Chapter 11

His heat reached out to her even though the only place they were touching was their lips. Petal soft, they brushed hers once....twice...before settling in for a more thorough taste. His flavour exploded in her mouth as his tongue slipped inside to tangle with hers.

A soft sigh escaped her as his mouth left hers to slide across her cheek and explore the contours of her ear. The day’s growth of stubble scraped the delicate skin of her neck like fine sandpaper, sending sparks along her nerve endings. She kept her eyes closed to better soak in the sensations he was generating throughout her body.

His head lifted, but before she could protest, calloused fingertips caressed the lush mounds of her breasts.  From base to tip, two fingers moved in gentle circles spiraling in ever smaller rings over velvet skin until he reached the pebbled tip. He plucked and stretched the nipples until they swelled and lengthened.

Next it was those soft lips again, followed by the slight rasp of his tongue as his mouth explored her plump flesh. When he reached the taut peak, he flicked it with just the tip of his tongue. Raising his head, he shifted his attention to her other breast, giving it the same treatment. Back and forth his head swivelled, teasing her.

His hair felt like silk between her fingers as she clutched him close. “Please!”

In response to her plea, he closed his lips over the nipple and sucked lightly. When she sighed and arched her back, pushing her flesh deeper into his mouth, he obliged her wordless request and began to suckle her like a hungry infant. Back and forth he alternated until both nipples were swollen and throbbing. Her gasps and cries when he scraped his teeth along the length of her turgid peaks were music to his ears.

The blood ran like fire through her veins, her desire increasing with every pull of his lips....but it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. “Please!”

He didn’t ask what she wanted. He knew. But he wanted to explore more of her body first. Releasing her breast, he moved downwards, caressing her stomach with hands and mouth, tongue dipping into her navel.

When he spread her thighs wide and settled in between, her muscles tensed in anticipation of what was to come.....pun intended. But satisfaction wasn’t in his immediate plans for her.

His hot mouth left a wet trail along the inside of her thighs from her knee right up to where her drenched and pulsing core waited for him. There he settled in to feast and tease. Fingers traced her cleft, then held back the swollen folds, opening her for the assault of his tongue.

Licking, stroking, sucking, biting.....she experienced them all. Several times he brought her close to the brink, but wouldn’t let her go over.  Her heart pounded in her chest until she thought it was going to explode. Her skin felt like it was on fire. Her body ached to feel him inside her, to hold him tight while he thrust deep and took her to paradise.

The fingers still buried in his hair, clenched and she opened her eyes to glare down at him. “Stop teasing me! Please!”

 “But I love hearing you beg for me.” Blue eyes twinkled up at her.

Brianna jolted awake. What the hell?!  She was not just dreaming about having sex with her boss! Rolling over, she punched her pillow and tried to go back to sleep. But her body was still throbbing, aching, screaming for release. With a groan she rolled over again and reached into the drawer of her bedside table and pulled out her vibrator. Flipping the switch to high, she slid the toy in, closed her eyes and tried to picture her usual faceless lover while she focussed on giving her body what it needed. It worked for a few minutes, but just as she was cresting the peak, the features of the man above her became crystal clear, and the bright blue eyes watching her sent her over the edge. Damn!

Finally satisfied – her BOB being more reliable in that department than any man she’d ever met - she set aside the toy, rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

Waking several hours later, the memories had her groaning. She couldn’t believe she had an erotic dream about her boss! Hopefully it was because of the amount of time she’d been spending with him lately due to the approaching album release and tour prep.....and her lack of male companionship...otherwise she was in trouble.  And she didn’t want to be. For the first time in a long time she had a job that she actually enjoyed, and where she felt....visible....and appreciated. She didn’t want hormones and bodily needs to interfere with that. She had to get it under control before the tour. Maybe it was time to put some energy into finding a boyfriend.

Mid morning the building’s doorman buzzed her. Turning away from the intercom, Brianna frowned. Why were Dorothea and Stephanie here? When the expected knock came she checked the peep hole, and opened the door. “Hi.”

“Hi. I hope we’re not disturbing you. I probably should have called first, but we were in the neighbourhood and I thought we might be able to talk you into joining us.” Dorothea greeted her.

“We’re going shopping for new school clothes.” Stephanie explained.

“Come on in.” Brianna stepped back so that they could enter and hoped that her face wasn’t as red as it felt. After the events of the night before, looking Dorothea in the eye was a little nerve rattling to say the least. “Have a seat.”

“So you do know how to dress casual.” Dorothea grinned at Brianna’s denim shorts and peach tank top as they followed her into the living room. “I was beginning to wonder.”

Brianna laughed. “Believe it or not, this is my usual summer non work wardrobe.”

“Good. I was afraid you were one of those fussy society women who have to be dressed to the nines and made up like she’s about to walk the red carpet before she’ll set foot out of the house.” Dorothea wrinkled her nose.

