“Hello ... Aria,” he said.
“Uh yeah ... this is Aria. Who is this?”
He laughed and there was a long pause. She immediately felt stupid. She realized she was nervous.
“It’s Devon,” he finally said.
“Yeah ... Devon. It’s been awhile.” He felt like rolling his eyes. He had called her the previous night, but she hadn’t returned his call and she was acting distant, which he found laughable. It was Aria who left him for what she was now saying was going to be three months. If anyone had rights to be cold and distant, Devon believed it was him. He quickly decided to forget about it though and try to move on.
“Uh, yeah ... suppose it has. But that’s why I’m calling. You hadn’t returned my call and I thought I’d reach out again.”
“Well ... sorry, I’ve been busy,” she said.
“Yeah. OK then.” He hesitated again and she didn’t offer up any words. “So, anything you want to talk about?” he asked. “Like ... how things are going.”
“Well, been better but it’s fine. No use in complaining. And you?”
He pondered her statement. “Um ... well ... been better myself, I guess you could say.”
Aria felt like letting him have it at that very moment but managed to hold back. “Well ... I’m sure you’re managing,” she said in a flat, annoyed tone.
He cleared his throat. He had had a sense that something was up but that comment had confirmed it. Better to take on the issue head on. “So ... wanna tell me why you’re upset?”
She frowned, wrapped her hand over the phone, and shut her eyes tightly. He had some nerve to ask her that. She took a deep breath and removed her hand from the phone. “Really? You’re going to ask me that? You have the audacity to ask me that?”
He groaned. “What does that mean? Are you upset that I was nonchalant about you being away for three months? Is that what this is about? Forgive me for being angry that you didn’t take my thoughts into consideration.” His voice rose a few octaves.
“This isn’t even about that, Devon. How small-minded do you think I am?” Truth was, at one point she was upset about that, but she had moved past it. This was far bigger to her.
“Then what’s this about? I called you because I thought we could talk and frankly ... I miss you. But now you’re acting so cold that I wonder why I even called in the first place.”
Her could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Wow. OK ... perhaps you should call your other girlfriend.”
“Other girlfriend? What are you talking about?”
She considered hanging up on him, because she didn’t want to get into it. She thought she might even cry if she said too much. “I know, Devon. I know everything.”
“Hmmm ... OK. Then perhaps you should let me in on what you think you know?”
“I called you the other day. You must’ve not realized you had answered the call and I heard the woman. She was laughing and you seemed to be having a damned good time; while the cat’s away, the mouse will play.”
At first, Devon couldn’t quite understand what Aria was talking about, but then it slowly dawned on him. He started to laugh. He couldn’t help himself.
“Are you laughing at me?” she asked.
“I’m laughing because it’s really pretty ridiculous,” he said, “but it’s clear to see that you’re jealous.”
“What? That’s what you’re going to take away from this? That I was jealous? I was not jealous. I was just simply stating the fact that I didn’t know we were allowed to see other people. I’m sorry that I thought we were more exclusive. I’m glad I realized now before we got too involved.”
“Aria ... what you heard was a business meeting with Regina. Tim couldn’t go because he was under the weather and I met her and we went out. Ironically, it was you she wanted to talk about.”
Aria heaved a sigh. That still didn’t explain the girl that he was dancing and carousing with. “What about the girl you were dancing with last night?”
That took Devon by surprise.
“Well ... I can explain that too, but how do you know that? Are you having me followed?”
“What? No,” Aria said. “The truth is that I didn’t know anything about it, until I received a call from my friend Tyler. He saw you out at that night club and you were dancing with a blonde. He sent me a picture. So how can you explain that?”
“She’s someone I know. I know her because she goes to the club often. She asked me to leave the club with her and we both knew what she wanted to do if I left with her. I told her that I would dance with her instead. Once we danced a couple of songs together, we left. She went her way and I went mine. I came home and I called you. That’s the truth and you can choose to believe me or not, but I’m being honest here.”
Aria closed her eyes again. She felt awful that she had immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. It had been a lousy week and this was now the finishing touch.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said. “My head’s been all over the place and I just lost it. I apologize.”
He listened to her apologies and a part of him wanted her to grovel for his forgiveness but there was something more. She was holding back something. “Anything else you want to share?” he asked. “How’s your first week been?”
“I don’t know,” she said. Aria hesitated and for a minute she contemplated just pretending like everything was great but instead she went ahead and confessed it all. “The showrunner hates me. I can’t seem to do anything right. This has been the longest week ever. I feel like everything I touch just falls apart. I’m not enjoying myself and I certainly don’t feel that my work is being appreciated.”
