by Ciara Cole
“Yes, she’ll be released from the hospital, but she will continue as an outpatient while still receiving treatment.”
Father, mother and daughter shared relieved looks. It wasn’t lost on Rachael how well Leila had taken to Sean and had never looked on him as an outsider but as part of their unit. Rachael had never been the type to ever bring a man home or around her daughter, and it still amazed her how Leila had been all too intuitive to know Sean was no ordinary entrant into their little world.
Just yesterday, Rachael had gone to get some coffee for herself and Sean from the hospital’s cafeteria, and had returned only to find Sean and Leila asleep side by side, Sean holding her hand. With their faces so close together, it was easy to see the resemblance, and it was all Rachael could do to hold back tears.
She didn’t know why things happened the way they did. She wasn’t sure if Leila herself understood much about the situation. And yet, there seemed some kind of kinship that Leila must have sensed, and that was why she’d been so drawn to Sean from the start—enough to trust her sixth sense. Leila had wished for a daddy so long, she didn’t hesitate in presuming he was Sean, with that child-like way that was almost psychic. And it couldn’t be just because Sean was the first man her mother would ever bring home…but something to do with how he’d held her tight and showed so much emotion when she’d fallen sick into his arms.
Rachael couldn’t worry about those things she had no control over, such as the connection between Sean and Leila, which grew stronger by the day. Her main concern was that, despite Sean making all this effort, there was still a long way to go before she could fully rely on him.
“Since Leila is out of the woods and recovering nicely, why don’t you both get some rest?” the doctor suggested. “Really, I insist. Distract yourselves with a good hearty meal or catch a movie. Leila will be perfectly fine—the nurses will take good care of her.”
Even Rachael, with her motherly, almost anxiety disorder level instincts, knew the doctor was right. She kissed the dozing Leila goodnight and then left the hospital with Sean.
When they were inside the car and Sean asked if she’d like to go to his place, Rachael wasn’t sure how to answer. Would she be giving him the wrong idea? They hadn’t exactly set anything out between them.
Finally, Rachael decided not to read too much into everything, especially when he added lightly, “I could cook us something delicious, since all we’ve had all day is hospital food. There are three guest rooms, so you’re also welcome to stay over if you want to.”
Rachael considered the prospect of spending the night alone at her place. It didn’t seem appealing at all—and neither did the prospect of being away from Sean. She couldn’t lie to herself and say none of her old feelings had come surging back with all the time they’d spent around each other. Having to share those long days of adversity and trying to make sure they were there for their daughter had in some way endeared him all the more to her.
So she smiled and said yes, she’d love to go with him to his place. She wasn’t trying to nurse any high hopes and simply wanted someone to share some time with. That was all there was to it, Rachael’s inner self vowed.
***
“You really don’t have to trouble yourself to cook anything,” Rachael said shyly once Sean let her into his house. “We could just order some Chinese.”
“If you’re really in the mood for something Asian, then I can easily rustle up some Korean-style dumplings. They’re not just quick but tasty too. And trust me, I enjoy making them, so don’t you worry about me troubling myself.”
Sean missed cooking, since he hadn’t been doing much of it while keeping watch over Leila the past week. He couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather prepare a meal for than Rachael. Thankfully, he’d managed to convince Moira not to resign, and she’d been holding it down for him at the restaurant, ensuring the replacement head chef carried things along without a hitch.
He started up with making the dumpling filling while Rachael watched with interest. It was a mix of beef, pork, kimchi, tofu, onions and scallions, with a soy based sauce.
“You can help me with wrapping the mandu—that means dumpling,” Sean said when Rachael insisted on lending a hand. He set out the mandu circular dumpling wrappers and showed her the pinch and fold technique of sealing the filling into the center of the floury wraps.
Laughing and joking, they repeated the fold and pinch technique until their fingers were coated in flour. Rachael got some on her cheek, which was cute, and Sean grinned. She gave him a wide-eyed look, but he merely leaned in and kissed her on the tip of her nose. Then he dabbed a spot of flour there too.
