“Your turn now,” he said.
She was laying crossways on the bed and, sliding her to the edge, he knelt on the floor and lapped up the juices her pussy had already wept. Then he began to eat her. Nibbling, sucking, tongue-fucking.
With his mouth eager and feral on her pussy, he drove her into a frenzy and her cum spurted out like it never had before. When she’d stopped convulsing and Derek lay beside her, Erin sighed contentedly.
“I love you, Erin,” he said softly.
He loves me. As he stroked her body, following every line with his hands as if memorising them, her heart and spirits lifted.
Derek loves me.
Chapter Thirteen
Erin and Derek met his parents, Janice and Antonio, in the lobby of the hotel where they all were staying, and rode with them to an Italian restaurant they’d chosen from the magazine, Indianapolis Monthly.
Candlelit tables in secluded corners beckoned to Erin, who longed to be sitting at one alone with Derek. The memory of sucking his delicious cock until he came, and him lapping her cum from her throbbing pussy, proved they were right for one another, and his declaration of love affirmed everything she believed about their relationship.
His father, however, opted for seating beneath one of the brightly lit chandeliers in the middle of the room.
“I like to see what I’m eating,” he declared after the server took their drink orders.
Derek’s mother was a tiny woman with salt-and-pepper hair. His father was tall with thick, wavy grey hair and a pencil-thin moustache. Antonio focused mainly on the quality of the food. He proclaimed some dishes delicious and others unauthentic or less tasty than he made.
“Dad is an excellent cook,” Derek said, “and a would-be restaurant critic.”
Antonio smiled. “Italian only, but I’m also a connoisseur of red wines.”
“This one is excellent, Dad,” Derek said.
Erin, murmuring her agreement, sipped hers, fighting an urge to gulp. Dining with the elder Acamporas was bound to become awkward with her and Derek trying to explain all of what had transpired.
And it soon did. They were confused about their son’s wedding being called off and almost at the same moment meeting a woman he professed to love. Derek tried to answer all their questions, but they turned to Erin when he mentioned she was part-owner of Wives-R-Us. She described the business, and mention of three divorced women running it led to a discussion of her previous marriage and her son. They seemed particularly interested in learning about him and his interests, and Erin grew more uneasy.
It seemed like ages since she and Joey had spent any real time together, and she felt as if she didn’t know him as well as she should. She still didn’t know if he liked baseball, so she went on the assumption he did. She couldn’t tell whether they approved or disapproved of him going to boarding school. Janice’s raised eyebrow could mean either thing.
“Where is Joe now?” Janice asked. “Why isn’t he here with you?”
“What does it matter? I’m sure he’s in good hands,” Antonio said. “No eleven-year-old boy wants to attend a wedding.”
“That’s right,” Erin said, gripping her wine glass. “He’s spending this time with his father because I’m…I was supposed to take part in Derek and Angel’s wedding.”
Janice clasped her throat. “You were?”
Derek came to Erin’s rescue, but when he said that she and Angel were cousins, an awkward silence fell over the table. It did sound ridiculous, even when he tried to explain that Angel called off the wedding because she loved another man.
Erin did gulp her wine then. This was no time for sipping. She’d barely touched her lasagne, but what she’d eaten felt like a rock in her stomach. “I know it sounds like a soap opera,” she said as Derek’s father poured her another glass. “But it all came about quite innocently.”
Feeling that Derek wasn’t totally innocent, she glared at him.
Turning red, he returned the look before addressing his mother. “How was your visit with Sylvia, Mom?”
Janice, smiling, launched into talk about their granddaughters, and everyone relaxed—at least momentarily. The new baby was adorable and the older girl unbelievably precocious. Derek’s sister and husband were going to try getting pregnant one more time, hoping to add a boy to carry on the family name. “Of course, that wouldn’t be our family name,” she added, patting her husband’s big, hairy hand.
And that opened up the discussion of a cancelled wedding to a girl who was pregnant. “You knew it couldn’t be yours, so why would you plan to marry her in the first place?” Janice asked.
“That’s easy,” Antonio said. “You keep talking about carrying on the family name, Janice.”
“It’s for you, Antonio. I know how important it is to you.”
Derek ran his finger around inside his shirt collar and Erin felt sorry for him.
“It’s important to all Italians, but what can we do?” Antonio raised his fork in one hand and his wine glass in the other. “Nothing. It’s not Derek’s fault. I told you we should have had more children and eventually we’d get another boy. But no, you didn’t want to. So forget about it. You’ll make our son self-conscious and his lady friend uncomfortable.”
Antonio was right, but his remark rendered his wife tight-lipped and red-faced. Janice didn’t have anything to say after that and Erin tried to concentrate on her food.
“How are things at the office, son?” Antonio turned to Derek. “Taken on any interesting new cases lately?”
“Cases?” Erin echoed, dropping the pasta off her fork. “Office?”
Derek’s face turned crimson. “Law office. Court cases. You know, sweetheart.”
“No, I don’t know.” She wasn’t going to pretend even though he seemed to want that.
