Covered In Lace

chapter ELEVEN

Lacey scanned the flavors of ice cream in the freezer section of the local grocery store. There were too many to chose from and she wasn't sure which were Flynn's favorites. She settled on a half gallon of mint chocolate chip and set the container into her metal cart, then continued to push it toward the front of the store.

“Miss Sheridan?” a woman asked.

Lacey turned around and nodded to a middle aged woman with flushed apple red cheeks, who was obviously trying to collect her thoughts in order to speak coherently with Lacey.

“I really hate to bother you like this,” the woman said with a hint of a southern drawl. “My name is Audrey Fletcher. I'm the music teacher at the junior high school here in town.”

Lacey smiled and extended her hand for the woman to shake. “What can I do for you, Mrs. Fletcher?”

“We'll I'm sure you're busier than an elf at Christmas, with the recording and all, but I'd be remiss if I didn't at least ask.”

Lacey scanned the aisle of the store, hoping their conversation wasn't drawing a crowd and to her relief, they were alone. “Would you like me to sign something?” Lacey asked in hushed tone.

“No, no, that's not necessary,” Mrs. Fletcher said. “Would you be interested in talking to my students about your music career?”

The suggestion took Lacey by surprise. She stepped back and scratched her head. “You mean like a show-and-tell kind of talk?”

Mrs. Fletcher smiled. “Well, my students are a bit beyond the show-and-tell age, but they sure would love to hear a famous musician, like yourself, talk about how they got started. Some of them are quite talented and are considering various choices in the music industry. Perhaps you could offer them some professional advice on how or where to begin the process.”

Lacey contemplated Mrs. Fletcher's suggestion. Typically, appearance requests like this would be redirected to her agent and the school would have to agree to a long list of terms and conditions before Lacey could agree to do the job. But this was a school request and the woman's suggestion was from the heart, not to generate income for the school or for any other benefit besides advancing the education of her students. For that reason, Lacey smiled and accepted the job without further discussion.

“I'd love to, Mrs. Fletcher,” she said. “When would you like me to meet with your class?”

Mrs. Fletcher pressed her hand to her amble chest. “My Lord, I never expected you to say yes,” she purred. “We're all on summer break until the day after Labor Day, but perhaps sometime in September would work with your schedule?”

September? That seemed like a lifetime away – when she'd be living a different life, a life that wouldn't include Flynn. Pain wrapped around her heart and squeezed it tight.

“I'm sorry, Mrs. Fletcher, but it's unlikely I'll be in the area much beyond August.”

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Fletcher said. “I hadn't considered your time here would be so brief.”

Lacey nodded. The conversation she'd had with Flynn weeks earlier with him describing her as being temporary flashed again through her head. Temporary. She was coming to hate the word and the meaning behind it.

“Miss Sheridan, if you find your schedule changing, I do hope you'll reconsider my offer.” The woman wrote down her home phone number on the bottom of her grocery list, tore off the piece, and handed it to Lacey.

“Absolutely,” Lacey said. She dug into her purse and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. “And if anything with your students comes up over the summer, feel free to contact me.”

“A few in my class would greatly benefit from mentoring. Maybe you might consider doing that over the summer?”

“I like the sound of that,” Lacey said. She scribbled down the digits to her cell phone and handed the scrap of paper to Mrs. Fletcher.

Lacey drove back to her cottage. The melody that had been ringing in her head for days was once again turning her inside out. This time lyrics were joining the musical layers and her brain was starting to feel overloaded. She needed a piano to lay it all down once and for all before the creative spark was lost forever.

She grabbed the two grocery bags from the back seat of her car and ran into her cottage, tossed the ice cream into the freezer, and left the rest of the food on the counter to put away later. Then she called the recording studio.

“Kenny, this is Lacey Sheridan,” she said. “Do you have a piano up there I could use for a few hours?”

“There's an upright in Studio B and a Baby Grand in A,” Kenny said.

“I'll be there in ten minutes,” she said and disconnected the call.

Six hours later, Lacey emerged from the studio with one song done and the bones to a second in the works. She dialed Annie's cell phone number as she walked to her car.

