Conklin's Foundation (Conklin's Trilogy) (4 page)

“I have my Lexus LX here, but in Chicago I have a Roadster,
McLaren, and Escalade.”

I gave him a confused look.  I had only heard of an Escalade.  Cars were never really my thing.  I only heard about cars when I was with
Gage, and he liked old muscle cars.

“I enjoy a good
, fast sports car,” Tyler smiled, his eyes glimmering.

I couldn’t help but return his glimmer. 
He looked so young and carefree instead of stuffy and serious.

~

“So what were you going to get your mom?” I asked as w
e slid into the Lexus.  The white leather seats were chilly from the winter air.

“I have
no idea.  Probably a gift card,” he shrugged, pulling out of the parking ramp.

I frowned at him.  “A gift card?  That’s not very creative.”

Tyler rolled his eyes as he turned to head towards the highway.  “Do you have a better idea?”

“I don’
t know, she’s your mother. I have yet to meet her,” I glared at him.

He let out a huge sigh and tilted his head towards me as we stopped at the stoplight leading towards the on
ramp to 131.  “I know, I know…”  He reached over and took my hand and brought it to his lips.  “Becca, will you come to Chicago with me for Christmas?” he asked, attempting to sound amused, although fear was clearly taking over his irises. 

I smiled and bit my lip.  “I’d love
to,” I whispered.  “Will you spend Christmas Eve and morning here with me?”

Tyler smiled brightly
, still holding my hand to his mouth.  “Of course.  I would be disappointed if I didn’t get to wake up to you on Christmas morning.”

My heart fluttered at his declaration.
 

“So, what
should you get your mom…” I pondered.  “What about some type of wine holder or accessory?  You said she liked wine.”

Tyler scowled.  “I don’t like to encourage her drinking habit.”

Oh, that’s right.  Tyler felt like his mother couldn’t find happiness in anything but alcohol, including Tyler.  He was greatly hurt that he wasn’t enough to fill the void his mother needed from RJ’s constant betrayal.

“I’m sorry.”

Tyler shook his head and put my hand down.  “It’s fine,” he sighed again.  “She isn’t a bad drunk.  She is a very happy drunk.  She doesn’t get violent or pass out or anything.”

“I’m sure we can find something better than a gift card,” I said, twirling my pony tail in my fingers.

Tyler’s mouth was in a thin line.  He shook his head as though to rid of the cloud hanging over the current conversation as he reached into his pocket.  “I brought us a snack.  Want some almonds?” he asked, pulling out a small bag. 

“I’m okay, I’m still full from
the huge breakfast you made me,” I groaned, putting my hand on my stomach.

Tyler frowned.  “You only ate half of it.  He
re, take these in case you get hungry while we are at the mall.  We can hit up the food court when we are done,” he said sternly.  Since when was he so bothersome about food?  I decided not to touch the subject further.

~

The mall was crazy busy with last minute shoppers.  I had n
ever been so behind on shopping; normally I was done by Thanksgiving. But then again, my head wasn’t normally wrapped so tightly around losing a very special person.

I squeezed Tyler’s hand as we drove back to my place.  We had stopped and eaten in the mall, by Tyler’s demands.  It was actually a good idea.  We were in the mall for at least three hours fighting the crowds, and I was hungry and tired by the time we were finally done buying gifts for our
families. 

“
I still can’t believe you talked me into getting that bracelet for my mother,” Tyler grumbled. 

I
had convinced Tyler to get his mom a charm bracelet.  It had all of her sons’ birth stones along with her own and a few other charms.  Tyler thought it was too sentimental, but by how often she called him, it would mean the world to her that he got something so personal.

“She will love it.
” I smiled while caressing his thumb.  Tyler gave me a wry smile then turned back to the road.  “It was nice holding your hand throughout the mall today,” I murmured, looking down at our interlaced hands.  “I liked being able to kiss you whenever I wanted.”

A smile played on his lips as w
e stopped at the light for the off ramp from 96.  “I liked it too, and I plan on doing more of it tonight,” he smirked, pulling my hand to his lips.  “Can I take you out to dinner tonight?  I was thinking Louis Benton.”

How could he be thinking about food already?  He had made me a huge breakfast, we just ate
a late lunch, and he had been throwing snacks at me the entire outing. 

“Whatever you want to do,” I said, staring out the window and putting my hand on my stomach.  I hadn’t eaten a whole lot lately, and a normal eating regiment was taking a toll on how much my belly could handle. 

“We will have to stop at my condo so I can get something to wear.”

“You
r yellow dress is at my place,” he said softly, grazing my knuckles against his lips.

“Okay.
” I didn’t have any heels that would match stashed away at Tyler’s, at least I didn’t think I did.  I would cross that bridge when we got there.  If we had to stop at my place, it would at least give my stomach some more time to digest all of the food.

We dragged all of our shopping bags out of the car and into the elevator.  We were going to have to do some serious wrapping.  Thankfully I remembered to get some wrapping paper while we were at the mall.  Walking into Tyler’s condo, I kicked off my flats and brought all of the bags down to the living room.  I figured it would be the best place to start wrapping.  I wanted to be done with it so I could focus on what to buy Tyler.  He followed suit, throwing his bags down next to mine then wrapped his arms around me, placing his lips on my temple as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

I sank into him, enjoying the comfort of his warm strong arms and the gentle rise and fall of his chest.  I felt so safe with him, and I was
unbelievably happy to be with him again.  “We should wrap these,” I sighed, nudging the bags with my foot.

Tyler held me
tight to his chest.  “Maybe in a little while. I need some Becca time.”

“We just spent all afternoon together,” I giggled.

