"You can call him Patrick, or maybe Uncle Patrick if he really takes a liking to you," I said. "They may not be blood, and they aren't legally family yet, but they're family, you know?”
"Considering that Tabby and Patrick were just as likely to bust our butts over a bad report card as Mom and Dad were, they’d certainly earned it," Andi added. "So Janet, Riley has been a bad little brother, and hasn't told us much about you yet. Just be ready, you're going to get a lot of questions tonight. I hope you don't mind."
"I'll try my best," Janet said. "By the way, I love the skirt."
"Thanks," Andi said. "I don't normally wear skirts and dresses, but this is a special occasion."
"Really? Why?" Janet asked, then looked perplexed when Andi gave me a knowing look. "What? Riley?"
"I've never brought a girl home to meet my parents before," I said after a moment. "They kind of would just meet in other situations. Kind of what we were talking about in the car on the way over."
I watched as Janet blushed again, and Andi stifled another laugh. "Come on, you two. I guess by the end of the night, both of you are going to be red-faced at least a half dozen more times. By the way, has Riley told you about his collection of dolls?"
"They're not dolls, Andi. How many times do I have to tell you they're collectible figurines? Some of them are worth thousands of dollars!" I groaned, thinking of the cupboards in my room in the supposed servant's wing.
"They're posable action figures, Riley. And don't even get me started on what they're made up of."
"Anything I should worry about?" Janet said, relaxing. It was a skill of Andi's, and one that despite my short term embarrassment was one I could see immediately why she was doing it. By exposing that I too wasn't perfect, it was helping Janet relax and recognize that despite her impressions, we were a real family with real flaws and foibles. Andrea may be shy herself in terms of public speaking, but perhaps that was what gave her the ability to understand Janet and help her relax that evening. "Don't tell me he's got a collection of bikini models."
“Not quite. Comic book heroes and heroines," Andi said. "He stopped buying new ones a few years ago, but he's still got them up in his room. He might show you sometime. And here we are."
The kitchen and normal dining room for Mount Zion is one and the same, the main hall where we did the reception a few weeks prior doubling as the formal dining room on the rare occasions that we had to entertain guests. However, most of the time when our family ate together, it was around the large work area in the kitchen, which could sit all eight of us comfortably on tall bar stool-like chairs. With Barbara still out of the country, that made it perfect for Janet to fill that eighth chair. "Hi guys."
I had to give credit where credit is due to the rest of my family. For weeks, they'd been bugging me for details about Janet, and I had to admit I'd been pretty scant with giving them up. They could have descended upon Janet like a pack of inquisitive hyenas with a thousand questions. Instead, everyone was dressed casually classy, with Mom and Tabby putting the last of the dishes on the table while Dad busied himself over the stove. "Hey Riley. I'm a bit slow on dinner, give me five minutes," Dad said. "Think you can help with the drinks?"
"Sure. Janet, what would you like? We've usually got pretty much everything. Even the hard stuff, if that’s what you want.”
Janet shook her head. "Do you have any iced tea?"
I couldn't help but notice Dad's smile, the old Southerner in him reacting to the choice. "I'm sure we've got some in there," he said. "Lemon or Peppermint?"
"Peppermint if it's not a problem, Mr. Bylur."
"Mark," Dad said. "I'm only Mr. Bylur at work. The two lovely ladies setting the table are my wife Joanna and Tabby. You've met Andrea, and somewhere around the house is Carter, her fiancée. Patrick should join us later."
I got Janet her iced tea, getting drinks for everyone else. Carter came in just as Dad was plating dinner, Patrick right behind him. "Guess who I ran into on my way back from changing clothes," he said. "Hi, you must be Janet. I'm Carter, and this is my Dad, Patrick."
"I remember you from the party," Patrick said. "It's nice to see you again."
Dinner started, and I was glad to watch Janet relax as things went on. Part of it was Janet, who I could tell was making an obvious attempt to put aside any residual shyness and fit in, but a big part of it was my family. About halfway through dinner, Tabby set down her glass to ask a question. "So Janet, Riley has at least told us that you're in school. What are you studying?"
