Blackout: A Romance Anthology

by Stephanie St. Klaire

I went to him and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m sorry,” I said for a third time.

  What else was there to say?

  “You don’t have to be sorry.”

  He dipped his head and claimed my mouth. He walked me back as the heat of his searing kiss nearly combusted me.

  When his hands found the hem of my skirt, I asked, “What are you doing?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “Making love to my wife.”

  He pushed up on the fabric as I stood there, skirt bunched at my hips. His finger danced over the fabric of my panties from my clit down my slit. I gasped at the contact. His fingers teased the edges of fabric until he slid one inside to rim my slick opening.

  I sought his mouth, but only managed a quick kiss.

  “I’m sorry, Jillian.”

  My heart plummeted to my stomach. I didn’t like him using my full name.

  “Why?” I ask, though I didn’t think I’d like the answer.

  “I lied.”

  Oh crap. He wasn’t going to end things with Chelsea. It wasn’t the logical response, but I was half drunk and all the way lovesick.

  “About what?”

  Roughly, he turned me around. “I’m not going to make love to you this time. First, I’m going to fuck you. When we’re back in our suite—”

  “Ours?”

  “Yes, the one you’ve always belonged in from the moment we arrived. I indulged you, but when I get you there, I’m going to take my time. Now, I have to have you.”

  I heard the zipper peel down and grew wetter from the sound.

  “Hurry,” I begged, pushing my bottom back to make contact with his solid cock. I never needed to be fucked more in my life.

  “I want to be inside you right now.”

  I wiggled against him, causing him to hiss. Fabric ripped as he didn’t bother to take my panties off. The lace was defenseless against him.

  “Your ass,” he said reverently.

  His fingers slipped down my crack over the forbidden place, causing a shiver to run through me. Then it was testing the sweet spot between my legs. I’m so ready, I almost said. But then his dick was there, plunging between my thighs as if he were coating himself with my wetness.

  “I want to taste you.”

  “Later,” I said, needing him inside me.

  Then he was there, sinking inside me as he angled me with movement backward.

  I moaned long and suffering because he felt so damn good. More than good. It felt right, like it was always meant to be. Though somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought this was probably a bad idea. But the alcohol in my blood cleared any deeper thoughts on that subject.

  “More,” I begged as his movements at first were slow.

  It was as if he were preparing me for the onslaught yet to come. I egged him on with rotating movement of my hips, sucking him deeper. It didn’t take him long to let loose with punishing strokes.

  I was so damn close. If the elevator doors opened in that moment, I would tell them to get the hell out.

  His hand moved from my hip to cup my breast and pop it free from the confines of my bra. Damn, if that didn’t set me off. I clenched around him so tight he grunted in appreciation.

  Soon, he followed me in complete bliss. I’d been fucked so thoroughly I was boneless. He managed to pull up his pants before sitting on the floor and tumbling me onto his lap.

  We fit so naturally, my head rested on his shoulder as our breathing slowed.

  Minutes later, he said, “I know this is redundant, but will you be my wife?”

  A stream of air was sucked into my lungs as I was taken off guard.

  “I’m not doing this right again.” He pulled something from his pocket, and with one hand he flipped the velvet box open. Even in the dim lighting the ring sparkled. “Please stay married to me.”

  For all the reasons why I wanted to say yes, there were a dozen more for why I said, “No.”

  CHAPTER 10

  We were both stunned by my pronouncement. It took him a little time before he asked why.

  Though I should have moved away, I didn’t want to.

  I took my time answering because I knew he could argue against most of them. Like even though we’d grown up together, we hadn’t really ever dated. Because I loved him, it was a weak excuse. I went with the strongest.

  “Whether you believe it or not, you’re a public figure.” His clients were some of the biggest names in sports. “How would you explain when we got married?” When he said nothing, I continued. “This Chelsea person seems like an opportunist to use the fact that you were legally married when you had a very public wedding with her as some sort of financial bargaining chip.” Eddie wasn’t stupid. “As it stands, someone could find out about your court hearing and it will end up on TMZ. It’s best you are free from both of us so your clients don’t have to publicly distance themselves from you.”

  My logic was sound and he didn’t argue. I stayed in his lap with my arm secured around him and closed my eyes. It was a whirling noise that woke me up. We didn’t move far, but the doors were pried open. Without looking at my phone, I had no idea how long we’d been in there. The hallway was still mostly dark with similar green tinted lighting illuminating a path.

  Lucky for us, we had been feet away from our floor. Ancient keys were used to open the suite door. Just as I was about to ask them to open my door, Eddie thanked them with his arm still tucked around me, not letting me go.

  “Eddie,” I said.

  “For now, you’re still my wife. And I’m going to keep my promise.”

  In one fluid motion, he lifted me in his arms and carried me across the threshold. He didn’t stop in the living room. I only got a passing glance, but the furniture was different, though the placement oddly familiar.

