Beautiful Mistake

  Another gulp.

  The little girl had an older sister.

  Rachel has an older sister.

  Teen years where she spiraled out of control—living with that fucker Nelson would definitely make anyone turn to shit trying to forget.

  I tossed back the rest of the glass and stared out the window, trying to bring the picture of the little girl to the forefront of my mind. But it was so long ago and so distant.

  Finally feeling the liquor seep into my blood, I collapsed on the couch and rested my head on the arm to stare up at the ceiling.

  How the fuck was I going to find out? I needed to know.

  It wasn’t like I could come straight out and ask her. Say, did you befriend a priest as a child? A man you trusted with all your secrets?

  Yeah. That was me. A stoned sixteen year old who got his kicks listening to a little girl talk about her shitty home life.

  By the way, were you molested as a child? Or was that just your sister?

  Fuck!

  FUUUUCK!

  I hurled my empty glass at the window. Luckily, it bounced off of a wood panel and only the glass shattered, not my floor-to-ceiling windows.

  I closed my eyes and let my head spin some more.

  How do I find out?

  How do I find out?

  Rachel

  I felt like Cinderella.

  Unsure of how to dress, I’d bugged Caine until he told me where we were going. I’d never been to an opera and thought it was sweet of him to want to take me, knowing how much it meant because of my research with Umberto.

  I didn’t have anything fancy enough to wear, so I’d borrowed from Ava—a simple black dress that crisscrossed in the front and wrapped around my neck. The plunging neckline revealed a lot more than I’d normally show off, and I was glad she’d had the foresight to send me home with double-sided tape, as well as the dress.

  Promptly at six, the buzzer sounded, and surprisingly, I was just about ready. While I waited for Caine to ride the elevator up, I went into the bathroom to finish lining my lips. In for a pound, I thought as I painted my mouth with a bright red lipstick I also never wore.

  I’d left my apartment door cracked open after Caine buzzed, and he knocked before entering.

  “Rachel?”

  “I’ll be out in a second!”

  “Take your time.”

  While that was a normal person’s response, I’d expected a comment about my always being late. The last two days, Caine had seemed off his game. He wasn’t as sarcastic as usual, and his texts weren’t even pervy. It had only been forty-eight hours since he’d dropped me off after our spectacular night together, but I missed the intimacy we’d shared already.

  Stealing one last look in the mirror, I liked what I saw and took a deep breath before going out to greet Caine. I was nervous tonight—outside of my comfort zone and all dressed up to go to an opera.

  I found my date in his usual spot at my wall of framed photos.

  “What do you think?” I did the whole girly-twirly thing—also out of character for me.

  The expression on Caine’s face when he turned was priceless. His jaw went slack, and he had to clear his throat to speak. “You look gorgeous.”

  “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.” He wore a dark, slim-cut, three-piece suit that looked like it could have been made for him. Seeing the way it hugged his broad shoulders and biceps, I realized it probably had been. Pure class. It was all in the way he wore the suit, and the effect it had on me was probably similar to what lingerie does for a man. Suddenly I was warm in my sleeveless dress with barely any material up top.

  Caine stood in place, his eyes sweeping over my body, and waited for me to walk to him. With my five-inch stilettos, I didn’t have to press up on my toes to greet him for a change.

  “I like you in a formal suit. It does things to my girly parts.”

  He smirked. “Oh yeah? We could stay home, and I’ll leave it on while I do things to your girly parts—with my tongue.”

  God, forget peanut butter and jelly. There is no better combination than a dirty mouth and sexy suit. Caine gripped the back of my neck and kissed me roughly, not caring that he smeared my lipstick all over the place.

  I swooned a little when he whispered, “I love the dress, but I can’t wait to take it off of you later.”

  I felt myself beaming. Who knew I could beam? “I just need to change my purse, and I’ll be ready in a minute.”

  In my bedroom, I fixed my lipstick, applying a fresh layer to my kiss-swollen lips, before grabbing a tiny, black, beaded clutch from the closet and tossing in the essentials.

  “Ready?”

  “You don’t have any pictures on the wall of you when you were little.”

  That’s because there weren’t a lot of good times I want to remember. “There aren’t very many.” I shrugged. “You know, second child and all.”

  Caine looked at me. “Do you have one? I’d like to see what you looked like when you were little.”

  “My sister has most of them. But I can probably dig a few up.”

  He nodded.

  Outside, I was surprised to find he hadn’t driven. He’d hired a town car to take us, and when we approached, a driver hopped out and opened the back door. I really felt like Cinderella then.

  “A car? You went all out. But I’ll let you in on a little secret—you were already going to get lucky tonight. You didn’t have to impress me.”

  Caine smiled, but it felt sort of off. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he just didn’t seem like himself. Our conversations were normal; any person looking in from the outside would see nothing but a couple on their way to a great night out. Yet, I had a pensive feeling for some reason.

  On the way to the Met, we talked about school and work. I chalked my uneasiness up to nerves, or maybe things changing a little now that we weren’t fighting our togetherness. Maybe it was just a new feeling of being settled. I wasn’t sure.

