Key To My Heart: Stay (6 page)

She cried out his name in a voice so
husky with passion that she almost didn’t recognize it as he
brought her to orgasm. Her legs were shaky and she loosened her
hold on him somewhat, but her womanhood had become so sensitive
with the intense orgasm that he brought her quite easily to orgasm
again and again as he moved within her. It was everlasting and all
too short at the same time. She wanted more even after she’d felt
his release in her. He’d awakened a sexuality in her that she’d
never felt before, hadn’t known was possible to exist.

He moved off of her. There was a look
of satisfaction on his face, but a sense of almost confusion there
as well. She craved a cigarette like she hadn’t craved one in a
month as she looked at him, wavy hair mussed, full lips appearing
even more full after their frenzied kissing. He was gorgeous, and
she knew in that moment that she would never want another man like
she wanted him, that her body would never awaken for another man
like it had awakened for him. It simply couldn’t be
possible.

“
Acasia?”

“
Yes Garrett?”

His name tasted different on her tongue
now, even more so than when she had said his name at the diner the
night he’d asked her out. They had shared something together that
would change both of them, probably forever, but nothing had ever
felt more right in her life.

“
I uh. . .” He was blushing
again. “All that for me?”

She laughed. “Do you see anyone else
here?”

“
I. . . Wow.”

“
Ditto handsome.”

“
Will you stay with me
tonight? The thought of waking up without you in my arms after what
just happened is almost unbearable.”

She smiled. “It is.”

The gentle kiss they shared turned into
heated foreplay. Garett took it slow and easy the second time
around, letting the passion build. His hands roamed her body gently
at first, showing his adoration for the curve of her breast, the
curve of her thigh, the curve of her ass. He took her nipple into
his mouth, sucking gently at first, then more urgently as he felt
her tighten around him. Her eyes drifted closed as she came to
orgasm.

She lost tracks of the number of
orgasms she had that night. They were awake until the early light
of dawn brightened the window and both were glad that they didn’t
have to work that day as they fell asleep a little after seven a.m.
almost immediately following a shared shower.

Garett

Making love to Acasia left Garett
feeling utterly fulfilled. Their bodies fit together perfectly, and
it seemed as if he was made for her, and she for him. He had never
felt a woman’s body come alive underneath him the way hers had, and
the feeling of her slippery wetness gripping him had threatened to
send him over the edge long before he’d been ready. Making love to
Acasia felt more right than anything ever had before in Garett’s
life. He’d almost told her that he loved her, had seen in her eyes
that she loved him, but he’d been too afraid to tell her, afraid
that he would disturb the perfection of their evening
together.

Waking up with her in his bed, Garett
knew that it was where she was meant to be. He knew that every
decision that he made about the house from that point on would have
to be approved by Acasia. It might not be their house quite yet,
but he had already started to see the house as hers almost as much
as it was his, and that too felt right. He was head over heels in
love with Acasia after two weeks of being her man, and though he
felt more than a little silly imagining their children, he knew
that she was the woman that was meant to carry his
children.

He was afraid that he would scare
Acasia away, send her running as far away from him as possible if
he revealed his true feelings for her, but he knew that the day
would come all too soon that he would confess his love for her. It
was already hard enough as it was not to tell her, and after having
made love to her, he knew that it was going to be even harder to
hold back. But he wanted everything to be right. The thought of
losing Acasia already scared him, and he knew that he would do
anything to make her stay with him. It was where she belonged, and
he only hoped that she felt it as much as he did.

Acasia

Acasia was happy with Garett. She
missed him when she wasn’t with him. Nothing brought a smile to her
face more than seeing him unexpectedly. She was in love and there
was no going back.

He had made a lot of progress on his
house. She was proud of him, and tickled when he asked for her
opinion on changes he wanted to make to the old place. She knew
that he was beginning to think of it as their house, and she looked
forward to the day when it would be their house. Things may have
been moving fast between them, but it didn’t make it feel any less
right.

Her life felt like it was heading in
the right direction for the first time in a long time. She knew
that soon Garett would tell her he loved her. She looked forward to
saying the words herself. She was looking forward to every first
with him. She was already finding herself looking forward to being
his wife, carrying his child.

While there was a part of her that knew
she should be cautious, and not jump into a relationship with
another man that might break her heart, she had felt herself
jumping in wholeheartedly. She was herself when she was with
Garett. And he had shown her a side of him that she had never seen
before. He was passionate. So passionate about her, so passionate
about doing what he loved. It made her want to find something that
she loved.

Things were almost going too well
between her and Garett though. She was afraid that something would
come up to tear them apart just like it had in all of her other
serious relationships. She tried not to think of all the things
that could go wrong and tried to just enjoy being with him without
worrying, but sometimes it was hard. The fear still lurked in the
back of her mind that Garett would eventually find something about
that her that wasn’t lovable and would leave her as Gavin had or
cheat like Colton.

She had no reason not to trust him, and
told herself she was being paranoid, but the disquiet remained. She
felt like she waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Garett

Acasia had been acting strangely for
the past few days. He was worried that he had done something wrong,
and he tried to question her casually, but she claimed nothing was
wrong. It didn’t seem like she was mad at him. It seemed more like
something was on her mind, that she was starting to have doubts
about being with him.

He had no doubts about being with her.
Spending time with Acasia only made him want to spend more and more
time with her. He was worried that she had regretted making love
after only two weeks of dating, but her passion for him hadn’t
died. She wanted him. Her body came alive at his touch. He thought
she was in love with him, but sometimes he wasn’t sure, so he
didn’t tell her he loved her.

