by Ladew, Lisa
Finally, she could take no more. She curled and twisted away from him, panting like she’d run a race. Blaise moved next to her and she collapsed in a heap of arms and legs, thoughts and desires nonexistent.
When Jordan finally opened her eyes, Blaise stared down at her, a self-satisfied grin on his face. She smiled back.
“You planned this,” she accused, loving that he did.
“I did,” he said just loud enough to be heard over the waves. “Is a secluded beach a decent replacement for a crowded airplane?”
“You,” she growled in mock anger. “Wait till I get my hands on you …” She looked down at his muscular body, thrilled to see his cock still standing at attention. “… and my mouth.”
She sat up quickly and put her hands on him, then lowered her lips to his thickening erection. He moaned lightly and lifted his body to slide over and take her place on his clothes. “You don’t have to, Jordan,” he whispered, his eyes closed, his head thrown back in surrender.
She didn’t respond. She wanted to, and she would show him. Give him what he had given her. Take what little control she could.
***
Blaise willed himself to relax for just a second, to try to enjoy more than just the mind-blowing sensations coming from his groin. The moonlight shone on his face and warm sand shifted underneath him. Waves pounded, slower than his beating heart, but in a similar rhythm. He wanted to soak it all in, remember this forever. He looked down at Jordan’s pretty face, completely intent and engrossed on the task at hand. He thought he’d never seen anything quite as gorgeous as she was at that moment.
He had been right, Jordan was a wildcat, but he’d only been able to taste her for a few short moments. He couldn’t wait to take her back to the room and indulge in every fantasy he’d been nurturing for the past few weeks, once the initial edge was taken off of both of their desires. He had a plan, and it included a lot of teasing, a ton of payback for the last few weeks. He wanted to hear her beg.
Jordan swirled her tongue around the head of him and he vocalized hotly, loving the sensation. Loving his life. Loving the woman who was working to bring him to his own personal ecstasy.
“Jordan,” he growled, feeling his balls tighten, knowing he was right on the edge. The moon watched passively as he tried to give Jordan a warning, and as she chose to ignore it, sucking him, stroking him, bringing him more pleasure than one man should be able to experience. He abandoned himself to his release, stiffening as he spilled into her mouth.
When he recovered, Jordan was at his side, watching him exactly as he had watched her. He smiled up at the goddess above him as the moonlight sparkled in her hair.
“I think I’m prepared now,” she said.
Blaise laughed and shook his head. She was clever, his girl. He wanted to remember that.
Chapter 7
Katerina stepped out of the elevator and turned around to watch West, a bemused look on her face. “Can I at least walk to Jordan’s room by myself? Or are you coming with me?”
He stepped out of the elevator after her and crowded her up against the hallway wall, nuzzling her cheek and kissing her ear. “I’m just going to miss you today, that’s all,” he said.
“You aren’t even supposed to be seeing me right now,” Katerina said.
West put his hand over his eyes and continued to kiss her. Katerina giggled and caught his lips for one deep kiss. She broke the kiss and stepped backwards, away from him. “I’ll see you in eight hours,” she said.
“Goodbye, Mrs. Shepherd,” he called after her, his hand still over his eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Katerina cried over her shoulder and then took off at a run. When she reached Jordan’s door she banged on it excitedly. “Jordan, it’s me!”
No one answered or said anything for a moment and Katerina knocked louder. She bet they had stayed up way too late last night. Oh well, coffee would be their first stop.
Finally, the door opened and Jordan peaked out of a completely darkened room, a white sheet draped loosely around her. “Sorry, come in,” she whispered and retreated into the shadow.
Katerina followed her in, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the low light. Katerina looked around curiously. A chair was knocked over and clothes were spilling out of an overturned suitcase. Most of the bed sheets and quite a few pillows were on the floor. Katerina saw Blaise sprawled, snoring lightly, in the middle of the bed, obviously naked, only a tiny sliver of sheet covering his manhood. She looked away quickly.
