“Well—” he started as I walked to the first rack.
“How did you know my size?” I marveled, looking at the tags on the brand new clothes.
“Let me walk you through it.” He came over and took my hand. “I checked out
your closet and then today during school I cut my classes and went shopping.”
I set my hand on the first rack—the gleaming, steel department store clothing rack was dense with hanging shirts and blouses.
He continued, “I picked out the ones I thought you might like—or that I’d like to see you in. I also called my fashion guru sister, Jules, when I felt stuck. First rack: tops. Second rack: bottoms—jeans, casual pants and skirts. Third rack: dresses. Fourth rack (my favorite): lingerie. And last, as you can see, are the shoes.”
I looked at the designers: Lucky, Dolce and Gabbana, Aeropostale, True Religion, Guess, and of course Victoria’s Secret.
“I can’t accept all this!” I exclaimed. “It must have cost a fortune, Sam!”
“Yes you can, yes it did, and it doesn’t matter. I make good money.” He sounded self-assured. “What matters is that you’re happy.”
“I’m so happy!” I was actually overcome by the gesture.
“Good, I’ll make drinks while you shop.” He tugged at the skirt I was wearing. “Looks like you need some new clothes, this is all ripped up.” He grinned at his handiwork and walked into the kitchen.
I stared back at the clothes, which were easily worth thousands of dollars.
“I want the strip tease and everything!” Sam called out “So don’t try anything on yet.”
I laughed. Wow, he and his sister had excellent taste. Could I really accept all of this from him?
His disembodied voice floated into the room, along with the sound of ice cubes tinkling against glass. “Stop analyzing the situation, Jolie, and enjoy it.”
How did he know? I took a deep breath and let it back out slowly. I remembered Sam’s words about brothers and sisters. Eth would want me to do this.
Detaching myself a bit from my thoughts, I started putting together outfits I liked the most. Pretty poet shirts with skinny jeans, band t-shirts with flairs, sexy tops with ankle length skirts.
“Don’t forget to choose some for work.” Sam came up behind me and put a glass of sweet smelling pineapple juice and coconut rum into my hand. The color was bright and tropical. Joyful.
“Thank you.” I looked into the surface of the cheery yellow liquid. “For everything, Sam.”
“You”—he kissed my neck—“are very welcome.”
I took a sip of the cool drink. “This is delicious.”
“Yeah, I like it too. Did you like that song I had on earlier, ‘Moves Like Jagger?’”
“Yes, very much,” I answered
“All good feelings?”
“All good feelings,” I was happy to report.
“If you want I could play the song on repeat, or if you’re feeling very adventurous I can play the album?” he invited.
“Okay, let’s try it.”
“Deal.” He revealed a remote control and pushed a button, and the song rocked throughout the apartment. He looked over to the sofa where I’d been laying the ensembles I was choosing. “Have you gone through the dresses yet? I like dresses,” he drawled in a sultry tone.
“Yeah? Why is that?” I asked thickly.
“Easy access.”
That alone set off the electric pings between my legs.
“I especially thought the blue silk one would bring out the colors in your eyes.”
The colors in my eyes? That sounded romantic to me. I pulled the only blue one from the rack. It was gorgeous. Blue silk in a soft, sexy style with white and gold bursts. The neckline was plunging and a slit climbed up the thigh.
“You were thinking of my eyes?” I challenged playfully.
“Oh yeah, especially when they’re all hazy with need. Yeah, definitely. Try it for me.”
I’d do anything for you. “Okay.” I started for his bedroom.
“Where are you going?”
“To your bedroom to change.”
He laughed out loud. “I didn’t get you a wardrobe so you could hide from me. Strip it down, Jolie. Right. Here.”
Talk about blushing.
“Close your eyes, let the music pulse through your body, and enjoy yourself,” Sam purred, eyeing me eagerly.
W.O.W. I tilted my head back and downed my drink in a flash.
“Nice!” he exclaimed, jumping up and taking my empty glass from me. “I’ll just go refresh this.”