Rachael gasped and then wasted no time in retaliating. Their playful antics as they smeared each other with their flour-dusted fingers reminded Sean of their high school days and hanging out in his uncles’ pub or out riding on Sean’s motorbike.
Finally, they’d made as many dumplings as they needed, and Sean fried and then steamed them.
“Ready to serve,” he said as Rachael returned from freshening up. She could feel her stomach rumble just looking at the set table and inhaling all the sumptuous scents. Sean handed her a plate of dumplings with some dipping sauce and chopsticks.
“Wow, only a chef could make this look and taste so good,” Rachael said in awe. “Damn, I’m starving.”
“You did great with helping out, so you deserve to fill your tummy,” he teased. “There’s some double chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream for dessert if you’d like some afterwards.”
Rachael smiled at him, not wanting to dwell on how sexual it sounded on Sean’s lips. And he didn’t even know it. Her naughty mind could just picture it—the double chocolate cake, that being her—and some vanilla ice cream…that being Sean.
Damn, don’t think like that, girl. She didn’t want to embarrass herself or start getting moist at the dinner table. Even though it wouldn’t be obvious to Sean, she would know, and it would make her squirm with shame at her roaring libido.
Dessert ended up tasting really good, and Rachael had to ask where he’d bought the cake from. She was amazed when he said he made it himself. “I love baking treats, which I do every Sunday, just like my mom used to. That way we can enjoy them for the whole week.”
Rachael nodded and wondered if there was nothing this man couldn’t do. “I can imagine you teaching Leila all about baking. And getting to make dumplings with her,” Rachael began with a smile, which faded as she realized what she just said. “Oh. I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. I just…it suddenly hit me. I never even asked you if you minded that Leila started to call you her ‘daddy’ from the beginning. I didn’t tell her anything beforehand, and I was surprised how she simply took it for granted who you were.”
“Well, I’m not sorry. And I don’t mind at all, since it’s true and I’m her father. It’s not something I’d ever be ashamed of or shirk from.”
“That’s great,” Rachael said, forcing a bright smile. “I mean, that you’re both getting along and there isn’t any awkwardness.”
“You’re right, it worked out so well. Hopefully, things will advance just as smoothly with everything else I’ve planned.”
“Oh?” Rachael asked, her heart suddenly slowing dangerously to a dim beat as she drifted her gaze to Sean’s.
“When my brand took off, I found myself thrown into the limelight, becoming somewhat of a celebrity,” Sean said. “Much as I seem like the independent playboy with the billionaire lifestyle, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to slow down and become a family man. And maybe win back the heart of the woman I could never really forget.”
Rachael had no clue what to say, and it didn’t help that her throat felt too clogged with shock for her to voice any reply.
“I don’t mind being the first to apologize about the mix-up with the email, because despite that, it was still wrong of me not to try harder to get in contact with yo
u again.”
“Me too,” Rachael said hastily. “I shouldn’t have let my pride get in the way after that one unanswered email. I should have tried again, and again.”
“Let’s not waste any more time going over that,” Sean said, gently cupping her face. “Even with the drama of the last several weeks, I’m so happy you’re back in my life. I really never did stop thinking about you. I’m freaking glad that I have such a beautiful daughter.”
“It feels really good to hear you say that.”
His genuineness amazed her, the strong hand he reached out gripping hers tightly over the table. So much gentleness and power were combined in that grasp. With him, Rachael felt safe and secure and yet, all at once desirable and feminine. She felt that pull of a feeling as old and natural as time.
He gazed into her face with searching eyes. Rachael had always felt connected to this man, heart and soul. From that first time, she’d known she had found her soul mate. The long-lost love who’d eluded her for seven years was now there right by her side. Adam to her Eve.
Sean watched the changing emotions on Rachael’s face. In her beauty, he saw the woman she was and always would be. He stared deeply into her warm brown eyes and caught the glimpse of the teenage girl still alive within her. Within those soulful depths, he sensed the longing, desire and passion burning so strongly that it had him losing his breath.
