They came floating slowly back to earth, clinging to each other, his mouth capturing hers hungrily as he sought to regain control; a control that had slipped away from him the moment he had entered her. He held her against him and wished that he could tell her he was in love with her, had been since the first time he saw her but he had to be contented with showing her with his body. It was her first time and he felt the joy course through him that he had the privilege of being her first, the joy of enveloping her body with his and he wanted to protect her from everything and anything. He wanted to give her the world.
“You okay?” he whispered finally.
“It depends on what you mean by okay,” Kimone whispered back. He was still inside her and it felt wonderful, so much so that she did not want him to come out.
“Are you sore?” he asked her in concern, moving as if to come out.
“Don’t you dare do that!” Kimone protested, clasping him with her legs.
“Kimone,” he groaned, moving inside her.
“Can we do it again so soon?” she asked wonderingly.
He laughed shakily at her innocent question. “With you yes.” He murmured. The fire had died down somewhat surrounding them with its warm glow. Kimone felt contented and euphoric and she wanted to feel him moving inside her again.
As if reading her thoughts he bent his head and captured her lips with his. Kimone opened her mouth underneath his and touched her tongue to his, setting off an explosion of feelings inside his body.
“I want you again,” he gasped, dragging his mouth away from hers. He pulled out and away from her and reached for her breast, his tongue going over her nipple causing her to arch her body closer to him. His mouth drifted further down and Kimone gripped him tightly, halting his progress.
“It’s okay,” he told her throatily, “I just want to taste you.” He continued down until he reached her pubic area. Kimone gasped loudly as his mouth touched her, his tongue reaching out to touch her mound before venturing inside her. She cried out as he worked his tongue inside her; her hips bucking, almost dislodging him. She had thought she had reached the peak of her pleasure but oh how wrong she had been. He held her hips firmly, bringing her up slightly as his teeth grazed her. She felt the pressure building up inside her and she dug her feet in the bed. She came inside his mouth, her cry anguished as she moved her head from side to side, trying to come to grips with what was happening inside her body, what he was doing to her. She drifted down slowly from the incredible high he had lifted her to but still he continued to torture her, his tongue lingering inside her.
He finally came up and over her, placing his penis inside her, his face intense as he stared down at her silently. Kimone reached up and closed her arms around his neck pulling her down on her as she closed around him tightly. “That was unbelievable,” she whispered against his mouth.
“I'm glad you liked it,” he whispered shakily as he started moving inside her slowly at first then picking up the tempo as she started moving with him.
“I want us to do this all the time,” she told him impishly, groaning as he moved deep inside her.
“Your wish is my command,” he told her huskily, reaching down to hold her hips firm as he thrust inside her. They came together and Kimone clung to him, her nails biting into his shoulders and his mouth covering hers to capture her cries.
He held her close to him as she slept; his expression tender. He loved her so much that he trembled from it; he knew it was going to be special when he made love to her but he never dreamt it would blow his mind so much. He had never been a womanizer in the past, maybe because he had seen what his parents’ had and he wanted to experience something like that himself. He had thought he had found the woman of his dreams two years ago when he had met an Asian girl at dinner one night but she had only been interested in him for what he could give her. He had told her that he was not interested and had taken his leave. Now he had met her and he knew he would do everything in his power to keep her.
Chapter 6
The Christmas dinner went well. Kimberley Bailey had gone all out with dinner; there was a huge turkey, enough to feed the whole neighborhood as Kimone had told her mother dryly when she saw it. There was also baked ham, sweet potato salad, coleslaw and sweet potato pie with whipped cream and to her surprise her mother had made Japanese onion soup.
“Mom, I didn’t know you could cook Japanese food,” Kimone said as she tasted the delicious soup. Dawn and Gregory were there, as well as some people from the neighborhood.
“Mrs. Bailey this is very good,” Peter said in appreciation. “I can’t tell the difference from the way my mom used to make it.” He added with a smile.
“Thanks dear,” Kimberley beamed at him. “And please call me Kimberley, from what I hear we are going to be family soon.”
Kimberley asked Peter questions about Christmas in Japan and how it was different to where they lived.
He told them that Christmas day was not a national holiday but was highly celebrated as Christmas cakes were purchased for that day and gifts were handed out. “I was actually born here but spent some holidays in Japan. My parents were not one to push me into going back and taking up my heritage so I basically did not feel pressured to do so.”
“Kimone told me you lost both your parents,” Kimberley looked at him in sympathy.
He nodded and with a small smile changed the subject. Kimone knew he was still not ready to talk about them and the fact that he had shared it with her made her feel closer to him.
She had spent the night at his place and her skin grew warm as she remembered how he had woken her up with his mouth on her body. They had slept naked because he had insisted. She could still feel him inside her. He had taken her home to get dressed to come to her mother’s for dinner and she had invited him in. He told her the place was uniquely her with all the bold colors and the dolls all around the living room.
