by Lily Knight
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was overwhelmed with emotions—a whole range of them. But chief among them was something that I knew I felt with utter certainty now.
“Ben,” I murmured, “that's... that's beautiful. That's the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me. Ever.”
“I love you, Bethany... with all my heart and all that I am,” he said before leaning in to kiss me.
“I love you, too,” I responded when our lips parted.
THAT NIGHT
I took one last sip of the wine, and then stared into Ben's eyes – his gorgeous, dark eyes, burning with the fire of his passion for me.
“That's your second glass, huh?” he asked with a grin. “You want another?”
“No, I think I'm done with wine,” I replied, “but there is something else I'd like.”
“Oh yeah, and what's that?” he asked.
I smiled flirtatiously. “Come over here and you can find out.”
He stood and strolled over to me. He took one last sip of his own wine, and then set the empty glass down and took a seat on the white leather sofa next to me.
“So, what is it that you'd like?” he asked, still staring into my eyes.
“I think you already know,” I replied.
With that I grabbed his tie and pulled him to me, and the heat of passion and the fire of his attraction tore through my veins like lightning. I wanted him badly. The whole day – the whole of the last few weeks – had been building up to this.
We kissed madly, hungrily, and soon his powerful hands were moving all over my body, his touch alternating between soft and gentle, almost rough and aggressive. As we kissed, I moved my eager hands down his broad torso and began unbuttoning his shirt, and he slipped his hands down my back and gripped each of my ass cheeks, squeezing the flesh with strong, eager fingers. With each squeeze of his strong hands, he sent a rush of excitement through me.
I finished unbuttoning his shirt and slid it down his broad shoulders and off of him. I took a moment to admire his powerful, muscular torso—his skin was smooth and darkly tanned, and each muscle looked as if it had been carved by a master sculptor. I ran my fingers over his chest with a light, teasing touch, and he shuddered with pleasure as I brushed his nipples with my fingertips. In turn, he began making easy work of the buttons on my blouse. He moved his mouth to my neck which he kissed and nibbled, sending pleasure shooting along the surface of my skin and rippling through my nerve endings.
He got my blouse off, and then, as my hunger and desire for him grew, I reached back and undid my bra to speed things along. He immediately cupped my breasts in his hands, and fondled them appreciatively with just enough force to give a light sensation of pain. With his forefingers and thumbs, he squeezed and massaged my stiffening nipples.
As the deft action of his fingers on my nipples and breasts caused wave after wave of pleasure to tear through me, I reached down to his crotch, and began lightly stroking my fingertips over his rapidly-hardening manhood. He moaned quietly against my neck as my fingers teased his swelling tower, which was straining against his Armani suit pants as it grew fully engorged.
Down below, at the meeting of my thighs I felt heat increasing, and my hunger for him grew to almost unbearable levels. With hasty, fumbling fingers I started to unbutton my jeans, and sensing my haste, he slipped his hands down and helped me peel them off. Then he slid his face down, brushing a teasing, swirling tongue over my hard nipples as he went, and licked at my smooth belly, and then gripped my panties in his teeth when he reached them, and pulled them off in one swift motion.
He then slipped a hand down over my smoothly-shaven mound, and he emitted a low groan as his fingers slipped easily into my hot, moist center. I shuddered with pleasure at his touch and arched my back and spread my thighs so that he could work the magic of his gently, rhythmically-lapping tongue on my now-throbbing core. Each firm press of pleasure against me with his tongue sent a boosting rip of bliss running up from my core all the way through my body. Soon, with his licking and sucking in a steady, powerful rhythm, I was crying out and grinding myself into him. The oceans of bliss that were surging through me were the precursor to an orgasm that had been a long time coming—a powerful and beautiful orgasm that was just begging to be unleashed, one that had been building up for weeks, long tortuous weeks.
The orgasm blitzed through me with a majestic force that had my body convulsing with pleasure and caused me to cry out. I gasped and panted as the waves of it flowed through me.
Then, as I lay there sweating and winded from the intensity of it, he undid his pants and rid himself of their restraints. His throbbing, impressive manhood sprang up, fully engorged and hard with the force of his arousal.
He gripped its generous girth in one hand and began to feed himself into me slowly. As he entered me, I groaned and trembled as he began to stretch me out until finally every glorious inch of him filled me completely.
He then began moving slowly in an almost circular motion inside me that caused shears of bliss to tear through me with every deft stroke. Then, in conjunction with this tantalizingly intense motion, he started to slide himself in and out, with every stroke providing yet another boost of ecstasy.
