WindSwept Narrows: #20 Fleur & Liliana

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “Good night, Myra,” Lili winked at her, listening to the gurgling behind her. “I’m guessing by the looks of your suit that you fed her.”

  “She enjoys her food,” he answered with a sigh, watching the little fingers play with the loosely hanging tie as they stepped onto the moving walkway.

  “Might want to set up an account with a good dry cleaner,” Lili worked to keep her laughter in at the glower he offered.

  “I’m starting to think you’re enjoying this,” Oliver leaned against the rail, a streak of pleasure shooting into his system when she smiled and offered a little half shrug. “Now I know why she travels with her own suitcase.”

  “It is not a suitcase,” Lili finally gave in to the laughter. “It’s contingencies. You just never know what’s going to happen during their day.”

  “How about sharing a pizza with me? I’ll walk you girls home, run and change and pick one up. Even a nice frosty soda for you,” he dangled the treat like a hook, chuckling when she nodded.

  “We haven’t done much talking, Oliver,” Lili said as they climbed the wide staircase to the outside. “Do your parents know where you are?” She asked casually, her thumb sliding on the plate outside her apartment.

  “Not in front of our child,” he answered with a wink, striding into the apartment and settling Hailey in with her toys. “Be back in an hour,” but he caught her chin with one palm, thumb caressing over her lips before his mouth covered hers. Then he was gone.

  Lili finally let the long breath free, her knees shaking a little as she fell back on the sofa. The man had seriously hot kisses, that hadn’t changed in eight months. She gave herself five minutes to get her heartbeat down before scooping up Hailey and chattering with her on the way to her bath. By the time the pizza arrived, Hailey was bathed, dressed in her pajamas and chasing a few oat circles around on the tray of her highchair, drinking apple juice and clanking blocks together now and then.

  Oliver entered when she opened the door for him, soft music playing. Nothing could have halted the grin on his face when he heard Hailey gurgle out the da-da-da over and over again as he crossed to the table.

  “You’re looking sparkling,” he commented, lifting one of the small oat circles and laughing when she automatically opened her mouth for him. “Like feeding a baby bird.”

  Lili crossed one leg beneath her on the cushioned chair, two hands out for the large soda he’d bought for her. “I haven’t had one of these in ages,” she breathed after a long drink of the icy liquid.

  “Not something you can have while breastfeeding, I remember you telling me that,” he said casually, taking one of the plates she had set out and sliding several thick slices of the cheesy pizza onto it. He sat back, taking a long drink of the soda he bought himself and studying his wife.

  “No…can’t imagine a baby on caffeine,” she said with a small laugh, sliding a slice of pizza to her plate and picking at the cheese. “This is nice,” she said after a quiet pause. “Very different than the Manhattan apartment,” she recalled quietly, adding a few small oat circles to the tray for Hailey.

  “Our dates like this were a hundred times better than the others, Lili,” Oliver chewed thoughtfully, his grin wicked when she looked over at him. “Not that I minded those sexy dresses you wore to social functions, but…this kind of time…just you and me…that was best.”

  “We never had problems when we were alone,” Lili said the words and waited, his sigh the answer. “Your parents don’t know where you are, do they, Oliver?”

  “I’ve severed ties with them outside of business, Liliana,” he said as he lifted the second slice of pizza and took a bite.

  He knew her reaction. He knew how hard she had worked to become part of his family. Her mother had died the year before they met and he could still feel her excitement when she thought she was falling into a whole family. He wasn’t sure who had been more naïve, her or him. He also knew at the end how she was being systematically destroyed from the inside out. And it had been his fault.

  “As soon as I have the office completely set up, Marcus, Misty and Patricia will close the Manhattan office and follow me here.”

  “Misty’s coming out?”

  He liked the flash of excitement in her eyes. “They are. They’ve both been worried about you.”

  “I’m sorry for that,” she said honestly. “I was afraid to let Misty know anything.”

