Ghost Writer (Raven Maxim Book 1) (58 page)

“Sugar, I’ve about had it!”

“You paid for my plane ticket, Emerald, first class, too, but I coulda took the Greyhound and now you wanna give me some transportation wit’ carpet muncher one and two! I love my niece but I ain’t ridin’ no magic carpet with her no mo’e!”

“Ignorant, backwards and ungrateful! You know what? This is the last time that I…”

Sloan burst out laughing and walked away, letting the two women turn into serpents and give deadly verbal squeezes to one another—of course, wrapped in love. He sat down on the steps that led to the minister’s grand chair, slid his hat off his head, and simply waited. Who knew how long it would be before Emerald was finished or Sugar was ready to cease fire, but he figured if he’d waited for this wonderful woman all of his life, a few more minutes surely wouldn’t hurt…

Simply the Best

“O
pen it.”

Emerald smiled up at the man as she caressed his chest, the soft, downy hairs tickling the tip of her finger. She rested her head in his lap, his nakedness a sight to behold. The white sheets were bunched across his waist, and her body begged for sleep, but she fought hard to keep awake and see what he held in his hand. And besides, she couldn’t get enough of lying close to him, smelling him, touching him. In a way, she felt like a young girl who’d just discovered love, fell head over heels for the football captain. But that feeling paired so beautifully, like a fine wine, with her wisdom and experience. Life smelled good all over.

The bedroom was fragrant with the scent of strawberry and cream candles, reminiscent of their honeymoon hotel room on the island in the Atlantic Ocean. Turks and Caicos had been a fantasy come true. They’d held races in the sand, made love all times of the day, enjoyed private, fancy candlelight dinners, spas and massages, and swam in crystal blue waters.

But now, they were back home in Maxim, in their new digs. Where one fantasy ended, another began—the new chapter of their life together. The scent of the candles intermingled with other odors she was trying to become accustomed to; the landscape of the place was still so fresh and uncharted.

Two full floors of beauty, fit for friends and family to stay, an office made for a king decorated exclusively to satisfy Sloan’s tastes—things were coming together quite nicely, better than she’d even anticipated. Their new house smelled of brand spanking new carpet, fresh paint, and varnish. All these scents intermingled, floating from room to room. In the bowels of the abode, she’d carved out her special niche. They had a finished basement, large enough for her refurbishing business with room to grow. She still worked at the dental office, putting in her hours, while Sloan raced back and forth to NYC and L.A. for important business meetings. Tonight, they’d finally had a chance to settle in, take a deep breath and unwind, but the mail had come, and a letter Sloan had received captured both their attention.

“Open it?” he repeated, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Yes.” She smiled up at him.

He slid his finger under the flap and removed a hard stock sheet of paper with gold trim.

“It’s from Deloris…” He grinned so big, his smile was practically a nightlight.

“What’s it say?” She slowly sat up, pressing her head into her pillow against the headboard as she sidled as close to him as she could, peering down at the thing.

“It says the book, ‘Black and White Love Letters’, written by Sloan K. Steele, is a New York Times bestseller.”

The damn letter shook in his grip. She grabbed him close, laid kiss after kiss onto his cheek and lips. When she pulled away, she could see the grateful tears welling in his eyes.

“Congratulations, baby!” She gripped his cheeks and kissed him once more.

“I never expected this, Emerald, not for this book.” He shook his head in disbelief. “This is amazing… and you were right. I took your advice, and I just did it. Peter was talking to me. He told me what to write… This is
his
book; that’s why I dedicated it to him, Sadie, and baby Joseph. This is
him
on the New York Times Best Sellers list.” He swiped the tears away so fast, she almost missed the whole scene. He turned to his radio and selected one of his favorite stations. UB40’s ‘Red Red Wine’ was on air.

“Sloan, this is what happens when you set your disbelief aside and just walk out on faith. Not everything has to make sense at first. Just trust it will work itself out. I am
so
happy for you and so proud of you!” She held him close, rocking him back and forth between fits of mutual euphoric laughter.

“We have to thank Deloris for the beautiful wedding gift, too.”

“Yeah, I gotta call her!” He laughed, filled to the brim with excitement as he grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and dialed his agent’s number. “Hey, lady! It’s Sloan! Yeah…. Yeah I got the letter! Shit!” He emitted a loud and raucous laugh as he ran his hand down his face. “I knew the book was selling well, but you know me, I try to just pay attention to what I’m doing and not obsess about shit like that… I know! I know… thanks. It’s late but yeah, I’ll call you tomorrow. Love ya and thanks so much.”

He disconnected the call and leaned against the headboard, a look of complete satisfaction on his face as his eyes closed. Emerald brought the covers up around them both. Opening his eyes, his expression turned sly. He grabbed her around her waist.

“How about a little celebratory romp?”

Before she could answer, she was on her back, flailing and giggling in the flying sheets as he pressed her down with the full length of his body. Soft, full lips traced slowly up her jawline, one hand on her breast, the other around her neck, until the warm breath from his mouth caressed her earlobe. Like an ocean wave against her current, he dove down and she pushed forward, their bodies fluid and grinding against one another. Big hands surrounded her, ravished her, his left one adorned with a shiny white gold wedding band. Love filled the room, and when Tears for Fears crooned “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” she really felt on top of everything, way up high…a queen of her own domain.

