Pride and the Stranger: Book 2 in the Pride Trilogy

by TJ Dallas

  To demonstrate her idea, she’d taken control of the flower bouquets, and I was delighted at how gorgeous they were. Small bunches of delicate white roses with a single multicoloured rose in the middle, each petal a different colour. She’d grinned at the look on my face, and I’d blushed. She’d raised her eyebrows until I’d been compelled to admit that they were perfect and better than I could have hoped for.

  “So little faith,” she’d scolded, shaking her head.

  The venue was on the roof of the Cardinal. I hadn’t known there was a roof garden up there until Harry had whisked me and Zoe up a secret staircase and flamboyantly opened the door with a whimsical, “Ta-dah.”

  The garden was enormous; a large rectangular patch of manicured grass, surrounded by a few overhanging trees and colourful potted plants. I don’t know how such large, sweeping trees had made their way up onto the roof, let alone how they’d taken hold and continued to grow, but I’d accepted it. After learning about the Seven and their various powers, there wasn’t much I could explain scientifically, anyhow.

  There was an outdoor firepit, enveloped by a circular stone bench, and a glass building near the middle of the garden. It looked small compared to the magnitude of the space, but Harry had reassured me it could comfortably hold up to fifty people.

  Zoe had ten family members she wanted to bring, but I only had one. My uncle David would come alone. I regularly had to swallow down the grief that resurfaced when I thought about my aunt Caitlyn, who had passed away seven months ago now. It was becoming easier to deal with, but I still couldn’t let myself ponder for too long. The rest of the guests were the Cardinal managers and our friends and colleagues from the club.

  My parents hadn’t tried to contact me since they’d disowned me, and I hadn’t tried to contact them, either. A tiny crack would open in my heart when I thought of what I’d lost, but I’d resolutely decided that I would stand my ground. If they couldn’t accept me for who I was, then I had no room for them in my life. I had Zoe, Harry, and the others, and I was happy, even if I did have to walk down the aisle on my own, without anyone to give me away.

  Zoe brought my awareness back to the present moment as she draped her arms around me from behind, gawking at the garden in admiration. She hadn’t realised this was up here, either, and her eyes were wide as she looked around.

  It was perfect. Emilia and Bella had spent a lot of time up here over the past month, putting up the decorations. There were fairy lights everywhere, creating the most beautiful glow in the early evening when the sun dipped below the horizon, and hundreds of candles lined the pathways. We were to have the reception here as well, and Harry had demanded control of drinks and music, setting up a pop-up bar, complete with a dance floor in the corner of the garden. She’d even created a bespoke cocktail menu for us, with themed drinks called things like Just Hitched and the Old Ball and Chain.

  Althea was in charge of dresses, hair, and make-up, and Georgia was to cater, of course. Ambrosia would be a flower girl, and I smiled as I remembered me and Georgia spending a pleasant day in the heart of Edinburgh, searching for the cutest little dress. We had found it, along with a tiny wicker basket for her to hold her petals. The petals were white, infused with a few multicoloured ones to match the bouquets. Everything was coming together, and I leaned my head back against Zoe’s shoulder.

  Althea and Harry were to be our best women. We’d kept the ceremony simple, and the only other official position we had was a ring-bearer, which would be Emilia. I’d thought of Riley first, but she’d shook her head, preferring to sit in the crowd lest too many people looked at her at once. Emilia’s eyes had twinkled as she accepted the offer and pulled me into a tight hug.

  The day was swiftly approaching with only a few days left now, and I was getting stressed. I swallowed, glancing back down at the list in front of me. We’d crossed most of it off, but there were still a few matters we needed to attend to. I buried my head in my hands.

  “Need help, babe?” Zoe asked, looking over my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I just ... I keep getting the feeling that we’ve forgotten something important,” I said with a sigh.

  “Let me see.” Zoe took the list and started to read as I rubbed my eyes. “It looks good. We’re picking up our dresses tomorrow, and the favours are finished. You’ve got the seating plan, right?”

