The Outsider Series

Chapter 22-1

Chapter Twenty-Two

Andy drove down the long driveway, lit up on each side by white, green, and red lights, and parked at the front doors of the estate. The round, circular driveway was normally used by guests—the family always parked in back. Christmas lights blinked in a rainbow of colors, strewn on the trees in front of the estate and strung across the roofline of the house. He shut off the engine and stepped out, wearing his dark suit. He walked around to the passenger side and opened her door, holding out his hand. She hesitated before slipping her slender, pale hand in his. Her white gown slid up, exposing slim, shapely legs, and she stepped down in gold-trimmed high-heeled sandals.

A slim gold band glittered from her ring finger. It wasn’t something he’d ever considered buying. He’d always expected to buy his wife a big diamond, maybe a pear-shaped emerald, something that made a statement. Andy wore no ring himself as he held his wife’s hand. She paused at the bottom of the wide stone steps, and when he felt her trembling, he realized she was frightened. He ran his hand over her long, silky hair. “Let’s go in. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay.”

She hesitated and searched out his gaze before nodding. He slid his arm around her shoulders as they walked up the stairs together. When he opened the front door, they heard voices chattering from the guests who lingered in the grand foyer. There appeared to be a hundred people here. “Wait here,” he said, and he climbed the stairs until he looked down on the crowd and shouted, “Could I have your attention, please?” He stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled until the room fell quiet. His mother and father pushed through the crowd and peered up at him, and he could see the concern and worry in their expressions. But then, of course his mother quickly smiled to her friends and the people around her. “Can I have your attention, please? I have an announcement to make.”

Alexis moved to the bottom of the stairs and smiled up at him.

“I’d like to add to this celebration by introducing you all to my bride.”

Cheers and whistles echoed from the crowd, and his mother smiled and clapped, glancing at Alexis.

Andy extended his hand out. “My wife, Missus Laura Friessen. Come on up here, darling.”

His mother gasped her eyes flashing with anger before she quickly hid it. Laura lifted the white gown Diana had snared from a boutique in the mall. It was a simple white gown, not a wedding dress, with small capped sleeves and a v-cut in the front, and she strode up the dozen stairs to where her husband waited. She put her hand in his. He pulled her to his side and leaned down, kissing her long enough that the crowd cheered. He sensed her innocence, her inexperience, from her trembling lips. When he pulled away, she blushed brightly. Alexis raised her glass at the bottom of the stairs and strode to his mother, to Todd, to where the senator was glaring at Andy as if he’d just yanked the rug out from under him.

“I’d like to propose a toast,” Alexis said. “Please, everyone, raise your glasses. To my good friend Andy Friessen and his lovely wife, Laura. Please, everyone, help wish them a joyous and blissfully happy marriage filled with love and lots of children, and to Laura’s little boy, Gabriel, who will be arriving here tomorrow morning. Isn’t that right, Father, Caroline?” Alexis allowed her gaze to linger on Todd, Caroline, and then her father. Then she raised her glass to them and winked.

Everyone cheered and drank.

“Come on.” Andy took Laura’s hand and led her back down the stairs, where they were surrounded by well-wishers and made their way through the crowd to Alexis. She stood with his parents and the senator, who all masked their rage with plastic smiles they’d mastered years ago. Caroline accepted hugs from several friends, who squealed their excitement.

Alexis set her glass on the tray of a passing waiter. “I’ll be leaving in the morning, Father, Caroline, Todd, but I’d like to thank you for your hospitality and the enlightening stay. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble seeing that Laura’s son arrives safely tomorrow, which is Christmas Eve.”

Caroline flashed an icy smile, showing all of her perfectly straight teeth, nodding at friends who waved across the room. “Why, you little bitch.”

“Don’t ever talk to my daughter like that,” the senator snapped. He stepped closer, leaning in. “Alexis, I’d like to speak with you in private.”

“While you’re at it, tell her that Laura has just lost her child for good,” Caroline muttered, so low that no one would overhear.

Alexis chuckled softly under her breath. “You may want to rethink that, since your little offshore partnership and the investments that will net you billions might come crashing down around you. With the recent election, it’s frowned on when billionaires and senators are partnering up to take jobs from those in their own state, their own country, and ship them overseas. And with all the subsidies you’ve managed to streamline your way… this will make a great story, especially from a senator’s daughter.”

The senator reached for her arm and smiled, but his eyes flashed with a glimpse of the predator he’d always kept from her. “Are you blackmailing your own father?”

“Yes. When a senator abuses his power with a wealthy woman to destroy an impoverished single mother, to separate her from her child, that’s where I draw the line, Daddy. I love you, but I’m ashamed to know you right now.” She didn’t move but glared at his hand until he dropped it from her arm.

“It’s not that easy to get her child back. For God’s sake, it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow. It can’t be done,” the senator whispered.

Alexis patted his hand, glancing at Caroline and Todd as she spoke. “You’ll find a way to make it happen. I have faith in you, all of you. You’re a great team when you want to be.” She turned when she glimpsed Andy, with Laura in tow, making his way toward her. “Excuse me. I need to congratulate the bride and groom. Oh, and Caroline, I expect that you’ll welcome her into your family.”

Caroline’s smile faltered, and she pushed through the crowd, excusing herself. Todd stood with the senator when Andy approached.

“Dad, Senator, I’d like you to meet my wife, Laura.” Andy wrapped his arm around Laura’s trembling shoulder, and he pulled her closer when Todd reached for her hand and kissed it. She yanked it away, and Todd’s expression darkened right before he strode off.

