Insatiable (8 page)

"You got that right," Rosie agreed.

Aurora was getting a kick out of the banter. "Listen to you two, one would think that you'd never been around handsome men before. But it's completely understandable. See what the two of you have missed out on? You've both been trapped and forced to stay in those little bubbles that your husband and boyfriend built around you. I think you both knew that it was time to burst those bubbles because you two are adapting better and faster than I've seen any of my other friends and I'm glad of that. It makes me happy to see the two of you recovering so well. Emotionally and physically and I know that it's just a matter of time before the two of you are back on your feet and living the good, decent lives that you deserve."

Rosie and Mari smiled. "We wouldn't be on the road to recovery if it weren’t for your kindness Aurora," Rosie beamed. "I know that this may sound sappy but you are the star that guided us home and I for one have never been more grateful. You saved our lives Aurora and we will never forget it."

Tears welled up in her eyes and the three friends embraced once more.

"Okay ladies, enough with the tears," Aurora teased. "It's time to get on with our day and take care of business. Now I know that I told you guys to take time for yourselves but I've got a pressing issue that I need your help with," she confided in them with seriousness.

"Whatever you need Aurora," Mari and Rosie told her.

"I'm glad the two of you said that because I've got a date tonight and nothing to wear. Who's up for a trip to the mall?" She grinned at them.

"We are!" They chimed in. Aurora began to laugh when she saw the two of them reach for their purses and make way towards the car.

Liam sat behind his desk and tried to focus on his work. It was no use though, because Aurora kept filling his mind. He couldn’t wait for his date with her and he hoped that she liked what he had planned. He'd planned to take her into Newport where he'd made reservations at Bowen’s wine bar and grille. And then afterward, well he'd leave that up to Aurora. It was early in the day when he decided to call it quits. After he told his assistant that he'd be leaving for the day, he took the long way home. As a top real estate broker, he could afford to take off a few hours early. The day was another gorgeous one and if it kept up, he'd take Aurora for a walk on the beach after dinner.

"Should I get a pair of spanx?" Aurora asked Mari and Rosie. They had all gone into the fitting rooms to try on clothes. Aurora told them to have some fun trying on outfits. Even if they weren’t interested in buying anything and both women had agreed.

"What the hell do you want to wear a girdle for?" Mari blurted out from behind the curtain.

"Um maybe you haven’t noticed but I've got myself some serious dips and curves?" Aurora replied back. She was glad that no one else was in the fitting room with them.

"Oh you mean you’re a woman and you have a figure?" Rosie said sarcastically.

"She's right you know. You don’t need spanx, you don’t need a girdle. You have meat on your bones and there's nothing wrong with that. Besides, can you imagine how difficult of a time Liam will have if he's trying to peel a goddamn girdle off of you?" Mari teased.

"You show off your curves Aurora, there's nothing wrong with loving the skin you're in. I've got curves, Rosie has curves. Shit we all have curves. I say embrace the curves girl and put on something sexy," Mari preached.

"Sounds good to me," Aurora smiled as she turned around in the front of the full length mirror.

Hours later they were back home and Aurora was getting ready for her date. She was sitting in front of the mirror curling her hair when Mari brought her a glass of wine.

"Thought you might need this," she said and handed her the glass.

"My god, you're not even dressed yet and already you look gorgeous."

Aurora let out a smile. "Thanks, and thanks for the wine. I'm a little nervous," she said and swallowed a large gulp.

"Don’t be, you're going to have a wonderful time. Now get dressed so we can see the finished product."

"Okay, okay," Aurora said and quickly spritzed her hair with some hairspray.

"Good, we'll be downstairs waiting," she said and closed the door.

