The Everlasting Chapel (16 page)

“
You are so amazing, Scar.
I can’t ever get enough of you,” he says.

Oh, I’m there, I’m…I try to silence the cry
that wants to come out, but I can’t. He thrusts into me harder,
sending me over the top—a thousand electrified bursts taking
possession of my body at once.

He quickly pulls out and kneels in front of
me. He places his hands on my knees, and presses his tongue firmly
to my clitoris. Holy shit…Oh, God, his tongue…

Fisting his hair, I lean my head back as he
sucks on me, as his tongue twirls around and around, and as he
gently tugs there. Without taking his mouth off me, he slips his
thumb into my vagina and presses against the front wall, slowly
circling around and around. With the other hand, he grabs my
breast, and rolls my nipple with his thumb. My nipple grows hard at
his touch, and as I feel myself rise again, I produce a staggered
gasp.

“
Shit…” I say. “I need
you…” Oh, oh… I rise a little higher as he sucks harder, as his
thumb moves faster, harder, as his hand grips my breast. “Oh…” I
let my head fall back as the orgasm thunders through me, the
delicious spasms taking over my body.

After he hears me scream, he yanks me off
the desk, pulls me across the room, and then presses me against the
door. His lips collide to mine and I taste myself on him. As I let
my tongue encircle with his, he shoves inside of me again. My
entire body is shaking. I don’t know if I can take anymore. As if
sensing this, Michael lifts my right leg, hooking his arm
underneath it, and pushes his chest against my breasts, pinning me
to the door. As he starts to move, I tilt my hips forward to meet
his, deepening the sensation. I place a hand on his shoulder to
steady myself as he thrusts upward. His pace increases and he
grunts in my ear.

“
Scarlett, baby. Oh, baby,”
he says, delving into me, his eyes fixed on mine. His face and neck
are tense, his mouth slightly open, his expression is agonized
pleasure. Faster and faster, harder and harder he slams into me. I
feel like my legs are useless wilted stems, and my entire body is
humming, shuddering against his.

I quickly come again, the release stealing
every last ounce of energy out of me. “Michael, oh…God!” Right when
I peak, he yells my name, pulling at my hips as he thrusts one last
prolonged time into me.

When I finally start to come down from my
high, all I hear is the music in the background and our panting
breaths. He kisses me again, slowly—sensually, his tongue lacing
with mine in an erotic exchange.

“
I want to fuck you ever
day for the rest of my life,” he whispers, still pinning me to the
wall with his chest and hips.

“
I just might like that.” I
run my fingers through his sweaty hair.

He lifts an eyebrow. “Might. Like.
That?”

I smile. “I would absolutely love that,” I
say, my body still trembling.

He kisses the tip of my nose. “Are you
okay?”

“
Yes.”

“
You’re
shaking.”

“
I believe that’s where the
term ‘earth-shattering orgasm’ comes from,” I say with a laugh,
leaning my forehead to his.

He smiles a little, his eyes lighting up.
“Yeah, it was pretty good, wasn’t it?”

Now it’s my turn to give him a hard time.
“Pretty good?”

He chuckles, and then eases out of me.
“Fucking amazing, as always.”

After I clean up with some paper towels, I
pick up my clothes from the floor. I frown when I see that I can’t
close my shirt. All the buttons are gone.

“
Here,” he says, handing me
a black ‘The Fountain’ T-shirt.

“
You’re not going to
apologize for ruining my shirt?” I ask.

“
No. I don’t regret it one
bit. It was worth it.”

I smile. I’d have to say I agree.

15

I go to see Anne first thing in the morning.
The swelling in her face has gone down even further, and the
bruises on her cheeks and forehead are turning purple and blue. The
second I walk in the door, she informs me they were able to get
samples of her attackers blood. She had dug her fingernails into
his arms.

I try to get Anne to open up about her
emotions, but she refuses to talk. She must be suffering
emotionally, but she’s put on this brave, calm front, and refuses
to let me in even just a little. She probably needs time to process
everything, but I’m afraid if she keeps it in for too long, the
wounds will harden to deep, indelible scars. As a friend, I feel
completely helpless, unable to ease any of her pain.

