Chapter 28: I Need You

            Two days went by after Chance’s fall out with Dan. She still felt awful for what she had done, but promised herself she wouldn’t be angry with Darren for putting her up to it. After all, he had also been in a foul mood lately and she didn’t want to add to it. The record was far off schedule and the record company was getting angry. Darren had been pulling long hours at the studio trying to make the one month deadline Rough Cut had set for him to finish it.

            This would be one of those nights Chance had to spend home alone as Darren finished recording another track for the album. A blizzard raged outside in the darkness, illuminated by the floodlights in the back of the house making it look as if a heavy fog had settled over the area.

            Chance set another log on the fire already burning in the two-way fireplace between the living room and the glass-enclosed patio. She walked onto the patio and sat down in the swing at the farthest corner of the room near the fireplace. She gently rocked back and forth as she stared out the large windows to watch the falling snow.

            Bits and pieces of Chance’s memory had come back, but she was still unable to remember how to play her guitar. She longed to strum a few cords without it sounding bad. There were also a few other memories missing, like the jam session she shared with Dan some months back. Darren tried to jump start her memory by telling her all about it, but everything that happened that night came up blank. She would stay up well past midnight tossing and turning in bed trying to remember, but her futile efforts only resulted in hot salty tears dripping down her face.

            Chance tried again to recover her faded memory, this time replaying what Darren had told her and trying to match up things with other memories she had. Nothing seemed to work. Frustrated, angry, and confused, she let her head drop in her hands as she cried.

            “Why can’t I remember?” Chance yelled into the empty room, the echo being her only reply. She sank down into the cushions of the chair and kept crying for her lost cause.

            So caught up in her distress, Chance didn’t hear the front door open and Darren walk in. He threw off his coat in an angry fit allowing it to fall to the floor in a frozen puddle. He paused for a moment to look around the parlor and living room and heard Chance’s muffled sobs from the patio.

            With all the anger of the day’s frustrating work gone, Darren walked into the dark room to find Chance slumped on the swing with her head in her hands. He made his way towards her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Her head shot up to look at him.

            “Darren!” Chance said in surprise as she wiped away her tears. “Why are you home so early?”

            “Early? It’s nearly midnight,” he replied. “Chance, how long have you been here crying? What’s wrong?”

            Darren sat down beside her on the swing. As he tried to wrap his arm around her shoulders, Chance laid her head on his lap and stared out the window into the snow blasted night. Darren stroked her short black hair as he waited for a reply.

            When it didn’t come he asked, “Are you still upset over what happened with Dan?” Chance shook her head slowly. “Then why are you crying?”

            Chance didn’t want to answer. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think about Darren’s question. His hand stroked her cheek, coaxing her to finally speak. “It’s nothing really. I don’t want you to worry about my problems when you have enough on your mind with the album,” Chance said.

            “It is something if you’re crying. I don’t want you to slip into depression and try to kill yourself again. Just tell me. I don’t care if it stresses me out. You’re more important to me than anything else,” Darren explained. He bent down and gently kissed the exposed skin of her neck.

            “Daz, I still can’t remember some of the things that happened to me after we met. The one instance I keep thinking about is that jam session. I keep running through my mind what you told me, but nothing connects. It’s scaring me. What if I never remember anything? What if I’ve lost my gift forever?” Chance sobbed softly as Darren tried to calm her by kissing her face and neck.

            Chance relaxed substantially with the tender touch of his lips on her flesh. She turned over and looked up at him with warm eyes. Sitting up, she swung her legs back down onto the hardwood floor and wrapped her arms around his neck.

            Darren leaned in and held onto her, his arms cradling her close to his chest. “Sh…” he softly whispered into her ear. “You’ll get your memory back.”

            Chance let go and looked deep into his comforting blue eyes. Darren placed his hand under her chin and pulled her in for a long, slow, passionate kiss. She scooted closer to him as his arms wrapped around her neck. Chance stopped thinking about her problems as the kiss became deeper. She could feel Darren’s tongue caress her lower lip making her moan. As they parted, a smile came across his face as he stared back at her.

            Chance longingly looked at Darren. Within seconds, her lips fell upon his once more for an even sweeter kiss. She could feel her heart began to race as the heat between them rose to the highest level she had ever felt. This was the first time she had ever felt the urge to just let him take her over and be his for the night. Chance knew he would do everything in his power to please her, so she let herself succumb to his gentle kisses.

            Darren could feel her become putty in his hands as he pressed his lips over the nape of her neck and softly nibble on her skin. She spread herself out on the swing giving him full access to whatever he wanted. He traveled down her chest, gently tugging open her sweater and exposing her bra as he moved even lower down her body.

            Chance bit down on her lip as she felt Darren reach her navel and begin to kiss the soft flesh of her stomach. She hated the way his tongue teased her, but held out until he came back to her lips. Chance sat up and kissed him with all her might as her arm wrapped around his neck, holding him in the position he was in. With her free hand, she began to undo the buttons of his black satin shirt. She slipped it off his body and let go of her hold on his neck.

