“Ten or twelve. I’m not sure.” We rarely had dinners at the beach house. In fact, as a family, we hadn’t been out here since I was in high school. I’d made plenty of use of the home when I was in college, but my friends and I didn’t use the dining room either.
“Do you have a theme in mind?”
I shook my head. “What do you recommend?”
“Well, there are a couple of options. Thirty years is pearls so we could work off that. We can have a pearl color scheme. We’re on the beach so seafood would work with that. Oysters.”
“I don’t need my parents getting horny,” I said as a joke.
She quirked a brow at me, but didn’t respond. Instead she said, “Or we can work off your Irish background. The pearl idea is probably more elegant, but the Irish theme might better fit your parents. The goal is to celebrate them and their relationship. We should probably have pictures of them and you to show off thirty years of life together.”
“I’ll ask Bri to get those.”
“Bri?”
“My sister. I’m sure I mentioned her before.”
“Oh yes.”
I leaned forward. “It’s weird how close I felt to you but now I realize, we never met our friends or family.” I felt guilty for not taking a greater interest in her life outside of me back then.
She squirmed slightly and looked out toward the ocean.
“Unless you’ve met my parents through the course of your event planning work,” I said.
She shook her head.
“I can’t remember if you have a brother or sister.” All of a sudden, I felt the need to know her better.
“Just me and my parents.” She turned her attention to her list. “So, the pearl theme, you think?”
I sat back, annoyed that she was going to make this all business. Even if we weren’t going to see if we could rekindle the past, we could be friends.
“Pearl sounds nice.”
“We’ll need to get invites out asap because we don’t have much time.”
I pulled out my phone. “I’ll have my assistant get me a list.” I typed the message to myself.
We continued to hash out ideas about the party, then I showed her the areas of the house that we could use for the party.
Serena walked through each room with the eye of a planner, but every now and then I saw awe, maybe even envy. I realized that in our short time together, I’d never brought her to the beach house.
“If we’d had more time together, I’d have brought you here,” I said.
She had her back to me as she looked out the kitchen window toward the beach. “I’d have never fit in.”
“What are you talking about?”
She gave herself a little shake as if she was getting rid of a thought or feeling. She went to her pad of paper. “Do you have a caterer out here you prefer? We have a few we’ve worked—”
“What did you mean that you wouldn’t fit in?” I moved closer to her. I wasn’t going to let her finagle her way out of this discussion.
She sighed. “Your parents wouldn’t have accepted me.”
“How do you know?” I turned her to look at me, leaving my hands on her shoulders.
She kept her eyes down, like she was hiding. “I’m not part of your world, Devin. And your world likes to keep to itself. That’s how we met, remember?”
“I do remember. I was lamenting how shallow and boring my world could be. I wanted to experience something real.” I hooked my finger under her chin, tilting her head to look up at me. “But that doesn’t mean my parents wouldn’t like you.”
She gave me an expression that said I was feeding her bullshit. I suppose I was. The truth was, my parents probably wouldn’t have liked her. At least not as a potential wife for me. Evelyn was their pick for that spot.
“What my parents think doesn’t matter.”
“You’re fooling yourself.” She scoffed.
I shook my head. “I’m my own man now. When they summoned me home, I was clear that I’d only come if I was given free rein to make decisions.”
“In business,” she said.
I dropped my hands. “Why am I bothering?”
Her brows furrowed. “Bothering with what?”
“Trying to convince you to see me again?”
“Is that why I’m here? Is this job simply so you can get me alone?”
To be honest, it was, and yet hearing her say it pissed me off. I had to know what the hell was up. “Why didn’t you come with me five years ago?”
“I told you—”
“No, you didn’t. You gave me some excuse about it being just a fling for you—”
“And you.”
“No. Not for me.”
Her breath hitched and she looked at me in surprise.
“So why didn’t you come with me to Europe,” I pressed again.
“I was convinced not to.”
“By who?”
She stared up at me and I couldn’t decide if she was hesitant to say who or was trying to come up with a story.
Finally, she said, “My parents. They were right in that I still had school to finish and I was being impulsive on something that could change my future.”
I studied her eyes wanting to know if that was the truth. The fact that I couldn’t be sure was reason enough to give up and walk away.
“It might have changed your future. Maybe for the better. Did you think I wouldn’t let you finish school? That I wouldn’t help you pursue a career. I know you’ll think I’m being arrogant, but I have the influence to help you get whatever you want.”
“What about your parents? I’m sure they couldn’t have been too happy at the idea of you running off with a waitress.”
“They had no say in it. I didn’t even bother telling them.”
She jerked a bit. “You didn’t tell them?”
“Nope. Only Danny and Bri knew.” I waited for her to respond but she didn’t. “Why do I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me?”
This time she flinched and stepped away from me. “I think your ego just can’t handle a woman saying no.”
I shook my head. “I think you want me to be the jerk here because you don’t want to accept the truth.”
“What truth?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
She let out an exasperated breath and rushed out of the kitchen back to the sunporch. She was shoving her folders and papers back into her bag when I reached her.
