Incidental Happenstance

by DeSalvo, Kim

  She responded in the only way she could, pushing herself against him and whispering, “I’m so sure, Dylan, I need you inside me,” and then he was, effortlessly sliding into her and bringing her to instant climax with a groan that could only be described as pure bliss. He moved with her, into her, matching her rhythm as she ran her hands through his hair, dug her nails into his back and called out his name until they both fell breathless into the soft pillows and he lay against her, entirely spent and breathing as if they’d just been drowning in the deep sea that was their desire.

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her head, her cheeks, her lips, muttering all the while, “Oh my God, oh my God,” and she could only respond in turn, whispering into his ear, “That was so incredible. You are so incredible.”

  They lay for a while against each other, each holding desperately to their own needs, and to something that could be taken from them both in just a few short hours. Finally, he pulled back enough to bring his lips to hers and kissed her tenderly. He stroked her cheek, and then ran his fingers along her back, over her breasts, and back down her body. She had always thought he had bedroom eyes, the kind that, at half mast, looked incredibly sexy and desirable. And his lips, God his lips, full and perfectly shaped and beckoning…she reached up to kiss them again, and he responded fully.

  “I can’t say goodbye to you,” he whispered. “I just can’t. You’ve gotten inside of me, and I haven’t gotten enough.”

  “I know,” she whispered, stroking his face. “I just found you, and you’ll be gone too soon. I don’t know how I can just go back to my life like this never happened.”

  He sat up and looked down at her, staring deep into her eyes. “I don’t want this to end, Tia, not when we’re just getting started. When are you done with school?”

  The question took her by surprise; work was the furthest thing from her mind as she lay in his arms, but she realized that she’d be going back tomorrow, and that this weekend would be just a memory. “Umm,” she stammered, trying to gain control of her brain, “we go until next Wednesday with the kids. I have to work a half-day on Thursday to get grades done, and then that’s it.”

  “So you’re off the whole summer then?” he asked.

  She nodded her head.

  He took both her hands in his, and pulled her close, mesmerizing her with the intensity of his gaze. “Come with me, Tia. Come with me to Europe on the tour. I’ll have to work, but we’ve planned it out so we have some free time to spend in a lot of the places we play. We could spend the summer together, and see where this takes us…I’m just not ready to say goodbye to you.”

  Her heart started dancing in her chest—he wanted her to spend the summer with him! She could think of nothing that would be better than that, and she smiled and kissed him. “Oh Dylan,” she whispered, barely able to find her voice. “You mean it? There’s nothing in the world I want more than time with you.”

  “Listen,” he whispered. “I know this has been a whirlwind for both of us. I don’t know where this’ll go, but I know I want to find out.” He released a sigh. “We’ll take it day by day, and if at any time things don’t feel right and you want to go home, you can go…anytime you want.”

  She squealed in excitement as her brain processed his proposal and pulled him closer, her smile taking over her face. “But I can stay the whole time with you?” she asked, kissing his cheeks and running her fingers through his hair, down his back, “because I can’t imagine that I’m going to want anything else but that!”

  He smiled back at her and kissed her lips. “That’s what I’m hoping for too,” he said. “I’ll have Jessa get with you to take care of all of the arrangements.” He pulled her down to lie on his chest and stroked her hair. “Oh God, I don’t know where this is going to lead, Tia, but I know that right now I want it to lead somewhere. I can’t let you go.”

  She rose up to kiss him full on the mouth. “I can’t wait to see where it goes,” she whispered against his chest. “It’s been in the back of mind since the first night—I didn’t know how I could bear saying goodbye to you, Dylan. Not when I just found you.”

  He responded by rolling on top of her. He was ready again, and she was ready still. They took it slow and sensual this time, kissing and fondling and staring into each other’s eyes. Finally, spent, she curled into the warm and protective cocoon of his body and they slept, both finally dreaming happily of what tomorrow could bring.

  Too soon a knock at the door woke them both, and they looked into each other’s eyes, limbs still entangled, acknowledging all that had happened and all that was yet to come. They smiled at each other, and he rolled over in the huge bed.

