by Lily Zante
She could do it, on top of the work she already did for him, on top of her other online work, and with babysiting Jacob at the weekends, depending on the hours Savannah wanted from her. She would have to make it all fit in. She exhaled slowly, remembering the stats test she had to revise for. But even though she needed to go home and get to work on it, she wasn’t in the mood to leave.
After being there for her father for the past few days, this was the first time someone had been there for her. It was a feeling she liked, and one she hadn’t experienced in a while. “Starting when?”
“End of this week.”
Her exam would be over by then. “Sure.”
He grinned. “Your enthusiasm is killing me.”
“Thanks,” she said, perking up, breaking out into a smile, and grateful that he was here.
“That’s better,” he said, nodding his head in approval. “I like it better when you smile.” He folded his arms, and all she wanted was for him to open them and hold her.
“I better shoot,” she said, looking at her watch. Stats revision was the last thing she wanted to do, but he seemed busy, and she needed to get back into the swing of things.
“Don’t go,” he said, quickly.
“Is there something you’d like me to do?” Like those charts he’d wanted her to create.
“I can think of a few things.” It was the way he said it, the way his eyes smoldered with intensity, holding a promise, a thought, an intention. She swallowed as his words reminded her of that other time.
“Not those sorts of things,” he drawled, slowly, dropping his hands slowly to his side, and he hooked his thumbs into the front pocket of his jeans.
“What sort of things?” she asked, taking a step closer and looking up at him. They weren’t on the same page. He was being too coy, and she was not. Standing so close to him, her body felt as if it was on fire. “I didn’t mean what I said earlier, about you being like the other guys. I know you’re not. I know that now. I was just in a pissy mood.”
“Pissy mood?” he asked, moving closer still so that they almost touched. She held her hands up to his chest as his arms snaked around her waist.
“Pretty pissy.”
“Spend the day with me, and we’ll do fun stuff.” His head jerked back a little. “I don’t mean like last time.”
She worried that he was being too careful, and at a time when she wanted him to be anything but too careful. “I like doing fun stuff,” she said, “Like we did last time.” She caught the flicker of surprise on his face before they moved at the same time, instinctively, their lips and tongues meshed together.
Somehow they stumbled away from his desk, hands touching, lips breaking apart as they moved into the living room and made it over to the couch. She fell back onto the soft, downy cushions and he landed not on top, but to her side, his hand cupping around her neck.
“Is this what you had in mind?” he asked, his voice was thick, and raspy, and loaded with intent.
She made an agreeing noise in her throat, as she succumbed to the now familiar taste and feel of him against her. His fingers rested against the nape of her neck, while his thumb stroked her cheek. Her heartbeat raced, and her body loosened, as if it was remembering. They kissed like the last time, intense, and for a long time, and deep, as if they were in the throes of lovemaking. And she wished they were for it had opened up again, that void, an emptiness inside her, an ache that needed him.
“You make it all better,” she told him, when he stopped and stared at her. “Everything,” she murmured, feeling his hard chest pressing into her breasts. This had been the comfort she had been searching for all along. Being away from him had made her want to come running back for more.
She reached for him, sliding her hand down between their bodies, passing over the bulge in his jeans. “Izzy,” he groaned, low and hoarse.
She sighed into his mouth, and unzipped his jeans, touching the soft fabric of his boxer briefs, and feeling his hardness. His groan was a mixture of agony and joy when she moved her hand up and down, slowly, teasing, playing. With a drawn out moan, he moved her hand away, but she slipped it under his t-shirt and onto his bare skin, moaning in surprise at the feel of his abs.
Hard, hard, hard.
“Fuck, Izzy,” he ground out, and pushed himself off the couch.
“What are you doing?” she asked, lifting her head.
“Making you feel better,” he replied, his fingers skating around the waistband of her pantyhose. He was kneeling on the floor, facing her, as she lay, hot and sweaty on the couch, and then, without saying a word, his hand slipped under her skirt, his eyes fixed on hers, as if checking to see if she wanted this.
She did.
She shifted her body down, letting him know that she didn’t object, raking her fingers through his hair as he peeled off her panty hose. Her heartbeat rocketed dangerously.
He didn’t take her panties off, but moved the fabric to one side, and the sudden kiss of cold air cooled her hot, exposed skin for the briefest of seconds before his thumb moved in slow and deliberate circles. She bit her lip as ripples of pleasure circled outwards all over her body. With a hand splayed across her chest, and the other still in his hair, she arched her back as he slowly slid his finger slid inside her. Slow and teasing, and making her gasp.
It was gentle at first, his finger sliding, and twisting, and his thumb moving around on her tip; two sensations, two different pressures, two sources of ecstasy. She couldn’t keep it in, her low, wanton gasp as she tried not to writhe, tried not to mewl.
Her body was heat, and his touch like magic. And when he slipped in another finger and dove deeper, reaching her innermost crevices, making her legs fall apart at the knees, she opened up, completely at his mercy.
