Chapter Nineteen
Buzz Buzz Buzz
“Do you have to go?” Hale was once again packing for another meeting with Jasmine’s lawyer and I was in charge of Elara, being that we still hadn’t found a nanny.
“You know I’d stay if I could.”
Biting my lip I tried not to pout as he folded his dress socks. The man was meticulous. “How long will you be gone?”
“I promise to return as soon as I can. Believe me, staying with my father is not something I enjoy.”
Elle and Barrett were on another excursion and would be back in a day or two, but that wasn’t the same. I actually considered inviting my mom to Florida for a visit, but even that thought didn’t relieve the ache of seeing Hale go.
I glanced at the baby monitor in my hands. The fuzzy image on the screen showed Elara sleeping soundly. “What if you took us with you?”
Hale paused and looked at me. “It’s a business trip, Rayne. I’d hardly have time to spend with you while I’m there.”
“But Remington’s there. We could hang out with him.”
He grunted and returned to the closet.
“I promise we won’t be in your way.”
Laying out four suits, he sighed. “If that’s what you want then you’ll need to have you and Elara packed within the hour. My flight leaves at five.”
A smile stretched across my face and I squeaked. Jumping off the bed, I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you!”
“Don’t thank me yet. New England’s cold this time of year and there isn’t much to do. Pack warm clothes for you and Elara.”
Despite the cold weather, New England was a spectacular sight to behold. The fall foliage dressed the land in vibrant shades of orange and gold. The coast seemed carved out of cliffs and long white beaches. History was everywhere and the countryside was breathtaking, while little adventures seemed only a short car ride away from the pulsing city sites.
Marta was thrilled to see us and I was just as happy to see her. Although I’d recently discovered my love for Elara, I was desperately in need of a break from playing nanny. Marta scooped the baby out of my arms the moment we arrived and Hale and I joined Remington and his lady friend in the grand parlor for cocktails.
I’d never actually met one of Remington’s women, so this was a first. For some reason, I suffered such a jumble of nerves one would think I was being sized for a new stepmother.
Hale and I sat on a small settee across from the lovebirds and I found all the jewelry on the other woman’s hands a distraction. That was a lot of glitter and gold.
“This is Odette,” Remington introduced. “Darling, this is my son, Hale, and a dear family friend, Rayne Meyers.”
I was a dear family friend! This made me think of all the other possible titles he could have saddled me with and I started playing a game of comparison in my head, wondering which label was best. Hale’s girlfriend. Personal Assistant. Walking calamity. Dear family friend seemed just fine.
Odette was a redhead with lily-white skin stretched over a good deal of plastic surgery, which made guessing her age tricky. Since I was sick with curiosity, I played a little detective game to figure out how old she was.
“Where are you from, Odette?”
“New Hampshire, a little town just a ways from here. My family’s been dealing with the Davenports for years.”
I raised a brow. “Any deals I know of?”
“This isn’t a business meeting, Meyers. Sip your drink.”
I tasted my cocktail and continued to eye the company. Remington sat close to her, but he didn’t touch her in any outwardly, intimate way. Hale appeared rather disinterested in the whole meet and greet.
Continuing my investigation, I asked, “Did you go to college? I’ve recently started taking classes again.”
“I did.” Odette smiled proudly with teeth too ordinary to be dentures. “I was the first female in my family to earn a Bachelor of Arts. My major was music.”
“Odette has quite a singing voice,” Remington commented
“Oh, Rem…” She playfully patted his knee and I curled my lip.
It was just plain weird seeing him in this tomcat light. I mean, I knew he was a hound, but yuck. I much preferred seeing him as Remington, the arrogant business shark.
He raised his brows and dipped his head. “It’s true. You should hear her sing. Do a few bars for them, darling.”
Well, now I wanted to hear her. And that was two times he called her darling. Interesting. “We’d love to hear you sing.”
She placed her martini glass on the coffee table, which looked like an antique from the first settlers, and she drew in a deep breath. I was not prepared for the sound that came out of her mouth. We were suddenly transported back in time as this tiny woman belted out the slow, sultry lyrics of Dream a Little Dream of Me.
But what took my breath away was the shock of Remington’s raspy voice taking up the part of Louis Armstrong. He even got playful and threw out the little buzz, buzz, buzz portion of the lyrics.
