When I made it back an hour later, it was dark, and I was alarmed to see that no lights were on in the cottage. I checked my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed a call from Simone.
Nothing.
As quickly as I could, I slipped the strap of my guitar case on and got the bags up to the cottage. I opened the front door to the faint smell of lit matches, and followed a soft glow of light through the small mudroom into the living room, which was illuminated with dozens of random candles.
“Simone?”
When I called out, she appeared from the kitchen, carrying another candle. “Power went out,” she explained, taking one of the bags from my hands. “I was moving our little groceries to the freezer to try to save.”
I groaned, massaging the back of my neck as I looked around. “Simone… Beautiful, I’m so—”
“Hush,” she said, nudging me to release the other bags in my hands. “Stop apologizing, it’s not like you could help this. We’ll make the best of it.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.” She gave me a peck on the cheek, then began opening up the plates for dinner. “Ooh, is this wine? And Italian food?”
“It is,” I said, laughing as she snagged a noodle from one of the plates, then eyed me to see if I was looking.
We set up our meal on the living room floor, talking and laughing while we ate.
“See,” Simone teased, taking the last sip from her glass of wine. “This is romantic. Italian food, with the candles, and the rain in the background. I like it.”
“I’m glad. I just… I wanted this weekend to be perfect for you.”
Simone shook her head as she stood to gather the plates to carry into the kitchen. “Roman… I’m spending it with you, so… it is.”
She winked at me, and I followed her into the kitchen with the rest of the things from our meal to dispose. When we made our way back to the living room, I sat on the floor with my back against the couch, then directed Simone between my legs and propped the guitar in her lap.
“So… what are you gonna play for me?” I asked, kissing the back of her bare shoulder. She was wearing some type of thin tank-top dress, and I strongly suspected that was all she had on.
She turned to me, lifting an eyebrow. “What am I gonna play for you?”
I smiled at her. “Yeah, isn’t that why you wanted me to get the guitar?”
“Not really,” she said, giggling as she shook her head. She jumped as a clap of thunder shook the walls, and I looped my arms around her waist to pull her a little closer. “But okay. I know the perfect song.”
“Okay. Sing to me then, Beautiful.”
She grinned, then turned around as she began strumming. It sounded good, but I didn’t recognize the song from the chords she was playing. When she opened her mouth though, and began singing in her sexy-soulful voice, instead of loosening up, my entire body tensed.
I closed my eyes, resting my head against her shoulder as she sang Janet Jackson’s Any Time, Any Place. She was playing the hell out of the guitar, singing the hell out of the song, and shit, she was turning me on. Her fingers skipped over the strings as I kissed the back of her neck, trailing down her spine. Simone was singing about how good I felt inside of her, and there was really no place I would rather be, but… I stopped, and pulled my arms from her waist, occupying my hands by propping them behind my head. I was painfully hard, and I knew she could feel it, but she kept right on singing and playing.
By the time she finished the song and turned to me with a flirtatious smirk, I was on the verge of losing my mind. I needed to get my ass up, and into a cold shower. Maybe an ice bath, even.
“Roman?”
“Y-yeah, Beautiful?” I managed to choke out, even though my voice was strained.
“Did you bring condoms?” She lifted an eyebrow, not even attempting to not scowl at me as I shook my head. “Why the hell not?”
I groaned, then pushed out a deep breath as I dropped my head back against the couch. “Because… I was trying not to make this weekend about sex. I didn’t want you to think that’s what I brought you out here for, so… I didn’t bring any condoms, to eliminate the possibility.”
Simone’s scowl softened. “Well then, I guess it’s a good thing one of us came prepared. I have a whole box.”
“Simone, I—”
“Roman.” She turned around, straddling my lap as she ran her fingers over my hair. “Baby, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. It’s very gentlemanly of you, and trust me, I feel the sincerity behind it. But listen to me… it’s been over a month. Either you can do it to me, or… I’m gonna do it to myself right here in front of… you… mmm.”
