22. Presents and Presence
CELESTE
Colors.
Colors were everywhere.
Being underwater, surrounded by a wide array of fish and sea creatures was pure magic. Our guide, Mira, was just up ahead of us, pointing towards the unique fish that were exclusive to the aquarium. She told us before we entered the water that their aquarium housed some of the rarest sea animals in the world. Maggie and I watched in rapture as she demonstrated how to use the scuba gear, then cursed her for how heavy the equipment was. It was a relief to fall back into the tank and let gravity do the work.
Now, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. Wesley had gone out of his way to make my birthday spectacular. It was a day I would never forget, from riding my very first roller coaster to playing with sea lions to seeing my father laughing out in the world like his normal self. I knew the value in memories because someday memories were all you had.
Maggie and I spent an hour underwater, exploring the enormous tank with Mira. I was afraid to even blink in case I missed something. Floating weightlessly made me feel like Ariel and I found a new dream blossoming in my chest to go out to the ocean and scuba dive for real. Maybe someday. It seemed like the kind of dream Wesley would manifest.
When we emerged back at the surface, Desiree and her kids were gone. Daddy looked crestfallen and Wesley looked furious. Dread turned my skin to ice and I had a sudden desire to go back under the water. I would take any escape, really.
Mira helped guide me to the shallow platform where Maggie and I could take off the tanks on our backs. Clambering off the ladder, I immediately went to Daddy’s side.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, anxiety spiking.
Daddy just shook his head. I glanced at Wesley, who minutely shook his head.
“I think it’s best if we get Mr. Hendricks back to the hospital,” Willow announced. She and the nurse hung back from the festivities as much as they could while still monitoring Daddy. Judging by his ashen face, however, I agreed with them.
His departure brought a dark gray cloud over the remaining guests. Wesley had arranged for a custom birthday cake from a famous Atlanta bakery, but their rendition of the happy birthday song was hollow without my daddy’s voice in the mix. I wanted to be delighted with the two tiered, sparkly cake, but found myself pushing the slice around on the plate rather than eating it. Whatever made Desiree leave had clearly put everyone in a sour mood, but I was more worried about the effect on Daddy. When I pulled Wes aside to ask him, he simply whispered, “Later.”
The night came to a close, and a separate driver pulled up to take Nana, Marla, and Maggie back to the airport. They would be returning to River’s Run tonight, but I elected to stay behind. We only had one more day of school until spring break started anyway and at this point, it hardly mattered if I missed another day. My transcripts would look like a joke to college admissions.
My heart was heavy and my mind preoccupied when Wesley and I loaded into another car to head back to his father’s penthouse. It wasn’t until we walked inside that I realized we didn’t have a chaperone. Nana was already on her way back home.
Sensing my thoughts, Wesley offered a slightly sheepish, slightly smug smile. “I told her that my dad was home tonight,” he explained. “I just needed a night alone with you. And I didn’t want any of them to see your present.”
I furrowed my eyebrows in a frown. “Wesley, you spent an obscene amount of money making today happen for me already. I think a physical gift is a little unnecessary at this point!”
He smirked, but didn’t contradict me. Instead, he wove his fingers through mine and led me down the hall. Rather than sitting on his bedroom couch or going up to bed, he led me out onto the private pool deck. Hundreds of lights were strung up to create a dimly lit canopy while the pool itself was filled with tiny candles and rose petals. A small, gift-wrapped package sat on top of the table behind him.
My breath caught in my throat. It was gorgeous, far more romantic than I ever anticipated. “Wes…” My voice trailed off, too awestruck to know what to say.
Wesley picked up the package and held it up in the palm of his hand like an offering. “Happy birthday, Celeste Renee Hendricks. I love you.”
For some reason, his words felt intimate, like a caress ghosting across my skin. I blushed as I accepted the package and delicately unwrapped the glossy paper. A square blue box marked Tiffany and Co. opened on a hinge to reveal a white gold heart necklace. I squinted as I held the necklace closer to my face.
For my whole life.
“It’s actually a locket,” he offered after a few moments. I was still too overwhelmed to respond.
