Fantasy: A Modern Romance Inspired by Cinderella (Seductively Ever After)
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“Since I finally got some inspiration.” At last, he put the words to the music he wrote for Petals.
“I want to sing it.” Music in hand, Christine waddled out behind her husband. “I want to do anything that doesn’t involve me lugging around another human for two seconds.”
Nash bit the side of his mouth to stop a laugh. Christine’s due date was nearing and her belly showed it.
“What if the music makes the baby come?” Erik got up and helped her over to the microphone stand.
Christine grabbed Erik’s collar and pulled him down until they were face to face. “Then boy or girl we are naming the baby Nashville and erecting a statue in his honor.”
“I’m down with that.” Nash saluted his friends.
Erik kissed his wife on the cheek and pried her hand off him. “How about we play Nash’s song?”
The three of them glanced at each other, communicating in that silent language all groups spoke right before they started. After an extended pause, Nash began to play the intro. He plucked away the intricate beginning on the strings, and flawless as always, Erik came in on the piano, adding a bit of his flourish that at one time made Spectre great.
Finally, Christine hit her mark and began to sing.
The song was reminiscent of some of the great 80s metal ballads. It told a story of magic and mystery, of longing and waiting, of uncertainty and restraint.
In essence, it told his story.
They played and his mind took off. He and Petals were due to meet yet again and he wanted her in a way he didn’t know possible, but what did he have to offer her? The appearance of Laura only brought everything into the light. Laura didn’t want him, didn’t think he was a hero who could fix anything, didn’t believe in him.
Petals. She was the exact opposite and he had nothing to give her, at least not in the real world.
Nothing except one thing.
The song ended.
They remained silent and let the music fade into the memories of the theatre.
“Oh.” Christine wiped a tear out of her eye. “It’s for her.” Her voice broke.
Erik cleared his throat. “We need to record this. We can perform it on Stage of Stars.”
“I can’t.” Nash shook his head. At his protest, he put the guitar aside and stood. He purposely took several steps, if one could call them that, across the stage without his cane. In truth, he limped like a pitiful failure. “I can’t.”
“Because she might see you?” Erik asked. “Because she might figure it out? Because she would know what happened?”
“You know the answer to that.” He balled his hand in a fist and turned toward his friend. “You know better than anyone why I can’t show her.” Even after all these years and even with his wife, the man still wore the mask covering the destroyed half of his face.
“It almost tore us apart,” Christine piped in. “Once he showed me, it only brought us closer together.”
“It’s different.” He sighed. Erik was a success in his own right and Christine needed him. On the other hand, Nash had nothing Petals could want. Once the soft place he offered her to land turned into a hard place she got herself stuck into, she would realize she was with a has-been and would leave.
“If you think about it, our situations are strikingly similar.” Erik stood.
“They are not even close.” Unsure of what to do, he paced across the stage and slid his hand into his pocket. His fingers grazed the one thing he had to offer Petals, and he pulled out an envelope that came for him two days ago.
He stopped and stared down at the rich stationery from Windsome Holdings, the company who owned the land he and Petals met on. “I got an offer on the Los Padres cottage.” For the first time, he said the words aloud.
“How fast did it take for you to tell them to go to hell?” his friend asked.
“I didn’t.” Nash took the document out of the envelope and for the millionth time read the amount they wanted to hand him for the land. Even splitting it with Stacy, he would have enough to make things happen, begin his life over.
“What?” Erik joined him.
He tilted the document in Erik’s direction.
“That land does not come cheap.” Erik bent down, after a pause he took the paper and held it close to his face. “Are you considering this?”
Christine wobbled over and put her hand over her mouth.
He knew what they were both thinking, it was the same thing everyone thought. Sell the land. Give up. Go live the life. Was that what his father wanted? When his father put the conditions on the land was he really telling Nash he couldn’t do it? Did he only want to give him a chance? Show him his limitations? What direction he should go?
He snatched the document away from Erik and took in the many zeros on the offer. “I haven’t even made love to her yet.”
“Aw.” Christine went to his side and gave him a hug. “It’s about her.”
“It is about her.” Erik stepped in front of him.
Increasingly, everything he did was about her. He answered with a shrug. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Maybe start by telling her who you are,” Erik said.
“I need to start by figuring out what to do with this offer.” At last, he met Erik’s eyes. “There’s only one person I would trust to give me advice.”
“You are a dreamer.” Erik shook his head. “When I bought the theatre, I tried to go see Upton. I was quickly shown the exit.”
“I have to try again.” Nash folded the paper and returned it to the envelope. “I don’t even know if I have a future with her. I only have a dream.”
“It’s like the song,” Christine whispered.
“Then I would say before you make a decision, before you upset the balance between Upton and the world, you go and find out what your future holds. Make love to her. Find out what she wants.” Erik returned to the piano. “Step into the real world.”
