Paul laughed. “Good thinking. Well, Olivia, if you need any help, you can contact the local Y, and if you’d like,” he fished into his pocket, “You can contact me for ideas on how to work with them. I’m outstanding at putting people to work for my favorite charity.”
Olivia laughed as she took the card and tucked it into her purse. “Thank you. I might end up calling you. I honestly am not sure, even after talking to people here, how I could help, but I would like to.”
I could tell that she was sincere, and I felt proud of her.
“Then my work here is done,” Paul said.
A woman came up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Darling? Could I possibly steal you away, since I seem to have arrived at the right moment?” She smiled at first Olivia and then me.
“Of course,” he sighed with a lot of exaggeration. “Duty calls.”
They both smiled at us, and the woman led him away.
“You don’t have to volunteer for anything,” I said. I didn’t want her to feel that she had to cave to pressure. It was pretty intense at these sort of things.
“I know. But I’m really impressed with a number of the people I’ve spoken with. You’re not the only success story,” she said.
“I’m the best one,” I said, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “At least, the best one you need to be concerned about.”
As I stood up, I could see the blush race across her cheeks. I loved it.
“Well, yes, that’s entirely true. But it’s really inspiring, and I’d like to be part of it if I can.”
“Oh, you will be, the minute you make the first call. They won’t let you go. But—” I held up a hand, “It’s actually a good place to put some time in.”
“Yeah, you don’t seem much like the kind of person that would give them time or effort otherwise,” she said.
“Nope. I don’t have enough time for all the things I want to do as it is.”
“Like what?”
“Well,” I leaned down again, “Like right now, I’d like to be doing what we were doing before we came here.”
The blush deepened.
“Hey, I’m following your lead, Mr. Big Shot.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m good like that. Shoot myself in the foot every time.”
“Well, what do you want to do about it?”
“We can’t leave yet,” I groaned quietly. “But you can bet we’ll take a long way home when we do.”
Olivia
I smiled, making the polite goodbyes expected of me as I walked out of the hotel with Xavier. Even though he’d been whispering naughty things to me at what seemed like every moment, we’d maintained our casual stance.
Unless you counted the permanent blush on my face. I’d gone to the restroom, and when I looked in the mirror, I was shocked at myself. My cheeks bloomed, and my eyes were bright. Almost unnaturally so.
“It’s just fun, no strings,” I muttered to myself. “Just fun. Fun. Remember that.” I had no idea what this was, but I’d told myself to let go and enjoy it, and I would, even if I had to keep reminding myself. I couldn’t weigh this—and myself—down with expectations that had no place here.
In spite of the misgivings the normal, everyday Olivia was having, the me that was present right here right now was completely occupied with what would happen next.
Tonight had been hard. I’d done as Xavier requested, and put on my business face, keeping things casual between us. But even though it had been his wish, he’d regretted it, and spent a great deal of the evening making me regret it also.
It also made me absolutely wild with desire for him. I just wanted to be with him, naked, skin-to-skin, and never get up.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such a hunger for another person. Which was a whole other kettle of fish, but one I chose to let lie for the time being. I didn’t need to be stirring it up. I wanted to enjoy the week and not get lost in my own fussing.
As we got closer to the car, Xavier took my hand.
“That was probably the longest event I’ve ever gone to,” he said. “All I could think about was getting out of there, and being with you.”
“This is all your fault,” I started.
“Yeah, yeah. It is. But I plan on making up for my mistake. Into the car, Ms. Livvie,” he grinned at me as the car came up.
How he could tell it was ours, I had no idea, but then, I’d not been paying attention as we’d left the hotel lobby.
As Xavier opened the door for me, not waiting for the driver, his grin turned feral. It made my skin shiver in anticipation of what was to come.
What I hoped was to come.
Besides me, I mean.
What was he doing to me? I never thought like this!
Once we were in, Xavier raised the divider, so we had a little privacy and then held his arms out to me. “Join me?” He asked.
I loved that he asked. Just like he had gotten two rooms for us. If you looked at his work persona, you’d never guess he was like this. Even though we’d spent the entire morning in bed.
I scooted over, and once I was close, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him. He leaned into my hair and inhaled.
“I didn’t realize what torture it would be to keep my hands off you.”
“Hey, you’re the one who said it was all business!” I laughed at his scowl.
“Yeah, well, you hadn’t let me see you like you did this morning.” He kissed me to punctuate his thoughts on the matter.
I felt like my breath was sucked away from me by being so near him, kissing him. It was like a drug. At the same time, I felt my entire body flare into life, even more than I had been trying to not look like a sex-crazed fan at the event. He took my breath away and then gave it back to me in the next moment, even sweeter than when it was originally mine.
“How long is this ride?” I asked when I’d gotten a little bit of my breath back.
“Too damn long,” he growled.
Inspired, I pushed myself off him, using my hands on his chest. “Then you can sit there and experience what you put me through, buster,” I said, laughing at the expression on his face.