“OK ... then what are you going to do about it?” he asked after she had paused to take a breath.
“What?”
“What are you going to do about it?” Devon asked again. “You can either stay in New York and let them walk all over you. Or, you can make a move and get on the next plane and come back to L.A. where you’re appreciated. The choice is yours but you shouldn’t stay there and let anyone make you feel like you aren’t doing a good job. You’re better than that. So, what are you going to do?”
He was absolutely right. Aria had a job and people there appreciated her. This was merely a way to extend her contacts beyond L.A. and she could certainly walk off the project, if she wanted.
She ran the scenarios in her head. Devon was silent.
“What I’m going to do is ... get on the next plane home,” she said.
He smiled. That was the best answer for everyone involved. “Exactly. You made the right decision. I’ll call the charter company we use and get you on a private jet back to L.A. I’ll call right now.”
“Thank you, Devon.”
“Don’t thank me. You made the decision. You’re making the best decision for you. Get off the phone, get packed, and let them know that you won’t stand for that shit. You’re great at what you do. You don’t need this.”
She agreed and then disconnected the call. After he chartered the flight, he made another call. This one was even more important to him. “Hello?”
“Hi ... this is Devon Prescott. We’re all set for that surprise we discussed. It’s going down tomorrow night. Remember exactly what I told you. I’ll text you the time.” Devon then hung up the call and desire filled his body. He suddenly felt alive again and was ready to get back on track with Aria. After tomorrow there would truly be no limits.
ARIA ENTERED HER HOUSE. She looked around and felt a sense of peace. She had never been so happy to see a place. It was late and she was exhausted. Her bed was calling her name and she was looking forward to collapsing into it, possibly not waking up until late the next day.
When she quit with simple and direct call to Francisco, she felt completely at peace with her decision. He was furious but as Devon had told her, she was better than the abuse. She’d earned respect. Setting down her suitcases, she was just glad that she could be free of New York.
&nb
sp; She crawled into bed, sighing as the comfort of normalcy washed over her. When her phone started ringing, she felt like tossing it out the window. She reached for it absentmindedly, then answered it without looking.
It was Devon.
“Hey, I’m going to assume you’re home.”
“Yes ... I’m home, thank god,” she said. “I feel I could sleep for a week, Devon.”
“But we both know that you’re not going to do that,” he said.
“Oh ... we do?” she asked, barely opening her eyes to ask the question. “How do we know that? I seriously think it’s a good possibility.”
“Well, then how would you get your surprise?”
That got her to open her eyes. “Surprise?”
“Yeah, but you have to come to the office tomorrow evening to get it.”
She frowned. “Tomorrow is Sunday. Besides, you don’t need to give me anything else. You have given me plenty already.”
“I’m happy to and this isn’t something you are going to want to turn down.”
That excited her but she still found it odd. “OK ... so why do I have to come to your office on a Sunday?”
He sighed. “Don’t ask any questions, Aria. Just trust me.”
She could hear the smile in his voice. “All right, Devon. I’ll trust you. So, what time do you need me there?” she asked.
“Come at seven o’clock. Don’t be late. I’ll meet you in my office. You remember my office on Wilshire and Beverly.”
She agreed and then hung up and closed her eyes. Sleep was the only thing she wanted to focus on now.
She didn’t end up sleeping the day away. Instead, she woke up thinking about Devon’s surprise. In fact, she couldn’t get it out of her head and many times considered calling him to see if they could push up the time.
She didn’t, though. Instead she waited patiently and left with plenty of time to arrive at Devon’s high-rise office. When she drove into the building’s parking garage, she found that there were two cars there, his and another. “I guess people do work on Sunday,” she mumbled. She got out of the car and took the elevator up to his company’s seventh-floor headquarters. The first door she tried was locked but after trying another one, she found it open. She went through the door and made her way to Devon’s office based on her one previous visit. As she made her way, she remembered how beautiful the officers were, elegant in a contemporary way.
When she reached the office, the lights were off but the door was open. She stepped in and turned on the lights. She looked around and spotted a note on his computer.
Aria –
Meet me in the board room. See map attached.
Devon
She couldn’t help feeling a bit exasperated as she was expecting him to be there. Nonetheless, she then picked up the map and left the office. It seemed like a strange message, but she walked to the board room she felt herself getting more excited about. He had clearly gone to some trouble to plan this. She went down the hallway, and following the hand-drawn map wound up at a set of mahogany double doors that seem to open to a large room. She entered and found a beautiful long black marble table with several chairs all around. Above the table dangled a modern crystalline chandelier. The floor-to-ceiling windows gave way to an incredible vista of the Hollywood Hills.
