Sliding (The Stone Series) Read online

  “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” is playing softly in the background of our conversation.

  Tate chuckles and asks, “Did you have fun tonight? Was it okay what I did?”

  I did have fun. The touch of Tate’s hand on me awoke a feeling inside me I didn’t know existed. The whole time we were making out and he was touching me I felt this good kind of queasy in the pit of my stomach.

  “Yes, I had fun tonight and what you did felt nice.”

  It did feel nice.

  “You realize that constitutes going to second base, right? So as a seasoned base runner I have to tell you, stealing third should be on the table. And when I steal a base you should know I never get thrown out, I’m very fast.”

  I am feeling so many things right now I once again lose the ability to speak. This happens to me far too often with him, he makes me speechless. I have noticed his growing obsession with sex and I decide to muster up the courage and finally ask him about it.

  “Tate, can I ask you something?”

  Tate responds with a, “mmm” sound.

  “Um, what’s been going on with you? It seems like all of a sudden you’re always thinking about sex.”

  Tate tells me that Bobby’s older brother Eric told him and Bobby everything there is to know about sex, he even let them watch a porno. And he admits to thinking about sex all the time.

  “You watched a porno?” I asked stunned, “Tell me about it” I plead with pure unbridled curiosity “but first, what exactly constitutes third base?” I ask.

  Tate agrees to tell me everything but instead he says in a voice so strangled I hardly recognize him, “Sleep with me, baby.”

  Those are the last sweet words I hear before I drift off to sleep.

  Chapter 2: The Reunion

  ************

  Dominick and I pull up in front of the Malibu Beach Inn and I am suddenly frozen with fear. It is located along the strip of seashore nicknamed “Billionaire’s Beach”. After all these years of wealthy I sometimes forget that Tate and I can afford something this amazing and unique. From the entrance I can tell it offers complete relaxation, which is what my tired mind, body and soul crave right now. Maybe Tate had the right idea coming here even if it wasn’t for the right reasons.

  The Inn has less than fifty suites, each with a private balcony overlooking the breathtaking views and magical sunsets California has to offer. Before I even step through the front entrance I can tell this place holds magic for me, for us. Upon entering I am greeted by a strikingly attractive young man who I am sure wants to be an actor and is just working here until he is discovered. He somehow knows who I am and greets me as “Mrs. Taylor” and offers to show me to my room. My husband’s power never ceases to amaze me and if I’m being honest turn me on a bit. Dominick instructs me to follow the young man saying that he has things to tend to; he hands my bags to him and reminds me to meet Tate in the main ballroom after I settle in.

  When I enter Tate’s suite “California Dreaming” is playing on the iPod in the docking station and I know this is yet another treat from him. Music has been such a huge part of our relationship from the onset that we so often use it to communicate to one another when we know words will fail us. This journey Tate is leading me on has really brought that to my attention.

  I thank the young man who I have learned is named, Lucas and I enter the main room. It is gorgeous, all muted colors and modern décor. The eye is immediately drawn to the floor to ceiling sliding doors that span the massive living space from one end of the room to the other. The curtains are open so I can see the balcony and the majestic endless beach and ocean before me. It takes my breath away and I find myself opening the door and walking out on the balcony. Just as I am breathing in the fresh salty air I hear my phone bleep from inside my purse and I find a message from Tate.

  From: Tate Taylor

  Subject: sight for sore eyes and other body parts

  Date: March 16, 2011 4:12pm

  To: Brooklynn Taylor

  Hey Baby… just got a glimpse of you from behind on your way up to room. WOW! Can’t wait to c u. Will be in ballroom w/i 1/2 hr b there waiting 4 me

  Sliding and hard

  Taters

  Tate Taylor

  CEO, Taylor Studios, Inc.

  I decide to explore the suite a little seeing as how I have half an hour to kill. The main living space has two pale yellow couches facing each other. One has a floor to ceiling stone fireplace behind it, there’s a gigantic flat screen on the wall behind the other couch, a bar, numerous soft chairs and a coffee table. Beyond the main room I find the master bed and bath, it is spectacular! The sliding door and balcony mirror that of the main living space as does the ocean view. It has a king sized white four poster bed with a pale ocean blue comforter. There are so many pillows on it I lose count after seven. Surprisingly, there are no other pieces of furniture in this room but it works somehow.

  There is a doorway that leads to a room sized walk in closet and another that leads to a bathroom. The bathroom is decorated in the same pale ocean blue as the bedroom. There is a glass tiled shower that is opened to the room with three huge shower heads at all different levels. There is a double sink with a vanity and the toilet has its own room off to one side.

  I walk into the closet and hear myself gasp when I see Tate’s clothes hanging in it. I walk over to them, grab the first shirt I can find and inhale, hoping for a whiff of his scent but they have all been laundered clean and there is not a trace of him on any of them. The other side of the closet is lined with clothes in my size that Tate must have sent a shopper to purchase for me. There are gorgeous evening gowns, t-shirts, shorts, party dresses, skirts and tops in every color.