Xavier Stone was taking his sweet time pleasuring her, and all she wanted was more, more, more. Her muscles relaxed as she took all she could from him, moaning and mewling to his probing. It had never been this fast before, her getting so wet, and so hot, and so turned on, and he’d done it instantly, and when he hooked his fingers inside her, she groaned like never before.
“You feel so good, Izzy,” he whispered, kissing her just above the waistband of her panties, making her shift uncomfortably at the idea that his face was so close to her most intimate part.
“You feel so good,” she breathed, biting back a moan. He made her feel loose, like liquid, hazy and heady. With his fingers buried deep inside her, and moving and twisting as he pleased, he left a trail of kisses along her stomach, until he found her lips again. And then his kissed her again, teasing her lips with his, before their tongues met and swirled together in a slow dance.
Wetness above and below.
With his fingers hooked so deep inside her, and his thumb circling her tip, he lifted his head up, and stared down at her. Her body jerked unashamedly, her hips bucking, short, and fast, and the whole time he watched. Saw her writhe and squirm, tremble and clench as the pressure built up in her belly.
“Fuck, Izzy,” he groaned, “You’re so wet, I want to …” But she closed her eyes, rolled her head back and was lost in the throes of her wet explosion.
She couldn’t stifle her moans, not when she came, not when she fell apart at his bidding. She had given up her sensibilities, letting him do this and watch, while he was still clothed, and as yet untouched by her.
When it was over, when he moved his hand away, she lay there, her insides still dissolving into jelly. She was breathless and drowning in pleasure when he left a short, wet kiss on her lips.
He had given her exactly what she had needed. Now she had to summon the energy to give back. She adjusted her clothing, and sat up, planting her feet on the floor, reaching forward and clamping her mouth over his, drinking deep into his kiss, needing to connect, and taste and savor him. With her other hand she reached for his boxer briefs, his thick hardness bigger than before.
His hand stilled over hers as she tried to move the zipper down
&n
bsp; “You don’t have to,” he rasped.
“I want to,” she murmured, her need great, to see, and touch, and to do to him what he had done to her. “Stats can wait.”
“What can wait?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.
“My stats test.” She tried to move her hand, but his hand held firm over hers. “You have a test tomorrow?” he asked, his face red, his breath hot. She squeezed him, gently, saw his lips part, knew he liked it, the way her hands caressed him. “Yes, but,” she leaned down again, heard his disappointed groan. “You have to go and prepare for your—”
“It can wait,” she insisted, the heat inside her igniting again, as she stroked him harder. He let out a short groan, and pulled her hand away. “This can wait.”
“But you’re so har—”
“No, Izzy.” He moved her hand away, robbing her of the thrill.
“Xavier!” She needed him.
He sat up, his bulge still tenting in his boxer briefs.
“Let me—” she tried to reach out for him again, but he was quick to stand as he turned his back on her.
“You’re really doing this?” she asked, her voice sounding angrier than she intended as she got to her feet. He turned around to face her. “I want to see you again, and I want to take you somewhere nice, and make it be a proper date.”
“A proper date?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to take me anywhere nice.”
“You want me to take you somewhere bad?”
“No, I meant, you don’t have to impress me.”
“I want to take you out somewhere, and have a nice time.”
“I’ve been having a nice time with you, lately.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So we’re making progress?”
“What do you think?” she grabbed his forearms and leaned up to kiss him. “Couldn’t you tell?”
“You liked that, didn’t you?” he asked, giving her another kiss, making her melt into him again.
“Hmmmm.” She made a noise while their lips were still joined.
He pulled away, and his hand trailed down her back, cupped her butt and squeezed. “I’ll drop you back.”
She made a face.
Chapter 41
“Erminegard?” he asked, trying not to get too wound up. What kind of a fucked up name was that?
His mother was trying to set him up with some New York socialite princess, and it pissed him off.
“Hollister,” his mother replied. “Erminegard Hollister. She’s from good stock.”
“Good stock?” he echoed, in disgust. “She sounds like a horse.”
Savannah sniggered, and tried to cover her mouth with her hand.
“What a thing to say,” his mother grumbled. “I’m only trying to help you, darling. Look at your brother, all settled and with a baby on the way.”
“You’d help more if you butted out, Mother.”
He was taking Izzy out later this evening, once this soiree was done with. Tobias and Savannah had invited everyone over. It wasn’t dinner, thank fuck. “Just cocktails,” his mother had told him.
“Tobias has an announcement to make,” his father said.
Xavier assumed it was probably the news that Jacob had accidentally let slip, that he and Izzy already knew.
Tobias cleared his throat, as he and Savannah stood with their arms around one another, and Jacob stood in front, in the middle. His brother had been politely civil towards him, as was he to Tobias. Neither of them have spoken or met up since that last time when Xavier had gone to Tobias’s office.
Xavier was glad it was only cocktails. A dinner to get through would have been awkward. He knew it was only a matter of time before things smoothed over between him and Tobias, but it was getting to that time that made things uncomfortable.
“You’ve kept us in suspense long enough, son. What is it?” Their father asked the question that was on everyone’s lips. Tobias didn’t often invite everyone over unless he had an announcement to make, or there was a celebration.
