Love's Valley Duet: (Spark of Love and Lessons in Love) Page 8

  Charlotte won’t talk to me, not that I blame her. She has hearts in her eyes, and Levi put them there, but now there’s a crack down the center of them, and I put those there. I’m the worst.

  Needing to be with my twin, to fix things between us, I step into the hall and knock on the door next to mine. “Go away,” Charlotte says, not even wanting to give me a chance.

  “I deserve that,” I confess. Apparently, admitting I screwed up is the secret code to gain entrance. My sweet twin has been replaced by a confident woman and I have never been so proud of her. She’s fighting for what, who, she wants. Instead of letting her know she’s completely right, I let her say it. And, as if we’ve switched roles, I let myself be vulnerable. I tell her Mason doesn’t believe in his family’s history. “Without the legend, how do I know this isn’t just fun for him while my emotions run so much deeper.”

  “Did you ask him?” I shake my head no, and she looks at me. She knows about the texts I saw, having whispered the truth on the way here.

  “What if I’m right?” I ask, revealing my fear.

  “What if you’re wrong?” She replies softly and I look at her in surprise. I was so sure he would hurt me, that I wasn’t enough for him, could I have intentionally taken it badly. Did I run instead of bring it up because I was scared?

  “You should listen to your sister more,” the voice I’ve been craving to hear since leaving him chimes in. “I may not have trusted in the legacy, but that’s simply because I hadn’t met you yet.” Is it any wonder I fell in love with this man?

  Blocking out whatever is happening between Levi and Charlotte, I walk toward Mason and speak from my heart. “I’m sorry I left the way I did.”

  “But not that you left?” He wants to know.

  “For leaving period. I shouldn’t have looked at your phone. It was an invasion of privacy. If I hadn’t, I would’ve woken up in your arms.”

  “Vixen, we wouldn’t have gone to bed,” he informs me, making my entire body shiver. “I owe you the apology though. I fell for you the second I saw you. I felt what every one of my ancestors has, but I didn’t want to accept it.”

  “Why not?”

  He shakes his head, his expression open and honest as he says, “Science I can explain, love, not so much. If I don’t know what brought us together, what I did to make your heart beat only for me, then how could I keep it, keep you?”

  “That’s why you refused to accept the Love Legend?” Mason nods. My poor man. He wants nothing more than to believe in it, that he’ll know his other half as soon as he sees her, but he’s scared. Wrapping my arms around him, I bring his mouth to mine and say firmly against his lips, “I love you, Mason.”

  “But…”

  “No. This has to do with you and me, nothing else. I love you because you’re you. Your family’s history has no bearing on that.” He opens his mouth to talk, but I stop him, sure he’s going to try and explain it away. Mason is determined to be heard though.

  “Shh,” he tells me, then continues, “I love you, too.” I gasp, unable to get any words out, and the sound is cut off as he kisses me, pouring every ounce of what he feels into it. “I messed up,” he admits when we pull apart. “I should’ve been truthful with Smith and myself. Not only because hiding it was stupid, but it hurt you. Can you forgive me?” When I ask him the same question, he says yes without hesitation.

  “Then how can I not give you mine? We were both scared.”

  “Why were you?”

  I don’t answer right away, waiting until we’ve gathered my things, he’s talked to my uncle, goodbyes are said, and we’re in his car, my sister with Levi in his. Taking a deep breath, knowing he deserves to be told I have my own struggles when emotions are involved, I tell him, “We lost our mom a year ago, and we left home because we had to.” His confusion is evident, understandable with how wonderful his family is. “Our loving father,” I say sarcastically, “took great glee in letting Charlotte and I know not only didn’t he ever want us, but he also gambled, and lost, the money set aside for college.” Mason is gritting his teeth, so I gently caress his jaw and he takes a deep breath. “Then he told us we had to go.” I can feel his eyes on me and I shrug, the casualness of it completely at odds with the emotions just saying it brings back. “My whole life I’ve felt that if I was more, he’d love me. Looking at it in hindsight, it’s probably one of the reasons I pushed myself so hard in track and field – to impress him, to get his attention. But it was never enough.”

