Chapter 7 #3
She turned her face up, and their mouths met in a hot and hungry frenzy.
Michael trembled at the feel of her hands on his back under his sweater. When he couldn’t bear the pain of wanting her another minute, he swept her up into his arms to carry her to his bedroom. But as he brought her down onto the bed, something flashed through her eyes that stopped him cold.
He caressed her face. “Paige? What is it? Are you afraid?”
“A little.”
“Of me?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Then what?”
“This. All of it.”
“Why?”
She looked away from him, and his stomach knotted with understanding. With a finger to her chin, he brought her back to him. “Is this your first time?”
Again her cheeks flushed with color as she nodded.
“Oh.” He fell onto his back when all the oxygen seemed to leave his body in one big rush. “Oh God, and I’ve been like a lunatic with you. Jesus.”
“You haven’t. Don’t say that, Michael.”
Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, he turned onto his side and put an arm around her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. The way you kiss me—”
She ran a finger over his lips. “I’ve never kissed anyone quite the way I kiss you. It’s like I’m someone else with you.”
And there it was again, the dizzying rush of lust that obliterated every rational thought in his mind.
“How come you’ve never done this before? Surely you’ve had boyfriends. Lots of them.”
She shrugged. “I’ve never loved any of them.”
With his heart in his throat, he asked, “And do you love me?”
“Yes.” Her eyes full of wonder, she reached up to caress his face. “I really do.”
“I can’t believe it, but I love you, too. And I want you so much.” He kissed each of her fingers. “But not until you’re ready. I don’t want you to be afraid.”
“I’m ready, Michael. I want it to be with you. Now.”
“You’re sure?” His heart pounded as he worked to summon the tenderness he would need for her.
Her eager hands moved on his chest under his sweater. “Show me. Show me what to do.”
He undressed her slowly, taking the time to worship each new discovery.
Their clothes were soon in a pile on the floor.
Her breathless sighs and gasps were driving him mad, but he held back the need to devour.
Sliding his fingers through the dampness between her legs, he carefully prepared her and then focused on the spot that throbbed for him.
She came with a shriek that startled both of them.
Gasping, she clutched his shoulders. “God,” she whispered, aftershocks rippling through her.
With a chuckle, he said, “You’re a screamer.”
“That’s news to me.”
He turned away from her to roll on a condom. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I hear it’s only bad for a second.”
“Stop me if it hurts.”
She tensed as he pushed into her.
“Try to relax, honey,” he whispered.
When she wrapped her legs around him, he again struggled to hold back urges he’d never felt quite so strongly before.
She, on the other hand, held nothing back as she moved beneath him. Before long her breathing became more frantic. “Oh!” she cried. “Oh, Michael, don’t stop!” She came again with another scream that snapped his control and sent him into a devastating release that left him completely drained.
Michael ached when he thought of that first time with her.
In the months leading up to graduation, they spent every minute they could in his bed where her eagerness more than made up for her lack of experience.
It had been madness and passion and lust. And love.
Definitely love. But the madness never really abated.
They hit the first of many bumps the weekend of graduation when Admiral Simpson announced he had arranged a job for Michael with his friend, the state’s attorney in Baltimore City. Michael had been furious, and the moment he was alone in the car with Paige he told her so.
“I just wanted you to stay here, so when Daddy told me about the job in Baltimore it seemed like the perfect solution.”
“Damn it, Paige, don’t give me that pout face. It might work with ‘Daddy,’ but it does nothing for me.”
With a coy smile, she ran a hand up his leg. “It doesn’t do anything for you?”
He pushed her hand away. “Stop.” He’d fumed about the interference for a week before he took the job, which was the only offer he received in the capital area.
Truth be told, he wanted to stay near Paige as much as she wanted to keep him close.
But the Admiral’s meddling rankled, especially since he never missed an opportunity to remind Michael of how he got his job.
The next bump occurred at graduation when Michael’s mother and sisters took an immediate and intense dislike to Paige—an opinion they never wavered from in four years. “She’s not for you,” his mother had said.
As Michael fell into a restless sleep in the Simpson’s guestroom, he heard his mother saying, “She’s not for you.
” He dreamed of Paige, and as usual, they were making love.
Her hands and lips were everywhere on his fevered skin.
Then he was inside her, moving with the abandon that overtook him every time they made love.
Only when he reached an explosive climax did he realize he wasn’t dreaming.
He pulled out of her as if he’d been scalded and rolled away. “What the fuck? What are you doing?”
“I love you.” Sobs rattled her petite frame. “I just needed you so much.”
“Jesus Christ, I was asleep.” Another realization settled in on him. “No condom, Paige! What the fuck?” They had never taken any chances in that department. His head spun, and his stomach lurched from the booze.
She reached for him. “Michael, please. Talk to me.”
He pulled away from her, got up, went into the bathroom, and slammed the door behind him. Goddamn it! Splashing cold water on his face, he tried to contain the urge to choke the life out of her. When he came out of the bathroom, he pulled on sweats.
“Aren’t you going to talk to me?” she asked between sobs.
“I’m all done talking. You need to go to your room.”
“You’re not breaking off this engagement, Michael.”
“I’m quite certain I already did.”
“You can’t!” she wailed.
He picked up her robe off the floor and threw it at her. “Get dressed. Right now. I’ve had enough for tonight.” He watched her work up a head of steam as she pulled on the robe.
“I don’t know who you think you’re dealing with, but you are not just walking away from me after four years like I mean nothing to you.”
“I know exactly who I’m dealing with—a spoiled, pampered brat. You’re not going to push me around or push me into a job I don’t want. And you’re certainly not going to push me into a marriage I no longer want.”
She slapped his face. Hard. “You son of a bitch.”
His hand rolled into a fist at his side. “Get out,” he said in a low tone that left no room for negotiation. “Get the fuck out!”
After she slammed the door behind her, he did something he should have done earlier: he reached for his cell phone to call a cab. He threw on clothes, packed his bag, and went down the stairs into the quiet house.
Admiral Simpson appeared in the darkness. “Going somewhere, Michael?”
“I’m going home.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I’m positive.”
“So when Paige said you’d called off the engagement she wasn’t being dramatic?”
“No.”
“You might want to think twice about that.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not. I’m just wondering if you’re seeing the big picture.”
“And what would that be?”
“What will Tom Houlihan think of having a man on his team who doesn’t keep his promises? Have you thought about that?”
Michael chuckled. “You know what? I don’t give a rat’s ass what Tom Houlihan thinks about my private life. Feel free to give him a call.”
The cab driver tooted the horn.
The Admiral gave Michael the steely stare that had intimidated legions of sailors, but it had no effect on him. Not anymore. “You’re not the man I thought you were, Michael.”
“That’s funny because you’re exactly the man I thought you were. Take care, Admiral.”
Michael checked into a hotel near the airport and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
He woke up late the next morning, the events of the day before replaying in his mind.
And then he smiled. He was free—of Paige and her parents and their endless manipulation.
Imagining his mother dancing a jig at the news of his broken engagement, he laughed.