“It’s not my ego,” I said as I watched her. “At least not five years ago. Five years ago, it was my heart, Serena.”
She stopped what she was doing, but didn’t look at me. “Devin…we were young and foolish.”
“Maybe. But I was in love too. Was I alone in that?” I really was a glutton for punishment. Did I really want this woman to tell me she hadn’t loved me? That I really was a fool to fall for her five years ago?
“That was a long time ago. Things are different now.”
Angry that she couldn’t give me a straight answer, I moved to her. I took her arms and turned her to look at me.
“That’s not what I asked. I get that you’ve moved on, but I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me how you felt five years ago. Did you care for me at all or was I really just the guy who took your v-card?”
She stared up at me with a mixture of sadness and defiance.
“Dammit Serena, I need to know the truth. Did you care for me?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t sure I could believe her. For all I knew, she was just saying that to get me to back off. That was reason enough to let it go. To let her go. Yet, I stood there, looking down into her incredible blue eyes wanting desperately to believe her. I didn’t understand it then and I didn’t understand now how she’d bewitched me.
“I did care for you, Devin. But that doesn’t change anything now.”
“No, I guess it doesn’t.” I released her, feeling
like a fool. She was right. We were in the past. What was happening to me now was probably just a desire to recapture the love and fun and freedom I’d felt back then. Even if it could be rekindled, she clearly didn’t want that.
“But just so we’re clear, my parents and my lifestyle had nothing to do with back then or right now. For reasons I don’t understand, I’m attracted to you Serena, but you’re clearly not to me. I’ll respect—”
“I never said that.”
“What? That my parents had no bearing—”
“No, that I’m not attracted to you.”
What the fuck? “If you’re attracted to me, I’d hate to know what it would be like if you didn’t like me because so far, you’ve been clear that you’re not interested.”
“It’s not a matter of being attracted to you. It’s a matter of our lives being different now. I’m not that twenty-one-year-old girl lit up from the inside out that a handsome, rich guy wants to spend time with her. Five years may not be a long time, but it's been long enough for me to grow up and know real life.”
I wondered what shithead had come after me to make her think that real life meant she couldn’t indulge in fun.
“Some people can live in the real world and still enjoy life.”
“Some people can afford it, Devin. I can’t.”
I wondered what the fuck that meant. Of course, it didn’t matter. She’d drawn the line and I couldn’t step over it.
“Okay. If you can resist, so can I.” I started to step back, but her fingers were clutching my shirt.
I looked from her hand to her eyes, where a torrent of emotion swam through them. “You okay?”
She shook her head.
“What’s wrong?” Now concerned, I brought my hands back to her shoulders.
“I don’t want you to resist. I don’t want to resist.”
How I didn’t get whiplash from the full-circle twist on her statement I didn’t know.
“You just said—”
“I know what I said. What I want and what is the right thing to do are two different things.”
“I see.” She wanted me but didn’t want to want me. What I didn’t understand was what to do about it.
“Do you always give up so easily?” she asked.
I was sure my brows shot up to my hairline her question surprised me so much. “Ah…first, I feel like I’ve made a good case that you have torn down left and right. Second, I might be arrogant, but I know and respect that a no means no.”
She nodded. “Yes. Of course. That’s sweet.”
I laughed because I couldn’t figure out what else to do. “Tell me what you want from me, Serena and I’ll do it.”
“Is it hard to resist me?”
“It’s the hardest thing. And to be clear, when I talk about hard, I’m not just talking about my willpower.”
Her head tilted down to where my dick was making himself known in my jeans. Her head jerked back up. I simply stared at her. There was no going forward without her full, one-hundred-percent consent.
“But you could walk away,” she said softly.
“I have to. You said no.” I shifted because my dick was uncomfortable. “But, let me ask you because these things aren’t as clear on a woman as they are on a man. Are you turned on? If I were to rub my finger through your pussy, would I find it wet?”
She swallowed, and I wanted to press kisses to the curve of her throat. I was tempted to brush my thumb over her tit to see if her nipple was hard, but the ball was in her court.
Just to be sure she knew that I said, “If you want me, Serena. You can have me any way you want.”
She let out a shuddering breath.
“But you have to make the move.”
7
Serena
What the heck was I doing? I’d nearly achieved what I wanted; Devin backing off. But as he stepped away from me, physically and emotionally, I found myself yearning for him to keep trying. It was a foolish and dangerous desire. First, I meant what I said in that we weren’t the same people. I suspected what we both wanted was the ease and freedom that we’d had when we’d gotten together the first time. But that time was gone.
Second, I had to think about Andrew. If Devin found out about him, what would he do? What scared me more was what his mother would do. She didn’t want him, and I didn’t want Andrew having to go through life knowing he wasn’t good enough for his grandmother.
“I can’t decide if I’m encouraged or offended by the tug-of-war that seems to be going on in your head,” he said as need and common sense warred inside me. “Let me make it easier for you.” Again, he moved to step back.
