Serendipity (Inevitable) (47 page)

He wasn’t the least bit surprised, therefore, when Ian discreetly ushered him into his private office when the meeting adjourned. The Brit was smiling broadly.

“I’m going to assume from the recent phone call I had from Julia, and how cozy the two of you seem, that you’re officially a couple now?” he asked.

Nathan couldn’t help the answering grin he gave his client – and friend. “We are, yes. For several weeks now. Though my little minx didn’t mention that she’d called you.”

Ian shrugged dismissively. “It was quite brief, and basically to thank me for my time, but that she was now quite content with her present job. I thought perhaps it might have something to do with you, and then when I saw the pair of you together today I knew immediately. Congratulations, Nathan. She’s a beautiful woman, and you’re a very lucky man.”

“Don’t I know it. Julia is – remarkable. And I’ve never been so happy. We should all have dinner together sometime,” added Nathan. “Are you seeing anyone right now?”

Ian hesitated before shaking his head. “No, I’m still a stuffy old bachelor, my friend. Perhaps Julia has a twin she could introduce me to.”

Nathan sputtered at Ian’s lighthearted joke. “Uh, actually she does. But since you’re my best client, I’ll do you a huge favor and
not
introduce you to the very intimidating Ms. Lauren McKinnon. You’ll thank me for it, Ian.”

Ian regarded him quizzically. “Now I’m intrigued.”

“Tell you what. Lauren is due to visit again next month, and Julia is planning a small dinner party. If you’re still feeling brave, you should join us.”

“Perhaps I will, if it’s all right with Julia. After all, life’s too short not to live on the edge occasionally, right?”

Nathan shook his head. “Hold that thought.”

Chapter Twenty

Labor Day Weekend

The weather had been foggy and cool when they’d left San Francisco mid-morning, but had quickly turned warm and sunny about twenty miles south of town. Once they reached the Central Coast, Nathan lowered the top on his BMW so they could enjoy the warm late summer sun.

Julia signed in contentment, her long hair blowing in the breeze. “I hope the weather is this nice in Santa Barbara. It’ll be such a welcome change from all the fog we’ve been having.”

Nathan snagged her hand and brought it to his lips, his tongue flicking over her knuckles. “It’s supposed to be warm and sunny all weekend, baby. Don’t you know I arranged for it?”

She returned his impish smile. “How sweet you are. But you have ulterior motives, lover boy. You just want it to be warm so I can wear a bikini.”

“Can you blame me? I mean, you did look at yourself in the mirror when you modeled it for me, didn’t you? Your tits look twice as big in that top. You are
not
,” he added sternly, “leaving my side when you wear that itty bitty excuse for a bathing suit.”

“Hmm, and here I was planning on parading through the hotel lobby wearing just the bikini and my favorite pair of Louboutins,” she teased.

He bit her finger, eliciting a yelp. “I wasn’t planning on spanking you this weekend,” he threatened darkly,” but I’m sure I can fit it into my schedule. Behave yourself, minx.”

She smiled, sliding her abused finger inside his mouth and murmuring in approval when he sucked it. “I’ll try. But every time I’m with you I feel this urge to be a very bad girl.”

He ran his tongue over her finger. “Behind closed doors, baby, you can be as bad as you want to be.”

“Then I guess we should lock ourselves in our room this weekend, hmm?”

Nathan laughed in agreement, and Julia noticed that he sped up by several miles an hour, apparently in a sudden hurry to reach their destination.

They were spending the three-day weekend at the luxurious Gregson resort hotel on the coast in Santa Barbara. It had been Ian’s idea, offering them the use of the owner’s suite en gratis, and they had eagerly accepted his very generous offer. It was a relief to get away, for it had been an extremely busy, hectic summer at the office, especially since all of the plans for the Gregson hotel in Napa had to be finalized by the end of September. Since officially becoming a couple over two months ago, this was the first chance they’d had to get away for a weekend.

