by T. L Smith
Women lose their minds at beautiful men.
Case in point—me, right now.
Because in reality if he weren’t so beautiful, I would never have let him stand there without me saying a word. But I want his lips back on mine, and more than that, I want his hands to touch my body. So, I stand in front of him with my back to him, asking him to do my dress up.
His hand touches my hip, and he slowly slides the zipper until it reaches between my shoulders and stops. I step away from his touch and walk over to my full-length mirror, while he stands there. Eyes on me.
Honestly, my heart skips a beat with the way his eyes roam my body.
If a woman said having an attractive man’s eyes watch her every move didn’t make her feel wanted and powerful, she’s damn well lying. It’s almost like having your own unique drug, one that has the power to provide excitement and gives you strength.
Pulling my dark hair free, I let it fall past my shoulders and rub some hair mousse through, to help bounce my curls back into place.
Grabbing my red lipstick, I apply generously then slide it in my purse.
“I’m ready,” I say, reaching for my heels with the ribbon across the ankle and carry them in my hands as I turn for the door.
Gunner opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.
The car ride over was mostly silent, we exchanged a few words, and that was it. I wasn’t sure what to say anyway. He seemed happy with the silence and I needed to calm the fuck down. My fluttering belly and my heart that skips beats are crazy.
“I want you to come home with me afterward.” He offers me his hand as I get out of the car.
I’m taken aback at his words. “You what?”
“You heard me, Everly.”
I would say he is rude, but he isn’t. He quite simply doesn’t have a filter like the rest of the world. He’s straight. Honest. Direct. I like that about him. Well, of what I know of him, anyway.
“Can I think about it?”
“Of course. But that’s not the answer I usually get from a woman.”
“I’m not most women,” I reply, referring to the women he more than likely surrounds himself with. I saw a glimpse of that type hanging over him that first night I saw him.
“Of course, you aren’t.” His hand goes to the small of my back as we step up to a backdrop with people taking photographs before we enter the event. The touch of his warm hand makes my pulse quicken. My hands are holding my purse, so he doesn’t grab one and notice how sweaty and nervous I am around him.
“Gunner Reid, is that you?” A sex-laden voice comes from the side. It’s an Instagram-famous girl, I know that for sure because I’ve seen her before. She’s known for her provocative poses, and over time, her minimal clothing.
“Geena!” He dismisses her with a single look. She looks down to the ground, and only looks back up after we’ve walked past. As we do, she offers me a shy smile when I look back, but quickly averts her eyes as he looks over his shoulder to see what has captured my attention, and when he does, she turns away.
“You’re intimidating,” I say as we walk in.
I should know, he intimidates me.
I spot May straight away, but I make no move to step out of his grasp. It’s comforting, protective, and it feels wonderful having him touch me in any small way. I haven’t ever had a real relationship. Not that I’m a virgin, but once people know who my father is, they tend to head in the other direction. I’m twenty-five and never had anyone tell me they love me other than my family.
“Does that bother you?”
I shake my head, because it’s the truth. I find it, him, appealing. He, as a package, is extremely appealing.
“Good, because what I want from you would be an issue if you find me intimidating.” He starts walking again before I can question what he’s just said.
What he wants from me?
Gunner heads straight to the bar, orders me a drink, and places it in my hand but he has nothing.
“You aren’t drinking?” I take a sip of the vodka and cranberry and smile. It’s the same drink I was drinking the night I met him.
It impresses me that he remembered.
“No, I like my head clear at all times.”
Okaaay! I smile at his words.
He looks at me puzzled, and directs, “Don’t drink too many. I want you clear for what I want to do to you.” His eyes zero in on me as he speaks. My cheeks redden at his words. He doesn’t talk to me in a sensual tone, it’s more the way he looks at me as he says it. It’s as if he plans to do very bad things to me, and to say I’m excited is an understatement.
“How old are you?”
“Thirty. Never been married, but intend to marry, someday soon.”
I spit my drink out. “Jesus! You make it sound like some sort of business transaction.”
He looks at me puzzled, his eyebrows drawn together almost forming one single brow. “Marriage is… well, you benefit from being with that person. You don’t marry for any other reason.”
“You sound like my father,” I say with a sour look on my face, turning away and putting the drink to my lips before I say anything else. Perhaps something I might regret. My father is the last thing I want to be reminded of while being out with Gunner.
“You see it differently?”
May waves at me and I’m thankful for the distraction. Just as I go to step toward her, a hand touches my waist and pulls me back, so I land on something hard. My drink almost spills on me.
“How do you see marriage?” he asks again, this time pressuring me to answer.
I pull away, and he lets me as I turn to look at him. Gunner’s watching me, waiting for my reply as if he needs it. As if it means everything to him.
I shake my head, deciding not to answer. This man is someone I can’t work out. At all. Why does that question bother him? Why does he need a prompt answer to it, yet we don’t discuss anything else? His communication skills leave a lot to be desired, unless of course, it’s talking about choking.
Shouldn’t we be discussing basic shit like getting to know one another?
