Take Me: The Complete Series (Power Play #1-4) (29 page)

I freeze in my tracks. The hairs on the back of my neck rise as a chill runs down my spine. Her voice is filled with pain that completely catches me off guard. I stand there motionless, unable to walk away, and unable to turn and face her.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m sorry you had to grow up thinking I didn’t want to be there for you. I’m sorry for so many things…”

Her voice breaks halfway through what she says. I turn to face her. Her face is beet red, and her eyes are glistening. She averts her eyes, unable to look directly at me.

“I never meant for any of this to happen. It all just happened so fast. First your dad filed for divorce, and then before I knew it my whole world had been turned upside down.” I stare at her, not knowing what to say, not even sure I’d be able to say anything. “After a while, I just figured it would be best for everyone if I just stayed away.”

She’s barely keeping herself together. For the first time ever a tiny seed of doubt turns over in my gut. Have I made a real mistake? Have I spent all of these years so pissed off at my mother that I never even considered what she might be going through? Did it ever even occur to me that there might be more than one side to the story? Had it ever occurred to me that she wanted to make things right but didn’t know how?
 

If she had, was that any excuse for her behavior?

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” I ask.

She gives me a sad look. Her eyes are filled with regret.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t have me. I was afraid that you’d push me away.” She shakes her head, holding a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle something back. “I was afraid you would reject me, and I don’t think I could handle that…”

“What about me?” I say, my voice getting emotional just like hers. “Do you know how it feels growing up thinking that your mother doesn’t want you?”

She shuffles a tiny step towards me.

“I’ve always wanted you. I never wanted this distance between us.” She swallows hard. “I should have been stronger. I should have fought for you… I should have done a lot of things that I didn’t do. I wish I knew how to make up for them, but I can’t.”

A sudden wave of emotions overcomes me, and before I know it we’re wrapped in each other’s arms. She hesitates for a second, but then closes her arms around me and hugs me tight to her. She buries her face into my blouse, her body heaving with each sob that escapes her.

We hold each other like that for what could have been an hour. My mother’s face is red and messy when she finally pulls away from me.

“I’ve ruined your blouse,” she says, fussing over it.

“It’s fine.”

“No, I’ll have Elsa clean this one and we’ll—”

“Mom!” Her eyes snap up to mine. I give her a soft look, shaking my head. “It’s just a shirt.”

She gives me another sad look before I pull her into another hug. We hold each other for even longer, this time. When we head back into the house, we sit in the den and have a long talk about everything that’s going on. I finally tell her that I’m trying to figure out a way to stop Declan from selling the company, hoping there’s some way she can undo it, but she tells me there isn’t. She’s already sold her shares of the company to Declan—she doesn’t have any say in anything, anymore.

It’s disheartening news—a final blow. But what surprises me the most is that, sitting there talking to her, it doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it probably should have.

Later that night, I’m pacing around my apartment. Isaac was supposed to be here an hour ago, and he’s not responding to any of my text messages. I have so many things I want to tell him about the day spent with my mother, and it’s driving me crazy that I can’t get in touch with him. It’s not like him to just disappear like this, and it’s got me a little worried.

The whole day has been a mixed flood of emotions that I’ve been trying to deal with. Everything that happened with my mother was completely unexpected. But it was good. It’s been a long time since I allowed myself to think that one day my mother and I might reconcile. For the longest time it felt like that was just a foolish dream. But now it looks like it might be a possibility. I’m excited to tell Isaac all about it, which makes his disappearance all the more frustrating.

My eyes bolt up when I hear the knock on my door. I open it to reveal Isaac standing in the doorway. He’s wearing his black, leather jacket and his plain, white tee shirt. His lip draws back into that cocky smirk of his when he sees me.

“Kitten...”

“Where have you been? You were supposed to be here an hour ago.“

“I was on a quest to find a secret treasure when I was waylaid by a gang of roving thieves, a band of cutpurses and swindlers. It’s a dangerous world out there…“

My brow pulls down. Is he making a joke or did something really happen?

