by Jennifer Ann
“Mickey!” I exclaim amidst a loud gasp. “Baby, you’re killing me.”
He brays in a loud, delicious laugh, once again meeting my gaze. “Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart. In fact, I plan on doin’ quite the opposite.”
His teeth resume pulling my thong down my legs, maneuvering them past my feet to discard them beside my dress. He stops to look up to me beneath his dark lashes, holding his bottom lip between his teeth. All at once I feel myself come unglued, ready to ravage this exquisite, sweet man with everything I’ve got.
“Make me yours in every way,” I plead, running my fingers through his unruly hair. “I’ve never wanted anyone more.”
His lips travel back up my legs, planting flurries of kisses before reaching the wax job from our recent trip to the salon. Mick’s breaths are heavy against my sensitive skin. “So lovely. I plan to fully explore this part of ya at some point. But I have other plans for now.”
Then he lurches forward, pressing his beautiful lips to mine for delightfully wet kisses. I whimper into his mouth, pushing my tongue against his. He tastes as delicious as he smells and he moves so gently as if he’s afraid to hurt me. I bring my hands back to his hair, holding him closer as my body thrums delightfully against his.
“Ya taste a bit of the stars have fallen from the sky,” Mick mutters against my lips. He strokes my face for a moment before deepening his kisses. They evolve into something primal, urgent, wanting. My body’s suddenly like a live wire, responding with tiny bursts each time his tongue moves against mine. I prod him over to his backside and straddle him long enough to unhook my bra. His lips part with the sight of my breasts in the wild, and he reaches a tentative hand up toward them, eyeing me for permission. I nod, closing my eyes and running my fingers across his tight chest muscles just as he beings to caress my tender skin.
“Ah, such a lovely body. You’re perfect, my dear, sweet Chloe.” His thumbs circle each of my nipples before he pinches them softly, creating a wave of pleasure to pass all the way through me. Moaning, I lace my fingers through my hair, arching my back. Mick takes my left breast in his mouth, circling his tongue around the nipple before his soft lips stroke against my skin and his fingers caress between my legs. It’s been so long since a man has been this gentle with me. He continues on, giving each of my breasts equal attention as his fingers swirl around against my heat. I completely lose it, crying out into the dark sky as the start of an intense orgasm begins to grow deep inside of me.
Mick pulls away. “No you don’t, sweetheart. Not yet. I want ya to go there with me.”
When I open my eyes I’m rewarded with one of his sweet grins. I quickly slide back to tug at the zipper on his trousers, beaming when I discover he’s not wearing underwear. Not only that, he’s of a respectable size. Mick’s hand fumbles through his pants pocket, finally retrieving a silver foil packet.
Our mouths meet again while he slithers from his pants, pressing his erection into my leg. I reach down to caress his smooth skin, delighted to hear a deep growling noise fall from his lips.
Mick stops, cupping my face in his hands. “Are ya sure yer ready for this?”
Struck with blinding passion, I have to swallow down a sob. I reach up to touch his smooth jaw. “You bet your ass I’m ready. I want to feel you, baby. Every part of you. I want to show you exactly how much I love you.”
We both start with my unplanned confession. I open my mouth to take it back, then I realize I don’t want to. I’ve fallen for this man in the most unexpected way, releasing my doubts and fears to the will of his trustworthy hands.
Mick’s eyes glisten with the moonlight. He reaches up to stroke my face. “My mum used to tell me not to say somethin’ unless ya really believe in it.”
“I do…I mean…I am. In love.” I kiss the tip of his nose. “With you. You’re so caring and kind and thoughtful to me and everyone you come across. How could I not fall in love with someone that amazing?”
Mick stills all at once. “I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer ya, Chloe. I’m not like yer friends who have money t’ buy fancy apartments, and go out on the town every other night. I still have to pay for m’ school, and I live in a small apartment. Now on top of it I’ve gotta find a way to pay for Mum’s care.”
“Do you love me?” I ask softly, taking his face in the palms of my hands.
