Destiny Undone: The Complete Series Box Set (66 page)

The grand opening of the new wing and the banquet couldn’t have gone any better. I really appreciated how Gabe had graciously redirected the spotlight from himself onto my father. Dad deserved the attention since he’d donated a lot of money—but Gabe was the driving force behind the scene. His lack of grand-standing reaffirmed the kind of man he was—and his humility made me love him even more.

There was no way I intended going back home with Dad and Charlotte after the banquet, and I made it clear while Gabe and I sat at the main table. I didn’t have to say anything—I guess some would call it an example of non-verbal communication—I called it fun.

I knew it was naughty and risky, and although I was sensitive to Gabe’s reputation, I couldn’t keep my hands off of him… and I didn’t.

My hand slid under the table and across the front of his slacks. He shot a playful look at me and then looked back at the crowd with a wide grin on his face. He started to say something to the rest of the guests, and I playfully squeezed his thigh and caught him off guard.

As soon as we were able to exit gracefully, we ran through the parking lot as fast as Gabe’s leg would let him and hopped into the Audi. He valiantly attempted to return my kisses as he shifted gears, checked his mirror, and generally tried to avoid running over anything. I smooched on his neck as I played with his cock and it was a wonder he had enough blood circulating in the rest of his body to handle the driving. By my calculations, he’d been hard for a while.

We only made it as far as the living room before I pulled him down onto the sofa, undid his belt and tugged his pants down far enough to have my way with him. He pretended to protest as I brought the tip of his cock to my lips, but as soon as I slipped it inside my hot mouth, his objections melted away.

I took my time planting soft, wet kisses along its length, and ran my tongue along the ridge before sucking the tip into my mouth again. I’d sucked Gabe’s cock enough times to know what he liked and what got him off easily. I wasn’t going to do that now, though. I wanted him hot—and hard.

I stroked his cock gently… playfully… waiting for the moment when he was about to explode, and then let off just a little to give him a few seconds to compose himself again. I wanted to tease him—but not end our night too soon.

“Pepper, baby, you’re killing me.”

“I know, right?” I answered, teasingly, as I lifted the cute little black dress I had on, slid my panties down my legs and shamelessly straddled his cock. He moaned as I slowly inched down his length, taking him inside me. I was already dripping wet, but at full staff, he was still quite a handful so I spread my legs a little wider and gently eased down on him again.

“Fuck, baby, you’re good,” I whispered as I felt his thick cock inch deeper. He held onto my hips, pulled me down on him and I shuddered as his cock filled me completely. When he was all the way inside me, I ground my pussy slowly against him and he rocked his hips into me. The tip of his cock hit me in all the right places and the tinge of pain as it hit bottom immediately turned into pleasure. His hands roamed my body endlessly—holding my face one minute, caressing my breasts the next—I couldn’t hold back anymore. My toes curled, and with one more thrust, lights flashed behind my eyes and I grabbed his shoulders and let myself go. With a full body shudder, I came all over his dick—my favorite place to be.

“Gabe, honey,” I cried out. Waves of electricity screamed through my body and my hips gyrated, pulling every last ounce of my orgasm out of me and I collapsed onto Gabe’s chest as it subsided.

“God, I love you, Pepper,” he breathed as he sucked on my neck.

“I love you too, Gabe,” I whispered quietly while his cock still pushed its way between my wet lips and stroked the walls of my pussy. With another thrust, he tensed and cried out as he came hard inside me.

We lay there together, spineless, for a minute while we caught our breath, kissing and breathing each other’s sighs. “Pepper?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“You’re so easy,” he said and smiled. I sat up and playfully smacked his arm.

“No, I’m not and what if I was anyway?”

“You are baby, and I love it. You stroke not only my cock, but my ego too!” and we both laughed and I got up off of him and ran towards the bathroom.

“Race you to the shower! Loser makes breakfast in the morning!”

After Gabe had made breakfast the next morning, we headed over to my Dad’s house. Evangeline, Charlotte and Mills were already gathered at the dining room table making plans for the wedding and I wondered if they’d pulled an all-nighter.

“Pepper,” Evangeline called out, “what do you think of these bridesmaid designs?” I leaned over her shoulder and checked out the different options she’d tabbed. Most were full-length and very formal. Nothing like what I would have picked out.

“They’re… okay,” I replied. I glanced over at Mills and she rolled her eyes.

“Check my preferences out, sis.” Mills moved her laptop so I could see her selections. They were a little more in line with my own tastes with hemlines that came down to just below the knees.

“Nice,” I said, trying not to sound
too
enthusiastic.

“But which do you like better?” Evangeline asked, putting me on the spot. I felt like I was in a crossfire—like an angel of mercy—thankfully, Charlotte rescued me.

“Pepper, have you had breakfast yet?” she smiled then turned toward the others. “We can’t expect her to weigh in on an empty stomach, can we? Come on, Pepper. Let’s go see what we can conjure up.”

“It’s okay, Charlotte, we’ve eaten. Gabe made breakfast this morning.”

“Fine, dear. You got yourself a keeper there!”

