Private Emotions – Promises (The Private Emotions Trilogy) (4 page)

We all settled around the table and Ethan said, “Gee, you do seem awfully familiar to me but you certainly weren’t wearing those kind of clothes when I saw you last.” Barry and Maria exchanged glances with the both of us and then we all burst out laughing at the absurdity of the scavenger hunt. A farcical of a hunt that I had put into place to get him to see me as an equal.

“Okay, I have prepared for you all: baby meatballs, little baby carrots, baby spinach, and for the peace de la resistance...baby back ribs.” The three of us were already in the know but the menu was making Ethan look towards us, back at the plate and towards us again. He was now staring at both Maria and Barry with joy in his eyes.

“If all this constitutes what this evening is about, then I suppose congratulations are in order or am I entirely off the mark here?”

Maria was smiling from ear to ear when she said, “Yep, we have a bun in the oven and it has been a long time coming.”

“Honey, we might have taken the long way to our destination but the trying was fun. At least it was for me.” Maria punched him in the arm and he immediately flinched but smiled at his little joke. Ethan and I joined in on the merriment and offered a toast to the happy couple. Maria drank chilled apple cider instead of the champagne that the rest of us were drinking.

“Emily, I just love the theme of this dinner party and I’m so glad that I have such good friends to share my news with.” Unknowingly to Maria, Barry had already shared the news with me, but had sworn me to secrecy. Maria didn’t want anybody to know until she was ready to make the announcement. We had a wonderful evening together and they got along with Ethan better than I had expected.

The end of the evening was already upon us, so we hugged each other and promised to stay in touch. If I had my way, I would be in the delivery room when she had her baby but that would be up to the both of them to extend the invitation. With a tear in her eye, Maria hugged me one last time at the door. I knew it came from the joy that she was feeling and I was happy to be a part of that joy.

“Emily, that was so cool what you did for your friends there and it makes me think about what will be the next step for me. You know that I’ve written relationships books but it’s really my art that has captured my heart. Since I met you, I started to think that maybe there was even more that I could do. I finally secured the location of where I will be displaying my art and have begun the process of getting it ready. I have decided to display not only my art on the wall but I will also be promoting local talent that has never had a real voice before.”

“Wow, that’s not only a great idea but a very generous one too. I am really proud of you, Ethan Sterling. I’ve been waiting for years for my boss to hand down the business to me but I am starting to wonder if taking on that business would be the right idea for me. I’ve always had this nagging feeling inside me that told me it was possible for me to open my own boutique and have my creations on display and for sale. Hearing about how you want to help the local art community makes me wonder if I could do the same thing for budding fashion designers. As designers we just need someone to reveal our creations to the public.”

“That would be a great idea. It would be kind of a melding of our minds and I could certainly help you with bringing your vision to life. I won’t do anything behind your back but I am asking you to let me help you. I could get this rolling as soon as tomorrow if you want. There is available space near my gallery and I think that it would make the perfect environment for your boutique. It has plenty of foot traffic and a storefront that would make it the perfect place to advertise your ‘art’.”

“Seeing that you are asking me for my permission, I don’t know if there is any way that I can say no. If you can do anything to help me out, I would be eternally grateful. You know, if it wasn’t for this journey that I am on, I would never think myself capable of such a thing but now that the notion is out there, I realize that it is my dream to own my own boutique. I want to run things my way and not have to take orders from anybody else. Although I am allowing you to help me with this, you have to realize that this is my dream and whatever you decide has to go through me first.”

“Listen to us making plans. Isn’t it strange that our plans are almost identical? I guess being artists, we have the same kind of temperament and attention to detail. With that being said, I believe that you’re wearing an ‘Emily original’ right now?” The amazing thing was that he was correct. Even Maria noticed my dress on arrival and whispered to me that it looked great on me and it would look even better coming off. That wasn’t my intention but I had to smile thinking of what it would look like coming off my body by the hands of Ethan.

He must’ve been thinking the same thing because he leaned in and kissed my shoulder. The strap that held it up began to move down with his fingertips leading the way. His other hand was busy with the other strap. He began to lick my neck and then touch the tip of his tongue to my ear. He pulled on my earring and made me gasp out loud as he moved his right hand up my thigh to seek out what was underneath my dress.

“Emily, the purple color, the way that the light plays on the material and how the dress leaves just enough to the imagination, makes me see your talent for what it truly is. I think that you owe it to yourself and to others, to share your designs.” His loving encouragement made me feel like taking this to the bedroom. He must have read my mind because he took my hand and led me down the hall to the bedroom. My mind was whispering to me to be cautious but my body language was telling a tale all its own.

“Ethan, I wasn’t expecting this but I have to say that it is a wonderful way to end the evening.”

“End the evening? Perish the thought because it is just the beginning.” His lips found mine and I stood on my tippy toes to reach him as our tongues played together. His hand was cupping my breasts and I felt my nipples harden under his touch. He moaned into my mouth and increased the pressure on my nipples which caused electricity to course through my body.

I moved my hand down and held onto his prize possession that was rapidly growing under the fabric of his pants. It didn’t matter how many times we made love, it felt like the first time, every time. This was a feeling that I had never experienced in any of my other relationships, and oh, what a beautiful feeling it was.

