A Summer To Remember (Seasons of Love & Lust Book 1) (20 page)

“What’s this about, baby?”

“After everything you have been through today, I just thought you needed a little sexual healing. We aren’t finished yet. That was just a little sample. The real goodies are yet to come.”

The thought of that had me pulling my dress over my head with anticipation. It also meant he would see the bandage on my hip.

Paul stripped naked and stood in front of me, a commanding presence though his cock—hard and swollen—demanding to be the center of my attention. He looked down at the bandage, his eyes wandering over my sensitive flesh. Every time he made me come, my whole body tingled with anticipation of what would happen next.

He slipped my thong off and tossed it on the floor. “What’s that? Don’t tell me Talia talked you into getting a tattoo.”

I looked down at the bandage. “No, she didn’t talk me into anything. I wanted it and I think you will like it when I can finally show it to you. It’s in a discreet place so you have no worries about anyone seeing it with the exception of you and me. That’s a good thing, right?”

He laughed and shook his head, then climbed into bed beside me. He traced the bandage with his fingers. “It is. That is why I love you so much. You have never tried to be anything other than what you are and that is incredibly refreshing for me.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

I turned my body toward his and moved down until I was face to face with his cock, which pulsated in its state of hardness. With my right hand I teased the length and moved up and down his shaft as he took in slow, deliberate breaths. The movement alone produced more pre-cum that gathered at the head of his cock and glistened in the dim light.

I snaked my tongue over the head of his cock and tasted the salty-sweetness before I ventured further down and played with his ball sack and began to tease him with my tongue there.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed. “How did you know that would turn me on more than I already am?”

I stared at him with wide-eyed innocence. “Actually I am just experimenting. If I knew it was going to bring out such a strong reaction, I would have tried it ages ago.”

I continued to tease his balls with my tongue then slipped them in my open mouth and enjoyed the different texture that usually came with sucking his cock. I teased his perineum slowly and deliberately with my fingers, not on purpose hitting his anus.

“Right there, yes, God that feels so good.”

I continued to pleasure him, then Paul pulled me in his arms and rolled us over until I was on my back. He spread my legs and entered me with a deep, hard thrust that drove his cock all the way inside me and I sighed with pleasure.

His thrusts pounded me with vicious intensity but all I felt was blissful pleasure every time he hit a part of me that wanted to be filled with his cock. The slapping of our damp skin took over and I delighted as the room began to smell of our desire.

I wanted us to come together; he had other ideas. He withdrew and began to devour my aching sex with his mouth, darting his tongue in and out of my slick hole, lapping up the excessive juices. I was in heaven and felt nothing but his soothing touch and the way his warm hands felt on my ass, my skin.

My orgasm was skimming the surface, so close yet so far away when he turned me over onto my stomach. Paul delayed it as much as he could by playing with me, teasing me with his fingers and tongue when all I wanted was his hard dick inside me, thrusting away at me while he hit all the right spots.

He kissed his way up my back and tickled my neck with his lips. “Are you ready to come again, beautiful?” he murmured.

“Yes, please. You are prolonging the inevitable on purpose and I will pay you back for this one day.”

He spread my legs, crawling between them, and entered me roughly. The pain was exquisite and welcoming at the same time. He fucked me again hard and rough before he slowed his thrusts so he could change positions. He knelt down on the bed and brought me with him. I still laid in the bed but at an angle and as he started to slowly move his cock inside me again, he grabbed my left hand and placed a stunning platinum band on my ring finger with a two-carat, princess-cut pink diamond surrounded by white diamond baguettes.

Before I could say anything, he pulled me into his lap and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he continued his slow thrusts. Our lips were inches away from each other’s, and he closed the distance with a deep, passionate kiss that I accepted readily.

In our current position, several thrusts later, my orgasm rippled through my body. I clenched my Kegel muscles around his cock and he came too, moaning loudly as he held me tightly against him until we were both spent and our heartbeats returned to normal.

I snuggled up to him and looked at the ring again. “Was this your way of asking me to marry you?”

