High (24 page)

“Oh, so good.” I sigh.

“You are such a drama queen.” Milly says from behind me. I turn and lean back against the fridge.

“It’s still burning!”

She places her hands on her hips and shakes her head before dropping to her knees and shoving the ice cream away. I squeak as she grabs my thighs to get a closer look.

“Because this isn’t degrading enough?” I say.

“It’s probably a good thing that you don’t remember half the shit you do when you’re high.” She remarks. “And, I’m pretty sure this is a third degree burn.”

“Those are not words a girl ever wants to hear when discussing her vagina, Milly!”

“Uh, what is going on?” I close my eyes. Nope, this is not happening. I did not just hear Rhett’s voice. Nope. No one could possibly be shat on that much. I slowly squint through one eyelid and yes, there he is, standing the other side of the breakfast bar with the widest fucking grin on his face. “Anything you two need to tell me?” He cocks an eyebrow and I want to punch him.

When Milly stands up and turns around to face him,  I put the ice cream back between my legs. “Uh, well…” She starts.

“Gah! No. Shh.” I hiss at her and storm back to my room. I have never been embarrassed in my life, but I’m mortified right now. This is bad. Really bad.

I flop down on my bed and throw an arm over my face whilst keeping the ice cream in places no ice cream should ever be.

I hear the door creak open, then feel the bed dip next to me.

“Duchess.” There’s a pause. “Look, it’s not that bad.” I lower my arm and glare at him. His lips twitch. “It could be worse.” He snorts, and then he fucking loses it.

“You’re an arsehole!” I slap at his chest. He falls back on the mattress, laughing until tears are pouring down his temples.
Prick.

“I hate you.”

He rolls over, pinning me underneath him. “No, you don’t. Want me to kiss it better?”

“No! I don’t want you anywhere near it.”

He cocks a brow. “Well that could be problematic.”

“I’m sorry, is my injured vagina a fucking inconvenience?!” So being female, I’m prone to abnormal bouts of irrational rage, whereby I know I’m being a crazy bitch but there is fuck all I can do about it. It’s like a weird blood lust, where all I feel is the urge to kill him. Slowly.

He’s fighting a smile. “Well, I guess you still have a mouth.”

“You’re a fucking wanker.”

“So that’s a no on the blow job?” He grins.

“Arsehole.” I grumble.

“That works too.” This time when I hit him he jumps off me and laughs as he leaves the room.

Rhett holds the car door open for me, waiting for me to get in.

“Just tell me where we’re going.” I whine.

He shakes his head. “You are so determined to ruin the surprise.”

I huff and drop my hands to my sides. “I already had a surprise.”

“It’s a weekend away, that’s all you need to know.”

“Can’t we bring Peppy with us?” I pout. I only just got him back and now he wants me to go away for the weekend.

“No, he’ll be fine.” Apparently he’s staying with Rhett’s maid Natalie. She seems nice I guess.

He grabs my shoulders and turns me away, placing a kiss on the nape of my neck before forcing me into the car. We drive for what feels like for-fucking-ever. “Okay, I’m going to die of boredom and sobriety before we get there.” I moan.

“I wondered how long you’d last.” He laughs.  “Milly packed you a bag on the back seat.”

I grab what looks like a cool bag and drag it to the front. “You should know; I am not a pack a picnic kind of girl.”

“It’s your kind of picnic, Duchess.”

I unzip it to find cans of gin and tonic. Okay, so I’ve never been a classy chick when it comes to booze and drugs. I’ll take it however I can get it.

“This is why I love her: a mutual love of drinking and debauchery.”

His lips kick up in a small smile as he glances in his wing mirror, swerving the car into another lane and flooring the accelerator.

“Is this really necessary?” I whine, clinging to his hand.

“It’s a surprise, Blake.”

“If you bought me a male stripper, it’s really unnecessary. I’ll shove money down your pants if you strip for me.”

He laughs. “No strippers. Step.”

“What?! I am not doing steps with a blind fold on!”

“Fine.” The next thing I know, something hits the backs of my thighs and I’m falling. I scream, but Rhett catches me and cradles me against his chest.

“You’re a dick.” I grumble.

His chest vibrates on a chuckle. Damn, he smells good though. I lean into him, inhaling the familiar scent that should be bottled and labelled simply as ‘Sex’. I press my face into his neck and trace my lips along his throat, scraping my teeth over his jaw.

“Okay.” He drops me unceremoniously, catching me around the waist before I hit the floor.

I rip the blindfold off and meet his smug expression. “Anyone would think you never want your dick sucked again.”

There’s a snort behind me and I freeze. Rhett’s lips twitch as he tries to fight a smile. I narrow my eyes at him, tying to convey his impending pain with a look.

I slowly turn around, and of course, there are fuck knows how many people standing here, and here is a boat.

“Surprise!” They shout.

Rhett takes my hand and I dig my nails into him. At a brief glance, I recognise a few people from the socialite scene. Milly and Felix are closest to us, and they make their way over. A DJ starts playing music, and it seems the party is in full swing almost immediately.

Milly hugs me. “He’s totally a keeper.” She whispers in my ear. “You should definitely suck his dick.”

Felix stays and talks to Rhett while Milly leads me towards the bar.  “Happy birthday girl.”

“Thanks. Please tell me you helped with this, otherwise he’s just like some sort of freak of nature. And then I’m going to have to start looking for the ‘but’.”

“The but?”

