Bare In Bermuda

by Livia Ellis

  “What do you think?” he asked, still standing above her.

  Henna looked up at him, then scooted to the side, making room for him on the bed. He took the invitation and sat next to her. Her arms wrapped around him as she continued to hold the drawing the bruja had given Romeo to bring as an incentive to return home.

  “Thank you for sharing with me.” Her lips pressed against his cheek.

  “You don't think I'm a fool?”

  “No,” she whispered in his ear. “I think you're amazing.”

  “You're not going to tell me that this could be a picture of any woman with an oval face, long hair, and large eyes?”

  “Is that what you think?” she asked as she continued to hold him tightly. “I don't think it is.”

  “I think that is what you would think,” he said. “I do not know you wholly, but I am learning about you rapidly.”

  “Then you must be aware of the fact that I'm learning not everything can be explained or predicted or controlled,” she said. “If you think this is me, then it's me.”

  “It's you.” He took the paper from her fingers and laid it on the nightstand. “You are my destiny.”

  Her eyes no longer held a look of shock of discomfort at those words. Instead, they melted slightly, and a smile curled her lips. “Am I now?”

  “Yes, you are.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Henna took a seat next to her brother in one of the white, wooden folding chairs that had been set out for the guests. Between her and the bay was the most beautiful floral chuppah she'd ever seen. The Hirsch’s' weren't religious. That didn't mean they didn't love their traditions. Leo put an arm around her shoulders and looked at the program that had been handed to her by an adorable chocolate-eyed little girl when she'd arrived.

  “I just don't get programs at weddings,” Leo whispered to her. “Is there going to be a floor show?”

  “I think that will depend on how many tequila shots you have and if there's a band and a mic.”

  “I'm not drinking tonight,” Leo said.

  “Sure,” she scoffed.

  “Seriously,” he said. “I have it on good authority that if I do not get trashed and remain on reasonably good behavior, I will be getting laid. As crazy as it sounds, I'm into that Fatima. She's rebounding hard. Just the way I like them.”

  “You are disgusting.”

  “Si.” Leo chuckled. “We had an awesome day fucking. She did things to me that are illegal in more than a few states. Last night, she showed up at my room drunk and horny. The most winning combination of them all. I don't know what you said to her, but she was so mad she took it out on me. And by take it out on me, I mean she abused me repeatedly like a dominatrix schools a willing slave in a German sex show.” He held up his hand waiting for a high-five.

  She looked at his hand. “I am never touching you again. You do know that Fatima and Eduardo used to have a thing?”

  “I know,” he laughed. “I can see why he wanted to plow into that while he was getting his shit together. She's a freak. No wonder her husband dropped dead from a heart attack during sex.”

  The string quartet placed next to the chuppah changed the music announcing it was time for the bride as Aunt Midge filled the seat on the other side of Henna. Eduardo and Romeo appeared at the canopy. The two hugged, exchanged a few quiet words, then Eduardo took a seat in between his daughter and his mother. They all turned to watch Eden come up the aisle with her parents.

  An audible sigh came from Henna along with unexpected tears. Fortunately, Aunt Midge, who cried during telephone commercials, was always prepared with bundles of tissues. Henna’s mother and father joined them in their seats as the wedding progressed.

  “You two stop crying,” her mother said, welling up. “You're going to get me started.”

  Henna shed happy tears through her sister’s wedding. When Romeo's foot came down on the linen wrapped wine glass, she shouted “Mazel Tov” with the rest of the guests. In a blur of activity, champagne was circulated by servers, the music picked up, and the reception began. Eduardo approached her after receiving congratulations from both families.

  “Congratulations,” she said warmly to the father of the groom.

  “Thank you,” he said warmly. “My son is a married man. Soon enough I will be a grandfather.”

  “Or a father.” The words spontaneously came out of her. “Did I just say that?”

  “You did.” He put an arm around her waist. “You are thinking about what I said to you.”

  “I am,” she said. “And I'm still here, which says a lot.”

