After he and Renee left the athletic club, he suggested lunch at Fishbone’s, one of their favorite restaurants. Renee docilely agreed, then remembered that she had left her purse at home. “Can we run by the house to get it?” she asked sweetly. “It’ll only take a second.”
Andrew assured her that she did not need her purse, but if she wanted it, fine. They got to the house in a few minutes. Andrew noticed the absence of Bennie’s car and was told that she was in Atlanta with Clay. Since they announced their engagement the day after Big Benny’s party, she had been back and forth to Atlanta constantly.
Renee left Andrew downstairs while she went in search of her purse. He made himself comfortable in the living room and was listening to a CD while perusing a newsmagazine. He became absorbed in an article about some medical development and did not notice the passage of time. The room grew darker as the promise of rain came to fruition; he noticed that it had started raining quite hard. He went over to the stairs to ask Renee if she still wanted to go out in the rain. He called up to her and she took her time answering. He was about to repeat his question when she finally spoke.
“
Actually, Andy, I’m not terribly hungry right now. But something is broken up here, can you come take a look, please?” she asked.
Andrew ambled up the stairs and entered Renee’s sitting room. He stopped in mid stride as he realized that something was very different about the room. He had never really paid any attention to it before; he thought it was pretty and that was about it. It was a very seductive room that looked a lot like Renee; soft, feminine and modern. The pinks and grays gave it a French feeling, like an impressionist painting. And there were fresh flowers everywhere, as well as soft, seductive music playing.
“
It’s in here, Andy--are you coming or what?” Renee said softly.
Finally Andrew was able to walk across the parlor and enter Renee’s bedroom. If he could have breathed, he would have issued a deep, heartfelt sigh of pure pleasure. As it was, he had trouble holding on to the little air that was in his lungs.
The centerpiece of Renee’s bedroom was a huge four-poster bed with a canopy frame. There was sheer fabric draped over the head of the bed in lieu of a canopy. The shimmering length was sprinkled with fragrant blossoms, as was the bed itself. Fragrant candles were burning on the bedside tables as well as floating in a glass bowl on a stand near the French doors that led to her tiny balcony. Next to her velvet chaise longue there was a stand that held a frosted ice bucket with a bottle of champagne chilling in its icy depths. And there was Renee, leaning against one of the thick posters at the foot of the bed, wearing the most incredible thing Andrew had ever seen.
Renee had on an amazingly sheer teddy made of silk georgette and lace. It was a deep, soft pink that was almost mauve. She had on a matching peignoir that had slipped off one shoulder and she looked indescribably desirable. She stood there for a moment with her hands behind her back, leaning against the bed’s poster. She didn’t say a word, but she was smiling. She started to walk towards Andrew and didn’t take more than one step before he started walking towards her. Andrew pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all the ferocity and passion that he had been trying to control. He lifted his head long enough to look into her eyes and whisper “Thank you”.
***
Those were the last words that either of them spoke for some time. Andrew let her out of his arms long enough to behold her beauty in the incredible lingerie. While he was watching her watch him, he was also taking off his clothes. In what seemed like seconds, he stood before her as bronzed and magnificent as she remembered him, the only difference being his powerful arousal. In the meantime, she had let the filmy robe drop to the floor and was about to divest herself of the teddy when Andrew stopped her. That was a pleasure he wanted for himself and he slowly removed the delicate garment as he walked her backwards to the waiting bed. With one sweep of his hand he turned back the coverlet to reveal her Porthault linens bought specifically for this occasion; finally they sank onto the mattress together.
Andrew couldn’t stop looking at Renee and loving every inch of her dark, voluptuous body. He ran his hands over her from her hips to her shoulders, and then his lips followed where his hands had been. At the first touch of his hot, moist mouth on her nipple Renee arched her back and uttered a long shuddering sigh. She trembled at the exquisite pleasure that was rippling through her; she had never felt such desire in her life. While his lips and tongue were discovering the sweetness of her breasts, his hand was making its own foray down her thighs to the thick curls at the apex of her thighs. When his fingers uncovered the most feminine part of her she cried out loud—nothing in her memory had prepared her for the shock of recognition she was feeling at his touch.
At once, he raised his head from her breast and pulled her close to him. She was shaking all over and he stroked her velvety length while saying her name.
“
It’s okay, Renee, it’s okay. I’ve got you, baby, it’s okay,” he murmured. Soon the trembling stopped and was replaced by an incredible heat that coursed through her body.
“
Andy. Oh,
Andy
,” was all she could say.
She didn’t need to say anything else; their bodies were doing the talking. Everything that Andrew was feeling, every tender word he had every wanted to say, every erotic dream he had ever had about Renee translated into the motion of his body and his hands. By the time he was ready to join their two bodies, Renee could have picked him out of a room of thousands blindfolded, just by the touch of his hand. Her hands never stopped moving, either. She matched Andrew stroke for stroke, caress for caress. Just when she thought there couldn’t be anything more sensual than the way he was touching her and kissing her, she felt him entering her body.
As she was getting used to the incredible sensation of being filled like she had never been before, she felt Andrew’s hand on her cheek.
“
Open your eyes, baby. Look at me, Renee,” he coaxed.
Renee looked directly into Andrew’s dark eyes that were smoky with passion. Her hands held on to his shoulders while her body adjusted to his weight. They were connected to her in the most powerful and intimate way possible and each time he thrust into her she saw stars. The feel of his muscular body on her and in her causing her to spiral off into a fiery cloud that she never knew existed. But with every stroke, every push she knew she was where she should be. The adoration that was in Andrew’s eyes was staggering, even in her state of erotic euphoria. Andrew was giving her everything he had. He was holding her hips and telling her in every way possible that he loved her. Finally, when he sensed that she was on the brink of ecstasy, he pulled her even closer to his body and whispered in her ear.