  I open the chest of drawers and immediately find Tate’s favorite shirt. When I hold it up to my face and inhale I collapse on the floor in a puddle. It smells of him, like he’s been wearing it and not washing it. There is a bottle of my perfume under it and I smell a hint of it on the shirt. I wonder if Tate’s been spraying my perfume on this shirt before putting it on to feel close to me like I have been doing back in Connecticut with his cologne, every night before bed I spray his cologne on one of his shirts he left behind then I cuddle with it while I sleep. This is something I started doing a long time ago in high school and it still does the trick in a pinch. I compose myself, put the shirt back, check my hair and makeup and exit the room. I am heading to see my husband of seventeen years but I feel as nervous as I did walking into that school dance where we met so long ago.

  When I get into the elevator “All I Need” is on. I was obsessed with “General Hospital” and the relationship between Frisco and Felicia when Tate and I were kids. The fact that they were together in real life was enough to make every teenage girl insane. Everyone at school used to joke with us that we were the Frisco and Felicia of our school. I used to run home from school to watch each episode and every night when I talked to Tate I would bore him to tears with all the details of their drama. This song brings back a memory of Tate and me from the end of that summer before tenth grade.

  ************

  Last night we started talking about sex but we never finished the conversation and tonight I plan to get some answers.

  “Last night before we fell asleep I asked what’s been going on with you sex but I never really got an answer other than you think about it all the time” I begin.

  Tate sighs and asks, “What do you want to know, Brook?”

  I have no idea what I want to know so I respond with the only answer I can think of, “Everything.”

  “Okay, I’ll start from the beginning then. When a man and a woman love each other very much” Tate says with a smirk I can hear through the phone.

  “That’s not what I mean Tater Tot and you know it so spill, now!” I demand.

  “Wow, bossy when it comes to sex aren’t we? Hmm that can have potential” Tate teases.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll try but some of its kind of guy stuff and embarra
ssing” he confesses but he continues, “Eric, Bobby’s brother has been answering some questions Bobby and I have had and he’s kind of been telling us shit, you know things we’ll need to know how to do so we’re not clueless. He didn’t think we could get everything he was saying without a visual so he showed us this porno and explained how it all works. So, I don’t know what to tell you, what do you want to know? After watching that I think I pretty much know everything now.”

  “Um, what exactly are you planning on doing with all this new information?” I ask, afraid of the answer.

  “Brooklynn, I would never look at another girl. You know I want to be with you and just you. I love kissing you and touching you. At some point soon I hope you’ll be ready for more but I can tell right now that you’re not so I’m not going to pressure you. But when you are ready I will be too and I swear I will never talk about anything we do with random guys but can I have to admit that I will probably say some stuff to Bobby, Jeff and David. I know you’re going to end up telling Asia shit too.”

  We agree no specific details to our friends and they have to swear to keep their mouths shut.

  Brook and I are on the phone and she’s adamant about knowing what I do about sex and how I know it all. I tell her about the day with Eric and Bobby and Eric’s porn. I’m afraid she’s going to be all freaked out but she wants to know what I’m planning on doing about sex so I try to give her the answer I think she wants to hear, when what I really want to tell her is, “I want to fuck you right now” but I know she will never go for it yet and honestly I’m too scared to try.

  ************

  I step out of the elevator and I open the doors to the main ballroom to find it looking exactly like the school gym did that first night I danced with Tate. “Little Red Corvette”, the first song we danced to comes on and there is Tate all of a sudden walking towards me wearing a black t-shirt under a black jacket with the sleeves pulled up his forearms. He looks exactly like he did twenty five years ago only hotter if that’s possible. He now has strong muscular forearms and his black t-shirt is stretched tight across his sizeable chest. His black silky hair is longer than it was when he left Connecticut six months ago and his face has two day old stubble on it that gives him his trademark bad boy sexiness. He walks up to me with that strut he has never lost and asks me to dance. We stand there swaying with each other like we did that first night. And this time, all I can think is that I have choreographed music videos for some of the most talented dancers in the industry, I have won awards for Super Bowl Half Time shows, I have worked on the Broadway stage and numerous award shows and here I am “swaying” with Tate Taylor again.

  Tate smirks at me because he can read my mind, he mouths, “I missed you” then his smirk turns into a smile.

  “Tate, we need to…”

  Tate cuts me off and says, “Not now, I haven’t set eyes on you in six months, let me just enjoy looking at you for a while. We’ll talk tomorrow; I have a few surprises for you today first.”

  At that I hear the music. Tate pulls me into his arms and we start to dance with each other, holding each other close. Tate takes me by both of my hands, stretches us apart so we can see each other and he mouths the words to Coldplay’s “The Scientist” to me as if they are coming from him, from his heart and soul. Then in one smooth move Tate slides behind me and lifts my right arm into the air with his right hand while he holds my left hip with his left hand. He presses his body against me and I can feel his growing erection pressing into me while in my ear he whispers, “He missed you too!”

