Winning Appeal (9 page)

His tongue played, pushing up inside me, stroking and exploring. Finally, when he had reduced me to a quivering mess, he moved higher and started licking my clit like a lollipop. That was it, I was gone, out of my head, moaning, writhing around so much he had to hold me down.

I could feel every inch of my body, like a million tiny hot pinpricks, while an explosive tension was building steadily between my legs. He was unrelenting, alternating between stroking and sucking, driving me wild. I could barely think, and I was about to lose control anyway, when he slid two fingers up inside me and I immediately went plummeting over the edge into a powerful orgasm.

“Mark! Oh God!” I cried out as I felt my pussy clench and potent waves of release coursed through me. I was shivering with sensation and my inner muscles didn’t stop convulsing for several seconds. It was gut wrenching, but finally, my body relaxed. As I lay there basking in the warm pleasure of afterglow, he raised his head.

“Thank you for remembering my name,” he said as he gently trailed kisses along my belly. I laughed and it felt wonderful. He climbed up on the bed and lay down on his side. “Come here, sexy,” he said with a smile. I turned over and crawled on rubbery legs to lie beside him, looking into his beautiful smoky gray eyes, still hazy with desire. “Listening to you moan makes me crazy.” He traced my bottom lip with his thumb.

“Kiss me,” I whispered. He hesitated for a second but I gave him a reassuring look and he lowered his head and slid his tongue smoothly into my mouth, moving his lips against mine. After kissing me slowly and sensually for a while he pulled back.

“See how good you taste?” he asked, moving his lips to my neck. There really was something very erotic about tasting myself on his tongue.

“I want you,” I said in a voice thick with desire. He didn’t hesitate, but sat up immediately and reached over to the bedside table for a condom. Ripping open the packet, he rolled it on expertly while Mass Undergoe sang
I Need You
, and it dawned on me that Mark had been exhibiting great self-control, putting my needs first, even though he was probably as desperate as I was.

“How would you like me to take you first?” he asked and my stomach flipped over.

“However you want me,” I answered, feeling again like I might actually swoon. Just for the record, nobody had ever made me swoon before. I wasn’t even sure swooning was a real thing before now.

“I want you every way.” He smiled the naughty smile. “And I’ll have you every way eventually, but how about for the first time, we start with you on top.”

“Yes,” I said simply.

“That word sounds better every time you say it.”

He moved up and braced his back against the headboard. “Come and show me how well we fit together.” I climbed onto his lap straddling him, and he held my hips and bent his head and trailed kisses along my breasts while I positioned myself over him. I used my hand to guide his cock to my entrance, and I rested my other hand on his shoulder, he tilted his chin up so I could see his eyes and then I slowly slid home.

I loved the look of pleasure on his face as I took him inch by inch until I was fully seated on his lap with him buried deep inside me. “Oh, Mark.” I gasped.

“Beth,” was all he said and then he lifted me up slowly, and pulled me back down filling me again. I started to ride him faster while he guided my hips. “Oh baby.” I liked it when he called me baby. He sounded so turned on. I ground against him as I bounced up and down and it wasn’t long before I felt the pressure building again.

“Mmm mmm, Mark, yes. Oh God yes,” I ground out. He was so big that I could feel him stretching and completely filling me. It was bliss coupled with a quick stab of pain and it was successfully bringing me to the fastest orgasm I had ever experienced through sex alone.

“So beautiful, Beth. You’re so fucking beautiful.” He was breathing heavily through his mouth and he looked dazed. “Come on baby,” I rode him even harder and faster working for my climax. “Oh fuck. You feel so good.” I was covered in sweat and my hair was sticking to my forehead. I was moaning and then I felt it; my leg muscles locked and my abdomen tensed. “That’s it, come on baby,” he coaxed as I let go.

My body shook as my inner muscles grabbed onto him over and over again. White-hot pleasure and then breathtaking relief washed over me. Finally, I collapsed against his chest, panting. He stoked my hair and my back until my breathing slowed down. “Your turn,” I mumbled and he rolled me over onto my back and knelt between my still shaking legs.