  He leaned down and kissed her on the head. “We would make beautiful children. Think of that as an incentive.”

  “Did the bruja tell you that you'd have more children?”

  “She did,” he said. “With the woman who was my destiny. Which is you. You will excuse me.” He gave her a nod and a smile before walking off to speak with the hotel's wedding planner. There would be more surprises before the evening was finished. A wedding invited extravagance and a big gesture. Two things Eduardo relished.

  “Can I join you?” Gloria asked. When she wasn't screaming, her English had just enough of an accent to sound charming.

  “I actually need to find my brother.” Six feet four inches of Dutch Polish blood, mixed with his Marine Corp and CIA training, turned Leo into the perfect bodyguard. If she could only find him. She scanned the crowd.

  “Henna,” Gloria said. “I'm sorry that I've offended you. You've run away every time I've come near you today. I haven't been able to apologize.”

  “Don't worry about it,” she said. “The dress is at the drycleaner. They should be able to get the stain out. We can just leave it there. No harm done.”

  “Yes.” Gloria laid a hand on her arm before she could escape. “Harm is done. My father cares for you. You need to accept my apology. Then we will tell him there is peace between us.”

  “Let me go.” She looked down at Gloria's hand on her arm. “Now.” Gloria released her arm with a snap of her fingers. “Don't touch me.” There was an amount of overreaction in her words. That was clear. But a clear statement about boundaries needed to be made.

  “I wouldn't harm you. You are very touchy.”

  “Do you blame me? You want the truth? I don't want to be around you. You scare me just enough to make me cautious. I know about what you did to Fatima, and I've seen it for myself how nasty you can be. You had no problem coming after me when you knew Eduardo and I were becoming intimate. You can say you were just teasing, but I was there. I know a mean girl when I see one.”

  Confusion and surprise carved the landscape of Gloria's pretty face. “I would think you would want to accept my apology and try to win my favor. At least to try to be friendly with me.”

  “No,” she said. “What I want is for you to keep your distance from me. In turn, I'll stay far the hell away from you. Just so we're clear, I'm falling hard and fast for Eduardo. I can say for certain it's mutual. I have no interest in being your stepmother or your friend. My relationship with him is with him. You're his grown child and you live in New York. If you want to make what really only has to be a friendly acquaintance into a pissing match, then you're going to find I'm less likely to comply than Fatima. I'll just walk away.”

  “But you said you cared for my father.”

  “I do. Very much. What do you think he would do if your behavior pushed me away? So just stay away from me. There is no reason why we can't be polite at a distance.”

  “I'm trying to apologize. I've offered to pay for the dress. What more do you want?”

  “Try harder,” she said. “Win my favor.” She spotted Leo at the bar. Without another word, she walked away.

  Leo put an arm around her waist. “I very nearly came over.”

  “I think Gloria and I have come to an understanding.”

  “That had to be interesting.”

  “She's a bully. I just gave her a punch in the nose. Or,
more truthfully, I implied that I could take her daddy away from her if she didn't play nice with me.”

  “Could you?”

  “Probably not,” she said. “Not that I would. Finding out that Eduardo wants kids was a game changer for Gloria.”

  “He wants kids?”

  “Yup.”

  “Ouch,” Leo said. “That is a game changer.”

  “Don't I know it.”

  ****

  The evening was as close to perfection as Henna could imagine. The sunset streaked the sky with hues of salmon and saffron as the Bermudian breeze carried the mingled smells of lily and hibiscus through the warm air. Henna sat next to her father at the round table littered with used coffee cups, rumpled cloth napkins, and wilting floral centerpieces. She watched Eduardo dance with her mother and wondered what a future with him would be like.

  “So you and Juan Valdez,” her father said in lieu of a conversation starter.

  “Heard about that?” She lifted her champagne glass to her lips. Getting her family to stop calling Eduardo Juan Valdez was futile so she didn't bother trying.

