Celestial desire, p.7
Celestial Desire, page 7
He watched, enthralled by the sight of Celeste loving him with her mouth, the feel of her honeyed waves stroking the sensitive skin around his pelvis. “Suck me, baby, please, before I die from want of it.”
She obeyed without question, drawing the thick head into her mouth. Zane cursed, fisting his hands in her hair, desperately fighting the urge to thrust right down her gifted little throat. “Fuck! So good, baby, so fucking good….”
Celeste beamed at his praise and encouragement, her eyes filled with the same desire he felt. She tried lots of different things, always watching, always gauging his reactions, and seemingly loving every second of it.
He knew he sure as hell did.
Before long, his entire body had gone completely rigid and he couldn’t hold off one minute more. She squealed a little when he lifted her from between his legs and flipped her on her back. There was a brief sound of ripping foil, a few muttered oaths and then he was plunging inside her furiously.
Thank God she was so wet, he thought, nearly blind with lust and need. He pounded into her, her sheath gripping him like the most perfect, tightest fist, her feminine juices spilled out over her sex, coating the very base of his shaft and balls even as he still felt the slow burn of her saliva along the length of his cock beneath the condom.
“You are so fucking hot,” he panted, incapable of mercy, penetrating her with thorough strokes and a singular purpose to brand her as she had branded him; to claim her, imprint himself on her, as she had done to him.
Her cries grew in intensity and volume as she struggled to hold on, but Zane wouldn’t let her, not when he couldn’t control himself. Being inside Celeste, hearing her cries of pleasure, feeling the grips of her hands made such a thing impossible. She was like the perfect storm, rolling in and over and around him, intense and all-powerful, and all he could do was ride her through it.
“Come for me, baby,” he ground out, a pitiless command. “Come all over my cock!”
She obeyed without hesitation and he was following her over the edge, tumbling into the abyss. Zane thrust deep as her sheath clamped down around him like a living vise, rippling and squeezing, sucking his life and soul right out through his cock. The first jet was both agonizing and exquisite, making him shout her name even as he buried his face in her neck. He continued to thrust, each penetration drawing forth more of his essence as he held her even tighter, unable to get close enough, feeling like it would never be enough.
With one final shudder, he fell to the side, pulling Celeste with him as he fought to regain his breath.
Side by side, still joined and wrapped around each other, Zane tucked her head beneath his chin. Post-coital cuddling had never been his thing, but he couldn’t imagine not doing it with Celeste. He needed the contact. Needed to feel her heartbeat pounding against his chest, her breasts pressing against him with every heaving breath.
Lying there with her, stroking her back, hearing her contented sighs, he could no longer ignore the truth. He was breaking all of the rules he’d known.
He was falling in love with Celeste.
Chapter 9
“Thank you,” she whispered against his neck sometime later as she lay soft and sated in his arms.
“For what?”
“For letting me … do things.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I think I should be the one thanking you, baby.”
“Did I, you know, do it right?”
Her voice was quiet, her words hesitant. In the darkness, he couldn’t see her, but he could sense that she was holding her breath, waiting for his answer.
“Sweetheart, if you did it any better, I’d be a stain on your carpet.”
She released the breath she was holding slowly; he felt the moist heat of it against his pulse point. “I’m sure it’s obvious, but … this is all new to me. I like that you’re so patient with me. That you don’t make me feel dirty for wanting to try things.”
Zane kept the strokes along her back gentle and easy, but what he really wanted to do was crush her to him. Celeste sounded so vulnerable, it made him ache. “You’re a beautiful, sexy, passionate woman, Celeste. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
She hummed and snuggled closer to him. “You make me feel beautiful.”
“You are beautiful.”
They lay in silence for a while. “You are only the second man I’ve ever been with.”
Zane paused as those words sank in. He knew Celeste had been somewhat innocent, but he hadn’t realized just how innocent she was. “Your ex-husband was the first, I take it?”
“Yes,” she admitted quietly. He could sense her putting the pieces together. “How much did Mitch tell you?”
“Not much. He said he helped you get a divorce.” He might have said a little more than that but Zane had no wish to lessen her trust in Mitch, nor did he want to admit that after talking with his uncle he’d done a bit of research on his own. Spending two years searching for his own answers had given him plenty of experience; and when everything was a matter of public record, gathering pertinent intel was child’s play.
“Yes,” she confirmed. There was so much pain and fear in that one word, in the way her soft and pliant body tensed at the mere mention of her ex. Zane didn’t want her to feel scared ever again.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” Her arms gripped him tighter.
“Celeste, you’re trembling. Talk to me.”
She was silent so long he didn’t think she would, but eventually she sighed. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
“How about at the beginning?” he suggested, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “How did you two meet?”
In the warmth of his arms, she took a deep, steadying breath. “I was twenty-two when I met James,” Celeste began somewhat unsteadily. “I was working on a joint research project at the university, and was leaving the physics building when something hit me in the side of the head. I lost my balance and fell down the steps.”
