The Marriage Auction 2, Part 2

Episode 31

Episode 31

The Heart of the Issue

MEMPHIS

Something icy cold slid across the surface of my bare abdomen waking me from a dead sleep. I snapped one eye open to assess where I was. White walls with unfamiliar artwork greeted me. The hotel room was chilly as shit because during our sex marathon, Naomi asked me to hike up the air conditioner. However, at this moment, I was toasty warm all over, but especially down my right side where Naomi had curled her beautiful body. I glanced down and realized it was her hand that chilled my stomach. I put my hand over hers to warm the top as I took in my fiancée. Little puffs of air left her mouth and teased against my chest as she slept. I didn’t have chest hair because I waxed regularly, preferring smooth skin, which made it easier to see how my muscles flexed and moved when I worked out. It helped keep my focus on the particular muscles I wanted to manipulate during my workouts.

Her face was peaceful and angelic. She had perfectly arched black eyebrows that matched her hair. A long, slim nose that turned up just a tad at the tip. Her lips were just the right amount of plump for kissing, nipping, and biting. Her face was oval shaped, her cheeks high and rounded, complimenting her deep-set eyes. Tiny baby hairs curled around the edge of her hairline and stuck up in every direction, making this normally put-together goddess even more adorable.

I was about to lean down and kiss her awake, and maybe continue our marathon for another day when a buzzing sound interrupted me. I glanced over at the end table where we’d set our phones to charge. Hers was ringing. She didn’t so much as stir at the sound. My woman was wiped out. I grinned, proud that I was the reason she was so exhausted. I rose onto an elbow, and Naomi slid off my chest, mumbling something incoherent before cuddling back up to my side, still fast asleep.

I grabbed the phone and read the display: “The King.”

The fuck.

Who could possibly be listed as The King in her phone? Instantly I thought back to when we’d met at the bar. She’d just been shafted by some loser who’d used her to get into her pants. Irritation clouded my exhausted brain, and my protective side came roaring to the surface.

I clicked the answer button and barked, “Hello.”

“I’m sorry. I must have accidentally dialed the wrong number,” a cultured male voice responded.

“You lookin’ for Naomi?” I asked, adding a hint of authority to my tone.

“I am. And who, may I ask, is this?” The caller’s snooty tone a poor attempt to express a sense of superiority.

Looked like this “King” was about to get a lesson in exactly who I was to this woman.

“Memphis Taylor. Her fiancé.” I added the last bit to clarify my position in her life.

“Don’t be absurd,” the man huffed. “I’d know if Naomi was engaged. Now let me speak to her. Right this instant.” The superiority vibe went straight to arrogant.

Who the hell does this guy think he is?

“Look man, I don’t know who you are, or who you think you are, but my woman is sleeping. Whatever you need to say to her, you can say to me, and I’ll be happy to relay that message.” I was ready to end this call and go back to starting my day by waking up my Queen…with my mouth, possibly between her pretty thighs.

“Excuse me, Memphis Taylor ,” he repeated my whole name as if he was recording it to memory. “When my daughter is awake, please tell her to call her father immediately. Her mother is in the hospital after suffering a heart attack,” he snapped and then hung up abruptly.

“Ah hell!” I croaked and slapped my forehead with my palm, knowing I’d just fucked up royally.

Naomi stirred, her eyes opening drowsily. “Hey, baby, what’s got you lookin’ so pale? You feelin’ okay?” She pushed up to her waist, her gorgeous, rounded tits on full display.

I closed my eyes, hating that I had to give her such bad news after we had the best day yesterday.

“Nay, that was your dad on the phone.” I swallowed as her eyes widened.

“And you answered?” she responded with a nervous note in her tone.

“Uh, yeah. And I may have told him I was your fiancé,” I admitted, ripping the bandage off my major error so we could deal with the problem.

“Did he freak out?” She reached for the blanket and pulled it up over her chest. The protective need to cover herself made me feel even worse.

“Yeah, but, baby, that’s not the problem.” I tried to figure out the best way to give her such bad news.

She reached out and took my hand. “What is it? Did he yell at you? Let me guess, he ripped you a new one, huh? I’m sorry, Memphis, my father is a difficult man and so hard to please you wouldn’t believe…”

“Naomi!” I said her name, adding a serious edge to it. “Baby, forget about your dad. He called to say your mom had a heart attack and is in the hospital.”

Her eyes widened. “What? My mother?”

I handed her the phone. “Here, call him back right away.”

