Loving Lilly

by J. M. Madden

  “I don’t know what the three of you are trying to prove by being here together,” he hissed, his handsome face contorting. “Some kind of female solidarity? Please…” He tossed the rest of his drink back before flashing Donna a furious look. “I can see why you would be here. Obviously you’re out of money again and trying to shake me down.”

  That burning gaze shifted to Lilly and Brenna. “But you two…You two have money, so what are you looking for?”

  When they didn’t say anything, his face began to purple with fury. He leaned into Lilly’s space. “You want your little store? Fine. Drop these ridiculous charges and I’ll let you have your space.”

  Lilly’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t take anything from you now. Ever.”

  Those faded blue eyes creased with confusion, then flared with awareness. Looking around him at all of the eyes on the spectacle he was making, Ray jerked away from her. Spinning, he began to stomp through the room. The crowd parted until Diego stood directly in front of him, heavy arms crossed. With a leering smile he seemed to dare Ray to do something. Abruptly changing course Ray headed for the front of the house.

  As he cleared the doorway Brenna burst into tears. Lilly opened her arms and pulled the younger woman close, then guided her back to the kitchen. Once away from so many prying eyes, Lilly hugged her again. “Hey, he’s gone now. We did exactly what we were supposed to do and you were so brave.”

  Brenna pulled back, mopping her face. “He’s such an asshole! How does he get away with being such a nice guy? Why can’t other people see it?”

  Donna laughed, pouring a drink from a champagne bottle on the main island. “Oh, I think people are beginning to see. I watched him leave and nobody would meet his eyes.”

  Well, that was a little reassuring anyway.

  Detective Wright walked in then, smiling. “You ladies did perfect and we actually got more on him than we expected. There will be several more charges coming from this little conversation. Donna, are you okay?”

  Donna nodded. “He didn’t hurt me.”

  The detective escorted them to the upstairs bedroom they’d started in and removed their wires. When Lilly walked out of the room Diego was waiting for her, leaning against the log wall. When he opened his arms she walked into them without hesitation.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded against his solid chest. “I am. Shook up and surprised with how it went down, but not too bad otherwise.”

  “We didn’t expect him to walk across the room to you girls,” Diego admitted. “We thought he’d see you and leave. But the recording we got was great.”

  Tilting her head up in invitation, he settled a kiss to her lips.

  But she pulled back. “I saw you in the crowd, watching me. I can’t believe you did that.”

  He shrugged those tight shoulders. “It wasn’t so bad. I knew you needed me and that took my focus. I’ll always be there for you, Lilly.”

  “And I’ll always be there for you too, Diego.”

  After the stress of building up for the party and everything else that had gone on, Lilly felt frazzled and wiped out. She’d stayed strong long enough for Brenna to get her feet back under her, but now she was about to reach her own limit. “Can you take me home, please?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Sooner than she ever could have hoped, Diego was escorting her away from Rosella’s. She’d hugged Brenna, promising they would get together soon, then let her solicitous husband Rich take her. Brian Calvert offered to drive Donna home and she seemed to appreciate the thought of not having to drive herself. Rosella had clapped her hands in delight when Diego motioned her into the kitchen to give her a quick recap.

  Lilly reached out and wrapped her arms around Rosella. “I’ll call you in a day or two after I’ve had some sleep. Happy birthday.”

  Eyes glittering, Rosella had squeezed her back. “No rush, honey. Let that sexy man take care of you.”

  “Yeah,” Diego seconded, taking her elbow.

  They walked out of the party through the back of the kitchen. Lilly thought they’d have to wait for the truck to be brought around, but Zeke was already there in the big Suburban. Diego urged her up into the back seat and followed her. Once their seat belts were snapped he tugged her to lean against him. “Can I take your hair down?”

  She nodded against him, wondering if he could even find all the pins.

  Within just a couple of minutes the tension on her head was gone and her hair covered her shoulders. She felt Diego press a kiss to her head and she drifted away.

