I wanted to rouse her, pull her toward me, and begin our day in my new favorite way to wake, but lingering thoughts over last night combined with her obvious state of slumber-induced contentment wouldn’t allow me to disturb her.
It isn’t often, or ever, that Mandy stays at my apartment beyond sunrise. Having her with me for an entire weekend has been everything I’d hoped it would be. And yet, as I stand outside on the concrete balcony, instead of allowing myself to revel in the positive, I can’t help but think about the incident with the blonde bimbo at the arena and worry that with a few words, that woman nearly ruined everything.
Mandy barely mentioned the woman and what she said—only something about my having a reputation. It was Sally who filled me in on the extent of the woman’s remarks before Mandy and I went on our walk around Amalie. Once we were alone, I apologized to Mandy and offered to take her back to our room. Though she didn’t seem upset, I definitely am.
When I told Mandy that she’s so much more than that woman or others like her, I meant it with my whole heart. I know from experience that if someone would have approached one of those women like that one did Mandy, a catfight would have ensued. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was what the blonde was after.
Mandy is so much more…so above that kind of behavior.
It’s refreshing and endearing and part of the reason that as rays of sunlight begin to fill the sky, I’m outside instead of in the bed beside her. Mandy’s reaction may be refreshing, but it’s also foreign and completely contradictory to the behavior of the women I used to see.
Part of me is concerned that she’s more upset than she let on. That her mild response is simply a cover and when we return home, Mandy will tell me to go back to the women of hockey.
That isn’t even an option.
I couldn’t. I won’t.
I’m out of my element. As a man who had his way with any woman he never wanted…I’m at a loss as to what to do with the one I want more than anything in the world.
Leaning my elbows on the rail of our private balcony, I watch the sky as the sun rises behind me, casting a shadow of the hotel upon the sand, its definition becoming clearer with each minute of light. Above the shallow waters flocks of seagulls fly, scanning the blue surface until one or more plunges deep into the sea in search of its breakfast. At the same time, hordes of sandpipers peck the beach in search of their morning meals.
“What are you doing?”
I didn’t hear Mandy approach until her question comes to me and warm, soft arms surround my waist from behind. Within seconds, Mandy’s cheek settles against the cotton of my T-shirt stretched across my back, pressing the front of her body against me—together yet still too far apart.
Slowly, I stand straighter and turn, not wanting to break our connection while allowing her arms to stay around me. Once we’re facing each other, I take her in. Though I’d thrown on a T-shirt and pair of basketball shorts before leaving the room, to my delight Mandy is wearing only the soft white robe with the hotel’s emblem on the lapel. While grasping her arms, I hold her out to arm’s length and take her in, conspicuously scanning her scrumptious body. My gaze moves from her bare toes—wiggling upon the concrete floor—up her shapely legs—the ones I love having wrapped around me—to the place I love to be buried—that’s unfortunately covered with terrycloth, an evil sash around her waist keeping the robe in place—to the swell of her barely visible breasts, and higher still to her defined collarbone and long slender neck. By the time my eyes reach her gorgeous face, her cheeks hold the endearing pink I adore, and her lips are curved into a bashful grin. It’s as our eyes meet and her light-blue ones sparkle with the day’s early light that my knees grow weak.
“I’m…” I’m not sure what to say about last night, about today…what to profess that won’t scare her away from me forever.
“You’re…?” she asks.
“I didn’t want to wake you.”
She lessens the distance as she pulls herself closer, her cheek tucked against my chest as my chin fits on top of her head. “I like when you wake me.”
“I’m sorry.” It seems insufficient. For a teacher—a man who has studied language—I’m at a loss for words.
Mandy looks up until our gazes meet. “Why?”
My Adam’s apple bobs as I try to come up with an explanation.
She leans back even farther, her expression of contentment fading as her brow furrows. “Malcolm, please talk to me.”
“I’d rather pick you up and throw you on the bed…wake you the way we both enjoy.”
