Many Blessings

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sachi was ensconced in a reading when Brad sounded the all clear around one thirty for Mandaline to come downstairs.

Although Paige pursed her lips together in an attempt to hold back her smirk, she didn’t say anything to Mandaline about the incident.

Mandaline’s eye fell on the plastic crate full of cards below the register. She pulled it out.

Paige’s expression turned somber. “Yeah,” she said. “There is that. We’re still getting them every day, brought in and by mail.”

She let out a sigh. “I guess I know what I need to handle.” She carried it upstairs to the apartment. Spreading out on the couch with a letter opener, she began the emotional process of going through them. She didn’t know what to do with them. There were a few from suppliers, more generic ones that were polite but not necessarily ones she felt strongly enough to save.

Most were cards from customers and friends expressing their condolences with their names, and sometimes a short message.

Then…

Then there were the long personal notes, sometimes additional letters tucked into the card as well. She knew some of those would need personal responses. With those, as soon as she saw a block of writing, she tucked the card back into the envelope and put it aside to deal with later. The first one almost had her in tears, a long, sweet note from a reading customer of Julie’s who talked about how wonderful an impact Julie had on her life.

I can’t deal with that right now.

It was too much, too soon. She finally felt a little like she’d regained most of her emotional footing. She didn’t want to shake her soul up any more than necessary at this point.

She heard the door to the stairwell open, followed by Sachi’s voice. “Boss?”

She sniffled and sat back. “Yeah, it’s okay.”

Sachi emerged from the stairwell, her serious-friend expression in attendance. She nodded at the crate. “Paige told me you brought it up here. You all right?”

She let out a deep breath. “I guess.”

“If you want to leave the rest for me to go through, I will.”

“Yeah, but you’ve done so much already.”

She shrugged. “That’s why I’m here.”

“You could have warned me sooner, by the way.”

Sachi didn’t need a map to follow her train of thought. She grinned. “I thought about it, but I didn’t have the heart to. You sounded like you were having too much fun.”

“How many people heard?”

“No customers, don’t worry. Just staff out by the counter.” She jammed her hands into the pockets of her slacks and approached the couch. “I think you need a vacation.”

“Says the woman who won’t take a paid day off if I threatened her.”

“I like what I do.” She knelt in front of Mandaline to pet Pers. “Just remember, those two are good for you. And you’re good for them.” She smiled. “And I don’t just mean good for their prostate health, either. You all were meant to be together. Enjoy it.” She stroked the dog’s head. “You know she’d want you to be happy.”

“I know.” She hesitated, then packed away the cards she hadn’t opened, as well as the ones she couldn’t deal with yet.

Sachi stood and held out her arms. “Gimme. I’ll take it and put it back down there. You need to do something fun this afternoon. Or at least non-sad.”

They heard what sounded like a large truck behind the building. When Mandaline looked out the window, she saw a UPS truck backing up to the door.

“Uh-oh.”

“What?”

“Tom backed in today.”

Sachi laughed. “Guess we just got part of our replenishment order.”

“Yeah.” The driver opened the back door and unloaded a dolly first. Then he started unloading box after box…after box.

Mandaline headed for the stairs. “Putting away stock will help take my mind off things.”

“But that’s not fun.” Sachi followed her down. “I can cancel skeet and stay and—”

“No. You need time off to unwind.”

“But I feel bad about this. Like I’m abandoning you.”

“You’re not. Go have fun, and that’s an order. Hey, it means more stuff to sell so I can keep you gainfully employed and support your skeet habit.”

“Oh, true. Well then, carry on, boss.”

Ellis volunteered to cook dinner that night while Brad helped Mandaline and the others verify the huge shipment and begin the arduous task of entering it all into the computer, pricing it, and putting it away. Finally, at closing time, they still only had a quarter of the shipment put away. Mandaline called it quits for the night and ordered everyone to go home and leave the rest for the next day.

Upstairs, Ellis had timed things perfectly so that the roasted chicken and vegetables were done when they were.

As Mandaline tiredly collapsed in her chair at the table, she stared at the layout. He’d set the table with real plates and silverware, and used serving dishes for everything, instead of paper plates and having everyone dip out of pots and pans. She felt touched that he’d taken the effort.

She couldn’t remember the last time she and Julie had used something other than paper plates.

“This is…this is really nice. Thank you.”

He leaned in and kissed her before taking his seat. “You’re welcome.”

Brad chimed in. “I’ll do the dishes, don’t worry. You two can go get started without me since I got first dibs earlier.” He smiled at her.

She stared at him.

He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She surveyed the table again. “I…” She sat back. “I guess,” she finally said after composing her thoughts, “I’m just trying to pound it through my thick head that this is all real. It doesn’t seem real. That something so wonderful, meaning you two, can happen on the heels of something so horrible. In my life that kind of stuff usually happens the other way around, something horrible happening after something really good got my hopes up.”

After dinner, Ellis stood and held his hand out to her. “Come with me, m’lady.”

She let him take her hand and help her up.

Brad started clearing the table. “Try not to wear her out too much,” he joked. “I won’t be that long.”

“Don’t worry. I plan on taking my time.”

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared into his blue eyes.

How’d I get so damn lucky?

