Among the Stars

by Renee Porter

  “Beautiful.” I turned to my right, lifted my glass and saluted Taylor.

  “Thank you.” With a small smile, Taylor tilted her head.

  “A little birdie told me that you came up with that speech last night.”

  I chuckled and took another sip of champagne. “Kristie doesn’t know how to keep a secret.”

  “Do you?” Taylor whispered the question in my direction and my brows furrowed with interest.

  “Of course, I’m the one that’s kept it a secret that Dana is pregnant.”

  Taylor leaned back in surprise as my smile grew wider. She laughed quietly as she shook her head, not wanting to disturb the best man’s speech that was currently being given.

  “You’re a tease, Jen Hunter.”

  “You give as good as you take, Taylor Fields.” I cocked an eyebrow up as Taylor regarded me. “So, what’s your deep, dark secret?”

  Taylor took a sip of her champagne as she considered me for a moment. Keeping her eyes on me she released her hold on the flute, draped her arm behind my chair and whispered in my ear, “I believe in love at first sight, too.” Taylor leaned away from me as I took in her tickling words. As the best man’s speech ended, I kept my eyes on Taylor who just winked and stood slowly. I followed her form as she moved up toward the small stage in the front of the room and “At Last” started to play through the speakers.

  Dana and Doug both stood as the DJ announced the first dance of Mr. and Mrs. Bax. Taylor started to sing as Dana and Doug moved together as one. With the sun almost set against Taylor’s silhouette, the final chaotic dance inside of myself set free and swirled with bright colors against the backdrop of my eyelids.

  Taylor’s voice overtook me as I gravitated toward the outer edge of the dance floor. The emcee had announced for everyone to join the couple as people started to crowd the floor. I felt my sister grab my hand and pull me in, dancing with me and laughing and snorting and saying that she was my best friend. I peeked my head up as I saw my parents smiling at one another. Kristie was in the arms of Jim and her face beamed with laughter. Dana and Doug were in their own world as their guests danced around them in orbit. And in my sky, I saw my sun, the giver of life, singing her last words and allowing the DJ to finally take over.

  My sister hugged me as she took my hand and beelined straight for Taylor who was now stepping off the stage. Taylor accepted my sister’s hug and then, Beth placed my hand in Taylor’s and said, “dance!” She laughed as she scurried away, finding my parents who opened up their two person circle so my sister could join them.

  “Wouldn’t want to make her upset,” I said as I pulled Taylor in closer. Taylor chuckled as she grabbed my shoulders and then we danced. There were fast songs and slow songs and songs in the middle. We danced until the sun disappeared and the moon shone across the harbor. We danced until our breaths were finished and our laughter faded. We danced until the night became entranced with the music that filled only our ears.

  Eventually, we had to part as the rest of the night’s festivities progressed. There was the cake cutting, where Dana found herself smashing most of the cake in Doug’s face. There was the removal of the garter belt and then the throwing of the bouquet.

  I stood in the center of the room with my friends and I watched as Taylor pushed Beth up to the center. Everyone around us all had the same idea as Beth’s eyes lit up as the bouquet flew directly toward her. She snatched the bouquet out of the air as everyone whooped and hollered. And then, to my surprise, Beth looked at the bouquet took a few flowers out and handed it to Taylor.

  “Here you go!” With a big smile, Beth hugged Taylor and then gave me the few flowers she had pulled out.

  “What’s this for Bethy?” I asked. Beth snorted as she looked between me and Taylor.

  “Wives!”

  I leaned back as I laughed nervously at my sister and then looked at Taylor. She shrugged a shoulder as she pulled one more flower from the bouquet, snapped off the long stem and placed it behind my ear. Taylor walked off, leaving me with no air in my lungs. And it felt as though I was the only one left standing in the middle of the dance floor.

  “Dude, you’re the only one standing in the middle of the dance floor.” I felt my hand being pulled by Kristie and ushering me over to the side of the room. Kristie’s father was testing the microphone, ready to give his ‘father of the bride’ speech. I looked around the room, hoping to find Taylor, but not seeing her anywhere.

