by M. C. Cerny
“Hey, do I get a say in this?” I joked. Taylor shrugged.
Louisa stepped closer to me putting her arm around my side and spoke into my ear, “Did you want one?”
“Fuck that’s hot, I gotta go.” Kristen jetted from the bakery with her purse and Taylor chuckled thanking me for setting up the cake tasting.
“I’ll pick you up later.” Louisa gave me a gentle squeeze and my heart fluttered wondering how the heck this all happened so fast.
11
Louisa
12
Carmen
13
Louisa
14
Carmen
15
Louisa
16
Carmen
17
Louisa
18
Carmen
19
Louisa
20
Carmen
Epilogue
LOUISA
“So are you sure that Vegas is out of the question for a wedding?” It was definitely the most expedient to my way of thinking.
Carmen chuckled and flipped through Pinterest highlighting the flower trends for this Spring. Bright pink begonias that would look amazing on top of a white wedding cake flashed in my mind. The color nearly matched her lipstick, plump matte lips that begged to be kissed.
“Oh, I don’t know, did you want to take in the sights, maybe catch a card game?” I watched her add pins on the tablet clicking ideas she liked for cake designs to try out. Checkered patterns rolled out from fondant and embossed swirls applied with sugar and gold dust. I imagined what kind of hairstyles and highlights would best suit the theme.
“The only game I’m playing is how fast I can undress my wife.” I dropped my phone on the nightstand and pushed the tablet out of her hand.
“Hey, I was just looking at an Alice in Wonderland theme you wicked woman.” She cried, but sounded more excited than upset.
I laughed at her outrage and mock tackled her rolling to the floor in giggles and kisses.
She was my best friend.
My lover.
My soulmate.
“Where you now?” I teased straddling her hips and grinding myself against her.
“Uh huh. I figured I could wear the dress and you could be the Mad Hatter. Top hat and fitted jacket. Tight ass pants. All in white, or maybe black?” Her fingertip tapped her lips. Then her hands reached for my lower back and worked their way down to cup my ass hard pressing me into her raised hips.
I groaned enjoying the feeling of our bodies heating up and rubbing against each other. I wanted her badly.
“How come I have to have a suit? Maybe I want the dress.”
Carmen chuckled.
“I’m pretty sure we can both wear a dress. No rules, right?” I loved how her eyes twinkled, various shades of golds, greens, and dark brown.
“Nope. None at all.” I said mesmerized by her soft skin and the sweet smell that stayed with her long after her hours at the bakery.
Our lips met halfway for a kiss. Hers were pillow soft and I pressed against them until she opened her mouth. Her teeth grazed my lips and bit down slowly, but not hard. The impending sting was enough anticipation for me to lick inside her mouth tasting her sweet minty tongue. She licked me back and our mouths fused in a gentle tangle that incited heat and desire for more.
I needed my skin against her as much as she needed me. Silently we shed clothing on the floor beside a perfectly good bed. Maybe someday, maybe on our honeymoon we could actually do this on a mattress. It would be a change from kitchen counters, on fields under comets, and couches in my brother’s house as payback. The last one technically being her idea. I was still skeeved out and slightly scarred from that experiences.
“I love being with you.” Carmen sighed.
“I love being with you.” I repeated back the sentiment tender and true. Our wedding day would be perfect and the only people invited would be our dearest friends and family. I wished I could have met Carmen’s grandma Gigi. I knew she would have been happy for my girl and we needed more of that as we committed ourselves to one another in this crazy world.
“Take your pants off.” Carmen tugged at the elastic of my pajama bottoms. I wiggled mine off and then pulled hers off. I leaned into her letting our hips cradle and fit to each other. Skin against skin. Heat against heat and damp lips aching to grind against one another. I slid my knee between hers and let her ride the friction until her panting grew louder and my kisses could no longer contain the sound.
Carmen’s hand slid between us and her fingers probed at my core. Sliding up and down, she eased two fingers inside me as I clenched them.
“Feels so good.” I whimpered as she continued to rub me in slow circles alternating between pushing inside and pinching my clit.
“I love you, Lou.” Carmen worked me over until I was a soaked mess having come all over her hand and between us. We rolled over, this time I was on my back and I positioned Carmen over my thigh rocking her with each stroke. Panting she came nearly as quickly sinking her slight weight over me. I kissed the top of her head and pulled the comforter off the bed covering us in our own passionate cocoon.
I guess the floor would be getting more action after all.
Excerpt from Mission For Love
“Why are you going to Poughkeepsie when we have a perfectly good place right here that requires zero driving?” Andy shot back at me as I slipped my watch on and fixed my t-shirt. Mom left me a package of new black shirts in my dresser and still thinks of me as her little boy before being shipped off to boot camp. I haven’t worn a size medium in years and here I was trying to stuff my adult body into a shirt that might have fit me in high school a decade earlier if I was lucky.
But hey, it was the thought that counts right?
