“How did I get to be this lucky?”
She fit the elastic around his maleness and smiled into his face. “I don’t know; kismet maybe?”
He moved her to her side, swirling his tongue across every part of her, from her breasts to her navel. His fingers filled her core, rocking, pumping her slowly—the way she liked it. That wasn’t enough for him, though. He had to taste his angel, get his fill of her before taking them both to heaven. He took her from behind, kissing and stroking her tender folds, lapping his way into her body—draining her. He felt his own pressure becoming intolerable; he knew he couldn’t last much longer without being inside of her.
Knowing what he needed, she lay on her back, awaiting his pressure…his pleasure. He poked creamy wet folds, pushing harder with each stroke until he was deeply implanted in her. He heard her low screams and reveled in them. They were nourishment for his soul.
He collapsed on top of her, staring blankly at the red flashing numbers on his alarm clock. It was nearing 3:00. He smiled at Brandi resting in his arms. No woman had ever satisfied him both mentally and physically the way Brandi had.
For her, the only thing that mattered in the world was the man behind her. She was committed to spending the rest of her life making sure he was pleased in every possible way. She kissed his hand. “I love you so much, Timothy Edward. Thanks for giving me a life.”
He was awakened by phone hours later. “Yes, what is it?”
“I’m sorry to have to disturb you, Dr. Polaris, but I have a student down here, a Miss Tiffany Jackson. She’s concerned that one of her suite mates hasn’t returned from the festival. She wanted me to call you.”
He knew it was about Brandi. Not wanting to discuss anything with Tiffany, he roused Brandi. “Honey, wake up; I need you to talk to Tiffany.”
“What? What’s she doing calling here?” She took the receiver, waiting for the attendant to put Tiffany on. “Tiff, everything is okay.”
“Oops, sorry, but I didn’t know where you were.”
“Now you know, so go back to the room.”
“Are you having fun?”
“Tiff, I will talk to you later, okay? Not a word to anyone.”
“I swear.”
“You’d better.”
She handed him the phone. “I’m sorry, Tim.”
“Not as sorry as I am.” His head rested the pillow, his mind racing. Now the whole damn world will know Brandi was with me.
Several students had already presented their papers on 18th-century authors. The heads of Niagara University were very impressed by how diligently the students had worked at the retreat. They had always been impressed with presentations from Madison and Columbia.
Brandi was set to present her paper on Thomas Paine in the next half-hour. However, when Tim looked in Brandi’s face, he knew something was wrong and took her behind the stage. “Brandi, what’s wrong? Why have you been crying?”
Her panicky voice rushed through. “Something is really wrong, Tim. My paper is gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“Just gone! I didn’t want to tell you until I absolutely had to. I tried to access my files from the computer to print the paper again, but it wouldn’t give me access. The paper on my file at home is unedited. Nothing came up but the old paper that didn’t have an ending.”
“I thought you had the paper in your book bag. You carry that everywhere you go.”
“I went to buy a soda from the machine and left the bag on the table with the other student papers. When I came back, Dana told me somehow my paper was gone. I had her go back and get it for me while I swallowed the last of my drink. I checked again myself, and Dana was right. It was gone.”
“You will present, Brandi. I’ll get the converted disc from…”
“We looked for the disc, and that’s gone, too.”
“Miss Shang has one.”
“She doesn’t; we already asked. She said it was erased by mistake and that other class papers are now on it. She also looked on her hard drive; everyone did. The papers are just not around.”
Brandi was not able to present. The university could not extend the retreat for another day due to classes starting. Tim and Monica sat in the conference room discussing what had happened with the papers. They were glad at least that four students had been awarded the grants—two from each university, with Tiffany getting the highest grant amount. Tim felt bad for Brandi not having a chance to compete after he persuaded her to try for it, anyway. He felt that he had let her down and, no matter how Monica tried consoling him, he was sick about it.