  “You didn’t want me to know where you’d gone,” he couldn’t keep the edge out of his words and sighed thickly. “I’m not angry about that, Lili. I’m honestly not. I’m sorry you didn’t feel comfortable enough to talk to me. I’m sorry you stopped talking to me.”

  “Maybe not in front of Hailey is a good thing,” she whispered, blinking to keep the tears inside and took another long draw on the icy liquid. “This isn’t what I wanted to happen for you, Oliver. Your parents…”

  “Are egotistical, arrogantly aristocratic snobs,” he said flatly, his voice a low growl of anger. “And why the hell it took me so long to see it chaps more than my ass when I think of it.” He pulled himself up sharply at the look on her face, dark eyes sweeping to Hailey. “I think we’re safe. She’s only half in this world.” He stood up and went to the highchair, gentle, careful hands working the tray free and lifting her from the seat. “Bed?”

  “Bed. She usually wears herself out about this time,” Lili followed behind him, turning the little light on beside the crib and moving blankets down. She dropped a small crocheted blanket in pink and gold onto the surface. “Lay her….yes, next to the blanket. You are pretty good at that,” she said softly, her voice catching when he turned to her and took a careful step forward. She felt the wall behind her, dark lashes wide. “Oliver…what…what are you doing?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Smelling you,” he said quietly, his face against her temple before his lips moved next to her ear. “It’s the first thing I remember when we met that night in the cloak room at the Hilton. Still not totally sure how we managed to get tangled up and sprawled on the floor with you trying to look dignified in that pinstripe suit you wore to the planning event.” He drew in a long, tantalizing breath of her, one hand up on either side of her head, his body barely touching hers. His voice was a low, sensual whisper that made her shiver.

  “I…my feet were caught in someone’s over coat and…and I was worried you’d struck your head,” she barely heard her answer, the memory of him tumbling over the footstool and landing on the floor of the large coat room filling her senses.

  “Your hair was longer then,” he recalled gruffly, the image of the genuine concern in her features when he opened his eyes to peer into those wide, dark eyes that first time ingrained upon his psyche. “I told you then I didn’t think I’d ever be the same again and I was right.”

  “I was positive you’d lost your mind,” she murmured through her sigh.

  “I think it shocked you that I got a hard-on while you were wiggling on top of me.” He chuckled gruffly at the look that had been on her face when she realized what was happening because she lay sprawled on top of him.

  “I am not a prude. It did not shock me at all,” she informed him loftily.

  “Hmm…a woman of the world…right…I remember…” His teeth pulled on the lobe of her ear, nipping the tiny diamond stud. “Then the second time I ran into you a couple days later. You were in the kitchen of the catering company you worked for, preparing the cakes for the event. All prim and proper in black skirt and one of those sexy white tunics. You had a streak of gold icing…” His tongue drew a long, tantalizing line along her jaw. “Right there. And it took every ounce of my control not to do what I just did. Only I wanted to be there and taste and smell every inch of you. Between those fresh milled soaps you like, the fruity shampoos and sugar and spices from cooking that you get dusted with through the day….” He felt his body reacting, his mouth cruising over the slightly parted, pouty lips that had been part of his dreams for almost two years
.

  His passionate need pressed hard against her soft lips and made her offer a weak, surprised cry. Lili didn't want to think about the familiar stirring between her legs that sent messages to other parts of her of the memory of those pleasures. Her lips parted slightly to allow his warm and curious tongue into her mouth, to massage and roll around with hers in sweet promise.

  “Jesus…” He groaned against her mouth. “You still smell like sugar and chocolate and spices,” he trailed a hot, moist tongue along the tendon between her shoulder and throat, nipping lightly along the hollow and savoring the shiver she offered. A shudder ravaged his senses when she put her hands on his sides, pressing higher, heavier, until her hands reached his face, pulled his mouth to hers with a soft, needy moan. Sexy, his mind intoned, his body hardening just from her kiss, her touch. Her. Just her, his mind shouted triumphantly.

  His palms slid down the slender curves to her waist and up again, one breast caught in each larger palm. Excitement rolled through him with the power of dawn when her body arched for him, wanted him. Wanted his touch. He pulled her tee shirt free, both palms shoved beneath it and stroked over the lacy tank she wore, his thumbs stroking around each pert nipple while his mouth swallowed her groan.

