by Louise Bay
*
“I love you,” I whispered as I dipped my head and placed a kiss under her ear. I enjoyed the way that sounded.
“I love you so much,” she replied, and my cock jumped in my pants as if she was talking dirty. I’d never thought those words could be a turn-on.
I reached down for the bottom of her skirt and slid my hand up to cup her ass. “You wore a skirt,” I said.
“I know you like it.”
I groaned. There was nothing I didn’t like about Lana. Her heart, her soul. She inspired me to be a better person. And the fact that she was headstrong, determined and desperate to please me in bed—what more could I want? I hooked my thumb through her underwear and pulled them off. “You still wore panties. I don’t like those.”
She fumbled with the buttons of my shirt. “I wanted to make sure you were the only man to see what I had under my skirt.”
“Such a good girl,” I replied, biting her neck then across the tops of her breasts. I’d almost forgotten how soft her skin was, how easy it was to leave a mark. I straightened and pulled her from the door. I wanted her lying down and naked so I could study every inch of her to make sure she was all mine.
We fell onto the couch and I grabbed at her blouse, lifting it out of her waistband. I pressed my lips to hers, desperate to feel her desire on my tongue. She fumbled with my zipper and the tips of her fingers brushed cool against my hot skin. We went together perfectly.
“This is it. You get that, right?” I asked. “I need you to understand that there are no more breakups. Whatever happens, we’re in this side by side. Okay?”
She nodded frantically as she pulled at my shirt. But I was serious. All I’d done the past few weeks was hope for her to come back. I was never going to go through that again. I stilled and she looked up at me.
“I know,” she said. “We’re together now.”
“Now and always,” I replied, and the sober look she gave me in response told me she understood. There was no going back after this. I dipped to press my lips against hers, taking any opportunity to taste her. “We’re talking about weddings, kids, the whole nine yards before we leave this room.”
She laughed and we tugged at our clothes until we were naked. I turned her over so she was kneeling on the seat cushions with her hands braced on the back. I took a step back to admire her, her alabaster skin luminous in the glow of the hazy sun through the blinds.
“Matt,” she called, snapping her head around to look at me, her hair sweeping over her body. “Please.”
I wasn’t trying to torture her, but watching her was like foreplay. I fisted my dick, pulling up and groaning at the thought that I’d soon be inside her, coated in her need for me.
I grabbed a condom and rolled it over my straining cock. Standing behind her, I swept my hands over her skin and raised my palm, then brought it down on her ass, my hand tingling. The sound our flesh made as it connected smashed through the air like a crack of thunder. It was a starting pistol, an announcement of who was in charge.
Nothing got her wetter. I reached down and slid my fingers into her slippery folds. I always checked, but there was never a time she wasn’t ready for my dick. It was the biggest compliment she could give me.
“Ready, baby?” I asked, trying to give myself a few more seconds of anticipation before the main event.
In response, she dropped her head and lifted her hips. I curled my hand over her hip and nudged my cock toward her wetness.
“Don’t stop,” she cried. “More.”
I couldn’t resist any longer and pushed all the way in to the root. I’d never felt so fucking privileged as I did sliding my dick into my beautiful girl. Her fingers grasped the velvet pillows as she panted. She wouldn’t last long, but I’d make her come again and again and again until her body was weak and her soul was mine.
I gathered her hair in my hand, pulling so her face tipped back. I didn’t want to waste the pleasure rippling across her face. I picked up my rhythm, holding her still, making sure she felt every thrust, every inch of me. I wanted her to have no room to think, to worry, to speculate about the future. I wanted her here with me, totally focused on how I made her feel.
Her cries grew stronger, and her body tried to jerk away as her muscles tightened around my cock. It hadn’t taken long to get her to the point of no return.
Thank God. I wanted her to come again before I found my own release, and I wasn’t going to be able to hold out for as long as I usually did.
Her thighs began to tremble, and she cried out as her orgasm passed through her. I stilled, concentrating on the curve of her shoulder, the dip of her lower back. Every part of her drew me in.
I pressed my chest against her back, skin against skin, and circled her clit with my fingers, pressing and pushing. She began to whimper. The control I had over her body was phenomenal. I knew exactly what she needed and how to give it to her. But it wasn’t one way. My body responded to hers as if it was made for her.
I pulled out and brought her up, turning her around and pressing her body against mine.
“I need more,” she said.
“I know you do.” I dipped my head to kiss her. “And you’ll get everything I can give you.”
Her hands drifted down my back and made me shiver as I took another kiss from her before lifting her up and walking through to the bedroom.
“Lie down,” I said as I lifted my chin toward the mattress. “Let me see that perfect body that belongs to me now.”
She sat on the bed, her legs dangling over the side as she splayed her arms, lowering herself down as if she were offering herself to me. I sucked in a breath—I’d never seen anything so beautiful in my life.
I stepped toward the bed. “Lift your legs.”
She bent her knees and her thighs fell open, revealing her still-swollen pussy.
“I’m going to fuck you hard. Now. For hours. Forever.”
