Into the Flames (Out of the Ashes #2) (9 page)

A small smile plays at the corners of his mouth and I see that he is starting to wake.  Against my thigh I feel another part of him wake up to greet me.  There is no way I can resist a wake up call like this.  Slowly I turn in his arms and press my lips to his, then to his chest and on down over his washboard stomach.  When I finally reach my destination
, I settle between his thighs and take in his magnificence.  Gazing at his length is so erotic, I feel the wetness between my own thighs as it drips down my legs.

I wrap my hand around his erection and slowly stroke him before taking him in my mouth.  I run my tongue over his length and hear a grumble low in his throat.  He is enjoying my
ministrations and just lies back with his eyes closed while I pay homage to his cock.  I envelope him entirely and take him to the back of my throat working over his velvety hardness.  I begin to move faster sucking harder with each pull.  His moans are audible now and his enjoyment of my actions spurs me on.  I wrap my fingers around him and pump in rhythm with my mouth.  A few strokes later as he hits the back of my throat, I feel him twitch in my mouth and then he spills himself down my throat.  I drink him up greedily, licking off every last drop.  “Sweetheart, that is the best wake up ever.”  I grin up at him from between his legs, still stroking his semi-hard cock.  As he takes in my naked body, he fully hardens again.  Putting his hands under my arms, he drags me up the length of his body, my breast brushing over every inch of him.  The friction against my nipples causes me to cry out in pleasure.

“Ian.” I whisper breathlessly, trying to convey my need for him in that one word.  His mouth captures mine, his tongue caressing my lips before
entering my mouth. 

“Lauren, I love you.”  His words run straight to my heart.  Never have I ever felt this way about anyone.  I can’t imagine my life without him in it.

These last few weeks, despite everything I’ve been through, have been some of the worst I’ve ever experienced and that pain is something that I long to never feel again.  “Ian, please don’t leave me ever again.”  I plead as he feeds his cock into me. 

“Sweetheart, you feel this.”  He pumps into me.  “This is how we will be connected
forever.  You are mine and I’ll be yours, always.  Lauren, I want you to be my wife.”  Holy shit!!  Is that just the lust talking?  My mind is spinning but soon my own lust takes over and I’m lost to the sensations he is causing in me.

He begins to slide in and out of me with more force and I can feel my orgasm begin to build.  “Ian, oh god, Ian.”

“Fuck Lauren you feel so good.  Come for me, sweetheart.”  As if his words were a trigger, I explode around him spurring on his second orgasm.  He coats me with his seed and I revel in the sensation of him pulsing inside me. 

“Ian, I love you.”  I kiss him as I say the words.  I never want there to be any doubt as to how I feel about him.  His arms envelope me as I rest my head against his chest coming down from our high.

“Lauren, you are my world.  I would do anything for you.”

“Well in that case there is something that I would like.”

“Why do you have that mischievous look in your eyes?  I’m not going to like this am I?”

“It’s nothing bad.  I was just thinking that with Thanksgiving only a few weeks away we should have it here.  Marlene and Claire could come along with Gavin’s parents.  We have plenty of room and I think it would be fun.”

“That sounds perfect.  Our first Thanksgiving together.”  His eyes gloss over for a moment and I wonder what he’s thinking about.  “Let’s get some breakfast and then I will call mother.”  He drops a chaste kiss to my forehead and slowly slides from bed and pulls on his jeans.  I’m so mesmerized by the view that I stare at him from the bed immovable.  “Like what you see, sweetheart?”

“Oh, you know I like what I see.  More than like.  You are like a drink of water to a
woman dying of thirst.  You are utterly breathtaking, Ian.”  He smirks at me with a wink as he reaches for his shirt.  “And the worst part about it is that you know what you do to me and you use it against me.”

“So long
as you look at me like that I’ll never stop using it to my advantage.”

