Private Emotions – Promises (The Private Emotions Trilogy) (19 page)

“Yes, oh god, yes, more, right there, oh, oh, ahhhhhhhhhhh.” My legs were like jelly and I could barely stay standing with the orgasm that took me on a very special journey. It was as if he was showing me another side of himself that I hadn’t seen before.

I felt his hardness on my fingertips and moved to feel the length of him through his pants. I looked into his eyes, as I took it out with my hands. I gently grazed my forehead along his chest as I slowly got down on my knees. I wanted to consume all of him. It was a real power trip in knowing that I had the control to make him lose himself in ecstasy or prolong his release until he ached for me.

His cock tasted so good that I let it linger on my tongue for a while before I took the rest of him into my mouth. He was caressing my hair with his hands and gently pulled it as he felt the warmth of my mouth cover all of him.

I felt him get more and more excited as I took him to the very edge of his desires. I clamped my fingers over the base of his penis and turned my back to him with my ass pointing in his direction. He didn’t need any further direction as he drilled his soul into me from behind with a force that left me breathless. He slowly pulled himself out before he was too far gone and carried me over to the bed. He began to lick my neck and whispered words of love into my ear that made me wish this moment would never end. One hand was on my breast as our tongues battled with each other and his other hand was stroking the side of my head as we allowed the wave of bliss to carry us along its current. Our passion intensified until we both lost it and writhed uncontrollably around one another. The rose petals were sticking to our bodies as the heat of our union caused a thin layer of sweat to emerge. We erupted together like the crescendo of a well-played piece of music.

We lay exhausted on top of the sheets, as my hands played with the petals. “Hmmm, I couldn’t have asked for anything better than that.”

“That was beyond description and I just hope that my gallery is half as good as that was.”

“Now, that you’ve brought it up…I have an idea that could add another dimension to the display at your gallery. In the art that you will be promoting, some of the ladies are dressed in beautiful garments. I could mimic those garments in your artwork so that people will see a real life example. That way, you’ll have something a little daring and unique to surprise the guests and our friends.”

“Wow, Em, that is an amazing idea, I love it! Once again you have proven that you are full of surprises. What made you think of it?”

“That’s easy, our writhing bodies, my brain going into overdrive, the red silk sheets…Hhhaaahaaa. I guess our passionate sex ignited more than just our libidos, Mr. Sterling.”

“Indeed it has, Em.”

“If you give me an advance copy of your book and pictures of your artwork, I could have the creations made before the big launch in a week. I could have them placed on mannequins either beside the matching piece of artwork or in an entirely different part of the gallery as a separate collection. That is totally up to you as it is your decision which way you want to go. It will take some doing but with Jill and Samantha there to help me I believe that it can be done. This will be my contribution to your success and I hope that it will have the same impact on people as that wonderful sign above my door.”

“Your idea would make people stand up and take some notice, that’s for sure.”

“See, we can work just as good out of the bedroom as we can between the sheets. Oh, and what fantastic sheets these are.” I giggled at the sound of what I had just said.

“Ah, you noticed, as I was hoping that you would. It was flown in from a friend of mine in Spain. She wove the threads herself by hand because it is the custom in her village. It is cultivated by silkworms and only the best and softest silk is used to make these.” I almost bought that whole story until he started to laugh under his breath. I playfully struck him on the arm and we both started to laugh together.

To say that I had my work cut out for me would be a gross understatement of the situation. The work that I had to do for him for his grand opening would have to be done in conjunction with all the other work that I already had on my plate, but I was used to working long hours to meet impossible deadlines. My old job at Michelle’s shop taught me that lesson time and time again.

“Emily, I know that you’ve just started your business so are you really sure that you can handle all of that and the designs for my gallery? It’s going to be near impossible.” He was concerned about how much I was taking on but I wasn’t going to allow the issue of ‘limited time’ to get in my way. If it meant temporarily bringing on a third person to help me out, then that was exactly what I would do to get all of this done in time for his big day.

“Don’t worry about it, I have a couple of interns that are going to be very busy the next few days and if I have to bring in extra help beyond that, then I’m sure I can find some willing bodies to give me a hand.” I was thinking seriously about getting a third person because the business side of things needed more of my attention if everything was to run smoothly. “I’ve just had a thought that maybe the dresses should be a black and white version to your art. It would give it a more regal feel and you could make it a theme where everyone came to the opening in nothing but black and white clothing.”

“That would make for some very unique pictures for the opening and also give my book that extra publicity to make people want to buy it. I am speechless with how your creativity just comes out of the air like that. I usually need a muse to ignite my creative side. I can’t wait for the opening and for you to be at my side.”

“That my dear, Mr. Sterling, would be my pleasure.” No more talk of marriage or rings was discussed that night but I had this feeling that he wasn’t about to just let it go.

Chapter Ten
Full Circle

It was only a few days before the big double launch of Ethan’s new gallery and book on relationships. There was no doubt that he was going to be a great success but I’ve taken it upon myself to make it extra special by making dresses to complement his artwork. The artwork featured in his photographs, paintings, sculptures and of course his book would be my main source of inspiration. I didn’t know quite how much work would be involved, but after receiving a copy of the book from Ethan, I realized that the dresses were more intricate than at first glance. The design and attention to detail would be crucial for the dresses to look anything like the art that it was meant to represent. This would make things even more of a challenge but not impossible to create.