Before I leave the hospital, I briefly talk
to Spencer about my concerns. He says that under no circumstance
should I force Anne to open up. If I do, she might push me further
away and it could even cause her further stress. He assures me I’m
doing the right thing, and urges me to continue to show my support
in every way I can. Be more loving. Be available if she wants to
talk, and above all, be patient. But it’s also important I treat
her the same way I did before and refrain from looking at her as if
she’s damaged or broken.

My concern is that she never truly opened up
to me about the time she was raped. I feel horrible for not having
been more sensitive and just naïvely assuming she had healed
completely. But after reading online about what happens to the
victims of assault, it seems they never fully recover. That
completely breaks my heart.

With a heavy heart, I head home to spend
some time with my father. He’s feeling better today, and I even
convince him to go to the mall with me to pick out some new
clothes. I give Vivian the day off, and just let her know she needs
to be back by five o’clock so I can get ready for the celebratory
ball tonight. Meeting Michael’s ex-fiancé, Alexa, has been at the
back of my mind the entire week, but now that the day is here, I
actually find that I’m dreading it.

After having purchased a half a dozen
outfits for my father, I drive him home and head to Michael’s house
to get ready there. With so many dresses hanging in the closet, he
still felt the need to go buy me a new gown.

“
When I saw it, I
immediately knew you had to wear it tonight,” he says, his eyes
alight with excitement as he hands me a garment bag.

“
Really?” I’m anxious to
see what type of a dress he wants to see me in, especially since it
will be the first time I meet Alexa and his business partners. I
unzip the bag, and inside I find a gorgeous, purple chiffon gown.
The strapless, crystal-speckled top has a drop waist and crisscross
pleating. The skirt is shirred and starts to flare right below the
hips, and there’s a thigh-high slit that will show off my long
legs.

“
And,” Michael says,
holding up a flat, white box. “This is a family heirloom. My
great-great grandmother received it as a gift from Queen Victoria
of England.”

I feel my eyes widen a tad. I open the box,
and inside is a four-row pearl choker with diamond studded vertical
bars. The octagonal clasp in front is a large amethyst surrounded
by two rows of diamonds.

“
This necklace will
eventually be yours,” he says.

“
What do you mean?” I
ask.

“
Well…you now, when we get
married…” he says.

My stomach flurries. “How do you know I’ll
say yes,” I tease.

“
Well, I guess I’ll have to
wait to see what your answer is after I ask you. Give you a few
more orgasms between now and then…you’ll be begging me to ask
you.”

I punch him in the arm. “I will not.”

In one swift move, he sets the necklace down
onto the bed, throws me onto the mattress, and gets on top of me.
Pushing my hands into the mattress, with his knee massaging between
my legs, he kisses me slowly. He keeps rubbing his knee against my
clit, and completely against my will, my hips start to move and
press against him.

Damn body. You are not being very helpful
here!

“
You tease,” I say, angry
with myself for being unable to resist his advances. It’s already
as if he owns me in every way, heart, body, and soul, and it scares
the shit out of me. Being this vulnerable can’t be good.

My heart rate is suddenly through the roof,
and when his nose encircles mine, and as he presses himself against
me, I gasp.

“
This is your punishment
for hitting me. I want you to think about me all night long. While
I’m talking with other women. While I get you a drink. While I
dance with you. You won’t be able to resist, and you’ll beg me to
bury myself inside of you.”

“
I will not,” I say,
although my body’s already pleading with me to beg him to take
me.

He licks his fingers, squeezes them into my
jeans and panties, thrusts two fingers inside of me, and quickly
finds my G-spot. I arch my back from the sudden pleasure. Why,
body, why?

“
I…I…won’t,” I
say.

“
We’ll see.” He pulls his
fingers out, releases me, and then he’s off to go get
dressed.

I’m left breathless on the bed, squeezing my
thighs together as I quietly curse him for bringing me so high
without giving me my release. Is this how it’s going to be if we
stay together? Wow. I’ll never grow tired of his advances, of his
cockiness when it comes to his own sexuality, or from being with
him in the most intimate of ways. If this is how it’s going to be,
I need to up my game—find a way to get back at him.

