You can’t live in a fairy tale forever.
I was Cinderella and midnight was coming, when this would all disappear and to the world we would return to being stepsiblings, even if that marriage ceased to exist.
Chapter 21
KATE
* * *
The smell of a sea breeze mixed with the scent of his light cologne was the best aroma to wake up to.
This.
Was.
A.
Dream.
In this magical setting with the aqua waters glistening, it sang a musical melody to the sun in perfect harmony with the waves that served as radio frequencies casting their song far out to sea, creating an unknown ripple effect. I felt peaceful, harmonious, at home. I wanted to freeze this moment in time and remember it forever. The sound of the yacht docked, rocking gently, the warmth of the waves, the harmony of the birds, the feeling of the warmth of the morning sun. Heaven in a dream.
He lay there sleeping with his dark lashes covering his eyes that matched the sea. I couldn’t wait for them to open again. I wondered what he dreamt of. I wondered what fantasies or problems surfaced in his mind. With both parents dead, the confession of his wanting to take the family business in a different light, he really did have a lot going on and I was glad I could be there for him. I felt almost protective of him and wanted to be his support. I never knew this type of feeling before.
I pulled the light sheet over us and burrowed my head down into the plush pillow and sighed. I could see how romantic, luxurious backdrops such as this really played with a woman’s heartstrings. It was easy to see how the billionaires always landed the younger women. Romance, grandiose gestures, yachts, private beaches, heck, it can make you feel a lot of things. Endorphins lighting up like Time Square on a MRI, no doubt.
But even in this logical thinking, I knew this felt different. I just wasn’t sure how this was going to pan out and I didn’t want to think about that.
The fresh salty air reminded me to leave the worries aside and just receive the gift of paradise.
I’d never in my life slept outside before. Well, sure, when camping, but this was something else.
The special bug torches kept mosquitoes and bugs at bay, leaving us to enjoy the clear skies as our ceiling before falling asleep to the symphony of the stars that, I swear, twinkled so bright we heard their music.
Or maybe it was the music of him that led to this enlightened feeling.
I sighed again in the cozy nest.
But there was one thing I couldn’t remove from my mind that I really needed to focus on—my defense. I was glad I was here. It was good that I came. Maybe he was right. Maybe I would nail it today feeling so relaxed and so, well, renovated from body therapy with Bradley.
His strong arms pulled me close to his soft skin.
“Hi love.” His soft kiss nestled into my neck. Oh, Bradley Rainshaw was a cuddle bear. Beneath this hard exterior, his thousand dollar suits, and his muscles of steel, he was a man that loved hugs and kisses, and I could just die.
Right now.
“I was just dreaming of you.”
“Of what?”
“Of finishing where we left off last night.” His hand slid down my belly and he bid me good morning, body, mind, and soul once again.
After morning sex, we were both famished and ready to eat breakfast. God knows we’d worked up quite the appetite from our lovemaking!
“Here, have some coffee. Have a baller breakfast. And then have some of this mimosa. I find when you’re tipsy, you actually say what’s on your mind.”
“You’re right. You know, you’re right.”
Thirty minutes later, and after refreshing myself up a bit, I felt a bit dizzy from the sudden heavy rocking from an incoming storm. I had to hold on to a beam for support.
Bradley held up my iPad to practicing getting a convincing shot on Skype for my professors so that they wouldn’t suspect I was on a boat. Of course not, I was in a facility getting help from the traumatic week. Which was sort of true. He was helping me overcome all that stress, alright.
But a sudden storm had rumbled in and its welcoming committee was letting us know with the heavier waves that we didn’t have much time before the entire teammate showed up. This was really messing with my plans!
“Okay, can you, like, practice just holding the screen like that? And then when the boat rocks, lightly rock with it? Try not to make it look like I’m on a boat? Oh my gosh, this is never going to work. Never! I’m doomed!”
“No, you’re not. We’ve got this. Look at me, you and me. A team. Okay?”
The Skype cloud rang across my iPad, alerting me that the panel was calling. They were ready for me. “Oh my god, oh my god. Okay, okay. Wish me luck. Now or never!” My heart raced from nerves. Maybe I should have had a quick refill of a tiny bit of mimosa.
