Chapter Twenty-Five
Beckett
I wake up in the hotel suite with Scarlett still sleeping in my arms. It is the most wonderful feeling to have her warm breath fan across my chest. I don't usually like cuddling after sex but holding Scarlett feels safe.
I am guarding her, and she has a hold of my heart.
For a man who truly did not want to know about human emotions and connections, this tiny dancer has crawled into my soul which had been guarded by years of anger and distance.
Usually, I wake up at the crack of dawn with too much work to do, but instead, I turn off my phone—something I never do—and go back to sleep holding Scarlett close.
When she stirs and I turn my phone back on, I discover it is almost nine in the morning.
We must have really needed our rest because I have not slept that long in my whole life.
“Ugh, what are you doing to me? I never sleep this late.” I stretch and point my toes, feeling invigorated and comfortable with her beside me.
She also stretches and gives me a glorious smile.
“This is nothing. Once I woke up at two in the afternoon. I mean, it was after a long night of studying, and I’d had a show, but still most of the day was gone.
So almost nine isn't bad.” She makes lazy circles on my chest with her fingers, and my cock—which is already hard as a rock—can't take the heat.
I don't want to stifle her, but I do stop her hands.
“If you keep touching me, love, I'm going to have to fuck you again.”
“I want to try oral,” she says sweetly, like it is a flavor of ice cream.
“Oh, you do? Just out of the blue, you want to swallow me down that pretty throat of yours?” God, the thought of it has me hardening more.
“Is there a trick to it?” She pulls the covers back and smiles at my very awake member poking up under the sheets, wanting her so desperately.
“I’ve never sucked a cock, but I know what I like.
Keep your throat open and your mouth loose.
Suck on the tip, kiss it, explore the piercing with your tongue.
I'll try not to press it too far into your throat because it can block your airway. For some, it’s uncomfortable.
If I’m close to a climax, do you want to swallow my cum?
Or do you want me to plant it on you somewhere?
Would you like me to put it inside of you when I'm ready to blow?” These are awkward questions, but I like the candid way we speak to one another.
“I have a thing about textures.” She crinkles her cute little nose. “I don’t think I want to swallow it.” She giggles and kisses my chest. “But I’m willing to give it a try. It looks fun, and you’ll like it, right?”
I rake my fingers through her hair. “I love anything you do, tiny dancer. You asked if I liked you and,” I kiss the top of her head, “I do, very much. You’re delightful.
I never thought I’d be happy, and with you, I am.
” I mean that. I not only like her; I enjoy her company more than I thought I ever would.
“I like you too.” Her sweet cheeks redden with warmth and love.
“That means a lot coming from you, knowing that I’m the only billionaire you’ll make an exception for.” I scratch her back as she kisses her way down my body. “Ah, fuck that feels amazing.”
She smiles up from her descent to my lengthening cock, obviously doing its best to reach her.
When she finally puts me in her mouth, I dip into heaven.
I know not to thrust down her throat because she is young and still learning about sex, but oh God, the warmth of her feels so intoxicating.
She does as I requested, sucking and playing with my cock, swirling her tongue around the Prince Albert.
I can feel myself swelling in her mouth.
All I want to do is thrust and grind on her, but instead, I rake my fingers through her hair and let her explore me.
It is intimate and more intense than sex because it is her choosing to taste me.
To taste me with her mouth is a surrender that intoxicates me more than the finest scotch.
“Oh yes,” I groan as she works me deeper into her throat.
I’ve had sex with countless women. Legitimately, I do not have a count.
I don't ever recall feeling so connected and so incredibly aroused by the earnestness of a partner.
She is so magnificent, my sweet angel of a wife.
Because of our intimacy and closeness and her eagerness to please me, I gently pull out of her mouth, ready to climax, looking into her eyes.
“This feels so good, but I’m going to cum.
I don’t want to do it down your throat.” I hook my hands under her arms and bring her up to my face and drape her leg over my hip, feeling the warmth of her beside me.
I kiss her lips that were just on me and look into her stunning eyes, so deep and blue.
“Thank you,” I say as I enter her slowly.
The look of excitement lights up her face as she bears my size.
Whenever I enter her, that first breach of her tightness always makes her gasp which brings me a flood of deeper arousal.
I press in gently as her arms band around me nestling in close.
She is bracing herself for another wild sexual exchange, but I don't ravage her.
I take her slowly and deliberately, gently rocking in and out until I can't take the friction and the tightness anymore.
Building speed, I press in as deep as I can so I reach the very heart of her.
“More,” she breathes in my ear, and I give her just that. More and more. I make her come three times, and when I come, my orgasm is stronger than I’ve ever remembered.
She brings me to the heights of ecstasy. She is my paramount as a sexual partner. Her body is perfect and beautiful even after giving birth to our incredible daughter. She is strong and passionate, matching me in energy, intellect, and, despite her youth, wisdom and maturity.
After we make love that morning, we stay in the hotel and order breakfast. Then shower together and dress to get home to our daughter.
I think our problems are behind us. I know the identity of the people that Carl is associating with, and I plan to reach out to Massimo and see what I can do to get his protection.
I am not planning on approaching Massimo immediately.
I have a lot of research to do and some research to find out the purpose of this drug and why Carl wants it so badly.
I have my suspicions, but I need them confirmed.
We learned all that we could last night thanks to Scarlett's help.
