Love Reunion: Entwined Hearts Christmas Novella Read online

  “I didn’t do too badly myself, Con, never doubt that. Some would say that I’m the one that got the better deal.”

  “Then they’d be wrong.” My words come out harsher than I meant them to, but luckily my girl knows me, and that just makes her smile as a lone happy tear sails down her cheek. I mop it up with a tender kiss. “You gave me this one,” I say with a nod to Olivia just as she slaps my mouth with her hand, and I blow a raspberry on her palm. “You gave me that one,” I say nodding to a photo of Eleanor. Then I lean forward. “You gave me you,” I whisper the words across her lips. “One day, when it’s my time, I’ll die a happy man, baby, because you gave me everything I’ve ever wanted. You make my days happy, you give me life, Pearson.” I hold her as she wars with her emotions, and Olivia helps by saying ‘mama’ over and over again. Finally, Pea pulls away and reaches up on her tiptoes kissing Olivia first, then me.

  When we go back downstairs, I wander over to Libby and hand Olivia over. Then quickly turning to the stereo, I put a track on before pulling Pea to me.

  “What are you doing?” She giggles.

  “Dancing with my wife,” I tell her.

  Nobody is surprised by our impromptu moment. As Robert Palmer – She Makes My Day starts playing, I clutch my wife to my chest, staring into her eyes, knowing I’m lucky and still completely in love, and I do that until the last note rings out.

  I jolt awake and sit up straight. Internally, my body continues swaying long after I’ve become still. Rubbing my face, I wonder why I woke with such a start. Glancing at the clock tells me it’s only just after six am, which makes me groan. I tried to sleep last night. For hours I tossed and turned, but I couldn’t pull my mind from Soph and the valley that now exists between us. I asked our family to come back, and I don’t regret that. Although, I wish it was me alone, that I was enough to bring Soph back. But I miss my family, and I know she does too. In all the years we’ve been together, all the happiness we’ve shared—me, Soph, and our friends—it just strikes me as typical that this is the year everyone chose to leave, and at the same time, this is the year that everything fell down around me. I miss them, but I never wanted to ask them to come back. I didn’t want to put that pressure on them.

  A noise at the door has me quickly jumping out of bed and tugging on some joggers. I pad across the hotel room and swing the door open, forgoing the use of the peephole.

  “Soph,” I murmur her name, wondering if I’ve had so little sleep that I’m imagining her standing here in front of me.

  “I’m s-sorry for waking you.” The wobble in her voice throws me. She used to be so strong, and I know we haven’t spoken, really spoken, for a while, but I’m only just starting to realise that I haven’t taken the time to notice the fear and insecurity that has burrowed inside her. Before I get a chance to reply, she continues stumbling over her words. “I needed to…w-wanted to… I had to come.” She can’t hide the desperation in her voice, and I’m stuck, frozen in place. She’s scaring me, this nervous woman isn’t my Soph.

  “Baby.” Those two syllables hold all my love for her in its purest form, burning at the core of me and shining through in that one tender word.

  Soph collapses against me, falling forward and sobbing as she breaks, finally letting it all go. I bend and lift her into my arms, cradling her against my chest… against my heart.

  “Shhh…” I breathe the calming word into her hair and then inhale her scent. I never knew you could miss a smell so much, but you can, immensely.

  I carry Soph to my bed and hold her quietly, allowing her to release all the emotion she’s built up and held onto for months now. Time blurs as I comfort my wife, closing my eyes and soaking her in. I’m grateful that finally, I feel complete again.

  It takes nearly forty minutes for Soph to calm down, and she seems to have gathered just enough courage to finally open up.

  “It was hard for me. Harder than I ever thought it would be, and worse, I let it affect us. I let it come between us. I did that. Me.” As Soph finally tells me what I already knew, I can see her shoulders sagging as she speaks, almost like she’s deflating as she exorcises the demons from within.

