Page 27 of Belle Amour

Mirabelle woke up the next morning to an empty bed. The night before came rushing back to her, and panic engulfed her when she saw the bathroom door was open, the light was off and she couldn’t hear Bastian in the other part of the suite. Sitting up quickly, she grabbed her phone and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the time. It was only six-twenty-eight, so Bastian was in the gym and would likely be there for another hour, depending on what kind of set-up they had.

Sighing, Mirabelle collapsed back into the pillows, her thoughts going back to what she and Bastian did. She had completely blown her “take it slow” request out of the water and into the stratosphere last night, but her dream about him had been so hot, and he had woken her up right before she got her release. He had definitely fixed that problem, though. She grinned to herself as she remembered how good he felt inside her, how gentle he’d been and how he’d checked in constantly to make sure she was okay and comfortable with what they were doing.

When they decided to lose their virginity to each other, she mentioned she was a little scared because it was supposedto hurt and having fooled around with Bastian a few times at that point, she knew he was thicker than average, which made her nervous. But Bastian being Bastian, he set out to make sure he caused her as little pain as possible, even going to a planned parenthood and speaking to a nurse there.

The result of that had been almost three hours of a slow and gradual build-up of foreplay. The nurse told Bastian that the more relaxed and turned on Mirabelle, the less it would hurt, and in typical Bastian fashion, he took that advice and ran with it. He spent time kissing and holding her, insisting they spend time touching each other and learning what felt good, which resulted in two orgasms each, as they started with fingers and then continued with mouths. After the second one, they held each other and made out until Bastian was ready to go again. he had been incredibly slow and gentle, showing an incredible amount of restraint for a sixteen-year-old boy, as he entered her for the first time, causing some mild discomfort that went away almost immediately.

It still held the number one spot for the best nights of sex in her life. In her mind, Bastian had put his pleasure second to hers to make sure her first time was as incredible and as pain-free as it could be. It was very typical of Bastian to go out of his way to learn everything he could about something important to him, and, as it had so many times throughout their friendship, it made her feel special and loved during and after the moment.

Bastian had confessed many years later that he had started with her comfort and fear of pain in mind, but it very quickly became something he was doing because it was turning him on. He had edged her by accident and found that he liked being able to control when she could cum. “Getting to build you up, then easing you off and bring you back up again. Fuck, it was so hot to listen to you, having you begging me to let you cum...I could have done that all night.” Mira groaned. She was both extremely happy and very sad he hadn't done that last night.

Shaking her head, she got up and pulled on one of the swimsuits she bought the day before, deciding she better do some laps and figure out what she was going to say to Bastian when he came back. She had been a walking contradiction since they had arrived, and she was sure she was giving him whiplash with how quickly she was changing her mind. She didn’t mean to, but as things were clicking in place for her, she was rapidly going from figuring out her feelings and wanting to take things slow to begging him to fuck her brains out, and now she half wanted him to propose. Mirabelle grabbed her towel and headed out to the pool, grinning as she thought of the looks that would be on Eddie and Casey's faces if she announced her engagement at their wedding. It would be trashy but oh-so fucking satisfying.

Bastian

Bastian woke up at his usual time of five AM, and after lying there for about twenty minutes just watching Mirabelle sleep and reflecting on the last twenty-four hours, unable to believe how quickly things had changed. Despite Mirabelle’s repeated assurances that she wanted everything that happened to happen, he couldn’t shake the anxiety that things had happened too fast, and when she woke up and processed everything, she would regret everything. The restlessness got to him, so he got out of bed quietly, got dressed and went to the gym.

After a quick warm-up on the treadmill, he moved to the free weights and began his regular workout. His first job as a lawyer had been with an ambulance chaser, a very successful one, and a prick. While Bastian had hated every moment of working for him, he couldn’t deny he had learned a lot from him, one of which was if you wanted to be taken seriously as a lawyer,you have to look your best but come across as harmless. Women on the jury have to want to fuck you, and the men have to want to be you. While Bastian didn’t necessarily believe the last part, he did believe people responded better to attractive, well-put-together people, and he worked hard to maintain that image, doing his best to get to the gym at least four to five days a week.

He was on his third rep when two women about his and Mirabelle’s age pulled him from his count. They came in and got on the treadmills, talking loudly over the machines and music.”I swear if I have to listen to that woman squawk about her goddamn centrepieces and the flowers not matching one more time...”the shorter of the two, a petite woman with brown hair in a chin-length bob, said snarkily as she started out at jog. “If I was her florist, I would have made her eat the damn things by now.”

“Well, you're in luck.” The taller, curly-haired blonde matched her speed and snickered. “Because her thing from last night is Eddie's ex-wife has arrived, and her plus one is her shark of a divorce lawyer.”

“Seriously?” Bastian watched as the brunette giggled, looking delighted. “I like her already!”

“That’s right, you never met Mirabelle, did you?”

“No, Benji and I were living in Perth while her and Eddie were married and didn’t make it home for the wedding. What's she like?”

“Smart, sweet, and sassy, way too good for Eddie.” The women looked at each other knowingly and rolled their eyes. “It took the family a bit to warm up to her. She is the daughter of a New Orleans prostitute, but she was very open about it and proud of how she had pulled herself out of the French Quarter. Aunt Francesca and Uncle Victor were distraught when they found out he had cheated on her.

“Are her and the divorce lawyer together or something now?”the brunette looked confused. “Why would she bring him?”

“No idea.” The blonde answered airily. “My understanding is they've been friends since they were kids, but according to Eleanor, he's really cute, and she's always wondered how Mirabelle ended up with Eddie and not him.”