He stared down at me lying there ready to take him again and the look on his face was almost reverent. “I may not last long. It’s been a while and I want this so much. I’m barely holding on.”

“That’s okay. I’m satisfied. Now I want to watch you come apart.” He let out a ragged breath as he grabbed my legs, rested them on his shoulders, and positioned himself. “And Mark…” He looked up at me expectantly. “You can go hard.” He smiled the naughty boy smile and thrust into me deeply. “Oh God!” I cried out and arched my back, grabbing onto the sheets.

“Too hard?” he bit out.

“No. More. Like that,” I said hoarsely and he thrust into me hard again. “Mmm yeah. It feels so good.” He began to build his rhythm as I moaned with pleasure.

“Beth.” He was thrusting steadily now, “Need this so much.”

“Yes! Give it to me just like that. I love it.”

“Oh yes.” He was thrusting hard and fast and he looked completely dazed and absolutely gorgeous. He was flushed and breathing hard, as he alternated between looking into my eyes and watching his cock slide into me over and over again. “Oh God.” He groaned. “I’m going to come.”

“Come on, baby,” I urged him on. He made a guttural sound and then his rhythm faltered and his muscles tensed. He looked up at me almost desperately.

“Oh God. I’m coming, Beth!” He let loose a loud strangled groan, went still and closed his eyes. Then he blew out a sharp breath and collapsed on top of me. I held him and felt his heart pounding, stroking his back as he lay in my arms, the sound of his breathing filling the room. I was stunned by the intensity of what had just happened. Watching him lost in ecstasy had blown my mind.

Finally, he rolled off to his side, and I immediately missed the feeling of his warm weight on me. He was facing away from me and I traced Lady Justice with my fingertip.

“Oh shit,” he said rolling back over. “I’m not, I mean… I’m planning to hold you, but I have get rid of this.” He glanced down at the condom he was still wearing.

“It’s okay. It gave me a chance to look at your tattoo,” I mumbled in a sated voice. “I still find it fascinating.” He smiled and sat up, taking the condom off carefully and dropping it in a wastebasket beside the bed. Then he lay back down and pulled me into his arms.

“Next week I won’t have to do that,” he said with a big grin. “Which means that I won’t have to wait to hold you.” I sighed and snuggled even closer.

“Next week is the mystery weekend. Braden will be there too. Is that too awkward?”

“No, he won’t be sharing a bed with us, and after waiting all week I don’t think I’ll have performance anxiety.”

“Waiting during the week definitely will build our anticipation.”

“Yeah, because we haven’t had enough of that,” he said dryly.

“It was worth the wait. This has been the most intense sexual experience I’ve ever had. And very romantic.”

“So, I’m doing this right?” He sounded relieved.

“Yeah.” I laughed. “Dancing with me, asking me to share your bed, and the music, I love the music.”

“I love the music too. Can I play you something myself sometime?”

“Are you kidding me?” I pulled up to look at him. “I would be thrilled. Can I paint you?” I asked tracing the lines of his gorgeous face.

“Sure. Should I wear a fig leaf?” he teased.

“I think I like you better in the nude.” I leaned up and nuzzled his neck. When I noticed he had a pensive look on his face. “What are you thinking?”

“It’s just hard to believe. I always thought you were really hot, but I never imagined that we would… you’re my girlfriend now, right?”

“I guess so, yeah. Are you okay with that?” Suddenly I felt a little uncertain.

“Yeah, sure.” He squeezed me tighter, and I relaxed. “I just didn’t really see it coming. I mean your dad is a senator. My dad is a high school history teacher. Your mom is a socialite. My mom is a social worker. You’re from the Main Line. I’m from The South Side of Pittsburgh.”

“My dad studied history in college too. And my mom is a big supporter of all kinds of charities. So, they do have things in common. But more importantly, we have things in common. We both love art and music. We both care about justice and helping the underdog.”

