Body Heart Soul (Blind Vows #2) Read online

His fingers slid over my now exposed lips as he called my name, “Des.” My eyes found his as he began working his fingers over my clit. “Just you and me, baby. I want to watch you come.”

  My eyes rolled back slightly and I smiled at him as he slid a finger inside. “I want to watch you come, too. Show me your O face.”

  We both laughed and resumed panting right after as we continued our joint assault on one another. Slowly, he slid a second finger inside me as I pulsed around him, knowing two fingers was nothing compared to what his cock would feel like. His fingers worked together and the thumb of his other hand found my clit. Leaning back, I held his cock, but it took all my will power to continue stroking him, lost in his touch.

  “O, Odysseus. Please don’t stop.”

  “Fuck, Des.” He snarled out, “Look at me.” I did. “Keep stroking me.” I did. “Say it again.”

  “Odysseus.” My thighs clenched and I knew I was close. “Please kiss me, Odysseus.”

  He sat back up but never missed a beat while finger-fucking me. “I can’t say no when you say my name like that.”

  “Like what? Odysseus?” I knew what I was doing and so did he. “Right there.”

  I couldn’t move my hand up and down his length anymore. My world imploded around his fingers and I couldn’t breathe. When I thought I might pass out, he resuscitated me with his kiss as he fucked the hand I held him with. I took the kiss deeper and resumed stroking him, with more vigor than before, as he pulled every last tremor from my body.

  “Des, I’m going to, oh shit.”

  “Come for me, Odysseus.” I pulled his ear into my mouth and then bit his neck as he stiffened in my hand. His arms held me tight just before his orgasm conquered him. I slid my hand up and down, his seed covering every part of his cock and my hand. “You’re going to kill me.” His hand came down over mine, “You have to stop.”

  I just smiled and pecked his lips before giving him one more stroke. “I can’t remember the last time I did that. Thank you.”

  “Thank you.” He kissed me and then I climbed off his lap and headed to the bathroom to clean up. When I looked up into the bathroom mirror, he was towering behind me. Turning to face him he pulled me close. “You ok?”

  “I’m perfect. Thank you.”

  I left the bathroom and crawled into bed. He sat down next to me and I recognized the sounds of him removing his prosthetic. When he lay down next to me, we curled into one another as had become our habit.

  “Get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  Yawning, “I’m already there.”

  A few days later, on St. Patrick’s Day in the afternoon, we stood in front of a judge with a few dozen of our closest friends and family, mostly his, and said ‘I do’.

  We didn’t know each other like we should, but we knew we were bonded in a way we couldn’t explain. He got me, accepted me, loved me—though he hadn’t said it yet—and I felt the same way. I’d never felt this way in my entire life about one single person.

  We went to dinner that night with his family and our friends. His parents had made reservations at a local Irish Pub, and we had the back banquet room to ourselves. It was a gesture we weren’t expecting, but were so thankful for.

  His dad gave a toast and then thanked us for at least picking a great day to commit ourselves. “Love has its ups and downs. May the luck of the Irish always be on your side because Lord knows it’s been on ours.” O smiled at me and kissed me softly. We all raised our glasses in salute and then drank up.

  I was chatting with Lucy, who I really liked, when his father interrupted us. I was looking forward to getting to know her and hoped to spend more time with her soon. Heath couldn’t keep his hands off her. It was sweet.

  “Now, my son has a song picked and would like to dance with is bride.” My father-in-law walked over to us and kissed my cheek and then Lucy’s. “Welcome to the family, Desiree. We’re glad you’re here.” I looked over to where O had moved to stand, his mom and four brothers flanking him. His father followed the focus of my eyes and snickered, “They’re a good bunch. We take care of our own.”

  Lucy agreed, “He’s right. They’re all amazing.”

  “I see that. I feel a little lost being an only child amongst all this rabble.”

  Lucy laughed and said, “You have NO idea!”

  “Ha! Rabble it is.” Music began to play as he said, “Your husband awaits my dear.”

  Nodding, I walked toward O. He wore slacks, a dress shirt and tie while I managed to find a dress. It was very simple, not the wedding dress I’d envisioned, but I loved it. My hair hung down my back in soft waves. He pulled me close, his fingers pulling gently on the ends of my hair.

