The Everlasting Chapel (12 page)

“Well, it’s true. And Spencer knows
everything about you and me, and how…”

He pulls away a little more.
“Everything?”

“Yes. He’s a friend.”

“Of a week.”

“Well, I have known him for a few weeks,” I
say.

“And you want me to be okay with this?”

“Yes. Listen, I could make a big deal about
you and your ex, but I’m not going to,” I say, still feeling a
smidgen jealous.

“It’s not the same.” He swims over to the
side of the pool and rests his forearms onto the edge, facing away
from me. His back is broad, and as I study the hills and valleys of
his muscles, I find I want to touch him.

I make my way over to him, facing away from
the ledge, and prop my elbows onto it.

“Please don’t let this be an issue between
us. I understand you don’t like it. I get that. But I have
absolutely no feelings for Spencer other than friendship. And I
don’t like to think of you doing business with your ex. I mean, she
must be super persistent, and a part of me is afraid she’ll try to
win you back.”

“I hardly think she’ll try that,” he
hisses.

Why the sudden mood change? Is he still hurt
by her?

“Why did she break it off with you?” I ask.
I don’t expect him to tell me, but I hope we’ve come to a point
where we can speak openly about this and other not-so-comfortable
issues.

“She said I didn’t stand up to her in front
of my mother,” he says.

“Did you?” I ask.

After a long pause, he says, “No. But even
though my mother was a vicious woman, I still loved her. And Alexa
was ruthless and constantly complained about what a horrid person
my mother was. I grew tired of it.”

“Was that her name? Alexa?” I ask.

“Yes. I’m glad it’s over. We would never
have worked out. We would have killed each other in the end.”

Ha! “Kind of sounds like us.”

He rests his chin on his forearms and
glances at me from underneath his lashes. “It’s nothing like us.
Alexa and I had other issues, but I’d rather not go into it. You
and I might have our moments where we want to kill each other, but
we’re stronger than our problems. We’re stronger than
anything.”

“Even than ex-fiancés and friends with
benefits?” I say.

He chuckles a little. “You’re pretty good at
negotiating. I should bring you next time I have a deal to
settle.”

“That will cost you,” I say.

“Don’t make me attack you before I know and
agree to the third term,” he says.

“Okay. The third term is that we’re always
open and honest with each other.”

“Done.” He lets his eyes drop to my
cleavage, and then he gets this wild look in his eyes. He moves in
front of me so he has me pinned against the edge of the pool, and
when he presses his hips to mine, I feel his steel hard erection
between my legs.

“Listen, what I don’t want to do is control
you. If you say you have no feelings for Spencer, I am going to
believe you. I might not be happy about it, but I’ll respect what
you decide,” he says.

“Really?”

“Just don’t blame me when Dr. Jamison
mysteriously vanishes one day.”

“You’re horrible,” I say, slapping his
chest.

He laughs, and then he grabs my arms,
preventing me from hitting him further. “I just want you for
myself.”

I lean my cheek against his, and whisper,
“You have me.”

Whatever Michael heard in those three little
words, it drives him completely wild. He reaches his hands behind
my back and draws me toward him so his stomach crashes against
mine. With one swift move, he pulls the drawstring of my bikini top
so it falls open to the front, revealing my breasts. When he sees
them, he smiles and gropes my right nipple between his thumb and
index finger, kneading it.

My head falls back as I produce an erratic,
high-pitched whimper, as a flash of sheer lust courses through
me.

Reaching behind my upper back with the other
hand, he unhitches the clasp, and suddenly my upper body is
completely bare. Releasing my breast, he presses his chest against
mine, and my nipples harden against his slick skin. And it is then
that I notice how his body is trembling as much as mine is.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asks
between kisses, his fingertips skimming my upper back.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Oh, God, yes! “Are you
sure?”

His eyes darken several shades, a
smoldering, deep blue. “I can’t…take another day without you. And I
have thought of nothing else all day than how much I wanted to be
buried deep inside of your sweetness.” He grinds himself against
me, causing my insides to ache even more for him.

