The Love Series Complete Box Set (144 page)

Replacing the finger that was tracing my length, she now uses the tip of her tongue. My spine tingles and a drop of moisture falls onto my stomach. Her mouth is absolutely perfect. Using her hand, she rubs me relentlessly, bringing me right to the edge of my control.

With her hand wrapped around the base of my cock, she takes me into her sweet little mouth, inch by fucking agonizing inch. Her name falls from my lips, a groan of pleasure, and a sigh of utter contentment.

Her hair falls in a veil around my lap and I pull it to the side. Watching my cock slip in and out of her mouth, as her hand works what can’t fit, is mesmerizingly erotic. Wide-eyed and breathless, she licks me one last time before climbing up onto my lap. “Was that . . .”

“I swear to God, if you plan on finishing that sentence with ‘okay,’ I’m going to have you mentally evaluated. You were amazing, love.” She grins, completely satisfied with her sexual prowess.

She reaches across me and fumbles in her nightstand. When the drawer glides open, the electric pink vibrator catches my attention. “You know when I said you could do anything to me, I didn’t exactly have
that
in mind,” I joke as I angle my head to the side and she sees what I’ve just caught sight of.

Seemingly at a loss for words, she looks away from me. “Hey,” I reach up and turn her face back to mine. “You’re a woman with needs—needs I hope to fulfill right now.” Her lips pull up at the corners as I wiggle beneath her. “Besides, I think it’s hotter than fuck,” I add as I grip her neck and drag her to my mouth for a hot kiss.

I take the condom from her and roll it down as she looks on hungrily. I can feel the heat pouring off her body, her sweet little pussy just inches from my hand. It’s more than I can take not to touch her—so I do. Cupping her, I trace my fingers through her lips, not at all surprised to feel how wet she is. As my thumb swirls around her clit, I feel her thighs shake with need.

As I press against her with my thumb, I sink into her—slowly with more control than I thought I’d have. “Ahhhh, Evan. You’re so . . . you’re just so much everything. I can’t take it. I want you.”

“You’ve got me, love.” I grip her hips and drive into her, reveling in the feel of the soft pulses that surround me. We find our rhythm easily, getting lost to the feel of our bodies sliding together in heated passion. Her nipples run against my chest and the need to pull one into my mouth is overwhelming.

“Sit up a little, love. Take me. Make yourself come.” She looks at me—her lips full, her eyes heated, her breathing erratic.

Her hips start gyrating, gliding effortless over me. Cupping and kneading at her heavy breasts, I pull on her nipples, gently at first, then with more force, causing her sex to clamp down on mine. With her back arched, she hovers above me, only my tip resting inside of her heat. When she slams down on me, our hips meeting wildly, she calls out my name—almost as if it’s a curse.

“Beautiful, love. You look absolutely beautiful.”

“God, Evan. I can’t take it much longer.”

“Then let go and take me with you.”

She falls back to my body and I wrap my arms around her waist. Gripping her ass tight enough to leave a bruise, I guide her as I bury myself deep inside. Our mouths move of their own accord as our tongues match the motion of our sex. Changing the angle slightly, I drive into her hard, hitting that spot that makes her go crazy. “Evan . . . I’m . . . oh, Evan . . .”

She falls beautifully, coming with such passion that it doesn’t take me long to follow right behind her. “Lucy . . .” I call out on one last push into her.

Her head falls to my chest and I lazily stroke her back, which is damp with a slight sheen of sweat. “A little bit less scared now, love?”

I feel her smile against my skin as she mumbles, “Hmmm.”

Kissing her hair, I pull her to my side, pull off the condom with the other hand and wrap it in a tissue from the box on the nightstand.

Lucy’s breathing evens out as sleep bathes over her. She curls into me and drapes her leg over mine, securing me in place. Her desire to have me next to her makes me the least scared I’ve ever felt.