He kept looking at her all through the evening. She was the same when she was among her own people, vivacious and exuding a self confidence that declared to the world that she did not care what they thought of her. He had never met anyone like her and he wondered how he was going to keep his feelings from her.
“One of a kind isn’t she?” her friend Dawn had come up beside him and he had not even noticed until she spoke.
“She is,” he said quietly, turning to face her.
“And you are in love with her,” Dawn continued, staring at him shrewdly. “Does she know?”
He started to say something else, and then with a shrug he answered honestly. “No,” his smile was brief and she could not help but notice how handsome he was and totally in love with her best friend who probably thought of him as a friend.
Earlier in the evening as she saw them come in together and the difference between them she had known that things had changed and she had cornered Kimone in the corner of the room and asked her bluntly. “You slept with him,” she said without preamble.
Kimone had laughed, not bothering to hide it. “What we did was anything but sleep. Dawn, it was magical and he made me want to do it over and over again.”
“You are certainly glowing,” Dawn had commented. If it was even possible the girl was even more beautiful than ever and inwardly she had sighed. It must be wonderful to feel such heights of passion. She and Gregory were comfortable together and even though she knew he loved her completely, what Kimone was telling her was far from what they shared. And she had seen the way Peter looked at her as if she was the only woman, not only in the room but in the entire world.
“No,” he told her briefly, just a little bit annoyed. “And I would appreciate you not saying anything to her; I want her to love me because she is led to do so; not to love me because someone put the idea inside her head.”
“If you think I can put an idea inside that girl’s head then you don’t know Kimone,” Dawn said wryly and both of them turned to look at her as she laughed at something an elderly gentleman said to her. D
awn was right, she was her own person.
*****
They made the engagement official. She had told him quite frankly in her own inimitable way that she did not want an engagement ring and the wedding band had to be very simple because she would probably lose it anyway. There was to be no engagement party and no press release or anything, the wedding was going to be very simple with a few friends and family. Peter felt his heart sinking; he had wanted to show her off to everyone but he had to respect her wishes.
“What is this I hear about you getting engaged and not even a little party?” her mother demanded over the phone. It was almost the middle of January and most of the festivities had been over and done with. She had asked for a donation of beds and a new stove from Peter and they had been sent to the nursing home in a matter of weeks. She had been singing Peter’s praise ever since. “You are getting engaged to that wonderful man and with no fanfare?”
“Mom, Peter understands and besides, we are both too busy to think of planning a party,” Kimone protested.
He had gone ahead and bought out the lease for her and now the store was hers to do whatever she wished and she had been busy doing the renovations. They were getting married the first week in February and she had told him there was to be no break. She would close the store on Saturday but on Monday she would get back to work. “After all it’s not like we are a real couple so we can dispense with all the frivolities.” She had told him never aware that she was twisting his heart into tiny pieces.
“Right,” he had answered shortly before hanging up the phone. She had frowned a little at his tone but had shrugged it off and went back to what she had been doing. His secretary, Amy had been calling her and asking her to come up to the office building to look at samples of wedding dresses and she had finally made the time to go this afternoon. It would mean that she would have to close the shop for about an hour.
“No party mom,” she told her mother firmly.
“Suit yourself,” her mother had answered briefly. One more person she had apparently offended, Kimone thought wryly as she placed the doll she had recently acquired on the uppermost shelf. Things had picked up during the holidays and since she had acquired the store she had been making changes. She was even thinking of hiring someone part time so that she could get the time to go to the various garage and antique sales. Not only was she into ancient dolls but she was also acquiring old fashioned doll houses and the action figures.
He had sent a car for her and she closed and locked the shop, putting up a sign that read: ‘Be back in an hour’ and pulling her thick coat closer to ward off the chill.
The first time she had been in the building, only the guard had been there, now the place was teeming with people. The receptionist at the front gave her a friendly smile as if she knew who she was and ushered her up. Kimone was amazed at how many people worked there and the muted professionalism of their chatter which stopped as soon as she stepped off the elevator. She was acutely conscious of the not so elegant black wool pants and thick green sweater she had on and she had piled her abundant hair in an untidy knot on top of her head. Not a good look for the future wife of a billionaire, she thought wryly with no apology. His secretary met her on the way to the office.
“Peter told me to tell you to use his office, he is at a business luncheon.” The elegantly shod middle aged woman smiled at her pleasantly as she indicated for her to follow.
There was a tall skinny pasty face woman waiting in the office and a young man who had on tight black pants and a pink shirt. “My dear!” the woman gushed, moving forward to meet her and holding out her hands for Kimone to take them. “You are stunning! And it would be a pleasure to dress you.”
Kimone raised her brows curiously as she took the woman’s hands. “I can dress myself quite well thank you.”
“Peter told me you would react this way,” she smiled, revealing slightly crooked teeth. She had raven black hair that looked quite startling against her extremely white face. Amy had stepped out of the office and told her to call if she needed anything. “Gustave show her the different gowns.” She gestured to the young man who sprang to attention, reaching for a huge suitcase and opening it. He took out a billowing white gown that reminded Kimone of a wedding cake.
