Keeping London (The Flawed Heart Series Book 2) (3 page)

I throw my arms around him. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

Cooper laughs.

Loïc chimes in, “Don’t believe her, brother. She’s only using you for your food.”

“Hey, I resent that.” I release my hold on Cooper. “I would still love him even if he wasn’t such a fantastic cook. Just not as much.” I shrug.

“Rude,” Cooper objects dramatically.

“So, how’d ya do today?” Paige asks, entering the kitchen.

“Oh, great. I’m all ready for Cali.” I grin.

“Awesome. I can’t wait to see what you got!” Paige claps her hands together.

“See?” I say to Loïc. “Some people have a true love for the art of shopping.”

“I think I did pretty well, considering I watched you try on clothes for five hours straight, some outfits multiple times,” Loïc responds.

“Oh, like it was difficult,” I scoff.

“Difficult? No. Annoying? Yes.”

“Uh…” I protest, my mouth agape.

“Babe, you tried on a hundred outfits, and all of them looked amazing…which I told you many times. Then, after all of that, you ended up going back to the very first store we went to, and you bought the first five outfits you tried on,” Loïc argues.

“I told you, it’s a process. I can’t just settle on the first piece of clothing I see. I had to make sure I explored all my options.”

“What options?” Maggie asks as she bounces into the kitchen with her scrubs on.

“I went shopping today to get clothes for Cali this week,” I answer.

“Oh! I want to see what you got but later. Let me go shower really quick, and I’ll be ready to eat.” She gives Cooper a quick kiss. “It smells heavenly, baby.” She continues, “I might or might not have puke splatters all over me. One of my patients was not digging the cafeteria’s beef stroganoff.”

Paige and I let out a collective, “Ew,” as we watch Maggie prance away in the deceptively cute purple scrubs with kittens.

“So, it’s a little over two weeks until you head out,” Paige says to Loïc and Cooper. “Any exciting plans?”

“It’s not necessary to constantly remind us, Paige. We’re all aware of the looming date,” I respond before the guys have a chance to.

“What? I’m just making conversation. You know what they say.
Better late than never
.” She shrugs.

“But you’re not late. This conversation is early—like, two weeks early,” I argue.

Cooper chuckles before answering Paige, “Not too much really. Going to spend as much time with Maggie as possible and visit all the family.”

Loïc adds, “Just spending time with London and, of course, meeting her entire family.”

“Aw, are you nervous?” I ask with a giggle.

“No, not all. If I can put up with you, I’m sure they’ll be cake.”

“Well, that’s unnecessary.” I throw a glare in Loïc’s direction.

He takes a step toward me and pulls me into his arms. His lips tickle my neck as he says, “You know I’m kidding.”

“They’re going to love you. You know that, right?” I ask him.

“I’m not worried,” he says before kissing my forehead.

“Good. You shouldn’t be.” I smile up to him, meeting his deep blue eyes that never fail to steal my breath away.

It’s thrilling for me to be introducing Loïc to my family. I’ve never really brought someone home to meet my parents before. It will be another first. I’m not lying when I say that they’re going to love him. They will.

Loïc doesn’t see it, but when he truly lets someone see the real him, he’s impossible not to love. He’s special and unique, unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Once he’s given you a glimpse of his true self, he has this almost magical allure to him that makes it virtually impossible to stay away. I know Loïc and I are going to make it in the long run, why we
have
to make it, because I’ve seen the true him, and I know his heart. And now that I have, any sort of happy life without him would be unbearable. Regardless of what the future holds for us, I will make it through anything as long as my happily ever after with Loïc is waiting on the other side.

Loïc

“I’m constantly in a battle, trying to silence the terrors, so I can hear the joy.”

—Loïc Berkeley

I bolt up, gasping, and reach next to me to find an empty space. I desperately pat around the bed in the dark.
Where? Where?

The bathroom door opens, and London’s silhouette stands in the doorframe. “Loïc? You okay?”

I expel a sigh of relief and nod, still breathing heavily.

London makes her way over and slides into bed next to me. “Another nightmare?”

“Yeah,” I sigh as I fall back onto my pillow.

London rests her face on my bare chest. “You wanna talk about it?” she asks, concerned, her warm hand running back and forth against my skin.

“No, not particularly. Same shit, different day.” I had another nightmare revolving around Sarah, drugs, and her multiple sexual partners, all coated in the heaviness of loss.

My nightmares started to become regular again when I began caring for London, back at the beginning of summer. Now that Sarah has returned to my life, they come almost nightly. I can’t stand them. They obviously speak to my biggest fear, which is losing those that I love. Regardless of their origin, they make me feel weak. I hate that London has to see the aftereffects of them.

I haven’t physically seen Sarah since she went back to Florida six weeks ago, but I talk to her daily. She’s serious about moving up here when I return from deployment, and I’m happy about it, of course. Yet, at the same time, having Sarah back in my life has been causing more of my fears to surface, and honestly, I’ve already had as much as I can handle.

Things with London are so…strange. Okay, that’s an incredibly inadequate word to use to describe the current state of my life, but it’s fitting nonetheless. I’m in love with someone for the first time ever. Obviously, the presence of love brings with it all these immensely happy and satisfying sensations. But, for me, it triggers my fears and insecurities to yell louder than normal. I’m constantly in a battle, trying to silence the terrors, so I can hear the joy and appreciate the love. It’s a perpetual fight. Add in the fact that I’m about to go to a war zone for a year, and I’m fucked.