  “Eden and Leo would not be silenced,” her father said. “I don't think you could have given your sister a better wedding gift than being the one who gives me palpitations for a change.”

  “Are you okay with this?” she asked. “Or are you still convinced he's a drug czar?”

  “Nah,” her father said. “I had a friend at the DEA run him for me.”

  “You did what?” Henna silently counted to ten then exhaled.

  “I had Lon Vaughan run him. You know Lon. You went to your prom with his boy Ronnie.” Her father gave her a look that let her know he hadn't forgotten her senior prom and she had better not have either. At the time, he didn't say a word when he picked her up at two in the morning at a warehouse party in the Meat Packing District. Since then, he'd taken every opportunity he could to remind her she'd been duly warned and that he knew what he was talking about. “You remember Ronnie? I told you he was a bum. You should have listened to Daddy. Daddy knows a bum when he sees one.”

  “What do you mean you had him run?” Silently, she reminded herself to remain calm. Growing up with a police officer father had always presented a unique set of challenges when dating.

  “What do you think I mean peaches? Daddy takes care of his girls. I wanted to make sure Eden wasn't getting messed up in bad business.”

  “And?” If the Salazars had been criminals or not met her father's standards for acceptable, they wouldn't have been in Bermuda for Eden's wedding. Eden would be locked in the rumpus room, and her father’s extensive law enforcement contacts would be rounding up Romeo's family.

  “He's clean,” her father said. “But not too clean. Too clean equals dirty especially in Colombia. He's an honest businessman if there is such a thing. He's had a few run-ins with the cartel, but what Lon hears from his sources, he's respected in Colombia so he's left alone. What I hear is the cartel tried to go up against his father back in the 80's and regretted it. No wonder. That Enrique is a tough old bird. The Salazars have a lot of land and a lot of people living and working on that land who are very loyal to them.”

  “So he's okay?” Her father's opinion mattered to her. If he had a genuine reason not to like Eduardo, even if it was just a gut feeling, she wouldn't dismiss it.

  “He's okay. Enrique?” Her father tipped his head a little in the direction of Enrique and Inez. “Not sure about him. He's a lot more old school than Eduardo. That's for certain. That and he's giving your mother ideas. That's annoying.”

  “Such as?”

  “She was singing Vaya Con Dios in the shower.”

  Henna tipped back her head and roared with laughter as her hands came together. “Dad, has it ever occurred to you that maybe you need to bring it a little more?”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” her father asked.

  “You know, tell her she's beautiful and that the sun rises in her eyes, and you know, maybe put on a suit and tie every once in a while to take her somewhere special.”

  “I wear a suit and tie every day.”

  “You're missing the point. It wouldn't kill you to make Mommy feel like a princess on occasion.” She looked at her mother being twirled around the dance floor by Eduardo. “Mom is a good-looking woman. She's in shape, takes care of herself...”

  “I get the point. You're saying I need to turn on the charm.”

  “It wouldn't kill you, Daddy,” she said.

  The music ended, and her mother and Eduardo exited the dance floor.

  Her father stood from the table. “Come on,” he said, offering Henna his hand. “Why don't you go and distract Eduardo, and I'll steal my wife back. I've seen the way the two of you make eyes at each other when you don't think anyone notices. Even if Eden and Leo hadn't told me, I'd already pretty well figured it out. Daddy is no dummy.”

  “Daddy.” She stared at him with her eyebrow raised. She knew her father realized her relationship with Eduardo was physical. That he had avoided saying anything was typical of him. There were things she didn't discuss with her father and her relationships with men was one of them.

  “Go distract him so I can dance with my lovely bride.”

  Henna left her father, who went to her mother, and edged her way Eduardo who was talking with Fatima.

  “Care to dance?” she asked Eduardo, studiously ignoring the daggers Fatima's eyes shot at her.

  “It would be my pleasure,” he said, offering her his hand. He led her to the floor and moved her around slowly to the music.

