Saving Simon (Tarnished Saints Series Book 5) (24 page)

“I know,” she said. “I guess I just don’t want to rock the boat because I really feel in my heart that someday we can all be a family again.”

“Maybe that’s a good idea, since we both know about you and rocking boats,” he said and smiled. “I hope you’re right about your family getting back together again someday. I hope you’re right.”

She tired of talking, and boldly reached over and kissed Simon on the mouth. Their lips parted slowly, and then his arms came around her and he pulled her closer. The fire crackled on the hearth and the room took on a romantic feel. Then he kissed her again, but this time his kiss wasn’t gentle. This time it was a hungry, desperate kiss, and she felt like he was drowning and she needed to throw him a lifeline to save him from his horrible memories of his childhood and also to save him from his bottled up anger. She needed to help save Simon from himself.

“I want you, Pippa,” he whispered into her ear, and as they kissed again, he fondled her breast. She arched her back and pushed herself into his hand as he brought her nipple to a hard peak right through her clothes.

“I want you, too,” she whispered in a breathy voice, feeling so excited she thought she’d burst.

His hand roamed to her knee now, and he pushed up the hem of her dress, sliding his fingers higher and higher, and using his thumb to make slow, sensuous circles against her most private part. She felt herself dampening under his touch, and knew this was going to be the night she lost her virginity. It didn’t matter, because Simon was the man she wanted to take it from her.

He picked her up in his strong arms and she squealed in delight as he carried her to the bedroom. He kicked the door wide open and walked into the dim room to the bed and gently laid her atop it. The firelight from the other room came through the door and lit the bedroom in a very soft glow.

In one flick he removed his towel and settled himself on the bed next to her. Then after another kiss, he slid her dress up over her head and threw it to the floor.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said, staring at her breasts, and then he bent over and tasted her, letting his tongue work magic against her. She felt herself climbing and her head dizzied with desire. She wanted this right now more than she’d wanted anything in her entire life.

Then he hooked his thumbs onto the sides of her panties, and slowly pulled them down and off her body, leaving her totally naked and vulnerable. He straddled her and she saw his hardened manhood dangling between his legs and pointing right toward her. Excitement coursed through her, yet she still felt a little scared. She’d never made love to a man before and wasn’t exactly sure how it was going to feel.

“Open for me, Pippa,” he said, wedging his knee between her legs preparing to mount her. Then he stopped suddenly and swore.

“Damn. I didn’t bring any protection. Are you on the pill by any chance?” he asked, and she knew her answer could ruin everything. She had the awful thought that he was going to stop, and that’s the last thing she wanted him to do.

“No,” she told him, not wanting to lie, “but I know I’m not ovulating right now either. Make love to me, Simon. Please. I can’t wait any longer.”

“We can’t risk it,” he said, and got off the bed and started rummaging around in the drawer of the bedstand table next to them. “Thank God for my brothers,” he said, finding a single wrapped condom at the back of the drawer and holding it up with a smile. He readied himself and got back into position, but before they could continue, her cell phone rang.

It was on the bedstand next to her and she pushed up on her elbows and could see the caller ID lit up on the blue screen.

“It’s my father,” she said, reaching for the phone, but before she could answer, his hand shot out and caught her by the wrist.

“Don’t answer it, Pippa, not now. Please.”

She saw the need and want in his eyes and felt torn about what to do. She knew if she didn’t answer it, her father would just keep calling. She also knew if she did answer it at a time like this, she might lose Simon forever.

“I’m turning it off,” he said, reaching over and grabbing her phone, and she could have stopped him from doing it, but she didn’t. She was glad he’d made the decision for her, and now she would make love to him and no one was going to stop them.

The phone stopped ringing and she heard the two-note tone that told her the power had been shut off. Then he was on top of her again, and his eyes stared into her intensely with desire and she felt her body already wet and vibrating just waiting for him to enter.

“I get the feeling you’re a little apprehensive.”

“No, I want this, Simon as much as you do. Really. Even if I am scared.”

“Scared? Pippa, I told you I’d never hurt you.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I don’t understand. Is there anything I should know before we go through with this?”

He was dangling atop her and at the ready, but yet still asking her for permission. She figured he felt he needed to ask, after the awful story he’d relayed to her about his parents.

“There is no reason in the world to stop right now,” she told him. “So if you’re waiting for my permission, then yes, I give it to you, Simon.”

Those must have been the magic words because he pushed into her then and she tensed for a second, shocked at the feel of taking him into her body.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, and she knew she had to do something fast or he’d know he’d just deflowered a virgin. That might not sit well with him that she hadn’t told him, and she couldn’t take the chance he’d pull away.

“Kiss me,” she said, and when he did, they both forgot about anything else. His tongue entered her mouth and she kissed him and made love to his hot, hard and ready body.

She came up for air as he pumped his hips and his manhood slid in and out easily. Grabbing on to his hard upper arms, she reveled at the feel of his muscles. The sight of his anchor tattoo with the heart on it excited her even more for some reason, and before she knew it, she was moaning in desire. As she reached her climax, she surprised herself as her moans turned into screams of passion.

He found his release as well, and lowered himself next to her, being certain not to crush her. With their breathing both labored, they lay in each others arms, and then without thinking, she blurted out her feelings.

“I love you, Simon.”

His body stilled and when she was sure he was going to say the same to her, he stayed silent.

“I love you,” she said again, just in case he hadn’t heard her, and this time when she looked over to him, his eyes were closed and he was sleeping.

