Room to Breathe (15 page)

Eric gently pinches my right nipple between his index finger and thumb causing my center to ache. He cups my breast in his hand massaging it as his mouth licks and sucks at my hard nipple. He then turns his attention to my left breast and repeats his actions. I am lifting my hips off the bed silently begging him to enter me. He lifts up and kisses me on the mouth again. I return his kiss as though it holds the breath of life itself. I entwine my fingers in his dark hair pulling him to me. I can feel the tip of his large cock hovering at my opening. I roll my hips against him.

“Please,” I moan against his mouth, “I need you inside me now.”

“Cora,” he says pulling back from me slightly. “Ask me again?” he looks deep in my eyes.

“Eric,” I say looking back just as deeply, “make love to me.”

Before I have barely finished speaking he pushes into me to the hilt and crushes me with a kiss. My body is on fire with sensations from being wrapped around him. He pauses a moment to give my body sometime to adjust to his size. After just a few seconds, he begins moving in and out of me as I grind my hips against him.

His mouth remains locked on mine, kissing me until my lips feel almost bruised. I run my hands up and down his lean back a few times before returning them to his thick hair. With each thrust I can feel my body inching closer to ecstasy.

“Oh my god! Cora, you are so tight and wet and perfect.” He moves his kisses to my neck for just a moment before returning to my mouth. I clamp down around him and he moans wordlessly.

He reaches down between us and finds my hard clit with his thumb. He rubs it in a circular motion in rhythm with his thrust. I clamp down again, this time involuntary, as he builds my climax even higher.

“Oh god, Eric I am about to…,” I say breathlessly, unable to complete my thought.

“Good, then finish with me honey,” he says, thrusting into me a little faster. I close my eyes and inhale deeply. “Cora, look at me.”

I open my eyes to see him holding my gaze. He enters me twice more and my body explodes in pleasure. My climax is so intense every muscle in my body is trembling, milking him. He thrusts just once more and gives into his own climax. I can feel him empty himself into me as he grips my shoulders pulling me tighter to him.

We stay in this suspended state of pure bliss for a moment. It feels for those few minutes that the outside world no longer exists. He slowly lowers himself down on top of me kissing my lips lightly and then the tip of my nose before rolling over to my side.

He stretches out on his back with his arms above his head. I roll over and drape myself over his chest. My ear is against heart listening to its strong beat. We lie motionless for several minutes. I could easily drift off in his arms.

“We should have dinner like this every night,” I say as I kiss his chest.

“That is brilliant,” he responds tracing my spine with his fingertips.

“Well I am rather brilliant,” I giggle a little. “I need a shower. You should join me.”

“I would love to believe me but I can’t. I really need to get ahold of my sister. She has been making some crazy requests and I need to find out what is going on.”

“Well, I am disappointed but it is also really sweet you care so much about your sister.”

“Sweet, huh?”

“Yes, sweet. Are you sure you can’t join me?”

“It is very tempting but she is at home with my mother this evening.”

“Okay,” I say rolling off of him and climbing out of the bed. “If you change your mind you know where to find me.”

Chapter 21

The house has been buzzing all day. Everyone seems a little tense over Tristan approaching. The servants have been dashing in and out of rooms all day. Sally came in briefly last night before I fell asleep to clear out dinner. She already seemed hurried.

It is already midafternoon and I have only seen Eric for about five minutes. He seemed unusually stressed. I have decided to find Claire and see if she can tell me anything about Tristan.

I find her in her bedroom down the hall from mine. I knock on the door and I am told to enter.

The room is light and airy. All the linens in the room are white and there is a plush white rug in the middle of the room. There is a large cherry wood four poster bed flanked my two small matching tables. Claire is lying on her stomach in the middle of the large bed making her look even smaller. She is looking at something on her laptop.

“Hi Cora,” she says smiling her bright smile.

“Hi Claire,” I smile back. “Can I bother you for a sec?”

“Sure, what is it?” She asks, closing her laptop.

“I was wondering if you know anything about Tristan. Everyone seems to be a bit high-strung about him coming today.”

