Cherry Girl (Neil & Elaina #1)(40)
Author: Raine Miller

“Oh no…you didn’t have a condom.” I bent down to the floor to franticly thread my foot back into the open leg of my knickers and yoga pants, now feeling panic about what Neil would think, or say.

I pulled them on and my sports top back down to where I was decent and thought about running out the door. I really did.

Neil must have made an accurate assessment of my emotional state because he grabbed me by the upper arms and held me firmly to him. “It’s okay, beautiful girl. Everything is okay.”

“But—but we didn’t use—but you came insi—”

Neil kissed me on the lips, probably to shut me up more than anything, but it did help a little. “It doesn’t matter,” he shook his head slowly back and forth, “because I don’t care about condoms anymore with you.”

I started to cry, all the emotion was just too much and I needed some privacy. “I—I need to get myself cleaned up and d-dressed to go home.”

“Shh, don’t be scared. It’s okay, Cherry. I’ll help you.” He kept running his hand over my hair as he soothed me with words.

“Neil?”

“I know a place. Come with me.” He held my hand and wouldn’t let go. Not one time did he release my hand as we took the lift back up to the forty-fourth floor, or later when he snuck us through a back entryway, that led to a locked door, which opened into a private suite behind his office. “This is mine and nobody else has access but me.”

“I can take a shower?” I asked, now very unsure about everything and everyone. Even myself.

“Of course.” He still had my hand in his and brought both up to his lips and pressed them in a soft kiss to the back of mine.

“What happens now, Ne—”

He kissed me firmly on the mouth, a demanding kiss of entitlement, his tongue pressing forward to find mine, moving in deep swirls. He finished in his own time, the intent to take charge of the situation very clear in his method.

“I’m keeping you here.”

“What?” I asked him, my arms now clasped around his neck, holding on to keep my legs from buckling and sending me to the floor.

He smiled at me and found my lips again for another kiss, this one sweet and gentle and slow. My legs didn’t feel any stronger.

“You’re staying with me. Tonight…in this suite.”

22

I knocked. “Elaina? Is everything all right?”

Nothing but the sound of the shower running.

Her silence worried me a little. The explosive nature of our reunion only verified how much of a struggle she was having with our training-room shag, and all of the emotions attached to it. Hell, I was dealing with more emotions than I cared to, myself. But more importantly, I didn’t want her thinking too much.

Over thinking things was often the path to doom. We were both guilty of that one.

No, I wanted my Cherry Girl alone and private just as we were, dependent upon me to show her the way back…to the idea of us.

My plan was still intact.

I knew what she needed, and I would make sure she got every little bit of it.

I tried the doorknob after a minute and surprisingly, it opened. I stepped into the steamy air of the bathroom. There she was just sitting in the shower, her back up against the wall and her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked lost, biting down on her bottom lip by pulling the whole thing under her teeth. I wanted to suck and nibble on that bottom lip until she was breathless and not thinking about things that scared her anymore.

My beautiful girl needed me right now. She was also gloriously wet and naked.

I didn’t say anything, just stripped down to my skin.

Naked was the way to play this. There would be no boundaries between us then. And keeping her naked would keep her in the room with me. She couldn’t run away if she didn’t have anything to wear. I had some intelligence after all.

Her eyes flipped up to watch me as I undressed. And then, they widened when my shirt came off. That was the moment I knew. I knew that she saw it.

I stepped in and sat down opposite her on the shower floor. Face to face, body to body, hot water falling between us, droplets from the spray bouncing everywhere, coating our skin and hair. Wetting us both.

Elaina reached out her hand and touched my tattoo with trembling fingers. “You got this to remember us?” she whispered in awe.

“I did.”

“It is beautiful,” she whispered again, as she traced the design with a fingertip, studying the ink carefully. “A dragonfly in the cherry blossoms…”

“Beautiful like you, Cherry.”

“Why did you have it done?—You got it…p-put on after I was…gone?” Even with all the water falling around us, I could see the tears pooling in her eyes as she asked the questions.

“Because I never stopped loving you and knew I never would. I wanted you forever in my skin.”

A sob came up from out of her throat in a burst of air. She closed those glassy dark blue eyes of hers, and her whole body softened in what looked like great relief.

“So did I,” she said softly, her eyes still closed and her lips still quivering.

Then she turned her back to me slowly, her head tilted to the side, extending her elegant neck. She reached around and pulled her wet hair off to the left, leaving her right shoulder exposed. As I gazed at her perfect skin, I almost stopped breathing when I saw the most stunning tattoo of cherry blossoms and branches done in sky blue and pink. It was very Asian in design and exotically inked, and also larger than I would expect for her slim body. Elaina didn’t have any other tattoos, so for her to have such an impressive image placed permanently on her back, was a gesture of how meaningful our relationship was to her.

Fate can be beautiful and that was an example of one of those times. Don’t ever forget such moments…or the gift of them.

My heart skipped a beat or two as I stared. I’d forgotten about what Ian had told me—his cryptic drunken comment about me not being the only one to have a cherry blossom tattoo. I’d been so focused on the events playing out between us, that it had slipped my mind. She’d never worn any clothes that would allow it to show.

“I wanted you forever in my skin too, Neil.”

****

I traced the air above the design with my finger, just the tiniest little bit above the skin so I wouldn’t wake her. I wanted you forever in my skin too, Neil.

My Cherry was in bed with me and she was asleep. I didn’t want to disturb her but that didn’t stop me from looking and enjoying.