She laughed. “It all looks good! I’m so hungry!”
He pointed at one of the cabinets. “Okay, why don’t you grab some plates while I go down and grab a bottle of wine for us?”
“Perfect.” Scarlett walked around the counter and opened the cabinet, grabbing two plates for them. He left her and walked around the corner and downstairs to a small room that contained his wine cellar. He picked a white and a red and made his way back to the living room.
He came around the corner with the two bottles of wine just as she finished taking her shoes off. A wide grin spread across his face in joy and surprise as he took in the setting she had created for them. Instead of the kitchen, on the small coffee table in the living room, plates, glasses, silverware, the food and even a couple of candles all were waiting for him.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted red or white, so I grabbed one of each.” He put the bottles down on the counter and moved to one of the drawers for an opener.
“I’d love a glass of the red. Are you okay eating in here?”
“It’s absolutely perfect.” He beamed back at her, while opening the bottle of red before carrying it over to their make-shift picnic spot. He poured each of them a glass before sitting down.
“I hope you don’t mind this little smorgasbord. It’s quick and easy and no cooking required.”
“Are you kidding?” she responded as she popped a grape in her mouth. “This is so perfect. I love food you can eat with your fingers.”
He smiled and watched Scarlett as she pulled a piece of chicken breast off the roaster and put it in her mouth, chewing happily. She just might be perfect. The thought struck him like a bolt of lightening, jarring him to his core. He hadn’t felt anything like this, since, well, maybe ever. Dinners with his ex-wife had always been formal affairs. The thought of her sitting cross-legged, in a ball gown no less, blissfully eating chicken with her fingers was a foreign one. His ex-wife would send a meal back to the kitchen if a stray pea rolled into her starch, berating the service of the restaurant as inadequate and appalling. He took a big gulp of wine to calm the beating of his heart as the reality of his growing feelings became more evident.
“Do you want me to make a plate for you?” Scarlett asked, pulling him out of his scattered thoughts.
He shook his head. “No, no. I’m good. I’m just going to pick like you.” He grabbed the drumstick on the chicken, twisting it off and taking a bite. For the next few moments they both just ate in silence. He liked watching Scarlett’s expressions change with each bite of food. She closed her eyes in delight with the blueberries and scrunched her nose up while trying some of the saltier olives. When she brought the wineglass to her lips and took her first sip, she closed her eyes and moaned loudly.
“You like?” he asked, laughing.
“Oh my god. This is so unbelievably good. It’s warm and smooth and tastes like peppered blackberries.”
He smiled again at how easily she was satisfied. “Have you had enough to eat?”
“Yes, I’m good. Thank you. Do you want me to clean up?” Hannah started to stand so she could clear their mess, but Drew grabbed her hand and stood up beside her.
“Leave it. I thought maybe we could take a walk on the beach.”
She looked out the windows at the waves lapping against the shore and nodded, a smile breaking across her face. “I’d love that.”
Drew led her from the living room and through a side door in the kitchen out onto a large deck. He stopped and pulled off his shoes and socks, then continued across the deck and down some stairs. At the bottom, he threw a switch mounted on one of the deck posts, and lights appeared before them, trailing down a pathway that led to the beach.
As he took her hand and started walking down the path, the ocean breeze nipped pleasantly at her exposed skin. “Are you cold at all? I can go back in and get you a blanket if so.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m okay right now.”
The path meandered down a small hill before opening onto the beach. The moon was high and full above them, reflected off the water’s waves. She stopped and marveled at the view in front of her.
“Oh, Drew, this is absolutely gorgeous. No wonder you love it here.” She turned to look at him. He was staring out at the waves, a small, content smile on his face.
“Yeah, this is where I come to just be me. It’s my quiet place. I love it here.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me.” She rose up and kissed him softly on the lips.
“Come on. Let’s walk a bit.” Hand in hand, they strolled down to the water’s edge and then followed it down the beach for about a half mile before turning back.
Her dress trailed behind her in the sand. The waves lapped rhythmically against the shoreline.
She eventually broke the silence. “Tell me why this is your favorite place.”
He smiled down at her as they continued walking. “My parents have a much larger house on the beach, but it’s in California. It’s so far north that it’s almost in Oregon. It’s a town called Crescent City. Anyway, we didn’t go all that often, as my father was always busy working or traveling, but when we would go . . .”
She looked over to see Drew’s eyes closed as he relayed his memories to her. “This place reminds me of those simpler times. Happy times. Ben and I would play all day on that beach. When we were little, it was making sand castles and chasing seagulls or wakeboarding. When we were older, it was surfing and chasing girls.”
She laughed with him at the memory. “I can totally see the two of you in action back then. I bet none of those girls had a chance!”
“Actually, we were the ones that usually ended up with the broken hearts. But, oh what fun we had getting them. It’s actually where I met my ex-wife.”
She was unable to mask the surprise on her face. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you speak fondly of her.”
He raised his eyebrows in thought. “Hmm. I guess so.”
He was quiet a few minutes before continuing. “It wasn’t always bad between us. We were happy when we were younger. When I didn’t have so many of the responsibilities I ended up growing into and could focus more of my attention on her.”
