The problem is that we always look for the missing piece of the puzzle instead of finding a place for the one in our hand... ― Alina Radoi
Chapter 19 - A Puzzle
Addy's POV:
My phone is silenced, but I hear a soft vibration and see it light up. Edward's breathing is soft and even, and only now am I willing to move to grab my phone to reply to my text.
Joel: Are you ok? Worried. You're not home.
Me: Rest your mind. I'm with still with Edward. He fell asleep
Joel: Are you staying? Do you want me to come get you?
Me: I'm fine. I'll stay. See you in the morning.
Joel: Goodnight
Placing my phone back on the nightstand, I sit in nothing but a pair of his boxers with a sheet wrapped around my body, focusing my attention back on Edward, illuminated with horizontal light from the moon. His head is tilted toward the pillow where I was laying, and his face has a gentle relaxed look to it. Even with his eyes shut, I can imagine his eyes looking back at me. The hazel eyes that shine with more green than brown that seems to take in every movement from my body.
His lip just twitches. Just one side curls up slightly, and then he relaxes again. I keep my eyes focused on his lip, looking for any movement, hoping he was awake to kiss me. "Keep staring at me like that Angel, and I won't be held responsible for my actions." He mumbles, but doesn't open his eyes.
"I thought you were asleep. How do you know I'm even looking at you?" I whisper, and he moves the sheet away from me, and pulls me up to his chest.
"I was asleep, until I felt you staring at me. You were staring at me right?" He waggles his eyes at me. "Did you like the view?"
"Very much. Honestly, I just wanted to do this." I sit up enough to capture his lips with mine. He doesn't hesitate tangling his tongue, giving me his growly moan.
He readjusts himself so that I am leaning over him, and he can playfully palm my breast. "I like these." He squishes one and then the other. "I like that you let me play with these." With his hand moved to my neck and the other on my lower back, he pulls me out of the blankets, flips me so I'm on my back, and rests on top of me, kissing his way down.
The gravelly sound escaping his throat sends heat to the center of my body, making it uncomfortable for me to let him continue. "Edward, please." I shift, trying to stave off the affect he is having on my body. His hand toys with my breast and nipple, as his mouth kisses, licks, and tugs the other. I move deeper into the mattress, and Edward follows me, holding my body secure.
"Edward," I pant. His mouth relents only to move to shower affection on my other breast. He moves his thigh between my legs, putting pressure on my core. The deep heated feeling begins to subside, but only for a moment before Edward shifts to hold onto my hip, spreading my legs farther apart.
"I want to touch you, Cariad." His breathing is heavy, and I am consumed by the feelings he's sending through my body.
"Yes." I breathe, and he moves back up to take my mouth with his.
His hand is gentle as it makes its way to my hip and across to the front of my waist, sending a slight tickle in it's wake. Edward doesn't relinquish his hold on my lips, delving his tongue into my mouth, tasting every part. A warm hand moves from my outer thigh to my inner, and the shock it sends through me is absorbed in his lips. "This is trust," he says against my lips, letting me relax before his hand rests on the center between my legs.
With a focused touch and my body is kicked into overdrive, and he tries to keep my focus on the loving movements he pours onto my mouth. "I love you, Addyson." He reassures me with his soft gentle voice. He watches my face between long kisses, keeping a steady rhythm with his hand. It's hard to catch my breath, and I hear myself panting. "Mo ghrá, my love, I've got you. It's ok to let go," his words were what I needed as I fall apart in his hand.
"God, that is so beautiful." He runs the back of his fingers across my cheek. "How do you feel?" My face flames. Edward flashes a knowing look before once again connecting our lips. "I take it by your reaction that is was good."
"Yes. Very."
"Come here. Get comfortable. I want to keep you in my arms." He says as he pulls back the sheets for me to join him in bed.
With my head on his arm, my fingers trace the design of his tattoo. I have something that looks like this; not exactly, but close. I'm not telling Edward. He would think I'm crazy.
Something is on his chest. The light is casting weird shadows, and I move away from him to turn on the light so I can get a better look. "Edward, I'm sorry. Are you ok? Does it hurt?" He looks at his chest, where he can four small scratch marks. Hard enough to draw blood to the surface, but not deep enough to break the skin.
His finger runs over each mark, and his smile grows bigger. "No, sweetheart, I think we can call this an occupational hazard," he says with a wink. "I always knew you were a little feisty." He rubs his marks with pride, and I laugh at his faces and give him a swat on the arm.
I kiss the fingernail marks, trying to heal him. "You know you never did tell me what this says." Touching his tattoo, again.
"Yes, I did."
