Pure Lust Vol. 4 (23 page)

Edward had been trying to smooth it over ever since, but Flynn had told him not to sweat it. His mom was happiest when she had something to be unhappy about. Besides, if keeping most of the arrangements and trading out for a more appropriate bride hadn’t been enough to make her happy, nothing would.

“I’ve got to be in here.” I picked up my bouquet and wiggled it, allowing myself a bit of vindictive pleasure at the way Claire’s mouth tightened. “I’m the maid of honor.”

It was just me in the wedding party. Aside from not having any sisters, Kendra hadn’t wanted to try and rush through finding bridesmaids—or having them deal with Claire, she’d confided to me during one of our many wedding planning sessions over the past month.

Claire huffed and came further into the room, studying Kendra with critical eyes. Kendra ignored her and focused on me. She was much better at controlling her emotions than I was. “You and Flynn are leaving for California this week?”

“Yep.” I smiled, excitement burning inside.

He wasn’t setting up a studio out there. He was going to start focusing on the kind of photography he wanted to produce, the kind that meant something. And I was working on a screen play, my first serious one in years. It was a romantic comedy and even if I didn’t sell it, I was having more fun than I’d had when I’d been trying to write what I thought other people wanted. And things had just kept falling into place.

“Flynn has a friend in LA who’s a new agent at one of the big companies out there and he read one of my older projects. It was rough and not anything he had interest in, but he wants to look at something newer. We’re meeting at the end of the week.”

Kendra’s eyes widened and she squealed, rushing to throw her arms around my neck just as Claire started to adjust the flower in her hair. While Claire backed away in a huff, Kendra and I hugged, both of us ignoring her this time. We were still laughing and talking when somebody came and knocked on the door a few minutes later.

“It’s time.”

***

The wedding seemed to last for hours, but when it was all over, I felt like I could have blinked and missed it.

I’d had to admit, the colors I’d selected looked amazing and the cake Honey had done specially for the bride and her table was to die for. Claire had gotten her cakes from
Madame
as well and I’d laughed more than once as people had taken a bite and then put the fork down, pushing the plate away.

Kendra had apparently put her foot down about the majority of the menu. The food, aside from what Madame had inflicted upon everybody, was amazing and I’d all but glutted myself as I laughed and talked and sipped from an unending flow of champagne.

When the bride and her husband had finally left to a hail of applause, I’d curled my arms around Flynn’s neck and sighed with happiness. It had been a wonderful day, but I was ready to have my own happy ending. I pressed my lips against Flynn’s ear.

“Can we leave now?”

***

“The new tenants move in next week.”

Flynn stepped aside as I moved into the quiet studio. I hadn’t been in here since the day we’d talked. The day we’d finally made love. Not fucked. Made love.

A few packing crates still remained, but beyond that, the place was empty. It left me feeling sort of hollow as I stood there.

Everything that really mattered had started here. I’d found love. I’d found myself.

And we were leaving.

“Will we ever come back?” I dumped my purse on the counter and leaned forward, bracing my upper body on my elbows as I looked around. Flynn came up behind me, his body curving to fit against mine. Caged between his arms and the warmth of his chest against my back, I pressed my cheek to his.

“I don’t know. Not to here, no. The new tenants are already making noises about trying to buy if the first few years go well.”

“You’ll miss it.” I wiggled and shifted around until I was facing him. “You did some amazing work here.”

“I have a chance to do the things I really want to do.” He dipped his head and pressed his mouth to the sensitive skin behind my ear. “And you’re with me. For all I care, I could be snapping shots in J.C. Penney.”

I laughed and turned my head to kiss his cheek. “You’d never be happy with that.”

“Wanna bet?” His hair spilled into his eyes as he grinned at me. “Though it would get old after a while. Then again, even those kinds of pictures capture a piece of a person’s life. That’s what I’m good at. Fuck all that shit I did for Bouvier. I hated doing it for longer than you can imagine.”

I might have said something else, but he chose that moment to slide his hands under the hem of my sweater. A cold, steady rain had started sometime in the night and from the way it looked, fall was about to settle in fast, and his hands were still cold.

