SEDUCTIVE: A Contemporary Romance Anthology

by Anthology

  “This is wonderful news! I am so happy for you. Is it soon? Can we come?” A million more questions fly over our heads as I try to explain as best I can.

  “We have to do it in a few days due to my Visa issue, but we’ll definitely come for a visit.” I loved London as a kid and wanted to share it with Piper.

  “We can have a ceremony and party here at the house. Your cousins in Toronto and Georgia will be sad to miss it.” Mom explains. She’s probably got their English garden all decked out and notes to call her paper’s staff photographer and editorialist.

  “Matty don’t rush them. Our son is grown up, he’ll make good decisions.” Dad chides her but doesn’t mean a word of it. The underlying messages is, get your ass to London and make this up to your mother. I will when we can and when I’m not afraid of being detained at the border on the way back.

  “The ceremony will be at the hospital chapel.” I share. Dad grunts. My parents would have wanted a big to-do but there simply isn’t time. If there was then I wouldn’t be doing this at all and I think they realize that. The thought stings because that also means I would have missed out on Piper.

  “It’s really very pretty and we’ll take lots of picture.” Piper tries to mediate sweetly. I reward her by stroking her thigh under the desk. She kicks my shin and I grit my teeth from the pain of her small foot.

  “She’s wonderful Milo. Please visit as soon as you can. I’ll send over my recipe cards and all the things a bride needs.”

  “Thank you.” This means Fed-Ex is going to have a field day with deliveries and I’ll be out of cash for tips.

  “We love you son.” Dad nods and he knows I’ll call him later to talk more about what’s going on. One perk has been having supportive parents my whole life. This isn’t ideal, but we’ll get through it.

  “Love you too.” I hang up the call and we both exhale.

  “That wasn’t so bad.” Piper tries to hop off my lap but I keep her right where she is because I like it too much.

  “Do you think your parents are as easy going?” I inquire unsure what to expect. Piper’s droll response isn’t one of them.

  “We should call them after the wedding.”

  “Oh no, Piper. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Nothing is wrong. I just don’t like lying to them.”

  “What exactly are we lying about?”

  “I can’t exactly tell them the truth because my dad will be on the first flight home wondering if you knocked me up.”

  “Well, that wouldn’t be the end of the world. Lots of couples have kids before weddings. I think we’d make pretty babies don’t you.” I joke waiting for her reaction.

  She pinches my nipple twisting and I grab her hand to stop.

  “Is that off the table?” Her coy smile is something to behold, eyes sparkling and mischief making.

  “For me, yes.” I refer to the nipple twisting, not the baby making and reach out for her, but she skirts around the desk and runs toward the bedroom. I give chase to her giggles and realize she’s completely sidestepped the conversation about kids.

  Maybe I really am crazy to think this could be anything more than temporary.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Piper

  Because this entire week hasn’t been weird enough, getting to day twenty-eight has been nothing but trials and tribulations of details, packing, dress buying, and other sundries. Tonight’s date will consist of calling my parents later who are currently vacationing in the Grand Canyon. That follows dinner with Jax, my best friend and Baltimore business partner and Johanna my younger sister, neither of whom are happy with me right now since the cat is officially out of the bag.

  I’m getting married.

  My life will be different in less than a week.

  Weirdness abounds.

  I’m getting ready slipping my heels on when the doorbell rings to my parents’ house.

  “Coming!” I call out and jog down the hall to the door. Peeking out the peephole I see Milo standing in the doorway. He’s handsome with his suit jacket on, hands in pockets scanning the street while I watch him like a voyeur. I don’t think I’ve seen him wear anything else outside the hospital. T-shirts and lounge pants during sleepovers don’t count, nor do track pants when I learned he’s an avid swimmer who goes to a pool near the hospital five days a week. He’d probably get along better with Will since Jax is more into weightlifting but there’s nothing to do about that now.

  I crack the door open.

  “Hello Piper.”

