Chapter6
Her cell phone rang, and Kate was delighted to see that it was Olivia. She answered it right away with a big smile on her face.
“Liv! How are you doing?” she asked joyfully.
“I’m good! I was wondering how you were doing. You over there on Fifth Avenue, in your fancy penthouse, with your hot, wealthy, baby making sugar daddy. I’m dying for details here. Scoop! Fill me in!” Olivia pressed right to the real reason that she was calling.
Kate was not surprised. Olivia always wanted to know all the details about everything. She was the most curious or sometimes even nosey person that Kate knew, but that was one of the qualities that she loved best about Olivia.
She laughed. “Things are good! You’ll have to come up and see the condo. It’s amazing. I can’t believe this place. I’m really getting so spoiled here, and it isn’t taking long at all. Pierce is really so good to me. I love it.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that things are going well, but you left out one of the most important parts of it,” Olivia pushed a little more.
“Yeah, I know.” Kate blushed and a nervous giggle escaped her. “That part is actually going surprisingly well. We were both really nervous at first, but he’s so… god, he is just so good, so incredible to be with that we are both getting used to it really fast. We’re… we’re enjoying it. I mean, I know it’s all so that I can get pregnant and give him a baby, but the making the baby part is a whole lot better than I thought it was going to be.” She laughed again, feeling completely naughty for sharing such steamy intimate details with her best friend.
“Ha! I knew it. I knew he was going to be good. He’s too perfect to be a lousy lover. Is it romantic or are you guys keeping it clinical like you said you were going to?” Olivia asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice.
“We’re keeping it more clinical. I mean, it’s pretty hot and… I don’t know, kind of electric, but we just do one style and we don’t kiss or anything, it’s not done in a romantic way. It’s done… simply. Even so, there are some serious perks to it. I can’t remember the last time I felt like that with a lover. I think I’ve never felt like that with a lover. I’m surprised that it’s working out this way, but it’s good. No, actually, it’s great, and I’m really glad about that.” She smiled, thinking of it with a sense of enormous relief.
“Well, I’m glad that it’s working out. That’s better than what I thought might happen. I say keep it up. Literally,” she giggled wickedly. “Let’s go have lunch next week and you can fill me in on all of the details. Okay?” Olivia asked hopefully.
“Definitely! I’d love that. Besides, I miss you,” Kate answered happily.
The two ladies weren’t the only friends who were catching up and asking about details. Pierce went out for drinks with Matt, and Matt was just as curious about the surrogate situation as Olivia was.
“How are things going with your new baby mama?” he asked, a glass of whiskey in one hand and a fistful of salty peanuts in the other.
They were sitting at a table together in one of their favorite watering holes, just off of the swank of Fifth Avenue, where the lights were a little dimmer, and the clientele was a lot simpler.
Pierce looked down at his glass and avoided Matt’s intense gaze. “It’s great, actually. In fact, I think it’s going to work out really well. She’s gorgeous, smart, and the chemistry is good. I mean, I don’t know how much chemistry there needs to be for her to get pregnant, but it’s there. So, that’s a big plus. At the rate we’re going, she should be pregnant pretty soon.”
Matt stared at him. “Wait a minute. Do you mean to tell me that you’re doing the work yourself? You didn’t get her pregnant at the clinic?”
Pierce sighed quietly and shook his head. “No, I’m doing it the old-fashioned way. Just long enough to conceive, and then it’s baby business and nothing but baby business.”
Matt whistled long and low. “Wow. I didn’t see that one coming.”
Pierce frowned a little. “Well, I don’t like the whole ‘clinical’ approach with the doctors. It’s cold and it feels too unnatural to me. I don’t want my child brought into the world that way. I’d rather that it was done naturally at the beginning, the way it’s supposed to be done, if it can happen that way. I got lucky and I found a woman who was willing and able to do the surrogacy, who is the right woman biologically to do it, and who will give me an ideal child. As frosting on the cake, she’s willing to go the natural route, and forego the doctor’s clinical insertion.”
“So you two are getting it on…” Matt stared at him, watching him closely.