  “Then I denied what I feel for you and said it was only chemistry. Made worse as we’d just given ourselves to each other.” I nod miserably. “And you know my family’s fables, which made you feel like that all over again.” The sniffles can’t be contained, neither can the tears sliding down my cheeks. “I’m a fucking asshole.”

  “The thing is, this time I understand that I’m not enough.”

  Brakes squeal as he stops hard, thankfully, no one is behind us, and pulls into a driveway. “Come again,” he demands.

  “I said…”

  “Baby, I know what you said, I’m merely giving you a chance to think really hard before repeating it. I won’t stand for anyone, not even you, insulting my woman.”

  “Mason,” I say quietly, “you’re the freakin’ mayor’s son. You want to run for the office yourself. I can’t compete with that.”

  “There are so many things wrong with those sentences, but I’m going to cover it all with the same response. You’re right, because you don’t have to. You will always win, always be number one. Nothing else is as important as you. Do you get that?”

  “I’m starting to,” I admit. “Is your friend telling the truth?”

  “About running?” I nod, so he continues. “It’s a possibility I’ve thought of, but it would be something you and I discuss and decide together.”

  “And if we hadn’t met?”

  “Oh, Cecilia, that is not a thought I want to entertain. The idea alone scares me.” After that, Mason checks the street, merges back on to it, then drives the rest of the way to his house. I don’t even ask why he isn’t taking me to the inn, it was never an option in his eyes anyway. He parks in his garage, grabs my bag, somehow instinctively knowing which has the necessities I’ll need, then holds out his hand. “This is your home now, if you want it to be.”

  “You’re letting me choose?

  “As long as it’s the answer I want,” he informs me with a chuckle.

  Leaving our stuff in the living room, he heads down the hall and into his bedroom. The sheets are a tangled mess, making me feel guilty. “Don’t,” he proclaims, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking. And, maybe he does. “Each of us could’ve handled it differently. Lesson learned. We’ll start with a fresh slate.”

  “I don’t want that,” I let him know. “Even with the misunderstandings on both our parts, I wouldn’t erase our time together.” Mason gives me this look, seeing deep into my soul and the heart that belongs to him.

  “Come here,” he urges, and I do, accepting by his side is where I want to be. “I love you.

  Tears prick my eyes, good ones this time. “I love you, too.”

  “You are the only woman to ever have any part of me.” Is he saying? “Yes. I may have scoffed at the idea of soulmates, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t secretly want it.”

  “Contradictory.”

  “I’m a complex man,” he says with a grin.

  “And you’re mine.”

  “Damn straight. Now, let your man kiss you. Then, I’m going to make love to you.” We do the first, setting the scene for the second, clothes being unbuttoned and pushed off shoulders, over heads, and down legs. Mason picks me up, cradling me to his chest before placing me on the edge of the bed and stepping between my thighs.

  Running a finger up my slit, he groans when he discovers how wet I am, and asks, “Is all this for me? What should I do with it?” He hums, as if debating. “I’m quite thirsty.” And then he drops to his knees,
burying his face at my center and inhaling. I try to close my legs, embarrassed, but he won’t allow it. “Don’t deny me what’s mine, Cecilia.” More cream leaks out at his authoritative tone. “Your pussy knows it belongs to me.”

  “So does my heart.”

  “And your future,” he declares as he takes my hand. I know he’s doing something with it, but he uses his other to hold me open to his gaze, delivering a lick to my clit and the thought escapes me. Mason worships every inch of my apex, numerous times, but he doesn’t stop, no matter how many ways I plead for mercy. Finally, he gives in and lines himself up. I think he’ll ease his inside, but that’s not what he’s in the mood for. Mason slams into me, then props himself on his hands, one on either side of me, and begins to pump in and out, the pace picking up with each thrust. “Marry me,” he demands as we draw closer to the precipice.

