Sexual content is in this chapter
Val nearly fell out of bed when thunder caused her to jerk out of her unconsciousness. It sounded like someone had dropped a bunch of pots and pans directly next to her head. Her heart thudded roughly in her chest as the rest of her senses took their sweet time coming to. She could hear the rain coming down in what seemed like tidal waves outside the window. She glanced over at the clock that sat on Luke's side of the bed only to see that the red numbers were dark.
She huffed. The power was out. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stretched her arms above her head. She stood slowly and walked over to the dresser where she had went ahead and placed their clothes in so they didn't have the eyesore of their luggage lying about anymore and pulled out a fresh pair of underwear and slid them on. Not really feeling like dressing for the day, she put on the pajamas that she had put on the night before only for Luke to rip them off minutes later so they were still clean. She stepped out of the bedroom to find Luke standing in front of his front windows leaning against the frame watching the storm. He had a cup of coffee in his hand. He had no shirt on with a pair of plain black pajama bottoms.
"Power's out. Best grab some coffee before it gets cold," he said without even moving. She grinned shaking her head. She wasn't sure how he had heard her because she had always been a light walker, but he had. He always did. She grunted in response and made her way into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. It looked like only one cup was missing out of the pot. She poured herself a fresh cup before turning to Luke.
"Do you want some more coffee?" she asked. Luke glanced down at his cup then looked back out the window.
"Yeah." He turned to walk back into the kitchen, but Val was already on her way to give him more coffee. They met halfway and Val topped him off with more coffee. They separated; Luke going back to the window, Val back to the coffee pot to drop the pot back into it. Val made her way to Luke sipping on her coffee. She placed her cup down on the window sill and wrapped her arms around Luke's waist from behind. Thunder shook the cabin again, but Val ignored it as she breathed him in. She ran her fingertips over the skin on his chest and stomach slowly.
She felt his muscles move as he lifted the cup to his lips to take a sip of his coffee. Val hadn't slept well at all and she felt exhausted. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep, but she wasn't going to be able to do that since there was a huge storm raging outside. She wasn't able to get the conversation her and Dom had earlier that morning out of her mind. The sound of disappointment in his voice echoed through her head when she had admitted that she hadn't told Luke about her accident.
It wasn't like she hadn't thought about telling him and it wasn't like she hadn't come close to telling him. It was just every time she had gotten close to telling him, she would get worried about how he would react to it. Dom wasn't wrong when he had said it was nothing short of a miracle that she had managed to pull out of it the way that she had. The doctors were baffled by her recovery when they had discovered there was no amount of damage to her brain considering how long she had been in a coma. But Val wasn't so convinced that there wasn't anything wrong with her. She had been in a coma long enough for her to be classified as being in a vegetative state. There was no avoiding any kind of permanent damage to her brain.
Every part of her medical training told her that. There had to be something there. Some kind of damage. Miracle or not.
"You okay?" Luke asked unmoving. Val grinned taking a breath. She pressed her lips against the skin on his back gently. She felt guilty by not telling him about her accident sooner. Luke was a good man even if he drove her absolutely insane when he was gone for weeks on end without any kind of communication. She never tried to hold that part against him since it was in her best interest. He also treated her well. Sure, they would bicker about things, but it wasn't ever a full blown argument. Sure, there had been times that they would have to walk away from each other because it was going to escalate into an argument and neither of them wanted that, but he never raised his voice to her. She would always get what she asked for. Whether it be a hot bath and a beer after a long day's work or holding her on the couch while she calmed down.
He didn't deserve her keeping something like that from him.
"Yeah, just thinking about how lucky I am to have you," she whispered with her lips still against her skin. Luke looked back at her over his shoulder. He wondered if she was thinking about the conversation he had overheard between her and Dom the night before. He couldn't say why she would keep it away from him no matter how bad the accident was. He knew that Val was an odd woman and her reasoning behind why she hadn't told him was probably something ridiculous, but the fact that she hadn't told him brought an odd pang to his chest. He wasn't sure if it was frustration, disappointment, or something entirely different, but it was a feeling that he hadn't felt before.
