Six More Minutes: New Year Bae-Solutions

by A. C. Arthur

  But he and Gemma weren’t dating. Myles didn’t do the “official dating” type connections. In fact, he preferred this on again, off again arrangement much better and was both amazed and pleased that Gemma seemed to be fine with it too.

  Myles cleared his throat and returned his attention to their conversation and her comment about his name. “Yeah, I told you my mother wanted to keep her family name going even after she was married. So I’m Myles Donovan Denton and my sisters carry both names as well. Because the Donovan name was so well known throughout many industries in the country, Kendra and I thought it was best to use it with our business as well. Cee-Cee uses Denton to my father’s delight.”

  “I get it. Of course, you know I have three brothers, Gray, Garrek and Gage. Their wives have taken their names. And then my two sisters, Genevieve or Gen and Gia. But I think I’d keep the Taylor last name if I ever got married because it was my parents’ name and the name that made us all who we are now.”

  Something in her tone had Myles turning to see she’d moved from the waffle maker and had just finished taking the last strip of bacon from the pan. Now she just stood, staring out the huge window across the room to the wooded landscape outside.

  “I don’t think a name makes you who you are,” he said. “You’re personally in control of who you turn out to be, regardless of what name was scribbled on your birth certificate.”

  She glanced at him, the corner of her mouth lifting in a slow smile. “Don’t get all philosophical on me, Mr. Donovan. Get that coffee before it spills all over these beautiful granite countertops and let’s get ready to eat.”

  Three

  “There are five bedrooms, six bathrooms, formal living and dining rooms, the kitchen that opens up to a back deck and this huge family room with that fantastic view of the mountains. How’d you manage to book this entire house during the busy holiday season?”

  They’d finished eating about half an hour ago and she’d asked Myles for a tour of the cabin.

  “I actually own it,” he said as simply as if he’d just told her his name. “It was part of the property I purchased for the resort. We’re thinking it’ll be a great rental property with added perks from the amenities at the resort.”

  She stood in front of the massive floor to vaulted ceiling windows that covered one wall of the space. “Hell yeah, it’s going to be a great rental property. Big families can come here for reunions.” Although when she thought of family reunions, she thought of relatives coming from all different locations to meet up in one place and spend time together, her family, unfortunately, wasn’t like that.

  Sure, there were six siblings and now that her brothers were married and Gray and his wife were having children, the Taylor family seemed to be growing. It didn’t change the fact that both her parents were deceased and neither of them had any other living relatives.

  “My family bought a whole island to have family reunions,” Myles replied in a dry tone.

  “The Taylors are clearly no comparison to the Donovans.”

  He shrugged. “I prefer the small intimate gatherings.”

  “Really?” She glanced at him, but he was staring out the window. He’d pulled on a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt, but his feet were bare just like hers. Thank the heavens for the heated floors in this cabin because through the window she spotted small snowflakes beginning to fall.

  “My mother was a regular on a network drama show when she met my father. Their combined careers kept them on the road even after they married and had children, so it felt like we were never really alone. Not during the holidays when we often returned to Chesapeake to spend time with my mother’s siblings and their families, or during the once-a-year vacations when the entire Donovan family got together. Our daily life was filled with tutors, bodyguards, assistants and all the other staff that tended to my parents’ every need.” He didn’t sound happy about any of that and Gemma thought she could kind of relate.

  “I don’t remember much about when my family was featured in a reality show,” she said. “We were seven when my parents divorced and we went to live with my mother in Pensacola. But I know that all the other people around them, the business and all that went with it was what destroyed my parents’ marriage. So, I get it, staying in the company of your inner circle has its benefits.”

  “Being with you has its benefits as well.” He moved closer to her when he said those words and brushed her hair back behind her shoulders.

  Damn she liked how he smelled. The woodsy spicy cologne he often wore had become her favorite scent on a man. Just as standing so close to him had begun to feel like the most comfortable place on earth for her. Weird as that sounded, it was how she felt. It was also only part of the problem she was now facing.

  “Never in a million years would I have believed that I’d be the “friends with benefits” type of woman, but this year proves that point.”

  He frowned momentarily. “Is that a good or bad thing?”

  “It’s been a good thing.” She reached up to touch his arm as his hand still toyed with her hair. “I mean, this year has been a bitch but the times we’ve been together have been a bright spot.”

  Not the only bright spot, any time she was able to be with her family, Gemma was content. But definitely second in line were the times she’d met up with Myles.

  “I can’t help but agree with you.” Moving until he now stood behind her, Myles pushed her back further, exposing the side of her neck so he could lean down and drop a soft kiss there.

  Gemma leaned into him then, tilting her head to offer more unfettered access. “But we’re heading into a new year,” she said still trying to keep her mind on track.

  His next kiss included his tongue, its warmth gliding over the skin just beneath her head. “That’s four days away. I’m much more interested in what we’re doing right now.”

