Coffee Sonata (37 page)

“Sure. And I can drop by the house too, you know. And…oh! Wait!” Eryn hurried into her study and rummaged around her desk. Finding what she was looking for, she returned to her mother, who now stood in the hallway, putting on her coat.

“Here, Mom. Two tickets to the Belmont Foundation Charity Concert on Saturday. You could never afford them, and neither could I, normally. I got them free. I thought I’d send one to Sandy and her boyfriend, and Kelly and Bob too. And Don and his wife, of course. That leaves one for me and one extra.”

“But won’t the charity lose out?” Harriet fingered the tickets. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“Oh, they’re bought and paid for with honest money that’s going directly to the hospital wing. And if it makes you feel better, you can donate what you can spare to the foundation. That’s what I’ll do.”

“Ah, that will mean extra money for them. Good idea.” Her mother nodded. “Your father will be pleased. He loves music.”

“I know he does. Does he know you’re here?”

“Yes.”

“Bring him next time.”

“Okay,” Harriet said, almost shyly. “See you Saturday, maybe. And next week.”

“Yes. We’ll be sitting together. Very good seats, actually.”

“Sounds wonderful.” Harriet hastily kissed Eryn’s cheeks. “Bye-bye.”

“Bye.”

Eryn listened until the sound of her mother’s steps quieted.
Is this a sign that my life will change in more ways? I’m not sure I can handle any more surprises. Except one. Manon. Come back. This wait is killing me.

*

“He killed someone?” Vivian gasped and pulled Mike into a fierce embrace. “Oh,
cara
, my darling. How awful. For the person’s family. For you.”

“I didn’t know about it for a long time. Father died in prison when I was fourteen, and that’s when I learned the truth.” Mike buried her face against Vivian’s chest.

Mike’s hair smelled clean and of her sandalwood perfume. Familiar by now. “Tell me about it.”

Mike sobbed, a deep, painful sound. “According to the court papers, my father had left me home alone to go to the pub soon after I was released back into his care, to ‘celebrate’ with his friends. He drank quite a bit and then decided to drive home. It wasn’t very late, and he took a shortcut from the pub, and…and hit a boy on the bicycle path.”

“Oh, my God. And the boy was killed.”

“Yes, on impact, apparently. My father, drunk and out of it, left the scene and drove home. So not only did he kill the poor boy, but he left him there, didn’t even try to help. When the police came to arrest him, he insisted he didn’t even know he’d hit someone. He was that far gone. ”

Something in Vivian’s memory stirred, but she couldn’t place her finger on it. “So he was sentenced to prison.”

“Yes, since it was his third DUI, he got fifteen years. He died after six years in that place, from a heart attack.”

Vivian tried to warm Mike through her denim shirt as she stroked her in long, languid movements. She’d stopped shivering and felt delightfully heavy against Vivian’s breasts.

“And Brenda was trying to make you believe that you’ve inherited your father’s genes,” Vivian stated with a huff. “Granted, you can inherit the risk for alcoholism, but as for the rest of your father’s actions? No. You have nothing of that.”

Mike held on to Vivian. “Sometimes my past drives me nuts. I have the urge to hit something, sometimes,” Mike whispered. “I beat the drums. I mean, really hard.”

“That’s my
point
.” Vivian tipped Mike’s head back. “You beat the drums. Not a living being of any kind. Lifeless things.” She leaned down and kissed Mike. “There’s nothing wrong with you,
cara
. You’re amazing and have overcome hardships that most of us never even hear about. And you mean so much to me.”

She kissed Mike again. This time she parted her lips and entered Mike’s mouth with insistent softness. Mike answered the kiss, and Vivian hoped it washed away some of her fear, if not all.

Mike unbuttoned Vivian’s shirt and snuck a hand inside, cupped one of her abundant breasts and caressed it.

Vivian moaned aloud. “Oh,
cara
, you do the strangest, most wonderful things to me.” Then she kissed the top of Mike’s head. “You make me feel things…things I never thought I’d ever experience. Especially not now…”
Now when everything else has fallen apart around me. You show me a new way. A new dream. Mike.

“You’re so beautiful. I want you, Vivian. I want to feel you against me.”

