Nothing More Beautiful (44 page)

Tall, broad-shouldered, muscular, and
charming, with a reputation for fulfilling a woman in the bedroom,
Eric Dresker fit the bill to get Alma laid. I brought him over to
the lonely table and introduced them. Less than enthused for the
setup, she took to him nonetheless.

“I have to go get something out of the
dressing room. Will you be all right here?” I asked Vince. After he
nodded, I hurried off.

Digging through my purse, I found a tube of
lip balm, and refreshed my coat. I jumped when Vince came in,
thinking it was a random guy that figured this was the bathroom.
“Becky was just chatting me up good,” he said. “I didn’t know she
was such a talker.”

Oh God, he knows!
I had no choice but
to confess my crime before it blew up. I couldn’t hold it in any
longer anyway. “I did it,” I blurted.

“What?” His eyes narrowed. “I’m a little
lost.”

“I kissed a woman last Saturday at
Danielle’s bachelorette party,” I admitted. “Her old co-worker,
Nikki.”

“You
what?
” he asked, stupefied. His
faced turned suspicious. “Did you really, or are you just messing
with me?”

“It wasn’t anything.” My voice took over,
leaving my brain behind. “It didn’t mean anything. It was just a
stupid drunken mistake, nothing more. I wish I could take it back.”
My words turned into nothing but incoherent mumbles.

“Whoa!” He raised a finger to my lips and
stopped me. “I’m not mad, Maci. Relax.”

“Relax? I cheated on you, Vince, and I feel
miserable about it.” Emotions from the wedding, and from the
collapse of my life the week before, were now all surging in full
force, tears welling, about to break free.

He took me in his arms, tucking my head into
his shoulder, stroking my hair. “It’s
okay . . . it’s all
right . . . I don’t think you cheated on me.”
His voice plunged, deep and soothing. “Was it just one kiss?”

“That I remember,” I said, embarrassed. “The
night is pretty fuzzy.”

He pulled back so that I could see him.
“Well, how was it?” he asked with a wicked smile, his intrigue
apparent.

“Better than I thought it would be,” I said.
I looked at my feet. “I don’t know how long or how far it would’ve
gone . . . Danielle broke us up, and Nikki left
after that, and Bridgett says I blacked out minutes later.”

“So you were pretty shit-faced,” he laughed.
“Better than you thought it’d
be . . . hmmm . . . I never
thought . . . anyway, I wouldn’t call that
cheating. It was a drunken kiss with a woman. How can I be upset
with that?”

He was taking the news so well—much better
than I had predicted—and it turned me on for some weird reason. “I
think I want to try it,” I said out of the blue.

He cocked his head at me. “Try what?”

“You
know . . . 
it.
”

“You don’t mean—”

“Yeah.”

“Based off one kiss?”

“You did pegging for me,” I said. “I want to
do this for you.”

“The same woman?” he asked hoarsely, barely
able to contain his excitement. His pants betrayed him, his cock
stiffening.

I shook my head. “No, things didn’t end so
well with her and Danielle. I wouldn’t want to get into anything
with her.”

“Right. So who?” His cock fought the slacks,
and it appeared as if it would win, the material about to rip.

“I don’t know. Someone I don’t know that
well, but not a complete stranger.” Becky popped into my mind
again, as she had a few months ago when I considered a threesome. I
didn’t like the idea then and I didn’t like it now. Not her,
anyway. “We’ll have to brainstorm who it should be.”

He leaned in for a hard kiss. “Do you know
how much I want to fuck you right now?”

I pressed my hips into him. “I have a pretty
good idea, yeah.” I smiled as my hand traveled down his tux to his
cock.

Vince pulled away, locked the door, and
unbuckled his pants. “In here?” I asked.

“In here, right now.” He lowered me to the
couch, brushed up my dress, and yanked down my thong. He dove
between my legs without another word. His tongue played with my
clit and kissed my pussy. After a minute, he pulled me to my feet,
and then bent me over the couch’s arm. He entered from behind and I
gasped like I always did when he first penetrated.

He filled me, completed me in the way only
his cock could. I buried my head into a pillow so I wouldn’t scream
as his hand reached around and rubbed my clit with those incredible
fingers of his. He had learned my body so well over the last few
months that I came within minutes.

