by Penelope Sky
My hands gripped her waist, and I pulled her close to me. “What I’ve given you is nothing in comparison to what you’ve given me. And I’ll spend my days and nights trying to make up for the stupid things I did.”
“It’s water under the bridge, Conway. Just make love to me every night, tell me I’m beautiful every morning, and tell me you love me over dinner. That’s all I want.”
“Then you’ll have it.”
My parents came over for dinner.
It was the first time we were all together since the shit hit the fan. My dad knew the truth about my relationship with Muse, and that meant my mother knew too. But I knew they would never tell Vanessa.
“We brought a bottle of wine.” Dad walked inside with a bottle in hand. “It’s from the best harvest we produced this year. Bold and smooth, it’ll go with anything Dante is preparing for tonight.”
“Thanks.” I took the bottle. “I’ll tell him to put it on ice.”
He patted me on the back then gave me an affectionate look. He didn’t hug me the way he usually did, our last few conversations still palpable between us. I’d done a lot of things to disappoint him, and while he still loved me, it wasn’t the same as before.
My mom came in next, and like nothing had happened at all, she embraced me on the doorstep. She hugged me tightly, like she was still the mother of a young boy. Her hands gripped me with motherly affection. “Hey, Con. You look good.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I kissed her on each cheek before I pulled away. “And you look nice, like always.”
Vanessa came next, giving me a glare instead of a hug. “Con.”
I rolled my eyes. “Vanessa.”
We moved into the dining room, where my parents greeted Muse with a hug. They talked to her for a bit before they allowed Vanessa a moment to say hello. My sister and Muse hugged, and then Dante poured the wine.
We gathered around the table and sat down, immediately breaking into the bread and butter.
I sat beside Muse, aware of how awkward this gathering was. Muse had been gone for three months, and everyone knew it was because of me. I’d thrown this beautiful woman away and forced her to return to New York and move on without me.
They all judged me for it.
But no more than I did.
My father started the conversation. “Are you happy to be back?”
“Very,” Muse said. “I was born and raised in New York, but Italy is my home. This place is my home…” Her eyes shifted to me for a moment. “And it’s nice to see you guys again. You’ve always been so nice to me, made me feel welcome.”
“Because you’re a sweetheart,” my mother said affectionately. “And any woman who can get my son to straighten up is wonderful in my opinion.”
Muse smiled then tore off another piece of bread.
Vanessa kept up her glare. “Don’t fuck it up again, alright?”
My father snapped his head in her direction. “Vanessa.” He only used her name, but that was enough to get her to settle down.
Vanessa dropped her glare and avoided his gaze by drinking her wine.
My sister annoyed the shit out of me, but her heart was always in a good place. “She’s right. And don’t worry, Vanessa. I won’t.”
She raised her glass to me. “I’ll drink to that.”
Muse couldn’t hide the smirk on her face.
We dug into our meal, and like the last three months had never happened, the conversation started to feel normal. Vanessa talked about school, my mom mentioned the winery, and they asked Muse what she would be doing while living here.
“I’ll still be helping Conway with his business,” she said. “He just submitted a new line of designs to his assistant. He’s trying to push the release right before the holidays.”
“That’s great, Con,” Mom said. “I’m glad to hear you’re back at work.”
Only because my inspiration had returned. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d stared at that sketchbook without a single thought in my head. When I jerked off to her pictures, I wasn’t inspired by that either. She was wearing another man’s lingerie, pieces I didn’t respect, so that didn’t unleash my creativity either.
Only when she was back in my arms and under my roof did I put my pencil to the paper. I let the emotions and hormones guide my hand, and I constructed something that was vaguely apparent in my mind.
“Will you be doing any modeling?” my father asked.
“No.” I spoke before Muse had a chance to answer. After seeing sensual pictures of her online and in magazines, I was determined to hide her from the public eye. As long as she was my woman, the only time she would be photographed was when my arm was wrapped around her waist.
My father gave me a look of amusement. “No surprise there.”
“I enjoy helping with the horses,” Muse said. “But now that winter is coming, I’ll need to find something else to do. I would try cooking, but Dante is very particular about who he allows in his kitchen.”
“Why don’t you just do nothing?” Vanessa asked. “It’s what most women do when they’re with a rich dude.”
“Because I’ll get bored,” Muse said with a chuckle. “I can only work out so many hours a day. After that, I need to do something else. Working in the stables is nice because there’s always something to do with the horses. But once winter comes, Marco won’t need me anymore.”
“Maybe you should take some classes,” Vanessa said. “Learn Italian.”
“Yeah,” Muse said. “That’s a—”
“She’s not taking any classes,” I interrupted. “If she wants to learn Italian, she has me.”
Vanessa took a long drink of her wine, showing her obvious irritation for me.
Just like when I was a boy, I wanted to rip off a piece of bread and throw it across the table and hit her in the face. “Father, how’s the winery?” There was always something new going on at the family business, so that should get them talking for a while.
“Good,” my father said. “Uncle Cane and I are considering expanding a little more.”
