by Gray, June
I gasped at the exquisite sensation of her wet, hot tongue sliding along the underside of my dick and licking along the crease of my head. I slid my fingers through her hair, gathering and twisting it around my hand, and nudged at her lips. “Does this fantasy involve having me inside your mouth?”
She grinned up at me. “So impatient.”
“You have all the power right now.” I tugged on her hair to tilt her head higher. “So please, take hold of me and slip my cock between your lovely lips before I lose all sense of control and just bend you over the couch and fuck you from behind.”
The infuriating woman actually tsked me. “That is not gentlemanly language.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Who said I was a gentlem—” But whatever it was I was about to say was cut off when she sucked me into her mouth.
“Oh fuck.” I threw my head back against the wall and tried to breathe through the overwhelming pleasure of Kat drawing me in and out over and over at a maddeningly slow pace, her eyes fixed on my face.
All of my muscles clenched, my body bowing forward from the force, and still she kept going, pushing me to the edge.
I tightened my hold on her hair and tugged her away. She stared up at me, her lips glistening with moisture, with a question in her eyes.
I bent down, gathered her in my arms and, with long strides, carried her to the bedroom. “My turn,” I told her, throwing her onto the bed, the blanket ballooning out around her.
I wish I could say I undressed her with the care she deserved, but as it was my control had all but dissolved. Her clothes—and the rest of mine—came flying off in oh-point-five seconds.
With one hand I held her ankles together then bent down and licked the crease between her legs, gratified to hear her moans. “Hold here,” I told her, clamping her hands around her own ankles while I took hold of her ass and ran my tongue over her folds again and again.
I slid my hands up between her legs then pulled them apart, taking in the vision of her laying on the bed, her eyes full of need and her chest rising and falling.
Never taking my eyes off her face, I crawled over the length of her body until we were aligned, my cock lying on her mound.
“I need you, West,” she said, her voice rough with emotion.
With a nod I took hold of my shaft and positioned myself at her entrance, pushing in the slightest bit. She lifted her hip, meeting me halfway, and, with a long groan, I slid home.
I took her mouth in a rough kiss, my hips rocking of their own accord. All of my self-control had evaporated and my body had taken over, moving automatically, seeking out every point of pleasure. I slid my arms under her, holding onto her shoulders as I moved faster even as I continued to devour her with my lips and tongue.
Kat wrapped her legs around my back, allowing me to penetrate even deeper until I was sinking all the way to the root. I knew she was close when she tightened almost painfully and held her breath; I thrust in hard and then she cried out as her inner walls quivered around me.
I grasped her ass and, having lost all sense of self, pounded her almost savagely. The room was filled with sound—of the bed creaking, of Kat keening, of my heavy breathing, of skin slapping against skin. And then I exploded, my entire body bowing over her while my cock surged and surged.
She was shaking by the time I came to myself, her fingers trembling on my back.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked, brushing hair away from her face. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head, a tear slipping out of one eye. She cleared her throat. “I’m just…” She was too choked up to finish the sentence, but she didn’t have to. The look in her face was plain as day, the emotion brimming right out of her eyes.
I pressed my cheek against hers. “I love you too, Kat,” I whispered.
I lay in bed that night, wrapped around my favorite person in the world, exhausted but unable to fall asleep. Even after the second time we made love I was still too full of energy to settle down.
Kat’s voice floated through the darkness. “Can’t sleep either?”
I let out a soft chuckle as I turned on the bedside lamp. “No.”
She twisted in my arms until she was facing me, her head tucked under my chin. “I haven’t had a chance to thank you for bringing my dad here,” she said and kissed my throat. “Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure,” I said, gathering her closer. “Your dad is a good man. I figured he deserved to see his daughter following her dreams.”
She looked up, a smile on her face. “It’s so strange to see him in regular clothes. I’ve gotten so used to seeing him in jumpsuit orange,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe he’s actually free.”
“Kat, your dad told me what West means,” I said softly.
“Oh.”
When she didn’t say any more, I asked, “Is it true?”
She pressed her cheek against my chest and said nothing.
“Hey,” I said, taking hold of her chin and leaning back so that she had nowhere to hide. “I’m incredibly honored to be your West.”
Her eyes glistened and she wiped at them quickly. “Let’s not talk about that right now. It’s been a crazy, emotional day.”
I got out of bed to look through my luggage and came back with a little blue box in my hand. “I’m afraid the day’s not over yet.”
Kat sat up, her wide eyes fixed on the box in my hands. I kneeled on the bed before her, holding the box out, waiting for her to tug on the white ribbon that was wrapped around it.
“Open it.”
She stared at me in disbelief for a few seconds longer before she finally did, lifting the lid off and taking out the black velvet box tucked inside. “You know, men often make the mistake of buying jewelry for their girlfriends from Tiffany and packaging it in such a way that makes the girl think they’re proposing,” she said. “So if you’re giving me earrings, you’d better tell me now.”
I shook my head, trying to bite down a smile. “Not earrings.”