She shakes her head. “We’re already out here and awake. Why are you sorry? Do you wish you wouldn’t have brought me? Kidnapped me?”
“No.” I pull her hips closer to mine. “I wish I could kidnap you forever.” Before her eyes fill with that battle between me and her responsibilities, I add, “I’d be happy to kidnap all of you.”
“I think you did.”
“No, Mandy, all of you…means more than you. But,” I say quickly, “I know you’re not ready for that, and I won’t push. I refuse to lose you because you feel pressured or because of something some bimbo says—”
Her eyes open wide. In the new day’s light, they match the soft hue of the sky over the bay.
“Is that why you’re out here? Is that why you’re apologizing?” Each one of her questions grows in volume. “Because of that woman?”
I simply nod.
“Malcolm, don’t give her that much credit. I’m not. I gave up childish behavior when I had a child. I said that I was okay. That woman is petty and jealous and…” She leans back and gives me the same scan I gave her earlier. Once she reaches my eyes, her smile grows. “…besides, I’m with you. We’ve been together for longer than one night, and I don’t feel like you want to discard me, like she said—”
“I don’t.”
She shakes her head again. “I don’t have time in my life for petty. I don’t have time in my life for kidnapping either...” She lifts herself up on her toes and kisses my cheek. “…but I made an exception. So please don’t worry that I’ll be jealous of your past.” For a split second, a shadow passes behind her beautiful stare. And then it’s gone, and she continues, “I’m impressed with all you’ve shown me and proud to be with you. I…want to give you more…I do. But it takes me time. I guess if I can ask anything, it’s that you be patient. You have been, but don’t stop.”
I lean down and kiss her forehead. “I won’t stop if you won’t stop. I have plenty of time.”
“Then in the meantime, let’s not spend that time apologizing for someone else. Besides, Sally shot her down.”
“Yeah,” I say with a grin. “Sally’s the one who told me all that was said.”
“Then did Sally tell you how upset I was and how I threatened to pull the woman’s blonde extensions from her ratty hair and claw her eyes out of her overly tanned face?”
A chuckle bubbles from my chest. “No.”
“Because I didn’t. Malcolm Peppernick, you make me feel like no matter how many beautiful women are around, you only see me.”
I let out a long breath. “I didn’t even notice her. You’re…” I let the sentence go unfinished as I pull her closer until her cheek is again against my chest. For the next few moments, or minutes, or maybe hours…we stand basking in the sunlight as the shadows continue to grow more defined and the birds continue their feast. In our own world, we hold one another with a silent contentment I can’t describe.
Finally, I break the serenity of the moment. “Mandy Wells, I’ve never met a woman like you.” I lean back, again making eye contact. “When I said you were so much more than those women, I want you to know that it’s my inadequate way of saying that you’re amazing. I meant it when I said that I want all of you, but as long as you’ll let me have this…” I kiss her forehead—my way of letting her know I love her insight, intellect, conversations, and everything about her on the inside. “…and this…” My eyebrows wiggle
as I reach for the sash of her robe and begin to pull. “…I’ll wait for more.”
“If that’s enough?”
“For now, it is…”
Before Mandy can say any more, I lean down and kiss the sensitive spot where her neck and collarbone meet. The way her flesh peppers with goose bumps and her grip of my waist tightens tells me that I have her full attention.
Slowly, I tug again on the sash until the knot is freed and the front of the robe gapes open. To my delight, I’d been correct in assuming that the robe was all she put on before coming to the balcony.
I gently guide Mandy until her back is against the rail. Once her hands are secured to the top of the rail, I fall to my knees.
“Malcolm?”
Our gazes meet for a moment as her tits heave with exaggerated breaths.
“Right now, I’m going to take what I have, take it and make you remember that I’ve been there. Tell me, are you all right with that?”