Chapter Sixteen

March 16, 2013

I’m up and out of the house by nine in the morning. Linda and I have a lot to take care of at the hotel where Chloe’s ball is being held. I’ve loaded up the car with everything I’ll need to get ready later on. Although, it doesn’t really matter how I look. The only important thing is that Chloe feels more than special tonight. So being the perfectionist that I am, I want to be at the hotel as early as possible to make sure everything is taken care of. Disappointing a little girl and fifty of her closest princess friends is most definitely not on my to-do list for today.

First on my list of tasks is to pick up Linda. She barrels down her stairs, weighed down with half-a-dozen bags and a huge-ass box of God-knows-what. I pop the trunk and she drops all of the bags in there, but puts the box rather carefully into the back seat. “What’s that?” I ask as she slides in and buckles her seat belt.

“That’s another gown that someone donated for Chloe. I didn’t want it rolling around in the trunk, that’s all.” Linda quickly starts spouting off a list of things we need to do this morning. When we pull up to the hotel twenty minutes later, I’m an anxious mess.

The grand ballroom is a flurry of activity. Tables are being rolled in and chairs stacked twenty high are lined up against the walls. Waiters and waitresses are busy polishing silverware and pressing table cloths. When the flowers arrive, it feels like things are starting to come together. Chloe’s favorite color is purple, so the entire room is decorated in varying shades of lavender and lilac. It reminds me of Melanie and it makes me miss her terribly.

“Hey, can you come outside and help me with something?” Linda asks as we finish draping the royal purple tablecloth on Chloe’s table.

“Sure thing.”

When we step outside, I’m flabbergasted to see a white stretch limo waiting for us in front of the beautiful water fountain that’s sits majestically in front of the hotel entrance.

Eyeing her suspiciously does nothing to make her crack. She just smirks and pulls me to the limo door, which is being held open for us by the driver. “Good afternoon, ladies,” he addresses us and tips his hat as we slide past him.

“Can you believe this?” Chloe calls out with more excitement than I have ever heard in my life. Bouncing in her seat, she looks like she can barely contain her emotions. She’s dressed in a Cinderella dress-up gown and pretend glass slippers. If it wasn’t for the pale-blue kerchief covering her bald head, you would think she was a regular seven-year-old who hasn’t been battling stage three acute myelogenous leukemia for the last two years.

“Hey, pretty princess.” I open my arms and she slides over to me. The four of us had lunch together the other day to make some decisions about the ball. Chloe kept calling Linda and me her fairy godmothers and I feel utterly blessed to be graced with the task of giving her the perfect day.

“What’s it look like inside? Is it purple like I asked? Are there lights and stars all over, too?”

Her mom, Aimee, sits, smiling ear-to-ear, next to her daughter. She doesn’t say anything and I can’t even begin to imagine how she feels today. As Chloe chatters on and on about how perfect everything will be today, Aimee simply mouths the words “thank you” to Linda and me from behind Chloe.

“It is pretty amazing in there, but I’m not saying a word.” I pretend to zip my lips and throw away the key. “You’re just going to have to be surprised when we walk in. Which reminds me, where are we going anyway?” Confusion filters into my words as I stare over at Linda.

She shrugs her shoulders, and leans in to whisper, “Just relax and enjoy.”

Chloe spends the ten-minute ride to wherever we’re going talking non-stop about her favorite princesses, and I’m so engrossed in listening to her that I’m not even paying attention to where we are.

When the limo stops, I peek out of the window and find that we’re at the poshest salon in a three-town radius. “Did you do this?” I quietly ask Linda, not wanting to make Aimee or Chloe feel like I’m as clueless as I actually am.

“Not entirely, but I did play a part.” Her sly response is accompanied by a knowing smirk. I’ll figure out what she’s up to at some point, but for now, I guess I’ll just have to enjoy a little pampering.

We’re greeted with flutes of champagne as we walk into the salon. There’s even one for Chloe, too—filled with sparkling grape juice of course, but she’s still giddy with happiness at the idea of having a “grown up” drink in her hand.

We’re all seated in a row of pedicure chairs, soaking our feet when Chloe holds up two bottles of nail polish. “Which one should I get, Mommy?” She dangles a pale pink and a deep purple in front of Aimee who pretends to consider the options with extreme care.

