A Year in His Life

by Eunice Hart

  The woman made her way over and took a stool at the counter.

  “You are Elena,” she said. It sounded like a question. Elena gave a slow nod.

  “I want to speak to you,” the woman told her. She looked leftwards at Martha and Giselle, who were staring back in confusion and, unsurprisingly, curiosity. “Alone.”

  Martha looked like she was about to hurl a cascade of insults at the woman in rapid-fire Spanish, but Elena intervened before things went out of hand. “It’s okay, guys. I’ll be fine. This shouldn’t take long.”

  Martha and Giselle grumbled a little, but got up from their stools and left the two women alone.

  “Is there something wrong?” Elena said as soon as they were out of earshot.

  The woman said nothing for a moment. Then: “You’re taking a very huge risk, Elena Matthews.”

  Elena froze. It wasn’t because the woman knew her name; a lot of people knew who she was. It was the way this woman had said it that gave her the chills.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, your engagement to Justin Chin, of course.” The woman looked over Elena’s shoulder at the rows of bottles that sat on the shelf behind her. “Got any Hennessy?”

  Elena poured two glasses and watched, rather impatiently, as the woman drank. The longer she took to respond, the more on edge Elena grew. She didn’t even know this woman’s name! And what was she going to tell her about her marriage?

  Finally, the strange woman set down her glass and stared at Elena. “I’ll advise you not to go through with the wedding. If possible, break up with him. Or you’ll just end up miserable. Trust me, Justin Chin is not a person you should ever get involved with.”

  “Excuse me?” At this point, it was taking all of her willpower to keep from lashing out at this woman. “What makes you think you know my fiancé better than I do?

  The woman shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you stick with Justin, you’ll only end up wishing you’d left him.”

  What was this woman talking about? She’d known Justin for a long time already, and she was pretty sure she’d know if something was wrong with him. This had to be some kind of scheme to get her to break up with Justin so this woman could have him for herself. Like that would ever happen.

  In this case, she could not continue to listen to the nonsense the woman was saying. Elena said, through gritted teeth, the words she had never said to any customer since she started this business with her friends.

  “Get the fuck out of this bar.”

  Chapter 11

  “Are You A Mind Reader?”

  She sat in the kitchen, her eyes glued to the notepad on the glass table, tapping her chin with her pencil. It took only a glance at the clock to see that she’d been there for hours. And how much had she written? A line. It read:

  I could never live without you.

  Really? This was all that three hours of thinking could produce?

  She hated having a writer’s block. It felt like there was literally a brick wall impeding her line of thought and making her feel like the dumbest person there ever was. She’d read somewhere that the best way to get rid of writer’s block was to write, but she’d been doing that – or trying to – and look where that had got her.

  Elena sighed and sank her head into her palms. Maybe she should just give up on this. She didn’t have to continue now. She could always sing at the bar some other time. Maybe she should just hang out with her girlfriends for a while, have a couple of drinks and laugh till their stomachs hurt. Just like old times. Of course, that wouldn’t be so easy now that nearly everyone knew her as the woman who was engaged to be married to Justin Chin the billionaire.

  The thought of their imminent marriage put a smile on her face. Elena still hadn’t gone ahead and bought a wedding dress like her friends had advised, though she had plans to do that sometime soon. How much longer before her wedding day? A little over a month. There was still time.

  But not even time was enough to take away the worries that filled her mind. She could still remember the conversation she’d had with the white-haired woman at the bar, weeks ago. She remembered everything that woman had said about leaving Justin before it was too late. Elena hadn’t told Justin about it – she wasn’t sure how he would react to it, and the last thing she wanted was to bring unnecessary tension into their relationship, especially as they were to be married soon. But over the past couple of weeks, the same question had been racing through her mind: what could that woman possibly had meant?

