by Kimball Lee
“Wes, you’re a good man,” Finn said handing him a packet of hundred dollar bills as gratuity for his service as casino host. “I’m not sure what time it is but I need buy pearls for my wife, can you point me in the right direction?”
“Thank you, sir, certainly, certainly! I can have a representative from Mikimoto come to your suite first thing in the morning. There’s also Tiffany and Company at the Via Bellagio, they’re open until midnight and its eleven forty-five now, I’d be glad to give them a call and have them wait for you to arrive.”
“Sounds good, Tiffany’s it is. Let’s go, Bly, I’m sure you know more about jewels than I do. Charlotte’s not one for expensive jewelry, but no matter, pearls look lovely against her skin, and I’d like to leave something tangible to remember me by.”
“Something tangible?” Bly said. “Do even imagine that she could ever forget you, Finn?”
*
Atticus found his mother lounging by the pool in her bathrobe the next morning. It made him smile to think she must be wearing plenty of sunscreen because she wasn’t wearing her usual broad brimmed hat. He stood over her blocking the sun for a moment and she melted his heart with her timeless beauty and immensely sad eyes.
“Hey sweetie,” she said softly and the sound of her voice was so heavy with defeat he could feel the sting of tears in his own eyes. “Atti, sit down please. You look so much like your father, do you know that? So incredibly tall and handsome. I want you to understand that it’s alright to go on loving Bly when Finn isn’t here anymore. Don’t feel guilt over the truth of how you began, I know you don’t want to hear this so I’ll only say it this once. Atticus, you were conceived in love, the time I spent with Bly wasn’t trivial, it wasn’t just an affair. And just like you, I have lived my life under the crushing burden of loving two men.”
“Mom,” he said taking her hand in his and noticing for the first time how delicate it was. The indomitable Charlotte was just a woman who loved and suffered in equal measure and her spirit was about to be sorely tested. “You know I’m leaving for a while, right?”
Charlotte nodded and looked past him toward the mountains in the west. The rising sun painted them pink and orange and they shone with an unearthly glow. Maybe it was the majesty of those unyielding mountains dressed in shimmering light, or maybe it was Finn’s determination to leave the planet as easily as if he were making a trip to the corner store that made her life seem surreal. But mostly it was the disastrous knowledge that her son, her little boy, had chosen the most dangerous career known to civilized man and his mind would not be changed.
“I won’t be gone for long, Mom, and I’ll be nearby, just a phone call away. I can’t just sit by and watch… I’ll follow in Dad’s footsteps now and eventually I’ll follow in Alex’s. I have to be free, I need to cheat death and feel my life rush through me like… like a hurricane, before I take on the weight of the world.”
“Atticus don’t go yet, I have something for you. Here, these pearls are for Skyler. Your dad gave them to me last night, and not just these, strands and strands of perfect pearls. What do I need them for, why would I need things?” Charlotte said, bowing her head as she removed the longest strand of lustrous white pearls from her pale, smooth neck.
“Mom, no… he must have had a reason for buying you jewelry… now.”
“I’m sure he meant for them to bring me happiness, and they will. When I see them on Sky at your graduation it will make me very, very happy.” Charlotte reached up then to smooth the lock of hair from his forehead and she couldn’t stop the silent tears from washing over her cheeks, “I love you, my beautiful son, don’t forget to say your prayers, promise me that.”
*
Finn slept in the next morning, he was either sleeping off a hangover or maybe he had worn himself out over the last few days when his mind was in overdrive. Bly wanted to fly with Atticus to New York so they could discuss what he considered “a hasty decision to leave school and become a killer,” but Atticus wouldn’t have it. Sadly, Bly was met with yet another rude awakening when Holden informed him that he too would be reporting for SEAL training and Bly might as well save his breath, a lecture would be a waste of time. Bly walked out onto the terrace and sat next to Charlotte as she lay on a chaise lounge with her eyes closed. He couldn’t say a word, he just breathed an exhausted sigh and Charlotte whispered, “I know, I know.”