“How soon can you come back?” Lacey asked her.

“What's going on?”

“Creative sparks like I haven't felt in ages,” Lacey said. “I need you to take a listen to what I'm working on, maybe add some background vocals to it.”

“How about the day after tomorrow?” Annie asked.

Lacey sighed loudly. “Soon as you can, Annie. I hate to pull you away from your family but I could really use you right now.”

“How's your new man?” Annie asked.

Lacey turned her car into the driveway of her cottage and saw Flynn grilling something out on his deck. A smile lifted her lips. “He's...perfect,” she said.

“Listen to you,” Annie laughed. “I don't think I've ever heard you gush about a guy like this.”

“That's because I haven't,” Lacey said.

Lacey ended the call and stepped from her car, walking directly to Flynn standing on his deck. His arm slid around her waist and he kissed the top of her head.

“Just in time for dinner,” he said.

Lacey glanced at the barbecued chicken cooking on the grill and heard her stomach growl. It was then she realized she hadn't eaten since breakfast. “You're a life saver because I just happen to be starved.”

Flynn reached for a bottle of white wine sitting on the outside table and poured her a glass.

“Where've you been?” he asked.

“At the studio,” she said.

“Working?”

“Like you wouldn't believe.”

He knew it had been weeks since she had worked and the smile on her face told him the results were positive.

He pulled her to his chest and this time kissed her mouth. “Congratulations,” he said. He could taste the wine on her and used his tongue to collect the moisture from her bottom lip.

“My mind is fried, but I can't remember the last time I felt this energized,” she said. “I finished the first draft to one song and have the basic structure for a second – all in one afternoon.”

Flynn's eyebrows lifted. “Sounds like you're on a roll.”

“And the best part is, Annie's coming back in two days to work with me,” she said. “I'm anxious for her to hear the new material.”

“Go get your guitar and play it for me while I cook,” he said, and straddled the bench seat beside the wooden table.

She looked at him, saw the sincerity in his eyes, and found herself feeling very vulnerable. “I can't,” she said, shaking her head. “It's not ready.”

“You just said you wanted Annie to hear it.”

“I know, but she understands the process,” she said. “Annie will be able to hear where the layers will be once the song is complete.”

He nodded and Lacey saw dejection slump his shoulders. She walked to him and pressed his face to her breasts. He rolled his head to the side and inhaled her scent. She smelled like lilacs and sunshine on a perfect summer day.

Strong fingers circled the back of her thighs and slid up under the cotton fabric of her dress, caressing her bottom. His fingers looped over the waistband of her thong and pulled the tiny garment down onto her thighs. His hand eased between her legs and cupped her sex, then he lifted the front of the dress and pressed his face to the warmth of her lower belly. His mouth opened to her skin; his tongue reached to taste, and dragged along her flesh leaving a wet trail glistening in the late afternoon sun.

Lacey ribboned her fingers at the back of his head and sighed. His tongue dipped lower, disappearing into her already moist folds.

“If you keep that up, you'll burn the chicken,” she said.

Flynn cursed and pulled away. “Thanks for reminding me,” he said, and stood up from the table.

Lacey adjusted her thong back into place and watched him turn the chicken; smearing another thick layer of barbeque sauce all over it. The long ridge of his erection tented the front of his shorts. Her insides tightened; unconsciously she wet her lips, then her eyes lifted to his.

“Dinner in five,” he said, and continued to tend the meat.

Her fingers circled his bicep and squeezed. “Once the song is done, I promise to play it for you,” she said.

He turned to her and said, “I'd like that.”

“I'm nervous about this material,” she said.

“Why?”

“I'm known for a certain style of music and this material is completely different.”

“Every artist has to try new styles,” he said. “Otherwise, you'd be stuck doing the same thing over and over and never grow.”

“You're right,” she said. “But this new stuff is very...personal. I'm nervous how people will react to it.”

“How's it personal?” he asked, and grabbed a platter from the table to set the cooked chicken on while it cooled.

Lacey leaned against the railing on the deck and looked toward the lake. She could hear Canadian geese honking as they came to a skidding stop on top of the water in front of Flynn's cottage.