  With that remark he reached his arms around her until his hands cupped her breasts. When he gripped them tightly, the way he always did, her thighs trembled and her eyes fluttered closed. She wanted to say something, had rehearsed a soliloquy explaining where she was in her life, what she demanded for her future and what she would no longer tolerate from any man. All those words flitted from her mind the second he pressed his hard dick against the crease of her ass.

  “I think about you constantly,” he whispered against her neck. Squeezing her breasts until her nipples were between his fingers, he applied a little more pressure and she gasped.

  In the long line of things she thought she’d never do, enjoying the line between pleasure and pain that Myles always seemed to cross was tops on the list. “Damn.” The one word tumbled from her lips in a raspy whisper and he ground his length into her again, giving her tits a little jiggle.

  “Not one day goes by that I don’t recall our time together. The way your lips pucker for my kiss, the feel of your tongue along mine, your touch, your moans, everything about you. Every. Damn. Thing.”

  As if to emphasize his words she eased a hand back between them until she’d found his dick, gripping the hard length between her fingers.

  “Ah, yeah. That’s it right there.” He sucked on her neck then, again almost to the point of causing pain. “I dream of you touching me some nights. Like I’m some kind of horny kid.”

  She gave a stilted chuckle. “Then I must be horny as hell too because I think about this dick. Feeling it all buried deep inside me.”

  And that was no lie. She had thought about him thrusting in and out of her like he owned some part of her since that first time at National Harbor. It had been Easter weekend and they’d spent Friday and Saturday nights in their separate rooms, only enjoying each other’s company throughout the day. But on Sunday he’d kissed her for the first time and that kiss had led to one hot as hell night in his hotel room. From then on she’d secretly craved his touch.

  “Take this shit off,” he growled the words while stepping back from her and pulling her nightshirt up and over her head.


  With just as quick motions she reached for his shirt and he lifted his arms so she could pull it off. He pushed down his shorts, stepping out of them freeing that long, delectable erection that caught her complete attention. Watching as it bobbed up and down Gemma licked her lips and reached for him again.

  “You want it?” Damn, she loved hearing his voice husky with desire.

  Glancing up at him she licked her lips again. “I want—”

  “Take it, baby. Take that shit right now.” He’d cut off what she was about to say but the urgency in his tone, the heat in his gaze and the slick warmth she felt covering her pussy had her simply doing as he’d asked.

  Gripping his dick in her hands Gemma stepped close enough to touch her lips to his, taking the initial touch into a deep kiss where she sucked on his lower lip and then his tongue. He buried his hands in her hair, pulling it so he could keep her mouth on his. Her hand worked his dick. Her wrist circling, thumb brushing over the tip feeling the dampness of his arousal. He was so hard she groaned into the kiss, eager to put her mouth all over him, but not willing to let him call all the shots. They often played this game of control when they were together. Sometimes he won, sometimes she won. The end result was always a glorious release.

  Tearing her mouth from his she lowered herself until her lips were only inches away from his dick.

  He cupped her cheeks then, tilting her face up so he could look down at her. “You’re so damn pretty. No matter how many women I saw throughout the year, none of them compared to you. Not a single one.”

  That meant something right? The warmth that spread throughout her chest at his words said it did and not just in the confident woman who knows she’s fly type of way. Instead, she felt it in the sincerity of his tone, like he was trying to tell her something even more profound. The quick throbbing of her pussy said she’d have to contemplate that later, right now she didn’t want this pleasure to stop.

  She had her mouth over his tip in seconds, eased him in until his dick pulsated against her tonsils and then she began to suck. He moved his hips slowly pumping in and out of her mouth, groaning and cursing as she continued.

  “Are you trying to kill me?” He gasped when she cupped his balls, massaging them in one hand while the other held the base of his dick as she continued to lick up and down his length.

  She wasn’t really, she was just trying to get to that feeling, that sensation that rippled through her body each time they were together. She’d become addicted to that feeling and she was afraid, to the man who gave it to her.

  “Condom,” she breathed over his dick and looked up at him.

  “Shit!” He eased out of her grasp and found his shorts, checking both pockets before finding the condom packet.

  She was starting to get up from her kneeling position when she grinned. “Who carries a condom in their basketball shorts pocket?”

  He extended a hand to help her up. “Any guy staying in a cabin with you.” He sheathed his length and turned her to face the window.

  Grabbing her wrists, he put her hands up on the glass warmed a bit by the heat inside the cabin and instructed her to spread her legs as if he were about to arrest her. When she’d done what he asked he pressed his hand to the small of her back. “Bend over a little and arch your back.”

  She did, her body quaking with need and anticipation.

  “You can enjoy the scenery while you enjoy this ride.”

  Gemma didn’t get a chance to respond before he’d pressed his dick deep inside her with one quick thrust. That set the tone and from that moment on there was only the sound of his thighs slapping against her ass, her moans and his grunts. Sure, she glimpsed the snow falling over the mountains and bit her bottom lip as her fingers scraped along the glass, but there was absolutely nothing on her mind besides how good Myles felt inside her. How good they always felt together. So good and so damn right.