Bastian finished his set and moved over to the rowing machine, out of earshot of the two women talking. He was a firm believer in the saying, “Eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves,” and wasn’t that interested in hearing what else the two women had to say. It appeared most of the guests from the wedding were staying at this hotel, and assumed Casey and Eddie had gotten some group discount. Bastian had chosen the hotel because it had good reviews, had more mid-range pricing than the other hotels and had a pool and gym. That meant that they were probably going to run into a lot more people who were here to celebrate the upcoming nuptials, and he hoped no one would cause problems for him and Mirabelle.

He had to admit, he was particularly tickled that Mirabelle's ex-sister-in-law thought that way. Mira and Eleanor had become very close while she was with Eddie, and Bastian and Eleanor had met a few times when she had come to pick up Mirabelle for lunch at the law firm or to go shopping after work. Bastian had never liked Eddie, even before he started dating Mirabelle. They worked in the same division at Tulk but did different things. Eddie wrote corporate policies, and Bastian did corporate litigation, so they didn’t have a lot of interaction, but the few times their paths had crossed, Bastian found himself annoyed beyond belief within ten minutes of being in Eddie’s company, but Eleanor was pleasant and easy to be around. Hedecided to encourage Mirabelle to stay in touch with her going forward.

Hearing how everyone was talking down about the happy couple was giving Bastian some serious schadenfreude, and he was looking forward to showing off how happy he and Mira were. He was taking her to a couple of art galleries today; she loved to buy art from local artists when they travelled. Then, for the afternoon, they would go to Luna Pier on Lake Erie with a picnic for dinner that he was picking up at the Luna Beach Café and a special surprise just for her. He also had tickets to a tribute of one of their favourite bands, Fleetwood Mac, that night and decided to tell Mirabelle to invite Eleanor and Robert.

As he left the gym to go back to their room, Bastian hoped Mirabelle was awake and ready to have a conversation with him about what happened. He wasn’t about to complain about what happened, but he really wanted to get an idea of where Mirabelle's head was because he wasn't sure where she was in her thought process right now. She wanted to take it slow, and then last night happened... it was not his best performance, and he was sorry he hadn't taken more time with her, but the situation and his eagerness to be with her again after twenty-one years had overrode his brain. He hoped it wasn't a mistake or regret on her part because he wanted more of her. He already knew he was going to propose, so he didn’t want their new status as a couple to start with regrets and resentment.

After a quick stop at the hotel's breakfast bar to grab coffee, juice, and breakfast sandwiches, Bastian made his way to their room. He unlocked the door and called her name as he entered. “Mira?” She didn’t answer, so he set the food on the coffee table and checked to see if she was still in bed. He saw that she was gone and that the curtain to the patio was open. Walking over to check, he could see Mirabelle swimming in the pool, andafter a quick look at the sales for the concert, he purchased a couple of extra tickets to it. Then, he decided to get in the shower while he waited for her. He was rinsing conditioner from his hair when the bathroom door opened, and Mirabelle poked her head in.

“Hey.” She smiled at him. “Can I join you?” She looked so hopeful that Bastian chuckled and beckoned for her to come in.

“I was just finishing up, but sure, come on in.” Her smile grew wider, and she came in, pulling off her swimsuit. She hung it over the edge of the bathtub to dry while Bastian finished rinsing his hair and flipped the taps so the overhead rain showerhead and hand wand came on. She stepped in, and he picked up the hand wand, wrinkling his nose at the smell of chlorine as he turned her around and started soaking her hair. While Bastian would swim in a pool, he preferred the ocean or a lake over them. “How was your swim?”

“As good as it could be considering the size and shape of the pool.” She tilted her head to help him reach all of her hair. “One day, I’ll own a pool or at least one of those large bathtub-like things that push water at one end to provide resistance while you swim in place. How was the gym?

“A swim spa?” Bastian paused and thought about that; he wouldn’t mind having one of those, either. He filed it away for future plans. “Yeah, one of those would probably be better for a place in New York City than a pool.” He grinned. “The gym was interesting. We’re the talk of the wedding.” Picking up her shampoo, he squirted some in his hand and started to wash her hair.

“What do you mean?” Mirabelle closed her eyes as he massaged her scalp. Bastian smiled; he’d gotten very good at washing her hair during the six weeks she’d had a broken elbow from her surfing accident in Hawaii after his divorce. High onpain pills the night after her trip to the hospital, she’d tried to initiate sex with him, which he gently and very regretfully turned down. Besides the fact that she was high, he was not in the right headspace to start a relationship with her as much as he wanted to. She never mentioned it after, and he didn’t think she remembered it.

“There were two women about our age on the treadmills talking about the bride complaining that you had arrived and that your plus one is your “cute shark of a divorce lawyer, that your ex-sister-sister-law has always thought was perfect for you.” Of course, I'm paraphrasing a little, but all those words were used to describe me.” He grinned and started to rinse the shampoo from her hair. “You were described as smart, sweet, sassy, and too good for Eddie.”

Mirabelle snorted out a laugh and immediately covered her mouth. “I really shouldn't laugh. Eddie's always been considered the black sheep and disappointment, and not without reason. It took him three tries to pass the bar, not because he was stupid or didn't know his stuff, but because he was so overconfident that he went out partying the night before and was hungover or still high when he wrote it. He was always doing things like that because he was too smart and better than everyone else, so he wouldn't listen to any advice, no matter how much common sense was behind it.” She explained.

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