AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nah, I just wanted to bust your chops over Rachel,” he says heading for the door.
“All right, man, later.” I tap at my keyboard to join the Teams meeting already in progress.
“…saw it. So, I told him there was no way in hell he was getting a tattoo ofthaton his arm,” Kristin, the marketing manager, laughs hard. “Of course now… Oh, hello there, Rhence. Glad you could join us.”
“Glad to be here. Cheers, everyone. I know it’s late over there, so please carry on.” I meet with them once a month for status updates and to help address senior-level issues. Of late, it’s become a mere formality or a show of executive management engagement.
Kristin’s mention of her husband’s tattoo reminds me of the one I have on my chest. It’s a gothic-looking heart with the letters R&R. It was a gift for Rachel after she’d surprised me at Christmas with a top-of-the-line PC that I’d never have been able to afford back then. So, I had to go big after that, and Rachel was always preaching about how it was the sentiment behind the gift, not the price, that really counted. So I had our initials inside the symbol of eternal love etched into my skin as a symbol of who we were and always would be to each other.
I remembered us sitting in my mom’s old Camaro on a cold, rainy day. We didn’t have much time before Rachel left for Aspen with her parents. We were huddled inside when she handed me a large box. Judging by its size and weight, I knew it could only be one thing.
I stared at Rachel and shook my head no.
“Go ahead,” she said with a big smile. “Open it, silly.”
Hesitantly, I removed the wrapping paper to discover it was just as I expected, if not worse: the latest version of the PC I’d been saving for over the last six months. “Jesus, Rache,” I said, looking back and forth between her and it.
She beamed, her hands clasped. “You like it?”
I grimaced. “Yes, but, Rache, this is too much. I… I can’t get you anything this great.”
“Hush,” she said, batting my arm. “As long as your gift shows that you put genuine thought into it and it comes from your heart, I’ll be happy.”
When she came home from Aspen, true to her word, Rachel showed as much exuberance over a sentimental trinket as most women would’ve shown over a five-karat diamond ring. That was just the kind of person she was.
I recall her tracing the tip of her long, delicate finger along the outline of my new tattoo.
“This is permanent, you know,” she whispered to me. We were in her bed, partially clothed. Her parents were still at work and wouldn’t be home until late.
I shrugged. “So are we.”
“It’s definitely a commitment,” she laughed giddily. “People say a wedding band is a commitment, but I say that’s a commitment.”
I kissed the tip of her nose. “Do you like it?”
She gave me a big, dreamy smile. “I love it.” To emphasize the point she traced kisses along the rim of it. “I love that I can see it when you’re making love to me.” Her breathy, sultry tone made my dick stand at attention.
She unbuckled my pants and slipped her hand inside my jeans. I’m not sure, but I think I gasped from the feel of her hand wrapped firmly around my shaft. I kissed her deep and hard, and in my excitement, I kissed her along her neck, biting and sucking hard enough to leave a bruise. She liked when I left my passion marks on her, but she wanted me to be more strategic about the location to avoid detection. If anyone found out how many I’d placed on her breasts and flat little belly…
“They’ll see that,” she laughed, pushing my face away from her neck.
“Let’s test your theory about you being able to see the tattoo,” I said, rather cleverly I thought. We both shimmied out of our jeans and underwear. Rachel was on the pill, but she still insisted I wear a condom, just to be extra safe. I reached into my pocket and pulled one out. She grabbed it out of my hand, tore it open, and slid it over my throbbing erection. I slid my fingers inside her panties and rhythmically stroked back and forth in her slickness. I loved it when Rachel got this wet for me. With her, I always felt confident, smart, and highly desirable.
And when she took hold of me and guided me inside her, it felt like I was being drawn into to worship her forever. We were one. We were eternal.
“It’s the perfect gift, babe,” she said, staring at me through the slits of her eyes as her body moved in concert with mine. “Best gift ever.”
Now, I brush my fingers over my heart where the tattoo resides. After Rachel left me, I felt like such a fucking idiot every time I glimpsed it in the mirror. I thought about having it removed or inked over, but I decided to keep it as a reminder of what we once had so that I could make her pay for destroying it.
Chapter nine
Rachel
IdrivemyblueBMW convertible across town to my parents’ house in Lake Norman. I’m having dinner with them tonight so I can pick Dad’s brain about the contract that I signed with Rhence’s firm. I need to know if he’s just talking out of his ass saying the company is his now. I need to know how much legal ground he has to stand on.
The whole situation is so surreal. I still can’t believe that the man I spoke to this morning was actually Rhence. He answers to the name and looks the way I imagine Rhence would look at age twenty-nine, but that’s where the similarities end. He’s nothing like the Rhence I loved. He’s some horrible, obnoxious imposter.
Yet, deep inside, I know that I’m kidding myself. The raw magnetism and blazing heat between us is palpable. This is my Rhence, and certain parts of my body are screaming to reunite with him. The other parts of me want to put out a hit on him.