“Then we’
ll constantly find ourselves late or missing appointments because there’s no way I’m ever going to be able to stop looking at you.”  Finally able to connect my brain with my muscles again, I cross the room to his waiting arms. 

“Ms. Carmichael
, you must let me feed you.  Have pity on an old man.  I need sustenance too.” 

I laugh and swat his arm.
“Cook for me, slave.  Then I’ll have my way with you.” 

“Oh
Ms. Carmichael, I think I may have to show you who is master here.”  I suddenly find myself thrown backward onto the bed and just as fast his shirt and jeans are back on the floor.  “See, sweetheart.  This little body loves everything I do to it.”  He sinks himself into my waiting wetness.

Another hour later,
I finally step into the shower while Ian once again prepares breakfast.  As the room fills with steam, I reflect on everything that has happened since Dean’s return.  I am confused that there wasn’t more of an altercation between him and the people in my life.  It worries me more than I care to think that he went away so quickly and so quietly.  What could he be planning?  Did he just come here to prove that he could find me whenever he wanted?  Would he leave me alone now?  I’m no fool; I know he’ll never leave me alone, not until one of us is dead.

I walk out of the bedroom
just as Ian is setting our plates on the island.  “You spoil me.”  I say taking a fork full of eggs.  I’m suddenly ravenously hungry.  As I clean the last bite off my plate with my toast, Ian is staring at me open mouthed. 

“Must have really worked up an appetite this morning.”  He laughs as I pop the toast into my mouth and moan with pleasure.  “Oh
, Ms. Carmichael that is not a game you can win so don’t play with me.”  I clear the plates and rinse them in the sink.

“I called my mother while you were in the shower and she
says Thanksgiving sounds wonderful.  She’ll bring pie.  She wanted to get together for dinner tonight so I told her to come over.  I think Claire will be coming along too. She has been dying to see you and she has some time with things winding down at school so she can get away for the evening.”

“That would be perfect
.  Let me tell Gavin; I think he would enjoy us having some company over.  It will be a nice change.” 

“Gavin also called.  I an
swered your phone, sorry.  He’ll be home shortly.  He said he was sorry for not calling sooner.  I asked him about dinner and he said he would be home tonight.”  He looks at me sheepishly as if I could ever be mad at him for something so trivial.  “So what are you cooking for me?”

“Sexist much?  Who said I was cooking?  It appears that you are the chef here.”

“Sweetheart, will you make me dinner?  Please?”

“Mr
. Jacobs, anything for you.  I’m at your beck and call.”  He walks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. 

“God you smell good.  All I want to do is get you dirty again so that we can shower together next time.”

“Ian, there is no time for that.  I have to get this place presentable and then I’m running to the grocery store to get the stuff for dinner.  Is there anything you would like me to make?”

“Hmm, I think steak would be good.”  He says as he eyeballs the small grill on the balcony. 

“In that case, cooking dinner will probably have to be a dual affair because I don’t work that thing.”  I nod to the grill. 

“All right the
n.  You run the kitchen and I’ll work the grill.  Let me jump in the shower and then we can head out to the store.”

~

Ian is out on the balcony, beer in hand, looking all kinds of domestic while chatting up Gavin and keeping an eye on the steaks.  Is this how life would be if we get married?  Could our lives ever be this easy and carefree?  I’m lost in my love for this man.  Marlene and Claire are both staring at me wide eyed when I come back to the real world.  “Dear, you have no idea how happy it makes me to see how much you love my boy.  And how much he loves you.  I feel like the two of you were destined to be together.  Like your fathers brought the two of you together; they are definitely looking out for all of you.”  She takes Claire’s hand and I notice the mist in her daughter’s eyes.  Knowing exactly how she feels I make my way around the counter and wrap her in a hug. 

“I know they’
re both up there watching over us and I thank them and God everyday for sending all of you into my life.  I don’t know what I would do without you all.  And yes, I love that man out there more than my own life.  I don’t know what I ever did to deserve him but I won’t question it.  Not anymore.”