“
I love you, Renee. It’s always been you, baby, only you. I love you,” he groaned before joining her in the electric explosion that made him hers.
It was still raining by the time they were able to breathe normally. The French doors were open, allowing the moist, fresh smell to mingle with the scent of the expensive candles and the earthy smell of love. Andrew had turned on his back and held Renee against his heart and they clung together holding hands and not speaking. Finally Renee lifted her head long enough to kiss him on the neck and murmur “Thank you”, with a soft sigh.
“
The pleasure was entirely mine,” Andrew said sleepily.
They fell asleep in each other’s arms while the storm continued. They did not sleep long; the urgent hunger that they felt for each other was not to be so easily satisfied. Renee woke up to find Andrew gazing down at her with his heart in his eyes.
“
Renee are you okay, baby? I wasn’t too rough, was I?” he asked softly. “I tried to be gentle,” he said, “but you’re so damned incredible that I couldn’t slow down.
Renee loved the way he was stroking her face and turned her head to kiss his palm. “Andy, honey, do I look unhappy?” She smiled lazily, knowing that she must look totally content.
He had to admit that she looked very satisfied. “But Renee, it’s been so long for you, and you’re so small, I didn’t want to hurt you with my impatience. I wanted this to be the most incredible night of your life,” he admitted.
By way of answer, Renee stroked his face and kissed him with all the fire that she was feeling. She pushed his shoulder gently so that he would roll onto his back. Once he was where she wanted him, she began stroking him from his hips to his shoulders. When he let out a soft sigh of contentment, Renee lowered her head and began kissing his nipples in the same manner that he had kissed hers, which made him wild. Knowing that he had total control of him, she boldly slid her hand down to his throbbing manhood and caressed it slowly and surely.
Andrew choked back a cry of passion and immediately reversed their positions. “Baby, I want to make this special for you and I can’t do that if you drive me out of my mind,” he groaned.
Renee smiled and slid her hands down his strong, muscular back that was damp with perspiration. She grasped his buttocks and moved her hips sensuously at the same time. “Andy, this
is
special, sweetheart. Everything about this is special. And this
is
the most incredible night of my life. Besides, it’s hardly begun,” she whispered. “Look out the window.”
Amazingly, despite the rain, it was still not totally dark outside. The cool, rain scented air drifted over them as they loved each other over and over though the night.
Chapter Eleven
The next time that Andrew awoke, he saw Renee re-entering the bedroom carrying a large tray. He watched her through his barely opened eyes, enjoying the view. She had put the filmy robe on and it did little or nothing to obstruct his view of her body. She set the tray on the needlepoint-covered bench at the foot of the bed and turned to the ice bucket to retrieve the bottle of champagne that was chilling there. It was actually a second bottle; the first one had been consumed some time before.
Renee was so intent on her tasks that she didn’t pay any attention to the fact that Andrew was watching her. By now he was fully awake and sitting up, propped on the great pile of pillows arranged at the head of the bed. Finally, as she turned around to retrieve the crystal flutes they had been drinking out of earlier, she noticed that he was no longer asleep. With a ravishing smile, she leaned over and kissed Andrew, who promptly pulled her back into bed.
He immediately divested her of the robe saying, “You have on way too many clothes. Besides, that doesn’t really cover anything up, you know.”
Renee shrugged and agreed. “But who likes to get a present that isn’t wrapped? Are you hungry?”
“
For food? Kinda. For you? Always,” he answered.
They kissed again and again which made Renee almost forget that she had gone down three flights of stairs to prepare him something to eat. “Mmmm, stop it. Those stairs aren’t conducive to breakfast in bed, so you’d better enjoy this now because who knows when I’ll do this again,” she said frankly.
Andrew released her temporarily, but his eyes roved over her with a ravening look of desire. “I’ll fix breakfast for you next time, how about that? That seems fair,” he said.
He couldn’t take his eyes off Renee’s lissome body as she arranged the tray on his lap so she could feed him. The sight of her dark, smooth body next to him with nothing covering her but the afterglow of their lovemaking was amazing.
“
You know what,” he said, before accepting the strawberry she held out to him. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was 18.” He bit into the strawberry and licked the resultant juice from her fingers. Renee ate the other half and looked at Andrew demurely.
“
Really? Do I look the same as I did in your fantasies?” she asked, arching a brow.
Andrew looked her over seriously before answering. “Yes and no. You’re slimmer than you were in college. You’re more toned, I guess. All that tennis. You have to understand, I fell in love with what I saw that day, Renee. Especially one part of you in particular. And now it’s gone,” he said ruefully.
“
And just what part would that be?” she asked in surprise.
Andrew sighed. “You had the cutest tummy in the world. It was round and sweet and adorable and now it’s flat like a model’s. Which is fine; I’m not about to complain or anything. You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he added hastily.
“
I actually memorized a poem after I saw you,” he confessed.
Renee looked at him with total disbelief. Andrew saw her look and raised his right hand. I did. It’s the only poem I ever memorized, and this is from a child who had to have a crib sheet for every church pageant; Bennie can verify that. Want me to say it for you?”
Renee nodded slowly and Andrew cleared his throat.
He looked at her fiercely and said “Don’t you laugh at me—this is serious. Okay.” With a look of total surrender he began speaking softly:
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry nights;
And all that’s best of dark and bright