Audra, p.5
Audra, page 5
* * *
In the back of the Lincoln town car, she rubbed his thigh and accidentally on purpose brushed his crotch. The minute his eyes snapped to her, though he didn’t say a word, she knew she was in trouble.
When they entered the foyer of their home, he was at his breaking point. He pulled her into his arms.
Biting his bottom lip, Damon’s languorous eyes gazed down at her. “You like teasing me, huh?”
“Moi? I don’t know what you mean.” She wanted him so much her panties were damp.
“You knew exactly what you were doing. Made me so damn horny, I almost spread you on the table and ate you instead of my meal.” He whispered the words, taking a second to nip her bottom lip with his teeth.
“You’re so nasty,” Audra said, wrapping her arms around his torso.
“You like it.”
She did.
He nibbled her earlobe, and she giggled, pressing her body flat against his.
On the way up the stairs, Damon’s hands and mouth roamed Audra’s body, and she kissed him with enthusiasm, horny and eager to screw.
They stumbled into the bedroom with panting laughter.
“I love when you look at me like that,” Damon whispered.
“Like what?”
“Like you can’t wait for me to fuck you.”
“That’s because I can’t.”
He released a guttural groan and hastily hauled off her clothes, then his, tossing them into a heap on the floor beside the bed. His hand curled around her nape, and he hauled her to him, his mouth descending into a consuming kiss.
He plundered her lips in a raw, demanding way. The hard pressure and probing caress of his tongue liquefied her knees and forced her to cling to his broad shoulders. She strained against him like a needy harlot, sliding her hands up his neck and into his tight curls to anchor his mouth against hers.
Lips fused together, Damon lifted her from the floor, his fingers digging into her plump bottom as she curled her legs around him. They went down on the bed together, and he covered her body with his, almost his full weight resting on top of her.
One hand slipped between her thighs. His fingers stroked her damp folds, and she moaned as desire burned a path through her veins. His touch was intoxicating, his mouth a drugging caress as it strayed to the hollow at the base of her throat. Writhing atop the sheets, Audra smoothed her palms over the defined muscles of his back to his tight ass.
Damon kissed her cheek and chin and gave the same attention to her shoulders before dipping lower to her large breasts. Her nipples tightened with the silken stroke of his tongue, and she angled her hips higher as his touch drew whimpers from her throat.
She nipped at his ear, dragging in a lungful of his spicy, masculine scent. Mindless with need, she parted her legs wider in an urgent plea for his possession. His hard length pressed against her thigh, long and thick and exquisitely hard.
“Damon.” His name was a raw, desperate sound on her lips.
At that moment, she wasn’t a wife or mother. She was simply a woman begging her lover to give the ultimate pleasure.
Damon traveled lower. His beard scraped the curve of her soft belly, a tantalizing contrast to the soft texture of his mouth. When his lips grazed the strip of hair in the middle of her mons, she sucked in a deep breath. He teased her clit, his talented tongue dragging cries of bliss from the depths of her throat. She bucked her hips into his mouth and gripped the back of his head.
She came suddenly and hard, the climax hitting her with wave after wave of pleasure. Her cries increased in intensity as he relentlessly tongued her drenched flesh, wringing yet another orgasm from her trembling body.
When he finally lifted away from her, Damon licked her juices off his lips and crawled up the bed, his dark eyes intent. He didn’t give her time to descend from the sexual high. His tongue danced over the peaks of her breasts, and he sprinkled hot kisses in between the valley of the soft mounds.
His stiff erection butted against her core, and she moaned her delight, ready for his next move with dizzying anticipation. Damon pinned her wrists above her head with one hand, and her legs splayed wide to welcome him in. Holding his shaft in the other hand, he guided his body into hers with a hard thrust.
Audra gasped. She twisted, desperate to touch him, but he had her hands pinned to the pillows. She pulled her knees into her chest, and he rocked deeper into her body.
“This right here is… heaven,” he breathed in a strained voice.
Audra couldn’t agree more. Their bodies fit together as if they were made for each other.
In the dim light, his handsome face tightened. When he caught her staring, he captured her lips with his and flicked his tongue against the roof of her mouth.
“I want to touch you,” Audra whispered.
Damon released her wrists, and she wound her arms around his neck. His chest hairs teased the tips of her breasts with each gliding motion. Every movement, every sensation, felt incredible.
Caged in between his muscular arms while he stroked in and out of her, she arched her throat into his damp kisses. Her legs closed around his waist and she tightened her feminine muscles around him. Immediately, his rhythm stuttered, and he groaned at the intensified tightness.
The leisurely rhythm was abandoned and replaced by his hips jerking harder. His breathing came faster and harsher in her ear. Oh, how she loved when he lost control.
As another climax built in her loins, Audra closed her eyes and tightened her arms around his neck. “I love you, honey… Damon, oh Damon, Damon, Damon.”
He buried his face in the side of her neck and used one hand beneath her bottom to pull her into his hard strokes.
Audra begged him to go harder, and he angled his hips so he hit the perfect spot. With a hoarse cry, she came with a severity that left her blindly clawing at his damp back. She buried her face into the wet, salty skin of his neck. Clinging to him, she held on and continued pumping her hips until he also came.
