Mad Love (26 page)

I push him on his back and unzip his pants. His erection springs free and I’m so ready for him that I can’t even wait. I lean down and take him fully in my mouth, sucking on him so hard that he cries out in pleasure. I lick his shaft, teasing and taunting him, wanting him to lose his mind with need.

His hands grab my hair, twisting, pulling, pushing himself further in my mouth.

“God. Sophie,” he moans as I take more in, working him, moving with the thrusts of his hips. My hands move around his body, under his shirt, touching, teasing, then grabbing on to his erection as I come up to look at him. He stares down at me, his eyes half-closed, lit with desire. For me. His hands caress my hair, as he waits to see what my next move will be. I hold onto the shaft and squeeze, watch him close his eyes in ecstasy, and I revel in the power I have over him.

“You’re so sexy, Clayton.” My voice is husky with want.

He tries to pull me up to him, but I won’t let him.

“I want this to be about you,” I say with passion, as I lower my head and take him fully in my mouth.

He trembles from my touch and I work him fully, completely, tasting him as he shouts my name and finds release.

15

Erik and Orie sit across from me in complete silence. Clayton and I stayed in his villa all day yesterday. I was happy that he wasn’t ready to give up our time alone together. Luckily, I received a message from the hotel informing me that the boys were out on a daylong fishing trip on the hotel yacht. They wouldn’t get back until really late in the evening, so I left a message telling them that I was staying at Clayton’s villa and asking if we could have breakfast in the morning.

So here we are.

They are both analyzing the shit out of me, trying to see if there is any difference, and I can’t wait to hear what they have to say. I pick up my glass of my fresh watermelon juice and take a sip as I wait. We’ve been like this now for a few minutes, in a complete stand-off. They’ve definitely been working on their tans because they’re positively glowing. The Maldivian sun really works to their advantage.

Erik breaks the silence, as I knew he would. “This is insane.” He leans in over the table to give me a look of censure, trying to be intimidating as hell. “Do you realize how fucked up this is?”

I still stay silent as my gaze moves over the both of them. Okay, part of me is enjoying this first moment I’ve had in my friendship with Erik—the first time I actually know more than he does. He’s practically foaming at the mouth.

He looks at Orie for moral support. I know this is killing him. It takes another ten seconds before he reaches his limits with me. He says to Orie, “Are you going to tell her what a complete and utter secretive ass she’s being?”

I can feel the laughter well up inside. Orie just smiles at me, winks, then looks at Erik.

“Maybe she wants to keep it all to herself. A woman’s heart is sacred, after all … ”

“Oh, fuck sacred,” Erik interrupts, his voice dramatic as he dismisses Orie’s defense of my silence.

“Do you want to know what sacred is? Sacred is buying this bitch tampons at two a.m., because she’s bleeding like a double homicide crime scene and can’t make it to the pharmacy. Sacred is waxing her armpits and bikini line so she wouldn’t look like a beast at the high school graduation beach party! Sacred is driving her ass to Jerry the Fairy’s and waiting down the street, in a goddamn rose bush, with thorns in my ass, by the way, just so that she wouldn’t be alone when she dumped him … ”

“Enough! I get it!” Orie says. “You’ve done a lot of shit for her. I understand. And so does she.”

Orie tries to say this with a straight face but ends up laughing hysterically. I can’t take it anymore. I crack up and double over on the table; I can barely catch my breath.

Erik looks at the two of us and shakes his head. “And the most fucked part of all of this is that I know what this bitch is doing. She is making me wait for it. She wants me to beg for the details.” I look at him, unable to stop laughing, and he continues to point a finger at me. When Erik is on a rampage, it’s like a goddamn runaway train. “Don’t think for one moment that I don’t know what this is about. This is the first goddamn time you have more information than me. I’ll let you taste the feeling of knowledge, of being the one who is going to tell the story that everyone is dying to hear. Go ahead! Bask in it! Feel the glory!”

I finally pull myself together. “What would you like to know?”

“And you call yourself my best friend?” He shakes his head at me.

“Come on!” I laugh. “I’m just playing with you. It’s so rare that I ever have the opportunity.”

