Missing Pieces (The Pieces Series Book 1) (18 page)

“Yep. I hope you like it.”

“I love it. It’s perfect.” I kiss his forehead and sit on the blanket. He sits, grabs a basket, and pulls out a plate of fresh strawberries, sliced peaches, and grapes. Seeing the strawberries and peaches, I giggle.

“There is that beautiful sound I love to hear but don’t get to too often.” He grabs some turkey sandwiches and two Cokes.

“Derrick’s mom wanted to apologize for her daughter’s actions.” He grabs a box and opens it. “So she made us these brownies. They are awesome.”

We have a great time, talking and laughing. Before I know it, the food is gone.

“You were right. She makes really good brownies.”

“I am always right,” he jokes

“Not always, but I will give this one to you.” I laugh and kiss him.

His tone turns serious. “Gabby, I love you. I never want to lose you.”

“Neeko, I love you, too. You have stolen my pieces so be careful when you put them back together.”

He grabs my hand and pulls me into his lap. “Baby, I am going to let your pieces fall into place. I wouldn’t want to change anything about you. Your heart is mine, and I will treat it like it’s my own.” He leans down and whispers into my ear, “And your body is also mine, and I will bring as much pleasure to it as I can.”

His words cause me to shiver. I lean into him, inhaling his scent. He takes this as his invitation to lay me on my back and kiss me deeply. I let him have control. I just want to feel his body on mine, to surrender to his touch. He says my body is his so I give it to him to do with as he pleases. He starts off slow, teasing me. He runs his hands up my thigh and slips his finger in my underwear. As soon as he touches my wetness, he growls and I moan. He takes out his finger and puts it in his mouth, sucking on it. He slides down and puts his head between my legs. I try to stop him, wanting him inside me.

He whispers, “No, Gabby. This is all about you. I will get mine later.”

He grabs my underwear and, instead of ripping them off like he usually does, he slides them down. He brings his mouth to my core, which is ready and waiting. “We have somewhere else to go and you might need them.” He chuckles and the vibration and heat from his mouth cause me to moan.

His fingers slide in me and I buck up off the blanket. He knows exactly what he is doing. He blows on me as he slides his fingers in and out. I shiver and he licks me, using his tongue as only he can. He teases my nub, and I begin to build. He goes faster with his fingers. When I am almost there, he tenderly bites my nub. I scream out and instantly orgasm. He sits up, licking his lips. He is so hot in that moment, I might get burned from being so close. He knows he makes me want him so I think a little payback is in order. I take his face in my hands so he can’t move it and lick his lips.

“Yum, I do taste good,” I say, licking my lips. His eyes turn dark with desire. He comes at me and I put my hand up.

“Don’t we have somewhere else you want to take me?”

He growls and shakes himself. “I know what you’re doing and I
will
get you back.” He chuckles darkly.

“Oh, promises, promises. I look forward to your payback.”

“Oh, you do?” He starts toward me. I giggle and start running.

He flashes in front of me. “No fair. You cheated. I bet you can’t catch me using none of your magic.”

“Game on.” I take off as fast as I can. I get a few feet and feel arms wrap around me, picking me up.

“Got you, baby.” He lays me down on the purple rose petals and kisses me. “You can run from me, but I will always find you and bring you back.” His tone is husky, making me breathless. The feel of his breath on my face gives me goose bumps. His closeness is making my heart beat in overdrive. He leans down and is inches from my lips. I anticipate his warm kiss. I close my eyes, waiting. Instead of his warm lips, I feel something smooth. I open my eyes to him staring down at me, tracing my lips with a rose petal.

“I can look at you all day. Your lips are so soft.” He leans in and sucks my bottom lip. He uses the rose petal to trace down my neck. “I love the noises you make.” He uses his tongue to lick my neck and then nips, causing me to moan. “I love the freckles on your shoulder.” He brushes them with the rose petal, then kisses them. He traces down to my hands. “These hold my heart.” He places a kiss on my palm. He lifts my shirt and swirls the petal on my belly. “Hopefully, one day, this is going to hold my children. If the gods allow.” He nips my belly. He moves up to my bra and traces circles around my nipples. “I love the way these perk up with my very touch.” He bites them through my bra.

I moan. “Neeko, you’re driving me insane.”

“Payback, baby.”

“Well, I love this type of payback.”

He traces my legs and top of my feet. He then goes to my thighs. “I love the way your legs wrap around me when we make love.” My muscles clench and moisture pools between my legs. He puts the rose petal down on my wetness. “And this... I love that it’s always ready for me.” I squirm beneath him. He gets up and puts his hands out to help me up.

“Huh?” I look dumbfound, my forehead wrinkled

“Oh, you thought...?” He laughs. “That was payback, baby. You’ll have to wait for more later. I have somewhere I want to take you.”

“I don’t want to wait.” I poke out my bottom lip and give him my best sad expression that I can. 

He pulls me into him and looks straight into my eyes. “There is the Gabby that I love. I thought I had lost you.”

I roll my eyes at him. “You never lost me. I just lost some of myself, but you helped me find it again.”

