Amidst a Crowd of Stars (3 page)

Keane slid his hands beneath her buttocks to hold her closer to him. His lips and tongue began a familiar pattern. He knew so well how to please her. He knew just where and how to touch her. How hard or soft, fast or slow, how she needed him.

It wasn't instinctive, but rather years of experience that had given him such talent. Experience and enthusiasm. But most of all, love. Love allowed him to find the right spots to send her soaring, let him discover new places to make her gasp his name and arch her back under his caress.

Keane slid a finger inside her, pressing upward while he pressed down on her clit with his tongue. The dual sensation was exquisite. She shivered. Bright sparks of pleasure radiated outward from her pussy, up her belly, spiking her nipples and parting her lips in a breathy sigh.

“I love when you make that noise.” He paused in licking her to look up. “It makes me so hard.”

She smiled down at him. “And I love it when you get hard.”

His answering grin made her heart pound. He bent back to her clit, nuzzling it lightly before beginning to lick again. He had her on the edge in another minute, earning a moan of regret when he pulled away to tease her. Keane loved to tease her to the brink and hold her off, bringing her close and refusing her release until she exploded under a breath or a whisper.

Tonight, Marrin had no patience for that. Her body craved him. She twined her fingers in his hair and pulled upward. Keane followed willingly, kissing her. The taste of her arousal made another low moan leak out of her. He thrust his tongue inside her mouth, mimicking the way she wanted him to push his cock inside her.

“Make love to me,” she whispered against his mouth, her fingers moving again and again through the dark, silken length of his hair.

She didn't have to ask him twice. Keane slid inside her slickness without effort, all the way to the hilt. He filled her completely. He moved in slow, smooth strokes, angling his body in such a way that he rubbed her clit with his every thrust. It drove her half-crazy, the way he did it, the stimulation not direct enough to send her over the edge, but tantalizing enough to keep her hovering on the verge of orgasm.

He buried his face in the curve of her shoulder. His teeth stung her. The small pain was enough to jolt her entire body upward. He thrust harder. She wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs, pulling him closer while her hands made furrows in the smooth skin of his back.

His low cry sent another wave of ecstasy through her. Sweat slicked their bodies as they moved. Keane moved harder inside her, hard enough to move the bed against the wall, which made her smile and laugh a bit, breathless, even as she moaned in pre-orgasmic splendor.

If her sudden vocal appreciation of his skills surprised him, Keane didn't show it. He responded by moving faster. Harder. Marrin's orgasm began in a thunder of beating heart and shouts.

A second one followed on the edge of the first with no more than a heartbeat between them. Keane kissed her as his body shuddered in its own release. He collapsed against her, though even in his pleasure he remembered to hold himself up on his arms so he didn't crush her.

They breathed together. In. Out. Completely in time with each other. Then he propped himself up and looked into her face. He kissed her. “Will you at least think about staying home with me?”

The seriousness of his question surprised her into sitting up. “You mean it?”

Keane rolled onto his back, one lean arm behind his head to support it. “I do.”

“Keane, my work—”

“Your daughters and their spouses have taken over the company. You have shareholders and a board and secretaries and volunteers.” He looked up at her, his dark eyes shifting color as they did when emotion moved him. “You've worked hard to get where you are. But now, can't you consider taking a rest?”

“I've worked hard and you've been behind me every step of the way. You've worked as hard as I have. And you've always refused any sort of official position in the company.”

He smiled. “Those who matter know my place at your side. Those who don't will always assume I'm just your Seveeran houseboy. Pretty to look at.”

She reached to caress his face. “It's been a long time since anyone accused you of being that.”

“What I'm saying is, Marrin, why not let it be true? Retire. Stay home with me every day. I'll be your houseboy and make it worth your while.”

She laughed and leaned down to kiss him. “You're wooing me.”

His grin remained as charming as it had always been. “I am.”

“Stop working?” Marrin leaned back against the headboard, thinking. “I'm not sure I'd know what to do with myself all day.”

