It's Only Make-Believe (5 page)

He kissed her forehead and she embraced him, leaning her cheek against his chest.

"Wow, that was ... just wow," Melody murmured. "You're incredible."

Sebastian laughed. "I think we're both pretty terrific, at least together."

She pulled back and met his gaze, her eyes shining. "You may be right."

"Listen," Sebastian said, as he helped her off the desk and pulled down her navy skirt. He reached down to fetch her panties from the floor. "Why don't you come over to my condominium tonight and I'll make you dinner?"

She grinned. "Not bangers and mash I hope?"

He rolled his eyes. "No. And that's such a stereotype, by the way."

"I would love to have you make me dinner, Sebastian."

She gave him a long, lingering kiss. "But now I have to get cleaned up. I actually have a client meeting for lunch."

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44

It's Only Make-Believe

by Shawn Lane

Sebastian's condo was in a cozy little Burbank neighborhood. One of those suburban Los Angeles areas that had been around for years, but still retained a lot of personality and everyone watched out for everyone else. For some reason Mel had expected him to live in a newly built starchy condominium in an equally swanky area. She found herself pleasantly surprised.

On impulse Mel had packed a small overnight bag ... just in case. Now she felt kind of shy about it, so she left it in the trunk of her car. Sebastian's condo was on the second floor.

She approached the door marked number ten and rang the bell.

After a moment she could hear footsteps approaching and then the door opened. Sebastian stood there wearing a checkered apron and holding a spatula.

"Hi," Mel said, holding out the bottle of chardonnay she'd brought along.

He took the bottle and stepped aside to let her in. "Hello.

Good choice on the wine. I've actually already got a bottle of the same brand chilling in the fridge."

Sebastian closed the door and then turned right to walk down a hallway to the kitchen. He placed the bottle she'd brought in the refrigerator and pulled out an already cold bottle and poured two glasses.

"Cheers," he said, clinking glasses with hers.

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It's Only Make-Believe

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Mel sipped long on the tangy cool wine. "What are we having?"

"Shepherd's pie."

"Really?"

Sebastian laughed. "No, I figured that was the other dish all you Americans seem to think British people live on.

Actually, lemon dill chicken with wild mushrooms over fettuccini."

Mel knew her jaw was hanging open. "You can make that?"

He shrugged. "Sure. Thanks to the recipe I saw on a cooking show. According to the chef, anyone can. You'll have to decide once you taste the results."

Mel noticed he'd set the table with china plates decorated with tiny blue flowers. The simple, sweet gesture caused her to tear up and she turned away so he wouldn't see.

"Cute place. Do you own it or are you just renting?"

"I own it. Paid an exorbitant price, I might add. Sit down.

I'll be dishing it out in just a minute."

Melody sat down and sipped her wine while Sebastian picked up her plate to dish out the chicken. When he brought it to her, she also noted he had included green beans with bacon on the side. The scents of dill and lemon had her mouth watering.

"It looks amazing," she told him as he brought a plate of food for himself and sat down next to her. She cut a bite of the chicken and tried it. "It is amazing. Wow. Sebastian, I am really impressed."

He grinned and waved his hand. "I just followed directions."

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It's Only Make-Believe

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Mel took another sip of her wine and found herself really curious about Sebastian. He'd worked at the firm for a while now and they'd lunched several times a week for many months. And recently, well, she
knew
what they'd done recently. Still she didn't really know that much about him.

"Why'd you decide to leave England?" she asked.

He shrugged and remained tight-lipped for a moment or so, and she thought maybe he didn't intend to answer, but then after a few chewed bites of the chicken, he set his fork down.

"I was married once," he said, his voice soft.

"You were?"

He nodded. "I suppose after all that happened I wanted to get as far away from anything to do with it ... with her."

"Divorce?"

"No. She died. Automobile accident."

Mel reached for his hand and closed hers over it. "I'm so sorry."

