Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
MARIAM
A fter the most scrumptious dinner with the best company I’d ever had on a date, Arland and I left the restaurant. I glanced up at him, wondering if he was too tired to spend a bit more time together before we called it a night.
“Would you like to go see some Christmas lights with me?” I asked. “There’s a street here in Austin that’s amazing at this time of year, and I’d love to show you, but I realize that you’ve had a long day. I mean, you flew in today.”
He took my hand, a sparkle in his eyes as he shook his head. “I might be old, but I’m not cold yet. Lead the way.”
I chuckled, deciding to be bold and taking his hand as we walked the few blocks to see the most beautifully decorated street in town. As I looked up at the lights, the snowflakes, the sleighs, and the Santas, feeling lighter than air.
I glanced at Arland, unable to believe how I felt about this man I’d just met. I still had my reservations about us, his age and my travel plans being my main concerns, but with his warm, big hand holding mine and that soft, wondrous smile on his face, none of that seemed to matter.
Going with the flow with this also meant going against my better judgment. I’d always been a by-the-book kind of girl, but Arland made me feel free and that wasn’t a feeling I was used to. It also wasn’t a feeling I was ready to say goodbye to just yet.
Besides, I’d already told him I was willing to try, and that was exactly what I was going to do. As if he felt me looking at him, he glanced down into my eyes and I smiled, my heart skipping in my chest.
“It’s pretty, huh?” I motioned vaguely at the lights overhead. “We may not have snow-capped mountains as a backdrop, but we do our best.”
He laughed. “It’s beautiful. I haven’t appreciated Christmas lights like this in a long time. I don’t even think I noticed those back in Sun Valley until you pointed them out to me, so thanks for that. I’m suddenly realizing just how much I’ve been missing out on.”
He gazed deep into my eyes and I squeezed his hand, my insides all aflutter at his words. It felt like he was talking about much more than just the lights, but I didn’t ask. We’d already covered a lot of ground tonight.
The last thing I wanted was to make him feel like I was some needy child who required constant validation. Instead, I simply dragged him down the street with me, both of us with our faces tipped up to the lights overhead and our gazes darting this way and that to drink it all in.
After we were done walking around, I tried to think of something else we could do. Another place I could take him. It was getting late, but I still hadn’t had enough of him for the night and the thought of letting him go didn’t sit right with me.
“Would you like to come and have a nightcap at the hotel with me?” he asked once we had circled back to the restaurant.
I stared up into those green eyes. My chin nodded as if some supernatural force had grabbed hold of it and was manipulating my movements. I had no problem with what it was doing, though. In fact, it had just solved my problem.
If I went back to Arland’s hotel, I wouldn’t have to say goodnight to him yet. I smiled and repeated his earlier words back to him. “Lead the way.”
He pulled me with him when he strode down the street toward the parking lot. We climbed into his rental car and he drove us only a few miles to a fancy, high-rise hotel and handed his keys over to a valet.
I arched an eyebrow at him as he strode confidently into the gorgeous, modern lobby. “You sure do travel in style, don’t you? This is probably going to be the nicest hotel I stay in all my travels.”
Arland’s head tipped back and he chuckled, revealing the strong column of his neck and the graceful curve of his Adam’s apple. A flash of heat spread through me and I felt my insides clench.
Blissfully oblivious to the fact that I was getting randomly turned on just by looking at his neck, he smiled at me. “I wouldn’t count on that. And hostels have their own appeal. Especially for young, solo travelers. You’d probably get bored in a place like this if you stayed longer than just one night.”
I caught sight of the board advertising all the amenities in the hotel. It was mounted beside the elevator and it promised a swimming pool, a spa, a gym, and much more. “Nah. I think I’d be able to make do.”
Those green eyes came down to mine. “I think the spa baths are open twenty-four hours if you’d like to go have a soak.”
Staring up into those eyes, I suddenly became extremely aware of my skin, of even just the way the cool air from the air-conditioning system felt as it brushed against it. I shook my head. “No, thank you. I was promised a nightcap in your room and that’s what I want.”