She pulled her knees apart, telling me she was ready. Gripping both of her legs, I pushed into her. She was tighter than before if that was even possible. I stilled to catch my breath as my balls hit her ass.
Impatient, she dipped her fingers down to her clit, and I batted them away. “No. You have me to give you your pleasure now.”
I circled my thumb around her clit as I began to push in and out of her. Her breasts moved with the rhythm, reminding me of the first time I saw her, her wet clothes clinging to this incredible body in front of me.
Unable to resist, I leaned forward, taking a dusty pink nipple in my mouth, sucking just before my bite went too deep. She screamed and she thrust her fingers into my hair—not to pull me back but to urge me on. She was greedy for sensation. She wanted everything I could give her, and I’d give her everything—at least I’d spend my whole life trying.
I moved in and out of her slowly and surely, allowing her to enjoy the drag of my dick. Pulling back to look at her, I knew what she wanted. She wanted to come again. I pushed harder and faster, her hips rose to meet mine, and our bodies slammed together again and again.
She gripped my shoulders, her fingernails digging into my skin, and I had to fight against the vibration in my spine telling me I needed to empty myself into her.
Just before I gave in, she arched her back and screamed my name.
I couldn’t hold back any longer—I pushed into her again and exploded along with any notion of a future without Lana. My body covered hers as if I were sheltering her. I wanted to feel this close to her forever, share every experience and thought I had. I’d finally found my place in the world. Nothing else mattered. Not Hollywood, not scandals and not movies.
As long as it was the two of us, I had everything I could ever want.
Epilogue
Matt
“I thought we were going to the dunes?” Lana asked when I pulled off the coastal road just on the outskirts of Worthington and headed down a track toward the ocean.
“Don’t be mad, okay? I just wanted to take a little detour
first.” Since the publication of the photos, I hated keeping anything from her, but I was hoping she’d give me a pass on this one surprise.
“Why would I be mad?”
“I hope you won’t be,” I replied.
“Matt. Seriously.”
I stopped the car and turned off the engine. “Look at that view,” I said as we faced the cloudless sky, the bright blue water and the almost-white sand.
“What have you done? You know I don’t like secrets.”
“That’s what makes you so infuriating.” Before Lana could reply I opened the car door and rounded the hood.
“Why are we here?” she asked, stepping out of the car as I held the door open.
I took her hand and led her to the middle of the plot on which we were standing. “Because I wanted you to see this. The land goes right down to the ocean.”
She shielded her eyes from the sun and looked out across the field that petered down to the beach. “I’ve lived here my whole life. You don’t need to convince me of how beautiful it is. Now answer my questions. Why are we here and why am I going to be mad?”
I took a breath. “Because I’ve been doing a bit of research that I haven’t told you about.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What kind of research? For a film?”
I shook my head. “As much as I love your cottage, I’m not sure it’s our forever home. When we have our family—”
“Our what now?” She furrowed her brow. We’d talked about kids. We knew we both wanted them. At some point. But we’d never gotten specific.
“I figure three kids is a good number, but you could convince me to have four. But the cottage just isn’t big enough for all of us.”
“It’s plenty big enough for me, which is all it needs to be if you want four kids.”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against me. “We can negotiate the final number.”
She pushed at my arms, creating a little distance between us. “We’re not trying for a baby here and now, and you know how I feel about PDAs.” She glanced around as if anyone would see us.
I chuckled. “How do you like the spot? The peace, the view, the ocean breeze? We can still walk into town from here.”
She relaxed in my arms. “What are you saying?”
I hoped she’d love this idea as much as I did. “This lot is for sale. I want us to buy it, build a house big enough to raise four boys, with a huge wraparound porch where we can watch the thunderstorms, read to each other and grow old.”
Her eyelids flickered as if she was trying to find focus. “You want to be based in Worthington?”
We’d been splitting time between Los Angeles and Maine, but the more time I spent on the East Coast, the more I realized I didn’t have to be in LA to have a career. “I thought we could buy a place in Malibu for when I need to be there for work, but spend most of our time right here, just like we’ve been doing these last six months. I don’t want to raise kids in Hollywood.”
She grinned up at me, her arms slipping through mine and circling my waist. “You sound pretty enthusiastic about the kids thing.”
“I’m enthusiastic about everything in my life. Most of all you.”
“Even my yoga pants?”
The first time I’d mentioned getting married had been in a suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel the night Lana first told me she loved me. She’d said we’d talk about it again in six months when I was sick of her yoga pants. I’d always love her—yoga pants and all—and today was six months exactly since that night when our lives together began. I wasn’t about to let her go. I wanted her bound to me in every way possible.
“So, you’ve bought the land?” she asked, looking up at me.
I shook my head. “I’d never make a decision like that without you.” The wind caught a strand of her hair and I tucked it behind her ear. “We’re a team.”
“You couldn’t have said anything better. And I think you might have found the perfect spot. I love it here.”
“We can work with architects and design the house ourselves. You can have a studio. We can build a privacy wall if you want.”
She sighed. “No walls. Not here. It will be our home and I want people to feel welcome when they come here. I don’t want our kids to think they’re locked in. I loved the freedom of growing up in small-town Maine.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Kids, huh?”
