Ariel shook her head and then looked at me sideways when I continued to gape at her. “No. Is it good?”
My mouth was still hanging open. Good?! No. They were not good. They were so bad they were good, though. I considered the Tim Burton Batman movies to be an absolutely essential part of nineties cinema. Although, on further thought…
“How old were you in 1992?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. I mean, I’d been tiny, but I’d been alive.
She blinked. “I wasn’t born until 1999. So, um, negative seven?”
I’d realized she was younger than me. I mean, that was obvious. But she was younger than the Bat-nipples. That was young. I rubbed my temples. She was eleven years younger than me. The overall number didn’t matter to me. It was the cultural references. So many. There would be so many she wouldn’t know! I had to start immediately if I wanted to rectify this situation.
“Come on,” I told her, not even bothering to change out of all the spandex, “we have to watch Batman Forever right now.” I grabbed her hand and led her up the stairs. “This is an emergency.”
She giggled as we climbed up to the media room. “I didn’t realize you were such a big nerd.”
I grinned back at her. “Is that going to be an issue?”
She shook her head. “No. I think it’s cute.”
Cute. Not dashingly handsome. Not charmingly urbane. Not irresistibly suave. Cute.
“I guess I can deal with being cute,” I grumbled, planting her on the couch and then digging out the Blu-Ray from my collection. “But what I cannot deal with, not even for another moment, is you, Ariel Cross, not knowing about the bat-nipples. This gets fixed right now.”
Ariel crossed her legs and stared at me as I fiddled with the equipment. “You know,” she said, giggling at me between words, “when most men grab your hand and pull you up the stairs at ten at night, it’s not just to show you their, um, bat-nipples.”
I paused. She had a point. Then again, bat-nipples were important. We could have sex afterward. I put the Blu-Ray in the player.
“I’m not most men.”
She smirked at me and looked me up and down, Batman costume and all. “That’s definitely true.”
22
Derek
Ariel fell asleep on the couch halfway through the movie, curled up against my side with her face against my shoulder. She’d been laughing and discussing the movie with me until about the midway point. Then her energy gave out and she fell silent. Now, she was totally asleep. She sighed and snuggled closer as she slept, cuddling in and filling something in my heart that I hadn’t really realized I wanted. I’d forgotten how wonderful and comforting simple physical affection could be.
But when the movie was over and Seal’s ‘Kiss From A Rose’ played over the credits, I didn’t quite know what to do. I was still wide awake. Insomnia was kind of my thing in general. I could easily survive off four or five hours of sleep a night. I’d had it checked out and the doctors said I was perfectly healthy, just unusual. But Ariel… she was out like a light. She clearly needed a more normal amount of sleep. To be fair, it was almost three a.m.
“Ariel,” I whispered, pushing her hair back from her forehead. “The movie’s over.”
She mumbled something but her eyelids didn’t even flutter against her cheek. She was really asleep. I didn’t want to wake her. But I also needed to not be wearing a Batman costume at some point in the evening. A man should only be expected to wear tactical leggings for so long. I carefully slipped out from under her and changed clothes, coming back to find her still snoozing on the couch.
In hindsight, it made perfect sense that she was exhausted. She’d been in dance rehearsals all week long, plus working a second job at Sebastian’s some nights. This was the first break she’d had in a while, and her energy reserves were probably depleted.
“Ariel,” I told her, lifting her chin up. “I’m going to carry you to the bedroom. Okay?”
She didn’t so much as react. Gingerly, so as not to disturb her too much, I scooped her up and carried her down the hallway to a guest bedroom, taking off her shoes and tucking her in. I got up to leave and found my hand held in both of hers.
“Don’t go,” she said sleepily. Her voice was inviting. “Stay with me? Sleep with me?”
“Are you sure?”