A moan of acknowledgment accompanies the nodding of her head. As I push her legs apart, her lips open as her eyelids, heavy with need, flutter and her hips writhe. Leaning forward I nudge my nose, lips, and chin closer to her core. “Beautiful, you smell so good.”
“Malcolm…”
My name is drawn out as my tongue laps her folds and her knees quake.
Lifting one of her legs, I place it over my shoulder, opening her to my desires.
This is what I want, but this isn’t about me. It’s about my beautiful Mandy, showing her how damn much she means to me, how much I love…being with her. She won’t allow me to say the words, but I can damn well show her.
“Oh…” Her words stutter as her grip of the railing tightens. The top of the barrier is silver, some solid metal, but the lower portion is Plexiglas, clear to the world, the bay, and the birds. We’re fifteen stories in the sky, so all that would be visible from the beach would be her long dark hair as her head falls backward, her arms opened wide, and her robe.
My view is much better.
Mandy’s hands slip and grip as I lick and suck, eliciting her moans and whimpers. It’s as I suck her clit that her sailor talk begins, a hushed whisper until her legs begin to tremble and her words lose meaning but grow in volume. It’s as I reach for her waist to hold her in place, bringing her to her cliff’s edge and pushing her off to her release that she gasps for breath and springs up onto her toes. Her body quakes until the rigidity is gone and her legs go limp.
Not releasing my hold of her, I stand. She dives toward me, our lips uniting as her tongue delves deep, searching for her own taste. When our kiss ends, her light-blue eyes are open and on me.
“If that’s your way of saying you’re sorry, if you ever want to apologize again, I’m game.”
Our bed is only a few feet away. With a smile, I reach down and scoop her into my arms.
“Malcolm!”
“Beautiful, the way your legs were shaking...I wouldn’t want you to fall.”
I push back the glass door and lay her on the big bed. Without a word, she eases her arms from the robe. As I lean over her, she reaches for the hem of my shirt.
Before lifting it over my head, she says with a smile, “I think I’m ordering one of these when I get home.”
I look down. Upon the T-shirt in faded lettering it says BOLTS with a lightning bolt beneath. “Or you can have this one.”
“I can?”
“If you’ll make me one promise.”
Mandy’s eyes open wide as she lifts the hem, removes it from my torso, and continues to hold it in her grasp. “What would that be?”
“That you’ll wear it to bed. That I can imagine you sleeping in my shirt and nothing else.”
Her cheeks rise as her smile grows. “I’ll definitely wear it to bed.” She lifts it to her nose. “And I love that it smells like you. I can’t, however, promise the nothing else. You see, I don’t always sleep alone. Sometimes I wake and, well, my son has found his way to my bed.”
I imagine Mandy with a little her, a little boy her, and it makes me smile. “Okay…save the sleeping naked for me.”
“It’s a deal.”
As I reach for the waistband of my shorts, Mandy does the same, covering my hand with hers and pulling my shorts down. She smiles as my cock breaks free.
“Shit,” she says. “Walking may not be in the cards for today.”
My grin grows. “I told you that I’d return you perhaps a little sore and worn out, but with your fantasies fulfilled. Tell me, beautiful Mandy, what fantasy have we left unfilled?”
Her upper lip disappears as her stare stays transfixed to mine. I can tell she has something in mind, but I don’t know what she’s thinking.
“Mandy?”
With a slight shake of her head, she scooches back farther onto the bed. Before I can say a word, she twists and comes up on her hands and knees, her sexy ass pointing my direction. It’s just like at my apartment our first night—the one night. With a crook of her neck, she peers at me over her shoulder. “That thing…?”
It’s fucking adorable to see her being bashful and precocious at the same time. When I said that I wanted all of her, this wasn’t what I meant, but seeing her ready-and-willing pussy and ass, I swear my cock grows harder than before.
“Oh, yes.” I climb onto the bed as her ass wiggles in anticipation. “Are you sure?”