“Yes, but I also knew what you would say. Both sides of the family are going to want an elaborate wedding. That doesn’t stop us from leaving. Your parents know I am serious about you and my parents will no longer think I am a secret homosexual,” he explained flippantly.

With a laugh I said, “Well, you are a bit kinky.
Are
you a secret homosexual?”

Paul stroked my hair. “You have no fucking idea how kinky I am. I wanted to ease you into it. I like anal sex and sex toys. I am not into S&M or anything but I am about as close as I can get without venturing into that territory. I know most of your lovers have been straight-laced and I didn’t want to scare you, but you haven’t seen nothing yet in terms of our sex life.”

“Have you ever had a homosexual experience?”

“Most men have, though they would be loath to admit it. I have had my fair share…I went to an all-boys boarding school until I went to college, so I am not as prim and proper as I look. It’s no big deal. I could probably have found a nice guy to fall for and be happy but I fell in love with you so long ago, no one could ever take your place—male
or
female.”

I don’t know why his words brought tears to my eyes but I clung to him and tried to stop the waterworks before they overwhelmed me. “I love you too, baby. Longer than I care to remember I looked forward to summer vacations because I knew you would spend at least a few weeks with Jude. It was pure bliss for me.”

We were both silent for a long time and I was on the edge of some much needed rest when Paul asked, “So that’s a yes then? To marriage I mean?”

“You bet your ass it’s a yes!”

Chapter Twenty-Five

September

Las Vegas

“So you’re really happy here?”

I looked over at Savannah, who had cornered me in the kitchen while I checked on the caterers. All of our family and friends, including the members of Scarlet Fever and Winter’s Regret, were in attendance to see our mini-mansion we’d purchased in the Summerlin community in Las Vegas.

We had a large backyard, and a beautiful pool with midnight blue tiles which was lit up by pool lights. There were guests everywhere and as long as the food and the booze continued unabated, the party would be a success.

“Yes, of course, why would you ask that now?” I sampled a deviled egg topped with Beluga caviar.

“Well, I mean…you know what happened between Jude and me. How are you so sure he won’t trade you in for a model with all her working parts? There are just so many women out here.”

The “working parts” phrase bothered me to no end because apparently, I wasn’t so broken after all. I was, miraculously, six weeks pregnant, and to top it all off, Paul and I were in the middle of a private adoption with a poor Creole woman from New Orleans who had been gang-raped in a rough part of town. The rapists were of all races, including black, Hispanic, and white, so she had no idea who the father of her child was but her story swayed Paul and I enough to want to adopt her baby.

We had a guest house, which she’d occupied for the past two weeks and at thirty-seven weeks, she could go into labor within the next few weeks.

“Paul and I are adopting a child together, although we haven’t yet set a date for our wedding. I am pretty sure we know what we’re doing.”

“Yeah, about that. Why didn’t you just tell the adoption agency you wanted a white baby?”

“There is a year-long wait for a white baby and neither Paul nor I cared about that. We just wanted a child.”

“Yeah, but you’re only twenty-four. You should be out partying and living it up. Don’t you think the two of you are too young for children?”

I set my glass of sparkling cider down and faced my bitter best friend. “I get it, Savannah. Jude acted like a piece of shit to you and he ended it really badly with you, but don’t you ever think that gives you the right to tell me how to live my life. I love Paul and he loves me. I would have been a mother anyway, or did you forget about the abortion I had over two years ago?”

Savannah bit her lip and crossed her arms against her breasts possessively. “Sorry. I suppose I am a bit out of order here. I just miss you and I can’t believe I have to endure a six hour flight to see my best friend.”

“Autumn is still in New York, so you’re not alone.”

“Yeah but you’re here and Talia is…well, all over the goddamn world with Winter’s Regret.”

I smiled and patted Savannah’s left shoulder. “I really should mingle. I am the hostess after all. We’ll talk more later, okay?”

I strolled away and joined Talia, who was in a group surrounded by several members of Scarlet Fever. “Is everyone having a good time?” I asked.

