STAY

One hundred and three.

He had planned the entire evening. When I walked into the bedroom, I was surprised to find some of our clothes hanging up. "When did you concoct this plan?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow as he followed me in. He didn't even bother to look guilty. "Spirit of the moment baby. Come on, get ready" he said with a wicked smile. There was little to do really. Apart from touching up my make up, my hair was done, if a little elaborate. I turned to the outfit he had picked for me. Tight black dress pants, and a lacy corset with spaghetti straps and a plunging back. And high black Louboutin peep toes. "No jacket?" I asked him as I walked out. He stared at me appreciatively, "I'm sure you won't need it" he said. He was wearing black pants and a black shirt, unbuttoned quite low. "God you look sexy" I said, biting my bottom lip as I looked him up and down. His hair free and flowing, the lion resting on his chest, unbelievingly gorgeous. "You sure you don't want to stay in?" I added almost breathlessly. He smiled that sinister sexy smile, and shook his head slowly. "I really think I need to show you off" he drawled. I nodded slowly, he hadn't thought to bring me a purse. When I mentioned in he said simply, "I've got everything we need". Of course.

We were at a Japanese vegan restaurant. It was a little exclusive, thankfully this meant not too many prying eyes. Our booth was situated, at his request, right at the back of the place. "So where are we off to next?" I asked as I took a sip of my wine. He was eating desert which I had skipped. "Do you want some of my desert?" he asked invitingly, licking his spoon a little too suggestively. I cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow, "umm, no, thank you. So .... next?" I pressed, trying not to get flustered. "But you always want my desert" he said, leaning in and kissing me. His tongue darting into my mouth briefly, while his hand moved to rest on my thigh. I could taste the sweetness from his lips on mine. I shivered a little, "I've had enough to eat, for now" I murmured. I felt his hand slowly start to move up my leg, hidden by the long table linen, "I love these pants, they accentuate that gorgeous round ass" he whispered into my ear, as his hand reached the top of my thigh. The fabric was so thin, I could feel every little movement his fingers made. I exhaled as casually as I could, he had the ability to get my heart racing while practically doing nothing. "They are very, tight" I managed to stammer. I felt his hand move between my legs, "open" he hissed. I hesitated for exactly a moment before doing as he asked, feeling his hand cup my center firmly. "We're going to a club" he said, finally answering my question, which I had almost forgotten about. "Can't we go back to the hotel?" I begged softly. I heard a laugh rumble in his chest and his hand squeezed, causing me to gasp, the zip suddenly putting soft pressure in just the right spot. "No we cannot, because the moment I slide into that perfect .... velvet .... tight pussy, I'm lost. You wrap your legs around my waist and you beg me to fuck you harder and faster and I oblige, and it's fucking heaven .... then we do it all over again until we're spent" I frowned a little, immediately he realized my concern and smiled. "Oh don't misunderstand Genevieve, it's amazing, always. But I do occasionally like to tease you, just a little. The anticipation makes the prize so much sweeter, don't you think?" he whispered seductively, tightening his grip, I was almost panting, he had been right. I didn't need a jacket, because I was feeling extremely hot and bothered. I had instinctively pushed into his hand, craving more friction, but he did not oblige! Instead he pulled his hand away. "But, you're not playing fair" I whined, as he lifted the same hand to motion for the cheque. "Whoever said I was going to play fair?" he said raising an eyebrow, that sly sexy smile appearing once again. I almost screeched in frustration, but he had taught me well. I managed to take a few deep breaths and reign in my desire. "Good girl" he whispered. "Ass" I hissed through gritted teeth. I heard him laugh, "behave" he warned, clearly amused at my impatience. I rolled my eyes, holding my tongue for now.

