CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Blair
Scott finally convinced me that he really wanted to have the party.
It had morphed into a combination birthday and anniversary party even though it would be for our sixteenth anniversary.
Let’s face it; that’s a weird year to celebrate.
But for us it wasn’t. Not really. The year had been full of drama, strife, heartbreak, but we’d also found a new level to our love.
We understood each other so much better and were working on our marriage in counseling twice a month.
It felt right to celebrate. I’d also just ‘graduated’ from physical therapy even though I’d be keeping up with the exercises I’d learned at home.
Our family was also tighter, more cohesive, and I felt happier than I ever had in my life.
So, if Scott wanted to throw me this party? I wasn’t going to say no.
I looked at the beautiful dark green silk column dress I’d bought for the occasion.
I loved it, and it looked fantastic with my coloring.
I wore my hair up in an elegant twist, glad that my hair fully covered the gnarly scar on my scalp from the surgery I’d had after the accident.
I was about to put my jewelry on when he knocked on the door.
“Come in,” I called out.
“Hey.” Scott walked in and stopped. “Blair. You look… stunning. People are going to see you and wonder what the hell a beauty like you is doing with me.” He walked over and gave me a hug. “Mmm. You smell so good.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” I laughed, pulling away. “We don’t have time for where you’re heading, mister.”
He tried to look innocent but knew from the way I laughed at him that he’d failed.
“Later,” I said coyly. “I have many plans for you later.”
“You can’t say stuff like that,” he huffed out a dramatic sigh. “It just makes me want to throw you down on the bed and…”
Sammy came barreling in our room. “How do I look? Daddy said I had to have a tuxedo, and I said no, but then he said it was a penguin suit, so I thought it was a costume, and I’d really look like a penguin… but I don’t.” He looked dejected.
I bent down to his level, adjusted his tie and brushed over his lapels. “You look just as handsome as your daddy, buddy. The girls are going to go wild.”
His eyes widened. “Why? What are you talking about?”
“Nothing really,” I laughed. “They’ll just want to dance with you.”
The look of horror on his face, made me laugh again. “Don’t worry, buddy. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But maybe you’ll at least dance one dance with me?”
A shy smile crossed his face and he hugged me. “Yeah. That would be fun.”
“Okay, Samuel,” Scott said, and Sammy gave him a pretend scowl over Scott using his full name. “I have to give Mommy something. We’ll be down in just a minute, okay? Can you make sure the others are ready to go?”
“On it!” He flew out of the room, excited to have a task where he could potentially boss his older brothers and sisters around.
“Were you wanting to give me something inappropriate?” I cocked an eyebrow at him suggestively.
“I’d love to, as you know, but that’s going to happen later. For now, I have an anniversary present for you.”
I blinked. “I thought the party was the present.”
“Not entirely.” He looked so hot in his tux, I could barely keep my hands off him. And then he handed me the gift bag.
I stared at it. “It’s from Carolyn B.”
He nodded. “Remember when I was clueless and gave the jewelry I won to Scarlett instead of you?”
I gave him a look. “Did you think I could ever forget that?”
He grimaced. “No. I could hope, but I knew you wouldn’t. But,” he held up a finger, “I didn’t forget, either. I bought these for you. I know they’re coming several years too late to make up for that awful night, but I wanted you to have them.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and opened the bag. Inside, there were two large, flat boxes. “This looks like too much, Scott.”
“I haven’t given you jewelry since your wedding rings, baby. It’s high time I started making up for it. I’ve got this beautiful wife, and I should’ve taken more pride in that.”
I opened the first box and gasped. “Oh, these are perfect!” It was a simple set of gold jewelry—earrings, a necklace, a ring, and a bracelet. They were all delicate but practical, the kind of jewelry for everyday wear. “I love these. I can just see me wearing them at the bakery every day.”
He beamed. “That’s exactly what I thought. Now, open the other one.”
When I did, my eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh.” It was another set, but this one was most definitely for dress up occasions.
The earrings, necklace, bracelet, and ring were all inlaid with diamonds and sapphires.
They were gorgeous and refined, not flashy.
“This is… perfect.” I stood up and held out the box to him. “Would you put the necklace on me?”
