Final Play (Matchplay Series) (9 page)

If I was more of a touchy-feely type rather than a logical e
ngineer, I’d say it was our destiny to be together but it sounded completely ridiculous as the words crossed my mind. Who believes in destiny? I’ve always been a firm believer in cause and effect. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

There was no place for destiny in science and reason—was there?

I decided to head over to Arts² to see if I could find Ella.

The place was surprisingly quiet when I entered. It was also devoid of the wood and glue smells I had become accustomed to. I breathed a sigh of relief as I passed by the metal working studio
and found it empty—Steel and his scary band of misfits were nowhere to be seen.

As I headed toward the painting studio, I noticed the faint sound of a woman’s voice. Ella was singing Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol as she worked on her latest painting. I wasn’t sure she heard me as I walked up behind her, or at least she didn’t react to my presence. She seemed lost in her work.

“Ella,” I said softly.

She didn’t immediately turn around. “You found me.” Her voice was a faint whisper.

“You weren’t at your house. This was the next logical place to look.” It was then that I noticed a large suitcase sitting near her easel.

“Are you planning a trip?” I blurted.

She didn’t immediately respond but I noticed she had stopped painting. She turned to face me. “I have to go to Phoenix for a few days.”

I furrowed my brow. “Why?”

She got a faraway look in her eye. She looked so tired and worn down. It was like all of her enthusiasm and zest for life had drained away. It made me feel sick to think that I had somehow unknowingly contributed to the pain.

“I feel empty,” she said. The word surprised me at first but it seemed to be an apt description. Her normally glistening eyes looked deadened.

“How will going to Phoenix help?” I asked.

“There’s an art exhibit there I want to see. It’s by a hot new artist Cheyenne Robison. Everyone in the art world is talking about him. He’s supposed to capture movement in metal better than any other modern metal artist.”

The first thing I thought of when I heard
metal artist
was Steel and his cronies. There was no way I wanted Ella to be there by herself, half way across the country, anywhere near guys like Steel and his buddies.

“I’m going with you,” I blurted before I had a chance to even consider the consequences of my words. It definitely wasn’t the best time to request vacation at work and I wasn’t in the habit of just taking time off without plenty of advanced notice.

Actually, in the two years I had been working there on a full-time basis, I had never requested any time off. I had already accumulated a small bank of both vacation and sick days. But I didn’t think my boss would mind, especially if I explained the situation and mentioned that I would be happy to bring my laptop along and do work while on the trip.

Of course, I wasn’t sure exactly what situation I would be explaining because I didn’t quite understand it myself. I just
sensed that going with Ella was the right thing to do and I felt like she needed me to be with her.

I could see a hint of sparkle return to her eyes. “You’d really go with me?” She sounded so tentative and unsure, it pulled on my heartstrings.

“Of course.” I tried to sound as convincing as possible. I wanted to go with her, maybe more than anything in the world, but I also had to think about my job and clearing it with my boss.

He eyes narrowed.
“But?”

“Why do you think there’s
a
but
?”

“There’s always
a
but
.”

I took the paintbrush from her hand and placed it on the edge of the easel. Then I pulled her into a tight embrace. I breathed in the scent of her. She still had the faint smell of jasmine incense in her hair. I was starting to really love that scent, maybe because I had already made the connection between the scent and Ella in my mind.

“There’s no
but
,” I whispered. “I’m going with you.”

I could feel the tension release from her body as she relaxed into my arms. Time seemed to stand still as we stood there in the painting studio, our bodies pressed together, and our breathing in sync with each other.

I felt something that I didn’t realize I had been missing—peace. I also felt whole and complete. There’s an old saying that we use at work sometimes:
you don’t know what you don’t know
. I guess I never realized I had been lacking something in my life until I found Ella.

I knew it sounded dorky but it was like a single sock not knowing it was part of a pair until it was reunited with its matc
hing sock.

“Have you already purchased a plane ticket?” I asked.

She shook her head. That lead me to believe it was a spur of the moment decision without much of a formal plan. Maybe I could use that to my advantage. “Maybe we could go for a long weekend,” I suggested. “I’ll request Friday and Monday off from work.”

She didn’t respond for several moments and I had an instant of panic until she finally agreed.

“I like that idea,” she added as she nestled back into my chest and I breathed a small sigh of relief.

Ella definitely kept me on my toes. Not that I had that much experience with previous relationships but the girls I had dated had been very predictable. I never had a problem being able to predict with great accuracy what they would say or do or how they could react to my words or actions. With Ella, I had no idea. She was completely unpredictable in every way.

I had to consider the idea that maybe that was part of her appeal. But what did that say about me? Was I too predictable and maybe even boring? Did I need her unpredictability as some sort of counter-balance?

When Ella yawned, I said, “Maybe we should get you and your suitcase back home.”

As she pulled away, I felt a strong desire to have her back in my arms. I suddenly didn’t want to let her go. But I knew it was a ridiculous feeling. It would be impossible for us to exist attached to each other like that. I knew it was absurd but it didn’t curb my strong desire to have Ella in my arms again.

I grabbed her suitcase and the two of us made our way out of the studio.

I didn’t make the mistake of leaving Ella alone again.

When we got to her house, neither one of us was very hu
ngry. The day seemed to have taken an emotional toll on both of us. Things between us still felt unsettled and I really just wanted to feel Ella in my arms again.

I grabbed Ella’s hand and pulled her into the living room. I sat on the leather couch and pulled Ella down with me.