“Lounge in the garden, breakfast on the terrace, make love in the afternoon.”

“Be lazy is what you're asking me to do, Keane.”

“Take your reward,” he corrected gently. “And let go so your children can also have a chance to prove their value with hard work.”

She sighed. “You want me to let go of something I've spent half my life working to build.”

“And I want you to spend the other half enjoying the fruits of it.” Keane linked his fingers through hers. “I want you to spend the time with me.”

And that, she decided as she looked down upon him, was reason enough to do as he asked, for Keane had never asked her for anything before.

Fifty-two rotations ago

The door opened and Marrin looked up, her mouth full of pins. “Sarai, good, you're here.”

Her middle daughter, the fairest one, closed the door behind her and set down the bouquet of
udeji
melon flowers Hadassah had insisted on carrying for her wedding.

“You look gorgeous, Dassah.” Sarai gave her younger sister an admiring look. “Jaron will faint when he sees you.”

“I hope not.” Marrin slid another pin into Hadassah's trailing hem. “We don't need any fainting going on.”

Hadassah took a deep, shaky breath. “Ma, do I look all right?”

Marrin stood and looked into her daughter's face. Her baby, the child she'd borne in the desert, the one of her daughters who'd known no other world than Lujawed.

“Gorgeous.” She smoothed Hadassah's dark curls over her shoulder. Of the three girls, Hadassah looked the most like Seth, who had never even had the chance to see her. Marrin hugged Hadassah tight, not caring that she crumpled the gown of fine Lujawedi flaxene. “Absolutely beautiful.”

The door opened again, this time for Aliya. “Are you ready?”

Hadassah lifted her chin and took a deep breath. “I'm ready.”

Marrin looked at her children—the three bright, shining lights she had produced—and her throat closed with emotion. “Your father would be so proud.”

Her girls hugged her then, and the four of them clung to each other in the circle they'd always made.

The door opened a third time, this time to Keane, who held back for a moment upon seeing the clustered femininity that had left him flustered and left out on occasion in the past. “We're ready whenever you are, Dassah.”

Hadassah, who had never known another father, had nonetheless been the one who'd clashed most fiercely with Keane over the years. Marrin would walk Hadassah to the wedding canopy alone. Now Keane looked discomfited, and Marrin knew her husband well enough to know he didn't want to be accused of interfering.

“Keane…” Hadassah stepped free of her sisters' and mother's embrace. She reached for his hand and he took it with a look of surprise. Her voice clear and unclogged by tears she said, “I know I've been an awful brat to you in the past. And I know you've always been patient with me, even when I didn't deserve it. I appreciate more than you can ever know how you agreed to my wishes about this wedding…but I've been stupid and stubborn, and I've changed my mind. I'd be honored if you'd walk with me to the canopy.”

Marrin watched as his eyes changed from black to blue to green, expressing his shifting emotions.

He nodded and squeezed Hadassah's hand. “I'd be so honored to walk with you. If that's what you really want.”

“You're the only father I've ever had.” Hadassah's voice broke at last. “And I know I haven't often shown it, but I love you.”

Then they all cried except for Keane, whose eyes didn't shed tears, and they hugged and kissed, and then it was time for Hadassah Levy to become Hadassah Levy Curani.

No bride had ever looked lovelier, no mother had beamed brighter with pride, and no father had ever given away a daughter so tenderly. It had been a perfect day, with food and family and friends. At the end of it, exhaustion claimed Marrin, and she tumbled onto her bed face down before rolling onto her back with a sigh. Keane laughed gently from the doorway.

“The last to go,” he said, shedding his formal jacket. “And now, we're alone. The whole house to ourselves. We've never had that.”

Marrin watched him undress, her eyes lingering on his body in constant appreciation. “Have you ever wished it had been different when you came? That we'd had the chance for a honeymoon like most married people get?”

He turned from the dresser where he'd been placing his watch and the interlocked chain he wore around his wrist. “Do I wish I'd been able to spend a week with you at an overpriced tourist resort indulging in decadent sex and overeating bad food? No, Marrin.”