He also sensed the ache, all those years of immense burden and solitude. Through the responsibilities and pain she’d had to bear raising a child without the father, she had grown into a woman looking so beautiful to his eyes. More than any woman he’d ever been with. He longed with his heart and mind to forever ease the hurt she allowed him to glimpse for a mere second.
“I think I knew one day we would find one another,” he said softly. “Our energies have been seeking each other over time and space.”
“I always felt something like that too. Like I was born to know you, and you were born to know me. Our destinies entwined within each other.”
Rachael’s body felt alive with an unquenchable fire as she trembled while saying those words. For a moment, uncertainty filled her mind, and she hesitated to look into his eyes as deeply as before. She wasn’t quite ready to lose herself completely—and if she gazed into the intensity of him, her heart told her she would surely be lost.
Sean knew her as no man had ever known her, had touched her mind, heart and her core. Many nights in her dreams of the last seven years she’d sought him, sought his touch. Now that they’d reached this close to finding the keys to paradise, maybe she could risk losing herself after all.
It was no surprise to her when before long, they ended up together in the bedroom. Touching, tasting, teasing. Time stole them away ever so swiftly as the magic of their desire blazed and burned, never flickering for a moment.
Their passionate dance was as ageless as the moon and stars reflecting through the open windows into the bedroom. Their heartbeats picked up to the tune of their bodies accepting each other. Pulling her willing body closer to him, Sean made her feel his need for her pressing firmly against her core. Thrilled in the power she felt as a woman, Rachael succumbed to his mastery.
Shudders of pure ecstasy raced through her flesh as Sean placed his mouth on her throat. Her hands moved seductively upon his rippling back and shoulders, and she heard the rough sigh of pleasure rise from his throat.
Rachael melted into Sean, and never had his soft touch made her feel more desired, beautiful and loved. What made tonight so different? Could it be because of all they’d been through in the past few days?
He was her past, present and future. The magnitude of her emotions for him felt enormous, and she realized why no one else had ever been able to touch her soul even in passing.
Sean’s lips trailed over her body to taste the bounty of her. Her neck, her breasts. He ran his tongue around each tight nipple in turns, unable to decide which one to feast on more, so he paid equal homage. Then, when she was moaning and breathless, he dipped his head much lower to taste the sweetness at the apex of her thighs.
She was the elusive woman of his ideals, the one he’d looked for in the crowds of people running through his day and hoped to recognize as his past love. It was her voice he’d longed to hear, her warm ebony body the one he’d longed to touch…her heart he longed to claim.
Sean was shocked by the feelings racing through his mind and heart. Never could he have imagined that making love to a woman’s body could have completed him as Rachael’s did. Her unforgettable scent and sumptuous flavors filled his subconscious like an extravagant mist.
“Your juices are flowing out of you, love. And it’s just what I’ve been craving for all night,” Sean growled.
His darkened eyes flashed up quickly as she moaned his name, while his tongue traced circles in her moist valley. He saw her lips open in a muted scream in response to him French kissing her clit, round and round, tantalizing it to peek out from its shy hood.
Her fingers wound in his hair, and he could sense her reaching her climax from his tongue’s assault. At the last minute, she tugged him up suddenly and fused her lips to his in an open-mouthed kiss filled with the taste of her slickness.
“Oh shite,” Sean groaned hoarsely against her lips, that Irish twang more evident than ever. He maneuvered his erection between her thighs and teased her for some moments with his thick, swollen head pressed hotly into her dripping folds. Her legs tightened together around his waist, urging him.
“You sure you’re ready for me, love?”
“God yes. Please take me, Sean,” Rachael begged. He shoved his hips until his crown embedded within her tautly. She inhaled a sharp breath, unable to speak another intelligible word while bracing herself for his full onslaught, wanting it badly.
But shockingly, he pulled out completely and buried his face in between her legs again. Rachael moaned, sobbing out to the heavens. Wicked man—what a tease.
