Love Is In the Air Volume 1

by Susan Stoker

  She smiled at a few people and led me around the massive room to a more secluded space. “Well, that was the right thing to do if you were drunk. It says a lot about the kind of guy he is that he wouldn’t take advantage of you. He’s really handsome, too.”

  “I know. I told you.”

  She glanced over my shoulder and then straightened my necklace. “He’s watching you, don’t turn around.” She didn’t need to tell me that. I could feel him burning a trail down my back. “I was going to introduce you to the bride’s younger brother. He came alone, and since the woman he was paired up with in the wedding party is married, I thought you could dance with him, but now I’m thinking that’s not a good idea.”

  “Liv,” I whined. “I don’t want you to set me up with some random guy.”

  “I know, I know. But it wasn’t a setup, honestly. I was just thinking a dance or two. He seemed lonely, and he’s really cute, but now I’m regretting it because you clearly have something going on with Lincoln.” She tucked some hair back into her bun. “But you’re stuck now because the bride’s brother is coming this way, so please just dance with him once. I’m sorry. I love you so much, and I owe you big.” She put on a practiced, professional smile and turned me around, where I immediately looked for Lincoln and found him where I left him. His eyes were narrowed, and his hands were in fists at his sides, and if any other man looked at me like that, I would call the police. “This is Caleb. Caleb, my sister.”

  My head bobbled as I looked at the guy who held his hand out. Olive nudged me, and I took a step forward to introduce myself. “Hi, I’m Oakley.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  Olive was right. He was cute. Dark blond hair and bright blue eyes, average height and medium build… cute. Not mysteriously sexy and deliciously handsome. “Same.”

  “Would you like to dance?”

  “Sure, thanks.” I didn’t hesitate because I wanted to get it over with, and I would not be rude to the guy for no reason. It was one dance. I could manage that. And in that time, hopefully, I’d come up with what to do about Lincoln.

  “It’s my pleasure.”

  I allowed him to lead me on the dance floor, where I placed one hand on his shoulder and the other against his palm.

  “I like your name. It’s unique.” He complimented as we moved gracefully and in sync.

  “Thank you.”

  “Is it a family name?”

  I shook my head. “My parents named all of their daughters with O names… don’t ask me why because I don’t know their reasoning. Honestly, I don’t think they had one.”

  “I see. Do you come to all the weddings your sister plans?”

  “No. Her assistant is sick, so I volunteered.”

  “That was nice of you.”

  I shrugged. “I just wanted to help her. It was no big deal.” And it wasn’t like I had anything better to do on a Saturday night.

  “Well, if you had any hand in setting everything up, I thank you. My sister was worried something would go wrong, but so far, it’s been a dream wedding for her.”

  “It was all Olive, I just got bossed around. But I’m glad your sister is pleased. She seems very happy.”

  “Yeah, she is. Don’s a nice guy.”

  “That’s good.” We continued dancing, and I subtly checked to see if Lincoln was still there because I swore I could still feel him watching me… but every peek I got, he was nowhere in sight. Still, I continued glancing around, looking through attendees, turning my neck, pushing up on my toes, but I couldn’t find him anywhere.

  Until he appeared mere feet away, right in front of my face.

  With a woman.

  A woman way more beautiful than me. Her hair was longer, shinier, her legs slimmer and longer, too, breasts fuller, and her dress was skintight. Both her arms were around Lincoln’s neck, his palms at her hips, and just as his eyes came to mine, I dipped my head to avoid subjecting myself to more of that because I couldn’t bear to see him with someone else.

  There was nothing like being rejected, even when drunk, but seeing the man you’ve secretly been in lust with right in front of your face with another woman was a special form of torture. I made the mistake of getting closer to Caleb because he mistook my movement as something else and slid his hand lower. Although the move wasn’t at all inappropriate, creepy-crawlies followed in its wake, making me shiver.

  He danced quite well and seamlessly switched directions, so I saw it again, saw Lincoln with her, and the worst part about it was that he was looking down at her and smiling.