“A quest?”

“I thought you might need a little something special after the last few days you’ve had…”

That cocky smirk tugs a little wider as he pulls something from behind his back. My jaw drops when I see the bouquet of red roses he was hiding.

“They’re beautiful!”

I take the bouquet from him and lead him back to the kitchen, where I discover that I’m down to my last empty vase. I wash it out and then fill it with water. The roses look gorgeous after I get them arranged on the dining room table. Isaac watches me, all the while, with a satisfied smile on his face.

“They’re gorgeous!” I say, admiring them. “So, this is why you’re late?”

The smile on his face fades a little as he fixes me with a narrow look. He’s about to say something, when he hesitates for a moment.

“How far are we taking this whole
always tell the truth
bit?”

I cock an eyebrow. Where is he going with this?

“All the way…,” I say, flatly.

“Right, that’s what I thought you would say.” He takes a deep breath as I level an intense stare at him. “The truth is I also ran into Annabelle, while I was out…”

My heart skips a beat when he mentions her name.

“You were with your ex when you were supposed to be coming over here?”

The words leave a sour taste in my mouth.

“Well it sounds right awful when you say it like that.”

“It sounds
right awful
any way you say it!”

“Bollocks. I knew you were going to be upset.”

He steps around the dining room table and closes the distance between us. His arms are strong when they wrap around my tiny waist.

“Look, Hannah, I promise you there isn’t anything between she and I. We’ve already been over this. All of that stuff with her happened a long time ago, in a completely different lifetime. You’ve got to believe me.”

I take a moment and a few deep breaths to center myself. Finally, I let out a frustrated sigh, nodding my head.

“I know, I know! I’m sorry for being all crazy about it, it’s just been an emotional day for me and I’ve been wanting to talk to you about it all night.”

He pulls me tighter to his body. I can feel the hard contours of his muscles beneath the leather jacket. He runs a hand up my back, supporting me, comforting me, making me feel instantly better.

“Well, I’m here, now. Tell me all about it.”

Words start falling out of my mouth faster than I can even think of them. I tell him about everything that happened with my mother, how she had been mean and cold at first, and how I’d left there feeling like we’d made a serious breakthrough in our relationship. Just recounting the story is enough to bring back all of those emotions I had been feeling, earlier. Isaac listens to my every word, patiently. His face is soft and bright as I tell him everything.

“Sounds like everything is going your way, then…”

I let out a little groan.

“It was great, but… But, it still doesn’t get me anywhere with the whole BMG situation.”

He brushes his fingers through my hair. The soft look on his face is comforting.

“Everything is going to work out the way it’s supposed to be. You’ll see… But tonight, I don’t want you thinking about that, anymore. I want that pretty little head of yours to take a break from all the things that are troubling it.”

I give him a weak smile.
 

“That sounds really nice, but I don’t know if I’m able to do that.”

“I have a few ideas on how I can take your mind off of everything.”

His comforting smile turns wolfish. I bite my lip, my heart suddenly pounding in my chest.

“Is that so?”

He gives me a tight nod of his head.

“And I’m going to start by throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you off to your bedroom…”

“Oh, really, now?”

I barely have time to finish the question before Isaac does exactly what he said he would do. In one quick swoosh, Isaac bends down and lifts me straight over his shoulder.

I bark out a laugh and make a pathetic, half-hearted attempt to free myself. But really, nothing sounds quite so nice as being curled up in his arms in that very moment.

My fingers curl into the soft sheets on the bed as Isaac buries his face even deeper inside of me. His tongue works its magic as it delves deeper and deeper into my soaked center. He licks and ravishes my soft folds until ecstasy is the only thing I can feel.

“Oh, God yes, just like that,” I moan.

My words encourage him, and he lets out a satisfied groan as he buries his head even deeper between my legs. The tiny, budding sensation inside of me is growing quickly, and I know it won’t be long before he makes my entire body convulse when the orgasm blossoms. The sensation seems bigger and more intense than it ever has, before. But isn’t that the way it always happens with him?