Arland held my gaze, a soft groan emanating from deep in his chest at whatever he saw on my face. “Let’s go then, but for the record, I never said it had to be in my room. There’s a bar here too.”
I couldn’t believe I was just going to come out and say this, but… “I’d rather go to your room.”
“I don’t have any objections to that.” The elevator doors slid open in front of us, the shiny metal parting to reveal a lush carpet and three mirrored walls within.
In the reflection, I saw Arland’s face, his jaw suddenly tighter than it had been before and a new tension in his rigid spine. The expression reminded me of the needy look on his face that night at his house and heat flooded my panties in response.
Gosh . Since when is my libido so active? I couldn’t say I’d never been turned on before. Obviously, that would’ve been a lie, but this level of need and the immediacy of my body’s responses to him was certainly unfamiliar.
Electricity crackled in the air between us as the doors slid shut and both of us turned to face them, neither of us saying a word. Arland hit the button marked PH . I barely processed that it meant he was staying in the penthouse suite, my mind far too busy imagining all the things I wanted to do to him when we got up there.
The last time we’d been together, he’d made it all about me, but he’d gotten to explore my body in some of the ways I was desperate to explore his. When the elevator deposited us on his floor, I grabbed his hand and strode down the hall to the only door I could see. I didn’t even know for sure if it was the right one, but I moved with purpose, determined to keep being bold and brave.
Arland swiped a key card in front of the reader mounted beside the door and a green light flashed. Without saying a word, he pushed the door open and motioned for me to precede him. “After you.”
My heart was thudding against my ribs, my palms sweaty but my mind made up. As soon as he followed me in and shut the door, I turned to face him, looping my arms around his neck and pressing my body against his.
As if we’d practiced this before, as soon as my head tipped back, his came down toward it, his lips moving with hungry urgency against my own. I moaned, my hips already begging to start rolling, but I held back, instead focusing on walking Arland backward to the door.
I’d never done anything like this, but when I felt him leaning against it, I dropped my hands to his hips, holding them tight, and I kissed him with deliberate intent. Arland groaned, winding a hand into my hair and taking a firm grip of my braid.
He tugged at it as I slid my fingers into his waistband, wrenching his mouth away from mine so he could meet my gaze. “What are you doing?”
“Anything I want.” Surprised at how easy it had been to say those words, I dipped my hand further into his pants, moving slowly from one side to the other until I heard his breath hitch. “Unless you have any objections?”
“Not at the moment.” He released my hair to put up his palms, relaxing back against the door and watching me with hooded eyes.
I worked on taking off his belt. As soon as it was free, I undid the button on his pants and pulled down on his zipper. The quiet whir of the metal teeth releasing sent a shiver down my spine.
Drawing in a deep breath, I lifted the fabric of his pants and underwear over his erection, and then I pushed it all down, all the while feeling him work on kicking off his shoes. As soon as that was done, he stepped out of his pants and underwear, quickly shedding his socks as well.
I wanted to look down, to get my first real eyeful of his… cock. Oh, so that’s why that word appears so often in the romance books Gemma gave me. In this context, even just thinking it is actually pretty hot.
But instead of doing that just yet, I slowly undid his shirt. No need to rush things. We had all night. His breathing had quickened and his cheeks were now flushed. I hadn’t had a chance to look around the room yet at all, but most of the lights were off, only a faint glow from presumably a corner lamp or something reaching the foyer from the main room.
It was enough that I could see all I needed to see though, and when I pushed Arland’s shirt off, I took full advantage of that fact. Finally allowing my eyes to drop down, I drank him in, starting with the soft but defined bulges and planes of the muscles in his arms, shoulders, and abs, and once I’d gathered the courage, I glanced down at his cock .
The sight of it made me suck in a sharp breath and I lowered myself to my knees, fascinated with this appendage that had brought me so much pleasure that night. It was long and standing up proudly, slightly curved at the tip.
Without letting myself get tripped up by overthinking things, I wrapped my hand around the base of him and moved my head forward, sucking him slowly into my mouth. He let out a long, shuddering groan, tensing as I began moving.
It was an experience I never thought I’d have, actually enjoying the exploration involved with giving oral sex. I was thoroughly enjoying it though, making note of every movement of my hand or tongue that elicited a response from him.