Gently he pried the locket from my hands, removing it from the box, and opened it up to reveal a photo of Daddy on one side and Mama on the other. “This way you know they’ll always be close to your heart,” Wesley explained in a whisper.
Tears sprung to my eyes and I took in a shaky breath. He held up the locket, waiting for permission to put it on. I nodded through my tears, feeling equal measure of love, grief, and comfort when the necklace hit my chest.
“I’ll never take it off,” I vowed. “I love you.”
Wesley’s eyes darkened, the blue akin to the thunderclouds that rolled in on a River’s Run summer afternoon. “I’m gonna go for a swim,” he finally whispered after a long minute.
He took a couple steps back, pulling the t-shirt over his head and dropping it on the ground. His eyes never left mine as he slowly unbuckled his belt, then pulled down the zipper to his jeans inch by inch. My skin grew hot, the prospect of seeing his glorious body igniting something deep in my core. The soft lights were just enough to highlight the outline of his six pack, his biceps flexing as he let his bottoms fall off. Removing his shoes was far less graceful, but I was far too distracted by the sight of his hard cock to care.
A shiver of longing ran down my spine, uncertain of how to proceed, but eager to enjoy the moment.
Wesley smirked as though sensing my inner conflict (which he probably was) and broke eye contact so that he could dive into the deep end of the pool. When he broke through the surface again, sending candles and rose petals flying, he whipped his head backwards, slicking his long blonde waves back. I loved his shaggy, scruffy halo, but seeing his hair pulled away from his face, his steep cheekbones in full focus of the candlelight made me clench my thighs together.
“Just live in this moment, Lovebug,” he called softly. “Even if it’s just for tonight, let’s just forget everything else.”
Just tonight, I repeated to myself. Just let go, Celeste.
Blocking everything else out felt foreign to me. My heart was pounding damn near through my chest as I grabbed the hem of my tank top with both hands and pulled it over my head. Unclasping my bra gave me more courage because the way Wesley’s eyes dilated had my blood heating. There was no way I could be sexy taking off my shorts and sneakers, but Wesley’s attention never wavered.
It took tremendous effort on my part not to cover up under the intensity of his gaze. I was completely bared to him, which had happened before all those months ago, but I never felt as exposed then as I did right now. I had to force a deep exhale of pent of up emotion, ignoring him to carefully descend the stairs into the pool, gently brushing petals away as I moved. We met in the middle, the water just high enough to cover my breasts.
Wesley dragged a featherlight trail down my sides with his fingers, making my skin tingle, as he bridged the gap between us. His dick was erect and rock solid as it pressed into my abdomen. It was the lust in his gaze, however, that caused my core to throb with need. His eyes never left my face, a mixture of awe, desire, and love. Always love.
“Thank you for today,” I said, aware of how low and seductive my voice sounded. “You made it so special.”
A smug grin escaped him and he pulled me tighter against his body. “Can I make you feel special, too?” he murmured against my forehead after placing a gentle kiss against my hairline.
Too aroused to respond properly, I nodded.
He wasted no time in gripping my thighs just under my cheeks, yanking them up to wrap around his waist. The steel ridge of his cock rubbed against my clit to create the most delicious sensation and I was too far gone to wonder if this counted as losing my virginity. It hardly mattered anyway because Wesley Madden could have me, body, mind, and soul.
In the blink of an eye, his lips met mine and I lost the ability to do anything other than move my mouth against his. My hips thrust into him on their own accord, my drenched pussy all but desperate for some kind of friction in the place I craved it most. He set me down on the edge of the pool so that my pussy was at his eye level.
It was the first time he had ever looked properly upon my lower lips, and rather than feeling embarrassed or ashamed as I always assumed I would, the smoldering need lining his face made me bolder than I thought possible. Without pause, I spread my legs wider, leaning back on my arms so he could see everything. I refused to hide myself from Wesley. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in my mind that he loved every inch of me.
A moan tore from the back of his throat and Wesley roughly kissed the inside of my thigh near my left knee. “Celeste, I’m going to taste you now,” he declared, his voice full of gravel and hunger. “I’m going to make you feel as special as you make me.”
