by JA Johnston
After graduating and walking out on my family, I decided not to return to Kingstown. Instead, I moved to Queensport, into a secure apartment building. I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of moving here sooner. Far enough away from my father, but closer to Executive Service’s office.
Kelly and Theresa stopped by earlier with a basket of goodies. They want to meet for drinks later. Honestly, I need to unwind with my girls. They are going to be in for a shock when they learn that they are literally are going to be “my” girls. I wonder what their reaction is going to be when I tell them of Piper’s offer.
When I left my father and grandparents at the restaurant that day I came home and changed. I went down to the waterfront to run. I was still replaying lunch with my father and grandparents. And David. Did he seriously think I would marry him? I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn’t see him. All of a sudden, I felt like I ran into a wall and I am flat on my ass.
“Shit!” I sit up, someone squats down in front of me. I look up into gorgeous, I mean gorgeous hazel eyes.
“Are you alright?” He asks.
“Sorry. Yes, I’m fine.” I wipe my hands together and rest my elbows on my knees. “I’m sorry I just ran right into you. I wasn’t paying attention.”
He grins at me. Oh, dear god, his grin shows off his perfect white teeth. “Well, if I knew you were going to run into me, I would have at least tried to catch you before you fell.”
That’s a cheesy line, and I like it. I match his grin. “I’m Amelia Bennett.”
“Hello Amelia Bennett, I’m Adam Hunter.”
I accept his hand as he offers it to me. His firm grip takes me by surprise and before I realize it, we’re just staring at each other. I clear my throat and say, “I need to get going. Maybe I’ll run into you again someday.”
“I look forward to it.” He replies with a wink and a nod.
I’m smiling all the way back to my apartment. What the hell was that? I think I attempted to flirt with him. I don’t want to do that. I can’t do that.
My phone begins ringing just as I enter my apartment. “Hello!” I’m out of breath.
“Amelia, are you ok?” Piper sounds concerned.
“Yes, I just got back from running.”
“Who got you in a bad mood?” she asks.
“Family.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” her voice is filled with concern.
“Actually, yes. But not on the phone. Can we meet say… in an hour?” I ask.
“Yes. Come over to my place. I’ll cook.”
“You’re the best, Piper! See you in a few.” I hang up and head to the shower to get ready.
Piper has dinner ready once I get there. I fill her in on my family luncheon. She’s appalled. I’ve never shared much about my family with anyone, until now. “I’m proud of you for walking out and standing up for yourself. Let me ask you, what are your plans now?”
“I hope you’re not getting rid of me. My plans were to stay working for you. I make awesome money.” I smile and take a sip of my wine.
Piper smiles back. “I guess it was fate that I called you when I did. I have a business proposition for you. Would you like to hear it?” she asks.
“Business proposition? I’m not sure about taking more clients Piper.” But maybe I should? I moved, and now I am paying the rent myself. I begin calculating my savings when Piper answers.
“No, no more clients. My proposition is ‘Executive Services’.”
What? She can’t be serious. “Piper. What? Your business? Why?”
“Amelia, I love my girls & guys” she smiles. “But, Jerry is retiring next year, and we want to spend more time together as a family.” She pauses, “I’m going to be a grandmother.” She beams.
“Oh, my god! You are going to be an awesome grandma!” I jump up from my seat and hug her. I’m so happy for her and Jerry. They are wonderful loving people. I never thought I would say that about someone running an escort service.
“That’s why I want to begin the process of not running this business anymore.”
“Piper, I don’t know…” I say.
“Listen, it will be a transition. I wouldn’t just dump this on you. If you’re interested, we would get everything transferred in your name. I’ll stay on retainer for one year, no more.”
“One year. Would I be able to learn how you handle all this?”
She smiles, “Yes, Amelia, you can. You are the only one I would offer this to.”
“What if I don’t accept your offer?” Could I do this? Could I be responsible for…I don’t even know how many are employed by Executive Services.
“If you don’t, I’ll be closing ‘Executive Services’. All of the girls and guys will have to go find other employment.”