  “Do I need to watch you when that woman is around?” she asked, letting her hand slide from his shoulder down to his lapel. Her fingers fiddled with the lily pinned to the black wool of his suit. “Because I won't. I like that you're all man, but I'm woman enough to know I don't have to put up with a man who is easily distracted.”

  “You don't have to worry,” he said. “I have just confirmed to Fatima that we are lovers and I would like to see what the future holds for us. I would like to spend this time with you. Do you want to be with me?”

  “Very much.” She ran her hand from his neck to the lapel of his black wool crepe suit. “I'm going to go to my room.”

  “I'll come with you,” he said. “Everyone is drunk and no one will care. Except maybe Fatima.”

  “No,” she said.

  “You don't want me?” He looked at her perplexed.

  “I do,” she said. “I just need a few minutes.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “I just need a few minutes,” she said, trying to smile coyly and succeeding based on his reaction.

  “Of course.” He grinned and escorted her to the edge of the dance floor then walked her across the lawn to the terrace of the hotel. “Twenty minutes?”

  “That sounds good.”

  He ran a finger along her jaw before stepping away and letting her go.

  Henna rushed to her room trying to figure out exactly how to seduce Eduardo. “Okay.” She sighed with her back to her room door as her hand flipped on the artificial light. “Too bright.” She ran around the room shutting off some lights and dimming others until she was satisfied. The television was tuned to what was referred to as romantic mix. The bed had already been turned down by the maid service.

  She ran into the bathroom, unzipping her dress and flinging it off as quickly as she could, followed closely by her underwear. She moisturized, perfumed, fixed her lipstick and mussed her hair. If seduction were an Olympic sport, she was going for the gold. She slipped into the pale blue baby doll nightie and matching panties she'd bought just in case.

  Her final question as she looked around the room was, what to be doing when he walked in. “He's not dumb so he knows I'm going to be waiting for him.”

  She tried several poses and was left standing with her hand on her hip, studying the bed when he knocked on the door. She looked over her shoulder as the door opened, forgetting to pose.

 
Eduardo slipped in and shut the door behind him snapping the security lock into place. “How did you know this was exactly what I needed?”

  “Sometimes I like to be in charge of the seduction,” she said. “You don't always have to be the boss.”

  “No,” he said, placing his hands on her hips. “Sometimes it's nice to give up control. It is not something I often do.”

  “Do it now.” Her hands slipped up his suit jacket and slid it off of his shoulders. Piece by piece, she undressed him until he stood before her naked. She ran her hands over his smooth skin, wrapping her fingers around his stiff cock.

  “Tell me what you want,” he said. “Tell me what to do and I will do it.”

  “Anything?” she asked.

  “Anything,” he said. “You trust me and I will trust you.”

  “Lick me.”

  He drew her panties off of her and tossed them on the floor then lifted her and set her on the edge of the bed. His body nudged between her legs and opened her to his attention.

  “Spread your legs,” he said as his palm traveled down her abdomen and over the mound of her pelvic bone. He leaned over and examined her like a painting.

  Henna opened her legs as blood rushed to her cheeks. He knelt on the floor in front of her and grasped her by the thighs, tugging her to the edge of the bed and hooking one leg over each of his shoulders. Her pulse pounded harder as he dipped his head, burying his face between her legs.

  He seized her by the hips and raised her to his mouth. She held her breath until he slipped his tongue between the quivering folds of her pussy and circled her sensitized clit. He lapped at her slit and honed in on her sensitive bud again, tickling it with his tongue. A sharp twinge of pleasure crackled through her, and she gasped, threading her fingers through his hair. He plunged two twined fingers inside her opening, twirling and swirling in sync with his tongue. The rising orgasm teased her, driving her into a frenzied need.

  Rolling ripples of pleasure surged then faded, only to return stronger and hotter. His strokes grew faster. She arched her back, wanting to reach the summit of release yet savoring every flick of his tongue over her clit. A pulsating rhythm danced up her spine, and the sexual ecstasy thrummed in a cacophony of release.