  “You play dirty,” I state through gritted teeth, my walls starting to flutter around his cock.

  “Then tell me what I want to hear and you can come.” Fuck. Who am I kidding? He and I both know what my answer is.

  “Yes!” With a swivel of his hips, he hits that spot inside me perfectly and I feel my feet shake with the force of my climax.

  Rolling so I’m on his chest, he squeezes tight and proclaims, “Now and forever, Cecilia.”

  “Now and forever, Mason,” I vow in return.

  Chapter Five

  Cecilia

  June 12th…

  Mason forgave me and I him, then I apologized to Levi for letting my insecurities impact his relationship with my sister. But I still have one person to talk to. When there’s a knock, my stomach churns for a second, nervous about the possible outcome of this meeting…the first since leaving Uncle John and Aunt Maggie’s.

  “Thanks for coming,” I tell my sister after opening the door, leaving it unsaid that I wasn’t sure if she would. Charlotte nods, and that churning gets worse, sure I ruined whatever progress we may have made.

  She glances around Mason’s, our house – I’m still getting use to calling it home – and I allow her the opportunity before indicating the way to the living room and settling myself on the couch. Thankfully, she chooses the same, though she puts the middle cushion between us.

  “You said you had something to tell me.”

  Inhaling and exhaling, I just throw it out there, unable to contain it any longer. “I’m sorry, more than I can ever say.”

  “For what, exactly?” She wants to know; confidence having become such an innate part of her since meeting and falling for Levi. For that alone, he’s now one of my favorite people.

  “For being a bitch, basically. I let my own insecurities get their hooks in me and impact you and your life. I twisted the purity of what Levi feels for you and you him.”

  “Why did you do it? That’s what I haven’t been able to figure out.”

  “I was scared,” I admit, glancing at her and catching her surprise.

  “You’re never scared.”

  “No, I acted as if I wasn’t. I tried to take the brunt of our father’s lack of affection, wanting to keep you as far from it as possible.” I can see her eyes moving, her tell that she’s thinking. It’s how she’s always been, it’s as if she’s watching or reading what happened to refresh her memory.

  “That’s why you’d offer to ask when we needed something,” she recalls, her hand going to her mouth. Now it’s my turn to nod, hoping she doesn’t feel guilty. It was my choice, and I wouldn’t change it even if I could. Again, she asks why. “Your heart is so…hopeful,” I tell her, “wanting to believe the best of people, but I saw how much it hurt you any time he treated one or both of us like we were a burden.”

  “So, you couldn’t take it and I could?” She wants to know, but she doesn’t sound bitter I may have thought that, but grateful. “And you got so used to it, it became second nature to keep doing it once we left home?

  “Perhaps, and I was worried about losing you.”

  “Me?”

  “Of course. You’re my twin, and I know our relationship isn’t what it used to be, but we were fixing that, then you met Levi, and told me you wanted to stay here.” I shrug, thinking how ridiculous it probably sounds now, but in the moment, it all made sense when the fear hit.

  “You could’ve stayed, too. Mason is nuts over you.”

  “But he didn’t want to admit it, scared for his own reasons to believe in their legend.” When she looks at me questioningly, I shake my head. “Not my story to tell.”

  “Then you saw his text.”

  “And thought I wasn’t enough for Mason, just like I hadn’t been for our father.” I hide my face in my hands, embarrassed I’m starting to cry about something that’s over and resolved, when I feel the cushion dip beside me and her arm wrap around my shoulders.

  “You’re a wonderful person, you just don’t let everyone see it,” Charlotte says. “I can see it all so clearly now that I can’t believe I missed it all these years. You were outgoing, but none of those people ever came over because…” her eyes move again, then I see when she figures it out, “you were keeping them at arm’s length.”

  “Then we met the Garrick brothers, and it was going so perfectly I was just waiting for something to go wrong. And when it seemed like it did, I took the coward’s way out and ran, not trusting him. And it spilled onto you.”