Damon shuddered through the orgasm with a guttural groan before he lost all his strength and collapsed on top of her.
* * *
Audra jerked back to reality from her erotic memory.
That particular night had been one of the last times they simply had sex for the sake of having sex, without the pressure of pregnancy hovering in the back of her mind and tamping her desire.
She lay on her back with the sheets tangled around her legs. Her entire body ached—between her legs, her breasts. Even her hair follicles seemed to beg for relief.
She turned onto her side and squeezed her thighs together, and with the friction against her wet, swollen sex, she came instantly. Her fingers curled into the soft sheets, and she buried her face in Damon’s pillow to stifle the husky cries.
Afterward, she moaned her frustration. Coming in that way took the edge off and satisfied her temporarily but wasn’t the same as Damon’s hands and mouth on her body. There was no one to cuddle with afterward either. No one to idly caress her body in an affectionate way.
With a burst of anger, Audra shoved his pillows to the floor and fluffed her own. She tugged the blanket higher and closed her eyes.
Tomorrow, she was changing the sheets.
Chapter Seven
Tracy came skipping into the kitchen. “Look, Mommy. Keri helped me.”
She had added pink ribbons to her hair.
“I like that. You look pretty, baby.” Audra dropped containers into a tote bag as Junior and Kerilyn walked into the room. “Are we all set?”
“All set,” Kerilyn said.
“What about Daddy?” Tracy asked.
“Daddy has to work late.”
“Aww.”
“I know, we’ll all miss him, but we’ll still have fun. Everybody will be there.”
“Grandma and Abuelo?” Tracy asked with a hopeful lilt to her voice.
“Yes. And Auntie Monica, and Uncle Thiago, and everybody. So come on, let’s go,” Audra said.
She ushered the children into her white Mercedes S-class, and before long, they were on their way to Bruno’s house on the outskirts of the city. They arrived early, but cars were already in the driveway, including Ethan’s limousine and her sister Monica’s yellow Ferrari.
The large, one-story home on a basement was located north of the city. Light spilled from the windows all the way to the double doors, which allowed visitors to see inside as they approached.
Audra turned the doorknob and entered the house. “We’re here!”
Tracy and Junior raced ahead toward the den, and she heard cries of excitement as they encountered family members. Kerilyn followed more slowly.
Audra walked into the newly designed kitchen, eyes sweeping over the array of food options. Tonight’s menu consisted of steak and duck. The tempting scent of roasting meat and a plethora of delicious sides filled the air and made her mouth water.
She loved the changes Bruno had made. New appliances, lighting fixtures, floors, and granite countertops refreshed the space. Despite adding a giant island with a sink in the middle, the kitchen appeared larger and brighter. For her chef brother, the changes would definitely inspire new ideas.
Audra soon discovered almost everyone had arrived early. The only people missing were Monica’s new boyfriend—or old boyfriend made new again, since they originally met in college—and Ignacio.
“You’re sure Andre is coming?” she asked her sister, who was cute in a silver peasant dress and silver chandelier earrings. Monica wore her hair in a short natural cut close to her scalp.
Audra lifted a carrot from the vegetable tray on the counter. Bruno had prepared hors d’oeuvres for them to munch on until dinner.
“I’m positive. He’s coming.”
“Who’s coming, Auntie Monica?” Tracy asked.
“My friend, Andre. He’ll be here soon.” Monica playfully tugged on one of her niece’s twists.
“He’s eating dinner with us?”
“He sure is.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” Audra said.
“Be nice,” Monica warned.
Audra laughed. “You don’t have to worry about me. You need to worry about our brothers.”
Monica groaned. “I know.”
Audra laughed again and took the vegetable tray as she left the kitchen. She sauntered to the outdoor dining area, which the contractors had also renovated. They repaired the patio and overlaid the cement slab with colorful handmade tiles from Mexico.
Lights strewn across the pergola lit up the outdoors, but not too much, allowing for an intimate scene. In addition to a large grill, Bruno had added a pizza oven. Outdoor sofas for reclining were on one side and encouraged conversation.
She placed the tray next to the other snacks on a side table while Bruno and her stepfather, Benicio Santana, pushed together two tables to accommodate their large family. Benicio had a head full of white hair and a white beard. Bruno had dark hair and his father’s gray eyes.
Audra helped them place chairs under the tables.
“Did you hire any help?” she asked.
Bruno checked his watch. “I did. Two servers. They should be here any minute. I need to check on the duck.” He hurried inside.
“I’m going to fix myself a plate and take one to your mother. Is she in the kitchen?” Benicio asked.
“She moved to the den,” Audra answered.
Her stepfather nodded, fixed a plate of hors d’oeuvres, and disappeared into the house.
She inhaled deeply and gazed up at the stars. Because her brother lived outside the city, they were evident in the black night sky. Nearby, Thiago slowly walked the area beside the outdoor sofas, head down as he quietly talked to someone on the phone.