I feel more confident about the direction I plan to take in order to protect my integrity and the safety of people who would be subjected to a dangerous biological weapon.
When we get home, Mia is reluctant to give Rayne back to us as she has enjoyed her time with her little niece, but I can see by the way Scarlett's eyes light up that she has missed her baby.
I enjoy spending time with Scarlett alone.
We are still striving to get to know one another better, so having intimate conversations and moments that don't need words brings us closer to one another.
I'd be a liar if I wasn't also happy to see our bright smiling beautiful baby girl.
She has started developing such an effervescent personality which reminds me much more of her mother than me.
She has her mother's big beautiful blue eyes and that bright personality, but she has the makings of my chiseled jawline and the unmistakable dimple in her cheek which is our family trait.
We fall into a bit of a routine. I return to my work at the hospital but make sure that my hours are not late. Prior to being married and having a family, I spent all of my time at the hospital, often sleeping there overnight so I was always accessible to patients when they needed me.
I start overseeing other doctors in the hospital and taking more of an administrative role versus hands-on.
I plan to help in difficult cases and definitely assist in surgeries that are more complicated, but I do want to spend more time with my wife and child.
I realize that loving also means reprioritizing the things that are important to you.
Scarlett has gone back to school and is able to speak with her advisors to change her workload from just dance to dance with a therapeutic specialty. She will eventually have to receive her master's degree, but I love how committed she is to this new trajectory for her future.
Do I feel a little proud that I was the one who inspired this change in her?
Definitely. As a dancer, she is majestic poetry, but as a healer and a therapist and someone who is able to support people like her mother, she is absolute magic.
As the weeks go on she is cast in the corps de ballet for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
I go and see the ballet every night as I promised I would.
We have a nurse stay with Rayne when my sister comes with me, but usually I go alone.
Once, I actually take Griffin who finds my wife to be a little more interesting, and I can see a twinkle of envy in his eyes.
“God, she’s gorgeous,” Griffin comments during the intermission.
“In all ways,” I tell him.
She is in the corps de ballet and is spotlighted in a dance with three other dancers playing fairies. During this short dance, one can see her incredible talent and strength.
I have the opportunity to speak to the creative director on behalf of my wife, hoping to get her a better position in the company.
I am told that Scarlett is one of the strongest dancers though also one of the most junior and, being such, she will have to pay her dues.
The night after Griffin and I give the show a standing ovation with the rest of the audience, however, we learn Scarlett will be dancing as the understudy to Hermia.
She is absolutely thrilled but it means she'll have to devote more time to the studio. With a heavier school load, she’ll also be spending more time at school which makes her unhappy because she wants to be with me and the baby.
“It’s only for one semester. You spent nine months of your life making our daughter; let me give her that time being her father while her mother makes the world a better place. You may be young, Scarlett, but your hopes and dreams are as important as mine.” I mean every single word.
Her life's ambitions are equally as valuable as my career, perhaps more so since she has not been given the advantages and privileges I’d received.
Instead, she spent her childhood dodging questionable men and diving into dance to escape a world constantly in pursuit of her.
I am honored to be able to give her all of the time and space she needs to develop and become the best of who she can be.
That being said, I also enjoy being with my baby daughter.
She is tiny, lovely, and warm in my arms. She is so easy to carry around.
I hold her while I am on the phone or doing things that I need to do; I like having her with me.
My sister is also back at school so it is time for us to hire a nanny.
I have had a litany of nurses up until this point, but with Scarlett's school and workload being increased for the next few months, I decide it is time to break down and finally hire someone to take care of my daughter while I work from home.
I don't trust anyone; that is the biggest problem.
Finding someone whom I can have around sensitive information is going to be very difficult to achieve.
None of Scarlett's friends are available because they are all in school or they are dancers.
I don't trust many of the people Mia hangs out with, and neither does she, so at least we agree on that point.
I reach out to my friend Caden who is a hockey player and also extremely busy with hockey.
He doesn't have much time to do anything that isn't CSS-related, but during our monthly meeting at the pub, I am finally able to approach him about the possibility of his sister, London, nannying for us. She is a few years older than Scarlett and Mia. She’d just graduated from college after receiving a bachelor's degree in botanical sciences. She is very nurturing and demonstrative and fell in love with Rayne when she met her a few weeks back. She, Scarlett, and Mia became fast friends, so London is a great choice if Caden agrees. I would still have a nurse on call just in case the baby needs anything. London enthusiastically accepts the job, and things look like they’ve all fallen into place.
Scarlett is home the night I get a call from an anonymous phone number.
The fact that this number got through my very rigorous phone security is alarming.
I don't have a live operator sifting through my phone calls because many of them are protected by HIPAA laws and also sensitive and secretive in nature due to my involvement with CSS.
Instead, I use a highly advanced call filtering system that can register where the call is coming from, its origination, and generally its purpose.
Later a text comes through. I'd been working to discover the origins of Carl's request for a bioweapon of mass destruction and came close to discovering that he and some CIA operatives were working with the government to eliminate people.
This is where I get confused because our government is ruled by laws and the Constitution.
Operating under such tyrannical methods is more in line with a fascist regime.
As soon as I let the call go to voicemail, a single text pops up on my screen.
No man is an island, no island is safe. We will decode it if you don’t. When we do, we won’t need you, and you won’t have them.
It is cryptic but says everything plainly.