Shelby

“What now?” I ask, tamping down my fear as I follow Wyatt down the hall and into his room.

“I don’t fucking know!” he shouts, his hands flying up as he whirls around to face me. “I don’t fucking know what to do here. I’m off my game. You might not know this, Shelby, but finding people is kind of my thing. I can find anyone online, but I can’t find my own fucking kid.”

His frustration does nothing to make me feel better. In fact, it scares the holy hell out of me. I’d come to Wyatt because he was the only person on God’s green earth I knew would find my baby girl. But he hasn’t done that, and now it sounds like he’s giving up.

“I’ll pay you,” I blurt out without thinking.

Wyatt’s face twists with confusion. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I don’t have much, but I can find the money. Whatever you need, I’ll pay you. Just find my daughter.” Tears pour down my cheeks like waterfalls as the panic I’m feeling builds. But Wyatt changes everything with his reply.

“Fuck you, Shelby. Fuck you. Fuck Kasey. Fuck your goddamn offer to pay me.” I gape up at him as he places his nose a couple of inches from mine. “In case you’ve forgotten, Hayden is my fucking daughter too. I’m not some hired tech nerd you can pay to track her down. I’m her fucking father. Not that you’ve made it possible for me to have a relationship with her.”

With every word he spews at me, I shrink farther and farther away. “I’ll find Hayden, but not because you paid me. I’ll find her because she’s my fucking blood.” He shakes his head in disbelief and steps back, his angry eyes looking me up and down. “Who have you become, Shel? You may look pretty much the same, but I don’t even recognize you.”

“You’re right,” I whisper, realizing the truth of those words as I speak them. “I’ve fucked it up. I ruined what you could have had with Hayden. But you aren’t innocent in this, Wyatt.” I straighten my spine and look him dead in the eyes, finally ready to confront him about the pain he’d caused me in this very room all those years ago. “You chose being a slut over me. I thought we were going to be together forever. I thought we were going to be a family.”

His eyes narrow. “What the fuck are you talking about, woman? You never gave me a goddamn chance to choose anything.”

Heat washes over me as my anger reaches its breaking point. I shove past him and point toward the bed in the center of the room. “I’m talking about the night you were patched in! I’m talking about the two bimbos you had in that very bed, catching God knows how many diseases.”

His eyebrows furrow. “What bimbos? What are you fucking saying?” He sounds so sincere, I almost believe him.

“I was here that night, Wyatt. I showed up to your little party and went looking for you. One of the guys told me which room was yours, and when I came down the hall, I saw you. I saw you fucking Sasha and Layla in this very room, in this bed.” My body trembles with buried emotions. “You fucking broke us that night, you know. I was coming to tell you I was pregnant. I was so scared to tell you, and then…” I shake my head. “You just fucking broke us.”

“I broke us?” he snarls. “I didn’t fuck anybody that night. Ask Judge. Ask GP. They’ll all tell you the same fucking thing. I was going to propose to you that night, but you never showed up.”

Before I can stop myself, I shove him with all my might. “You’re lying! Stop fucking lying! You ruined everything. You ruined me!”

“Shelby,” he intones, his voice softer now, more soothing. “I’ve never lied to you, not once since I met you back when we were kids. Whoever you saw in this bed wasn’t me.”

I search for the memory of that night and mentally blow off the cobwebs. It was so long ago now. Is he telling the truth? Was it someone else?

That bitch.

Sasha’s back was to me as she rode the man lying on the bed. Layla was facing me, up near the headboard, riding his face. When she saw me, she looked pleased with herself.

I’d never actually seen the man’s face, as she was on it. The only part of him I saw was his legs and feet. It could have been anyone.

“Layla and Sasha,” I whisper. “They were in your bed, riding you.”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Layla saw me. She made a show of it, smiling at me, like I caught you cheating on me with them. She was happy about it.”

“Shel, it wasn’t me. The second I realized you weren’t here, I went looking for you. I went to Kasey’s, and even your dad’s. Fucker gave me a shiner when I tried to go inside to find you.”

I look into his eyes and see the sincerity in them. It wasn’t him. I step away from him.

“Oh, God,” I sob, clapping my hand over my mouth.

I’d abandoned him that night. I’d taken off and never looked back. I’d kept his daughter from him.

“Shelby,” Wyatt calls, pulling me back to the present. “Please tell me you didn’t keep my daughter a secret from me for all these years because of some fucked-up assumption you made.”

I pull in a deep breath, hoping to keep the tears from falling. I’ve never cried as much as I have in the past few days. “I’m so sorry, Wyatt.”

“You’re sorry?” he screams. “You’re fucking sorry? You left me! You fucking walked out on me without a word, all because of a fucking misunderstanding, and you’re fucking sorry?”

Any hope I had of keeping my tears at bay disappear at the tone of his voice. His face is red, his eyes full of rage. Violent sobs rip from my throat.

Placing his hands on my arms, he gives me a gentle shake. “You destroyed me.”

I don’t know what else to say. “I’m sorry.”

He presses his forehead to mine, his shaky breath fanning across my tear-soaked cheeks. “You fucking gutted me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You left me.” His lips barely graze mine, but that simple touch is like lighting a torch. The darkness of my mistake, and the pain of what I’d done, disappears in an instant.