He bit into my back to control his orgasm,
muting his screams, and then rested his forehead between my
shoulder blades, his breaths slowly returning to him. I arched back
and kissed him, my head swimming in ecstasy. I could feel his semen
running down my leg, so I hurried to the private bathroom before it
marked my dress. When I came back out, Vince was dressed and ready
to dance, though he claimed to be a very poor dancing partner.

“We might have to do that again before we
leave here,” he said. “I don’t know how long I can hold out if you
start grinding my crotch.”

“It’s a wedding, Vince, not a dance club,” I
said, smiling. “I don’t think there’ll be any grinding.”

“It’s my first one, remember? And I know
Danielle and Ashley. They can get pretty rowdy.”

“That’s what the bachelorette party was
for,” I reminded him. “Let’s go grab some dinner before it’s all
gone from the buffet.” We headed out into the reception hall to the
stares of Becky and Bridgett.

“Your hair,” Becky pointed out.

“What about it?”

“It’s all messy,” she said.

“It’s called sex hair,” Bridgett cut in.
“I’m surprised you don’t know that. I thought you got your
share.”

“I’m having a dry spell,” Becky
muttered.

“Okay,” Vince laughed. “I’m going to go get
some food.” I joined him after I told the two not to say anything
to Danielle about our little quickie. They fed me what sounded like
hollow promises, too eager to share.

My mother snuck up behind me. “You should
really fix your hair, darling. Remember to always check the mirror
after a little lovin’.”

“Mom!” I yelled.

“What? It’s good motherly advice,” she said.
“It’s a wedding after all, Maci. You don’t think people will notice
that one of the maid of honors went from having nice, beautiful,
curly hair to messy hair in ten minutes after she disappears into
the bathroom?”

“The bathroom, mom? Really?”

“Well, I checked outside and didn’t see you
frolicking in the bushes, so one can only assume.”

I snorted, glad that Vince stood a few
platters ahead of us, and that no one else lingered nearby to
overhear my mother’s indiscreet tongue. “Oh, mother, how funny you
are.”

She picked up on my sarcasm and shrugged.
“What? I’m not saying not to have your fun, darling. God knows I
would with a body like his.”

“Okay.” I stopped her, shaking my head in an
effort to get those words out of my head. “I got it. Let’s not go
too far.”

“Too far? Is it inappropriate of me to say
you have a handsome boyfriend that most women would kill to get
their hands on?”

“I’m going to go with a big ‘yes’ on this
one, mom.” I glanced over my shoulder and saw Danielle’s mom
approaching. “Look, mom, it’s Darla. Why don’t you tell her all
about those rotten kids at school?” She shot me a look before I
rushed off.
Oy! That woman is insane sometimes!
But deep
down, I loved how she spoke her mind like she did, and I couldn’t
imagine her with any other personality. She also had a point about
Vince. When our eyes locked as I sat down, a spark jolted through
my body, a craving for round two. It was hard to deny that his hard
body drove me wild like no one else could.

I kept my urges at bay for as long as I
could, through the cake cutting and first dances, stepping in for
my brother on the mother-son dance. Vince and I stole away into the
private bathroom for round two. A big handicap bar provided support
as he rammed me from behind. With the long buildup, my orgasm
proved even more explosive, but the music in the reception hall
drowned out my screams, or so Vince asserted as he encouraged me to
let it out.

And I did. Loudly.

I fixed my hair better this time around,
hoping to avoid any more comments. That didn’t discourage my
mother, though, who continued to explore the topic of sex
throughout the night. I picked up on the loneliness in her voice,
so I let her talk freely, knowing that it had been fourteen years
since my dad died, and to my knowledge, she hadn’t been with anyone
since. What harm was there in letting her talk, right?

“I’m surprised Danielle and Ashley didn’t
get married in Portland, since same-sex marriage was made legal on
Monday,” my mother said, a wine glass in her hand, dancing.

“They’ve been planning to get married here
for six months,” I pointed out. “Why would they change it at the
last second? It’s a beautiful place.”

“And a lovely wedding,” she agreed. She
closed her eyes and swayed with the music, ending the
conversation.

