With Me

  by

  Gabbie S. Duran

  * * *

  With Me

  Copyright © 2014 by Gabbie S. Duran

  Editing by Edee M. Fallon, Mad Spark Editing

  http://facebook.com/madsparkediting

  Cover art by Melissa Gill at MGBookcovers https://www.facebook.com/MGbookcovers

  Interior book design and formatting by JT Formatting

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products, bands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  For other titles by Gabbie, visit Amazon

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Epilogue

  Preview of Unspoken Memories

  Acknowledgments

  To everyone who serves, or who have served, and to the families that stay behind to wait;

  thank you for your service.

  “ARE YOU SURE your parents are okay with me being here?” Joseph asks for the second time, the hesitation clear in his voice.

  “Of course,” I lie to him, giving him a reassuring smile.

  Truthfully, my parents don’t know he’s here, but neither are they, which is the reason why he’s here now. Actually, it’s not the true reason. He’s here because I’m cooking dinner for him tonight. This is the last night before he leaves for boot camp. I’ve been planning it for a month now, since the day I discovered I wasn’t going to be able to go with my parents to their annual bible retreat.

  They’ve gone every year since I was born, but it’s the first year I’m unable to go due to work. I couldn’t get the weekend off since a co-worker is on maternity leave, which for me was a sign from God. It gave me the opportunity to cook dinner for Joseph. I know I should feel guilty for not going, but I don’t. I’d much rather be here with him right now. Joseph looks nervous, but I can’t blame him. He knows I’m not allowed to have boys over without my parents present.

  “Now, I’ll ask again. Do you want pop or water?” I ask him holding up one of each in my hands, trying to change the subject.

  He looks over in my direction and smiles before saying, “Pop would be great, thank you. I really doubt I’m going to get to drink one for the next three months,” he answers, making me smile.

  I head to the table, taking a seat as I place his soda in front of him. As I’m about to start saying grace he picks up his fork and starts digging into his meal. We always say grace in my house, but I assume by the way that he is looking up at me, confused, they don’t at his house.

  I give him a forced smile and he goes back to eating. I bow my head and say a quick prayer, hoping he doesn’t take notice. When done, I grab my own fork and join Joseph in eating.

  When dinner is done, with Joseph’s help, I wash up the dishes.

  Joseph walks into the living room, forcing me to follow, and I’m already growing disappointed that he already wants to leave. He abruptly turns to face me, making me crash into his chest. He catches me as I sway, his eyes already bearing down at me. “Thanks for dinner, Kasey. It really means a lot to me.”

  Not wanting him to leave so soon, I abruptly say, “You don’t have to leave yet. Do you want to stay a little longer and keep talking?” I wait, nervously biting my lip, hoping he’ll say yes.

  My stomach is in knots as I wait the few seconds for his answer. He nervously looks around the room, as if he’s expecting my parents to randomly surprise us with their presence.

  “Sure.”

  I release the breath I was holding and walk over to the couch, taking a seat. When he joins me, I begin to grow anxious. I don’t know how to act around him. Running my sweating palms on my jeans, I begin to bite on my lip, hoping that he doesn’t notice how nervous I really am at this moment.

  “So what do you plan on doing this summer?” he asks, as he leans back on the couch, as I begin to relax.

  With a shrug of my shoulders, I answer him. “Work, until I start college here in Savannah. I plan on cutting back my hours once I start school, though,” I reply, already feeling the blush on my cheeks as I catch myself rambling on.

  I’ve always felt nervous around Joseph, no matter how comfortable he tries to make me feel. It’s the reaction I’ve had since the first day I laid eyes on him. I was only eleven and instantly became infatuated with the new boy next door. It was also the day he caught me spying on him. With a simple wave I was hooked. That day I became the shyest ninny in the world, even more so when he came over to say hi.

  Being that my parents are extremely religious, I was never allowed to date. So as the days went by, my schoolgirl crush for Joseph only increased, never to become anything more. Knowing I never had a chance didn’t stop me from dreaming, but left me to watch as he dated every other girl that threw herself at him, and it hurt.

  However, he never did ignore me. His excuse being: I was the girl next door, it was his obligation to look out for me. I didn’t know whether to take it as a compliment or as an insult. Either way, I accepted it.

  Hating the awkward silence in the room, I begin to talk, “So, are you nervous about boot camp?”

  He considers the question for a moment before answering, “A little. I hate not knowing what to expect. I mean, they’ve told me what to expect, but it’s not the same as experiencing it.”

  “What time do you leave in the morning?” I quietly ask.

  “Early. My recruiter said he’d pick me up around five a.m. I have to be on the plane by eight.”

  Raising my eyebrows at him, I say, “Wow, that’s really early.”