Pierce eyed him sharply and shook his head. “Now don’t get the wrong idea. This is baby making. It’s sex to impregnate, not for intimacy or romance. Romance is not on the table for this. It’s absolutely not going to happen. In fact, more than anything, it’s a business deal.”
Matt continued to gaze at him without blinking or turning away. “A business deal.”
“Yes. It’s business. The business of a baby,” Pierce answered, looking away.
“Uh huh,” Matt replied. “I’m not so sure that that will work, but good luck with it.”
A few days later, when Pierce had been away from the condo for as long as he could stand it, he showed up to visit Kate and brought flowers with him to give to her. She was surprised when she opened the door and saw them in his hand.
He smiled at her over the top of them as he walked through the doorway. “I thought you might like these. They are a gift; a gesture to thank you for all that you’re doing.”
She grinned at him. “Thank you! That’s so sweet, and I love them! They’re beautiful!”
Kate took them from him and went to the kitchen, putting the flowers in water and a crystal vase. She brought them back to the living room and set them on one of the tables in there, arranging them carefully before stepping back and admiring them.
“That’s beautiful.” He looked pleased as he gave them another look, before his eyes drifted over to Kate.
She felt him looking at her, and her body began to heat up as bubbles of ache and desire began to form deep in her. She turned and looked over her shoulder at him and he walked slowly toward her. “Do you want to go to the bedroom?” she asked in a soft, velvet voice, her eyes on his.
He reached her and let his fingertips drift up and down her arms. “No,” he said in a husky voice. “The bedroom is too far.” He was hungry for her, and she could feel it, just as she was hungry for him.
Her breath caught in her throat and he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her back against his front, closing his eyes as he pressed his erection against her through their clothes. He leaned close over her shoulder and whispered into her ear as he slid her dress upward.
“Have I told you how much I like the convenience of you wearing skirts and dresses so often?” He breathed in short shallow breaths as his hands moved over the front of her thighs from where he stood behind her and she let her head fall back on his shoulder, moaning softly as his hand and fingers moved tentatively from her thigh to the front of her body at her core.
He slipped his fingertips beneath the lacy panties there, touching her gently at first, tenderly, rubbing his fingers back and forth over her delicate region. She gasped and closed her hands over his forearms, curling her fingers tightly on him. Slowly he moved his fingers from the soft exterior of her to the warm, wet interior, just inside the folds of her flesh. He began to move his fingertips faster and she lost her breath, closing her eyes and sighing loudly as his fingertips became wetter with each passing moment.
Dipping them inside her, massaging her over and over, she began to arch her back slightly, and her rapid breaths became moans of intense pleasure. He manipulated her until she cried out with an orgasm, panting for air, and it wasn’t until then that he pulled her panties down and entered her, hard and throbbing, aching for the feel of her around his erection.
He sank slowly into her, holding tightly to her body, moving his hands from the front of her to her hips, pulling her back against him over and over as he delved into her, deep and slow, losing himself in the overwhelming pleasure that the two of them created with one another.
She came for him again, and then again after that, and finally he could not hold his own release back any longer. All of his passion rushed into her like a river let loose from a dam and he became breathless, bending over himself slightly, so that his chest was against her back, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her as the last of his orgasm left him and entered her.
When they could catch their breath, he released her, and they dressed. She turned finally to look at him, and in her eyes and in her heart, something was a little different. He had made her feel lust and passion, and it wasn’t their intention. It was something that had begun burning between them, and it caught her off guard.
He stepped close to her and lifted his hand to hold her cheek in it. He gazed into her eyes for a moment in silence before he leaned close. Their breath mingled for a second, and she thought that he was going to kiss her mouth, but he turned and his lips brushed her cheek gently.
She closed her eyes and let herself feel his lips on her skin, even just at her cheek. Part of her wanted to turn away, and another part of her wanted to turn to him and kiss him on his mouth, tasting him, but he lowered his hand from her cheek and stepped back away from her.
“Talk with me,” he asked quietly. He wasn’t ready to go. He didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay and talk with her again, late into the night as they had before.
A smile crept over her face and she lifted her chin a little. “I’ll go make tea.”
“I’ll take wine.” He returned her smile.