“Your hands are
freezing
,” I said, instinctively arching away from his hands and back into him.

“Mmm. You’re nice and warm, Tennessee.” His lips danced down my neck.

Hmmmm
.

I was more than warm as his teeth scraped against the side of my throat. I turned my head, tilting it so that he could take my mouth. His fingers curled around my neck and I knew he could feel my pulse fluttering wildly there. He did that to me.

One last time, I thought, as his free hand moved higher to cup my breast through my bra.

Apparently, he was of the same mind.

There was no furniture left, but that wasn’t a problem. The counter came up to my waist and provided the leverage we needed. He pushed up one side of my bra even as his other hand moved under my sweater. I moaned into his mouth as his fingers rolled and pulled my nipples until they throbbed.

His kisses were slow and thorough, spreading heat through me until I felt as if I’d melt against him. As his hands slid down to my hips, I pushed my ass back against him and he broke the kiss to rest his forehead against mine.

“I love you,” Flynn said, his voice low.

“I know.”

He pulled my skirt up around my waist and I made a small sound as the rough fabric of his jeans rubbed against my ass. He nuzzled the spot under my ear as he slid his hand beneath the elastic of my panties. I sucked in a breath as his fingers delved between my folds, quick and sure.

He groaned. “You’re so wet, Tennessee.”

“Make me wetter,” I gasped.

He took the words to heart and proceeded to bring me to a quick, breathless climax as I stood there, clutching at the table and rocking forward to meet his hand as he twisted and curled his fingers inside me.

I was still panting from the force of it when he entered me, hard and fast. I cried out, arching my back. His hand tangled in my hair, using it to turn my face to his as he drove into me. Our eyes locked and flesh slapped against flesh. The sound of our ragged breathing filled the air. Desire and love twisted and surged inside me. I couldn’t imagine my life without him, and I ached to think of how close I’d come to almost having that exact, bleak, future. I tightened around him, reaching back with one hand to grip his wrist.

“Mine…” I breathed out, my nails digging into his flesh.

“Damn right,” he growled.

He gave me a wicked, wild grin and then he groaned, twisting his hips. It sent the head of his cock passing over my G-spot and I gasped. He repeated the motion again, and the gasp became a half-scream. By the third pass, I was hurtling straight into climax, my body shuddering around his, his name on my lips.

He followed, his teeth sinking into my earlobe as he emptied himself inside me. I collapsed onto the counter and he curled over me, his weight braced on his elbows while he buried his face against my shoulder.

“Hell of a going away party,” he said. “Just my style. Nice and private.”

I laughed weakly, my body still trembling.

“We should do a repeat, tonight. At the hotel. Just us,” I suggested with a grin. We’d already shipped off most of our stuff to California and we’d moved out of our apartment a few days ago, staying at a hotel close to the studio while we oversaw the packing of his equipment and I helped Kendra with last minute wedding details. Now that the latter was done, all we had to do was finish the former.

“Can’t.” He sighed as he straightened.

I sighed as he slid out of me.

He continued, “We’re meeting Cody, Edward and Kendra, remember? I’m trying to be a better brother. Otherwise, I’d blow them off.”

“You’ve never been a bad brother,” I countered as I did my best to straighten my clothes. “You love them and they know that. That’s what matters.”

As Flynn tugged me close, I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against his chest. It was what mattered…and I had what mattered to me, right here.

“We’ll go to the dinner,” I said as he rubbed his cheek against my hair. “And then do the going away party after. Who cares if we’re tired on the plane?”

I certainly didn’t. Laughing, I rose up onto my toes to kiss him yet again. He’d be worth a sleepless a night and more. He was worth everything.

Flynn
was
everything.

And he was mine.

Epilogue

Flynn had purposefully asked the gallery to schedule his first show for April so we would be back in the city when Kendra was due. She and Edward had shocked everyone with their mid-summer announcement that she was expecting. With her being Bouvier’s top model, in such high demand that they’d cut their three week honeymoon short, almost everyone had assumed they’d wait a couple more years before having kids.

