by Hunter Rose
But those feelings also come with some residual wariness. Which probably has to be expected after how things between us ended last time. I mean, now that I know the reasons why things went the way they did, it obviously changes my feelings about it. But I can’t just shake all the after-effects that easily. Like sticky cobwebs, they continue to cling to me.
There are questions that need to be asked and answered. Decisions that need to be made. But those can be put off for another day. For now, I’m happy with where we’re at – labels and definitions or not.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Gladwell,” I say.
“Merrick,” he insists. “Please.”
I give him a smile, and he turns his attention to Kinsey, favoring her with an almost grandfatherly expression.
“And who do we have here?” he asks her.
Kinsey grins and gets shy, burying her face in Roman’s shoulder. Merrick laughs and has a wistful look on his face, as if he’s perhaps remembering his own children at that age.
“Merrick, this is Kinsey,” Roman says. “My daughter.”
The older man’s eyes widen slightly, but then a very happy smile touches his lips. “I believe your mother will be very happy to meet this little bundle of joy.”
Kinsey looks at Merrick and laughs, then turns away again.
“Will you be staying long, sir?”
Roman cuts me a glance and smiles. “Probably a few days,” he nods. “We’re not sure yet. We’re just kind of playing it by ear.”
“Well, any time you spend here with us is welcome,” he says. “I’ll have your bags brought to your rooms, sir. I’ve had your old room made up for you, and I’ll set straight away to the one across the hall for Miss Scarlet and Miss Kinsey.”
“Thank you, Merrick,” Roman says. “You are still the absolute best.”
“Thank you, sir,” the older man tells him. “Your mother is waiting for you in the solarium.”
Still carrying Kinsey with one arm, Roman takes my hand with his other. He leads me up the stairs and across the wide porch. As we step through the door and into the foyer of his childhood home, I draw in a sharp breath. I look around and whistle low. We are most definitely not in Kansas anymore. As beautiful as it is outside, the house is even more gorgeous on the inside.
The foyer is large and round, the floor – like everything else I can see – is done in a rich, polished dark wood. Directly in front of us is a wide staircase that leads up to a landing that branches off into hallways that run to the left and to the right. From where I stand, I see a couch and a couple of large wingback chairs sitting in front of three large windows. It looks like there is a sitting room of sorts up on that landing. A massive crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling in the center of the foyer, but that’s the only thing that seems overly ostentatious about the place.
For somebody with the money these people obviously have, I would have expected gold plating or some other garish display of wealth. But everything from the furniture I can see, to the antiques on display, to the art on the walls is tasteful. Perhaps even a little understated, if anything. Everything screams class, culture, and sophistication. And I’ve never been more intimidated stepping into a house before in my life.
Roman sets Kinsey down, and she’s as caught up looking around at everything as I am. He’s looking at us with a small smile on his lips, giving us a minute to take it all in. I guess if you grew up thinking this was normal, you might not be as awe struck by it.
I give him a smile. “I think I may want to move in here.”
He laughs softly. “You’d give up a view of the ocean for this?”
“I might.”
He whistles low and then laughs. “Come on, let’s go meet my mom.”
As we walk down the hallway, I feel Roman growing more tense with every step. I noticed that Merrick didn’t mention his father earlier, which tells me he either knows of their strained relationship – which, I don’t see how he couldn’t – or the elder Wheeler isn’t here. I’m kind of hoping for the latter, just because I don’t want to see Roman upset.
We step into a room that’s made almost entirely of glass. The sun beats down on it, filling the space with warmth. There are two oversized plush couches sitting across from one another, with a glass coffee table set between them. At the far end of the room are two large, comfortable-looking chairs set side by side with a small, round table made of glass separating them. They’re the kind of chairs I think I could fall asleep in.
And it’s in one of those chairs we find an older woman I assume has to be Roman’s mom – Marjory Wheeler. She gets to her feet as we enter, the smile on her face comically wide. She’s beautiful. She’s a tall, thin woman – maybe five-ten – has gray hair that’s cut and styled in a neat bob, and eyes that are a deep, dark blue. Her skin is smooth and totally flawless. She looks a lot younger than I know her to be, and she carries herself with a regal bearing. She wouldn’t look out of place sitting on a throne in one of those old royal courts.
“Roman,” she beams. “I am so thrilled you’re here. You have absolutely made my year, sweetheart.”
Roman walks over and gives her a tight embrace. “I’ve missed you.”
She takes a step back and smiles, slapping him playfully on the shoulder. “Then you should come home more often.”
Roman turns and motions for Kinsey and I to take a step forward. Letting out a silent breath, I steel myself. I take Kinsey’s hand and step forward, my heart fluttering wildly in my chest. As we cross the room, I can feel her eyes pressing down on me. I see her taking me in from head to toe, and like her son, she seems to have that ability to see into me. Through me.
I look down at Kinsey, who is being unusually quiet – she seems to somehow innately understand the gravity of this moment. Every step I take toward Roman’s mother makes my heart thump harder, and I feel my stomach roiling. I feel nauseous. Like I could throw up any second.
“And who do we have here?” she smiles.
