Stay With Me (21 page)

The longest six days of my life.

I look over at the alarm clock; 6:30 in the morning.  I flop back down, now ticked off that I woke up this early.  It’s a shame I’m not the type of person that can go back to sleep when they wake up.  Lucky me.  I stretch and swing my legs over the side of the bed,  That’s when I realize how damp my panties are.  Unbelievable; I almost got off in one of my dreams.  How embarrassing.  I decide I need a shower after that one.  I stalk off to the bathroom.

It’s been almost a week since I’ve heard or seen Donovan.  I’ve been doing nothing but trying to analyze our relationship.  Mom has told me countless times to reconsider making him wait so long.  When I’ve talked to Livey, she’s always got that “gut feeling” that we’ll get back together.  Jon says it’s my decision and if I want, he can kick his ass.  Of course, I decline for the ass kicking part.  

My heart is still as torn as it was the first day.  I thought it would get easier with each passing day, but it’s worse.  I haven’t gone anywhere at all, other than get Jackson.  Jon and his family came over here when my son was over and the boys had a blast.  Hanging out with Jodi was good for me, too.  I really did miss my family, more than I ever thought possible.  It’s almost enough to make me want to move back.  But I know I need to finish PA school before I can do that.  Besides, if Donovan and I work out, then who knows what will happen?

As I step into the warm shower, my thoughts turn toward the package I received the same day I last saw Donovan.  It’s sitting on my dresser, closed.

Your time is almost up.

What did that mean?  My only thought would be Claire, but since she’s in jail, how would she be able to send that?  Don’t they check everything that goes in and out of prison?  If it’s not her, who could it be?  I don’t know a lot of people in Georgia, especially ones that want to threaten me.  Could it be Regina, Claire’s sister?  I suppose it could be, but it would still be indirectly coming from Claire.  How would she even know I was here?  Why would she send it here in the first place?  

That’s when it occurs to me; I have to talk to Donovan about this.  He’s the only one that can give me some insight to this.  I turn off the water, step out and dry myself off.  After getting dressed, I sit on the edge of my bed with my phone in my hand.  I stare at the screen, actually nervous about talking to him.  It’s so early in the morning; 7:00.  I know he’s probably awake, getting ready for his day at the Bayside clinic.  I take in a deep breath, unlock the screen and scroll through until I find his number.  As I hit ‘call’, I let all the air out of my lungs.  It rings one time.

“Allie?”

“Hi.” It’s the only word I can form. So many emotions run through me when he says my name; anger, hurt, excitement, nervousness.  I can’t pinpoint which one I feel the most.

“How are you?”  He seems as awkward as I do.

“I’m okay, we still need to talk, but I have a question for you first.  Do you know how Claire would get my mother’s address?”

There’s a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone, then a long pause.  “I have no idea.  What happened?  Are you okay?”  The panic is apparent in his voice.

“I got this package from Georgia on Sunday, the day you...left.  It was a small hourglass and the note said ‘Your time is almost up’.  What is that supposed to mean?” I glare at the tiny package, looming over me like a dark cloud.  

“An hourglass?  What color is it?”

“Uh, it’s black and it’s really small.  What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because, as weird as it may sound, I don’t think this was Claire’s doing.  She wouldn’t be able to have something like that in her cell.  The person I’m thinking of collects small knick knacks like that from her trips around the world, like thimbles, postcards, and including hourglasses.”

“I don’t know anyone from there, except you, Livey and your...family.” I almost drop the phone.  I know Donna hates me, but would she stoop to this level?

“Exactly.  For whatever reason, Donna doesn’t want us to be together. She thinks Claire and I are meant to be.  I haven’t figured it out yet; it just doesn’t make any sense.  The only way I know is that I called Megan when I was driving up to Virginia and I told her you came home.”  He lets out a sigh.  “She must have told Dad, and in turn, he must have told Donna.  I can’t think of anyone else that would want to upset you like that.”