“Then undress me, my darling.” How easy it was to say.
Remarkable.
The affectionate word obviously wasn’t lost on Mike. The pulse at her temples pounded so hard Vivian could see it.

“I want to watch you.” Their closeness now obviously made Mike more daring too. “Every part of you, Vivi. You have such a sexy, wonderful body. I can’t get enough of it.”

Vivian jerked at Mike’s unexpected and arousing words, feeling the warmth of a deep blush on her cheeks. “Mike, darling, do whatever you want,” Vivian said breathlessly. “Let me just get undressed—”

“No, let me.” Mike moved back to reach the buttons farther down. She opened Vivian’s shirt completely, tugged it off her arms, and made it disappear. Vivian wore a lace bra that covered very little, which stole what little breath Mike still had. “I want to see everything,” she insisted and removed the bra with unsteady fingers.

“God, Mike.” Vivian arched into her touch when Mike took the nipples between her fingers and rolled them into firm peaks. “I want you so much it hurts. Don’t stop.” Desire, affection, nervousness, and an overshadowing tenderness toward Mike surged through her, leaving her shaking and determined to give Mike all the pleasure she deserved.

The thought of Brenda came uninvited, but Vivian immediately dismissed the comparison. She guessed that Brenda had wanted Mike to pleasure her in ways Mike wasn’t comfortable with, and Vivian vowed to never demand Mike make such choices.

As Mike leaned in and took one of Vivian’s nipples into her mouth, Vivian pressed against it. “Yes, just like that,” she groaned. “You make me feel so good.” Mike latched onto the nipple, tugging gently on it with her teeth, and Vivian gave a sharp cry before she sank deeper into the couch, pulling Mike with her. “Mike…
cara
…don’t stop. I want out of these clothes, though. Hurry.”

“No problem,” Mike said. She unbuttoned and unzipped Vivian’s slacks before pushing them off her raised hips, then tugged the panties and the nylon stockings down together at the same time.

“You too?” Vivian whispered, staring up at the outline of Mike’s face.

“Yes.”

Vivian felt Mike slowly undress, slowing their pace, and she touched her wherever she felt bare skin. Finally Mike sat naked in front of her. Vivian lost her breath and bit into her lower lip. “You feel wonderful.” Vivian let her palms “see” Mike. “I’m so glad I was able to see you before my eyes blurred completely,” she said. “I know you’re satin smooth, with perfect olive skin.” Her voice broke. “You know how I feel about you, don’t you,
cara
?”

“I think you have to tell me. I am beyond guessing. I’m bound to get it wrong.”

Vivian chuckled, nervous and exhilarated, as she drew Mike on top of her. “I know. It’s not fair of me to ask.” She quieted for a moment. No matter how she put this, it was going to sound either too formal or too mushy. “Sweetest Michaela, you’ve taken me by storm in every way possible. No matter what the future brings, I hope you’ll be there with me…because I love you.”
Merde, it sounds like I’m proposing or something…and perhaps I am, in a way.

Mike became still. When Vivian placed a hand between her breasts, Mike’s heartbeat felt erratic and powerful. Mike gasped for air several times and sounded as if she was about to cry. Vivian smiled wryly to herself.
I had hoped for a happier result when I confessed to love and meant it for the first time in my life.

Mike then pressed Vivian’s hand tighter to her chest. “I love you too. I love you, Vivian.” Her voice was strained, but her words were clear. She pressed closer and hid her face in Vivian’s hair. “I’ve loved you from the first day you came into the café.”

Vivian wrapped her legs around Mike and held her even closer, unable to hold back her excitement or her arousal. “You make me so happy.”

“Let me feel you.”

As Mike pushed a hand down between them, Vivian parted her legs farther and bent them around Mike’s waist. “Yes, yes. Touch me.”

“God, Vivi, you’re so wet.” Mike whimpered. “So incredibly soft and drenched.”

“Yes. Only for you, darling. I want you. Now.”

Vivian knew her staccato words conveyed her deep need, and if Mike didn’t do something soon, she wasn’t above begging.
She’s going to make me hers. And if she wants to, I’ll show her just how I can claim her.

