Destined Read online

  The sound of water coming from his bathroom grabs my attention. The door has been left cracked open.

  Pushing myself up, and finding myself still naked, I take the sheet off from the bed and wrap myself inside of it. I walk to the bathroom, peek inside, and sure enough, he’s in the shower. His back is facing me, and the glass door does little to hide his massive size. His back and shoulders are built like a professional athlete. He could have easily been a football player back home.

  Suddenly, he spins around and taking notice of me, he slides the glass shower door to one side, sticking his head out.

  I’m embarrassed that I’ve been caught watching him, but the gorgeous smile on his face lets me know he’s not angry with me.

  “You’re up, beautiful.” His voice first thing in the morning is the only thing I ever want waking me up. Well, that, and maybe a few other things only he is capable of that he showed me last night.

  “I woke up and didn’t see you in bed… I missed you,” I confess.

  His smile never wavers. Instead, he brings up his hands and uses his index finger, silently asking me to go to him.

  I take a deep breath, step inside the bathroom and drop the sheet from around my body.

  Now his smile is gone, and as the way his eyes roam over my body, I know he’s loving what he sees.

  “Oh, my God, Ana. You’re so beautiful. Come here, babe.”

  I continue walking toward him, and once I reach the entrance to the shower, he slides the glass door further to the left, allowing me to step inside. I shudder right before the stream of the warm water lands on my body.

  His sexy smirk returns, and looking down, I notice his desire for me is ready and standing at attention. I reach my hands out to touch his chest, and that's the exact moment when he places his hands on my ass, lifting me up into his arms.

  "Grayson!" The feel of cold tiles against my back as he rams his cock inside of me doesn't even cause me to flinch. All that matters is the feel of him deep inside of me as he continues pounding me.

  His lips land on my neck as he slams into me with each thrust, and fuck, does he feel so good.

  Water splashes all around us as we come together each time.

  "Oh, my God, Grayson… I don't think I can hold it much… ah," I moan out in ecstasy.

  "Yes, baby! Come all over my cock, love!"

  As my release flows out of me like the shower water coming down from the shower head, I can't help but smile. I feel like melting right into his arms.

  "Mmm, that's a good girl," he says, placing a kiss on my cheek.

  I bite down on my bottom lip. "My turn."

  He looks down into my eyes for only a moment before I rip my gaze away.

  "Ana, what are you… oh…."

  In an instant, I'm kneeling down in the shower as the warm water continues covering us completely.

  I close my eyes and wrap my lips around his length. Then, I take him into my mouth, using my tongue to caress him as I suck. I open my eyes for a second to peek up and see Grayson with his head tilted back, enjoying every moment of me satisfying him. I'm pleased. I'm glad he's enjoying this just as much as I enjoyed what he did to me every time.

  His hands land on my head, helping to guide me as I tickle his balls with my fingers.

  "Fuck! Ana! Mmm, come here!" He grabs me and lifts me up. Flipping me around, my palms slam against the white ceramic tiles just as he rams his cock inside of me all over again.

  "God, your pussy feels so good!"

  "Aye… aye… I love… mmm… how big you are, filling me completely," I moan.

  "I'm going to come, babe, my God…" He pounds into me another three times before he explodes all over again inside of me.

  After we're done being intimate in the shower, Grayson finishes washing up first and tells me to take my time. He places a kiss on my forehead and steps out of the shower. He grabs his bathrobe from behind the door, wraps himself in it, and leaves the bathroom. He closes the door behind him, and damn, I miss him already.

  As I lather up allowing the bubbles to cover my body, I think back to all the times he'd brought me to oblivion in the past couple of hours. Holy shit, did that man know exactly what he's doing. I shiver reliving our intimate moments in my mind. I take some of the shampoo sitting on the windowsill and pour some into my hand. I wash my hair, and when I'm done, I turn off the water.

  I step out of the shower and wrap my body inside of a white terry cloth towel, but I'd honestly rather wrap myself up in Grayson all over again. Yeah, I know I've had him time and time again since last night, but what can I say? The man has a way with my body that I hadn't felt in so long. It's really so wonderful.

  I open the door, and the sound of classical music floods my ears. I smile, thinking how gorgeous Grayson must look sitting at the piano. Instead, as I walk into the living room, I find him in just a pair of sweatpants looking out of the window. I now realize the music is coming from an old vinyl player against the right wall of the room. I can’t see his face, as he has his back to me, but I can sense something deep is on his mind.

  I don’t know if he knows I am here yet, but not wanting to startle him, I softly say, “Hey.”

  He automatically spins around, a picture in a frame is sitting in his hands. “Anabelle,” he whispers.

  His eyes are red and appears as though he’s been crying. “Grayson, are you alright?”

  He sniffles and shakes his head back and forth. What the hell happened between now and just minutes ago that has him so shaken up? Everything had been so perfect. He was perfectly fine in the shower with me.

  “What’s going on?” I try once more.

  “Please sit,” he answers.

  I can’t hide the fact that I’m afraid to know what is going on. I don’t like feeling this way, but obviously something is just not right.

  I take a seat on the couch and he slowly comes to join me, still holding onto the frame.