  I pull her face toward me and gently stroke her wet cheek. “You can’t shoulder all that’s happened. We’ve both played a part, it won’t help either of us pinpointing blame on ourselves or one another. I’m only thankful that you’ve decided to talk to me. I didn’t mind waiting until you were ready, my worse fear was that you would never be ready. That you’d give up, and that was tearing me apart. Not being able to reach you… I have to admit, baby, it fucked with my head.” I swallow down the fear that has been growing inside me for these past few months. “It’s always been us. Then, it just wasn’t anymore.” I share the pain with her. “You closed yourself off, and I’ll be honest, it scared the shit out of me.”

  Soph closes her eyes, but I can still feel the anguish rolling off her. “You came back to me, baby.” I run my thumb across her soft lips and her eyes spring open, there’s a sheen of tears ready to spill over again. “Fuck Soph, I love you.”

  She hiccups and throws her arms around my neck, pulling my head alongside hers. “I’m so glad you allowed me to come home to you, Saul. I love you more than anything, and I promise I’ll never hurt you like this again.”

  I close my eyes and exhale a hard breath as she recites those words in my ear. I’ve waited so long for her to say them, and even though it’s been a tough time, and we’ve both lost our way, I still know her, I still love her, and I still trust her. I’m not stupid, we’ll have to work on our relationship. I never want us to venture back to this dark place again. But now, I know we’ll do it together, and my muscles relax for the first time in months.

  I let my hands wander under her silky top and cup one of her braless breasts. Soph gasps and that single sound causes my cock to throb. It may not be right, maybe it’s too soon, but I fucking need her and after months of just me and my hand, I’m gonna fucking take her. I’m going to reclaim what’s always been mine.

  “Tell me you want this.” The hunger gives my voice a gravelly edge.

  Soph leans back, bringing both of her hands to the sides of my neck, while she stares at me for a moment. “I’ve always wanted you.”

  Her admission makes me growl, and I capture her mouth, seizing it, claiming it, owning it once again.

  The hole in my heart is healing. For so long I’ve felt hollow inside, denying my pain and pushing everyone away, then recognising it but being too proud to share my feelings. Bravery is a trait I’ve been sorely lacking lately, but I’m back, fighting once again for what I want. What I need. Saul. He’s the missing pieces of me. He always has been.

  I groan and drop my head back, opening my throat up to him. Saul takes full advantage as his lips journey across my skin, from one side to the other, then he twists us slightly so he can lay me on the bed. Hovering over me, his eyes burn into mine with barely contained need. Saul pushes my cami top up with both hands, then allows one to linger on my back while he lifts me off the bed toward him. I take his cue, firstly by pulling the top over my head, then leaning back and presenting my naked chest to him. His hand slips up the back of my neck and he gently drops me back to the bed, but not before he’s already latched onto my nipple, pulling it between his teeth. I run my hand down Saul’s bare stomach feeling every dip and bump along his extremely well-defined torso until I meet the waistband of his joggers. I then slip my hand inside and immediately make contact with his hard dick. We both hiss at once. It’s been a while, for us both… I hope.

  Saul moves away from my nipple, going back to my mouth. As he does, his body covers mine and he grinds down trapping my hand between the two of us, before moving back and forth, creating a delicious friction.

  “Saul,” I pant, pulling away from his lips so I can whisper his name. Then I lift my feet up and push his joggers down, low enough so his dick springs free.

  He grins down at me and it’s dirty, hungry, and I
fucking love it. “I need you, baby, hot, fast, and hard. That good with you?” There’s a promise in his voice and an ache for me.

  “Yes.” I sigh.

  Saul’s eyelids dip and a groan rumbles out of him. He pushes up my skirt and pulls my knickers to one side before sliding two fingers in at once.

  “Fuck,” he murmurs, and I whimper.

  It’s been so long that I’m almost climaxing from his fingers alone.

  “I can’t wait. I wanted to make it longer… loving. But baby, this is going to be savage,” he tells me through clenched teeth.

  That short warning is all I get before his fingers slip from my folds and then, still holding my knickers to the side, he thrusts inside me.

