"After All" is a sequel to "Love For Sale". Both stories are purely works of fiction and no disrespect is intended to the actual persons or their families.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Ch 84~Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend


The landmark Rachel saw out the plane window was sacred ground as far as she was concerned.

Diamond Head.

If there was a single place on Earth that could be more sentimental for her, she couldn’t think what it would be.  Diamond Head meant so much to her in so many different ways. 

It had been a favorite haunt for her and Nick’s family. 

It had been the place she went to heal after her breakup with Jon, and she’d hiked the volcano more times than she could count.  Each and every time she pushed herself up the trail in the hopes that she could sweat out just a little of the pain of losing him.

It was also the place from which Jon had reached out to her, taking the first small step that would bring him back to her life – this time for good.  Though they’d never been there together, that mountain was the one place that she knew without a doubt that they’d both been standing while longing for the other. 

When she finally was able to drag her eyes from the Hawaiian landmark and to his face, it wasn’t colored with the smug gloating that she’d expected.  Rather, their affection filled eyes connected and it became but one more moment when the two of them spoke volumes without ever saying a word.  There was no doubt that he knew her every thought and feeling in this moment, and Rachel had no trouble deciphering the soft stroke of the back of his hand against her cheek.    

She had to admit that he’d been right on the money when predicting that she wouldn’t care about his morning breath after a look out the window.  He was even right that she’d kiss the life right out of him without a second thought.  Morning breath, the stubble on his face, the messy bed head, the coffee in his hand…  They were all just details that would forever encompass this beautiful memory in the making.  Rachel lovingly ran her fingers over the disheveled mop of hair and bent to press her lips against his.

“You…” she breathed, still close enough to feel the warmth of his lips against hers.  “…have given me amazing, beautiful gifts.  Some were worth millions of dollars and some worth only the pennies it cost for the paper you wrote some silly note on.  But this…?  This is priceless, Jonny – absolutely, positively priceless.  The U.S. Mint couldn’t print enough money to pay for everything this moment represents.”

He didn’t even try to put any more space between them, and his morning-gruff voice soft when telling her, “One of the most miserable times I’ve ever spent in my life was at the top of that fucking volcano.   I’d plotted this grand scheme to show up in Hawaii and get you back, thinking there wasn’t a chance you could turn me away – and then found out you weren’t even here.” 

Jon chuckled quietly and gave a slight shake of his head.  “I planned an entire tour around this damn place and you weren’t even fucking here.  Well this time around I’ve got you – even though I’ve spent most of the tour trying to keep you with me – and I’m going to enjoy Hawaii like everybody else does.”

He finally leaned back and chucked his knuckle under her chin so that he could look her squarely in the eyes.  “And you know what?”

“What?”

“This time when I drag my old bones up that mother fuckin’ hill, you’re gonna be right by my side. Period.  So I hope you brought tennis shoes.”

“I can’t remember but, if not, I’ll buy some,” she assured him agreeably.  “It’s going to be wonderful, baby.  You couldn’t have chosen a more perfect spot for this trip.”

“I’m glad you’re happy with it.”

“I am.  Now which hotel are we at?”

“Hotel?”  He flopped over onto his back, grinning up at her.  “I dunno if you remember this or not, but when we first started going out you told me you had always wanted to go to Kauai while Nick and your kids only wanted to hang at Waikiki.”

Rachel  nodded.  It wasn’t a crystal clear memory, but she remembered. 

“So that got me thinking,” he continued.  “Why not see all of the Hawaiian islands?”

Giddiness and excitement swelled up inside her.  Honolulu and Diamond Head would’ve been enough to make her happy, but actually getting to visit all of the islands?  That was the stuff dreams were made of.

“I figure the easiest way to see a bunch of islands is from a boat, right?”

This just kept getting better and better.  Sipping tequila from the deck of the obscenely lavish ship he would’ve chosen, taking a dip in the Pacific when it got too warm, and ferrying off to the tropical beauty of the islands when the time came all sounded heavenly. 

“Good call, handsome,” she commended, patting his chest.  “I know how you love those big fancy yachts.”

“Ha.”  His grin adopted the smugness she’d expected from him earlier.  “You think I’m so predictable, don’t you, Rach?  You assume that I have to have some 200 foot ship to be comfortable, don’t you?”

“Well, kind of.  Yeah.”

He blew a raspberry at her, making her laugh in surprise.  “I’ll have you know that we are, in fact, spending our vacation on a catamaran.”

A catamaran?  One of those ‘barely a boat’ things?  Seriously?

Rachel was convinced that she knew Jon better than just about anybody and, while she wouldn’t describe him as high maintenance, he had definitely grown used to the good life – and had gotten her used to the good life. 

In her world the good life wasn’t a catamaran.  A catamaran was…  Well, it was to the sea what a pup tent was to the forest – it got the job done, but that was all it did.

Oh boy.  This is going to be an interesting vacation.