They were together almost constantly, though, taking turns spending the night at each other’s place. Nathan had followed through on his vow to buy a new bed for his master bedroom, and Julia had been all too happy to help him break it in. She now had a sizeable number of clothes and shoes at his condo, while he had several suits and other clothing hanging in her closet. Since both of them were neat freaks, they had been pleased at the other’s tidiness and never argued about picking up after themselves. They had begun discussing the idea of finding a bigger place where they could live together, with Nathan joking that they’d need a third bedroom just for her wardrobe. He had also pulled out the various design plans he’d drawn up for his place in Tiburon, though Julia had agreed that none of them were exactly right. Unfortunately, he’d been too busy to do any additional work on the house plans, so he was no closer to getting his dream home built.

The weather was indeed warm and sunny when they pulled up to the entrance of the resort mid-afternoon. A valet took charge of Nathan’s car, while a bellhop quickly unloaded their baggage onto a cart. Check-in was accomplished quickly and smoothly, and the front desk clerk who assisted them was exceptionally gracious. Julia was certain that he treated them with extra care because they were staying in the owners suite and quite obviously some sort of VIPs. She sent silent thanks to Ian once again for his generosity.

The suite was spectacular – far larger than either her flat or Nathan’s condo – and almost overwhelmingly opulent. There was a spacious living room, separate dining room, full kitchen, and a huge bedroom with a fabulous en suite bathroom. The carpet was thick and plush, while the terrazzo floor in the bathroom was smooth and cool. Everything was first class and top of the line, from the furnishings to the artwork to the linens. There were two enormous flat-paneled, state of the art televisions with surround sound, one each in the living room and bedroom, and a very sophisticated stereo system. The kitchen was outfitted with high end appliances and gadgets, and Julia could only imagine the incredible meals she could create there. But Nathan had forbidden her from cooking this weekend, insisting on her being totally pampered and catered to.

The suite also boasted its own spacious outdoor patio complete with fire pit, hot tub, and small, private infinity pool. The outdoor space was completely private, and Julia impishly imagined the two of them sunning and sunbathing in the nude.

She glanced at the pool and then at Nathan, and they grinned at each other knowingly.

“You bad girl,” he whispered in her ear, careful that the private concierge who was showing them around the suite couldn’t overhear. “Always thinking of ways to be naughty.”

She slid her palm to his chest, leaning in to nip at his bottom lip. “You must be rubbing off on me, you bad boy.”

He pressed a soft kiss to her temple. “I’d like you to rub something right about now. It’s been a whole seven hours since I fucked you last.”

Her cheeks grew hot and she whispered urgently, “Behave, Nathan. At least until Stuart leaves.”

He murmured back, “I haven’t paid attention to one fucking thing he’s said, have you?”

She giggled. “Some of it. Now, be nice. Please?”

He humored her by sliding an arm around her waist, and politely listening to the rest of what Stuart the concierge had to tell them about the suite and its many amenities.

“A complimentary wine and cheese cart will be delivered at five-thirty,” Stuart told them in his crisp British accent. “As for breakfast, you may have that brought in anytime tomorrow morning. Just give us a mere fifteen minutes notice and we’ll deliver it to you.”

He went on about all the spa services, the top-notch fitness center and various exercise classes, the tennis courts and beach access. Nathan assured him that all of their questions had been answered more than adequately, and after thanking Nathan for the generous tip Stuart was thankfully gone.

“Christ, I thought he’d never leave,” complained Nathan, jerking Julia into his arms. “Come here and kiss me, baby.”

Her giggles were swiftly suppressed by the hungry pressure of his mouth on hers, his tongue licking at the seam of her lips until it plunged wetly inside. Julia gave a little “mmm” of pleasure as she twined her arms around his neck and pressed up flush against him, returning his kisses eagerly. She had to lift up on her toes a bit to slant her mouth fully against his, since for once she wasn’t wearing heels. Her gold and coral jeweled flip flops coordinated with her Matthew Williamson coral chiffon dress and its embellished gold belt. The floaty fabric of the dress was thin enough that she could feel the full imprint of Nathan’s hands as they cupped her ass, lifting her so that he could nestle his hard cock into the notch of her thighs.

“If you don’t want to lose another pair of those ridiculously overpriced panties, I suggest you decide quickly where you’d like to be fucked for the first time in this suite,” he growled in her ear, even as he began to pull the hem of her dress up past her hips.

