Being In Love (Siri's Saga Book 5)

by Cindee Bartholomew

  "Okay. Let me think a minute." I look over at them again. They are eating their dessert and chatting with the other people. Both seem comfortable being next to each other. Not a lot of tension. Body language is good. "She blames you for Yanni, you know. You introduced them, didn’t you?"

  "Yes."

  "Okay. My Unforgettable Fantasy would be to give her what he has and to show him what he has." Aurei frowns. I look down at the table again as I talk. "I would set her up with a gigolo for the first two days. The gigolo would wine and dine her, make her feel alive and like a desirable woman again. He would pound her brains out in the room next door to Antonio’s. The headboard would bang on the wall. Her moans and screams with her orgasms would echo in Antonio’s ears while he would sit alone in a dark, quiet room. He would be forced to endure it."

  "How would you make him do that?"

  "When I work with couples, both have to agree ahead of time and they give up all rights to make decisions. I make them pay double my fees upfront. If they quit, before the deadline, I keep it all. If they stay throughout I refund them half."

  He chuckles. "Money talks and shit walks."

  "Affirmative," I wink. "Plus I guarantee that everyone involved will have sex as part of the fantasy and I guarantee they have a happy ending."

  "Continue." He smirks.

  "Each night after her satisfying sex, she would come to bed without bathing and sleep next to him. He needs to smell another man on her and he needs to smell her freedom. On the third day, I would come to their room. Each of them would be given specific instructions for the day. They would be required to role play, which means I tell them how they will treat each other. For instance, Antonio would have to treat Gio like he treats Yanni. She would be his mistress. Gio would treat Antonio as if he were her gigolo. That evening, I would bring them into the club. They would be entertained at one of our shows and stimulated by lots of women and men. Then they would be brought into our special rooms where they would be stripped and oiled. Antonio would be led into the Fantasy room and tied to a chair then blindfolded. Gio would be placed behind him. He would not know she was there and she would be instructed not to make a sound. The music is turned up to blast them. When I enter the room, she would remove his blindfold and I would dance for him." I raise my eyes to Aurei’s. He is hanging on every word. "I would make them both hot with desire. Then I would blindfold both of them and turn the music off. I would continue to dance, letting them hear my breath as I circled. Letting them hear me pant with passion. Making them imagine I am having sex with someone right next to them. Then I would I take Gio’s hands and run them over Antonio’s body. I would instruct him to moan when it was good and this way she learns how to please him again. He wouldn’t know it was her. He would think it was me. When he is ready, she would mount him and I would show her what I wanted her to do to him. She would mimic my movements. When they become lost in the fantasy, I would remove his blindfold and her Unforgettable Fantasy would come true. They would leave Vegas in love again." I lift my eyes to his. His gorgeous face is locked on my face. "I love what I do. I’m very good at it too. I have helped a lot of people find their way to sexual satisfaction. It’s extremely rewarding." I stop talking and wait for his reaction.

  His narrowed eyes search mine. His expression serious. I smile to reassure him. "But I love you more. Don’t worry. I can manage the business and give up the actual hands on operation."

  His hand reaches for my face as he asks with true concern. "Are you sure?"

  I lay my face against it, then kiss the center of his palm. "I’ve never been more certain about anything."

  His other hand finds my golden collar, and his fingertips trace it. Their heat searing into me. His lips close the distance to kiss mine and I wait for them, knowing this kiss will not be private, but public ... and neither of us cares. His voice is soft and golden in my head when he says so softly only I can hear. "I’ve never been more certain about anything either." Then those perfect, heart shaped lips breathe the love of my life’s breath into mine before they seal themselves to me in our forever. His gift of this intimate kiss owns me, claims me and proclaims me, and I give myself to him willingly, obediently and with complete abandon in the public world. Opening my mouth to receive his tongue, he gives me one soft thrust, then waits for my submission. He is the Master of my World and I give him what he wants. I gently but thoroughly suck his tongue, loving him as I feel my blood pumping, thumping softly against his thumb laying lightly against my vein. My life is complete as long as he is in it. The realization that I would follow him to the ends of the earth, to the moon and back, or where the stars dance settles on my heart and my wildness rests.