  “Sensitive?” He whispered hoarsely into her kiss.

  “Yes…oh, god yes…”

  “Hmm…more so since breast feeding…” He always lost himself in the way she responded to him. That sweet, seductive yet innocent response. Always pushed until she went over the edge and he watched the colors of passion tint her flesh beneath his touch, his kiss. He knew every inch of her, had her body committed to memory.

  One hand moved to the opening of her jeans, the button first and then the long zipper. He flattened his palm against her naval and slid it slowly, very slowly down over her stomach. The tips of his fingers touched the soft down he knew was kept short and trimmed. Her breath was coming in pants when one set of fingers gripped his wrist, halting his movement. The tips of his fingers knew why.

  “Oliver…stop…you can’t…I can’t…” Lili ground her teeth together even as one of his palms stroked and caressed her breast. “We…can’t…”

  “Should I ask why?” He whispered, a hint of humor in his voice as it trailed over her throat and onto her shoulder. He let his fingertip flick at the evidence and felt heat filling her cheeks. “You are beyond adorable, Liliana. We’ve talked about your period before…and it still embarrasses you. There’s always the shower,” he hinted sexily, letting his teeth graze lower when his palm pushed her tee shirt out of the way. He captured one nipple, suckling and tasting and groaning when her hips ground against him.

  Lili moaned softly, her head back hard against the wall. “Do you remember the last time you suggested that, Oliver?”

  “Explicitly,” he murmured against her breast. “It was hot and steamy; slippery and very erotic…”

  “You got a bruised elbow,” she whispered, breathing raggedly as she took his face in her hands, lifting it from her breast and turning it slightly. “And we got Hailey.”

  “Hmm…I’d forgotten that part,” smoky blue eyes met hers, his palm up and stroking over the side of her face. “I’m not sorry, Lili. She’s the best of us both. Here…in this new place for us both…we can build her a world without walls or ceilings and teach her to fly.” He dropped soft kisses over eyes that closed against the moisture he saw pooling there.

  He brought his fingers from her jeans and moistened them before sliding them over her stomach and lower, teasing.

  “Do you remember how good it felt, Lili?”

  “Oliver…” His name breathed out with her heart. “You don’t have any…oh, god…you know I can’t…” she felt her knees shaking, tiny panting breaths breaking when his mouth moved back to her breast. His tongue was hot and insistent, his teeth sharp and taunting until he suckled strong and soft, her hips shoved forward and back arched hungrily. He felt the small curves of her nails through the t-shirt on his shoulders. Clenching and barely breathing until the crest captured her and took her to wings. He held her, his mouth covering hers for a soft, slow kiss as she drifted back to him, her body limp and pliable. He swept down and carried her to the bed, stretching out beside her.

  Lashes thick and heavy opened slowly, his palm against her face and fingers tracing lines along her throat.

  “I remember,” she whispered, the smallest of smiles touching her lips when he leaned over and kissed her. “I think your aphrodisiac is sugar, Oliver,” she teased, pulling in a long, slow breath. “We’re not used to being silent.”

  “No…and I thought of that at the last minute,” he chuckled, watching her lean up and push against his shoulders, dark eyes meeting his without reserve.

  “You don’t have condoms with you?”

  “Lili…you might not think so, but I didn’t plan this. I don’t keep them in my back pocket,” he caught her chin with both hands. He wasn’t insulted at the question he saw in her eyes. “I am married and until I hear from my wife that she unequivocally does not want me in her life, I haven’t looked at another woman with the intent or passion or desire that I feel when I see you.” He watched his words sink in. “But I’ll make certain I have them tomorrow,” he promised solemnly.

  “Hmm…” Lili stared into his eyes but placed her palm over the button of his jeans. She saw so many things flare to life there in his eyes and all of them thrilled the female in her to the core. Slim fingers opened the thin leather belt he wore before popping the button from the loop.

