by Linda Ellen
Then, as if seasoned lovers, they instinctively moved as one, joining together in total bliss, power, and passion.
For the rest of the night, they made sure that the Honeymoon Suite at the Brown had never seen two people more in love, nor more united in heart, soul, and body.
‡
CHAPTER 18
Love’s Glow Continues
A glow of bright sunlight made its way around the draperies in Suite 601, illuminating the peaceful slumbering faces of the couple entwined in the large bed.
Louise awoke first, her eyes slowly opening and lazily focusing on the beautiful sight right in front of her eyes – her rings. The large-stoned engagement ring, along with the gold band Vic had slid onto her finger the day before, were shimmering in the morning light as her hand lay comfortably on Vic’s chest. She stayed still, wondering what time it was – and wondering what time they had finally drifted off to sleep. Breathing in slowly, she savored the now familiar masculine scent of her new husband’s warm body as he slept soundly, his arms draped loosely around her waist and shoulders.
Not wishing to wake him just yet, she lay there allowing her thoughts to ramble at will regarding everything that had occurred the day before…their heartfelt vows in the tiny wedding chapel…the fun and laughs at their surprise reception…the excitement and new experiences of eating dinner in the main dining room of the Brown Hotel, and dancing at the famed Club Madrid. Remembering the photograph taken by the girl with the large black camera, and her candid advice, Louise smiled, realizing neither of them had even looked at the photo before Vic slipped it into a pocket of his jacket. She looked forward to seeing it.
Then, of course, her musings touched on their romantic and passionate time together right there in their honeymoon bed. Thinking of that, she had to suppress a tiny shiver of excitement. Vic had been everything she had always dreamed he’d be, and more. The memory of the confessions and declarations they had shared came back and warmed her heart all over again.
The word ‘confessions’ prompted another memory, that of Vic telling her the truth about the illusive ‘job’ he was doing.
“Babe…I need to tell you something…” he had murmured in the wee hours of the morning, after they had spent most of the night giving one another pleasure and thoroughly consummating their wedding vows.
For a moment, she had felt a catch in her heart, unable to imagine what he was about to confess. He’d hesitated, hemming and hawing, and causing trepidation to rise.
“What is it, Vic?” she had asked softly, unconsciously holding her breath.
Finally, he had cleared his throat and stammered, “I, uh…remember that I told ya I was workin’ for a man I knew…Steve Baugh?”
She slowly nodded, trying to calm her racing heart. What in the world was he about to tell her?
“Well, see…I knew him from the couple of times I worked the betting windows at the track. He’s the betting manager out there. And, uh…see he’s got this gig on the side…”
Suddenly, the wheels had started spinning in Louise’s mind. He’d told her the job was sales, and that it was across the street and down a bit from B-Line’s dispatch. Sonny, one day a few weeks back, had mentioned that he’d heard a place across from the dispatch, Benbey Cigar’s, was a suspected bookie joint, though how he knew that, Louise had no idea. Sonny had made a jesting comment that he hoped Vic’s job wasn’t anywhere near that in case the place got raided.
Looking directly at her new husband, she had blurted, “Are you trying to tell me you work in a bookie joint?”
Vic’s mouth fell open in surprise. He hadn’t thought she was even familiar with the term.
“Uh…yeah…that’s about the size of it,” he’d acknowledged, holding his own breath as he waited for her reaction.
She had lain there, mulling it over. Of course, she knew that it was an illegal enterprise and that she should be shocked and disappointed in him…but focusing on his face in the shadowy light of their room, she could see that he was thoroughly uncomfortable with the situation. Any time she had asked how he was doing on his job, a shadow had crossed his countenance and he had soon changed the subject. At that moment, he seemed to be on pins and needles waiting for her to react. She had toyed for a minute with pretending to be angry and bawl him out for it, but after all they had said and done together in the hours before, she hadn’t had the heart to tease him like that.
So, she had reached out and cupped his face, giving him a gentle smile. “You were afraid I’d be mad?”