  I’m content for the first time in my life and I know my home is here. In his arms.

  When our kiss is finished, we stare into each other’s eyes. I see his acknowledgement of my complete submission with the slightest of expressive movement on his face as his muscles draw tighter into a pleased, peaceful smile. My face mirrors his, then he lifts his chin slightly and I know to bow my head to receive sanctuary in his love. He tells me as he places a sweet butterfly kiss on my brow. "You are my Unforgettable Fantasy."

  "Ummhmm. You are mine too."

  He stands and holds his hand out to me. "Let’s dance."

  I slip mine into his and give him the most beautiful smile I possess. "My second favorite thing to do."

  As Aurei takes me in his arms on the dance floor, the instrumental of "Heaven" plays and he sings softly with his perfect tone and pitch in my ear so only I can hear. Our dance is nothing more than holding each other and swaying to the music, but it is so powerful. I feel as if I’m floating in the clouds of Heaven already. I lean my face against his, listening and thinking about how everything he does has meaning. Then I really think about that point and remember from the very beginning.

  When he captured and held my eyes that very first time, I was so clueless, but now I know that that first day he was waiting for me to return, and when I came bouncing in with my groceries, he waited for just the right moment to set his trap. When the elevator doors closed out the rest of the world, he locked me down with his piercing gaze, grabbed hold of my heart and captured me. Ha! He knew exactly what he was doing! From calling me 'my lady' to courting me with 'rain checks' to cash in later. Everything was planned to win my heart.

  Sweet Zeus! I’m wild for this man! I’m a lucky girl!

  When the song ends, he kisses the top of my head, and slides his hand down my arm in that sexy cinching move. I smile at the floor as he leads me back to our table, knowing he is communicating to everyone here tonight in the way he treats me.

  When we arrive to our table, the dessert dishes have been cleared away, and Quintus has arrived too. As soon as we sit, he rises and comes to squat between us. He puts his hands on the back of our chairs and we lean over to hear what he has to say. "The press conference went well. Better than I expected." His smile is pure charm and I feel the hair on my skin standing up with his electricity. His fingers absentmindedly flirt with my shoulder strap and his eyes twinkle when they touch mine. I lean back not wanting to be caught in his dangerous web while he and Aurei discuss the minor details of how the press reported it. Then he rises and, acknowledging my withdrawal from his charismatic aura, pulls a lock of my hair, making me frown at him, before he walks over to congratulate Augustus and Oriana on their marriage.

  When I turn back to Aurei, he is smiling. "I trust Quintus."

  "I’m not sure I do."

  "He’s just a rebel."

  "Why am I not comforted by that?"

  He chuckles, "He’s in a MC club."

  I smirk, "Figures, he would choose to be an outlaw."

  "He’s a badass." Then he tells me in his straight line, not curved tone. "If I’m not around, I want you to trust him. If someone comes in and says the building is on fire, but Quintus says to stay, then you are to stay. Do you understand?"

  I frown at him. "I don’t think y
ou know him as well as you think you do."

  He frowns at me. "I know him better than you do."

  "Okay, but he doesn’t override Brutus."

  "Agreed, but he does override Antonio."

  That revelation surprises me, but before I can question him about it, the music stops, and Zita stands. Everyone falls quiet and listens. "Liotine men, it’s time to draw straws."

  Aurei kisses my cheek and tells me, "We’ll be right back."

  "Where do you go to draw them?" I ask as they rise.

  "Outside."

  All the men, young and old, filter out the dining room and exit to the patio through the door the DJ came in. All the women sit tight until the doors are closed. Then Zita says. "Liotine women, are you prepared for Karaoke tomorrow night? I hope one of you will take the title this year! Please tell me we have some real doozies chosen for them to sing."

  Karaoke? Oh boy!

  I lean across the table and ask Vanessa. "Is this an annual event?"

