“You came a long way for this. Where are you staying tonight?”
“I’ll be heading back after the ceremony,” she said. “I’ve already booked a flight.”
“To Baton Rouge?”
“Yes, home.” He unsettled her, made her crazy libido skip up into overdrive, making each word thick and difficult to say. Even breathing became a chore with him sitting so uncomfortably close.
“Would you mind if I came next week to go through Nick’s things?” He cleared his throat, making the masculine column ripple. “I’d like to get things wrapped up as soon as possible.” He leaned back again, stretching his legs out under the chair in front of him.
“That would be fine. You can take all the time you need.” She took a breath. “Will your father be coming with you? I know Nicholas wished he could’ve seen him more than he was able to.”
“No, he won’t. I’ll be coming alone.”
“I see.” Lily stood up, needing to create a space between them; she stepped back and brushed the creases from her skirt. “Well, Mr. Stark, I’m glad to have finally met you. I’m truly sorry for your loss and will miss Nicholas terribly.”
“Adam,” he said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Call me Adam.” The sullen expression on his face turned downright sad. “Mr. Stark sounds so impersonal.”
“Adam, I’ve taken you from your family long enough. I’m going to freshen up and let you get back to your guests.” This time she extended her hand, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see the slight tremble that shivered through it.
He peered up from his relaxed position. “And you’re also as elusive as he said.” He stood before her, revealing his full height. For a moment she wondered how it would feel to rest her cheek against the bulk of his chest, taking in the warmth of the dark lapels of his suit jacket. He took her hand into both of his. She fought the urge to rip her hand away. “If you’ll give me your number, I’ll give you a call next week and let you know when I’ll be coming.”
“That’d be fine.” He continued to cradle her hand between his palms. She could feel the subtle trembling in her fingers begin to ease. She let go and opened her wallet. “Here’s my card.”
He pocketed the card. “Thank you, Ms. Desclose, for taking such an interest in my brother. I know he cared for you very much. He held you in the highest regard.”
“And he was a dear friend who made me laugh and enjoy all aspects of the color blue.”
“Ah yes, the artist,” he said, seemingly amused by the idea of Nicholas being a painter. “Yes, he was,” Lily agreed. “I wish I’d had the chance to see one of his shows here in the city.” The rough skin on his hands grazed the soft pads of her fingertips.
“It was always a sight to behold; his openings, I mean.”
She didn’t want to seem rude by looking down. Instead she slipped her fingers over the scarred strips of flesh on his palm, feeling the contrast between the two textures. Eventually she slipped her hand from his gentle grip. How had his hand been injured?
“Okay,” he said as he began to back away. He speared his long fingers through the bangs tossed across his forehead. “If you change your mind about the red-eye flight, you’re more than welcome to have dinner with me.”
Lily had to stifle the urge to reach over and feel the texture of the silky brown strands. “Oh, that’s very generous of you, but I really must get back. Thank you, though.”
“That’s disappointing. I wish we could’ve spent some time together. To talk about Nick. I wish we could talk more about Nick.” He paused for a long moment and seemed to examine her. “Lily Flower.”
The image of his warm smile lingered as she turned to make her way to the coffin. The appropriate thing to do was to pay her last respects. As the polished wood coffin came closer into view, Lily felt her knees begin to buckle. She wanted to remember her dear friend with his wicked smile and wearing cutoff jean shorts, not like this. She turned before reaching the coffin and headed for the door.
WHAT IN THE hell just happened, Adam thought as he stood watching the most luscious, swaying ass walk away. He should’ve grabbed the soft curve of her waist and held her against him. The last thing he needed was for her to dismiss him when he just got the chance to finally meet her. Putting his foot down, kissing the hell out of her, and spanking her sweet backside were what she deserved for disobeying. Dinner would’ve given him the chance to learn what his brother’s last days were like, allowed him a bit longer to smell the heady floral scent on her skin, listen to that sultry voice. Yes, turning her ass up and reddening it would’ve been perfect.