Unlike Bruno and Ignacio, he’d inherited his mother’s dark eyes, which combined with his black hair and full beard gave him a brooding, smoldering look.
Audra dipped a stalk of celery in Bruno’s homemade blue cheese dressing and took a bite.
Thiago sighed, shaking his head as he tucked the phone in his pocket.
“Business?” she asked.
“Sí, unfortunately,” he answered in accented English, his thick eyebrows lowered over his eyes.
“I hope you resolved the problem. You know how Mom gets about using the phone during family time.”
Audra was the same way, though not as rigid as her mother. No phones at the table allowed.
“I know. That’s why I wanted to hurry and get it taken care of. Unfortunately, some people think because they pay you for a service, they own your time, all the time.”
“I remember having to deal with that when I worked at Benicio’s company. I don’t have that problem anymore, thank goodness.”
Before she married Damon, she had worked in her stepfather’s office as an administrative assistant, fully expecting to rise in the ranks of the company. However, getting pregnant with Junior and a quick marriage at the courthouse had put the kibosh on her career aspirations. Only after Tracy was a toddler did she start working again, this time blogging and turning Plush into a business that generated a little income.
“Lucky you.”
She stepped closer to her brother and lowered her voice. “Have you talked to him about taking over the company?”
Thiago glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. “More than once.”
“And…?”
He shook his head in disgust. “Nothing has changed. He’s not interested. He is determined to continue working full-time.”
After a successful career in acting, Benicio expanded his personal fortune by investing in real estate, retail establishments, and a popular tequila brand bottled in his native Mexico. The consulting arm of the conglomerate offered other businesses the opportunity to learn from his many years of knowledge.
“I don’t understand why, when you’re willing to take over. You know the company inside out, not only the consulting arm. You would be the perfect person to take the reins of Benicio’s company, if he ever retires.”
“That’s not important to him.”
“Why not? His work schedule caused him to lose his wife, for goodness’ sake.”
“My father is a very stubborn man, in case you haven’t noticed,” Thiago said in a dry tone.
“Oh, I’ve noticed. Why do you think he’s like that?”
He fell quiet, frowning as he considered the question. “I think it’s because of my mother.”
“What does Valentina have to do with it? They’ve been divorced for ages.”
“My mother was very spoiled and used to getting what she wanted. She made a lot of demands on my father, and I believe—I don’t know this for sure—his stubborn behavior is a way of rebelling against the same thing happening again. Yes, he loves to work, but this insistence on doing it, no matter what, doesn’t make sense.”
“Particularly since he’s a smart man.”
Thiago nodded his agreement.
“So, what are you going to do?”
He shrugged, continuing to frown. “I’m working on him.”
“Good luck.”
He laughed softly, a wordless way to acknowledge he had a lot of work to do.
“Is Damon coming tonight?”
Audra glanced away. She hated lying to her family. “No, he had to work.”
Thiago’s gaze practically burned a hole in the side of her face. When she finally glanced at him again, she saw blatant skepticism.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“No one believes that excuse anymore.”
Her eyes widened. “Have you guys been talking about me?”
He shrugged, which basically meant yes.
She closed her eyes and groaned. “Who?”
“Me, Bruno, Ethan.”
“Oh god.” She covered her face.
“We care about you,” Thiago said.
“I know. I…” Audra shook her head. “There’s a lot going on.”
“Like what?”
Audra pushed frustrated air past her lips. “Damon and I are going through a difficult period. We’ll figure it out.”
“What does that mean, ‘a difficult period’?”
“We’re not communicating, and he’s gone a lot. Most nights we don’t even sleep in the same bed.”
Thiago’s thick eyebrows dropped lower over his eyes. “Do you think he’s having an affair?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
His face hardened. Oh boy, she should have never said anything like that to him. Thiago was a hothead.
Audra placed a hand on his arm. “Thiago, I don’t know for sure.”
His features softened as he brought his temper under control. “Have you tried talking to him?”
She let out a mirthless laugh. “Damon doesn’t talk. I think it’s because of what happened when he was younger.”
“The abuse?”
She nodded. “He clams up. Right now, he’s distant, and I don’t know how to get past the barrier between us. I feel lost. Helpless.”
She refrained from adding how frightened she was of hearing the truth from Damon. If he told her what was wrong, she might not be able to handle the unvarnished honesty of his list of grievances.
“If you love each other, you should work it out. Don’t be stubborn like our parents.”
Audra gave him a rueful smile. “I won’t.”
Her brother pulled her into his side. “Whenever you need to talk, I’m here.”
“I know. Thank you.”
Audra rested her head against his shoulder, realizing her great fortune. She had a wonderful, caring family and could talk to any one of its members about her predicament, but she always hesitated. Embarrassment, shame, denial instead of facing reality, all held her back.
She and Thiago remained outside talking, then Ignacio arrived and Kerilyn strolled out, head bent over her phone, as usual. Later, Andre and Monica came outside, and her sister introduced him to everyone. A good-looking guy with slightly narrowed eyes, he studied them all as if he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to be there.
The family gathered around the table, and Benicio stood at the head, surveying them with a slight smile on his face.