Julia groaned as his hand fondled her ass through the gossamer thin fabric of her pale apricot panties. His fingers slid along the back waistband to the cleft of her buttocks, slipping further down to briefly tease the puckered hole of her anus. At her gasp of surprise, he soothed her.

“Easy, baby. We’re not going there today. But someday I’m going to claim this gorgeous little ass. Every part of you is going to belong to me. Now, since you haven’t answered me yet, I think we’ll be traditional and head over to that big bed in the next room.”

He picked her up easily and carried her across the wide expanse of the living room to the large bedroom. He placed her gently on the vast bed, the cream colored duvet and pile of pillows matching the canopy that draped the four-poster frame. And then he proceeded to undress her slowly, deliberately. Instead of the wild, hungry fuck that she’d been breathlessly anticipating, he seduced her tenderly. Their lovemaking was sweet and slow, with long, drugging kisses, their hands gently stoking over every inch of the others body. Nathan entered her body with one long, slow thrust, wringing a gasp of pleasure from her throat.

“God, I love you,” she murmured, her lips against the base of his throat as he stroked in and out of her with exquisite control. “And I love the way you love me.”

Every part of their bodies were touching – arms and legs entwined, her breasts crushed to his chest, their lips clinging to the others, while he slid his cock in and out of her wet, clenching cunt with almost maddening slowness, savoring each sensation.

“I love you, too, baby,” he whispered in her ear. “This is perfect. You and I are perfect. I wish we could freeze-frame this moment and stay just like this forever.”

Julia felt tears well up in her eyes, her heart almost too full of emotion as she stared up at him. He was the man of her dreams, her soul mate, the other half of her. And she was so completely besotted with him, so utterly in love, that she would have done absolutely anything for him in that moment.

They took a long, decadent soak in the huge sunken bathtub, Nathan’s hands soaping and teasing her swollen breasts before his fingers plunged inside her cleft and brought her to a quick, stunning orgasm. Then, despite his half-hearted protests at being spent, she stroked and pumped his cock until he was groaning, his hips thrusting upwards in rhythm with her strokes. Just before he climaxed, she took him inside her mouth and he came long and hard down her throat.

After drying each other off, they snuggled together on the bed, pleasantly exhausted, and took a short nap. It was the knock on the door to the suite that woke them, and Nathan sleepily pulled on one of the thick, white terrycloth hotel robes before stumbling to the door. Someone – most likely Stuart – had discreetly left a cloth covered cart just outside the private entryway to the suite. Julia, now swathed in her own robe, padded barefoot into the living room to help inspect the array of dishes on the cart as Nathan wheeled it inside.

There was a beautifully arranged platter of fine cheeses and pates, and a basket of crackers and thinly sliced baguette. There were also little dishes of nuts and olives, as well as juicy melon slices with paper thin strips of prosciutto wrapped around them.

She popped one of those in her mouth and sighed with pleasure. “Mmm. Salty and sweet. The perfect combination.”

Nathan wrapped her in his arms, nuzzling the still damp tendrils of her hair. “That’s exactly how you taste, baby,” he whispered naughtily. “Salty and sweet. My very favorite dish.”

She squeezed the firm cheek of his butt through the robe. “Yes, but man cannot live by pussy alone. Besides, you need to eat up. You’ll be burning off a ton of calories tonight.”

He chuckled and pinched her cheek. “You have great faith in my stud-like abilities, baby. What makes you think I have anything left after this afternoon?”

Julia slipped her hand inside the opening of his robe and latched onto his semi-erect penis. “Because you’re Superman, lover. And I bought a bunch of new undies for this trip. You can help me pick out which ones to wear tonight.”

He groaned as she continued to stroke his cock. “Ah, baby, you know me so well. But as good as you’re making me feel, we should hold off for awhile. For what I have in mind for you tonight, you’re going to need nourishment, too.”

She kissed him, then reluctantly stepped back, continuing to inspect the cart. “Well, someone in this place must suspect what’s going to happen in here tonight. Look what’s in the ice bucket.”

Nathan grinned as he extracted the bottle of Cristal champagne. “Liquid seduction. Let’s get this opened and start getting you tipsy.”

She accepted the flute of champagne he poured for her. “You don’t have to get me tipsy to seduce me, you know.”