  Inside the theatre, we had a half hour before the show was to start, so we went to the lobby bar and ordered drinks. I ordered my usual diet soda, and Caine ordered a double scotch.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. Fine. Why do you ask?”

  I shrugged. “No reason.”

  After he polished off the first scotch, he went back for a second. Just because I generally refrained from drinking didn’t mean I frowned upon others partaking. Yet, once again, the two doubles and Caine’s quietness while we waited seemed a bit off.

  When the lights flickered, the usher showed us to our seats. Looking around the theatre, I told myself again that I probably just felt like a fish out of water. Although I liked the music, the thought of going to an actual opera had always felt pretentious. The place was a designer emporium—I smirked, thinking there wouldn’t be any bootleg T-shirts sold outside afterward like the last show I went to.

  Caine must have noticed me eyeing the people around us. He leaned in. “If I take off my jacket and lay it across your lap, I can probably finger you and get you to sing along during the opening scene.”

  The woman taking her seat on the other side of Caine looked his way, so I shot him a warning glare and whispered, “Shhh. Keep your voice down.”

  He smirked, and when the lights went down at the start of the show, he stood and took off his jacket, giving me a wink. To be safe, I clasped my hand with his when he sat back down.

  Music filled the air almost immediately, and it gripped me, catching me off guard. It sucked me in from the first note and didn’t spit me out until the very end. It overpowered my senses—the orchestra, amplified voices, the beauty of the theatre and costumes. I’d expected to enjoy the experience, but I hadn’t expected to be moved to tears.

  I was speechless when it was over. We walked to the waiting town car hand in hand.

  Caine squeezed my fingers when we were inside. “So, what did you think?”

  “I think it was the most magical thing I’ve ev
er experienced.”

  He rubbed his thumb on the top of my hand. “The first time is definitely something else.”

  “Thank you for taking me. I’m glad I got to experience that with you.”

  Caine smiled. “What did you like best?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know how to explain it. It made me feel something I’ve never really experienced. Consumed with emotions—like I couldn’t feel or see anything else.”

  His eyes were tender. “I know the feeling.”

  I’d felt Caine watching me instead of the show at times, but I was too invested to peel my own eyes from the stage.

  “As odd as it might sound, I think what I experienced was love in some form. At least the feeling that being in love gives you—that all-consuming and full feeling, you know?”

  “I thought you said you’d never been in love.”

  It was in that moment that it hit me. I was figuring it out because I was falling for Caine. Just like the opera, he’d overwhelmed me since the day I met him. It was an inexplicable connection, although I was afraid to admit my realization out loud.

  I shrugged. “I’ve read about it.”

  Caine’s lip did that little twitch thing I hadn’t seen in a while. “You’ve read about it, huh?”

  It felt like he could see through me, so I changed the subject and rounded back to his original question about what I liked best.

  “I think my favorite scene was the one where the mother dies. That’s kind of morbid, isn’t it?”

  “What did you like about it?”

  “The way her husband sang afterward. There was so much pain and emotion in his voice that I just knew he would never find another love in his life.” I covered my heart with my hand, feeling choked up just thinking about that scene. “It reminded me of Umberto and Lydia—the devotion she has for him. At least they had more than fifty years together, but this guy was so young, and the love of his life was gone. It was heartbreaking, but beautiful.”

  Caine nodded and seemed to ponder my comment as he stared out the window into traffic. When his gaze returned to mine, his face was serious. “Did your mother never remarry after your father? You’ve never mentioned a stepfather in the picture before you were adopted.”

  “No.” The lie came out before I even gave it a thought. “I had no stepfather.” After I said it, I felt badly for not being honest with him.

  But that didn’t last very long because Caine surprised me by reaching over, hoisting my butt out of the seat next to him, and setting me down on his lap. It wasn’t a very ladylike position, considering the elegant dress I was wearing, but I didn’t care. His serious mood had been replaced by playfulness. He smiled wide, and it made my belly flutter.

  Locking his arms around my back to hold me in place, he said, “You know what we’re going to do to celebrate?”

  I laughed. “What are we even celebrating?”

  “Us. We’re going to celebrate us.”

  The reason didn’t matter, only the look on Caine’s face.

  “That sounds good to me. How are we going to celebrate?”

  “Headphone sex.”

  “I have no idea what that is, but it came out of your mouth and had the word sex in it, so I’m game.”

  Caine bent his head back in laughter. “That’s my girl.”

  Rachel

  It had definitely been my nerves. After a playful car ride back to my apartment, things took a more serious turn as we entered my bedroom. Caine stopped me at the foot of the bed. Standing behind me, his fingers caressed up and down my bare arms.

  His hot breath tickled my neck as he whispered in my ear. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Close your eyes.”

  I followed his instructions without hesitation. His hands left my arms, and I felt him moving behind me, but he stayed with his front to my back. A loud whooshing sound made me gasp. He’d yanked his tie from around his neck. Then I felt the silk on my cheek.

  “I’m going to deprive you of your senses so you can focus on nothing but what I’m doing to you.”

  I barely heard my own voice, my words stuck in my throat. “Okay.”