He set the plate of chicken onto the table, shut the lid on the gas grill and turned off the propane tank. He came up behind her, pressed his chest to her back and set his chin on her bare shoulder, then kissed the skin. His fingers spread on the front of her thighs, just above the hemline of her sundress; slowly rubbing.

“Ready to eat?” he asked.

His voice was a velvet rasp of sexual tension, vibrating over her shoulder and making her bones melt. His hips shifted and the crack of her bottom cradled the solid length of his erection.

Lacey turned to him; catching his gaze. His eyes were filled with hunger and need. Her fingers began working to undo the button and zipper on his waistband. Soon as the fabric loosened, her fingers slipped inside and gripped onto his shaft. His groan sounded more like a growl.

His mouth swooped down and took her lips in a fiery kiss that weakened her spine. His tongue parted her teeth and plunged inside; stroking, teasing. Her knees gave and Lacey knelt on the wooden deck. Her hands tugged at the fabric of Flynn's shorts, peeling the garment down onto his muscled thighs.

His erection sprang free of his boxer briefs and bounced against Lacey's cheek. Her eyes lifted to his and held. The heat in his eyes bordered desperation. His large hand cupped the back of her head; his fingers threaded through her hair. Slowly, he eased her closer.

“Take me in your mouth,” he said in a strained whisper.

Her smile was wicked. “Is that what you want?”

“You make me want so many things, baby,” he said. His long fingers caressed her scalp.

The gaze he was searing her with, told her his 'wants' were carnal - beyond what they'd already experienced together; something much deeper. She wanted to hear him verbalize these dark and heated desires he'd still managed to keep hidden. As intimate as they had become and the pieces of themselves they'd shared, Lacey sensed there was another side of Flynn he wasn't yet comfortable exposing and that bothered her.

In so many ways, she already felt bound to him; body mind and soul, and she wanted him to feel the same. If their relationship was ever going to reach the next level, she needed to know all of Flynn, even the pieces that scared him.

She knew if that were going to happen, she'd need to tell him how she really felt, lay it all out for him, and see if he was even remotely feeling the same. And if he was, my God, she couldn't contemplate what that might mean – for both of them, because she'd never experienced anything this good.

Her fingers did their best to circle his thick shaft at the base. Her tongue curled over the engorged crest of his cock, causing his heated flesh to jerk in her grip. God, she loved the taste of him; the masculine scent of his balls, the pure heat of him that was now surrounding her and warming her face. Another broad lap of her tongue and Flynn cursed.

“Jesus, you're destroying me,” he sighed.

Lacey took Flynn into the back of her throat, coating every inch she could with saliva for her fingers to use as a lubricant to stroke. She made slow, twisting turns with her hand and lips. The efforts had Flynn's forehead glistening with sweat. Her other hand reached below his cock and cupped his balls, gently rolling them in her palm. Flynn swayed on his feet. His head tipped back over his shoulders and every muscle in his body began to tighten and strain. Her eyes watched him. His face and throat were turning a deep shade of crimson, much like the current shade of his cock.

Her tongue worked around the circumference again, then she took as much of him inside as she could before choking. His size made it impossible for her to take him completely, but she could tell what she was able to do, was having quite an effect on him.

“I'm close, baby. So close,” he said. “Do you want me to shoot now or wait?”

Her lips locked over the head, her tongue landing teasing strokes on the ultra-sensitive spot on the underside. She could taste how close he was; feel the organ pulsing in warning. She loved feeling this rush with him, loved taking him right to the sweet edge of insanity, and loved knowing she was about to push him into the flames. She squeezed his shaft in her fist; her second hand clenched his balls, then drove his cock as far into her throat as she could do comfortably.

The quick and brazen movements had Flynn exploding in her mouth. The strength of the orgasm stole his breath and all conscience thought from his head. He stared down at her, trying to regain himself, gently rocking between her lips, as his body continued to tremble in delicious aftershocks.

When he could take no more, he bent over and scooped her up in his arms, then started walking toward the back door leading into his kitchen.

“Now, it's my turn,” he said.

“What about the chicken?”

“We can eat it later,” he said. “Right now, I'm going to have you.”