“Kate,” he whispered. “Hurry and reposition over here. I’ll zoom in on your face to where all you’ll see is the back of the wood.”
“What?”
“Over there!” He quietly whispered as he shot the iPad down, capturing the wood floor before getting a close up on my face in our new location.
“Hello Kate. How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Fine, thank you.” I nervously tucked tendrils of hair behind my ear like an obsessed cat grooming herself. “Thank you again for allowing me to do this remotely. I really am seriously super thankful and I’ll have you know that this type of leadership and compassion is the type of thing I hope to foster myself, one day when I’m a professor and am inspiring students.” Shit, I was rambling.
There they sat all in a row like the investors on Shark Tank or a panel taking kindergarten applications at a prestigious school in a swanky neighborhood.
“Thank you. Well, could you please begin?”
I spoke as if I were running for President of the United States. With such passion, articulation, and yes, acting skills, I could feel the magic in the words and I just knew I was hitting a home run. I could just picture the professors arguing over who would get to mentor me. My ideas were original. I had the passion. I could be one of those students that changed the world and they could be a part of that. I felt like a pioneer.
Finally, it was over.
Over!
The Skype session exit sounded and before I could even jump up and down in elation, his strong arms slid around my waist as his hot breath tickled my skin. A soft kiss trailed down my neck immediately making me feel all warm and gooey. I leaned into his strong pillar.
“You did it. Do you feel lighter?” His kisses trailed along my collarbone sending goose bumps down my back.
My sex throbbed in need as his hands cupped my waist. I thought again of all the things he had done to me, the way he made my body come alive in life changing, mind altering ways. It was as if I had been in a coma my whole life and he woke me up.
If I couldn’t articulate my gratitude at the moment, I could sure show him.
With all the passion and desire in me, I kissed him hard, eager, and long.
More chills flowed throughout my body and my nerves jumped up and down like excited toddlers screaming, “Yes! More! More! Now! Now!”
He turned on another switch in me. He made me feel so damn good it felt illegal.
He kissed me hard and passionate—one of those kisses that reminded me the way he kisses me down below. He sucked on my bottom lip and toyed with my gums. He left me breathless as I lifted my head for more.
He trailed his fingers down my sternum and across the lace of my bra. My nipples begged to be touched. He slowly trailed down below my stomach, over my hipbone and directly over the thin fabric covering my eagerly pounding pussy.
His fingers trailed over my very swollen clit and just at the touch of him, my hips bucked slightly at the natural reaction for wanting more
He trailed his fingers down my inner thighs and did it all over again. My collarbone, my nipples, my stomach, my hip bones, my engorged pussy, my i
nner thighs.
And he did it one more time.
I finally couldn’t take it anymore. The way my pounding aching inner walls drummed with a dull longing to be filled.
I kissed him harder, with greater need.
“I need you in me, now.” I barely got out as my kisses were hard, needy, intense.
His hands cupped my shoulders and he pulled away breathless with a look that read he wanted the same thing.
But there was knock at the door.
Damn door.
“It’s um…” he swallowed back the intensity and ran his fingers through his hair. “A little relaxation present for you.”
“Mr. Rainshaw are you and your misses ready for us?”
You and your misses.
That quickly sobered me up fast. I wasn’t ready to be known as his misses and I took a weak step away from him calming myself down and getting a grip of the moment.
“You okay?” he tilted his jaw. “I promise it will be worth the wait later. Promise.” He winked as his hand cupped my shoulder again in a possessive yet tender way as if claiming I was his. I needed to shake my head out of the gutter thoughts, fast. Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the moment.
“Yes, you may enter.”
The door opened and two women in white scrubs with massage folding beds entered the room. They had some serious strength. The ache in my lower back immediately jumped for joy.
This really was what the doctor ordered.
“Here,” Bradley draped his arm around me and walked me towards a wine bar.
He unwrapped and popped open a bottle of champagne and poured the bubbles into two flutes.
“To you, and your words.”