  He shrugs his shoulders. “I guess I better get used to it. I hear we have to wake up before the sun comes up and you don’t go to sleep until it’s down,” he says, chuckling at the same time.

  I don’t know how he can find it so amusing. If it were I in his situation, I would be frightened, I think to myself.

  “Well, I better go. It’s getting really late and I know I shouldn’t keep you up. You’ve done enough for me already,” he says as he stands up, forcing me to do the same.

  I hate that he seems in such a hurry to leave, but it’s probably because he already has other plans. I feel disappointed he’s leaving. I almost want to blame myself for being so boring. It’s probably the reason why he wants to leave.

  As I lead him to the door, distracted by my self-pity, I crash
into his chest, causing me to look up at him. I’m so embarrassed by my awkwardness, that my body becomes paralyzed to the spot as our eyes meet. My stomach feels like it contains a hundred different butterflies flying around in it.

  I’m trying to swallow the nervous lump now lodged in my throat as I anxiously hold my breath, waiting for something to happen. His eyes grow dark and he slowly lowers his head down towards mine; our lips gently meeting as he kisses me.

  I am surprised by this kiss. I’ve never been kissed before, so I don’t know what to expect, or even know what to do. With my hands already on his chest, I wrap my fingers into his shirt, needing to hold onto something to prevent my body from falling to the ground. My legs are on the verge of collapsing from feeling weak.

  The warmth of his lips leaves me both scared and apprehensive. What if I’m doing it wrong? I’ve seen plenty of people kiss before at school and it never looked like this.

  His lips are gentle and soft against mine. I suddenly feel his tongue gently nudge against my lips, wanting entrance. Opening up for him, his tongue meets mine and with my hands still gripping at his shirt, I pull him closer.

  Closing my eyes, I let the sensation of our touch take over, our tongues gliding slowly against each other. I feel his hands come up to cradle my head in his palms, tilting my head so he can take and demand more of my mouth. I can taste him completely. This, the way he’s kissing me, is the way I’ve seen people kiss and now I know why they do it so often. I can already tell I’m addicted to it.

  Slowly I match his movements inside my mouth. I’m praying I’m doing them right.

  I feel him slowly pull away, making me whimper at the loss. Why did he stop? I must have done something wrong. I didn’t want to disappoint him.

  Slowly opening my eyes, I can see him breathing as heavy as I am. Our chests are rising and falling, trying to catch our breaths, as he rests his forehead against mine. My heart is racing from the passion rising in me. I can barely keep my breathing under control.

  “I’ve waited so long to be able to do that,” he declares, his eyes intensely staring down at me.

  My body is still humming from our kiss and I’m weaker than before. I’m still speechless as I pull him back down to return to kissing him. He returns the kiss, this time much more fiercely. When I feel him pull back, severing our kiss, I whimper from the loss.

  “I better leave now, Kasey, before I end up doing something I’m going to regret,” he quietly growls, as he tries to push my body away. I don’t let him, keeping a firm grip on his shirt to hold him in place.

  “Please don’t leave. Not now,” I whisper to him, practically begging.

  I don’t know why I want him to stay, but deep down inside I know that I don’t want him to leave. Not tonight.

  “Are you sure, Kasey? I won’t be able to control myself if you don’t let me leave right now,” he says, his voice sounding hesitant and restrained. Almost as if he fears I’d tell him otherwise.

  I nod my head to answer his question. I grab for his hand and start to pull him towards my bedroom, already comprehending what I want from him. I need to know that he’ll be mine, even if it’s only for one night.

  The second we enter my bedroom he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me up against his body. My feet are now dangling off the ground and I can only hold on to him as he walks us backwards towards my bed. I feel my legs hit the edge, our bodies descending onto the bed as he comes down with me.

  As he breaks our kiss, his lips slowly start trailing down my neck. His kisses leave a heated trail behind and I tilt my head, giving him better access to tantalize me. I feel his hand slowly starting to tease its way up my stomach, grazing my skin with his palm. It’s scorching a trail to match the heat of his lips along the way. My body feels like it’s on fire from his touch.

  Wanting to feel more of his body, my hands start to explore him; loving the way his body feels against my palms. His skin feels smooth and warm and I crave to feel it against my own.

  I frantically start to yank his shirt off and he does the same with mine, ridding us of the barriers. Our chests meet and the warmth of his body above mine makes me lose all control.

  Slamming his lips onto mine, my hands start roaming up and down his back. The feeling of his warm skin against my hands is amazing and I want to feel more. I lower my hands and feeling brave, I skim them across his ass. I feel him chuckle against my mouth and I know I shouldn’t have done it. Quickly, I lift my hands away, as if they were burned.

  “I’m sorry, Kasey. I didn’t mean to laugh at you. I like that you did it, that’s all.” His deep voice, whispering into my ear, causes a shiver to travel through me, all the way down to my toes.