  “She walked out to the railing.” Kristie faced me as she fixed my hair, pulled up my dress and removed a smudge of something from my cheek.

  “What are you doing,” I asked cautiously. Kristie eyed me up and down and gave one nod in acceptance.

  “I’m your guardian angel, woman. And I’m pointing you in the direction of your one true love.” Kristie turned my shoulders toward the outside area of the ship and pushed my lower back. “Don’t come back until you’ve gotten the kiss.” My cheeks flushed.

  “What the heck?” Again she pushed me and I relented, allowing my feet to glide against the floor. I looked back over my shoulder one last time, watching Kristie shoo me away and mouth “go”.

  Now or never.

  I caught the sight of Taylor leaning over the railing still holding the bouquet in her hands. She was peering out over the slow moving water and I took a second to imprint this moment in my mind. I don’t think I would ever see anything so beautiful again.

  “Enjoying the view?” Taylor kept her eyes out against the water as her voice carried over to me in the soft breeze.

  “I could be asking you the same thing.” I moved closer to her until our arms touched. She didn’t back away.

  “I am now,” she said softly.

  I chuckled at the flirtation. “Tease.”

  Taylor shook her head and smiled. “I wasn’t teasing.” She shifted her head to look at me. Her blue eyes mapped my face, taking in every detail. It was the most open I had ever seen her and to my surprise, the vulnerability I was feeling was wanted.

  “What are you doing out here?” I allowed my fingers to trace the naked skin of her arms and the touch immediately made the fine hairs stand up. She closed her eyes and swallowed.

  “I’m wondering how to ask you back to my hotel room without it sounding so immoral.” Taylor licked her lips as my fingers stopped below her elbow. My breath caught in my throat as I tried to determine if she was joking or not. When she didn’t respond with a smile or a laugh, my fingers started their play again.

  “And what would we be doing if I went with you?” Every touch of her skin moved through my veins. A pleasant jolt landed in my lower spine and my body moved involuntarily closer to her.

  “Only the things I’ve allowed myself to dream about, and write about…” Her eyes opened slowly as they met mine. I didn’t know if it was from the shadows dancing across her face or if it was from the dim lighting of the moon, but her normally clear blue eyes were dark and passionate.

  “Write?” I asked with a whisper. Taylor placed the bouquet on the railing and grabbed my free hand with her own. My own hand gripped her shoulder lightly and she gave me a half smile.

  “Did you think the words I sing were about strajgers?” Taylor licked her lips again as her eyes darted to my own.

  “They’re about me?” I asked the words hesitantly as if I didn’t believe her.

  “Every. Single. One.”

  And that’s when I finally kissed Taylor. I can’t remember who leaned in first, or if both of us moved together as one. The only thing I remember is the softness of her skin; the tentative movement of her lips against mine, and the growing ache deep within my stomach.

  I finally pulled away before we could get in any deeper. It wouldn’t do us any good if any one stumbled across our heavy make out session at Dana’s wedding.

  With my forehead against Taylor’s I breathed out a content sigh. “How much longer until we dock?”

  My answer was a light chuckle from Taylor and a soft ha
nd on my face. “So, I take it you’ll stay with me tonight?” Her eyes were full of hope and with one final, soft kiss on her lips she had my answer.

  Chapter 33

  Taylor opened the hotel room door and waited for me to walk through. I glanced around the room as she turned on the night stand light. My eyes waited to adjust as I took in the small, neatly decorated room.

  It wasn’t anything grandiose. It wasn’t anything to show that Taylor was dripping with money. It was simple. Eloquent. Beautiful.

  Just like her.

  “Can I get you a drink?” Taylor fluttered through the room, obviously nervous about what me being here meant. She fidgeted with the plastic cups at the small kitchenette and looked in the small refrigerator. Her eyes peered in as she said, “we have water, water and water.” She chuckled nervously as she closed the fridge door. I bit my lip, trying to contain myself from saying she was adorably cute when she was nervous.