They walked together to the kitchen and got their drinks, bringing them back into the living room to sit and talk.
He watched her interestedly and began their conversation. “Why New York? What was it about this place that made you want to be here? You could have gone to school in Boston. What brought you here?”
She felt her cheeks warm and she looked downward a little before she answered, looking back at him. “I love almost everything about it here.”
“What do you love about it?” he pressed further.
Kate looked around the room as she thought about it. “I love the opera and the ballet at the Met. I love live theatre, and this is Mecca for that, at least outside of London. I love all the festivals and parades, and the constant hum of the city, as if it’s alive and moving right underneath my feet and all around me. I love the businesses and the museums and the people. I love the old churches and Central Park. I love… I love just about all of it. Truly.”
He smiled at her appreciatively. “I love those things as well.” He laughed a little then. “Do you know, I walked out of the Met’s most recent production of Macbeth. That’s practically sacrilege to me; one doesn’t just walk out of a performance, especially at the Met, but it was a terrible production. I couldn’t believe I did it, but I did, and I’d do it again. It’s the only time I’ve ever done that, and I’m a season ticket holder.”
She gasped. “I saw that one! It was terrible! I stayed through it all. I wish I’d left, but I stayed. You know though, while we’re talking about the Met, I just loved their production of Carmen. This last one, with Elina Garanca as Carmen. She was divine. Probably the sexiest woman I have ever seen do that role on the Met stage. God that was good.” She looked down at the cup of tea in her hands then. “I don’t get to go as often as I’d like to, but I do go when I can. It’s a bit expensive.”
Pierce considered her and the corner of his mouth turned up in a little smile. They talked on about all kinds of things; interest and hobbies, sharing funny stories and deep thoughts, sharing conversation late into the night, just as he had wanted to do. Again it grew late before he got up reluctantly to leave. He kissed her cheek again, lingering close there and she wondered for the second time if he was going to kiss her mouth, but he didn’t and she told herself to put those thoughts from her mind. She reminded herself that it wasn’t going to be like that between them, no matter what it felt like.
There was a knock at the condo door the next day and she was astounded to find Pierce there with a big grin on his face. She stepped back with a laugh and let him in.
“You know, if you’re going to keep coming around this often, you have my permission to move back in, if you like.” She winked at him teasingly, and he raised an eyebrow at her.
“Is that an offer?” He teased her in return but then slipped his hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an envelope, handing it to her. “This is for you.”
She took it, a curious expression on her face, and as she opened it, he continued to speak. “New York City Ballet is doing Balanchine’s ‘Jewels’ and I thought you might like to go see it. You don’t have to go with me, I mean… this isn’t a date or an obligation for you to go with me, it’s just… you know, a gift. For you. Take one of your friends if you like and go have a night out and enjoy yourself.”
She stared at the tickets in the envelope and a tear formed at the corner of one eye, but she held it in. “Thank you. This is… this is so kind of you. It’s so thoughtful. I really appreciate it.” She looked up at him and he was completely happy for having given her something that he knew she would love.
“Well, I was watching you last night when you were talking about it, and you were just so happy. You lit up, and I thought it might be nice if you could go, since you haven’t gotten to go that often.” He shrugged and took a few steps away from her, gazing out of the balcony windows to Central Park below.
She studied him and a smile formed on her face then. Tilting her head a little, she said, “I really love that you were so thoughtful. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I know anyone else who would enjoy it as much as you would. Would you please do me the distinct honor of going with me?”
He turned and grinned at her, lifting his chin somewhat. “I would love to go with you. Thank you!”
They laughed and he kissed her cheek lightly as happiness seemed to dance in his eyes, and then he bid her farewell and he left. She turned from the door when it closed and looked at the tickets still in her hand. With a shake of her head, she chuckled, thinking what a good, good man he was, and how lucky she was to be there with him, even if it was a temporary situation.
Kate called Olivia and told her that they needed to go dress shopping. She wanted to get something extra special for Balanchine, and if she was being honest with herself, for Pierce. Olivia was thrilled to go, and Kate’s service people drove her over to Olivia’s house to pick her up and then they were taken shopping.