I peered in the mirror looking at my brother who sat on the edge of my bed making himself a nuisance.
“You’re still here Andrew?” I drawled doing my best not to roll my eyes.
He huffed and crossed his leg resting it on his knee. He looked insulted that I was leaving town to go to a different bar where no one knew me. I felt a theme song coming on and pushed the ridiculous thought down.
“Still here.” He waved like a lunatic making himself comfortable on my bed and me increasingly uncomfortable. I could say any number of harsh things to him to get him out of my personal space, but I was working on that. The discharge therapists at the VA warned me I would feel residual feelings after being medically discharged from the army. I had planned to make a career of it and now someone else had taken that option away from me.
“You look worried papa bear. I’ll be fine.” I glared at him in the mirror and he ignored me. God, he was good at that. I don’t know if it made him wiser or older but he perfected the art of silently scolding.
Technically, he was younger than me, but way more successful in the ways that counted according to my parents. Andy had an uncanny sense for numbers and business working his ass off with the family pub and brewery. I’d been busy running off to fight wars in the desert made by greedy men while my blood and best friend was building up the family business, taking over, and getting married to a girl I couldn’t stand. Maybe I wasn’t being fair, but Sierra was a conversation for another day and a train wreck headache that seemed to linger.
“I’m not worried.” Andy looked worried. I wasn’t going out for a wild night, I just needed a break but something seemed to be on his mind and if I didn’t address it now he might not ever leave my apartment so I could enjoy myself and what was left of the rest of my night.
“Remi will be fine. I just saw her downstairs.” The mere mention of the tiny red headed tornado who worked for us and lived on the floor in between made Andy bristle.
Still nothing.
“I see mom is stocking your closet.” He quipped with a snarky expression pawing through my clothes.
“Shut up, asshole.” I said grabbing the closest thing to me.
/> “Don’t worry. Black is slimming and the mirror shows an extra ten pounds anyway.”
“I didn’t ask your opinion.” I glared at him trying to tug down the t-shirt before giving up and peeling it off. My muscles would have shredded the cotton before I even got out the door.
“The next thing you know you’re going to be asking me, if this shirt makes me look fat, and I’m just trying to head off the awkward conversation now rather than later.”
I rolled my eyes. My brother, a fucking comedian.
“She needs something do in Florida. Dad should buy her a boat or something. Didn’t you buy them out for a pretty penny?”
“Sure did, but you know Mom. Always hovering, always sneaking in things we don’t even realize we need.”
“Yeah, but I’d like some shirts that won’t strangle me. Maybe you should tell her this isn’t my size.” I dropped the medium shirt to the floor. I’d pick it up later.
Andrew crossed his arms over his chest puffing himself up. It was adorable as little brothers go, but I had years of benching weights and hauling sixty pound packs of gear in the desert. I wasn’t better than him, just thicker.
“Dude. Do your laundry and it won’t be a problem.” He picked up the shirt and dropped it in my hamper. We both knew he wouldn’t correct mom on my shirt size any more than I would. We loved her too much for that. She liked to think we were still her little boys playing peewee sports instead of the hulking giants we’ve become.
I smiled finding a new way to torment him. “I could ask the barmaid to do it.”
“Remington is not doing your laundry.” His voice hardened and I proceeded poking the overprotective bear.
“I bet she’d do it if I asked nicely.”
“She doesn’t need to be hauling your shit to the washer and dryer. She’s got enough on her plate.”
“Okay bro, level with me. Are you fucking her or is this–” I didn’t even get a chance to finish because Andrew launched himself at me ready to fight. What my brother didn’t have in muscles he made up for with speed.
“What did I say about leaving her alone?” He got in my face and I felt my own temper building. I wouldn’t hit my brother over a young pretty red head, but that wasn’t to say I handled my anger any better these days than I had in the past.
“Chill out. I’m fucking with you.” I pushed him back and he stood down realizing I wasn’t going to do anything to the new girl who lived in our building in the studio apartment between us and worked at the bar below. He hired her months ago but I just now getting to know her.
“I think she’s hanging out with some bad news football player from the school. I don’t like it. She’s this innocent little thing with no one to watch out for her.” Andrew leaned against the wall explaining even though he didn’t owe me an explanation. My heart clenched because I knew exactly where this came from.
“You know she isn’t…” I didn’t have to finish that sentence. Andrew knew. We both knew and it pained us equally in different ways.
“Yeah, I know she’s not her, but you know me. I take on the stray cats and try fixing them.” He shook his head. Sierra would always be between us. The broken girl who had nearly ripped our family apart and then left without a trace. It was better this way. Cleaner. More clear cut.
“You should come out with me then. Blow off some steam. We can call Chase and Hunter.”
“You really think the guys are going to come out and leave the girls at home?”
I shrugged. “Maybe, you never know. Besides, it’s been ages since we all hung out.”