He had drawn in a careful breath, murmuring, “Yeah…or shocked…or disappointed…or something.” Then rushing on, he had added, “But babe, I’m only gonna do that until I get hired on somewhere, I swear. Steve knows that, too.”
She had nodded, Sonny’s words coming back to her as she asked, “Is it dangerous? I mean…you could get arrested, couldn’t you?” The thought of that sent chills down her spine.
He’d shrugged, making light of it. “We’re careful. And it’s a small operation. Steve says he only started it to get him through the off seasons at the track. He don’t have any dreams of running a numbers racket or anything.”
Another thought had surfaced, and she asked, grinning impishly, “So…how did he get this room for us? It must be costing a fortune…”
At that, Vic had grinned and then chuckled. “Now that’s a story. See, it seems that the night manager for the Brown has a weakness for the ponies. He’s one of Steve’s biggest customers. And he had a string of bad luck. Was into Steve for a pretty good pot. So he’d kind of offered to trade a night or two at the hotel for part of his debt. Steve said he didn’t have much use for that, but when I mentioned we were gettin’ married, he said he had the perfect weddin’ present. So – here we are.” Pausing a minute, he added seriously, “You gotta keep this just between us, though, or Steve could get in a whole lot of trouble. That manager’d probably get axed, too.”
Louise giggled softly and shook her head in wonder, truly on the fence about it. On the one hand, it was illegal, but only because of tax reasons, since betting on horse races was legal at Churchill Downs, for Pete’s sake. But on the other hand, she knew that Vic was still keeping his eye out for something legitimate he could do. She should be mad that he’d lied to her…but he really hadn’t. He’d only omitted certain facts and she hadn’t pressed him for details. Deciding to let him off the hook, she had leaned in and given him a sound kiss on the lips, murmuring, “You just be careful and don’t get yourself arrested. And – what would Doc and Irene say?”
He had kissed her back with gusto, but then grimaced at her last statement. “Yeah…I hope they never find out.” Truly, the thought of seeing disappointment in Irene’s eyes, or even Doc’s, made him cringe inside. In spite of the fact that Doc had been forced to turn them down in their request to perform their wedding, Vic still admired, respected, and loved the man. After his initial hurt had subsided, he had come to realize the truth of the situation. Doc had been over a barrel.
“Morning beautiful,” a sleepy voice interrupted Louise’s thoughts.
She tilted her head back, meeting the warm, sexy brown eyes of her husband.
“Good morning, handsome.”
He leaned forward for a good morning kiss and she squirmed a bit as his coarse morning whiskers scratched her chin. When he pulled back, he murmured intimately, “How you feel this mornin’? You okay?”
Almost blushing at his obvious meaning, that of their repeated and quite vigorous lovemaking of the night before, she wasn’t about to tell him she was feeling the effects of it.
“I’m fine.”
Searching her eyes, and deciding she was telling the truth, he smiled and nodded. “Good.”
“I do have one pain, though,” she admitted quite seriously, suppressing the urge to giggle at his immediate concern.
“Pain? Oh Babe…”
“Yes – in my stomach. I’m starving,” she chuckled as her stomach growled as if wishing to
give witness.
He relaxed and laughed with her as his own stomach, right on cue, rumbled quite noisily.
“I guess I am, too. Seems we worked up an appetite, huh?” he added, the risqué tone in his voice and the knowing gleam in his eyes truly making her blush. Something about the bright light of day made everything seem almost naughty. Well…almost, but not quite.
“Want to order room service?” she suggested, thinking she had seen that in the movies so many times and had always wanted to say those words.
“Sounds good. Checkout’s at eleven and…I didn’t want to waste none of our time,” he confided, their eyes meeting in perfect understanding.
“What time is it now?”
Leaning back and reaching behind him to his watch laying on the nightstand, he picked it up and squinted at the dial. “About eight.”
So, after locating the menu in the nightstand drawer and making their selections, Vic called down to the front desk to place their order, after which he was told it would be at least fifteen minutes.