“Oh, yeah I know a decent amount about him. What do you want to know?”

“Well, I guess whatever you know. I mean why does everyone care so much?”

“Cora, have you really never heard of Tristan Cooper?”

“Wait a sec. Are you telling me that the Tristan that is on his way here is Tristan Cooper? Eric’s best friend is Tristan-freaking-Cooper?” Tristan Cooper is a gazillionaire. No one knows for sure how rich he is since he is so guarded about his family’s wealth. He is exactly the type of person that the gossip fanatics love. He is young, mysterious, very rich, and unbelievably good looking. “I have always thought it is odd they tend stay out of the spotlight.”

“Once, a few years ago, there were some pictures taken of him and his wife naked on their boat. Supposedly, he bought the magazine that had the pictures just to ensure they were never published. Then to discourage people from ever taking pictures again, he shut the whole thing down.”

Suddenly pieces start to fall into place. I can understand why everyone is in such an uproar over him. It also makes sense now how he was able to have a private party at Stonehenge. Everything Eric has ever said about Tristan seems to take on a whole new light.

“Yes, Tristan Cooper. I think his wife, Jane, is coming with him too. I hope so anyways. You will like her. She is really sweet and a lot of fun. I think the staff tends to get stressed when he comes to visit because of how intimidating he is. Eric being stressed is odd though. Tristan is his best mate, he is normally happy to see him.”

“Yeah, that is odd,” I say shrugging. I am starting to worry I have messed things up between them. “So how is Brandon?”

“He is fantastic,” she answers beaming. Brandon is one of the possible benefactors that Claire has been talking too. “I really like him. We have a ton in common. All the geeky stuff I like he finds hot. Who knew, right?”

“I am glad you like him. Have you told him yet?”

“No, I am not sure I will. I want him to meet me in person and see what he thinks of me first.”

“I think you should tell him first. From everything you have said he seems shy and I am not sure he could tell you first.”

“Uh, huh. So I take it that means that you told Eric?”

“Um, no. It is a totally different situation.”

“Sure it is,” Claire says rolling her eyes at me.

“Fine, whatever. I will leave you alone. Besides, I need to go get cleaned up for dinner anyways. If I am meeting Tristan Cooper I need to make sure I look good,” I smile at her as I turn to leave.

“Hey Cora, I am really gonna miss you. Can we stay friends?”

“I am going to miss you too. We have to stay friends. You are pretty much the only one I have on the whole continent.”

“So I am your friend by default?”

“Yep.”

“Eh, good enough.” She smiles at me as I leave the room. I head straight to my room. It is earlier than I normally would start dressing for dinner but I think I need the extra time. I mean if I going to meet one of the richest men in the world as well as Eric’s best friend I should look as good as I can.

I spend the next hour scrubbing and buffing until every inch of me has been prepped. I decide to leave my hair down in large curls. It seems like every time I do Eric pay more attention to my hair. I decide to go soft with my make-up. I look at the clock and realize I have spent too much time primping. I quickly slip on my dress and shoes before briskly heading down stairs.

I walk into the parlor to see that everyone else is already there. Eric is pouring himself a glass of scotch. He downs it in one gulp before looking over at me. His eyes go wide as he eyes me up and down. I am wearing a short strapless hot pink dress that is flowy from just under my breast to about mid-thigh. The top part around my breasts is covered in crystals. I am also wearing my hot pink shoes he bought me the first time I came to his home.

I walk over to his side and kiss his cheek

“Why are you wearing that?” Okay, not the reaction I was going for.

“Why? Is something wrong? I thought if I was meeting your friends I should look good.”

“You do look good. You look really damn good.”

“And that is a bad thing?” I am completely confused.

“Yes. I mean no. It is just that. God, I love it when you wear your hair down in soft curls.” He reaches up and runs his hand gently through my hair. His eyes soften for just a moment before his scowl returns. “I am sorry. You look so innocent and lovely.” He finally kisses my cheek back.

