Sweet Little Lies (14 page)

I
was so ready to end this evening, and from the look on Christina’s face as she marched in my direction, so was she. I was curious to see how she’d handle this situation. If three women I had slept with were all in the same place at the same time, talking to each other, I’m not sure I’d look as serene as she did.

Her first stop was Lynne. I know that was her girl, but Lynne was mad jealous of Christina. The fact that she hit on both me and Dante in the span of thirty minutes told me all I needed to know about her. I didn’t catch what Christina whispered in her ear, but Lynne nodded and headed toward the door, escorted by Carey and Clarke. I took a step closer.

Next, Christina stepped over to Lisa and slid a hand under her elbow. “Lisa, you’ve done a great job covering this event tonight. Why don’t you make sure to send me your travel expenses for the weekend and I’ll make sure Valiant covers them.”

Lisa stood with her mouth open, shocked at the offer.“Uh, thanks. Okay.”

“As a matter of fact, why don’t you stay over through
Monday so we can toss around a few of your ideas on how to broaden your show?”

“Are you drunk?”

“I’m seriously sober. Now if you’ll excuse me, I want to talk to Stefani for a minute. Thanks.”With that, she sent Lisa packing.

She stood and faced my twin straight on.“I know I haven’t always done the right thing by your brother, but I genuinely care about him and I hope you’ll give me a chance.”

I almost choked on my scotch. She just said words to my sister that I didn’t think she would have said to me for months yet. Definitely good words and words I wanted to hear, but was I okay with her declaring feelings to my sister before me?

“He’s my only sibling,” Stefani announced with a skeptical eye on Christina.

“I know. You must be so proud of him. He’s actually doing what he set out to do. How great is that?”

Got her. Stefani’s face softened and they both turned to look at me.“He is pretty great, isn’t he?”

Christina smiled. “One of the good ones. I think I see Marcus gesturing to you.”

Stefani gave me a hug. I leaned down. “You’re gonna like her, sis.” She didn’t hug Christina, but she touched the back of her hand as she went past.

“I’ll see you both soon.” Stefani strolled toward her husband.

Having dispatched the women, Christina turned her attention to us.“It’s such a small world. Dante, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course,
querida
, whenever wherever.”

She pulled him to the side and spoke into his ear, quickly using her hands to emphasize her points. When she finished talking she took a step back and extended her hand.“Apology accepted?”

He flipped it and kissed the back. “How can I not?” He
held her hand a second longer.“But if you should change your mind…”

She extracted her fingers one at a time.“I know where to find you, Dante, I really do.”

Dante motioned to some people and headed for the door.

I had to hand it to Ms. Brinsley. In less than ten minutes, she had defused a potentially explosive situation. She took three steps and leaned into my side. Automatically, I raised my arm and put it across her shoulders, bundling her close. We fit together as if we’d done this a million times before. We simply fit.

“Why, Perry Marsh, as I live and breathe. How is life over the rainbow?”

“Ooo, shots fired! You look good, baby girl. You must be getting your protein.”

Perry Marsh was tall, whisper-thin, and manscaped. I’d never seen a man with waxed brows before. He was dressed in a winter white wool suit, tan lace-up patent leather shoes, and a suede cape. Yep, a tan suede cape. How did she not know that this ninja was gay? I had no issues with my gay brethren as long as they are on the up-and-up with it. The fact that he strung Christina along until just before their wedding and then came out of the closet didn’t endear Perry to me. And he was just a little too extra for me.

“Perry, seriously. What do you want?”

“Don’t fret, love. It will give you premature wrinkles on that beautiful face. I was in the neighborhood; I just wanted to say hello. I heard on the news that you were going to be here and the guest list intrigued me, darling. I wanted to meet your men. I also wanted to donate some money to this fabulous foundation.”

“We only accept cashier’s items.” Christina’s voice was tart and I recalled her telling me that Perry had not only skipped out on the wedding but the wedding costs as well.

“I brought a cashier’s item.” He took a folded piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Christina.

She looked down at the check, blinked, and back at Perry. “I don’t understand—$78,192.64?”

“That, my darling girl, is the exact amount plus ten years’ interest that you spent on our canceled nuptials.” Okay, I had to give him points for that. That was a class move.

Tears welled up in Christina’s eyes and she blinked them away rapidly.

He leaned forward to kiss her check and whispered, “I never really apologized. I hope this will do.”

She kissed him back. “You’re forgiven. This means a lot. Thank you, Perry.”

“You two be good to each other—Perry out.”

We watched him exit and stood silently for a minute.“And then there was one.” I set my glass down.