Emerald glanced at the ceiling as he disappeared beneath the covers. Wetness against wetness, skin against skin, she bucked as he worked beneath the sheets, unable to see him, only feel the explosion he was creating within her core. The more she struggled, fought to keep her composure, the more aggressive he became, determined to make her cum. She lunged at the comforter, grabbing a fistful of nothingness in her sloppy attempt to get a hold of the man. Sensations washed over her. Arching her back, she floated away, gave them rein. Her moans echoed around her, and her shaking left her exhausted, a mere whisper of her former self. At last, he resurfaced, crawling slowly up her body like backwards flowing honey until she was coated in his love. Sliding his tongue within her mouth, he worked it in leisurely circles.

He kissed her, then turned her loose, slamming her onto her stomach. Wrapped his palm around her mouth, he squelched her screams as he entered her deeply from behind, thrusting so hard the bed banged repeatedly against the wall. She looked over her shoulder to see the intensity dancing in his eyes as he rode her to the brink until they came at the same time. He gasped, his eyes growing wide. Falling onto her back, he sucked her neck like a ravenous vampire. Aftershocks riddled his body, and she felt each and every one of them as he throbbed inside of her. On a sigh, he rolled her onto her back, panting, looking as though he’d won some prize.

“You’re so beautiful…” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Do you know what my next book is going to be about?” He smiled mischievously.

“No, what? Another love story?” She grew a bit excited at the prospect.

“It’s going to be about a demented dental nurse who murders her patients, steals their gold fillings, then makes tiny dollhouse furniture out of them and sells them on the black market.”

“Sloan, I can’t stand you! I hope you have to get a root canal when you come into my office next week for your cleaning and examination!” She chuckled as he nibbled playfully on her shoulder. The room seemed to burst with the sounds of happiness. Maze’s “Happy Feelings” played on the radio, and she couldn’t agree more…

The Past, the Present, and the Future

S
loan set the
book down onto his desk and rubbed his sore, tired eyes. He was certain they were summer cherry red, he’d been up so long. “Black and White Love Letters” was being made into a movie, and now he had three projects at once to juggle. Not to mention, Emerald’s refurbishing business expanded into the arena of her even creating custom made furniture, and she’d already been featured in several local magazines. She had to give up her dental career, but still stopped in to visit her friends from time to time.

They both had been burning the candle at both ends, and though he wanted to run a few ideas past her, he wouldn’t dare wake her. The woman had plopped down into the bed and slept the entire night after working all morning and afternoon on some pieces for the museum. She hadn’t even come down for dinner, and their chef had made her one of her favorite meals: baked salmon, scalloped cheese potatoes, and asparagus.

So after nursing several glasses of white wine, throwing in a red one for good measure, he got his tipsy self to finish another chapter of his current manuscript.

“Shit…” He looked at the time and realized there were still five emails he hadn’t responded to, all of them time sensitive. He pulled up his music library, accepting his fate of another late evening at work, and selected Dave Brubeck’s, ‘Take Five.’ Bobbing his head to the comforting and familiar beat, he opened one email after another, responding in just fashion.

I’ve got so many emails. I need to delete old ones and clear all of this out…

File these away…

This one can stay…

He looked through the correspondences then paused when he happened upon one specific email in his saved folder that had remained unread. On a sigh, he clicked on the thing, suddenly recalling Katie telling him at his wedding to read it. He’d honestly forgotten; time had gotten ahead of him and raced far, far away. That woman was the farthest thing from his mind, but now was as good of a time as any to delve into whatever she had to say. He began to read it as the music lulled him into a state of relaxation…

Sloan,

I sit here at home drinking one of the first wines you ever bought for me. Do you remember what that was? Here’s a hint: it was a pinot noir you picked up from Maine. Before we met, I knew nothing about fine wine, French beers, rare cigars, Insignia cigarettes, the art inside science fiction, classic jazz musicians, how to make my own sushi, how to tell designer clothing from a knock-off, antique radios, having great sex in a car because we couldn’t screw at my parents’ house, the plight of the tropical rain forests, the rigging of presidential elections, elephant ivory, classic cars of the 1950s, and how a writer writes a damn book… So, I guess you could say, before we met, I didn’t know YOU. Because you are all of those things, Sloan, and then some.

You are complicated, yet simple, just like good wine. I know that unless it is one of your novels, you’re not really into a lot of words, so let me get right to the reason why I wrote you. It’s to tell you that I’m sorry. You probably don’t believe me, but I would like to formally apologize for my part in the destruction of our marriage. It took two of us to build it, and two of us to destroy it, but yes, my part in it was unfortunately much larger than yours.

You probably won’t believe this either, but I loved you with all my heart. The affairs meant nothing to me, but they meant something to you, and that’s why I did it, Sloan. I felt so angry, betrayed and alone. Nothing seemed to work in order for me to regain your full attention, so I sought out to hurt you. Yet I hurt myself more in the long run, I believe, because now, we can’t seem to even be friends. We both changed. Or maybe we didn’t. Perhaps this is who we were all along. I believe we were so enamored with one another, we attempted to conform to what the other person wanted, but then, our true selves emerged and we could no longer play the game. So, I cheated. I’d never seen you so hurt, and at first, your reaction made me happy.