Monday, January 4, 2016

Ch 83 ~ Destination Anywhere



New Year’s Eve, 2011

Rachel was surprised at just how much she had enjoyed the New Year’s Eve party with Jon’s family, ringing in 2011 with everyone at Matt and Desiree’s house.  Even Dorothea and her new husband, Ted, had been there, which was much less awkward than Rachel would have thought, because she and the former Mrs. Bongiovi had become friendly.  They weren’t necessarily close, but she genuinely enjoyed Jon’s ex-wife and tonight was just one more example of that.

The echo of party horns was virtually still hanging in the air, and the clock was barely past midnight when Jon had made their excuses and whisked Rachel away to the airport to bestow his Christmas gift upon her.  Not that her gift was at the airport.  On Christmas morning, he’d presented her with an envelope that promised a trip that she would never forget, but he had refused to tell her the destination.  It didn’t matter how much she’d badgered, wheedled and prodded in the week that followed, he still wouldn’t give up the secret location.  The only hint that he gave was that it was both warm and tropical. 

Typically this type of surprise would annoy the life out of her, but she was actually quite excited when they climbed aboard the huge jet with its engines revving.  The crew had immediately loaded their bags outside the VIP terminal at Teterboro Airfield and they had lifted off within minutes. 

It seemed like they had just fastened their seatbelts when Jon released his and reached over to do the same to hers.  With an impatient tug, he had her on her feet and stumbling after him toward the back of the plane. 

“Jon!” she giggled. “Slow down will ya?  A steep take off, these stilettos and healthy champagne buzz could be a dangerous combination!”

He gave her a lecherous smile over his shoulder as he opened a door and his chuckle was positively wicked when he pulled her through it.  The same door closed with an incendiary finality just a breath before he threw her down on a bed and loomed above her.  Properly reflecting the wolfish grin he wore, Jon was purely animalistic when he growled, “It’s been a week of kids, friends, family, more kids and more family.  The only thing that’s gonna be slow tonight is the way I fuck your beautiful brains out.”

“Well,” Rachel gulped, undeniably aroused by his urgency.  “I guess that rules out Bermuda, because we wouldn’t have a long enough flight for you to slowly fuck my brains out.”

“Not Bermuda.”  His reply was short and to the point because, Rachel presumed, he was more interested in hiking one of her legs up to slip off one of the potentially dangerous stilettos.  It hit the floor with a muffled clatter before the mate joined in with the same oddly arousing ruckus. 

Perhaps in her current state of mind, anything would seem arousing.   Even the graze of her little black dress against the bedding was doing unspeakable things to her libido. 

Her feet bared to his satisfaction, Jon pressed a thumb into each arch while his fingers curled over the tops, working the muscles there in a way that was intentionally arousing.  She had no trouble interpreting the maneuver and purred with appreciation when hard masculine palms scraped licentiously up the backs of her calves.  His touch dwindled to a mere tickle when reaching the backsides of her knees, and she bent her legs to divert him from the sensitive area. 

He didn’t mind.  That in itself was an engraved invitation to move higher, and he issued his RSVP by massaging slow sensual circles into her thighs.  The way he used his palms, then his fingertips, then his nails had Rachel panting before he got within striking distance of her panties.  

“Oh, baby,” she murmured appreciatively, fingers dancing a salsa through his hair.  “I may just tell the pilot to keep flying in circles until I’ve had my fill of you.” 

“I’m gonna fill you alright.”

His lips picked up the slack when his hands found more pressing matters to tend to – such as removing the panties that had become entirely too cumbersome.

“So is this going to be one of those ‘if you have an erection that lasts longer than four hours, seek medical attention’ kind of nights?”

Jon nipped the inside of her thigh with unexpectedly sharp teeth, apparently not finding her champagne fueled humor as amusing as she did.  “You think I need Viagra?” 

“No, I just- shit!”  She inhaled sharply when those teeth moved north into an especially sensitive area.  “I just think you’ve forgotten that you’re the horny drunk and I’m the sleepy drunk.”  Not only did his teeth find that sensitive area, but his tongue had begun its own exploration.  “Oh God…  If… If you’re determined to take your time I thought I might ask for a double espresso,” she teased, not quite sure whether or not she was stringing a fully coherent thought together – and not caring.

“Bullshit,” he mumbled around her clit and surfaced, licking his lips and crawling up her body.  “Your drunken libido will match mine any day.”

Rachel giggled and nipped at his bottom lip, pulling him closer with the crook of her arm and murmuring, “Let’s just put that theory to the test, shall we?”

And test they did – exhaustively.  She awoke some time later with still-vivid images of the night’s activities in her mind and sunlight peeking through the bedchamber window.   A slow turn of her head found Jon sprawled face down on his side of the bed, with one arm possessively thrown over her.   The weight of that arm felt exceptionally good, she thought, and the weight of it gave her an excuse to stay put and enjoy an unsupervised inventory of her snoring lover. 