It makes sense to me.  “She’s hated me since day one, now I
know
she wants you with Claire.  Maybe I should just let you...” I can’t finish.

“No, Allie.  Don’t do this to us, please.  I don’t want her, I swear to you.  It’s you I want and I will walk into the pits of hell just to see you again.  I don’t want anyone else, ever.”  I can hear the tears choking him, and it’s heart shattering.

“Donovan, being with me is obviously putting you in a bad situation that is only bound to get worse.  Why do you even want to go through that?”  I hang my head, trying not to let me grief for him take over me.  I don’t want to lose him, but I can’t let him go through all this.

“Because...I love you.  I don’t want to spend another minute of my life without you.  I need you more than I need air to live.  I don’t want to go through this life without you in it.” His words come fast and furious, like he’s never going to speak to me again and needs to get it all out.

My mouth drops and I gasp for a breath.  “What did you say?”

“What part?” I hear him chuckle a little beneath the sadness.  

“You know which part, Donovan James Callahan.”  My heart drops into my stomach..

“I love you, Allison Marie Marshall.  I should have told you before all this went down.  I held it in, worried about telling you and you running off.  If I would have told you all of this before, maybe you wouldn’t have left me standing there.”

“You...love me?” I’m in disbelief.  “If you loved me, why did you lie?”  The conversation has turned from hearing the words I longed to say, to the betrayal I feel.  

There’s a long pause.  “I’ve told you, whether or not you believe me is another story.  I didn’t want you to think of me as this guy that just fucked whoever he wanted.  I’m not like that anymore.  “Maybe in the past, but not anymore.  That all changed when I met you.”  I picture him running his hand through his hair right now.  “I just didn’t want you to think less of me because I did what I did.  What happened was stupid and I regret ever sleeping with Claire.  But I can’t take it back, and I can’t take back sleeping with those other women.  All I can do now is look towards the future, and I can’t picture it without you in it.”

“I’m coming home today, can I see you then?” I whisper, unable to speak any louder than this.  I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me, and right now, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“What time are you leaving?”

“My flight leaves at four.”

“Can I just drive you home instead?” I hear the smirk in his question.

“What?  What do you mean?” I stumble.  No way’s he’s still in Lynchburg.

“I’m already on the way to your mom’s house, be there in ten.”  I nod my head, as if he can see me.

“You mean...you stayed this whole time?  Why?”

“You know the answer to that, Allie.  I waited for you to call, so I could be there.  I called Livey and asked when you were supposed to come home, so I booked my hotel until today.  I’ve already checked out, so I have no place to go but either home, or to you.”

“Where are you right now?” My heart is racing, just like the first time he kissed me.  

“Some road called Village Highway.  Like I said, see you in five.”  

With that he hangs up.  I lay the phone down on the bed.  That’s when I realized I’m still in just a towel, so I rush to throw some clothes on.  I grab a pair of pink shorts and a white tank top.  I throw my hair into a bun and take a quick glance in the mirror.  I look at the reflection and groan.  It looks like I’ve lost a few pounds, not that I’m really complaining about it, and I have dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep.  I hear the tires run over the gravel and I rush out the front door to meet him.

My heart goes from my stomach to my throat when I see Donovan step out of the car. The morning is foggy from the humidity, but I can make him out perfectly.  His hair is tousled and the stubble on his jawline is overgrown.  He has on black basketball shorts with a red Nike t-shirt.   He starts to come around the car, then stops in front of the hood.  His eyes are red and he looks tired, but he’s still as beautiful as ever.  He crosses his legs at his ankles and folds his arms across his chest.  My arms wrap around my waist, only to restrict myself from running and hugging the life out of him.

We stare at each other for what seems like hours, not moving or speaking.  It’s like we’re trying to memorize each other’s features like it’s our last time seeing each other.  He breaks the silence first.

“I’ve missed you.”  The blue in his eyes still dazzle; damn him for being so sexy when I look like a complete mess.

