A Summer To Remember (Seasons of Love & Lust Book 1) (13 page)

“It wasn’t your fault what Kevin did to me.” I finished my wine and realized I didn’t need anything else to drink. “Let’s go home. I want you to strip me and make love to me. Pay the tab so we can get the hell out of here.”

I stood and went to the ladies room where I used the bathroom, washed my hands, and checked my makeup. I knew it had taken Paul a lot of guts to tell me what happened. I also forgave him. I didn’t know many guys who had been through college who hadn’t done something just as awful, if not worse, especially if a fraternity or a sorority was involved.

That’s why I couldn’t really feel too bad about what happened to me. I was hardly a statistic. If college life was a bit rough on me, for how many women out there had it been a complete and utter nightmare? I couldn’t continue to be embarrassed about our whole group of society friends knowing what happened because it made Kevin look worse than it did me.

Every dog had his day and he would get what was coming to him.

While I was applying another layer of gloss the door to the women’s restroom burst open and Ashley walked in with her cousin Imogen in tow. They both laughed like drunken hyenas about something they were discussing until they saw me. It was almost as if they were animated dolls someone had removed the batteries from because they both just glared coldly in my direction with looks of disgust and general distaste on their face.

“Uh oh, look what the cat dragged in,” Imogen said to Ashley in that annoying, upper-crust English accent she possessed. “What are you doing? Stalking Paul and me?” I asked with irritation. “I certainly didn’t expect to run into you two. Manhattan is a big place and has plenty of upscale restaurants.”

“Looks like we share the same tastes in food as we do men,” Ashley responded coolly, walking over to me. “And to think, he’d almost forgotten all about you and his adolescent crush. It’s really my fault he’s with you now. I had to open my mouth and tell him about what Kevin did to you at Vassar and he did a one-eighty. He just had to be your knight in shining—”

“Shut up!”

She ignored me and continued. “I’ve been telling anyone who would listen how big of a whore you were for ages. It was fun to ruin your reputation. Who knew everyone had such a positive opinion of you? A witch hunt kind of started against Kevin. Women would date him just to try to get shit on him because they all thought that he deserved to be punished for what he did to you.”

I could a feel a sudden loss as all reasoning left me. I had to get a grip and no way could I allow this woman to manipulate me or worse yet, make me act a like a complete and utter fool in public. It wasn’t only my reputation on the line but those of Maison des Artistries, my employees, Paul, and Jude as well. Not to mention my poor mother and father. They still were unaware about what had happened at Vassar and I wanted to keep it that way.

Slowly, as if in a trance, I walked toward Ashley and Imogen, completely ready for a face off, albeit a civilized one. I looked Ashley in the eyes first then glared at Imogen, who could tell something was amiss and her confidence drained from her body, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

“You know what, Ashley? You’re pathetic. Paul was never in love with you and he would have never married you. He liked you well enough but you were never going to end up with his last name, so nice try but no cigar. Let me tell you one thing: you will be miserable for the rest of your life because not one thing about you is genuine. Go ahead and convince yourself I’m some whore and you are some virtuous society woman, but that doesn’t make it true. And you know what burns you the most? Even if I was the biggest whore on Earth and gave myself to hundreds of men, I
still
got the guy. Paul is mine and what do you have? It is true, you’re of excellent breeding. You’ll always have a string of men you date who might be interested in you for the time being, but not one will ever marry you because you lack substance and strength, not to mention character.

“That’s not to say you won’t finally land some sap who will fall for your bogus charms but I can promise you he won’t be part of Jude’s circle of friends because, babe, if you can ruin me with false accusations and half-truths then I can make your life a living nightmare. Watch me.”

All the color drained from her face and her summer tan lost its spark. “You’re…you’re lying.”

I tucked my clutch purse under my arm and walked past her to the door. “Whatever helps you sleep at night. Have a nice evening.” I smiled at her with an overly fake grin and walked out.

