The Choice (3 page)

Less than ten minutes after
Drake hung up with Sophie, we’re making a mad dash to the hospital. Smiling widely behind the wheel of his black Mercedes, Drake weaves in and out of traffic seamlessly. I have to admit that after I’d heard about the accident, I wasn’t sure if this call would ever come. Now that it has, I allow myself a big sigh of relief. Not just for Chase and Drake, but for Sophie. If he hadn’t pulled through… well, I don’t want to think about what that would have done to her.

Looking over at Drake now as we
make our way to the place we’d call our second home for no telling how long, my heart aches. I’d hoped we’d get our shit together by now, but we haven’t, and it sucks.

Things have been amicable between us while I
’ve been staying at his house. In fact, last night we fell asleep together on his couch and it was the best I’ve slept in weeks.

H
owever, when morning came, I woke to find him dressed and ready to go back to the hospital. I tried to talk to him over breakfast, but got nowhere. I’ve been replaying the conversation in my head since, but it does nothing but make me feel more confused.

“Drake,” I started quietly. “Can we talk?”

“You can always talk to me, Analise. Why would you even ask me that?” The exhaustion was making him irritable, but I tried not to take it personally.

“Things are…different now.”

“They don’t have to be,” he said quietly.

“Drake…”

“I’m just stating the obvious,” he said as he leaned his elbow on the table and rubbed his eyes. I let out a frustrated sigh and he turned his head to look at me. “What? I am. You decided this is what you wanted, Analise.”

“No, I didn’t. You can blame this on me all you want,” I said gesturing between us. “
But I didn’t break up with you, Drake. You left me.”

“I didn’t
want…”

“Then you shouldn’t have, Drake. You shouldn’t have left. We could have talked about it. We could have come to some kind of compromise.
Instead you walked out, blamed the whole thing on me and never even thought about what you were asking from me!”

“I was asking you to move in with me!”

“No! You were asking me to choose between you and a promise I made to my brother, Drake! What the hell was I supposed to do?”

“That’s bullshit and you know it!”

“No! What’s bullshit is telling someone you love them and then forcing an ultimatum on them based on assumptions!”

“I didn’t…”
he starts before releasing a deep breath of frustration himself. This is so not how I saw this conversation going. “I can’t do this right now.” Tears are rimming his tired eyes while mine have begun flowing freely. “Please Baby?”

“I’m sorry,” I choke. “
I don’t want to fight with you. I didn’t mean for it to turn into that,” I said, swiping my tears away as he raised his eyes to meet mine. Unable to meet his gaze again without breaking down completely, I grabbed my coffee cup from the table and made my way to the sink. When I felt him walk up behind me, I kept my eyes trained on anything but him.

“
Analise,” he whispers.

“
We should head out.”

“Wait
Analise,” he says, grabbing my elbow gently as I triy to move past him. His touch sends waves of sensation through my body. The tears are threatening again and I know one word will be my undoing, so I simply shook my head without facing him. “Damn it, Baby. Look at me. Please.” Taking a deep breath, I risk a glance at him. Before the first tear is able to make its way down my cheek, he pulls me to his chest and mine begins to shake with sobs. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry.” His plea only makes me cry harder. 

“I don’t know what to do, Drake. I won’t break my promise to him
, but I can’t handle living without you. I’m fucked no matter what I do!” His grip on me tightens as I fell apart in his arms.

“No, you aren’t,” he whispers as he kisses
the top of my head. “We’ll figure everything out. Let me get through this and we’ll figure it out, okay?”

“How?”

“I don’t know, Baby, but we will,” he promises as he pulls away and looks down at me. He gently wipes the tears away and kisses me on the temple before taking my hand, leading me into the bedroom to dress for the day.   

That was the last mention of “us.”

***

I can’t believe he woke up! Of course, this is what I’ve been praying for since last night, but if I’m being honest, I had no idea if it would happen. He looked awful when I pulled him from his truck and his chances didn’t look good based on what the doctors have been saying. I know we’re not out of the woods yet by any means, but he’s awake and Sophie seemed happy when she called so I’ll take it.

Looking over at
Analise, I can’t keep the smile off my face. Things are so awkward between us right now and I hate it, but God I’m glad she’s here with me right now. We’ll get our shit together, we have to. Once I find out what’s going on with Chase and he’s in the clear, I’ll focus on us.

The past few weeks without her have been torture a
nd I made the decision this morning when I woke up with her on the couch that I’m done with being without her. I’m done missing her. I’m just done. I don’t care if the entire city of Rockport moves in with us today and never moves out.

Analise
is mine and I’m not letting her go.

The wind coming in from outside is causing wisps of her chocolate hair to
scatter across her features. I swear she’s never been more beautiful to me. Maybe it’s the emotion tied to my heart, but I don’t think so.