She grinned.
“Six months ago, I told you I loved you in yoga pants and always would.”
“Has it been that long?” She glanced over at the ocean. “It feels like nothing and everything has changed.”
“Some things should change. It’s time.”
“Time?” she asked.
“For me to ask. For you to say yes.”
The corners of her mouth twitched. “Here? Now?”
I released her, took a step back and dropped to one knee. “Lana Kelly, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She kneeled in front of me on the grass. “Of course,” she said, flinging her arms around my neck. “I didn’t really think you were going to wait a whole six months.”
I chuckled. “It’s been killing me.”
“What about my ring?”
I shook my head. “No way. As if I’d make a decision like that without you. And anyway, I didn’t know if you’d want one. Or if you might want to make it yourself.”
She pressed her palms to my cheeks and swiped her thumbs along my cheekbones. “I’d really like to wear my mom’s ring, if that would be okay with you. Does that sound weird?”
I leaned and dropped a kiss on her lips. “I think that’s a beautiful idea.”
She pulled back. “I can’t wait for you to be Mr. Kelly.” A huge smile lit up her face.
I chuckled. “Life with you will be a constant challenge. I’m looking forward to every moment.”
*
There were no guarantees, but the sky was such a bright blue that I felt sure that any rain would hold off during the ceremony. It was my job to provide shelter from the storm, and today, of all days, I wanted to make sure everything was perfect.
Most of the guests were already seated, but there were a few still finding their way in. “Hi, Mrs. Wells,” I said. “Polly. Welcome.” I looked down to find Molly, Polly’s cat, with a big pink bow around her neck.
“Hello, handsome,” Mrs. Wells said with a wink.
I winked back. “I’m glad all three of you could make it.”
“The flowers look perfect,” Polly said. Displays of lilacs and white roses surrounded the chairs, giving the air a perfume that was unmistakably Maine.
“Lana chose them,” I said. “I can’t take any credit.”
“You had the good sense to marry our girl. You deserve a lot of credit for that,” Mrs. Wells said.
“I’m very lucky.” I grinned. Thank God, she hadn’t slipped through my fingers. “My brother will show you to your seats.”
I turned to James, who was looking at Molly and rubbing his brow as if he might be hallucinating. “Sure, follow me,” he replied.
Lana and I had both wanted to get married in Worthington. Lucky for us the mayor had agreed to close off the park for the ceremony, and then the reception would be held back at the new house as a kind of a combination wedding celebration and housewarming.
“Mr. Easton, you’re looking very handsome,” a man said from behind me. I turned to find Mr. Butcher and his fluffy dog dressed in matching tuxes. He lifted Posey slightly. “She’s doing the androgynous look today. And that,” he said, hooking his finger under my lapel, “is Tom Ford, if I’m not mistaken.”
I straightened up my bowtie as I chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right.”
He shrugged. “I’ll never lose my eye for beautiful things.”
“I hope you don’t. I know how much Lana values your opinion.” Mr. Butcher often got to see Lana’s designs before I did, and I liked that she had someone in Worthington who understood how talented she was other t
han me. “Let me show you to your seat. It’s on my way.” We began to make our way down the aisle.
“I hope you’re going to convince her to hire more help for the store. She needs to be focusing on cultivating her talent.” He leaned in closer and whispered, “I heard about Vogue.”
I placed my finger over my lips. We were all sworn to secrecy, but Vogue had confirmed this week that they were going to be using her jewelry in an upcoming photoshoot featuring young, independent designers.
“I think she wants to concentrate on designing for Barneys, but she’ll still make some very exclusive pieces.” Lana and I had talked about her spending less time in the shop. She had reduced her days, but as more orders came in, the balancing act was becoming too much.
“I knew that girl had something special,” he said.
“You’ll get no argument from me there.” The violins started up and I indicated for Mr. Butcher to take a seat. I nodded as I passed Brian and Sinclair on one side of the aisle and Audrey and her husband on the other. Maine was seeing a slice of Hollywood this afternoon.
I hugged my father, the best man, as I took my spot in front of my friends and family. My three brothers sat in the first row. I was the one who’d wanted a big wedding. Lana would have been happy to go to Vegas. She’d teased me that it was because I liked to be in the spotlight. But really, I wanted to share my happiness and joy with everyone in my life who mattered.
Murmurings at the back of the audience caught my attention, and I turned to find my beautiful fiancée coming toward me, her smile lighting up my world as it always did.
Lana had refused Sinclair’s offer to walk her down the aisle, maintaining that she didn’t need anyone other than her father’s memory to accompany her. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she approached, greeting our guests with nods and smiles on her way. My heart always sped up when she was near and this moment was no different. I was lucky to know this woman. Honored that today she would become my wife.
As she drew nearer, I reached out and guided her up the steps of the bandstand. It seemed fitting that we’d marry where we’d first laid eyes on each other. Life had a funny way of delivering just what I needed, when I needed it. If she’d been a different woman, she might not have come to my rescue that day, called me an idiot, or looked quite so alluring, soaking wet and screaming at me. She looked just as beautiful then as now.