Dane had to be drunk and feeling the moment, even though I hadn’t seen him take a swallow or a sip. But it had to be something making him say this. “Dane—”
He crossed a finger against my lips. His arm snaked around my neck, muscular and secure. I felt warmth of his cheek as it pressed against mine. He nestled in the curve of my neck. “What I’m trying to say, Lynn, is I have a deep affection for you. When I’m around you it makes me nervous and excited at the same time. I’m actually nervous just standing here. I’m too close to you to contain it.”
I let out a shuddered breath. “Dane, you’re drunk.”
“I’m not. I’m as sober as the day I was born, and I mean every word of what I’ve said to you. This isn’t the easiest thing to express. I’m not an emotional person.” Dane fiddled with his hands, wringing them like he was trying to keep them from sweating. “I’m stepping out on a ledge here. You could turn your head in disgust for all I know, and it’s a possibility that you will, but without risk there’s no reward and I think you’re well worth the risk.”
I opened my mouth and closed it. I wanted to speak to him truthfully, tell him I didn’t feel the same way. But not yet. I was flattered by what he was saying, but his words couldn’t possibly be true. I didn’t get a chance, however. The moment my lips parted to try and speak the words, Dane turned me around and pressed his lips on to mine, kissing me like he was going off to war.
To my surprise, I fell right in. Not that I wasn’t attracted to him, it was just I knew I shouldn’t be doing it. But why shouldn’t I? Really? I was a single woman now. And he was an eligible man. Of that there was no confusion and no debate. Simon had moved on, and in essence so should I, but my heart was just… I don’t know… telling me something.
Dane pulled me in by my waist. I arched my back, relenting to the will of his desire, coming closer to him until we both shared a breath; sweet and tainted with liquor, bitter and acidic, with taste of smoked grain, yet still it was nice. I was comforted. In his arms I rested my weight. Dane’s wet, serpentine tongue was pleasantly exploring the entirety of my mouth; it slipped past my lips and coiled around my own in a heated mating dance of carnal pleasure.
He traced along my jaw line with his fingertips, down the length of my neck and down the center of my back. I heard the zipper of my dress being pulled as I allowed the whole of my senses to thoroughly focus on the feel of his touch, the smell of his skin and the sound of his slow, calming breath. My dress started to fall off my arms. I tensed when I realized what that meant and what would happen. Then I consciously took a cleansing breath and willed myself to relax.
Dane pulled his head back to look into my eyes. A grin stretched up the side of his face. Dane bent down and kissed my inner shoulder outward, down along my arm. I felt him tug at my dress, a slow and steady pull as it fell completely off my body, slid past my legs and dropped around my ankles in a heap. My breasts fell free, bountiful, naked and brazen. My fully aroused nipples felt the nip of the air and stiffened to the point of sexual agony.
Dane’s kisses reached my wrist, then the back of my hand; his lips traveled along my fingers, then he took them in his mouth and sucked them one by one. Right then I felt my flower moisten; silken, sensual liquid began to sodden in abundance.
Dane removed his suit coat and stretched it across the grass. He then scooped me up in the crook of his arms, laid me down on it and slipped his hips between my legs. I reached up toward his chest, anxiously undoing his shirt one button at a time, while Dane pulled a condom out of his pocket.
The glossy, golden package glistened in the moonlight as Dane ripped it open with the side of his teeth then impatiently pulled at his shirt. It slid off his shoulders, over his arms, and he tossed it in the bushes. Next he removed his pants and also tossed them to the side; his body was on full display for my pleasure.
Dane laid his body over me, covered me with his skin, propped up on his elbows in a plank of pure strength. His chest hovered over my breasts, almost touching my nipples; they were eager and perky, ready for his mouth to surround them. I could feel his hard shaft between my legs. His cock was so close and teasing to my opening, lying between my folds like it was meant to be there. I needed him to move forward. I needed him to take me like he needed me, hard and fast. With pure, unadulterated, animalistic hunger.