“Mhmm,” she mumbled, holding on to my hand. She was only half awake, but I believed she knew what she was saying and where she was.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I knew she was too tired to make love, so even though my body had other ideas, I firmly reminded myself that this was going to be a sleeping situation only. I slipped under the covers with her and she snuggled back up to me right away, draping one of her legs over mine and putting her head back on my chest. I may have spent the whole evening with Ursula possessively clawing at my arm, but here, in the dark, I felt a different, much more welcome type of possession. I wrapped my arms around Ariel in return, kissing her forehead and willing myself calm.
It wasn’t easy. My body was on high alert. There was a scantily clad, beautiful, warm, soft body pressed up against me. My cock was pretty sure that meant one thing only, and it definitely wasn’t sleep. I took slow deep breaths and let the arousal go, knowing that we’d have another chance tomorrow. It took a very long time, but I eventually drifted off to sleep.
* * *
When I awoke in the very early morning, Ariel wasn’t there. I opened my eyes in the darkness, disoriented that I wasn’t in my own bed and touching the warm spot in the bed that still felt empty without her. My hand reached and reached until it hit the end of the bed. She was gone.
“Ariel?” I asked, looking around in confusion. I was instantly wide awake. I sat up straight, feeling disoriented and lost.
Had she left? Run away? Had she changed her mind? What had I done wrong?
“I’m right here,” she said, coming back from the other room with a glass of water. She sounded surprised. “I just got thirsty.”
There wasn’t much light in the room, but there was enough for me to see the outline of her figure and the shape of her smile. She lay down next to me and offered me a sip of her water. I accepted it, feeling my adrenaline reaction fading now that she was back next to me.
“I missed you,” I told her, pulling her back into my arms. “I thought you’d left.”
She shook her head, leaning it in against me and nuzzling my neck. “Nope.”
I kissed her, pulling her closer and squeezing her soft curves against my body. “Good.”
She kissed me back, waking up my libido in a hurry. “It is good, isn’t it?”
I nodded, feeling my hands go wandering down the length of her body and praying this was going where I thought it was.
Ariel teased me with her tongue, stealing my breath when I wanted to be stealing hers. How had she wrapped me around her little finger so quickly and effectively? It must have been her smooth, soft skin. Or her wonderful smell. Or the way she held onto my shoulders as I pulled the straps of her top off of hers.
I got on top and straddled her. It was approximately five a.m. High time to finally make love to Ariel.
Her smooth, soft, round tits filled my palms when I cupped her, and she arched her back into my touch. She fit so perfectly in my hands, like she’d been made just for me. In the low light of the coming dawn from the window, her pale skin almost glowed. My eyes drank her in. She was radiant.
I rolled her pink, hardened nipples between my thumbs and forefingers, then tasted one nipple and then the other. She sighed and whimpered at my attention, staring up at the ceiling wide-eyed and open-mouthed. I loved seeing her this way.
And I loved the sweet, soft wetness I found between her thighs when I rolled her yoga pants down her hips even more. She was very ready for me. And I was more than ready for her.
But that definitely didn’t mean I was in any rush. I ran my fingers over every inch of her skin, wanting to memorize everything. I’d spent weeks wa
tching her dance and feeling like she was just out of my reach. Now that she was under my fingertips, it felt essential that I take my time.
I teased her with my fingers underneath her damp panties, pressing one digit inside of her to the first knuckle and watching her expression shift as I gave her slow, shallow thrusts. She put her hand over mine, pressing my fingers more deeply and tipping her head back as she took what she wanted from my hand.
“Like that, do you?” I asked her, smirking.
She whimpered. She was already on the verge of climaxing.
“You’re not coming like this,” I told her, adding a second finger along with the first and then removing them, “you’re going to have to wait.”
“Why?” Her voice was breathy.
“Because I’ve been watching you dance now for two weeks in rehearsals,” I told her, kissing her neck and whispering in her ear. “Shaking your round, sequined little ass in front of me. Teasing me.”