Muse moved her leg under the table and gently rubbed it against mine, showing the smallest affection in private. She kept her eyes on her food and pretended she wasn’t doing anything at all, and the believable performance was even more endearing.
I liked feeling her touch me, even when my family was around. She wanted me at all times, even after the fierce way I broke her heart. My hand moved to hers on the table, and I took it a step further by placing my palm on top of hers.
She turned to me, a slight smile on her lips.
I squeezed her hand in return.
12
Sapphire
Conway folded me underneath him, my legs bent and open to him. My hips were turned at a deep angle, and I was pinned against the mattress and unable to move. I looked up at the handsome man on top of me, observing the intensity in his eyes and the tightness of his jaw. He slowly rocked into me, giving me his large length with gentleness like he’d never given it to me before.
My hands moved up his arms, and I gripped his muscles as I breathed with the motion. Quiet moans escaped my lips with every single movement, feeling him stretch me over and over. He didn’t fuck me hard like he had the other night. Now this was slow, so slow.
Instead of kissing me, he preferred to watch me. He watched my chest rise with the breaths I took, watch my lips part when a moan erupted from my throat. He studied the way my eyes changed when I felt the head of his cock hit me all the way inside.
A guttural moan escaped his lips sometimes, a masculine sound that made my spine shiver from the top of my neck to the bottom of my ass. His weight pressed me into the mattress and pinned me down in a locked position. His hard body rubbed against mine as we moved together, his strong chest dragging against my hard nipples.
The sex was slow but packed with powerful intensity. I could feel the ache between my legs, feel the desperation for a deep combustion. I teetered on the edge of the oblivi
on, prepared to slip away at any moment.
He kissed the corner of my mouth, his breath coming out shaky. “I love you.” He spoke against my mouth, his hips thrusting so he could fit every inch of his cock inside me as he said it. “So damn much.”
I gripped his shoulders and felt my pussy tighten in reaction, loving the sound of his deep admission. He told me he loved me before, but not like that. He didn’t put his heart on display and lay everything bare. He said it like a confession, words that he meant from the bottom of his heart.
Before I could say it back, I came all around his dick. I squeezed him tight, cut into him with my nails, and slipped into a sensual orgasm that made me writhe, whimper, and moan all at the same time. “Con…I love you too.” My come slathered his dick, sheathing him in such a pool of moisture that he was completely soaked in it.
“My woman…” He pressed his hips deep between my legs, getting every inch of his dick inside my pussy before he released with a moan. With his balls against my ass, and his face far above mine, he came. His voice was masculine in nature and full of satisfaction.
I moaned again even though I was finished, loving the way he enjoyed giving me every drop of his come. I loved feeling it sit inside me, loved feeling it drip from between my legs because there was so much of it.
When he finished, he pressed a kiss to my forehead and pulled out his softening dick. A web of my moisture stuck to the crown of his cock and my entrance, stretching before it finally broke apart. A drop of come was still on the head of his cock.
He got off me then grabbed the clothes he was wearing that day, a navy blue suit and a black tie. He was heading off to work while I stayed home for the afternoon. He usually cuddled into my side after sex, but he needed to get to work.
That was fine by me. Now I got to go back to sleep.
He pulled on his clothes, adjusted his cuff links, and straightened his tie. He leaned over me on the bed and kissed me on the forehead. “That come better still be there when I get back.”
“Of course.”
It rained that afternoon, so I was stuck inside. While the house was big, there wasn’t a lot to do except work out in the private gym. I hated working out on a machine, and now that I wasn’t a model anymore, I couldn’t find the motivation to pick up the weights again.
So I decided to organize my stuff in his room. I hadn’t really unpacked my things because I’d spent most of my time being naked. I hung up my clothes in the closet and sectioned off my wardrobe by occasion. My finer dresses went into a different section, and my everyday wear was pushed to the front. Conway didn’t mind making room for all my things, but his walk-in closet would allow it.
When I organized my stuff in the bathroom, placing my makeup bag in the drawer and my hair products in the cabinet, I came across a box of tampons. Conway had thrown some of my used toiletries away, so these were either new, or he bought them when I returned.
But when I looked at them, I realized I hadn’t had my period yet.
According to my calculations, I should have started three days ago.
The terror gripped my heart, but it quickly faded away when I realized how absurd I was being. Three days wasn’t enough to cause a panic, and that shot I took was still good for a while longer.
I had nothing to worry about.
Conway came home later that night, later than usual.
“Long day?”
“You could say that.” He pulled off his tie and dropped it on the ground. The rest of his clothes were placed in piles on the floor, breadcrumbs throughout the bedroom.
His clothes were too expensive and important to leave on the ground, so I trailed behind him and picked them up. I put them on a hanger to be dry-cleaned once Dante collected the laundry after dinner.
“What are you doing?” he asked when he was just in his boxers.
“You shouldn’t leave your clothes on the ground.”
“They’re dirty.”
