It was my turn to frown. “For what?”
“I need to pick up something.” He took my hand again, pulling me under the umbrella but it was too late. “You’re soaked.” He eyed the sleeveless white spring dress I’d worn for the occasion. My nipples hardened when his gaze lingered at my breasts. My body’s automatic responses continued to fascinate me. It was less than two months since our first time together but in that timeframe he’d shown me pleasure beyond even my wildest imaginings.
“Will you make me strip?” I asked, breathless.
His nostrils flared, his hand tightened around mine. “Let’s go,” he responded, pulling me behind him into the bookstore.
“Hi Sam,” I waved to the clerk as we entered.
Sam looked up, smiling wide, but it faltered a bit when his eyes fell on Aaron. “H-hi Patience. Congratulations…on graduating today.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have it?” Aaron interjected.
“Y-yeah.” Sam moved from the counter, to the shelf behind him, picking up a gift bag.
“My assistant took care of payment.”
“Yes, Mr. Townsend. Payment’s been taken care of. You’re all set.”
Aaron nodded and took me by the hand again, picking up the gift in his other hand.
I was so excited to see what Aaron had in the bag that I forgot all about Sam until he said, “Bye, Patience.”
I turned and waved over my shoulder.
“What’s in the bag?” I asked as soon as we made it out of the bookstore.
He didn’t answer, instead moving to the car that was now directly in front of the store, pulling the door open. I didn’t even bother to ask how the driver knew where we were, or had gotten there so quickly. We’d taken the subway from my graduation to get to the bookstore.
Once inside, Aaron told the driver to drive around a while, one of my favorite things to do with him. He pressed the button to roll up the partition before handing me the bag.
I took it, opening it up, and gasped when I pulled out a first edition copy of my favorite book ever,I Know Why the Caged Bird Singsby Maya Angelou. My eyes watered when I opened the book and saw that it was an autographed copy, addressed especially to me. She’d congratulated me on my graduation and thanked me for appreciating her writing.
“Aaron,” I whispered. “How did you…” I trailed off. It was a silly question. He could do whatever he wanted. He had connections I’d never know about. But the fact that he took the time …
“I was late because I’d been making calls all night to ensure the book arrived on time. I had to reschedule a meeting for this morning, and–” His explanation was cut off by my lips on his.
My arms circled his neck tightly and I felt him lift me into his lap—soaked dress and all.
“I love you.” I finally said the words that I’d been holding back for weeks. I swallowed when I felt him harden beneath me.
His hand went to my thigh, squeezing. “Say it again.” He ran his teeth down the column of my neck.
“I love you,” I stated, shuddering.
His hands parted my thighs and moved up to the seam of my panties. He began massaging me through the silk of the garment I wore just for him. He ordered me to say it over and over again, while he used his hand to wring an orgasm from me. By the time we made it back to my apartment, I was soaked, but this time it had nothing to do with the rain. We spent the rest of the night in bed, my voice growing hoarse due to the number of times he had me shouting those three words repeatedly.
It was the perfect night, so naturally, everything went to hell the next morning.
****
I woke up, startled, by the banging on my front door. I blinked, looking around, groggy from the previous night. Aaron seemed just as surprised as I was.
“I know you’re in there with that whore, Aaron!”
His eyes widened and his mouth turned downward immediately. “Stay here!” He pointed at me, putting his pants and a T-shirt he kept at my place on.