His eyes widen. “Ya, I really do.” His thumb strokes my lower lip as he gazes down on me lovingly. “I just never said it aloud ‘cause I was worried ya didn’t feel the same.”
“I don’t need your money, Mick. You say you don’t have much to offer me, but you’ve given me your heart. I don’t know what more a girl could ask for.”
“What about yer dream to become famous? Where would I fit into all of that? I can’t leave the pub for a few years yet, Chloe. M’ sister’s countin’ on me to keep it runnin’.”
“I’m starting to think maybe it’s time that I let that illusion go. It was a little girl’s dream anyway. Beckett’s probably right, I don’t have the stamina to do shows like that, over and over, every night on the road. It takes a special kind of person to entertain a crowd night after night.”
Mick’s eyebrows lower. “That self-righteous bastard doesn’t know a thing about ya. He’s probably sayin’ it because he’s jealous of your talent. Ya are special, Chloe. You just don’t know it. I think yer destined for great things. A poor bartender like me can’t possibly make you happy.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Even if you were going to be a bartender forever, you’d still make me happier than I’ve ever been. And once you graduate, you’ll make a great psychologist or whatever you decide to do. You already do make me happy, Mick. You’re such a good man. I’ll do whatever it takes for us to be happy together, even if it means giving up on my dream. Maybe I could open my own tattoo parlor one day.” I lean into him for a kiss that’s slow and tender. Then I nip at his bottom lip playfully. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d rather talk about this later. I’d really like to make love to my man and get back to the party.”
He takes my face in his hands again, smiling a woeful, unbelieving smile. “Someone was watchin’ over me the day ya walked into my life.”
Our lips take over, launching us onto a new level of pent up desire. I grab the condom from his hands and help him roll it on before positioning myself over him. I take him in slowly at first, then all the way until he fills me. He runs one hand up and down my thigh, guiding me as we rock together, while he uses the other to run his thumb in more circles around my sweet spot, easing a delightful orgasm from me as he begins his own climax. I tilt my head back to the dark sky and let out a deep moan when everything explodes around me.
The love we make beneath the stars with the sounds of the band floating through the air is sweet and gentle, just like Mick. He finishes right after me with a great tremble and I collapse onto his chest. He cradles me against him, kissing the top of my head and professing his love again. My heart is full.
Chapter 8
The chances that we slipped away from the reception without anyone noticing are over the moment Kelly and Glori, standing by the bar, catch us emerging from the darkness with our hands held. They raise their fresh drinks in the air toward us, grinning and hollering like a couple of cheerleaders after a touchdown is scored.
I pull Mick’s hand so he’ll lean down for me to whisper in his ear. “I need a minute with the girls. Can I get you a drink?”
“The keg beer will do fine.” He glances over to where Kelly and Glori stand, no longer looking at us but whispering to each other. “You’ll be alright then?”
“I’m more than alright. I’m giddy in love.” Smiling, I bring his face down to my level for a soft kiss. “Go find the guys. I’ll come find you when I’m ready to see more of your dance moves.” I pat him on the ass before heading toward my friends.
Kelly, smirking wildly, reaches for my shoulder once I’m close. “Chloe! Where’ve you been? Out star-gazing? Your hair
looks a little…messy.”
“Okay, here we go.” I grip onto both of their arms. “It happened. He came to tell me he’s sorry he broke it off with me and he wants us to be together. Mick and I are officially in love.”
“I knew it!” Kelly squeals, diving in to give me a smothering hug.
Then her sister moves in for one, making us all laugh. “I told you!”
I pull away from Glori with a stern face. “But. I need everyone to keep quiet about this for a little while. At least until I’ve had a chance to break the news to Beckett. He’s been on this kick lately that we’re supposed to be together, and I don’t think he’s going to take the news very well. In fact I know he won’t. I need to tell him in person, once we’re back in the city.”
“Okay, you’re starting to scare me with the Beckett thing,” Kelly says, frowning. “Should we be worried?”
“No. It will be fine, I swear. Just please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want this getting back to him. I’ll take care of it.”