She gulped and flipped open the lid, taking in the platinum ring atop which sat a round blue diamond set in a bezel setting.
“A blue diamond to match your eyes,” I said, taking out the ring and holding it up between us. “Kat, I don’t know what manner of miracle led me to you, if it was providence or divine intervention, but I count myself lucky that you found me.”
“There you go, using your pretty words again,” she said with a sniff, her eyes flicking between the ring and me. Eventually she focused on my face, her eyes glimmering like the diamond.
“I want you, Kat,” I said, moving closer until our faces were only inches apart. “I will always want you.”
She pulled back, her chest rising and falling as her eyebrows drew together. “Are you sure? I’m crazy sometimes and I get jealous easily. I curse like a sailor and I do that thing when I lift weights, you know that grunt that you say sounds like a sex noise,” she said, the words tumbling out of her mouth. “I’m way too competitive and I’m not like…” She covered her eyes and took in a deep breath. When she looked at me again, something was different in her eyes. “Before I came here, I thought there was no way I’d ever get used to all the noise and chaos. I’d hyperventilate every time I was around too many people.”
“I remember,” I said softly.
“But now I feel like a different person. I mean, I still have my moments of doubt—obviously—and I still get riled up way too easily. But I think the biggest difference is that I’m actually starting to believe that I can do this, that I can really live in New York and be a designer,” she said. “And you know the craziest part?”
“What?”
“That I’m starting to think I could belong in your world.” I opened my mouth to speak when she said, “No, I take that back.” She plucked the ring from my fingers and held it up between us, a hopeful smile on her face. “Let’s create our own world, one where we can both belong.”
I leaned forward until our foreheads touched and kissed her tend
erly. “I’d like nothing more.”
EPILOGUE
WEST
Seven months later…
My heart was pounding when the white Jeep turned the corner and parked. All I could see was Kat’s face through the windshield, but that was enough to settle the nerves in my stomach. She was here. All was well.
I walked over in my black Armani suit and opened the door for her. She took my outstretched hand and climbed out, lifting the hem of her dress with care. Then she stood before me and smiled. “Hi,” she said and knocked the breath out of my lungs.
There, standing in the Alaskan sunshine, was Kat looking like a snow goddess in a long white dress, her hair pulled back into an elegant twisty kind of knot behind her neck, and holding a bouquet of white roses and tiny blue flowers.
“Is it too much?” she asked, pulling at the deep vee neckline of the dress.
I stayed her hand, knowing it was nerves talking and not insecurity. “We’ve had this conversation before,” I said, my gaze traveling down the sleeveless dress to the slice of exposed skin at her chest, then to the long skirt that hugged her curves and ended in a pool of fabric at her feet. It was understated and beautiful, a worthy dress for the woman wearing it. “You look perfect.”
She smiled at me, her blue eyes taking me in. “You don’t look so bad yourself.” She plucked a blue flower from her bouquet and slipped it through the buttonhole on my lapel. “It’s a forget-me-not.”
I took her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Never.”
The ceremony was a simple affair held in an open green field outside of Ayashe with the snow-capped Chugach mountain ranges as our backdrop. Our guests stood around us in a semi-circle while Kat and I exchanged our vows, promising to love each other through sickness and health, for richer or poorer, until our dying days.
Before the wedding officiant could conclude the ceremony, I took hold of Kat’s hands and said, “I know you didn’t want long winded vows, but there’s something I must say.”
She looked up at me, her eyes already glistening with unshed tears, and took a deep, ragged breath.
“Kat, before we met, I was wandering around—literally lost at times—looking for direction in my life. And then you came along and you saved me in so many ways. You gave me the courage to go for my dreams. You gave me hope that a man is more than his past.”
I took a step closer and cradled her face in my hands, my chest tight with emotion. “I’m not lost anymore. I got my bearings the moment I met you and no matter where I go, my feet will always find a way to make it back to you. That’s because you’re my magnetic north and I was always and will always be moving towards you.”
She brought her hands up to cover my own and leaned forward, bringing our lips together.
From a faraway place I heard the officiant declaring us husband and wife and heard the cheering of our family and friends, but nothing could pull me from this moment as I kissed my wife out in this open field, the grass green below us and the sky a brilliant blue above. Right then, it was just Kat and me in our own world, where we both truly belonged.
~
KAT
“Congratulations, my dear,” Angelina Kohl said, giving me a warm embrace. “I can’t believe I have a daughter-in-law!”
I laughed, holding on a few seconds longer.
She pulled back, her eyes already brimming with tears. “My hope is that, one day, you’ll come to see me as a mother.”
If I wasn’t already emotional from the ceremony, that sentiment pushed me right over the edge. The tears I’d managed to hold back, even after West’s speech, surged out of my eyes and raced down my cheeks.
Angelina was quick with the tissues, dabbing at my face. “Oh, dear,” she said, wiping at her own cheeks. “Seems we’ll both need a touch-up before they introduce you two.”
I hugged her again, laughing despite the tears, my heart fit to burst.
