My eyebrows raise at those words.
“Bye,” he says, hanging up.
“You love her?” I say.
“Um … Yes? She’s one of my best friends, and she means a lot to me, so I can tell her I love her from time to time.”
I nod slowly, but I’m not happy with that answer. With a sour look on my face I sit down on the couch again.
“Dahlia Walker,” he says, sounding amused, “are you by any chance jealous of my best friend?”
“Yes!”
He laughs out loud. “Oh my God. There’s no need to be jealous of Sweet Thing … I mean, Camille. I love her in a different way.”
“You have a nickname for her.” I realize that I sound angry. “You don’t have a nickname for me!”
“I call you Dale.”
“That’s what everyone calls me,” I remind him, looking at my feet feeling sullen. I know I’m reacting like a spoiled child, but I’m jealous because … Actually, I don’t really know why.
“Then from now on I’ll call you … Butterfly.”
“That’s stupid,” I flare up. “What kind of a nickname is Butterfly?”
“I’d call you Butterfly after your confession. You told me there was a swarm of butterflies in your stomach … never mind … I’ll think of something better.”
“You don’t have to give me a nickname,” I murmur.
“You just complained that I didn’t.” He smirks.
“Yes, because you have one for Camille.”
“Camille is the only person in the world that ever got a nickname from me, but now you’re getting one, too,” he says. “You’re my girlfriend, so you deserve one.”
“Avery, it’s fine,” I say. “I’m sorry I complained. I don’t have one for you either.”
He sits down next to me and looks into my eyes. “Yeah, how about giving me a nickname?”
I sigh. “Okay, Angel Eyes.”
“Angel Eyes?” he echoes.
I nod.
“Where did that come from?”
“I like your eyes. I’ve never seen dark blue eyes before, and whenever you laugh, they practically sparkle,” I explain. “But I won’t call you that in front of your friends. I can imagine they’d laugh at you.”
Avery shrugs. “I wouldn’t mind.”
But I’ve come up with another nickname for him. “What about Bear?”
“You want to call me Bear?”
“You’re almost as tall as a grizzly.” I giggle.
He laughs. “You’re exaggerating, but okay, if it pleases you, call me Bear—or Grizzly. I can live with that.” Then he leans in and whispers into my ear, “What about Precious, because you’re invaluable to me?”
When he pulls back, I take his face in my hands and kiss him passionately. He thinks I’m invaluable. While I press my lips to his, I climb onto his lap and intensify the kiss, but then his ringtone interrupts us.
“Until that moment when I find the one that I’ll spend forever with,” a voice sings loudly in his pocket.
“What’s that song?” I ask.
“‘Gotta Be Somebody’ by Nickelback,” he answers, digging out his phone. “It’s Delsin.”
He answers the phone with, “What’s up, dude?” Then he follows up with, “One moment, I’m going to put you on speaker so Precious can hear you, too.” Avery taps the display on his phone.
“Are you talking about your cat or your girlfriend?” Delsin says sarcastically.
“Don’t you think my girlfriend is precious?” Avery replies.
“Um, let’s talk about going to Santa Monica. Cami said she wants to go, but I’m not ready to sit in the car for forty hours straight. So, I called my old man, and he said we could use the jet,” Delsin explains triumphantly.
“His father has … Your father owns a jet?” I ask doubtfully.
“Yeah,” Delsin answers. “My dad sits on a bigger pile of cash than the damn president.”
“Don't exaggerate, Delsin,” Avery interrupts. “So when do we have to be at the airport?”
“The jet’ll be ready in about two hours,” he says.
“Great. Where we supposed to meet?” Avery asks.
“Tell you what. You come over here, and then we’ll all go together,” Delsin suggests. “That should be the easiest way to make sure we all get there on time.”
“Okay. We’ll be at your place shortly then.”
“Right on. See you, dude,” Delsin says and hangs up.
“Jesus. His father owns a jet?” I repeat. I’m more than surprised, but mainly I keep thinking that I never expected to fly in a private airplane in my life. To be honest, I never even thought I’d fly at all.
“Yeah, but Devin—Delsin’s dad—is pretty down to earth,” Avery assures me. “Even though he could afford to throw money out the window if he felt like it.”
“And the beach house was a gift from his father, too, right?”
Avery nods. “You could certainly say his dad tries to compensate for not being there during Delsin’s childhood.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to spend time with his son, do things with him, instead of giving him giant presents?”
“I guess so, but that’s just the way it is with parents like that. My parents do it too, trying to buy Thierry and me to make up for a childhood spent mostly with our grandparents,” he explains.
“When will you introduce me to your parents?” I ask.
His eyes widen in surprise. “You don’t want to get to know them, believe me.”
“Why not?”
“They’re rather … strange,” Avery answers.
“What does that mean?”
“Well, the most important thing in my mother’s life is to look good in front of her friends, and my father’s rarely home. When they do have spare time together, they like to travel. I don’t see much of them.”
“So you don’t want to introduce me to them? I understand if you don’t. I mean, I’m not really the dream daughter-in-law incarnate.”