  She smiles and nods. "Big Al loved to sing. When Luciana was alive, he sang 'Love Story' to her, then when she died, he sang it to her picture."

  "Oh my! How romantic!"

  I look back to Zita, and see that Oriana is leaving the table. She walks right past Mia and Gio without speaking. I try not to notice as my eyes follow her, that they are shooting daggers at me with pure unadulterated hate.

  Great. Now Enemy #1 has recruited Enemy #2.

  Zita makes her way around the table to where I am and she sits down in Aurei’s chair. "There’s no need to ask if you are having a good time, it’s obvious you are."

  My face flushes. Not a bright embarrassed red, but definitely pink and she laughs. "It’s quiet alright, honey. We have waited a very long time for our super picky son to finally find a woman he cares enough about to bring to meet our family. His actions speak louder than any words could. He has dressed you in the color that his grandmother wore to this family gathering each year and he has taken you onto the dance floor."

  I’m gobsmacked by her words! I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. She chuckles and pats my hand. "That’s a lovely necklace you are wearing too." My eyes widen and now she laughs at me. "It’s not my mother’s if that is what you just thought, but I’m wondering if there is an inscription on it?"

  Now my heart starts to race and the blood drains from my face. "Yes, ma’am. It’s in Italian. I don’t know what it says. He hasn’t told me yet."

  She nods, then asks, "Do you sing? We need to win Karaoke tomorrow night. I’m hoping you sing as beautifully as you dance."

  I smile, "I can hold a tune."

  "Good! I expect you to join in the competition then. I really want to win. The men have had bragging rights for the past couple of years and Bob loves to rub it in." She rolls her eyes.

  I grin at her. "I’ll think about it."

  "Excellent." She stands. "Each person picks a song to be added to the playlist. It’s supposed to be top secret, but we are a very competitive group and everyone cheats. No one admits it though. The first person to sing will be a man chosen by the men and he will sing the first song randomly selected from the playlist. Only he will see the next song to be sung and he will choose a woman to sing it. That’s how the game is supposed to be played, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Some like to sing, so they sing more than one song. The crowd applause picks the winner but you get five extra points if no dogs howl during it and the DJ gets 5 points per vote too. He is usually very drunk by the end of the evening so the dogs are in charge."

  I crack up laughing. "What kind of dogs?"

  She laughs too. "The hounds that live in the barn."

  "Oh lord!"

  "I bring earplugs." She pats my shoulder. "The men will be returning in a little while. I need to make sure our worst singers aren’t participating and our best ones are ready. Excuse me."

  As she walks away, I ask. "How long does the drawing take?"

  "Not more than an hour."

  "An hour?"

  "Sometimes less." She smiles then walks across the room.

  Everyone is laughing and having a good time, but the two wicked women at the other table. Mia and Gio are still glaring at me.

  Great! An hour of bitch daggers and I don’t have my phone to play Angry Birds. I look around the room again, turning my back on them. At least Oriana isn’t glaring at me. She is sitting with some older women.

  The thought of following Zita around the room seems like a good idea, so I stand, but then a waiter intercepts her and I watch her follow him out onto the patio too.

  The air fills with 'you are not welcome' tension from Enemy #1 and Enemy #2, so I decide to go to the ladies room. I take a few steps and the patio doors open. Zita, Bob and Aurei enter the dining room followed by Quintus, Antonio and the rest of the men, loud and laughing. Aurei smiles his winning smile at me and tells me when he comes up. "There won’t be a battle tomorrow. First time in Liotine history."

  "Really? What happened?"

  He laughs. "I was right about Quintus." My eyes squint with my confusion. He laughs and drapes his arm over my shoulders. "Sit. Zita will explain."