“Hey, why are you making my bride cry?” West asked, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek.
Angelina swiped under her eyes one last time. “Just some girl talk. I’ll see you two later,” she said before disappearing inside the white fabric tent.
The emcee introduced us simply as “Kat and Luke” as we walked in and faced the crowd. My heart clamped at the sight of so many people, but this time it wasn’t panic that made it hard to breathe but elation. All of these people—family and friends alike, from Alaska and New York—seemed genuinely happy to be here, sharing in our day. Two years ago I thought only my dad cared about my wellbeing, and now here we were, surrounded by people.
When The Looters began to play a song on the small stage, Luke led me to the middle of the open space in the center of the room and put his hands around my waist. I wound my arms around his neck, shaking my head as we began to sway.
“What?” he asked, those dark eyebrows drawn together.
“This can’t be real,” I said, looking around. Lights were strung across the ceiling of the canopy and white tables and chairs were set directly onto the grass. On each table sat a floral centerpiece made up of white roses and forget-me-nots and various other flowers that were in season. It was just the right amount of rustic and romance. “It’s all too perfect. I’m a little worried that I’ll wake up tomorrow in my old room and realize this was all a dream.”
Luke grinned, the dimple showing on his cheek. He held my chin between his fingers and said, “Close your eyes.” I tilted my head back and did as he asked, trusting him with everything, no longer afraid he’d do me wrong.
I felt him press a soft kiss on each eyelid then his voice was right by my ear, husky and deep. “Then let’s keep dreaming and never wake up.”
After we ate, Luke and I made our way around the room, thanking people for attending.
“So are you a big time designer now?” was one of the most commonly asked questions from our guests.
“Not quite,” I replied. “But I am working for a small design house as a junior designer.”
Amanda Blake had called me a few days after my show and had told me about the opening at Jupiter Fashion, saying she had put in a good word for me with the owner. After sending in my portfolio they had called me in for an interview, and the rest, as they say, was history.
“And Luke, are you constantly touring and selling millions of albums?”
“Not quite,” he said with a smile. “I’m still working for Kohl Media and doing music on the side.” He had told me once that performing was an exhilarating experience but had dark, seductive qualities that he no longer enjoyed.
“I’ll always write and perform music,” he said. “But I don’t know if touring and promoting is the life for me. There are far more important things,” he added, squeezing my waist.
Eventually we came up to a table full of Ayashe townsfolk, half of whom I had only met in passing but was nevertheless glad to see.
“My bum leg is throbbing today,” said an old woman I recognized from The Diner.
Her husband nodded beside her. “And I’ve been stopped up for two days. You know what that means.”
I nodded, trying my best to keep from bursting into laughter.
“What was that about?” West asked as we walked away.
“Nothing,” I said, biting down my smile. “Just… don’t ever talk about your ass timetable, okay?”
“My what?”
I let out the laugh I’d been holding back while West just shook his head with a bewildered smile on his face.
“I’m so proud of you, Katie-bug,” Dad said during the father and daughter dance, hugging me close. “Of the woman you’ve become.”
“You mean you didn’t like me before?” I asked in mock anger.
“Oh, I did,” he said with a chuckle. “But you have to agree, you were difficult.”
I grinned. “To put it mildly.”
“I’m just glad you were brave enough to open up and let someone in,” he said. “I know it couldn’t have been easy.”
; I opened my mouth to respond when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a person ambling towards us.
“May I have this dance?” Dale Hokkeland said, looking like he’d showered and changed his clothes, but still smelling like alcohol. He bent over and did a flourish with his hand, then stumbled before regaining his balance.
Dad glanced at me and I gave a nod. “Sure, why not.”
“So you really did it,” Dale said as he put one hand on my waist and held one up to the side. “Ya got hitched.”
“I sure did,” I said.
“You still going to go around punching people and threatening to shoot them if they wander onto your property in the middle of the night?”
“Probably.”
He let out a crooked, toothy grin. “Still a wildcat through and through.” He patted my shoulder when he saw West taking long strides toward us. “Ah, here’s the lion tamer himself. May God bless his brave soul.”
West gave me a questioning look before taking Dale’s place. “Why does it feel like I never know what these people are saying?” he asked. “It’s like Ayashe has its own language.”
I laughed. “Stay a little bit longer and you’ll get it too.”
The party lasted into the night, the band playing songs that brought people out onto the dance floor, some going barefoot on the grass as they jumped and danced around.
I noticed Decker having a good time with his date; he caught my eye and cast a wink in my direction. Franny and Drew, too, danced together, seemingly in their own little world.
Needing a moment of peace, I took hold of Luke’s hand and dragged him to the edge of the tent and past the cloth walls. We walked a little ways in the dark field until the music was barely a muffled sound.
“Wow,” Luke said, turning in a circle as he took in the view. We stood out in that open field, darkness all around us, the mountains a dark jagged silhouette in the distance and the moon a muted orb in the inky sky. “It’s beautiful out here.”