"No, you read the words to me. That's not the same," I pout, but only get a chuckle from his lips. "Have you ever told anyone what it says?"
"No."
"No one, ever?"
"No. No one ever."
"So, it's like a puzzle. Hmmmm. Why is there a blank spot right here?"
"That's for English." I contemplate his words, drawing circles over the bare spot with my finger.
"So, same language or six different ones?" I ask as I try to make sense of the foreign letters written between the lines of his entwined swirl pattern.
"I'm not making this easy for you. I will only confirm your logical guesses...none of the random crap you do...only legitimate guesses."
"You're going to add English?"
"Thinking about it."
"You know I'm now on a mission, don't you? I'm going to figure this out." He studies my face, trying not to give any of himself away.
"I have no doubt, but you can't cheat by going to the Internet. Use your beautiful brain."
"Ok, fair enough. No Internet." My finger traces over a word that I know from Latin, and his face becomes very serious as I begin to work out the puzzle he sat in front of me. "You left a spot of English that makes me think it is different languages. And, this one is Latin." Maybe. "I know it could be Spanish, I don't think it's Italian, but I know this word is also Latin."
"You're right."
"It's a serious word. It means forgiveness." I look at his eyes trying to read what he meant to write.
"It's a serious word with multiple meanings," he whispers, and I kiss the marks I made on his chest, again. "Now let's get some sleep." He tells me, and I turn off the light and cuddle into his arms.
"You know, you call me Cariad. That's Welsh. Is one of the languages Welsh?" I place my hand on his face, so I can feel his expressions, since the dim moonlight is not helping me see.
"I call you lots of names, but no. Not Welsh, now go to sleep."
"No, I want to figure out one more. One of the languages is Italian, that's too easy, because that's your heritage. And I know you can speak Italian. I've heard you get mad." He laughs, but then I can feel the smile on his face, letting me know I got that one right. "One's Latin. One's Italian. You don't have Spanish, do you?"
"No. No, Spanish."
"Can I flip on the light one more time?" I ask and he holds me tight, telling me to go to sleep. "Yes, sir."
"Now that's more like it. Sir. I could get used to that," he laughs softly just above my head where he rests his chin.
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"I think I could get used to this." Warm open-mouthed kisses make their way to the back of my neck. "In fact, I think I could do this for the rest of my life." His breath causes me to shiver, and one of his hands weighs my heavy breast before his thumb rubs circles over my nipple.
"I could see where this has its advantages. Hmmmmm." I sink into his kisses, which gives his hand more room to roam.
I feel the burning; he is setting me on fire. As I'm trying to settle the growing feeling, the alarm on my phone begins to sing How Sweet It Is, and I could see where the sound of James Taylor's voice and Edward's hands could become a lethal combination.
"You changed your alarm," Edward chuckles as he reaches over me to turn it off. "Leannán, it's time to get up." He tries to nuzzle to my neck, but I grab the sheet and fling myself out of bed.
"What did you call me?" My voice is quip, and I see fear on his face. I didn't mean to do that, but I have to know where he got that name. "What did you call me?"
"Leannán. Why?" He leans up on his elbow, watching me intently.
"It's just a long time since I've heard that name." My eyes begin to water, and I feel a tear escape down my cheek. "My dad used to call my mom that name before he died, and then Uncle Cooper, daddy, called her that when she was sick and not paying attention to him." My memories flash of a beautiful bald woman in a baseball cap, dying of ovarian cancer. "What does it mean?"
"It's Scottish for sweetheart. It could also mean lover." He looks at me with such sad eyes; probably worried he made me cry.
I crawl back across the bed to him, and look him right in the eyes. "You are one weird guy when it comes to all the cutesy names, but I absolutely love it." I kiss his nose. "And, I absolutely love you."
I dress quickly, waiting for him to shower. He still has to take me home so I can get ready for my day. I watch him pull on his dress shirt, button, and tuck it in. "Like the show, Cara?"
"Oh, very much. It's one of my favorites," I tell him and blow him a kiss. I slide on my heels, and examine myself in the mirror, taming my massive blonde curly mess. "I've never done the walk of shame," drawing his attention to me wearing yesterday's clothes.
"Trust me, Cara, there is nothing shameful about you."
"Thanks."
His bathroom doesn't have as much room as mine, but it doesn't stop me from watching him shave, again. This time he relaxes and lets me stay. The deep kiss he gives me when I dry his face, curled my toes. Mmmm, good.
"Let me help you make the bed before we leave." I offer, and he begins to smooth his side.
"This is a first for me?"
"And what's that?" I asks, knowing almost everything is a first for me.
"This is the first time I've ever had someone in my bed." His smile a bit devious, as his eyes travel over my body.