He wasn’t pleased.
“And what was that?”
“Oh, that I wanted to do this every time I saw your profile,” I whispered, running the tips of my fingers down his face, from his forehead to his chin. When I moved to touch his lips, he opened his mouth and took two of them between his teeth, biting gently.
I thought my thighs might just melt into the seat of the car.
“Ah ah ah,” I said, trying not to melt. “No biting…yet,” I added, fluttering my lashes at him.
I let my fingers run down his neck, reaching the collar of his shirt. I tugged it to the side and leaned in to kiss his collarbone. He let his head fall back and moaned. I saw the skin on his chest ripple into goosebumps. The sight of them made me smile. To know that I was doing this to him—to XTC—made me feel powerful and strong.
I licked the dimple at the base of his throat, loving how warm his skin felt. He radiated heat normally, and he was hotter now. Hotter in every way, I thought, resisting the urge to giggle.
“You’re killing me,” he said, not looking up.
“No, you’re not going to die. You’re not allowed—you have to live up to all those naughty,” I bit one corner of his lip, “naughty things you were teasing me about today.”
“Woman, you won’t know what happened to you…” he stopped and kissed me, cutting off any further conversation.
I curled into him, enjoying the feel of his lips on mine, the little nips of his teeth when they came into contact with mine. He didn’t hold back, didn’t hesitate. He was all in.
So was I.
We both stopped when the divider dropped a little.
“Sir, we’re here,” the driver’s voice came through.
“Finally,” Xavier muttered. He opened the door and pulled me out behind him, not letting go of my ha
nd.
That was comforting. I felt a little bereft at being so far away from him, even for just a moment. Easy, Liv, I told myself. Easy.
Xavier said something to the driver, but I didn’t hear it. He didn’t stop walking as he spoke, and before I knew it, we were in the hotel.
Everything went by in a blur, lights and flashing, nothing coming into focus for me. I knew we were heading for the elevator, but I felt so dazed…so…something. Not entirely connected to anything other than Xavier’s hand tethering me to here and now.
I was glad he was leading. We made it to the elevator, and he hit a button, snugging me next to him as he did so.
His other hand came down and cupped my face, smoothing my hair back.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he breathed.
I could smell the whiskey he’d had during dinner. It smelled marvelous. Made him smell marvelous.
Then he kissed me again, slower this time, and let the hand holding my waist slide down to my backside, cupping me and pulling me next to him so that I could feel him.
Oh, my dear and happy lord, I couldn’t wait to feel him next to me, no clothing in sight…he rubbed himself against me, and I let out a sigh of my own.
“That has to be the best thing I’ve heard all night, Livvie,” he whispered in my mouth.
“Even better than that guy we heard singing tonight?” I laughed a little, amazed I was able to speak coherently. I felt like I was in some kind of daze like I used to be at the end of a long night out with my girlfriends in college. But this time it wasn’t Sex on the Beach shooters that were making me woozy.
It was sex. Sex and Xavier.
Sex and X, I thought. And the thought made me laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Ask me later,” I reached up and pulled his head down, wanting to kiss him again. The door chimed.
“We are finally here,” he said.
Keeping his arm around me, we walked to the suite. He opened the door, and as he walked in, turned to look at me over his shoulder.
“You ready?”
I pushed him inside all the way with one hand, the other on my zipper. “I might could have been naked already, but you’re too busy talking.” I let my drawl get real deep.
The door slammed as he yanked me forward, spinning me around and pulling apart the back of my dress so that the zipper had no choice but to part. I held the top of my dress to me, and spun around.
Then, facing him, I dropped it.
“Time to make good on all that trash talk, Mr. All That,” I grinned.
He scooped me up and carried me into the room I’d been sleeping in, the one we’d spent all morning in earlier today.
The dress was on the floor before my butt bounced on the bed.
At this point, I doubted even Momma’s favorite tailor could save it.
I didn’t care.
7
Xavier
I woke, stretching my arms up over my head. The sunlight came into the room through a gap in the curtains, and for a moment, I forgot where I was.
Then I looked over.
She was still here, curled onto her side, back to me. Her naked, pink, rosy back, the back that I’d kissed from top to bottom more than once last night. The curve of it fascinated me, and I ran my hand softly down her spine, thrilled that I could.
I’d never woken with another woman like this before. Not ever.
Usually, I was looking for my ride, or a ride for her, or some kind of way out. Now? I didn’t even want her to wake up. I wanted to look at her, and wonder what the hell I’d done to get so lucky as to meet up with her.
Lucky…I was supposed to meet her. Wasn’t I? Something lingered on the edge of my brain, thought, something I was supposed to remember…something about Olivia?
I hated it when I couldn’t catch the thought I wanted. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it was usually something like this. Something big.
I stopped my fingers at the base of her spine, loving the little dip I could feel. She stirred, and I didn’t move. I wanted a little more time to think about this, about her. I was missing something, there was something just out of reach of conscious thought.