Two fingers between her thighs took the steam out of Simone’s little monologue, and I discovered I was correct about her lack of panties. She bit her lip, looking at me through half-lidded eyes as I circled them inside of her as deep as they could go. With the other hand, I pulled her forward, gently pulling her lip between my teeth before nudging her lips apart with my tongue. She moaned as our tongues met, and… damn, she was sexy.
Simone watched me, lips parted as I pulled my hand from between her legs, then lifted it to my mouth to lick her essence from my fingers. “Do you see how damned good you taste?” I asked as I kissed her, not waiting for a response before pushing those same fingers inside of her again. Her little whimpers and moans and purrs… “Shit, Simone. The condoms… where?” She managed to pant that they were in her bag, in the bedroom, and a few seconds later, we each had a candle in hand as we made our way there.
With the candles deposited on the bedside tables, I stripped out of my clothes while Simone located the condoms. She handed me the box as I sat down on the edge of the bed, then watched as I put one on. When I looked up, she was just standing there, almost like she was nervous.
“Come here, Simone.” The flickering candlelight danced over her skin as she took the necessary steps to close the distance between us. “You were bold back there in the living room… tell me what you want.” I cupped her ass as she stepped between my open legs, then kissed her belly.
“I want you to put your mouth on me,” she said, putting her knees on the bed to climb onto my lap.
“Like this?” I asked, then closed my mouth over her nipple, suckling until it was a hard peak.
She shook her head. “Uh-uh. You know what I mean, Roman.”
“No I don’t.” I grinned at her before moving to the other breast. “I need you to be specific. You said you wanted my mouth on you. Tell me where.”
I laughed as she pushed me back onto the bed, then climbed up until the juncture of her thighs was directly over my face. “Here,” she said, peering down to meet my eyes.
“Here?” I asked, kissing the supple inside of her thigh. “Or here?” I kissed the other side, pretending I didn’t see the daggers she was shooting from her eyes in the semi-darkened room. She groaned in frustration when I kissed her thigh again, further away from where she wanted me to go.
“Roman, would you—” Those words vanished on her lips as I wrapped my arms around her thighs and pulled her down, covering her with my mouth. She squirmed as I licked, sucked, kissed, and massaged her with my tongue, but I held her tight, not giving her anywhere to go. I loved the way Simone tasted, and I smiled against her as she dropped her upper body down on the bed, weak with pleasure.
This could be my life, and I would be a happy man. Simone in my mouth, hot and wet, covering my face in her sweet, sticky nectar when she came. Yeah, I could live like this, but I presumed Simone wanted more, so when she collapsed beside me, I sat up, then pulled her back into my lap.
“What now, Beautiful?” I asked, gently tugging the back of her hair to get her to look at me. She was only half-aware, still high from her orgasm as she lowered her mouth to kiss me, sucking her own flavor from my lips before she responded.
“Inside of me. Now.” With a sudden burst of energy, she tried to sink down onto me but I caught her thighs, holdi
ng her in a position where we were touching, but not connected.
“Like this?” I slid a first, then second finger inside of her, and she sucked her teeth, then moaned, a duality of pleasure and frustration.
“Would you stop—”
“Teasing you?” I asked, grinning as I lowered her onto me, enveloping me in warmth, and softness, and wetness… in heaven. We both groaned in relief.
Shit, she feels good.
And she smelled good, and she tasted good. There wasn’t shit about Simone that wasn’t good. Our lips found each other again, and her nipples were rock hard against my chest as she rode me, rolling her hips against mine in a steady rhythm as we kissed. I gripped her hips, pulling her down harder as I met her with my own upward strokes. She leaned her head back, eyes closed, breasts bobbing in my face as she began to lose her pace.