“I’ve been out of the office for a month, Dad, working a temporary stint for Cousin Bill. He’s the son of my Uncle Bart, Mom’s brother,” he added for Erin’s benefit. “He broke his leg and needed surgery to repair it. He might have lost his job being off that long and I welcomed a change of pace.”
Erin could hardly believe what Derek was saying, and his parents didn’t look pleased.
“You’re an attorney,” his dad said. “You know they couldn’t fire Bill because of a medical problem. So what was really behind all this?”
Derek sighed and pushed away his plate. “I’d proposed to Angel and was having second thoughts, and that was before I even met Erin. So I wanted to get away and think things through. Angel works days and with this job, I worked nights, so I couldn’t be expected to spend time with her.”
“With that attitude, your relationship was bound to deteriorate,” his father said.
Derek shrugged. “I told myself I was suffering burnout and getting away from law would make me appreciate my profession more when I returned.”
Antonio sat forward in his seat, mouth firmly set.
“I’ve talked to Larrison a few times and everything’s fine, Dad,” Derek added hastily. “I’m itching to get back.” However it was a ninety minute drive from the hotel to the offices of Acampara and Larrison, Attorneys at Law, plus Angel had all sorts of things for him to do here. Normally, he spent ten minutes on the road going from his house to work.
His mother, clutching her chest with one hand and toying with her strand of pearls with the other, spoke. “Of all the nerve—”
“I guess Uncle Bart didn’t tell you, Mom?”
“He certainly didn’t. The gall of Bill asking you!”
“It worked out okay. I enjoyed the change and they’re having another baby and…”
Babies again. Erin sighed.
Derek’s mother opened her mouth to say something else, but Erin spoke quickly. “You’re a lawyer and you never once mentioned it, Derek?” She turned to his parents. “I thought he was really a bartender.”
“And she fell for me anyway.” Derek gave his mom and dad one of his winning smiles while ta
king Erin’s hand between his. “I was ‘really a bartender’. I made good drinks, didn’t I?”
“That’s not the point and you know it. You weren’t forthright.”
“We can talk about this later,” Derek muttered.
“It seems our son has been busy saving people,” Antonio said, motioning to their server to bring the bill. “First Angel and then Bill. You’re a good man, Derek, but it appears you have a few things to straighten out with the women in your life.”
“There’s only one,” he said, looking into Erin’s eyes.
“Make sure the bride-to-be knows that,” his father said, slapping him on the back.
The dinner ended with Janice saying they’d leave in the morning, as soon as they could get a flight. “There’s no reason to stay since there won’t be a wedding,” she said, sniffling.
“Would you want him to marry a woman he doesn’t love and who’s having another man’s baby?” Antonio demanded.
Janice huffed out of the dining room without responding.
Derek’s father kissed Erin on the cheek. “Nice to meet you. Next time, I hope it will be at your wedding, although I wouldn’t blame the two of you if you eloped.”
*
“We should never have gone together. You shouldn’t have taken me along,” Erin said as they stood outside the door to her room.
They’d had to ride back to the hotel with his parents after dinner at the restaurant and the trip had been an uncomfortable one.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Mom and Dad are nice people who love one another but they do squabble. I wanted you and them to meet, but I didn’t mean for you to get drawn into the middle of things.”
“The worst part was that you’d deliberately misled me.” Erin tapped a finger against his chest. “I felt like a fool not knowing you were a lawyer. You led me to believe bartending was your vocation.”
“Not disappointed, are you?” Derek tried to hug her to him but she stiffened, and he stepped back. “What’s the matter? Do you have something against attorneys?”
“It’s not that…”
“Then you need to tell me what it is.” Derek stepped close again and kissed her lightly on the forehead. “When the folks go to bed, I’ll come back and…hold you while we talk.”
“After they’ve gone to bed? Why then? To mislead them? Is nothing ever aboveboard with you?” She pushed against his chest, forcing him back a step.
Anger flashed in Derek’s dark eyes as he grabbed her hand. “I think I’ve put Mom and Dad through enough for one night.”
“You’ve put me through plenty as well. You’ve been deceptive with me on every level since we met,” Erin said. “Why did you let me think bartending was your regular job?”
He threw up his hands. “Maybe I wanted to see if you could fall for a blue-collar worker. You have an elaborate home and lead an elegant lifestyle. I like to test people to see if they’re snobs—like Angel’s mother, who was horrified when she found out her daughter might be marrying a bartender.”
“You were testing me with no intention of a future together? What difference did it make since I was just a fling?” Erin knew her voice was rising but she couldn’t stop it. “What kind of home do you have, Mr. Professional? Angel said her fiancé had a big house but she hadn’t seen it. You didn’t bother to carry on a real relationship with her either, did you?”
“I was just going through the motions with her. I admit it. It sounds rotten, but I never even took her to dinner after we set the wedding date. And why was that? Because I met you almost immediately and I couldn’t think of anything else.”
“Except making lo—screwing me.”
“Don’t make it ugly, Erin. I was obsessed with you. I still am. You wove a spell around me the first time our eyes met.”