“What happened?”
“The biology research facility was next to the physics lab. There were some people there protesting the university’s participation in stem cell research. There were even more Bio majors shouting back. It got pretty heated, then the verbal taunts became physical. Someone threw a rock and it ending up hitting me. Anyway, the next thing I remember, James was leaning over me. He put his jacket beneath my head and wiped away the blood. He looked right into my eyes and told me how sorry he was that I had been caught in the crossfire.”
“I know it sounds pathetic, but no guy had ever looked at me like that before. Like I was a woman, instead of an overweight, geeky introvert. Especially not someone like him. Tall and lean, he was handsome with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. He wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous or anything, but he could definitely do a lot better than me. And I thought his eyes were so kind.”
Zane started to say something but she put a finger to his lips. “Please. Let me finish.” Zane kissed her finger and nodded, but made up his mind right then and there that he was going to make it a priority to show Celeste just how beautiful she was, inside and out.
“He wanted to take me to the campus clinic but the police started arriving, and I didn’t want to be caught up in any of that. He offered to walk me home and I said yes.”
Celeste paused to take a deep breath. Her fingers swirled in small, circular patterns over his chest. He waited, guessing what happened next.
“We started seeing each other. He was very attentive. He brought me flowers and candy and took me to nice restaurants and movies. To someone like me who’d never even had a date, it was very flattering. I was so caught up in it that I failed to see the warning signs before it was too late.”
Another pause. It was an effort not to tighten his grip and pull her closer. Instead, he continued to stroke and pet, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. He wanted to think he was doing it all for her but the truth was, he needed the contact, too.
“James was very religious, you see. At the time, I thought that was a good thing. I mean, he had a strength of conviction I found admirable, and a clear sense of right and wrong. I didn’t agree with everything he said, but I was too afraid he’d leave if I dared to say so, so I remained quiet. He took that as agreement, I guess. But I definitely didn’t share his unshakable faith in so-called ‘men of God’, and I guess that showed through easily enough. He took it upon himself to ‘bring me into the light’, as he would say.”
“You don’t believe in God?”
“Oh, of course I do. You can’t study math and physics to any degree and not believe in a higher power. But I was never sold on organized religion; I considered myself more of a Deist, really. James took that as a challenge, I think.”
“It was great at first. Everyone was so friendly. He took me along to church picnics and on bus trips. I felt like I was part of a big, wonderful community. For the first time in my life, I had lots of friends, people who cared about me. Or so I thought.”
“Things changed the moment we got home from the wedding. Gone was the sweet man who had courted me for a year. He demanded that I quit my job and end all ties with what he deemed the ‘faithless university’. I was to stay home and cook and clean and raise our children like a dutiful wife.”
She sniffed, and took a breath to steady herself. “Even our wedding night was a disaster. It hurt so much. James was brutal. He yelled at me for crying, telling me that sex was only for procreation, that only whores and sinners could find pleasure in it.”
“He lost his patience so easily, and nothing I did was right. Yelling at me wasn’t doing the trick, so he took his belt to me, saying that a woman’s obedience in all things was holy and necessary in a good marriage. He had me believing that my unhappiness was all my fault, that I was resisting the will of God. It was a test, he said. That once I embraced my faith everything would be all right. But what he really meant was that I had to embrace his beliefs and those of his so-called church, a group of zealots who hid their fanaticism beneath layers of socially acceptable Christian values.”
Her breath hitched. “It sounds so obvious now; James had fooled me right along with everyone else. I can’t believe I was so pathetic…”
Zane hummed slightly in disagreement, but knew Celeste had to continue, that the worst was yet to come.
“Then one day, while James was at work, a pipe burst in the kitchen. I was too afraid to bother him at the office, and I knew he would be livid if he came home to a mess, so I called a plumber. The guy was just leaving when James came home. James saw him and misunderstood; he thought that I was having an affair.”
“He beat me that night. Badly. So badly that he got scared and called the ambulance. He told them I fell down the steps. They didn’t believe him, though, and when I woke up I told them what happened. All of it. The police arrested James, but his church group – those people I once thought were my friends - posted bail and he was free in just a couple of hours. I don’t know what he told them, but James is a born manipulator and a consummate actor. They have no idea what he’s really capable of…”
“Anyway, he begged me to forgive him, swore that it would never happen again, but I knew better. That kind, caring man I thought he was, was gone and I’d glimpsed the monster inside him. That’s when things really got nasty. He wasn’t content to terrorize just me. He started going after my mother, the people I used to work with, even the doctors and nurses who took care of me in the hospital. He was always smart about it, though. No one could prove anything. Some of my mother’s friends helped her pack up and move and they sent me into hiding until the trial.”
Celeste took a deep, fortifying breath. “I filed for divorce but James contested it, saying that no man could undo a vow made before God. He got one of the lawyers in his congregation to tie things up in a mess of red tape. I lived in constant fear; afraid to go anywhere, certain he would find me. I couldn’t get a job or make friends or even use my credit cards. Eventually he went to trial for beating me and he was convicted. But I know he’ll come looking for me when he gets out. And next time, he’ll make sure I can’t run away.”