  He runs his pointer finger from my right hand, down my right arm and down the right side of my body while still holding my left hip in his tightening grip. As he reaches my toned thigh he changes direction and works his hand up pulling, my dress with it. He lifts it up my leg just a little so he can feel the touch of my bare skin with his palm. As he does this he quietly moans in my ear. He brushes my hair off my neck and I instinctively tilt my head to the side giving him full access to one of my favorite sweet spots. He licks my neck slightly then pulls on my earlobe with his teeth. He is bringing me right to the edge of a cliff I have not toppled off of in six months and my body is begging for this sweet push that only Tate has ever given me. He can sense my arousal and turns me around to face him as the song finishes with Tate now singing along completely out of key. I don’t care that Tate is out of key because all I can hear is the meaning in those words. I am finally able to catch my breath when the music changes and Tate asks me to dance with him for a while.

  We slow dance clinging to one another to songs from our childhood, I try to talk but he covers my lips with his finger and whispers, “Shh baby, later, tomorrow, let’s just have today like this, like it used to be, back to the start.”

  Tate never tries to kiss me; he just alternates between holding me close and holding me at arm’s length to look at my face. After a while the music shifts gears and we start laughing and dancing with each other to our favorites from our college days. We dance like this for an hour and I have never had more fun. We dance like teenagers grinding up on each other and I know he’s feeling as much frustration as I am.

  When the playlist finally ends we are sweaty and breathing heavy, more from the grinding than from the exertion of dancing so Tate takes me by the hand and leads me out of the ballroom with one line, “Time to slide baby.”

  When I see her in the ballroom for the first time after six months apart I lose my breath, she looks amazing in her little black dress and I need to touch her. I walk up to her and ask her to dance with me. We stand there swaying with each other like we did that first night. I silently mouth, “I missed you” because I’m breathless in her presence right now.

  “Tate, we need to…”

  I cut her off. I have to buy myself some time. I need to make her head over heels in love with me again before we can talk or I’m afraid I’ll lose her for good. I handled things so poorly with her pregnancy and miscarriage.

  I pull Brooklynn into my arms, I take her by both hands so I can see her gorgeous face and I mouth the words along with the song, meaning every one of them.

  I can no longer resist, I have to touch her, feel her body against mine so in one smooth move I slide behind her and lift her arm into the air while holding her other hip. It feels so good when I touch her that I get hard instantly. I press my body against her so she’ll feel my growing erection.

  “He missed you too!” I say slyly to her.

  I run my finger from her hand, down her arm and down the side of her body while still holding her other hip. When I reach her hard thigh it takes all I have in me not to rip her dress over her head and fuck her right there on the ballroom floor. But instead I change direction and work my hand up pulling her dress slightly up her leg so I can at least feel the touch of her soft skin under my hand. I brush the hair off her neck and I lick her neck slightly then pull on her earlobe with my teeth. I thank God I’m not still that high school kid or I’d be shooting in my pants right now. But it has been six months since I’ve had sex with her and I just might burst right here if I’m not careful.

  If I keep this up I’m going to have no choice but to have her here on this floor so I turn her around to face me. I do not attempt to kiss her; we just dance and laugh. I want her to remember that we always have a good time playing together. When the music ends I take her by the hand and lead her out of the ballroom.

  “Time to slide baby” I announce as I lead her out of the ballroom.

  By the time we get back to our suite I am feeling jetlag set in hard. My eyes feel heavy and I have all I can do to keep them open. Tate notices my yawns and tells me I should take a nap. He says he has some work that he can get done while I sleep and then we’ll go to dinner and he says he has another surprise for me. If I wasn’t so exhausted I would be jumping out of my skin in anticipation of my next surprise. Instead I go into the bedroom and change out of my dress letting it fall to the floor in a puddle at my feet. I step ov
er the dress and out of my heels while unhooking my bra and sliding my panties off. I slide under the gray satin sheets naked and I’m falling asleep before I am fully in bed. I think I feel Tate come into the room and turn on his iPod but then I never feel him slide into bed next to me, maybe I was already asleep dreaming of him.

  ************

  It’s the start of sophomore year and Tate is at my house watching the “Like a Virgin” video with me on MTV. Michael has positioned himself as close to Tate on his left side as I am to his right. Michael is obsessed with Madonna and this is driving my mother nuts. My mom has made Michael chaperone us in the family room while she’s in the kitchen pretending to trust me. Michael is Tate’s second biggest fan, only after me and he tries to act exactly like Tate. If Tate laughs, he laughs, if Tate says he thinks a song or a video sucks so does Michael, unless it’s Madonna or George Michael. Katrina is at a friend’s house or she’d be in here saying the most embarrassing things in front of Tate. She’s in middle school now and thinks that she’s so cool and knows everything but when she opens her mouth she sounds like a stupid little kid. Tate and I hold hands and when Michael isn’t looking, which isn’t very often, we sneak a quick kiss.