London begins to place gentle kisses against my chest. The conflict in my mind halts, and I immediately focus on her soft lips. The pressure they apply is minimal, yet their impact is deafening, initiating an intense need to build in the space of a heartbeat. Perhaps talking out my issues would be healthier, but this right here is definitely more enjoyable. London gets me.

I lie still in the darkness and concentrate only on the way her mouth moves against my skin. She lifts her leg over my torso until she’s straddling me, and I let out a deep groan as her lips move south. Her soft kisses leave me for a beat as she glides my boxers down my thighs. She finds me ready and waiting for her, like I always am.

I sigh heavily into the air as the warmth of her mouth finds me. My hands automatically go to her silky hair as she moves up and down.

I can’t think of anything but the insane feeling coursing through my body. There is one thought and one thought alone present now, and that’s the overwhelming sensation of pleasure. I groan, and my fingers grasp tightly against the hair at her scalp as her pace increases. The back of London’s throat vibrates as she moans loudly against my sensitive skin within her mouth, and I hastily tug her off of me before I lose it.

There’s nothing much better in this life than losing all control when London’s mouth is on me, except releasing together when I’m deep inside her. Right now, I need that. Her. Us. Together.

I make quick work of removing her tiny tank top and panties, and I hurriedly kick my boxers to the floor. London positions herself on her hands and knees, and I can barely contain myself. I love all sex with London, but taking her from behind is exceptionally spectacular. I’ve learned that, when she’s in this position, she wants it hard, fast, and rough. That’s just the way I need it tonight.

I grab her hips, position myself at her opening, and enter her with one firm thrust. She drops her head with a long moan of pleasure. I start my relentless assault as I feverishly pound into her, as if I can’t get enough, and I can’t. With London, it will never be enough. I gently rub her beautiful round ass before I slap it hard while impaling her deep, causing her knees to lift off the bed.

“Oh God…yes!” she screams.

I rub the place where my palm just hit before I slap her other cheek in succession with a forceful thrust.

London cries out, “Ah! Harder, babe.” Her voice is breathy and needy.

My fingers dig into her hips as I pull her against me with each drive. Sweat begins to saturate my sensitive skin as I pound into her with all the strength I have. She screams each time I enter her, hitting her deep inside.

Every few thrusts, I release one of my hands to slap her ass. Her moans sound almost pained, but I know she’s feeling the opposite. I can tell she’s getting close as her body begins to quiver beneath my grasp.

“Oh God, Loïc…yes!” she cries into the lust-filled air.

Bending so that my front is against her back, I circle her waist with one arm and continue to pull her body into mine. I wrap my free hand around her front and place it between her legs. Using my fingers, I rub against her sensitive bundle of nerves.

She throws her head back, and my mouth covers hers, my tongue mimicking the movements of our bodies below. Her body starts to shake uncontrollably, and I catch her cries of ecstasy in my mouth. I pound fast, chasing my own release, as her body continues to quiver beneath mine. She’s still moaning when I quake powerfully, and with one last push, I expel everything I have inside her.

I roll off of her and fall to the bed. She sways to the side and falls on her back beside me. The two of us take in air heavily as we work to catch our breaths. My hand that rests between us finds hers, and our fingers entwine together.

“That was amazing,” she says with a sigh.

“It was,” I agree.

“I never knew sex could be like this.”

“Me neither.”

She releases her grasp on my hand and rolls to her side, propping her head up with one arm to look at me. “Are you just saying that?” she asks with a skeptical air in her voice.

“No.” I chuckle. “You’re the best I’ve ever had, London. It’s different with you.”

“So, mind-blowing sex for the both of us…we can put that on our firsts list.”

“That, we can,” I agree.

“Why do you think it’s different with me?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe because our bodies fit so well together? Or maybe because I love you. That has to make a difference, right? I’ve only ever fucked others. But, with you, even when we fuck…it’s more than that. You know?”

“What you mean to say is that we make love.”

I groan playfully. “That sounds lame. Can we just call it fucking with emotions or more than fucking?”

London laughs. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I am.” I pull her face toward mine for a quick kiss.

“Well, let’s more than fuck again,” she says, lowering her voice.

“You know the alarm is going to go off in, like, an hour. We’re going to be exhausted tomorrow,” I offer in a halfhearted attempt to make the healthy decision. “Shouldn’t we get a little more sleep?”

London huffs out, “We can sleep on the plane. Right now, I want your beautiful dick inside me, and I want you to more than fuck me until I’m screaming your name.”

I growl and push London against the bed as I straddle her. She giggles beneath me.

“On one condition,” I say.

“What’s that?”

“Can you call it something else besides beautiful? You know, huge, manly, intimidating—any of those would work.”

London laughs, and it’s sexy as hell.

“Loïc, baby…can you more than fuck me with your insanely huge monster of a penis?”

I shake my head and let out a sound of protest. “Uh, not penis, babe. We’ve talked about this before.”

“Fine…dick, cock, whatever. Just do it.” She grabs my ass and pulls my pelvis toward her.

“Do what?” I tease, just to hear her say it again.

“Fuck me, babe…with emotion.”

“I love you.” I laugh as I drop my lips to hers.