Beauty from Pain (11 page)

I stop the circular pleasure I’m giving her
and my fingers retreat because I’m determined to hear her say it. I
don’t want to wait any longer. “Tell me you’ll be mine while you’re
here.”

She reaches for my wrist and pushes my hand
further inside her panties. “Don’t stop.”

I give her a few more soft strokes before I
come to a standstill again. “Give me the answer I want to hear and
I’ll keep going.”

She rocks against my hand, riding it hard.
“That feels so good. Don’t stop.”

She’s desperate for my touch, so I use her
need to get my answer a little earlier than she intended on giving
it to me. She’s trembling under my touch and I give her a few more
strokes. “Tell me, Paige. Tell me you’ll be mine.”

“
Yes.”

“
Yes to what?”

She’s squeezing my forearm. Hard. “Yes, I’ll
be yours while I’m in Australia.”

I smile against her neck again. “That’s all I
needed to hear.”

I want to show her how happy she’s made me. I
pull my hand from her shorts and she whimpers at the loss of my
touch, but it’s only temporary.

I turn her around to face me. She watches my
eyes as I place my hands on her hips and push her shorts and
panties down to her feet. I lift her onto the table. “Lie
back.”

She knows what’s coming and she welcomes
it.

I put my lips against her inner thigh and
place a kiss against her scalding skin. “Tell me again. I like
hearing you say it.”

I trail kisses up her inner thighs, waiting to
hear her say it again so I can show her what being mine
means.

“
I’m yours,” she moans and I
reward her for her acceptance. I place my tongue flat against her
center and give her one slow upward swipe before I find her small,
engorged bump and begin circling it. She tastes so good, even
better than I’d imagined.

I feel her reach for my hair and fist it, so I
know I’m right where I need to be. I lick and suck her until her
screams echo from every wall inside the cave. When she stops
screaming, she’s statuesque across the dining table.

Good thing everyone’s gone for the next
several days if she screams that loud every time she
comes.

I crawl up her body, kissing it as I go until
we’re face to face. She’s breathing heavily and appears dazed. She
blinks several times to focus on my face. A smile spreads and I’m
relieved to see that she’s not angry with me about the tactics I
used to get her answer.

I place a kiss against her mouth and smile
because I know this is only the beginning. “You won’t regret saying
yes.”

13

Laurelyn Prescott

I lie on my back, naked from my waist down,
across an ornate dining table and stare up at the ceiling. I’m
lightheaded and dazed during my postorgasmic bliss. Drunk almost.
I’m no innocent virgin, but this is new for me. Blake never made me
feel like that, not that he ever tried.

I don’t want to think about him. I won’t let
him ruin anything else for me.

I feel Lachlan kissing his way up my body and
it takes a minute before I’m able to focus on him when he hovers
above me. I see his smile and I know he’s pleased with my
acceptance of his proposal. He didn’t play fairly, but he got what
he wanted from me. That’s something I’ll need to remember in the
future.

I wait for the sound of his zipper sliding
down, but it doesn’t come. Instead, I hear him tell me how I won’t
regret saying yes and I can’t argue because I know he’s right. The
next three months are going to be extraordinary.

I find my voice and whisper,
“Caveman.”
That’s going to be my nickname
for him.

He throws his head back laughing and I join in
soon after. He’s so beautiful when he smiles. The happiness in his
dazzling blue eyes is unmistakable. I’m elated because it’s all for
me; I’m the one making him beam, and I couldn’t be happier about
that.

He lowers his face to my neck and nuzzles it
with his nose. I know he’s smelling me because I hear his long,
deep intake of air followed by a sigh. “A caveman. You think that’s
what I am, huh?”

I feel the warm rush of his breath against my
skin and chills cover my body. “You definitely have caveman
tendencies.”

He places a kiss against my neck and I lift my
chin so he can have full access. “You don’t like my
tendencies?”

“
I didn’t say that.”

“
I was only helping you say yes,”
he reminds me, as if he’s afraid I have forgotten my
agreement.

“
I was coerced by a caveman,” I
laugh. My laughter is cut off by my sharp intake of air when he
runs his hand up my shirt to my naked nipple. He rolls it between
his fingers and I feel it pebble from his touch all over
again.

He sucks my earlobe and it’s a reminder of how
it felt to have his mouth between my legs. He whispers against my
ear. “But you’re not taking it back, are you?”

He’s coercing me again, but in a different
way. He doesn’t realize it, but it’s unnecessary. Paige Beckett
already belongs to him.

I think about how much fun his persuasion
might be if I tell him I recant. I don’t mind his way of compelling
me, but I decide it’s better to not push my luck since he warned me
he gets what he wants. He claims to use reasonable means, but I
don’t think that’s true after what he just did to me to get a
simple yes. “No, I’m not taking it back.”

“
Good. That’s what I hoped you
say.” His mouth leaves my neck and he pushes himself up to stand.
His touch is gone too soon and I suppress a whimper. He takes my
hands in his and helps me from the table.

I stand wearing nothing from the waist down in
front of him, and I feel vulnerable, even though I know this won’t
be the last time I’m naked with this man. The thought makes me want
to do my happy dance, but I decide to save it for later when I’m
alone.

He picks up my panties and shorts from the
stone floor and holds them out for me to step into, like an adult
dressing a toddler. I balance by holding his shoulders, and he
leans forward and inhales deeply before he places a kiss against my
smooth mound. He makes me want to fall back across the table to
have a second round, but I resist because I know he has other plans
for me.

He pulls my panties and shorts up, and I’m
frightened by how well I know this place I shouldn’t go. This man
will be hazardous for my heart if I allow it. He’ll use me up if I
let him. I know this without a doubt and remind myself of a lesson
well learned not so long ago. Never confuse sex for
love.

