A Feast of You (26 page)

“Come with me.” He pulled my hands into his.

“What do you mean come with you? To Japan?” I pulled against his hands, but he held them firm.

“Why not? I hate being apart from you. So come with me.”

“When would we leave?” I sputtered. I’d always wanted to go to Japan and I always wanted to be with William, but my head was spinning. This was too much.

“The jet’s being prepped now. We should be in the air by,” William released my hands and glanced down at the big Rolex on his wrist, “eight o’clock or so.”

That was in just over two hours.

“I...can’t just pick up and go to Japan. I have deadlines and work, and the champagne shoot to get ready for. Plus I’m meeting Beckett for lunch tomorrow.” I looked up at him, his face impassive as I rattled off my reasons for not accepting his invitation. “If you’d asked me a few days ago, I maybe could have rearranged things. But I can’t just drop everything and leave tonight. I can’t. Why didn’t you ask me earlier this week?” I tried not to sound whiny, but my heart was breaking as I asked.

William ran one of his hands through his hair, mussing it wildly. “I didn’t know until this afternoon, Catherine. That’s why. I was hoping to avoid going at all, but we’re closing on a major deal and there was a last-minute change in plans. I need to be there in person.”

“You’re buying something in Japan?”

“No, they’re buying. I’m selling one of my companies to a group in Kyoto. I been working on this deal for months, and I’ll be damned if I let it fall through when I’m this close. I’ve done everything I could to avoid leaving you for this trip, but now it can’t be avoided.”

A lump that felt like a tennis ball lodged in my throat. I was a grown woman who had lived alone for years. I wouldn’t even be alone with all of the security William had assigned to me. But I needed William more than ever now. Everything had been so strained and different between us since he’d found out about the plane wreckage. We needed time to find our footing again.

“I wish you could join me, but I’ll be back before you know it. You have a full schedule and so will I. I’ll only be a phone call away.” He squeezed my shoulder.

I shook my head, not wanting him to worry, or to see the tears that were ready to spill down my cheeks. “I’ll be fine.”

He notched my chin up with his thumb. “I know you will. But I love you, beautiful girl.” His voice was low and serious now. “And I’ll miss you.” He pulled me into his arms then leaned down and kissed me softly. His lips were warm and sweet and I sighed into his mouth, which only made him pull me tighter to him. Being wrapped in his strong arms, our hearts literally pressed together, was all I needed to remind me that William was mine and I was his.

“If we keep this up, I’m going be late.” William smiled down at me softly. “Come on, I need to get in the shower.” With that, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along from the closet into the nearby master bath. I wasn’t in need of a shower, so I hopped up on the counter of the giant Carrera marble–topped vanity that ran the length of one wall.

“You’re not joining me?” he asked, as he pulled his shirt up over his head and revealed his sculpted chest and washboard abs. He dropped his shorts next and stood in front of me magnificently naked. He wasn’t fully erect yet, but he was clearly getting excited to see me.

“I’m not the one who just worked out. Why did you, by the way? I thought you went to the gym this morning.”

He walked to me, pushed my legs apart, and moved to stand between them.

“I did work out this morning, while you, my love, were still sleeping.” He leaned in and started planting tender kisses along my neck. “But I’ll be on the jet for about sixteen hours and I need to sleep for as much of the flight as I can. It helps if I’m actually tired.”

My poor, sweet man hated to fly and who could blame him? William had told me as much on our trip to Napa, right before he’d downed some anti-anxiety medication with a big swig of bourbon.

“Kyoto is fifteen hours ahead of Chicago,” he said as he switched to the other side of my neck. I tilted my head to give him better access. “Which means I’ll arrive there at about three am on Sunday.”

All his feather-light, hot kisses and nips were taking effect and a full-body shiver unleashed in me just as his lips reached that sensitive spot under my ear.

“My first meeting isn’t until Monday, so I’ll have most of Sunday to get acclimated.”

“William,” I mewled softly. I didn’t need a shower, but if my boyfriend was going to be gone for a week, fighting a fifteen-hour time-zone adjustment, not to mention all the stress related to closing a big business deal, he deserved a proper send off.