Avery grabs me by the shoulders and stares into my eyes. “I don’t want you to worry about my parents’ opinions, because that’s unimportant. You are my dream, Precious. Do you understand?”
I nod. “I do.”
“Good.” Smiling, he strokes my cheek. “I love you,” he says, and then he kisses me.
***
When we get to the airport with Delsin and Camille, I begin feeling scared. The private jet frightens me, though I can’t say why.
“I don’t want to get in,” I whimper as we walk toward the plane.
“Why not?” Cami asks. I’m clinging to her arm.
Avery and Delsin are already on the plane, and we can hear them arguing over who gets to sit on which couch. A couch on an airplane? It all sounds strange to me.
“I don’t know. For some reason I feel scared and anxious,” I answer helplessly.
“It’ll pass. Come on, we’ll board, and then you sit down with Avery, and I’m sure we have some pills to help with flight anxiety,” she reassures me. “They’ll calm you down if nothing else does.”
“Hey! Where are you?” Delsin says, appearing in the doorway to the jet.
“Dale is scared,” Cami answers unhurriedly.
Delsin nods and vanishes from the door. “Dude, your girlfriend is scared,” I hear him say. “Move it and encourage her.” The amusement in his voice annoys me. I’m not used to flying in a plane, let alone a private jet, so they could be a little more understanding, couldn’t they?
Avery appears in the entrance and smiles at me. He reaches out his hand. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, I-I trust you,” I stammer and take his hand.
“Then get in. I’m with you, and nothing’s going to happen to you, Precious. Promise!” He smiles.
After his loving words my feet start to move of their own accord.
“That’s my girl,” he murmurs and leads me inside.
As soon as we sit down, the door begins to close and a ma
n in a blue uniform talks to Delsin about the details of the flight.
“Maybe you should just try to get some sleep,” Cami suggests. She’s sitting in the seat across from me and fastens her seatbelt as she talks.
“I’m not tired,” I answer shyly. I feel so embarrassed about my irrational fear of flying, but I can’t help it.
Avery sighs. “Just lean on me and close your eyes.”
I nod frantically. “Okay. How long is the flight?”
“Less than six hours,” Delsin says and sits down next to Cami. “Like Avery said, close your eyes and breathe deeply, and it won’t be bad at all.” Then he pulls some chewing gum from his pocket. “And maybe you should take one of these, so the pressure on your ears won’t be so bad.”
“Thank you,” I answer, taking one of the proffered strips and unwrapping it.
Shortly after we’ve all buckled ourselves in, the plane starts to move, and I lean against Avery. My eyes are closed, and I chew nervously on the peppermint gum to avoid the dreaded feeling of clogged ears.
I don’t know how much time has passed when someone pokes me softly in the shoulder. “Hey. We’re airborne. Everything’s fine.” Avery smiles when I look at him.
At the moment, I can’t say whether the tornado in my stomach is caused by my anxiety or by him, but it’s definitely not a pleasant feeling this time. I feel nauseous. “I think I-I need to go to the bathroom. Is there a bathroom somewhere?” I stammer.
“Are you feeling okay?” Cami asks.
I shake my head. “Not really, no.” My hands tremble as I unbuckle the seatbelt. “Where is it?”
“I’ll show you,” she says and gets up with me. She leads me to a small room.
“Thank you,” I pant, rushing inside and locking myself in. I get down on my knees in front of the spotless toilet and wait for my last meal to decide whether it wants to stay down or not.
Why does this have to happen to me?
A few minutes later, someone knocks on the door. “Are you all right, Dale?” Cami asks.
“Yes,” I gasp and flush the toilet. Then I stand and rinse out my mouth.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yeah, I’m much better now,” I say, coming out. “It’s okay.”
“Goodness, you’re white as a sheet.”
“It’s just the stupid nausea. I’ll be fine now.” I smile and walk back to Avery and Delsin. I sit down next to Avery again and lean against him, closing my eyes.
He kisses my forehead. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he murmurs.
I nod. “I’ve been better, but the worst is over,” I whisper. “When will we arrive?”
“Around ten tonight,” he answers softly. “Try to sleep a little.”
I nod again and pull away. He folds back the armrest between us and opens his arms. I snuggle up to him and place my legs across his. He puts his arm around me and I start to feel comfortable.
It doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep in his arms.
***
“Wake up, Precious,” Avery murmurs, nudging me gently. “You made it.”
I blink. “What?”
“Welcome to fabulous Santa Monica.” He smiles.
I sit up straight. “Are we already there?”
“Yes. You slept through the entire flight. But you didn’t miss anything,” he adds, helping me up. “Let’s get out to the car. You can sleep more at the hotel if you feel like it.”
“Okay.” I yawn. “Where are our bags?”
“They’re already in the car. Delsin and Cami, too.”
“Oh, okay. Um … wait a minute, how do we have a car?” I ask, confused.
“It’s a rental. Delsin took care of that before we left Miami.”
I still feel the haze of sleep as I trudge out to the waiting car. Avery assists me as I get inside. When he sits down next to me, I snuggle up against him again.
***
Half an hour later, Delsin parks in a hotel lot, and we all get out. Avery volunteers to take care of check-in. He takes me by the hand and pulls me with him into the lobby.