Aurora slipped off her robe and slid into her dress. The royal blue seductive dress made from stretch jersey hugged, smoothed, and enhanced each and every contour of her curves. The off shoulder and plunging neck line made her look even more sexy. She felt incredibly feminine in the dress. Being a size eighteen, she thought that she'd have a tough time finding something sexy but she lucked out and found the perfect dress that accentuated her every curve. The lace under garments she chose added the perfect finishing touch. She hadn't wanted to feel constricted. She wanted to feel pretty and she'd accomplished that without spanx and without a girdle. Her shoulder length hair fell in vibrant and bouncy curls. The curls were loose and natural looking which gave her the sexy undone look that she was going for. Mari and Rosie hooted like a couple of men when she walked down the stairs. "My god, you look very 'Marilyn', very glam!" They both exclaimed. "Girl you look hot!" Mari made a sizzling sound and refilled Aurora's glass.

"Thank you, the both of you," she said enthusiastically.

Liam couldn’t help but be nervous, this was his first date in a very long time and he hoped that he wouldn’t screw it up. As he pulled up in the driveway and got out, he ran his hands along his jacket and slacks. He held two bottles of wine in one hand and rang the doorbell with the other.

"He's here." He smiled when he heard Mari's voice announcing that he had arrived. Muffled giggles could be heard through the door and he hoped that they weren't laughing at him. When Aurora opened the door, all doubts and insecurities that he felt about himself seemed to disappear. "Hi," she said. Don’t you look handsome."

Liam stood stunned for a moment before responding.

"And you look absolutely beautiful," he stammered. Aurora couldn’t help but laugh at his boyish gaze.

"Thank you," she said and gave him a kiss on the check. It was something that neither of them had expected but she'd gone and done it just the same. The reflex to do it had come so naturally, for once she chose not to fight it.

Once he'd handed off the bottles of wine to Mari and Rosie, they said their goodbyes. "Now remember, if you guys need me I am but a phone call away. And Nick is on duty tonight so he'll probably come to check up on you two. Now don’t do anything I wouldn’t do and more importantly, have fun," she told them before heading out the door.

"Yes mom!" They shouted at the couple as they got into the car.

Aurora laughed when both of them attempted to speak.

"No you go ahead," Liam insisted. He was still in awe over how yummy she looked.

Aurora let out a nervous giggle. "So where are you taking me?"

"Well I didn’t think that you'd go for the first idea that popped into my head so I'm going with idea number two," he smirked. "Dinner in Newport and then whatever your heart desires." He looked at her. His blue eyes only added to his strong, dark features and she wondered what it would feel like being held in his arms. He had a debonair look about him that reminded her of the handsome male actors from black and white movies.

"Just out of curiosity," she said. "What was your first idea?"

She could see the devilish smirk spread across his face. "I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to tell that you Aurora, this being our first date and all." Heat rushed to her cheeks and she was glad that it was getting dark.

"Go on, tell me. It might be something that I'm interested in doing." She let the words fall seductively from her mouth.

Liam swallowed down a gulp of air. No woman has ever made him feel so… enamored and shy at the same time. He was sure it was her poise and sensuality. This woman wasn’t throwing herself at him. She was letting him come after her and he liked that. He wondered if she was like that in bed as well or maybe she was the opposite. Maybe she was the one who wanted to be in control in the bedroom. 
If she is
, he thought to himself. 
I just might have to marry her,
 he grinned.

"Well? Are you going to tell me or are you going to keep it to yourself?" She'd been waiting for him to answer.

Here goes nothing,
 he thought to himself. "Well my first idea was to get you alone in my bedroom and let you have your way with me," he smirked and took his eyes off the road for a second, just to look at her.

She was flattered. Here was this incredibly attractive man telling her that he wanted to take her to bed. "My god he's a mind reader," she thought to herself. Aurora wasn’t playing around. She hadn't been with a man since her husband and that was years ago. She had no interest in getting involved in a relationship, not right now anyway. She just wanted to have some good sex.

"And what if I was thinking the same thing?" She said. He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was serious.

His breath caught for a moment before he answered. "Then I'd say that if we're both thinking the same thing why waste any more time?" He smiled and tried hard to keep his eyes on the road.

"Good then take me to your place," she grinned and placed her hand on his thigh.

