Page 42 of All This Time (Blossom Peak #1)

Laney

Present Day

The Truth and Taking It

There it is. Everything I’ve kept buried for twelve years, just sitting between us. Fletcher stands across from me in my kitchen, his hands clenched at his sides. But the look on his face is the same one he had right before he kissed me in my office.

“So, this is why you cut me out of your life?”

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I wrap my arms around my waist. “Yes, Fletcher. You—you broke my heart on the worst night of my life, and—”

He closes the distance between us, pinning me up against the cabinets much like he did the first night he came to my house. “You listen to me, Laney Hart, and you listen good.”

I nod, frozen by the intensity of his stare.

“When you told me how you felt that night, I was shocked, but not because I didn’t feel the same way.

I was shocked and confused because, for the first time in four years, I knew that you felt the same way I did and suddenly, I had the opportunity to do something about it. ”

“Then why–”

“I just didn’t know how to act on it. There were so many things to consider, and the only thing I wanted to do was lock us in your room and worship you for hours, but I couldn’t. Your brother…”

I sigh in defeat, closing my eyes. “Are you telling me that Rhonan is the reason you ended up in the bathroom with Brittany?”

“Nothing happened with Brittany,” he declares, which makes my eyes pop open again.

“I know what I saw, Fletcher.”

“What you saw was her backing me up against the wall, dropping to her knees, and offering to suck me off after she followed me into the bathroom. But what you didn’t see was me telling her no and her slapping me across the face before storming out of the bathroom.”

My bottom lip trembles. “What?”

“Did you really think that I would want her when I could have you?”

My heart is pounding as I blink several times. “But why…why didn’t you find me and explain?”

“I didn’t know you saw us!”

“But after that night… You never talked to me about what happened between us. We never finished that conversation, and then she came up to you at the wake…”

“I tried to find you, Laney. I looked for you for almost an hour, but even Dilynne didn’t know where you went. I figured, you went to sleep or something so I’d just talk to you the next day.”

“What?”

“And then the next morning? Your mom had just died, Laney! The last thing I wanted to do was make your life more complicated at that time. And Brittany? She didn’t take no for an answer, obviously. The girl was desperate for my attention, but we were never together.”

Silence rests between us. Fletcher retreats from me, pushing his hat from his head and tossing it on the kitchen counter as he paces through the dining room.

I’m speechless. Dilynne was right.

What I saw was…not what I thought it was.

God, I think I’m going to be sick.

Fletcher glances over at me, taking in my stance as I feel myself start to crumble.

I close my eyes, trying to quell the building tears, but he rushes over, gripping my waist with one hand.

“Hey. Look at me,” he says, tipping my chin up and waiting for my eyes to open again.

When they do, the regret and sadness I see in his gaze has to be mirrored in my own.

On the one hand, my chest feels like a weight has been lifted. But on the other, I feel like so much time has passed that we’ll never get back—all because of bad timing and stubbornness on both our parts.

“This isn’t your fault. It’s mine,” he says.

“No, Fletcher,” I croak. “I’ve been so hell-bent on standing my ground, on hating you because you hurt me. And it was easier to hate you than to admit I still felt something for you… To admit that my chest still ached because I couldn’t let you go.”

“You had every right to hate me based on what you saw and how I acted, the things that I didn’t say…” He drops his forehead to mine. “I’m so fucking sorry, Laney. God, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say that enough.”

“Me too.” I swallow hard, but my next words make me even more nervous than dredging up the past. “Where… Where do we go from here, Fletcher? Everything is happening so fast that I feel like my head is spinning.”

“That’s up to you, Laney,” he says as he toys with my bottom lip. “But I know what I fucking want.”

My eyes drop down to his lips. “And what’s that?”

“You.” Simple. Direct. And everything I needed to hear from him, just twelve years later than I wanted.

“Then take me.”

Our eyes lock.

And then, we collide.

Fletcher crashes his lips to mine, pinning me against the cabinets again and then pulling me into his body.

My curves melt against him.

“Fucking hell, Laney,” he mutters between kisses.

I encourage him to keep going by trying to pull him even closer.

I wrap my leg around his hip, and he lifts me onto the counter, pressing his cock into the juncture between my thighs.

I moan as I feel him thrust his erection against me, rubbing me right where I need him. “What are you fucking doing to me?”

“I need you to fuck me, Fletcher,” I say breathlessly.

A pained groan crawls up his throat as he rests his forehead on mine. “Jesus. You have no idea how much I want to own this body, but…”

I reach down and palm him through his shorts. “I’m giving you permission. Take me. Own me.”