He wasn't sure what Dom had said to her, but it didn't seem to reassure her in some way. She was distant and her aura was dull. He had only seen her like that on days that affected her greatly at work. He hated when she came home looking both emotionally and physically drained that at times he regretted ever clearing her name so she could work as a doctor again. He always felt so useless when she came home in a state like that. She always came out of it though and all he had to do was wait patiently while she did. She deserved that much since she was always waiting around for him whenever he was called out.
She said she was lucky to have him, but she had no idea how lucky he felt that he had her. Not many people could stand being with a man like him. He wasn't difficult to be around, but being in the line of work that he was in always put a strain on things. She always looked so upset whenever he had to leave and every part of him wanted to stay with her just so he didn't have to see that look in her eyes, but when he returned to her, it was always worth it. He loved how her eyes lit up whenever she opened the door to see him standing on the other side. He loved how she always lept into his arms and held him. He loved how her hands wandered his body looking for any type of injury that he could have gotten during his latest mission. He loved her smile and more importantly, her laugh. He loved the way she smelled and loved the way she tasted. He loved her patience and loved even more that she never backed down when she truly believed in something.
No, she wasn't the lucky one. He was the lucky one.
He looked back out to the monsoon-like weather and took another sip of his coffee. Val finally stepped away from him letting her fingers run across his skin until he was out of reach and grabbed her coffee from the windowsill. She stood next to him sipping at her coffee.
"Weather's not going to be letting up anytime soon. Said it could last all day," Luke said casually as he wanted to break the silence between them. Val hummed as she turned her back to the window and leaned against the frame. She grinned into her cup giving look a playful look.
"Well, it looks like it's just you and me today," she said. Luke grinned down at her. She pushed herself away from the window. She leaned in close to him and ran her finger up his arm. "So, why don't you go and put a fire in the fireplace and I will be back out in a bit." Luke watched her as she walked away and disappeared towards their bedroom. He wasn't sure exactly what she was getting at when she said it that way, but he was going to get right on that fire and see exactly what it was.
It took him no time to have the flames burning brightly in the fireplace. He turned upon hearing Val's light step behind him and grinned. She carried the blanket from their bed in her arms. She still held her coffee cup loosely in her hands. Luke grabbed it from her and sat it on the table. She threw the blanket down on the ground then, with Luke's help, pushed the coffee table up against the couch. Luke watched her with a grin on his face as she spread the blanket around the floor in front of the fireplace. As soon as it was to her liking, she flopped herself down on it and stretched out with a groan.
Luke laid on his side next to her the grin never leaving his face. She didn't notice it though. She seemed to be too entranced by the flames dancing around. She let out a low sigh. Luke's grin altered a little. She still seemed distant. Like her mind was elsewhere. He knew why and he wanted to comfort her, but he wasn't supposed to know. For some reason, she wanted to keep it from him. He kept searching his mind for any logical explanation as to why, but there was nothing that seemed reasonable enough.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Val sat up and reached over him to grab her coffee and her book that was tossed carelessly on the coffee table. She sat her coffee cup off the blanket and rolled onto her stomach so she could read the book in comfort. Luke shook his head as a slight disappointment floated through him. He was expecting the request for a fire to go in a slightly different direction. He rolled on his back and put his arms behind his head with a huff.
Val was trying everything in her power to keep her mind off her nightmare the night before. And more importantly, she had to keep her mind off the fact that every fiber of her being was wanting to tell Luke about her accident. As much as she didn't want to, Dom had convinced her that it was important to tell him and now she was wanting to just get it over with.
There was still a lot of that time of recovery that was still spotty to her. Her short term memory was non existent for roughly the first six months of her recovery before it started coming back and even then it would have habits of coming and going. She would have bouts of confusion. Sometimes she would black out and come to in places she had no memory of going to.