“I’d love to.” I shivered as his hands ran over my neck and bare shoulders.
I put on the rest of the jewelry. “You’ve done too much.”
“Just making up for lost time. This is not an apology gift; this is an ‘I’ve paid attention to you and know what you like’ gift.”
We both knew there was a difference. Our couple’s therapist had stressed that gifts given as an apology often felt empty, meaningless.
A gift like this? Where he’d had to remember the designer I liked and how awful he’d made me feel at that Orchid Ball so long ago?
This mattered. It showed he knew who I was. And I loved it.
He’d done that a lot, actually. He understood that love wasn’t a dozen roses given only so that he’d be forgiven.
The gifts he’d given me were well thought out, intentional.
They were all designed to show that he knew me, like really knew me, and that he loved who I was.
Not that I was beautiful, or sexy, and that his love was only skin deep, but that he saw to the very heart of me. And he loved what he saw.
That meant more to me than any shallow gestures he could make.
***
The party Scott had planned with Calliope Mason was perfect.
All my favorite people, plus half the town of Indigo Falls, were packed into the country club.
The décor was beautiful, the hors d'oeuvres were all my favorites, and the songs were a mix of old, jazzy love songs and current hit music.
There was something for everyone, and the dance floor had rarely been empty. It was a fantastic party.
One of my favorite things was that Scott had said no presents were required, but if someone truly wanted to do something beyond just coming to celebrate with us, they could donate to the neurosurgery department at Emory.
It was just another sweet thing he’d done that was out of character for the man I used to know. There had been so many more layers to Scott; they’d just taken a while, and a lot of prodding, to come out. Well, and me almost dying. There had been that, too.
I suddenly realized I hadn’t seen Scott lately and looked around the room for him. I’d been having so much fun with my friends and Gam that I’d lost track of him. I didn’t see him anywhere. Where was he?
I suddenly got a text.
Scott: There’s an outdoor patio with a privacy screen. Meet me there.
Me: On my way!
I was definitely on my way. One thing I’d always loved about Scott was that he had no problems with having sex with me in semi-public. The thought of possibly getting caught just added to the excitement, and I felt myself already growing wet at the thought. It had been a while since we’d done this.
I extricated myself from the conversation and hurried off before anyone else could stop me. It was harder to disappear for a quick fuck when you were the guest of honor of the party.
I walked outside and looked around. It took me a moment to see the screen he had to be talking about. There were flowering vines growing on it, and it backed up to a row of tall shrubbery cut into hedges. It was perfect.
My excitement grew as I raced over. “Scott?”
“In here.” His voice was muffled.
I rounded the corner and eased my way between the hedge and the screen. There was just enough room to be able to… move around. I grinned at him.
He winked at me and pulled me into his arms. I let out a cut off yelp at the suddenness of it. “What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Oh, baby,” he whispered in my ear, “if you don’t know what I’m doing, then I’m most definitely doing it wrong.”
His mouth began kissing and tracing its way from my mouth, down my jaw and neck, and into the valley of my cleavage.
He pushed my breasts up with both hands, thumbing my erect nipples through the dress. I quivered with need. “That feel good?”
“Yes,” I breathed out.
“Your tits look amazing in this dress. I’ve wanted them all night.”
He carefully unzipped the back of my dress and pulled the bodice down before sucking my nipples through the lacy black strapless bra I wore.
“Oh,” I moaned and leaned my head back on the hedge.
He nipped, kissed, sucked, and licked me to his heart’s content while I went crazy for him.
By the time he ended up on his knees in front of me with his head under my dress, I was aching with desire.
And then his mouth was on me, and I had to focus to keep from crying out.
The last thing I wanted was for someone to find us out here, even though the need to keep it secret turned me the hell on.
I didn’t know why. Scott and I had always been a little kinky when it came to sex. It was just who we were.
He licked, flicked, and suckled me until I came, hard, moaning out his name quietly. I wanted to scream it but didn’t dare risk it.
Before my climax passed, Scott picked me up by the waist. I wrapped my legs around him, he unzipped his pants, and his very large, very hard cock practically jumped out.
It was leaking pre-cum that I desperately longed to taste, but there wasn’t time.
He quickly pulled my panties aside and thrust deeply inside me.