  “I ordered breakfast,” he croaked, circling her nipple with the tip of his finger. “But I think I’m hungry for something else at the moment.” He kissed the top of her head and rolled over, climbing out of the bed and slipping into his pants. “I’ll just have them leave it in the foyer.” She rolled over too and went into the bathroom, splashing some cold water on her face. Her image in the mirror gave her momentary pause—she was flushed and healthy looking, and even the complete lack of sleep the night before did nothing to diminish the glow. She looked happy—was happy, and it was reflected back to her and made her heart sing. Dylan was already waiting for her in the bed, and stared at her intensely as she glided naked back to his arms.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered, patting the bed next to him. She slipped in beside him, and he handed her a cup of steaming coffee. “I don’t know about you, but I definitely need some caffeine this morning,” he smiled. “What did we sleep, maybe an hour or two?”

  “At best,” she said with a smile. “I kept having this delicious dream, but then I realized that I was awake and in your arms. I was afraid to sleep and then find out that you were just a dream.”

  He took her coffee cup from her hands and set in on the nightstand next to the bed. Then they satisfied one hunger before moving on to the breakfast that sat cooling in the foyer.

  When the phone rang in the room, Tia’s heart sank. She knew it was the call that would take Dylan from her, and although she’d see him again in less than two weeks, it suddenly seemed like an eternity. It was just one o’clock, but expected holiday traffic in the city meant he needed to allow extra travel time—he was cutting it very close to the wire and needed to be in the air by three. He pulled her close and held her tightly in his arms. “I’ll see you soon,” he whispered against her ear. “And I’ll call you.”

  “OK,” she whispered, unable to trust her voice to say more without cracking. He kissed her deeply, and then grabbed his bag, waving as he walked out the door. She went back into the bedroom and lay on his side of the bed, inhaling the scent of him and their lovemaking, trying to hold on to something that would last until she saw him again. Emotion rocked her—joy, elation, emptiness, anticipation—and she lay on his pillow, going over it all in her mind. Had it really been just three days ago that she was taking the first steps toward getting her life back? Meeting someone had been completely out of the realm of possibility, and now here she was, anticipating spending the entire summer with Dylan. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous—they still had so much to learn about each other—but the excitement of the prospect well outweighed the apprehension. She rolled over in the bed and smiled, inhaling Dylan’s scent once more from the pillow, and said aloud, “I’m going to spend the summer with Dylan in Europe!” It was still hard for her to believe that it was true.

  Another knock at the door of the suite pulled her back to reality, and she rushed to open it, hoping that he’d come back for one more embrace. Instead, sitting on a silver cart in the hall was an enormous bouquet; tropical flowers in impressive shapes and beautiful vivid colors. The card read simply, “Miss you already, D.”

  “Oh, you got me flowers,” she whined, and then the tears started. She held the flowers to her face and breathed in the exotic scent. It was another half hour before she managed to ge
t herself together and head toward home.

  She called Lexi as soon as she sat in the car, and she picked up on the first ring. She didn’t say hello, just started shooting questions in rapid fire in a frantic whisper. “Oh my God, tell me everything! Did you do it? How was it? How was he? Holy crap. Please, can I tell people now? You know I’m dying here!”

  Hearing the excitement in Lexi’s voice helped to pull Tia out of her fog. There was a lot to do in the next two weeks, plenty to keep her busy until she saw Dylan again. She leaned back in the seat and smiled to herself, answering Lexi very simply. “Yes, incredible, amazing, no.”

  “Yes, incredible, amazing, no, what?” Lexi barked “Yes you did it? Start right there, and spare me no details!”

  “Oh shit, Lex. I just had the most amazing night of my life,” she crooned. “I have to drive home, but I can’t seem to get my head out of the clouds.”

  Tia heard voices in the background. She heard Lexi tell Ryan that she was on the line and said, “Ryan says ‘hi.’”

  “Hi back.”

  Tia heard Ryan’s muffled voice, and then Lexi returned to the phone. “He just said Jace was looking for you. He called Ryan a little bit ago and asked if you were here.”