  I fished it out from under a gigantic pile of paperwork as Zoe continued. “OK. Everyone has placed their food orders; Georgia’s got control of that, so we don’t need to worry. Harry’s set the bar up, we just need to hook up the beer kegs. I can do that tomorrow ...” She trailed off, skimming down the list. “I think we’re fine; stop panicking.”

  She placed everything back on the table and took my shoulders in her hands. She massaged my neck, and I groaned.

  After a few glorious minutes, she chuckled, leaning closer to whisper in my ear, “Do you need someone to help you relax?”

  “Who have you got in mind?” I teased, moaning as her thumbs dug into the cramped muscles on my shoulders. She leaned closer still, pressing her lips against my throat. I dropped my head back.

  Who do you think, pet? Harry thought, and my eyes flew open. Zoe smirked, and I knew my cheeks had reddened. I let out a slow breath, trying to unclench my shoulders, which had stiffened again.

  “Relax,” Zoe purred, sending a shiver up my spine. “Harry’s waiting for you in her flat.”

  “Really? But what about the pact? We do it together, always together?” I quoted, and Zoe grinned.

  “What I meant is that you do nothing without my knowledge. As long as I know about it, I’m happy to share you with Harry, as long as you come back to my bed afterwards.” She kissed my throat again, and I felt the inevitable fire starting to ignite in my belly. “Plus, Althea’s waiting for me, assuming you’re OK with that?”

  I couldn’t conceal the smile on my face. “Oh yeah? And what have you two got planned that’s so special?”

  Knitting socks and drinking peppermint tea, Althea answered in my mind, and I laughed out loud. You’re welcome to join us, she added.

  Or you could come find me, and I’ll fuck you so hard you’ll remember it on your wedding night, Harry interrupted. It’s not up there with peppermint tea, mind you, and Althea knits some amazing socks, but it’s your decision.

  “OK, but can I get a pair of black and purple socks? The ones I have—” Zoe punched my arm playfully, and I giggled, holding up my hands. She grinned as I stood up, taking her into my arms. “All right, no socks. But I wish to hear about the peppermint tea. In remarkable detail,” I added, and Zoe nodded.

  “Likewise.”

  I stifled another giggle and leaned forward, trapping her lips in a deep kiss. My heart raced as she hauled me closer, kissing me harder and slipping her hands underneath my T-shirt to caress my back.

  Harry cleared her throat, Althea snorted, and Zoe and I couldn’t contain our laughter.

  “Go on, have fun,” Zoe said with a wink.

  I’d been sitting in the glass building on the roof, and it took me less than three minutes to find Harry, waiting for me as promised. She tugged me tight to her body and wasted no time in picking up the fiery kiss where Zoe had left off, tangling her fist in my hair and grabbing my arse. I groaned against her mouth, my fingers fumbling with the buttons on her shirt.

  We didn’t hang around, and we were both naked within a few minutes. Harry lay back against the rug on her living room floor, tucking a sofa cushion behind her head, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She motioned me on top, and I stood over her, my feet by her shoulders.

  “Lower yourself down,” she said.

  I squatted, coming to a stop as I straddled her chest. My wetness coated the soft skin on her breasts, and she grinned. Without waiting until I was comfy, she pulled her knees up and pressed against my breastbone, pushing me backward u
ntil my head was cradled at the top of her thighs, just below her knees.

  She grabbed my ankles and lifted them above her head, drawing my pussy higher up her chest and closer to her waiting mouth. I watched her, transfixed, and she looked straight at me as she sucked on my clit, tugging gently. I reclined against her bent legs, a soft moan escaping my lips.

  She swirled her tongue through my folds. I started rocking my hips against her mouth, and her hands wrapped around my torso, finding my breasts and squeezing, pinching, and tugging. My nipples hardened as she rolled them between her finger and thumb.

