InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (82 page)

 She
was full of anticipation and nervousness—their relationship would never be the
same after this, but she found herself looking forward to the changes it would
bring. The air grew heavy—they both knew that this was a game changer—no longer
would they be harmlessly flirting; this made them a solid couple. And since
their respective best friends were now married, they’d be part of each other’s
lives regardless of how their own relationship worked out. They were both
willing to take the chance, however, and neither was naïve about how it could
affect the ones they loved most.

Lexi
lifted the little rug outside the door and took the key Tia said would be
waiting, and turned the lock. She’d been in this room just this morning, but
somehow it all seemed new. Tia had obviously anticipated they’d be here—the
giant four poster bed was turned down and sprinkled with fragrant petals, and
there was a bottle of champagne chilling on the nightstand. Candles were placed
strategically around the room and Lexi set about lighting them, creating an
ambiance much different than the room had previously assumed. Bo popped the
cork on the champagne bottle and poured two glasses, handing one to her as she
lit the last candle. The ambient light flickered over his features, and she
took them in one by one as they spoke to each other without words. The thin
dreadlocks that fell just below his shoulders, his thick, full lips, chocolate
brown eyes rimmed with long lashes, the rich cocoa of his skin, the shortly
trimmed beard and mustache, and of course, the mere size of him—six foot three
at least, she thought, and bulging muscle.

He
looked deep into her eyes. “Are you sure this is what you want, Lexi?” he asked
softly, his own eyes literally dancing. “You know what they say—once you have
black…”

She
chuckled in spite of herself, and looked at him. The humor was in his voice,
but his eyes told a very different story. This was serious business, and she
tried to come up with an equally corny cliché. “Yeah? Well,” she said giggling,
“maybe once you have cream, I’ll haunt all your dreams.”

“You
crazy woman,” he breathed. “You’ve been haunting my dreams for a year now. Are
you finally gonna make them come true?”

She
felt the heat rise into her cheeks. “I’m going to be yours tonight, Bo, and
hopefully for many nights to come.”

“Then
all my prayers are answered,” he whispered, coming to her and pulling her
gently into his arms. He took her face in his huge hands, and kissed her
gently. She felt her limbs soften as other parts of her throbbed intently, and
kissed him back, intensifying the contact. She pressed against him, molding her
body to his, and felt her stomach turn in anticipation.

She
wondered for a moment how his kiss could be so soft when every part of him was
so hard—and she slid his jacket from his shoulders and dropped it to the floor.
As she fumbled with his shirt buttons, he slowly slid the zipper down the back
of her dress, and she stepped out of it as it pooled at her feet, kicking it
behind her.

She
shivered as his hands ran over her bare skin; down her arms to her waist, then
up to cup her breasts, and cried out softly as he deftly released the front
clasp and bent to kiss them, taking each nipple into his mouth and swirling his
tongue over the hard peaks.

“You
are so beautiful,” he groaned as he shrugged out of his shirt and pulled her
against his bare chest. She could only growl low in her throat as she ran her
hands up his back, around to his tight stomach, and down to the waistband of
his pants. She undid the button and slid the zipper down, letting them fall to
the floor with the rest of their expensive and exclusive clothing, pressing her
body to his and letting her hands wander where they liked. And it seemed that
wherever they wandered, she liked.

His
hands were wandering, too, and when they found their way beneath the thin
material of her panties; when he slowly slid one long finger into her, she
gasped. “Oh God!” she breathed, grinding against him to hold him there. She
felt an urgent need to connect with him, to make their bodies one, and her
breathing quickened as she reached around to stroke him. He slid her panties
down with his other hand, and pushed her onto the bed where she lay breathless.
Without hesitation, he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his boxers and
yanked them down. She moaned as she took him in.

She’d
seen him in swim trunks, and had appreciated the intense masculinity of his
form, but this was something entirely different. He stood in front of her, and
she could only hum low in her throat. He was huge. Every single delectable part
of him was huge. She wondered why they hadn’t made statues from his form;
carved his likeness in marble; because he was absolutely perfect. 