Tyler nuzzled my neck with his scruff, causing me to giggle more.   He brought his grinning mouth to mine and gave me a long, lingering kiss.

Whoa, that pushed my giggles to the side.

He brought his hand to my pony tail, ridding the hair tie, running his fingers through my newly dark brown hair.  “Let me clarify… I need some
alone
Becca time.”

I smiled up at him.  “What did you have in mind?”

He ran his nose along mine then moved his lips to kiss the soft spot behind my ear.  “Well, we can start with this,” he said, trailing kisses down my neck.

“
Uh huh,” I murmured, taking a sharp breath.

He ran his hand down my back, looking for the hem of my shirt.  Once he found it, his hand traveled up, the pads of his fingers caressing my skin.  He brought his other hand to the top of my shirt, tugging at the top two buttons so
they would come loose.  “Then this,” he whispered huskily, kissing my now exposed collarbone.

I tilted my head ba
ck as my chest heaved upwards, my breath caught in my throat.

“Hmm
,” was all I could manage to say.

  He brought his other hand from my back to help undo the rest of the buttons.  He pulled his head from my
collarbone back to my lips, giving me slow, soft kisses.  My lips were trembling as I tried to control my breathing.  I put my hands in the back pockets of his jeans, enjoying the feeling of his taut behind. 

“A lot of this…”
He breathed against my lips, slowly slipping his tongue into my mouth which was hanging open shamelessly.  He stroked my tongue, as though he were attempting to warm me up. It was working because my body temperature was quickly rising.

Oh, what this man could do to me
.

Once Tyler undid the rest of my buttons
, he let his hands glide past my sides to my back, lighting my fire like a match being swiped against emery.  I dug my hands deeper into his back pockets, gripping him, forcing his body closer to me.  I kissed him back harder, causing Tyler to groan into my mouth.

He moved his hands from my back to my shoulders, peeling off the rest of my shirt,
leaving me in a light blue lacy bra.  I pulled my hands from his pockets, letting my shirt completely fall off then returned them to run up the back of his shirt wanting to feel his smooth skin.  I ran my fingertips along his shoulder blades and down his spine, but felt a few prickles along his back. 

Odd.  He was always so smooth.
 

Curiously, I moved my hands along his sides and
to his front.  I explored his chest, feeling the same small prickles.  I grinned while kissing him, enjoying finding out one of his secrets.

“I don’t know what you are grinning about,” he rasped, finding the clasp on my bra, freeing my breasts as he tackled me on the wide cream section
al couch in front of the large light brick gas fireplace.  I tugged at his t-shirt, pulling it off of him.

“Can’t I grin?”  I said in between our deep kisses, trying to contain my smirk.

My smirk quickly vanished as his hand wandered downward, sliding down the front of my jeans.  I kissed him harder, moving my hips into his hand that was showing no reservation.

I gasped as he slipped two fingers inside of me, gently exploring, making my leg
shamelessly fall open and off the side of the couch.

“You can grin, but I’d rather your mouth be moaning my name,” he whispered in my ear, letting his tongue trace my earlo
be.  I shuddered as his tongue left my ear, tracing a line down my neck to my collarbone and further to my breasts.  I whimpered as he devoured me with his mouth, no longer gently tracing my sensitive skin, but claiming it hungrily.  He moved his free hand to graze my other breast while his other hand continued stroking me on the inside.  He slid his hand down my stomach, unbuttoning my already loosened jeans, allowing himself to get a better angle as his fingers pushed deeper.

Oh, that’s making me ache for more
…

He suddenly pulled his hand up from the inside of my jeans and sat up, tugging them downward.  He kept the matching lace panties on, staring down at me.  I quickly wrapped my arms around my stomach as my chest rapidly rose and fell along with my heavy breaths.

“Stop being so shy,” he half scolded with a smirk, putting his hands on my thighs, pulling them farther apart.

Oh no…

Oh yes…

“Ty…”  I drug out his name in between my heaving breaths.

“Shh… relax baby,” he whispered while nestling himself in between my legs, kissing the insides of my trembling thighs.  Tyler made soothing circles with his thumbs on the outside of my thighs, trying to calm my nerves.  He knew this was hard for me and hadn’t tried since we had gone away together to his condo in Chicago.  I felt so exposed and self-conscious when it came to him going down on me.

His sweet little kisses kept getting closer to the light blue lace, and eventually
I felt the warmth of his mouth being vented past my panties.  He opened his mouth wider, blowing more hot air through the lace. 

It felt nice, and t
he lace created a small barrier that made me feel slightly more comfortable once his mouth was positioned at my entrance.

“That’s it, relax for me,” he breathed into my sex as the tension in my legs slowly left.  I was focusing on the warm air and the texture of the lace
being heated by his breath. It felt so nice and intimate, causing my mind to want the skin-on-skin contact.

I gently ran a hand through Tyler’s dark brown locks, feeling his head slowly bob as he took more of me with his mouth, sucking over
top the lace.  My breath became more and more ragged the harder he sucked.  His assault was still slow and addictive and was beginning to drive me wild.

I bravely brought my other hand
to the top of the light blue lace and pulled it down some, hoping Tyler would catch on that I was ready to feel his warm tongue on the most sensitive spot of my body.  He looked up at me through his eyelashes as he gracefully sat up to pull off the lace panties then quickly dove back down into his previous position.

I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest as my hands trembled while placing them to my sides
, attempting to grip the sofa fabric.  I felt one of Tyler’s hands find mine, gently squeezing it for reassurance and comfort as he blew up my sex.  I arched my back at the warm breeze, letting out a soft moan.   

Maybe I could get used to this.