Soon, he was thrusting away with an almost animalistic, ferocious force, gripping my hips tight with his strong hands and pulling me to him with every potent thrust. I cried out and panted with every stroke that drove his throbbing hardness deeper into me. Within minutes, the force of another orgasm was building like a storm.
And then, as he began to drive himself with an almost frenetic speed into me, yet another orgasm was unleashed, and I wailed as it tore madly through every fiber of my body with its lightning-like pleasure. And then, at that moment, he roared like a beast and shuddered with the intensity of his own orgasm.
Then, still inside me, he collapsed panting onto me, and he slid his fingers through mine and clasped my hands tight in his.
“I love you, Bethany,” he gasped into my ear. “I love you madly... more than anything.”
And I knew in my heart that every one of those words was true.
EPILOGUE
Bethany
ONE YEAR LATER
“So, this is it huh,” Manny said to me.
I nodded. “This is it, Manny. For the next minute you're a diner cook, working for Canfield Grille, but after that, you'll be unemployed.”
He smiled.
“And then from the first day a' next month, I'll be manager a' The Verde, one of the finest dining establishments that Detroit will ever have seen.”
I smiled and gave him a big hug.
“That's right! See what happens when you’re nice to the owner?”
Manny beamed a toothy grin at me.
“I never did think I'd be the manager of a real fancy restaurant. No sirree, I never did see that one a-comin'. This'll be the best job I ever had in my life! An' I promise you, Miss Verde, I'll be the best darn manager y'all have ever seen. You an' Mr. Sciotti, I'm gon' make y'all proud! I guarantee that!”
I smiled warmly at him.
“I know you will, Manny, I know you will. After tomorrow, though, I won't be Miss Verde anymore.”
“Nope, guess you won't! You'll be Mrs Sciotti! An' I gone an' dusted my ol' suit an' tie an' nice shoes off just fo' the occasion. I can't wait ta' see you married! Your mama woulda been so proud! And your pappy, too! Hell, I'm proud a' ya, Miss Verde! I think I'm gon' have ta' try real hard tomorrow not ta' start bawlin' at your weddin'! I do get emotional at these things, Lord knows I do!”
“Aw, Manny, I'm so happy you're gonna be there tomorrow. You're pretty much the only family I have now. And the fact that you'll be there on my big day means a lot to me.”
“I wouldn't miss it fo' the world, Miss Verde. Oh, and look at the time! The Canfield Grille is now officially closed fo' business... fo'ever.”
I looked up at the clock and saw that we were indeed officially closed, and he was right – since t
his was the last day that the diner was in business, this was the last time I would be locking up The Canfield Grille. The next time I opened the doors, after all the renovations had taken place, it would no longer be The Canfield Grille.
It was a bittersweet moment for sure, as I walked up to that old glass front door and closed it for the final time. This had been my home ever since I could remember, and this diner was all I had known growing up. Aside from a fresh coat of paint every decade or so and a few new tables and chairs here or there, the place hadn't really changed that much since I was a toddler.
And now, all of this would be gone, replaced by state-of-the-art fittings and expensive designer furniture. It wouldn't look like this at all when I stepped in here next.
I took my phone out and started recording a video of the place before I turned the lights off for the last time. I wanted to have this record to keep, this reminder of how my old diner had looked before it was gone. I walked slowly around the place, recording every little detail that I could, getting every little bit of information in. Finally, I had captured everything.
“You done there, Miss Verde?” Manny asked.
“I'm done, yeah.”
“I'm gon' hit the lights then.”
He reached up to the main light switch and flipped it, leaving just the glow from the neon sign outside, the one that had always been there, with the words CANFIELD GRILLE written in a curvy font, in red and blue to provide light.
“And now for the last one,” I said, walking up to the switch that would turn the neon light off.
“Goodbye Canfield,” I said, choking up as a sob rose in my throat and tears stung at the corners of my eyes.
I hit the switch, and that was it – the light went out, and The Canfield Grille was no more. I took out a tissue and dabbed at the tears rolling down my cheeks, and then walked through the darkness to the back. Manny was waiting for me.
He opened the back door and stepped out into the alley where Tino was waiting for us.
“That's it then, Miss Verde,” he said, and I could see in the glow from the lamp outside in the alley that his eyes were wet with tears as well. “That's the last time we walk outta the Canfield Grille.”