My lips stretched wide as I sat in awe of the two lovebirds. As they hit the last line in perfect harmony, I gaped and clapped.
Odette laughed and nudged Remington with her shoulder as he swept his martini off the table and swallowed it down.
“Remington! I had no idea you could sing!” I was beyond impressed.
“That’s not singing. Odette’s the one with the pipes.”
Truly charmed by the woman, I asked, “Have you ever performed?”
“Oh, no, dear. It’s just something I enjoy in private.”
“Very well done,” Hale commented.
I could sense he was impressed, but his mind was, of course, elsewhere. I wished so much that he could relax for an evening and put all his worries aside, but those worries had brought us here and it seemed he was dead set on keeping his focus on the solution—whatever that was.
He placed his empty glass on the table and rose from the settee. “I think I’ll head to bed. Long day tomorrow.”
“Oh.” I paused, not quite ready to retire, but unsure if he expected me to join him. Chugging my drink, I stood.
“You going to bed too, Meyers?”
I hesitated, my glance bouncing between Hale and his father.
Hale waved a hand. “Stay. Enjoy yourself.”
Relieved, I said, “Okay. I’ll just walk you up.”
He took my hand and led me up a sprawling staircase to the room where our bags had been delivered.
“This house is gorgeous.” There was an almost castle feel to it. Everything was so old, but so well preserved.
“It’s one of my father’s favorites.”
“I think Odette’s his new favorite. They’re totally adorable together.”
He stepped into our guest room and shut the door. “Do yourself a favor and don’t get too attached to my father’s playthings. His taste changes often.”
I was aware of exactly who Remington was and needed no reminders, but I wished Hale would cut him a little slack. “Well, he looks happy and I’m happy for him. How old do you think she is?”
“I’d say somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty-nine and working quite hard to keep herself perpetually under forty.”
That was his version of a joke because the woman was definitely older than forty. At least she wasn’t twenty. “Do you need anything before bed?”
He glanced over his shoulder as he slipped off his shoes then strolled slowly to the door where I stood. Caging me in with his arms, he looked deep into my eyes and whispered, “What are you offering?”
I flushed and shrugged. “I told them I’d be back down.”
His fingers trailed down the side of my body, grazing my breast through my shirt. “I can be quick.”
“Hale, I meant did you need a glass of water or anything.”
His fingers were at the zipper of my jeans, the button popping free with a tug. “I’m not thirsty.”
A sound escaped my throat as he pulled the zipper down, tiny, little teeth separating one at a time. I glanced between us, as his fingers slipped into the front of my panties and found my clit.
“Hale.”
“Shh.” His fingers smoothed over my folds, teasing and sending mixed signals to my brain. Did I want to go downstairs or stay here? Decisions, decisions…
My lips parted as he easily slid a finger into my sex.
“You’re very wet, Ms. Meyers.”
“You did that on purpose.”
“Got you wet? Hmm. I’m not sorry.” He withdrew his fingers and lifted them to my mouth. “Taste.”
My lips slowly parted. Gently, he fucked his fingers, drenched in my arousal, over my tongue and groaned.
“God, you have the sexiest mouth. Don’t go downstairs.”
“Hale…” I was torn. “I hardly ever get to see your dad when he’s not working.”
“I’ll make it worth your while to stay.” His hand gripped my ass through my jeans and my head rolled back against the door. His breath teased over my shoulder as he pinched the hard tip of my nipple through my shirt.
“They’re waiting for me,” I whined, no longer in a rush to leave.
His fingers fed back into my panties, sliding easily into my slit. “Let him wait. You’re mine.”
I gasped as he shoved my jeans to my thighs and fastened his mouth to my neck. I clutched his shoulders as his other hand closed over my breast, massaging possessively.
“Fuck, Rayne. I need you.” He stripped off my shirt but left the bra. His busy hands shoved my jeans lower, bunching the denim at my knees as I tried to step out of them.
“My boots.” Stupid skinny jeans were always a problem.
“Leave them.”
Giving up on his quest to get me naked, he swung my body up in his arms and deposited me on the bed, belly down, ass over the edge. The clank of his belt buckle was a mere warning as he parted my thighs as much as possible, fingered my sex, and replaced his touch with the thick head of his cock.