  She remembered her last conversation with Jace and scowled. He was the furthest thing from her mind, and she wanted it to stay that way. “That’s just what I don’t need right now. If he calls again, just say I’m out for the day and you have no idea where I am. And don’t give him my cell number.”

  “Got it. Hold on a sec. Let me get somewhere quieter.” Tia heard her relay the information to Ryan in case he got another call from Jace, and then heard the smack of the kiss she planted on him. Lexi came back on the line after a minute, breathing heavily. “OK, I’m all ears and uninterrupted. Best night of your life, huh? Please, please, tell me quick!”

  “There’s nothing quick about it. Where are you, anyway?” She looked at her watch and saw it was just past two o’clock. “It sounds like a party.”

  “I’m at the damned Memorial Day picnic. At the club? Are you coming? Then you could tell me all about it, and we could tell everyone here about your weekend. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces…”

  “No, sorry Lex,” Tia interrupted. The club was the last place she wanted to be today, especially if Jace was looking for her. Plus, her parents would be there, and she had to figure out how she was going to explain to them that she was going to be spending the summer in Europe with a guy she’d just met. She needed some time to wrap her own head around the whole thing first. “I’m not coming to the picnic.”

  “Aw, Tia…”

  “I didn’t sleep at all last night. I’m completely wiped.”

  “Holy crap!” she shouted. “No sleep at all? Sounds positively wonderful!”

  “Oh man, it really was,” Tia crooned. “But it gets even better—oh shit, I can hardly believe it!” She paused, trying to comprehend it herself, and took a deep breath before continuing. “You’re never going to guess what he asked me,” she said conspiratorially.

  “Tell me!”

  “I know this is going to ruin your day, but you still can’t tell anyone about us.”

  “Please don’t tell me that—I’m close to bursting already, and I’ve only been here for an hour!” She hesitated, and then asked, “Wait a minute--why can’t I tell? What did he ask you?”

  Tia dropped her voice to an excited whimper, “You can’t tell because I’m going to see him again!”

  Tia had to hold the phone away from her ear as Lexi screamed. “OH MY GOD! Seriously? When? Isn’t he headed for Cleveland, or something?”

  “Yeah, he’s on his way there right now. Oh God, Lex. I still can’t believe I’m saying this. I can’t believe I’m living this!” She took another deep breath before continuing and pushed her fingers through her hair, willing her heart to beat a normal rhythm and failing miserably. “He asked me to go on the summer tour with him!” she nearly squealed.

  “No fucking way! In Europe? That’s the one in Europe, isn’t it?”

  “Yep. Fifteen countries in ten weeks. And I get to spend it all with Dylan!”

  “You are the luckiest bitch on the planet,” she breathed. “I mean, except for…” her voice dropped off.

  “I know, right? I’ll always love Nick; he’ll always be a part of me. I never in a million years dreamed that I’d meet anyone so soon, or that I could ever feel this way again about anybody. But Dylan is so…oh God, I don’t even know a word strong enough to explain it!”

  “I’m so happy for you Honey! The whole summer touring Europe—with InHap? Wow! But I’m miserable for me you know—this is killing me! I thought for sure that I could start telling people today—wait—are you telling me that I can’t say anything for three whole months? I don’t know if I can stand it!”

  “You can stand it. Especially if you want to join me for ten incredible days of the tour—Dylan suggested I invite you so we could hang out and so I wouldn’t miss home too much.”

  “No way!” she exclaimed. “Seriously? He wants me to come?”

  “Seriously. He’s even picking up the tab. First class and everything!” She held the phone away from her ear as Lexi squealed excitedly at the news.

  “Holy shit that is one fine man you’ve got yourself there! When can I come? Which country?”

  “We’re spending a full week in England, and then going to Amsterdam for three days. Dylan lived in London for a few years when he was first starting out, and they’ve got a big following there. He’s got some old friends, too, that he’s going to get to see while we’re there. They’ve got a bunch of publicity stuff to do too, you know, like interviews, radio and TV spots, that kind of thing, so they’ll be pretty busy. You could meet us there and we could shop, sightsee…”

  Tia could hear Lexi losing it on the line, and just knew that she was about to burst, probably dancing around the lawn. “I’m going to London,” she was singing into the phone.