“I haven’t been teasing you,” she breathed. “That’s not—”
I pressed the head of my cock against her panties-clad pussy and she went silent. My body disagreed. The sun was coming, but Ariel wouldn’t be. Not yet. “So, now I’m going to tease you.”
23
Ariel
Derek turned me around so that my back was against his firmly muscled chest. He then lifted my free leg and set it up behind his knee. I was spread wide open, facing away from him. His cock was still behind the fabric of his boxers but now pressed firmly against the cleft of my ass, tempting me.
The sun was coming up, and it filled the room with a low, orangey glow. It was only when I was turned that I could see a full-length mirror on my side of the room gave us a full view of both of us in the dim, predawn light. Derek’s eyes locked with mine in the reflection. He’d planned this and was clearly enjoying the view.
He pulled my panties aside, baring me to the cool air of the bedroom and the reflection in the mirror. My pussy was dripping wet for him. I was panting and sweating in the reflection.
“Look how pretty you are,” he whispered, stroking down the length of my naked body and cupping my tits with one hand, while the other spread my inner lips and dipped inside me again. “You’re so ready.”
I’d never felt very womanly. I felt like my body was too athletic and too boyish. I didn’t look like the girls you saw on Instagram with the thirty-eight-inch busts and twenty-five-inch waists. Although I had curves, I wasn’t just straight up and down, they weren’t as lush or full as I wanted them to be. But staring at myself in the mirror, I felt beautiful.
My naked tits were heaving with each ragged breath I drew. I’d never seen myself look like this—spread open, wild, desperate for a man to fuck me. The sight of his middle finger inside of me made me feel out of my body. Staring into my own eager face and seeing Derek’s satisfied, cool smile pushed me higher.
“Please,” I whimpered. I didn’t even know exactly what I was asking for. But I was begging for more already.
“Lift your arms up around my neck,” he said, whispering in my ear in a way that made me shiver against him. “And keep them there.”
After a confused second, I complied, arching my back and feeling both vulnerable and pampered as he resumed his careful, rhythmic exploration between my legs, still over my panties. My clit ached to be touched, but he touched everywhere but where I needed it most. I shifted my hips back and forth, trying to find the friction I needed from the pull of the fabric and the gentle pressure of his fingers. It wasn’t enough.
“Derek…” the voice coming from my body didn’t sound like me.
“Shhh,” he said, nipping the back of my neck. “Quiet.”
I tried. I really did. I tried to be quiet but little plaintive noises continued as he rubbed between my legs.
“So noisy,” he said against my ear. “Are you always so noisy during sex?” I made an unintelligible noise. “It’s cute,” he declared, flicking my clit with his thumb. “But I might need to teach you to be quiet, huh?”
I shook my head. I had a feeling that sort of lesson would require more teasing. And I wasn’t sure I’d survive it at the moment.
“How much do you care about these panties?” he finally asked, plucking the G-string string on my hip.
I made another meaningless noise and shook my head. I just wanted him to fuck me. Panties? What panties?
“Good,” he said, twisting and snapping one side and then the other. I jumped excitedly and he laughed. “I’ll buy you another pair if you want.”
I was now fully naked, and staring at myself as Derek continued to slowly, slowly pet between my legs. The sight of his big, strong hand between my soft thighs was hypnotic.
“You’re a dancer,” he reminded me as I continued to work my hips back against him to urge him on. “You’re supposed to have control over your body, aren’t you? Where’s that control now? Can’t you stay still?” His tone was teasing.
I whimpered a negative and he chuckled. I felt it through my back as a low rumble. I’d never had a sexual encounter like this before. The boys I’d been with in college were slobbering, fumbling idiots by comparison. I’d been forced to do basically all the work, and even then, barely got off. This was so different from those experiences it wasn’t even funny. My pleasure was entirely up to him. Derek knew exactly how to touch me. And he was completely in control. I was just along for the ride.
“Try to be still,” he told me. He pulled his own pants down and finally pressed against me again. “If you move, I’ll stop. If you make noise, I’ll stop.”
