Hearts Aligned

Chapter 1

Chris

She was close. I loved this moment just before she surrendered completely to me, holding nothing back and giving me everything.

"Say it," I commanded.

I slowly pulled out of her. She knew that I wouldn't let her come if she didn't admit what I wanted - needed- to hear.

"I'm yours. Always!"

Her gasp quickly turned into a scream as I slammed into her, immediately sending her over the edge. She was so beautiful in her orgasmic bliss. I tried to hold back so I could keep her in this state longer, but she was clenching around me so hard I only managed a couple more thrusts before I, too, surrendered to her. I collapsed on top of her, sucking in deep breaths to make sure my heart was still inside my chest. It never ceased to amaze me how incredible sex was between us. Maybe because it wasn't just sex; it was the total package of giving and receiving all the emotions that I'd never felt with another partner.

Not wanting to crush her, I rolled over to my back, neither of us letting go so that we moved as one. Her gorgeous auburn hair fell across my chest covering her face where she nestled in contentment. Using my fingers, I combed it behind her ear, revealing her closed eyes and big smile.

I dropped a kiss on top of her head. "What are you smiling so big for?"

"I love your fingers in my hair like that."

I chuckled. "Is that the only place you love my fingers?"

Amused green eyes peered up at me as she propped her chin on my chest. "Why, no, it's not. I also love when they're in the kitchen fixing dinner."

"Oh, really?" I let my fingers skim along her sides until I reached her waist. "I like them here as well." I let them dig gently into her soft skin, making her laugh and squirm. Once again, I flipped us, leaning on my arms so she could breathe, her warm core calling to my cock like a beacon.

Her laughter stilled. Her hands rose to hold my face. "I love you, Chris. I love your hands anywhere on my body, the way you touch me, tease me, and the way they hold my body close to yours. But mostly, I love the way you hold my heart."

My own heart pumped harder hearing her words. I wasn't one of those guys who wanted to play the field. I'd known minutes after I looked into those bright green eyes the first time that I wanted Melissa, and I'd never looked back after that. We had met when she was halfway through her senior year in college, while I was working my way up at a construction firm after finishing a degree in Construction Science. 'You're too young to commit to a woman,' my friends told me. But I'd known. I'd been drawn in by her laugh, her beauty, and in a typical guy-like manner, her curves. But I was also captured by her selfless nature, her wit, and her intelligence.

I buried my face in her neck as I took a few calming breaths, stunned by the amount of emotion her words had on me. I wanted to treasure them for a few more seconds before I showed her just how much I loved her in return; to cherish the moment when I knew for certain that someday I'd make her my wife.

"I love you, too, Lissa. More than I ever thought I could love someone." I pulled back and stared into her eyes as I threaded my fingers through her curls. "And I'll mean those words just as much tomorrow and the months and years to come as I do today."

The tears that gathered in her eyes only made them appear to sparkle, and I was almost certain that if they spilled over it would be in the form of emeralds, so green were her eyes. "Oh, Chris--"

Her hands latched behind my head and pulled my lips to hers. I felt her warmth blend with mine, initiating a heat that could only end in one way. My hand slid from her hip and over her soft skin until my thumb rested just under the mound of her breast. Her breath hitched as I curled my fingers so they cupped her fullness. Her moan was cut short by...

"...local officials say the repair will take approximately two days. And in other news, there are only twenty-two shopping days left before Christmas. What do you say, Bob? Have you started your shopping, yet?"

Whatever Bob's answer was going to be, it was cut short by my hand blindly reaching behind me and smacking the snooze feature on my alarm clock. I was more interested in reclaiming the dream I'd been having before being so rudely interrupted. Rolling back to the warm form beside me, I curled around it and draped my arm across the slim waist and nuzzled into the curve of her shoulder.

Only instead of the jasmine smell I expected, it was more of a soft floral scent. The drowsy "good morning" that filled my ears was higher pitched, rather than the husky, more alto voice I longed for. I cracked my eyes open. And rather than auburn curls tickling my nose, my head lay against silky blonde strands.

Definitely not Lissa.

More like Tanya.

My girlfriend.

She was a talented, attractive woman whom I'd met a couple of months ago when her realty firm had an open house at one of the homes my company had built. To my surprise, I discovered I enjoyed spending time with her, and she became the first repeat date I'd had in a long time. Slowly, she began to fill the void Lissa had left.

And she deserved so much better than me.

Any man would be lucky to call Tanya his. I truly cared for her, which is why I felt like shit; as if I had cheated on her even if it was only in my dreams. Partially motivated by guilt and full of determination to replace the figments of wispy images that had filled my sleep, I rolled on top of her.

"Good morning." I smiled and Eskimo-kissed her with my nose before softly kissing her rosy lips. I wiggled my hips suggestively over hers, my dick not the slightest bit concerned this wasn't the same body my mind had conjured up just moments ago.

"Ew, Chris, no." She giggled and turned her head away covering her mouth with long fingers. "We haven't been to the bathroom, yet."

Sighing, I rolled off her, knowing she had a thing about wanting to freshen up and brush our teeth any time before we had morning sex. I guess I understood considering where my mouth had been on her last night before we fell asleep. She never liked to kiss me after I went down on her, saying it was just kind of gross. But not gross enough to stop me from giving her the kind of pleasure she enjoyed at the skill of my tongue. I never complained, but sometimes it made it feel more like sex and less like the passionate type of love-making that I used to enjoy with...

I shook my head and rolled out of bed. It had been almost two years since I'd last seen Lissa, or as she'd become known, the bitch who'd destroyed my heart. She didn't deserve time in my head, not after what she'd done. I marched to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then slipped into the shower, surprising Tanya. Sour breath and sleep weren't the only things I was going to purge that morning. While Tanya's ecstatic cries echoed off the bathroom tile, all thoughts of my past washed down that drain, too.

A short while later, I kissed Tanya at her door as I headed out to work. "See you later?"

"I have a house to show at six, but after that, yes."

I nodded and started down the hallway toward the stairs in her building.

"Chris?"

I turned.

"Will you at least think about what I mentioned last night? About moving in together?"

I smiled. "I will. Gotta go," I called back as I headed down the stairs before she could pursue the topic further. Breaking my promise to think about it wasn't going to be the problem; finding a way not to break her heart when I told her I wasn't ready might be.