I hopped off the vanity and pulled my shirt over my head. My breasts felt heavy, straining to be released from my lacy bra. William was in front of me before I finished with my shirt.

“Let me help you,” he said, reaching behind me for my bra clasp. He flicked it open and pulled the bra down my arms and tossed it on the floor. He made quick work of my jeans and panties until I was naked before him.

“I want to look at you, Catherine.”

I stood perfectly still as his hot grey eyes raked over me and paused on my breasts. “Fuck, your tits are amazing,” he said wistfully before palming my left breast and starting to massage it gently.

I hissed in a breath as my breast seemed to swell in his hand, my nipple instantly pulling into a tight, hard peak. Then his mouth was on my other breast, skillfully drawing my nipple between his lips and coaxing gently.

“Oh God,” I moaned breathlessly. Every pull with his lips shot straight to my core.

He lifted me, seating me back on the vanity, then returned to my breast. I ran my hands through his thick, dark curls as he pleasured one side, then the other, then switched back again. We stayed like that for a while, William adoring me with his mouth as tendrils of pleasure rocked through me with every gentle suckle of my nipples. So much for
me
giving
him
a proper send off.

Finally, he raised his head from my breast, my red swollen point popping from his mouth. “I really am going to be late if I don’t get in the shower. Come on, love.” He stood and swiftly pulled me off the counter. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, and he walked us like that into the large shower.

Like just about everything in the penthouse, the shower was massive and opulent. Over the past few weeks, I’d come to deeply appreciate the seven jets that were placed so powerful streams of water could simultaneously hit just the right spots. But today William didn’t turn on the jets. Instead he turned on the two huge rectangular showerheads in the ceiling. The effect was like being in a gentle summer rainstorm, waves of warm mist and steam curling around us.

With the water sleeking our skin and our hair, William maneuvered over to the built-in bench and sat down, keeping me nestled securely on his lap. My legs splayed to either side of his, and I could feel his hard cock pressing firmly against my belly. He didn’t hesitate and began kissing me hard until we were both breathless.

Words weren’t needed now. I lifted up and carefully slid him into me, his thick hardness filling me completely. I started to move slowly, rocking and lifting, then sliding down the length of him over and over again. I cupped his face, the stubble of his beard soft and wet under my fingers, and pressed my lips to his. Our mouths stayed connected as our bodies moved together, me taking him into my very center while completely surrendering to him, to us. There was no punishing pace this time, no denial, no urgency, just the innate rhythm of us, of our love, of becoming one.

I could feel myself quickening and tightening around him, flutters and tremors that urged him deeper.

“Let go for me, baby,” he whispered.

So I did, my climax unfurling like a wave, rising higher and higher to a glorious peak before crashing down.

“William,” I cried, my calls echoing in the shower as my walls gripped him tighter.

He groaned, pulled me impossibly closer to him, and spilled himself completely into me. We stayed connected like that, my head resting on his shoulder, until our breathing slowed.

“Catherine, look at me,” he said quietly. My eyes met his again. I smiled, and felt him twitch inside me. “I’m yours,” he whispered.

R
ather than haul all the way to Lincoln Park, I’d found a hot yoga studio right around the corner from William’s penthouse. Gold Coast Yoga was the poshest yoga studio I’d ever been in, and my hot pink Lululemon boogie shorts and crop top—which I’d bought only about six months ago—made me feel hopelessly last season amongst the better-dressed regulars. I really didn’t care that much about what I was wearing, given that I was there to sweat my ass off and find my Zen, but girls will be girls.

Asa, smart man that he was, had opted out of joining me for Bikram, but he had come in to case the place and had drawn the usual hungry stares from the ladies waiting for the ten am class to start. No doubt everybody here thought he was my overprotective boyfriend or something, which made me laugh. He wasn’t wearing his usual black suit—it
was
Saturday—but Asa’s concept of casual still had a recognizable military precision. So while I was stretching and posing and sweating in the 105-degree studio, Asa sat in a metal folding chair just outside the door, probably warding off probing questions from the bubbly receptionist.