I didn't hold back the laughter, even though with his history it shouldn't be funny. "And here I was thinking we should have to disinfected the bed."
"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny."
We sneak out of the apartment without waking Holden. He parks in the driveway, and offers to make breakfast, as I get ready for class.
Edward's POV:
"Why can't you tell me where we're going?" Addyson whines as I pick up her suitcase from Joel.
"It's not that I can't. I don't want to."
"How do you know I'll like it?"
"Because I already know you love it." I pull her into my arms in a playful way, dancing her out the door. "Just in case you have Joel and Helen, but I don't plan on you spending much time with them."
"You sure you don't want to ride with us?" I ask Joel. He shakes me off and puts his and Helen's bag in the back of his truck.
"No, man. I need to make a stop and so does Helen. We'll meet there in about two hours."
Addyson takes my hand, and it still gets to me how nice this feels to just be with her, after so many years of wishing. So far every night this week has been spent wrapped in her arms. What started as a way to let Joel get a full night's sleep so many weeks ago, me taking care of her and her nightmares, has turned into the best part of my day. And, it's not about sex, I haven't dared push,... it's about being with her.
"What are you thinking about?" Addyson pulls me from my daydreams.
Bringing her hand to my mouth, I plant a soft kiss, and tell her, "You."
"Oh, yeah? What about me?" She gives me her mischievous smile and cocks her eyebrow.
"Just how nice this is. Did you ever think we would be like this?"
"No, I thought I would live my life making it through the occasions where we would end up seeing each other." Her face looks sad. That was not my intention when I asked.
"I meant after we had cleared the air. Did you see us, here? I had hoped that you would let me be part of your life, but I had no idea it would be this wonderful." I tell her and I watch her smile, and I feel her fingers run trails up and down my arm.
Her eyes light up when I turn off of the interstate, and head north on a small two-lane highway. She doesn't say anything, because there are still so many choices of where we might be going. Even though there are many miles left to go, I know it's only a matter of two more turns, and she will know exactly where we're headed for the weekend.
"I have a question."
"Ok, quest away."
"How many languages do you speak?" I hold up 4 fingers. "That's a lot. Why?" I know that's more than one question, but I let it slide.
"Why did I learn them?" She nods her head. "I don't know. I was fascinated. My parents only know enough Italian to get them in trouble, so I had my grandmother to teach me when I was in junior high. Now, she when we're on the phone she won't even let me speak to her in English. Spanish was easy to learn because of its similarities to Italian."
"Then, what else. That's only three, but then I'm assuming English is one of them."
"I know Japanese. I'm not good at speaking, but I can understand it and I can read it. And, before you ask. I thought it would come in handy with my finance degree."
"Who knew I would have such a smart handsome boyfriend?"
"You knew you would have a smart boyfriend. Didn't you?"
"Oh, yeah. I figured if I ever got a boyfriend, he would be smart. They're the only one's not intimidated by a girl with brains, it was the handsome part I had no clue I could attract." She rubs her hand across my cheek, and smiles at me. If I weren't driving I would kiss the holy hell out of her for saying such a foolish thing.
"Inamorata, you are an absolutely beautiful woman, and..."
"What are you doing?" She yells, as I pull off on the side of the road.
My hand tucks behind her head, and I pull her to my lips and kiss her until we both need to catch our breath. "Were you just trying to tell me would are not pretty enough for a good looking guy?"
"I..."
"Am I good looking, Addyson? Am I?"
She blushes and answers, "Yes, you're very good looking." Her smile is wonderfully broad, and there is a sparkle that meets her eyes when she looks at me. "You're my sexy hunk o'man, and way more than just good looking."
I pin her with my eyes. "With the way you look at me, I have no reason to doubt it. You need to start paying attention to how I look at you. Do I make myself clear?"
With a sheepish response, "Yes, sir."
I pull her close to me for a few more kisses. "You're every dream come true. I love you, and you are beautiful." She touches her lips to mine and nods her head.
We're silent until our next turn, when she figures out where we're going. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She becomes a cheerful little teenage practically bouncing in the passenger seat.
"I hope it's not too late to finally take you up on your offer." An offer she made a few years ago.
"Are you serious?" She pouts her lips and wipes away fake tears. "I'm so proud of you. My little baby is finally growing up and learning to fish like a big boy." She fans her face with her hands holding back a laugh, still making fun of the fact that I'm not a fly fisherman.
"Keep it up and you're going to find ice in your waders."
"You wouldn't do that to me, because you luuuv me." She says with a flirty chipper tone as she waggles her eyes at me.
"That has nothing to do with it."
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