Always Beautiful (17 page)

An older woman and man were standing there with a look of horror and shock. I immediately felt my face flame and looked at Zeppelin. He smiled at the couple and then winked at me. He grabbed my hand and began leading me out of the tiny space. “She’s beautiful isn’t she? Can you blame a guy?” Zeppelin said to the man as we passed by. There was no time to wait for the couple’s response. Zeppelin dragged me down the hall to his door and opened it quickly.

“I can’t believe we got caught making out in the elevator.” I said as Zeppelin kicked the door closed and locked it before pulling me to him again. I felt him smile against my neck as he kissed and gently bit my skin. “I can, I need you so bad right now Lucky.” He said with a groan. His hands began tugging at the hem of my t-shirt as he brought his lips to mine. I placed my arms around his neck and kissed him back.

My body was on fire for Zeppelin and any thoughts of what just happened in the elevator were slipping from my mind rapidly. I was filled with only the sense of his warm, strong touch, his smell, and his soft, full lips against mine. I was thoroughly consumed and more than ready for him.

Zeppelin pulled back from me and took off my shirt before removing his own. I had my hands on his jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping them before reaching inside and grabbing his hard length. He sucked in a sharp breath and his hooded blue eyes landed on mine.

“I’ve missed your touch Angel. It feels so amazing when your hand is wrapped around me.” He said in a gruff whisper. “I’ve missed touching you.” I said as I began to stroke him slowly. Zeppelin groaned and grabbed either side of my face, smashing his lips against mine. He guided me backward as he kissed me, until I was against the hallway wall. Unhooking my bra and letting it fall, his lips traveled down my neck to my collar bone as his hands covered each of my breasts, massaging them roughly.

I moaned and my head fell back against the wall. Zeppelin removed my hand from him and stepped back to undo my jeans and pull them off along with my panties. I was now standing naked in front of him and panting like a wild woman. Zeppelin smirked and stepped closer to me, his finger trailed from my lips down my chin, neck, chest, and then my stomach down to where I was aching for him. He ran his finger against me and growled low.

“You’re so wet for me Angel.” He breathed. I nodded and met his eyes. “I want you Zeppelin.” I told him as I reached out and ran my palm against his body. He shuddered and then without warning, he grabbed my hips and was lifting me up against him. I moved my hands to his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist. His hand moved between us as he held himself, pressing slowly into me. As soon as he was inside of me, he held my hip with one hand and cupped my cheek with the other.

We began kissing again as my body familiarized to him. His hips pulled back from me slowly and then met mine again in one quick thrust. I moaned into his mouth as he did it again. “How do you want it baby?” Zeppelin asked against my lips as he thrust in to me harder. I gasped and met his eyes. “Hard and fast like that.” I moaned. “God, you’re fucking perfect.” He said as he kissed me again. Our bodies began to move faster against each-others.

Zeppelin kept his hand on my hip as he rocked into me. My back was pressed against the wall, pinned there by his body. I ran my fingers through his hair as he kissed me, our moans becoming one with the others. I felt myself getting so close to the edge as we moved faster and harder. His free hand flew to the wall beside my head and I squeezed my legs tighter around his waist. His head lowered to my shoulder, his forehead resting against it.

“Oh god, Angel, I’m so close. You feel so good like this.” He moaned. Just hearing his voice sent me over the edge and once again I saw stars, rainbows, unicorns, and every other unworldly thing. That was what Zeppelin did to me. It was damn near magical. I cried out and shouted his name as he thrust into me a few more times. He groaned as his body shuddered violently and his head lifted to kiss my swollen lips.

Both panting heavily and completely spent, Zeppelin lowered me from against the wall and slipped out of me. We were both covered in a light sheen of sweat and my body was trembling. Zeppelin put his arms out and scooped me up into his arms, carrying me to the destination we had been heading for earlier, the bedroom. He gently placed me on the bed under the covers and then crawled in beside me. We lay there trying to catch our breaths and let our bodies cool down. His hand found mine under the blankets and he tangled his fingers with mine.