“You really think I can do it?” I ask in a shaky voice.
“I know you can. You’ve been working this business for more than 3 years. Besides, you just graduated with a business degree.” She smiles and sits back sipping from her wine glass.
“Piper, you have a deal.” I smile. I don’t need my father or grandfather. I only need myself.
Seventeen years, one week later
I COULD KILL him. We are on vacation and Lucas has set the alarm. Why the hell did he do that? He turns it off, rolls over and pulls me into his arms.
“We need to get up.” He yawns.
“No. We’re on vacation. There’s not supposed to be alarms on vacation.”
“I’ve booked a lot of things for us to do today. So, we need to get started.” His arms give me a squeeze, and I snuggle into him.
“What did you book?” I ask, groggily.
“First, a couple’s massage. Then a full-service spa day for you. They are going to do a mani/pedi, hair, and makeup.” He groans into my ear.
“What are you doing when I’m at the spa?”
“I’m going to the spa too, but I’m getting a shave.” He states.
I roll over and look at him. He hasn’t shaved since we got here. I love this look on him. Just a little bit of beard. “Why are you getting shaved?” I run my hand over his short stubble.
“I didn’t pack my razor, that’s why I haven’t shaved all week.” He squeezes my side.
“I like this look on you.” I scratch my fingers around his scruff, “I love the way this feels on my skin.” I grin.
He looks at me with sleepy sexy eyes and a smirk, “You do. Where exactly on your skin do, you like it best?”
“Everywhere.” I bite my lower lip. “Especially my legs. My neck. My arms.”
Now he’s biting his lips. “God Amelia, I love you! As much as I want to explore all those areas right now. We’ve got to get up. We have to be at the spa in thirty minutes.”
“Seriously!? The spa is more important?” I remove my hand from his face and lay it down the side of my body.
“We’re only here a couple of more days. I’ve had this day planned since before we got here.” He sighs, “Besides, I need to get more condoms. We’ve used all that I brought.”
“Fine.” I get up out of the bed. I’m completely naked, I purposely add a little more sway to my hips as I make my way to the bathroom.
“Wench!” He calls out.
I laugh, then pause in the entryway. “Lucas. When we get married, will we still use condoms?”
He’s up out of the bed in a flash and is standing before me. “We haven’t discussed it. What do you want to do?”
Biting my lips together, I look into his sleepy eyes. “I don’t want a barrier between me and my husband.”
Smiling, Lucas pulls me towards him. “No more barrier, once we’re married.” He places a tender kiss on my lips. “Now, quickly shower.” He turns me and lightly smacks my buttocks.
I’m sitting here drinking a mimosa while the girl is doing my toes. I haven’t seen Lucas since the massage. I am completely relaxed, hair and makeup complete. Manicure is done, now my pedicure is wrapping up.
The concierge come
s into the spa and approaches me. He’s holding a garment bag. “Ms. Bennett, Mr. Bishop has asked that you join him down at the beach once you are ready. He left this for you to change into.” He smiles at me.
One of the spa attendants takes the bag and brings it into the dressing area. Lucas truly does spoil me. Not just materialistic, but with his attention to everything. This whole week has been nothing but us spending time together. I know once we get home, we’ll be working. I giggle, I just realized that I’ll be sleeping with the boss. Which, I guess I did that when I was an intern for him last summer.
This dress is beautiful. It’s a white strapless bustier dress that stops a couple of inches above my knee. Empire daisy lace waistline. He even bought white sandals that strap around my ankle. No heels, I’m assuming it’s because we’ll be on the sand.
As I make my way to the lobby, the concierge sees me and beams. He approaches and takes my hand. “You look absolutely beautiful Ms. Bennett.” He bows in the direction of the back doors. “I believe Mr. Bishop is waiting.” “Thank you” I reply while a small smile tugs at my lips.
I walk through the back doors, I look around, but I don’t see Lucas. Instead, I see Grace Bishop, Lucas’ mother. She spots me and smiles. She kisses both my cheeks and says, “Lucas is waiting.” Turns and leaves towards the beach. What is she doing here? I get goosebumps.