“I’ll just wait for you in the hall,” she whispered furiously at Jordan’s back as Jordan picked through a pile of clothes, looking for something to wear.
Jordan waved her hand and Katerina fled the room, blushing furiously. That had been much more of Blaise than she had wanted to see.
A few minutes later, Jordan came out, her face stripped clean of makeup, tying her hair back in a ponytail.
They headed for the elevator. “Wow, you wore him out,” Katerina said.
Jordan grinned. “Yeah, I did.”
Katerina laughed and shook her head. “West sure was wrong about you two.”
Jordan cocked her head in curiosity. “Wrong about what?”
Katerina waved her hand at Jordan, then pressed the elevator button. “Oh nothing, West just thought you guys hadn’t had sex yet.”
Jordan grabbed her hand and spoke urgently. “We hadn’t. Last night was the first time.”
Katerina giggled. “Really? How was it?” she asked, only feeling a tiny twinge of guilt for discussing sex with Jordan after the hard time she had given West. They were girls. They were supposed to talk about sex. Guys were just supposed to grunt and nod and maybe swear a lot.
“Amazing,” Jordan gushed. The elevator doors dinged open and Katerina stepped inside, Jordan crowding right up next to her, her face animated. “Better than amazing. The kind of sex that makes you want to tie the guy up in your basement so you can get it any time you want it.”
Katerina gaped at Jordan for a moment and then threw her head back and laughed. Jordan grabbed her hand. “That’s not all,” she said, her voice low, as the elevator doors opened and they exited, walking through the lobby. “We did it on the beach!”
Katerina squeaked and covered her mouth.
“Well, not it, not on the beach, but we did stuff,” Jordan corrected.
“The beach behind the hotel?” Katerina asked, astonished.
“No, we walked down a bit. Towards the end. There was no one down there.”
“Well I should hope not! What if someone saw you?”
Jordan shrugged. “As long as we didn’t get arrested, I don’t care if anybody watched.”
“Someone could have recorded you,” Katerina hissed. “You could already be all over the Internet.”
Jordan considered. “If they did, they did. But there was no one close enough to get our faces.” She dropped Katerina a wink. “I’ll have to look around on the Internet later though. It was hot. If there’s a video of it, I want to see it.”
Katerina stopped dead in her tracks, watching Jordan flounce through the lobby towards the ornate exit doors. How could Jordan not care if people had watched her have sex? How could she seem to be excited about it? Katerina thought she would die of embarrassment if someone saw her have sex.
Jordan walked out into the overgrown garden that was the hotel’s front walk, then turned around and motioned for Katerina. Katerina hurried to catch up with her.
“Where we going first? Are we taking a cab?” Jordan asked, the earlier subject forgotten.
“West said he got us a car,” Katerina replied, looking around. The only vehicle in the area that didn’t have people climbing in or out of it was a black, shiny limousine.
Katerina and Jordan’s eyes settled on it at the same time. As they watched, a man in a dark suit exited the driver’s seat and ran around to the back door, opening it and looking at them expectantly.
Jordan clapped her hands toge
ther. “Oh I just love that man of yours,” she cried and hurried towards the limo.
“Me too,” Katerina said under her breath and followed.
By the time Katerina reached the limousine, Jordan was already looking over the selection of wine. The driver introduced himself and asked if their first stop was the Ala Moana Dress Shop. Katerina confirmed that it was, then climbed into the back and settled next to Jordan, who was holding out a glass of sparkling champagne to her.
Katerina shook her head but Jordan insisted. “Just a sip, Kat. It’s your wedding day. If ever there was a day for celebration, this is it.”
Katerina acquiesced and took the slim glass.
Jordan clinked her glass together with Kat’s. “To my friend Katerina, who deserves this happiness more than anybody I know. May you always walk in sunshine. May you never want for more. May angels rest their wings right beside your door.”
Katerina took a sip and felt the bubbles go straight to her head. She smiled around her glass. “That was beautiful. What is that from?”
