Tattooed Moon (26 page)

She smiled up at him, her eyes darkening with wonder and inward amusement that bubbled forth right before him.

“How about…a confession?”

“Hmmmm… Okay, here is my confession. It turned me on so fucking much when you told me you hadn’t had sex in a while…that
I
was your first after such a long time. I don’t know, I just found that erotic… I guess it’s male ego.” He shrugged. “We sometimes want to feel like we are special, chosen, you know.”

“I
did
choose you.”

That admission filled him with joy. “That’s good to know…very good to know.” He kissed her nose, beaming down at her. “What we have, I believe, is different. Every time we come together like this, it’s an experience, not just sex.”

She gently stroked his ear, making him coo into her grasp.

“I like how we fit together,” she whispered.

“And I like how open you are, willing to try new things. I like…no, I
love
that you want me like you do. I can feel how much you want me when your body melts beneath mine and I feel your pussy grabbing my dick, pulling me further inside of you…shit, baby…” He ran his hand over her breasts, then cradled her head, bringing her forehead to his, treating her like a precious, fragile gift. Then, he pressed into her, pushed his groin over and over into her pelvis until he couldn’t stand it any longer and the woman was moaning beneath him. Reaching low, he unzipped his pants. His cock sprang forward and within seconds, he was guiding himself inside of her. She sank her teeth into his shoulder blade.

“Ahhhhh!” Throwing her head back, her lips parted wide as if she were delivering a silent scream. Her body arched as he pushed in and out of her, until he was fully immersed and satisfied with the depth. He thrust harder; her wet walls gripped him and he found himself unable to slow down.

“Uhhhh!”

“Mmmmm….ahhhh!” She held on, her sexy moans turning him on impossibly further.

“I fucking love you, baby!” He pumped harder and faster, his dick seemingly having a mind of its own, and his hip muscles tensed and released at each pass. “…Never going to let you go…never.”

“Don’t you ever!” she screamed, clutching him tight, churning her hips hard and seductively until he lost complete control.

“Uhhh, shit! Shit!” He clutched her tight, pushing deeply within her, his eyes rolled back as he came; his climax forced his muscles to tense as he released within her wet, sheltered confines.

“Mmmmm!” he groaned into her hair, her ear no doubt warm from his intense exhaling. He slowly opened his eyes, though it was a struggle. The desire to simply fall asleep tried to seduce him as each additional second passed. He ran his lips against her cheek while she remained motionless, but hugged him so damn tight, he couldn’t move if he’d wished to.

“See…”

“See what?” he asked groggily as he wrapped his arms around her waist and nestled his chin in the crevice of her sweet smelling neck.

“You do some strange things, sexually, but they are sexy…and they feel good…sooooo damn good!” She laughed lightly. “This is why I can’t leave you alone. You’re too good in bed, apparently too good outside on the ground, too,” she joked.

“Oh, really?” He grinned, his brow arched. “So you are only with me because I can make you cum over and over and give you tattoos at a discount?” he teased. He gripped her fingers, then interlaced them with his own.

“You know what I mean!” She released him to pull her shirt down. Rising, he lay back on his elbow, allowing her room to draw her panties and jeans back up. He reached down and fastened them for her.

“Tell me what’s on your mind?” he asked as he studied her expression. She was drowning in something, her thoughts had turned left, and he refused to allow her to mentally travel without him riding shot-gun. There was a long pause as he stared down at her, his heart beating fast, patiently waiting.

“I think…no, I won’t take the easy way out.” A spark of fear flittered momentarily in her eyes, then it was gone, although her eyes brimmed with pain and passion. “I love you, Julian.”

He took her hand and kissed it, holding onto to it a bit tighter.

“I knew that.”

“I knew that you knew; sometimes it’s just good to hear it…to say it.”

“Quite true… Hey, I want to ask you something.” He couldn’t keep his hands off of her, but he forced himself to create a bit of space between their bodies.