  “There’s something you should know, Des.”

  “What’s that?” I smiled up at him as I figured out the song that played, that he’d picked. Look After You by The Fray with its mellow piano and string melody serenaded us.

  “I love you, Des. I don’t expect you to say it back, but I had to tell you.”

  “I love you, too O.”

  We didn’t stay too much longer. Eager to get home for many reasons. One being we both had to work the next day.

  With our hearts on our sleeves and our guard down, we walked into the apartment that night not expecting to find what awaited us. The place had been tossed, or at least that was the impression that was meant to be left. O pulled out his cell and dialed 9-1-1. Opening the front closet, he pulled out the shotgun off the top shelf and loaded it. The sound it made had me cringing and I was oblivious to what he was saying into the phone.

  The sound of glass breaking came from one of the bedrooms and he surged toward it after handing me the phone.

  “O! Don’t!” But he didn’t listen.

  The operator was talking to me, telling me that the cops were on their way. I was sobbing into the phone when I heard what sounded like a scuffle coming from the bedroom.

  I heard the voice that filled my nightmares bellow out, “She’s mine! I’ll kill you both before I let you have her.”

  “She’s MY wife, not yours.”

  Another crash filled my ears and I found myself cowering into the closet. I shut the door, slid to the floor and began rocking back and forth. Glass shattered and the sound of wood snapping filled my ears. The ruckus continued and like a coward I hid in the closet, paralyzed with fear.

  Then my nightmare became worse. The sound of a gun going off rang through the air.

  “No, no, no, no.” I covered my mouth, trying to be silent as I heard Saul’s voice again.

  “Where you at, Buttercup?”

  I decided then and there I would fight until he killed me. O would never let Saul get to me unless it was over his dead body. My heart shattered. Saul must’ve shot O, something I didn’t anticipate.

  The closet door swung open and I looked up to see Saul staring down at me. He reached for me with blood covered hands. Dragging me out by my hair, I clawed at his hands as he yanked me to my feet. When he had me nose to nose with him, I spit in his face. He sneered and licked the side of my cheek. With everything I had, I kicked him in the nuts. I turned back to the closet where I’d spotted crutches just before he’d pulled me out. At the same time, the sound of sirens filled the air. The cops were close.

  “DES!” It was O.

  Saul turned at the sound of O’s voice and I took my aim. I bashed the end of the crutch against his face as hard as I could. He staggered back and I glanced O shuffling toward us. Blood dripped down the face of my groom and down his arm as he limped. He cocked the shotgun and aimed it at Saul, who was standing in front of me. I fell back down into the closet to take cover just as Saul pulled a gun from his own waistband.

  “O! Look out!”

  I was sobbing, my face buried in my hands. “Des, Des, its ok. I’m ok.” I started lashing out at whoever it was that was trying to touch me. Hands gripped my shoulders and shook me, “DES!”

  Looking up I didn’t expect to see h
is hazel eyes staring back at me. “O?” I flung my arms around him and began sobbing.

  “Shh. I got you.”

  “You’re hurt. Where is he?”

  “I’m ok. Just a scratch. I told you, I’d protect you with everything I had. I’ll always look after you.” He held me for several moments as I got my emotions and breathing back under control.

  “Odysseus, Desiree, we have some questions for you.”

  I looked up into the eyes of the detective and knew this night wouldn’t be over anytime soon. O squeezed my hand and helped me to my feet. “He needs to see a doctor. The questions can wait.” O tried saying he was ok and I refused to hear it. “Now!”

  “Des, I’m fine.”

  “So help me God, Odysseus. You’ve done your job, now let me do mine.” He pursed his lips at me. “You protected me, now let me protect you. You need to see a doctor.”

  Another detective came walking up and announced, “Sir, he got away.”

  I felt O’s entire body go stiff. “How the fuck did he get away? I shot him!”

  “Son, we’ll find him. If you shot him with that,” he pointed at the shotgun on the floor, “he won’t get far.”

  “No, no, no…”

  O pulled me toward the kitchen and away from the detectives. “Des, look at me. He won’t get to you.”