The party died down, and people left in a
slow but steady stream, until the crowd had dwindled to 30 or so.
Alma had left with Eric, the two hitting it off better than
expected, and for the first time since I met her, she actually
seemed excited. Vince and I were slow dancing to “Iris” when out of
the corner of my eye I spotted blue denim, which I hadn’t seen all
night. I tilted my head to the side of Vince’s shoulder for a
better view while we continued to make our small circles. My eyes
nearly exploded in their sockets. In a panic, I tapped Vince’s
shoulder and pointed. “Luke!” I whispered, my voice dry from
fear.

Vince shoved me behind him as Luke strode up
to the dance floor with a devilish smile spread across his face.
“Well, look who it is? My old billionaire buddy.” In his hand, he
flicked out a switchblade in a snap.

“Luke, think about what you’re about to do,
man,” Vince said coolly. “You don’t want to do this.”

“The fuck I don’t,” Luke spat. “You ruined
my life, you rich cocksucker. Well, I hear payback’s a bitch.”

In a blink of an eye, Luke charged forward,
the knife pointed right at Vince’s chest.

V
ince threw me to the left
as he dodged the knife right before it would have plunged into his
collarbone. He spun out of the way and let Luke collapse on a
dining table. “Come on, man, put down the knife,” Vince urged, as
Luke got to his feet, more furious than ever.

“Fuck you,” Luke growled, swiping at Vince,
just inches between them. His bloodshot eyes made him look crazed,
and I couldn’t see how this wouldn’t end badly.

Vince sidestepped Luke again, his reaction
time slower from five or six beers. I got up and waved people back.
“Go get the guys in the black MDX,” he shouted.

“If you mean the two guys sharing a flask in
that SUV parked out front, then I’d say you’re out of luck. I
knocked them out cold.” Luke laughed at his vicious handiwork. He
slashed at Vince’s stomach again, but Vince sprung to his right. He
evaded the blade’s intended head-on mark, but caught the attack in
his shoulder. “Looks like this is not your day.”

“I hope you’re ready for prison, Luke,”
Vince retorted.

Luke lunged at Vince with everything in him.
He crashed into Vince’s shoulder, the two dropping to the floor.
Vince snagged Luke’s wrist, preventing the blade from plunging into
his throat. Despite Luke’s wiry strength, he wasn’t strong enough
to overtake Vince, as the blade inched up.

Instinct took over, and I bolted for a
table, snatching a centerpiece vase. Whipping back to the two
struggling on the floor, I raised the glass over Luke’s head and
brought it down as Vince pushed up. Luke collapsed to the floor
while Vince rolled away, catching his breath.

But the blow didn’t knock out Luke, and he
regained his footing before anyone could stop him, running for an
emergency exit. Vince leapt to his feet but stumbled, the wound and
the alcohol doing him no favors. No one else pursued Luke.

People had been screaming throughout the
incident, but I hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time. The
deafening crowd now pierced my ears, but Danielle and Ashley took
charge and quieted them down.

I helped Vince climb into a chair. Paling,
he didn’t look so great. “How many beers did you have?”

“I don’t know, too many,” he laughed,
clearly dizzy. “It’s a wedding. I thought you were supposed to
drink and dance.”

“Your blood is pretty thin,” I said,
covering his arm with my cardigan. “I think we’ll have to get you
to a hospital.” Helping him up, we teetered, caught by one of
Danielle’s male co-workers who raced over. “Help me to his car.”
The guy nodded, carrying most of Vince’s weight. I thanked him
after we set Vince down in the Mustang’s passenger seat.

Danielle ran up as I opened the driver’s
door. “Don’t forget this.” She handed me my purse. “The cops are on
their way. Don’t worry. They’ll catch him, Maci.”

“Always a few wedding-day hiccups,” I said
with a cheerful grin, accepting her optimism.

She returned the grin. “Mine was just a
little crazier than most. Hurry before he bleeds to death.”

“Sorry,” I said, slamming the door. I rolled
down the window. “I hope your honeymoon goes smoother.” We said our
goodbyes, promising to call when the doctors patched up Vince. Then
I drove away, Google Mapping the route to the nearest hospital.

THE HOSPITAL WAS A
miserable experience. After I got him into the ER, they banned me
from seeing him since I wasn’t his spouse or a blood relation.
After what felt like an eternity, a nurse allowed me to see him. A
huge bandage covered the eleven stiches on his shoulder.