He couldn’t stand the thought of losing
her. Every plan he made involved her. He even thought about her
before he went to the grocery store, making sure that he bought
things she liked to eat. He liked to cook for her. He liked that
she listened to him, really listened to him. He could be himself
when he was around her, talk to her about anything. Well, almost
anything. Gavin certainly wasn’t a good subject to bring up with
her.

He wanted her to know how much she
meant to him, but he wasn’t sure how without telling her that he
loved her. So he tried to show her, but he wasn’t sure that it was
working. She seemed to be pulling away from him already, and he
wished that she’d talk to him about whatever it was that was on her
mind.

Acasia

The other shoe dropped a few weeks
later when Acasia realized she had missed her period. She drove to
the next town over to buy a pregnancy test, knowing that if she was
seen purchasing one in Clinton, word would be back to Garett before
she had even taken the test, and that was the last thing she wanted
to happen. If she had to tell him she was pregnant, she damned sure
wanted to be the one to tell him herself, not to have him hear it
through the grapevine.

The test was positive. She stood
looking at it for a long moment, wondering if it was possible she
could have read it backwards. But of course it wasn’t. She and
Garett were having a baby, and sooner or later she would have to
tell him.

She sighed when she heard Garrett’s
ringtone come from her phone. She knew that she needed to talk to
him, but all she wanted to do at the moment was run away. Either
that or curl up on her mother’s lap and cry and there was no way in
hell she was going to do that. Besides the fact that she was almost
thirty and too old to be crying in her mother’s arms, she was
bigger than her mother and could hardly curl up on her lap like a
child anyway.

How in the hell could I let myself end
up pregnant now she thought as she flicked the icon on her screen
to ignore the phone call. She loved Garrett, but she was scared to
death of having a child, and she had no idea what in the hell she
was going to do. She knew that Garrett loved her too, even if they
hadn’t yet exchanged the words, but the fact that she was pregnant
so soon after they had gotten together complicated things even
further. Why was she continually screwing things up she
wondered?

The tone chimed on her phone to let her
know that her boyfriend had left a message. She pushed the button
to dial her voicemail, hearing Garrett’s cheerful voice “Hey baby.
I guess you’re busy. I know that you’re off work for the next few
days and I was hoping that we could get together. I’ll make you
dinner. Call me back as soon as you can. Bye baby.”

Acasia sighed as she pressed the number
to delete the message. Tears stung her eyes. She felt helpless and
the thought of running away for a few days sounded wonderful. She
booted up her laptop and wondered if she had enough money in her
bank account to afford to get away for a few days. She checked her
account balance and figured that she could afford an economy motel
room. Part of her wanted to call Garrett as she booked the motel
room, but the rest of her wanted nothing more than to run away from
everything, and to try to figure out what the hell she was going to
do about the situation she had gotten herself into.

Her mother was out with Alisa Black, so
she didn’t have to explain herself to her mother at least. For
safety’s sake, especially since her body had become more than her
own, she left her mother a note, telling her where she was going,
and that she loved her.

She sat in her car for a moment, her
head on the steering wheel. She had teased Demi when Demi had told
her that she was pregnant, telling her that she was almost ready to
have a child herself. But she was scared out of her wits, almost in
a panic. She was overwhelmed, and while she knew that she should be
turning to the man that she loved instead of running away from him,
she didn’t think she could face him right now. He made her feel
entirely too vulnerable, and right now she needed to be strong and
keep a clear head.

She pulled out of the driveway, heading
out of town. She stopped at a convenience store to get something to
drink, her stomach churning with nervousness. Her phone rang when
she was pulling out of the parking lot, and she pushed the button
to turn on her Bluetooth headset, and answered her sister’s
call.

“
Hey Dem.”

“
Acasia, I think something
is up with Nikki. Have you talked to her lately?”

Acasia had to rack her brain for the
last time she had spoken to her sister. Nikki had always made sure
to send plenty of pictures of Sammi since the gorgeous little girl
had been born, but lately any talk of how she and Jay were doing,
or how she was feeling herself had been scarce.

But Nikki was a private person, and had
always tended to turn to Jay when something was on her mind. And
they rarely seemed to have any problems in their relationship. The
thought that her sister was having problems with her marriage did
not sit well with Acasia. If Nikki and Jay couldn’t make it after
thirteen years of love and devotion, she was even less convinced
that she could make things work with Garett, though she loved him
madly.

She could no longer imagine her life
without him, and she knew that with their current circumstances,
she certainly couldn’t reasonably try to keep him out of her life.
Garett would make an amazing father, and husband. She just wasn’t
sure that she would ever make a good mother or wife.

“
It’s been a few weeks hon.
What makes you think something is going on?”

“
Well, Nikki’s cell phone
was out for a while, but every time I called their house phone Jay
was the only one that answered and he always gave me some vague
answer of when Nikki would be back. I got the feeling that they’re
separated.”

“
That’s crazy Dem. Nikki and
Jay have been in love since they were thirteen years old. If they
can’t make it work, then it’s a pretty bleak picture for the rest
of us.”

“
Yeah, I suppose it is. She
never talks about herself, just tells me all about Sammi. It’s not
that I don’t want to hear about the baby, especially when I have
one of my own on the way, but I know that something is up. She’s
shutting it all up inside. Why won’t she talk to us? We’re
sisters.”