I froze and shut up. It took all of my brain cells to override the aching pressure between my legs that said to move, but I stayed still as Derek rubbed the head of his cock against my opening.
“You feel so tight,” he whispered, and his ragged breathing made me clench inside. “Like you were made for me.”
I panted and stayed as still and quiet as I could, but it was starting to be impossible. As he rocked his hips against me, I floated, breathless. With my arms wrapped around his neck from behind and my body reflected in the mirror as he moved against me, his body was doing things to me I hadn’t realized were possible. Even with no direct pressure against my clit, I was close to climaxing. Could my body do that? I was about to find out.
If I moved or made noise, I knew he’d stop. I bit my lip, feeling the pressure building. It was right there. Just out of reach.
“You like that, don’t you?” Derek whispered, slowing down as if he could somehow read my damn brain. I guess my body was giving him all the clues he needed. He kissed my neck lazily. “I think it’s time to finally give you what you want, but not before I get what I want,” he said, pulling out of me right as I was almost there. He gently disengaged my arms from behind him and pulled my leg down. “Come get on top of me, I want to see you move now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. Finally freed to move, I crawled on top of him, noting his pleased smile with a little shake of my head.
“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who’s a tease,” I told him, taking him in hand and joining our bodies with a sigh of sweet, sweet relief.
He bucked his hips from beneath, grabbing my hips and bouncing me up and down. Even when I was on top, he was still in charge. “Show me how much you need to come,” he told me, looking up at me and filling me completely. “Take what you need.”
I rode him eagerly, finally getting what I needed on my clit now that my bodyweight was providing the friction and we were face to face. I was no expert at sex, but the way Derek’s eyes widened as he watched me bounce told me I was on the right track. The rush of pleasure grew and grew, cresting into a wave when my climax hit me. I arched my back into it, whimpering out his name and wondering how the hell I made it this long without coming. He finished a few strokes behind me, gripping my waist and sighing deeply. We lay there until the sun came up, tangled in each other’s arms and our own private thoughts.
24
Ariel
“I really wish I didn’t have to do this today,” Derek said, futzing with his tie and looking annoyed that he was wearing a suit so early in the morning. I thought he looked great in the grey pinstriped suit, blue shirt, and matching tie, but of course he wasn’t dressed up for me.
“Where is she taking you this time?” I asked. I was already feeling jealous and he wasn’t even gone yet. “Another party?”
He shook his head in annoyance. “Some kind of brunch?” Derek said. “I don’t know. I don’t even ask questions anymore. I’m just following my publicist’s instructions. Dress up as Batman? Fine. Get trotted out to a brunch. Whatever. It doesn’t matter where we’re going, I’ll be miserable no matter what.”
Derek had another Saturday morning appearance with Ursula, but it wasn’t supposed to last all day. He had to leave but promised he’d be home by lunch. I decided to hang around his house until he returned, particularly when he offered me the swimming pool as a source of entertainment. It had been ages since I’d gone for a swim. It might be October, but here in LA that was still summer. It was a perfect temperature for a dip.
“You want to come swimming with me instead?” I offered. I was wearing a bathrobe meant for Derek and it hung off me awkwardly. I flashed him. “I’m going to go skinny dipping.”
He looked seriously tempted and I shook my head. “I was only kidding,” I clarified. “Go be Ursula’s arm candy for a few hours. I’ll still be here when you get back.”
He sighed. “Okay,” he said, looking like I was ordering him off to war. “But don’t put on clothes until I get back.”
I laughed, shaking my head and kissing him goodbye. I was not committing to being nude for five hours. “See you soon,” I told him, trying not to let my irritation at Ursula get the best of me. This was what I had agreed to. Secrets were going to be a part of our world for a little while. I could deal with that if it meant I got Derek in the end. Right? I told myself it was true.
The Little Barmaid Page 11
