Burying his face in my hair, he whispered, “Shhh, Andie, it’s okay…” He drew back and looked into my eyes. “Hold on…just relax, and feel it.”
I nodded in response, my eyes wide. He slowly began to move again, and I found myself moving with him. It was such an intimate feeling, his skin against my skin, feeling the muscles tense in his pelvis as he pushed against me. Once we began a rhythm, Banton moved one of his hands from my hips, and gently cupped my neck, holding my head and bending to move his lips against mine.
Making love was everything I’d hoped it would be, and more. Banton was so gentle, so loving, but again forceful, strong…and it was so much more. It was like we were inside each other, becoming one heart, one soul. I watched his face, fascinated with the tide of emotions crossing his brow. His expression was so intense, his eyes were onyx, as if they were on fire. I could see concern there, too, intently watched my reactions.
And then, the all-consuming passion, the release, as fulfillment swept across us. As I moaned, the intense pleasure flooding through me, Banton wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest.
As our breathing slowed, we lay with our limbs intertwined, our bodies still connected, whispering to each other in moonlight streaming through the window. His strong hands stroked every part of my body, as I explored his. I’d never experienced such a flood of emotions and the tears sprang again into my eyes, slipping down my cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly alarmed. “I didn’t hurt you…or upset you?” He propped himself up on one elbow, and gently took my cheek in his hand, studying my face.
“No, no. I’m wonderful, Banton,” I assured him, as I ran my fingers through his hair at the back of his neck. “I’m just so happy,” I whispered. “I’m almost afraid to even enjoy this. I’m afraid …”
“Afraid of what?” he urged me to finish.
“Afraid it will all go away. That something will happen to us, to you…”
He smiled down at me as his arms tightened around me.
“Nothing is going to happen to us, Chandler. Nothing but good things, I promise.” Then he kissed me again, and I instinctively moved against him, craving the intense pleasure I’d experienced before. His body responded quickly and we were once again lost in the pure pleasure of our new intimacy.
We whispered in the dark, revealing and sharing our greatest hopes and dreams. We talked about the future, and about my last year of college, and then he made love to me again as dawn began to break through the window. I never went to sleep and neither did he…we were too excited. We watched the sun come up and stream rays across the end of the bed. I listened to his breathing, in and out, his heartbeat under my cheek. I relished every precious beat.
“Banton?” I finally whispered sleepily.
“Yes?” He played with a strand of my hair, twisting it back and forth, and sliding it across his face, taking in the scent.
“Promise me.”
“Anything. I would do anything for you, Mrs. Gastaneau.”
I smiled at him as I gazed back up at him. “Promise me, we’ll always be this close, share everything, every thought.”
“I can’t image it being any other way with us,” he murmured, as he stroked my cheek with his thumb.
“Okay. Then I will be totally honest.” I pushed up on one elbow to look at his face.
“What?” he asked, with a quizzical expression.
“I’m really hungry. You have to feed me, NOW. Let’s go fix breakfast, before the guys pile in on us and start the football fest on TV.”
“And we’d better check on Ava,” he chuckled. “I can’t believe she isn’t awake yet.”
Banton stood and pulled me up from the bed, the sheet draping away from my body. He leered at me and then moaned as I giggled and grabbed my nightgown off the floor, slipping it back over my head and hurrying into my room. Ava was sitting in the middle of my bed, with a perplexed look on her face. She’d obviously been looking for us.
“Good morning, Miss Princess,” I greeted her. “Are you hungry?”
“Foop loops!” she exclaimed, crawling off the bed to run to me.
I dug through my closet, and located a pretty robe to cover the sexy thing I’d worn to bed. Ava reached up and played with the lace on the robe. “Pwetty dwess!” she exclaimed as I picked her up into a big hug.
“Thank you, Miss Priss.” I kissed her cheek as I turned and stumbled into Banton. He looked absolutely gorgeous in a pair of loose Nike sweatpants hanging low on his hipbones and nothing else. I’d spent the night with him naked, but I was still in awe at the sight of his bare skin .
He took Ava from me, and kissed her first on the cheek, then me. “Good morning, Sunshine! How are you this morning?” he asked Ava.