There was no chance for me to respond before his lips found my clit and I transcended into heaven. His tongue, warm and flat, swiped up the entire length of my flesh and Wesley let out another moan. “You’re gonna be the death of me,” he murmured. Using his tongue to flick my clit, two of his fingers pushed inside me, matching the tempo of his tongue as he worked my clit. It was the best thing to ever happen to me, lighting me up from the inside until I knew I must have been glowing. If this is what happened behind closed doors, why did anybody ever leave?
There was a pressure building in my lower abdomen, gaining momentum as his tongue moved faster, adding a third finger that made my muscles quake. I writhed beneath him, torn between never wanting it to end and wanting to implode.
Instinct had full control over my decisions and I found myself pushing his head closer to my pussy. Wesley growled in response and the vibrations from his lips against my clit sent me over the edge. I was spiraling as my toes crinkled and my body stiffened in shock. The orgasm was much stronger than the last time; either my body had grown used to the sensation or Wesley had been practicing somehow.
Knowing Wesley, it was probably the latter. I wouldn’t put it past him to take some sort of class or talk to an “expert” on how to properly make me cum.
Wesley lapped at my release like a dog, panting and all. “You taste so sweet,” he groaned, gripping my thighs tightly. “Pretty sure I want to die with my face buried between your legs.”
I giggled at the absurd thought before reality came crashing back down. My daddy was dying, and he would not be happy with me for spreading my legs so my boyfriend could eat me out. Even Wesley wasn’t that much of a smooth talker.
“Nope, don’t do it!” Wesley suddenly commanded, his voice sterned. He stood up taller, one arm gripping me at the waist to pull me upright. “Don’t you dare let your mind wander back to the bad stuff. I told you, tonight is just about us.”
I sighed. He made it sound so easy when it was anything but. “I don’t do it on purpose, Wesley,” I reminded him. “My brain just can’t shut everything out like that.”
He sighed, too, the romantic moment gone. “I know that. I just wanted to give you a break from your own head for once.”
Ugh, he was seriously too sweet for me. Wesley was always going on about how I was the kinder of the two of us, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. When Wesley loved, he did so with his whole heart. There simply wasn’t any gray space for him—everything was a matter of absolutes.
“Let’s go to bed,” he offered.
I stood up and grabbed a towel from the basket against the wall to wrap around myself. As Wesley hauled himself out of the water, droplets shimmering between his muscles in all their yummy glory, my eyes zeroed in on his still erect cock bobbing between his legs.
He sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’m gonna need a minute,” Wesley admitted.
Yearning burned in my lady parts again, a small sign that while my head might be in the wrong space, my body still wanted to be a normal sixteen year old girl driven by her hormones. I tried to listen to his advice and turn my brain off as I gingerly stepped forward and wrapped my hand around the shaft.
“Or I could help,” I whispered.
“Yeah?” Wesley asked eagerly.
I nodded quickly. It was time for me to give Wesley just as much as he always gave me.
My favorite megawatt smile returned. “C’mon,” he said, taking my hand. “We’ll go inside.”
Wesley hit the button to darken his window panes as soon as we stepped inside, which left only the string lights over his bed to illuminate anything. It made the entire atmosphere shift to something far more intimate and romantic again. With the press of a button on the tablet that controlled the room, his surround sound speakers began to softly play “Crash My Party” by Luke Bryan. I knew without asking that Wesley chose that song on purpose given the lyrics promised that the man was always willing to drop everything for the woman whenever she needed.
Ever so gently, Wesley dragged the towel around my body down until it dropped in a pool at my feet. His hands were warm as he began to caress my breasts, pinching my hard nipples so that I yelped and then giggled. That was all it took for me to draw him to me, grabbing his firm ass to press his groin tightly against my belly button. We could have been fused into one person and it still wouldn’t have been enough for me. Our mouths clashed, tongues warring for control. Wesley reached around my thighs again to lift me up around his waist and deposit me on the bed.
I got up on my knees, shaking my finger in his face. “Nope,” I insisted. “Now it’s my turn!” Pointing at his pillows, I raised my eyebrows in challenge.