Neeko

––––––––

I
wake her up the only way I know how...kissing. I have so much planned. I watch as she gets dressed, making sure there is no sign of her running. She tells me she is sorry, but there is not much emotion in it. She is trying to convince me she is ok, but I can clearly see there isn’t much light in her eyes. I am hoping this picnic will help with that.

I flash us to the field I had Derrick fix up. It is even better than I imagined it. The flowers are perfect and so is our quilt. I love having someone to share things with.

“Ireland?” she asks.

“Yep. I hope you like it.”

“I love it. It’s perfect.” She kisses me and sits on the blanket. I join her and grab the basket, pulling out our food. She laughs when she sees the strawberries.

We finish off all our food and then have a little fun. After she takes off running, I catch her easily. After teasing her a bit,
my
payback, I tell her she has to wait for more because I have somewhere I want to take her. I want to finish her list.

“I don’t want to wait.” She pokes her bottom lip out and flutters her eyelashes. I am so happy to have the old Gabby back.

“Close your eyes. I have something I want to show you.” She closes her eyes, but her body is tense. Here we go. There’s no turning back now. I take a deep breath and wipe my palms off before I grasp her hands and flash us to her apartment. I had Derrick fix this up for me. I didn’t want her to have a clue. I hit PLAY on her iPod.
All Of Me
by John Legend starts up. She opens her eyes, smiling at me.

“What...?”

I hold up my hand to quiet her, and I start singing. I get down on one knee and hold out a ring. “Gabby, I will give you all of me. I hope you will give me all of you. Will you marry me?” Tears drop from her eyes as the rest of the song plays behind us. “I thought that since this was your home, it would be the perfect place to ask you to be my wife. We are two missing pieces from the same puzzle. Let’s make this puzzle whole.”

I chose her house because I want her to know she is my home. She is my everything. She completes me. I chose the song because it says it all. I love all of her pieces, even the ones that are broken. I will give her all of me and I hope she will do the same. I am sweating, waiting for her response. I have messed up so much in the past few months. I hope she can see through that and still love me.

Gabby

––––––––

W
e kiss and he asks me to close my eyes. I wonder what he is up to. I feel the sensation of flashing, then hear music. It is the most beautiful song. I open my eyes and look around. We are at my apartment. There are purple rose petals sprinkled all over the floor, and lavender candles make everything smell wonderful. I begin to speak, but he shushes me. He starts to sing, making tears come to my eyes. He gets down on one knee, holding out a ring. The song is still playing in the background.

“Gabby, I will give you all of me. I hope you will give me all of you. Will you marry me?” he asks, his hand over his heart.

I stare at his blue eyes, trying to let my love for this man shine through. “Yes, Neeko. Anywhere you are is my home.” I begin to cry. He looks relieved, then joyful. He slides the ring on my finger. It has a penny-sized purple stone. Ok, so I may be exaggerating, but it’s pretty big. I hug and kiss him. I look down at the ring and twirl it on my finger. How can this be happening to me? I am so happy.

“Now, take me home and make love to your fiancé.” I hold out my hand for him and he flashes us home.

W
ow, yesterday really happened. I look at my ring and smile. After Lee, I never thought I would love again and here I am, more in love than ever. I have to start planning a wedding. I’m so giddy. I get dressed and head downstairs to the kitchen to get a snack, and hear a commotion outside. I look out the window and see a bunch of people gathered around. I head outside to see what is going on, and see Derrick in jogging pants. I walk over to him. “What’s going on?”

“We are getting ready to play some ball.”

“Like baseball?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Can girls play?”

Rebecca speaks up, “Of course.”

“Ok, I want to play.”

“You can be on my team.” Derrick grins.

“Why?” I ask, curious.

He laughs. “Neeko is on the other team.”

“Do you think he will go easier on you if I am on your team?”

“No, but you should distract him.”

We head for the middle of the field in the backyard. They have it marked and have bases set out. I wonder when they did that. Derrick said we take the field first so I run to the outfield and Derrick joins me. The first batter up is Neeko, and Derrick chuckles. “He is going to hit it toward you. Watch.” 

He hits it and it comes barrelling at me. It is going to go over my head. I jump up and catch it, doing a backflip and landing on my feet. I look and Neeko has already made it home. Derrick is the first to start laughing. I just look down at the ball. Was I not supposed to catch it? I look at Derrick, who is looking at Neeko so I peek. He is staring at me, wide-eyed, like he didn’t expect me to catch it. Does
everyone
underestimate me?

I blink and Neeko has flashed in front of me. I look at his face to judge his mood, but it tells me nothing. “Was I not supposed to get you out?”

Instead of answering me, he grabs the ball and throws it to the pitcher. Then he breaks out in a laugh. “Nice backflip, babe.” Then he flashes back to their side. I stand there, stunned. What was that? 

They get three runs before we get them out. Derrick is the first up for our side. He hits it into right field and gets to second. I look for Neeko and see him in left field. He notices me staring at him and waves. Rebecca is their pitcher, which is a little funny because I didn’t see her as a big ball player. When it’s my turn, I swallow. I’ve never been good at baseball. I don’t know how I even caught the ball. I walk up to the plate. The ball comes at me in slow motion. I swing.
BOOM!
I run, not looking at where I hit it. I get back to home plate and look back to see if I am safe. I see Neeko and everyone else staring at me. What did I do wrong now?