  * * *

  Diego looked down at the woman he cradled in his arms.

  “She d-did good tonight,” Zeke said just loud enough for him to hear.

  Diego nodded in agreement. “I had no doubt she could.”

  The entire past two weeks had been hard on her. Between her boutique plans being derailed, their relationship developing, moving, her parents refusing to stand up for her then the build-up and altercation tonight, he was amazed at all she’d been through. It would have been a lot for any person. But she’d met every challenge with grace and a smile. She had been truly incredible and he couldn’t imagine why she would want to spend her life with him, but he wouldn’t take her love for granted, ever.

  Zeke pulled up in front of Lilly’s new house just a few minutes later. “W-want me to open the door for you?”

  Wordlessly Diego handed over the keys then very carefully lifted her into his arms and slid down off the seat. Somehow he managed to do everything without bumping her or waking her up. As he started up the stairs, Zeke gave him a wave and pointedly put the house keys on the kitchen island. With an appreciative nod, Diego watched Zeke leave, locking the door behind him.

  Lilly murmured as he settled her to the bed. “You’re okay, babe. Just go back to sleep.”

  Her still-red lips curved and she sighed, nestling her head into the pillow. Diego unbuttoned a few of the buttons on the front of the tight dress, but she would have to do the rest whenever she woke up. He went to use the bathroom, shucking his clothes along the way. When he returned she hadn’t moved a muscle. Easing in behind her he wrapped his arm around her hips and closed his eye.

  * * *

  Diego woke to his nipple being nibbled on and a hand on his cock.

  Blinking in the meager light from the bathroom he squinted down the line of his body. Lilly grinned up at him, the tip of her pink tongue reaching out to caress his chest. He couldn’t see beyond her breasts smashed against him but she had a hand on his erection. “Good morning.”

  Diego gasped out a ‘morning’ and stretched his arms above his head, wicked heat curling through his groin. He reached down to tug her up for a kiss but she pulled back, nibbling kisses down his abdomen. Stretching out a hand he propped his head on a bunched pillow so that he could watch her.

  Lilly’s eyes were dark with need. At some point during the night she’d shucked the dress and her breasts swayed as she moved between his legs. Nudging his thighs apart, she settled between them. With a seductive glance she took the head of his cock into her red mouth and fisted the rest of him in her hand.

  Cursing at the exquisite feel of her wet heat he shifted his legs. She felt so fucking good. He watched her sink down on his length, then pull off almost to the tip. She paused long enough to swirl her tongue around the furl of his head before sinking down him again.

  “You can wake me up like this any time,” he murmured.

  Lilly chuckled and even that felt good. Groaning, he gave an involuntary surge, pushing deeper into her mouth.

  Diego lost himself in sensation. Lilly didn’t have a perfect rhythm but her enthusiasm more than made up for her lack of expertise. The bed shook as she sank her mouth down even deeper and he had to clutch the sheets in his fists. His entire world focused down to her luscious mouth on his about-to-burst cock.

  “Oh, fuck.”

  As the sensations began to crescendo he tried to pull her away but she refused. Wo
rking her mouth and tongue, her other hand caressing his balls, Diego gave in to the pleasure he was offered and released into her mouth with a mighty yell. His back arched off the bed and he thought he would pull away from her but she followed him, determined to draw every ounce of pleasure from him. His sight went dark and he thought for a moment he was going to pass out from the pleasure.

  Thankfully, she also knew when to gentle and let his body ease off that painful edge. Diego panted and looked down at her, worried that she’d be disgusted. Forcing himself to curl up he pushed her hair away from her face. She had the most beatific smile on her face he’d ever seen.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, laying her head against his thigh. “I am perfect. That was incredible.”

  He barked out a laugh as he flopped back to the bed, boneless.