I head towards the path that will bring me to the beach. Then I see her. Grams. What is going on? She’s smiling at me and enfolds me into an embrace. “What are you doing here?” I whisper into her ear.
“I have something for you.” She holds up a beautiful silver necklace with a simple silver floating heart through it. “This was given to me by my mother on my wedding day.” She looks into my eyes and there are tears. “If your mother was still alive, she would be the one placing this around your neck.” She clasps it around my neck and kisses my cheek.
“Grams”, I’m all choked up, “our wedding is…”
She cuts off my sentence. “Is now. We need to go; Lucas is waiting.” She gives me a warm smile as tears puddle in her eyes.
Then it hits me. How could I have been so blind? She wraps her arm around mine and we begin down the path. There, we are stopped by Dan who’s holding a bouquet of colored daisies. “These are for you Mels. You look beautiful.”
Dan enfolds me in a warm embrace. “Did you know?” I whisper against his chest.
He’s grinning as he pulls away and looks down at me. “Who do you think helped him plan this?” He adds a wink, “I’ve known you forever Mels. When Lucas told me his plans, I asked if he wanted my opinion.”
“So, when you were giving me a hard time last week when I asked if you would help me plan my wedding…” I didn’t get to finish.
“It was already planned.” He squeezes my shoulders before releasing them. “Now, here’s your flowers. I have to get down there.” He kisses my cheek, “I’m the man-of-honor.” He chuckles and shows off his teeth.
Once we clear the path, I see him. Lucas is wearing light linen pants and white short-sleeved dress shirt. He spots me and grins. There’s so much love I see in his eyes. Once we get to the pergola, Grams places one last kiss on my cheek, takes my hand and places it in Lucas’. Holding her hand on top of ours, she says, “I am entrusting you with a very precious gift, Lucas. My granddaughter.”
Lucas leans down and kisses her on the cheek. “I promise to cherish this gift for the rest of my life.” He whispers to Grams. Grams pats his cheek and then turns with tears in her eyes to stand with the others.
“You didn’t shave.” I noticed.
He grins, “I have it on good authority that you love the way it feels.”
I’m grinning and I can’t stop. “You planned this?”
“I had a lot of help.”
The minister clears his throat, “Are we ready to begin?”
“Yes.” We both say looking into one another’s glistening eyes.
Back on the veranda of the hotel after we exchanged our vows, we are surrounded by everyone that we wanted there. The two of us danced to Lady Antebellum, ‘Just A Kiss’. We share a meal with everyone, drink and danced more.
Later that afternoon, Lucas carries me across the threshold of our room. I don’t think I’ve stopped giggling all afternoon. We are now Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Bishop. If this is a dream, I never want to wake up.
We plop down on the bed, laying side by side. “So, who helped you?” I finally ask. “I would ask if your friend Adam helped, but he obviously was not here to be your best man.” I shake my head remembering Lucas’ Uncle Alex standing beside him, “And here I thought it was a coincidence that your Uncle was on the same island as us.”
Lucas chuckles, “Adam is traveling, so he couldn’t make it.” He sighs. “His parents and brother already had a vacation booked.” He turns on his side to look at me, “I couldn’t have done this without Dan. Oh and his sister, Sam.” He laughs. “Is she ok?”
I laugh, “Let me guess, she never stopped talking or sat still. And didn’t take no for an answer.”
He laughs, “Yup. Is she always like that?”
“Yes, she’s a little ball of energy.” I reply, smiling at all the memories I have of Sam.
“Yes, she is.” He pushes himself up and leans over me. He takes a strand of my hair between his fingers. “You’ve made me the happiest man on earth today. I’m going to be honest, I knew once I asked you to marry me, I would not be able to wait to marry you. It was hard enough waiting a week.” He leans down and begins kissing my neck.
“Wait…how long has this been planned?” My hand is pressed against his shoulder, above his heart.