Mike raised her hips a few inches and slid two fingers inside Vivian’s copious moisture. Vivian’s inner walls contracted around Mike’s fingers, and as the wet heat pulsated it felt as if Mike searched for something.

Whatever it was, Vivian knew exactly when Mike found it. She gave a hoarse, loud cry when Mike curled her fingers up and sent thrills of pleasure shimmering through her thighs and stomach.

“Vivian…touch me too. I’m burning for you.”

Vivian cupped Mike’s buttocks with both hands and pulled her tight. She kissed Mike’s lips, nibbled them with sharp teeth while she massaged her breasts. When she extended her fingers, she actually managed to dip into the wetness a few times.

Her actions obviously added to Mike’s fire, but she squirmed so restlessly, Vivian understood Mike needed more. More of Vivian, more touches, and more love.

“Roll onto your side,” Vivian murmured. “I can’t reach you like this.”

Vivian held on as Mike rolled off her and ended up just an inch from falling to the floor. “You better not let me go,” Mike said with a smile in her voice.

“Never,” Vivian replied with total sincerity. She still held on to Mike with one arm around her neck, the other searching the black curls between Mike’s legs. The wetness urged her on and she knew what to do. “Spread you legs for me,
cara
.”

Mike gasped and began moving her hand still buried between Vivian’s legs, then lifted her right leg and hooked it loosely around Vivian’s hip. Vivian immediately rolled Mike’s clitoris between her fingers. It swelled, and Vivian kept circling it with her thumb when she entered Mike with first one finger and then two.

“I can’t believe how wonderful you feel,” Vivian breathed. “You’re like fire against me and you’re going to make me come…very soon.” She rolled her hips against Mike’s hand.

Mike pressed her damp forehead against Vivian’s and their breaths mingled as their hands played deep inside each other.

Unison. Harmony. Accord.
From nowhere, musical terms appeared in Vivian’s mind, and she knew this was how she felt about Mike. She kissed her tenderly and whispered, “I love you,
cara
, and I want to make you feel so good. I want you to stay like this, in my arms. I need you, so…much…Mike! Mike…oh…oh…”

Mike kept rolling her hips, and Vivian felt sweat stream down Mike’s temples and onto her own face as Mike leaned over her. “Then kiss me again. Make me yours…”

Vivian buried the fingers of her free hand in Mike’s damp hair and kissed her thoroughly, deeply, and with all the love she now felt entitled to show. As if the truth about their mutual feelings set Mike free enough to enjoy the physical aspect of love, Mike came with a loud whimper, her body rigid from her toes to her head, which was thrown back over Vivian’s arm. “Vivi! Oh, my God…ah!” Deep moans followed as her body convulsed repeatedly.

Vivian felt an unusual, but rather pleasant, soreness when she cradled Mike and allowed her to catch her breath and find her bearings. The room was quiet except for their labored breathing. When they calmed down, Mike raised her head and kissed the tip of Vivian’s nose. “I love you.” She said it without hesitation, and yet Vivian got the impression that Mike was holding her breath.

“I love you right back.” Vivian felt Mike relax and put her head on Vivian’s shoulder.

“I’m happy. And afraid. I’ve never been this happy,” Mike explained, “so I’m not sure how to make it last. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, in a way. But if it makes you feel better, I’ve never been this happy either, and I have no clue where to go from here. All I know is that wherever I go, or whatever I do, I want you to be there. If you want to be.”

“Of course I do.” Mike sighed. “But I can’t just go places. I have the café.”

“I know.” Vivian kissed Mike in a slow, deep way and hoped her kiss conveyed all the emotions that defied words.

“You need to go home to Perry and Mason sooner or later.” Mike became silent for a moment, and Vivian waited patiently for what was about to come. “If I throw a few things in a bag, can I come with you? I can walk the boys and spend a few nights. What do you think?” She shrugged and sounded a little embarrassed.

“Would you? Really?” Vivian smiled. “That’d be great. I’ve worried about the dogs lately. I can still walk them during the day but have problems when it’s dark.”

“I understand,” Mike said, the embarrassment gone from her voice. “So, it’s a deal, then?”