William had called from San Francisco just before one o’clock in the morning. They’d stopped to refuel and he’d wanted to check in before the next leg of his journey. He’d sounded sleepy and nervous.

“I’ll be home by next Friday. Let Asa and Anthony do their jobs, Catherine. No going off alone.”

I promised I wouldn’t. I’d learned my lesson on that front. But I worried about his safety too. He had been the target of threats, too, not to mention the extortion attempts. “George is with you, right?” I’d asked.

“I thought it was best. You seem to get on with Asa and Anthony better.”

We’d said our goodbyes, then I’d instantly grabbed one his pillows from the bed and wrapped my arms around it, hugging it closely and inhaling the lingering hints of the fragrance that was uniquely William. I’d shed a few tears then fallen back to sleep.

I leaned into Half Moon Pose, still thinking about William. He really did hate to fly—I knew that—and I couldn’t imagine the mental resolve it required from him to get on that plane and fly nearly 7,000 miles to the other side of the world essentially by himself. I felt guilty for a second and regretted not going with him.
God, I missed him.

Our rain-shower lovemaking had been as close to perfect as any sex we’d ever had. As mad as I’d been at him for not telling me about Beckett’s party, all of my anger had instantly dissipated at his touch. It wasn’t like I’d lost my head because he took his shirt off—which had happened before, I’d admit. Last night, we had really connected, deeply and emotionally. It wasn’t always like that with us, but when it was, it was spectacular. I loved him so much that just the thought of us ever not being together was painful. And I was certain he felt exactly the same way about me.

We’ll make this work, William
, I thought, as I moved into Triangle Pose.
Somehow.

* * *

I
was determined to fill my next few William-free days with the “me time” I craved, which was ironic given that I already missed William like crazy and wished he were home. Before meeting Beckett, I showered and changed then called my friends Allison McIntyre and Dana Sullivan. I’d met them in a grief support group when I’d first moved to Chicago. All three of us were widows, and we’d lost our husbands about the same time. Dana, who was a bit older, still attended the group, but Allison and I had moved on. The three of us liked to catch up every month or so over dinner and I hadn’t seen either of them for a few weeks.

As luck would have it, Allison’s kids were staying at their grandparents’ house tonight, and Dana was free. So I invited them over for cocktails and said I’d send a car to pick each of them up—and that I would make all the arrangements for dinner. Both of them readily agreed, and I refused to answer any questions about what the special occasion was. There wasn’t one, really, other than if my billionaire boyfriend was out of town, I was going to live it up a little and enjoy the perks of our relationship with my friends. Which meant using his driver, entertaining at his penthouse, and picking up the tab for dinner.

My next call was to Hutch.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he drawled. “This is an unexpected surprise.”

“I have a favor to ask you.”

“Anything you want, darlin’.”

“I want a table for three—no, four.” I’d ask Beckett to join us. “For tonight.”

Hutch hissed quietly, and I winced.

“I know. I know. It’s a big favor, especially for a Saturday.”

“No, no. I can do it. What’s the point of having a restaurant if your friends can’t come?”

I heard a tapping sound and figured he was checking availability.

“Are you going to starve if I can’t get you in until the second seating?”

“Of course not. I’ll take anything you have.”

“Only the best for you, sugar.”

I could almost see him winking.

“There. Done. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Really?”

“Really. And tell Mr. Lambourne the meal is on me.”

“You don’t have to do that, Hutch. Besides, William isn’t coming.”

“Even better. See you tonight, Miss Catherine.”

* * *

B
eckett and I decided to meet up at Central Camera Company, since it was on South Wabash and close to Spanglish. Asa waited in the car.

Central Camera was the oldest camera store in Chicago and one of the only places where I could still find actual film for my Leica, plus whatever high-tech photography supplies I might need for work. And what I needed right now were props for the champagne shoot, starting with a laser timer. In fact, I had a whole list for the shoot, which was scheduled for the week after Beckett’s party. I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing, so having Beckett with me to ask questions and choose the best brands helped.