  Her body was already trembling as her release took over moments later. She gritted her teeth and rode the waves of pleasure as they quickly pummeled her. When he grabbed her hips and murmured her name, she knew he was about to come. Tossing her ass back faster, she encouraged him with her whispers, “Come for me, Myles baby. Come for me.”

  Minutes later, he did and they both cursed with how intense and satisfying it was.

  It seemed like an eternity later when he slid out of her, his arm around her waist holding her close as they both came to an upright position. She thought they would go to the bathroom now, as they always did when they were finished, but Myles held her there. He wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her back against him, nestling his face in her neck.

  “I want more of these visits, Gemma. I want more of you.”

  That warmth was back in the center of her chest and no, it wasn’t heartburn. It was something else, something that might cost her a little more than a pack of antacids.

  “I want that too, Myles. In fact, I was planning to talk to you about that.”

  “That’s cool,” he said. “Let’s take a hot bath and then we can settle in front of the fire and go over our schedules to see when we can manage the next trip.”

  Three months ago that might’ve been fine with Gemma, but so much had changed in that time. Hell, so much had changed in this past year. She turned slowly in his arms until she faced him. It was her turn to cup his face in her hands as she said, “I want more than just a few stolen weekends a year. I want something real, something more substantial. Can you give me that?”

  Four

  Gemma was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. Myles had already disposed of the condom, washed off and was now sitting on the side of the bed.

  He still hadn’t responded to her question.

  Because he didn’t have an answer. Scrubbing his hands over his face he tried to prepare himself for to the conversation that was undoubtedly coming in the next few minutes. Gemma wasn’t the type of woman to say something and then let it go just because he’d clammed up like an idiot. He’d learned a lot about her in the last year, even though the majority of their relationship had taken place via text or phone calls.

  As the oldest girl sextuplet born into a family with notoriety, she’d had to grow up pretty fast. Similar to the life in the spotlight Myles had endured, she’d experienced things that a child shouldn’t have had to go through and those things had shaped the adult she was today. There was a no-nonsense layer to her personality that lately she’d felt was buried under her desire to have what she’d thought her mother had needed most—love. How many nights had they stayed up late on the phone with Gemma expressing her concerns about her prior and current relationships? Too many.

  In the first few months after they’d met, Myles had decided Gemma was definitely searching for something he couldn’t give her. She’d shared that during the prior year she’d ended a four-year relationship that she felt was going nowhere. The guy—Myles didn’t recall his name—had grown complacent with them living together and expressed no desire to take things any further than that. Myles had considered living with a woman a big commitment and hadn’t quite understood what Gemma’s problem with the scenario was, but he’d listened to her, didn’t judge and most importantly hadn’t defended the guy. That had proved to be a smart move on his part and their relationship had taken on a confidant quality that he’d never experienced with a woman before.

  Inviting her to National Harbor when he was there working over the Easter holiday had been an impromptu decision. His thought was that she lived in the vicinity and why not have a good friend to kick it with during his down time? As much as he’d been attracted to her when they first met in Temptation, her coming to National Harbor had been a purely platonic idea specifically because she seemed to be into the long-committed relationships that Myles swore he’d never have. They’d gone to the casino, seen a couple of shows, ate an insane amount of food, gotten far too tipsy that first night and still chatted and enjoyed each other’s company as friends. Then that last n
ight things had escalated to them sleeping together.

  The sex was phenomenal and he’d known immediately that he wanted more physical pleasure with her. Then she’d surprised him by agreeing to the terms of a noncommitted arrangement.

  “You’re thinking about how to tell me that you don’t want more.”

  At the sound of her voice, Myles stood from the bed. He’d put on sweatpants this time, a clean T-shirt and the suede, fur-lined slippers his mother had sent him for Christmas.

  “No.” He lied and instantly felt bad about it. “I’m thinking that it makes sense that we revisit the parameters of our relationship. After all, it’s been a year since we met.” Stating the obvious wasn’t something he normally did.

  In fact, Myles was an exceptionally good businessman, his company, Charleston Mariana Properties was rated in the top ten development groups nationwide for the last three years. He was known for being a visionary, selecting properties with historical meaning and crafting inspired spaces to be shared with the world. He also didn’t play about his money or his family, something that was synonymous with the Donovan name.

  “I’ll start a fire and fix us some drinks. Meet me downstairs,” he told her.

  Leaving the room and going to perform those tasks he’d just mentioned would buy him a little more time to get his words straight in his mind. He was a contemplator and could sometimes “think things into the ground”, as his mother would say. Myles simply liked to be intentional with his words. He wanted there to be no confusion as to what he meant and why he felt the way he did. Normally that didn’t require a lot of mulling over of a topic, but there was nothing normal about what he and Gemma had been doing.