Oh… Weaving my fingers through his hair, I
bring his lips to mine. Having the warm water move between us only
amplifies the sensation of each movement.

I reach into the water, and squeeze my hand
down the front of his swim trunks. Encircling him with my fingers,
tugging at him gently, I see his eyes roll back into his head.
Watching his euphoric expression causes makes me greedy with
need.

He lets out an unencumbered grunt. “Fuck,
Scarlett. Easy. I’ve had a long time to warm up. I want to make you
come first.”

He snatches my hand away, and holds it
behind my back as he slips a hand down into the front of my bikini
bottoms. Immediately, he finds the slippery skin between my folds,
and pushes two fingers into me.

My mouth drops open, but no sound other than
my breath manages to escape. “I’ve been thinking about you all day,
too,” I say. “Every moment…it was just you.”

“Good,” he says shoving his fingers in
deeper and drawing them out.

My eyes want to roll back into my skull,
want to close.

“Look me in the eyes,” he says as he moves
his fingers faster, intensifying my pleasure. Peering into his
irises, I see his desire for me, his need, and how much he wants
this—wants me.

“I love you,” I say as tingles wash through
my entire body.

“I know,” he says. “I can read it in your
beautiful eyes.”

His fingers begin to move faster, and he
presses his lips to mine, gliding his silky tongue into my mouth.
His fingers pull out of me, and while he still kisses me, he pulls
my bottom off. I step out of them and let them sink to the pool
floor.

But suddenly he stops.

No, don’t stop! “Please,” I say, the aching
burn so intense that it’s bordering on painful.

“Please what?” he growls. “Do you want me to
fuck you?”

“Yes. God, yes. I need you inside.
Please…”

I wrap my legs loosely around him as I reach
for him, trying to find his glorious erection so I can put it where
I want him. Where I need him. But he moves my hand away.

Before I know it, he has pulled himself out
and slams into me. An excited and embarrassingly loud gasp tears
out of my mouth as his girth fills me to the brim, as my body
submits to his.

A rush of pleasure surges through me,
causing my skin to rise with goosebumps. And when he starts to
move, a hard and relentless pace, I find myself climbing so quickly
toward my peak, that I can’t keep the raw moans, the primal cries,
the vulgar gasps inside. Each thrust compels me toward that
glorious release.

While I hold onto his rock hard shoulders to
steady myself, he grabs onto my shoulders, too, and shoves me down
over him every time he thrusts upward.

“I. Love. You. Scar,” he says, gritting his
teeth, the muscles in his neck and face strained.

God, it drives me wild seeing his
agonizingly strained expressions when he’s fucking me. He moves so
fast I think he’s just going for it. It’s been too long, and with
how we ended things earlier today, we’ve had a long time to look
forward to this moment.

He moves faster and harder, slamming into me
as the water gushes around us, each blessed fuck bringing me so
high I think, surely, I’m going to explode. But I wind tighter and
tighter, my insides coiling around him as he fills me to the brim.
Oh, shit…oh…

When I don’t think I can take anymore,
finally, I feel the release approaching, and just as I come, the
orgasm raging through my entire body, I scream out.

Digging his fingernails into my flesh, he
plunges into me two more times before finding his release, calling
out my name. The aftershock of the orgasm gusts through me, and I
shiver in delight.

His head falls to my shoulder, and he
chuckles once.

After I take a moment to catch my breath, I
ask, “What’s so funny?”

He pants a few more times, his breaths
delighting my chest. “I couldn’t last. I’m like a teenager all over
again, with no control when I’m inside of you. Shit, Scarlett. What
am I going to do with you?” He lifts his head and kisses my
cheek.

I have no reply to that. Other than maybe
tell him to do it again. I kiss his lips and weave my fingers
through his wet tresses.

“Don’t worry,” he says. “We’re not done yet.
I want to make love to you all night, Scar. Make up for weeks of
being without you. Make you never need another man again.”

