Now that had been a shock. Archie was almost fifty. Sure, he looked good for his age, but she couldn’t remember her mum ever dating anyone over the age of thirty before.
Of course, Archie also had the advantage of being the younger brother of a marquess. Her mum didn’t mess around when it came to picking husbands. Hollywood royalty and British nobility.
She groaned. “Do you want to know the latest? A double wedding.”
Even that didn’t seem to dent Seb’s good mood. In fact he gave up trying to look serious and laughed. “No way would she go for a double wedding. You’d upstage her.”
Willow stopped glaring at him. Sometimes he said the best things. “Anyway, we need to get back. This engagement thing starts in a couple of hours.”
As her mum hadn’t been here when she and Seb had held a big party for all their friends three weeks ago, Seb had organised a small get together this evening. Willow couldn’t say she was looking forward to it.
“I’ve told you. You don’t have to do anything for it.”
“Yes, but I only want to double check that everything’s perfect. You know what my mum’s like.”
Seb didn’t say anything. Was it her imagination or had his good mood deflated?
She finished off her iced green tea. There wasn’t really any need to go back early to check anything. Mrs D was there, and would never allow as much as a petal to be out of place.
It wasn’t as though this was a Double D night. It was supposed to be an informal celebration of her and Seb’s engagement. She’d already told her mum he was great at organising things. The least she could do was trust him on this.
For a second she wavered. The thought of her mother’s critical eye assessing, and finding wanting, shivered through her. And then she looked back at Seb.
She didn’t care what her mother might think. She tipped her glass at him. “Same again?”
Sienna met them at the front door. What was she doing here so early? There was another half an hour before the torture started. “Where’s Charlie?”
Sienna grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the stairs. “He’s in the garden waiting for Seb. Never mind about them. Let’s fix your make up.”
Ten minutes later they were back downstairs again. It wasn’t just her make up Sienna had fixed. She’d also insisted Willow wear her great-grandmother’s diamond tiara.
She pulled on Sienna’s hand, forcing her to a halt. Her friend was acting really strangely. If she didn’t know better she’d think Sienna was high.
“What’s the matter with you? Is there something you’re not telling me?” She couldn’t think what, though. She and Sienna told each other everything.
“No.” Sienna widened her eyes in a fake show of innocence. “Of course not. Come on, Will.”
Before Willow could say anything else, Sienna shoved her outside. She hitched in a shocked breath. Whatever she thought Seb had planned, it hadn’t come close to this.
Beautiful garlands festooned the veranda, interspersed with sparkling crystals. On the lawn were low tables covered in ivory lace. Crystal glasses and candlesticks sprinkled glittering shards of rainbows from the delicate lamps strewn throughout the garden, giving everything a magical, fairytale look.
But it wasn’t just the abundance of positive chi that caused her throat to ache and tears threaten. Because not only were Seb’s mum and sisters, and her mum and Archie there. So was her dad and stepmother, and her two half-sisters looked like little angels with flowers in their hair and holding adorable posies.
Seb was by her side and he took her hand. She looked at him through a blurry haze and he smiled at her. But there was a wary look on his face as well.
“I thought this was more us than the Opera House.” His whisper was for her ears only. “Was I wrong?”
Seb held his breath until Willow squeezed his fingers. “Of course you weren’t wrong. This is perfect.”
Relief rolled through him. He’d started to plan this evening as soon as Amber had given them the date of when she was coming back to Sydney. He was sure she was a bit pissed that her plans had been squashed, but she’d soon get over it considering she had her own extravagant wedding to organise.
His stomach churned. He still needed to ask Willow. Because the truth was, he hadn’t yet.
Still holding her hand he sank onto one knee. “Willow, will you marry me?”
Her smile chased away any lingering doubts he might have had that secretly she’d wanted a huge flash wedding.
She crouched down and kissed him. “Yes,” she whispered. “I will.”
EPISODE 10
Camilla
MEL TESHCO
To everyone unafraid of chasing their dreams.
Acknowledgements
A great big thanks to Tracey for asking me to be part of this cool project, and to Kate for believing in us. And a big *high five* to the authors who wrote these brilliant stories.
Camilla
Camilla Jackson slowed as she walked through the master bedroom she shared with her husband, Drake. Though floor-to-ceiling windows showcased glorious views of Sydney Harbour, her eyes were drawn to the king-size bed with its dishevelled sheets and cover, one plump pillow thrown in wild abandon to the floor.
She inhaled the faint scent of musky sex, a smile pulling at her lips. Hell, she hadn’t stopped smiling since she’d woken this morning. Her body still tingled all over from yet another night of lovemaking with Drake. He knew how to bring her every nerve ending to life, and how to make her feel cherished and adored, as though she was the only woman in the world for him.
She stepped into the ensuite, pausing to take in the bathroom’s utter spaciousness. Even after five glorious months of marriage to one of Australia’s wealthiest men, she’d never forget her modest upbringing; never forget that this bathroom alone was bigger than the dorm room she’d shared with another uni student for almost three years.
Recalling her humble past made the present that much sweeter.