  When the men have returned to their seats and the room gets quiet, Zita makes the announcement from the center of the dance floor. She explains that when the straws were drawn, Quintus got the short stick. Rather than face off with Aurei in a battle to determine who would rein as the ranking Liotine Lieutenant this year, he decided to make Liotine history. He accepted the sword, then laid it at Aurei’s feet in a gesture of unity. "That’s why I was called out to join them. No one wanted to go against my wishes if I wanted the battle to be fought. They would draw straws again, but loyalty at that level shouldn’t be challenged and no one was going to anyway." She pauses while everyone laughs. "It was very touching to see. We have decided therefore, that although the young men will continue to learn the skills of our ancestry, the Celebration will now only be a display of those skills and not hand to hand combat between them. It’s a new day in Liotine History and I think Big Al would say. 'It’s a good decision, y’all.'"

  The room erupts with clapping and gets loud immediately. Aurei leans over to hear what I want to say. I lay my lips on his ear. "You are always right."

  He whispers back in mine. "Most of the time."

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Aurei comes back into the bedroom from the patio. He’s been on the phone with someone since we got back to the cabin. I could hear him talking, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. When he hangs up, he tosses it on the table, then comes to bed. He crawls over to me, then plops down next to me and reaches around, pulling me against him to snuggle. "I love it when a plan comes together!"

  "Good news then?"

  "Yes. That was the final piece of the puzzle and it slid in place perfectly. Everything is set for the announcement tomorrow." He smiles at the ceiling, then he turns his gorgeous green gaze on me and I smile at him. He looks so happy right now.

  "It’s a done deal?"

  "It’s a wrap as they say in your entertainment world." He rolls me away to spoon against him and we lay there for a few minutes. Each lost in thought about what will happen the next day.

  "I’m happy for you."

  "I’m happy for us." He kisses the top of my head.

  As we snuggle, I lay there thinking about the dinner, and his family. "Aurei, will you tell me a bedtime story?"

  He chuckles. "Sure, Baby Thang. I’ll tell you a love story." He strokes my hair and starts to speak. "There once was a Growling Bear, who loved everyone and no one."

  "Is this a fairytale?"

  "Yes."

  "Does it have a happily ever after ending?"

  "Yes." He squeezes me.

  "I like it already. Go ahead."

  "Shh. Listen. Please."

  "Meow." I giggle. "I am a quiet kitten."

  "Ummhmm. Proof’s in the puddin'."

  "Ha!" I pinch him and snuggle closer, then I yawn.


  "Where was I? Oh, yeah. There once was a Growling Bear, who loved everyone and no one." He starts to stroke my hair again. "He was a miserable soul. One night he wondered into a place where there was no time. The sun never rose and the sun never set. It was a perpetual heaven, or was it a perpetual hell? Doesn’t matter." He chuckles and kisses the top of my head. "People were happy and laughing, music was playing and pretty girls were dancing. The Growling Bear liked the party house and was looking for a girl to love."

  "Actually he was just looking for a girl to pound but found a girl to love." I correct him.

  "Shush. You’re supposed to be listening."

  "Oops." I giggle.

  "When he saw the most beautiful girl of all, her locks of hair were gold like his. Her body was strong like his. Her smile was sweet and warm."

  "Like his." I add.

  "This Goldilocks dancer seemed perfect and the Growling Bear was so excited to find her. He waited for her show to end, and he hunted her, but she wasn’t to be found. She magically disappeared. He was very confused. The next night he returned and like an experienced hunter, he stalked his prey, but she remained very elusive, this Golden Dancer. Then one day he made a deal with the devil to have the Goldilocks girl. The devil was a shrewd businessman and made the Growling Bear pay handsomely for some serious alone time with her. The Growling Bear was happy to pay, knowing the hunt would finally be over and he would finally have her!"

  I giggle and squirm in his arms so I can kiss his lips. "I told you so!"

  He grins caught, then gives me the peck I want.

  "The Growling Bear thought the date was set. An appointment had been made. When he left the city, he knew he would have her when he returned. But the Growling Bear had to make a deal with another devil. An invisible devil that made him dance for her. The Growling Bear jumped through all sorts of hoops to be granted and guaranteed the alone time he so desperately had to have with her. While he waited, he could think of nothing, but the Golden Dancer. Night and day, day and night. He knew what he wanted and knew he would make it happen."