Shouldn’t he be wining and dining me?
This is all too weird.
“What’s wrong?” May grabs my arm, pulling me to her.
I simply shake my head.
“He’s watching you. Did you just walk away from him?”
I don’t look back, even though I want to. “I just don’t know. He’s... so intense.”
May laughs. “I Googled him.” She looks over my shoulder, then back to me. “He’s a tycoon. Probably as rich as your father.”
Well, that little tidbit of information shocks me. Gunner said he deals in real estate, but I guess in his defense, I didn’t ask any further questions.
“He’s also never photographed with women. But stories float around about him all the time.”
“What kind of stories?”
May shrugs as the music in this place is turned up a notch, and I have to lean closer to hear what she’s saying.
“They say he uses women. Every woman he’s been with, or allegedly been with, doesn’t speak about him. They all have some sort of gag order.”
I turn my head to look at him, and there’s a woman standing right next to him.
“Oh, and keep Geena away. If she gets her claws into him, he may go broke.” May giggles referring to Geena’s ex-husband who’s now bankrupt. But somehow, she still seems to be living her best life.
“Maybe I should let her have him. I mean… we are two different people. We don’t really… well, connect.” I know the minute I say it that it’s a lie. We may be two very different people, but everything about Gunner Reid makes me want to connect with him.
“No way. You have been gushing about that kiss for days. I’ve never seen you talk about a man like him before. Go get your man.” She pushes me forward then slaps my ass to get me moving.
When I look up, Geena’s touching his shoulder as he watches me. I st
art to step in their direction and it’s then when she turns and looks my way too.
Fuck me! I didn’t sign up for this. What even is this? We’ve shared one kiss and jealousy is spiking at me already. I don’t want this. Putting on my best smile, I walk over to them, my hands by my side.
“Thank you for coming with me, Gunner. I hate to do this, but I have to get going. I’ll see you later.”
His eyes lock on to mine while Geena stands next to him, her hand still on his shoulder. Gunner brushes her off as if she means nothing. Actually, that little action made me see she does mean absolutely nothing to him.
I turn to leave, not wanting to hear anything more he has to say.
It’s just lust, and I craved him.
And now, well, I’m going to turn and try to forget him.
A man as beautiful as he, clearly has issues. And they’re issues I don’t want anything to do with, I tell myself as I walk away from him.
4
“No.” His voice stops me. “I will take you home.”
I pretend I don’t hear him, even though every part of my body is on full alert and is hyperaware that he’s now close behind me.
“Everly.”
I stop, though I’m almost at the door. Turning to look at him, everything about him that I just learned from May flies through my mind.
He doesn’t do relationships.
He is rich.
Possibly as rich as my father.
There isn’t much else about him.
His private life is that, private.
“Gunner, I don’t have time for this. Whatever this is. Please just let me go,” I say in a soft voice, careful not to let it carry anywhere but between the two of us as I continue to walk out.
“I’m cold, dismissive, hard. I’m trying to block those traits from you, so as to not scare you. It’s difficult.” His revelation shocks me so much that my feet stop, and I turn back to look at him. When I see his eyes on me, I have to remember to breathe.
Have you ever been watched by someone you thought was made by God? Crafted straight from his hands. It’s exhilarating to have the eyes of someone like that on you. I know I’m not ugly, but I’m also no supermodel. I have an ass, my hips are larger than most, and my tits are smaller than a handful. But having him look at me the way he is right now, makes me feel like I’m the only woman he wants to see.
May likes to say I’m a blue-eyed Kim Kardashian. Just not as fit.
“I didn’t ask you to be someone else for me,” I say, my hands holding my purse in front of me, and I’m unsure of what made him suddenly confess.
“You didn’t. But I want to try. For you.”
“Why?”
Gunner steps closer, his hand now coming up to grab mine that’s glued to my purse.
“I mean, we’ve just met. This, well… this can’t be anything. Let’s just leave it.”
His warm hand squeezes mine. “Come back to my place with me.”
Did he not hear what I just said?
Was I completely unclear?
“Sorry, what?”
“I didn’t whisper it. You heard me, Everly. Come back to mine, so I can have you.”
Someone walks past us out the door and bumps me, pushing me into his arms. He catches me with his strong hands and doesn’t let me go. I feel my heart rate speed up and it rings through my ears at his simple touch. My breathing’s heavier, and I have to remember it’s only a simple hold, a simple touch, there’s nothing more.
I take a deep breath as one hand releases me, but he doesn’t step away. There’s no callouses on his beautiful hands as they touch my chin ever so lightly. Just a delicate touch. I smell him ever so clearly, having him this close, as he lifts my chin to look up at him.
Gunner’s breath tickles my face as he leans down, and I know he’s going to kiss me, and I’m helpless to stop him.
“No escaping now, Everly.”
His words don’t register in my brain as his lips touch mine, and that’s all my body can think about. How when he presses his lips to mine, what that feeling does for me. How I fall apart in his hands. His body comes into contact with mine, and he pulls me even closer with a soft hand at the back of my dress, holding me to him. It’s possessive, and at that moment if he took me right here, right now, I wouldn’t be able to say no. How can I? He’s too much, I can’t resist him. My resolve is a puddle on the ground, melting all around me.