He could be thinking about Spencer, and
maybe he still fears I’ll go back to him. But I know if Michael and
I continue to date, I will never need another man ever again.
Spencer was great in bed and I had a lot of fun with him. But
Michael…I can’t even explain it. I hunger for him. I crave him. I
need
him. And what’s even better is, I think he might feel
the same way about me.

I do have work tomorrow, and I should get
some rest at least, but he’s right. We do have a lot of catching up
to do.

12

We head back to his room, and shower and
finally at four in the morning, after as much sex as I can handle,
I fall asleep in Michael’s arms. The next morning I’m up at seven,
and pick out one of the outfits Michael had purchased for me when
we were pseudo-dating/married. None of the brands are familiar to
me, but I can definitely feel the difference in the fit and the
quality of the apparel when I put them on. I’m almost afraid to
love it too much, still not convinced this will be my new life.
Still not convinced Diane’s check will clear—which it hasn’t
yet.

On his way to work, Michael drops me off at
the Portland Museum of Art, and says he’ll pick me up afterward so
we can go to dinner. I am definitely feeling sore after our
extended, passionate night together, but every time I move, I am
reminded of how amazing everything was. And for the life of me, I
can’t stop smiling! Normally I would have felt kind of silly
walking around with a perma-grin on my face, but I don’t. Michael,
too, has that same incessant smile on his face, and it makes me
very happy knowing I was the one who put it there.

Work goes by fairly
quickly, and when noon rolls around, Spencer
arrives
.
I thought
I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable around him at all, but when I first
see him, my stomach does this uncomfortable flip thing. And then I
start to feel guilty that I slept with him. All weekend, I haven’t
felt a single tinge of remorse, but now when he’s standing in front
of me, it comes tumbling down.

“
Is
Word of Mouth
good for today?” he
asks just as nonchalantly as usual.

“
Sure. Just let me grab my
bag.” I head to the back room, grab my purse, and take a few deep
breaths. On my way back out, Staci stops me.

“
For you,” she says,
handing me the cordless phone.

Who could be calling me here? “Hello. This
is Scarlett.”

“
Oh, thank God I got in
touch with you,” I hear Laila say.

My immediate thought is that she wants her
money from the one night Michael rented The Sanctuary. I cringe
inwardly.

“
I’ve called your cell pone
like hundreds of times.” Her voice sounds hysterical.

“
What is it?” I say,
fearing it might be something way worse than a debt collection
call.

“
Anne has…she was attacked
while leaving The Black Chapel last night.”

“
Anne…?” My hand hits my
mouth, and immediately tears flood my eyes. “Oh, God!”

“
She’s at the Providence
Portland Medical Center, but she’s in pretty bad condition. Can you
come over? I’m here with her now but I have to get back to work in
a little bit.”

My hands start to tremble. No, not Anne! Not
sweet, innocent Anne. Not my best friend who would never harm
anyone—who gave birth to the child she became pregnant with when
she was raped at seventeen simply because she couldn’t kill the
child growing in her womb.

Laila continues. “They don’t know who it is
yet, or the reason for the attack, but the police are eagerly
searching for whomever did this.”

“
Wasn’t anybody else
there?” I ask in horror, envisioning her leaving alone and being
assaulted. Tears cascade down my cheeks.

“
She asked if she could
stay late and rehearse one of her numbers. I gave her keys, and…”
Laila doesn’t complete the sentence.

“
I’ll be right there,” I
say, hanging up the phone.

I head out into the bookstore, and when
Spencer sees me, his eyes fill with worry.

“
What’s wrong?” he
asks.

“
My friend was attacked by
someone last night and she’s at the hospital. Can you take me
there?” I wipe the tears that won’t stop coming.

“
Of course,” he
says.

I tell Staci that I’ll be back late for
work, and when she hears what happened, she immediately says she’ll
cover for me as long as I need.

Driving over to the hospital, I can’t help
but let the tears continue to flow. I keep thinking that if I had
still worked there, this would not have happened. Usually we’d
leave work together to make sure we were safe. I realize it’s not
my fault, but if things had been different, if I had made different
decisions, she would be safe.