  “I forgive you,” she says softly, but no less sure of it her words. My eyes snap to hers and all I see within them is love and understanding.

  When she hugs me, I know she means it, that I have my sister back and our relationship will be stronger for all we’ve gone through.

  **Charlotte**

  “Did you have a good visit with your sister?” Levi asks when I get home a few hours later. I stayed a while after we talked, both needing that time together.

  I walk straight to him after setting my purse and keys down, loving that his arms instantly open to welcome me, and lay my head against his chest. “I did.”

  “And did you work everything out?” He wants to know, his hand running over my hair gently, careful not to snag any of the strands on his rough skin. I love the contrast it creates on my body, seeing it as proof of his manhood.

  “Yes,” I say sincerely. “Seeing the situation through her eyes helped me understand where she was coming from.”

  “So, you forgive her?” Nodding, I hear him murmur, “good,” as he starts rubbing my back soothingly. I know he gave her his as well, realizing she was only looking out for me, we just wish she’d gone about it a different way.

  Holding me for a long moment, I start to move, ready to make dinner, then Levi steps to the right, his big body no longer blocking the dining room table. It’s already set for the two of us, candles placed in the middle, the wicks burning.

  “You’re the sweetest man,” I inform him, then hug him again when he blushes at the praise. He’s always doing little things like this, ensuring I know how much he loves me. Later, I’ll return the favor. And when I tell him that, he groans, calling me a temptress. After the meal is finished and the remnants are cleaned up and put away, I take his hand and pull him toward our bedroom. I slowly take his shirt over his head, Levi helping me by crouching, then place a kiss right above where his heart rests, then proceed to unsnap his shorts and pull down the zipper. The bulge making an appearance causes me to lick my lips in anticipation and I give a secret smile when I hear Levi inhale sharply. When he’s naked before me, I circle him, letting my clothes touch his bare skin, exalting in the power I have over him.

  “Dot,” he warns, and I know he’s trying to control the urge to take me. The thing is, that’s exactly what I want him to do. Cupping him, fully aware I’m poking my teddy bear and he’s close to turning into a grizzly, I giggle when he picks me up and we land on the bed, Levi on top. He’s hurriedly yanking off my clothes, his breathing growing shallower as he gets closer to my body. “Are you wet for me?” He asks, his finger swiping up my center to discover the answer
himself. “Yes, you are. Good girl.” That just has me creating more cream for him, which he scoops up and places in his mouth, making an “mmmm” sound. We’re both quickly reaching the point where we need to be joined, and I know how to tip him over the edge. Reaching down, I squeeze his balls, and get exactly what I was hoping for. Levi slams into me, bottoming out. “Gonna give you my baby,” he informs me, pumping his hips and grabbing my legs to wrap around his waist. “Take every drop, Charlotte.”

  I scream in pleasure and pull his head to mine, needing his mouth. His tongue slides in as his dick pushes in one last time and I feel the warmth of his seed, my greatest wish that we’ve just created our first child.

  Epilogue One - Levi

  June 19th…

  “Happy birthday to you both, happy birthday to you both, happy birthday Cecilia and Charrrrrlote, happy birthday to you both,” rings out around the room as everyone watches them blow out the candles. They may be twins, but we also wanted to treat them as individuals, therefore, a white cake with strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting is in front of my woman, and Cecilia’s is German chocolate.

  Today is a milestone, not only because they turned twenty, but it’s the first they’re celebrating since losing their mom. She passed before their nineteenth birthday and their father didn’t even acknowledge it, not that they wanted a party or anything…they were still mourning.

  The smiles on their faces are almost blinding, as are the rings on their fingers when the light hits the stones just so. As if he catches it at the same time, my brother looks at me, a big grin on his face. These two coming into our lives have changed us for the better.

  Oh, I’m still grumpy as shit, but I’m happy, eager for just a glimpse of my fiancée. She accepted the position with Penny at the Cozy Café. Sometimes we have lunch there, Penny kindly letting my Dot take it whenever I’m able to make it there if they aren’t too busy.