  I dug my heels into the floor, her tongue working some powerful magic, pushing myself back against her legs. I groaned when two of her fingers drifted over my stomach to part my wet lips. With her middle finger, she lifted the hood of my clitoris, her tongue finding the exposed bundle of nerves beneath. My hips bucked, and I gasped. Fuck, her tongue is incredible.

  I writhed, and she fought to keep me steady, her strong arms holding my thighs in place on either side of her head. I brought my chin to my chest, adrenaline shooting up my spine, my pussy soaking. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

  Her tongue slicked inside my entrance, and I growled in desperate need. Her soft fingertip swirled around my swollen clitoris, pulsing and throbbing, and she swallowed the orgasm that suddenly overwhelmed me. I hadn’t even felt it building inside me.

  “Fuck, I’m com—!” A thunderous roar escaped the back of my throat as my chin moved towards my chest, my upper back rising from her legs. I hadn’t had a chance to take a breath before my resolve spiralled out of my control.

  I bucked against her mouth, trying to watch but squeezing my eyes shut as another flood of euphoria washed over me, my entire body convulsing.

  Harry moaned against my pussy as she tasted me, her tongue at my entrance. Most of my wetness had trickled down the skin on her throat, gathering in the hollow of her neck, and still my juices flowed, unabating.

  I gasped and covered my eyes with my hands, trembling. I panted hard, my heart hammering behind my ribs, the oxytocin pulling back from my extremities and uncurling my toes. Harry’s tongue continued to nurse me, her lips tucked around my clit, kissing the sensitive flesh that threatened to consume me again.

  After an age, she surrendered her hold. “You taste so good,” she murmured, and I glowed, colour rising on my cheeks.

  “Not as good as you,” I said, recalling her arousal on the tip of my tongue.

  “Obviously.”

  I playfully slapped her arm, still wrapped around my torso, but she grabbed my wrist. “Behave.”

  “I don’t want to,” I said breathlessly, squirming and trying to escape from her grasp. She tightened her hold, another shiver shooting up my spine at her effortless strength.

  “Do you want to come again, Lara?” she asked.

  My chest constricted as she took the breath from my lungs. I scrambled to reply, but no words came out.

  “Answer me.”

  “Yes, Harry.”

  “I want you to play with yourself. I’m going to watch, OK?”

  I nodded, pulling oxygen deep inside me. I rolled to one side and could then see the wetness that had trailed down the outside of her throat and across her chest, glistening on one erect, pink nipple.

  She caught me staring, and her fingertips trailed over the delicate skin at the top of her breasts, down to that glistening nipple, and she pinched, tugging it roughly. Her back arched towards her hand. My lips parted as I observed her, and she narrowed her eyes.

  “What did I just tell you?”

  “You want to watch me play with myself,” I mumbled, and she nodded.

  She didn’t let go of her nipple as I settled on my side. I lay down flat, using my arm as a pillow, and lifted my leg, spreading my thighs.

  Harry glanced down as I stroked two fingertips along the sides of my swollen clit. Her bottom lip moved between her teeth, and my heart thudded in my chest as her hand advanced towards her own pussy, desperate for some attention. She looked me dead in the eyes as she mimicked my movements, and I let out a moan of desire.

  I’d never witnessed her touch herself before. My eyes widened as they trailed over her body. She parted her thighs as my fingertip found my entrance, and I couldn’t look away as I slid a finger inside me, and she did the same. Her finger glistened, like her nipple, with her own arousal as she pulled out. I was rooted to the spot as she followed me carefully, slipping another finger in and starting to thrust harder.

  Her breath deepened, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I chose each action carefully, wanting to watch her do as much as imaginable, save I never got to watch her again. Pulling my fingers out, I slicked them through my folds, caressing the full length of my pussy, up towards my clit. Back down, back up, back down.

  “Are you going to hurry up, pet?”

  “Do you want me to hurry up?”

  She smirked, her eyes fluttering closed as a wave of pleasure washed over her face. “Yes and no.”