  “Hi.” I feel strangely nervous. It’s not as if I haven’t dated or had boyfriends before, but this time I was marrying one. My parents would be appalled if they knew the truth about our arrangement but even Naomi agrees this is the best option. The better for when we have the interview with the Immigration office.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Oh sure.” I step back into the hall letting Milo pass inside shutting the door behind him.

  “Nice house. Good neighborhood.”

  “My parents have lived here since they were married.”

  “I can tell.” Milo passes by me, his face studies the walls lined with pictures of my sister and I growing up doing goofy things captured for all time. He takes in the knick-knacks my mother has collected from their various trips to Maine and Arizona.

  “Your mother likes a lot of turquoise.” He gently runs a finger down a statue they picked up in Mesa last year. He’s been in the house two minutes and that’s what he’s gotten out of all this.

  I laugh anxiously, “Yeah. We must have a whole attic filled with Native American artifacts.”

  “It’s nice.” I follow him walking deeper into the house. I feel like he’s inspecting it more than I’m actually giving him a tour and I wonder if we’ve passed, if I’ve passed some test he’s created.

  “I’ve only ever lived here and in Austin for a brief time.”

  “Diana mentioned that. Your friends are the brothers who own gyms.”

  “Yes, my friends Will and Jax. You’ll meet Jax tonight. I run the women’s program and half the gym space here in Baltimore.” I start arranging turquoise and feather knick-knacks to give my hands something to do.

  “Where’s your bedroom?” He turns raising an eyebrow.

  “My what?”

  “Bedroom. Piper. I want to see where you’ve been sleeping since childhood.”

  “O-okay.” I walk Milo down the hall to the back corner of the house. My room overlooked the small side yard between our house and Diana’s aunt and uncle’s house.

  We enter my childhood bedroom and I start to see it with new eyes, different eyes as Milo takes in the dance and gymnastic trophies lining the shelf on my bookcase.

  “Do you still do it?”

  “Do what?” I ask over his shoulder.

  “Dance.” I hadn’t thought about dance in a long time. I stopped when I was sixteen after an ankle sprain prevented me from competing.

  “No, not really. I did ballet until I was sixteen. It’s a hard sport on the body and I didn’t want to permanently injure myself.” The trophy he’s holding is my first place finish the year prior when I was fifteen at nationals. It seemed like a lifetime ago I had resigned knowing I would never dance for the NYC ballet company.

  “You have a lot of pink in here.” He remarks dryly replacing the trophy, fingering a faded pink toe shoe ribbon. He backs me up to my bed. His eyes follow me and my legs bump the bed behind me.

  I swallow a breath.

  “I’m a girl, I like pink. Sue me.”

  “Oh, I’m going to do more than that. I’m going to eat your pretty pink pussy before dinner because I like my dessert first.”

  His smile melts me into a puddle of girly shivering desire.

  I’m rendered completely jaw droppingly speechless as Milo pushes me back and I land on my bed in a flounce of skirts. He gets down on his knees, eye level with my waist and pushes my knees apart.

  “Is this practice?” I bite my l
ip ready to chew the skin raw. This is supposed to be a temporary thing even though I agreed to the sexy part because really, who in their right mind could be celibate for a year or more married to Dr. Milo Lazare.

  “I like to make sure I study all the appropriate material. Now lay back and legs up.” He taps my legs which feels decidedly not clinical.

  “This is so weird.” I mutter as Milo arranges me on my bed close to the edge. My dress is bunched up and I can barely see his dark head over the poof of skirts between my thighs. I can’t stop thinking doctorly related thoughts but this is nothing any doctor would do.

  “Relax Piper, I want to make you feel good.” I exhale a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding when I feel his hands trail up my legs. The closer he gets to my center the wetter I feel. Wet silk constricts as he pulls my panties to the side. I shift on the bed and a hand sneaks between us resting on my stomach.

  “Easy Piper.” I feel like he’s trying to calm me before the storm. He’s a hurricane with his need and I don’t have a place to find sufficient shelter or escape from him. My underwear is so wet I’m squirming and uncomfortable wishing he would take them off. It seems wishes are commands and the fabric is pulled from me swiftly.

