by Tess Oliver
A burst of cold air disturbed the upward flow of the steam. Clutch shut the bathroom door behind him. Stark naked, he was a sight that made my heart race. His blue eyes were filled with purpose and his chiseled jaw, shaded with black stubble was firmly set. The glass doors vibrated as he strode toward the shower.
Even under the hot water, a shiver went through me as he opened the glass door and stepped inside.
"Clutch," my voice trailed off with the steam as he reached for me and pulled me into his arms. His mouth covered mine. A river of hot water cascaded over our heads as we kissed.
His hands smoothed over my back. He cupped my bottom and lifted me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. Our lips never parted as he spun me around and pressed my back up against the smooth marble wall of the shower.
Only then, did he lift his mouth from mine. His long lashes clumped together in dark spikes as he gazed at me. "Mine and only mine, forever, baby."
"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you." I pressed my mouth against his, and with one swift movement, his cock was inside of me, filling me and satisfying the constant craving I had for him.
I clung to him as he thrust into me. The rhythm of the hot water pulsating from the showerhead seemed to work with the motion of our bodies. I closed my eyes and got lost in the heady sensations of the hot shower as Clutch took care of everything else. His thick cock found every tender place, and it took me only seconds to reach climax.
My cries echoed in the shower as my pussy clenched around him. His hips moved faster, teasing every last tingle from my pussy. He tightened his arms, nearly crushing me in his grasp, as his deep groan of satisfaction floated around us. He rocked gently against me for a few more minutes, and I luxuriated in the feel of being in his safe arms, knowing I always had those protective arms to catch me if I fell.
Twenty-Nine
Clutch
I wasn't just getting the cold shoulder. I was getting the full Arctic glacial shoulder. And from all of them. Fortunately, Cassie had popped up with the idea that they needed to sit down and plan a wedding because it was their last time together before we headed back down the hill for the work week.
So a pot of hot cocoa had been cooked. They even allowed me to have a cup. But I lost out on the whipped cream because I was last in line and Rett squirted the final, air filled bits into his drink before handing me the empty can.
The women were just settling at the dining room table with their mugs of cocoa and paper and pens when Dray cleared his throat loudly. "Everyone, I need your attention." We all watched in guarded astonishment as he walked to the dining room table and placed his cocoa mug down with a flourish.
"Cassie," he said with an even greater dramatic flair. He dropped to his knee in front of her.
Cassie lifted her brow at him. "Get up, you nerd."
"O.K." Dray shrugged and pushed to his feet. "I was trying to be spontaneous."
Cassie glanced around at her friends. They shared an eye roll before she returned her attention to Dray. "You need a dictionary, my love. Because that was not spontaneous. Spontaneous is catching your girlfriend falling from a ski lift and then popping the question while important people, people who absolutely wanted to see the proposal happen in real time and not on video replay, were being dragged up the mountain by that same faulty ski lift." Cassie's cool gaze flashed my direction. I felt the chill of it even over the top of my steaming beverage. It was going to be a long winter.
Only Taylor managed to work up an expression of sympathy after my scolding.
I took a deep breath and put down my drink. "For the hundredth time, I'm sorry." I looked at Scotlyn and Finley and repeated the words. "I was pumped with adrenaline, and the rush of relief that followed when I knew that Taylor had come out of the incident unharmed just pushed every emotion through my head. I knew then that I never wanted to lose her. So, again, I'm sorry, and I hope you'll eventually forgive me." I looked at Taylor whose copper hair and green eyes gleamed under the pendant lights. "Besides, hearing Taylor say yes was the happiest moment of my life, and I'm not ever going to regret it."
"Ahh," Finley and Scotlyn cooed simultaneously. "How can we stay mad at that?" They looked at Cassie, who was always a little harder to convince with sentimental reasoning.
Cassie smiled. "That was pretty great." They all circled around me with a hug.
"Oh, he's good," I heard Nix say from the kitchen.
"He's a Mason," Rett noted.
I finished my apology tour and returned to my cocoa.
The women set right to work, like a group of people sitting down in a boardroom for a meeting. "Now," Scotlyn began, "first, we need a date. Then we need to decide on a location." They all pulled up their phones to check next year's calendar.
Dray pulled out a chair, spun it around and straddled it. "I think we need to go with a Viking theme. I'm totally up for wearing one of those badass helmets with the horns growing out of it."
Taylor laughed. "Tell you what, Dray, even if we don't go in that direction, feel free to wear a Viking helmet."
I hovered over the table. "Uh, will I have any say in this?"
Cassie lifted a stern brow my direction.
"Right." I looked back at Nix and Rett. "Who's up for a game of poker?"
Thirty
Taylor
Eight months later
"Rain on Saturday." I put my phone down hard, hoping that might change the stupid little rain cloud emoji to a sun. "It's August. It's California. Neither of those things should have rain attached to it."
"It won't rain," Mandy said with the confidence of a meteorologist as she grabbed the broom from the closet.
I finished gathering pieces of unused lace as she swept the fabric crumbs off the floor. "Besides, rain could make it more romantic, more quirky. Everyone in the wedding party could walk in holding matching umbrellas. The pictures would be adorable." She scraped the work stool across the floor as she moved it back to get under the table. "There's a much higher chance of seeing a rainbow if it rains. In fact, it's the only chance of seeing one."