  She wished she could bring that woman back into the bar and question her, but she knew that wasn’t possible. For one thing, she had no idea who she was, so there was no way she could find her if she didn’t want to be found. Besides, even if Elena managed to find her, there was also the fact that she’d sent her out of the bar. The woman wasn’t likely to return in decades.

  Elena let out a huge sigh and lifted her head, staring at the notepad. She was going to have to put something down soon. Maybe she should write about how she was feeling right now. That always worked. Surely, it wouldn’t fail her this time.

  She picked up her pencil and began to write.

  “I could never live without you,” said a voice behind her. “Are you a mind reader?”

  Elena spun so suddenly she nearly fell off her stool. She steadied herself just in time and looked at the newcomer standing before her, hands in pockets. It was Justin, and was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a gorgeous smile.

  Damn, he looked so good in shorts. Good enough to eat.

  “I thought you were working on that song hours ago?” he said as she turned to face her work. He slid an arm around her waist and held her to him. She could feel the hardness of his body against her back. It took a lot of resolve not to lean against him.

  “I was,” she said.

  He gave the notepad a questioning glance.

  “Writer’s block,” she explained. “What are you doing here? I thought you were resting.”

  “I couldn’t stop thinking about my sexy fiancée, wondering what she had on while I lay in bed, alone.” He traced his finger along her thigh, easing her low gown higher and higher until her panties showed. “And it looks like she’s wearing next to nothing.”

  His touch was so wonderful, Elena couldn’t help the sigh that escaped her lips. She bit her lower lip to keep from letting out a moan and forced herself to focus. “Justin, what are you doing here?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” he whispered into her ear. “I want to fuck you.”

  Elena’s eyes grew wide all of a sudden and her breathing quickened. “Wh-what did you just say?”

  “You heard me.”

  Of course she’d heard him; she’d have to be completely deaf not to. Right now, she could hear more than just his voice. She was more than a hundred percent sure she could hear her heart thudding in her chest. “Right here? Right now? Justin, we’re in the kitchen, for goodness sake. What if Madison walks in on us?”

  “She’s at school, she’ll never know we were here.” As he spoke, Justin slid his hand down her thigh and brought it back up, caressing it softly. “I know you want this, Elena. I can sense it. You want me to fuck you just as bad as I do. Just say the word and I’ll make you scream.”

  His words, coupled with the way he was touching her, made it damn near impossible for her to resist him. In a weak final attempt, she said, “I have to finish writing my song –” She broke off in mid-sentence, biting her lip again, harder this time. Then, when she couldn’t take it anymore, she balled her fists and hissed, “Fine, I want you to fuck me.”

  Behind her, Justin didn’t laugh, but Elena could tell he was smirking.

  “Your wish is my command,” he said. Then he added, “Baby.”

  With that, he spun her around on her stool and, before she had time to even blink, covered her mouth with his. Elena could feel the waves of passion coursing through him. His kiss was deep and desperate, his lips hot and wet. She
found herself wanting more of him. As if of their own accord, her hands gripped his broad shoulders and made their way down his back, making sure to feel every glorious inch, every muscle she could reach. Justin moaned into her mouth and their kiss grew even hotter and deeper. His tongue delved into her mouth and immediately began exploring, flattening hers underneath it. Elena was enjoying the kiss, but she could think of a couple of other places she would love to have him stick that tongue of his.

  His hands did some exploring of their own. Elena wasn’t even sure when how he managed to slide them under her shirt without her knowing, but the next thing she knew, he was cupping a rounded breast in one hand and kneading it softly, brushing his thumb against her distended nipple every couple of seconds. By the time he began doing the same to her other breast, she was whimpering into his mouth.

  Justin broke the kiss, a triumphant grin on his face. “You seem to be enjoying this very much.”

  That was an understatement. Justin couldn’t possibly know how wonderful he was making her feel. The feel of his hands on her breasts was so wonderful…Elena suddenly grabbed her gown and yanked it off, tossing it aside. It landed in the sink, probably in the garbage disposal, but she was too preoccupied with her fiancé to give a damn.