She laughed. “I mean do you wish we'd had the chance to be a couple before we were a family?”

Again, he shook his head and stepped out of his trousers, hanging them with the same neat efficiency he always did. At last fully naked, he moved toward her and stretched out on the bed beside her.

“The moment I stepped off that freighter and saw those three little faces, I was in love,” Keane said. “Falling in love with you came later and was a pleasant side benefit.”

She nudged him with a frown, but his answer pleased her. “You don't think it would have been easier without the girls?”

“Easier? Undoubtedly.” He put his hand flat on her belly, fingers splayed. “Would I wish it had happened differently? Never.”

He leaned down to kiss her, his tongue urging her lips to open. His breath was sweet from ceremonial wine. She licked his lips, tasting.

“It would've been easier to make love to you at the beginning without three little ones always underfoot,” he whispered as his hand began a lazy ascent toward her breasts. “But maybe we can make up for it now.”

“Pretend this is the first time?” she teased.

“If you like.” His hand cupped her breast.

Her nipple rose beneath his palm. Keane rubbed his thumb across it. The barrier of her dress blunted the sensation but made it no less delightful.

“I was so nervous that first time. I don't think I'd want to repeat that.”

“You were nervous?” He laughed. “I was afraid I wouldn't please you and you'd send me back.”

“Keane, you weren't!”

He paused in kissing her to look into her eyes. “I was.”

She'd never known he'd been afraid, too, the first time they had made love. The admission touched her. She put her hand to his face.

“I couldn't have sent you back,” she said. “I loved you too much to live without you.”

His tender kiss hadn't changed in all the years they'd been together. Familiarity couldn't steal the sweetness of it, or quench the fire he always created when he put his mouth on hers. No matter how many times they joined, each time was as exciting and fresh as the first time.

“You're not naked,” he whispered in her ear. “And I am.”

She remedied that by sitting up and tugging her dress off over her head. “We can't have that.”

His low chuckle parted her thighs. His hand stroked the curls there, finding the already upright button of her clit and pinching it lightly. He rolled it between his thumb and forefinger before moving his hand down lower to slide a finger through her folds.

Slickness, begun at the sight of him undressing, already coated her. He brought some of it up to coat her clit, making it slippery. He rubbed her in small, tight circles interspersed with an occasional up and down stroke that had her whimpering in short order.

He kissed her mouth, her cheek, her jaw, down to her collarbone where he nibbled along the ridge and smoothed his tongue across her skin. He moved lower to suckle her nipples, one then the other, while his hand continued to work between her legs. Marrin looked down to see him stroking himself too, the thickness of his cock appearing and disappearing into his fist as he pumped it.

“Come here.” She reached for him.

He shifted on the bed so she could reach his penis. He kissed her hipbone. She angled her head just a bit, and took him into her mouth.

His low, strangled moan sent a pulse of pleasure through her that she could so affect him. Marrin slid his cock down the back of her throat as far as she could until her lips touched his belly.

His hand stuttered in its movement against her clitoris as she sucked him harder. The break in his rhythm only gave her more pleasure, brought her closer to orgasm faster. Her clit throbbed and her hips moved as she slid her mouth up again, then down.

“Marrin, I love it when you take me all the way in your mouth.”

His throaty words made her body tingle. She loved that about him, his ability to tell her exactly how he was feeling at all times during their lovemaking. What he liked, what he wanted, how to please him.

Before Keane, Marrin had never spoken during sex. Orgasms were like buried treasure. “X” marks the spot. Find the map, follow clues, and maybe you'll hit the jackpot.

Keane had shown her the freedom of speech, of telling her partner exactly how she liked to be touched and where, exactly what would work to get her off.

“I want to be inside you,” he murmured, even as he pushed himself deeper into her mouth.

She gave him one final, loving suck and then let him go. She got onto her hands and knees to look down at him, his eyes gone yellow in his arousal. He licked his lips, and before she could move, Keane got behind her and slid inside.