Seduction - Chapter 14
Sunday
“It’s a tad too spicy, don’t you think?” Daphne said and looked at Rob. She fanned her mouth like she’d just eaten a jalapeno instead of a creamy chowder.
Rob had just lifted another spoonful. “Oh. Um. Yeah, babe. Definitely too spicy.” He plopped his spoon down into the bowl.
I swore I saw Justin’s nostrils flare.
“There’s no spice,” Justin said calmly. “It’s a crab and corn chowder. There’s seriously nothing else in it but cream and a few seasonings.”
Daphne lifted a spoonful and sniffed it. “Are you sure? There is definitely something spicy in there.”
“Garlic perhaps?” Justin asked. “That hardly counts as spicy.”
“That’s probably it. Do you think they could remove that?”
“It’ll be flavorless, but…”
I lightly hit my foot against Justin’s shin.
He yelped at the top of his lungs. “Penny Hunter, I love you to death, but did you just strike me? What in heaven’s name have I done to deserve that?”
James gave me a weird look.
“I…” my voice trailed off. I’d barely tapped him. What was he screaming about? “I was just trying to get your attention because you mentioned to me in the dining area that the chef here is really good at substitutions like that.”
He glared at me. Because he had absolutely not said that to me. But he had promised to be calm.
“Don’t you remember?” I asked.
“Yes.” He turned back to Daphne. “Is that a yes to the chowder if the garlic is removed?” He shook his head like it pained him to ask.
“It’s my favorite of the ten,” Daphne said.
“So…yes?”
“Without all that spice, yes.”
Justin wrote it down, but I didn’t see him write anything about the garlic. “She’ll be too busy on her wedding day to even eat any of this,” he said under his breath.
I didn’t think Daphne heard, so it was fine.
And he was right. I barely remembered even sitting down at my own wedding.
Daphne probably wouldn’t be eating the soup.
She’d be too busy greeting everyone and receiving congratulations.
But…it was her day. And she was allowed to have bland soup if she wanted.
“Justin,” I said, using my most authoritative voice.
He looked up at me.
“No garlic,” I said and pointed to his menu that was all crossed out in different colors.
“Right, how could I forget?” He wrote ‘no garlic’ next to the chowder and circled it in bright red. “Happy?”
As a matter of fact, I was. I’d feel personally responsible if this wedding was a disaster. I’d recommended Justin to them. So this had to go seamlessly. I took another spoonful of the delicious chowder, the way it was meant to be. Daphne really was missing out. It was freaking amazing.
Daphne started trying the salads, but I was pretty content with my soup. I looked over at Bee across the table. I needed to trade seats with Mason for a few minutes. Because I was dying to ask her about the sex altar thing again. I needed to know what my husband was planning for me tonight.
I contemplated how to get Mason to move. Maybe I could tell him there was a sex party out by hole 6 or something. I smiled to myself. That would probably work. Although he’d take Bee with him. They were the kinkiest couple I knew. Hell, maybe I should just ask Mason.
I took my last bite of chowder. And then my stomach churned. Damn morning sickness. In the afternoon. I was getting really tired of all the lies I’d been told about pregnancy. I excused myself and hurried off the terrace.
The restaurant was practically empty right now, the afternoon crowd gone and the evening crowd still an hour off. Which was good. Because I wasn’t going to make it to the bathroom.
I pushed through the doors of the private room just in time and threw up right into a bucket filled with champagne and ice.
James didn’t have to say anything. I could feel him as soon as he entered the room. His hands were warm on my neck as they pulled my hair out of my face. He kept my hair in one hand as he rubbed my back with the other.
I leaned over and threw up the rest of the food I’d sampled.
James moved his free hand to my hand. He rubbed my palm in that way that made my stomach feel better. “Maybe the chowder was bad.”
I laughed. “It was delicious.” I grabbed one of the linen napkins and wiped off my mouth before turning to him. “I hate this.”
He sat down in one of the chairs so that he’d be eye-level with my stomach. “Hey, sweet girl,” he said and put his hand on my stomach.
“Boy,” I corrected.
James shook his head and spread his fingers over my belly. “Do you think maybe you could be a little easier on your mom?”
It was the first time James had referred to me as mom .
Something about hearing that word made me feel nauseous all over again.
I was so excited to be a mom. And yet…a mom?
I was too young to be a mom. I still called my own mom mom .
Was I supposed to stop that when I became a mom?
I didn’t know how any of this worked. I’d only read one of the books that Rob had given us when we found out we were expecting. I had so much research I needed to do.
James leaned forward and placed a kiss on my stomach.
“I’m going to be a mom,” I whispered. The dam broke and tears spilled down my cheeks.
He looked up at me. “Yeah, one of those sexy ones that all the other moms hate.”
I smiled. The nervous energy dissipated as soon as our eyes locked. It wasn’t like I was doing this alone. James was going to be the world’s best dad to our baby. We did everything as a team. And we’d do this together too. “I love you.” I straddled his lap.
He ran his thumbs beneath my eyes, removing my tears. “I love you too. Please don’t cry. You know how much it pains me when you cry.”
I leaned forward and ran the tip of my nose down the length of his. “It’s just the hormones,” I said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I wasn’t sad. Honestly, straddling him like this? I was more horny than anything else. “Do you remember the first time we were in this room?”
James didn’t look around, but his hands settled on my waist. “I remember.”
I laughed, remembering how our waiter had almost seen my panties around my ankles. “We were wild.”
“We’re still wild.”
“James, can you please just tell me what a sex altar is?”
“You’ll find out soon.” He looked down at his watch. “Actually, it’s probably almost set up. I wonder how much longer this food tasting will take?”
“What do you mean almost set up? Who’s setting it up?”
James just smiled.
“What are you planning?”