Her voice is rich and flows over me like honey, and when I look into her eyes, I see nothing but kindness.
“Mom, this is Scarlet,” he introduces me and then puts his hand on Kinsey’s shoulder. “And this is Kinsey. My daughter.”
It seems to take a second for the words to sink in. When they do, I watch Marjory’s eyes grow wider than dinner plates. She covers her mouth with her trembling hands, and I watch the color flare in her cheeks at the same time her eyes well with tears.
“Kinsey,” Roman continues. “This is Grandma Marjory.”
“D – daughter?” Marjory whispers.
Roman nods. “Yes. Your granddaughter.”
Marjory falls to her knees and puts her hand on Kinsey’s shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. Kinsey is surprisingly standing still, not saying a word. And when Marjory pulls our daughter to her in a tight embrace, my little girl throws her arms around the back of her grandmother’s neck, returning her hug.
The tears are rolling down Marjory’s cheeks as she pulls back and looks into our little girl’s eyes again, the look of absolute rapture on her face unmistakable.
“It is so nice to meet you, Kinsey,” she whispers softly. “You have no idea how happy I am to meet you.”
Kinsey smiles at her and says something that sounds roughly like, ‘It’s nice to meet you too, grandma Marjory.’ It’s close enough that we all burst into laughter, but Marjory’s tears of joy flow even harder. Roman was serious about how badly she wanted him to give her a grandchild.
Eventually, she gets back to her feet, trying to dry her eyes with as much dignity as she can muster, but the sheer joy on her face makes me feel good.
“I’m sorry, where are my manners?” Marjory says, quickly composing herself. “It’s so wonderful to meet you, Scarlet. Welcome to our family.”
I open my mouth to reply, but the older woman pulls me into a tight, bone-crushing embrace. She’s surprisingly strong, and as she wraps me up, I can’t help but laugh. After se
veral long moments, she steps back and gives me the warmest smile I’ve ever received from another person.
“I guess you have a story to tell me,” she winks, addressing both Roman and I.
Roman chuckles and nods. “I guess we do.”
“I can’t wait to hear it,” she declares. “I’ll have Tina bring us some refreshments.”
Roman clears his throat, and his face darkens. “Where is he?”
Marjory purses her lips. “He’s in Atlanta giving a talk.”
“Of course he is,” Roman scoffs.
He sounds irritated, but I can see him visibly relax. I can tell he’s glad his father isn’t here.
“He should be home tomorrow, though,” she throws in. “He’s excited to see you.”
Roman’s bark of laughter is sharp and brittle. “Yeah, I’m sure he is.”
“Roman –”
He shrugs. “No need to cover for him, Mom. It’s okay. I don’t really care,” he says. “We’re here because I wanted you to meet your granddaughter.”
“Speaking of which, let me go speak with Tina,” she says, offering Kinsey her hand. “Would you like to come with me, Kinsey?”
Kinsey looks back at us, and I give her an encouraging nod. I can see how much having a grandbaby means to Roman’s mom. I want to make sure Kinsey is comfortable around her. Kinsey reaches up and takes Marjory’s hand, and her smile grows wide. The two of them walk off together, whispering excitedly to one another as they go.
Roman pulls me over to one of the plush couches, and we sink into it. I lean into him, comforted by the feeling of his body against mine. And as horrible as it is to think it when his mom is just in the other room, I’d like to feel so much more right now.
But I do my best to push those thoughts away. The last thing I need is to sit here in the same room as his mom, dripping wet and distracted because I’m more focused on wanting to feel her son inside of me than I am on the conversation at hand.
“Your mom is great,” I say once they leave the room.
“She really is,” he agrees. “I’m lucky to have her.”
A few minutes later, Marjory and Kinsey come flouncing back into the room, each of them giggling and drinking what looks like chocolate milkshakes. They drop onto the couch opposite of us, chattering away wildly. Old friends already.
“So glad to see the two of you getting on so well,” Roman notes.
“Kinsey is a very bright girl, and she’s a pleasure to talk to,” his mom says. “Tina will be in with refreshments. And now, I believe the two of you have a story to tell me.”
“That we do,” Roman says with a sidelong glance at me.
We clear our throats and then begin our story where it began – in Syria.
28
Roman
After showing Scarlet and Kinsey to their room, I stepped into mine, shutting the door behind me. Tina already had a fire going, making the room a little too warm for me, so I opened the window, letting the cool night air flow in, making it far more comfortable. I drop down into the chair at the table in the far corner of the room and pop open my laptop.
I’m not quite tired enough to go to sleep just yet, so I decide to make a Skype call to John Truss, a local contractor in L.A. that I’m friends with, about a matter I want to discuss with him. It’s three hours earlier where he is, so it’s not quite as late there. I sit back in my seat and look at John’s image on the computer screen. It looks like he’s still in the office.
“You keep working late like this and Molly is going to kick your ass.”
He sighs and runs a hand over his face as he shakes his head. He looks frustrated, and I can tell whatever’s going on over there isn’t good.
“Dealing with a big project we had a couple of hiccups on,” he groans. “Where are you?”
“Chicago.”