“Yeah.” He rolled me onto my back and looked into my eyes. “That’s what’s so different about you. That’s what makes you so special, that you care about those things. Beth, I’m not only okay with you being my girlfriend; I’m really happy.”

He leaned down and kissed me, and Lily was right, there was definitely more than just lust in that kiss. When he was ready, we had sex again, but we took our time, and it was slow and sweet but no less incredible. He was right too. I was busy for a long time.

Mark

10:00 AM

“Hey,” I said with a smile when Beth’s eyes fluttered open. I had been awake for about five minutes, and telling myself it wasn’t really
that
weird to watch somebody sleep. Even after the night before, I had woken up with a raging hard-on, but I didn’t want to disturb her. We were both exhausted. We definitely had to limit this to weekends for now, or I would never make it to court on time.

“Hey.” She smiled back.

“You’re even beautiful in the morning,” I said and I meant it. For the record, freshly fucked hair looked very good on her.

“You’re even romantic in the morning.”

“I was worried I would screw that part up, but Adam said it’s easy when you’re motivated. Just so you know, you’re very motivating.”

“So are you.” She reached up and traced my jaw with her finger. Oh man, I loved it when she did that. The tent in the sheets reminded me what else I liked. I would probably wind up hobbling to Game Night later.

“I want you again.” I was about to guide her hand down to examine my supporting evidence, when her stomach let out a loud growl and she quickly hugged herself and blushed. God, that blush would do me in.

“I’m hungry too,” I said, putting my gentlemanly instincts ahead of everything else. “How about if I make us breakfast?”

“You cook too?” She sighed sounding content, and I got that warm feeling again. What was this woman doing to me? For a second I regretted how much I had tortured Adam about Lily, and then I remembered how Adam had tortured Braden and I didn’t feel so bad. I hopped out of bed and Beth’s eyes went straight to my groin. I almost laughed.

“Hey, missy, my eyes are up here,” I teased.

“Did you want to spend some more time in bed before breakfast?” she asked, looking up at me with a sexy smile. She stretched out under the sheets like a cat, and I almost gave in when her stomach rumbled again.

“I need to feed us or we won’t have enough energy. Wait for me here. I want to bring you breakfast in bed. Then after we eat, we can do other things in bed and then take a shower together. And do other things there too.”

“You’re on. Do you mind if I watch the news for a few minutes?” she asked glancing at the TV mounted on my wall.

“Not at all. Go ahead. The remote is in the drawer on my side of the bed.” I hesitated for a second, as what I just said sunk in. Holy shit. I had a side of the bed. Okay, think about that later. Food, get food. I grabbed a pair of sweats and put them on, heading down to the kitchen to whip up a couple of mushroom omelets.

I heard Beth put the T.V. on as I dug out a pan. She was watching a local morning news program. I had just grabbed some eggs and butter when she called out to me.

“Mark! Come here! You have to see this!” I put everything down on the counter and quickly headed back up to the loft. She was kneeling on the bed, wearing one of my t-shirts and she looked amazingly sexy, but I wanted to know what had her so worked up, so I tore my eyes away and looked at the T.V. There was a reporter standing in front of an upscale apartment building and the text below said “Mysterious Center City homicide.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, feeling my gut tighten.

“There was a quick clip, and Caitlin was… wait ssh!”

The body of woman was found this morning in the Heights Terrace residential apartment complex in Center City. Sources say that foul play is suspected. The victim has been identified as journalist Elaine Cooper, employed by the Philly Beat.

A picture of a woman appeared on the screen. It took me a minute to place her but then it clicked. “That’s the tabloid reporter from the fundraisers,” I said and Beth nodded.

Ms. Cooper, who does not live in the building, was discovered by resident, Caitlin Reynolds, in the hallway directly outside of her apartment door. Ms. Reynolds is the granddaughter of painter Winston Reynolds, well known for his realistic still life portraits, one of which reportedly went missing at the time of his death. After being interviewed by the authorities, Ms. Reynolds gave the press a brief statement earlier.