“Last man standing is the only one that counts. You ready to get out of here?”

“Would it be ungentlemanly of me to point out that I wanted to skip this shindig in the first place?”

“Quite.”

“Then yes, let’s get out of here.”

“Dr.Williams?” she said in a soft voice that boded well for the rest of the night.

“Yes, Ms. Brinsley?”

“You were brilliant tonight. You made me so proud.”

You really can’t hear that enough from someone you admire. There’s no feeling as great as validation. Those words coming from her lips actually brought a swell of emotions I wasn’t prepared to own yet to the surface. I shoved them back down and took her hand. “Just trying to be worthy of your time and attention.”

She tugged my hand.“S. Dub.”

“Hmm?”

“Take a compliment, will you?”

“Thank you, Christina. Sincerely, thank you. Now, can we be about the business of leaving?”

“Oh, I need to know how your talk with the congressman went and what Lance said and what Dante said and what Lynne said.”

I took my thumb and stroked it across the inside of her wrist.“Do you need to know all of that right this instant?”

She stilled.“Um, no, actually.”

I ran my thumb across the back of her knuckles.“Do you need to hear about that tonight, even?”

She swallowed and resumed walking toward the door. “Not really.”

“I didn’t think so.” We strode toward the exit with determined haste. The banquet was over, but the party was just getting started.

A
cold blast of wind hit my face and I awoke with a start. I was secure in Steven’s arms, being carried to my front door. Blinking twice, I realized that to the limo driver we made an unlikely picture. He was a huge bear of a man, carrying a green clutch purse and green strappy sandals in his large hands. He dug out my key, swung the door open, and took a step back.

I let my head fall back on Steven’s shoulder as he carried me into my home. He turned right and went down the short hallway to my room. He placed me like precious cargo atop the queen-size sleigh bed and kissed my forehead. “Get some sleep, Christina. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

I tightened my grip on his shoulders.“Tomorrow?”

“Technically, I guess it’s later today.”

“You’re not going to stay?” I wasn’t
that
sleepy.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“Do you have to go?”

“Christina,” he said slowly, standing with his hands in his pockets,“do you want me to stay?”

“Do you have somewhere else you want to be?”

“Why can’t you just ask me to stay?” Grown Man Steven again. We locked eyes for a heartbeat. How important was it that I keep any sort of upper hand right now? I stared back into those expressive eyes and officially put myself in check.

“Stay,” I asked with a sigh.“Please.”

His eyes heated with promises of things to come. “Excellent choice. One second.” He tried to straighten up and I gripped him tighter.

It seemed imperative that he know I was serious. I sat up and took his face in my hands to make sure he heard me and understood.“Steven, I want you to stay with me.”

“Then it’s good that I’m staying.” He dropped a kiss on the inside of my palm.

I stroked my hand down his cheek.“Good.”

“Babe, I gotta let the driver go. Unless you want witnesses?”

“No, thank you. I’m trying to live life off of YouTube. Come right back.”

He gave me a lopsided grin that made him look about twelve years old as he took a step toward the door.“I’m coming right back.”

As I was reaching around to unzip my dress on the side, his voice interrupted me.“Don’t do that.”

I froze.“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t get undressed.”

“I’m not sleeping in this formal gown.”

“You’re not sleeping for a while. I want to unwrap you.”

Well, damn. That was undeniably sexy.

“Just lie there and wait for me.”

Grown Man Steven was no joke. I lay back down and waited. Even a month ago, I would have bristled over Steven’s dominant, assumptive approach. But on this night, in this moment, I had to admit that it was nice to let someone else take the wheel and steer. Someone I instinctively knew would not run us off the road, who was headed in the same direction that
I was. I seriously pondered, for the first time years, letting down my guard and just trusting a man with more than the most superficial parts of me. He prowled back into the room and let his jacket slide down his arms.

“I take it I can count on you for a ride home tomorrow?”

“Why would you even ask?”

“It’s starting to drizzle outside,” he said with a slight smile. I watched as he loosened his bow tie and started on his cuff links.

“And?” I prompted him to explain.

He opened his shirt by releasing a stud at a time. “I don’t want to get Dante’d.”

Before I could think to be offended, I was already cracking up.“Did you just say Dante’d—like a verb?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He toed off his shoes, unfastened his pants and let them drop to the ground.“You tossin’ out ninjas buck naked in da streets. All out in da harsh elements and whatnot. I ain’t trying to go out like dat.” He set the cuff links and studs on the bedside table and peeled off his socks.