"Veterinary medicine," Janet said with a happy smile. "I've always loved animals, and I only wish that my living situation would let me have one now."
"Does your rental agreement not allow it?" Tabby asked.
“That’s not really the problem. One of my roommates has severe dander allergies, and freaks out if we even talk about it. Unfortunately for me, she's also the one with her name as primary on the lease, and she covers not only one quarter of the rent, but all the utilities too. What about you? I mean, I read about your background when I started seeing Riley, but some of it just seems crazy."
"Well, Mom will say a lot of it had to do with her hard work," Carter answered with a grin, "but I think it was mostly luck. What do you think, Riley?"
"I think I'll let her answer that one. I’d like to keep a bedroom in the house and not in the outbuildings," I said with a chuckle.
"Oh, Carter's partially right,” Tabby said, "most of it was luck. You just make the right friends, and things happen. Life changes so much on a whim. Meet the right person at the right time, and it totally changes your life."
Everyone but Janet and I were smiling little secret smiles at that, although I could tell Janet was perplexed. At least I was in on the secret, but even as I thought about it, I thought about the truth behind Tabby's words. Tabby and Mom meeting in college led to Mom being in the club that night when she met Dad. Their being together led to the creation of Marcus Smiley and Sophie Warbird, which led to MJT and Tabby meeting Patrick. All of that of course leading to the four of us in my generation and Carter and Andrea being together. "Sometimes fate moves in strange ways," I finally said, reaching over and taking Janet's hand. "But I'm glad it works the way it does."
Chapter Five
Andrea
After dinner, Janet insisted on helping with the clean up, so Carter and I left her and Riley over a warm sink full of suds. It was kind of cool to see Riley with his shirt sleeves rolled up, his forearms covered in foam. "I don't think I've seen that in a long time,” Carter said as we walked out of the main building of Mount Zion.
With Carter and I forming a new marriage, there was talk about us getting our own place. We’d decided to build our own house on the premises, however. In our line of work, it was kind of important that we all be close by. Therefore, another house was built where some of the old Hospital Buildings were. Nowhere near as grandiose as the main building, it was still a pretty impressive house, with four bedrooms and lots of space. It was technically Carter's, since I was supposed to be staying in the main house until we were married, but other than for public relations purposes, we’d shared the house from the day construction was finished.
"Did you see the way he looked at her during dessert?" I asked Carter as we crossed the walk towards our house. "He's so into her, I was surprised he didn't hit himself in the cheek with his spoon at some point."
"I remember when I did that," Carter said with a chuckle. "It was right about the time that I realized all of our fighting and bickering was because I was in love with you."
"Took me a while to come to the same realization," I said, "but I'm glad I did."
We went inside the house, kicking off our shoes in the entryway. Turning to Carter, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, letting go of the passions that had been coursing through my veins for the past hour or more. "Speaking of being in love...."
"I thought you wanted to wait until the ceremony?" Carter said with a grin as
he kissed me back. "What happened to that?"
"We can save the playroom until after the honeymoon," I mock-growled. "You'll see your me on your honeymoon often enough."
Carter shivered in reply, smiling. Having grown up in a household like ours, we hadn't grown up with any of the sexual hangups that a lot of people did. The idea of him and I playing BDSM games was just normal to us, and a thrill that sent shivers down both of our spines. We weren't heavy into it, but it was fun every now and then, and a little thing we were withholding from ourselves prior to our wedding. It was something to look forward to.
Carter's arms wrapped around my waist and picked me up, carrying me easily back through the house towards our bedroom.