No matter how badly she made me feel, I would never stoop so low to tell Paul what had happened that night. It wasn’t worth it, and I certainly didn’t want those particular images rolling around in his mental Rolodex. The sooner he forgot about Ashley and their supposed courtship, the better it would be for me.

Chapter Fifteen

Paul and I got home late that evening and the moment we entered his roomy, elegant two bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side, I was immediately jealous. It was functional and homey despite being a guy’s residence, and filled to the brim with expensive antique furniture and paintings that were worth more than my whole art gallery collection.

His family, especially his mother, was an avid collector. She was half-Dutch and half-German, so she possessed many paintings from her former homeland of the Netherlands. There were Rembrandts and Van Goghs on almost every wall, and the odd Picasso or two.

His father, although a businessman, was an avid collector of Baccarat crystal and there were quite a few sculpture pieces along with the apartment’s pièce de résistance, a real live Fabergé egg enclosed in a see through Plexiglas box. It was an original, and one of four the family had in its possession. Paul had a much older brother, Andrew, who had one as well. It was pretty much a given once their parents were gone they would inherit the other two.

Paul grabbed me by the waist and ground his hard-on against my backside. “How did you enjoy dinner? Did it live up to your expectations?”

“Dinner was perfect and I couldn’t have asked for a better night out on the town. You’re too good to me.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I didn’t realize Ashley and Imogen were also there until a good friend told me and I would have really hated if she ruined your evening.”

“Don’t worry about it, she didn’t.”

Paul pulled me toward him and kissed my lips passionately. I found myself responding with such longing and desire, it wasn’t long before we were making our way to his bedroom, shedding off clothes along the way.

By the time he got me on his bed we were both nude and he wasted no time hoisting me onto my stomach. I felt vulnerable with my legs splayed and my sex exposed to him; wanton, dripping juices of desire and so overtly sexual at that moment.

He leaned over me and kissed down my back then spread the orbs of my ass even more and tongued my tight sphincter. I had indulged in anal sex twice before and both experiences had been unmitigated disasters.

I didn’t know exactly how to feel about this turn of events but I went with the flow, moaning when his tongue went lower along my perineum, plunging his tongue into the wetness of my sex and my breath caught in my throat. All his movements were slow and deliberate enough to tease me.

I arched myself against him and when his mouth sought out my clit, his tongue made lazy circles over the hardened nub of flesh just before his lips wrapped around the pearl and sucked hard.

My nipples brushed against the soft cotton duvet and every part of me began to come undone as he licked and suckled on my clit, two fingers buried inside me, caressing my G-spot, until I came in a series of pleasures that were much too delicious for me to keep all to myself.

While I shouted out my orgasm he flipped me over, kissing me deeply yet again and slowly coaxing me onto his lap where his cock lay pressed flat against his stomach. His manhood looked massive at that moment and intimidating.

Paul would never hurt me, and in so many words with his gorgeous eyes, he was asking me to take the lead.

I took his cock and pumped it up and down inside my hands, looking him squarely in the eyes. “What the hell are you trying to do to me?”

“Drive you crazy, of course.” He smiled. “I always want you to be satisfied when we make love and one of my favorite things is exploring the beautiful part of you between your legs. These aren’t too bad either.”

He cupped my breasts with both hands and tongued the left nipple, biting down gently. The pressure of his cock against me and what he had decided to do with his hands and mouth were on the verge of driving me mad with anticipation.

The man was utterly brilliant when it came to pleasing me sexually, and although that was an important aspect of a relationship, it certainly wasn’t everything.

My fingers caressing that hard, aching male part of him, I planted my legs on either side of him and pushed down hard on his manhood. He filled me completely and the feeling was like nothing I had ever experienced with a man before him and knew it would never happen with another.

Our bodies took on a natural rhythm where we met one another in a battle of wills and thrusts determined to drive each other crazy with lust. He was inside me and then he wasn’t, withdrawing his length from inside of me before pushing himself inside me again with a steady and overwhelming force.