Heat spread out in my cheeks. I felt frozen with anxiety—not the nervous kind; the feeling was more like impatience. I was yearning for his touch; my passage was pulsing with want and need. My common sense screamed to push him away, but the rapture had me embraced. I couldn’t stop what was happening; Dane’s kisses were filled with passion, of slow romance and fragility ever so gentle.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. Dane turned me over and I straddled his waist; my face now hovered over his. I could feel his breath on me, feel the pounding of his heart against mine, feel his desires, his want for me, his surrender to the will of his emotions.
My center dripped wet over his shaft, painting it in my excitement. I was enticed, hot and impatient, wanting him to slide himself in me with force so I could stretch myself to accept his girth, no matter the pain or pleasure. That was all it would have taken for him to have me. That was all it would’ve taken for him to win me outright; that was all it would’ve taken for me to make my mind up then and there who I wanted to be with.
I felt him wrap his arms around me and pull me down on to him—now this is what I wanted, some control. As he did, his shaft slid forward the exact moment I pushed, dropping my hips toward him, his member slowly penetrating my center. A scream escaped my throat, and in the middle of that scream Dane rose up by the waist and pressed his lips against mine. It was sweet and caring, a powerful, affectionate kiss. His tongue slipped past my lips and tasted like more.
Pressing my hands on his chest, I posted my arms, giving me the leverage that I needed to slide up to the tip of his cock and down to the base, wincing because his shaft was so erect. Dane moaned and said my name as he kissed from my chin to the middle of my chest while keeping our hips in rhythm. Teeth slid across my nipples unexpectedly, gently, not causing any pain. I felt my passage tense in reaction, preparing for a release and my climax.
Dane must have felt it too, the tightness around his girth. He pulled my face down toward his. I thought he would kiss me again, but instead he brushed against my cheek and whispered in my ear, “Be mine, Lynn. Be mine once and for all. Let me show you how a real man treats a woman.”
Dane increased his speed, stroking inside me. I could feel his cock pulsing as he begged in my ear, repeating the same words over and over. I wasn’t able to respond, as his pleas were drowned out by my loud, reckless wails as convulsions took over my body. My climax had me in a frenzy as the feeling took over my entire body; electricity had my nerve endings charged. I felt like I could light up a city.
Dane’s growls came from deep in his chest. His release was powerful, followed by shortened strokes; quick and continuing until he was empty. I felt I’d come again from his movements. My muscles felt like jelly; I collapsed on top of Dane with my body well spent, and my efforts to catch my breath were failing miserably. That was when I heard a noise. Someone’s feet were falling heavy in the grass.
Someone was… I listened…
Someone was coming our way.
Lesson # 15
Contemplation can lead to revelation
“Sometimes you have to stop to appreciate what you’ve got.” -Bobbi Garner
Lynn
The day before graduation was hectic. Not only did we have to get ourselves together—our caps, our gowns, our hair and our clothes, the emotions we were trying to keep in check—I decided to pack up my room at the last minute and move out as soon as I could. Back to Fresno I went… I guess. It’d been real with the Fosters, but I really had to go because both Simon and Dane were driving me crazy.
I was in a pair of cutoff shorts and a yellow tank top, sweating my ass off. Summer had come along quickly,
with the hot weather rolling in right before graduation, and it was unbearable. The dorms were miserable as people went between packing, drinking and dancing to celebrate the end of another year. Some, like me, were celebrating for the last time, and others were bringing in the summer with a bang, knowing they’d be graduating and going home soon whether they lived far away or were local.
The booming music, the breaking glass and crowded rooms had been in full swing for twenty-four hours. Most of us hadn’t gotten much sleep, with the exception of Bobbi, since she had her own place, an exclusive condo clear across town. I wished I could bunk with her for the summer. I could get my life together, get a responsible job and maybe make my parents happy for once.