I love being in Carter's arms, because he’s one of the few men who can truly make me feel tiny. At nearly six feet tall and athletic, I'm no little twig, so an average-sized man just wouldn’t do. But Carter can literally sweep me off my feet and carry me like I'm a feather. His arm muscles bulged under his shirt as he looked into my eyes, a grin on his face before he turned me sideways so as to not bang my head on the doorway of our bedroom. Laying me on the mattress, he collapsed beside me, his lips already finding mine and our tongues wrapping around each other. We kissed for long, wonderful minutes, his full lips caressing mine. Carter has the most sensuous mouth I've ever seen on a man, with a full set of lips that he inherited from his mother. And my God does that man know how to use them.
A feral grin spread across his face as he kissed along my throat, his right hand stroking up and down my spine through my blouse. While it’s true I normally wear tomboy-ish clothing, and almost always wear pants instead of dresses or skirts, I loved the feeling of the air on my bare legs as he reached my hip and cupped my ass. He nipped the skin along my carotid artery, a silvery spear of desire shooting through me. "You're not wearing any stockings."
"I didn't just get dressed up for Riley and Janet's benefit," I said, pushing his head back. "I got dressed up for you too."
"Does that mean?" Carter asked, anticipation and excitement flaring in his eyes. I nodded, and his smile was pure and broad. "Delicious."
While Carter and I had grown up without any sexual hangups, there were still some things that weren't common, and finding in each other the perfect sexual partner was just another layer to our relationship that showed we were literally meant for each other. Reaching under my skirt, Carter eased off my panties, which was already damp with arousal, and set them next to the bed. "Now your turn."
I kissed his forehead, dragging my fingernails down his shirt. Carter's breath caught in his throat when I paused at his waistband, only to explode in a gust of soft laughter when I merely pulled his shirt from out of his pants and worked on unbuttoning it. "You're teasing me."
"Yep," I said with a laugh. "And the best part is, the more I tease you, the more you get me back, and the more that I get satisfied."
I pushed Carter over onto his back, mounting his hips and sitting back. Slowly, I unbuttoned his shirt, running my hands over the exposed stomach muscles. Carter's body was like an anatomy chart, with golden tanned skin and just the faintest hint of hair.
"I still don't know how you do it," I said, leaning over and kissing the ridges of his abdominal muscles.
"What?" he asked in between groans. I could feel his cock swollen and deliciously thick under me within his pants, his hands massaging my ass as I kissed my way up his torso.
"You're nearly so Irish you should be considered for a stereotype," I said, "yet you have the most perfect tan to your skin. I know you don't have a tanning bed, so what gives?"
"I was created with one purpose only, I think," Carter said, stroking his fingers through my hair. I licked around his nipple and sucked it into my mouth, biting softly on the hard nub. Carter groaned, his fingers tightening on my head, then continued. "I was made to please you."
"And you certainly do that," I said, coming up and kissing him again.
His hands found my blouse again, tugging it from the waistband of my skirt and pushing the fabric upward. I love loose blouses, even when I wear pants. They give me freedom of movement and airiness, along with having the added bonus that when Carter and I are in bed together, he can reach all the way up to my shoulders without having to worry about the buttons at all.
Carter took advantage of it now, unhooking my bra and letting my breasts dangle free. I was actually wearing something strapless, so he was able to fully remove the support and let my body feel almost totally naked.
"So delectable," he said, bringing his lips to my breast through my blouse. The thin silk was soon soaked, molding to my skin but still tantalizingly separated from his warm tongue. It didn't stop Carter from running his tongue around and around my left nipple, teasing it until I was moaning and gasping in his arms, pulling him up to feast upon my breasts. I was straddling his lap, his cock pressing through his pants against me, his lips sucking on my breast, and I was in heaven. I ground back and forth, my clit rubbing against the slightly rough fabric of Carter's pants, groaning. "That's it. You can come for me."
Each time we made love, it was unique. Sometimes one of us was more in control, sometimes the other, and sometimes we were equals. This time he was in control, holding me closely and pushing my body towards a climax.