  He wasn’t upset about seeing me with another man, and he didn’t even seem to care it was killing me to pretend I wasn’t affected by him. It was like I wasn’t even there.

  Until he suddenly dipped his chin and looked right at me. My lips parted, and his eyes dropped to watch, then they came back up and narrowed at my face. I couldn’t read him, and I didn’t know what game he was playing, but I wanted no part in it.

  “I need a drink, excuse me,” I muttered to my dance partner. Walking off the wooden floor, I grabbed a glass of champagne from an empty table and then went the entrance to the hallway. I looked left, then right, and rushed out the door that led to an outside patio.

  Once there, I weaved in and out of the people smoking and found a bench at the back of the building to sit on. I tilted the flute back and swallowed the contents of warming champagne in one nauseating gulp.

  Hearing the murmurs from people both inside and outside the banquet hall, I stared at the sky and questioned what in the hell I was doing. Why was I so hung up on a guy who clearly didn’t feel the same?

  Footsteps approached, and I didn’t turn my head to see who it was, so when a suit coat was laid over my shoulders, it has the opposite effect of its intended warmth and caused a chill. Because as much as I was hoping it would be Lincoln, it wasn’t. “I just wanted to see if you were okay.” Caleb sat next to me.

  “I’m fine, thank you. That was very sweet. Sorry to leave you like that. I just—”

  “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

  “It was rude.”

  “I’m actually grateful. I was sick of being in there, so you did me a favor by giving me a reason to leave. And if you didn’t mind…” He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out an electronic cigarette.

  “Not at all.” He took a puff and exhaled, and it smelled like… “Grapes?”

  He nodded and held it out to me, but I shook my head as he explained, “I actually hate grapes, but this flavor somehow doesn’t taste like them even though it smells like them. It’s hard to describe, but it’s fucking delicious.”

  “Better than tobacco, I suppose.”

  “Eh.” He took another puff. “When you’re a smoker, there’s nothing better than tobacco. But after years and years of trying to quit, I’ve done the best with these things. Hopefully, I’ll be able to kick the habit altogether, but this is better than the alternative.”

  “That’s very true.”

  We sat in silence for a few minutes before he cleared his throat. “I should go back in. Do you want to come, or are you going to stay out here?”

  “I’ll come in. I should see if Olive needs more help.”

  We walked back together, and as he was taking his coat off my shoulders, my skin heated and pulse quickened. Recognizing that feeling, I surveyed the area and found Lincoln leaning on the bar, alone, glaring at me. “Thank you,” I told Caleb.

  He bent down slightly and gave me a one-arm hug. “Thanks for the dance. Have a good night.”

  As he walked away, I glanced back up at the bar, only to find the spot where Lincoln had been was vacated.

  Great.

  I needed to stay busy so I didn’t continue to obsess over him, so I walked around and cleaned up some trash and emptied plates and cups off the tables. After I tossed everything in the trash, I went across the hall to the restroom to wash up. As I was heading back, my arm was seized, and I was pulled into an
alcove.

  When I realized what was happening, I opened my mouth to scream, but a large hand covered it. “I hate nothing more than chicks who play games, Oakley. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I’ll tell you this.” Lincoln dropped his arm and almost immediately had his fingers at my waist, squeezing. The sheer panic that sliced through me began to fizzle out but was just as quickly replaced by shards of passion. His other hand moved from the wall to my hair, where he fisted the strands tight, causing a bite to my scalp. “I’m done. I’m done being the one to make a move only to be shot down again and again. I’m done trying to ease you into it. I’m done chasing you every time you run. I’m too old for this back-and-forth shit, babe. You’re too old for this childish cat-and-mouse crap you’re pulling, and frankly, it’s disappointing as fuck.”

  “I’m not doing anything,” I protested, only to find his hands clenched even tighter in both places, and instead of it hurting, it did the opposite. My knees started to wobble and my breathing became heavy, along with the weight of my breasts as they filled with aching need.