  Saul stares at me for a moment, a devilish grin plays on his lips. “Fuck! I love you, baby.” He doesn’t give me a chance to reply before he’s ramming back and forth, in and out, hard, fast, and savage, just like he promised. The familiar ache ignites inside me and Saul leans forward, crashes his lips to mine, and lets his tongue mimic his dick, fucking me in two places at once.

  I know I’m not going to last long and the second his thumb slips between my arse cheeks, I explode, screaming louder than I think I ever have. Saul is watching me when my eyes finally open. I lift up and suck his earlobe into my mouth. It’s all he needs to tip him over the edge, and I feel him twitch, spilling himself in my centre as he whispers my name.

  I left Saul asleep this morning, quietly placing a note on the side table. I know he hasn’t finished the work he went there to do, and I also know that we have more talking to hash out. But after spending Friday night and all of Saturday together, I’m pretty sure that if he doesn’t focus on the work he signed up for, he might not get it done, and he only has today left. He’ll be back tonight, and I’m eager to make our house a home again before his return.

  I slip my key into the lock and tiptoe inside my house. I know that Eric might still be here and if he is, then I don’t want to wake him.

  A screech bursts out of me as I turn the corner and find him sitting on the sofa doing nothing. The silence of the room is deafening somehow.

  “Eric?” I ask gently, although there’s concern clear in my tone.

  He lifts his head to me and squints like he has no idea why I’m there. I watch in fascination as a myriad of emotions pass across his eyes.

  “So, what happened?” Eric asks scratching absentmindedly down his unshaved throat.

  “We made up,” I offer with a shrug. Normally he wouldn’t allow me to explain without a blow-by-blow account in great detail. I wanted to test him, and now I can see his mind is elsewhere. That, added to his dishevelled appearance, is worrying me.

  “That’s good.” His reply is offhand. He isn’t really with me, here in the moment.

  “I’ve been gone for two days, and that’s all you have to say?” I ask shaking my head.

  Eric doesn’t reply. He just vacantly gazes out the window.

  “Eric!” I snap.

  He blinks and frowns, rubbing his temples. “Sorry, what?” he asks turning toward me.

  “What’s happened?” I almost cry as I park my bum on the chair opposite him.

  “I think Rich and I are over,” he tells me like he’s just explained the weather. Without another sound, he stands and marches out of the room.

  Gathering my bearings and looking down, I realise I’m clenching my hands. White knuckles stare back at me, starved of blood, and as I open my hand, there’s an undeniable tremble.

  “Eric,” I call, getting up and following him out of the room. I find him in the kitchen, making tea of all the fucking things. He ignores my repeated calls, and so I flick the switch on the wall, effectively killing the kettle.

  “What did you do that for?” he shouts.

  My eyes widen, and I’m shocked.

  “Tell me. Share with me,” I murmur gently.

  Eric looks everywhere but at me. When he finally meets my eyes, I see the sheen of tears he’s been struggling to contain.

  He leans against the counter and finally starts to talk. “He slammed the phone down on me.”

  From that one sentence, I suck in my breath. Rich never does that. He’s always believed in sorting out issues immediately, and even if that’s not possible, he abhors having the phone put down on him. If he did that to Eric, then this really is serious.

  “We have a history that binds us, but what if it’s not enough. I thought our love would guide us back together, but so far he’s only travelling toward Camp Rock,” he says, once again using the nickname of that guy Rich has been spending time with. “How can I fight when he’s thousands of miles away?” he asks, throwing his arm toward the window. “The truth is I’ve seen it coming for months. I’ve tried to ignore it, to block it out. When I couldn’t do that, I questioned him, argued, screamed with anger at him.” He sinks down into the tiled floor. “Honestly Soph, I love that man, completely. If he doesn’t want me anymore…” a strangled noise rips from him, “…then I’m willing to let him go. To let him have happiness. Even if it’s with someone else, because I love him that much. I love him that completely.”

  “And he’ll love only you. Forever.” The statement comes from behind us, and I whirl around to see Rich standing in my hallway, a backpack in his grasp, and his eyes aimed solely on Eric.