  “Don’t you get it? He ALWAYS gets to me.” He pulled me close as I choked out, “I’ll never be safe. Not until he’s dead, or I’m dead.”

  “If I have to kill him myself, I will. I promise you, he won’t get to you again.”

  Sniffling, “You can try, but you can’t promise. No one can.”

  “I’ll protect you with my life. I’ll never let anything happen to you again.” He kissed me softly and pulled me close. “I’ll give my body to protect yours.”

  I tried believing him, wanted to believe him. He was with me and together we’d get through this, but we had a long way to go. If I had to put a bullet in Saul myself I would. O was the only price I wasn’t willing to pay. I knew O would do the same. His body, heart, and soul had become more precious to me than any other thing.

  HEART

  ~ Odysseus ~

  ~ Chapter 10 ~

  I held her in my arms, staring at what was left of my apartment. The couch had been shredded, almost every dish was broken and lying on the kitchen floor, and there was blood smeared all over. Des hadn’t even seen the bedroom yet, and I didn’t want her to. The message scrawled on the bathroom mirror was enough to give me nightmares.

  The EMS and Des both insisted that I go to the hospital to make sure it wasn’t more than a mild concussion. I’d called Will and asked him to come to my apartment right away, that it was an emergency. He got there quicker than I thought he would, considering he originally thought I was joking.

  Will walked in and looked to me and then Des, trying to take it all in. Her beautiful white dress had a few tears and streaks of red across it. She was curled into my side and still trembling, though I knew she’d deny it.

  “Jesus. What the fuck? Are you ok?”

  Des pleaded with Will immediately. “He’s refusing to go to the hospital. Maybe you can convince him?” Des was over-reacting, but I loved her for it.

  “I said I’d go. I just wanted to wait for Will. I’m not leaving you alone.” Will understood. I’d filled him in on more of Des’ past than I’m sure she would’ve liked, but it was for her protection.

  “Do you want me to call Mom and Dad?”

  “Not now. It can wait till morning. Can you drive us to the hospital?” Turning to Des, I whispered in her ear, “Baby, can you give me just a minute? I need to talk to Will.”

  Her fingers dug into my side as she tried to object, but she couldn’t find the words.

  “I’m not leaving Des, just going right over there.” I pointed to the kitchen and she nodded. “You should let the EMS check you, just to make sure you’re ok.” She searched my eyes for a moment and then agreed.

  Will and I took a few steps away as the EMS tech had Des sit in a chair in the living room. Will pulled my attention away, asking, “O, what happened?”

  “We walked in and found the place this way. He was still here. I was an idiot. I heard glass shatter in the bedroom and found the window busted. It was a decoy and I fell for it.”

  “Dude, you’re alive, she’s alive. Sounds like you saved the day.”

  I ran my hands through my hair in frustration and then winced in pain, forgetting about the wound in my scalp. “Fuck! I fucking shot him and he got away.”

  “O, he could’ve killed you. You’re lucky he didn’t shoot you.”

  Snarling, I confessed, “He did.” Will looked to me stunned as I clarified, “It’s just a scratch. Listen, the bedroom is trashed. I don’t want her going in there, not if I can avoid it. Can you try to find some clothes for her that haven’t been trashed?” A sudden wave of dizziness took me over and Will braced me before I collapsed.

  EMS and Des were at my side immediately. They decided to take me to the hospital immediately and Will swore he’d be right behind. I made it down the stairs with some assistance, my leg was killing me, and I was more worried about that than I was about my head. Though my worry for Des outweighed it all.

  I watched her closely in the ambulance. The spark in her beautiful dark blue eyes wasn’t there. There was a hardness to her, like a shadow had been cast upon her, something I’d only glimpsed once or twice when she tried shutting me out and it scared me. Not like I was scared of her, but scared of what that hardness would do to her. She was twirling her new ring and I reached for her hand.

  She leaned in as close as she could as I promised her, “It’s going to be ok.”

  She just smiled half-heartedly and then we pulled in to the hospital. They wheeled me back to the ER, Des right beside me. They ran a battery of tests and did a head CT after Des’ persistence, worried I could have a brain bleed. Her med school training paying off. She was able to talk ‘shop’ with the docs and I was impressed.