            Their eyes burned with a fiery passion as they stared at each other waiting to make the next move. Darren’s lips ventured to Chance’s neck as he reached around to her back and gently unhooked the strap of her bra. He didn’t move from her neck as he slipped the silky undergarment away from her body with ease. She pressed her body against his bare chest as his hands crept down towards the waistline of her jeans. Chance gently nibbled his ear as he pulled them down. She could feel the warmth of the fire behind her adding to the heat radiating from their bodies.

            Darren stood up from the floor and stared down at Chance in her barest form. She seemed so innocent, almost as if she was too young to be doing such a deed. But remembering that she had already done it once before was a little comforting to Darren. Still, one question lingered in his mind.

            “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

            “I’ve never been so sure in my life,” Chance responded as she stood up and lured Darren in for a kiss. As they pulled away from each other, he swept her off her feet and slowly carried her from the patio upstairs to her room. He delicately laid her on the bed then proceeded to get undressed. It was Chance’s turn to stare and admire. She couldn’t believe how beautiful he was just standing there in his own flesh, no makeup, no fancy clothes, just him.

            “You are so beautiful,” Chance said quietly.

            “So are you,” Darren replied. She held out her hand, and when he took it, she pulled him on top of her body.

            Darren’s lips traveled down towards her breasts and lightly sucked her nipples, feeling them get hard with the flick his tongue. Chance moaned in pleasure, arching her back, urging him to go lower to places only Scott had been. Darren made his way past her stomach and her navel until he reached her legs. She slowly spread them for him, anxiously biting her lower lip.

            Chance knew what was coming, her body was already longing for it. She began to pant as he worked her up to the point where she was about to completely lose control, but stopped just short. Pools of sweat dripped off her forehead as the heat of their bodies began to take its toll. Darren could see that she was near exhaustion and stopped.

            “Maybe we should…” he began to say.

            “No,” Chance interrupted. “Please keep going. We’ve come this far. I can’t wait any longer.”

            With that, Darren moved back to her lips. Chance was ready and let him into her inner world. As their bodies became one, she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight as they moved into the rhythm of ecstasy. She sank her fingers into his skin, the pleasure becoming so intoxicating; she was ready to pass out. Blood rushed to her brain as she reached her climax and screamed. It was then that she saw the flashes of her lost memories becoming clear as day.

            Chance could feel her heart racing with every breath she took. There was nothing like this sudden rush of feelings and emotions. She felt Darren drop to her chest and kiss her neck, but was too caught up in her memory capturing that she forgot he was even there. She remembered the keys to the piano and the strings to the guitar. She remembered the complicated notes to her favorite songs and some of the easier riffs she loved to play. She even remembered the jam session with Dan some months earlier.

            But there was something else that Chance saw in her flashes. It was her little beach that she traveled to in her mind. The strange thing about it was the fact that it felt so real, almost as if she had been there. An image of Scott soon appeared wearing a white suit. She stayed stuck in a trance like state as she watched from the sidelines her own self running towards him and kissing him. She heard the conversation she had with him in the dream world and about how Darren was her soul mate. It took Chance a few minutes before she realized Darren was calling her name.

            “Chance? Chance?” his concerned voice knocked her out of her strange trance.

            “Huh?” she replied.

            “You scared me. I thought you were dead. You suddenly stopped breathing and just became so still. What happened?” Darren asked. “Oh, God. This is all my fault. I rushed you into this.”

            “No, you didn’t,” Chance said.

            “I almost killed you,” he answered in shock, not hearing her last few words.

            Chance shook her head and pressed her index finger on his lips to quiet him. “You saved me,” she told him with a smile. Darren looked at her confused and was about to say something until she added, “Sh… don’t say a word. You’ll find out tomorrow.” She guided his head back onto her chest and stroked the top of his head to help him fall asleep. When he was snoring, she pulled the covers over their bodies and closed her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

            The next morning as Chance awoke, she could feel Darren’s head lying on top of her chest just below her chin. She wrapped her arms around his sleeping body and held him. Her nose picked up the sweet scent of his body, a mixture of sweat and Calvin Kline. Chance smiled as she watched him, so defenseless, so peaceful, and so beautiful. Darren stirred from above her. He lifted his head up and rubbed his eyes open to find her still beneath him. He smiled and kissed her neck.

            “Good morning,” Chance said, running her fingers through his hair.

            “Good morning,” Darren replied, lying back down on her chest.

            “Still tired from last night?” she asked.

            “No, just confused. You had me scared out of my mind. What happened?”

            “I had a flood of memories rushing into my head. It was so mesmerizing. I remembered everything. But there was this one memory that had me so captivated that I probably stopped breathing then to watch it,” Chance explained.

            “What was the memory?”

            “I was in this dream world with Scott and he told me you were my soul mate. It was all so weird, yet it felt as if I had experienced it some time in my life. I just don’t know when.”

            “I don’t think it was a dream,” Darren said. “I knew from the day we met that we were meant to be.”

            Chance smiled, kissing the top of his forehead to show her appreciation for his comment. “I love you,” she whispered into his ear.

            Darren looked up at her and replied, “I love you too.” He gently placed a soft kiss on her lips as she pulled her warm body closer that it already was. He smiled as they parted and rested his head on her chest again. Chance ran her fingers through his hair once more as she kissed his forehead. Darren wanted to hold onto the moment forever. It was so calm and peaceful resting in her arms. There was no place on earth like this.