I hadn’t been surprised at all. Kendra had always wanted a big family. She enjoyed modeling, but she was suited to the kind of life that Edward wanted for his wife. She would stay home and raise their children and be happy doing it. Claire had, of course, expressed her displeasure that Kendra wasn’t going to hand over the majority of child-rearing to the short list of nannies she’d already approved, but Edward had put his foot down.

It seemed that, while he did still have his tendency to make peace whenever possible, his protective nature had increased the moment he’d found out he was going to be a father, so much so that he’d told his mother in no uncertain terms that he and Kendra would raise their children the way they saw fit.

I’d told Kendra that I’d wished she taken pictures of the expression on Claire’s face. She’d agreed that it would have been nice to have a memento.

Flynn and I's time away from the family had done us both a lot of good. We hadn’t even gone back to the city for the holidays, choosing instead to visit my family in Tennessee. Claire had been livid, even more so when Cody had decided to come down to see us for Thanksgiving instead of staying in New York. I was hoping that she’d calmed a bit since then, or at least that the new baby would distract her.

I wasn’t anxious though. Claire was still Claire, but I was different than before. I was more me. I liked who I was with Flynn. Paul had been right. We made each other better.

Flynn had done a whole series of photographs that focused on just that. He took people and let them find themselves in front of his camera. It had taken him almost a full year to put it together, but once he’d shown the work, the response had been overwhelming. We’d started touring the country in February, going to a new gallery every week. New York was the swan song...of our US tour. He’d gotten the call two days ago from his agent that London wanted him, and there was a good chance Venice and Paris would too.

I’d sold my screenplay at the first of the year and was waiting for the production company to finish casting. They were hoping to start filming in a couple weeks. While I was overjoyed at getting to see my work on screen, the connections I’d made over the last eighteen months were just as exciting. I had three major writers in LA and two in New York who’d told me to contact them when I was ready to start working on the small screen.

The past year and a half almost felt like a dream and I knew that coming back to New York would be like waking up. Especially since this would be the first time anyone in either of Flynn or I's families had seen his show. I was pretty sure I was more nervous than he was. I was just glad my family was waiting until tomorrow to fly up. I wasn’t sure how much my nerves could take.

“Tennessee, we’re here.” Flynn’s voice in my ear drew me out of my thoughts. “You ready for this?”

I looked up at him, my heart swelling at the love in his eyes. I hadn’t thought it was possible to love him more than I had when I’d finally confessed my feelings, but every day, I loved him more, and I knew he felt the same way.

“With you at my side, I’m ready for anything.” I kissed his cheek. “Now, let’s go see that nephew of yours.”

Kendra had gone into labor late last night and had forbidden anyone from calling us until late this morning since we’d just gotten in the day before. She’d also apologized for not being able to make the show that night. Leave it to her to feel bad for missing an art show because she’d just shoved a nine and a half pound human being out of her body.

“Gabs!”

I was completely engulfed in one of Cody’s massive hugs before I even saw him coming. It had taken his arm nearly a year to regain full use and he still occasionally got headaches, but he’d otherwise recovered from the accident. And better than that...

“So, where is he?” I asked as Cody turned from me to Flynn.

Cody grinned and stretched out a hand behind him. “Gabs, Flynn, I’d like you to meet Mason.”

He was smaller than Cody, but was still over six feet tall and solidly built. High cheekbones, dusky skin, black curls and near-black eyes, he could’ve been one of Bouvier’s models. He wasn’t one though. He’d been Cody’s physical therapist until they’d realized that they’d rather be more than that, and Cody had switched to a cranky Russian therapist for the last few months.

They’d gone official when Cody had brought Mason to the Bouvier family Christmas party and kissed Mason under the mistletoe in front of all of the high-society elite. Yet another time I’d wished someone had taken a picture of Claire’s face for me.

“Flynn.”

He stiffened next to me and I squeezed his hand as we turned to face Claire. Albert stood behind her, as always, but he did manage a half-smile for both Flynn and I.