“This party is great,” Grant replied, “especially when you think about all the stuffed shirts around here rubbing elbows with scallywags like us.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Well, you’re Paul’s clients, so who cares what the stuffed shirts think? They aren’t paying our bills, you guys are.”

Will finished his pilsner and looked down at his empty stein. “Looks like I need a refill. Wanna come and let the women talk?”

Since Talia had joined Winter’s Regret, one would have thought she would have become less feminine instead of more. Unfortunately, she still painted her short nails dark colors, wore makeup, and sexy clothes. Her hair was as long as it had been since we’d left Vassar and she looked great even if she had a thorn tattoo around her upper arm on display in a sexy black Versace dress.

“You are positively glowing, and don’t give me that ‘it’s the Vegas air’ bullshit because it’s dry as hell out here. Do you have something to tell me?” She took a sip from her Jack Daniels and Diet Coke.

“No. Everything is great and Paul couldn’t be happier. We both love it here and I am actually scoping out sites to open another branch of Maison des Artistries. Vegas could always use a little bit more culture,” I replied evasively, looking around at other party guests.

“You have always been such a shitty liar. What the hell is going on here, Jerrica? Seriously, if you don’t tell me I’m going to ask Paul.”

I smirked and sipped from my sparkling apple cider. “Ask away. He doesn’t know anything.”

Talia’s eyes searched my face then she clamped her right hand over her glossy red lips.

“Yes, and I am still in my first trimester so you can’t say anything. We never bothered to use birth control because every overpriced gynecologist in Manhattan told me I couldn’t get pregnant naturally, so why pump my body full of chemicals if I didn’t need them? My current OB-GYN still thinks I got pregnant with the help of fertility treatments but on my life, Paul and I didn’t go in that direction. We were interviewing potential candidates for the adoption procedure.”

Her hand finally dropped away. “I won’t tell anyone. I am so happy for you. I’m scared to hug you though. And I just hope you telling me won’t jinx you.”

“Either it’s meant to be or it’s not, Tal. I’m happy to tell someone after having gone through the third degree in the kitchen with little Miss ‘I’m bitter Jude left me and why didn’t you adopt a white kid’ Savannah. I couldn’t take anymore of her negative talk. No wonder she acted skittish when I mentioned Autumn. You know how selfish that chick is.”

“Yes, and her relationship with Brandon is going very well so Savannah is yet again left out in the cold. It must be hard on her, you know? She’s the only one out of the four of us not in a relationship, and if that isn’t bad enough, she runs into her ex at functions like these because he’s your brother.”

I shrugged. “What am I supposed to do? Pick between them? Savannah is one of my best friends but Jude is my brother and blood is thicker than water.”

“Yes, but he is also dating another tall, statuesque model type and that probably shattered her self-esteem.”

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist and Paul set his chin on my left shoulder. “Whoa, look who’s smokin’ hot tonight. You look gorgeous, Talia.”

“Am I needed in the kitchen?” I asked my fiancé wearily.

“No, but you might be needed out by the pool. Jude and Savannah are arguing. Turns out she is really good at hiding how shit-faced she can get, and every embarrassing thing she can think of, she is telling a crowd of people.”

“Good Lord, she’s gonna turn your party into the
Jerry Springer Show
,” Talia said. She downed the rest of her drink in one gulp. “Let me handle this. I’m used to dealing with rowdy people now. Being in a rock band will do that to you.”

She turned on her stiletto sandals and marched outside.

Paul turned me around in a seductive dance move and I snuggled in his arms. “What would we do without her?”

“Well, we could have handled it ourselves but I didn’t see that ending well.”

“Neither did I.”

My fiancé kissed my lips and sighed. “I can’t wait until this party is over. I want you all to myself. Is that selfish of me?”

“No. It’s what I want too. It’s all I have ever wanted…and that hot, sexy bod of yours.”

He looked at me with an intensity I would never get used to and whispered in my ear, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

We’d made it through the hurricane of awful rumors, vicious innuendos, and a pregnant ex-girlfriend. I was pretty sure I could make a life with this man and he would be mine for the rest of our lives.