With Sonja and Bobbi’s help, I managed to keep most of the madness out of our room while still being able to work on getting it clean. I needed some peace to pack up my stuff while Sonja was on the phone with her family. All of us were soon to be thrust out into the real world, and honestly, no amount of schooling could ever prepare us for that. We had to bump our heads into walls, trip and fall on our faces, deal with life and whatever it had to throw at us.
“So where do you want this?” Bobbi’s boyfriend Jay was standing by my bed in a white tank top, Stanford shorts and flip-flops, muscles bulging in places I never knew existed. He had two huge U-Haul boxes cradled in his arms. They were stuffed to the brim with heavy textbooks and too many papers to count.
“Oh, just stack them up along the wall outside the door.”
“Here?” He poked his head outside, concerned about the madness going on. “Are you sure?”
I threw up my hands and waved off his concerns. “No one will touch them, trust me. Books are like kryptonite to graduates during summer. It’ll be another six months before I can touch one myself, and I’m a bookworm by anyone’s standards.”
Jay shrugged and set the boxes down outside like I’d asked him to. While he was bending over, Bobbi started staring at his ass like it was the last piece of pie on the breakfast table.
I nudged her on the shoulder. “What?” Bobbi grinned, dusting off her navy-blue t-shirt. “Sometimes you have to stop to appreciate what you’ve got. If you don’t, you might not have it for long.” And then she winked. I took the statement to heart more than she knew.
“Well, I see you’re doing a whole lot of appreciating, then.”
“Wouldn’t you if you had it?”
I couldn’t argue with that. Jay was an Adonis of heft and muscle.
I sat on my suitcase; actually, Bobbi and I both sat on my suitcase. And the damn thing wouldn’t close. I had acquired a few things during the past four years, and now my luggage was overflowing, to my annoyance.
Someone had knocked on the door. I shot a surprised look at Sonja because I hadn’t realized it was closed. Jay must’ve shut it before he left out to get food. Sonja pointed to the phone in her hand, mouthing, “I’m on the phone”—most likely with her parents, working out the details of the flight she’d take to get home. So I got up and made my way to the door, wondering if it was Jay or some half-drunk student too intoxicated to figure out what room he was in.
When I opened the door I saw a man in a tuxedo that looked entirely out of place in the war-torn hall. He even had white gloves on. “Are you Ms. Minnelli?” I nodded, getting more curious by the second. He handed me an envelope with my name stenciled in gold letters and then actually bowed before he left.
It was an embarrassing scene, almost amusing, but not entirely. Watching this man, who looked like a butler out of a Jane Austen book, pushing his way through a hallway of drunken college students, was amusing to the point where we were stunned.
Before I closed the door, I began to open the envelope. Bobbi and Sonja were all over me, peeking over my shoulder, trying to get a look. I guessed Sonja had hung up with her parents. I just heard a quiet mumble and her saying goodbye.
The envelope was so pretty I was trying to be careful for fear of tearing, but my anxiousness got the best of me. So it ripped, but only a little. Inside was a piece of paper that looked like it was made of old parchment. I unrolled and read it, knowing exactly where it came from.
Dane Foster invites you to join him for a special event…
“Here we go again,” said Sonja, rolling her eyes. For some reason she never took a liking to Dane. I couldn’t say that I blamed her, considering what went down that night in the city. But I had the suspicion she wouldn’t have liked him even if that night had never happened. Some people just don’t get over people hurting their friends. Sonja was one of those types that would hate you forever.
I looked at the clock and went in search of my phone. It was after four in the afternoon, and I was supposed to call my parents two hours ago. I’d promised I’d let them know how packing was going and when I planned to leave after graduation.
“You know, it’s a shame we can’t all graduate together. Econ doesn’t graduate at the same time as law, law doesn’t graduate at the same time as psych.” Bobbi clapped her hands together, dusting them off, and then looked around the room. “So I guess this is it, ladies. It’s all we can do for now besides rolling up your mattress, Lynn, and making you sleep on the floor.”
I cringed. “I may be young, but my back isn’t, so no thank you.”
“Suit yourself.” Bobbi smiled.