Atticus and Holden were like the young gods of mythology, fierce and handsome and unconquerable. But Bly knew better than to believe his sons were immortal and it shattered his heart into a million jagged pieces. He couldn’t stop them, or save them, or keep them from harm. Atticus wanted to challenge death, to confront and conquer it, and Holden would not let him face it alone. Bly’s sons were as determined as he was when they set their minds to a task, so the decision was made and it wasn’t open for discussion.
Chapter Three
Skyler would be jetting off to Europe later that week to grace the runways at the Paris and Milan couture shows. Modeling dresses that cost more than the average American citizen made in a year no longer excited her, it was old-hat as far as she was concerned. What did excite her beyond comprehension was Atticus, the man she loved, and the reality that he could walk through the door at any moment. The other models backstage at the preview of the latest Victoria’s Secret collection were talking and laughing nervously, all of them were jacked-up on gallons of fat free/sugar free Starbucks. It was what they did for weeks to shed imaginary pounds before they shed their clothes and strutted their stuff in the tiniest pieces of intimate lingerie. Even the seasoned super-models acted like jittery racehorses about to be paraded before a bevy of designers, celebrities, reporters and photographers.
Skyler was thin as a colt to begin with and she was good at ignoring the cameras as they clicked away. What made her sweat and shift from one mile high strappy stiletto to the other was the thought of the look in Atticus’s eye when he saw her in the scandalously sheer laced corset and matching panties. Sky hadn’t told Atticus that although she had turned down multiple offers for the coveted title of a Victoria’s Secret Angel, she was filling in just once, tonight at this private event. All around her the other models had begun to whisper and giggle conspicuously and she looked up just as Atticus burst into the dressing room. He scanned the room showering the onlookers with his disarming smile, moved purposefully toward Skyler, and wrapped her in his arms to shield her from view.
“Skyler, what’s all this? You’re practically naked,” he said and there were frown lines in normally smooth forehead when he buried his face in the glorious waves of her long blonde hair. Whatever else he had meant to say deserted him as she lifted her lovely heart shaped face to his. “Beautiful Sky, God I’ve missed you,” he whispered, his hands slipping around her tiny, corseted waist as she snuggled against him. Her eyes closed as his mouth captured hers and a collective sigh could be heard from both of them as well as every other person in the room.
“Atti, Atti,” she whispered against his deeply urgent kiss, and when he finally released her mouth they held onto each other for a long quiet moment.
“Do you have to do this?” he asked. “Do you have to stay and let them see you and photograph you wearing… this?” He sounded irritated as he looked down at the intricately laced corset and his eyes were wild and his erection was impossible to hide.
“Yes, I have to, I mean I should… but let’s leave anyway! The world will survive without seeing me in my underwear. I don’t care what happens, I only want to be with you,” she said and he peeled off his button-down shirt and wrapped her in it and against the protests of the show’s director, they left the building.
They took a cab to the Plaza, an assistant from Bly’s office had made the call to reserve a suite of rooms for Atticus. Atticus stood at the front desk with a protective arm around Sky and the young woman working behind the counter blushed furiously at the sound of his deep, sexy voice and the sight of his rippling muscles under a tig
ht white t-shirt. She barely registered Skyler’s presence even though her face was familiar from the covers and pages of the top fashion magazines. Not to mention that she was wearing sky-high heels and nothing other than a man’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up and her legs seemed to go on forever. That didn’t matter at all to the lovely young desk clerk who was lost in those mind blowing sapphire-blue eyes as she imagined having such a man love her.
“Just sign here please, Mr. Bly,” she cooed and Sky rolled her eyes and plastered her body against Atticus.
Atticus pulled Sky even closer but the sparkle in his eyes was gone as he assured the desk clerk that there was an error.
“I understand that the room is registered to Alexander Bly but someone has made a mistake, my name is Atticus Hale,” and the dark edge in his voice wasn’t lost on the Skyler or the clerk.