“I highly doubt they are, and even if that’s true, they don’t belong on the ground. They’ll get wrinkled.”
“That’s why they’re being dry-cleaned.”
I shot him a glare.
He smiled in return. “Alright…I’ll hang them up next time.”
I placed everything on the hanger by the door so Dante could fetch it later. “So, how was the studio?”
“Well, Lacey Lockwood decided to take off.”
“Take off in what way?” I asked.
“She decided to join Lady Lingerie with Andrew.”
“Oh…” I didn’t see that coming. “I’m surprised.”
“He took a dig at me.” Conway ran his fingers through his hair. While this was a stressful situation, he spoke like it was nothing to be concerned about. “He knows I won’t use you as a model, so he took my top performer. He overpaid for her and he knows it, but he doesn’t care about losing the money in this situation. Putting me out makes it worth it.” He lay back on the bed, sexy in just his black boxers. He pulled the front of his shorts down and revealed his long cock. Then he patted his stomach, silently commanding me to get on top of him.
“That’s how you ask for sex now?” I asked with a laugh.
“I’m not asking,” he said seriously.
I removed my shirt and panties then straddled his hips. I pointed his crown at my entrance then slid him inside, feeling his thick cock stretch me right away.
He gripped my ass cheeks. “My come still in here?”
“Yeah…pretty sure.”
He dug his fingers into my ass. “Good.” He guided me up and down his length, his eyes locked on mine.
I held myself up, arched my back, and sheathed his cock over and over. I worked up a sweat immediately since I was doing all the work. He lay there and enjoyed me, aroused by the sight of me working so hard to take him. “What are you going to do now?”
He palmed one of my tits in his hand. “I don’t know.”
I pushed him deeper inside me, feeling his old come and my arousal sheathe him down to the balls. My movements slowed every time I felt the wave of pleasure wash over me. “I have an idea…”
“Unless it involves your mouth around my cock, save it for later.” He guided me up and down aggressively, making me take his cock deeper and harder.
“What if I model for you this time?” I asked through heavy breaths. “Lacey was your best model and—”
“No.” He gripped the back of my neck, seizing control. “Now shut up and fuck me.”
I listened to his command and took his dick over and over. His hand loosened on the back of my neck, and he moaned with my movements, the sound erupting from him. “Like that, Muse…”
I watched the arousal deepen in his gaze, watched the way his jaw tightened as I rode his dick the way he liked. His look of enjoyment and the feeling of his cock inside me put me on the brink of pleasure. Rubbing my clit against his hard body pushed me over the edge. I fucked his dick harder as I came, my hips convulsing and my pussy tightening. I covered his dick with my come and felt the air escape my lungs. “Conway…” I loved saying his name when I came, loved worshiping this man for everything he made me feel.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment as he let his body slide into oblivion. He pulled me tight against his body as he came, pumping more come into my already full pussy. “Muse…” He released a groan from deep in the back of his throat, a sound full of satisfaction.
He palmed both of my tits when he was finished then placed his hands underneath his head. He lay there with tired satisfaction, happy to keep his dick inside me as he softened. He never looked as sexy as he did when he came, all of his masculine instincts escaping.
I ran my hands up his chest, massaging his hard body as I felt his cock soften inside me. “I still think I should model for you.”
“No.” He yanked me toward him then pressed a kiss to my mouth. It was soft, his eyes open as he looked at me. “You already have a job, Muse. You’re the mastermind behind all my creations.
You’re the desire, the fantasy that’s stitched into every piece of lingerie. I’m sharing my inspiration with the world—but I’m not sharing you.”
“But you don’t have enough time to replace her with someone else.”
“I’ve got lots of girls, Muse.”
“But not like her. She takes the lead for a reason. I don’t want Andrew to hurt you. He’s taking a shot at you because he knows you won’t use me. So fire back by using me, by making headlines with my comeback…this one time.”
His eyes shifted back and forth as he looked at me.
“It’s the perfect idea, Con. No one will care about Lacey when they see I’m working with you again. We’ll have an incredible show and get people talking about it. No one will even care about Andrew.” I felt like this was my fault. If I hadn’t gone to Andrew, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
He considered it for a long time before he gave an answer. “I’ll think about it. That’s the best answer you’re going to get from me right now.”
Conway stood with Nicole in the aisle between the seats in the auditorium. They were preparing for the show, having the girls run through the motions in the lingerie he designed. A new girl had been promoted to headline the show, but even I didn’t think she had what it took.
She was a beautiful girl, of course. But something wasn’t working.
I stood beside Conway and listened to him and Nicole talk.
Conway had his arms crossed over his chest and his fingertips resting against his lips. “The formation is correct, the music is good…but something isn’t right. It’s not standing out against the other shows. Perhaps we should change the theme.”
“We can’t change the theme,” Nicole said. “Not when it has to be centered around the holidays.”
Conway had been working on this all week, and I could tell he was stressed by the tightness in his jaw. It wasn’t sexy like the way he clenched it in bed. This expression was packed with uncertainty.