“Maybe I just need to step away.” Cane in hand, Nash walked, exit stage right.
Chapter Seventeen
In what Ryane would call a bizarre endless loop of her life, she stopped at the gates to the Los Padres property.
Rather than running to Knight, she sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel. Since they’d met, her situation with this man toggled between euphoric and pathetic. Today, no matter what, it had to end.
The last few days brought her clarity like she never experienced. It was as if she finally broke the surface of the water and saw the world.
Her job, her title, everything to do with any sort of career was a charade designed to keep her busy until she found a man. Her father didn’t believe in her. No matter what she tried to do, he would never see her as someone able to stand on her own. Her relationship with Patrick was pressed right out of any cookie cutter. It was a façade of epic proportions.
And of course, there was her situation with Knight.
Tears heated her eyes.
They talked about the real world. He called her strong. But in the cruel cold light of day, she and Knight were nothing. They were a fake down to their names. A union doomed from the beginning.
In essence, they were nothing.
For both of them, she would be strong one more time, and tell him.
She lifted her head and inhaled, willing the tears away. The second she opened the car door, the fresh forest air swirled around her, a bit of chill, a bit of pine, a clean that only existed in a world free of technology, buildings and commitments. It exemplified her and Knight. They couldn’t even have one conventional night together, not one torrid moment twisting in the sheets, something she could hold on to before they parted. Was it too much to ask for an amazing memory?
The sky deep grey as the sun finished setting, she tiptoed through the trees planning how she would make this quick, to the point and return home. Tomorrow she would renew her quest for perfect office supplies. Tomorrow she would get her dress fitted for the Anniversary Ball. Tomorrow she woul
d do all the things she should have done in the weeks spent trying to find her place with a man she would never forget.
Tonight, when she drove back, she would somehow accept the fairy tale was meant for someone else.
On their first date, golden light greeted her and he created a makeshift dining room in the woods.
The last time she saw him he gave her a living room complete with a cozy sofa and television.
Tonight, her breath caught.
A gorgeous red light met her and among the trees he'd built a bed.
Not just any bed, but a huge bed, one using four trees as supports. Oversized pillows populated the massive mattress and sheer drapery would hide two bodies entwined in passion, keeping the outside and the world at bay.
The music started. The same tune he played for her in what seemed long ago, but this time it was different. Not only was there the guitar, but a piano, and then suddenly a woman’s voice came in, putting the words to the music at last.
I dream of you every second,
Nothing seems complete without you.
I don’t want reality.
I want our fantasy.
And I don’t know what to do.
Only when she touched her cheeks did she realize she was crying.
The melody faded and Knight appeared from behind one of the trees.
“Was that song a hello or a goodbye?” Her voice shook.
“What do you want it to be?” He leaned against the tree trunk.
“What I want and what has to be are two different things.” As if drawn to him, she stepped forward.
“I’ve always found that it’s not the needs that keep me up at night.” His low voice overtook the space. “It’s the ache of the wants that go unfulfilled that haunt me.”
No truer words were ever spoken. Her heart hurt with how she wanted this man. It was a pain that would last long after the wound would heal. She made it to the edge of the bed.
He went to the opposite side, put his hands on the mattress and faced her. “I am in agony.”
“You keep me awake at night.” Beyond her control, the words left her mouth. She never wanted someone like this man.
“And what do you think of?” His gaze took her all in.
Breathless, she swallowed and tried to remember her resolve. “I don’t want it to be you.”
“But it is.” He finished her sentence.
Why couldn’t she walk away? “Tomorrow.” All the plans she made seemed to vanish around him.
“Is hours away.” He spread his arms out. “I have nothing to give you but tonight.”
They stared at one another. Apparently, they were both in the same place. Both ready to walk, but not quite yet.
She climbed up on the bed and crawled over to him until they were less than an inch apart. “One night of fantasy.”
In one smooth, sudden move, Knight took her in his arms and kissed her.
His kiss claimed her. Deep, hard and full of longing, their tongues connected, their tastes combined, and her body took off.
As if she were royalty, something to be cherished, he took her face in his hands and softened his kiss. His lips danced and fluttered over hers creating tingles throughout her.
“I want to worship you like I should have done from the beginning.” He skimmed his lips down her neck, sucking, licking and giving her light nips as he worked his way over to her shoulder.
“Me too.” In order to prevent herself from floating away, and make sure he didn’t disappear, she held on to him almost too tight.
“This time it’s my turn.” His fingers worked the buttons on her shirt. Every bit of skin he exposed, he grazed with his lips.
A dizzy weak sensation swam over her and she leaned back on the bed. The pillows and blankets surrounded her. She was weightless with only Knight and his magical touches and kisses.
He slowly worked down her body, removing both of their clothes along the way.