I looked around curiously as the car took us to the next destination. We were headed down to West Hollywood, I could vaguely recall being to a club around here. "Have we been here before?" I asked him. He nodded, "yes, a whole group of us came together. It was, just before we left for Europe, for the film" he said. I nodded, that felt like years ago. We'd arrived, he offered me his hand, helping me out of the car. It was in a darkened side street off Sunset. There was a long line down the street, waiting to get in, but we walked up and were let in without delay. We headed down into a basement area that opened onto a big dance floor. There was a stage at the end of the room. A band was playing, rock, grunge or something like that. Ugh I thought, not my kind of music at all. It dark and a little dingy, but going by the people Jared was nodding to and being greeted by, I knew the crowd were professionals in the industry. Nothing seedy about them, despite the surroundings. I tugged his hand, motioning my head toward the bar. He nodded leading me through the crowd, up the winding stairs. Stopping at the bar and ordering me a drink. We moved to stand along the balcony, next to a pillar looking over the dance floor. "Do you remember coming here?" he asked me. I nodded, turning to look at him, it had been a fun evening. Followed by an extremely long and passionate night of farewell between the three of us. "It was the last time the three of us spent together" I said carefully. "I remember, it was fucking intense. You were, exquisite. But then you always are" he said, his beautiful blue eyes staring into mine. His hand came up and he ran the back of his fingers down my cheek. I bit my bottom lip invitingly and he exhaled, his eyes burning with desire at the memory. Suddenly he was the one who was getting hot and bothered. I smirked taking another sip of my wine. Another band had come on, a cover band, I was definitely enjoying them more. They had already blasted Fall out Boy and My Chemical Romance. I grinned and turned to look at him when the next song started, The Kill, he looked down at me raising an eyebrow. "They're not too bad" I said. He nodded subtly. "Their lead singer isn't as good as the original guy. Now he's fucking hot" I said pretending to swoon. He smirked, "really? I hear he's a bit of an ass" he said, his hand rested on my hip and he moved a little closer to me. "Yeah, I've heard that too" I said with a smile. His hand slid over my ass briefly, giving it a firm squeeze and turning me around, pulling my back up against him. His arm wrapped firmly around my middle. "If I slid my hand down your pants right now, do you think anyone would notice?" he whispered into my ear. I let out a little gasp of surprise. "I think they might" I stammered. "But it's dim and we're standing against this balcony, no one is standing close enough to see" he mused. Even as I panicked I was instantaneously aroused! I shook my head fervently, "your breath has quickened, I can see your nipples straining against that beautiful corset. If I slipped my fingers into you right now I'm guessing you'd be .... soaked" he murmured. I almost groaned at his words, my hands were trembling so much that my wine glass slipped out of my hand, tumbling over the balcony. "Shit!" I gasped, hoping some poor person below hadn't just scored a wine glass to the head!! I heard him laugh and I couldn't help but giggle as well. Suddenly his lips were on my neck, trailing soft kisses under my chin and along my shoulder. A quick glance around assured me that no one was paying any attention to us. "You need to stop" I sighed, but even as I spoke the words, I was relaxing against his body. "Are you sure you want me to?" he asked, his free hand resting on my hip. Dangerously close to the top of my pants. "No" I breathed. "No, you don't want me to stop, or no, you want me to stop?" he said amused. His fingers had moved to the waistband and had slid into them, stopping just in the top. I felt his fingers wriggle, featherlight, tickling the sensitive skin just above my panties. Meanwhile, I could feel his hardness, pressing into my ass. I was more than a little pleased to know he was losing control as well. "Well hey! I thought it was you!" said a cheery voice, approaching us from the side. Shit! It was a producer friend, we'd been to his birthday party not too long ago. He quickly slid his hand out from my waistband and turned slightly. "Russell, hi, how ya doin?" he said clearing his throat, it was lucky people knew he hated to shake hands so he could legitimately continue to hold onto me. I nodded hello and smiled, not trusting myself to talk. "Did you hear those guys? Had they seen you, is that why they played your song?" laughed Russell. "I've got no idea" said Jared shortly. They chatted a little more, I could sense Jared's impatience, he wanted to be done with the