“Not even if I was mentally ill,” she told the woman who burst out laughing. After several dresses during which Kimone was getting impatient; she finally saw a simple off white dress that barely skimmed her ankle. It was exquisite in its simplicity with no flairs or artifice but was snug from the bodice all the way down. She went into the bathroom and tried it on and it was as if it was made especially for her.
“It’s perfect!” The woman who said her name was Maxeen with accents on the ‘ees’ said in hushed tones.
“Now all I need is a pair of shoes to go with it and we are done.” Kimone said briskly. “I want no veils or flowers in my hair.”
“I have never met a more practical bride to be,” Maxeen said shaking her raven hair. “Fortunately for you my dear, you don’t need anything to enhance that beauty.”
They made the arrangements and the woman promised to make sure everything was at Peter’s office to be delivered home by the end of the week.
Kimone hesitated a little bit as Amy walked with her to the elevator. “How does he handle all of this?” she asked the woman.
“He is quite the employer,” Amy told her with a smile. “He is a visionary and always thinking outside the box.”
“What you just said went right over my head,” Kimone told her with a grin.
“He has never brought a woman into his office space before so you must be quite special,” Amy said with a curious smile; her professionalism slipping just a notch.
“I should hope so,” Kimone pressed the button for the elevator. “I am going to be his wife.”
*****
Peter had finished the business luncheon an hour ago but had deliberately stayed behind because he had not wanted to be there when Kimone was there. After all it was bad luck to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding, he thought with a grim smile. He played around with the bowl of soup he had ordered. He had been meeting with some Chinese locals about doing some business. He had seen the need to set up an Asian community center where young people would be taught the various ways to earn a living and it had went very well but his mind had not been entirely on the meeting. Kimone had told him point blank that she wanted no frivolity when it came to them getting married and he respected that; he had tried to respect her wishes of not wearing an engagement ring but it had killed him to do so. When she had told him that they were not a real couple he had wanted to die.
He was beginning to wonder if marrying her was such a good idea. What if she never came to love him? What if he was making the biggest mistake of his life by expecting her to fall in love with him? He pushed aside the half eaten soup, his hands trembling slightly. He had been spending time with her when she could manage to tear herself away from the store; they had gone out to dinner and she had spent a few nights with him. Making love to her had become so addictive that when she was not at home with him he found himself roaming the rooms restlessly and touching the few items she left there; wanting her so much that he ached with the need. She was a free spirit and he dared not impose his love or his will on her, he hoped desperately that she would eventually come to love him.
*****
“So how are things with Gregory?” Kimone asked absently. She was setting up the doll house corner and she was going for a certain theme. A six year old child had come into the store a day ago and had told her she wanted to play dress up with the dolls so she was making a dress up corner. The work men had come in to install shelves and made a special case for the toys she considered ‘priceless’.
It was past closing time and she had promised that she would go home with Peter after his late meeting.
“Fair to fine,” Dawn said with a shrug.
Kimone looked up at her friend curi
ously. The girl looked a shade unhappy from the other day and she had been meaning to ask her what was wrong but she had been so busy lately. She abandoned the doll she had been setting on the shelf and pulled up one of the little plastic chairs the children used when they were playing or reading and sat in front of her friend.
“What’s wrong?”
Dawn laughed ruefully. “Nothing gets past you does it? At least some things.” She said, cryptically shaking her head. “I am supposed to be happy.”
“I thought you were,” Kimone said with a frown. She had been so involved with what was happening with the store that she hadn't noticed that her best friend needed her.
“I am supposed to be,” Dawn rubbed her chin absently. “But after seeing what you-“ she hesitated briefly. “What other people have, I am beginning to question if what we have is really it.”
“Oh honey! I think that every couple is different,” Kimone protested, fighting the urge to really tell her best friend that she was in fact getting married for convenience. “I know Gregory loves you. You are thinking about what happened to you in the past and letting it color the way you look at the relationship now. I am not the best person to give relationship advice, I am afraid but I tend to think that we make our own happiness.”
Dawn stared at the beautiful girl in front of her. She had always felt that Kimone sailed through life without allowing anything or anyone to hurt her. She'd had men in college stumbling over themselves to try and be with her but she had turned them down diplomatically. Instead of hating her, they had ended up being her friends who would do anything for her. Now she had this gorgeous man who was so obviously in love with her and she did not even know it.
“You are right,” Dawn forced a smile to her lips. “We make our own happiness, I must remember that.” She stood up to leave, wanting to get away and just be by herself. She was not in love with Gregory and she knew that and even when they made love she had to fight not to tell him to stop. She had been making excuses not to go to bed with him again but she was afraid they were running out and she did not know what to do.
Be My Bride: BWWM Romance (Brother From Money Book 19) Page 18
