Beauty from Pain (12 page)

“
Hey, Mom.”

“
Hey, baby girl. I haven’t heard
from you in a few days. I’ve been worried.”

“
Mom, you shouldn’t worry.
Everything is fine.”

“
Well, how am I supposed to know
these things if I don’t hear from you?”

“
You’re right and I’m sorry. I
should have called already.”

“
Are you having fun in the land
down under?”

Umm, yes. A lot. I delight in the source of my
fun today and he holds up his empty beer bottle and waggles his
eyebrows. He’s asking me if I want another one, and I nod. He takes
my empty bottle and I admire the incredible view as he walks away.
He’s been in a suit the other times we were together, so this is
the first opportunity I’ve had to see how great his ass looks in
jeans.

“
I’m having lots of fun, Mom.
Australia is great so far.”

She gives me an update on the things I’ve
missed in Nashville this week and then I hear her exhale a long
breath. That’s when I know there’s a reason behind her call. “Have
you thought any more about what we discussed before you
left?”

I can’t believe she’s called me to bring this
up again. She isn’t going to take no for an answer. “No, I’ve told
you, I’m not doing that and I’m not going to change my mind. Please
stop asking.”

Don’t get me wrong. My mom is a good woman,
but she is approaching the point of obsession with my career and
it’s exhausting. “Your father owes you, Laurelyn.”

“
Mom, I owe it to myself to make
it on my own. When I look back on this years from now, I want to be
proud of what I’ve accomplished.”

“
Laurelyn Paige, you are Jake
Beckett’s daughter and you should use that to your
advantage.”

“
No, I’m Jolie Prescott’s
daughter, and I’ll make my own way. I’m done talking about this. I
love you, Mom, but I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you next
week.”

I hang up as Lachlan reenters the living room.
“Everything okay with your mum?”

Mum. It’s so cute the way he says
it.
“As good as it can be. She can be
difficult at times.”

He passes me a beer. “Did she give you a hard
time?”

A hard time is an understatement.
“Yeah.”

“
Would you like to talk about
it?”

No one besides my mother and grandparents know
my father is a huge country music star. It’s a secret I’m forced to
keep from everyone I know, but I don’t have to do that with
Lachlan. He doesn’t know my true identity so that makes him my one
exception. “She wants me to threaten my sperm donor with going
public about my paternity in exchange for him getting me a record
deal.”

That sounds so much worse when I say it out
loud and I feel the need to defend her, even if she is wrong.
“Please, don’t think my mom is a terrible person. She’s
not.”

Lachlan scoots closer to me and puts his arm
around my shoulders. He props his feet on the coffee table and I
can tell he’s prepared to talk and listen as long as I want. “I
don’t think she’s a terrible person. She only wants to see her
daughter succeed, but the right way of achieving that has become
blurred through her eyes.”

We talk a long while and then go into the
kitchen to continue our conversation over Mrs. Porcelli’s reheated
chicken casserole. I know nothing about her or their working
relationship, but something tells me she has a soft spot in her
heart for her employer. I picture a gray-haired woman who loves
Lachlan like a son, but then a different notion strikes me. Perhaps
she’s younger than I imagine and is secretly in love with
him.

We finish eating and thoughts of Mrs. Porcelli
fade from my mind as we clear our dishes. When I finish, I’m drying
my hands when he approaches me from behind and kisses my neck as he
slides his hands around my waist. I think he likes doing
that—surprising me—and I imagine him liking other things from
behind.

He pushes my hair away from my
neck so he can place kisses there and I tilt my head to the side.
When he’s done, he reaches for my face and
turns
it toward him so I’m peering
at him over my shoulder. He presses his erection against my bottom
and kisses the corner of my mouth. He wants me. Badly. “I’ve been
thinking about getting you into my bed all day, and now I’m done
thinking about it.”

He takes my hand and pulls me toward the
bedroom. I happily follow because I’m ready for this. I’m anxious
to begin what he has predicted as the best three months of my life.
So far, he hasn’t disappointed me.

We walk into the bedroom and I see my
overnight bag on his bed. I wonder when he moved it from the guest
room, but I don’t ask because it doesn’t matter. We both know I was
never going to sleep in any other bed than his. That’s isn’t why
I’m here.

We stand in the middle of the bedroom facing
each other and he cradles my face with his hands as he kisses my
mouth. His tongue moves slowly in a wave against mine and I melt
against him.

He stops kissing me but doesn’t pull away. I
feel his mouth move against mine when he speaks. “Do you need a
minute?”

His inquiry makes me question if he snooped in
my bag and saw the lingerie, but I don’t care. There are no
pretenses here. We both know what’s about to happen. The only
question is which set of lingerie I’ll be wearing when it
does.

“
Yes, please.”

He gives me a quick kiss. “Don’t be long. I’m
anxious to get you under me.”

We haven’t spent a lot of time together but I
can tell that he likes to say things like that. He’s already proven
he’s a man who speaks his mind. I bet he talks dirty in bed. I hope
so.

I grab my bag and head into the bathroom. I
quickly undress and try to decide which lingerie to wear. The
naughty Christmas set is on top, but I’m saving it for tomorrow
night.

I go with the sheer black lace baby-doll and
matching panties—it’s naughty, yet somehow innocent at the same
time. Something tells me Lachlan will like having it both ways.
When I’m dressed and ready for him, I fluff my hair and finish
myself off with body spray as I inspect the final product in the
mirror. I feel every beat of my heart in my flushed face, but I’m
not nervous. I want this man and everything he has planned for
me.

I stop just inside the doorway. This
no-pretense thing makes me brave, so I don’t go to him right away.
I feel playful, still a little buzzed from the alcohol. I want to
tease him, so I put my hand on my hip and lean into the doorframe,
supporting myself with a raised hand. The hunger in his eyes tells
me everything his mouth doesn’t. He’s dying to have me.