Like Hell, Zane thought. Any prior doubts he’d had about being there for Celeste flew right out the window. He still couldn’t bring himself to tell her, though. Especially not when she would probably perceive it as a purely emotional response to what she had just told him.
Yeah, he was as affected as hell, but that wasn’t the real reason he planned on sticking around. Part of him had realized that he was falling in love with her, and he was only now being honest enough with himself to recognize it. But again, this was not the ideal time to announce it. So instead he asked, “Isn’t there a restraining order?”
“That won’t stop James,” she said quietly. “Nothing will.”
* * *
Nearly three thousand miles away, James Bradley tried to look repentant as he silently offered thanks for bleeding hearts, overcrowded prisons and the quiet but strong presence of God-fearing Christians in key positions throughout the penal system. After serving only six months of a much longer term, he found himself before a parole board being considered for early release.
He’d been a model prisoner, after all. Both his well-paid therapist and the court-appointed psychiatrist were convinced that his horrific behavior had been a one-time aberration on an otherwise spotless record: Four-point-O student, honest business man, pillar of the community, and patriot, driven to a minor breakdown when he heard malicious rumors that the love of his life had desecrated their vows.
Of course what he had done was unforgivable, he stressed to their doubtful faces. He understood that. He agreed to abide by all terms of the restraining order, asking only that he be allowed to pay for all of Celeste’s medical and legal expenses – through a third party, of course.
After a mere twenty minutes of deliberation, James Bradley was handed his personal effects and escorted to the exit where a cab awaited him.
Twenty hours and several discreet phone calls later, he was on a plane to California.
Chapter 10
Celeste flipped up the magnifying lenses of her special glasses and carefully set down the new circuit board with a sigh. Ever since her soulful confession a week ago, the bond between her and Zane had grown stronger. They still had mind-blowing, epic sex, but now he spent hours making sweet, passionate love to her, too. And no matter what they did, she couldn’t manage to make herself feel bad about it. What they shared was nothing less than beautiful.
She heard the telltale ding, letting her know a new message had arrived in her inbox. It was at least the dozenth time it had done so in the last half hour, all business-related. She sighed, wishing she wasn’t quite so eager, but she hadn’t heard from Zane since he’d left hours earlier. Her lips – the ones on her face and the ones between her legs – tingled in remembrance of his very creative method of wishing her a good morning.
You really should play a little harder to get, she chastised herself when her heart thumped excitedly against her rib cage, spotting the email from Zane. Then again, it was email and he couldn’t actually see her doing an excited little happy dance. She could read the message now, she rationalized, then not respond for a while so she didn’t appear the pathetic crushing adolescent she’d somehow become.
Hey, beautiful. Check your mobile, sexy genius. I think it needs charging; my calls are going straight to vmail.
Celeste was thrilled that he’d been trying to call her and was not, in fact, growing bored with her and blowing her off as her splintered self-esteem insisted. Instantly abandoning her missive to appear less eager, she tapped out a reply, reasoning that it didn’t really matter. After everything she’d told him, he was still interested when anyone else would have been running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
Sorry. I forgot.
She could hear him chuckling in her mind, affectionately commenting about how she always seemed to forget the little everyday things. He’d reminded her to charge her phone before he left, but then he’d started nibbling beneath her jaw…
A soft ding jolted her back to the present. They say great sex can negatively affect short-term memory.
She grinned at the screen as she typed her reply. You don’t seem to be having an issue. Should I take offense?
Definitely not. I was almost to my bike before I realized I forgot to put pants on.
Celeste laughed out loud in an uncharacteristic fit of giggles. Zane had that effect on her.
As if he could see her, Zane’s next message arrived quickly. Stop laughing and start getting ready. Loose, cool clothing and comfortable shoes.
Anticipation bubbled through her like champagne, tickling and tingling. Where are we going?
It’s a surprise. I’ll be there in an hour.
Celeste didn’t bother suppressing her squeal of delight. After all, nobody was around to hear it. Zane had been full of surprises these past few weeks. He had taken her bucket list to heart. She had her tattoo and her navel piercing. Had ridden multiple times on his Harley. Gone to a zoo where they’d visited the reptile house and she’d actually held a python across her shoulders.
One by one he was making her dreams come true; she never knew what he was going to surprise her with next.
She pulled out her list and smoothed it on the table. Only a few things remained: skinny dipping, Disneyland, and adopting a pet.
Her whole body tingled with anticipation. She changed into shorts and a tank, pulling on super-comfy walking shoes, sighing when she realized it had taken less than five minutes. Only fifty-five to go.
Celeste settled down in front of the partially-built laptop again and began adding additional ports (like electrical outlets, you could never have too many USBs, she thought). When that was done, she checked her email again, even though she hadn’t heard a ding.