Ella still looked sad, not as empty and hollow as she looked earlier, more forlorn.

I placed my hand on her cheek and she felt cold. I hoped my touch could warm her at the very least.

It seemed to do more than that. Her eyes started to glimmer again. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said so softly I almost didn’t hear her.

“I’m glad I’m here, too.” I rubbed my thumb along her ja
wline and she responded with the thinnest of smiles. It was a start.

“I want you to know that I’ll always be here for you, Ella. I’m not going to leave you like the other guys. That’s not what this is about.”

She turned away from me. When her hand went to her face, I knew she was wiping away tears.

“Ella?”

She didn’t turn to face me.

“Please, look at me.”

I waited as she slowly turned back toward me. She swiped at another tear that had escaped down her face.

I grabbed her hands in mine and held them for a few m
oments. “I want you to know that even when I’m not here, next to you, you’re always here…” I pointed to my head. “And here…” I pointed to my heart.

She moved in close, her eyes locked with mine, and placed a kiss on my lips. Then she whispered. “Will you make love to me? I want to feel close to you again.”

I took in a sharp breath. That’s not what I intended when I rushed over here. My only thought was to see Ella, to make sure she was okay, and to comfort and reassure her. Sex was the furthest thing from my mind—until she mentioned it.  

Of course, I wanted to be with her, to be inside her, to make her feel good. But was it the right thing to do—especially right now? It seemed both too soon and not soon enough and that confused the hell out of me. There were certainly no easy answers with Ella. For a guy, who planned nearly everything right down to the minute, I always felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants with Ella.

She kissed me again but his time, she held her soft lips to mine and a wave of heat rushed through me. “Please,” she whispered. “I want to feel you inside me.”

It was like a damn broke loose and I was suddenly filled with need and desire. I crashed my mouth into hers and complete devoured her. We were a tangle of mouths and hands all over each other’s bodies until the couch no longer felt like it could contain our passion.

“Bedroom?” I suggested during a brief moment when we came up for air.

When she gave me a crooked little grin and I saw that the sparkle had returned to her eyes, my heart warmed a bit
. Ella was returning.

She hopped up from the coach and pulled me up with her. Then she grabbed my elbow and led me into her bedroom. It
didn’t take long for both of us to rip off our clothes and jump into the bed. There seemed to be an urgency in the air, like we both needed to reconnect with each other in the most intimate way.

I gathered Ella into my arms and pulled her close. We looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment and I could feel the energy surge between us. There was no doubt that the feelings between us were intense.

I placed my hand on Ella’s cheek. “There’s something I need to tell you.” The words came out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them.

As Ella looked at me, both anticipation and fear seemed to crease her face.

“I love you, Ella. I’m completely and totally in love with you.”

She grinned. “I know that.”
The way she said it made it sound like I had just stated something more obvious than the sky is blue.

“How did you know that?” I probed.

“Because you came back.”

Was it really that simple? All she wanted was for me to be there again? “Nothing could keep me away from you,” I admi
tted.

“You’re sweet,” she said as she placed a soft kiss on my lips.

She was the sweet one. I loved that she always tasted like strawberries. Maybe it was her lips gloss. When I deepened the kiss, Ella let out an easy whimper.

“I want you, Ella.” I didn’t want to admit that I wanted her more than anything. It sounded too needy and wimpy. I wanted her to see me as her rock, someone who could take care of her. She seemed so fragile 

When I kissed her again, it was as if all the tension she had been holding was finally released. She relaxed into my arms and I felt like she was finally letting go, allowing herself to fall for me.

I touched every inch of her body, as if I was an explorer and I needed to investigate all of the uncharted territory. I was ove
rcome with the desire to know everything about Ella, including her body. I wanted to please her, to give her pleasure, so I caressed every inch of her, with my fingers and tongue, to see which spots seemed to elicit the most favorable reactions. Based on my rather fun research, I concluded that Ella’s most sensitive regions were her neck, right below her ear, which responded really well to tiny kisses with a little nibble thrown in every now and then, and the backs of her knees, which responded to light feather strokes with my index finger.

“Make love to me,” Ella whispered. “I want to feel you inside me.”

All of the
exploration
of Ella’s body had made me rock hard. I couldn’t wait to be inside her again. This time, I came prepared with the necessary protection. I reached into the pocket of my dress pants and removed a condom. Ella watched as I quickly opened the package and slipped it on, her eyes filled with anticipation.

When I entered her, she let out a soft moan. “That’s where you belong,” she whispered and I wasn’t sure if
she was saying it to me or to herself. Either way, I felt the same thing. I felt like I belonged inside her, almost like we were made for each other. Could I be any more of a wimp?

The first time we were together, it was fast and furious, and I felt like I was trying
take her. This time, our movements were slow and delicious, as if I needed to savor every moment with her.

I didn’t take my eyes from Ella’s as our bodies joined in a rhythmic dance. I lost myself in the synchronized movement of our bodies, the depth of Ella’s blue eyes and our ultimate union.

  When I felt Ella tighten around me, and she cried out my name, I finally released the tension that had been building and we climaxed together.

I embraced Ella tightly as we both shuddered with afte
rshocks of our passion. After a few moments, I knew I had to let Ella go, I knew I had to withdraw and remove the condom, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay inside Ella, our bodies pressed against each other holding her tightly. It felt like it was the only place that either one of us should be.