  Caine covered my eyes with his tie, securing it in place like a blindfold. I didn’t even bother to try to open my eyes—I was too eager to feel what he wanted me to feel.

  “You good?” he whispered.

  I nodded.

  He slowly unzipped the back of my dress. I wasn’t sure if it was the anticipation or if my hearing was actually heightened because I was blindfolded, but the sound of my zipper slowly coming down had my entire body on fire. My nipples swelled, and every nerve ending seemed to come alive—I could feel my own skin.

  Caine took his time sliding the dress down my body, using the silky material to caress my curves as he prompted me to step out. Cool air assaulted my skin when he stepped away, leaving me standing alone in nothing but lingerie and stilettos. I heard rustling in the room, but had no idea what he was doing. When his warmth returned behind me, his fingers dug into my hips and pulled me flush against him. He’d removed his shirt, and I could feel his hard chest against my back. Through his pants, the thick length of his cock pushed against my ass. He kissed his way up my neck until he reached my ear.

  “You’re so beautiful. I can’t wait to be inside of you. I want to take you bare—nothing between us tonight. Is that okay?”

  My answer was half yes, half moan.

  “I’m going to cover your ears now. You good?”

  I nodded again. I would have agreed to anything at that point. My body was vibrating with need. Caine slipped something over my ears. He’d taken my noise-reduction headphones from the nightstand table. His voice was muffled when he spoke.

  “I’ve connected you to my playlist. I’ll start the music low so you can get used to it and increase the volume slowly.”

  After a bluesy instrumental began, Caine removed my bra and panties. He then removed the rest of his clothing and stood behind me, his warm cock sandwiched between his abdomen and the top of my ass. He lifted one side of the earphones and the music that had been playing was replaced by his raspy voice.

  “Shoes stay on.”

  He guided me to the bed and spread me out on my back. Once I was settled, he raised the music’s volume. Unable to see or hear him, I let out a loud gasp when he began sucking my nipple. My back arched off the bed at the erotic feeling of being touched without warning, of succumbing to his will without question. Instead of feeling captive because I was unable to see or hear, I had the opposite feeling—one of total and complete freedom.

  The anticipation of what he might do next was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Each pinch, lick, stroke, and caress of my body made me that much more desperate for him. I was panting with need, even though I couldn’t hear myself.

  Caine raised the volume to the music again just as another instrumental started. It was a slow, building piece where the sound and intensity grew, and his actions seemed to mimic that ascent. He took my mouth in a passionate kiss, stealing my breath with the depth of feeling it ignited inside my chest. I was consumed inside and out—the deprivation of everything around me leaving nothing to focus on but him and the way he made me feel.

  He broke the kiss on a pant, his body pulling away from mine as I felt him lift up. I couldn’t see him, but I was certain he was kneeling over me, taking in my body. I pictured his eyes dilated, nostrils flaring, and desire burning on his beautiful face. Laying spread eagle, blind to everything around me, should have made me feel vulnerable, but instead I felt empowered.

  I reached up, knowing he was there even though I couldn’t see him, and pulled him gently down to me. Caine’s lips brushed over mine as he covered my body with his. Underneath his weight, I opened my legs as wide as I could, inviting him inside. I felt his groan vibrate on my skin as he moved his erection up and down through the wetness between my legs. Then suddenly, the volume in my headphones rose, and Caine pushed inside of me.
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  The music blared.

  The only thing I could see was blackness.

  But God, could I feel.

  It was the most decadent, erotic, beautiful feeling in the world as Caine eased inside. So many emotions overwhelmed me. My eyes welled up as the music hit its crescendo and Caine buried himself deep—filling me in so many ways.

  I’d been on the edge of glory for so long, it didn’t take long for the throb inside of me to start. His thrusts were hard, driving in and out with powerful movements that brushed my clit on each downward glide. My world began to splinter as I headed toward climax, everything and anything falling away as my sole focus became the two of us—this moment.

  I moaned loudly as it hit me, uttering Caine’s name over and over as I rode the wave blindly. Our hips gyrated in unison, somehow moving to the music encasing us. I thought I’d peaked at the top of the roller coaster, but apparently I hadn’t. Caine gave one last deep thrust, and I felt the heat from his release spill into me—which set me off riding a whole new wave I hadn’t seen on the horizon.

  I was utterly spent by the time we stopped rocking back and forth. My body felt spineless, as if I would collapse in a puddle on the floor if I tried to stand. Caine untied the blindfold first and then slipped the headphones from my ears.

  He waited for me to speak, but it wasn’t easy. Every ounce of energy had been drained from my body.

  “That was crazy,” I finally managed to croak out.

  Caine’s lip twitched—which I still loved for some inexplicable reason. He wiped my damp hair from my face. “Yeah.”

  “I’ve never…” I didn’t know how to explain what I’d just experienced. “It’s never…that was.”

  Caine smiled warmly. “Yeah. Me too.”

  I laughed. “Is it always like that…with headphones and blindfolded?”

  “I have no idea.”

  My brows drew down. “You’ve never done that before?”

  “Nope.”

  My jaw dropped. “So how are you so damn good at it, then?”

  He chuckled. “I’m not. It’s us.”