This was big. I was always an all-in kind of guy. When I got involved with someone, I was involved. It was why when I was done, I was really done. I’d never gone halfway with my relationships.
And even with that, this thing with Olivia was even bigger, more. If I didn’t watch out, I could fall in love with this woman. She was funny and witty. That had come through in all the time we spent texting. She was strong, and she wasn’t looking for me to be a knight and rescue her, not in any way. She had her own business, her own life.
But would she fit into mine? Would I fit into hers? Would her mom like me? The woman sounded scary as hell. Would Tibby like Olivia?
Yes.
I knew that without even having to think about it. Olivia was a lot like Tibby, although thankfully I didn’t think about her like a sister like I did with Tib.
Olivia stirred, and from the floor, I heard my cell ringing. I wanted to ignore it, but when I did that, people got nervous. I sighed, and got up, hoping I would just miss the call.
No such luck. It was Tibby, and she’d just call me again until I answered. I hit the green button, and walked out into the living room, closing the door behind me.
“Hey,” I said.
“Where are you?”
She was at work. She had that voice on.
“Still in San Francisco. What’s up?”
“What the hell did you say to your manager?”
“My ex-manager? Well,” I sat down, thinking about it. “That he was not my mother, thank God, and that giving me hell for hanging out with my friends was not his business, particularly as the people I was with were family, not friends. And why the hell did he have a problem with me being in a gay bar? His answers were kind of fucked, Tib. He’s a serious homophobe. Probably a gay basher in his free time.” That wasn’t entirely fair, but his ranting had started to give me the creeps, and it was why I told him to take his bullshit and piss off, and that my attorney would be in touch. “Why’d you call him?”
“He called me.”
“Oh, well, hell. Guess he’s pissed?”
“Yes. He’s carrying on about you breaking contact, and all sorts of shit that is going to be nothing more than a giant pain in my ass,” Tibby sighed dramatically.
Making sure I knew what a pain in the ass I was for making her deal with this.
I looked up to see Olivia come out, wearing only her PJ top, and I grinned at her. She smiled back, still sleepy, and I felt a rush of—I didn’t even know what it was—happiness? Come over me.
She made me happy. When was the last time that had happened?
She headed for the bar, bending over to give me a fantastic view while she looked in the fridge for a drink. As she pulled out a bottle of water, she shot a flirty look over her shoulder.
It made me hard instantly. As I wasn’t wearing anything, it was pretty noticeable. Olivia’s cat-like smile turned into a big grin, and she waltzed over to stand behind the couch and lean down to the ear not attached to the phone.
“Come back in when you’re done,” she said, swiping the cool bottle across my chest.
And without a backward glance, she walked back into her room, and partially shut the door.
Holy.
Shit.
“What?” I said, aware that Tibby’s voice had risen in my ear.
“You’re not even listening, are you?”
Great. Tibby was pissed, and all I could do was think about the fact that I thought my dick might get up and walk away, so badly did I want to follow Olivia.
“I got…uh…distracted for a minute. Keep your hair on. Tell me again, and I am listening.”
She was so used to me she didn’t even keep up the yelling.
“How do you want to handle him when he files a breach of contract suit?”
“Tell him that I have our conversation on tape, and while I know I can’t legally use it, I can let everyone know the way he talked about the gay community, which will certainly hit him in his professional side. And that me letting his bigot ass go quietly is a fucking favor, and should he not wish to see it that way, and keep bitching, I’ll do a nice interview with HuffPo or something like that, to let them know how disappointed I am in my former manager.”
Silence on the other end, and then Tibby burst out laughing. “I love you, X. You’re a bigger bitch than I am.”
“You know it, sister,” I said, grinning at her through the phone. “Anything else?”
“What, you have a hot date or something?”
“Something like that.”
“And you took my call? Hang up and stop being a jerk.”
“Later, Tib.” I hit the red button and dropped the phone. There was no one else I needed to talk to just this instant so they could leave a message.
I hurried to the room door and kicked it open. “You better be…” my voice trailed away.
Olivia lay on the bed, the top unbuttoned so that I could see the valley between her breasts, and only one button done where the bottom of the shirt hit her thighs. That was inched up so I could also see the shadow of her legs together, and she was kind of curled on the bed the way women do when they are feeling sexy.
Holy shit did it work on her. She wasn’t the usual “type” of woman I always seemed to go for – she was petite and dark-haired, but she was without a doubt the sexiest woman I had ever seen. Ever.
She was drinking from the water bottle as my eyes met hers. Then after she swallowed, which made my heart beat in my ears, she moved the bottle away from her lips and dribbled the water down her chest.
“Oops,” she said. “I think I spilled on myself. You’d better come over here and help me clean it up.”
Olivia
I’m not sure whether or not his feet touched the ground in the millisecond it took for him to join me on the bed. He snatched the bottle out of my hand and pulled me lower on the bed. Then he straddled me, holding the water bottle over me.
Forgotten Wishes: Djinn Everlasting Book Two Page 11