I leaned back on the bed, then rolled us over so I was on top. Her nails dug into my shoulders as I pushed harder, deeper, faster, whatever she needed as her moans got more and more frantic. “You feel so fucking good,” I told her, gently nipping her earlobe before I propped her leg over my shoulder and put an arm around her waist, keeping her close as I gave her long, deep strokes. Simone punctuated every one with sexy little whimpers of pleasure that got louder and more frenzied until her body tensed, then she clenched around me as she reached her peak again, milking me until I came with her.
Incredible, I thought as I collapsed onto the bed beside her, watching her breasts rise and fall as her breathing normalized. A few moments later, they’d slowed to a point that I rose up on my elbow to look at her face, and sure enough her eyes were closed, lips slightly parted.
She was sleeping. Again.
I laughed as I pulled the covers over her. “Incredible.”
Sunday morning, I woke up to the smell of cinnamon.
Instead of bacon and eggs, Simone had risen early enough that there were fresh muffins in a basket on the counter when I went into the kitchen looking for her. From the number of freshly washed dishes drying on the rack, and the heat still radiating from the oven, I guessed that she’d gone to the store for ingredients and made them herself.
Through the window, I could see her sitting on the end of the dock, legs hanging off the edge as she watched the sailboats go by. Yesterday's storms were long gone, and had brought along a gorgeous day. I used the French press to brew myself a cup of coffee, then grabbed one of the muffins and headed outside to take a seat beside her. Neither of us spoke for a while as I finished my light breakfast, then offered her a sip of the coffee.
“No thank you,” she said, her voice strangely quiet as she kept her eyes focused on the water. It was then I noticed that her eyes were rimmed in red, as if she’d spent a good amount of time crying. I put down my cup and looped an arm around her waist, edging closer to her until our bodies were touching.
“What’s wrong, Simone?”
She glanced down, and I saw she had her cell phone clutched in her hands. She pressed a button to turn on the screen, then held it up as a video began to play of a pretty little golden-skinned girl, maybe two years old, running around in a big back yard. I grinned as she picked up a ball and threw it, confused when it landed behind her instead of going forward. It reminded me of Zahra as a baby. The little girl started crying about the ball, then ran up to whoever was holding the camera and started ranting. Mostly, it was gibberish, but every once in a while it was punctuated by a very clear “ball”. A man’s voice came through, telling the little girl to stop fussing and say hi to the camera.
“Say hi, Auntie Monie. Can you say that Asia? Say hi Auntie Monie!”
The little girl simply grinned, covering her mouth with her hands as she shook her head. After a few more failed attempts to get her to speak, the man was finally successful in getting her to wave at the camera, and then the video ended.
Simone tucked the phone back into her lap, and she was quiet for another moment before she turned to me with a sad smile. “That’s my goddaughter, Asia. Her dad sent that to me this morning, since I haven’t been down to see her in a while. You remember my friend I mentioned, India? That’s her little girl.”
“That’s sweet,” I said, confused about why that video would make her cry?
Simone shook her head, wiping away fresh tears as they sprang to her eyes. “Her eyes. And those high cheekbones, and that big mess of hair… all of that is from India. When I look at her, I just see India, and that’s… it’s hard.”
She took a deep sniffle, and suddenly I understood. “Your friend… she passed away?”
“No,” Simone said fiercely, vehemently shaking her head as she looked up me. “No, don’t say that. She’s alive, she’s just… while she was in the hospital having Asia, she had a seizure. The doctors still have no idea why, but… she never woke up. She still hasn’t woken up. But she will. She’s like my sister, you know? I need her. She has to wake up.” Her voice broke as she finished, and she brought her hand up to cover her mouth as she began to sob. I pulled the phone from her hands and placed it safely on the dock before I pulled her onto my lap, holding her until her tears subsided.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, tucking her face against the side of my neck. “I must seem like such a baby.”
I shook my head. “Not at all, Beautiful. I know how hard it is to have someone you love just… suddenly not be there, even though they’re there.”