“Three weeks.” He groans into my neck. “I went and asked Grams for your hand in marriage. Dan just happened to be at his parents that day and saw me there. He came over and found out. Then when I told them I wanted to whisk you away immediately, he stepped in.” He pauses, “It took him twenty-four hours to come up with this.” He groans into my neck, “those were the longest twenty-four hours.”
I laugh. “You did all this. Why couldn’t you wait?”
“I don’t really know.” He stops talking, he’s thinking carefully, “We’ve been together for two years. This past year and a half I’ve taken over my father’s company with the help of my uncle. It’s growing more with the changes I’ve made and I guess I just wanted to be sure that we got married. That we didn’t get caught up doing other things and never plan a wedding.”
“Lucas, trust me, I would have planned a wedding. I would have planned exactly this.” I smile and place my hand on his cheek. “Thank you. You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been in a very long time.”
We’re staring into each other’s eyes with longing, “I love you, Amelia Cierra Bishop”. He annunciates BISHOP slowly.
“I love you, Lucas Andrew Bishop.” He kisses me gently on the lips then stands. He takes my hands and brings me to a standing position.
“I have a very special night planned.” He says as he walks behind me. He gently unzips my dress. Slowly his hands come around the front of my dress, he then glides his hands up my breasts, to the top of the plunging bustier, where he gently tugs it down and my dress falls to the floor. I’ve gotten goosebumps from the way his hands easily glide against my skin. He reaches up and unclips my hair. Using his hands, he caresses them through my hair, down the sides of my neck, over my shoulders and down my arms. There he claps his hands with mine.
Lucas kisses my neck and shoulder. He whispers in my ear, “I want you to lay down in the middle of the bed, arms up towards the headboard.”
My breath hitches. I bite my lower lip and take a deep breath. My insides are already burning with desire and he’s hardly touched me. I move slowly towards the center of the bed. He hasn’t told me to remove my shoes or panties, so I don’t. I smile, I know he loves undressing me.
Once I am in position, Lucas is beside the bed. In his hands are 4 white scarves. Where did those come from? He h
as a slight warm smile upon his lips, but his eyes are full of desire. He takes my right arm and ties my wrist to the corner bedpost, then he moves to my left side of the bed and does the same.
I’m beginning to squirm with so many thoughts of what he is going to do to me. He runs his fingers down my left side, across my stomach. “Lift your hips” he says softly as his fingers tug on my lace panties. He slowly brings them down my legs. He pauses to remove my sandals. Now I lay before him, completely bare.
His eyes are caressing my body. He lifts my left foot by the ankle. He brings his mouth to the sole of my foot and begins to kiss it. Slowly he moves to my toes and kisses each toe. Then, slowly, gently, he takes each toe into his mouth. I feel his tongue caress each toe. Once he finishes caressing each toe with his tongue, he gently sucks and nibbles each toe. I feel a burning deep inside me. “OH, MY GOD!” I moan. I feel his lips twitch.
He ties my left ankle to the bedpost. Then he repeats his ministrations to my right foot. He’s slowly killing me. My sexual desire for him has increased. It’s a good thing he’s tied me down, if he hadn’t, I would have surely taken over right now.
Lucas beams down at me and removes a white fabric from his pocket. He’s wickedly grinning at me. He crawls from the foot of the bed up my body and lays his weight upon me. He kisses me gently. “I’ve restrained you. Now I’m going to blindfold you.” He kisses me again. In a soft voice, he says; “Tonight, I want to hear every gasp, every moan,” he kisses me once more; “and all the incoherent words you scream when I pleasure you for the first time as my wife.”
He places the blindfold around my eyes. I feel his lips slowly tormenting my neck. I feel his scruff slightly scratch my skin. My breathing thickens. He takes my right nipple into his mouth. I feel his tongue caress then suck it in. Before he removes his mouth, he lightly nips the tip. Slowly, he repeats this process on my left nipple.
My body is yearning for him. For more of him.
Lucas works his way down my body. I feel his breath and scruff on my most intimate part. Then, he’s gone. Where is he? I don’t feel his weight upon me or the bed. I don’t hear him either. I know not to call for him. What is he doing?