“Rare?” Erik interrupts me, his arms still crossed. “Try never.”

“Agreed. And you are my best friend, the one I adore and love forever. Until the end of time,” I tell him solemnly as I reach out across the table and squeeze his arm.

“So where do I fit into this equation?” a voice I know intimately says. “Should I be jealous?”

Clayton has come up to the table. Snuck up, more like, and puts his hands possessively on my shoulders. He leans down and kisses me on the head.

I blush as I look up at him, touch his hand, and then look at Erik and Orie, who are staring at the two of us with, their mouths wide open. I try my hardest not to laugh at their expressions, but it is very difficult, all things considered. Clayton is totally unfazed by their shocked looks; in fact, I feel like he is enjoying their surprise over our intimacy.

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” he says politely as he brushes my shoulders. I lean into his touch. “I know you guys have a lot to catch up on.”

I blush again at the reference to our time away and am thankful he’s behind me.

Orie is the first to recover. “Not at all. Please, join us. Have you had breakfast?”

“Thank you, but I ate in the villa while I made some business calls. I’m actually on my way to the spa.”

“Nice. What treatment are you getting?” Orie asks. I notice that Erik’s arms are still crossed as he looks Clayton over. I know he’s trying to find a flaw. Good luck, buddy.

“A shiatsu massage. I also took the liberty of booking the three of you a total relaxation treatment. I figured since I’ve dominated so much of Sophie’s time, it was the least I could do for you. That way you can spend some time together. I hope you don’t mind.”

There he goes again with his insane generosity. I look up at Clayton again and squeeze his hand in gratitude. “You didn’t have to do that.” He smiles down at me.

“I won’t take no for an answer, unless one of you has an aversion to relaxing spa days … ?” he says.

“That is so nice of you, Clayton,” Orie thanks him with a genuine smile. “I can’t imagine a better way to spend the day.”

“Thank you, it’s pretty shit hot of you,” Erik finally says, and I know he’s blown away by the gesture. I mean, who wouldn’t be? It’s one thing to be so rich, and another to share the wealth so magnanimously.

“Thanks. Your appointments are in one hour, so take your time finishing up,” he tells us. “And there’s one more thing I believe you all might enjoy.”

“This I gotta hear,” Erik responds dryly.

Clayton actually smiles at him. “My friends and I have been invited to have dinner with a colleague and his wife who is staying on a yacht not far from the resort. I would be honored if you could join us.”

Not far from the resort?

“You don’t have to take us,” I tell him, hoping that he doesn’t hear the disappointment in my voice over possibly not spending the evening with him.

His gaze meets mine possessively. He gives me a look that says,
as if
it’s
an option for you
. I can’t stop the feeling of happiness that washes over me, knowing that he wants me with him as badly as I want to go with him. He takes my hand and kisses my palm. I’m totally enamored and I know my friends can tell. And I don’t even care.

“I won’t take no for an answer. The helicopter is picking us up at six thirty.”

My eyes open wide.

“Helicopter?” Erik is the one to ask. He literally takes the word right out of my mouth.

“The Remingtons are staying in a yacht about twenty minutes from here.”

“Cool, sounds fun. We’ll be there with bells and whistles,” Erik agrees quickly, but then we’d have to be complete idiots not to want to experience a helicopter ride and dinner on a yacht. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can’t get the infamous scene in
Indecent Proposal
out of my head, the one where Robert Redford whisks Demi Moore away to sleep with her for a million dollars. I know Erik has got to be thinking the same thing.

“Thank you so much for including us,” Orie smiles warmly at Clayton. He’s totally already planning his outfit.

“Of course.” He nuzzles the top of my head, and then places a soft kiss on my cheek. I feel a shiver of pleasure. It never gets old. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get my massage.”

We all say goodbye and I watch him walk away from the table and enjoy the view for a good minute until I can’t see him anymore, then sigh happily to myself over his complete and utter deliciousness.

I cross my arms and meet Erik’s gaze.

“Now spill the beans,” he says.

If someone had told me before I came to the Maldives that I’d be flying over the Indian Ocean in a luxurious twelve-seater helicopter on my way to have dinner on a yacht, I’d have laughed right in his face. But that’s my reality, believe it or not. Clayton’s put me next to the window so I can look out on the view, which is so spectacular from this vantage point, especially as the sun sets over the horizon.