I pop up on the tips of my toes and reach up, spearing my fingers into the short hairs at the back of his neck. My lips peck tentatively at his once, twice, and then a third time.

And that’s all it takes. Before I know what’s happening, my legs are wrapping around his waist, his hands gripping my ass, pulling me closer. Our kiss is fierce and hot, passionate and punishing, and it captures the breath from my lungs.

My heart races out of control as he walks me backward and toward the bed. My back hits the mattress with a soft bounce, and I can’t look away as he whisks off his shirt.

The years have been kind to Wyatt. He’s thicker, more muscular and toned. His face is more manly, yet somehow more handsome than when we were kids. He’s even better than what I remember.

“Take off your pants, Shel,” he orders, his voice husky.

Lifting my ass, I wiggle out of my skinny jeans, my gaze never leaving his as he strips out of his own pants. Just as I’m about to peel off my shirt, I pause.

The last time Wyatt had seen me naked, I was so young. Since then, I've had a kid of my own. I have stretch marks, and my breasts aren’t nearly as perky as they used to be. What the hell are we doing?

I need to call this whole thing off. It’s stupid. We shouldn’t be doing this. “Wyatt…”

His face twists in anger as his hands shoot out to grasp the hem of my shirt. “Take it off.”

“No, this isn’t—”

“I need you, Shel. I need you so fucking bad.”

That’s all I need to hear, because fuck me, I need him too.

Lifting my arms, I hold his gaze as he pulls my shirt up and over my head. He takes me in before leaning forward, staring directly into my eyes as he presses a kiss to one nipple, and then the other.

He stands back, and I see his cock ready for me. I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything.

“You’re still so fucking gorgeous, Shel. That hasn’t changed.”

I moan, rolling my hips when he drags a finger through my center, collecting the moisture and placing it in his mouth. His eyes fall closed. “God, I’ve missed the way you taste.”

Need claws at me from the inside out. I need him inside of me. I need him to fill me. I need to feel at one with him.

“Please, Wyatt,” I beg.

“All these years,” he says, crawling lower, his face just inches from my sex. “All these years, I’ve been with different women, but not one of them have ever mattered.” He kisses my clit once, twice, and then thrusts his tongue out, pressing hard, dragging it along my slit, hitting every nerve.

I can hardly breathe. Frozen, I pop up onto my elbows and watch every movement he makes.

“They never mattered because they weren’t you. This pussy here?” He sucks my clit, flicking his tongue back and forth, sending lightning bolts of pleasure throughout my body. “This pussy owns me. Always has, always will.”

I moan, grinding my hips against his face. I can’t tear my eyes away as he licks and sucks, driving me closer to the edge than I’ve ever been before.

“Please,” I beg.

“So good.” Burying his face deeper, his tongue moves faster.

My release hits me like a ton of bricks, coming on hard and fast, making me tremble with pleasure.

“God, Wyatt,” I gasp.

His tongue begins to slow. Though my release was incredible, I need him to fill me.

Grabbing his face, I pull it away from my pussy, my wetness glistening along his lips and chin. It’s honestly the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. Swiping my thumb across his moistened lips, I lock eyes with him, demanding, “Fuck me.”

He grins. “What the lady wants, the lady gets.”

The bed wobbles a little as he climbs up over me, positioning himself at my entrance. It’s been so long. So many wasted years. I’ve missed this. I’ve missed him.

His nostrils flare as he looks into my eyes, and without a doubt, I know he’s missed it too. “You ready?”

I nod, more ready for this than I’ve been for anything. “I need you.”

With his eyes gazing intently into mine, he begins to fill me, slowly. It’s everything, and so much more.

I glide my fingertips over his muscular back, allowing myself to feel every inch of him. Goose bumps race along his skin as I drag my nails across it, and I can’t help but revel in the fact that after all these years, I can still do that to him.

Our kisses grow long and deep as he thrusts harder, faster. I move my hips in rhythm with his, like a dancer moving to the beat of a favorite song. Moans of pleasure echo off the walls, surrounding us as we grind into each other.

My head spins as I near my release for a second time. My breaths become choppy, and I come, basking in the pleasure.

Wyatt groans softly, holding me to him as he releases, giving me what used to be mine. What should have always been mine.

He holds himself above me, his lips grazing the tip of my nose, my brow, and finally my lips.

As our heartbeats slowly level out, I don’t move a muscle. As much as I’m enjoying being in the arms of the only man I’ve ever loved, I can’t help but wonder: what now?

The question plays over and over in my mind for the hundredth time when my cell phone chimes.

Wyatt drops his head and groans, rolling to his side. My heart warms a little when he doesn’t pull away completely. He leaves a hand on my waist as I lean to the side to reach for my phone.

“It’s from Kasey,” I say, using my thumb to unlock the screen.

Kasey: Blox World files are in. I’ve forwarded them to your email so you can get started, but also have hard copies here at the office. If you need them, I can deliver them tomorrow.

I lift my gaze to meet Wyatt’s, hope blooming in my heart. “We have the files.”