She nodded, her eyes becoming shimmery as they filled with unshed tears. “Okay, okay. Yeah. I can’t believe this. She’s so…unbreakable.” Her fingers fluttered over the phone as I slipped out of bed and entered the bathroom to get the two fluffy, white robes I spied earlier. I put one on and tied it at the waist before bringing one out to her.

I held it open as she stepped out of bed, naked as a jaybird, and slid one arm through the first sleeve, her other hand pressed to her ear, holding the phone. She switched sides and dipped her shoulders to put it on. I tied the belt around her waist.

“Daddy? It’s me. What’s going on with Mom?” she asked breathlessly.

I left the room to start some coffee right as I heard her say, “We’ll talk about Memphis later. How’s Mom?”

I gritted my teeth as I filled the machine with a small coffee pod, placed a mug under the spout, and set the machine to brewing.

Naomi entered the living space and went to the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the city of Las Vegas as she listened to her father’s update.

“Okay, we’ll get on the first flight out. No, I didn’t take the jet to Las Vegas. It was a pleasure trip not a work trip. And Dad, I don’t work for you. It’s inappropriate for me to take your jet for personal use.” She inhaled sharply. “Yes, I am officially engaged. No, it’s not to Malik…Jesus, dad. When are you going to let that go? It’s been over for a long time.”

Who the hell was Malik?

My competition for her affections? Perhaps. But she wouldn’t have agreed to marry me if she was still hung up on some other guy. And she most certainly couldn’t have given me all that she did between the sheets last night if there was another fella in the back of her mind. I recalled her mentioning the guy named Jamal that had cut her loose right before she came to Las Vegas, which is who I thought was on the phone when her father called, but not someone named Malik.

Why was that man more important than Jamal, if that was the last guy she’d been seeing romantically ?

Too many questions with no answers.

I sighed deeply as I added some cream and sugar to the coffee, not knowing how she liked it yet, but most people were okay with those options. Gently I approached and tapped on her shoulder. Her obsidian eyes softened when she looked at me and then down at the cup I held aloft.

She mouthed “Thank you” as I passed her the mug.

“I know I didn’t tell you I was in a relationship because it’s my business, not yours. Dad…” Her voice rose like thunder. “DAD! We’re not talking about this right now. Go be with Mom. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Yes, thank you for calling. Of course, I’m bringing Memphis.” She groaned. “Yes, we’ll take the helicopter when we reach JFK instead of a car. Yes, soon. Bye.” She ended the call, and her shoulders slumped. She didn’t even say, “I love you”, which said a great deal about the relationship she had with her father.

Within mere seconds I was behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, resting my chin on her shoulder. “How’s your mom?”

“Alive. Being kept for observation,” she croaked.

I reached for her mug and set it on a nearby table, then gathered her in my arms. She planted her face to my chest, and her shoulders shook as she cried. “I can’t believe my mom had a heart attack,” she sobbed.

“But she’s okay. You said so yourself. She’s being held for observation. That’s a good thing. Did they have to do surgery or anything?” I rubbed her back in soothing strokes.

She shook her head. “No, they’re doing more tests. They don’t really know why it happened, but my guess is that it has something to do with the fact that she’s a lifetime closet smoker and openly drinks her weight in cocktails daily.”

I sucked a whistling breath through my teeth. “That’ll do it.”

“But she also works out every single day. Always has. Also eats really clean. Way better than me. She’s the one that taught me to keep myself in good shape.” Her breathing started to even out as she leaned back and wiped away her tears.

She was so beautiful when she cried. A living, weeping angel.

“None of that matters if you’re backing it up with booze and cigarettes, right? Everything catches up to us at some point. Add stress alongside all those things, and sometimes the heart just can’t keep up with it all.”

“True,” Naomi nodded and took a deep breath. “Are you okay with going to the Hamptons with me? I know we just got together and deserve some time to figure things out but…”

I cupped her face with both hands. “Naomi, there is no place I’d rather be in this world than by your side, especially when you’re hurting. I’m going to be your husband. I am your man. And after last night, woman, you couldn’t get rid of me if you tried. You’re stuck with me, baby. Now go get in the shower and pull yourself together. I’ll start looking at flights and join you in a minute. You said JFK airport, right?”

She nodded and smiled sweetly, rose on her toes and pressed her forehead to mine. “What did I ever do to deserve a man like you?”