  “What?” She stood straight as I walked up to her, taking the plastic cup out of her hand and placing it on the counter.

  “I’m not thirsty.” My voice was deep and raw. I almost didn’t recognize it myself.

  “You’re not?” I watched Taylor swallow heavily, my eyes traveling down the naked flesh of her neck. Her sinewy muscles meeting toward an exposed collar bone and rising and falling chest. I tried to remember this feeling of want with other women I had been with but nothing compared. I hadn’t even touched Taylor yet, but I was already buzzing as if we had been touching all night.

  Without any words, I grabbed Taylor’s hand and ushered her to the bed. She sat as she kept her eyes on me. “Jen…”

  I silenced her with a kiss, knowing that she was going to ask if I truly wanted this. I hoped that when my tongue reached out to taste her own, it was all she needed to know.

  My hands wandered over exposed skin as they yearned to touch every part of her body. Nothing had prepared me for this feeling. I could have researched and studied every part of Taylor’s body with my eyes, but the actual hands on experience was more than I could have ever imagined.

  She gasped audibly when my mouth attached to her racing pulse point. I could feel her hands grip my sides, pulling me closer until I was straddling her lap. Those same hands slid up my legs, under the skirt of my dress and gripped my thighs hard. The action resulted in a low glutaral moan and I opened my legs wider, needing to feel her heat against my own skin.

  Our breaths merged into one as we tasted skin and lips and tongues. Our hands roamed as if they knew what they already wanted. Barriers were shed, slowly, and then more urgently as time progressed. The first feeling of breasts against breasts almost sent me over the edge, but I willed myself to hold back. Taylor rocked her hips underneath me, meeting me in the center and then pulling away. Only to meet again and again in a rhythmic dance. Stars formed behind my drooping lids as I struggled to keep within the moment. They swirled in my head with every swirl of Taylor’s hips as we both were knowingly being pulled toward a blissful end. She was so warm that the sensation had me coming too close. And when I groaned at the last brush of her center to mine, my hands moved down to feel with my fingers what my lower body had felt since we started.

  Taylor gasped as my hand found the heat that it had been searching for. Her hips raised, her chest expanded as I was engulfed with everything that Taylor was. I kissed her lips passionately as I dove deeper, my own body still dancing against her tight skin, still moving toward the swirling blackness in my mind. We moved quicker, faster, as the beat of our hearts thumped widely within our chest.

  And then, the stars spun past my eyes, like white lines on a highway. I was traveling through the universe, as hues of green and blue and red colored my every being. Taylor gripped my fingers, her own hands gripping the muscles of my back as we both met each other at the center of the universe and fell into the abyss.

  +++

  I awoke before the sunrise. I blinked a few times, trying to remember why my body ached as if I had been using it all night. And then I did remember and my body heated in the most pleasant way.

  I turned on my side as Taylor’s form became detailed in the low light. She was breathing softly, her hair fanned out against the pillow and her lips slightly parted in sleep. She looked like an angel and my body lurched to cover those lips with my own. To run my hands over her smooth back. To touch her body that was hiding below the sheets.

  Even though my body ached for her, I decided that she looked far too peaceful to wake. I leaned over, placed a soft kiss on her shoulder and was rewarded with a sleep filled hum. I carefully removed myself from the bed and stood. I stretched my muscles and padded over to Taylor’s small suitcase. Ruffling through, I found a large night shirt and placed it over my naked body. I grabbed onto the shirt and breathed in deeply, Taylor’s smell filling my senses put me even more at ease.

  I rifled through my own small purse and found my phone. I wasn’t too surprised to see the four texts that I had from Kristie.

  Where did you go?

  Did you say bye to Dana?

  She told me you left with Taylor!

  You go girl! Use protection!

  I smiled to myself as I typed out a response to Kristie letting her know I was safe and that I would call her later. I didn’t expect a text back for some time. It was way too early for her to be up after the night she had.

  I looked over my shoulder one more time toward Taylor. When I realized that she would probably be asleep for a few more hours, I decided to fill my time with a guilty pleasure: social media.

