Chapter 19
L EILANI
I spend the rest of the evening in the kitchen directing the staff, while he takes care of his business.
With so many people on the property, we have a sizable staff, which includes a chef and his assistants.
They particularly grill food for us, and bake a cake, and by the time night comes, goodies fill my picnic basket. Wine, cheese, freshly baked bread, an almond cake, grilled zucchini, tomatoes, and fish.
Once the food is packed, I run upstairs to change.
I know we’ll be horseback riding, but I don’t want to wear the same clothes.I intend to make this night unique, something to remember.
Digging through my closet, I find a sleeveless tunic dress in my favorite A-line shape that flows nicely over my body and hits above the knee, and a new pair of Roman sandals.
My dress is light blue, and my sandals are done in an earthy shade of terracotta red. My tan looks great against my outfit.
I pick up a fallen flower from the garden and put it in my hair.
Because I’m riding, I wear shorts underneath.
I’m ready when he walks into the house, sweaty, with dirt on his hands.
He notices my outfit and gives me a knowing smile.
“You look great,” he says. “I’ll be ready in a moment. I need to shower first.”
Listening to the running water, I move closer to the window and look out.
His men have dinner in a gazebo. Sixteen people around a big table.Another table is set not far.
They grill food, have drinks, and are loud.
It’s a nice atmosphere, sensorially overloaded, and I wonder if I’m ready for it.
Life will get you ready––a thought whispers in my head.
A few moments later, a smell of aftershave wafts into the room.
I turn around just as he exits the bathroom, wearing riding pants, a tailored shirt, a riding jacket, and boots, his gun visible.
He’s making no secret of it.
I make no comments as I take him in and study his face.
His eyes sparkle with a smile.
“Ready?” he asks, fastening his buckle.
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you going to be cold?”
He tilts his eyes toward my shoulders.
“I also packed a blanket and two pillows.”
A smile curves his lips.
“You want us to spend the night over there?”
“Yes. Why not?”
“Let’s go.”
He signals to the door, and minutes later, we ride into the night, heading to a place different than the one we visited today.
One that I’ll like even better, he assures me.
The one he’s picked is a little closer to the house, but far enough that the noise and the lights can’t interfere with our quiet evening.
The hooves rhythmically hit the ground as we ride down a dirt road, veer right, and enter an oasis of greenery.
The smell of the earth fills my nostrils, while a chorus of insects adds a layer of soothing background noise.
We let the horses nibble on the grass before we settle into a spot from which we can see Etna, the horizon, the sky with a multitude of stars, and the faint lights of the house in the distance.
He removes his jacket and his boots, making himself comfortable, while I set the plates down and show him what we have for dinner.
“You really like doing this?” he comments as he sits down and starts eating.
“I’ve never done it,” I reply, chewing on a slice of zucchini flavored with oregano, salt and pepper, and olive oil. “With someone,” I add, laughing. “I used to do it back at the house.”
I pick some cheese and taste it before drinking wine.
“Alone?”
I nod my head.
“I did everything alone.”
I chew thoughtfully, his eyes still on me as he enjoys his food.
“I just wanted to be left alone,” I say before picking a slice of cake.
I’ve always eaten like that, disorganized, mixing savory food with sweets, going back and forth, unable to follow the proper order of putting food into my mouth.
He notices what I'm doing and makes a comment.
“It’s a defensive mechanism,” I say, smiling. “Whenever I had food with my family, I wanted to be ready to walk out at any given moment, so I ate everything at once. A habit I picked up as a child.”
He finishes his food, refills my glass of wine and his, and hands me my drink.
“Speaking of your past,” he quietly says, propped on an elbow while looking at me. “Have there been other men like that one?”
I meet his eyes with candor.
“There have been men. That one and Julian were more ritualistic. The others were just regular jerks. People who talked down to me. Made vulgar comments about me.”
I collect the plates and napkins and put everything into the basket before I push it aside, so I can lie on my stomach next to him.
Staring at my glass of wine, I speak softly.
“Are you bothered by it?” I ask, not looking at him.
“No. I mean yes. I’d like to break their necks, but I’m not bothered personally, as a man. I know these things happen. It bothers me that no one has stepped in.”
Shifting, so I can prop myself on an elbow, I look at him.