Isaac is always able to take me to heights that I had never even thought possible. Since the first time we met, came back to my apartment, and had a night of unadulterated passion, he has been able to satisfy my every need. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when my back arches and I let out one of the loudest cries of pleasure I’ve ever had.

The orgasm racks my entire body when it comes. Heat expands throughout me even as my legs and stomach quiver and tremble beneath his touch.

“Oh, God, don’t stop. Never stop!”

He groans even louder into my center as his tongue laps up all of my juices. My insides quake, violently, wanting to feel Isaac even deeper inside of me.

When the world stops spinning and everything returns to normal, I glance down to see a delighted look on his face.

“What’s that look for?” I ask, a deeply satisfied smile spreading across my own face.

“You taste like fucking heaven.”

“Well, now I think it’s time I get a little taste of my own…”

I sit up and drag him onto the bed next to me. Pushing him flat into the sheets, I waste no time in undoing his jeans, releasing his enormity from within. Isaac’s cock is already achingly hard for me, and I can’t wait another single moment to take as much of it into my mouth as I possibly can.

“Jesus, Hannah…” he groans, after I tease him with a few licks.

“You better get comfortable, because that’s only the beginning.”

I shoot him a devious smile before I lick the tip of his cock again. I can already taste some of his pre-cum. The taste invigorates me, drives me on. Getting drunk on Isaac is the best kind of high I’ve ever had.

I open my mouth to take more of him, sucking him in deeply. His cock is huge, and even though I’ve taken him countless times, already, I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to take all of him. There’s just too much.

I cup his balls with one hand, massaging them gently as I work the base of his shaft with the other. I pull and twist the parts of his cock that are too much for my mouth to handle, making sure I get him wet with my spit all the way down to the base.

“Hannah, you’re too bloody good at that,” he groans. He reaches down and tries to pull me away, but I don’t let him. “Hannah, you’re going to make me come, already...”

I can hear the pleading in his voice. I can feel his need to bury himself deep within me, but I don’t stop. The fact that I can get him so excited, so quickly, spurs me on. It makes me even more excited to finish him off in my own way. Knowing that Isaac is powerless while he’s in my mouth excites me more than I ever thought it could.

“Hannah!”

I pull more of him into me, forcing him down my throat as much as I possibly can. My gag reflex starts to kick in and my eyes get watery, but I don’t pull away. I keep sucking, forcing myself to stay down as far as I possibly can.

“God, Hannah...” he cries out.

His fingers wrap around the back of my head as the muscles in his tight abs constrict. He stops trying to pull me off of him and instead starts pulling me even lower.

His hot cum floods into my mouth. I suck and swallow it greedily, making sure that I take every last bit. It tastes like it always does—like Isaac. I love the way he tastes.

When he’s finally done, I run a finger along the corner of my lips, dabbing at the little bits that almost got away. Isaac’s bright gray eyes are wide with delight. I give him a fierce little grin.

“Jesus, Hannah, that was the fastest you’ve ever finished me off. It’s
never
happened that fast.”

“Well, I had to return the favor…”

He pulls me up next to him on the bed, a low, satisfied growl rumbling through him as he does. He hugs me tight, mashing our naked bodies against one another. The warmth of him is soothing.

He holds me there for what must be twenty minutes. Neither of us says a word. His chest rises and falls with each soft breath he takes. It’s so calming that it nearly lulls me into a peaceful sleep. But before I get there, Isaac gives me a soft kiss on the forehead. Then he starts to kiss even lower…

“What are you doing?” I ask, playfully.

He looks up at me with a fierce smile.

“It’s been long enough. I need to have you for real this time…”

I collapse onto the bed, breathless and nearly exhausted to the point of not being able to move. Isaac collapses next to me, a wide smile spread across his face and a sheen of sweat glistens on his skin. When his bright, gray eyes connect with me, we both let out little laughs.