“No.” My fingers clutched his shirt tighter. I felt like I was holding on for dear life, which didn’t make sense, but the minute I lost contact, I felt like I’d lose much more than just a chance to be held by him again.
He detached my fingers from his shirt and brought my hand to his lips. “It’s okay, Serena.”
Devin could be arrogant, but he was so sweet too. And I wanted him. Every fiber of my being hummed with a need for him. My heart ached for him. Was I really going to let him get away?
When he released my hand, I launched myself into him, fusing my lips to his. The minute his taste entered my senses, I knew there was no going back. Like memory yarn, my entire body responded, melting into him.
He groaned and his hands clutched my hips as his head tilted and he took the kiss deeper. His tongue snaked into my mouth, hot and wet, and oh so delicious.
I pressed my hips forward, rubbing his hard dick against my cleft. My entire body shuddered at the sensation, and need ratcheted up to desperate.
“I want you,” I gasped against his lips.
With a growl, he turned me, and maneuvered us back into the living area.
“Fuck, I can’t make it to a bed.” His hands were everywhere as they yanked at my clothing until I was bare and he laid me back on the couch. He tore his shirt off and lay over me, kissing me again. It was like I’d been starving for him. And at the same time, it was like yesterday. It didn’t make sense, and yet sense had gone out the door.
His lips cascaded over my jaw and down my neck. “I’ve missed your tits, Serena.” He held them in his hands, pushing them together and then his mouth alternated between them, licking and sucking my nipples. Each tug made my pussy clench and soon I was a whimpering mess.
“I need you.” My hands grabbed at his pants, needing to free him so he could take care of the ache in my pussy.
“I’m here,” he said, sliding his body down further, his tongue making a trail over my belly. He kissed my inner thigh. “I’m so fucking hungry for you.”
My hips bucked up in anticipation. “Please.” My voice was raw and needy.
Thankfully, he didn’t tease me. His mouth covered my pussy, his tongue lapping through my folds.
“Yes!” My hands gripped his head making sure he didn’t stop. No, I didn’t want him to ever stop.
He gave out a moan like I was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted. His fingers spread my pussy lips, and then his tongue was inside me, lapping and thrusting, pushing me higher and higher.
“Oh God!” Pleasure grew with each touch until I was hovering on the edge. I needed to come so bad and yet, I didn’t want it to end. Not yet.
“Come for me,” he rasped out. “Let me taste your juices, baby.” He dove in again, and I cried out.
“Inside me…”
“Come first,” he said, and then he sucked on my clit as he thrust a finger inside me. White lights exploded behind my eyes as pleasure so fierce erupted. My entire body convulsed and liquid heat radiated from my pussy out.
As the waves of sensation died down, he leaped from the couch and shucked his jeans off. Finally, his dick was free and it was as magnificent as I remembered.
He rolled on a condom and then returned to me. He kneeled between my legs, pushing one over the back of the couch.
He gripped my hips and then paused. �
��Tell me you want this.”
“I want this.” I reached for his dick, needing him to fill me. I ignored every reason this was a bad idea. I pushed away the wonder about why Devin was the only man who made me feel like this. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t met other men since him. I even went on a date or two. But I never felt this pull, this need that I felt for him. I thought it was simply because we’d been young and indulging in a fling. But now, with that same crazy need for him coursing through my blood, I had to wonder what was it about him.
He leaned over and kissed me hard, and then plunged in. He thrust all the way, filling me, stealing my breath.
His lips tore away from mine. “Ah fuck!” He cried out. “So tight…Jesus…so tight.”
His hips lifted and then thrust in again and I arched, finding the perfect rhythm with him.
“Yes, ah, yes,” he moaned as he picked up speed. “So good, baby…I’m gonna come so fast.”
I gripped his shoulders and focused on the sensation of him sliding inside me. Each ridge of his dick massaging my pussy. It felt so incredibly good. My hips rocked and my body teetered on the edge again.
“Faster…more…” I gasped as my orgasm hovered along the edge.
“Fuck, I’m there…I’m there…” He levered back, gripping my hips again and letting go of his control. He thrust and bucked; his head thrown back as he chased his own release.
He growled and rubbed a thumb over my clit, sending me soaring into another orgasm. My pussy clamped down and my body arched.
“Yes!” he cried out as my body came around his. He thrust in hard and deep, held for a second as a long feral moan tore from his chest. Then he did it again, grinding his hips against mine. He continued until finally he collapsed over me.
Our breaths came in heaving gasps. His skin was damp as my arms held him.
“I have a terrible memory,” he murmured against my neck.
“Oh?”
“I’d forgotten how tight you were. How fucking hard you could make me come.”
I held him, feeling a mixture of satisfaction and sadness. This couldn’t last. Now that the need was fulfilled, worry began to creep in. My goal had been to avoid him altogether, but at the very least avoid emotional or physical entanglements. Now, here I was, naked with his cock still pulsing inside me. I couldn’t regret it. Not yet with the haze of bliss still hovering around me. But soon, I would.
An Irish Affair (Heart 0f Hope Book 2) Page 6