Erik and Orie are beyond thrilled. After telling them about my blissful two days with Clayton, and then spending the day in the spa, I think they are half in love with him, too. Erik’s done a complete one eighty and is back to being his usual, chipper self. They’re both in awe of him, of everything he did for me. But the best part is how happy they are for me, that he was my first, and that he is acting like a complete gentleman. They actually called me lucky.

I guess I am. I glance over at him surreptitiously. I missed him today. In fact, being apart from him for those hours was torture. When we walked back to our villas from the spa, well into the afternoon, I realized how happy I was just knowing that I was going “home” to him.

As soon as my key was in the lock, the door opened and Clayton pulled me inside, immediately pressing his lips to mine, showing me that I hadn’t been alone in my misery.

“That was too damn long,” he said passionately as he carried me off to bed. After, Clayton read over some work documents and held my hand the entire time.

I got ready and put on the only dress I hadn’t worn yet—a simple, (hmmm … maybe too short?) black dress with spaghetti straps and some tall wedge heels. My best accessory was my new tan, which really made it all work. I looked good and felt sexy. I came out of the bathroom and the expression on his face was priceless. He looked handsome himself in tan pants and a navy linen shirt. The blue of the shirt made his eyes shine even more, and he’d rolled up the sleeves, exposing his browned forearms. I wanted to kiss that throat of his, run my tongue up and down that tantalizing expanse of chest. But … we couldn’t be late for dinner.

“Change,” he immediately said. I know he liked what he saw because of the way his eyes were eating me up. But clearly, I was right that the dress was too short.

“What? Not sexy?” I asked coyly, spinning around so he could see the back as well, hoping a little flirting would work to my benefit.

If anything, he got even more adamant.

“I want to rip it right off of you.”

I smiled at his choice of words. “I take that as a yes?” I teased, walking up to him, totally turned on. We were running a little late but another twenty minutes wouldn’t hurt anyone.

“I don’t want anyone else thinking those thoughts, Sophie,” he said rather possessively, as his gaze raked my body. “You belong to me.”

“I’m yours,” I agreed, nodding my head, the first time I said those words without him being deep inside me, demanding them. “But this is all I have to wear.”

“Not true. You have an entire suitcase filled with clothes. Find something more appropriate.” I really didn’t appreciate his autocratic tone. I thought,
We need to lay down some rules here.
He had to understand that I would wear what I wanted, when I wanted.

“No. I want to wear this. I feel good in it. I’m not changing, Clayton.”

He took a dangerous step toward me. “Care to bet on that, my angel?”

My angel? It was the first time he’d said that. I wanted to caress his cheek tenderly.. There I went again, getting distracted.

“There’s no time,” I said.

“The chopper will wait.”

“Clayton! Please,” I begged him. I can’t believe I was actually begging to wear a dress I liked. It was so absurd, it made me want to laugh. Or cry, depending on how I looked at it. I was spared Clayton’s response by a knock on the door. I rushed to open it, greeting Erik, Orie, and Eduard with a relieved smile. Eduard gave me an appreciative look and a low whistle.

“Nice dress, Sophie,” he said. I didn’t dare look at Clayton. I could only imagine the look on his face, and I knew it wasn’t pretty.

“Ready girl?” Orie asked, kissing me hello. “You look hot as hell. I’m dying over the dress. It is so sexy and … daring. Totally unlike you, but I love it! Turn around for me so I can get the full look.” I spin for Orie, still carefully avoiding Clayton’s gaze.

“Is that the Dolce we bought together at the sample sale?” Erik asked me, knowing full well it was, like he’s capable of forgetting anything! Especially when he’s been part of the buying process.

“I knew it,” Erik said.

“How much?” Orie asks.

“It was like fifty dollars. It had to have been mismarked,” I explained. “But it was the perfect price for me.”

I could feel the anger radiating off Clayton, but surrounded by three men who completely approved, there was nothing he could do or say without looking like a complete dickhead. He knew it. I knew it. I hoped I wouldn’t pay for it later in the evening.