After hanging up the phone, Vic turned to watch his wife languidly stretching on top of the covers like a lovely feline as she watched him walk back to the bed. The sight of her smooth curves made his blood heat up, and he knew he would never tire of watching her, as everything she did fascinated him. His eyes caressed her satiny dark hair, the peachy silk of her face, and those hazel eyes – which at the moment were a deep pine green, and gazing at him quite fetchingly.
“They said fifteen minutes. Hmm…wonder how we can pass the time…” he teased, his voice low and sexy.
Louise chuckled softly and reached to pull him her down on top of her as she mumbled, “I think I have an idea…”
*
“Oh, this feels so good,” Louise purred as she stretched her arms above her head and closed her eyes in pure bliss.
After partaking of some delightful morning loving, and a delicious breakfast of Brioche French Toast with fresh berries and warm maple syrup, a spinach omelet, and the best cups of coffee they had ever had, Louise had insisted that she couldn’t wait another minute to take a bath.
Now, she lay back languidly in the large tub in their private bathroom, the water barely covering her chest. “I could sure get used to this,” she sighed huskily. The hot sudsy water lapped at two shapely curves. This delighted her husband, who was watching her in the mirror as he stood at the sink shaving, making risqué remarks about why and how much extra his beard had grown during the night.
When he finished, he wiped his face and neck before turning to gaze down at her, totally unashamed of his nakedness.
Louise opened her eyes and glanced at him, her gaze following the line of his body, pausing at the center, and then meeting his eyes. “Don’t you ever get enough?” she teased with mock affront.
He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “It’s just what you do to me, babe.”
“Mmm, I see.”
He braced his feet, clearly proud of his physique, and quite thrilled that his wife was so responsive. “How ’bout I join ya? I could use a bath.”
The thought of that made her heart speed up, and she agreed with a nod. “It’s a large tub, I think there’s room.”
Pleased, he stepped in, but instead of slipping in behind her as she had expected, he positioned himself facing her, guiding her legs up over top of his thighs. With him adding to the displacement, the water almost reached the rim of the tub, spilling just a bit over the side with their movements.
They spent the next little while sensually washing one another, while indulging in some very heated, wet kisses, the water sloshing more and more and making quite a mess. Finally, with a growl, Vic took hold of her waist and stood up out of the lukewarm water as he scooped her into his arms, barely breaking their kiss.
They left a wet and very telling trail all the way to the bed.
*
At five minutes after eleven, Vic and Louise stood together at the front desk as Vic returned their room key. Their hands clasped tightly, Louise held their entwined arms close to her body. Both were trying not to display silly grins.
The manager, who had welcomed them the day before, now looked up from his notations and smiled at their appearance. He remembered when they had checked in and how nervous the young woman had seemed, and how tense the man. They had obviously conquered those problems. Making sure he wasn’t obvious, he allowed himself a brief moment to cast an appreciative glance at Louise’s attire, a lovely form fitting flowered dress. Her coat hung over her arm.
“I hope you enjoyed your stay at the Brown. I trust everything was satisfactory?” he asked his normal question, although he could tell by the looks on their faces that the answer was yes, indeed.
“Yeah, everything was great,” Vic answered, feeling Louise squeeze his hand. He forced himself not to turn his head and meet her eyes.
The manager gave a nod and accepted the key, keeping his expression professional, but inside he was thinking a man would have to be blind to not know those two were newlyweds.
“Thank you for choosing the Brown. We hope you will visit us again.”
“Oh, we’d love to,” Louise answered with a sincere smile. “Everything was wonderful.”
The manager nodded again, accepting the praise. “I’m pleased to hear it. Good day now.”
He watched as the couple turned and wandered together down the long length of the lobby, seemingly lost in their own little world. With a touch of envy, he shook his head, thinking he hoped they remembered their address to tell the cab driver.
Then with a sigh and a shrug, he went about his business, none the wiser.