“Yeah, I think I’ll keep him!” I replied, smiling when I thought about our sexy time the night before. “He’s a great cook!”

I looked at the stacks of bridal magazines, notepads and lists, wondering how they’d accumulated so much wedding material in less than twenty four hours. “Wow, you guys are doing enough work for
two
weddings!”

It was like the three of them all heard a dog whistle and stopped in their tracks, and then I picked up the frequency myself.
Two weddings!

“That’s it!” Mills cried. “That is so fucking it!” She calmed herself for a second. “Sorry, Mom. Sorry, Charlotte.” Then she jumped up and down. “That’s an amazing idea! Let’s do it, Pep. What do you say?”

I felt my own excitement building by the second. I liked it! But was Gabe ready for this? I kept my thoughts under wraps and looked at Evangeline. She was staring at me—almost
through
me, it seemed. I could practically hear her wheels turning, and then she came out of her trance.

“Fucking fantastic!” she cried and we all hugged and whooped so loud that Daddy appeared in the doorway to see what all the fuss was about.

“It sounds like a scalping party!” he said.

“Doug,” Evangeline gasped. “We’re going to have a double wedding! Mills and Pepper!”

“That’s wonderful,” he smiled and walked toward me with his arms outstretched. As he patted my back, he added, “Practical, too.”

“Oh, I knew you’d say that,” Evangeline laughed. “But it’s true. There’s only one hitch—somebody has to inform Pepper’s fiancé.”

All eyes turned my way. I gulped. “I guess that would be me.”

Gabe was surprisingly receptive to the idea and in fact, he was more concerned about whether it was what
I
wanted. As we lay in his bed that night, he caressed my arm while he mulled it over.

“You don’t see any potential for conflict?” he asked. “You know, between what you want and what Mills wants… and what Evangeline wants?”

“I really don’t,” I said. “Mills and I are so close to begin with, and this would just make us closer. And Mom’s been really cool so far. She’s taken on the planning for the wedding itself, and she’ll probably hire a professional to coordinate some things, the photographer, the catering, etc. but she’s allowing Charlotte to handle the reception… with final approval, of course. After all, she’s still the Queen Bee, even though she abdicated her throne.”

“And what does the guy’s family—I mean, the groom’s—what’s their part?”

“The rehearsal dinner, mainly,” I said. “Yassir is all over it. At least, that’s what he said. Evangeline is probably the most nervous about that. She’ll be expecting daily progress reports, but I don’t think Yassir is intimidated by her. He’s pretty laid back.”

“Well, if you’re sold on it, then I’m on board,” Gabe said. I believe I squealed at that point, and after several hugs and kisses, Gabe seemed to drift away a bit. “I was just thinking of my mom,” he confessed. “I wonder if three months’ notice is enough time for them to make arrangements to be in the country for the wedding—I’m sure she’d like to be there and to participate.”

“Call her,” I prompted. “Now!”

I guess I’d pictured an ecstatically eventful call where my future mother-in-law and I would bond long distance and get all teary-eyed. Instead, I felt bad about waking them up in Macedonia or wherever they were. The reception was terrible, and before Gabe could tell her I was standing by, they were disconnected.

“Should I try to call her back?” he asked.

“No, that’s okay. They probably need their rest. How did she sound? Was she excited… a little? Maybe?”

“It was hard to tell.” He frowned. “You know, when I tell people about what my parents do, the places they travel to and the humanitarian stuff, everyone’s always impressed.
‘Oh, you must be so proud! They must be such good people!’
And they are. I just wish they were a little more traditional in some ways. There’s a point where selflessness resembles selfishness. They’re so dedicated to helping others that they ignore the people who they’re closest to. They don’t have time for me anymore.”

We both stared up at the ceiling as if we were looking up at a starry sky. I wondered if there was such thing as a ‘normal’ family anyway. There’d been a few times when I’d thought I’d met one, but the longer you know someone, the more they reveal the strangeness under the surface. Somehow, we all find a way to deal with it, and that becomes our ‘normal.’ As messed up as my family was, and as awesome as Gabe’s parents were, I felt sorry for him.

A few days later, I moved back in with Gabe to ‘practice’ our domestic compatibility and everything was pretty smooth. I made sure there was food in the fridge, and Gabe vowed to observe the Golden Rule whenever things got a little tense between us.

And there were plenty of opportunities for tensions to erupt. While killing two birds with one stone might seem efficient, a double wedding is double the headaches for everyone involved and when you schedule a double wedding a few days before Christmas, you’re asking for trouble.

Evangeline was able to secure the Episcopal Church we’d attended when I was a little girl. It was a wonder they’d even agreed to let me set foot inside again but the Rev. Michael Carling—the same minister who officiated at Mom and Dad’s wedding—had agreed to officiate at ours, even though he was now a Bishop. How cool was that?

Mills and I won out on our choices of bridesmaid gowns, of course, and came up with colors that incorporated the holiday season—Mills’ bridesmaids wore red and white gowns with green accents, while mine wore green and white with red accents—while complimenting each other.