“So impatient to get your precious into bed?” Delsin calls after him.
I blush at the teasing, but Avery laughs. “My Precious is tired, so of course I’m impatient to get her a bed to lie in!”
He walks up to the reception desk and explains that his brother booked two rooms under the name Morrison. The reserved rooms are singles and have to be changed into doubles. It takes a while for them to sort it out, but Avery holds me in his arms as we wait.
After a seemingly endless discussion we finally get the keys for two double rooms. “Thank you very much,” Avery says, but I know he was getting annoyed and impatient.
We turn to Delsin and Camille, and Avery throws Delsin one of the keys. “Our rooms are on the sixth floor, across from each other, so we won’t have to listen to what you’re doing, and vice-versa.” He grins.
Delsin catches the key and laughs. “Good thinking. I certainly don’t feel like listening to you two lovebirds tonight.”
Cami and I both blush as we pick up our bags from the floor. I wiggle out of Avery’s arm and walk with her toward the elevators. “They can be so embarrassing,” she murmurs, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, I noticed,” I answer softly.
We press the button and wait for the elevator doors to open, then we get in.
Delsin and Avery follow us in with their bags over their shoulders. “What’s the plan for tomorrow? Any preferences?” Delsin asks.
“I’d like to see the famous pier and the amusement park,” Cami says.
“Same here,” I say.
“And I go where my Precious goes,” Avery announces, kissing the crown of my head.
“Caramel? Did we behave like that, too?” Delsin asks.
“What, you don’t want to go where your baby goes?” she asks, pretending to be outraged.
Delsin’s mouth opens and closes like a fish, and I have to giggle at that. “Of course I do. I just meant, did we behave all snuggly in public like that when we were newly in love?” He shrugs helplessly.
“Nope. You were even worse, considering you and Cami were fighting all the time and she pummeled you,” Avery comments dryly.
“You hit him?” I ask, surprised.
“He deserved it,” Cami answers with a grin. “Every single punch.”
“I chose a very spirited Texan bronco for my girlfriend,” Delsin says with a smirk. “I have learned not to mess with her since.”
“Good boy,” Cami hisses in mock dominance.
We’re still laughing when we arrive on the sixth floor, where we walk down the carpeted hallway searching for our rooms. When we find them, we take our leave for the night and disappear into our opposite rooms.
I sit down on the king-size bed and look up at Avery. “Do you maybe want to take a shower?”
“We both showered at your place earlier,” he reminds me. “We could go to sleep right away, if you want to.”
“Right, I forgot about that,” I murmur and get up, starting to undress. “But I need my nightgown and toiletries, so I can at least brush my teeth.”
Avery lifts our bags onto the bed, opens mine, and hands me the small bag of toiletries and my nightgown.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I say and disappear into the bathroom.
Two minutes later, he shows up in the mirror behind me wearing only his boxers and embraces me from behind. I’m still brushing my teeth. His hands roam my body and his lips caress my neck, and then he places a wet kiss on my tingling skin. “You smell so good,” he murmurs and gently bites into my shoulder.
I spit out the toothpaste. “Do you intend to mark me like an animal?” I ask when I see the faint bite mark on my shoulder.
“Everyone shall see that you are mine,” he replies, unclasping my bra at the same time.
In the mirror, we look into each other’s eyes as he pulls the bra straps down from my shoulders.
“I still have t
o take the pill,” I say softly.
“By all means, do that.” He drops my bra.
I take out the pills and swallow one of them with a gulp of water.
Then I suddenly feel his hand in my back, pushing me gently forward.
“What are you up to?” I can’t help giggling.
“Bathroom sex,” he answers with a grin.
I lean forward and throw him a glance over my shoulder. Then I brace myself on my elbows, while he squats and pulls down my panties. When I step out of the tiny piece of fabric, he literally kisses my ass, one cheek after the other. He rises and stands very close behind me, leaning over me and softly turning my head to kiss me passionately. I can feel the tip of his penis nudge my opening, and then he enters me slowly.
How can this man be so ready every time we want to do it? I ask myself, but then I realize that my parading around in underwear might have a part in it.
When our lips part so our tongues can start their dance, I moan into his kiss.
Avery thrusts into me, slowly but forcefully. “Jesus! You’re so damn tight,” he gasps when we’ve broken the kiss.
His hand presses down on my back, so I lay my forehead on the back of my hand and close my eyes. I don’t know how much longer I’ll last, because this position makes it even more intensive for me. His thrusts go deeper than usual. Every time he’s buried fully inside me, a sweet pain shoots through my core and pushes me further toward my climax.
Then he moves faster and thrusts even harder, pushing me against the counter. Our moans become louder. I gyrate my hips, and he answers it with a converse motion. My hands clench when the familiar tingle starts to spread through my body, foreshadowing my orgasm. I can feel the spasms mount, and then I come with a mighty shudder.
His thrusts become more erratic before he grows stiff and spills himself inside me. The pressure against my back lets up, and he pulls out of me and then helps me to stand straight again.
“I think we need another shower now, after all.” I smile.
“Yep.” He nods and takes me by the hand.
Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) Page 22