I breathed a bit of fire. “You like making them strong, huh?”
“Time is of the essence, baby,” he teased.
I heard more ice tumbling into the glass as I psyched myself out and channeled my sexy, playful side.
Come on, Kate, we can do this for Sam.
In a moment, he was back at my side, offering me my glass. Immediately, I gulped it down.
“Woman!” he exclaimed.
“If you expect a strip tease, I’m definitely going to need to be properly lubricated.”
“Oh, Kate, I could make you properly lubricated.”
Oh. Yes. He. Could.
I looked into his eyes and swayed my hips to the music. Yeah, Sam owned me.
A sex-infused grin played across his lips as he set his own drink next to my empty glass as an obvious offering and then sat himself, without taking his eyes off me, into the deep black leather chair to enjoy the show.
I couldn’t handle this intensity; I had to close my eyes as I began slowly unbuttoning my blouse. The rip in the skirt, rendering it irreparable, also gave my body freedom of movement and, under Sam’s gaze, I felt deliciously sexy.
I kicked my work shoes off to the side and lifted my leg to balance my foot on the coffee table, letting that slit expose my entire leg.
Working the buttons down to the bottom, I opened my eyes to take in Sam’s as I dipped my back into an arch and slowly peeled the shirt from my shoulders to reveal my black exercise bra.
He sighed audibly as I dropped it to the floor, fully realizing I was shedding my old frightened self, like a butterfly escapes from its confining chrysalis to become what it was always meant to be.
I bent my arms up to rest over my head as I sashayed my hips and bent my legs toward the floor, rolling back up sensually, my hands sliding up my ass.
His grin widened and his eyes looked hungry, fueling me on.
I turned my back to him and threw my head to the side, so I could watch his expression as I hid the “goods” and undid the side zipper of the skirt before letting it fall to the floor.
“You’re killing me,” he growled and adjusted his fly along with his seating.
Good! I performed a belly dance turn in nothing but my bra and panties.
“Forget the dress,” he growled low in his throat, “and move that sweet ass over to the lingerie section. I want to see the Victoria’s Secret show.”
I smiled and, as the song started again, tried to choose between the sensual bra and panty sets, sexy sleepwear and the scorching hot garters and lacy babydolls, when I eyed a sapphire blue corset, complete with white thigh-high stockings. Having a feeling his favorite color—at least on me—was blue, I chose this one and began a steamy dress up session.
I bent my knee, flexing the muscles of my leg, rested my foot on the table and slipped the silk stocking over my toes, unrolling it over my leg up to my thigh in a very steamy and suggestive way. I pulled the second one up before I danced away again, turning away from him and pulling my exercise bra off and throwing it over my shoulder at him.
He whistled long and low as I covered my breasts with my arms and turned around to dance for him again. I bent at the knees, swinging my hips and rolling at the waist, balancing on the balls of my feet, before lowering myself to the floor. Lying back with my legs bent, I arched my back, rubbing my hands up my tits to my hair, fanning it out around me.
My head was spinning with the alcohol I’d shot down. I was definitely, most seriously buzzed.
“Oh, Christ!” Sam leaned forward in his chair, raking his gaze over me and making me feel very sexy! “Your body, those stockings … fuck it!”
A second later his lips were caressing me from my foot up to my exposed thighs. I sat up before he could go further. I wanted control this time and it was obvious I had the upper hand.
I put a finger under his chin. “I want to taste your mouth.”
“Mmm …” He brought his mouth to mine as I licked at his lip ring and tongue while I leaned back, drawing him closer.
I hitched my fingers through his belt loops, tugged him up and said, “Higher.”
He peered down at me quizzically.
“Your mouth isn’t all I want to taste.”
“Fuck!” he said, his voice a deep rumble as he fumbled with his button fly jeans. I couldn’t help but smile. “You like that power don’t you?”
I nodded.
He freed his length as I pulled the denim down around his ass. I licked the length of him, then swirled my wet tongue along the groove below his head.