True to his word, he worshipped her. Once he unfastened her bra, he took ample time doling out attention to each of her breasts, first kissing the tops, then swirling his tongue around her tight nipple and finally taking the needy nub between his teeth.
She arched her back and ran her hand through his hair. The silky strands fell through her fingers. “Knight.”
He answered by kissing down her stomach. After reaching down and removing her shoes, he rid her of her pants and panties and palmed her most intimate spot.
Her already sensitized nerve endings fired off and she squirmed on the bed. “Come here, Knight.”
“Patience, Petals.” He let out one lone laugh. “We have all night.”
“Please.” Suddenly, the night seemed way too short, and she reached out for him. “I want to feel you up against me.”
“I can deny you nothing.” He moved up beside her and covered them with the blanket. Once more, he found her lips and his erection pressed against her, making her want peak. Yes, it was a want, an ache, a pain from having to have him in every way possible.
They kissed and he slipped a finger inside her, causing her to gasp.
“Someone wants me,” he growled in her ear and curled his finger up into her center.
Unable to speak, she simply nodded. With his mind, he managed to reach something within her to cause an undeniable connection. With his touch, he managed to reach something inside her to intensify her arousal to a point she didn’t think possible.
He pressed the heel of his hand to her to give her pressure in all the right places.
“Oh, oh.” All too soon, she could see the edge and fall off it.
“Are you going to come for me, Petals?” He added another finger.
She shook her head. “No.”
“Don’t hold back.” Again, he kissed her.
“No.” She grabbed his wrist and stopped him. “Not until you are inside me.”
“You don’t know how bad I want you.” He moved on top of her. His hair hung down around her, creating a veil to the outside world. “I want to feel you come.”
Finally, he entered her, and she stretched to welcome every inch of him. “Oh.”
Already, she was close to her climax and the second he bottomed out, embedded himself deep within her, she gave into her wants and was wracked with waves of her orgasm. The pain of not having him, the hours, days and weeks spent thinking about him cumulated in this moment of pure bliss of just her and Knight together with nothing but the stars for a ceiling and quiet of the forest as their music.
“Like that, Petals.” He ground his hips to hers.
The euphoria swirled around her and now that she had a taste, she wanted more. In fact, where she thought her need would ebb, it only seemed to increase. “Knight.” She curled her legs around his waist. “Don’t hold back, make love to me.”
“Anything for you.” He thrust into her. Long steady strokes. “You feel so good.”
Steadily her desire built, and she met his every movement. “More.”
“Yes, baby.” He reached back, cupping her backside as he drove into her.
“Harder.” Beneath him, she writhed. Another orgasm was upon her, right there on the horizon. “Please.”
“Damn.” The branches on the trees shook with their lovemaking, as if nature herself was spurring them on. “Baby, I’m there. Come with me.”
Again, she was at the edge, in that space where all that mattered was their satisfaction. All she wanted was to feel Knight let go with nothing between them, and the sheer thought of his orgasm gave her the last push she needed. “I’m there. Fill me, Knight.”
“Oh, God, baby.” He sped up, their bodies colliding, then at last he cried out and slammed into her. His body stiffened and he throbbed within her.
In her fantasies, she dreamed of the warmth that would encompass her when he came. In reality, a heat unlike she had ever known took over her, and with it came her second orgasm, a slow quiver that crested into the most incredible pulses that matched her lover’s.
“Petals,” he whispered in her ear.
They had magic and she wasn’t ready for it to be broken. “I just want to fall asleep in your arms.”
He slid off to her side and held her tight “I’m just going to lie awake holding you.”
Never had she experienced such a connection to someone else on every level. She failed at what she came here to do and didn’t know how she would ever walk away from him. For the first time in her life, her fantasy was a reality. What had she done?
Chapter Eighteen
The sun streamed in through the thin netting Nash placed around the forest bed, diffusing the light and making everything even more surreal. His Petals was strewn on top of him, her hair in his mouth, her legs tangled in his and her arms around his chest. Her soft breaths puffed against his neck and at waking up in his own personal fantasy, his erection throbbed.
When he arrived in the forest the day before, he built the bed for the sheer purpose of making love to her, but a big part of him never believed it would happen. He wanted her to see what he wanted, possibly slap him across the face and then stomp back through the forest, back to wherever she belonged. All he knew was she didn’t belong here. Didn’t belong with him.
Then, as she had done since the moment she stumbled into his life, she surprised him. She made the first move, she crawled across the bed, and she let him have the honor of making love to her.
Now he had to somehow do the right thing and let her go. No, they couldn’t indulge any more. She had her life, he had a mess and they needed to part. With her, he would lose himself, drown and never come up for air and then take her down with him.
He combed his fingers through her hair and couldn’t stop a smile at the state of her usually pristine golden locks. Making love was messy business and in a different world—one where he could be with her, where they were together in a home—he would have carried her right to the shower, kissed her, cleansed her, and then started the whole process all over again.