  He crawled onto the bed, me still in his arms. When he laid me down, I felt cherished in a way that started to break my heart. Slowly and with my help, he disrobed me. Then, he got off the bed and I noticed fabric from my underwear protruding from his pocket. That put a five-alarm fire in my face. Had our rescuers noticed and guessed at how we passed the time?

  His pants dropped, his cock leaping to attention. Damn him and his lack of boxers. My mouth watered, wanting to take him all the way to the back of my throat and hum.

  “Stop looking at me like that.” His grin was teasing as he got back on the bed and covered one nipple with his hot mouth.

  Things went slow after that. He took his time with every inch of my body. I answered with a growl, rolling him onto his back and putting my mouth where it had wanted to be as soon as he’d stripped naked.

  I gave him the best damn head of his life and swallowed his pleasure like it was the last time.

  If I’d thought that would be it, I was wrong. Sometime later, he nudged my thighs open and slipped inside of me. His strokes were long and leisure, like we had all night. He used his tongue and fingers to bring me close and backed off. I was practically begging to come when he finally brought me there with a satisfied smirk. The jerk.

  Though he wasn’t a jerk. Anything but. He was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But once again, poor timing wouldn’t allow that to happen.

  “We can make this work, Jilly. I don’t want to let you go.”

  Though he’d said all the right things, my heart didn’t forget the last time he’d said and done the right things only to retract them in the morning. We’d both been drinking then and now. He would realize this in the morning.

  Only this time, I wouldn’t be there for him to break my heart by agreeing with me. I slipped away in the cover of darkness or so I thought. The blackout shades were good. It was morning. I hadn’t brought a lot, but I showered in tepid water and changed under the light of day.

  After a long wait, I got into the only working elevator with a crowd of people speculating on what happened and when full power would be restored.

  My phone still had some charge and I took an Uber to the airport, which had power.
After trying several airlines, I managed to wrangle an overpriced ticket on a bargain airline leaving in a few hours. I’d figure out how to pay for it later. I convinced myself it was an emergency. Flying back with Eddie was a big fat no. He would talk me into a dream that would only turn into a public relations nightmare for him if I didn’t stick to my guns.

  While I waited for my plane, I contacted a lawyer and told her my story. After sending her a retainer online and the annulment document I’d had, she assured me she’d file a complaint seeking an annulment on the grounds we’d done it years ago.

  When I got back to my apartment, I considered my financial future. I had no job and no prospects of one. I started my job search, hoping I wouldn’t have to hit up my sister for a loan.

  Eddie called several times, but I’d let it go to voice mail. Like the chicken shit I was, I didn’t answer. He hadn’t come over either.

  There were still no words as to what happened in Vegas. Whatever it was, it hadn’t been localized to our hotel but the entire city. Words like rolling blackouts or even terrorism had been tossed around. I, on the other hand, hadn’t cared much. We’d survived, though my heart hadn’t.

  I wasn’t at all surprised when my sister Chris showed up a couple of days later.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “Mom is worried.”

  Mom was always worried, and the last thing she needed was my problems added to her own. Though I would call her when I was mentally ready.

  In reply to my sister, I squirted Cheez Whiz onto a saltine cracker and shoved it into my mouth. It wasn’t exactly the healthiest of choices if I ever had a desire to look like my bombshell of a sister. But I hadn’t left the house and was surviving on what remained in my kitchen.

  “You’re not going to answer me?”

  I didn’t. I made Mount Vesuvius out of processed cheese and stuffed it into my mouth. It was slightly disgusting, but oddly comforting.

  “Okay. How about I tell you what I know and you nod if you agree?”

  When I kept quiet, feeling like a petulant teenager, inwardly I argued to myself I had a broken heart and could cry and act stupid if I wanted to.

  She lifted a finger. “You got fired.” She lifted another. “Eddie hired you.” A third finger appeared. “You went to Vegas with Eddie.” She snapped out a fourth. “He went to court and annulled his marriage to Chelsea. Good riddance.” She muttered the last. “But it all didn’t make a lick of sense until I found out from today’s headlines that you and Eddie are married.”

  I closed my eyes, feeling sick.

  “And here I thought I’d been the one with secrets,” she said.

  She did have some big ones, which is why there was not a lot of judgment from her.

  “Is it true?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said after swallowing the bile that threatened to make an appearance.

  She exhaled loudly, sat next to me on the couch, and wrapped her arms around me.

  “It all makes sense now.”

  “What exactly?” I asked.

  “Well, for starters, I’d thought Eddie was protective of you because you were like a little sister to him even when you were being a bitch. But now, I can see the jealousy that simmered there. Poor boy. And I’d made him promise to stay away from you.”

  While she sounded amused, I yanked myself away.

  “What?” There was a sharpness in my tone that flattened her smile.

  I was not appeased by her long-suffering sigh. “He made me promise that I not date his brother, so I made him promise not to make a move on you.”

  “And you did that why?” I asked, remembering the little comments Eddie made that I’d ignored.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t think it was a big deal considering how you’d acted like you hated him. You never told me different.”

  I deflated. She was right. I had acted like a bitch toward him because I hadn’t wanted anyone to know about my foolish crush. It seemed the joke was on me. If I’d confided in Chris, she might not have made that deal. If he had liked me, maybe things would have been different. That was something I would never know.