She could remember someone trying to talk to her and suddenly, they would be very frustrated with her and Val would have no idea why. Dom had forced her away from the garage because her labor time was insanely long because apparently, they would walk into the garage to find Val staring blankly at the wall with a tool she didn't even need in her hand.
But Dom was right. She managed to come back. She never gave up. And with the support of her family, she was back to normal.
It wasn't until after she had made her "full recovery" that Dom had admitted that he had been filming her throughout her recovery so she would have something to look back on to see how far she was able to make it. She couldn't believe her eyes upon seeing the films because she had no recollection of them being done. She had watched them for days in her room crying because of what she had put her family through. She had been such a burden on them, but they never once complained.
She supposed that was what family was for.
She took a quick peek to Luke who was laying on his back with his arms behind his head looking very bored. He was mindlessly chewing on his lip. She grinned looking back down to her book to continue reading. She heard Luke move beside her, but she paid no mind to it.
They laid in front of the fire with the storm raging outside for what seemed like hours in complete silence. Val had put a good dent in her book and she was glad for it. She had been reading on that book for over a month with no luck because of work. The words were starting to blur on the pages so she figured that it was enough of reading for a little while. She closed the book and tossed it back onto the coffee table. She stretched out with a groan then folded her arms under her head so she could rest for a bit.
She closed her eyes to rest them for a while. They felt like they had ten pound weights on them. She felt a large hand rest on her lower back and slowly run up to her shoulders. She groaned as his hand began to knead her muscles. He slid a little closer to her without stopping his massage.
"That feels really good," Val whispered without opening her eyes. Luke hummed as his hand slowly made it way down her back kneading away. She gasped as his fingers found a rather tense muscle causing an odd pain to shoot through her. She stayed tense as he worked away at the muscle until it loosened enough for her to relax again. She sighed.
Her eyes shot open giving Luke a playful glare when his hand cupped her rear and gave it a nice squeeze. He had a smirk plastered on his face. They said nothing as his hand began to trail back up her back except his hand went under her shirt instead of staying on the outside of her clothing.
Val released a small groan letting her eyes slowly close again. He let his fingers slowly slide over her skin feeling the goosebumps pop up all over her body. His smirk only grew as he felt her forcing a shiver back.
Val felt his hand slide to her side and his fingers gripped her. He pulled her to her side to where her back was against him. His fingers ghosted across her stomach as his other hand pulled her hair over her shoulder to expose the skin on her neck to him. His lips touched her neck and she couldn't suppress the shiver that shot down her spine. All of the heat inside her body shot down to her lower abdomen as she grinded her hips back against him and felt his still hardening erection against her.
His arm tightened around her waist as if he felt her arousal. His hand traveled up the front of her body until he was able to grip her breast in his hand. She instinctively arched into his hand as his teeth brushed against the skin on her neck. She let loose a small whimper at his actions. She wasn't sure how he managed to do what he did to her, but he always knew just where to touch her to drive her absolutely insane.
She ran her hand down his arm following it up to her breast and urged him to squeeze her tighter. His kisses trailed closer to her ear causing her breath to shudder. She bit her lip as a way to hold back another whimper because she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had turned her on so much with so little effort.
The hand on her breast slipped out from under hers and just as she was about to pull her hand away, his hand covered hers keeping it in place. She squeezed herself for him as his hand left hers and slid down her body to her pant line. She moved her hips against his urging him to go farther. She felt his teeth clamp down on her neck roughly as his hand shot down the front of her pants and immediately found her bundle of nerves. He ran his fingers around in a small, slow circle over them earning a moan from her.
She picked up her leg and rested it on top of his so she could open herself up to his touch more. Luke squeezed her against him grinding into her so she could feel that he was fully hardened. She lowered her hand from her shirt so she could put it behind her to feel him. Luke let out a low groan as she ran her hand up and down his length.