“Aba’s foop loops!” she exclaimed to him.
“Ok, let’s feed my two hungry girls!” Kissing her on top of the head and then me, he then followed me down the stairs.
As we got to the foyer, there was a knock at the door. Banton put Ava down, and went to answer it.
“Fresh beignets, from the downtown bakery! Okay, where is it? Where is the ring! Get over here, Miss Thing. It’s time for a little girl talk!” Everett waltzed through the door, and flipped a large sack at Banton.
“That leaves me out. I think I’ll go make us some coffee. Come on, Ava, I’ll fix your cereal.” Banton grabbed Ava’s hand, and she skipped down the hallway with him.
Everett threw his arms around me and exclaimed, “I’m so happy…I didn’t sleep a wink last night, thinking about our wedding!”
“That makes two of us,” I yawned.
“Oh, REALLY…Okay, dish. Tell me every detail!”
“Not on your life. But here, this ought to shut you up!” I threw my hand out in front of his face.
“Sweet Mary, Mother of the Holy, but that ring is gorgeous!” Everett exclaimed. “I think Mr. Tall Drink of Water is in some kind of love! That must have set him back!”
“Well, so much for shuttin’ you up,” I muttered, collapsing on the couch.
“I’ve already called my friend Philippe downtown who owns the bridal and formal shop. He has two ball gowns picked out for Friday night’s festivities. He has several clients from the naval base, and knows all about what you need. I told him a size six, right Ma Petit Bebe?”
I nodded. He was talking enough for both of us.
“He’s bringing them over this afternoon. I told him only jewel tones, with your hair and complexion, that I’d prefer a deep red, or cobalt, maybe. He said he had the perfect dress!”
Banton came in, carrying Ava with her sippy cup in one arm, and beignets and coffee cups on a tray in the other.
“Wow, I’m impressed at how good a multi-tasker you are,” Everett exclaimed, as Banton sat Ava down on the couch beside me, and handed me a coffee.
“That isn’t all he’s good at,” I quipped. Banton coughed, and took a large sip of coffee, as Everett raised an eyebrow at me. I was feeling rather cocky and bold this morning.
I’d downed three of the sweet rolls and an entire cup of coffee while Everett went on about his plans.
“Hey, Everett, how fast can you plan our wedding?” Banton asked offhandedly, popping another beignet.
“Um, what do you mean, Banton-babe?”
“Well, Chandler and I talked last night. We wondered if we could pull this off for Christmas, or New Year’s, maybe?”
“You are really trying to kill me, aren’t you? Are you kidding? I’m planning the wedding of my dreams, and you are giving me four weeks? What’s the rush? Oh my gosh, you’re not…”
“NO!” I rushed out, and then blushed. “No, nothing like that. It’s just, now that we’ve committed, we don’t want to wait. And we could honeymoon over winter break, and I could be back for spring semester.”
“What wedding?” John and Brie appeared in the doorway.
“Ours,” Banton replied, smiling broadly.
“Okay, what did we miss?” Br
ie asked innocently.
I held out my hand for them to take in the sparkle. I’ll never get tired of doing this, I thought to myself.
Then there was an explosion of conversation. John and Brie sat down on the loveseat, and I noticed they were much more hands-on than the last time I saw them. I smiled knowingly as I met Banton’s gaze. He’d noticed too.
John jumped up as we heard a quick knock on the front door.
“Well, if it isn’t Huie, Dewey and Louie! They must have smelled the beignets!” Everett announced, as the three other Navy SEALs arrived. The engagement announcement began all over again. This is exhausting, I thought, slipping out to bathe Ava and myself and dress for the day.
After lunch, all the guys were parked in front of the television watching one of the many football games lined up for the day. When the Friday after Thanksgiving had become a national holiday for football had escaped me. I yawned and decided I could definitely use a nap, and Ava’s naptime was a good excuse. She snuggled up to me on my bed under a thick blanket, and begged me to read Cinderella to her for the third time.
“Agin, Andler, agin.”