I don’t say anything; I just keep my eyes locked on his.  God, I missed this man.  Seeing him is exactly what I needed, and now knowing that he loves me, makes me love him even more.

“Allie, I wanted to tell you about all this for so long.  It was killing me inside, holding my past back from you.”  He runs both his hands through his chocolate brown hair.  “I swear to you, there will be no more lies.  I know I have to earn your trust back, and I will die trying.”  He takes a tentative step towards me.  That’s when I break out into a run, straight to him.  

I slam my body against his, wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.  I smash my lips to his, my tongue forcing his lips open.  He doesn’t miss a beat; he grips my back with one arm and puts the other one under my butt.  It’s just like the movies, when the lead couple are reunited after months or years of not seeing each other.

His lips move from my mouth to my neck, trailing wet kisses up and down.  Every single nerve on my body comes alive and I realized how much I missed this man, missed his touch, missed everything about him.  A moan escapes my mouth as he pulls me closer to him.  My body yearns for his; actually, it’s begging for it.  I don’t know how I was able to deny myself from him for this long.  Our bodies are like two pieces of a jigsaw that fit perfectly together.  

I release my legs from his waist, take his hands, and lead him back to the house.  I place my finger over my mouth, giving him the universal ‘be quiet’ signal.  He slips his shoes off and we tiptoe down the hall, back to my room.  I peep into Mom’s room to make sure she’s still asleep.  I don’t care that I’m an adult, it stills feels wrong to have a guy in my room under her roof.  At this moment in time, I don’t care.  I have to have him.

When we get to my bedroom, I silently shut and lock the door.  Within two seconds, we are right back to where we started.  I claw at his shirt, struggling to get it over his head.  My hands slide over his abs and it sends the familiar shivers up my spine.  The feel of his skin against the palm of my hand sends shock waves through my body, and I cannot get enough of him.  I finally get his shirt off, then he starts pulling at my tank top.  It’s like we can’t get each other naked fast enough.  We slip off our shorts at the same time and simultaneously throw them across the room.  Now, we’re down to nothing but our underwear and I desperately want him out of his.

“Oh, God,,” Donovan breathes into my ear, right before I bend down to slide his boxers off.  He springs free and he’s probably the hardest he’s ever been, and I’ve hardly even touched him yet.  I stand back up, brushing my breasts against his erection and a groan rolls off his tongue.  As soon as I stand straight up, he cups my face and runs his thumbs across my cheekbones.  

“I’ve missed every part of you.” He slowly plants kisses on my forehead, cheeks and jaw.  This is total change-up from the hot and heavy moaning and groaning just a minute ago.  This is sweet, tender, and it melts my heart.  “I haven’t been able to sleep or eat these last six days.  It’s been pure hell, and I never want to go through that again.”  He gently kisses my lips and I know right then, regardless of what tries to tear us apart, we will fight for each other.  I close my eyes and I feel my heart pound against my chest walls.  He moves from my lips from mine down to my neck, causing tiny goose bumps to appear on my arms.

“I don’t want to be apart from you either.  I only did it because I needed to know that you were the one I couldn’t live without.  The last few days have been a blur without you.  The only good thing about it all of this was the time I spent with Jackson.” My heart hurts when I think I have to leave him again to go back to school.  “He asked about you.”

His lip stop kissing my neck for just a moment and I feel the smile against my skin.  “We’ll see him before we leave, don’t worry.”  He hugs me tighter to him, and it’s like he can read my mind, knowing I need his support and love right now.  Then he starts back to where he left off and I focus on him and nothing but him.

Chapter 30

We wrap each other in a sensual hug, our hands slowly running up and down each other’s backs.  We stand like this for just a few minutes, then our magnetism begins to pulsate again.  Our gentle touching turns into all out groping and fondling each other.  He backs up, pulling me with him, then he sits on the bed.  Without a word, I sit on top of him with my legs bent by his sides.  I pull myself up so that I’m sitting right on top of his rock hard bulge.  Judging by the look in his eyes, he’s realized just how much I’ve really missed him.