Pressing my body closer to him, I feel his hardness on my stomach, and if I stretched up a little bit more, maybe on my tippy toes, he would be exactly where I want him. Exactly.
His tongue works like magic, the spell he’s cast is fucking me over and making me hypnotized to his needs. Fuck my needs and wants, everything flies out the window when I am within his grasp. My hands grip his shirt, my purse dangles from my wrist as I focus solely on him.
I hear the click of a camera, and it brings me back to reality. I pull away fast, putting a step between us. “Take me back to yours.” I look up at him. It’s then I notice his lips are red from my lipstick and he has a slow smirk on his lips.
If I knew better, I’d run from that smirk, but for some stupid reason, I don’t. Maybe I can’t.
I’m fidgeting, my leg bouncing up and down as we pull up at his place, the same place I was at a week ago when I first met him. We haven’t even been out on a date, and yet here I am at his place for a second time. I can’t be a whore, because I never fucked him the first time around or got paid for it.
So what does this make me? Naive, probably.
“Are you nervous, Everly?” I turn to face him as the car comes to a stop. “Don’t go all shy on me now.”
“Yes.” There’s absolutely no point in denying it. This is all very new to me.
“All the better,” he says with such happiness that it confuses me.
He’s hard to read. Decipher. But above all, he is so very blunt. I’ve never met a man like him before, and with the company my father keeps, that’s an incredible statement.
Gunner slides out of the car and comes around to open my door. He offers me his hand, and something inside me knows this is my chance.
My chance to tell him no and leave.
I should go.
And not look back.
But as I glance at his hand and up to his cold, dark eyes, I want to take that leap with him. I want to see where he’s taking me. So, I place my hand in his, and a smile touches his lips like he knows he’s got me exactly where he wants me. And I do nothing to say otherwise.
I’m fucked.
I will fall for this man, and I will fall hard.
That idea scares me the most.
Because he clearly doesn’t know how to function in a relationship, and I’ve never been in a relationship to know better.
Not that this is a relationship anyway. This is only sex. Right?
Or, so I will keep telling myself.
My hands don’t shake like they did last time as we make our way inside. We don’t go immediately upstairs to where I know his kitchen is located. Instead, we head under the stairs to an open door. He turns on the light, and a king-size bed comes into view.
Gunner drops my hand, shutting the door behind me, and I track his movements, watching everything he does. His hand comes into contact with my back, grazing it slowly as he walks past me to his bed. He kicks his shoes off then his fingers go directly to his buttons.
Dark eyes look at me, watching me watch him.
Each button feels like it takes forever to undo, and then his chest is revealed. My eyes avert from his to stare at his tanned, dark skin and perfect body. I wonder what he does to stay in shape. To look this good. One word comes into my mind, ‘fucking,’ but I brush that away as fast as it appeared.
“Everly.” My name coming from his lips snaps me back to reality. I glance up only to watch him remove his shirt. Now he’s standing in front of me wearing only his pants, and his hand goes to the belt above his zipper.
My pulse q
uickens.
My body shivers.
The belt slides out of the loops with one quick flick of his wrist. He doesn’t discard it, though, as he did with his shirt. No, the belt goes on the bed next to him.
“Remove your dress, Everly. Now.”
It’s like I’m programmed to act on command, and I do as he says without questioning him.
My hand reaches around to find the zipper he did up for me, and I slide it down. Then pull the shoestring straps away from my shoulders, so the dress floats to the floor, pooling at my feet. All I have on now is a pair of heels.
His eyes roam me and stop at my sex. “You were bare the whole time.” He says it more as a statement, not a question, but I nod anyway. “In the future, you will tell me, Everly.”
I nod my head again as if on autopilot.
Gunner steps closer, his pants undone and hanging just barely on his hips. His hand reaches out and his fingers brush along my collarbone, making everything inside of me tingle.
From a simple touch. A soft touch.
How does he do that?
“Tell me, Everly, do you want me to touch you?” He stops speaking as his hand glides downward and he cups my sex. “Here?”
I nod again, having lost all my words. It seems I’m mute, or perhaps a fool. A crazy person, willing to do anything that’s commanded of me.
“I need to hear you say it, Everly. I must hear your words. Do you want me… here?” He presses his palm to my clit and the slight movement has me wet and ready.
“I want you,” I whisper breathlessly.
Gunner leans in closer to my ear. “Good, bunny.” He snips at my ear then cups my chin with his free hand, moving my head so he can kiss me thoroughly.
I don’t know what to make of what he just said.
Bunny? That’s kind of weird. Right?
Definitely not something I’ve ever heard as a nickname.
“Now, lay on the bed and spread your legs. Wide.” His hand moves away as cold air hits between my legs, but somehow, I manage to put one foot in front of the other and make my way over to the bed. I do as he says, lying on my back, then I look up to see him watching me.