“True, except the main bartender called out and I can’t leave Remi alone to handle the crowd. She mixes a shitty drink and I haven’t had time to teach her properly besides uncorking wine and the bottled beer.”
“Fine, but don’t wait up for me. I’ll call an Uber if I need too.” We clapped backs in a distant hug and I made my way downstairs to take my bike. I had no plans to get shit faced, but felt the need to drink something and ease the ache behind my eyes from the flashback I had earlier in the day. Fucking car back fired and I was still flinching. Feeling weak and not in control infuriated me, yet here I was prepared to drink my shitty problems away in a bar that wasn’t my family’s business in the next town over.
Hypocritical?
Maybe.
Hello oxy meet moron.
I never claimed to be perfect and the demons in my head wouldn’t go away on their own.
***
The bar was nestled off a side street close to the river bank. A good spot for riffraff, hipsters, and anyone looking for a good time while blending into the dark and neon lights taking shots. The Pig and Dog was a sight for sore eyes as I had hung out there prior to my deployment when I was busy spending my free time pissed at Andrew and Sierra along with my parents for letting things escalate back then. The P&D or also commonly known as the Poughkeepsie Dump catered to a slightly rough crowd who behaved well when the alcohol flowed and garbage bands played cover songs from the eighties. I felt like I could be regular David instead of Special Task Sargent David Easton or rising football player number 22, or that kid from Easton’s Pub and Brewery. Here I could be anonymous and my flashbacks to IEDs and gunfire could blend in with the shitty disco ball and fog machine.
I grabbed a drink and headed for the corner high booth where I could scan the crowd and find a willing body to gyrate next to mine for the evening. I wasn’t typically anti-social but I wasn’t a snuggler given my difficulty sleeping. Good sex wore me out to sleep through the night and alcohol gave me the oblivion I craved when a body wasn’t in the picture.
I saw her standing at the bar with her girlfriends doing shots of alcohol and her hips swaying to the music beat. She had good rhythm which often translated to what would transpire between the sheets and my jeans tugged tight. If she wasn’t up for something this raging cock in my pants was going to be a real pain to ride home with.
The girl with smooth skin that reminded me of a summer night, the palest caramel, and the girl in that Spiderman movie. My libido was ruled by my stomach, what could I say? I wasn’t politically correct in the least and she looked good enough to eat? Now I sounded like a pervert when all I wanted to do was run my hand up and down her curves in appreciation. God must have seen to giving her the good genes and I didn’t discriminate. Heck, if my mother allowed Andrew and I to hand pictures of women in our teenage bedrooms, I would have picked Beyoncé with her banging curves and gorgeous eyes I could drown in while yanking off. Bar girl had a sultry look that invited a second gander and some serious conversation.
Her clothes were tight, almost painted on her skinny frame and her leggings slipped into tall black boots making her look like my own personal superhero. Her loose top slipped over one shoulder but it might as well have been her cape. Kinky hair graced the top of her shoulders and I had an urge to stick my fingers in it to see if it was as soft as it looked. I wasn’t going to touch her hair though. Dudes can’t just run up and touch a girl’s hair without the threat of a good dick-punch standing in one’s way.
Instead I walked over to make an introduction. I may have been rusty but I liked to think I still had some of my charm left over from the days before I enlisted and went away.
I walked up to her group of friends smiling and nodded at the one who looked like the Girl’s Night ringleader of the pack. A tall blonde girl who looked Nordic and like a Disney princess was passing out their drinks. An average brunette hung in the back checking her cellphone behind two women who could have passed for African princesses, one stood regal eye fucking me while my dancing superhero had yet to make eye contact. I liked that I had the upper hand here and I liked that they seemed to be watching out for each other. I had a thing for smart and responsible girls. They didn’t have to be good girls. I just didn’t want the drama my brother’s ex had shadowed our family with.
“Never seen you in here before.” The regal one said to me squinting her eyes appraising me in my too tight muscl
e shirt. I know I looked like biker trash, t-shirt, jeans, combat boots but I wasn’t going to let her scare me off from introducing myself.
I shrugged. “Been awhile. Usually come for the cover band.” I sipped my drink waiting for Superhero girl to look.
“Peggy, you see this guy here before?” She nudged her friend. Peggy looked up finally and yeah, soulful eyes stared back and I felt something I hadn’t in a long time. Genuine interest that could lead to more that one night and honestly it scared the shit out of me.
“No, but you should be nice Brooke. I bet he’ll buy the next round if you smile.” She winked and I liked it. I liked it a lot–this subtle flirting between us.
“Supergirl, I’ll buy you drinks the rest of night for that smile.”
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Books by M.C. Cerny
DESIGNED BY LOVES SERIES
First Love - Prequel
Love Under Construction
Unlovely Things
Heartburn
Tailwind
Love Actually
Mission For Love
Mine To Keep
Love On Tap
GOLD BEACH DUET
Summer Ever After
Remains of Winter
THE MATCHMAKER SERIES