Wait… The last time he tried that, it had turned out to be one of the most disastrous decisions of his life. The woman he’d met at the bar didn’t play that way. The night ended with an embarrassed silence as she’d gathered her clothes and dressed in the bathroom. There were no calls the next day. Adam knew then not every woman would be into his particular kink. Hell, by that point he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. The only thing for certain was that he needed a woman who could match his needs and not run away. A woman who would not play the part, but need to be submissive to his dominance.
The submissives he’d encountered at the club always knew how to act the part. There were no challenges, for that matter, no instruction. Oh sure, they moaned and shook their little asses, but for only one reason. They wanted to be fucked. True passion had been left at the door.
The clubs weren’t his cup of tea anyway. A dom once told him a true sub comes willingly and submits only to pleasure, not tricks. God, Adam wanted that more than anything. To know how to bring pleasure without the party tricks. He wanted a woman to know his true nature—to feel the same desire and release as he did when he took the belt to her or tied her up.
He’d masturbated to a thousand videos. He’d watched others at the club. He’d scared the hell out of a fiancée because she thought he was barbaric. Who knew? Maybe he was. But Lily’s full ass walking away got his instincts humming and his dick rock hard. Damn, he could picture the smile on Nick’s face right now. He could almost feel his younger brother standing next to him, laughing. Adam was ogling the eye candy that had just walked out the door while Nick was sleeping in the casket. Nick would expect no less. Adam grinned and looked over at the coffin. God, he’d give anything to hear that laugh again.
He turned to the front of the somber-looking room. His dad stood next to the head of Nick’s coffin. The man had been crying all morning, but once the first guest arrived he was as stoic as ever. His usual jolly nature was subdued in light of the situation. One son was dead, and the other had almost been dead on so many occasions. Matter-of-fact, Adam thought as he made his way back to his father’s side.
I should’ve been the first to go.
His job was a constant hazard, and his adrenaline-junkie attitude had put him in more than one perilous situation.
Adam fisted and released his scarred hand. The damn thing still got stiff from time to time. He took his rightful place next to his father as Mr. Copeland stepped forward to wish them both his sincerest condolences. All Adam could think about was the time Nick pitched him a fastball in the backyard, and Adam had hit the ball so hard it crashed right through Mr. Copeland’s bedroom window.
He coughed into his hand, trying to hide his smile. His brother was dead, and Adam wanted to burst out laughing when he remembered Mrs. Copeland came running out of their house in nothing but a pink bathrobe, her tits bouncing all over the place. Nick never seemed to have noticed the way her fat nipples stood like peaks on the tops of two gigantic mountains. Adam pointed at Nick and ran for the back door. They were grounded for a week and had to pay for the window by mowing the Copelands’ lawn for a month. He missed those days, back when things were simple.
He turned to the set of double doors, wishing Nick’s Lily Flower would walk through again.
God, what I wouldn’t give to see her ass wrapped in a pink silk bathrobe.
* * * *
The flight home was not as restful as Lily had hoped. Her torturing thoughts bounced between the image of Adam stalking toward her at the wake and that first afternoon Tony had showed up on her doorstep. She tipped her head to watch out the tiny window as the dying sun’s dwindling light painted the sky with brilliant shades of orange and pink.
Safety—that was the first sensation she remembered when Tony had walked through her front door over three years ago. She’d still been recovering from the book tour. Too exhausted to put on anything other than a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, she’d drown her loneliness in a tub of rocky road. Needless to say, when Tony knocked on her door she wasn’t in the best mood, shape, or state of mind.
Her foggy brain recalled the dark-haired, mysterious man asking for his book to be signed only weeks before he’d shown up on her porch. When she’d asked him what he’d like inscribed, he said her phone number. Lily was in shock until she noticed Kimberly, a young woman from her Biblical History of Women class. The student introduced the dark stranger as her brother. He was cleanly shaven, every hair perfectly in place, and the black suit he wore was obviously expensive and cut to showcase his broad shoulders. Her hand had trembled as she tried to scribble her number on the page. The whole time she couldn’t help but wonder how a man who looked like this mysterious, muscular model for some ritzy men’s magazine could give a second thought about a chubby woman whose favorite outfit was an old LSU shirt and ratty sweatpants. The thought of a man flirting with her had been a welcome surprise, embarrassing because it happened to be in front of his sister, but welcome all the same.