“Stepping in would’ve had such deeper implications. It would’ve meant that they cared. If they cared, they would’ve needed to protect me. You know a lot about living a life of crime, yeah?”
He tilts his chin in response.
“You don’t want to have feelings for your victim,” I go on. “It makes it harder to remove them.”
I search his eyes, wondering if this is what he’s truly asking me.
Perhaps something else is hidden in his question.
Maybe he does want to know a few things about me as a woman, things that do affect him personally.
I expect him to continue asking me questions.
Instead, he takes the glass of wine from me and places it next to him.
“Let’s look at the stars,” he says, tucking a pillow under his head and nudging me to him.
His arm is my pillow as I glue myself to his side.
“I know why you like this,” he says after a while.
“It feels like no one can take it away from you,” he murmurs in my hair, deep in thought.
“Billions of stars twinkle across the sky, threading through a pathway of wonder, indifferent to us, mortals. We all come from there. We all go back there. And briefly, we have the chance to weave our lives together. It’s stunning if you think about it. ”
He knocks the breath out of my lungs with his words.
“I couldn’t have said it better,” I say, realizing how much truth that bears, tossing me into a mini existential crisis. “What do you think will happen to us?” I murmur, listening to the soft music of the night.
He mulls over an answer for a second.
“You mean you and I?”
“Yes.”
“Uh… I think we’ll grow old, have children, and pass the torch at some point. Make some good memories for sure.”
I push up onto my elbow and look at him.
“Together?” I ask as his eyes travel into mine.
His eyes narrow with a smile.
“Yeah.”
My mouth opens in surprise.
“For real?’
“Yes, for real.”
“How can you be so confident about it?”
“What would my life come to if I weren’t confident?” he says quietly.
He’s right.
What would mine have come to if I weren’t the obsessed woman who pursued the idea of him unrelentingly?
I lean on him, fan my fingers over his cheek, and press my lips against his.
“Thank you for taking a chance on me. I’ll never disappoint you,” I murmur, my heart racing. “You’re way more than I imagined.”
“So are you,” he says to me, and happy tears pool in my eyes.
He runs his fingers through my hair, pushes up and rolls me under him before brushing a strand of hair away from my face.
“We can do it, Lani. All we need to do is stay alive. Once we get through this hurdle, things will be all right. I promise you that,” he says softly, the dust of stars glinting across his shoulders.
“We’ll make it, baby. You just need to trust me,” he adds, and then lowers his mouth to mine, and we start kissing slowly.
CALLUM
She quivers under me, as if forever trapped, her fingers trembling across my cheek before moving through my hair.
We both taste like grapes as we kiss, slowly igniting a fire in our bodies.
Something about her has got me thinking about the other men in her life. The way she ripped her stare away from me. The way she swallowed hard.
My sweet Leilani has a secret, and I’m dying to find out what it is.
Caught under my body, she quickly becomes a heap of desire that's finally reaching an outlet.
She swiftly gets warm and moves her hands down my back. She also begins to shake as if this is way more than I think it is.
I slide my knee between her legs, and a soft moan climbs up her chest.
I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while, and judging by her reaction, she has too.
She is so easy to turn on.
She pushes up a knee and presses her heated pussy against my thigh.
Even with two layers of fabric between us, I can still feel her heat and the softness of her sex.
I lower my hand to her short dress and slide it up until I reach her shorts and grab her backside. She rocks her hips slightly as I deepen the kiss.
My sweet Leilani.
My hand moves down again, and this time it makes the trip up between her legs.
Her thighs are tense against my touch.
Slowly, I trail her slit with my fingers through her tight shorts and feel the dampness between her legs.
She pushes up to press herself into my body, and with a few quick moves, I untuck my shirt, undo a couple of buttons, and pull it over my head before unfastening my belt and tugging down at my zipper.
I’m already hard, ready to enter her.
I’ve been hard on and off throughout the night and day just by thinking of how she felt around my fingers.
I don’t want to rush her because I want to make this right for her.
I go back to her.
Her lips burn against mine. Her arms are locked around my neck.
My fingers trail the back of her neckline where a tiny button holds the dress together.
Undoing it, I create enough of an opening so I can pull at her neckline and make the dress slide off her shoulders.
I don’t stop until her breasts look soft like snow in the silver moonlight.
Without pausing, I do the same to the button at the waistband of her shorts and pull the zipper down.
She wears nothing underneath.