  Warm breath caresses me and his thumbs rub the indentation between my pussy lips and my legs. I try controlling my breathing while he continues with his tender ministrations. The stress of the past few days leaks out from my eyes as silent burning tears. I want this, I want all of it, but I can’t help the overwhelming feelings surrounding the deception of those important to me.

  “You are way too tense for a happy bride to be Piper.” I feel the ends of Milo’s hair caress my thighs. His nose nudges me and I feel a tight pressure as his fingers open me wider. I’m ready to freak out because few have seen me like this, open and exposed.

  “Every part of you is so pretty to me.” He murmurs delivering the airiest of butterfly kisses against my skin.

  I can’t stop the moan from my lips when his tongue laves my core. “You’re pretty studious, aren’t you?” I try to make a joke but stop when his tongue licks me again from bottom to top. I’m so so wet, embarrassingly wet for Milo who is groaning into me with each lick of my cunt pressing his tongue deeper and rubbing his whole face into it.

  “You’re pretty delicious.” He says going to town eating me out like he’s been starving for days. The sensations make me writhe on the bed but he holds me steadfast. I come on an open mouth cry when his tongue dives deep met with his finger curling inside me pressing up and stroking me until I’m strung out. It’s insanely hot and I feel as though I’ve sweated through my clothes.

  So much for dressing up.

  I grab for Milo but his hands catch mine holding them as he licks and sucks me. My heart beats fast and furiously leaving me slightly out of touch with reality. My limbs are jelly and my mind disconnects, my only thoughts are a stream of consciousness I can’t control for a change.

  I lay quiet catching my breath, eyes squeezed shut. I hear Milo shuffle around and return from the bathroom outside my bedroom. A warm cloth presses against me and water falls between my cheeks. Milo cleans me up and goes to my dresser opening drawers. I bask in the moment when I feel his hand grab for my ankle. He slips on a new pair of underwear, soft and lacy.

  I lean up to look at his face handsome as ever. His voice is tinged with an accent as if he’s forgotten how long he’s been living here and says, “There, good as new.”

  He gives me a hand and picks me up. I wobble on unsteady feet following him out into the living room.

  “We should hurry or we’ll be late for dinner sweetheart.” His hand cups my cheek pulling me in for a light kiss on my lips where I can still taste myself faint and musky.

  “But before I forget.” He slips something out of his pocket and lowers himself in front of me on one knee.

  “M-Milo?” I’m unable to form a coherent thought except for the one that registers Milo Lazare down on bended knee. I imagined this a hundred different ways as a little girl growing up, I never once thought it would be right after a man pleasured me to perfection without expecting a return or a man who I agreed to marry to fulfill a Visa requirement. It’s surreal.

  “Piper Jane Scott, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” I could collect flies with my mouth hanging open.

  “I-yes. Yes, Milo.” He slips the heavy ring over my finger and I don’t even look at it running my hands into his hair pulling him up to fuse his smartass mouth to mine.

  “Excellent. You make me happy.” Milo hugs me tight and I feel a huge wave of responsibility for making him happy. It’s not a burden but more of a promise of things to come. I like it and can’t stop grinning like a loon. He must think I’m crazy but doesn’t comment.

  Speechless he walks me out to his car. I lock up the house and get in letting him close the door for me. My hand feels different wearing a ring on it. I practically feel branded but don’t say so instead clenching my hand afraid the heavy thing might fall off.

  The drive to the restaurant doesn’t take long and before we know it we’re seated at a table.

  “Cat got your tongue?”

  I turn toward Milo watching me all this time. I’m blown away, not yet recovered thinking about where this is all leading. Marriage obviously and I stare at the sparkling hardware adorning my finger. It’s huge. A single round diamond in a sturdy setting. It’s not a flimsy thing you wear occasionally, this thing looks like it’s the tank of all rings and meant to be worn every day, even at the gym.

  “I had it made custom.”