  “You run whenever I say your name, you avoid me like the plague, you don’t give me a chance because you’re embarrassed about getting drunk and throwing yourself at me, thinking I rejected you because I didn’t want you when that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

  My mouth formed an O, and I managed to whisper, “What?”

  “Clue in, Oakley. I only rejected you because you were drunk, and there was no way I was going to risk you forgetting the first time I was inside you.”

  “What?”

  “I know you’re shy, and I know for whatever jacked-up reason I intimidate you, but I’m done trying to go gentle with you. So here’s the deal.” He tilted my head back and brought his lips to mine, just brushing, barely there, but it was so much that I could feel it in my toes. He released his grip from my hair and trailed his finger down my back, across my waist, and then I felt him pressing something into my hand. My fingers curled around a piece of plastic. “Room 412. If you show up, you know what’s gonna happen.”

  “Linc—”

  He kissed away any words of protest, and I melted into him. His tongue demanded entry, which I easily granted, and then he dominated. I lost myself to him, to a single kiss, and the thought of what he just said made my eyes burn as I feared ruining what I thought was my only chance with him.

  He pulled away and rested his forehead on mine. “But only if you want it to, Oakley. You’re safe with me, you know that.” He kissed my nose. “You also know where I’ll be.”

  After making sure I was steady, he sauntered away, and I fell against the wall. I waited to catch my breath, and once that finally happened, I looked down at his room key in my shaky hand. It wasn’t just a key to his room, though, and I held on to that piece of plastic until my fingers burned, as if it were the most rare and precious jewel in existence and I was scared to drop it in fear that it would shatter along with my hopes and dreams.

  When I began to lose feeling in my hand, I finally made a decision. I put one foot in front of the other until I was inside the banquet hall, and then I grabbed my purse from behind the bar before I found my sister. “I’m going to, um… I’m done for the night.”

  She lifted her head from the gift pile she was reorganizing. “What?”

  “Is that okay?”

  “Where are you going, and how are you getting there? I picked you up, remember?” I shuffled on my feet, and she glanced down, her sights caught on the key in my hand. “Lincoln?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You sure? You seem nervous?”

  I nodded. “I’m sure.”

  “Okay, have fun. If you need me to come and get you at any time, just call me. And if you need me to bring Jay for reinforcements, let me know.”

  “I won’t. I’ll be fine.”

  I walked away before I changed my mind and took the elevator to the fourth floor. As I stood outside Lincoln’s door, my fingers shook so much that even if I wanted to I couldn’t slide the card into the little slot.

  But the choice was taken away from me when the door was swung open, and Lincoln stood there with his white shirt untucked and unbuttoned at the collar, his sleeves rolled up, and his tie loosened. So damn sexy. “What are you waiting for?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Nothing will happen that you don’t want to.”

  How did I tell him that I wanted everything to happen between us, but I wanted it for more than just that night? I wanted him to want me as badly as I did him, but I wasn’t sure he felt the same, and I didn’t know if once would be enough. Or was it too much?

  “Baby, quit trying to talk yourself out of it.”

  “I’m not.” I shook my head and clutched my purse to my chest. “I just… I don’t… I’m not sure this is smart.”

  “It’ll be the best decision you make, but you’ll never know that until you come inside so I can show you how good it can be.”

  The not funny part about it was I already knew it would be good. The best. But that wasn’t what worried me. What I was freaking out about was that it would be so good that it would break me… ruin me, it would destroy me, and I didn’t know how I’d go on after being crushed by Lincoln.

  I didn’t know if I could.

  So instead of taking a step toward him, I took one that put more distance between us.

  He crossed his arms. “Don’t walk away from me, Oakley.”

  “Don’t hurt me, Lincoln.”