He leaned forward, whispering in my ear. “Sinful things, baby.”
I swallowed hard.
“And if I didn’t have the best night ever planned, I’d take you right here, right now.” He lightly bit down on my earlobe.
God. I take back what I thought earlier– Mason and Bee weren’t the kinkiest couple we knew. We were. But I needed to know what I was walking into. And what kind of setup was he referring to? “We should probably get back. I bet they’ve moved on to the dinner course.”
James groaned. “This is taking forever.”
I climbed off his lap. “We’re halfway through. And Daphne is less particular about desserts.”
“Is she?”
“Mhm. One time when we were out, she took ten minutes ordering dinner. But for dessert she didn’t have any substitutions or anything. She just ordered directly off the menu.”
“Really?”
“Yup.” But that was just one time. I’d seen her eviscerate a dessert menu too. Hopefully this would be more like the former. “Either way, I’m starving.”
James laughed and stood up. “Well, no one’s going to want this now. Might as well make the rest of this afternoon fun.” He pulled out the champagne from the bucket and wiped it off with a napkin.
“Gross.”
“What? It didn’t get inside the bottle.”
“Well, either way, you can’t drink. Because I kinda sorta promised Justin he could ride back with just the guys.”
“Wait, what?”
“And Mason drives too fast and Rob isn’t great at paying attention, so I’d really prefer if you were driving.”
“I’m driving back with you,” he said.
“Unfortunately not. There are a lot of contingencies to Justin planning this last-minute wedding. He’s been very particular.”
“He put driving with us into his contract?”
“Not exactly…we don’t even have a contract.”
James laughed. “So you’ve been negotiating with him just for fun? Because it really seems like he’s committed to this wedding.”
“Yes?” Damn, Justin was tricky. There was no way he was going to pull out of this. He loved a challenge. He’d been playing me. Acting all dramatic and stuff. Although…I don’t think that was acting.
James laughed. “You’re a terrible negotiator.” He grabbed my hand and led us out of the private room. “How about you come get me next time he wants to add a contingency. I’ll take care of it.”
“If you say so. Maybe just give that champagne right to Justin to calm him down.”
“Alcohol does not calm that man down.”
I laughed, but my laughter died in my throat as we reached the window that looked out on the terrace. I watched in horror as Justin stood up, picked up a plate, and threw it on the ground. It shattered into a million little pieces. And then he grabbed two glasses off the table and did the same.
What is he doing? Had he lost his freaking mind? I pushed out the doors and was about to open my mouth when Daphne clapped.
“Yes, just like that,” Daphne said. “I know neither one of us is Jewish, but I’ve always wanted to smash plates and glasses.”
Justin stomped down onto the shattered glass for good measure. “I can definitely get behind this idea. It’s quite satisfying.” He grabbed another plate and threw it on the ground. “Mazel tov!”
Okay then. I’d thought he was throwing a tantrum. I should have known better. Justin was a professional. He was really only showing me his sassy side because we were friends.
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed James’ cheek. “I’ll be right back. I need to ask Bee something.” I hurried off before he could ask me if I was going to question her about sex altars. He knew me too well.
“Hey, Mason,” I said. “Could I switch places with you real quick?”
“Trouble in paradise?”
I laughed. “No. I just need to ask Bee about sex altars.” Oh my God. Had I just said that out loud? These hormones had turned my brain to mush.
Mason laughed. “Well, Bee knows plenty about those.”
Bee lightly slapped his arm before he stood up.
Mason winked at me and walked around the table, plopping into the chair beside James. They started laughing about something.
Probably me. But hopefully not. I turned to Bee as I sat down.
“So tell me everything. What happens at a sex altar?” I started eating the crab cake that had just been served.
I didn’t care that I was using Mason’s fork.
Bee looked surprised, but she didn’t know what it was like to be this hungry. My baby boy was insatiable.
She laughed. “Oh. I thought you were joking. I figured you just wanted to sit with me so we could talk about how all this food is perfect and Daphne is a psychopath.”
“Well that too, yeah.”
Daphne had just turned up her nose at the crab cakes. She truly was insane. These were award-winning crab cakes. I added them to my mental list of things to sneak off and eat during her wedding.
“So are you planning on creating a sex altar for James?”
“No, he’s setting one up for me. I think. I don’t really know how any of that works.”
“It’s not very complex. You know the altars at churches?”
I nodded. “The table where they pour the wine and all that.”
“Right. So it’s like that. But instead of blessing the food…James will be blessing your body. Worshipping it really.”
“Worshipping it?”
“Yeah.”
“How exactly?”
“However he feels like. You’ll be tied up, so you’re kind of at his mercy. His mouth, his cock, toys, other stuff. One time Mason used candle wax on me and I freaking loved it.”
I take it back again – Bee and Mason were kinkier. “Didn’t that hurt?”
“Don’t tell me that a little pain doesn’t make the pleasure that much better.”
I nodded. I really loved when James spanked me. I pictured the slap of his palm and then how soothing it felt when he gently rubbed the tender skin. Every time he did that I ended up practically dripping with desire.
“But it’s like…fun?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s the most fun. I definitely recommend silk restraints though. The metal really bites into your skin if you know what I mean. Rope is pretty painful too.”
I laughed.
“No, I’m serious.” She grabbed her wrist. “One time I had bruises for a week. Worth it though.” She winked at me.
“You know what? Now you’ve got me wanting to do a sex altar thing tonight too.
Lord knows we’ve earned it after this torture.
I’ll do one tonight too and we’ll have lunch tomorrow and talk about all the sexy things our men did to us. Deal?”
“Um…”
She put her hand out.
I shook her hand without even thinking about what I was agreeing to. Damn, I really am terrible at negotiating.
“Get ready for the night of your life,” Bee said.