Chapter 12
T he back patio was strung with white linen curtains that danced lazily in the breeze. The warm scent of roasted lemon chicken, garlic potatoes, and juicy tomatoes filled the air. The Mediterranean style lunch was something to behold. The chef came out personally to explain every fresh, locally sourced ingredient—hummus, tzatziki, fat olives, crusty pita bread, and all the grilled seafood and vegetables one could ever want.
Sunny sat near the middle of the long table, radiant in a white sundress that skimmed her honeyed shoulders. The seaside sun had done her body good as far as Mark was concerned, and between her beauty and her soft, melodic laugh, Mark was too mesmerized to eat.
Orion took the seat next to her, of course. Mark didn’t miss the way he constantly leaned toward her. Always in her space. Talking low and slow the way men do when they believe they still have access. Staking his claim for all to see. Every time Orion made her laugh, Mark’s fork scraped a little harder against his plate.
He wasn’t proud of what he was becoming, but he wasn’t trying to stop it, either. Because the truth was, she’d awakened something that he thought was long gone.
And dammit, every time she looked up and met his gaze, it was like an electric pulse sparking right underneath his skin, jolting him, making him simmer with lust.
His phone buzzed.
I think it’s only fair that you get to see my dress before everybody else.
He looked up just in time to catch her glancing his way. He hid his smile, waiting a beat before he responded.
After lunch?
Tell me where to be
There’s a casita at the back of the house. Meet me there
;)
“What you smilin’ about?” Orion asked, staring with disapproval.
Sunny set her phone face-down beside her plate. “Tigra keeps texting me.”
Orion raised a skeptical eyebrow. “She’ll be here tomorrow. She can’t let you live for twenty-four hours?”
Sunny took a sip of her Aperol spritz, content to ignore her ex-husband.
“You know she gets on my nerves,” he continued. “I can just imagine the shit she’s talking about me.”
“Contrary to what you might believe,” she said coolly, “not everything is about you.”
“Whatever,” he muttered. “I’m still trying to figure out why I didn’t see you last night.”
“Because I didn’t come to your room,” she said plainly.
At the far end of the table, Davion tuned out of the conversation between Brooklyn and Drew. His eyes were drawn to the trainwreck that was his mother and father’s relationship. Always in each other’s faces, dancing on the line between love and hate. He couldn’t understand it. It was mostly on his father, but his mother seemed to entertain it more than she’d ever admit.
“We only got one more night,” Orion pressed. “So I’m saying—“
“It’s probably not gonna happen, Ry.” Sunny dipped a chunk of bread in olive oil. “You should focus on your girlfriend.”
Mark couldn’t hear their conversation, but his eyes were fixed on the olive oil dripping off of Sunny’s fingers. He would have given anything to lick—
“Daddy, did you get my text?”
He tore his eyes away, bringing them to his daughter.
“Yes, Brookie. I got it.”
Sunny watched their exchange, feeling wistful. The relationship they had, the way Kez doted on Brooklyn, entertaining all her moods and whims, always gentle and loving…it was a turn-on.
She wondered if there was such a thing as a daddy kink. The kind that describes how enticing it is to see a man take his childrearing duties seriously.
Lord knows she didn’t see that with Orion.
“I think I know what it is,” he was saying.
With a sigh, she said, “What?”
“You think just cuz I’m old, I can’t go two nights in a row.”
In spite of her annoyance, Sunny burst out laughing. “You’re ridiculous. Please find you some business.”
Orion grinned, pleased with himself.
Across the table, Mark’s jaw flexed again as he sipped his sangria and watched the giggling and sniggling going on at the other end of the table.
It was odd how quickly he reverted back to Kez. Cici’s impact, no doubt.
The fire-roasted eggplant he’d only had three bites of was cold now. But it was all good. He wasn’t hungry.
Not for food, anyway.
The casita was quiet and sunlit, and far enough away from the main house that nobody would hear them…assuming there was anything to hear.
Mark didn’t like to assume.
Sunny crept through the door like she was on a stealth mission, her movements so odd and exaggerated, Mark couldn’t help but laugh.
“Did anybody see you?” he asked as she closed the door behind her.
“Not that I know of.” She smiled, her eyes roaming the small space. “This is cute.”
He inclined his head, moving closer to her. They could talk interior decorating later.
She stared up at him as he approached, her lips parting slightly, her gaze sharpening. When he brought his hands to her waist, she inhaled sharply, taken aback by the tension between them. It was electric.
“Us sneaking around like this…does it remind you of something?”
She laughed. “You creeping into my dorm room at all hours of the night.”
“More nostalgia,” he said, his eyes locked on hers.
“Yeah.”