“Oh, Kate.”
I licked his tip then sucked him into my mouth, swallowing him to the back of my throat as far as I could and creating suction to hold him tightly.
He groaned and I watched him tilt his head back, overcome by the ecstasy I was providing. It was more than empowering.
I couldn’t fit his entire length in my mouth, so I reached my hand around his base to make up the difference, tightened my lips and slid back and forth, from his head to my fist at his base. A moment later, Sam was pumping into my mouth, moaning.
“Hmm …” I continued, then released him and blew cold air over his flesh-covered steel. I saw the goosebumps that formed over his legs and arms, which hung at his sides. “Let it go, Sam.” I groaned before plunging his now cooled dick into my very hot mouth.
He just about screamed as his thick, salty liquid hit the back of my throat and he pulsated between my lips.
“Oh my God.” He shook his head, moved back a bit and reached over for my drink. After helping me up, he handed me my glass. “Woman!” He looked rather awestruck, his lids still hooded.
I drank some of my drink.
“I can see me buying you clothes is going to become habit forming,” Sam quipped.
I laughed and let my hand rest on his jaw.
“Feeling pretty good, aren’t you?” His mischievous grin made him even more gorgeous.
“Yeah, I am.” I giggled.
“You must be hungry.”
“I’m starving,” I admitted. “What smells so good?”
“A little something I put in the oven when we first got back. Drink that down first and I’ll make you another.” Sam stood up and helped me to my feet.
He pulled up his jeans but left them undone. Very sexy. I emptied the glass and gave it to him as my eyes followed the V line of muscle that disappeared into his loosened waistband.
“I love when you look at me that way, hungry for another round.”
“I’m finding out my appetite for you is insatiable,” I confessed.
He set his big, strong hands behind my neck and drew me close to his face. “That’s very good news for me.”
I bit my lip to stifle a moan.
He planted a kiss at the tip of my nose. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Once he disappeared into the kitchen, I took that sweet blue corset from the hanger and pulled it on. He must have peeked at my bra size because it was a perfect fit. I fastened the hook closures on the side and straightened the ribbon that crisscrossed up the front. I especially appreciated the way my breasts were stuffed into it to bursting. Oh, my girls never looked so good! I found a pretty, sky blue silk robe and covered myself. Sam would have to unwrap me after dinner.
He wasn’t back in the room yet, so I pulled out the dresses I liked the most—including the blue one he’d described—and put them with the rest of the outfits I was going to keep if they fit. I was still stunned he had done all of this for me.
“Here we go.” I turned. Sam came into the living room with a huge pizza tray in one hand and another drink in the other.
“Pizza?” I smiled. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had one.
“Oooh … you found the robe. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” He made me feel beautiful. He made me feel like Kate.
“Pizza is my favorite food,” he exclaimed, setting everything on the table as we both sat down. “Eat something. You need to keep your energy up for our next round.”
He lifted a slice in his hand and offered me a bite of the fragrant triangle smothered in gooey cheese and delightful herbs. I bit into it, our eyes never separating. The flavor burst in my mouth; the sauce was incredible.
“This is delicious!” I exclaimed.
“There’s an Old World style Italian pizzeria a few blocks over. The family came over from Naples.” He took a bite after me.
“Tell me about you. Logan and Miles made you out to be a roving playboy who loves ’em and leaves ’em. And I’ll admit I’m conflicted,” I said curiously.
“What are you conflicted about?” He fed me another bite.
“You are the most amazing, caring, playful, thoughtful and romantic person I’ve ever known. So I don’t get why you haven’t settled in for a serious relationship.”
“Who says I haven’t?” His eyes blazed seriously as he stared into me. “Maybe I was just waiting for you.”
I was definitely not sober! Waiting for me? I had no idea how to push through the intensity of his gaze to get at what he meant.
“I was in love once, with a girl I went with during high school,” he began. “We were inseparable during our junior and senior years. We were even applying to the same university. One day, for no real reason that I knew of, she just decided she wanted to go her own way. I found out later it was about a college guy she’d met at a party.”