Olivia frowned as Kate flipped through dresses on the rack in the first dress shop that they stopped at. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked sidelong at her best friend. “So, he gave you these ballet tickets and told you to take anyone and you decided to take him, and you think it’s not a date. Am I right about that?”
“You’re right about that,” Kate replied as she pulled two dresses off of the rack and kept searching.
Olivia remained where she was, standing with arms crossed as she was. “It’s totally a date. It’s romantic. You’re going to the ballet with him. It’s a romantic date.”
Kate didn’t even look up from the dresses she was flipping through. “It’s not a date, he was just being appreciative and he gave them to me, and I was being nice and I asked him to go with me. That’s not a romantic date.”
Olivia raised one eyebrow and gazed at Kate speculatively. “Are you pregnant yet?”
Kate sighed and shook her head. “No. I keep a stash of tests at the condo and I take one after every time he visits. There’s nothing yet.”
Olivia came up close beside Kate and started flipping through dresses as if she was shopping also. “How’s the sex?” she asked offhandedly.
Kate’s hand stilled where it had been drifting over the top of the hangers. She didn’t look at her friend, but she stayed where she had frozen and answered her. “I’m torn. It’s super hot… like, better than any sex I’ve ever had, but it’s also really clinical.”
“Clinical? Still? Has he kissed you yet? Like, on the lips kissed you?” Olivia asked, turning to look fully at Kate and abandoning the dresses at her side.
Kate turned in place and looked back at Olivia. “No. There is no kissing going on. Like I said, clinical.”
Olivia frowned. “I don’t like it. Something isn’t right about it. Maybe you should change it up a bit. Maybe positions have to do with getting pregnant.”
Kate narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “You might be right about that. I’ll think about it.”
The night of the ballet arrived, and Pierce arrived at the condo in a black tuxedo. He could have been a new and improved James Bond, standing there in the doorway looking better than any man had ever looked in a tuxedo before, at least in Kate’s eyes. She drew in a deep breath and whistled, giving him a wink.
“Wow.” She grinned as she stood before him. It was nothing compared to what he felt standing there looking at her.
“I’m… enraptured. Completely enraptured.” He stared with wide eyes and a half open mouth at her. She was dressed in a red gown that formed itself to her sculpted curves. Her blonde curls were pulled up to the back of her head in a cascade, and her makeup had been professionally done that afternoon at a salon. She was as beautiful as he had ever seen her, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He didn’t want to take his eyes off of her.
She giggled softly. “Thank you. We make a good team tonight,” she told him earnestly. He held his arm out for her and she took it, loving the feel of going out on the town with him.
They thoroughly enjoyed the ballet, and when it was over, they walked together through the courtyard outside of the Met, stopping and standing at the fountain. “Balanchine is truly timeless. He just doesn’t ever get old or fade out of fashion, he is arguably one of the best choreographers who ever lived,” Kate said emphatically as she basked in the glow of the incredible night. “His work just shines. It’s dazzling.”
Pierce was standing before her staring at her, drinking her in, and drowning in her. He shook his head slowly as he gazed at her. “You’re dazzling.” He barely spoke above a whisper.
Reaching his hands up to her face, he cupped it gently in his palms and almost in slow motion, he bought his mouth to hers, his eyes holding her gaze almost until their lips touched. He kissed her softly and sweetly, tasting her slowly and savoring her as their lips moved together and over each other.
She kissed him in return and slid her arms up around his neck, drawing herself up against him. He moaned softly and parted her lips with his, tentatively tracing the edge of his tongue along hers as one of his hands left her cheek and slid back into her glorious golden curls.
Her body warmed to the point of catching on fire, and she grew breathless, as did he, the longer they shared their kiss. He finally let her go, blinking and drawing in a sharp breath. It was as if a sting of reality bit at him, and he stepped away from her, looking down and feeling horribly guilty.
“I’m… I’m so sorry. I… got caught up in the moment. I didn’t mean to do that.” He clenched his jaw and turned his head from hers. “I should take you home.” His voice took on a serious tone and she felt a coldness in her core.
“Please don’t apologize, I—” she began, but he shook his head and began to walk with her.