  * * *

  Lilly never expected to feel so euphoric after giving Diego pleasure. Her clit was buzzing and she could feel moisture running down her thighs, all in response to shattering Diego’s control. Her sex was so ramped up that she had a feeling a single stroke would send her over her own edge, but she forced her hands to stay where they were, cradling him. Licking her lips, she kissed her way back up his chest, then maneuvered to lay on her side beside him. His muscled arm wrapped around her, pulling her tight.

  “I don’t think I can move,” he sighed, and within just a few seconds he had fallen asleep.

  Lilly smiled against him and let her own eyes fall shut, confident he would take care of her when she woke.

  Seemingly just seconds later, that’s exactly what he did. Straddling her body he woke her with tiny, gentle kisses. Those kisses turned hot, his talented tongue slipping into the depths of her mouth. Lilly moaned, sleep forgotten as her desperate need for him returned. She shifted beneath him, hoping he would be recovered enough to fill her the way she needed. The sun had risen outside, showing her the perfection of her Marine’s body.

  A completely different thrill rolled through her at the possessiveness she felt toward him.

  Diego braced her arms over her head. Holding her hands in one fist his gifted tongue warmed her from the tips of her fingers, down her arms, underarms, chest, to the tips of her aching breasts. There, he French kissed her as if he were at her mouth.

  “Oh, hell, that feels so good, Diego.”

  He moved from one breast to the other, paying them both equal attention as he mounded them together. “No motor-boating,” she warned.

  Diego chuckled against her. “Damn. Now you’re no fun. I’ll just have to find something else to do.”

  His body lifted and he wedged a knee between her thighs. Lilly’s excitement shot through the roof. She could feel herself moistening again as her body prepared to be owned. Without thought she rocked her hips up against the erection she could now feel, daring him to enter her. But he continued with those slow, seductive kisses down her tummy then down her thighs. As he settled his shoulders between her legs, Lilly thought she was going to go insane from the anticipation. Though it had only been a couple of minutes, she was already ramped up to where she’d been before they’d fallen back to sleep. Her climax tingled, shimmered, just out of reach. He had released her hands, but she knew if she tried to please herself he’d probably smack her away.

  Then, then, he was there, breathing against the moist hair at the juncture of her thighs. And with one slow, torturous lick up her center, pausing long enough to circle her clit with the tip of his tongue, he shoved her into that bliss.

  But he didn’t let up. When her orgasm would naturally have waned he continued to torture her. His tongue was cunning, and what he could do with it absolutely slayed her. He forced her through a second orgasm directly on the heels of the first. Lilly cried out over and over again, arching, trying to pull away from him, but he circled his arms beneath her hips to hold her down and against his open mouth. He drew back a little to let her catch breath, kissing the inside of her damp thighs, then targeted right back to her clit. Tears leaked from her eyes at the incredible pleasure that rolling through her almost continuously. She’d never felt anything like it before.

  Deep shudders wracked her body for several minutes after her third orgasm. Diego lay against her, his shoulders over her hips, his head against her breasts. Lilly’s fingers stroked through his thick hair in an instinctual caress. Once her body stilled, he pushed up to his arms above her.

  Lilly looked down the lengths of their bodies and the erection that had waited so patiently for her to recover. Smiling she lifted her legs around his hips, a subtle tingle going through her. Diego shifted his lean hips, cock sliding deep into her sensitive sheath. “How can I still need you after what you just did to me?”

  He chuckled deep in his throat. “It’s the same way I want you, Lilly. I don’t think I can ever have enough of you.”

  He rocked forward as far as he could go, stretching her. Lilly gasped at the fresh sensations, tightening around him. It was a testament to how well they were learning each other’s bodies that they orgasmed together within just a few gentle, yet heavy strokes. As his come washed through her and they cried out together she tried to commit the blinding, consuming pleasure she was experiencing to memory, to hold onto it somehow.

  It took them a few minutes to recover. Lilly was a boneless heap beneath Diego, but she’d never felt more replete. The man could move like no other and it was scary to think how much she’d come to love him. As he drew out of her she sighed, hating to lose that closeness. She rocked her head to follow his movements with her gaze. “I love you.”