  “Hmm. It’s heavy.”

  “Platinum. The setting is weighted to balance so you can wear it all the time and not worry about it, even at the gym.” The last is said with a gruffness that screams proprietary. I push the thought away.

  “It’s beautiful and thoughtful. Thank you.”

  I don’t have a chance to respond further when Johanna and Jax join us rushing inside.

  “Sorry I’m late. My boss is a prick.” Johanna picks up the wine menu ordering a bottle of something we’ll both drink. If I’m lucky she won’t embarrass me by chugging it when it comes.

  “I wish you would quit that job.” I tell her but we don’t have time to talk about her employment woes because Jax is here too. He looks ready to storm the castle and luckily the wine arrives at the same time. Watching them, my sister pours generous glasses and I take a deep sip.

  Jax leans in for a hug and to shake Milo’s hand. “Jax Holden. The best friend. I’m guessing you’re the fiancé?” Eyes glinting, he greets Milo.

  I scowl almost choking on the wine.

  “Stop being so domineering Jax.”

  “Sorry love, old habits.” Jax points a finger at Milo, “Besides if the doctor here isn’t good to you I’m going to beat his ass back to whence he came.”

  Johanna plucks Jax’s finger down and hands him a glass of wine which he drinks in a casual way that screams weekend asshole.

  Milo’s eyebrows rise, and I cringe waiting for the night to be over.

  I feel his hand under the table resting on my thigh rubbing my leg in a calming way as he speaks, “I’m guessing you finally told them?”

  Shrugging I explain, “I had to tell someone besides Diana.”

  “Gosh look at the sparkler!” Johanna grabs my hand approving twisting it up and down letting the diamond catch the light from every angle possible. Jax nods approvingly.

  Milo grins drinking his wine before answering. “Don’t worry Jax, I’m a eat dessert first kind of guy. I’ll take care of our girl here.”

  This time it’s Johanna who nearly chokes on her wine. Of course, my sister would draw a pervy conclusion. I focus a glare on him wishing my eyes set him on fire.

  “Glad to hear it. I like him Pip.” Jax chuckles and before I can decide who to kick first, the waiter comes to take our order.

  It’s official, the boys get along.

  Dinner goes surprisingly well. I
suspect my sister is keeping her own council about this. We still have to call my parents and tell them. Johanna let me know I owe her big time because mom would set her sights on her for a big family wedding since I was cheating them of that. We had a fifty-dollar bet what color the bridesmaid dresses would be. I said pink. Johanna said violet and Milo joined in doubling our bet saying turquoise. Jax wisely sat this wager out saying black goes with everything especially funerals when my dad finds out.

  I was relieved to get this show on the road when dessert came. Johanna used her phone to dial our parents. It rang once before they picked up.

  “Hi girls! Jax, and oh who is this, Piper?” Mom shrewdly comments.

  I point to Milo and speak. “Mom and Dad, this is Milo.”

  “Hi.” Everyone chimes in exchanging pleasantries. My parents’ glance at each other and before I lose my cool Milo takes over. He leans in to kiss my forehead while holding my hand.

  “I’m so glad we were able to catch you, Mr. and Mrs. Scott. I’ve fallen for your incredible daughter. I know this quick but–” My breath hitches with his pause. Should we do this? We agreed to do this, but still. Nerves silence me watching for their expressions.

  “I would like to ask you formally for her hand in marriage. I know this seems quick and I haven’t been able to properly meet you. My mother would be so mad at me right now, but I simply can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.” Milo finishes by kissing my hand. My hand sporting a two-carat whammy which my mother’s keen eyes don’t miss for one second.

  “Are you sure about this Piper Jane?” Dad asks. I only seem capable of nodding.

  “Honey, it’s so quick.” Yeah, understatement of the year, Mom.

  “I know but we just can’t wait.” I say close to choking on the words. Johanna who is sitting next to me grabs my hand under the table to squeeze reassuringly. She knows our parents are stable, loving people who just happen to have really rigid roles about marriage.