“We made the guidelines clear at the beginning. I told you that wouldn’t happen. I shouldn’t have indulged that desire. Let’s leave it as it is and go forward. There are good things ahead of us. That I know.” He gave her a small smile and she felt a torrent of confusion in her.
She had loved the kiss, it had set her ablaze and she thought that he had loved it too, but from his abrupt stop to it and his apology, she realized that he must not have felt the same way about it. They went home to the condo and talked about the ballet and their dinner beforehand and what a nice time they had had, but neither of them discussed the kiss, until they got to the condo, and the fires that had burned brighter and hotter in them would not be dampened or tamed.
He walked in with her, and she knew that he was going to take her to the bedroom. He didn’t stop in the living room for any formalities or conversation, he simply took her hand and walked with her into the bedroom, straight to the foot of the bed where they had been almost every time.
She turned her back to him expectantly, and she felt his hands on her bare shoulders. Closing her eyes, she drew in a long slow breath, knowing that bliss was only moments away, anticipating it, wanting it. That’s when she felt his lips at the back of her neck and her eyes flew open at the electric feel of it, and the flames that had burned in her earlier blazed up, catching every part of her on fire.
He trailed his lips agonizingly slow from the back of her neck over the length of her back to her shoulder, and just as he was subtly sucking and kissing and nibbling at her skin, she felt the zipper of her red dress give way, and gradually he slid it from her body, leaving her standing in nothing but her red satin panties. There had been no bra for the strapless gown, and as she stood there with her nude back to him, everything in her flushed and her heart pounded, raging against her chest.
She felt Pierce’s hands on her arms and he turned her steadily in place where she stood. She breathed in sharply as their eyes met and he reached his hand up to touch her face tenderly with his fingertip. Then he reached behind her head and loosened the few pins that held her hair, dropping them on the floor at their feet as her hair tumbled down and he ran his fingers over it.
Neither of them could barely breathe as he let his eyes finally drift downward over her body. It was the first time he had ever seen her from the front, and his fingers soon followed his eyes, reaching for her shoulders and then drifting down over the curves of her breasts and across her hardened nipples. She closed her eyes and gasped, almost paralyzed from the intense pleasure.
She felt his mouth on her neck, and every muscle in her went taut. He trailed his lips and tongue down over the hollow of her neck to her shoulders, and finally, achingly, to her breasts. He lifted them each, taking her solid pink nipples into his lips and teeth, sucking and tugging on them as his hands massaged and cupped them.
An agonized sigh escaped her and she closed her hands over his shoulders, bringing her fingers to the lapels on his jacket. She pushed it off of him and it was merely moments later when his shirt followed his jacket to the floor, and his pants were right behind them.
She stared at him and moved her open hand over the bare arms and chest before her, touching what she hadn’t realized she had wanted so very much. She kissed and tasted just as he did, but when she brought her mouth toward his lips, he turned away.
She realized just what it was that he was doing. He didn’t want to tinge anything between them with romance, he was trying to keep it separated. Her hands moved down over his stomach and finally she closed them around this thick erection.
She massaged and stroked him, and he gasped and moaned, holding his hands on her hips tightly as he tried to steady himself from the vertigo waves promising to pull him under completely. “I need you. Now.” He barely managed to whisper, lifting her to the bed and pushing her back carefully to the pillows.
Kate was astounded at what was happening between them, at what was changing and growing and catching fire like nothing she had ever experienced. She slid her hands up over his hips and his back, holding him tightly as he pressed his palms to her inner thighs, spreading them apart. She arched her back as he ravished one of her breasts and brought his erection to her, slowly entering her inch by inch as she clung to him and gasped, until he was fully inside of her and they began to move slowly together, surrendering to the passion they had been denying each other.
As he slid back and forth in and out of her and in again, she cried out and lost her breath in the tidal wave of ecstasy that made her tremble in his arms, and as she did so, calling his name over and over again, he stared at her and could not hold himself back any longer. He brought his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply and passionately, twisting his tongue around hers and losing himself in every part of her.