I reminded myself to breathe as he went about folding his clothes, wearing nothing but extremely tight black boxer briefs that left nothing to the imagination. “Oh, am I getting South side S. Dub or San Fran Steven tonight?”

“That depends.” He walked into the closet and selected a hanger. Aligning the shoulders on his jacket, he hung it on the robe hook attached to the door. Just as calmly, he strolled over to my nightstand, opened the top drawer, and rummaged around before pulling out a square packet. He tossed it on top of the table.

I frowned at him. There was confidence and then there was just making your damn self at home. He raised a brow. I sighed. Not worth the battle.“Depends on what?”

“Am I getting Ti-Ti or Christina tonight?” He literally lifted me bodily from the middle of the bed and set me down on the edge.“Lift up.”

I raised my arms.“What difference does it make?”

He opened the hook and eye closure on the side of my dress and slid the zipper down. He peeled the dress down slowly. I had on a strapless bustier and boy shorts in a chocolate satin.“This is nice, by the way. It depends on whether you are just looking to get done or looking to make love tonight.”

That stunned me silent. I didn’t believe anyone had ever given me the option before. If really pressed, I wasn’t 100 percent sure I knew the difference.“Umm…”

He paused in his unhooking of the closures on my bustier. “What’s it gonna be?”

I shrugged and looked down at his hands, feeling a little exposed and very vulnerable all of a sudden.“You decide.”

He finished with the bustier and set it to the side. Sliding a finger under my chin, he tilted my face up.“Okay, baby. I got you.”Wrapping me up in his arms, he rolled onto the bed, taking me with him so I was underneath him.

He placed a kiss on my left temple, my left ear, to the right of my lips, along my jaw, and down my neck. Lifting his weight off me, he rolled onto his side and traced his fingertips along the same path that his lips had just taken. “Like the finest chocolate: rich, sweet, beautiful, and addictive,” he muttered before capturing my lips with his. He threaded his hand through mine, raising one of my arms to the side of my head. For long moments, he held my hand and kissed me. I lost track of time and place and thought.

When he kissed me, it was like no other kiss I’d received before. How could I describe it? He kissed like poetry, infused with thoughts and feelings and insights and promises. He stole my breath away. I felt he spoke to me through his kisses, accepting me, asking me to accept him. “Enjoy me and let me enjoy you” were the unspoken words in his every motion. I strained toward him, seeking more of the magic. And he gave it willingly. Keeping his lips and tongue engaged with mine, he deployed his hands to roam softly.

He explored my body like he was discovering a brave new world, leaving no plain, no valley, no crevice unattended. His hands sent me the same message as his mouth, and I found myself trembling at the slightest touches.

When he rolled me onto my stomach, I marveled in the revelations his hands wrought. Had I known that the center of my spine was an erotic zone? Had I realized that angel kisses at the small of my waist made me shiver? A finger teased across the curve of my shoulder, a tongue touched the point of my elbow. I was irrevocably seduced.

“Steven.” I whispered the single word in a shuttering breath.

“Just let me, baby. Just let me.” He slid farther down on the bed. I jumped when his hand wrapped around one ankle to lift and explore. He alternately stroked, massaged, and tasted my toes, the ball of my foot, the side of my calf, the dip behind my knee, nudging my inner thighs. He slid a hand under the fabric of my panties and squeezed my cheek. I shifted impatiently. He leaned down and placed a light bite on the side of my hip. “God, you smell incredible.”

“I smell ready.”

“That too.” He rolled me back over and straddled me. I arched up to him. He placed his palm on my breastbone and pressed down gently. I settled back down. He palmed my breasts in his hand and rotated lightly. The touch was subtle, the effect wasn’t. It was as though I had been jolted with electricity and sparks reached every nerve ending.

He leaned down and began to suckle on my nipples in earnest, moving from one to the other and following up with sliding touches from his fingertips. He was relentless, drawing the tight, sensitive buds into diamond-hard points. I was helpless to do anything but ride the waves of pleasure. My breathing grew choppy, sweat formed on my brow, and I undulated my hips in supplication. He pushed both breasts together and
sucked both points into his mouth at once. I shrieked and erupted in a powerful orgasm.

He stroked my face and kissed me softly. “Now you’re ready.”

I was a puddle and simply couldn’t fathom what more he thought he’d get out of me this evening. That climax had been too powerful and fulfilling. I was done.

He shed his boxers and sheathed himself in the condom. Rolling back to lie beside me, he rested his hand on top of my panties. I’d forgotten I was still wearing them. With the heel of his hand, he pressed down once and circled hard. My hips bucked, my thighs parted, and I was instantly ready again.