Jordan waved her words away. “I’ve got a million of them. I think it’s an old Irish toast. My grandma used to say one at the dinner table every night instead of a prayer. That’s why I am the perfect bridesmaid. “
Katerina laughed as the limousine pulled away from the hotel and took off through the Waikiki traffic.
“You’re the perfect bridesmaid because you’re my best friend, Jordan. I’m so glad you got to come out, and I’m even more thrilled to see you and Blaise together. Who would have thought that it would’ve worked out?”
Jordan barked a laugh. “Not me. Do you have any idea how many nights I dreamed about him, fantasized about the tall, handsome cop who saved me? Imagined the way he’d be in bed? What kind of lover he would be? What kind of person he would be? I just knew he’d be someone who would always protect me, someone who would never hurt me. A man who would always be true and faithful, and who would always do his best to make me happy. You know, like the prince is supposed to be in the Disney movie.”
Katerina sighed. “Perfect, you mean.”
Jordan nodded. “Yeah, I do mean that. And so far he is.”
“West too,” Katerina said, watching wistfully out the window at the beach sliding by.
“Of course he is, sweetheart,” Jordan said. “That’s why you’re marrying him.”
Katerina felt a secret smile tug at her lips. That was why she was marrying him. It was going to happen in, oh, about seven hours.
Before they knew it, the limousine double parked in front of a busy section of street. The driver got out and ran around to their door. He handed Katerina a card as she exited the vehicle. “Call me at this number when you are done and I will meet you right here,” he said.
The two women made their way into the dress shop and waited for someone to notice them. A leggy blonde in a short black dress made her way over to them quickly and asked if she could help them.
“I’m Mrs. Katerina Shepherd,” Kat said, squeezing Jordan’s hand in glee at her first use of her married name. “I’m here to pick up my dress and my friend here is going to pick one out.”
“Of course Mrs. Shepherd. I have it right in the back. I will get it for you and then we will find a dress for your friend. You can wait in the chairs by the dressing room there.”
Katerina nodded and the two of them sat down where they had been indicated.
The woman came back quickly, holding a plastic garment bag with Katerina’s dress inside it. She pulled it out and placed it on a hanger inside one of the dressing rooms. “Please try the dress on, Mrs. Shepherd. We want to make sure you need no final alterations.”
Katerina nodded and stepped inside the tiny room, her heart beating hard in her chest. She couldn’t believe this day was finally here. West had hired a wedding consultant, Pamela, to make most of the plans, since he and Katerina didn’t know the island and were enjoying their pre-wedding vacation a bit too much to make a ton of decisions. Pamela had been the one who suggested this pattern and style.
She quickly undressed and slipped into her wedding dress. She looked at herself in the mirror, nodding faintly. She thought it still fit her perfectly. It was a modern recreation of a vintage Hawaiian print wedding dress, floor length, and white with green, flowery, quilt like patterns running from bodice to toe, directly down the center, and larger green patterns down the sides. West would be wearing white slacks and a white shirt with a matching pattern. The sales lady from a week before had explained to them that many couples getting married in Hawaii chose to wear matching patterns. It was one thing that made Hawaiian weddings special.
Katerina stepped out of the dressing room and walked towards Jordan, a small smile on her face. She didn’t know what Jordan would think of their unorthodox choice. In fact, she wasn’t sure what she thought of it anymore, but it was too late to change her mind now.
Jordan pressed her lips together and her face looked pinched. Katerina’s heart fell. So she had made a mistake in choosing this dress. Tears tried to fly to her eyes but she bit them back. She wasn’t supposed to cry on her wedding day.
“You don’t like it?” Katerina asked, her heart in her shoes.
Jordan took a deep breath and Katerina knew no matter what came out of her friend’s mouth, it would be the truth. She could always count on that with Jordan. “It’s cute. It’s adorable. But your first wedding shouldn’t be cute or adorable. It should be breathtaking.”