  She must have gotten a strange look in her eyes, because Justin suddenly got a surprised expression on his face. Clearly he hadn’t expected her to mirror his passion so thoroughly. He soon got over his shock and continued kneading her breasts. Then, as she’d been anticipating, he bent and closed his mouth over one engorged teat, suckling on it like a hungry infant. Elena let out a sharp cry and grabbed his head, holding him in place as he pleasured her. His continued to stimulate her other nipple with his hand, his index finger tracing a hypnotizing path around her dark areola.

  “Oh, my God!” she moaned, raking her fingers through his hair. This man had a wonderful tongue. Elena was very sure he could bring her to orgasm without even touching her between her thighs.

  “Don’t stop,” she hissed, squeezing her eyes shut and focusing on the pleasant sensations coursing through her. “Don’t ever stop, you hear me?”

  All of a sudden, she felt the pressure on her breasts fade. Elena opened her eyes. Justin was standing erect, staring at her with a smirk plastered onto his face. She shot him a death glare.

  “What the hell was that for?” she practically yelled. “I told you not to stop.”

  Justin said nothing, just reached for her. Elena had the feeling he was going to kiss her, but as much as she would love to let that happen, she couldn’t. Not this time. Not after what he’d just done. Obviously he saw this as some sort of power play. Justin thought he had the upper hand? Elena would show him just how wrong he was about that.

  She placed a hand against his chest, stopping him before he could come any nearer. Then, without giving him a chance to realize what was going on, she dropped onto her knees and grabbed the waistline of his shorts. With one hand, she stroked his throbbing erection through the front of his clothes. Justin let out a somewhat strangled gasp, and Elena could tell he knew just what she was about to do. Before he could stop her, she yanked his shorts down and his rigid cock smacked her in the face. Elena recoiled in shock, then let out a giggle and grabbed his shaft, curling her fingers around him. Then, sucking in a breath, she parted her lips and took all of him in at once, burying him to the hilt in her mouth.

  “Oh, shit!” Justin screamed, his eyes growing to the size of saucers. The look on his face was so hilarious, it was a miracle she didn’t choke from trying not to laugh. She made sure she got as much slobber on him, so he slid in and out of her mouth more easily. As if of its own will, Justin’s hand reached around her head and cupped it from behind. Elena began suckling him, bobbing her head up and down his thick, lengthy shaft, enjoying the way she made him stiffen and grunt. When she made eye contact with him, she was willing to bet her shares that he was fighting the urge not to come on the spot – and losing fast.

  That only made her suck him harder, faster. Elena curled her tongue around his pulsing head and flicked it until his grunts became moans. His hold on her tightened and relaxed alternately, as if he was torn between letting her suckle him till he was spent and pulling out of her mouth before it was too late.

  “Elena” – he grabbed both sides of her head and tried to get her to release him, but she held fast – “please stop now. I don’t want to come in your mouth.” He gave a gasp as she started stroking him at the base, her tongue moving even faster now. She looked up at him, her eyebrow raised as if in question.

  “I mean, I’d like to come in your mouth, but not now,” Justin told her. “I want to come inside you.”

  You should have thought about that before you stopped sucking me, she thought. No way in hell was she going to stop what she was doing. She was going to keep it up until he lost all control and came into her mouth. And so she began fondling his testicles in one hand as she continued to suck him.

  It was not long before his moment came upon him and he erupted, filling Elena’s mouth with his thick hot sperm, his head thrown back, his mouth open in a silent scream. Elena remained as she was, enjoying the feeling of his sperm hitting the back of her throat. She sucked him some more and pulled him out of her mouth, an evil grin curving her lips.

  “Look what you’ve done,” Justin moaned. He shot her a glare as she rose to her feet. “I thought I told you not to –”

  “You want to taste yourself?” she said suddenly, cutting him short. She didn’t wait for him to reply, but stood on her tiptoes and pulled him into a fierce kiss, making sure to shove her tongue into his mouth. They remained that way for over a minute, making out, and then she pulled away and stepped back.