“
And don’t you dare try to
get back at me. Because your next punishment will only be so much
worse,” he yells from his closet.

Sexy, paranoid prick.

* * *

As our limo joins the long line of others, I
catch a glimpse of the gray stone mansion. Alexa’s home is nothing
short of outrageous. The abode is set on a huge lot and has three
floors, two verandas, two chimneys, a fountain in front of the
entrance, and tall, arching windows.

Michael leans over. “I have to tell you, you
look absolutely stunning in that dress. I can’t wait until we’re
home again so I can tear you out of it.”

He’s going to take advantage of his power
over me to the max, isn’t he…“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I
say. In reality, ever since we left his house, I’ve wanted to get
him out of his tux and get busy in here. If it weren’t for the
chauffeur…

When our limo pulls to the front, a valet
opens our door and guides us to the mahogany stained-glass inlaid
double doors. Stepping into the foyer, I first notice the black and
white diamond-checkered floor and the colossal crystal chandelier.
From here I see four sets of white marble stairs leading to the
second and third floor, and there’s a living room to the right.

One of the servants takes our coats, and
we’re ushered down the foyer and into a wide hallway. The walls
have modern pieces of art on them and silver sconces, and there are
plenty of fresh floral arrangements on the mirror-inlaid console
tables.

Arriving in the ballroom, I tighten my grip
around Michael’s arm. Hundreds of people are here tonight, and
unfortunately for me, I recognize many of them from Diane’s
Christmas party. I just hope everyone doesn’t start asking
questions. Our divorce was so public, and since Diane aired our
little Christmas rendezvous to everyone and their mother, I have a
feeling my attendance here won’t go unnoticed. I suppose I didn’t
realize the event would be this big, thinking it was a smaller
company ball with just business partners.

Suddenly I find that I’m a little—okay,
extremely—upset with Michael for not having warned me about this.
I’m about to open my mouth when I hear a woman call Michael’s name.
I turn around, and see two bright blue eyes staring at me. The
woman’s long, wavy hair is a shiny, platinum blonde, and she has a
body that looks like she paid for it. Boobs included. Tearing her
eyes away from mine, she focuses on Michael.

“
Michael,” she says,
kissing him on the cheek. “Darling. I didn’t realize you were going
to bring a date. Would you introduce me to the sweet little
thing?”

Sweet little…thing? I don’t like her
already, and I’ve only spent three seconds with her.

“
Scarlett, meet Alexa.
Alexa, this is Scarlett,” he says.

Of course.

“
The
Scarlett?” She gasps, and her already large eyes widen. “You
look so different in person. Thinner.”

Referring to how she’s seen me in the media,
I assume.

“
My, you are quite the
naughty little angel, aren’t you?” She laughs way too
loudly.

“
Alexa,” Michael
snaps.

“
Sorry, dear,” she says.
“It’s just so exciting to finally meet the woman who managed to
nearly give Diane a heart attack.”

I smile. A little. She is cruel.

“
Thank you for bringing
that up,” Michael says through clenched teeth.

“
Well, you two aren’t
dating again, are you? I mean, it was all a façade as I
understand,” Alexa says, touching Michael’s elbow.

First of all, hands off my man. Second,
Michael hasn’t told her about us? I dig my fingernails into my
palms. Why wouldn’t he have told her? Has he told anyone other than
his staff? I wish I had stayed at home.

“
This is hardly the time,
Alexa,” Michael says. “Please excuse us.” He takes me by the arm,
and walks us toward the bar. “Can I get you something to
drink?”

“
A glass of wine is fine,”
I say, still wondering why he wouldn’t just tell her outright that
we are dating. Is he ashamed of me? Afraid what his high and mighty
business colleagues might say? Because they would probably
eventually figure out that I worked as a stripper. I narrow my eyes
as I watch him head over to the bar. His ass sure looks great in
those pants, but I am not thinking about it. Not. At.
All.