I gave him a sympathetic glance.
“Yeah, it ripped my heart out. My dad and mom were high school sweethearts and they’re still together 30 years later. I believed that would happen to me ... to us. So I decided I wasn’t under any circumstances going to fall in love again. I was going to play the field. Been doing that now for four years, and honestly, I’ve loved the hell out of it.”
That confession sent a jolt of fear through me.
“I came to the philosophy that sex and food were pretty much equal stimulants.”
I choked on my pizza. “I’m sorry.”
“Well, maybe that’s not the right way to say it. Here’s what I mean; each night for dinner you can choose a different kind of meal—maybe Sunday night it’s lasagna, Monday you go for Chinese, Tuesday, steak, Wednesday, chicken, Thursday, burgers …”
“Okay, I get it.”
“It’s fun, right? New flavors and spices every night. The next day you find yourself craving leftovers, but you know if you eat more you’re going to get a serious case of heartburn.”
I was starting to wrap my alcohol soaked mind around his analogy. “Meaning the girl’s going to expect more than a one night fling.”
“Exactly. But you see my favorite food is pizza. I could live on it, and I wouldn’t want or need any other foods ever again, because pizza is the most delicious and intelligent food created.”
“How so?”
“Because pizza is the same, but with the variety of toppings, it’s always interesting and new.”
I cocked an eyebrow, still not quite getting his culinary/sex/relationship analogy.
He continued as his voice rose in excitement. “Breakfast pizza—eggs, bacon, ham, hollandaise sauce and crumbled Brie cheese; Lunch pizza—steak strips with onions and provolone and cream cheese sauce; Dinner pizza—peppers, onions, broccoli, grilled chicken with bbq sauce. And, damn, next day, pizza is the most amazing leftover you could ever hope to have. And if you need dessert? Fruit pizz
a with vanilla custard. See what I mean? You could never get bored with pizza—with the variety of toppings, the possibilities are endless.
“See, Kate, you’re my pizza.”
“I’m pizza?”
“I love pizza.”
I couldn’t help but giggle and I had to admit I was sort of flattered. Only Sam could make a comparison between sex, women, love and pizza and actually have it make sense.
“You still don’t get what I’m saying, do you?” he asked through a full mouth.
Before I could explain that I did get it, he gulped down his food and said, “I have a better analogy. These last four years, I’ve been the playboy; I had zero interest in ever loving someone again, so every woman became nothing more than a challenge, like a new mountain to climb. But then you came along and showed me glimpses of your soul—and, well, once you’ve seen Everest …” he explained, “where the hell do you go from there? No one and nothing could ever even come close to it.
“Kate, you are my Everest. And now, I don’t want to come down for anything.”
I knew right then that the love I felt for Sam would never diminish and never go away. It would always burn bright, like an eternal torch. Even if one day we weren’t together, he would always be a part of me now. And no matter what happened between us, he would be forever etched and tattooed on my heart. When I slipped the silken robe from my shoulders and offered myself up to him, I knew no one else could ever love me again with such intensity. Sam North was all in or all out, and he lived his life with the same full-on passion. As he made love again to me, I gave myself to him with that same passion.
Later, as I lay in his arms, my thoughts drifted into a distant future where I wasn’t sure if he’d still be a part of my life. I knew he was struggling to make a decision between racing, music and school. One would keep him close, while either of the others would take him far away from me.
He spoke of love and Everest, but did that equate to forever for him? Or was that simply his beautiful, ardent flame? A flame that smoldered with his energy, dynamism and exhilaration for the now?
My beloved ocean rose to the surface of my thoughts, churning, waxing and waning with the tides and swelling with tumultuous power—always faithfully there, always unpredictable. Sam was my ocean—calming, exciting, replete with vital life-force, comforting and dangerously threatening all at once.
True North Book 3 - Finding Now Kate and Sam Page 16