He
couldn’t help but snap his trademark grin as he gauged her reaction to him. For
the past year, since he’d first fallen for her, she’d been an unattainable
prize; an engaged woman. But she’d gotten into his head, and many a morning he’d
wake with a painfully swollen erection that wouldn’t be satisfied, and her face
burning into the back of his eyelids. He had to do something to deal with the
frustrations, especially after their encounter in LA, and he’d taken to working
out on a regular basis to try and release some of the pent up anxiety. He’d
done push-ups in the mornings, run the treadmill in the afternoons, and finally
made use of all the gym equipment he’d purchased over the years that he’d
always promised himself he’d start using.

Sometimes
in his fantasies he’d meet her again and she’d see him as more than the amiable
jokester; good old Bo; and more as the man he felt inside. The results had been
remarkable. Without making a specific plan, he’d become incredibly fit—a nice
six pack, strong arms and shoulders, a narrow waist. And the way she was
looking at him right now made every single bead of sweat, every aching muscle,
and every grueling work-out more than worth it.

Damn!
He wanted to take her—to possess her—so badly, but he’d waited much too long
for this dream; unbelievably realized; to hold her in his arms, and he wanted
this night to last forever. Their first night. Hopefully, the first of many.

He
came to her slowly, stretching out beside her on the enormous bed. She could
feel the tension in his coiled muscles, but he moved patiently, slowly, tracing
the outline of her face with his fingers and staring deep into her eyes. “You
have no idea how many times I’ve dreamed of this,” he whispered as he brought
his mouth to hers, starting slow and then intensifying the kiss with a swipe of
his tongue. She melted into him, turning to press her body against his but he
pushed her back, nibbled his way down her neck, and explored her reverently,
kissing her toes, kneecaps, belly button, and all of the places that made her
cry out in pleasure. When he finally came back to her mouth she could only
whisper his name, over and over, as she pressed against him, molding her curves
to the hard lines of his body. The smile he gave her then was not his usual
boyish grin, but something more—something deeper, and it made parts of her
absolutely come alive.

She
ran her hands along the contours of his chest, his hips, and stroked him
urgently, groaning in pleasure at the way his eyes rolled upward as he growled
in the back of his throat. Too soon, he pulled her away, entangling both of her
hands in one of his and stretching them out over her head. He used his other
hand to set her on fire, and she moaned in pleasant agony as he took his time,
teasing at her entrance until she writhed beneath his touch.

“Perfect
and beautiful in every way, just like I knew you would be,” he whispered, and
before she could answer, before she could tell him he was perfect, too, he
plunged inside her and she cried out his name, pushing against him as she rode
the unbelievable wave of ecstasy all the way to the end and was breathless.  

 “Oh
Bo—that was…” she searched for the right word—incredible? Awesome? Amazing? And
then settled on, “perfect.”

He
rolled over to kiss her once more, and smiled. “It was even better than I
imagined,” he whispered, “and I imagined it would be pretty close to heaven.”
He traced the contour of her breast with his finger, and slid his hand up to
stroke her cheek. “You’ve just made me a very happy man, Lexi,” he groaned. “A
very happy man indeed.”

“You
rank pretty high on the happy scale, too, I must say.”

“Yeah?”
he smirked. “Well, I hope that means we’ll do it again. Soon.”

“Definitely,”
she murmured against the hammering of his heart. “Most definitely.”

And
after a fabulous weekend, an exhausting day, and an incredible night, they fell
asleep, tangled in each other, and listening to the sounds of the sea.

Monday
dawned bright and clear; another perfect Caribbean day. Tia awoke in the arms
of her husband and snuggled closer to him. In just a few hours they would leave
for their honeymoon—she had no idea where they would be going, except for a few
days in Paris where Dylan would keep his promise to play at the mayor’s
daughter’s wedding in payment for the private birthday dinner at the top of the
Eiffel Tower. The night that he’d first told her he loved her.

As
she listened to the waves rushing the shore and the calls of the birds that
flitted about in the trees to greet the day, she was filled with a light—a pure
joy at what her future held. She rolled over and kissed Dylan on the cheek.

“Good
morning, Mrs. Miller,” he mumbled with a smile, pulling her close and wrapping
her in his arms.

“Best
morning of my life. So far.”

“And
they lived happily ever after,” he whispered, stroking her cheek.

“InHappily
ever after,” she smiled, bringing her lips down to meet his. “Always and
forever.”