“Oh! I’m sorry about that, whoever took the reservation must have been confused. It says here, “Plaza Suite held for Alexander Bly’s son, Atticus,” the girl said and she felt like she might faint if she had to suffer this man’s fury over the reservationist’s stupid blunder. She didn’t quite understand what the big deal was, who wouldn’t love to be Alexander Bly’s son and heir to all those billions? She wasn’t into watching CNBC or reading the Wall Street Journal but you couldn’t help but run across a story about the gorgeous Mr. Bly and his uncountable fortune. She’d seen pictures of him and she’d even checked him into the Plaza Suite some months before, and there could be no denying that the young man standing in front of her was his son.
“Here are your room keys Mr. Hale and I’ll have the concierge send a complimentary bottle of Dom Perignon 2004 right on up to your suite. I hope you enjoy your stay and my sincere apologies for the misunderstanding,” the girl said and she looked so miserable over the trifling error that Atticus smiled and leaned across the counter conspiratorially.
“Not a problem so don’t worry about it, I’m sorry if I was rude. It’s just that my family’s a bit complicated.”
“Hmm, is this what I have to live with forever more, the wicked effect you have on women?” Sky asked, smiling up at him as the elevator doors closed.
“We have to talk about that, beautiful Sky, before you take off my shirt and things get even more complicated,” he said, but she had already dropped the shirt on the floor of the elevator and moved his hands to her firm little ass as she pressed against him.
“Sky, love, I have something to tell you and I don’t think you’re going to be happy about it,” he said sweeping her off her feet and into his arms and crossing the threshold of the suite.
“Atti, I know whatever you have to say is going to be bad. I can see it in your eyes and it hurts already because I’m sure it has to do with the sad news about your dad. You’re gonna go off the deep end somehow, I can feel it and I know you. But I know Finn, too, he’s been like a father to me since my dad died and I’m sure he wouldn’t want any member of his family to fall apart now. Especially not you, Atticus, I’ve never seen anything like the shining pride in your dad’s eyes when he looks at you. But it doesn’t matter what you have to tell me, I love you and that’s something I can’t change. So make love to me and then you can waste your time explaining why we can’t be together, but I don’t want to think about it until later. You and I, we’re here now, we belong to each other tonight no matter what the future holds for us.”
“Sky, I’ll… I’ll always belong to you, and not just tonight. Please try and understand, losing my dad is not okay, there is nothing about it that will ever be okay,” he said and his throat tightened so that he could barely say the words. So he kissed her, covering her beautiful mouth with his, the stubble on his chin rough against her smooth jaw. It was a kiss filled with passion and pain and love and the bitter taste of their tears mingled, but tears couldn’t dampen the ferocity of their need and desire.
His fingers worked savagely at the intricate laces of her corset, she looked so incredible with her sweet angel’s face and long lean tantalizing body. The paper-thin silk pushed her breasts up into scrumptious white mounds and her tiny waist looked even smaller under the tightly cinched fabric. Her hands were all over him as he struggled to set her free and in the end he shouted “to hell with it” and ripped the laces and the damned thing fell away as they laughed and fell onto the bed.
“Hurry, pleeeezzz!” she cried as he yanked off his t-shirt and jeans. Her long legs circled his waist and her hands grasped his sublimely curved ass and then she giggled and her eyes flew open.
“Going commando, are we?” Skyler asked, laughing, reveling in the rock hard perfection of his body under her hands, all rippling muscles and hot skin. He was so fucking gorgeous and so undeniably male.
“I can never remember to pack underwear when I travel, guess I should buy some. I’ve been going without them for a week and I think you should be too,” Atticus said and deftly ripped her barely-there panties away and then they stopped laughing as his fingers explored the hot tight depths of her sex.
They kissed so deeply, both of them moaning as her hands tangled in his hair and her body arched toward him, hungry for this man she couldn’t live without. His fingers were long and large and insistent as they glided over the tender wet folds of her sex, pressing one and then two inside her and the shock of that invasion pushed her past endurance and she came, pulsing around his fingers as they moved in and out, stretching her, preparing her, easing the way so she could take him.