He grimaces. “And how’s that going for you?”
“So far, so good,” I respond. “But my father is apparently due home tomorrow.”
“Yikes. Good luck with that.”
“Thanks, man,” I grin ruefully. “Anyway listen, I’m sending some files over to you for a new project.”
“We rehabbing your house again?”
I shake my head. “Nah, not this time. Something different,” I continue. “But if this is a bad time, it’s something that can wait. It’s not super pressing.”
“It’s all good, man. Send the files over,” he nods. “Let me have a look.”
“I appreciate it, John.”
“Anytime, man. I’ll have a look at what you’re sending over and get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Thank you,” I reply. “And like I said, it’s not urgent, so take your time.”
“Talk to you soon.”
The screen goes blank as he disconnects the call. I roll my neck, working the kinks out of it as I reflect on the day. Having spent a long afternoon that flowed into the evening getting caught up with my mom – and watching her happily dote on Kinsey all day – it was time to retire. Without my father there with us, it was a great day. It was relaxed and mellow, the entire day filled with lots of easy conversation and laughter – all things we would not have had if my father was here.
I admit that I was a little nervous when we walked into the solarium earlier today. I wasn’t entirely sure how my mom was going to react to having a granddaughter. I mean, I was relatively sure she was going to react positively. She’s been on my ass about having a child of my own, after all. But there was still that sliver of fear that it wouldn’t go well simply because it was so sudden and came entirely out of the blue.
So to see her take to Kinsey so instantly, welcoming her – and Scarlet for that matter – into the family was a relief. It made me incredibly happy. She and Scarlet really hit it off, and by the end of the night, were as thick as thieves.
I sit back in my seat and stare into the flames, feeling good about how everything is playing out. I know I still have to deal with my father, but that’s a bridge I’ll cross when I come to it. As I sit there, unwinding and trying to get myself to relax enough to crawl into bed and go to sleep, there’s a soft knock at the door.
I figure it’s either Tina or Merrick checking on me one last time before they turn in.
“Come in,” I call out.
I keep staring into the flames when I hear the door open and then close a moment later. It’s unusual that they’d shut the door, so I look up and see Scarlet slinking into the room wearing a short, pink robe made of satin that clings to her curves, the neck of it open enough that it displays a tantalizing amount of cleavage. The moment I see her moving across the room, watch the sway of her hips, and the way her breasts bounce with every step, I feel my cock growing hard.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
She gives me a languid shrug, running the tip of her tongue around her lips, stoking the fires of lust within me.
“I couldn’t help but notice that we’re all alone in this wing of the house,” she whispers, sliding her hands up her body and cupping her breasts.
“Yeah, my mom’s room is in the other wing all the way on the other side of the house,” I inform her, eyes glued to her hands. “Might as well be on the moon.”
“Kinsey’s fast asleep. She’s exhausted and will probably sleep through the night. I think playing with your mom all day wore her out,” she purrs. “I can’t sleep, and golly, I just don’t know what I’m going to do with myself.”
I give her a smile as I look her up and down, my pulse starting to race as the lust for her that’s burning inside of me begins to rise.
“Oh well, maybe we can play, and I can wear you out,” I grin. “You know, just to help you sleep and all.”
“Oh, of course.”
Scarlet slinks over and sits down in my lap, clasping her hands behind my neck. She looks into my eyes as a sultry smile plays across her full, pouty lips. She feels my thick cock pressing against her hip and wiggles herself against it, her leonine smile growing even
wider.
“Well hello,” she says as she glances pointedly down at my crotch. “What have we here?”
“Dessert,” I grin.
Scarlet stands up and pulls me to my feet. She immediately sinks to her knees and makes quick work of my belt. She has my pants and boxers down around my knees in the blink of an eye, and the second the tip of her tongue touches the head of my cock, I feel like I just grabbed a live wire.
She grips the base of my cock hard and starts to jerk me off. At the same time, she swirls her tongue around the head, flicking it against the soft, sensitive underside. I draw in a sharp breath when she leans forward and takes me all the way into her mouth. She sucks and strokes my cock, her mouth and hand moving in unison, sending bolts of lightning shooting through me.
I reach down and grip her hair, pulling it tight as I start to move my hips, thrusting my cock into her mouth. I start slow, building a rhythm, but I can’t contain myself. I go faster and faster. As I fuck her mouth, Scarlet slips a hand underneath her robe and starts to work her pussy over with her fingers, her moans of pleasure vibrating along the length of my shaft. The sensation of it drives me absolutely crazy.
Scarlet pulls back and stands up, letting her robe slip from her body, where it pools around her feet. I lick my lips as I gaze at her naked body, drawing a sharp breath. I watch the firelight and shadows flickering upon her soft, creamy skin, making her curves grow softer, then harder, then softer again. I kick my shoes off and step out of my pants, and as if by some form of magic, Scarlet produces a condom. She makes quick work of the packaging, tossing it to the ground as she steps over and rolls it down my shaft.
That done, Scarlet pushes me back down onto the chair and climbs back into my lap, straddling me. She leans forward, her lips brushing my ear which sends a shiver running down my spine.