A piece of footage started playing and there was the nitwit, surrounded by microphones.

“I just opened my door and there she was… all dead! I could tell because her eyes were open and there was blood. Ew! Ew! Ew!”

I rolled my eyes. Why was this woman suddenly everywhere? The reporter came back on and made a quick closing statement and the station went to commercial.

“She lives in a secure building. How did that reporter get past the doorman?” Beth asked sounding stunned.

“I don’t know. But what I
do
know is that this has nothing to do with us.” I walked over and sat on the bed beside her.

“She asked me for help. She said she didn’t have any friends she could turn to.” Oh fuck! Here we go. I sensed more window hopping on the horizon.

“Beth,” I reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into my arms. I’m not sure if I was trying to comfort her or stop her from whatever she was planning to do. “We don’t even know that this has anything to do with Caitlin. She’s not the only person who lives in that building. She’s just the one who found her.”

“She found her outside her apartment. She said she thought someone was following her. She doesn’t have anyone to turn to and she said I was nice.” Beth sounded miserable. I realized at that moment that I was already being tested. Was I going to respect the wishes of one of my best friends, who specifically asked me not to let his sister get involved in anything that could be dangerous, or was I going to do whatever I had to do so that my girlfriend wouldn’t look so sad. Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Well, at least Braden could only kill me once.

“Okay,” I said tucking a strand of her adorably messy hair behind her ear. “Why don’t you call her, and see if she can come into the office to talk to us. Tell her though, that she has to be completely upfront about everything or we will not get involved at all. Understand?”

“I understand,” she answered and she looked genuinely grateful. She leaned up and kissed me and then pulled me back into bed with her. Caitlin and breakfast could wait for a while. Good choice Mark.

1:00 PM

“Tell us the story. But you had better not leave anything out. And no promises that we’ll do anything at all with the information,” I said to Caitlin, sitting in the orange armchair across from us. Beth and I were sitting behind her desk next to each other. I liked that, girlfriend over here, two hours of my life I’ll never get back over there.

“I had a sexual relationship with Paul. It began a couple of months before my grandfather died.” I grabbed a pen and pad. I still did it Old School when it came to interviews. Can’t doodle very easily on a laptop.

“Paul Gerard?” I asked, taking notes.

“Yes, Paul Gerard, the guy whose house we were at.”

“Wait a minute,” Beth Broke in. “Your grandfather died when you were sixteen.” I could tell she was trying not to sound appalled.

“Right. I was sixteen and Paul was forty.” Alrighty then. I made note of that. “Caitlin = Lolita, Gerard = mid-life crisis.”

“How did that come about?” I asked, trying to stay on track.

“He was a close friend of my grandfather, who was my guardian. He used to come over a lot. In fact, I used to think that maybe he and my grandfather were having a relationship.” I paused. Okay…

“You mean like a…” Beth began and I wanted to reassure her that she wouldn’t be a homophobe just because she found
this
situation messed up.

“I’ve never had confirmation of it, but I’ve always suspected that Paul is bisexual,” Caitlin interrupted. “Anyway, he paid a lot of attention to me, you know? And I liked it. He made me feel special.”

“Was this at his place?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s why I had the key.”

“What does this relationship have to do with the painting?” I asked, getting impatient. I didn’t want to hear about how special Caitlin felt with a forty year-old guy when she was sixteen, or any guy frankly.

“He started sleeping with someone else too, and I guess she was the jealous type. Paul was worried that she would do something violent if she ever caught us together, so he suggested that we start having sex at my grandfather’s house.” Smooth! What a dick. Guys like that gave the rest of us a bad name.

“With your grandfather living there too?” Beth asked.

“It’s a big place, and my grandfather was sick by that time, but there were servants wandering around and if we got caught it would be scandalous.”

“It would be more than scandalous,” I informed her. “It would be illegal. You were a minor. That’s a no-no.”

“Anyway, the only room in the place with very limited access was my grandfather’s studio. So, Paul suggested we go there, since nobody would walk in on us. I got the key and we started meeting in there.”