“Oh, Lauren, I’m so sorry.  Look at me getting all emotional.  You have lost your father too and you aren’t blubbering at the mention of him.”
  Claire wipes at her eyes and tries to smile.

“Claire, you cry all you want.  Daddy’s death is still very hard on me and it wasn’t until meeting Ian that I was able to even think of him without breaking down.  Now after talking to Ian, there are so many good things; so many wonderful memories and it has only just occurred to me that I would rather dwell on those than on all of the bad things that surround his death and my loss.”

“I agree, my dear.  I thought the death of Robert would be the death of me but I learned to focus on everything that we had together rather than the things that we would never have and that helped a lot.  Well that and a lot of wine, for a while at least.”  She smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes.  I know that Robert’s death left her heartbroken; it left all of them broken just like my father’s death had done to me.  But now here we are, moving forward together.  I see our fathers’ hands in all of this, in bringing us all together and send up a silent thank you to both of them for all of this.

“Now dear, what can we help you with?”

“You can both sit right there and drink your wine.  I have this all under control.”  I found some lovely arugula and tomatoes that I made into a quick tossed salad.  Ian thought since we were doing steaks; we should let our American flag fly and have baked potatoes right along with it.  So those were in the oven cooking, with very little prep needed from me.  I knew I would spend the rest of the week in the gym or running through the park to work off this meal but decided what the hell and went all out on the dessert.  Individual ramekins of crème brule are chilling in the refrigerator and Gavin will enjoy taking the torch to them just before they are served.

With everyone here, tonight was definitely the night.  There is no need to delay this any further. 
I hate making these revelations to all of them at once and would definitely prefer Ian to hear all this first but I know, better than anyone, that there is no time like the present to get secrets off your chest.  So since we are all here, I decide tonight is as good as any to explain to them how I left Dean.

~

I had dreaded and welcomed this day for months.  I would either succeed in taking my life back or I would fail and death would truly come for me.  Either was preferable to my current state.  I looked at the sleeping man next to me.  In sleep, one would almost think that they could see good in him.  His features are hard but not in an unpleasant way and he is beautiful to look at.  That beauty masks an ugliness that is indescribable.  Since our engagement a year ago I have had to endure his mental, physical and sexual abuse.  Today all of that would change, one way or the other and it would only be for the better no matter what the outcome.

I slipped quietly out of bed and into the shower.  Dean
still hadn’t woken up when I’d finished but as I exited our dressing room his eyes found me.  “Why are you up so early?  Come back to bed so you can tell me good morning properly.”

“Dean,” my voice pleads with him
even though I knew begging would only make things worse for me in the end, “I need to get into the office a little early today as I’m taking the afternoon to see Daddy.  You do remember what today is, right?”  If he had been even a little human, had even a little bit of feeling for anyone but himself, he would have let it go at that but this was Dean. 

“Baby, I don’t want you making yourself all upset over this again.  He is gone.  It’s been a year; we need to move on, get married, start our own family
.”  He threw off the sheet revealing his naked body beneath and stalked across the room to stand in front of me.  “I am tired of waiting.  I can’t be patient any longer.  You will marry me and I won’t wait a second longer. I have already set everything up for next month.  There is no more discussion on this matter.  If your mother hadn’t been so desperate, we would have been married already.  Well never mind… But I’m not waiting any more. The invitations have gone out and the only thing left is for you to pick a gown.”  I stepped back stunned at his revelation.  He planned our whole wedding behind my back! And what was he talking about with my mother?  Were they still sleeping together?  The thought of him being with both of us made me physically ill and I ran for the bathroom.  Dean smiled down on me as I hung my head over the toilet.  “It really looks like we shouldn’t delay things any further.  I wouldn’t want you to be showing when you walked down the aisle.”  God, now he thought I was pregnant?  “I want you to take a test tonight when you get home and then I will arrange the doctor’s appointments.  I’ve already retained a physician and I promise he will be very discreet.”