“Yeah?”

“Would you marry me?” He scratched the back of his ear, looking down at her as if he’d only asked her to go inside with him for a cup of tea or coffee.

“What did you just say?” she asked softly, as if she couldn’t trust her own hearing.

“I asked you to marry me, Milan,” he said seriously, wanting her to see that this wasn’t a joke or a game. “I want to marry you, do you understand?” He cupped her face and laid a gentle peck on her lips. She kissed him back, tasting like the fresh strawberries he’d fed her earlier that evening.

“Julian,” she breathed, looking at him in disbelief. “You have no idea how shocked I am right now.”

“Why?” he asked sincerely. “We love each other. I want you to have
all
of me…my world, my home, my name. I want to give it all to you! I’m not worth a damn if I’m not sharing what I love most with someone who loves me too…and I love you so damn much, Milan.”

A tear rolled down her cheek. And then, she smiled wide at him as she caressed his chin with a slow drag of her fingertips.

“…Don’t tell me no.” His voice trembled. Everything was on the line, and dare he admit it, he suddenly felt as if she just might let him down. “Tell me
anything
but ‘No.’”

“How could I tell you ‘No’, baby, when my heart already said ‘Yes?’”

*

“And this is
Julian…” Milan introduced. He almost didn’t catch the introduction, so mesmerized he found himself by her body, dripping as it was in garnet kisses, also known as sparkling sequins.

Damn, she looks good…

Lust crawled up and down his spine. He couldn’t see her outfit clearly earlier that evening. He’d picked her up and brought her to the company dinner as her date, just as they’d discussed so long ago, but when he arrived she had been wearing her long, light-weight jacket, which had properly hidden a delicious, succulent candy, better known as her lovely ass, just below the surface. Now, she was unwrapped. He traced his bottom lip with his tongue in appreciation, then snapped back into reality once someone in the near distance erupted into boisterous laughter, grabbing his attention from his impish thoughts.

He extended his hand to the man standing there in his dark russet suit, and a head of brown hair with a bit of gray at the temples. It was perfectly coiffed and paired with a thick, Southern accent fit for the narration of children’s stories.

So, this is the big guy….

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Kearny.” Julian shook his hand heartily.

“Please call me Garrett.” The man’s light brown eyes sparkled as he gripped Julian’s palm, as if he knew a secret of some sort.

After a bit of small talk, Milan led him over to the dining area.

“They have some things you can eat, Julian,” she explained as she pointed to the elegant salad bar at the restaurant. “And look, these right here look fine, too.” She pointed to some rolls, conveniently close to a carved roast beef station, causing him much amusement at the irony of the situation.

“Honey, don’t worry about me. I can make my way around.”

“By the way,” she said, a crooked grin on her gorgeous face as she grabbed a plate and added some sliced fried green tomatoes to it. “You look absolutely amazing.” She looked him up and down, making him feel good on her arm while he ogled the raw sliced vegetables cured in Mandarin sauce.

“Thank you.” He picked up a plate as they made their way, one after the other, down the line for appetizers and salads.

“I really like what you did with your hair, too.” She spooned cold string beans with almond sauce on her plate.

“I’m glad you like it.”

He placed a few blackberries on his own, tempted to pop one in his mouth right then and there, but thought better of it. Julian had taken extra care with his appearance that day; his hair received the royal treatment. He’d slicked it back and plaited it into a tight, neat braid, allowing it to hang down his back. He wore a black blazer, black dress pants and insanely expensive dress shoes that he’d only worn once in his thirteen months of owning them. A vibrant red tie covered the shiny, ebony buttons on his shirt. Black swirls danced on the bottom of the tie, giving a bit of a Japan meets Parisian style feel.