She covered her face with her hands. “I don’t know you, Derek. You’re an attorney.” She peeked through her fingers. “It’s hard to picture you as a member of the bar, standing in a courtroom dressed in a suit and tie. I found the image of you behind the Club Rendezvous bar with your shirtsleeves rolled up sexier.”
“Hey, I like that. Maybe I should forget law.” He slid his arms around her waist.
“It’s weird. You have an office I’ve never entered and a house I’ve never seen. I don’t even know where you went to college.”
“That’s because you never asked me, and why is that? Because you presumed I hadn’t gone beyond high school and you didn’t want to embarrass me. Am I right?”
“I…I wouldn’t have minded if you were a dropout. I just didn’t want to put pressure on you by asking. I kind of liked the idea that you were different. That you weren’t a ‘suit’ like the men I work for and Joseph.”
“Erin…you know something? I believe you really mean that. And to be perfectly honest, the reason I didn’t open up was because I thought you and I were destined to part. I knew I could never get enough of the incredible sex we shared, but the past didn’t matter and we had no future. I tried to accept that, and the better we got to know one another, the harder it would be to leave you. But I couldn’t stop wishing and dreaming I could make you mine.”
“Thanks for giving me that, Derek.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, believing what he’d just said, but reality came flooding back, and with it, fear. “What if Angel doesn’t notify everyone the wedding is off? What if you’re roped in after all?”
“You mean you still care?” Derek held her away from him and they locked eyes.
She was afraid to answer with so much up in the air.
“Erin, please give us another chance. We’ll do the traditional things, talk about the past and future and do whatever else you want. I’d love for you to see my home and meet my law partner, Larry. We need to start over.”
She raised her eyes and smiled. “Let’s just get past the rehearsal and wedding dates and see what happens. If all goes well and you don’t end up married to my cousin, then maybe…”
“What about tonight?” he whispered. One hand slid down to caress her ass while the other eased up until it almost—but not quite—brushed her breast.
Looking into the face of the man she loved, Erin couldn’t send him away. She’d missed him and wanted him…so much. “I’ll be waiting for you,” she whispered.
His fingers found the curve of her breast and his gentle stroking brought moisture pooling between her legs. He caught her nipple through the thin fabric of her blouse and lace of her bra and rubbed it until it pebbled. He lowered his head to hers in a hard kiss that forced her lips apart. He thrust his tongue between them and began a leisurely fucking of her mouth that drew a moan of longing from her.
A door opened farther down the corridor and he pulled away. “Soon,” he promised and dropped a last, light kiss on her lips before she closed the door to her room.
Once again, she’d acted against her better judgement but she wanted to make this…them…him and her…work.
*
Erin sat in the easy chair in her hotel room, staring at a blank TV screen. This was the craziest situation imaginable. Angel still had Derek’s engagement ring and she wouldn’t be dismissed from the hospital until morning. She’d ordered him out of her room, but no one, not even Derek, knew whether she might still reconsider her decision to call off the wedding. Julia wanted her to go through with it and Angel tried so hard to please her mother that she might still decide it would be best to walk down the aisle with him. He didn’t intend to marry her, but what would happen if it came down to the wire? Could Derek refuse?
Erin craved the feel of his hardness against her soft body, and her nipples peaked as she thought about how his hard cock had thrust repeatedly inside her only hours ago. She wanted him again, and this waiting drove her insane with lust. The days they had been apart had seemed like forever, yet every emotion and every touch had remained so vivid in her mind that her body had reacted as if they were still taking place.
He settled beside her and kissed, her, plunging his tongue deep inside her mouth, and she sucked it greedily.
He trailed kisses down over her shoulders, her breasts, her navel and inside her thighs. The brush of his moustache against her bare skin fired the longing inside her. “Derek,” she murmured, clutching his biceps.
He raised his head to look at her and she saw the heat in his eyes. Tracing his lips with her finger, she smiled. “I love the brush of your lips and moustache on my skin,” she said, running a fingertip over the soft bristles above his lip.
He sucked her fingertip, the hard peaks of her nipples, and brushed his moustache back and forth along the lips of her pussy before pushing his tongue inside. Breathing hard, pulse pounding, she buried her hands in his hair and held his head tightly. “That feels so good,” she whispered huskily.
He tongue-fucked her until she thought she’d go over the top, and then he moved to her clit where he sucked greedily. Erin lost it then. Crying out, she convulsed and her juices ran. “So good. So wonderful,” she whispered.
“Now,” Derek said, “let’s see if you can do that again.” He lay on top of her, supporting his weight with his elbows. He slid inside her deliberately and slowly. “Oh, Lord, I love you,” he said.
She squirmed against him teasingly and traced his moustache again, thinking about the wetness on it and where that moisture had come from.
He kissed her, rubbing the wet whiskers against her lips and pushing his tongue inside her mouth. She sucked it and he caught his breath and began to move faster inside her. Every emotion heightened, she was aware of the coarseness of the hotel sheets against her ass and back. She loved his scent mixed with the smell of sex in the air. The tick of the clock on the bedside table matched those of her heart. Derek’s parents slept across the hall. Did they suspect he was in her room fucking her?
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