After a few blissful minutes of tonguing her down, Sean stopped abruptly and, yet again, probed his rigidly swollen length all the way into her entrance.
“Oh!” Rachael screamed out in ecstasy. Sean was still, laying his body on top of hers while he let her get accustomed to the massive, throbbing size of him. Then, he began to thrust in and out of her with carnal, rugged strokes that sent vibrations through them both as her muscles gripped him tightly.
Sean looked down to his thick member glistening from her nectar, which Rachael still had clinging to her tongue, as it plunged deep inside those swollen, dark pink lips. Watching him fixated on the sight was more erotic than she could believe. Plunging faster, on and on, each thrust shook the mattress in a rocking motion, adding to the powerful rhythm of their lovemaking.
Rachael tightened around him more, wanting to feel his explosion deep inside, to drown in it. Suddenly, she heard an incredibly shrill echo… It was her, coming to a screaming, window-cracking orgasm that she hadn’t even seen coming.
“Sean, oh sweet lord, Sean!”
His pleased smirk soon turned into a grimace as the spasms within her tight walls rippled him closer to the edge. She could tell he wanted to hold out more, yet he couldn’t seem to slow down and only slammed himself back inside of her almost feverishly.
Sparked off by the ecstatic arch of her spine and her loud moans, Sean couldn’t take it anymore. He came hard, shooting white liquid lava inside the very neck of her cervix. Still hard and buried deep inside her, he gave in completely to his release, her name a hoarse mantra on his lips. “Rachael. Rachael...”
As one, shattered and welded, they felt complete.
Chapter Eleven
Rachael let out a deep sigh. Her baby girl was fed, and now they were watching TV together, simply relaxing. Leila loved to watch the food channel more and more after she’d found out what being a chef entailed. Sometimes, they caught a cooking show with Sean featuring in it, and Leila was overjoyed to get to watch her daddy on TV.
The one thing Racha
el had always cherished was getting to watch her daughter grow up. They’d had a rough start, with Rachael being just out of high school and eighteen-years old when she’d had Leila, but somehow things had turned around.
“Mommy, is Daddy still coming by? It’s getting late,” Leila asked worriedly.
“Daddy’s so busy, honey, he has this big, important restaurant to run. But he did say he’ll make it, and it’s not that late,” Rachael responded.
Rachael’s phone began buzzing, alerting her of a new call. An immediate smile appeared on her face.
“Hello, Rachael, it’s me,” said the voice of Moira, Sean’s manager cum personal assistant.
“Oh hi, Moira.” Rachael couldn’t help the way her voice sounded concerned at the fact she was hearing from Moira not Sean.
“There’s no cause for worry—Sean simply asked me to call and let you know he’s stuck in a last-minute business meeting. He said to expect him in an hour or two.”
“That’s kind of you to let me know. Thanks, Moira.”
“How’s the little one? She’s been resting up well since the hospital?”
Rachael felt a smile tug her lips. Moira was really nice to be showing such interest. Rachael had found Sean’s manager friendly, helpful and easy to get along with. Also, Rachael was happy to get to know someone close to Sean from back in Ireland who also worked so closely with him. Rachael knew that Sean and Moira were just friends, and in fact, while they were together they seemed to act more like cousins with the way they carried on.
“Leila is doing splendidly. She will be able to join her friends in school in about a month.”
“That’s grand. I’ll see you sometime soon, won’t I?”
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Rachael said, mirroring the genial tone Moira used.
The call ended, and it was left to Rachael to do the consoling while her daughter showed disappointment that Sean would be even later than expected.
“I’ll let you wait up for him a little after your bedtime, but if he still doesn’t get here, you’ll just have to see Daddy some other time. Now don’t give me that face; your daddy would say the same thing too. You getting the best sleep is important so you can recover faster,” Rachael said gently as she patted Leila’s curly, plaited hair. “Don’t you want to go out and play with your friends and also spend time outdoors with Daddy and Mommy?”
