke down.

  Now that we’ve been shown to our rooms, I look around mine and realize I shouldn’t be here. I love my uncle and aunt, but Love’s Valley quickly became my home. Yeah, seeing Mason around town will hurt for a while, probably forever, but I’ll learn to cope with it. I’ve gotten used to hiding the pain, to forcing it down so far people believe I don’t feel anything. It’s quite the opposite, I feel too much. I know I was out of line, that I’m the cause my twin’s face is tear streaked, but I don’t know how to fix it.