The road was hard on him, but this morning she was happy to find that the customary tired lines around his eyes were barely visible.  He looked a good ten years younger, which was saying a lot considering he looked incredible on any given day.  That must mean that their time together agreed with him as much as it did her.

Being with Jon night and day for the past ten days was Rachel’s idea of true paradise.  It didn’t matter where they were, just being with him made her happier than she’d ever been in her life.  She still wanted him in the same old way, still wanted to share her life with him and missed the time in their life when they were living in the same zip code. 

The bottom line was that she wanted to be his wife.

More than he could ever realize, she wanted to accept one of the million proposals he had offered her, but she needed more than that piece of paper from him – she wanted him to need her.  Not like he needed his assistant, the housekeeper or any of the hundreds of Bon Jovi minions, but truly need her like he needed his next breath of air to be complete.  Sappy, perhaps, but that was how she needed him. 

There was no doubt in her mind that Rachel would always love Jon and devote her life to him, but she wouldn’t wed him knowing that his sole interest in marriage was its importance to her.  He’d originally offered matrimony and children to win her back and, while she loved him for the sacrifice he was willing to make, it wasn’t how she wanted to take that step. 

Rachel knew from the bottom of her heart that Jon would be truly happy living the rest of his life with her by his side without the legal trappings of matrimony.  It was as simple as that, and she was willing to accommodate him because, without Jon in her life, she had no life in her. 

She wasn’t sure how long she was lost in thought, watching her beautiful man sleep.  It could have been minutes or it could have been hours.  Although it was stunning, the view out the window was of no assistance in measuring time, as there was nothing but water in sight.  Since she first awakened there had been nothing but vibrant, bluer-than-blue water as far as the eye could see.

That particular shade of ocean was a clue as to their final destination, as it tended to rule out Europe or eastern destinations.   Jon had just come home from Australia, so she didn’t really think he would want to head west.  That meant they were likely headed somewhere south of New Jersey. 

Central America would be warm and would probably fit the flight time.

The buzz of the airplane phone startled Jon awake.  He reached above his head and answered with a grunt which was quickly followed by a wide grin.  “Thanks for the update.  We’d love some coffee back here when you can.”

He twisted around to kiss Rachel’s bare breast and then pushed his naked body across her to look out the window.  As though he could read the thoughts she’d just been having he asked, “You’re DYING to know where we’re headed, aren’t you Rach?” 

“Not even a little bit, Jonny,” she lied.  Dying was a ridiculous exaggeration, and it really didn’t matter where they were going, anyway.  “It would impossible for me to care any less where you’re taking me.  I could spend the next ten days at the city dump with you and be happy.” 

“C’mon!”  She could almost swear he was disappointed at her lack of eagerness.  “You know you want to beg me for hints.  You always beg for hints about presents.  It’s half the fun of giving you something!”

Rachel tried to smooth the messy bed head he woke with, laughing at his puppy dog eyes.  Jon was almost beside himself with excitement.  The guy who had traveled the entire world dozens of times over was behaving like a kid on Christmas morning!  It was enough to make her go all ferklumpt inside.

“It honestly doesn’t matter, my sweet man,” she assured him tenderly.  “I’m just so happy to wake up with you the first morning of this new year.”

Jon puckered his lips mere centimeters from hers and breathed, “Gimme a kiss.”

“Eww!” She exclaimed with an exaggerated wrinkle of her nose as she struggled  to wiggle away.  “Champagne doesn’t do any favors for your morning breath, Bongiovi!” 

“Hmpf.”  Jon smacked her playfully on the backside.  “Poke your nose out that window, Miss Morningbreath.  I bet you see something out there that’s gonna change your tune.  In fact, I bet you’ll be dying to cram your tongue as far down my throat as you can get it.” 

“We’ll just see about that.”

Propping herself up with her back against the headboard of the bed, Rachel peered out the window to see what would magically neutralize Dom Perignon doggie breath.  The water seemed closer to the plane, so she assumed they were dropping altitude but there still was nothing but blue water and the occasional boat.

Rachel was still puzzling out the landscape when the flight attendant delivered steaming hot coffee, fruit, cheese, croissants, and muffins.  Even with her nose practically pressed against the glass, she was still no closer to solving the mystery when Jon poured them both coffee and chomped on a muffin and some fruit. 

Land came into view, dotted with lush greenery.  That was followed by more water, then more of the same scenery.  It was tropical foliage that could be found any one of a dozen places. 

She scanned the horizon to see if there was something else – something she was missing that might give her a revelation.  Something… distinctive.

Rachel sucked in a breath.

There. 

There it was.

An unmistakable landmark that indisputably announced their destination and filled her eyes with joyful tears.  There was absolutely nowhere on earth that she’d rather be going with this man and, fulfilling his prediction, she completely forgot about his morning breath to cover him with endless happy, wet, grateful, and loving kisses.