His fingers slid down a little farther as he ran his fingers between her wet folds. She wanted nothing more than for him to be inside her, but she wasn't going to rush him since what he was doing to her was absolutely amazing. Once his finger was lubricated enough with her juices, his fingers went back to work on her clit. His wet fingers provided a new sensation for Val. She involuntarily called out as she arched her back.
Luke withdrew his hand from her pants earning a grunt of protest from Val. She looked back to Luke to see what he was doing, but all came clear when she felt her pants and underwear being pushed down. She maneuvered her hips around to make it easier for him to push them down. He managed to get them down to just below her knees then Val kicked them off the rest of the way. Val tried to roll to where she was facing Luke, but he held her tight with her back against him. She felt Luke moving around to push his pants down behind her. Once they were off, he slipped his hand under her knee and lifted it up to expose her completely to him. She arched her body to make it easier for him to push into her. She turned her head back to him when she felt his tip press against her opening. He kissed her lips roughly as he pushed into her. Val's hand rested on the back of his neck as she let out a gracious moan as she felt him fill her completely in one thrust.
He began to move inside her slowly without releasing her lips. She moaned as she began to move her hips to meet his thrusts. Luke released her lips and buried his head in her neck as his thrusts became a little faster and harder. Luke lowered her leg to where it was resting back on his and began to push her shirt up as he kept thrusting into her. It was awkward, but Val managed to get her shirt off with little trouble. Luke's hand immediately went to her breast and began to squeeze and pinch her flesh. She whimpered at the sensations leaning her head back.
She felt Luke begin to press against her as if pushing her forward. Unsure of what he was after, she went with it. Luke pushed her to where she was laying on her stomach and he went with her. She kept her hips raised so he wouldn't slide out of her. She spread her legs out and bent her knees for extra support for her. She felt his hand grip her hair and pulled on it hard enough to force her head back. She gasped as he started thrusting into her roughly. Luke groaned into her ear. His free hand ran down her arm and he wrapped his fingers around her own. She whimpered his name.
The hand tangled in her hair released her and it wrapped around her neck to keep her head leaned back. She felt his lips caressing the skin on her neck causing what felt like electric shocks to shoot through her entire body.
She felt him pushing her closer to the edge causing her to start grunting with each of her thrusts. She bit her lip trying to hold it back, but it wasn't helping. She tried to lower her head, but Luke's grip tightened on her neck to keep her head upright. He released her hand letting his now free hand travel down under her and found her clit. She called out his name at the new feeling. She raised her hips more to give Luke a better angle.
Her orgasm was so sudden that she almost wasn't believing she was having one. Stars exploded into her vision as she couldn't control her vocals. Luke's fingers began to run over her clit quickly as her orgasm hit just adding to the pleasurable sensations. Luke didn't stop until the orgasm started to dissipate.
Luke slipped out of her and raised up so he could flip her over on her back. She was out of breath and a small sheen of sweat coated her body. Her eyes were glazed over with arousal. Her hair was a little messy from where he had his hand tangled in it. Luke thought that she had never looked more beautiful. She raised up and put her hands on his shoulders. She pushed him to where he was laying on his back before she climbed on top of him. She leaned down and roughly locked her lips with his. Luke's hands rested on her waist as he kissed her back just as ruthlessly.
She reached down between them and gripped him. She lowered herself down slowly letting the feeling of him surround her. Luke's arms wrapped around her to keep her against him as she began to move her hips on him. His hand pressed into her lower back to urge her along. She moaned against his lips. She broke the kiss and sat up. Luke's hands ran along her body before settling on her waist. She began to move her hips in a slow circular motion. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
She felt Luke's hand run up the front of her body slowly before stopping to squeeze the soft skin of her breast. She began to rock her hips over his slowly. Luke's hands continued to roam her body. She felt her second orgasm coming closer and she felt her hips start to move faster without her even thinking about it. She ran her fingers through her hair to get it off the back of her neck for a moment since she was feeling hot.