I rose on my toes as he plunged deep, burying himself to the root. He held me there, pinned under his weight, jeans twisted around my knees, bra strap falling down my shoulder as I balanced on my elbows.
Breathing heavily, he brushed my hair over one shoulder and kissed the back of my neck. “You shouldn’t have followed me up here.”
“I’m sort of glad I did.”
“I’m in a selfish mood,” he warned, punctuating the confession with a sharp stab of his cock and rocking me deeper into the mattress.
I’d begun to notice a pattern with Hale. Whenever the topic of Jasmine or the company of his father came about, something inside of him, something a little more animalistic than the tame version he shared with the rest of the world, crept closer to the surface and unleashed a sort of Hale-beast.
The betrayal he’d suffered was a wound that would never fully heal, and no matter how entrenched we became in our own love affair, there would be times he’d always need the affirmation that I was his and nothing could threaten our devotion to each other.
When he got like that I never suffered. On the contrary, I gained. It was all a matter of me giving him permission to let go.
Looking over my shoulder, I caught his gaze and slowly nodded. “I’m yours.”
Satisfied, his hand pressed to my shoulder, lowering my chest to the bed as he drew back and plunged deep. A gasp escaped at the sheer force of his thrust, but he was far from finished. Again, he drove into me, my legs slightly bound and my arms pinned beneath my chest.
His thumb pressed between my ass cheeks as his hips moved like a piston, the old bed creaking wildly. He sank his thumb into me and I moaned loudly, my mind swirling as he penetrated both my openings.
“That’s it. You give me everything I need, don’t you, baby?”
“Yes!”
Harder, he drilled into me, one hand pressed heavily into my shoulder holding me in place as his other hand worked my ass.
The heavy bed creaked as the slap of skin echoed in the antiquated room. Hale groaned with every advance, producing sharp moans from my throat.
“Fuck, I’m gonna come.” He withdrew his thumb and gripped my hips.
I sucked in a long breath of air as he yanked me back, his release pumping out of him. My arms were practically numb as he blanketed me and shivered, leaving kisses over my damp skin.
He slowly withdrew. My lower body pulsed with the need to climax as his come trickled past my swollen sex. His lips brushed over my shoulder and he lifted my body, turning me to my back. I lay there, catching my breath as he carefully worked off my boots.
They landed with a clomp on the hardwood floor. Looking up at him through my lashes, I watched him shoulder off his shirt. The rest of his clothes were already gone.
He peeled off my jeans and panties, tossing them to the floor and then yanked my knees forward, parting them and dropping a kiss onto my throbbing clit.
I hissed, but his tongue was gentle, a soothing touch. It amazed me that he could do such a thing after finishing inside of me, but he didn’t seem to mind, which made it all the more erotic. I hummed and closed my eyes as he pleasured me with long strokes of his tongue and soft pulls of his lips.
No matter how greedy he claimed to be, he always saw to my needs in the end. I came on a breathless plea, calling out his name and trembling as my skin chilled.
Rising to his full height, he stared down at me, an assessing glint to his silver eyes. “You’re stunning. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Such lies, but who was I to object? I smiled and held out a hand to him. He took my fingers and placed a kiss on the knuckles.
“You’re sweet.”
“Only because you make me so,” I whispered, the house now strangely silent. “I hope no one heard us.”
He raised a brow. “I’m sure they figured out why you didn’t return.”
I scrunched my nose. Breakfast tomorrow was going to be awkward if that was the case.
Hale unclasped my bra and folded it on the nightstand. “I have to wake up early tomorrow morning. I might not see you before I’m out the door.”
He’d be meeting with Clayton and then off to try and talk down Jasmine’s attorney once more. I really hoped this would be the end of all this back and forth. Though I’d never been one to rush ahead, I couldn’t escape the feeling that all this Jasmine stuff was holding us back.
“I’m sure I’ll keep busy. There are lots of sights to see.”
He crawled into bed and pulled my body close to his. “Make sure you bring a sweater for yourself and an extra blanket for Elara. The temperature’s supposed to drop.”
I loved when he watched out for us like that. “I will.”