The senator’s face was a stony mask. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a call to make.”

Alexis stepped in and hugged Andy. He held her and then kissed her cheek. “How can I ever thank you? What you did… Alexis, I’m sorry. I never expected you to help the way you did. You’re a true angel.”

She patted his arm and then reached out and touched Laura, who was standing off to the side awkwardly. “A mother and child should never be separated,” she said.

When Alexis glanced at Andy, he saw something in that one look that resembled a profound sadness. Then it was gone. This time, when she looked at Laura and Andy, she smiled.

“You two look great together. And don’t you worry, Laura. Your son will be home tomorrow. But I have a plane to catch in the morning, so if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pack.”

Laura stopped her just as she tried to squeeze past. “Alexis, I’ve never had anyone do anything to help me, not like this. I don’t know why you did it. But thank you.”

Alexis patted her shoulder and made her way to the stairs, which she hurried up, lifting her dark skirt.

“Come on, I know you’re hungry. Let’s grab something to eat.” Andy held Laura’s hand, guiding her to the dining room, where food covered the table. He glanced at her face and watched the wonder and astonishment as she widened her eyes.

“That’s a lot of food, Andy. That will feed a lot of people.”

“Yes, it will.” Andy reached for a plate and dished up food for Laura and then for himself and found them a quiet spot off the sunroom to eat in peace. The party was still in full swing when Andy led her upstairs to his room. He closed the door, and she hesitated just inside the bedroom. When she looked up at him, it wasn’t fear that he saw, but innocence. He strode toward her and slid his hands down her side, and then he led her into his large en suite.

“I want you to relax. Have a bath. There’s a nightgown for you to put on—I asked Jules to find it.” He gestured to the stacked fresh towels and a plain white nightgown, and then he left, pulling the door closed behind him.

Half an hour later, she opened the door and walked sheepishly out, holding her hands in front of the fabric. She glanced at the bed and blushed. “Which side would you like?”

“The left,” he said, and he watched her walk around and slip under the duvet, pulling it up to her chin. He smiled to himself. Of all the women he’d had, he had never in a million years imagined himself with someone this inexperienced.

Andy undressed and slipped in under the sheet. He moved on his side and hooked an arm around her waist to pull her firmly back into the cradle of his body. He felt her tension ease when she touched his hand, which rested on her stomach over her nightgown. She was hesitant at first, touching his hand and then resting it on top of hers. He didn’t push, just let her settle.

“This is really nice.”

“Go to sleep,” he said, feeling the tension build inside himself, and he thought he would go half blind lying there with her pressed into him. Never once had he lain with a woman all night without satisfying his needs. Just what the hell had he been thinking? God knew he would have loved to roll her over onto her back to seduce her, to feel her warmth. He could do it easily, but he wanted the decision made by her consciously, not because he knew how to stoke her fire, how to get her so hot she’d easily allow him his way.

She turned to face him. “When you showed up at Diana and Jed’s and asked me to marry you, I thought you were joking. Then I thought it was pity, and I did it to get Gabriel back. But I don’t want to be a burden. Or the other woman. I can’t be that.”

He touched her lips with his, a slow, deep kiss. She touched his shoulders as he slid his hand down her stomach, to her hip and her thigh. She sighed, and he deepened the kiss as he slid up her nightgown and caressed her bare buttocks. She moaned and pressed her bottom against his hand. He couldn’t wait much longer, and he suspected she knew that. He rolled her over onto her back, resting above her on his forearms. “This will be a real marriage, and you’ll be the only woman.”

He watched her in the dim room. The only light was from the Christmas lights decorating the house and lighting up the property, all shining in from the windows as he had left the curtains wide open. He’d done it for a reason, because he wanted to see her, all of her, even though, as he watched her now, a slight blush crept up her cheeks. She was so young and innocent even though she had a child, and he could sense all of that in her hesitation.

“I don’t want to disappoint you.” She slid her hand so cautiously, so slowly to his cheek and touched him.

He leaned in and tasted her again, and she opened for him, touching her tongue with his as he deepened the kiss. Sliding his hand down her side to lift both ends of the nightgown and pull it over her head, he tossed it on the floor. He gazed at her full breasts that fit nicely in the palm of his hands, her slim hips and flat tummy, she almost seemed too thin, but Andy had every intention of changing that as he ran his hand over her stomach, the covers pulled down and moved to her side. She reached for him, pulling his head toward her, and he knew he wouldn’t last when she slid her hand down his chest and lower to take him in her hand.

“No, Laura.” He chuckled when he sensed her hesitation, as if she’d done something she shouldn’t.

“I’m sorry…” she said, and he could hear how nervous she was.

“Don’t be sorry. I just won’t last if you touch me.” He watched her blink then, her seductive green eyes widening. If she ever learned how to use her sexuality on him, he’d be in big trouble. Then it dawned on her, his meaning, as her eyes widened more, and before she could think it to death and pull back, he leaned in and kissed her again, tasting her until she started to relax beside him. He took her n****e in his mouth and slid his hand over her other breast, squeezing and touching her lower until she moaned in his mouth, and he moved over her, on top of her, spreading her thighs, feeling how ready she was, and he watched her as he slowly filled her and she gasped. He whispered, “Easy, baby,” and held himself still, starting to ease out as it may have been too much too fast, but she slid her hands over his ass and pulled him back.

“No, don’t pull out. You feel so good.” She slid her hand, her arms, around his back, ran her hands over his shoulders as he moved inside her, doing his damnedest to take it slow and easy. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he could feel her coming apart beneath him, whispering his name over and over, and Andy couldn’t hold back any longer.