We were silent for a long time. It was comfortable just being beside him and listening to his breaths slow and even out. I turned my head to look at him and saw that he was looking at me, a hint of a smile on his face. I rolled onto my side and slipped my hand out of his to wrap my arm around his waist.

“I’m so glad I decided to come back early.” Zeppelin said softly as he moved to his side too and tucked my hair behind my ear. He placed a soft kiss against my lips. He leaned back to look at me and his eyes became serious as he searched my face. “I’m falling hard for you Angel.” He admitted. My heart stumbled over his words. I had known for a few weeks now that I was beginning to fall for Zeppelin. I had no idea if he had felt the same way too until now.

“I’m falling for you too.” I whispered. Zeppelin smiled at me and kissed me again. “I don’t think I can quit you just yet Lucky. I know you have school coming up and you’re moving into your own place. I’ve got things going on too and I don’t know what’s in store for me in the next few months. But I do know that I enjoy your company and I want to be around you if you’ll let me.”

A small smile spread across my lips. “Of course I want you around me. I found that I was missing you a lot more than I expected while you were gone. I don’t know what this connection is between us and I’ve never experienced anything like it, but I like you a lot Zeppelin.” Zeppelin wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair as I snuggled against him. “Let’s sleep Angel. I’m exhausted and I want to fall asleep holding you.” He whispered. I nodded against him. I was incredibly tired too and there was nowhere else I would rather be at the moment than in his arms.

Chapter 9

~August 2012~

“You’re not helping at all!” I complained as Hannah sat in the green vintage recliner by the window. My arms were aching as Dixon and I maneuvered the large wooden headboard around the small hall to my bedroom.

“I’m taking a break Lucky. My feet hurt and that microwave was heavy.” She said with an eye roll. “Ugh! You are so lazy.” I mumbled as I backed into my new room. Dixon and I rested the headboard against the wall where my new bed would go. He shook his head. “Why did you even invite her to help?” He asked as he stretched. I rolled my wrists and shook out my arms. “I didn’t invite her, she offered to help.” I said. Dixon shook his head and chuckled.

I shrugged before heading out to the hall. “I’m pretty sure she just wants to decorate after the moving is done.” I said as he followed me into the living room. Zeppelin and Josh came into my new apartment next. Each of them carried a side of the wooden frame that would go on either side of the bed. My eyes roamed over Zeppelin’s tattooed arms and back. I watched the muscles play under his skin, shifting as he made his way to my room.

“You’ve got some drool on your chin chick.” Hannah said as she stood from the chair. I slapped her arm and headed back outside to get the new comforter and pillows I had bought. She went with me and ever so kindly offered to carry the pillows. The boys came back down to Dixon’s truck to get the mattress.

I had decided to purchase a king sized bed instead of a smaller one. It was typically only me sleeping in it, but I loved the amount of space I could have to curl up and figured that would give Zeppelin and me plenty of room whenever he chose to spend the night. Once the guys got everything for the bed put together and in place, Hannah helped me make it up and then she set out to the kitchen to unpack other small things.

I loved the fact that this place was all mine and came basically fully furnished. It was the first weekend in August now and everything was falling into place. Zeppelin and I were better than ever since he came back from Seattle a few weeks ago. I was set to register for school next week and was excited to get back into the routine of learning. Call me a nerd, but I thoroughly enjoyed school and was eager to see the campus I would be at for the next few years. Hannah had agreed to go with me to check the place out.

It seemed as if the summer was flying by too quickly now that it was near an end. I found myself having more frequent thoughts about what would come of me and Zeppelin, but I didn’t stress about it too much. His “live in the moment” mentality was beginning to rub off on me and in all honesty, I quite enjoyed not being such a planner. I was realizing that life was a lot more stressful when you worried about the future.

Everything was all unpacked and in order rather quickly which made the move really easy. Afterward, we all decided to order pizza and hang out. The boys went to the store to make a beer run and Hannah and I stayed behind. I sat down in what would most likely become my favorite chair, the vintage, green one by the window. Hannah lay on the couch and closed her eyes.