“He cheated on his girlfriend, with the sixteen year old granddaughter of his friend, and possible lover, who was upstairs dying,” Beth said, shaking her head. Yep, Paul Gerard sounded like a real winner. At least Beth never dated
him
. Even the pornographer sounded classy next to this guy.

“After a while, he started to want to look around while we were in there together. He collects art.”

“So, he was knowledgeable enough to be able to see the value of the portrait of the elderly woman and he knew it existed,” I noted.

“Yeah, and it disappeared on the night my grandfather died, but there was no sign of a break-in. Then about a month later, Paul said we had to end it. I didn’t really care at that point, though, because I had started to figure out what had happened to the painting.” It took her a month to figure that out? Then I reminded myself who we were talking about here.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone back then what you suspected?” I asked.

“I didn’t have any proof. If it weren’t for the fact that my grandfather had left it to me in his will, there wouldn’t be any evidence there even
was
a painting, and I knew people would believe Paul before they would believe me.”

“How did you find out for sure he had it?” Beth asked.

“A reporter for a local rag did a fluff piece on him a couple of months ago, and took a picture of him in his study. There was a little bit of the painting showing, and I recognized it. I had put a copy of the key away in a bank box just in case I ever needed it for proof. I couldn’t believe it worked.”

“He probably thought you would never figure it out. Hubris,” Beth said.

“What does the temperature have to do with it?” Caitlin looked confused.

“Hubris, not humid. He thinks he’s smarter than everyone else,” Beth explained. “He even let them photograph him near the painting. It’s been ten years and he probably figures he’ll never get caught. He may even wish he could show off a little.” I agreed. I knew this guy’s type.

“That sounds like him all right. He’s got lots of humorous,” Caitlin said disdainfully, nodding rapidly in agreement.

“So you trespassed and searched his place without his knowledge.” I broke in, glancing at Beth. She needed to remember that Caitlin wasn’t a complete innocent here. She wasn’t sixteen anymore.

“Right, and I found it, but I realized that my word wouldn’t even be enough to prove that it was my grandfather’s painting.”

“And you wanted someone knowledgeable about art as a witness,” Beth said. I could see by the set of her jaw that she didn’t appreciate being used.

“Yeah, and I thought of you. You studied art and you seem honest. Are you mad?” She sat forward and gave Beth a very earnest, childlike look. I didn’t buy it. Caitlin may not have been a scholar, but she was shrewd.

“Um… yeah,” Beth answered. “I wish you had told me upfront you wanted me to be some kind of witness for you. I really don’t want to get too involved in this personally.” I smiled to myself. Thank you baby Jesus.

“What’s the deal with the reporter?” I asked, changing the subject, before Beth changed her mind.

“Oh yeah, that’s the really weird thing,” Caitlin said sitting back again. “I recognized her.”

“She was one of the reporters who covered a lot fundraisers,” Beth noted.

“Not just her face, her name too. Elaine Cooper is the reporter who wrote that fluff piece on Paul, the one that tipped me off.”

“Okay, that’s a little weird,” I conceded, “but it could be a coincidence.”

“A reporter with a connection to Paul winds up dead on your doorstep, you have to tell the police,” Beth said sounding determined.

“Tell them what? That the dead lady wrote an article about the guy I was sleeping with when I was sixteen, who
may
have my grandfather’s painting, which I only know because I broke into his house?” The innocent waif was gone and Caitlin sounded impatient and a little testy. I saw Beth narrow her eyes. Beth might be a sweetheart, but she was no fool, and she was nobody’s pawn.

“I’m sure they interviewed you. Did you at least mention that you felt like you were being followed last night?” she asked coolly. I smiled again. She really should go to law school.

“No. I didn’t say anything except that she looked like one of the journalists I had seen at events I’ve attended. I didn’t want to have them start investigating me too much. Besides, the person who was following me was wearing a ball cap and a raincoat. She wasn’t wearing those things when I found her.”