  I stepped out onto the small balcony, making sure to keep quiet so Taylor could sleep. The morning was cool and I grabbed a small throw blanket on my way out. Sitting on the lounge chair, I draped the blanket over me and opened my social media feed.

  It wasn’t too hard to find out what the hot topic of the day was.

  Taylor Montgomery-Fields Retires, sources say.

  I clicked on the first article and began to read. The reporter added a statement from Taylor’s manager which read that she had decided to retire from singing and acting but still planned to write for present and future singers. The statement was eloquent and pleasant and also stated that Taylor was appreciative of all of her friends, family and fans’ support. My fingers immediately scrolled to the comments section where the general public showed their support for Taylor. A lot also had ‘cry’ emoticons and voiced their disapproval of her leaving the industry so soon.

  Some people can’t take the stress of Hollywood. This sucks! One comment read. When another voiced their disapproval in a not so nice manner, I exited the browser window and shut my phone off.

  “That bad, huh?” Taylor’s sleepy voice came from behind me and I turned my head to look at her.

  “Not that bad…” I said. Taylor smiled as she shuffled outside, grabbing the thick hotel robe and covering herself more fully. I uncovered myself from the blanket and Taylor knowingly sat down between my legs, placing her head on my chest. I covered us both back up as I hugged her body from behind and placed a gentle kiss behind her ear. “Why didn’t you tell me the announcement was going to be today?”

  Taylor covered her yawning mouth. “I had completely forgotten.” She readjusted herself and craned her head up to look at me. “I had other pressing things on my mind.” She snaked her hand up toward my head and brought it down in one fluid motion. She kissed me fully and my body started to heat instantly. She finished the kiss with a slight hum and stretched her legs out.

  We sat there silently, looking out across the scenery. The birds started to chirp as morning made itself known. Taylor had fallen back asleep on my chest, my hands absently running over the soft material of the robe. I kissed her temple and closed my own eyes, whispering an ‘I love you,’ before sleep over took me again.

  Epilogue

  “Ew. Ew. Ew!” Dana grimaced as she wiped away the frothy, white, warm liquid from her neck and chest. “Why can’t you keep it inside your mouth Brayden? Huh? Whe
re is Daddy?”

  I chuckled as I saw Doug sit up quickly from the couch and run over to his wife and child. He grabbed Brayden who gave him a small, toothed smile and grabbed his hair. “Daddy!”

  “You know what? I bathe, clean and feed him and his first word was ‘Daddy’. How is that fair?”

  I gave Dana a warm, wet, rag and she pointed a finger at me. “But he is smart. He knows the tone of my voice and the more you talk and use the correct tones, the more he learns. He’s going to be a smart kid. Just you wait and see.”

  “I have no doubt of that,” I said as I took a seat across from Dana. I looked over to Taylor as well, her smile widening and she gave me the nod. Opening my mouth to tell Dana something, she continued.

  “And so will his brother…”

  My words stuck in my throat as I started to cough. “What?”

  “Dana, are you pregnant again?” Taylor smiled as Dana nodded. My wife hugged my best friend as she laughed along with all of us.

  “When are you due?” I asked, full of elation. I couldn’t believe it. It was too good to be true.

  “End of the year, December 31st.”

  “That’s crazy!” I said as I stood up. “That’s when we’re due too!”

  “What? Due for what?” Dana asked as she looked between me, Taylor and Doug.

  “Yeah, what are you due for? A lobotomy?” I looked over at my laptop screen to see Kristie peering through her webcam.

  “Hush! You know what we are talking about. It’s the only secret you’ve kept!”

  “You’re having a baby?!” Dana finally screeched and nodded enthusiastically.

  “We are!”

  Dana stood and hugged me, then hugged Taylor and then gave a kiss on the webcam.

  “And we’re due on the same day?”

  “Duh!” Kristie said over the camera.

  “You told her before me? I’m hurt.” Dana dramatically feigned her heart being broken as she sat back down.