Luke sat up wrapping his arms around her body as his mouth found the flesh around her neck and chest. Val placed her hands on his shoulders and rearranged her legs a little so she could be a little more comfortable while she moved over him. She kept her head lulled back so he could attack her skin.
Luke's hands rested on her waist and they squeezed her so tight that it hurt, but that didn't stop Val. He began to force her hips faster causing Val to let out a long, guttural moan. She dug her nails into his shoulders forcing a groan from Luke. Luke's hands ran slowly up her back then gripped her shoulders. Val let her head fall forward and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Luke began forcing her down on him hard. Val couldn't control the sounds coming from her at the shockwaves that went through her body. Her orgasm was violent and quick. She threw her head back screaming his name unable to control herself. Her whole body seemed to shake at the waves rushing over her body. Luke began to moan with each of her forced thrusts. Val felt her nails dig into his skin, but she wasn't sure where. Luke seemed to explode inside her as her arms wrapped around her waist and held her tight against him as she rode him out.
Neither of them said nothing as they tried to catch their breath. Luke's head rested against her chest and Val's rested against the top of his head. It took a few moments for either of them to move. Luke rested back into the blanket and rested his hands behind his head. Val lowered herself so she could kiss him then reached over onto the couch to grab the blanket on the back of the couch. She covered their waists then she laid down beside Luke and rested her head on his chest. Her fingers tickled the skin on his chest.
Val couldn't get the smile on her face to go away. She giggled looking up to Luke.
"You know, I'm not the one to complain," she started.
"But you're going to anyways," Luke rebutted quickly. Val "tsked" at him before continuing.
"No, but I do have to ask. What has gotten into you?" Luke thought for a moment, then looked down at her.
"What do you mean?" he asked truly confused.
"I haven't been able to keep you off me since we've been here. We haven't had this much sex since we first got together." Luke frowned wondering why that would be an issue in any way. Sure, she didn't present it as if it were an issue, but why would she even question it? He shrugged his shoulders as best as he could. Val chuckled letting her head rest on his chest again. They fell into another silence. The only sounds they could hear was the storm still raging outside and the crackles of the fire still burning in the fireplace.
Luke's fingers found her hair. They began to routinely run through her hair. Val closed her eyes letting the sensation relax her to where she could sleep. It didn't last long. Luke's fingers ran across her scar and ran across it. Her eyes shot open. She tried to control her heart rate. She wondered if it was a sign that Luke had found her scar. Maybe it was time to tell him about her accident. Even if she wasn't going to be able to tell him the whole story because she wasn't truly there through the whole thing.
"I always try to come here about once a year," Luke started. "At least for a couple weeks to just get away." Val lifted her head and rested her chin on his chest so she could look at him. He stared at the ceiling as he made his explanation. "I don't have to worry about anything other than the fact that it's just you and me right now." Val stayed quiet as she watched him. She understood what he meant. Once she had started back to work and Luke always into something with work, it was hard for them to truly be together. Even when it was just Luke and her, they still had to worry about her family. The trip to the cabin was exactly what they needed. They just needed to be alone. Away from the drama of everyday life. They needed to rediscover each other.
Val sat up on her knees and put her legs out beside her so she could lean into the side of his body. She put her body across his. She propped her chin up on her hands which she laced together with her fingers.
He deserved to know.
"Luke, there's something you should know about me," she started, but once it was out, she wondered if she should continue. She worried about how he would react to it. There were too many scenarios going through her mind. Unfortunately, she had already started and had no other choice but to continue. "About twenty years ago, I had just gotten my license and was starting to get into the whole underground racing circuit scene. Dom was teaching me how to drive and I was getting pretty good at it." Luke was watching her, but she was avoiding his gaze. "I was starting to race and started to win a few races, but there was this one racer that I just couldn't beat." She paused. "His name was Jason and he always loved taunting me. Something," she paused again wondering if what she was about to say next was worth it. "Happened. Dom had done something to him. I hear a lot of different stories from different people. I don't even know whether or not to believe Dom's story. He says he had beaten him down because he wouldn't leave me alone, but what he did wasn't enough of a motive." She paused again running her fingers across his skin. "He challenged me to a race one night and I accepted. It was a one mile race. We would go half a mile down, spin the car around, and come back. I was a full car length in front of him in no time. I got to the end, drifted the car around, and started to come back." She paused once more and sat up with a sigh. She could always remember up the that point before it started getting splotchy.
