Later her fingers tangled in the soft hair on his chest, and she explored the path of curls as they nestled enticingly around his nipples. Feeling bold and venturesome, Jennifer placed her lips on one of his nipples and felt the jolt to his body.
Following the path of hair on his chest, she noted that it narrowed at his waist and swirled around his navel. She touched her tongue lightly to the slight indentation there and once again felt his body respond.
She continued her exploration by running her fingertips down his thighs, feeling the hard muscles lightly covered by a dusting of blond hair. He had such a beautiful body. She felt as though she had been invited to feast at a sumptuous banquet and wasn't sure where to start.
Before she could decide, Chad seemed to have other ideas. He pulled her back down beside him and he began to kiss her-long, mind-drugging, consciousness-removing kisses. No longer tentative, they made a claim on her, coaxing and beguiling her to follow his lead.
Jennifer idly noted that her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, holding him as securely as he held her. Her hands could not stay still. They roamed restlessly across his broad shoulders, following the slight indentation of his spine as it made its way down his back. He felt wonderful.
When Chad's mouth finally slipped away from hers, Jennifer drew in some much needed air. She felt as though she were about to faint from excitement. Then she discovered why his mouth had slowly made a path of kisses down her neck. He was inching closer to her breast, which was cupped in his large hand.
His tongue darted out and touched the pink tip, causing it to contract and harden. Then his lips slowly surrounded it. Jennifer had never felt such a sensation in her life. Her whole body seemed somehow to be connected with that small, dainty tip. She felt an inner tugging, deep inside, as though a dam had been opened, and moist, hot sensations leaped and swirled in her depths. Her bones and muscles seemed to liquefy, and she had a sudden picture of herself, lying on the bed beside Chad, turned into melted honey.
Taking his time, Chad eventually moved slightly so that his mouth could taste the other breast. His fingers lightly played with the tip of the one he'd just abandoned as though to soothe it while he was gone.
Jennifer discovered she was gasping as though there weren't enough oxygen in the room. Her skin seemed to have a life all its own as it rippled under his touch.
Time and place seemed to disappear. They had drifted into an uncharted world with no landmarks for Jennifer to grasp and identify. Surprisingly enough, she wasn't afraid because Chad was right there with her, every step of the way. He led her, yet he never rushed. He introduced her to new sensations, but never coerced. And by the time he shifted his weight so that he was above her, Chad filled her vision and her mind with his presence.
Here was the culmination of everything she had hoped for, everything she had dreamed of. Chad was offering his love, his very being to her.
She accepted his gift as she accepted his body, so that they could share this ultimate union -the one final but necessary step to complete all that they were to each other.
Jennifer realized that they had shared this ecstasy before, many times-the intermingling of their thoughts and feelings and their love. Only now they were allowing their bodies to express themselves in a similar fashion.
The act of love. What an appropriate name for such a beautiful commingling of bodies, minds and spirits. To be able to express oneself in this most intimate of ways seemed to be the ultimate blessing given to human beings. They became one in the most literal sense of the word; whole, complete and perfect in their union .
Jennifer didn't remember falling asleep, but when she woke up hours later the room was dark and the covers were pulled up around them both.
She lay in the curl of Chad's body, while his arm and leg effectively held her closely to his side. Well, that answered another question about how they would sleep, Jennifer decided with a grin.
There was no reason to get up, although she recognized that she was a little hungry. Chad slept heavily beside her. Her mind flitted back over the past several hours. She still couldn't believe it. She and Chad were married. She was now Jennifer Cameron. Mrs. C. W. Cameron.
Of course Chad wasn't his real name. She had seen his legal signature, many times. Charles Winston Cameron. He would always be Chad to her.
Jennifer wondered what all of this would mean when they returned to Los Angeles. They had never talked about marriage before. She had no idea where he lived, nor if he had family living. She knew his father was dead. Did he have any brothers or sisters?
Her eyes widened when she thought about her mother. Although they talked on the phone on a regular basis, she didn't see her mother as often as she'd like. Now she was going to have to come up with some way to explain her sudden marriage to her boss.
That was going to take some fast talking, she knew. Her mother had been full of questions when Jennifer was first promoted, no doubt hoping that something might come of the closer association with an eligible bachelor. Jennifer had wasted no time in setting her mother straight. Her description of C. W. Cameron had caused them some hilarious moments.
Now she had to find a way to explain to her mother. She wondered if she could start out with, "Say, Mom, do you remember my invisible friend, Chad, I used to have when I was a child? Well, I married him."
Somehow that didn't have the right ring to it. How about, "Say, Mom. A funny thing happened at the office the other day. I looked up at cool, aloof Mr. Cameron and fell madly in love with him. He admitted he felt the same way, so we-"
Nope. That didn't really get it, either.
Maybe-, "Mom, I met this tall, good-looking stranger one weekend when I was in Las Vegas. No, Mom, I don't go to Las Vegas as a rule. Honest, Mom, I'd never been there before in my life. Really, Mom-" So much for that idea. She'd never get past the first sentence.
"You know, Mom, love is a funny thing. You never know when it's going to hit you. It's kind of like a disease. That's it, an incurable disease. And you look at a person and see them totally different. Well, one morning when I went to work I looked up and there was Mr. Cameron and I discovered the love of my life."
The trouble with anything she might say was that no matter how she explained that she had suddenly married her boss she knew her mother would immediately suspect Jennifer was on drugs.
She sighed. No doubt she'd come up with something when the time came. Her eyes drifted shut. She really was tired. She couldn't remember the last good night's sleep she'd had. Jennifer smiled, thinking of the nights she had pretended that Chad was curled up to her back, holding her close. Her imagination hadn't been able to come close to provoking this sense of total bliss.. . .
The next time Jennifer awoke, she was more aware of Chad's touch than anything else. He must have awakened and found her in his arms. His mouth seemed to be quickly memorizing her body and his hands were doing things to her that must be banned in Boston.
Jennifer responded with the newfound knowledge she'd discovered about herself-she enjoyed, very much, the physical side of their relationship. And she was learning something new all the time.
For the next two and a half days the newlyweds didn't leave their room. Food was delivered and quickly consumed. When they weren't eating or sharing a friendly shower, they were in bed-either asleep or making love.
There was very little conversation that weekend.
Chapter Ten
Contents - Prev / Next All good things have to end sometime. Jennifer had heard that phrase all of her life, but to tell the truth, she'd never given it much thought. Since there hadn't been many good things that had happened to Jennifer, she'd never learned how and when they ended.
Her brief honeymoon was different. If she could have wrapped the memories and taken them home with her, she would have, to savor and enjoy over and over down through the years. Unfortunately, life didn't work that way.
They caught an evening flight back to Los Angeles. Jennifer had long since let go of her need to ask questions. She was quite content to follow Chad's lead at the moment. She'd found nothing to complain about so far in his plans. Adopting a wait-and-see attitude was not only different for her, but fun as well.
C. W. Cameron had never been one for small talk, so she wasn't surprised that he had little to say to her now. He could no longer hide the possessive gleam in his eye when he looked at her. She rather liked that possessive gleam. Jennifer had a hunch that if she took the time to look in a mirror she'd see a similar gleam looking back at her.