  He must have lost his patience because in an instant, he closed the distance between us. He threw me over his shoulder and kicked the door shut behind him before I could blink. I was tossed onto the bed, my purse and the room key went flying, and he came down over me. My legs were trapped between his thick thighs, and he held my wrists together in one of his big hands over my head. The fingers of the other one wrapped gently around my throat, and he stared down at me. “Do you trust me?”

  Lincoln

  As I waited for her to give me the answer I already knew was yes, I stiffened to the point of pain behind the zipper of my pants. I was worried the thin material would rip with how thick I was. I’d never been harder, more desperate to fuck, and it wouldn’t go away until I finally had the woman who was beneath me.

  I only wanted her, only craved Oakley like no other, and all of this waiting and chasing had lost its luster quite some time ago. If I was less of a man, I would have taken her the night she begged me to, but I wasn’t lying when I told her why I didn’t. I refused to risk her forgetting the first time I was inside her for anything. I needed her to remember every moment because I damn well knew I’d never forget it.

  So that meant torturing myself and waiting for her to be ready again… which I knew was right then. I just needed her to realize it wasn’t a coincidence we were at the same place tonight. It was fate… and you don’t mess with fate’s plans.

  I wasn’t expecting to see her and was shocked as hell that I did, but I was so damn glad because it finally gave me the reason I needed to get her like she was—under me, desperate, and at my mercy. As the seconds ticked by, they felt like minutes… hours, but one thing became increasingly clear. She needed to be dominated. She wanted the decisions to be taken away from her. She enjoyed allowing her body to do what it was instinctually telling her instead of letting her head get in the way of desire.

  Because that was what she craved.

  Her little body, so tight and so soft in all the right places was just begging to be pleasured. And there was no other man out there who could give her exactly what she needed like I could. And no other man would ever get the chance because she was mine, and I was about to show her exactly what that meant.

  “Do you trust me?” I asked again, getting impatient and antsy and so fucking turned on that I could barely see straight.

  When she nodded, I released her hands and then reached up for my tie. When I pulled if off, her already deep breaths hitched, and her eyes dar
ted from my face to my hands and back again and again. She was just as flustered as I was, and I loved it.

  “I’m gonna tie this around your head, and then you’re gonna keep your hands right where they are.” At my words, her arms twitched, but she didn’t move them. I lowered the black silk onto her chest and pushed off the bed to undress. When my fingers went to the buttons on my shirt, she crossed her ankles. I allowed her to watch me strip, and as each article came off, she became more and more restless, as did I.

  I dropped my boxer briefs, and when my dick freed itself of the confines of the material, her already wide eyes got even bigger, and she swallowed audibly. I groaned at both the sight and the sound, imagining her mouth full of my cock while gazing up at me just like that.

  Before I crawled back onto the bed, I removed one of her shoes, kissing the arch of her foot, and then the other, this time nibbling my way up to where her skirt rested on her thighs. The dress was bunched up, and to avoid tearing it, I rolled her to her stomach and then slid the zipper down her back. When the material parted, my balls tightened as I realized she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  I wanted it to be slow. I’d planned on making it last, but the sight of her creamy skin did me in. I gripped the straps and yanked the dress off her completely, eliciting a gasp from her and a string of curse words from me as I flipped her over to her back again. “You’re so damn pretty, Oakley. So beautiful.”

  Her perky tits were begging me to touch them, but before I allowed myself that pleasure, I picked up the tie again and then straddled her. I lowered myself over her and couldn’t stop my hips from pressing into her, my rock-hard cock sliding against her stomach, dying to slip inside what I already knew would be heaven. I placed her hands back above her head and then brought the tie over her eyes. After a quick knot, I kissed her lips, gliding my tongue across the crease. “Good?”

  She nodded.

  “Tell me,” I whispered. “Tell me you’re good with me blindfolding you and touching you. Tell me you want my hands all over you, my mouth kissing every inch of your skin, my cock deep inside your pussy. Tell me you want this as much as I do. That you’ve been dying to know what I taste like, too. I want to hear you tell me that you want to be fucked—”