They say time heals all things
, but that’s bullshit.

Time without her has healed nothing
, but it sure has hell has put a few things into perspective.

I pull into the parking garage at the hospital and
look at the clock on my phone. We still have an hour before they’ll let us up. In our rush, we’ve completely forgotten that visiting hours will still apply no matter what’s going on with Chase.

I look over at
Analise and catch her gazing out in front of her through the windshield. She’s nervous.

I reach for her hand on the seat and she looks up at me, surprise breaking through her features. I know I need to say something. I know I need to thank her for being here for me. I need to tell her I miss her, I love her. I need to say something
, but words escape me when I see her grey orbs staring into my soul like this.

She looks just as lost for words as I feel.

Fuck this.

I lean across the seat towards her and closing the distance, I place my hand on her neck and pull her to me and place my lips on hers for the first time in weeks. I’m not sure how she’ll react at first
, but the low whimper that escapes her is perfect.

God
, I love this woman.

What started out as a chaste kiss is quickly turning into an inferno and it’s taking everything inside me to keep from jumping her in the front seat of my car.
She’s turned her body in the seat so that’s she’s facing me now and her hands are gripping the front of my shirt. She’s clawing at me ruthlessly and knowing I can still take her as I wish makes me kiss her even more fiercely.

As soon as she slips her fingertips underneath the front of my shirt, I let out a guttural groan that has her panting against my lips. Her eyes meet mine and I reluctantly still my lips, searching her gaze.

“Drake?” The emotion in her voice both kills me and sends a thrill up my spine at the same time.

“
Analise,” I whisper against her lips, still searching her face.

“I don’t … I’m so … I can’t …”

She never stammers, but she’s stammering like a motherfucker right now. I feel what I want to say, but the words still aren’t there. She places her head against my shoulder and struggles to focus before I pull her eyes back to mine.

“What do you want, Baby?”
I ask as I see the tears threatening to fall. She looks at me for another moment before she speaks.

“The same thing I’ve always wanted, Drake,” she whispers. “I just want you.”

“Analise, you have me, Baby,” I say as I stroke her cheeks clean of tears.

“But I can’t…” she starts.

“No buts. I can’t do this anymore, Analise,” I cut her off. “The thought of not being with you like this again, of someone else touching you, being inside you,” her breathing stills as the shock of my admission spreads immediately over her features. “God, it’s killing me. You’re mine and I don’t care about anything else as long as that’s still true.”

“I’ve always been yours, Drake,” she whispers into my ear as she hugs me close to her. “That never changed and it won’t. We still have to talk …”

“No, we don’t. Not right now anyway. I don’t care where we live or who lives with us, as long as you’re with me.”

I pull away from her to search her eyes again and combined with the tears, I also see a little shock.

“Drake, are you saying …”

“
Break-up over,” I tell her. “It was a stupid fucking idea in the first place. I can’t live without you, Analise.”

She assaults my lips in the next instant and pulls me down to her until I’m resting between her thighs and pushing her up against the window.
I’m starving and the only thing that will satiate my hunger is being inside this woman. I run my hand beneath her shirt and grip her waist tightly, pulling a low moan from her mouth as I bite onto her lower lip.

She’s panting heavily and although I know we need to get in
to check on Sophie and wait for Chase, I can’t stop. I want her. I
need
her.

She runs her hand up to the back of my neck and tugs me there gently, causing me to groan into her mouth. In the next instant, she’s pulling my head back harder and forcing me away from her.

“Don’t you
ever
do that to me again, Drake! Do you hear me?” she’s pissed, but I can see the relief hiding in her eyes as the tears still swim on the surface.

“I won’t, Baby,” I say quietly against her lips, kissing her chastely. I run my fingertips across her cheek tenderly and search her eyes again, trying to show her the regret in mine. “I’m so sorry,
Analise. I promise I’ll never do that again.”

“You
already have everything I can give you, Drake. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m yours completely, but I won’t turn my back on Sophie. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it, but ...”

“Take it,” I interrupt her. “You’re mine.” Her eyes soften and she nods slightly. “Tell me you’re mine
, Baby.”

“I’
m yours,” she says without hesitation. “Please tell me you love me.”

“I love you,
Analise,” I promise immediately. Finally, the tears she’s been holding back break free and her chest begins to rack with stifled sobs. I sit up and adjust the seat, pulling her to my lap until she’s straddling me. “I love you so much, Baby.”

Before I can speak again, her lips are crashing against mine again as she rests her hands against
the back of my neck. I hold her as close to me as I can, supporting her with one hand in her hair and the other gripping her by the waist.

I run my hand down and grip her ass roughly
and pull a loud moan from her lips.