  I adjust the towel, pulling it up more over my bosom, and wait for him to speak.

  Taking a deep breath, he begins to speak. “Ana, the little amount of time I’ve known you, you have been nothing but honest and truthful with me. You’ve been the sweetest and most amazing woman I have ever met.”

  I look at him and nod, encouraging him to go on.

  “This is Kaylee, my two-year-old daughter,” he says, showing me the picture that I had asked him about from the previous night.

  I offer him a small smile. “She’s adorable,” I say. “Now I see the resemblance. She has your eyes. Don’t know why I didn’t realize it sooner. Does she live here in London with you?”

  He shakes his head back and forth, placing the portrait on the coffee table in front of us; the flutes from the night before still sit there. “She passed away four years ago… I was on my way to pick up some last minute gifts that morning when she found some baby carrots in my ex’s bag. Amanda and I had been broken up for a year already, but we remained close for our baby girl’s sake. Anyway, Kaylee began eating them, her mom wasn’t paying attention, and she choked… she had already passed by the time the paramedics got to the house. They tried to save her, but it was too late.”

  Tears fill my eyes as I picture his precious baby girl being taken from this world. “Grayson, I’m so sorry,” I reply, placing a gentle hand on his.

  “Ana… there’s more.”

  “Okay,” I say, willing him to continue.

  “This all happened four years ago. She died on Christmas Eve… four years ago.”

  He waits for me to say something, but the only thing that comes to my mind is, “The day before my Luis died… the day we were in that crash.”

  He nods his head, “Yes.”

  “Okay,” I repeat, still not following what he is getting at. “Grayson, I’m not following you. I can sense there is more by your words and actions, but I don’t understand.”

  He takes a deep breath and looks down at the ground.

  Placing a hand at the nape of his n
eck, I say, “Hey, you can tell me anything. I’m here for you. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love so much. And the fact that you lost her around the same time as I lost Luis… it’s like we were destined to meet.”

  He lifts his head so that I can see his tear-filled eyes. “Ana… we have met… so long ago.”

  “What?” I question, furrowing my brows.

  “I was driving to pick up last minute Christmas gifts I had put on layaway for Kaylee and some other family members. When her mother called me and told me Kaylee had choked and the paramedics were on their way, I lost it. I saw nothing in front of me. The road ahead became a blur, and so did everything else before me. I lost control of my car, and as fate would have it, I slammed into a champagne-colored car on Christmas Eve, killing one of the people in it.”

  It’s as if the back of a hand comes connecting with my face. Right at that moment, as those words left Grayson’s mouth, that day from four years ago comes rushing back into my mind.

  Four years ago, a man in his early thirties had come up to me as I held my dying husband in my arms, rocking back and forth, praying to God this had all been a terrible nightmare.

  “Miss, are you alright? Jesus… I’m so sorry!” Bright green eyes shimmered in the daylight. Back then, I was too focused on Luis to realize his had been red-rimmed and puffy, crying from the news the mother of his child had just informed him of.

  Looking at him with venom, I shouted, “Go away!” not caring who had been responsible for the bloody scene in front of me. I prayed Luis would be able to pull through. He was still alive, but hanging on by a thread.

  I had forgotten all about the man responsible for my husband’s death. Too devastated to function like a normal human being back then, I didn’t think much of it when Luis’s death had been ruled an accident and no one would be held accountable. I had my own misery I was dealing with to notice the details of everything else around me.

  “Oh my God… it was you all along… but… wait. You knew who I was when you met me here in London? You knew I was the woman from that day when you crashed into our car, killing my husband?” Panic swallowed me whole. If Grayson knew, why wouldn’t he say anything sooner? Moreover, why did he start talking to me in the first place? I’d imagine a normal person would want to keep away from the person who you’d stolen their everything from.

  “Anabelle, you’ve got to believe me when I tell you that by the time I realized who you were, I was already falling for you. It was too late to go back. I’m so sorry.”

  A sense of nausea comes over me as I realize I had slept with the man responsible for my late husband’s death. Over and over again, enjoying it. I want to vomit just thinking about the way I had desired him and begged him to fuck me not long ago.

  “Oh my God, Grayson. You took advantage of me. How could you?” I stand up from the couch and begin pacing the room.

  “Anabelle, please. I am so sorry. You’ve got to believe me,” he begged, rising from the couch to come meet me by the window. He gets closer to me, and I feel the acidic bile rise up in my throat.

  As his hand lands on my shoulder innocently, I violently pull away, and scream, “No! Don’t touch me. I have to go. I have to go. I need to go.”

  I run from the room and head back into his bedroom to find my clothes still sprawled all over the floor from the night before. I gag, not believing what he had just told me about who he really was. I quickly pick the items up and step into my panties and then my jeans. As I stand there completely topless and zipping up my pants, he appears in the doorway.

  “Anabelle, please. Don’t go. Let’s talk this out. Please don’t go, baby.”

  I look up at him with tears filling my eyes. Not even bothering to put my bra on, I pull my shirt up over my head and adjust it over myself. “Please, don’t follow me back to the hotel.”