She bounces on her toes. “Can we at least tell Jewels?”
“Okay, Jewels, and that’s it.” I poke a finger into the curve of her shoulder. “I mean it. I know you’ll tell Theo, so you have to make him promise to keep his mouth shut too. I don’t even wanna think what would happen if word makes it back to the city before we return.”
Kelly lurches forward for another crushing hug. “Agh, I’m so happy for you!”
As they continue bubbling with excitement, asking me personal questions like whether Mick is a good kisser and who said “I love you” first, I’m reminded exactly why I never made it a habit to hang out with a bunch of girls.
The reception winds down after one in the morning. An hour later, the wedding party sans Erik, who never reappeared after bailing out before the dance started, and Mick are the only people to remain. Everyone looks spent—the girls’ hair having gone either flat or astray and the men’s shirts darkened with sweat—though it’s the sign that we rocked this party as hard as we could. No one got crazy drunk and out of control at Jewels and Adam’s request, which wasn’t a problem for anyone. We had so much fun rocking out to the cover band that leaving the dance floor to get more drinks didn’t really occur to anyone. I was delightfully surprised to discover Mick can really tear up the dance floor.
Jewels hasn’t stopped beaming all night. As she stands in our circle with Adam’s arm slung around her neck, she’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her. “This definitely topped any concert I’ve ever been to. That band was freaking awesome and surrounded by my family and friends…man it’s going to be hard for anyone to beat our wedding.” She throws Kelly a teasing wink.
Adam kisses the side of her head. “I’m just happy to see my wife happy.”
“Oooh, say that word again. Wife.” Jewels turns to face him, wagging her eyebrows. “I adore how that sounds coming from those delectable lips.” She nuzzles her face into him, stroking his back.
“Okay and with that, we’re outta here!” Kelly announces, wrapping herself around Theo. He wraps his thick arm around her neck. “The car should be here any minute to take you two downtown. We’re heading upstairs.”
As I exchange hugs and kisses with my friends, my chest burns with excitement. Kelly and Theo were given one of the guest rooms for the night and Glori will take over Jewels’s room. I still have the extra guest room all to myself.
We’re the last to remain in the now peaceful backyard. Mick stares down at me, the question of our sleeping arrangements still up in the air. There’s a wild charge between us every time we touch, reminding me of our romp in the woods. As much as I’d like to make love to him again and spend the night at his side, I’m still terrified that every thing we do on this trip will get back to Beckett and become hesitant.
“If you’d like, I can catch a cab back to my hotel,” Mick offers, stroking the side of my face with his hand. His eyes are bright, hopeful. “I’ll leave it up to ya.”
Aches seize my heart. “I want…I mean I need you to stay with me tonight. Please. Now that I have you back in my life I don’t want you to leave.”
His lips curl into a delicious smile. “Anythin’ you want, sweetheart.”
We find our way through the small mansion up to the guest bedroom where we both modestly strip down to our underwear. I slip into the attached bathroom to wash my face and start the impossible task of brushing through my over-sprayed hair. When I return to the room, the lights are out and Mick lays on the bed, moonlight spilling over the muscular curves of his chest. He holds the sheet up with a grin, waiting for me to slip in next to him. I’m frozen with fear staring back at this beautiful man, picturing what will happen when Beckett discovers we’re in love. Life is already so impossibly delicate. My world of happiness could collapse if Beckett becomes unglued, which seems unavoidable. What if I’m putting Mick’s life in danger? Would Beckett take things that far?
Mick’s grin dissolves. “What is it, love?”
Shaking my head, I wipe away a fallen tear and crawl into the bed, cuddling into his side. “Nothing, baby. Just hold me.”
He wraps one arm behind my back and the other around my head as we become a cocoon of bodies. He smells so wonderful and his body is so hard that I nearly lose my mind. “Ya know you can tell me anythin’…anythin’ at all.”
“I love you, Mickey,” I whisper into his chest, inhaling his musk and trying like hell to fight off more oncoming tears. “Whatever happens when we get back to New York, I need you to remember that.”