When the couple reached the street, Louise drew in a deep breath, resisting the urge to squeal in happiness. Tilting her head back, she gazed up at the nine-floor building and then into her husband’s amused expression.
“Oh Vic, I loved every minute of our honeymoon night. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.” Then stretching up on tiptoe, she gave him a warm kiss. “Thank you.” Then leaning to whisper in his ear, she added, “And tell Steve I said thanks, too.”
Vic smiled at her, pleased that all of his plans had worked out so well – indeed, even better than he had hoped. “I’ll do that.”
*
Minutes later, they were nestled in the back of a Checker cab, totally lost in one another. Smiling into his wife’s eyes after she had whispered a private comment in his ear, Vic hugged her close, delighting in the enticing scents of orange, jasmine, rose, and vanilla that made up the fragrance she was wearing.
“Mmm, I really like that perfume on you. It’s even better on you than in the bottle. What’s it called again?” he murmured, pressing a lingering kiss behind her ear.
Louise fought to keep her wits about her as his lips made tingles shoot up and down her spine. She moistened her lips, managing to whisper, “Emeraude. It smells heavenly.” Then pulling back a bit to gaze into his eyes, she added, “You’re just full of talents. Even picking out women’s perfume for your wife. Did I thank you for that wedding present?”
He smiled and gave a nod of acknowledgment. “Yes you did. But…I can’t take all the credit.”
“Oh?”
“The sales lady at the drug store helped me pick it out.”
Intrigued, Louise grinned at him, her eyes twinkling. “How’d she do that?”
“I told her my fiancée was a combination of part sweetness, part sass, and part lady. She thought for a minute or two and reached for this one. When I smelled it, it seemed perfect.”
“Mmm, it is. I love it.”
“Good,” he chuckled, nuzzling against her hair.
Glancing up, he happened to catch the driver’s eye in the mirror before the man switched his gaze forward again. Vic just grinned, figuring the man was probably jealous – and he didn’t blame him a bit.
A few minutes later, the driver turned the corner and pulled up behind Vic’s car out front of his room above the café. Vic paid him and they got ou
t, the man retrieving their bags from the trunk. Once the taxi drove away, Vic transferred their bags to the rumble seat of his car. Although he suggested she wait by the car, Louise, curious to see where her husband had been living for the last few months, followed Vic up the stairs as he went to retrieve something out of his room. It gave her a bit of a thrill to look around and see the evidence of his habitation. A full size brass bed, dominated the room – unmade. A basket full of dirty clothes sat in one corner, while ashtrays full of cigarette butts sat on several surfaces. A bureau by the door held what personal items he hadn’t taken with him to the Brown, as well as a small radio. A corner desk with a lamp sat next to the large front window, the surface of which held assorted papers and books. She spotted a trashcan on the floor next to the desk – it was crammed full.
As she turned to him, the sheepish look on his face made her chuckle.
“I…uh…I’ve been meanin’ to clean up in here…just been busy,” he mumbled as he quickly spread up the bed and tried to tidy up. He then hurriedly grabbed a few items he thought he might need and shooed her out the door ahead of him.
A few moments later, they were on their way to the apartment Louise had shared with her family, discussing when they would go to Irene’s and pick up Tommy.
As they were riding down Breckinridge, Vic glanced over and spotted a sign in the front yard of a big apartment house near the corner.
“Hey, look at that,” he murmured, indicating the direction with a nod.
Louise looked over and read the sign as they passed. “Furnished room for rent…I wonder…”
The couple met one another’s eyes, both thinking the same thing. The fact of their marriage had been the cause of a bit of angst for Lilly and Billy, although Louise’s mother and brother had said they didn’t want the couple to have to keep waiting indefinitely. The problem remained, however, that the one bedroom apartment wasn’t logistically right for the new living situation. The couple would need privacy. Vic had maintained that he would keep his room above the café for a while, for occasions when he and Louise may need time alone, while more suitable arrangements could be made.