She dragged off her sweaty gym clothes and underwear before throwing them into the clothes hamper. Every muscle burned from her workout in the gym on the ground floor of the building, but man-oh-man was it all worth it!
The basin mirror reflected her image as she stretched her arms above her head, her full, lightly freckled breasts jutting out and her mass of spiralled red hair caught back in a topknot. A muscle in her shoulder popped and she dropped her arms back to her sides.
She needed to keep up her fitness levels if she had any hope of matching Drake in the bedroom. It hadn’t taken her long to discover her husband’s fondness for her body, his appetite for sex.
Her smile widened into a grin. He might be twenty-six years her senior but his stamina was fucking incredible. Sex obviously helped him work off some pressure after all the wheeling and dealing of his electronics empire. Not that she was about to complain.
Not only was he magnificent between the sheets, he was over-the-top generous too. He loved to spoil her, loved to take her out and show her off, loved to bring home trinkets that probably cost more than her mother’s modest home.
She bit into her bottom lip, the mirror showcasing the flush of her pale, freckled cheeks as she thought back to Drake’s last gift. It mightn’t have been expensive this once, but damn it had been priceless.
The vibrator had given her immeasurable pleasure, or at least the man holding it had. Drake hadn’t used it to replace his cock instead he’d pressed the vibrator against her clit until she’d been convulsing with orgasm. And then, when her breathing had returned to normal, he’d upped the speed and pushed her through another round of orgasmic bliss.
The memory left her weak-kneed and she leaned against the gold-chrome basin, her weight resting on her palms. She swallowed. God, how had she gotten so lucky? Yes, Drake was one of the richest men in Australia, and one of the most handsome. But all that was just icing on the cake.
It was the way he looked at her, the way he smiled, all possessive an
d aroused. The way he treated her as something precious and sexy all rolled into one. Most of all, it was how he listened to her and valued her opinions. That he didn’t appear even vaguely interested in any other women melted all her insecurities clean away.
She still sometimes pinched herself, knowing someone like Drake loved her.
Plain, nondescript, little ol’ me.
She blew out a breath, peering harder at her reflection. Hazel eyes, a long, slender nose, a high brow and cheekbones, and lips a little too full to be truly sensual. She frowned. According to Drake the whole package was stunning. She just couldn’t see it. Especially when she added in curly red hair and freckly skin that burned so easily she couldn’t be out in the Australian sun for longer than a few minutes.
A soft tread warned her she wasn’t alone a second before her husband stepped into the ensuite. Her womb clenched. Drake often spent lunch hours with his wife. And he didn’t come home for the contents of the refrigerator.
“Well, well, isn’t this a nice surprise,” he murmured, his husky voice faintly accented by his time spent at college in the States. God, his talking alone made her pussy wet and her breasts heavy.
She looked up at his reflection with a smile. He bent and she twisted her head for his kiss. His lips were soft and just a little demanding on hers, the stubble that darkened his face rasping a little on her soft skin.
Would the novelty of being with this man ever wear thin? Somehow she doubted it. Very much. She pulled back a little and cleared her throat. “I’m just home from the gym.”
Damn. She sounded breathless and too much like the gawky young thing he’d taken into his bed after she’d finally accepted his offer of a date.
Two months and four days later they’d been married.
His whisky-brown eyes flared. “Mm. Hot and sweaty.”
God, he was insatiable. He towered behind her, his burning stare devouring her body, which was firm, youthful, and the one thing she truly accepted about herself.
She arched a brow. “It will take me less than a minute to take a shower—”
“You won’t get that far,” he said hoarsely.
She bit back a moan, her body heating up from the inside out. Her husband had been with more women than she cared to think about, but she knew it was his experience as much as his talent that sent her to heaven every single damn time.
His grin became predatory. “Besides, you being damp and slippery will be all the better for my body to slide up and down yours.”
Her breath shuddered out even before he slid his hands down her front, his palms cupping her breasts and his thumb and forefingers massaging her nipples until they were hard little knots and need swelled fierce and relentless within.
His legs kicked apart so that he was more level to her height. He leaned forward, his breath hot in her ear, his arousal hard in the prison of his pants. “Don’t you agree, my love?”
She whimpered, unable right then to formulate any words. But he seemed satisfied enough by her response.
“So sexy,” he murmured. “So fucking hot.” His eyes held hers in the mirror. “How the hell did I get to be so lucky?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling how she’d thought that exact same thing herself, except in reverse. She blinked, Drake immovable behind her. “Maybe luck had nothing to do with it,” she said. “Maybe we were meant to be together.”
She’d often wondered if fate really had intervened. She’d been a casual waitress at the top-class restaurant, Edesia, working as many hours as possible to pay some of her living expenses and university fees. She’d been called in one night to cover for one of the workers who’d rung in sick.
The moment Camilla had laid eyes on Drake and taken his order, she’d been a tongue-tied nervous wreck, barely coherent enough to repeat his order back to him. His beautiful dinner date had sent her a sugar-coated smile that’d had all the sweetness of a viper.
The next night Drake had turned up at the restaurant alone, and every night thereafter until he’d secured her name and her phone number.