conversation. He was giving him one word answers, nods only, I almost wanted to elbow him so he'd be more polite. But Russell didn't mind, he kept chatting away, happily oblivious to Jared's increasing ire. He finally decided he was done and bid us both goodnight, walking off, calling out to someone else excitedly. "I think we should go" he said abruptly. I turned my head to look at him, "maybe I don't wanna go yet" I said innocently. He snorted, "well too bad, we're out of here, I'm .... getting impatient" he said, raising an eyebrow, I exhaled and nodded, "let's move" he said, letting me go, he took my hand and lead me through the crowd. He was on a mission, he waved and nodded to people who called out to him, but he refused to stop! I was almost laughing at his hast, it was indecent!! "You know you were being very rude" I said amused as we drove off. He shrugged and turned to me, his lips on mine. Embarrassingly we made out the entire ride back to the hotel, I would have felt sorry for the driver, but he was having a lively conversation on his earphones with someone about the baseball, and if he was paying any attention to us, he was hiding it well. I was dazed as we walked through the lobby, I must have looked a sight, his hands had been through my hair and my lips and cheeks were red. "Hey Jared" we heard a voice say, this person unavoidable as he was directly in our path, but unlike earlier, Jared immediately smiled warmly in recognition. I almost gasped as I noticed who it was. "Well hi, how's it going?" he replied, this time shaking his hand. "Leo, have you met my wife, Genevieve?" said Jared. "No, I haven't had the pleasure" said Leo. I smiled, "hi, it's lovely to meet you" I said smiling back, trying not to look starstruck. "Your photos don't do you justice" he said cheekily, I felt my cheeks heat up. "That's sweet of you to say" I murmured smiling. They chatted briefly. He was waiting for someone to arrive I heard him say. It was nice to stand there without fear of being photographed, such was the privacy of the place. I tuned out to their conversation looking around, taking in the atmosphere of the Chateau, we'd been here a few times and I loved it. I could feel the memories floating around me. "Come on baby" said Jared interrupting my thoughts, I looked up at him nodding. I noticed a girl emerging from a car that had just pulled up, waving and smiling in greeting to Leo. "Ah, um .... at the risk of sounding like a fan girl. I have to tell you, I absolutely loved you in Gatsby. It's one of my favorite books and you really did him justice" I said, trying not to gush. He raised his eyebrows and smiled, "well thank you, it's one of my favorite roles. I loved it too, he was quite a character to play" he replied nodding. We bid one another goodnight and headed to the elevator. "I knew you were going to say that, I could feel you dying to tell him" he laughed as we got in. I grinned, "look, I'm not a professional, I was a fan long before I met you and, well I did love it, it's such a great film" I said, entirely unashamed of gushing! "It is good" he agreed. As soon as we got into our room he rounded on me, pulling me into his arms. "There I was, way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute" he whispered against my lips. He was quoting Gatsby to me and my heart beat wildly. "You .... you've read it, you remembered!!" I gasped, he smiled, that sexy, beautiful, heart stopping smile. I almost wanted to cry with happiness. "Come on, let's misbehave" he grinned, I laughed as he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. I had been expecting a ravenous, hungry, wild night. But instead, he made love to me, tenderly, passionately. There was no urgency, it was unhurried and heavenly. Wrapped in each others arms, silent and spent we fell asleep. Only to wake up mere hours later and fall into one another again. Something shifted, it felt like we had fallen into a new place. My fears and doubts fell away, fully trusting in him, in us, finally.

*
We got back to the house just after 11 the next morning. We'd had breakfast in bed and savored our last couple of free hours, laughing and snuggling. I noticed a strange car parked alongside the others. "Who's car is this?" I asked him curiously as we walked to the front entrance. "It's a hire" he said frowning. We wandered in hearing voices from the lounge, walking in I stopped in surprise. My dad and Caroline were there, sitting with Constance. Isabella squealed happily when she saw us, running up into Jared's arms. "Dad, Caroline, hi, what a nice surprise. But, what are you guys doing here?" I said smiling curiously, walking over to hug him hello. He stood up looking as serious as I'd ever seen him, he put his arms around me holding me tight. I heard him exhale and then he said, "I'm so sorry. It's your mother, I'm sorry to have to tell you Genevieve, but she has died".