"O.K. I'm visualizing me fighting with an umbrella as my hair frizzes beneath my veil, and all the guests so mesmerized by the colorful rainbow that they aren't watching the bride."
Mandy laughed. "I've also heard raindrops on a wedding day mean fertility and lots of babies."
"Mandy, I love you." I blew her a kiss. "Now shut up."
"Right."
I took a last look at the collection I'd been working on. The woman was getting married at her family's ancestral home in Scotland. She'd provided me with the tartan fabric she wanted incorporated into the design." I tilted my head to admire the dress. I'd woven thin strips of the red and green plaid fabric intricately into the long, buttery silk folds of the train. It had turned out beautifully, and the customer was thrilled.
"Hey, I forgot to tell you." Mandy leaned down with the dust pan. "Ron came in to deliver a package, his last package. He's met someone, and they are moving to Texas where her family lives."
"That's great. I'm happy for him." I was relieved that his attentions had never gone further than flowers and candy.
I finished covering the dresses on the rack. I still had a good month to finish the details on the Scottish wedding party. It had taken some intense planning, but I'd managed to organize a work schedule around my own wedding. Clutch had done the same. It wasn't easy, but we'd somehow found time to get married and spend a week in Hawaii. We'd decided not to drag out a long engagement. Things had smoothed out so nicely between us, it was easy to forget any snags in our past. I'd, of course, known since I was a kid that there was only one man I wanted to see at the end of my walk down the aisle. It took Clutch a little longer to come to same conclusion, that we were meant for each other, but he'd finally gotten there.
A shorter engagement meant we had to rush to get things in place for a wedding. We were fortunate enough to have connections to a certain rock star.
I was a California girl, through and through, and all of us spent a lot of time together at the beach. My dream was to get married overlooking the Pacific Ocean, but all the most scenic venues were booked several years in advance. Finley offered to give her dad a call, and he generously allowed us to hold a wedding at his Malibu beach house. When he’d bought the place years ago, he'd conveniently purchased the piece of land next to the house so that he could avoid nosy neighbors. It was a beautiful stretch of nicely landscaped lawn that he used once a year for a summer party. Naturally, the parcel of land had a rock star view of the Pacific Ocean.
"I think your dress turned out perfectly, don't you?" Mandy pushed the broom around the sewing machine tables.
I'd opted for a strapless bodice and ball gown flared skirt out of soft white Charmeuse. The only true bling was the thin rhinestone dotted headband to hold on the ballet length tulle veil. I was more than pleased with myself as a customer.
"I love the way the dress turned out. It helped that the bride wasn't the least bit pushy or picky. I knew after a few of the more crazy design requests that I wanted it sweet and simple for my own wedding. It fits my style, and I know Clutch prefers sweet and simple too."
"Except when it comes to a corset. The one you created for your wedding night passed sweet and simple a few lacy ribbons ago. Has he seen it?"
"Nope. It's a surprise."
"And a good one at that. You two might never see sunlight on your honeymoon."
Clutch had borrowed Rett's pick-up truck to help me move the last of my stuff to his house, our house. He found a parking spot right in front of the shop. I looked around to make sure everything was cleaned up as Mandy finished sweeping the floor.
The bells on the front door rang and loud clomping footsteps followed.
"There's the handsome groom." Mandy rested the broom against the work table. "This is it, boss. Next time you step into this shop, you'll be Mrs. Boss."
We laughed and hugged.
"I can't believe it. The pre-wedding jitters are really starting to take hold."
Clutch filled the doorway to the backroom. He pushed his black sunglasses up on his head and leaned against the doorjamb. "I've got Farmer Knucklehead's truck parked out front. Are you ready?"
I smiled at the question. He, of course, had meant was I ready to pick up the rest of my things, but I answered with enough tone to change the meaning. "I'm ready. How about you?"
He grinned. "You bet I am."
I turned for another hug good-bye from Mandy.
"I'll see you on Saturday, only you'll be too busy being a bride to notice me. So I'm going to wish you the best of luck and a happy ever after right now. And don't worry. It never rains in Southern California. And when it does, it's a drizzle."
"I hope you're right." I grabbed my purse from the closet slash office and followed Clutch to the front door. He opened it and I swished past him.
"Is that a new dress?" he asked, taking special note of the periwinkle blue seersucker sundress I'd sewn myself. The fabric and style made it feel like a treasure found in a vintage store.
"Yes, do you like it? I think it'll be perfect for Hawaii." I spun around once on the sidewalk to let the short skirt flare out around my legs.
"I love it, but I'm not sure there will be time for formal wear on our honeymoon. And by formal wear I mean anything other than naked skin."
"I'm with you on that, but I'm pretty sure my travel partner will need the occasional break from sex for sustenance. He has an enormous, superhuman appetite, after all."
Clutch took hold of my hand and pulled me into his arms. "You're damn right I do. In fact when it comes to you, it's downright insatiable." He kissed me, and my mind drifted to the happy notion that the next time he kissed me in front of my shop, I'd be Mrs. Mason.