I gyrated my hips to meet his thrusts and he put his right hand on the small of my back. “Babe, you need to relax and just go with the flow,” I said, “and stop trying to control everything. This is my show and I will run it as I see fit. I don’t need any help from you. I want you to sit back and enjoy the ride, okay?”

I kissed his beautiful mouth again if only to silence my own insecurities and fears. Did he not like the way I made love to him? Our tongues danced in a delicious wave of ecstasy and pure pleasure.

He coaxed me onto my stomach where I yet again was on my hands and knees, my sex wantonly displayed for him. He played with my clit then plunged two fingers inside of my depths and I moaned in delight.

“This is how I like to see you. So beautiful and so perfectly at my command. You are incredible when you explore the side of you that wants to be underneath someone’s control.”

His tongue trailed up and down my perineum as he continued to work his fingers in and out of me like twin pistons. I became wetter and wetter every time his fingers brushed against my G-spot and I moaned in pure pleasure. He knew how much he was affecting my body and he got off on it.

At that moment, I would have begged and pleaded for his cock, but that wasn’t what he wanted. He desired complete and utter control of the situation and I handed it over to him on a silver platter. It was nice not having to call the shots for a change, and the way I felt about him erased any doubts in my mind. I knew he would never cause me any sexual discomfort or give me a reason to fear anything we did together.

Paul pulled his fingers out of my slick sex and put them into my mouth. I sucked on them until they were clean of the taste of my own juices. My clit felt engorged and my body was near the tipping point of an orgasm that still eluded me thanks to all the teasing he’d decided to do.

He gripped my hips and plunged his cock inside me to the hilt and thrust slowly inside of me. I wanted to move and help him out but I instinctively knew he didn’t want or need my help. This wasn’t about me aiding him, this was about surrendering control, something I found incredibly hard to do.

Soon, his hands were no longer at my waist, they were at my breasts and his thumbs and forefingers clenched my nipples almost to the point of pain. However, the feeling of skin against skin, his cock buried deep inside me, and what he was doing to me made the pleasure that much more intense.

He sped up his thrusts and I knew he was very close. I knew he wouldn’t leave me without having my own orgasm. And then it happened, he began to come inside of me and although my body was alight with pleasure and unfulfilled desire, I still didn’t orgasm with him and that hurt me to a certain extent. I wanted us to share everything and this didn’t seem fair or just.

He collapsed on top of me for a few moments, then removed himself from my body and I laid down on the bed, my legs spread.

Paul positioned his head between my legs, teasing my aching hole which had just been royally fucked by him. His tongue darting in and out, he flicked his tongue over my swollen clit, teasing my swollen nub with kisses and full mouth suckling which almost took me under. Before I knew it, that feeling of pure pleasure had me tumbling over the edge and it was an orgasm so huge, I wouldn’t recover anytime soon.

Paul crawled up to me and kissed me passionately across the lips. “You see how it can be when you just surrender all control? I didn’t scare you, did I?”

“Of course not, don’t be silly. It was intense and unexpected, and for a control freak like me, it was my worst nightmare. And the most beautiful dream I could imagine.”

“That’s really nice to hear. I always want to make you happy and we have so much to explore together. You are so beautiful the way you are right now. I wouldn’t change a thing…except perhaps your hair color. I always preferred you as a brunette.”

He spooned me, wrapping his arms around me. I felt safe and loved. More than that, I felt complete for the first time in my life and had hope for the future. We could make it through this and if there was a doubt in my mind, I would never allow anyone to be privy to it because I loved this man and I was determined to make our relationship work.

While I knew more than love and trust were needed to keep a relationship going, Paul and I also had the foundation of friendship. I was determined for him to fully belong to me before the end of summer and there wasn’t much I’d ever wanted I hadn’t made a reality.