She pulled back to look up into my face. “How?” As soon as the question left her mouth, she pressed her lips together and shook her head, as if she hadn’t really even meant to ask it. “Roman, you don’t have to—”
“My mom,” I said, interrupting her. “She had a heart attack while my dad was in the shower, so it took him a minute to get to her, which means it took a minute for the ambulance, and… she ended up on life support for a few days. Hands down… worst week of my life.”
“I’m sorry.” Simone teared up again, but I shook my head, using my thumbs to push the tears from her eyes.
“For what? You didn’t do it, did you?”
She gave me a weak smile, then leaned up to press a kiss against my cheek.
“Nah though, it’s like… you go through a grieving process when something like that happens, but you’re hopeful, you know? You’re praying, and the doctors are being… cautious, but they’re hopeful too.” I stopped and shrugged, not really wanting to finish, but Simone sensed my hesitation.
“She didn’t make it, did she?”
I shook my head, cringing at the look of despair that crossed Simone’s face. “But that doesn’t mean your friend won’t. I mean, she’s been holding on for what, two years? That’s about how old her little girl looks. That’s a good sign, right?”
“Honestly?” Her voice broke again, and she looked down at her hands. “Not really. They don’t even know why she won’t wake up, but she’s… she’s healthy, you know? That’s what they say. And her husband, he… India has top-notch care. People making sure she keeps her muscle tone, all of that. So… I’m waiting. And hoping, but…”
“So keep doing that. What’s the problem?”
Simone turned away, looking out at the water for a moment before she looked back, shaking her head. “Nothing, I guess. It’s just… hard some days. When I think about the fact that she’s never even seen her little girl, and maybe she never will…” She took a deep breath, then pressed her face into my neck again.
For a while, neither of us said anything, then I kissed the top of her head. “Do you wanna talk about it more?” She gave me a firm shake no. “You wanna come with me and go for a walk?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking up with glossy eyes and a small smile.
I took her hand and led her back to the cottage, where we dropped off our shoes, coffee cups, and cell phones. For a while, Simone was quiet, lost in her thoughts. We went close enough that the tide lapped over our feet, leaving Simone giggling at the sensation of the cool water against her toes. This was the Simone I was use
d to, and I was glad to see her back.
It wasn’t that I minded her being open, and showing me other sides of her— I actually valued every second of it. But it didn’t mean I had to like it. I mean, what man enjoyed seeing his girl sad, or hurt, or upset? If I had to distract her from her thoughts to cheer her up… that’s what I was gonna do.
Without any warning, I picked her up, tossing her over my shoulder. She shrieked as I carried her far enough into the water that the tide swayed against my waist.
“Hold your breath, okay? I’m gonna toss you out.”
“Roman!” she screamed, using both hands to grip the waistband of my shorts. “Don’t you dare!”
“Oh, I’m doing it, Beautiful. Count it out. On five, four…”
“I can’t swim!”
I sucked my teeth, gently swatting her on the butt. “Liar. You told me on the way up— before your ass fell asleep for the whole drive— that you were excited to swim in the salt water.”
“I was lying then!”
“Okay, we’ll see. I’ll save you if you start drowning.” She began wiggling on my shoulder, trying to get down, but I held her tight around the waist as I laughed. “You ready?”
“Roman!”
Simone screamed at the top of her lungs as I flung her over my shoulder toward the water, but I kept my arm locked around her so she wouldn’t actually go anywhere. She gave me a barrage of playful slaps to the chest as she giggled, then wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled herself close. When she pulled back to kiss me, she propped her legs around my waist.
“Did you really think I was gonna do something like that to you?” I asked, chuckling as she squirmed against me, trying to avoid the cool water.
She grinned against my lips. “I think your ass plays too much.”
“That didn’t cheer you up?”
“No,” she said, smacking her teeth. Simone leaned her head down, pressing her forehead against mine as our eyes met. “... yes.”
A Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Serendipitous Love Book 1) Page 10