  “Lili…”

  “Shh…it’s my turn, Oliver…” She tugged his shirt aside and dropped a soft kiss to his naval, her tongue out and dragging hotly to the opening of his jeans. Using one hand to brace herself, she used the other to slide the zipper aside, her palm fitting over the hard, solid outline of him. Nails were the last to scrape over the jean fabric before she parted them and tugged them wide open.

  Lili enjoyed his scent as much as he savored hers. She renewed her acquaintance with him, intimately. She remembered how to taste him, how to caress and take him near the precipice, how to dangle him on that erotic edge and listen to her name whispered, crossing between a plea and a curse when she backed off and found a new spot to entice. She used her teeth and tongue to torment, gentle, rough and deliciously in-between.

  His fingers clenched and held her head against him, fighting with pulling her away or hoping to God she didn’t change her mind. When she finally took him down the cliff, she barely saw him grab for the pillow.

  Oliver was positive his memory was shoddy because he damn well didn’t remember the last time he’d been driven so expertly insane. Her fingers were cool and hot and everywhere at once.

  They definitely were not accustomed to being silent during sex. He met the dark shining eyes when she lifted the pillow, checking to make certain he was still alive.

  “Did you remember how good it felt, Oliver?” Lili asked teasingly, her kiss soft against his mouth. She loved kissing him. That she remembered keenly, her tongue drawn leisurely around his lower lip.

  “I’m waiting for my eyes and my brain to come back into focus,” he exhaled slowly, one hand shoved into the thick, dark hair to pull her mouth to his. Both parted breathlessly. “I think we need some sleep.”

  Lili let her head fall to the bed with a contented sigh.

  “I’m not sure I can move,” Oliver matched her sigh, his head rising to look down the length of them both and he laughed softly. “We’re still completely dressed.”

  “I know,” she pushed the air from her chest and sat up, legs a little wobbly as she wandered into the bathroom. She came out minutes later, teeth brushed and wearing her sleep shirt and stopped in the doorway, frowning. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Hoping to sleep,” he answered, mostly prepared for this part. He watched her eyes go from the clothing he’d draped over the chair to where he lay on the bed. Beneath the blankets.

  “Here?”
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br />   “Hmm…interesting concept, don’t you think? With my wife and daughter,” he flipped back the blankets and patted the surface. “I’m guessing you want the side closest to Hailey.”

  “This is just not a really good idea, Oliver,” she said after a quiet pause, walking around the bottom of the bed and sliding one knee onto the sheet.

  “I’ll work to keep my lusty side contained, Lili,” he teased in the darkness, groaning at the eleven popping onto the clock. He knew her mornings always began damn early.

  “It isn’t you I’m worried about,” she murmured, frowning at his chuckle. “Good night.” Lili frowned in the darkness, lying on her side and watching the crib. It’s how she had been sleeping since she put the little apartment together. Waking a couple times a night just to make sure her baby was there and alright. And even as her body gravitated toward Oliver in the darkness, she wanted to deny that she’d missed him, missed his presence, his scent and his humor and his strength.

  That strength is what held her arms firmly to the bed when she thrashed and whimpered several hours later.

  “Lili…Lili, listen to me…” Oliver has half awake and half sitting, holding her firmly in place. But it was the mumbling, the whimpers and the adamant ‘no’ she kept repeating that troubled him and sent a cold chill through him.

  “Wake up, baby…it’s me…you’re safe here…” He watched the thick, dark lashes rise slowly in the dim light of the bedroom. He knew instantly when she recognized him, her body went slack for a moment before she launched herself into his arms, hugging him tightly around the neck, damp cheeks cold against his shoulder.

  “Lili…what happened?” He asked gently, urging her back to the bed and tucking the blankets around a slender form that had shuddered savagely seconds before.

  “A nightmare…just a bad dream…” She whispered shakily.

  Oliver pulled her into his arm and rolled to his side, fingers gently stroking back the damp, dark hair from her forehead. She’d started having nightmares just after Easter the previous year, he recalled. Just after she’d told him she was pregnant.