Right now, we’re black and white, but I vow
that the second it becomes a hazy shade of cold steel gray, I will
get out. No question about it.

He kisses my mouth as I fasten my shorts. I
wonder if he does it because he’s curious to see my reaction—if
I’ll kiss him back after he’s had his mouth between my legs. I kiss
him hard and he smiles.

“
Take a walk with me.” He clutches
my hand and leads me through the maze of rooms toward the cave’s
exit. I’m a little disappointed to leave and I hope he brings me
back here again soon. I’m quite fond of his caveman
ways.

We walk between two rows of vine-covered
trellises that stretch as far as the eye can see. He’s quiet, but
simply walking next to him is peaceful. My mind isn’t spinning in
search of our next topic of conversation—for some reason, not
talking is okay. Simply being next to him is enough to keep me
content and that’s when I realize what is happening. He is right
about this relationship. We feel relaxed with each other because
there are no pretenses.

I’m his for the next three months and I’m
prepared for what that means. It’s clear he has boundaries, and
he’s told me what he expects from me. I’m stoked about my sudden
epiphany and stop dead in my tracks. “This relationship … I get it
now. I get why it works.”

He smiles but still asks me for an
explanation. “Tell me what you get.”

I think he wants to hear me say the words, and
I’m okay with that. “Because we have no pretenses and clear
expectations, I don’t feel pressured to be anything but me. I have
no worries about what today, tomorrow, or next month means for us
because I already know.”

He reaches for my face and strokes his thumbs
over my cheeks. He’s beaming as he watches my eyes. “You get it
full circle now—what I want and need from you.”

I see how delighted he is and I realize
something. Pleasing this man brings me pleasure. Common sense tells
me I should be frightened by that, but for some reason, I’m
not.

We go back to the cave after our walk and he
drives us back to the house. I think about the things he has
planned for tonight. I know he has something in mind because this
man doesn’t fly by the seat of his pants. He’s done this enough to
be calculating, his every move premeditated.

We get to the house and he drops me off by the
door while he parks the ATV. I take the picnic basket to the
counter to unload it and put the dirty dishes and utensils in the
dishwasher. Any other time, I suspect Lachlan would leave the mess
for Mrs. Porcelli. Since she isn’t here, I make it my
job.

When he enters the kitchen, I’m loading the
last of the dishes into the dishwasher. “You don’t have to do
that.”

“
I know, but now it’s done and we
don’t have to worry about it.”

He opens the refrigerator and takes out two
bottles of beer. He twists the tops off and pushes one across the
counter to me. It’s an unexpected surprise, but I guess it’s
presumptuous of me to think he only drinks wine. “Have a coldie
with me.”

Wine drinking is a lot of work. Beer drinking
is more my speed. I reach for the amber bottle and sip without
holding it up to the light or sniffing it. I don’t swish it in my
mouth to judge its aftertaste. I simply drink and enjoy it because
that’s all you have to do.

I check out the label and see it’s an
Australian brand. I like it and it goes down smoothly. “Nothin’
like an ice cold beer.”

He reaches for my free hand and tugs on it.
“Come into the living room with me so we can talk and relax.” I
follow him and we sit side by side on the couch. He’s close enough
that his leg brushes mine and I feel like a teenager all over
again. The simple touch thrills me beyond belief. “I’m sorry about
bailing on you yesterday.”

“
It’s fine. I understand that it
wasn’t your choice.”

He rests his free hand on my bare thigh and
begins to work my muscle like a professional masseur. “What did you
end up doing?”

“
Addison and I went shopping,
which was probably the wrong thing to do considering Christmas is
in three days.”

“
Did you buy anything?”

“
A few things.” I smile when I
think of the lingerie. I didn’t know if it would get any use when I
decided to blow my budget by buying it, but now I’m certain it
will, and I can’t wait.

“
I haven’t been in town long, but
Wagga Wagga doesn’t seem to have a lot of great places to
shop.”

He’s right. The shopping choices aren’t great.
I’m used to Nashville. It’s home to all the biggest country stars
so places to shop are endless. “It’s a little limited when compared
to what I’m used to.”

He’s stroking my leg as he talks
about Wagga Wagga, but I zone out for a minute because I’m
remembering what he did to me in the cave. I hear him saying
something about Sydney and I force myself back into the
conversation just in time to hear his invitation. “I have tickets
for
Madama
Butterfly
in February in Sydney.
Will you go with me and let me take you shopping?”

He’s asking me to make plans with him two
months from now, and I realize this relationship gives me the
ability to accept his offer without worry about what will happen
between now and then. “Sure, that sounds like fun.”

He probably thinks I like opera because I’m a
musician, but he’d be wrong. I’m not a fan, but I don’t tell him
this because he seems happy about taking me.

We finish our beers and have two more while we
talk about everything and nothing at the same time. He tells me
more about his life, but he’s guarded and I wonder if he’s telling
me half-truths.

I hear “Jolene” by Dolly Parton playing inside
my purse. It’s my mom’s ringtone and I’m not sure it’s wise to talk
to her after having a few beers, but I decide I should probably
answer since I’ve only spoken to her once since I arrived in
Australia.

I reach for my purse and apologize to Lachlan.
“I’m sorry. This is my mom calling, so I should probably
answer.”

“
Don’t apologize.”

I take out my singing phone and I’m reminded
of the one Lachlan sent me. Neither of us has brought it up yet.
I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to thank him for it or not. It’s a
weird situation. Not thanking him feels rude, so I’ll think that
one over later. Right now, I have to talk to Jolie
Prescott.