“Baby steps, just like before.” She nods her head. “I’m not sure about more, but what you did…I am sure. It was…” Her words trail away.
My fingers dip into her tight pussy as she writhes to my touch. So warm and wet, her insides squeeze tighter as I add another finger. Slowly, I move in and out, each time spreading her essence, higher and higher until I reach her other opening. The tip of my finger circles her tight ring of muscles and her body quakes with the knowledge of what’s coming.
“Are you sure?” I ask, teasing the barrier.
“Yes…” Her ass pushes toward me.
“Fuck!” she screams as my finger plunges beyond the barrier. Her head falls forward as she pushes back for more.
“Tell me that you want this.”
“Yes, Malcolm…” Her answer is breathy as she pushes toward me. “So…good.”
I can’t take it anymore—I need to be inside her. With my finger still buried, I line up the tip of my cock. One hard thrust and she calls out my name, followed by a string of cuss words, as her pussy strangles my dick and her ass writhes against my finger.
“So full…” she pants.
I agree. I’m in heaven, and I never want to leave.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Amanda
“What are you thinking?” Sally asks as we sit under the shade of a big umbrella.
Our table is one of many on the beach. My toes continue to wiggle in the sand as we sip mimosas and enjoy the atmosphere. Malcolm and Brian told us to meet them at the seaside restaurant after our massages. I have no idea where they went or what they have planned. But I think that’s how kidnappings are supposed to go. I think the kidnappee is bound to do whatever the kidnapper says. Though I’m really not well versed, I’m also not arguing.
“I feel like I’m playing make-believe,” I finally answer.
Sally laughs. “I admit that this is pretty cool.”
We both look out to the horizon. Just beyond the sea wall is the beautiful water. Malcolm may have said it isn’t the ocean, but it’s the most beautiful body of water I’ve ever seen. The blues are stunning as they change color from light to dark as they come together with the blue horizon. I try to imagine a sunset like he described with reds and oranges that flood the sky. I read somewhere that there’s a flash of green for just a microsecond when the sun hits the water’s edge. I don’t know if that’s true. It’s not as if the sun actually makes contact with the water, but I’d love to watch and see.
I reach out to Sally’s hand. “And we’re both here. Doesn’t it seem like a dream...like it’s surreal?”
“Just remember
that tomorrow we’ll both be back at work, and you’ll be dealing with Cruella.”
I scrunch my nose and drop her hand. “Why? Why would you ruin it?”
“Because saying that isn’t ruining it. It’s reality, and even though this all seems too good to be true, it isn’t. We’re really here. This is really our reality.”
“I don’t know when I’ve been this happy...well, not happy. I’m happy a lot. Jase makes me happy...so does my family...and you...and maybe even my job.”
“Yes, yes. You love saving puppies.”
“I do. And over the years I’ve remembered how to laugh at movies, TV shows, and books, and how to enjoy my life again. But this is more. This doesn’t feel like my life. I think the word I’m looking for is carefree. For the first time in...I can’t remember how long...I feel carefree, and it scares me.”
“Do me a favor.”
“What?”
Sally moves her sunglasses up so she can see me clearer or maybe it’s so I can see her. Either way, her hazel eyes peer from under the tinted lenses. “Enjoy it. Don’t overthink it. Don’t analyze it. Don’t even try to understand it. Just enjoy it.”
“Live in the moment?”
“Exactly.”
I sigh, letting out a long breath. “That’s exactly what I keep telling Malcolm that we have to do.”
“Then heed your own advice. I mean, eventually you need—”
“No.” I lift my hand. “Don’t eventually me.”
“Okay, honey, the moment.” Sally takes another drink. “If I would have told you years ago when we were, like, ten and sneaking into Alec’s room to snoop around that one day we’d be sitting together on some beach, drinking mimosas after a marvelous massage...” We both sigh at the memory. “...with two hot, sexy ex-jocks, you would have told me I was crazy.”
All ONES: The Complete Collection Page 33