Fact of the matter was, he
knew
how to dress. Julian was a laid-back, down home, country boy at heart who preferred signature shirts with jeans for comfort’s sake but he had a flair for appearances, for the physical and visual. After all, he was an artist and he knew what looked good with what, and what didn’t. A natural matchmaker of fabrics, texture, textiles, hues and shades, he could create a masterpiece in a matter of moments. This was one of his strong suits, and part of the reason why, when he first met Milan, he could sense she was a woman with style and sophistication. Her clothes weren’t over the top, just the right amount of sexiness and class to reel his rebellious ass in. He leapt on her sharp hook, caught on the line, dangling there like a damned fool, begging to be taken back home, fried and eaten. She had him…

Suddenly, a woman with gleaming blue eyes and a slinky light gray dress came up to Milan, her eyes steady on Julian. Julian looked away, avoiding the woman’s obvious flirtatiousness when she gave him an impish grin. He surmised it was her way of paying Milan a compliment in her taste of companion.

“Ohhhhh Milan, so
this
is the guy, huh?” The woman’s eyes dropped to Milan’s engagement ring, a black oval cut diamond set with white diamonds all around it. “What an unusual yet beautiful engagement ring! Ahhhh!” She dramatically gasped as she held Milan’s hand, forcing his poor fiancée to have to try to balance her plate.

“Thank you, Nancy. Yes, this is Julian, my fiancé.” Milan shot him a secret look as if to say, ‘This heffa has lost her mind’, which made it hard for him to keep a straight face.

“Baaaad boy! Look at those tattoos!” the woman continued on, batting her eyelashes as she released Milan’s hand and pointed to his wrists. He’d tried his best to cover them up, but a few peeked out from beneath his shirt and of course, there was the one on his neck, too—a black rose wrapped in barbed wire in honor of his mother.

He didn’t want to become a distraction.

I shoulda used the Dermablend…

He was simply there to be with his woman, nothing more, nothing less; but then, he saw
him
…

Milan spoke with another woman that joined them in line, and before long, the trio of women were talking about things regarding work, laughing and smiling through their banter. But Julian stood there frozen like the freshly made margaritas, holding his lopsided plate close for he’d almost spilled its contents on his chest. It
had
to be the guy; he was exactly as Milan had described, and he’d held tight to the details when he made the woman confess to him what was bothering her. Blond hair, tight, thin lips, long face, a constant smirk across his face, and his notorious sweater vest and shirt paired with pleated pants. A couple of weeks earlier he’d noticed she was not quite herself, and come to find out, even after a warning from Garrett, the fucker was up to some carefully crafted tricks and veiled threats that were hard to prove as malicious. Milan tapped his shoulder, bringing him to full focus.

“Hey honey, you want some of those stuffed olives? I heard they are really good. They have feta cheese in them.”

“Mmmm hmmm,” was all he could muster as he grabbed a few, then made his way down the rest of the line. Soon they were sitting at a long white linen covered table and eating amongst well-dressed strangers. Two other tables with other employees sat close by, and everyone began fellowshipping in celebration of the employee, Darryl, who was retiring. For the most part, many of Milan’s coworkers appeared quite nice and one thing was for certain—they seemed to think the world of her. He wasn’t positive if these folks were just putting on appearances, if they were sincere or acting splendidly because he was there. He’d been told he had a threatening appearance, which boded well for him in his profession, but at times he felt displaced. Regardless, all things considered, it was unlikely anyone would say anything slick to her while in his presence.

He picked at his lettuce, vehemently stabbing it to death while examining other bits and pieces of his meal. Occasionally, he’d look up and smile at whoever was speaking, attempting to be charming for the sake of the woman he loved. Truth of the matter was, he’d rather be curled up by the fireplace in his home with her in his arms. Naked, their bodies wrapped up together like a bawl of twine, or his head buried between her quaking thighs as he devoured the last of her love. After a bit more time had passed, he followed Milan’s eyes to his number one suspect. He immediately took notice of how her easygoing expression stopped, froze and tightened like an insect suddenly sprayed with RAID.