Jordan’s words cut like a knife through Katerina’s mood and the tears pushed harder to come to the surface.
“Not first,” she said softly. “This will be my only wedding.”
“Exactly!” Jordan said. “When you and West are fifty and renewing your vows at the same place where you got married with your twelve grandchildren running around your feet, that’s when you wear a dress like this. But this time you do it right. White lace, satin. You can add some beautiful Hawaiian touches if you like, but I really think you would enjoy the memory of your wedding more if it were traditional.” She stood up and took Katerina’s hand. “I know you, Katerina, and I don’t think this is what you really want.” She waited a beat and stared into Katerina’s face, where the tears were now dripping. “Is it?”
“I don’t know,” Katerina said softly around her tears. “West liked it. We had an appointment that afternoon to go parasailing. We didn’t want to run late. He has a matching shirt. They said a dress like this is good for a wedding on the beach. That satin will just get ruined.”
Jordan handed Katerina a tissue that had appeared as if from nowhere.
“Besides,” Katerina said. “It’s too late now. We’re getting married in a few hours. West already has his outfit with him. He’ll look stupid if I wear something else.”
“It’s never too late,” Jordan said. She whipped her phone out of her pocket, then peered into Katerina’s face once more. “Katerina, think about your pictures, your memories of this day. Do you want cute, or do you want stunning?”
“Stunning,” Katerina sobbed. She knew Jordan was right.
“Sit down. Have some tea. Leave it to me,” she said, then motioned to the sales woman and disappeared.
Katerina sat while tea appeared beside her, and tried to get herself under control. She snuffled and tried to make apologies to the woman who brought her the tea, then just sat in silence, wondering what was going on.
Twenty minutes later, Jordan came back. “Katerina, take the dress off. We’re going to a bridal shop two doors down.” She motioned to the saleswoman. “Wrap the dress up please, we still want it.”
When Katerina came back out of the dressing room, Jordan said, “West is totally on board. He says spend as much as you want, the card he gave you doesn’t have a limit.” She dropped her voice. “That’s a good man you got there.”
Katerina stood and retreated to the sales counter to pay for the dress she didn’t know when she would wear now. But Jordan was here. Jordan would make sure things we
nt perfectly. She knew it.
Chapter 8
Katerina gazed out the window as the limousine sped towards the North Shore. The litter of traffic and highways fell away, replaced by palm trees, open fields, beaches on one side and mountains on the other.
Her hand went to her hair and patted it gently to make sure everything was still in place. She stole a glance at herself in the dim reflection of the retaining wall between her compartment and the driver’s compartment. Her hair was twisted in an elegant updo, in a beautiful style she had never worn before. Her hand stole out to caress her silk, exquisite, cap-sleeved, pearl-adorned wedding dress with the fit ending just under her bottom, where it would then flare out like a ballroom gown.
This dress hadn’t come with a veil, and the shoes were nothing more than pearl-lined straps that fit over one toe, off-setting the luxuriousness with simplicity. She was in love with the dress, and she hoped she could pull it off.
They had spent three hours in the wedding shop, trying on dress after dress, until the woman had brought out this one and Katerina had known she had to have it. It had needed a slight nip in the waist to make it fit perfectly and that had taken another hour. Jordan picked the first dress they offered her, but Katerina had to admit it was gorgeous. An off the shoulder, plum-colored, pouf-skirt, that set off her hair and skin tone perfectly.
They had skipped the planned manicure and pedicure, grabbed a quick lunch, and then gotten their hair and makeup done. They now had only an hour and a half before sunset, the perfect time to take wedding pictures. Katerina wondered if West was already waiting for her at the private cove next to Turtle Bay where their wedding would be held. At least the weather was perfect. Hot, a bit of a breeze to cool the senses, puffy clouds on the horizon, and the sun racing them to their destination.
Katerina forced herself to take a deep breath. They would make it. She had the perfect dress, and she would make it in time for the perfect wedding, she knew it.