Ken Holmes sat alone in his living room watching the television. He was almost finished with the bottle of Jack Daniels and groaned as he got up to grab the other bottle. If his bitch Gloria were there he would have made her get it for him. But thanks to that no good bitch Aurora, Gloria had up and left him. Now he was forced to have to do everything by himself. Oh sure he could clean himself up and go out on the prowl for another Mrs. Holmes but that was too much work and besides, it would take too long to break in another bitch. He wanted his Gloria back, sure she'd been tough to tame at first but after her first beating she'd gotten accustomed to his ways, and soon she was greeting him at the door when he came home from work, just like a dog. Better even because Gloria gave him sex whenever he wanted and when she didn’t want to, he simply took it from her. But one day she told that she'd had enough and that she was leaving him. "Over your dead body," he'd told her. Well he wasn’t expecting what happened next. Gloria had picked up a cast iron skillet and clocked him over the head. She'd taken him by surprise and he hadn't had a chance to react. The last thing he remembered was Gloria raising the skillet a second time. By the time he'd come to, Gloria and her things were gone. "And who do I have to thank for it?" He shouted. "Fucking Aurora Collins!" He cursed and threw the empty bottle at the wall. An hour later Ken was passed out on the recliner and an infomercial played on the television. He didn’t notice that the volume had been increased and that a figure sat on the sofa watching him. He stirred and began mumbling something in his sleep. By the time the knife slid across his throat, it was too late. A gurgling sound escaped his wide open gullet and warm blood oozed from his neck onto the carpet. His assailant took a step back, returned the television to its normal volume and watched in wonderment as the life slowly drained from his body.

Ronnie found himself sitting at JR's again; he was planning on getting hammered, anything that would numb the pain of his Mari up and leaving him. One of his buddies came over and sat down next to him. He could see that Ronnie was in agony and it was because he missed his wife. "Hey man is there anything I can do?" His buddy asked him.

"Yeah, you can find out where the hell my wife is!" He shouted. The few patrons in the bar barely turned around at Ronnie's outburst. They were used to hearing him rant and rave about missing his wife and about how he'd fought in the war and now he had to come home every night to an empty house. "It's not fair," he told his friend. "I just want to know if she's alright. I want to make sure she's safe," he lied through his teeth.

Ronnie's buddy Mark couldn’t stand to see his friend so upset. Day after day, night after night, Ronnie worried himself sick over his missing wife. The least he could do was try and help him locate her and he had a pretty good idea of where she was. A woman like that who had no resources and no other place to go would probably end up at a shelter, and there was only one battered woman's shelter, and it was in the next town over. Mark knew that the location was meant to be kept private but this was a war veteran who had not been back that long and who was missing his wife. He was sure he could bend the rules just this once. And who knows, maybe his wife was ready to come back home, just like his girlfriend Tina had been after they'd gotten into that big fight and he'd struck her.
A husband has every right to know where his wife is,
Mark reassured himself.

"Come on buddy, finish that beer. Then me and you gotta go and have a talk," he said as he paid Ronnie's tab.

Even though the windows were up, Aurora knew that they were nearing the water. The short drive had taken them from the woods of Huntington Cove to the ocean of Newport. "We're here," he said and pulled into his driveway.

"This is where you live?" Aurora peered through the windshield and set her eyes upon the large condo. Despite its intimidating size and million dollar price tag, soft lighting illuminated the windows making it appear warm and welcoming. "Come inside," he said and held the car door open for her. She smiled at him and he took her hand in his. "It's beautiful," she said while glancing around. She could hear the sound of the ocean nearby. "Do you have a balcony?" She asked. "Let's sit out on the balcony."

Liam smiled and led her inside. The open floor plan and panoramic views took her breath away. "This is a lot of condo for just one person," she said and ran her fingers along the leather sofa. The girls and I could spend a lovely weekend here." She winked and moved closer to him. "Now, show me your bedroom."

A small alcove in the master bedroom led to the balcony outside. "Wine?" She asked and returned to the view.

"Coming right up," he said and made his way back downstairs.

Moments later he returned with a bottle of deep red wine and two wine glasses. "Thank you," she said as he handed her a glass. "Don’t overdo it. You have to drive me home when we're through."