Sebastian smiled just a little. "Well, it was a long time ago now. Anyway, it was on our third wedding anniversary. I loved her a lot."

Mel blinked, trying to prevent the tears of sympathy from appearing. Her throat clogged for a moment. "Drunk driver?"

"Yes. Only she was the drunk. She plowed into a tree." He looked away from Mel, his eyes growing distant. "We'd been celebrating our anniversary and had met at the restaurant so we had separate cars. I was stupid and thought she was okay to drive. You know she'd only had a couple of glasses of wine."

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It's Only Make-Believe

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"That's awful, Sebastian. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Found out after that she'd had a couple of drinks before I'd even met her there. She didn't tell me. She'd done quite a bit of drinking I didn't know about or tried to ignore.

I'm not really sure. Her family blamed me, of course. Things got really ugly."

She linked her fingers with his, but didn't say anything this time. She didn't think saying she was sorry a third time would help anyway.

"So, a change of scenery seemed to be in order,"

Sebastian said, gazing her way once more. "And here I am."

Mel nodded. "I, for one, am glad you're here. And glad you made this terrific dinner."

"Thanks."

* * * *

Sebastian said, joining Melody on the balcony off his living room.

She leaned against the wood railing. "It's just as well.

These hips don't need the extra calories."

Sebastian eyed her. He didn't see any issues with her hips or any part of her luscious curvy body. He glanced at the pool below. "Not much of a view, I'm afraid. Especially in summer when this pool gets pretty occupied."

"It's nice. It's a beautiful evening," Melody said. Her cell phone, which she held in her hand, vibrated. She gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I was waiting for a call from my mother."

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It's Only Make-Believe

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"No worries."

"Hi, Mama. At a friend's house. No, everything's good."

Melody walked over to the other side of the balcony.

Sebastian sat down in a lawn chair and tried to pretend he wasn't listening. "What time is the party for Daddy on Saturday?"

In the old days, Sebastian would have lit a cigarette. He'd given up smoking several years ago now. But he found himself sort of wishing he had something to do while Melody talked on the phone.

"Do you mind if I bring someone? No, not Luther. His name is Sebastian."

What?

"Okay, thanks, Mama. See you then. Bye."

Sebastian decided if he didn't look at Melody she wouldn't be able to tell him she had just asked her mother if she could bring
him
to a family party. He stood and went back to the railing overlooking the pool. She came to stand next to him.

"Sebastian?"

"You know you're right. It really is a nice evening."

"Sebastian." She touched his arm. He was forced to look at her. It would be impolite to do otherwise. "Saturday's my father's birthday party. I thought maybe you'd like to come."

He supposed he could say no. Should say no. He wanted to keep things casual because, after all, she wanted Luther, not him. But she looked so damn hopeful, he couldn't be a giant ass and say no. "Sure. What time?"

Her glorious smile was worth it. And it send a jolt of lust right to his cock.

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It's Only Make-Believe

by Shawn Lane

"I'll pick you up around one-thirty."

Sebastian smiled. "Okay."

Enough talk of meeting a family who would never be his or want anything to do with him probably. He went to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He nuzzled her neck.

"Mmm." Melody leaned back, lifting her arms.

His hands inched up to cup her breasts. She'd changed into a green halter dress since he'd seen her at work. He slipped his fingers inside to massage her nipples.

"Shouldn't we go inside?" Melody murmured, tilting her head to give him better access to the column of her throat.

"Eventually," Sebastian agreed. He pinched her nipples, extracting a gasp from her lips. He pressed his erection against her ass. "See how hard you make me."

She turned her face toward his to meet his lips with hers.

They kissed long and thoroughly, their tongues dancing.

Sebastian inched one of his hands down to her thigh, pulling up the material of the skirt of her dress. "Think you can be quiet?"

"What?" she asked, her voice sounding dazed.

He slipped his hand under her dress to between her legs, parting the folds of her pussy with his fingers. "Think you can be quiet?" he asked again.