  He goes back to kissing his way down my neck. If my body didn’t already feel like it was on fire, I’m pretty sure I would have turned beet red from his comment. Before I even have time to feel ashamed of what I did, his hand reaches under my back and I feel the clasp of my bra being undone. He pulls my bra completely off me and tosses it aside, leaving me naked from the waist up.

  With the light of the streetlamp outside my window, I watch as his eyes roam up and down my body. The hunger evident in his eyes should frighten me, but I feel the same way as him

  The excitement rebuilds within me when he lowers his mouth down to one of my breasts. The feel of his lips lightly brushing my nipple, teases me, until I feel him take it into his mouth sucking it softly, causing a moan to escape from my lips. When his mouth starts sucking harder, I’m forced to grab for his head, afraid he might stop.

  He moves his mouth to the other, my back arching up, thrusting myself at him. My fingers are now digging into his ruffled hair, gripping it for dear life. The noises that are coming from me are surprising myself, but I can’t control them.

  When he stops, he brings his head up to look down at me, before his hands reach for the button of my jeans to undo them. Still intensely peering down at me, his hooded eyes are strongly focused on my own, as if he’s waiting for me to stop him. But I don’t. I can’t.

  He lifts his body completely away and uses both hands to pull my jeans off, taking my panties with them. I’m already barefoot, preferring to not wear shoes while in the house, so my pants easily slip off.

  Laying there, staring back at him, I take him in. His body is long and lean. His hair looking disheveled from my hands, and his eyes are dark with hunger as he stands tall peering back at me. His lips are turned up in a sensual smile. Slowly, he unbuttons his jeans, his eyes never leaving mine. I would have preferred to do it myself, but right now I’m not sure I would be able to. I lie there, taking in every inch of his body as he removes the last of his clothing. When he’s done, I catch one quick glimpse of his erection standing long and tall. My eyes go wide when I see how big he is. I’m left a little scared.

  Gradually, he makes his way back to the bed, and I slowly scoot up so I’m in the middle. He climbs back on top of me, my legs opening to allow his body to come down on mine. My hands start feeling every inch of his naked body, with my fingertips grazing his skin. It’s when I feel something hard nudge against my thigh that I grow frightened again. But I’m soon distracted as he starts kissing me, making all of my fear quickly disappear. It’s replaced with desire. Our kiss grows passionate and I start to feel an ache between my legs.

  The teasing of his hand as it skims my skin intensifies the desire that I’m still unfamiliar with. His hand finds it’s way under my back and down under my ass; forcing me to lift up to him. At the same time I feel something nudge at the opening between my legs, as if demanding entrance, but just as quickly I feel him enter me in one quick thrust.

  I let out a loud scream as I feel myself being stretched completely. A slight burn quickly follows. My hands reach for his shoulders to hold onto him, my nails digging into the skin from the pain I’m feeling at this moment. My face meets the crook of his neck as I try to catch my breath, hoping it will subside soon.

  I feel his body grow rigid and t
ense. “Oh shit, Kasey. I’m sorry. I should have been gentler with you. I forgot this is your first time,” I hear him whisper into my ear as he lies above me, his warm breath against my skin.

  When he attempts to shift himself, I stop him, holding him tight. “Please, don’t move,” I plead to him, scared if he moves the pain will only increase. This is nothing like the ache I felt earlier.

  Still rigid above me, I can feel his warm breath on my neck. I lay there not knowing what to do next. “Kasey, let me know when I can move. I don’t want to hurt you again,” he desperately pleads into the hollow of my neck, his voice sounding strained.

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I lay underneath him, waiting for the pain to subside. It only takes a couple of seconds for the pain to slowly disappear. I still feel full from having him inside me, but when I try moving my hips a little, it starts to feel better.

  I hear Joseph groan, as if he’s in pain as well. “Did I hurt you, Joseph? I’m sorry,” I apologetically whisper to him.

  He chuckles against my neck, before kissing my skin, sending a shiver down my body. “It’s not pain I’m in, Kasey. Unless you call torturing me when you wiggle like that, pain. Then yes, I am,” he says, almost laughing.

  Confused why he’d find the situation amusing, I lift my hips up to test how I feel, but I soon discover that he must have lost his patience. He starts to slowly thrust inside of me, sending a wave of pleasure up my body, building it more and more as he continues.

  My legs voluntarily wrap around his waist, wanting to feel closer to him; more than we already are. Eventually I find a rhythm that matches his, making the desire inside me build higher and higher. It increases with each minute that goes by and eventually I begin to grow frightened by it.

  “Joseph, you have to stop. I think something is wrong,” I tell him.

  He obeys, coming to a complete stop above me, his worried eyes looking down at me. “What’s wrong, Kasey? Am I hurting you?” he fearfully asks, his eyes looking frantic at this point.