“It’s okay, Drew, you don’t have to explain.” She didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable.
“No, it’s okay. The demise of our marriage is probably more my fault than hers anyway. We loved each other very much at one time, but I took that for granted when my father demanded more of me, pulling my focus in another direction. She tried, I think she really did. But ultimately, she was just too lonely.”
“You sound sad about that.”
“Let’s just say I’ve worked hard not to put myself in that position again.”
“Is that why you entertain this sort of lifestyle now?” Hannah mused.
“This sort of lifestyle? What sort is that, Scarlett?” he asked, not harshly, but curiously.
“I don’t know. I guess the kind where you pay for someone to keep you company. No commitment.”
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t the one with the commitment issue,” he scoffed. “She was. But, again, if I had paid more attention, listened to her, maybe things would have been different. Maybe we were just too young.”
She squeezed his hand in response and pulled him to a stop. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just trying to understand.”
“It’s okay. I get it. I’m probably not the easiest guy to understand.”
They both turned and continued walking down the beach, angling back toward the house looming in the distance now.
“What about you?” he asked quietly.
“What about me?”
“Were you ever married?”
For a long time, she couldn’t answer. Drew stopped and pulled her close, looking at her questioningly.
“Scarlett?”
She looked down at the ground, absently noticing the sand that had gathered around the long hem of her dress. She sighed
. “You don’t get to ask me these kinds of questions. I’m sorry.”
“Why can’t I ask you these kinds of questions? I just told you all about my marriage. Is it wrong for me to want to get to know you better?” Frustration was evident in his voice and the tightened features of his face.
“What difference does it make? I’m yours for one weekend.” She looked down at the ground again before continuing. “But—of course if I was married, I wouldn’t be standing here with you right now.”
Drew pulled her tight against him, forcing her to lift her face to his. “I don’t know why it matters to me, Scarlett, but it does. You make me want things and feel things I haven’t felt in a very long time. I want to know you, all of you.”
Drew could see the confusion and angst in her face, eyebrows scrunched up in worry. To stop her from responding, he kissed her. Long and sweet and torturously slow to try and make them both forget what he’d just admitted. Or maybe to confirm it.
When he broke them apart, instead of continuing the conversation, he turned, grabbed her hand and pulled her down the beach closer to the house, his long strides challenging her to keep up. “Come on. I think I promised you some dancing.”
She laughed. “What?”
He looked back at her and smiled. “Remember? On the terrace, you said we hadn’t gotten to eat or dance.”
“Yes?”
“Well, I’ve fed you. Now I need to make sure you get to dance. We can’t let that dress go to waste, can we?”
She pointed down at the muddy hem of the dress and cringed. “I’m not sure you’re going to want this messy dress sliding all over your beautiful floors.”
He stopped, taking in the hem, noticing for the first time that it was indeed quite muddy. He shrugged and smiled. “Oh well. I don’t mind if you don’t.”
She couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Well, all right then! Let’s go dance!”
They made it back to the house and entered through the doorway they had exited earlier. Drew wiped his feet off before helping Scarlett shake as much of the sand off her dress as she could. He took her hand and led her to the back of the house where the library was located.
“This room is gorgeous! I would never leave it if I lived here.”
He radiated pride as he searched through the songs on the digital music player set into one of the shelves. He knew exactly which song he wanted . . . “I didn’t want a traditional library. I wanted one bright and full of light. I’m glad you like it.”
She walked over to the window, pressing her hand flat on the cool surface of the glass, and the moonlight coming through the window silhouetted her frame. As the room filled with the music he’d selected just for her, he grabbed her free hand and pulled her into his arms. She laughed when she heard what song he had chosen. He spun her around, and they both sang along with the music as they danced.
Scarlett was laughing, jumping up and down as she took in his crazy dancing. “Oh my god, Drew! Seriously?”
“What? This is the perfect song for you and those beautiful eyes!” He grasped her hand again and twirled her this way and that, her dress swinging up and around, revealing her up on tiptoes. “I love Van Morrison, and Brown-Eyed Girl is a classic!”
As quickly as the song started, it seemed to end. They both stopped, breathing hard from their silly dancing, grinning wide at each other. The lyrics from the next song crooned much slower than the first. Drew gathered Scarlett in his arms and started swaying to the music, singing the lyrics to Crazy Love quietly in her ear while they moved.
With each turn, Drew’s hand, placed low and flat on Hannah’s back, pulled her in closer, so that their bodies felt almost like one. His heart beat heavily under her hand as it lay against his chest, and his breath tickled against her ear as he sang. She didn’t dare look up at him, afraid of what might come next in this intimate moment they were sharing.
The song came to an end. He dropped his hold around her waist and took her hand. “Come.”
It was all he said before walking out of the room, leaving the next song to play as he led her up a staircase and then down a hallway. At the end of the hallway, he opened a door and pulled her into what must be the master bedroom. One exterior wall held the same floor-to-ceiling windows as the rooms below, overlooking the ocean. The room was simply furnished. A king-sized bed sat against the back wall, and a natural wood dresser and wardrobe rested against the two other walls. The floors were a light wood, soft and warm on her feet, and a white fur rug lay in the center.