  I walk out of his bedroom, pushing past him and head to find my coat. I grab it off the rack and turn around to see him standing at the entrance of his living room. Tears continue falling from my eyes.

  “Anabelle, I’m so sorry… so sorry,” he cries.

  Sucking in a deep breath, I turn right around and open his door. “Goodbye, Grayson,” I say before leaving his apartment and making my way back to the hotel where I should have stayed in the first place.

  9

  “I can’t believe it! I can’t fucking believe it!” I shout into the phone as I stash away all my belongings into the only suitcase I had brought with me just days ago. This vacation was coming to an end way before it was scheduled to do so.

  “Ana, sweetie. Calm down,” Gary states in his most serene voice ever. The only time he uses this voice is when something seriously wrong or upsetting is occurring. More times than not, I think, he uses it for his own sake.

  “Calm down? I can’t fucking calm down. The guy is a total asshole! I can’t believe he lied to me! UGH!” I stomp about, pulling shirts and skirts off the rack from the closet.

  “No, Ana. He didn’t lie to you. He told you himself he didn’t realize who you were ‘til it was too late. I can’t believe you didn’t put two and two together, either. How in the world could you forget that man? I remember him clear as day now. Yum yum, sugar buns!”

  “Gary! This is no time to be joking!”

  “Joking? Joking? Honey, ain’t nobody joking! From what I can remember, that man was fiiiiiiiine!”

  Of course, I didn’t remember him. I was so wrapped up in my husband, fearing for his life when Grayson came over to me that day. I didn’t care who it was. It could have been God himself. I was just worried about my husband. I did my best to apply pressure to the blood gushing out of him. But nothing helped. The day after, he died anyway.

  I put the last pair of jeans into my luggage and zip it up. Then I plop down on my bed next to it and put my head in my left hand while still holding the phone up to my ear with my right. Tears continue to spill down onto my cheeks from my eyes. I was really beginning to think that maybe Grayson was the answer to my future. Maybe he was the one to help pull me out of my misery and possibly believe in love again.

  But no. Just no. He couldn’t be. He was the one who had stolen my husband from me. He’s the one I will never forgive.

  “Sweetheart, you can’t do this to yourself,” Gary’s soft voice finally comes back on the line again. Or maybe he had been talking the whole time, and I hadn’t heard him. It was possible. I was definitely in my own head.

  Lifting my head, I ask, “Gary… what am I going to do? This whole thing is a nightmare… a nightmare I just can’t wake up from.”

  “Honey girl, tell me something. Do you still feel anything for that man?”

  I stop and think for a moment. As mad as I am at Grayson, it still doesn’t change how I feel about him. Yes, I want to shout while slamming my fists into his chest. Yes, I want to scream at him, asking why in the world he had to take my husband from me. But still, none of that will change anything. Luis will still be gone. He is never coming back to me. The accident that took him away is not going to disappear even if I never speak to Grayson again.

  And Grayson? I still like him… possibly more? I don’t honestly know. I am so confused at this moment.

  “Ana?” Gary asks again when I still haven’t answered his question. “Be honest.”

  I let out a deep sigh and look up at the ceiling, tightly shutting my eyes. “Yes. Yes, I still have feelings for him. I don’t know what they are or what they mean yet, but I know I feel something for him… as fucked up as that may be. God, I’m a fucking loser! How can I possibly feel this way over the guy who killed my husband!”

  “Anabelle Davidson, you stop that right now!” Gary reprimands. I freeze in place. Whenever Gary gets pissed, the man in him comes out, pushing away his feminine side. You’d never believe he was gay if you’d see him mad.

  “Now, you’ve got to calm the fuck down and realize what you are dealing with here. Yes, he may be the reason why your husband is gone, but did you ever sto
p to think about his situation? He wasn’t in his right mind frame. He got a phone call from his bitch ex telling him his two-year-old daughter was dying. Um, hell-o? Can you imagine that? Your child, your baby, choking to death. Seriously, Ana. You hear about tragedies like this all the time where we work and they still get to us. Because it sucks! Because this is the cruel world we live in.”

  Of course, Gary is right. Although I’m not a surgeon and don’t have to deal with traumas like this one, working in the hospital, we always hear firsthand about children who pass away for whatever reason. And he’s right. It never gets easier. Every time is like a stab in the heart.

  “Look, I know how much losing Luis hurts, but you need to know and understand that it was all an accident. Grayson didn’t purposely slam into your car that morning. He lost it, completely and utterly lost it. I’m surprised he was strong enough to keep going with his life. Moving to London was probably the best thing for him.”

  I still offer Gary nothing but silence. I don’t know what to say. I hate to admit to him that he’s right. Admitting that will mean I have to let go of what happened and speak to Grayson again, and that is something I am not ready or willing to do.

  Noise is heard in the background from Gary’s end, and I know it’s his husband, waiting for him so that they can enjoy the rest of their Christmas day.

  “Anabelle, sweetie,” Gary begins in a mellow voice once more. I’m thankful his temperament is gone. “Please, stay and enjoy the rest of the vacation there in London. Don’t make the greatest mistake of your life by coming back to this shithole early and giving up a love that from what I have heard is meant to be. You two were destined to meet. It’s obvious.”