“Ethan, I want to feel you inside me again.” He lifted his head from my neck and smiled as if knowing that I would fall for him once again. Drawing my nipple into his mouth, he swirled his tongue around it as I held his head against me and caressed his hair with my other hand. I was still rubbing his manhood over his pants and it was obvious from what I was feeling that he was more than ready for me. It made me smile inside knowing that I was having this effect on him. “Damn, Ethan, every time I see you, I just get this image of you naked and on top of me….ahhhhh.” He lightly bit my nipple and drew it out away from my body as I stretch my head to the ceiling and close my eyes with pleasure.

When I finally opened my eyes, I felt his hardened flesh in the palm of my hand. He somehow pulled himself out and into my grasp without me realizing. His pre-cum clung to the head of his penis and I used my thumb to spread the liquid over the head and down the shaft. He began to move his hips back and forth in my grip and was literally fucking my fingers as I squeezed down on him.

“Emily…oh, god, this is so…fucking hot…you just don’t know what you….ahhhh…do to me.” I was certain that I did know but I wasn’t about to let that cat out of the bag. He subtly moved down my body giving me little kisses along the way, until my hand came off of his cock. He was now looking up at me with glazed eyes. His fingers slowly lifted the hem of my dress to reveal my red silk panties. They were the same ones that I made him wear in our little game the other day. “Oh, you little vixen, you are always surprising me and I love that about you.” There he went again with the ‘love’ word, but not in the way that I was hoping for. I threw that thought from my head and concentrated on watching him move those panties down my legs until they reached my ankles. I lifted my foot and tossed them across the room.

He pushed me back on the bed, crawled up between my legs and as I was still wearing the dress, he ducked under away from my sight, “Oh my, god.” Not seeing what he was doing was giving this an extra little thrill that I couldn’t deny. He was now driving his tongue in and out of me, as I thrust my body off of the bed and whipped my hair across the pillows in pure bliss. “Damn it, I’m cuming.” Prolonging my lust, he never resurfaced until I was finished and only then did he lean over me and kiss me with a fever-like passion.

His cock was just grazing my pussy lips and I reached down to feel him buck in my grasp. “I don’t know how you do this to me but you need to make me cum before I go crazy.” Hearing him talk like that about me made me reach down and guide his length into my core. The flood of passion that we felt took us both by surprise and we moaned in unison as we moved together like a well-oiled machine.

He held onto my ass and angled his way into the very deepest part of me. I felt every inch of him as he moved back and forth within my tight embrace. He was everything I wanted and more. He was moving inside of me in just the right way and with each thrust of his hips, I felt an explosive orgasm being pulled to the surface. I was fast approaching the precipice of my desire and then he made me go over the edge as he took the journey with me.

When our orgasms finally subsided, my hair was matted to my forehead and he was using his fingers to brush the strands out of my eyes. He kissed my eyelids, my nose, and then finally my lips. We were satisfied for the moment and then fell into a deep coma that lasted until morning.

I woke up and reached over for him, only to find that he wasn’t there but I could smell the aroma of coffee in the air. I got up and grabbed my robe as I made my way out into the kitchen. I was still on a high from the effects of the night before. He was already dressed and looked as immaculate as he did when he first walked through the door last night.

He looked up, motioned for me to sit down and poured me a cup of coffee that he had made when I was still asleep. There were no words spoken between us, as our eyes looked at each other over our cups. He got up and grabbed his coat on his way to the door.

I walked him to the door and as he lifted me in his arms, I wrapped my legs around his waist. He gave me an enthusiastic kiss that made me feel a little lightheaded. Putting me back down on my feet, he said, “I loved last night Emily and I look forward to our next time together.”

Before I knew what I was saying, I blurted out, “I’m going to Kelly’s parents’ place for dinner tomorrow and would love for you to be my plus-one.”

“Of course, what are friends for?” From my point of view, we were definitely more than just friends but we weren’t exactly together in a relationship, so what did that make us? Whatever it was, it was agreeing with the both of us, so I saw no reason to rock the boat and ask him where this was going…at least not yet. Any man will tell you that they dread that conversation and will do practically anything to weasel their way out of it.

Julia and Scott were Kelly’s parents and the loss of their daughter had affected not only them but me as well. Through that loss, came a friendship that developed between the three of us and now we were forever linked in each other’s lives.

I still had this gift that I wanted to give to Ethan and I had it squirreled away in my closet. I would know when the best time would be to give it to him and so far that moment hadn’t occurred. I supposed I could have sprung it on him during the picnic or after our dinner with Barry and Maria but it just didn’t seem like the right time. Something told me that it would be a time of great joy and I would know it when it presented itself. I had bought it a while ago and neither he nor any of my friends knew about it, not even my therapist. This was my secret and I didn’t want anyone to know about it, at least, not until I was ready to reveal it on my own.

I went to the closet, pulled out the box and lifted the lid to see the contents. The light in the room caught the surface and reflected the colors. It brought back such lovely memories that I could not help smiling at the thought of it. It would remind us of the luck that that we had summoned that day. I closed the box as I said to myself, “Soon, Emily, soon.”