He led her into the bedroom, where he pulled her into his arms. “Tired of us yet?”

She draped her arms around his neck. “Not even.”

He slanted his mouth over hers. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his lips on hers, the scratchy stubble on his cheek, letting his energy wash over her. His hands drifted down his back, over her hips, until they came to rest on her ass. “I know I’ve already said this,” he said, “but thank you for the second chance. I won’t let you down.”

She smiled up at him. “If you do, I’ll sic Sachi on you.”

He laughed. “That’s more than enough motivation.”

He slowly undressed her, kissing her flesh as he bared it, his lips and tongue teasing, tasting, exploring in a way they hadn’t yet had time to. She closed her eyes and kept her fingers buried in his hair, wishing he’d go faster and praying that he didn’t.

When they were stretched out together on the bed, naked, he slowly worked his way down her body. Between her thighs, he pushed her legs apart and settled between them, still taking his time.

He reached up and she laced her fingers through his. Playful blue eyes glanced up her body before falling closed again and focusing on pleasuring her.

She couldn’t take her eyes off him. The feel of his energy surrounding her, she realized never before, only with these two men, had she ever felt this sensation. No other lover besides these men had touched her soul so deeply, rendered her so helpless with pleasure.

Felt so tender and loving.

The first orgasm curled her toes, but he didn’t stop there. When she tried to wiggle away from him, he squeezed her hands more tightly and kept his face pressed against her pussy, his tongue only slowing but not ceasing its erotic play.

He waited until after he’d made her come again before rising up on his arms and reaching for a condom. He caught her under the knees with his hands and pushed her legs up and back before easily sliding his cock inside her.

Like this, he hit her even more deeply than he had before. He hooked her ankles over his shoulders and then found her hands once more, leaning forward, pressing her thighs against her chest. In this position she couldn’t move, could only lie there, encased by his body.

He took his time, slowly, his cock filling and stretching her in delicious ways.

“Don’t close your eyes,” he whispered. “I want to watch you come for me like this.” His fingers tightened on hers. It felt like a spiritual free fall, her energy awash in his strength, his love.

She had no doubts about how he felt.

She had nothing but trust for him.

He changed his angle and speed slightly until she gasped with pleasure.

A smile quirked his lips. “That’s it.”

He kept it up, every stroke perfectly hitting someplace inside her she’d never even knew existed. When the orgasm finally bubbled up and exploded inside her, she let out a soft cry of surprise and joy that he’d unlocked that particular secret.

“Good girl,” he whispered, quickening his thrusts until he slammed into her, coming with her just as her release had begun to wane. Winded, he touched his forehead to hers. “I love you.”

Overcome, she tried to speak, couldn’t, and simply nodded as she burst into tears.

He put her legs down but she kept them locked around his waist as she held him, not wanting to let go.

He stroked her hair. “Are you okay?”

She nodded again.

He chuckled. “I hope that was a good cry.”

She nodded, a little laugh escaping her.

He made her look at him. “Tell me.”

She couldn’t. She didn’t know how. Instead, she kissed him, hard and deep and wishing she could just impart the information to him telepathically.

“I love you, too,” she finally whispered.

“You didn’t wear her out, did you?” Brad chastised from the doorway.

They both looked over at him. Mandaline giggled as she watched him frantically stripping on his way to the bed.

Ellis looked down into her eyes again, that sweet smile still curving his delicious lips. “No, just breaking the ice.”

Her breath caught. Somehow, she sensed, he knew. She nodded, making his smile grow wider.

“Gimme gimme gimme,” Brad joked as he bounced onto the bed next to them.

Ellis kissed her once more before sitting up. “I’ll be right back.” He went to clean up in the bathroom.

Brad immediately took his place, his stiff cock brushing against her thighs.

“I don’t know if you can get another one out of me,” she admitted. “Between this morning, lunchtime, and just now, I think you two have made me come more in less than twenty-four hours than I’ve come in the last year.” She reached between his legs and gently tugged on his cock. “Suit up, mister. Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.”

He grinned and reached for a condom. He easily slid inside her, then made her put her legs down straight. Moving carefully, he stretched out over her. “How’s that?”

She grabbed his shoulders as she let out a little gasp. Every stroke had almost the full length of his cock sliding against her swollen, sensitive clit.

He grinned. “Yeah, I thought you’d like that.”

Ellis returned and stretched out next to them. He leaned in and kissed her, his hands playing with her nipples and adding even more of a delicious ache to her clit.

“Don’t worry, baby,” Brad said. “I’m going to keep doing this until you give in and give me just one more.”

She dug her fingers into his shoulders, unable to believe her body was still capable of responding to them, much less that she suspected they were going to get another orgasm out of her.

More proof I was meant to be here.

And that was her last conscious thought before Brad picked up the pace a little and managed to trigger one more avalanche inside her. She let out a cry, muffled by Ellis’ mouth.

“That’s our girl,” Brad said. He began fucking her hard and fast, each stroke only keeping her own orgasm going until she thought she couldn’t take it anymore. With one final thrust his body went rigid, his cock buried deep inside her as he groaned.

Ellis lifted his mouth from hers.

“And that, folks,” Brad joked as he leaned down and kissed her, “is a wonderful way to end an evening.”