  I rested three fingers on my clit and started rubbing faster. She let out a groan as she imitated me, her hips lifting off the floor towards her hand, pressing harder. She tilted her head back, her climax building.

  “Watch me,” I said.

  She opened her eyes, her breathing laboured. The look of arousal in her eyes was enough to make my heart stop. She let out a different groan when she saw me swirling a single fingertip around my entrance, coating each of my fingertips in my desire again, my clit neglected.

  “You said yes and no?” I said, grinning.

  “That wasn’t an invitation to tease,” she grumbled.

  For several minutes, I’d speed up, leading her closer to the edge before slowing down, or stopping altogether, and she’d get frustrated and impatient. I’d gotten a lot from her so far, but I hadn’t yet heard her beg.

  A thin layer of sweat covered her skin, her neck flushed bright pink, her bottom lip swelling each time she bit down.

  “Do you want to come, Harry?”

  Her eyes flew open, and she locked me with a death stare. She was desperate, needy, and aching for release. My throat constricted, and I struggled to draw in a breath. “Answer me.”

  I started rubbing my clitoris again, a vigorous friction sending waves of pleasure through my centre. Harry arched her back, her lips parting and her eyes closing.

  “Answer me quicker.”

  “Yes, I want to fucking come, Lara!”

  Another orgasm suddenly took me by surprise. I screamed, lifting my leg higher and parting my thighs wider, my wrist aching.

  I forced my eyes to stay open as I watched Harry take a deep breath, coming hard under her own fingers, the muscles in her abdomen contracting, her thighs tensing, her nerve-endings firing, and a loud, guttural groan escaping from her chest. It was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen in my life. She bucked her hips against her hand as several deep, throaty moans rang out.

  She climaxed for a long time, my hand having abandoned my pussy long before she started to slow down. She sank back against the floor, one arm shielding her eyes and a hand on her abdomen, gasping and panting.

  I was silent as she caught her breath. The expression she gave me when she turned was unfamiliar. A questioning look, confused and puzzled. A what-have-you-just-done-to-me look that caused my stomach to clench.

  “You OK there?” I asked, trying to resist a smirk.

  “What the fuck was that?” She shook her head, tangling her fists in her hair and staring at the ceiling in wonder. I grinned, unable to hide my enthusiasm. She’d come so hard, she was totally and utterly spent. I giggled as she tried to mask a yawn.

  “You need to go for a nap. You must be getting old.” I winked, and she chuckled.

  She sat up, searching for her clothes. I imitated her, finding my T-shirt underneath my back and
my socks haphazardly discarded within a ten-foot radius. I pulled everything on and turned to face her. She was standing quietly, that curious look on her face again.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” she muttered, and I frowned. If she didn’t know what was going on with her, how was I meant to know? I shrugged, zipping up my hoodie.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked, and she nodded, running her hand through her hair and watching me as I left.

  6

  Lara

  On the afternoon of the wedding, two hours before I was due to walk down the aisle, I was a trembling bundle of nerves.

  I nibbled the inside of my cheek as I tried not to move, Althea circling me as she styled my hair. I tried to slow my pulse, my chest constricting in the stiff bodice of my dress.

  “Emilia, come and hold these for me,” Althea murmured, holding out a handful of hair grips.

  Emilia stood up, stepping over a mountain of heels on the floor, and held out her hand. Althea fixated on my hair again, and Emilia waited for an entire minute before she rolled her eyes and sat back down.

  I smiled. “You can go and get ready if you want.”

  Emilia’s eyes lit up at the prospect of fleeing the girly situation she’d found herself in, but Althea’s tone shut her down. “You’re not going anywhere,” she said, starting a slow circle around me again. “Can you go in my make-up bag and get the mascara?”

  Emilia sighed and shoved herself up from the chair. I watched her in the mirror as she rummaged through a pink bag, plucking out various items and getting more perplexed.

  “It’s a black tube,” I offered with a smile.

  “This one?” She held it up.

  “No, that’s lipstick.”

  “This one?”