The megawatt smile returned. “Lovebug, we can role play where you’re in charge any time you want.” He did as I commanded, however, laying down with his head in his hands and his long legs extending around me.
Wesley would always be cocky enough for the both of us. It would never matter how shy I felt.
I had about as much experience handling a boy’s dick as I did sailing around the world. Wesley’s, therefore, looked particularly impressive to me, long and pink, with a dark purple vein running along the bottom of the shaft. I knew logistically that whenever we had sex, it would somehow fit inside of me, but I had no idea how to physically make that happen without rearranging my organs. As much as I wanted to experience everything with Wes, his cock was a little too intimidating at present.
Instead, I leaned down and ran my tongue along the exposed vein, tasting his skin for the first time. Wesley’s sharp inhale told me I caught him off guard.
Good.
Emboldened by his reaction, I started swirling my tongue, trying to remember all the tips and tricks from the ridiculous Cosmo articles Maggie read as her bible. When I got to the head, the salty, sticky consistency surprised me. I kind of liked the tanginess, though, and wrapped my lips around the mushroom head, popping them off with a smack.
Wesley was so rigid he resembled a corpse. His expression was a cross between blissful and tormented, his lips a thin line while his blue eyes were dilated to almost black. I raised an eyebrow to him in question.
“Don’t laugh at me,” he said, “but this feels so good and I don’t want to blow my load after 90 seconds of a blowjob.”
Laughter erupted from my chest, though I tried to stifle it with my hands. For all his embarrassment, Wes joined in.
“There’s no way I’m good at this!” I giggled.
“Celeste, it’s you. The girl I love has my cock in her mouth, and holy fuck do you look sexy as hell doing it. No matter what, you’re gonna rock my world six ways from Sunday.” The sincerity in his tone left no room for argument.
A surge of warmth spread through my body and the wetness returned between my thighs. I allowed my jaw to relax as I wrapped my mouth around Wesley’s shaft again. I only got about halfway down before my gag reflex kicked in, but I let some of my saliva pool down farther. Using my hand, I cupped the base of his cock, letting my saliva act as a lubricant and repeated the motion with my mouth on the top half. As I got used to the movements, I gained momentum, noting that each time I was able to take him just a little further down my throat.
Wesley let out a series of whimpers, biting down onto his fist at one point as though he wanted to muffle the sound. He pulled my hair back from my face, watching me with eyes so blown out from lust I could no longer see the blue in his irises. Seeing his reaction was so damn sexy and intoxicating that I reached down and started rubbing my clit with the hand not on his cock to try and relieve some of the pressure.
As soon as I started touching myself, Wes lost it. “Oh, fuck me, Celeste! I’m gonna cum!” he shouted.
The shot of cum that filled my mouth was fast and salty and…gross. It hit the back of my throat, stimulating my gag reflex worse than Wesley’s cock ever had, and without thinking, I leaned over the side of the bed and spit it all out, sputtering like a drowning victim.
Thankfully, Wesley let out a breathy laugh. “That bad, huh?”
Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I sheepishly smiled. “Just unexpected. Not sure that I like the taste.”
He nodded. “Next time we’ll have a towel ready.”
His confidence made me snort. “’Next time?’”
Sitting up, Wes cupped my face with both hands. “Celeste, when are you going to stop questioning our future? I love you and you love me, and I’m never going to let anything come between us.”
I tried to shake my head, but he wouldn’t let me. “We’re only sixteen. Nobody finds their soulmate as a child.”
“Well we did,” Wesley replied assuredly. “For my whole life.” His megawatt smile returned.
Every fiber of my being wanted him to be right. I desperately wanted the future he planned, but no matter how much I tried to picture it, everything going forward looked blank. My mama left me and my daddy was about to join her. Why would Wesley be any different?
Not wanting to ruin the moment, I didn’t voice that thought aloud. Smiling back at him, I said, “I think we need to shower and go to bed.”
Wesley smirked. “Only if we get to shower together.”
If Mama was in the heaven Nana talked about, I sure hoped God knew how to censor things. Some experiences didn’t need to be shared with your parents, no matter how close you were.