She shouted his name again and again and angled her hips up and they both watched, mesmerized as his cock pushed into her. He moved slowly at first and then deeper, faster and harder and it felt like dying, or being born again, or going to heaven.
It was the same all through the night, their bodies entwined and inseparable, the fluids of their love covering them and flowing onto the smooth silky sheets making a fine erotic mess. Eventually they sank into the depths of a deep marble tub and the steaming water rose up around them and splashed onto the floor as he lifted her onto his relentless erection. The two of them were suspended in time, lost in a sea of sensation and bathwater, with Skyler moaning “I love you I love you” and Atticus begging her not to love him anymore. They didn’t bother to call a maid or the butler about the sheets or the water-logged floor, they moved to the second bedroom in the suite to start over again, fresh and new.
“Sky, love!” he murmured and then shouted as she knelt before him on the sumptuous bed and took his cock in her sweet pink mouth, her enormous green eyes never leaving his face as he gave himself over to the power she wielded.
At some point in that magical night, Atticus showed her the perfect strand of pearls Charlotte had sent to her, and she was speechless at such an extravagant and thoughtful gift. When she reached out her hands to take them he caught her wrists and bound them together with the long, lustrous strand. He held her captive that way, just like she held his heart captive, and he ravished all the secret sensitive places of her body with his mouth and the skill of his tongue until she screamed in pleasure and begged him not to stop.
“Atticus, are you sure your mother would approve of our using these magnificent pearls in such an unorthodox manner?” Skyler asked as the morning light slipped through tall windows and she could feel her cheeks blazing with embarrassment and satisfaction.
“I don’t especially like to think about my mother and sex, but she has been in love with two incredible men so she probably isn’t that much in the dark when it comes to… love.”
“You know you’re blushing? You really are too cute where your mom and Hadley are concerned, always so gallant in your quest to shield them from reality. But I’ll bet you’re right, because Charlotte has definitely got it going on. Do you think she’ll be alright? I hate to think of her without… well, alone. Finn and Charlotte, I can’t imagine the world without the two of them together. Tell me now, Atti, I have to know. Tell me what it is you intend to do, tell me how your broken heart is going to break mine.” And she lay wi
th her head on his broad chest, her ear pressed against his heart measuring the strong rhythmic beats.
He told her he was leaving the Academy early and he would be reporting for SEAL training immediately. He told her not to wait for him, that no one would ever love her more than he did, but he had no intention of leaving her a bereft war widow somewhere down the road. He said she should find someone more suitable, she would most likely meet the right sort of man when she began her classes at NYU. And he was ashamed to tell her that he was indeed a hypocrite, he wanted, in fact he insisted that she see other men, fall in love, get married, all the things he couldn’t promise her. But if he ever found out who these men were he would torture them and make them wish they were dead before he sent them on their way. He hoped she wouldn’t let her studies suffer by worrying and thinking about him. He wondered if she was going to continue modeling after college and if not, what was it that she planned to do.
“I hate you for this, Atti… no I don’t, but I hate that you’re going to do it. I hate that you’re going to put an end to us just when we’re getting started. And more than that, it’s insanity that you’re putting yourself in harm’s way just to prove what? That you’re stronger and more capable than most men, that you have more testosterone, that you don’t fear death? Well, you do fear death, especially your dad’s, and getting yourself killed isn’t going to solve anything. Atticus you’re the only lover I’ve ever had and you’re the only one I want, but what you’ve been doing here tonight is not making love. Atti, it’s so clear, you’re trying to fuck the pain out of yourself. Then you’re leaving to become an elite killing machine so you can play cat and mouse games with death. Well let me tell you, you can’t win against death and pain doesn’t go away that easily. When my dad didn’t come back from Mexico I thought I’d die and I really wanted to. My mom hated me after that, I guessed she blamed me because he went looking for my birth mother. But your mom rescued me, she took me to a grief counselor every week and I learned that you can’t go around pain, you have to go through it to get to the other side.”