  “It doesn’t matter. I just hate that people are prying into his personal life.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “I don’t have a job or a career that can be damaged by this.”

  “Yeah, but you’re in love with him.”

  I glanced up at her and opened my mouth. I wanted to lie, but outside of withholding the truth, I didn’t lie to her ever.

  “I’m in love with him and maybe I always will be.”

  She gave me a comforting squeeze. “Take my advice then and don’t wait. Talk to him. Time is precious and the way he’s been on me to fly home and check on you, I would say he’s in love with you too.”

  CHAPTER 11

  I didn’t exactly take my sister’s advice. Things heated up on social media. Being the brother of one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and a lawyer for many other superstar athletes, the world took notice of Eddie’s activities. Reports of his movements and who he’d been seen with were reported daily. Everyone was looking for me. For over a month, I hid in my apartment ordering what I needed online, including groceries.

  My landlord’s manager had let it be known that I’d had a small group of reporters waiting on me in the parking lot. That’s when he informed me if not for my rent being paid through the next month, he would consider evicting me.

  Eventually, another scandal took the media’s attention away from Eddie McCabe who was now single. When that legal document arrived, I’d cried while eating gelato.

  The time had come, I couldn’t avoid him anymore. Even though I’d sent him a message weeks ago saying I needed time, I wasn’t sure of my reception when I texted to meet him.

  The reply came back asking me to meet him at his place. The thing about text was I had no idea if he was happy or resigned to see me.

  I’d been to his gated estate before, so I didn’t need directions or the code to get inside. He really should change it, I thought as I pulled forward. But quickly remembered, it wasn’t my concern.

  I parked at the circular drive up front. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be there and wanted to have the option of a quick exit if things went south.

  The doorbell chimed as if calling a butler for how regal it sounded.

  When the door opened, I wasn’t able to conceal my shock. Chelsea stood there as if she owned the place. Despite all the reports that had played out in the media made by her girlfriend admitting to their conspiracy in order to get paid or so Chelsea claimed, it appeared that Eddie had forgiven her.

  It took strength built by the wall I was erecting around my heart to ask, “Is Eddie available?”

  Her coy smile suggested all manner of places he could be waiting for her return. I choked down the sarcasm and tried to remain calm. Why would he tell me to come over if he had company? It was the middle of the day. Did he want to rub it in my face that he’d moved on?

  “He’s not here right now.”

  The wheels began to turn in my head.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “To surprise him, of course.” She said it like it should be obvious.

  “So, he doesn’t know you’re here?”

  Though she didn’t move, I felt her spine stiffen as she lifted a stubborn jaw.

  “Sweetie, give it up. Trust me, you’re not his type. My only competition is this Jillian woman.”

  I wanted to laugh. She had so dismissed me as a threat. She had no clue I was Jillian, not that she’d bothered to ask my name when we last met.

  “Aren’t you into girls?” I asked, confused by this woman’s audacity.

  “I like boys too. That’s why I was the one getting pregnant. Besides, Edward is a good man. I told Tracy as much. It’s the reason she took our story to the papers. I’d broken up with her to make things work with Edward.”

  I was so taken aback by her openness, I didn
’t hear the car pull up.

  “Do you honestly think Eddie wants you back?”

  Was she delusional? She used him and he knew it. How gullible did she think he was?

  “Edward,” she said, all teeth and boobs, as she stood so they were on predominant display in the size too small shirt she was wearing.

  His chest met my back as his hand possessively landed on my hips.

  “Jillian,” he said and nuzzled my neck before placing a soft kiss there.

  Chelsea lost all color, making her spray on tan appear sickly.

  “What are you doing in my house, Chelsea?”

  He may have sounded calm, but there was an underlying menace that gave me the chills.

  “I—uh—wanted to surprise you,” she sputtered, hooking a thumb over her shoulder. “I—uh.”

  “I want you out of my house and give me the keys,” he said.

  “But the surprise,” she said.

  “Now or I’ll call the police and have you arrested. There is a court order.”

  She smoothed a hand down her hair. “You can’t mean that. You love me.”

  “I never told you that,” he said.

  Though I couldn’t see his face, I imagined the frosty gaze he sent her.

  “Now,” he said, this time more forcefully.

  She reached for something, which turned out to be her purse from a side table.

  “You’re making a mistake,” she said, holding out the keys.

  When he made no move to let me go, I plucked them from her hand. He shifted us so that she could leave. She got into the car that had been parked a few feet from mine. The Lexus was new and I’d assumed it had been Eddie’s even though it wasn’t his style. I never once guessed it had belonged to her.

  “I need to change the gate code,” he muttered, something I’d thought about when I’d used the code. I followed him in as he continued to speak more to himself than me. “And the locks will be changed tomorrow. I don’t trust that she doesn’t have yet another set.”

  Then he spun, caging me against the door. His mouth was there slanting over mine, tongue sliding across the seam of my lips seeking entrance.