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing when I woke up and found the most beautiful woman in the world cuddled up to my side this morning, sleeping soundly.” I dipped my head and kissed her softly.

She hummed and flicked her tongue against my bottom lip then bit down on the bit of flesh before she pulled away, her eyes glittering with mischief.

“Don’t think I didn’t see what you did there. You bite my lip and my dick answers. Good mornin’, Naomi.” I rolled my hips against her in a tease. “How you doin’ gorgeous?” I ground against her playfully, and made kissy noises against her neck sloppily, until she was a squealing, giggling mess of laughter.

“Okay, okay, stop!” she begged. “I’ll play nice next time. I promise!”

I hugged her tightly, enjoying the small amount of joy I was able to bring her. I cupped the back of her head. “It’s going to be okay. She’s stable and they’re just doing tests right now. And I’m here for you and going to be here every step of the way. You feel me?” I murmured into her hair near her ear.

“I feel you.” She sighed, sounding relieved not stressed.

Job well done. My old man would be proud.

I smacked her bountiful, firm booty. “Now get your fine ass to the shower. I’ve got some plane tickets to purchase.”

She let me go and reached for her coffee and took a sip. “Mmmm perfect. Oh…” She maneuvered over to her sparkly bag from last night and pulled out a credit card. “Use this for the plane tickets,” she instructed me, and a bitter taste hit the back of my tongue.

I scowled. “I’ve got plenty of money now, remember. The deposit went in last night.”

“And that’s your money, to be used for you and your family. Don’t fight me on this. We’re going to see my family not yours.” As if that magically fixed the issue.

“So? How does that make a difference?” I clenched my teeth, hating that she had a point, but still, I was the old-fashioned type. If I took a woman out, I paid. If we were traveling together somewhere, I should be the one paying.

Naomi paused at the door to the bedroom and leaned against it. “I can already tell this is going to be a thing between us, isn’t it?” She tapped a long fingernail against the coffee mug, making a tinkling sound.

“What thing?” I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, so I didn’t say something stupid.

“The money thing. You’re a man’s man. Macho. Old-fashioned. Alpha. Exactly my type.”

“Well, there you go. Seems like we’ve already got it worked out then.” I smirked, feeling my chest lighten a bit.

“Not even close!” she snapped. “Here’s how I believe it should work between us: If we’re going somewhere for my family or my work, I pay. If we’re going to be with your family or visiting them, you pay. Fair?” She smiled and cocked a brow, waiting for me to answer.

I narrowed my gaze, thinking about all she’d said. She definitely did not need to be battling with me when what she really needed was to get her ass to the Hamptons. Money talks could come later. However, what she was proposing was fair, and she was right due to the fact that I’d only been given the deposit. Until we got married, I wouldn’t have that first huge sum of money in my account to use on plane tickets.

“Fine. For now, I will agree to your compromise,” I said while lifting the credit card to show her I’d use it.

“Excellent. Oh, and baby, I only fly first class, which means you only fly first class.” She winked and then sauntered into the bedroom, her hips swaying in obvious invitation.

I bolted to the slim laptop I saw sitting on the desk in the corner and fired it up. I had to find some tickets to New York fast if I wanted to distract my woman in the shower.

I found a single flight leaving in three hours to JFK airport in New York for a couple grand a piece. I could not believe how much they cost, but when I called out the price to her, she said, “Score, great find and price.”

I swallowed down everything inside of me that said this was highway robbery, likely put in place by some suit at the top in the airline industry and purchased the damn things using her credit card.

When I was done, Naomi was squeezing out the water from her long hair and had just opened the door to exit the shower as I let my robe fall to the floor.

“Y-your turn,” she said breathlessly while looking my body up and down, her gaze shimmering with interest.

I devoured her wet, naked body from toes to tits and higher to her beautiful face as I shook my head, my cock rising with every new naked inch I spied. I reached out and lightly eased her back into the stall. “Nuh uh, you’re still dirty.”

Her lips twitched as her gaze lit with desire. “I am not. In fact, I’m squeaky clean.”

“Then let me dirty you up again.” I pressed my naked chest to Naomi’s and herded her with my body, until her back was flat against the tile. “Hold on tight, baby. We have to be quick. Our flight leaves in three hours.”

She smiled, put her hands to my shoulders, and hopped up until her legs were around my waist.

“I’m still clean,” she whispered, her mouth nipping at my earlobe.

“Not for long,” my voice was a low, needy rasp. “Let’s see how dirty I can make you.”