The blush that had just started to leave Brianna’s face returned in force. While she was most comfortable in jeans, for the years of her marriage she could have been the poster child for Dorothea’s description. Her husband insisted that she always look ‘presentable’ and not like a ‘poor relative’. It was one part of her previous life that she didn’t miss.

Before she could respond, Stephanie distracted both of them. “Is this one of Uncle Tico’s?” She was across the room staring up at the painting.

“Yes it is. I love his work.”

“Print?” Dorothea asked.

Brianna shook her head. “Painting.”

“Nice.” Dorothea was impressed. Tico’s original paintings weren’t cheap. Obviously Brianna had both taste and means. There was more to this woman than what you saw on the surface. “So will you come shopping with us?”

There was a hesitation before Brianna spoke. “I have to ask, Dorothea....why would you invite me to spend more time with you? I’m just Jon’s employee.”

“There aren’t many women in Jon’s world.” Dorothea explained. “And none that I really connect with and feel I can really talk to.” She shrugged. “I feel comfortable with you and as Jon’s personal assistant, by necessity, you’re going to be spending a lot of time around us. I want to get to know you better. I’m hoping we can be friends.”

“I’d like that.” Brianna was a little stunned, but Dorothea’s reasoning did make a lot of sense. “Just let me change – just my shorts.” She clarified before the other woman could protest.

Several hours later they stopped in one of Brianna’s favourite restaurants in Soho to rest their feet and refuel.  

“So the boys are hanging out with their Dad today?” Brianna asked as they sipped their drinks and waited for their food.

“Yeah.” Dorothea raised crossed fingers. “I just hope they’re all still in one piece and the house is still standing when we get home.

“It’ll be okay.” Stephanie assured her mother. “Grandma’s on standby if there’s a problem....and Jesse programmed 911 into the speed dial.”

“Thanks Steph. That makes me feel sooo much better.”

“We better not tell Jakey that we were with Brianna though. He’d be upset.” Stephanie looked at Brianna. “He’s got a crush on you.”

Brianna smiled fondly. “He’s adorable.”

Finished their meals, they were sitting back with iced coffees before hitting the stores again. Brianna followed the trail of condensation down her glass with a fingertip and gathered her courage. “Dorothea can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“How do you deal with it? The lifestyle and the madness?”

“The trappings of my husband’s job you mean?”

Brianna nodded.

“Well. For starters, I don’t think of him as a rock start and I make sure I don’t treat him like one.  He goes off to work and does what he needs to do to be successful at it. And when he comes home he takes out the garbage, takes the kids to school and walks the dog. If there’s an event I want to go to – or Jon really wants me to go with him – I suck it up, paste a smile on my face and walk the carpet. Otherwise I keep the kids and I away from the photogs. I want to keep our lives as normal as possible.”

“You don’t mind being alone for big chunks of time? Dealing with the kids and everything by yourself?”

“Sometimes.” Dorothea admitted. “But I don’t mind being alone. I’m comfortable with my own company. And it’s really only for a few weeks at a time. It’s really not much different than being married to a travelling salesman. And if something comes up that I really need some help with, John Sr. or one of my brothers-in-law, or one of our friends is always available.”

When Stephanie went to the bathroom Brianna took the opportunity to ask the question that she’d never been able to figure out the answer to. “And what about what might be happening on the road?” She wasn’t sure she’d have been able to accept that part.

Dorothea’s lips twisted slightly. “That was the hardest part. And we had our....issues....in the past.” She paused, searching for the right words to explain it. “I guess what it came down to was whether I loved him and the life we were trying to build enough to ignore the odd indiscretion that was based on physical urges and had nothing to do with feelings.” At Brianna’s skeptical look, she smiled. “It didn’t happen as often as everyone thinks, and not for years. The worst, of course, was when the band first made it big. They had everything – booze, drugs, women – literally thrown at them and they got lost in that world for awhile.”

Dorothea sipped her drink, not sure why she felt compelled to make Brianna understand. “I knew the man Jon was becoming – the man he could be - before the madness took over. When it looked like he was going to take a different path – one I didn’t want to be a part of – I walked away. It didn’t take very long for him to see the damage following that path could cause and come back to me. We had a long talk about our goals and values and came to an agreement. He knows what I’ll accept and what the ramifications are if he crosses that line.” She paused and sipped again. “Relationships are held together by love, trust and respect. And there can be no true love without the other two. My trust has taken a hit or two over the years and been a little bruised, but nothing bad enough to break it.” She laughed briefly. “And of course I don’t go near the tabloids or what passes for ‘entertainment news’ programs. Most of them are more interested in stirring up shit to up their ratings than anything. The bottom line is, I love him and I know he loves me and I trust him not to do anything to purposely hurt me or the family we’ve created. The rest doesn’t matter.”

Brianna understood what she was saying but still wasn’t sure she’d have the strength to cope. Infidelity, physical or emotional, was betrayal.....wasn’t it?

Stephanie returned and stood beside her mother’s chair. “Can we go to Kenneth Cole next?”