“Yes, it is, Manny... yes, it is. Have a good evening, and I'll see you tomorrow at the Cathedral of The Most Blessed Sacrament. Don't be late!”
“For yor' wedding, Miss Verde... I'd never be late! Never! I'll see you then!”
He started whistling an old blues tune and shuffled away down the alley. Tino and I watched him go in silence. Eventually, Tino spoke.
“Emotional evening, huh?”
“Yes. It’s the end of an era, but it's also the birth of The Verde.”
He smiled. “I've tasted just about every dish you guys are gonna serve there, and I know for a fact that it's gonna be a hit. A huge hit! You're gonna be a very wealthy woman in your own right, Bethany. Hell, if this goes well, you could probably even start opening up branches of The Verde in other cities.”
I laughed. “Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We'll have to see how well this one does first.”
“I know, I know,” he said with a smile. “It's just that your recipes are so damn good! I know people are gonna go real crazy for ‘em, trust me on that. So, you ready to go?”
I nodded. “I'm ready.”
“Let's go then.”
I got into the car and turned on the little television screen in the back as Tino drove. I flipped through the channels until I came to a news channel on which a familiar name caught my attention.
“And in the latest news, notorious gang leader and alleged drug lord, Tyrese Wilson, apparently known in underground circles as 'One Hand Tyrese' was brought to trial today on charges of drug trafficking, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of illegal substances.”
Tino heard this from the front and chuckled.
“One hand Tyrese. Ha, I remember shootin' that bastard's hand off. Good thing I carry a Magnum with me! Just took one big-ass bullet!”
I continued to watch the news as the reporter spoke about the case.
“He is expected to plead not guilty to all charges, but the state believes it has a watertight case against him. He is strongly expected to be found guilty of all charges. Mr. Gibson himself was not available for comment, but one of the investigating officers did agree to appear on camera. Detective Jenkins, what are your comments regarding this case?”
The screen then showed a police officer.
“Good evening, Camille,” he said to the reporter, “and thanks for letting me speak. Tyrese Gibson is a known gangster, leader of a gang known as the Coup Militants, who my department has been after for quite some time now. We were very pleased to finally apprehend him, and considering that we have video footage of him committing a number of the crimes he has been accused of, provided to us by a source who has requested to remain anonymous, we're pretty damn sure that we're gonna get a conviction in this trial and Mr. Gibson is very likely going to spend the remainder of his life behind bars. The streets of Detroit are going to be a safer place without him and his gang of criminals prowling.”
“Thank you so much for your comments, Detective Jenkins,” said the reporter. “Now, in other news...”
I looked up in the rear-view mirror and saw Tino's eyes on me.
“It was you guys who gave the cops the video footage they need to put Tyrese behind bars, wasn't it?” I asked.
“You know the rules now, Bethany,” he said. “What the men of the Sciotti family do in the family business is for them to know, and them only. You know I'm not allowed to give you an answer on that.”
I nodded. “I know... but, considering that Tyrese's life of crime affected me in a direct way, I thought that maybe you could bend the rules just this once.”
“Well, I ain't sayin' nothing for sure,” he said with a wink, “but maybe we had somethin' to do with it. Maybe not.”
THE NEXT DAY
The wedding had been beautiful, and everything about the day had felt like a fairy tale. When Ben and I had stood in front of the priest, staring deeply into one another's eyes, I had felt as if I was the most loved girl in the whole universe. Saying “I do” to him was one of the greatest moments of my life.
Now we were here at the reception at the Yacht Club, a fitting location, as this was where we had had our first kiss. And now, a year after that, I had just shared another passionate and fiery kiss – but this one had been in front of all of the wedding guests, as Ben and I danced the first dance while the band played our song.
“You know, Bethany, you've always been absolutely stunning, seriously,” Ben said as we danced. “When I say that you're the most beautiful woman in the world, I am not exaggerating. But today, in your wedding gown, you're angelic. You're too beautiful for this world. I can't believe I've married an angel, a real live angel!”
I held him a little more tightly.
“You’re supposed to say that on our wedding day,” I teased.
“I will tell you that every day from here on out,” he replied.
“Well, you look as handsome as any fairy tale prince could dream of being. I am the luckiest girl in the world.”
“Well then I guess we're both feeling pretty lucky,” he said, placing a kiss on my forehead.
I leaned closer to him as we danced and closed my eyes as the last few notes of our song rang out. Everything was going to be perfect... just perfect.
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About the Author
Lily Knight
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