He tucks my hair behind my ear as he says, “You’ve owned my thoughts for so fucking long, Laney. You’ve been the star of my fucking fantasies. Do you honestly think one time will be enough to satisfy that? There will never be enough time.” He nips my bottom lip as I contemplate his words.

“No,” I admit on a whisper. “But that just means we’ll have to do it again.” And again, and again. Apparently Fletcher opened the flood gates when he gave me that first orgasm, and I don’t think there’s a limit to how many I’ll want.

“If we cross this line, Laney, there’s no going back for me.

We’re going to figure our shit out, but we’re not going to get back to the way we were—we’re going to move forward.

That’s what I fucking want.” He doesn’t allow me to reply, but it’s probably a good thing because I’m not sure what to say right now.

His eyes dip down to my lips again as he runs his thumb over them. “Are you on birth control?”

I nod. “I have an IUD.”

“Good, because I don’t want anything between us when I claim this pussy,” he says, reaching between my legs and rubbing his knuckles over my slit through my shorts before kissing me deeply again.

“Please…” I moan, closing my eyes as he continues to torture me.

“So fucking pretty when you beg,” he murmurs before leaning down to kiss me again, pulling my bottom lip between his teeth. “I want to be gentle, angel, but I can’t promise that I won’t lose a little bit of control.”

“I can take it.”

Our eyes bounce between one another’s before he takes a step back, forcing me to drop my hands from his face. With our gazes still locked, he reaches behind his neck to pull his T-shirt up over his head. “Strip, Laney.”

“But Ellis,” I say, bringing myself back to the moment and remembering that my niece could wake up at any moment, and us naked together is the last thing she should see. “She tends to be a heavy sleeper, but…”

“Shit.” He lifts me from the counter and carries me back to my bedroom, closing and locking the door behind us. “You’re gonna have to be quiet.”

“I can try.” With shaky hands, I lift my tank top over my head and throw it to the floor before reaching for the button on my shorts and popping it open, shimmying them down my legs and kicking them to the side.

Fletcher drags his hand down as he studies my body, standing before him in my plain white bra and thong. “God, you’re perfect.”

But then reality hits me. I reach down and cover my insulin pump attached to my lower stomach, but he rushes to me and covers my hand with his own. “Sorry. I know this isn’t sexy—”

He presses his fingers to my lips, silencing me. “Don’t you dare fucking apologize. If you honestly think I give a shit about that, then you don’t know me.”

“I know, it’s just—”

“This thing keeps you alive, Laney,” he says before dropping to his knees and lifting my hand from my body. He presses a kiss right below the pump. “It’s a part of you, and that means it’s perfect.”

“I’m not perfect, Fletcher.”

He stares up at me. “To me, you are.”

The last thing I want is to get emotional while this is happening, but when he says things like that, I can’t help but tear up while being reminded of the boy I handed my heart over to so long ago. Luckily, he presses his nose to my pussy and reminds my body of the main event I’m craving so badly.

“Touch me, Fletcher.” He hooks his thumbs in the strings of my thong and pulls it down my legs. “Thanks for not tearing these apart, by the way.”

“I thought about it,” he teases before pushing my legs further apart. “But the last thing I want to do is piss you off again.”

Chuckling, I watch him lean forward and drag his tongue through my slit, making me moan. “God yes…”

“Take your bra off, baby. Let me see all of you.” As he continues to torture me with his touch, I fumble behind me to unhook my bra, letting it fall to the floor.

As soon as he sees my bare breasts, he stands up and cups them in his hands.

“Jesus Christ.” His thumbs find my nipples, rubbing over them softly. “So fucking perfect.”

“Kiss me,” I say as he toys with my nipples at a torturous pace. But he listens, cupping one side of my face and reaching between my legs with his other hand as our lips meet.

He slowly parts me and slides two fingers inside me easily since my body is more than ready for this.

As our lips and tongue collide, his fingers work me over, teasing me deliciously as I widen my legs to give him better access.

“I can feel your pussy quivering around my fingers, Laney. And next, it’s going to quiver around my cock. ”

My body starts to tremble as I feel my orgasm begin to bloom, but Fletcher pulls his hand away, making me whimper. “Why’d you stop?”

He takes me by the hand and leads me over to my bed. I watch him take his shorts and underwear off, and that’s when I see his cock for the first time.

Holy shit.

He reaches down and strokes himself while cupping my face. “Don’t worry. You can take it.” Nodding slowly, I watch as he sits on the bed, leaning against the headboard and spreading his legs as his hard cock rests on his stomach. Then, he motions me to him.

“I’m ready for you, Laney. Come sit on my cock, baby.”