Her eyes widened when his thumb found and stroked her nub. She licked her lips. "Oh, my, I ... I'm not sure."

"Try," he said directly into her ear.

His thumb continued to stroke her clit as he slipped another finger into her pussy. She shuddered in his arms and 50

It's Only Make-Believe

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bit her lip, but she didn't make a sound. His other hand remained under her dress, playing with her breast.

His cock strained against his jeans, his balls tightening painfully, completely turned on with trying to make her come while telling her she had to remain quiet. He'd done a lot of wicked things he'd never done before since beginning their affair.

Melody hid her face against his throat, making hushed little gasping noises. He added another thrusting finger, while his thumb flicked her bud. Sebastian removed his hand from her breast to encircle her waist when he knew by her trembling she'd found her release. He stroked her a few more times before withdrawing and pulling her dress down.

He turned her to face him and she wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him down to kiss her. She laid her head on his shoulder.

"You're really gifted. Did anyone ever tell you that?"

"Hmm, not sure." Sebastian chuckled.

"Well, you are a genius." Melody smiled and rubbed against his hard cock. "But somebody still needs something."

"You noticed."

"Oh, yeah." She dropped to her knees and snapped open his jeans. She took her time unzipping them and reached in to remove his cock from his boxers. Her tongue darted out to lick the drop of pre-cum.

"Oh, Christ."

"Hush now," Melody whispered. "Remember, quiet."

"Um, oh ... right."

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It's Only Make-Believe

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She laughed a deep, throaty laugh and closed her mouth around the tip.

His knees nearly gave out, so he placed his hands on the railing to brace himself. She sucked the length in, taking him slowly but fully down her throat.

Melody cupped his sac, running a nail along the base of his shaft. She pulled his cock out and licked around the head, then pushed it back in again. She repeated the maneuver over and over until he was panting and shaking.

"Mel, you'd better stop," he urged, knowing he was about to come. He tried to pull away, but she dug her nails into his thigh and smacked his hands.

Sebastian couldn't hold it back any longer, the orgasm slammed into him, and he poured into her mouth. After a moment she let him slip out. He collapsed to one knee, his breath coming in short, raspy puffs.

She grabbed his face and kissed him. He tasted himself on her lips, on her tongue, and knew he wanted her again.

"I did good?" she teased.

"Brilliant."

She gestured to the sliding door with a flick of her head.

"Now shall we go inside?"

"When I can move."

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52

It's Only Make-Believe

by Shawn Lane

Okay, so Melody's family seemed nice enough. Sort of.

He and Melody arrived shortly after two. She wore a pretty, multi-colored flowered dress and looked beautiful as usual. Since he'd actually spent the night at her house Friday night, she hadn't needed to pick him up. When she'd walked out of the bathroom in the dress, he'd wanted to take it off her and go back to bed.

He'd chosen to wear khaki slacks and a boring blue polo shirt. Melody assured him he looked great. But he felt a bit out of place when they arrived and all of the males in her family wore very loud Hawaiian shirts.

"You want something to drink?" An enormously tall and muscular black man who'd been introduced as Mel's brother asked him. Al didn't exactly glare at Sebastian, but the look he got wasn't particularly friendly either.

"A beer?"

Al threw him a bottle of Bud Light he'd removed from the cooler they had placed out in the backyard. Sebastian was very glad he caught it. He had a feeling he'd be the laughingstock of the family had he failed to do so.

Melody was in the corner of the large rectangular yard gesturing wildly with her hands. She was surrounded by a group of women, including an older woman who looked just like Mel. Her mother. Every once in a while she would throw Sebastian a look of disdain.

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It's Only Make-Believe

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He twisted the cap off the bottle and took a good long swig. He didn't fail to notice that the lawn chair he sat in was off to the side by itself. It hadn't been that way when he'd first chosen the seat. He and Melody picked two seats next to each other and next to those seats had been several other patio chairs.