“I’m so tired.” She complained after letting out a huge yawn. “You hardly helped.” I argued and tossed a throw pillow in my chair at her. She giggled and threw it back at me. “I was up late last night okay.” She said. “Is your boyfriend wearing you out?” I teased. Hannah sat up narrowing her eyes at me and pursing her lips. The smile on my face fell and I furrowed my brow.

“What is it?” I asked. Something was definitely up. I could tell by the way she was looking at me. She was thinking of how to tell me something, I was sure of it. “Don’t even think about keeping secrets from me.” I ordered as I pointed a finger at her. Hannah took a deep breath and exhaled. I felt a knot form in my stomach.

“I’m not allowed to say anything about it. And If I’m being honest, I really wish I didn’t know what I know either.” She said. My face crumpled in confusion. “What do you know, Hannah?” She bit down on her lip and her eyes fell to her hands in her lap. I groaned. “You’re killing me! First Zeppelin’s got something that he is hiding from me for whatever reason, and now you too? God, Hannah are you people conspiring to drive me insane, because if you are, you are doing a good job. It’s working.”

“Lucky, I know why he went to Seattle.” She said quietly. It was so quiet that I wasn’t exactly sure if I had heard her correctly. Why would Hannah know why Zeppelin left and not me? Did that mean that everyone else knew as well? I felt myself getting angry at the thought of being the only one left out. Dixon especially had been acting different since a few weeks back and now I was certain that he had known all along. What the hell was this big secret and why couldn’t I be a part of it?

“Is it something bad?” I asked after a few minutes. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what it was that he was hiding. Apparently it was necessary for him to tell everyone else but not so important that he could tell me. Of course I had only known him for about two months. Did he not feel comfortable sharing with me yet? I found that hard to believe considering he had no issues sleeping with me almost immediately.

Perhaps he didn’t care for me like he said he did. Maybe he was only saying what he thought I wanted to hear in order to get what he wanted from me. Was it possible that Zeppelin was using me and I was too stupid and too naïve to see that? I didn’t think so, but at this point I wasn’t sure what to make of anything. I felt utterly sick about it now.

Hannah began biting her fingernail, a definite tell that she was unsure and nervous about something. I knew her about as well as I knew myself. She looked up at me and nodded. My heart sank a little bit. What could it possibly be that was bad that had him going to Seattle?

“Did someone die in his family or something? Are his parents getting a divorce?” I threw a series of questions out at her hoping that she would give me anything. I knew that Hannah wouldn’t tell me the entire secret.

For one, I was sure that she heard it from Josh and not Zeppelin. And second, she wasn’t one to blab about others if they were keeping something dear to them. She wouldn’t even rat someone out to the cops at the risk of being tortured. She was definitely stubborn and that was one of the reasons why I trusted her. I also knew that whatever it was, she wanted me to know some of it or else she wouldn’t be bringing it up.

“It isn’t like that, Lucky. It has to do with Zeppelin. He had to go to Seattle to take care of some things for himself. That’s all I can really say.” She replied. I sighed. “Why won’t he just tell me?” I asked her. Hannah shook her head. “I’m not sure, but I think he is trying to protect you in a way. He likes you too much to cause you to worry and you guys have a good thing going. I don’t think he wants to complicate it.” She said.

I thought about what she was saying. So he was neglecting telling me something clearly important about him because he didn’t want to complicate things. In a weird way it sort of made sense, but at the same time I was unsure of how to proceed with him. I guess I would just have to pretend that everything was fine and I didn’t have a million and one burning questions in my head.

“Why were you up late though?” I asked. “I don’t understand why hearing something about Zeppelin would keep you awake.” I added. Hannah quit chewing her nails and shrugged. “He had come to the gym last night after he left you to work out with Josh. Josh invited him over to hang out and Zeppelin told him that he had something to tell him. It was just a late night and it took Josh a while to recover from the news.”

My stomach flipped and I let out a heavy sigh as I covered my face with my hands. “I am not a fan of this secrecy one bit.” I grumbled. “I’m sorry Lucky. Just know that everything should be fine and Zeppelin will probably tell you eventually.” She said reassuringly. I shook my head. “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.” I said. “Ugh! This does not bode well for my whole order and routine side.”