The first orgasm built somewhere below my breasts, just above my stomach. I ground my hips back and forth, soaking his pants and adding to the wonderful friction. The tension built within me, tighter and tighter, until I felt Carter's finger slip inside me. He had curled his hand all the way around my ass, and it was all I needed, that single intimate caress. All of the tension within me uncoiled, shudders racking my body. I kissed him hard, moaning into his mouth as my first orgasm rippled and rolled, happiness coming behind it. He held me tenderly through it all, safe and secure.
When it finally passed, I sat in his arms, leaning my head on his shoulder. After a moment, I kissed him again, feeling the need within him underneath me. "Want me to leave my skirt on?"
"Would you?" Carter asked with a grin. "It's so much naughtier that way."
I nodded, returning the smile. We’d discovered it purely by accident, one of the first times we'd acknowledged that we had a sexual attraction to each other. We were still in the bickering phase of our relationship, when we knew we needed each other but sometimes refusing to accept just how much. We'd had a patrol that had gone pretty well, except that Carter refused to stop with his wisecracks. Getting back to the strike base, he could tell I was fuming.
"What? It was boring as shit out there!"
"Still, I don't need to listen to your crap Carter. I nearly missed that last jump you were so up in my ear."
"Then focus better, Andi. Don't blame me for your fuckups."
"Kiss my ass, Carter."
He’d frozen, his eyes flaring with a light I had just started to become familiar with. One thing led to another, and we both ended up doing something in the strike base that I'd never even considered before.
I brought my mind back to the present as I got on my hands and knees, my legs slightly spread. Carter got off the bed, his belt jingling as he undid his pants and stripped down. Glancing back, the first flares of fresh heat filled me looking at his absolutely ripped body. Sure, I get it that a lot of women like the lean, lithe look, but give me Carter with his barrel chest and rippling muscles any day of the week. He was a strong man, and just as smart and emotionally strong as he was physically. "And you're all mine."
"What's that?" he asked, climbing on the bed behind me. He reached forward with his right hand, sliding it under my skirt and over my ass. I groaned thickly, pleasure shooting through me as he rubbed me.
“You're all mine," I said, lowering my head. I let my eyes close as I focused on the wonderful feeling of Carter's hands massaging my backside, his fingers kneading and easing the tension I carried in there. With each sweep of his thumbs, I felt more tension run out of my muscles and gathering between my legs. When Carter's thumbs stop
ped, and his breath danced over my spread apart hips, the breath caught in my throat.
The first feeling of Carter's lips on my ass was as it always was, warm and electric. Fresh heat and wetness flared as he made his way to my lower back. His tongue traced over me, and I cried out. He added to the sensation by bringing his fingers up to stroke between the lips of my pussy, gathering the moisture before slipping inside.
He pulled back, giving me a chance to calm my breath, and I felt his cock instead easing between my labia, brushing over my clit and sending another fountain of fireworks through my body. "Carter . . . ”
"Yes, my love?" he asked teasingly.
“I need you,” I groaned. I turned over, keeping my legs spread and hips as high as I could, giving me a view of Carter's cock. Long and thick, he’d once told me after we started sleeping together that he knew I was the woman for him sexually because I never complained about him being too big. But I was woman enough for him, and that was all I needed. “Make me yours."
"What's the magic word?" he teased, holding his iron hard cock in one hand, tracing the head between my lips. I shivered each time he brushed it against my clit, which was so swollen and needy it literally stood up at the top of my cleft, visible above the smooth skin surrounding it. I knew if I didn't answer he could keep me there, teased and desperate for as long as it took for my will to break, never losing his erection. It was just one of the ways I knew I aroused him. "You know the magic word."
I smiled, and spread my legs wider. "Please, my soon-to-be-husband?"
I didn't even need to wait as Carter slid inside me in one long smooth, powerful thrust, both of us freezing temporarily when he was all the way inside me. I knew that the pause was necessary, or else neither of us could hold back and prolong the process long enough to enjoy it. For Carter and I, sex was like food. Necessary, and sure sometimes a quickie was all you needed, but like a fine dinner, it should be savored and relished when we could. We had the time this night, and wanted to enjoy it.
Justice: A Billionaire Romance Page 4