The door to the parlor opens and Jefferson, the butler, steps through but instead of announcing dinner he stands to the side to let a beautiful man enter the room.

He looks like he just stepped off a movie screen. He is at least as tall as Eric if not a little taller. He has broad shoulders but an overall slender build like that of a swimmer. His bright perfect smile sparkles against his tanned skin. His eyes search the room and quickly find mine. He walks confidently over to me and holds his hand out.

“Hello, I am Tristan. It is wonderful to meet you, Cora.”

Chapter 22

“Hello, nice to meet you as well,” I say as I take his hand to shake it. Instead he immediately brings it his perfect lips gently kissing the back and lingering just a second too long. He looks right at me a winks his sparkling blue eyes. This man must have most women throwing their panties at him when he walks into a room. I think I can actually hear Lucinda panting.

Good thing I am not most women. While he is unbelievably gorgeous he is ogling me in front of the man he knows I am dating and I am assuming the stunning brunette that came in behind him is his wife. His arrogance is a bit overwhelming and a major turn off for me. I do now see why Eric reacted the way he did about my dress. The way Tristan keeps looking at me makes me feel very exposed.

“You must be Jane,” I retrieve my hand from Tristan and stretching it out the woman standing next to him.

“I am,” she smiles sweetly. I can already see they make an odd match. She has a completely different air about her. She is petite and very pretty. She has long dark hair that is perfectly in place in a knot at the back of her head. Her soft brown eyes are kind and warm. “Hello, Eric. It has been too long.” She says as she gives Eric a small hug and he kisses her cheek.

“Jane, it has been too long but it is good to see you now,” Eric releases her and she floats off to greet everyone else in the room. I am painfully aware that Tristan’s eyes haven’t left me once.

Jefferson walks over and says something to Eric that I am unable to hear. Eric then turns to Tristan. For a moment his eyes are like daggers at his friend but then he returns to his usually charming self.

“Shall we go into dinner?” He asks placing his hand on Tristan’s shoulder.

“Yes, let’s,” Tristan says smiling back at Eric. “Cora you have to sit next to me. I want to hear all about you.”

Tristan takes my arm leading me from the room. I look at Eric imploringly but he just gives me a quick a nod before turning to escort Jane.

Eric and Jane spend most of the evening in a whispered conversation. In fact, I don’t think he has said more than one sentence to me since they got here. He is giving entirely too much attention to someone that is so pretty, even if she is married.

Tristan on the other hand hasn’t left me alone except to briefly turn his charms on Lucinda and Claire. He actually made Lucinda giggle. Which was a strange sight all its own. He has asked me about America and Oregon, my family, my hobbies, even what kind of wine I like to drink. It feels like I am being put through some sort of interview process.

It is late when we make it back into the parlor but no one mentions going to bed. Clearly we are all engaged in our new guests. I am a little upset that Eric has pretty much ignored me but I guess he is just really close to Jane. That kinda bothers me too though. I mean should he be this close with his best friend’s wife?

Lucinda grabs Tristan’s attention for a moment and I take the opportunity to go over to Eric and Jane. I sit next to him on the small sofa and they both stop talking. I feel like I am interrupting something but I don’t care.

“Hey,” I say placing my hand on Eric’s thigh. “I’m really kind of tired. I think I am going to head up soon, unless you want me to stay down here.”

“No, if you are tired then you should go to bed. I will see you in the morning.” He gently kisses my cheek and angles his body away from me.

“Okay, good night Jane,” I say calmly trying to keep my emotions in check. What the fuck is happening? I pause where everyone else is sitting to say good night and receive a resounding chorus of “good night” back. Tristan stands and kisses my cheek. He leans in a little to whisper against my ear.

“It has been lovely speaking with you and I do hope we get to spend lots of time together,” he says in a throaty whisper. His lips are just barely touching me so that he is almost kissing me as he speaks. I shiver involuntary but say nothing. I quickly nod and leave the room without looking at anyone else.

As I walk up the stairs to my room my head is spinning. I can honestly say that tonight was not at all what I expected.