“Yeah, no one man can be too perfect, there’s always a but. Like, yeah, he’s great,
but
, he’s into foot wanks, or, he likes to wear nappies in his spare time.”

She snorts. “Um, Rhett does not strike me as the nappy type.”

“But foot wanks are a possibility.
See
!”

She laughs. “Fuck, I love you. No, I did help a bit.” She shrugs. “Changed out champagne for shots, removed a couple of people from the guest list.”

“Oh, oh, oh…Jenna James?” She nods. “Fuck, I hate that bitch.”

“I got you, babe.” The bar tender places six shots in front of us, and Milly clinks one to mine. “To being twenty-one.”

Two hours later and the boat has moved…somewhere, and is now anchored out at sea. The boat is like a beacon, covered in fairy lights on every available surface. I’m drunk and dancing with Milly. My feet are bare and I’ve lost my bag somewhere along the way, but I don’t care. This is the best party, and Rhett threw it for me. I hold the material of my skirt as I move my hips to the music and twirl in a flurry of coral fabric. A pair of arms wrap around my waist from behind, and I glance over my shoulder to see Felix. He places a quick kiss on my cheek.

“Rhett wants you, baby girl. He’s on the top deck.”

I look up and make out the outline of a lone figure leaning against the top deck railings.
Oh, I have a birthday surprise for him all of my own.
I manage to make it across the wooden deck, even as the boat gently bobs in the water, making me feel trashed rather than just tipsy. I climb the narrow steps up onto the top deck. It’s darker up here, with only a single string of fairy lights wrapped around the railings.

I don’t see Rhett, and I go to the railing, gripping it and glancing down at the people dancing below, trying to spot him. I smile when I hear a wooden decking board creak behind me. Fingertips brush across my shoulder, moving my hair from my neck before his lips trace the same path his fingers just made. I close my eyes and lean back into his warm body, tilting my head to the side and allowing him access to my neck. His hands wrap around my waist, holding me tight, making me feel safe. Always.

I turn in his arms meeting those golden eyes as he tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. His eyes roam over my face, a small smile gracing his lips before he leans in and kisses me. He doesn’t realise it, but even with a simple kiss, he claims me, brands me, owns me completely.

His hand cups my nape, his fingers winding into the hair at the base of my neck. “Happy birthday, Duchess.” He breathes, leaning his forehead against mine. “I have another surprise for you, more of a request really.”

I step away from him, and reach behind me, unzipping my dress. “I’m all about requests.” I smile, dragging my eyes over his body as I push the material off my shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.

He smiles as he reaches for me, but I step out of his reach. “But you’ll have to catch me first.” I tease, before making a dash for the railing to the side and climbing up on it.

“Blake!” He shouts, but his voice is lost on the wind as I jump.

I plunge into the cold water and it wraps me in its dark embrace, the frigid temperature causing my lungs to seize. I break the surface and gulp in a breath. The lights from the boat reflect off the surface of the water and it’s so pretty. Everyone rushes to the railing, peering into the darkness.

There’s a big splash a few feet behind me, and my instant thought is ‘shark!’, but of course, a few seconds later and Rhett breaks the surface right in front of me.

“Blake!” There’s an edge of panic in his voice and I laugh.

He treads water, pulling me against his body. His skin feels red hot compared to the surrounding water. “Yeah?” I whisper.

“She’s okay!” He shouts up at the boat though the music still doesn’t start back up. Anyone would think I’d tried to jump off a fucking building. It’s water! “You’re fucking insane.” He mumbles.

“It’s fun.”

“It’s cold.”

I lay back in the water. “But don’t you feel so alive?”

“No, I feel fucking cold.”

I laugh as I cling to his shoulders, allowing him to keep me afloat. His cool lips caress my jaw in just a hint of a kiss. “Before you went all kamikaze on me, I was going to ask you something.” He breathes against my chilled skin.

I tilt my face forward, meeting his gaze. “What were you going to ask me?”

“Marry me, Duchess.” He says.

I freeze and his grip on my waist tightens, holding me up. “That wasn’t a question.” I whisper into the darkness.

“Feel alive." His lips press against the corner of my mouth. “Jump with me. Marry me.”

I have never loved anyone the way I love Rhett, and no one has ever loved me with the kind of raw passion that he does. His love is unconditional, explosive, reverent in the most beautiful and addictive of ways. So why not marry him? Life is a party. You should live every moment like it’s your last. Love hard, take risks, and when someone holds out their hand and asks you to jump with them, do it with both feet.

“Okay.”

He smirks. “Okay?”

I nod my head once and he slams his icy lips over mine. I wind my arms tightly around his neck, trying to get as close to him as possible. Wanting to crawl inside him.

His hands cup my arse, squeezing as he yanks me against his hard dick. “And there was me thinking the cold would have scared him off.”

His lips kick up. “Him?”

I point down between us. “Your peen.”

He shakes his head. “Never.”

We swim back to the boat and Rhett waits for me to climb the ladder, helping me as my numb fingers grip the rungs. Okay, so maybe the whole water situation wasn’t the smartest idea, but it seemed like a good one at the time. 

He climbs up behind me. “You just want to perve.” I shout back at him.

“Duchess, it doesn’t take a lot to get you naked. I don’t need to perve.”

I glance down at him. “Are you saying I’m easy?” I ask, incredulously.

He climbs up behind me and slaps my arse, making me yelp. “We both know you are.”

When I climb up onto the deck, Milly is waiting with her hands on her hips. I laugh when I see the scowl on her face.