His grip on her waist tightened. “You had me addicted, Cici. I couldn’t get enough of you, hard as I tried.”
Her arms encircled his neck. “And yet, you did.”
He shook his head. “So, where’s the dress?”
“We both know this isn’t about the dress.”
It was just as well. The way he was feeling, that dress may have become a very expensive casualty.
“What’s it about, Cici?”
“Do you remember our first time?”
He nodded, heat rising to his face. “I remember it not being very enjoyable for you.”
“No woman really enjoys her first time.” Her voice was soft and light. “But I always wished we’d had a chance to keep trying so you could…break me in.”
His breath caught in his chest. Her sly smile up at him told him she knew exactly what she was doing.
“You definitely deserved better than a dorm room, a twin bed, and my annoying ass roommate pretending to be asleep.”
She chuckled. “We don’t have those problems now, though, do we?”
“Not at all.”
She pressed her body against his. “And we’re both older now. More experienced.”
His hands inched around her back, enveloping her as his dick hardened. “We are.”
“When we were together, I was kind of timid,” she said. “Even with you.”
“I remember.”
“But the years have made me bolder,” she murmured. “I’m much more inclined to go after what I want.”
He licked his lips. “So I’m what you want?”
“That’s right, Doctor Bennett.”
He inhaled slowly before his lips found hers in a slow, deep kiss. Their tongues met, and their bodies pulled each other in like magnets rediscovering their charge. His hands slid down her back, lifting her dress as she kissed him with greater urgency. He let his hands grab generous handfuls of the weight she’d gained, groaning softly when he discovered that it felt just as good as it looked. And she was naked underneath.
With trembling fingers, she pulled his shirt loose from his pants. His lips moved along her jaw, down her throat, to her shoulder…he marveled at the way her skin tasted. Sweet, familiar, and new all at once.
“You feel exactly the same,” he murmured against her soft skin. “I fucking missed you, Ci.”
She broke away, grabbing his hand to pull him over to the bed.
“Show me,” was all she said as she sank onto the foot of the bed, spreading her legs wide, welcoming him.
“Bold move, wearing a white dress with no panties,” he teased. “Not that I’m complaining.”
She smiled, gazing up at him with those eyes. “I think maybe I’ll do it every day while I’m here. Easy access.”
He went to his knees in front of her. “Famous last words.”
Truthfully, he didn’t believe she had it in her. He’d only ever seen the timid side of her, the side that wasn’t quite comfortable with the idea of sex, even as she was starting to have it.
Although, to be fair, she always loved it when he ate her out.
Wasting no time, Mark leaned in, his senses overwhelmed by her essence. The way her pussy glistened, the fresh, yet earthy smell, and the softness of her delicate flesh when he pressed the first kiss to her bud.
“Mmmmmm…”
And the way she sounded.
His dick twitched angrily in his pants.
“Fuck, you taste so good.”
He lapped at her, finding her wet folds, her clit, and her lips with his tongue, caressing and teasing until she came with a high-pitched moan.
Wasting no time, he moved on top of her, sliding into her pulsing wetness with ease. Her breath caught as he gasped, both of them stunned by the sudden rush of pleasure and history and heat. Memories of what was, and promises of what could be.
But this time, there was no roommate. No rushing. No fear.
Just slow, deliberate enjoyment.
“ Damn ,” he gritted. “You feel the same.”
She smiled up at him. “You feel better.”
He rocked in and out of her, slow and leisurely, then faster and harder. Kez pushed her legs above her head, then rested them on his shoulders. She came again, and it was a momentous occasion, because she was cumming on his dick for the first time, something he wasn’t able to do for her when they were young and inexperienced.
Satisfied, he closed his eyes and let himself go, releasing inside of her with a primal groan.
After, he lay with his head on her breasts, tracing her skin with his fingertips.
“Why Sunny?”
“Hm?”
He looked up at her. “Why do you go by Sunny now?”
She chuckled. “Probably the same reason you go by Mark.”
“Try me.”
“Luxury clients don’t tend to have the patience for sounding out non-standard names.”
He nodded against her skin. “Yeah, something like that for me, too. Dr. Mark plays better than Dr. Markez.”
He reached up to tug at a luscious lock of her hair. “Is that why you get your hair straightened, too?”
“It is.”
And because Orion preferred straight hair and wigs over her natural hair, but she didn’t say that.
“You’ll always be Cici to me,” he mumbled. “My beauty.”
“And you’ll be Kez. Although I do love this villa Dr. Mark acquired.”
He laughed. “He has another one in Mexico, if you’re interested.”
She hooked her leg over his body, hugging his head close to her.
“The only thing I’m interested in is you.”