"I don't… remember seeing his headlights in front of me… but suddenly they were." She looked into his eyes curious as to what kind of look he had. She had to judge his look. He watched her patiently. "I don't remember much of anything after that." She looked away from him. She started into the fire letting its dance engulf her. "All I know is that I was in a coma for six weeks and it took me over a year to fully recover. All I hear are these stories from people telling me things that I did without me remembering."
She bit her lip as she felt tears sting her eyes.
"I was considered to be in a vegetative state. Everything states that people that are in a vegetative state will have brain damage if they wake up." She stopped. She couldn't continue. Her voice had broken and there was nothing more she could say without breaking her down. An eternity passed before she heard Luke move behind her. He sat up and rested his hand on her shoulder before kissing the other.
"I heard you talking to Dom this morning." Val glanced back at him quickly. She hadn't seen him or heard him. He was laying in bed when she had come back in still sound asleep. She didn't know that he had gotten out of bed to eavesdrop on her and Dom's conversation. How was someone that was so big able to move so quietly? "You said you have brain damage." Val looked back to the fire. "You know that's not true, right?" Val bit her lip looking down.
"The doctors said there was no damage, but that's just impossible. There has to be some damage there."
"But there's not." Val sighed looking back to Luke. She searched for something to say to him, but nothing really came to mind. "Look, if you had any kind of damage, do you honestly think that they would have let you come back to the hospital if they thought you were incompetent because of brain damage?" Val shrugged, knowing he was right. The hospital knew about her injury. Hell, it was Sacred Hearts that she stayed in while she recovered.
"I know you're right, Luke. Dom has been telling me the same thing for years. It's just… everything I know about medicine says that there has to be damage, but there's not. All of the scans, all of the tests, says there's nothing there, but they're wrong. There has to be something there." She let out a sigh upon hearing how ridiculous she sounded.
"There's not, Val. You're fine. There is no damage. You pulled out of it." She sighed once more and leaned into Luke's body. He wrapped his arms around her so he could hold her against him. Val had seen people with brain injuries before. In her line of work, sometimes they were an every night occurrence. She knew the way they acted, the way they weren't all there. They weren't able to care for themselves in any kind of way. Their families had to care for them around the clock. Just like her family had to do for her at one point. Sometimes, the patients would pull through and sometimes they wouldn't. Val was one of the lucky ones.
"If you would like to know more of what happened to me, you're going to have to talk to Dom and Mia. My therapist said that I had blocked a lot of it out because it was such a traumatic experience. I still have nightmares about that night though last night had been the first time in a very long time that I had dreamt about it."
"We'll go talk to Dom and Mia when we get back. Until then, I don't want you thinking about it." Val gave him a flat look. He made it sound so easy. She sighed.
"I'll try not to." Luke grinned lifting his hand to her cheek then kissed her lips gently.
"I know how to keep your mind off it," he whispered in a husky voice. He kissed her again and pushed her on her back without releasing her lips. She giggled resting her hands on his cheeks. He was worse than a highschool kid who had just discovered his sexuality, but she wasn't going to push him away by no means.
Author's Note: Guys I am so freaking sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter. I just wasn't feeling it. I rewrote it what seemed like a million times and it still wasn't good enough. I'm still not certain that it is good enough, but I can't keep you guys waiting.
I was at a huge impasse on whether or not to have Val tell Luke about her accident. Either way, it's not over and it will appear later in the story. I really hope you guys like the path that I took with Val telling him what she could remember about her accident. Let me know in the reviews.
We need 70 more reviews to reach 200! Let's get it there!
Much love readers!
Aven