He smiled a knowing little grin and slid the soaked panties off. He flung them to the side and rolled on top of me. He clasped my hands in his and raised them high. I parted my thighs wider and strained upward. He slid through a river of moisture to land deep inside. We groaned in unison.

Canting his hips back, he slid in, slow and deep, again.“You are so tight and juicy, it’s unbelievable.”

“Yes.” My head thrashed on the pillow.

“You’re like hot honey, sucking me in.”

“Yes.” My eyes fell closed.

He stroked hard again and again and again. “Do you feel me?”

“Yes, baby.”

“Open your eyes, Christina. Open your eyes.” He paused.

I forced my eyes open.

“I want you to see me.” He looked down at our joined bodies. I watched as he slid in and settled.“I want you to taste me.” He leaned down and matched the stroke of his tongue with the rhythm of his hips. He lifted his head. “This is me making love to you, Christina.” He ground his hips in tight circles and stroked deep again. “This is making love.” He stroked again.“This.This.And this.”

Tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes as I understood what he was showing me. This was more than sex. I lifted my head and licked the line from his neck, up his chin, and landing on his lips.“Thank you.”

He rolled over so I was on top.“Just take what you need, baby. Whatever you want.”

I brought my thighs up and sank down, taking as much of him in as possible. Still holding his hands, I tossed my head back and growled,“Thank you, Steven. Thank you for showing me.”

He arched up, making sure to hit just the right spot. He lightly slapped my thigh.“Go ahead and take it.”

I dropped his hands, braced my hands on his chest, and rode him hard and fast.“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I chanted as I pumped and gyrated, using my inner muscles to milk him as I rode.

“Yessss!” he hissed between gritted teeth, matching my strokes by arching up to meet my down stroke.

I couldn’t get enough. I was burning and needed something more.“I need…”

“I got you, baby. Lean back.”

I leaned back and reached behind me at the same time that he slid a finger past my navel and between my pouty lips. He zeroed in on my aching button and I found that spot at the base of his manhood. Looking into his now dark brown eyes, I smiled. We circled and pressed in symphony.

“Christ!” he barked, and pulled my convulsing body tight. He pumped and emptied into me as I writhed atop him. We finally stilled against each other. I was inexplicably crying again. I made to lift off of him.“Wait a second,” he whispered.

I lifted my head to meet his gaze. He slid his hands down to my thighs and opened me wide, then put his hands on my rear and pressed down while bucking up sharply.“Ah! Steven!” I moaned as another explosion ripped through me. My convulsions
rippled against his shaft and he flung his head back to ride out the aftershocks.

We lay, sweaty, jumbled, tangled and tired, in a squishy mess, straining for breath. He ran his hand down my back, stroking softly. I felt sated. I felt complete. I felt loved. And I had no idea what to do with that.

“You freaking out yet?” he said with a laugh in his voice.

I smiled.“Should I be?”

“You remember.” It was the exact same thing he had asked me after our first night together in New York.

“I remember everything, Steven. Every single thing.”

His hand stilled on my back. He recognized that for me, that was a major thing to reveal.“You know what you told my sister earlier?”

“Yes,” I answered quietly, raising my lashes to meet his eyes.

“Did you mean it?”

“Yes.”

“Why tell her before me?”

I gave a half shrug with my left shoulder.“It was easier and I knew you were listening.”

“It’s not always gonna be easy.”

“I know.”

“Are you willing to try this time?”

“You don’t need to worry about getting kicked out in the rain.” I smiled.

“I’m serious.” He certainly looked serious.

“I know. I am, too. What we just did …”

“Yeah?”

“It was more than I expected. I’ve never had that kind of connection before.There’s a lot of complexity here. It meant something.” No one had taken the time to show me it could be about the care and the attention.

“I know.”

“It scares me a little,” I admitted.

“That’s a good thing.” He was sounding supremely confident.

“I might get more scared.”

“I have a plan for that.”

“Do you now?”

“I do.” He nodded.

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you.You’ll find weapons to fight me.”

I sighed.“I know I’m difficult.”

“Definitely not easy.”

“Why do you even bother?”

“I know what I want.”

“Me?”

“So far, yeah.”

“I’m so scared to believe you, to want you, to need you. If you walk away like the others, I don’t think I have it in me to bounce back.”

“Don’t borrow trouble. Let’s revel in the win.”

“The win?”

“Christina, today was a win. We made lots of money for the foundation. We got a ton of information for your story. We won over our siblings. You made up with an ex. You got rid of Dante, you put Lisa in neutral, you wowed your VP. I impressed my dean. I was on TV, you weren’t on YouTube. And we just had the best sex ever.”