Thirty-One
Clutch
Taylor was staring at her phone and tripped on the first step leading up to her apartment. I caught her arm to keep her upright. "I don't think you'll be a happy camper if you have a broken nose in your wedding pictures. You must have looked at your phone a hundred times between the shop and here. What's got your interest?"
"The weather." She lowered her phone and continued up the steps. "They're predicting rain for Saturday."
We reached the door to her apartment. "Yeah, I saw that too. It won't happen. Never does. It always ends up getting pushed up north by those big blue arrows the weather people show on the monitors. It's a low or a high or something. Can't remember which."
Taylor pushed open the door to the tiny apartment. The remainder of her things had been boxed and labeled. Dray, Nix and I had moved the big stuff the weekend before. I, for one, was glad I wasn't going to have to worry about her living alone in a city apartment anymore.
"But why the heck did they have to predict it for this weekend? It's like the people at the weather channel are all conspiring against me." She took heavier than usual footsteps as she circled the apartment to make sure she hadn't left anything behind. And I stopped to enjoy the sight of her marching angrily because each forceful step made the short skirt of her dress flip up, exposing more of her tanned thighs. Selfish brute that I was, I wasn't even going to remind her of her rule to walk lightly so as not to anger the guy downstairs.
Making the rounds in a five hundred square foot apartment didn't take long. Taylor stopped in the middle of the main room and blew a frustrated puff of air from her lips to move a strand of hair off her face. "Looks like I've got everything." She turned her eyes to me with what I called her round eyed 'I've got an idea' expression, a look she wore often. "I was thinking, now that I'm no longer living in an apartment, we should get a dog or two. Don't you think?" She threw in an extra eyelash bat for good measure.
"I wouldn't mind a couple of dogs." I lifted my finger. "But nothing so tiny that I could step on it and not even know it's under my foot. And we're not naming them Buttons and Bows like you mentioned once."
She clapped. "Nothing smaller than your foot and no Buttons and Bows. I'm excited. We can go to the shelter after we get back from Hawaii." Her phone buzzed.
"Maybe it's the weather channel saying Psyche!" I thought better of laughing at my joke when I saw her bottom lip jut out in a pout.
I walked over to her. "Baby, rain or not, it'll be fine. All that matters is we are getting married. Everything else is just part of the day. It'll be fine."
She nodded but I knew the double pouted lips meant she wasn't the least bit convinced or relieved. I tipped her chin up and kissed her, hoping to wipe away her frown.
"Uh, have I mentioned how fucking excited I am about the honeymoon?" I kissed her again.
"You might have brought it up a few hundred times." She relaxed some and pressed herself into my arms. "I'm looking forward to it as well." She fingered the tattoo on my arm. "In fact, I've got a few surprises in store."
"Fuck yeah, that's what I want to hear." I reached down and grabbed a handful of the soft dress fabric. I bunched the bottom of the dress up high enough to expose the polka dot panties underneath. "I say we give this apartment a proper send off."
Taylor smiled as I pushed my leg between her thighs. She rubbed her pussy against me. Any earlier sign of disappointment or worry had vanished, and her green eyes darkened as her lips parted with a sigh. Her phone buzzed again, snapping her out of the erotic moment.
"I hate modern technology," I growled.
She stepped back and put up her finger. "Let me just read it. Oh, Finley needs me to call her." She dialed before I could stop and suggest she postpone the call a few minutes.
She turned around and walked away. "Hey, Fin, what's up?" She stopped at one of the tall boxes and smoothed her fingers over the tape as she listened to Finley's ever important, couldn't wait five minutes message.
"Oh, that's great news." Taylor looked back over her shoulder. "Fin says the roses arrived and the arrangements are beautiful." She turned back to continue the conversation. I was having one of my own, in my head
. It involved a flirty short sundress and polka dot panties.
Taylor chatted on about her weather worries, and I decided to take matters into my own hands. Literally. I walked up behind her and pushed the dress up above her panties.
Taylor gasped. "Oh nothing, Clutch is—Clutch is just being Clutch. By the way, Fin, can you find out what time the bakery is delivering the cake."
I pulled down the panties. She sucked in a breath and giggled, but kept right on talking. I took hold of the phone. Taylor spun around her mouth wide with shock.
"Hey, Finley, yeah, it's the groom to be. I've got something important to discuss with the bride to be. She'll call you later."
Finley laughed through her good-bye.
I dropped the phone on the box behind me. I looked around at the empty apartment. There were faded spots on the walls where pictures had lived and stains on the carpet, including one bad one where Rett had spilled a strawberry margarita, and there were lots of clumps of dust. "Not sure exactly where to get this done."
"Then maybe you don't want it all that bad," Taylor teased as she twisted a bunch of fabric in her hands to reveal her naked pussy beneath.
"Yeah, that's not it." I swept her into my arms and carried her into the bathroom, which for a man my size was like a phone booth. But I could always find a way when it came to sex with Taylor.
"Oh, that's cold," she squealed as her naked bottom landed on the tile counter.
I quickly unbuttoned my pants and pushed them down to my knees.