Brandi walked in the minute Monica left. “Tim, are you okay? I know you took that pretty hard.”
“Am I okay? I should be asking you that.” He shut the conference room door and took her into his arms. “I’m so sorry about everything.”
“I feel better now. I really didn’t want to leave you and come all the way up here for school, anyway. I just didn’t want my chances taken away.”
He kissed her forehead. “You should be at the restaurant celebrating Tiffany’s and the other students’ accomplishments.”
“I couldn’t leave you in here alone when you were so worried.”
“After everything that’s happened to you, you still thought of me?”
“I can work on another grant another time, but I can’t get another Timothy Polaris. I saw you becoming unglued trying to explain everything to the judges. It hurt me to see you like that.”
“I love you for thinking about me, Brandi. I love everything about you.”
Brandi saw the faraway look in Tim’s eyes. “You think you know who did this, don’t you?”
“I have my suspicions.”
“It wasn’t Eric. He’s a snake in the grass, but he would want me to win. He would want me to be away from you.”
“You have a point. I guess that takes me back to square one.”
As Tim reached for his scotch glass, someone knocked on his door. He had left explicit instructions with the front desk that he needed alone time, at least for a couple of hours. They were leaving the next morning, and he had to work through his emotions before returning to Columbia to explain everything to his dean.
He opened the door to see Brandi smiling at him. “Are you feeling better? I was told you had a headache.”
“Who let you up here?”
“You know I sneak around, go anywhere I want to. Don’t worry, no one saw me come up here.”
She walked to the bed and sat, patting it for him to join her. “Come on, I’ve got something to make you feel better.”
“No way. We shouldn’t do that again until we’re back in New York.”
“I don’t mean that, Tim. I just want to give you a massage, work out those kinks, help you relax.”
“The scotch can do that.”
“I can do it better. Come on; it’s just a little massage. Take your shirt off and lie on your stomach.”
He removed the shirt and did as instructed. He loved how her fingers slowly massaged his upper chest, squeezing, stroking his pecs. He tried not to enjoy the massage but, she was working magic on him. He loosened up and all thoughts of the missing papers disappeared, at least temporarily.
He turned over, facing her as she made him feel like a new man. Her hands moved to the ripples on his stomach and sides, gliding across them vigorously, working him into a gentle moan. “Feels great, huh?”
“Fantastic.”
Brandi gave him a kiss that was hard to break. Their lips parted and she looked down on a man she loved to the ends of the earth; not a perfect man, far from it. That was what she loved about him. He wasn’t common, or easy to figure out, but he had a solid heart. He saw her as a person, a loving young woman, not a color. She needed that.
As for Tim, he didn’t see the perfection others claimed to see when he looked in the mirror, just a bunch of mixed-up nerves in a tired body with many insecurities. He knew Brandi loved him, and that was all he needed to get him through any and all things, including how society viewed them as a couple.
Before long, he was breathing unevenly against his pillow. She watched him sleep, thinking how he looked like a big baby lying there so helpless. Awake, he was a force to be reckoned with, a man who would fight tooth and nail with no thought of being defeated—except by his family. She thought about that envelope with Gregory Polaris’s name on it, wondering what he looked like, wondering what kind of a man would avoid his brother. No answers, and Tim wasn’t ready to provide any.
She pulled the covers over him and walked out.
The trip back to New York was terrible; no buzz about how great the trip had been, no laughs and hand-slaps from instructors congratulating one another for being masters of the universe. But it hadn’t been a total wash; several of the students were all set with grants. Theirs were the only voices heard on the plane.
It was hard for Brandi to be excited, even though her best friend’s paper had won the top grant. Tiffany tried making her feel better. After a while, though, even Tiffany ran out of words of encouragement. She watched as Brandi sat there fumbling with the silver heart pendant Tim bought her at Niagara Falls.
“When did Tim give you that?”
“This morning before we boarded the plane; he forgot to last night what with all the confusion.”