He grins and sweet seduction oozes from him. I
melt to a puddle on the floor because I know what he’s about to do
with that mouth; he’s going to use it to make me come.

He watches as I walk to where he’s standing by
the bed. When I reach him, he twirls his finger in a circle. “Turn
around for me.” I’m not sure if he means all the way around because
he wants to see the full view or because he wants my back turned to
him. I know he likes to touch me from behind so I circle slowly,
deciding he’ll stop me if that’s the way he wants me.

I make a full spin before he drops to his
knees in front of me. He pushes my gown up above my hipbones. My
panties are riding low and he kisses my stomach before he runs his
tongue over the jeweled piercing through my belly button. “This was
very unexpected today. I like it.”

I put my hand on top of his head and run my
fingers through his thick, dark hair as he kisses each of my
hipbones above the elastic waist of my panties. No man has ever
knelt before me and explored my body like this. On one hand, it’s
unsettling. On the other, it’s hot as hell and has me drenching
wet.

He hooks his fingers in my black lace panties
and drags them down my legs. I have to use his shoulders to balance
myself as I step out of them because my head is spinning so hard
from everything he’s doing to me.

He tosses them aside and runs his hands up the
back of my legs, starting at my ankles until he cups my cheeks and
pulls me against his face. His mouth is almost right where I crave
it, and I’m ashamed to admit how badly I yearn for it to be on
me.

He gazes up at me. He smiles when his eyes
meet mine and we don’t break contact as he leans forward to lick me
in one long stroke. I’m shocked, but not by the feel of his tongue.
It’s the sight of seeing him do that to me. I think he wants me to
watch the show.

“
Sit on the bed.” I do as I’m told
because I’m afraid not to.

I sit farther back than he wants me to, so he
grabs my legs behind my bent knees and pulls me until I’m barely on
the edge. He takes my feet and places them on the rails and pushes
my legs apart. “Don’t lie back. I think you’ll enjoy the
visual.”

Oh, fuck me running! Or on the
edge of your bed using your mouth.
I watch
his head dip between my legs. He uses his tongue to lick me up and
down before it circles the place throbbing with need for his
attention. He pushes his thumb inside me and glides it in and out
while his tongue works its magic. In little to no time at all, he
takes me to that place—the one where a little is too much, yet
never enough, and I’m close to coming undone.

It’s that spot right there.
As I’m sending him the telepathic message, he
receives it and gives me exactly what I need to finish. Once the
rush of pure pleasure starts, I can’t stifle the incoherent garble
escaping my mouth. I fist his hair and pull his mouth harder
against me.

I feel a new sensation—tiny quivers deep
inside as I spiral down from the place Lachlan has taken me. I come
to my senses and realize I’m still fisting his hair. I let go and
know I should apologize, but I can’t find the coherency required to
speak.

My legs are quivering, boneless appendages in
the aftermath and I think my knees will buckle if I try to stand. I
look at Lachlan to make sure I didn’t smother him when I slammed
his face between my legs. He’s peering up at me. “You are so damn
beautiful.”

“
Thank you,” I whisper. I’m not
sure if I’m expressing gratitude for the compliment or the
supernatural orgasm he just bestowed upon me. I don’t have time to
iron it out because he kicks off his shoes and strips his shirt
over his head without unbuttoning it.

He’s the beautiful one—soft and hard in all
the right places. He wastes no time in ridding himself of his jeans
and boxer briefs. He’s anxious to fuck me. And I’m anxious to be
fucked, but first I want to return the favor he has gifted me with
twice.

He sees me get off the bed and
knows I’m about to drop to my knees, so he stops me. “Not this
time. I need to be in control or I’ll blow as soon as your mouth
touches me.”
Yeah, I sort of know the
feeling.

He
spins
us around and sits on the bed.
He needs the control, but I see what else he wants, so I climb up
to straddle him. He rubs his thumbs over my nipples through my
nightie and I hear him suck air through his teeth when I grind
against him.

“
I can’t wait any longer. I’ve got
to have you right now.”

He loops one arm around my waist and I hang on
to him as he leans forward to get a condom from his nightstand
drawer. When he sits on the bed again, he lets go of my waist and
leans back. He tears the square package open with his teeth and
rolls the condom on in one quick motion. I look down because I want
to watch, but I’m too late because he’s so fast.

I feel his hands on each of my hips and I’m
flipped onto my back. He uses his legs to push mine apart and he
positions his erection against the very wet center between my legs.
He bites his bottom lip and shakes his head as he groans, “Paige,
I’m about to fuck you so hard. You have no idea.”

And then he drives into me with one smooth
motion—hard, just like he promised. Or threatened. I suppress the
surprise behind my lips and the noise I make comes out sounding
like a moan. He pulls back with deliberate leisure and it feels
like he’s going to slide out completely, but then he thrusts into
me again even harder. He does this several times and I realize what
he’s doing. He’s pacing himself because he wants this to last as
long as possible. And so do I.

I’m surprised when he reaches for my feet and
brings them up to his shoulders so he can get deeper inside me.
It’s slow paced, but every stroke is deliberate. And oh so
powerful. Nothing he does to me is unintentional.

He finds his voice between thrusts. “You.
Feel. So. Damn. Good.”

But all good things must come to an end, and
this does too when everything inside my pelvis tenses and the
sensation radiates down my thighs and curls my toes.

Literally.

14

Jack McLachlan

When I feel Paige spasm around my cock, it sets
my undoing into motion. I watch her face as I thrust into her one
last time and I discover something about her. I already knew she
was beautiful, but she’s even more so when she comes.