They moved together for a long while in their passionate love dance, wrestling their bodies against and with each other, sweat dripping from their skin, their breath gone, their hearts pounding as they rocked back and forth, until long into the night, he finally let himself go, having brought her to her orgasm four times, and not being able to hold himself back any longer. His voice echoed loud through the room as he climaxed, quivering with epic passion in her arms, her body locked around his, hardness fully in her until the last drop of his release had left him, and he lay spent on her breast, wearied from their love and completely surrendered to her.
No words were spoken as they kissed sweetly a few times, gazing into one another’s eyes as they held fast to each other and finally sleep took them over. Hours later when she opened her eyes in the soft morning light, she found him staring at her.
He said nothing, but leaned over to her and kissed her, touching her body with his hands and drawing her to him again. Two more hours after that, spent yet again, he finally reluctantly withdrew himself from her bed and pulled his clothes from the night before back on. He watched her, not wanting to go anywhere but back into her arms, and knowing that the responsibilities of the outside world were calling to him, demanding his attention and his time.
Pierce kissed her softly and sweetly one last time, lingering on her luscious lips for a few minutes before he made himself take a deep breath and speak, finally. “I know this was different than what we said that it would be. I don’t want to get anything confused. I want to be clear for both of us. This is for the baby. This is just business… right?”
His blue eyes were strange and intense on her. She nodded. “I know. Just for the baby. It’s only business. I’m not confused about it.” She leaned up and kissed him once more, slowly and sensually. He groaned from his core and closed his eyes, willing himself to leave.
“I have to go. I wish I was staying, but here we are. Reality calls.” He turned and walked out of the room with a long last look at her bare body lying in his sheets. That image would stay with him all throughout the day, as would the flames that burned through every part of him.
Kate closed her eyes and told herself not get burned by him. She told herself that the things that were evolving between them were not supposed to be happening, and that she had to let all of the burgeoning emotion in her go. She had to remember that it was just business. She was there to get pregnant and give him a baby and then leave. There was no room for error, no room for anything else.
Pushing herself from her bed, she readied herself for the day, starting it with a long and luxurious bath in the sunken jetted tub in her bathroom. She dressed in a form fitting dress and smiled at the memory of the whispered comment that Pierce had made to her about how convenient it was that she wore dresses so often.
When she was dressed and had eaten breakfast, she picked up the phone and called her mother. Theresa answered, but she hadn’t gotten past her greeting when Kate knew instantly that something was wrong.
“Mama, you don’t sound good. What’s going on?” she asked worriedly, clutching the phone in her hand.
Theresa answered weakly. “I’m not doing too well, pumpkin. I’m feeling pretty bad today. I need some help. You know it’s not good if I’m asking for help.”
“You’re right. You know what, I am able to actually do something about it this time. I can help you. Let me call the doctor and I’ll call you back and let you know what he says as soon as I can. You hold tight. I’m taking care of this.” She ended the call and then called her mother’s doctor. His number was on speed dial in her phone.
The doctor’s receptionist answered and Kate talked to her and then to her mother’s doctor. The doctor told her they would send a nurse out to her house on a daily basis to look after her, and as he told Kate that, she was flooded with relief. She was tremendously grateful that she had the money she needed to get her mother the help that was so necessary.
Kate spoke to her mother again, telling her about the nurses that would be coming to check on her, and they both were glad for it. Theresa felt reassured, and much more at ease, knowing that her medical needs would be met as they needed to be.
Kate checked on her mother daily, and she waited to hear from Pierce as one day passed, and then two, and two became three, and she began to feel lonely and sad without having seen him at all. She told herself that she was being silly. She told herself that it was a job, that he was paying her to have his child, not to long for intimacy with him.
Four days went by and she hadn’t heard from him. She began to wonder if she should contact him, but every time she picked up the phone, she stopped herself. She knew that if he wanted to be with her, he would be there. She kept reminding herself that the whole point of her intimacy with him was to get pregnant.
It was that fact alone that really kept her from calling him. She did everything that she could think of to busy herself and keep her mind off of him, but she found her thoughts straying to him in idle moments, or when she should have been thinking of anything else. She tried her best to focus on school, but even that wasn’t quite enough to make her forget about him completely, though it helped quite a bit.