  I look between the two of them then focus back on Eric. “I’m going to give you two some space,” I say, but nobody takes any notice. I creep out of the kitchen even though they know I’m there, and squeeze Rich’s solid arm on the way through. He catches my hand and gives me a squeeze back, before releasing it. I quickly rush upstairs and lock myself in my room, keeping every single thing crossed that by the end of this day, my family will be once again complete.

  There was a time when I was scared of being gay, scared of admitting who I really was. People don’t know this about me and I’m sure, if they knew, they’d be shocked as shit. Most people assume I’m not scared of much, they expect me to be self-assured. Eric was certainly stunned all those years ago when I finally admitted my insecurities to him. Nobody expects someone like me to be gay in the first place, at least they didn’t back then. So me revealing myself as gay was the last thing they’d expected.

  I could understand their surprise though. I mean, unlike Eric, I’m not camp. I don’t run around dressed in drag… ever. I never flap my arms around, and I’m not feminine in the slightest as a lot of my gay friends seem to be. I love metal, rock, my motorbike, and boxing. These days it’s not so surprising to have someone who’s more ‘like me,’ someone masculine admitting that they’re gay. When I was a teen, gay people still had a lot of hate thrown at them. Well, they did in my hometown. It would have been open season on me if I’d have come out when I was a kid.

  I moved to London as soon as I could and spread my wings, but Eric was the reason I didn’t fear being gay anymore. He gave me the courage to live free and helped me love who I was. When I finally went back home as the real me, my parents were shocked, but they accepted me, and my brother Tony supported me. It was my little sister Shelly who stopped talking to me, and she hasn’t ever since. Both my parents died knowing that one of their sons and their only daughter hadn’t spoken in over twenty years.

  My brother moved to Holland years before that. Everything I’ve been through, everything I have learnt throughout my life, has taught me that when I made a new family, I would be fiercely protective. I would love them, and I would cherish them. I still do, all these years later. I thank fuck that the family we have loved Eric almost as much as I do, and by extension, they loved me. Now I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  When Saul spoke to Eric and me about the problems he was having with Soph, I was shocked. They’d always been so tight. Eric needed to get home, back to our family. I expected him to rush back to our apartment, pack a case, and be on the next flight out to London which is exactly what he did. I hated letting him go alone, but someone had to wrap up business. I knew t
his wouldn’t be a flying visit as we’d been in the US for eight months. I knew going home was permanent.

  I didn’t mind being the one to stay and sort things out, plus I had taken Callum under my wing. He was someone I’d met through work, and could tell he was struggling with being gay. His family had kicked him out. He’d come from an extremely religious background, and they were finding it difficult coming to terms with what they saw as his choices. They hadn’t accepted the fact that who you love isn’t a choice, it is what it is… namely uncontrollable. I was happy to mentor him, show him places, people, get him help, friends, to assist him in building a life.

  What I didn’t expect was for Eric to be so jealous. I guess in hindsight that’s a stupid thing to say. I know Eric and he can be jealous, but he’d never been so vicious. Venom dripped from his every word when it came to Callum, and I didn’t understand it. The last phone call we’d had had been more than a little heated. He’d accused me of cheating and said he couldn’t trust me anymore. He’d said that he knew I would get bored of him one day, he wasn’t man enough for me. He spat out that Callum was manlier, less camp, younger, and had a better body. He said if I was going to break his heart, then he wanted me to get it over with. I warned him that the only thing I was going to break was his head when I knocked some sense into it.

  It was ugly, nasty, dirty words were shared and not in a good way. The last thing I’d heard him say was how he might as well start the divorce proceedings. He told me to keep the place in LA, and he would stay in London. I’d had enough, seen red, it had gone too far, and I did something I never do, something I don’t accept anyone doing to me, ever. I put the phone down on him. As silly as that no doubt seems to most people, it was what my sister had done to me for years, even when I called my parents’ home, and she had answered on their behalf. I hated it and Eric knew me, he knew what that action from me meant.