Drew closed the door and turned toward her. Without saying a word, he slid his fingers down her arms, then pulled her hands up and over her head. He held her like that, delicately, with one hand and used the other to pull down the zipper on the side of her dress. Then he released her hands, letting them fall back to her sides, and pushed the single strap holding up her dress slowly off her shoulder, causing the entire dress to slip down and off her body. He slid her thong down her legs until it fell to the floor.
She stood before him, naked, with only the diamond choker and cuff bracelet adorning her body. He stepped back and gazed at her, lust and desire evident in his dark blue eyes. She stepped forward, out of the dress and panties pooled on the floor, and waited for his next command. It didn’t come. Instead, he unbuttoned and removed his shirt as he slowly walked around her, his eyes never leaving her body.
Her nipples grew tight under his gaze, and though he hadn’t even touched her, his scorching look caused her body to flare in heat and wetness to pool at her core. Her fingers tingled with the desire to touch him and run them over his lean, muscled body.
As he stopped in front of her again, he unfastened his belt and then the button holding up his trousers, his gaze still locked on her body. In one motion, he bent over and slid off his trousers. When he stood up, his cock jutted hard and long against his stomach.
Still not having said a word, he slowly walked up to her again. This time, he placed his hand flat on her stomach, leaving it there as he walked around to the back of her and then pulled her flush against his front. His other hand snaked up and around her neck to finger the collar of diamond lace that encircled it while his head leaned down against hers. She heard him inhale deeply—was he smelling her?—and his lips pressed against her ear.
“You are so fucking gorgeous.” And then he spun her around and pressed his lips to hers in a heated kiss. Her arms wrapped up and around his neck, then further up to grip his hair as their kiss intensified. As his tongue invaded her mouth and his teeth nipped at her lips, he slowly pushed her backward until her legs met the foot of the bed. Instead of pushing her down, he broke the kiss, bent down and picked her up under the legs, cradling her like a child before walking around to the side of the bed and setting her down in the middle of it.
He trailed his hands down the length of her body as he rose and moved back to the end of the bed. He kneeled and, as he bent down, captured her ankle in his hand, raising her leg to meet his lips. Starting at her ankle, his lips left a scorching trail of heat up the length of her leg as he made his way up her body. When he reached the juncture of her legs, he kissed her there sweetly before continuing up and along her stomach to her breasts. He dragged his tongue across the tip of each nipple and then ever so slowly took one of the peaks into his mouth and sucked.
Hannah’s back arched off the bed as his mouth latched onto her, and her hands grasped onto his head, not wanting him to roam further. Drew continued to suck and lave her breast for a few moments before moving to the other. She moaned at the intense pleasure, the slow, sensual pace of his exploration of her body leaving every inch of her on fire.
When his attention to the second breast was complete, he peppered soft, wet kisses over her clavicle and down the inside of her arm. When he reached the diamond cuff on her wrist, his fingers trailed over it, encircling it delicately before raising her hand to his lips, placing a kiss on her palm, all the while gazing passionately into her eyes.
“Dre
w . . .” she whispered, not knowing how much more of this sensual intensity she could take.
Drew shifted his body fully over Scarlett’s, his elbows on either side of her head, and lowered his mouth to hers in a searing kiss. Her hands snaked up and around his neck, fingers wide around his head, trying to pull him in closer, deeper as his tongue invaded her mouth. He gradually lowered his body until he was seated between her legs. His cock was hard and throbbing as it lay against her wet center. As he continued to kiss her, he used one hand to guide himself into her heat. Their mouths both opened wide as he slid all the way in, their heads thrown back in shared ecstasy. He brought his hands up and cradled each side of Scarlett’s face, his eyes locked on hers as he began to rock in and out of her.
Her hands moved down to grasp his ass, fingernails digging in as she urged him to go deeper and harder with each thrust. Sweat dripped off his forehead and landed on her cheek. Each of them moaning in pleasure. Scarlett started to close her eyes and throw her head back, but his grasp tightened around her face. He wanted to see her, to know if she was feeling what he was, to know it wasn’t just him.
“No, Scarlett,” he breathed. “Eyes open. I want to see you come apart.”
Her only response was a low, guttural moan. He increased his thrusts, pushing harder, but not faster. Scarlett’s fingernails dug even deeper in his ass as she grasped onto him in response. Her body climbed toward its release, all of her muscles beginning to tighten around him. He let go of one side of her face to grab her leg below the knee, lifting it, pushing himself even deeper.
“Yes! Yes, like that!” she moaned. “God, don’t stop, Drew!”
She tried to thrash her head back and forth, but Drew managed to hold it firmly with one hand, never unlocking his gaze from hers. As she came apart, he thrust hard one final time, joining her in oblivion, and watched as her eyes rolled back in her head. He crashed his lips down on hers, tasting everything his desire brought her, and his cock jerked inside her one last time.
The Winning Bid: The Auction Series, Book 1 Page 12