Jill had convinced her best friend, Samantha, to come to work with me. They were both busy as beavers getting things ready for the last-minute preparation of the grand gala that was going to take place at Ethan’s new gallery. There would be a lot of press at the event as well as art and book critics from the city and surrounding areas. I thought that the fashion-fest was something that the town would talk about but that would pale in comparison to what was about to happen. Ethan was never the type of man who did things on a small scale, so his opening night was likely to exceed all expectations.

“Ladies, I am very impressed with how well you both work together and you both have a job here when you leave college in the summer. I know I have asked a lot of you but you have stood up to the challenge and even surprised me with how fast you have been able to create these garments. It’s nice to know that I don’t have to be looking over my shoulder all the time and that you can both handle yourself with very little supervision.”

Samantha looked at me with admiration and said, “I was just glad that Jill contacted me because I was a little jealous with how easily she found employment for her internship.”

“I knew that so when the opportunity arose, I threw your name into the hat in hopes that Emily would give you a chance so you could show her what you could do.”

“You have both exceeded my expectations and I couldn’t be happier.” I left them to their tasks, grabbed the advanced copy of Ethan’s book and looked at the pictures to make sure that what we were doing was exactly as shown on the pages. There were a few things that I would need to do to complete the picture and that would come in the form of jewelry. I had no idea where I was going to find it in such short notice and then the light bulb came on over my head.

“Sophie, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?”

“Anything for you, Emily, just don’t tell my wife.”

“Hey, I can hear you.”

“Just joking, love, you know that no one could ever replace you. Now, what is it that I can do for the woman who has everything?” I told her of the pieces of jewelry that I would need to complete a surprise for Ethan and she told me that she would make some phone calls and see what she could do. If anyone was going to be able to accomplish this task, I had no doubt that Sophie would come through with flying colors. She just had so many friends and contacts that it was almost impossible for her not to have somebody in the jewelry business as well.

Two days later, it was the night before the big launch and the dresses were almost finished. Sophie did come through at the last minute and sent over various cases of jewelry that were on loan and would have to be returned in mint condition. The mannequins were all set up in the back of my shop. They looked incredible and the decision to go black and white really did justice to the designs. The whole thing had a classical feel to it that just couldn’t be duplicated.

We tried the different pieces of jewelry on the mannequins to ensure that each piece of jewelry complemented the dress and created the desired effect. We got it as perfect as we could before placing the jewelry back in the cases, until we could bring the whole thing over to Ethan’s gallery later that evening. He was going to meet us there and help put out the displays before the doors opened the following day. In keeping with the theme, he was going to make it an evening event which would be perfect. That time of day would add to the sophisticated feel that represented everything Ethan stood for.

“Ladies, I know you’ve been working hard and I’m going to give you something very special as a reward.” I took two envelopes from behind my back and presented them with a ticket each to the gala and told them that they could take any dress off the rack in front of the store for the big event. My only caveat was that they had to return the dresses in the morning without any stain or rip in the material. I never saw two girls so excited in all my life and they were more than thrilled to be able to attend such a grand extravaganza.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get these mannequins and dresses into the van and get these things set up.” Jill was like a pit bull, when she had something in her mind there was no stopping her. She reminded me so much of myself that I just had to smile at the intensity of her focus in getting everything done. I led the way as we carefully put all the mannequins and dresses into the van. We drove to the back entrance of Ethan’s gallery not more than a few doors down from where we were located.

“Thanks, ladies, I was beginning to think that you were going to be there all night.” Ethan was standing in the middle of the loading dock and he seemed a little disheveled in appearance with his shirt untucked on one side. He had definitely been working very hard and the stress was beginning to show on his features. He would need to have a good night’s rest if he was going to be the perfect host on his big day.

“Give us a hand, Mr. Sterling, and maybe we can get out of here before midnight.” He gave me a sheepish smile and we began to pull in everything from the loading dock to the main display at the front of his gallery. He had given his staff the night off to get ready for the big event, so that meant he and I and the two girls had to get things done.

All the artwork was already on the walls but the windows were covered in black material to prevent anyone from sneaking a peek at his creations. We set up the mannequins first and then carefully dressed them until they did justice to the artwork that they complemented.

It took us a little over three hours before Ethan was completely satisfied with the results, so much so that he couldn’t stop staring at the finished product. He did not have to say a word and I knew from his expression that I had exceeded his expectations. Samantha and Jill had already left for the evening. I was really looking forward to seeing their reaction when they were immersed in the artistic community and all the hoopla that went with it. I looked at my watch and realized that it was getting late.

“Come on, love, you have to get some sleep and you can’t do that here. Let me take you home so you can concentrate on sleeping before your big reveal.” He allowed me to guide him to the door but kept looking back and didn’t stop looking until the door closed behind us.

“Emily, I don’t know how we did this, but we have less than 24 hours before the doors open and my business begins or ends with what the public thinks and what the critics write about.”

“I know you think that they have all this power and maybe they do, but I doubt that they will find any fault in what happens tomorrow night. Just relax and concentrate on my voice…nothing else.” He probably thought that he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep no matter how hard he tried but my soothing tones were enough to make him rest his head to the pillow and close his eyes. After a few minutes of gently talking to him, I saw that his chest was rising and falling a little more deeply than before. I had managed to get him to let go of all of it, even if it was only for a few hours.