  Grinning, he rocked his head to look at her as well. “It’s still so shocking for me to hear you say that. I heard you that first time, but I thought it was because we’d just had sex.”

  “Made love,” she corrected.

  Diego acknowledged the correction. “Made love. Yes. I realize that now. I was definitely making love that night, whether I recognized it as that or not.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  All day Sunday they lazed in bed. Monday morning Grif called early, before they were even out of bed.

  “Yeah,” Diego growled.

  “The PD is filing a boatload of charges on Ray today; intimidation of a witness, bribery, assault for grabbing Donna’s arm and knocking her down, as well as the charges pertaining to Lilly on Gala night. Wright just called me. They worked through the weekend and are meeting with the DA later this morning. Ray will be picked up and charged, but I’m sure he’ll make bail again. Just thought I would give you a heads up.”

  “Thanks, Grif. I’ll be in in a little while.”

  “Take your time. We don’t have anything pressing on the books today.”

  Diego bumped his thumb against the hang-up button and dropped the phone to the bedside table. When he glanced over Lilly was already awake and looking at him, smiling. “That makes me happy,” she whispered.

  Diego pulled her close.

  * * *

  Ray Chambers was slapped with nine new charges, in addition to the ones Lilly had pending against him. There were also whispers about the accident investigation into his first wife’s death was being reopened. Diego told her that when the judge announced his bail amount he’d cussed at her. The judge had promptly doubled the bail amount for contempt of court. Lilly giggled, loving the fact that Ray was no longer the affluent citizen he used to be. “That’s what he gets.”

  The next day Kendall called her. “Hey, girl. Thought I’d let you in on a bit of gossip.”

  Lilly dropped her pencil. “I’m up for gossip. This sketch is not working for me right now anyway. What’s up?”

  “Well, there was an emergency meeting last night of the city council. Ray has been voted off, effective immediately.”

  Lilly laughed. “Oh, that will truly put a knot in his tail, that’s for sure.”

  Kendall hummed on the other end. “I thought that would brighten your day.”

  “How are the babies?”

  “Oh, fine.”
Kendall sighed. “I think Zoe is getting another tooth in. There’s no soothing her today.”

  “Poor little thing.”

  The baby in question squalled in the background.

  “My time is up, Lilly. Gotta run. Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  She hung up, rubbing her chest. Kendall had been her best friend for so many years. They had always done things together. And while she’d been so happy that Kendall had found her piece of paradise with Grif, there was another part of her that was a little envious.

  Lilly was a strong believer in putting into the universe what you wanted back. If she needed to make the world right by doing everything she could to get Ray Chambers off the street, she would do it.

  “But I want my own happiness in the mean time,” she called into her empty house.

  * * *

  Somebody heard her.

  Two days later Grif and Kendall showed up on her doorstep. When Diego opened the door she knew something had happened. The kids were not with them.

  “What happened?” Lilly demanded.

  Grif held up a hand. “Hey, don’t freak out. We have news but we wanted to deliver it in person.”

  Diego shut the door behind them and Lilly waited long enough for them to come into the living room before she gave Grif a pointed look. Kendall reached out to hold her hand and Diego moved closer to her side.

  Anxiety made her tummy twist but she forced herself to stay calm.

  “Well,” Grif told her calmly. “There were more charges filed on Ray Chambers today.”

  Lilly’s eyebrows went up and some of her tension eased. “Really?”

  “Yes, another woman came forward but it doesn’t really matter any more. Ray is dead.”

  Lilly blinked, wondering if she’d heard him correctly. “What?”

  Diego’s arm went around her waist, pulling her close, and Kendall’s hand tightened on her own. Grif gave her a gentle smile.

  “Ray Chambers committed suicide sometime last night. The housekeeper found him this morning sitting in his running car in the garage of his home. He’d been gone for hours.”