“Now yer just scarin’ me.” He strokes my head and crushes me to him with his other arm. “I only just got ya to call my own. Am I to start worryin’ that I’m gonna lose you? Talk to me. What’s goin’ on in that beautiful head of yours?”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m just afraid I’m going to lose you. My life’s so complicated at times. I’m not sure you’re going to want to stick around once you really get to know everything about me.”
“I told ya I love you, an’ I meant it. Whatever you’re worried about me knowin’, I can promise it’s not gonna be that easy to lose me. I’m not one to hold a grudge and I don’t anger easily. I have my own complications eventually I’ll have t’ share with ya.” He kisses my forehead. “Unless yer into beastiality, I assure ya I can handle it.”
Despite still being on the verge of tears, I laugh and trace my fingers across the ridges of his back. “It’s nothing like that, I swear.”
“Then stop yer worryin’. Are you gonna tell me what this is about, or are you gonna make me guess all night?”
“Another time, I promise. I don’t want to ruin this perfect night,” I say, nuzzling his chest. “Tell me one of your happiest memories. I want to know more about your life.”
He hums against my forehead as his fingers dust across my arm, back and forth. “When I was a young lad, living in Ireland with my family, my nana was a real looker and a master of dance. She taught lessons to little children until her joints didn’t work so well. Every time we’d go to visit, she’d teach me an’ m’ cousins a new dance. We would draw a gatherin’ and when I was older, we’d perform for a hundred or sometimes more of the locals, young and old alike. It made me feel like somebody important knowin’ there were people who wanted to watch. We haven’t been back since we left, but I’ll never forget the feelin’ of bein’ on top o’ the world. It’s the reason I understand why yer band is so important to you. I don’t want to see you give up on yer dreams because of me, Chloe. Whatever ya decide, I’ll be there to support you.”
I close my eyes, forcing fresh tears to spill down my cheeks. No matter what I tell Mick, he’s going to continue to be the nice guy and take the high road. I don’t want to argue with him right now and ruin what’s probably the most amazing night of my life, so I let the need to set him straight pass. “It sounds like you have good memories of Ireland. When I first asked about the tattoo on your arm, you seemed upset.”
“I don’t want to involve ya with
my past. I got it as a reminder how good m’ life has been an’ that I shouldn’t be ungrateful if it were never to get any better. I believed it truly wouldn’t until you came along.”
I push back from his chest and twist around to look him in the eye. “Whatever you’re hiding from your past, you need to tell me eventually because I want this to work between us, I really do. Like, so bad…you have no idea.” I touch his face and smile brightly. “There haven’t been many things in my life I’ve been this sure about.”
“Then stop makin’ excuses and trust that we can—we will survive whatever kinks in the road our journey may have. I’ll tell ya when the timin’ is right and you can tell me whatever is bothering ya when yer ready.” His lips bend with the amazing grin that sets my heart pounding into overtime. “Until then, trust that we’re strong enough to survive it.”
I bring my fingertips to his lips, tracing their crooked line. “I really don’t deserve someone as kind as you.”
“Ya deserve everything, m’ sweet Chloe.” His hand wraps around my wrist. “And I fully plan on givin’ it to ya.”
Our lips meet for a soulful, no holds-barred kiss. For the moment I allow myself to believe him, to think that everything’s going to be okay. Our bodies beckon to each other as if they have a mind of their own, and soon we’re both free of our underwear, creating an encore unlike any performance I’ve had.
The next morning Jewels and Adam open gifts beneath the tent with the wedding party and family watching on. I didn’t think it was possible, but the newlyweds seem even happier than the night before. Jewels wears her hair in a side braid with a sweet polka dotted dress that perfectly coordinates with Adam’s light green button down. They spend the morning laughing and smiling so wide it seems eventually their mouths will crack. It’s a little sickening, but it’s also a sweet reminder why I was holding out for a guy like Mick instead of Beckett with his dizzying mood swings and tenancy toward reacting with his fists.