“Okay, but this is the last time,” I cautioned her, as I turned back to the first page. “Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Cinderella, who lived in a beautiful house with her father,” I began.
“Move it over, sister. I’ve got calls to make, and you have to be in on this,” Everett declared, as he burst through my bedroom door and fell onto the bed beside us.
Before Cinderella had married her prince for the third time this afternoon, Ava was asleep, I was nodding that direction, and Everett had a master bakery on his speed dial, historic church lined up for alternate dates, and a photographer on standby. He was flipping though dresses on his I-phone when I finally dozed off.
I drifted. Banton’s face wove in and out of my thoughts, and I heard the sweetest music, and my mother’s voice. The smell of gardenias drifted around me…Chandler Ann, hold still, I’ve almost got this pinned. You look beautiful, darling. You are the prettiest bride I’ve ever seen. I hope you’ll be as happy as your father and I are. I can see Banton loves you so much…Hold still, let me fix your train…
Chapter Twenty-Six
I woke as Banton’s voice drifted into my dream. “Chandler…Hey.”
I opened my eyes. Banton’s handsome face and beautiful, dark eyes came into focus.
“I’m sorry – What time is it?” I asked in a panic, looking over at the clock.
“Five-thirty. It’s okay baby, you needed to sleep. Everett’s friend is here to show you some dresses, and I need to talk to you for a minute.” He had a serious look on his face as he sat down on the bed beside me.
I turned to check on Ava and found she was gone. “Where is she?” I asked Banton, suddenly apprehensive.
“She’s fine. She is downstairs playing with Brie and John.” Banton placed his hands on either side of me on the bed.
“Oh. I’m sorry, I must have been sleeping really hard.”
“You needed to rest.” He grinned at me, caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. “You had a tough night last night.”
I blushed as I pushed up on my pillows, and sat upright. “What did you need to talk to me about?”
“There has been some activity recorded on the monitors. And there is some major news breaking, a couple of drained bodies found - homeless people downtown. We’ve got to go. I don’t know when I’ll be back.” He leaned down, and kissed me. His kiss felt so urgent, it scared me. As he pulled away, I saw a look of longing pass over his eyes.
“Please be careful, please?”
“Always, baby. I love you.” And then he was gone.
I had such a feeling of dread. I couldn’t shake it. Something was wrong, and I was hard wired for this kind of trouble. Everett knocked on the door.
“Philippe is here, and he is dying to meet you. Are you up to this?” Everett’s eyes were fairly sparkling.
“Sure, come on in.” I sat up, rubbing my eyes. Philippe was a small framed man, about fifty years old, svelte and sharply dressed in the latest designer kind of way. He wore black frame glasses, and peered over them at me like my third grade teacher used to do. I got up hastily off the bed.
“Oh, come on. None of that – I know the bride-to-be is exhausted from all this excitement.” Philippe fluttered around the room, finally settling, depositing the dresses on the foot of the bed. “Ev, you weren’t exaggerating. This little one is exquisite. She’d look good in a tow-sack!” he exclaimed, pulling the bag from a red gown. “Let’s look at this one – I don’t think we need to go any further.”
“Oh, you ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie, brother, that’s beautiful. That’s the one. Bebe, do you feel like trying it on?” He turned to me.
Their excitement was contagious. It was just what I needed to get my mind off Banton. Then there was a knock on the door.
“Come on in! Everyone else is,” I replied.
Brie peeked around the door, and then opened it wide. She had Ava on one hip. “John and Banton left with the others, in a big hurry. They grabbed gear, and then went out the back door. Chandler, what’s going on?” she asked, obviously confused.
I didn’t know how much John had told her, so I answered offhandedly “Oh, I’ll explain later, they won’t be too long, hopefully.”
“Oh, that is beautiful! Is it your dress for the ball on Friday?”
“Maybe. I was just about to try it on.” I stood, and took the dress from Philippe. “I’ll just slip into Banton’s room, and try it on.”
“John asked me to go, too. I’ve got to find a dress in a hurry. Where is your shop?”
“Downtown. What size are you, darlin’? About a six, I’d guess,” Philippe asked as he turned to Brie.