“Hmm, well, since it’s your special day, why don’t you get both.” She finally decides, but she winks at me over Chloe’s head.

“Really? Can I?” Chloe clutches the bottles closely to her chest and bounces in her seat.

“Of course you can, baby girl. You can do whatever you want today.” Though she tries to hide it, I hear the wavering of Aimee’s voice. I see the conscious effort it takes on her part not to be consumed by the swelling emotion.

Next is make-up and hair. Chloe is ecstatic to pick out her own lipstick and blush. After her make-up is done, Cherise, the hair stylist, spins her around so that she can’t see anything, telling Chloe that she’ll take good care of her. “But I don’t have any hair,” Chloe mumbles and the reality of today comes crashing back around us as Chloe’s bottom lip quivers with sadness.

Stepping to the side of her station, Cherise pulls out a box and hands it to Chloe. “Here. This was delivered for you this morning.”

Cherise steps to the side as Aimee crouches down in front of Chloe. “Go ahead, baby girl. Open it.” She swipes a single tear from Chloe’s cheek and looks like she’s holding back a river of her own.

Chloe squeals with excitement as she yells out the words scrolled across the front of the box, “Locks of Love. Mommy, I have hair now. I’ll be beautiful.” Aimee pulls Chloe into her arms and loses the battle with her tears. Pressing her lips against Chloe’s kerchief-covered head, Aimee mumbles, “Hair or not, baby girl, you will always be the most beautiful princess I know.”

Linda and I watch on, holding each other in a tight embrace though our tears. Cherise spins Chloe around so that she’ll be surprised when she sees the final look. Aimee steps next to us as we gather our emotions off to the side of Cherise and Chloe.

“Thank you, both, so much. We wanted to get her one for so long, but money has been tight with all of her medical bills. We applied for one a few weeks ago, but we didn’t expect to hear anything. I don’t even want to think of the strings you pulled, but I can’t thank you enough.” She wipes at her cheeks with a tissue as she takes a deep breath. “I’ve felt like a failure as a mother because I couldn’t provide her with something as simple as a wig.”

“It’s the least we could do, Aimee. We’re just happy that she likes it,” Linda says, pulling Aimee into her arms for a brief moment before Cherise calls over to us that she’s all done.

“Ta-da,” she chirps, spinning Chloe around in her seat.

Chloe’s new hair is done in soft, ringlet curls that frame her tiny, heart-shaped face beautifully. The look is finished with a sparkling tiara, which Chloe claims makes her look even prettier than the real Cinderella.

Chloe stares into the mirror, mesmerized by her transformation. Cherise keeps her occupied as some other stylists work their magic on Linda, Aimee and me. I decide on a soft up-do of a low, perfectly messy bun. It’s classically elegant and it will help to dress up my simple black cocktail dress—the one I’m just now remembering is back at the hotel, in the backseat of my car.

Stephan, my stylist, sprays a final layer of hair spray before proclaiming I look “
magnifique
” as he kisses his fingertips to his mouth. Just as I’m about to turn to Linda to ask her if she grabbed our dresses before she tricked me into thinking I needed to help her with something, a UPS deliveryman catches my attention as he walks toward me in my seat.

“Lucy Crane?” he questions as he pulls out the small tablet from his side pocket for me to sign.

“Yes, that’s me,” I respond dumbly. After I sign, he hands me the rather large box and I’m surprised it’s much lighter than I expected.

Linda looks on from the chair beside me, absolutely beside herself with amusement. She pops out of her seat as Cherise walks up to us. “This way, ladies.” She slashes her hand to the side and ushers us into the back of the salon.

The room, which seems to be used as a massage area, is transformed into a dressing room, set up with a few dividers. Chloe and Aimee step out from behind theirs as Linda and I enter the room. Chloe twirls in her powder-blue puffy dress, every bit the princess. “What do you think?”

The room erupts into a loud round of applause and Chloe jumps up and down with happiness. When the noise quiets and Chloe calms down, she points to the box in my hands. “What’s that, Lucy?”