“Can you guys believe we’re finally graduating?” Sonja slipped her way in between Bobbi and I and put her arms around our shoulders. “By this time tomorrow we’ll be going our separate ways. Well… Bobbi will be here, but Lynn, you’ll be back in Fresno, and after I get back from visiting my family I start my internship in New York.”
“Actually,” Bobbi interjected, “I might be moving to LA. It’s not a hundred percent confirmed yet, but it’s a strong possibility. Once I pass the bar, Jim Donnelly, our family lawyer, said I can interview for an associate position at his firm. It’s a small firm, but it will do. At least that way I’ll get hands-on experience, being that family law is what I plan to specialize in.”
“So none of you will be around? I’ll be all alone rotting away in hot-ass Fresno probably doing the books for hotel chains like my mom; living a boring corporate life with my modest little house and my sweet yelping dog that I’m too dependent on because I don’t have a man of my own?”
“Now, don’t you think you’re exaggerating just a teensy weensy bit?” Bobbi pinched her fingers to the point where they were touching. “Last I remember, you had two rich hunks giving it to you six ways from Sunday, and sometimes twice on Tuesdays. I’d say your life is far from being boring, Mary Magdalene. Actually, I’d say at this point your life is downright scandalous.”
Sonja smiled then looked away, “Count me out of this one.” She turned around and settled on her bed.
“Sonja?” I looked at her, trying to get her to back me up.
“Nope.” She put her hands up. “Not doing it.”
“All right.” I sighed as I turned around to face her. “So what are you saying, Bobbi? Because it sounds like you’re calling me a slut or something worse.”
“No, I’m not calling you a slut, Lynn. You’re my best friend. I would never call you that. All I’m saying is you might want to slow down. This running around between brothers cannot be good for you in the long run. So take your time and choose. Playing two brothers like the Fosters against each other will bite you in the ass sooner or later.”
Bobbi’s words cut me deep to the heart. What if what she said was true? Was I unknowingly playing Simon and Dane against each other? Was the main reason for them not getting along me? Not Dane’s brash personality that could rub anyone the wrong way. Not Simon’s need to control everything and how he lost it once he couldn’t. Until then I thought those were the two main factors and I was… I don’t know… something extra to go on top.
It was true they didn’t grow up together, not having all those years to get to know each other and bond. But what if I wasn’t in the equation? What if I bowed ou
t and didn’t date either one? Would they eventually be as close as two brothers were supposed to be? Would they eventually make amends if I wasn’t a factor?
“What do you suggest I do about it, Bobbi? And what do you know about what I’m going through?”
“I know what you tell me. I know you haven’t been sleeping well, according to Sonja, and I know you don’t feel right about it. Whether consciously or subconsciously, your mind isn’t letting you settle. You certainly put up a good front, though. I can say that. But I know you, Lynn. I know you better than anyone outside of your family, and you know what I’m saying is the truth.”
I was speechless and didn’t have a leg to stand on, so I slumped on my bed, trying to hold back my emotions. Dropped my head in my hands and held the sides of my face, coming to the conclusion that… “You’re right. I know you’re right, Bobbi but it doesn’t matter much now because Simon’s gone anyway. Last time I saw or talked to him was the party a few nights ago. And Dane, well, Dane’s just going to be Dane. He’s hot and all, and he’s successful but—”
“You’re not sure if you’re in love with him?” asked Bobbi.
“No. I’m not sure about anything.”
“Well, do you love Simon?”
“No, I mean… I don’t know how I feel about Simon, but when I saw him with that girl Katelyn the other day… something in my stomach seemed to flip end over end. I was shocked and got angry and nervous at the same time. And the fact that she’s stunning didn’t help. She’s taller than me, could be smarter than me. She has beautiful dark hair in this cute little haircut, with these pretty dark eyes, and a certain kind of confidence about herself. How in the world am I supposed to compete with that?”
Teacher's Pet - The Complete Series: Books 1-4 Page 22