To his credit, he let me do my thing for a long time, his hands digging into my hair and probably completely messing up my braid, but I didn’t care. When I finally felt him swell between my lips, he jerked me away from him, picking me up off my knees in one smooth motion and carrying me over to the bed.
He was breathing hard as he tossed me down on the mattress and quickly started removing every piece of clothing I had on. He quickly climbed on after me and roughly pushed my legs apart. Without hesitating for a second, he buried his head between them, his hot tongue doing things to me that made my mind splinter.
My hips bucked and my hands flew to his hair and held on for dear life as he brought me to orgasm faster than I’d ever imagined possible. White hot pleasure raced through my veins, making me cry out as the knotted tension released.
Arland moaned against my core, the vibrations of the sound sending delicious ripples of aftershock through me. When I finally collapsed against the bed, he climbed off it, unzipping a little overnight bag and coming back to me with a condom.
“You’re going to kill me, Mimi, but I can’t think of a better way to go.” With practiced, fast movements, he rolled the condom on. His eyes filled with a wicked heat as he looked back at me. “On your hands and knees. Let’s go.”
I followed his command as if I was a puppet on his string. My legs were still shaky, but I managed. As soon as I was in position, he pulled me toward the edge of the mattress and lined himself up. Nudging against my entrance, he smoothed a hand along my spine.
“Tell me if it’s too much,” he murmured, then grabbed hold of my hips and buried himself inside me in one smooth thrust.
A choked scream escaped me and more pleasure raced through my veins. My body was still so sensitive that every movement of him stroking those sensitive spots inside made me see stars. I clenched my fists around the bedding. Lowering my head, I started moving to meet his thrusts.
I’d never done this before either, but when his hand snaked around my hips and his fingers found my clit, I decided it might be my favorite new position with him. Every hard thrust and circle of his finger tipped me closer to the edge, and I found myself dangling on the precipice quickly.
“Arland, I’m…” I screwed my eyes shut, words failing me as the climax took over. Pleasure spiraled through me. My world was reduced to exquisite bliss as I felt him find his own release.
In the aftermath, we collapsed together and for the rest of the night, neither of us brought up the possibility of me leaving to go back to Gemma’s. Every so often, I woke up to his hands on me, our bodies moving together effortlessly in the dark of night with only the light filtering in from the city below softly illuminating the room.
The man was insatiable and I found myself feeling the same way, loving how I got to cuddle into his side and fall asleep in his arms every time after. The next morning, we were both all smiles, those green eyes of his alive with a light I’d never seen in them before.
“Will you let me book you a seat on my flight?” he asked after he’d packed the few things at the hotel and drove me to Gemma’s. “I’d rather head back to Sun Valley with you than separately.”
My heart skipped and I smiled. “I’d love that.”
On the plane, we opened our laptops and worked on a huge pre-launch dinner we planned on hosting at the Chalet, and while the opulence of flying first class wasn’t at all lost on me, it paled in comparison to the man by my side.
There was so much to get done in the next two weeks before the Chalet opened to the public, but he didn’t let himself get tripped up by any of it. We worked together just as well as we did everything else, it seemed, and for the first time, I honestly felt myself getting into the rhythm of working with him.
Excited about the next month and a half, I got so lost in the work that I almost missed the texts in my Girls Group chat from Laurel and Gemma, but when I finally saw them, I smiled.
Gemma: How did it go last night? Assuming good, since you didn’t come home.
Laurel: Sad we missed you to say goodbye, but have fun with your man.
Me: It went so well. Dreamy, even. On our way back to Idaho now. Using the plane’s wi-fi. Love you both!
I added a heart eyes emoji and sent my text, and I could almost hear their giggles from miles away. All three of us suddenly had the potential of love in our lives, and while it was hard to believe, a list we’d written out when we’d been fourteen had kickstarted all of this.
I didn’t know if all or even any of us would get a happily-ever-after out of our current relationships, but as I slid my gaze to Arland, watching his fingers fly across his keyboard as he replied to emails, I sure as heck hoped we would.
All of us.
Even if I had no idea how that would even work in my case.