  “Calm down before someone hears you!” Tia warned, but she couldn’t help but laugh. Lexi started singing her chant more softly, “I’m going to London!”

  “OK, now get your head back on straight and get serious for a minute.” She waited for Lexi’s breathing to settle down before continuing. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot, Lex, and I still really don’t want anyone to know about Dylan and me yet. I obviously can’t just disappear for three months without an explanation, but I think I’m just going to tell people I’m studying over there for the summer or something—I haven’t come up with my story yet, but I’m working on it. I’m sure I will be studying somewhere along the way—the museums there, the architecture…I just don’t want any weird attention because I’m dating someone famous, and… ” She stopped herself and gripped the steering wheel tight enough to make her knuckles go white. “Holy shit, I can’t believe I just said that. I’m dating Dylan Miller!”

  “I know! How incredible is that?”

  “Incredibly incredible!” she said, singing. “I still think it might be a dream. Although I do still have the marks from last night…”

  “Oh yes, please, get back to those details, will you already? I’m dying here!”

  “First give me your word that you can keep quiet about this—even while I’m gone.”

  Lexi sucked in a loud breath. “It’s going to suck eggs, but I promise. You’re studying, that’s all,” she repeated with a pout.

  “Who knows how the summer is going to go? We may decide we’re not as compatible as we think we are; and there’s still New Zealand coming up in the fall. He’ll be 10,000 miles away for months, and I’ll be back at work. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and until I do, I don’t want to say anything. I have no problem saying I’m seeing someone, I just don’t want to tell anyone exactly who it is right now, OK?”

  “Fine, Fine,” Lexi complied, “But tell me this--were you compatible last night?” she asked with an evil grin in her voice.
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br />   Tia’s tone changed immediately. “Oh yeah,” she gloated. “Extremely compatible.”

  Lexi squealed into the phone again. “You know I’m jumping up and down right now, right? I can’t contain myself! But I swear I’ll keep your secret. It may kill me, but I’ll do it. And I get to come meet you in London? When?”

  “Jessa’s going to email me the itinerary. I’ll have dates for you by tomorrow.”

  “And details! How many times do I have to ask for them? Spill!”

  Tia grinned. “Let’s just say it was incredibly awesome, in the truest sense of the word. He is so incredibly hot—especially naked—and his talents are many.” She giggled, and couldn’t help but to blurt out the bad joke. “He definitely played me like a finely tuned instrument.”

  “OOHHH! God, I’m so jealous! I don’t even know what to say!” Her voice dropped. “Shit. Ryan’s heading my way, probably to see why I’m making such an ass of myself in front of all his country club friends. I’m serious, I’m close to bursting! Are you sure you won’t come for just a little while? We could find a quiet corner to talk.”

  “All I want to do today is go home and get some sleep. Maybe take a hot bath. Plus, I need some time to absorb all this. It’s been one hellova weekend, and I’ve got a ton to do over the next couple weeks, including finishing out the school year, which is always a pain in the ass. I can’t even believe that I’m going to be back in my classroom tomorrow—I have no idea how I’m going to be able to concentrate on work after the weekend I just had! Then I don’t even know how to begin packing for a ten week trip. Not today, Lex, sorry. Want to come over for dinner tomorrow? It’ll be simple, but I can throw something together.”

  “I’ll be there, definitely—and don’t worry about cooking; I’ll pick up some Chinese on my way. Now I better go before Ryan gets to me and reads it all on my face—I’m so excited right now!”

  Chapter 19

  Tia barely remembered the ride home. She was on autopilot, weaving through heavier than usual Memorial Day traffic while her mind raced a mile a minute, much faster than the traffic allowed her car to go. Europe! For the whole summer! With Dylan! Her mind kept going back and forth between elation and disbelief. By the time she pulled into her driveway, all she could think about was a cup of tea, a hot bath, and her bed. She would rest up today, and start planning her summer tomorrow with Lexi’s help. She reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed her overnight bag and the enormous vase of flowers. She’d only taken three steps toward the door when the voice stopped her.