Disappointed, she slid back down and lay her head against his chest and closed her eyes and went to sleep as well.

Simon felt like a heel for pretending he was asleep when he wasn’t. But he’d just had some of the best sex of his life and then Piper caught him off guard when she said she loved him. He’d never had a woman tell him she loved him the first time they’d had sex. He had no idea what to do about it. He hadn’t known her long enough to tell her he loved her too, and he didn’t want to lie to her. On the other hand, he didn’t want to disappoint her either, so instead he’d just closed his eyes and pretended to be sleeping.

This put a whole new spin on things and he’d have to give it some thought. But he didn’t want to think about that right now. Right now, he just wanted to bask in the glory and spend the rest of the night curled up with his little Pippa in his arms. He just hoped that she wouldn’t say she loved him again in the morning.

Chapter 18

Simon woke up early the next morning, used to getting up before the sun. He smiled when he looked over and saw Piper sleeping naked next to him. The first rays of sunlight were just coming in the window, and he could see her much better now than he had in the dark last night.

Her blond hair sprawled out lazily across the pillow and she looked like the goddess of love. He couldn’t stop thinking of what a wonderful time they’d spent in each others arms and the terrific sex they’d had as well. He couldn’t wait to do it all again.

His eyes scanned down her body, past her small but firm breasts, and past her taut stomach and very tiny waist. She rolled over on her side just then and he got a good look at her rounded buttocks and was ready to scoot up behind her, grab on to them and mount her from behind when he remembered something.

She’d told him she was scared last night and then she tensed up when he’d entered her. This wasn’t the normal actions of two people who both wanted to make love. He thought at first she was just scared from having seen his anger, but now he realized it was more than that. He thought of the kind of father she had, and the fact she’d told him she’d never had a serious boyfriend because her father always scared them away. He had thought nothing of it at the time, but now he realized what she meant by serious. It all made sense now, and he knew exactly what was going on.

“God, no,” he mumbled under his breath, realizing the real reason for her apprehension. She was a virgin. “Pippa, wake up,” he said, shaking her gently.

“Hmmm?” She rolled over. “Good morning,” she said with a smile.

“Do you remember when I asked you last night if there was any reason I shouldn’t make love with you and you said no?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Because I think there was a damned good reason and you didn’t tell me.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, pushing up to her elbow.

“You were a virgin, weren’t you?”

“Oh, that. Yes, I was, but I’m not any more.”

“Shit!” He ran a hand through his hair feeling like a goddamn fool. “Why didn’t you tell me? Had I known I never would have touched you.”

“That’s why,” she said, sitting up and yawning.

“Damn, if your father ever finds out, he’s going to kill me. Who would have thought there was such a thing as a twenty-five year old virgin anymore?”

“Oh, speaking of my father, I wonder what he wanted last night.” She picked up her phone and turned it on.”

“Forget the damned phone,” he said, taking it out of her hand and throwing it across the room. It hit the closet door with a crash and then fell to the ground.

“Stop it!” she yelled at him, and he realized his anger had gotten the best of him again. “You probably broke it.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. I am just upset that you didn’t tell me you were a virgin.”

“What difference does it make?” she asked.

“Well, it’s too late to worry about it now, I guess,” he said. “But at least we were protected, thank God.”

He could see she didn’t like his answer by the scowl on her face. He had a feeling she was going to tell him how she felt about all this, but never had the chance as there was a knock at the door. He felt relieved and rushed out of the room to answer it.

Piper quickly got out of bed and threw on some clothes, upset by the way Simon had acted just now. True, she’d deceived him, but like he said they were protected so nothing could happen. He’d almost sounded like he didn’t want anything to come of this relationship, when she’d already been thinking what it would be like to be married to him and have babies. Obviously, this was the furthest thing from his mind.

She’d told him she loved him yesterday, and she meant it. But the nagging thought lodged in her brain that he’d never said he loved her back. She hoped this wasn’t just some kind of game to him, because it was so much more than that to her.

She headed out to the other room to see who was knocking. When she got out there, Simon was already dressed in his jeans, but no shirt, and had the door wide open talking to his brother Thad.

“Hurry up if you want to talk to Philip on Skype,” she heard Thad say.

“What’s going on?” she asked, walking out to join them.

“I guess Zeb is talking to Philip on Skype. I’m going to go over to Zeb’s to talk to him too.” He started to walk out the door then turned back toward her. “Pippa, why don’t you come with me? I’d like to introduce you to my brother Philip.”

“All right.” She felt happy he’d invited her. That made her feel like things weren’t as bad between them right now as she’d thought. “I’d like to meet Philip. I didn’t know there was WIFI here,” she said, feeling as though she might be able to contact her mother and sister after all while she was out here in the sticks.

“Not many have it in Sweet Water and the signal is usually very weak,” Simon told her. “Actually, it’s hit or miss just getting connected. Of course Zeb has the best of everything so I’m not surprised he’s found a way to connect. Are you coming or not?”

Piper just realized today was October 1
st
. She always Skyped with her mother and sister on the first day of the month and if she didn’t call them, they would be worried about her.

“Yes, and maybe I can use it to talk to my mother and sister as well?” she asked hopefully.

“I don’t think Zeb would mind,” said Thad.

“Let me just get my shoes and we’ll go.” She hurried to the bedroom and slipped into her shoes, hearing her phone ringing from the floor. She picked it up, and though the screen was cracked, she could see the caller ID announcing it was her father. She didn’t want to talk to him right now. If she did, she’d miss the opportunity to talk to her mother.