  Turned out there was no brain bleed, but I did have a pretty serious concussion. My leg was also X-rayed, but nothing was found. Just some bad bruising.

  “We’re going to let you go home, but you need to take it easy. No vigorous activity for at least five days.”

  “Doc, I’m a personal trainer.”

  “Not this week you aren’t. That leg and your head need a break. Don’t watch too much TV or do too much reading. Spend as much time as you can relaxing in bed.” The doc glanced at Des and back to me. With a grin on his face, “I know you just got married, but you should abstain, too. Go see your doc if your symptoms don’t ease up in the next couple days.” DICK! He was getting pleasure from this. He signed a few papers and informed us, “You can get dressed. We’ll get you out of here ASAP.”

  As the doc left, Will walked in with three coffees. He couldn’t deal with sitting in the room and had probably been running laps around the hospital while I was having my tests run. It was nearly dawn and coffee was a blessing and a curse at this point. All I wanted to do was sleep and I’m sure Des felt the same way. Des had already changed her clothes, her ruined dress now wadded up in the duffle bag.

  She helped me get out of my gown as Will sat in the chair, playing on his phone. Sitting on the edge of the bed, in nothing but my underwear, she helped me pull a shirt over my head. Her hands tenderly smoothed the shirt over my chest before she let out a small whimper.

  “I almost lost you.” She was sobbing in her hands as she choked out, “He shot you, because of me.”

  It turned out to be more than a scratch. The bullet from his gun had gone clean through my shoulder, a miracle in itself. “No, he shot me because he’s crazy.” I tried soothing her and it just seemed to bring more out of her. I looked to Will who just nodded and left the room giving us some privacy.

  “How did he get away? I know I was there, but you shot him. He could be anywhere.” She was nearly hysterical.

  “
Des, you need to calm down. The police will find him. He needs medical attention and he can’t just get that anywhere.”

  She started shaking her head vigorously. “Yes, yes he can.”

  “What do you mean?” We hadn’t discussed Saul in any great detail, but I had a feeling we were about to.

  “He’s a surgeon, a doctor. That’s how we met. He was hurt in a car accident and I was his therapist.”

  With those simple words everything became so clear, like the fog had been lifted. Saul was the former patient and the reason why she had been reluctant to date me. It was probably more of a reason than her concern of being too old for me.

  “Des, I had no idea.”

  I was trying to remain calm, her own nerves clearly shot. I didn’t know what else to say. Her head was resting on my chest and as her breathing started to normalize the nurse came in with the discharge papers. The nurse didn’t say anything, but Des heard the curtain open. Turning her back, she wiped at her face and then faced me again, faking a smile. She helped me with my pants and then put my shoes on. Will was waiting in the lobby and took the bag from Des as we walked out to his SUV.

  Will was headed toward his place. He still lived over the gym, in the apartment that he and Heath had once shared. I’d Come For You by Nickelback was playing softly through the sound system. Heath and Lucy were probably staying there since they’d come down for the wedding so I wasn’t sure there was room for all of us, but I couldn’t think about it too hard. I put my head back, closing my eyes, and listened to the words of the song.

  “O, we’re here.”

  My eyes fluttered open and the throbbing in my head started again. I’d fallen asleep on the drive, but recognized the parking lot as I took in my surroundings. Heading up to the apartment, I was surprised to see Heath and Lucy up and about. They both greeted us with hugs and valid concern.

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s eight. You guys need to get some rest.” It was later in the morning than I thought. Lucy’s statement was directed toward both of us, but her eyes were on Des. She took Des’ hand, “Come on. I already changed the sheets.” Walking us into her bedroom, Lucy added, “Heath and I are headed back up north, but if you guys need anything, please don’t hesitate. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.” Des just nodded, surprised by the generosity, but I wasn’t. Lucy walked over to me and rubbed my arm, “You guys are welcome at the lake house anytime. We’d love to have you.” Lowering her voice, “I really like her, O, but she’s been through a lot. Go easy on her. Tread lightly, love persistently, and be strong. She’s going to push you away. Don’t let her.”