  Justin grinned at her. “I taste really nice.”

  “I second that,” Elena replied with a grin. She looked down and was pleased to see that he was hard again. “How about we take this into the bedroom?”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Justin scooped her up in his arms, slinging her over his shoulder so that his broad back filled her field of vision. Elena giggled at the sight of his butt jiggling slightly as he walked, and he reached up to slap her bottom, causing her to squeal.

  Elena couldn’t remember being so happy around anyone else – well, besides Madison and Granny Pat, that is. Darrel had made her smile and laugh a lot, but not as much as this. Justin was a thousand times the person Darrel had been. And he was just as many times as good-looking – the perfect package. As they headed towards the bedroom, Elena made a promise to do her very best to keep this man to herself. She couldn’t afford to lose him, not when he was making her life a living heaven – and in more ways than one.

  All of a sudden, Justin ground to a halt.

  They had reached the bedroom.

  ***

  Justin still wasn’t so sure what had come over him. He knew he was attracted to this woman – more attracted to her than he’d ever been to anyone else. But this afternoon, that attraction seemed to have gone up a notch. Now all he wanted was to be buried deep inside her, feeling her warm, supple skin and breathing in her wonderful scent. More than anything, he wanted to treat her like the queen that she was.

  He set her down gently on the bed, sucking in a breath when her breasts jiggled, and slowly slid his hands up her thighs, coming to a stop at her waist. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her panties, he slid them down as gently as he could, though his hands were trembling with eagerness. He tossed the panties over his shoulder and parted her thighs, staring at the rosy spot between them. She was already wet and ready for him to enter her.

  “Like what you see?” Elena said, looking seductively at him.

  Justin looked at her as if she might have lost her marbles. “When have I ever not liked anything about you?”

  With that, he went down on her, touching his tongue to her glistening core. A slight shiver raced through Elena’s body, and Justin smiled. He had her right where he wanted her. He gave
her swollen nub a flick and a moan escaped her lips. Justin didn’t waste any more time. Feeling his urges grow, he closed his mouth over and dug his tongue inside her, filling her as he kissed her soft lips. He twisted and turned his tongue, making sure to touch as many spots inside her as he could. Elena writhed and moaned, her eyes squeezed shut.

  God, she was beautiful. Justin thought that every single time he laid his eyes on her, but he could never seem to get used to the fact that the woman he was in love with was practically a goddess. Just when he thought he’d seen all of her, she showed him how infinite she was in beauty and love. Justin wasn’t sure about a lot of things, but he had a strong feeling he wasn’t ever going to get tired of this woman. It was why he’d been with her for so long. It was why he hadn’t gone through with his plan to abandon her.

  It was why he’d put the ring on her finger on that yacht.

  He continued to pleasure her, ravenously devouring her. Withdrawing his tongue, he replaced it with two of his fingers, pumping slowly at first, then harder, faster, in an erratic rhythm. At the same time, he stroked her clit with his thumb. He replaced that with his mouth again, and Elena’s moans became cries. She clutched the bed sheets beneath her, her body bowing off the bed. She looked so sexy right now, Justin wanted nothing but to slide into her and drive them into paradise, but he retrained himself. He needed to give this woman what she deserved. Besides, the longer he waited to sleep with her, the more satisfied he would be.

  He didn’t have to stroke her much longer. With a shriek, Elena exploded, her juices shooting out of her and splattering his face. As she came, Justin continued to lick her, coaxing more screams out of her. Elena clutched his head and held him there, her body vibrating like she was being electrocuted. When she finally calmed down, he lifted his head and grinned down at her.

  “I want to taste myself,” she panted, and it occurred to him that his face must be glistening. He moved up the bed and kissed her long and hard, sliding his tongue into her mouth. By the time they broke the kiss, they were both shaking with laughter.