“How long do we have,” she says huskily against my mouth.

“Baby, it’s been weeks since I was inside you. I won’t need long,” I admit. With that, I reach under her skirt and rip the thong from her skin.

***

As I feel the lace rip from my skin, I’
m instantly set on fire. Drake’s mouth is everywhere I’ve wanted it in the past weeks. His finger slips into my drenched opening and he lets out a loud growl of pleasure that sends chills up my spine.

My hands fly to his jeans and I scramble to open them as he continues to assault me with his lips on my neck. Freeing him, I run my hand up his rock hard shaft before I raise my hips up slightly to allow him
space to push inside me.

“Did you fuck anyone else,
Analise?” he says, holding my eyes.

“No,” I promise him, shaking my head immediately.

As he
plunges into me, we hold our gazes, both releasing a breath of relief before he begins to move inside me.

“Fuck Baby! I missed you
so fucking bad!” he grounds out as he slams into me ruthlessly.

“I’m
yours, Drake,” I whimper against his mouth as I slip my hands behind him and grip onto the headrest for leverage.

“Yes
,” he growls, gripping my hair into his hand and pulling me away from him slightly to look me in my eyes. “You’re mine. You belong to me, don’t you, Analise?”

“Yes,” I gasp as he plunges deeper.

“I own you, don’t I Baby?”

“Yes, Drake,” I say as I fl
oat higher into the oblivion. I see the mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he grips my hair harder and pulls me forward, forcing his tongue into my waiting mouth. The action pulls a loud moan from my chest.

“Take your shirt off
,” he orders gently and I immediately pull the t-shirt I’m wearing over my head without hesitation. He pushes me back against the steering wheel as he pulls the cup of my bra down off of my breast and sucks my nipple into his mouth. His hips are bucking wildly against me and I’m barely conscious of anything but his thick cock driving into me right now. “You like being fucked in this car, don’t you Baby?”

“Yes!” I breathe.

“You’d let me fuck you anywhere, wouldn’t you Analise?”

“Yes!” I shout into the car and his hand reaches up to grip my shoulder, pulling me further down onto him.

“Good girl,” he hisses through his teeth as his gaze goes between my eyes and my breasts which are now bouncing freely in front of him. “I can feel you clenching, Ana,” he grounds out as he takes my other nipple between his teeth, making my eyes roll back in ecstasy.

His mouth is fucking amazing.

“You feel so good, Drake!”

“Look at me,” he orders and I immediately raise my gaze back to his. “Show me who you belong to, Baby. Come on me,
Analise.”

With those words, I’m done for. Screaming his name into the darkness of the car, I come apart. Before I can finish, he’s driving into me with renewed force as his eyes stay locked on mine. Within moments, he’s emptying into me and leaning his head back against the headrest as his hands stay planted on my hips tightly.

Catching his breath, he greedily runs his eyes over my body before leaning up to plant light kisses over my nipples and finding my gaze.

“I love you, Baby,” he pants as he reaches for my neck and pulls me forward to plant another kiss on my mouth.

“I love you, too,” I whisper against his lips and rest my hands on his chest, content for the first time in weeks as he rests inside me and runs his lips over my neck.

Hearing voices in the parking lot, Drake replaces the cups of my bra over my nipples as I sit up slightly to recover my shirt and slip it on.

“Are you getting shy on me?” I tease playfully and he smiles back at me as he shakes his head slightly.

“No,” he laughs lightly as he palms my breasts again. “These are just for my eyes only.”

“Agreed,” I smile and dip my head to kiss him lightly on the lips again. “I missed you so much.”

“I know, Baby. I missed you like crazy,
too,” he whispers against my mouth and pushes the hair away from my face and holding my eyes for a moment before speaking again. “I guess we better get inside.”

“Okay,” I say
as I lift myself from him and make my way to my side of the car, watching him fix his jeans. My destroyed panties are still sitting on the console where they’d landed. As my eyes find them, I feel the heat rise into my cheeks. He grins wickedly at me before picking them up, bringing them to his nose and breathing in my scent. He groans in approval before placing them in his jacket pocket and making my jaw drop slightly.

I couldn’t speak if I had to right now.

“Come on, Love,” he chuckles slightly. “We better get in there before I take you again.”

Without another word, he steps out of the car and leaves me sitting there, gaping like a moron. Seconds later, my door opens and he’s looking down at me with a wicked smirk.

“Are you coming, Analise?”

I nod dumbly and he extends his hand, helping me from the car and shutting the door behind me. As I prepare to step away from him, he grabs me roughly and pushes me back against the frame of the car, grabs my chin and kisses me forcefully while I melt into the medal.

When he pulls away, I’m stuck in place and panting all over again as he leads me towards the elevator.

God I missed him.