“The baby? Everything’s fine, isn’t it?” their mother asked, for once showing some concern.
Tobias looked at Savannah. “The babies are fine, yes,” he replied, unable to wipe that huge grin off.
“The babies?” It took a while for their father to process the news, and their mother looked suspicious.
But Jacob was grinning from cheek to cheek.
“We’re having twins,” Savannah confirmed, with a proud and wide smile on her face. Her hand smoothed over her now huge baby bump.
“And what are we having, Jacob?” Tobias asked.
“We’re having boys!”
A house full of boys. Xavier couldn’t help but smile. It was truly the best news.
It was his parents who moved towards the happy trio, first, congratulating them, then Xavier stepped in. He hugged Savannah. “It’s fantastic news, Savannah,” he told her, kissing her on the cheek, before turning, with apprehension, to his brother, “Congrats, bro.” He held out his hand, and waited for Tobias to shake it. Which he did, after a split-second delay.
“You’re going to be an older brother to twins, dude,” said Xavier, high-fiving an excited Jacob. “It’s a big responsibility.”
Jacob smiled, looking beyond excited. “I know!”
“We don’t want the news to get out,” Tobias warned. “Savannah’s parents know, and that’s it. Not even Kay knows.”
“But it’s going to be hard to hide soon,” his mother countered, “Especially when she balloons up like an elephant.”
“She?” Tobias asked, curtly.
“When Savannah balloons up. You’re already looking bigger than usual, dear,” his mother said. Xavier quaked in his shoes for his mother’s sake. She could be tactless at the most inappropriate of times.
“I think she looks lovely.” Their father, the diplomat as usual, stepped in.
“Shall I give Erminegard your number, darling?” his mother asked, turning to him.
“Only if you want me to talk dirty to her.”
“Xavier!”
“You shouldn’t make ridiculous suggestions, Mother, and I won’t give you stupid answers. Shouldn’t you propose a toast, dad?” he suggested, wanting to get this evening over and done with.
His father raised his glass, and proposed that everyone do the same. “Congratulations, Tobias, Savannah, and you Jacob. This is quite some news.”
“And it’s for your ears only, dad, remember,” Tobias reminded him.
~ ~ ~
Cara had fallen back on the bed when Izzy had told her that Xavier was taking her out on their first official date.
“I knew you liked him!” she’d countered, indignantly.
“I didn’t at first. But he grew on me.”
“Why is it that you have all the luck?”
Izzy turned around and made a face, “If you think I’ve had all the luck,” she said, “you haven’t been listening to me.”
“Have fun,” Cara had called out, as she left the house.
She had thought it was sweet when he had called and told her they were going out for dinner, ‘to get to know one another better.’
“But we already know one another,” she’d replied.
“I want to do it properly.”
That had made her laugh. “How do you normally do it?”
“Backwards.”
She’d tried to second guess him, “You mean, bed, dinner, and drinks?”
“Bed, usually, and sometimes after a few drinks.”
Xavier had picked her up and told her they were going to a hip new restaurant in the city. He’d risked picking her up in his Ferrari, telling her that it didn’t seem right going out on a date in his BMW.
“But you don’t like vegetarian food,” Izzy said.
“I’m open to trying new things.”
“All because of me?” She cocked her head, pretending to be all shy, and overdoing the fluttering of
her eyelashes. She didn’t usually do shy, because it wasn’t her, and the way Xavier was looking at her, he knew she was being facetious.
“Maybe, because of you. Maybe because veggie food doesn’t taste as bad as I thought it would.”
And so they had gone to a newly opened restaurant where the line had spilled out onto the street. Xavier marched up to the front and they were allowed straight in, and shown a table over in the corner, in an area that was raised slightly above the floor level. Maroon silk tablecloths dressed round tables, and black candle holders showed off mustard yellow candles. They ordered food, shared starters, and talked, and stared at one another, and he told her about the get together at Tobias’s earlier.
“It was that thing that Jacob accidentally let slip,” he told her, peering around discreetly, “And it can’t get out.” She nodded, understanding, and touched that he hadn’t told her in as many words, and had honored his brother’s request for the news to remain secret.
After dinner they walked around Central Park, talking and enjoying one another’s company, and then he drove her home. Her heart sank when he suggested he take her back to her place, because she knew that Cara would be at home, all eyes and ears and waiting to find out.
He dropped her off, then surprised her by turning down her offer to come inside, and so they sat in the car, and talked some more.
“You’re not the womanizer I imagined you to be,” she said.
“You shouldn’t always believe what you read in the press. That’s what my brother always says, and I agree.”
“It was my mistake.”
“At least you’ve owned up to it.”
“I haven’t owned up to it,” she cried, slapping his arm lightly. “You were quite obnoxious when we first met. You were so full of yourself.” She reminded him of a few instances.
“That’s because I wasn’t used to being around someone who didn’t think I was god’s gift to women.”
She roared. “You see what I mean? You were so obnoxious.”
“You threw me for a loop,” he protested. “I wasn’t used to someone like you.”
“I’m not like the girls you’re used to.”