They’d discovered age or social status wasn’t a barrier to their love. But Camilla knew their time together was a precious commodity, one she wasn’t about to waste.
“I believe you’re right, we are meant to be together.” His voice tickled her ear, before his mouth slid along her throat in open-mouthed kisses that made her squirm and moan.
How was it her husband could take her to such heights without even using his cock? God, she was a mass of quivering nerves and aching need.
He nipped her throat and then suckled hard. Tremors racked her body, before centring at her core. Her breath hissed. Holy shit, she was so close to coming already, but she needed him right on that edge with her. She pushed back and scraped her bare arse along the front of his pants that encased the hard, thick length of his cock.
He reared his head back, his eyes flashing. “You keep doing that and I just mightn’t make it past first base.”
She licked her bottom lip. “You know I like it when you lose control.”
Their lovemaking was the one and only time she ever saw him wholly surrender. The one time she truly had an inkling of what it was to feel powerful. Beautiful. Invincible.
“And you won’t ever hear me protest.” His zipper hissed open before he thrust his pants and boxer briefs down far enough for his cock to spring free.
His cock head nudged between her thighs and the folds of her sensitised labia. She bit hard into her moist lower lip, stifling a moan whilst doing her best to suppress hormones that lit up faster than an electrical storm the moment Drake entered a room.
His eyes glinted, his smile a whole lot of dangerous when he held his shaft and deliberately rotated it to massage her pussy, enflaming her tissues and engorged clit until she was writhing and panting. Goddamn it, she wished he would impale her already! But she knew from experience he liked to tease, liked her squirming and wet.
Liked to ensure the power didn’t always go her way.
Her pulse bounced around like a jackhammer as touch became her primary sense, driving her even closer to the edge with every rotation of his cock head. Her eyelids flicked closed for a moment. Though she’d seen Drake’s cock countless times, she had the strongest urge to glimpse it again.
His shaft would be hard as a crowbar and ribbed with tight blue veins, the slit weeping with a droplet of salty pre-cum and his balls high and deliciously tight.
More dampness gathered in her pussy and she inhaled her own special bouquet of sharp, feminine musk. Drake took a deep, appreciative breath and his impossibly hard cock twitched harder still. His stare darkened, a muscle in his jaw throbbing. “Tell me you’ve thought about what we discussed?”
Her mouth dropped open, her throat drying. “You want to talk about that now?” she squeaked.
His jaw set, his posture behind her settling into strong lines. He was at his ruthless best, and it only added to his magnetism, showcased his worldliness that was in evidence, even without the grey at his temples and the lines at the corners of his eyes. He might at times yield to her in the bedroom, but he was still an alpha male through and through.
“You’re shy and reserved, my love, but you can also be more headstrong than my toughest business rival.”
She closed her eyes, trying to keep it together. But failing. With his cock head massaging her flesh and teasing her until she was almost beyond the point of madness, she could have screamed with torment. She blinked, staring back at his reflection. “Can we discuss this…later?”
His face tightened. All foreplay stopped. Oh, God. She knew that look.
He wasn’t going to give up, wasn’t going to let her put it off. Not even sex would sway him. She resisted whimpering, resisted gyrating against him, though her pussy was primed and ready for his cock.
He shook his head with exaggerated slowness. “A simple answer one way or the other, and then I’m all yours.”
She swallowed, barely holding
back her resentment and her body’s needs in favour of their…talk. “I took the pill this morning. There’s too much I still want to do before having a family. My Bachelor of Interior Architecture; travel I’ve always dreamed about. I don’t want to be a mother, not yet.”
She refused to apologise, refused to feel selfish. This was one issue she was going to make a stand on. She’d never hidden her objectives from him, never promised him anything different.
His breath fanned out and he nodded. “Yes, of course. I understand.” His free hand slid to her waist, then dropped to her hip, levering her. “But this discussion isn’t over…not yet.”
His lashes swept low and he thrust forward.
Camilla’s gasp reverberated straight through him as his cock filled her pussy from behind, stretching her inner muscles. In this position he was aware his size was even more evident, filling her to the hilt.
He pulled back slowly, inch-by-incredible-fucking-inch, while he watched the wondrous expressions play over his wife’s face in the mirror. God, she was purity and a breath of fresh air all in one, so transparent with her emotions, so trusting it was almost a physical blow to the solar plexus knowing she’d put all her faith and love in him.
He drove deep and Camilla’s breasts swayed at the force. Her nipples hardened as though they were dainty pink berries, a gourmet feast he wanted to lick and suck before he went down on her and fucked her with his tongue, laved her clit so hard she flooded his face with her cum.
He groaned, his balls already tightening with the onset of release. He’d never get enough of his wife; not in this lifetime, and probably not in the next one either. Lord only knew he’d been with enough women—most with motives beyond his wife’s wildest imagination—to realise Camilla was his one and only.
He plunged in and out, aware his sweet little wife liked it rough and fast as much as she did slow and tender. Right then he wanted to fuck her so hard she’d be lucky to walk straight for the rest of the day, her pussy overflowing with his cum and marking her as his so that every man within a mile radius would know better than to go near her.
Secret Confessions: Sydney Housewives - Extended Edition Page 33