“Yes.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place. I pulled about five of my prettiest dresses for Chandler to try and brought them over in the van. Come with me,” Philippe said, as he took her hand and pulled her from the room. I closed the door to Banton’s room and slipped my sweats off, and then took the dress from the hanger. It was a deep, burgundy red, and almost had a black cast to it when it shimmered. It was made of a satin that had a taffeta sheen to it, but was much softer. I slipped it over my head and slid it down, fitting it to my ribcage. The sweetheart neckline hugged my breasts tightly. I slipped my arms through the sleeves, just narrow gathers of fabric that hugged my shoulders and framed my collarbone.
“Oh, you just have to see yourself. It’s perfect.” Everett led me over to the full length mirror on the wall in my bedroom. He zipped me up in back, and I turned to stare at the image in the mirror.
“Andler is a pwincess!” Ava exclaimed.
“Wow. I have cleavage in this dress.” The dress pushed my non-existent chest up and out.
“You know, they have surgery for that particular problem. If you’d like, I have a friend who…” Everett offered.
“No, absolutely not. I can’t even stand to wear a padded bra. It feels like two aliens landed on my chest!”
“Well, okay then. That color makes your hair, your eyes just pop!” Everett exclaimed. “I don’t think there is a need to try anything else.”
“Well, this was easy. I hope the wedding dress goes just as smoothly.”
Philippe returned with two dresses for Brie to try. After modeling both for us, Brie picked a royal blue fishtail dress with a retro flair to it, with some shredded soft blue fabric fluffed down the train in the back. It had long, sheer sleeves, but was virtually backless to the waist, ending in a deep V.
“I simply have to photograph both of you that night. I’ll put both of you on your staircase, and snap a few to use in my ads for the newspaper. Will you be models for me?” Mr. Philippe pleaded.
“Of course. Mr. Philippe, you’re a God-send.” I hugged his neck as Brie went to change back into her clothes.
“I’ll send some gloves for you with Ev. I think the occasion calls for
elbow length.” He kissed me on the cheek, and then knelt and kissed Ava’s hand like a true gentleman from the south. Ava giggled as he walked down the stairs.
Everett turned to me as Philippe left. “Well, I’m off, Bebe. I have tons to do. I stole your cell, and retrieved your Aunt Sue’s number as well as Constance’s. I’ll give them both a call tonight, so I can coordinate some things. We’ll go see Philippe about the bridal gown next week.” He kissed me and was off in a rush.
Brie came back into the room, as I was getting Ava changed into her gown. “Are you going to let me in on what is going on with the guys?”
I played the old this is a military thing, and I’m not supposed to know anything card. “They are working on something in a joint effort with the CIA. I’m not supposed to know anything about what’s going on, and neither are you. The only reason I do is because they have been using my kitchen for surveillance.” I smiled to reassure her. “They will be back soon, I’m sure.”
We passed some time downstairs playing with Ava and watching movies. I pulled some leftovers out of the fridge for dinner, and then Brie and I lounged on the sofas in the living room. Ava sat spellbound in front of the fireplace watching one of the movies Everett had bought her.
“Brie, things seem to be working great between you and John,” I mentioned casually, as I watched her.
“Too great. I keep wondering when I’m going to find out something bad about him. No one is that perfect.” She shook her head.
“Well, keep wondering,” I quipped. “We’ve been roommates for a while, now, and he is one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met. And he can fix anything! He sure is great to have around.”
“I know. He’s already fixed several things at our apartment that we couldn’t get the landlord to touch. Both my roommates are in love with him already.”
“And he asked you to the officer’s ball? That’s great. I’m so glad there will be someone else there I know.” I smiled at her.
“My mom is going to freak. The ball is the same night as my sorority formal, and I’m so grateful I don’t have to go to that. She thinks she is buying a dress for the sorority thing. I just hope she doesn’t find out. I wish I could just find a way to get out of the whole sorority thing, without her killing me. That’s why I love John so much. He’s a homebody like me. He doesn’t drink more than a couple of beers, and he’s definitely not into partying,” Brie gushed.
Southern Comfort: Chandler's Story (The Southern Series Book 1) Page 27