The handsome stranger had been interested in her.
Tony had been more than interested—he would later tell her how mesmerized he’d been by her intelligence and obviously submissive nature. He’d read her books and, without her knowledge, been to several of her classes. Large lecture halls made each student a name, unless they were in the front row, of course. Kimberly had been a star student, with wise insights and enthusiastic participation.
Lily stretched her legs and yawned.
Sure, sex would’ve been the quick solution to fill the emptiness, but that wasn’t what Tony had wanted that afternoon. He’d carried a black duffel bag full of exciting tools Lily had only read about or learned about online. Keith, her ex, hadn’t been interested when she’d tried to approach him with books about dominance and submission. He’d reminded her that she needed to focus more on her career and hitting the gym than she did some sick fetish. After that day, the loneliness and doubt took hold. Brushing the truth of her nature aside proved to be the hardest task of her life. To deny herself the pleasure of her nature made for anger, resentment, and eventually calling family and friends to tell them the wedding was off.
The lecture Tony had attended the afternoon they met at Louisiana State University would be the turning point of her life. Lily hadn’t known the chance meeting with her soon-to-be trainer was going to change the entire course of her destiny.
Tony Moretti insinuated himself into every aspect of her already hectic schedule. The two manuscripts she’d been working on, teaching classes at the university, and edits from hell had sent her life into a tailspin. Tony had set her life into a different motion. By the end of that first evening he’d calmed her nerves, forced her to take a nap, and made a delicious dinner—in her kitchen, as if he’d lived there forever.
There was a promise made.
A promise accepted.
The bond between a trainer and his submissive had been secured, and Lily had been surprised by her growing ability to slow the cadence of her chaotic life and quickly transform full schedules into a healthy, manageable lifestyle. Within three weeks the schedule Tony had built for their sessions created a sense of excitement and anticipation that Lily hadn’t felt at any point in her life. The first months were a revelation as her mind accepted the reality that her submissive secret was no longer a taboo but a celebrated pleasure with a man who could anticipate her every need and answer all her questions regarding the Dom/sub bond. The relationship was built on trust and obedience, a concept that Keith had never been able to grasp.
Tony was a man of constants. Every Wednesday was routine, something she could count on. The lessons were simple.
Life is meant to be fulfilling in every aspect, never doubt your worth,
and
love is always possible.
Over time, the training became engrained in her mind, and her body relaxed and accepted Tony’s methods. Pleasure was a reward, meant to be earned. Loneliness was a self-imposed punishment, one that Tony was always careful not to use.
Trying to get comfortable, Lily rolled her head on the back of the seat.
Should have packed the travel pillow.
The woman sitting in the seat beside her looked over and smiled. Lily returned the courtesy and closed her eyes, letting the vibrations from the engines lull her tired body. The control she’d longed for in her professional and personal life had manifested into success. The tools she still used were put in place by her loving trainer, her friend.
Her body felt heavy against the seat as sleep started to claim her roaming thoughts. The image of a tall man with coffee-colored hair slipped into her daydream. The way his suit molded to a tight waist, the deep blue fabric pressed, smelling of clean soap and musky cologne.
Adam Stark.
Her lips silently said the name. His easy presence and confidence had been a balm to the searing pain as she’d sat on the small folding chair, looking at the side of the coffin.
Lily startled awake as her stomach sank. Nicholas was gone. When she got home he wouldn’t be there, waiting with a bottle of wine and their favorite movie.
The Breakfast Club
and popcorn had become their ritual when she got home from a lecture tour or a long day in class. Nicholas had answered the ad to rent the stable house over a year and a half ago. In one afternoon his colorful, fun-loving presence burst into her life and made each day an adventure. Tony had adored him too. Nicholas would get as excited as she did on Wednesdays when Tony would come to the house.