She folded the map and slipped it into her purse. She glanced at her watch and wondered where he was, when she heard a door at the far end of the board room open.
It was Devon.
“Welcome home,” he said in a deep, throaty voice.
His word made her heart skip a beat and her body come alive. She wanted nothing more than to kiss him.
“It’s good to be home,” she said, embracing him and kissing him passionately. It felt so good to kiss him and all her insecurities and doubts slipped away in that moment. Whatever questions she had about Devon fled from her mind. She could only think about the love she had for him, and how much she wanted him.
He parted from the kiss. There was fire in his eyes. “From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were different, Aria. I know that now more than ever. Do you understand?”
Aria nodded reflexively even as she searched his eyes for meaning.
“I want to build something with you, something intense, something special. But I need to know you trust me. Do you trust me, Aria?”
“Yes,” Aria said, a hitch in her breath as her body tingled with nerves and excitment.
She began to tremble. For a split second, she thought that his next step would be to pull out a ring. Instead, something happened that she wouldn’t have expected for all the world.
Devon stepped away and looked toward a side door.
“Come in,” he called out.
Before she could say anything, Devon pointed to the door and in walked Brandon and stood near Devon. Her eyes grew wide with surprise. What was this kid I auditioned a few months ago doing here? She didn’t say a word but she couldn’t help but notice that Brandon looked somehow different.
“Hello, again, Miss Nolan,” he said in a hushed tone.
Devon began to speak, bringing Aria’s eyes back to him. “Have a seat, Aria.” Aria’s face went white.
“I ... I don’t understand,” she said as she sat down.
She was compelled to look toward Brandon as she felt the heat of his gaze on her. She turned her attention back to Devon, hoping he’d explain himself. He stepped forward. “I want us to explore, to feel things. I want to know there are no limits ... between the two of us.”
Her mouth felt dry. She could feel a slight tremble overtake her again. Her heartbeat was quickening. It was if she could feel more deeply, more acutely, everything around her.
“I love you,” she said slowly.
He was silent for a moment, letting her words linger in the vastness of the room, play against the light from the crystalline chandelier. For a second, she felt like giving way to her tears.
“Then let go,” he finally said, his face inscrutable and yet intense. “Give yourself to me, Aria. All of you. I’ve never asked a woman to giver herself to me. I’ve always taken but I’m asking you. You’re different. You’re special. I want you to give yourself to me ... to this moment.”
Her head was spinning. Emotions and thoughts washed over her, filling her mind. But the main one being this: She was about to engage in a ménage à trois. She didn’t want to say no to him and she wanted to show Devon that she was listening to everything he said. The thought of being with the two men—these two men—excited her, if in a confusing, contradictory way. At that moment, she wanted anything, everything for him.
Devon sensed this and approached her, holding her hand.
“I need you to say it,” he whispered in her ear.
She could smell his cologne now, feel the warmth of his breath against the nape of her neck. She couldn’t quite focus.
“I want you, Aria. I want you right here, right now.”
He kissed Aria just behind her ear, which sent a shiver through her. “Say it.”
Aria could hardly focus. She was a welter of emotions. She felt like bolting for the door and giving herself to the moment—to Devon. Then the thought of being with the two men surged through her like a sonic wave.
“Yes,” she uttered breathlessly, he eyes wide shut.
Devon pulled away just a bit and looked her in the eyes as she opened them again. At that moment, she realized that she was his, that she would do absolutely anything he asked of her. That she loved him. And Devon understood.
“Stand up,” Devon said.
Aria did as he asked.
He placed his powerful hands on her face and kissed her.
The kiss deepened and she seemed to melt into his caress.
Devon stepped back toward Brandon. There was silence. “Take off your dress,” Devon commanded, his voice sure and resonant.
Her heart raced past her mouth and her stomach tightened into a knot. She felt Devon and Brandon’s eyes securely
trained directly on her.
She slowly, tentatively reached back and unzipped her dress and let it fall to the ground.
“Turn around. All the way around,” Devon said.
Aria’s eyes searched Devon’s with concern. He showed no emotion.
“Do it, Aria,” he commanded.
To this, she stepped out of her dress and proceeded to turn around for them, feeling every bit of their gaze on her body.
“Good,” Devon finally said after she’d finished. “Take off your bra.”
She felt a panic and instinctively turned to the stranger. She turned back to Devon, who looked at her impassively.
Her hands trembling, she unlatched her bra and slowly slid it off with her hands, trying to cover herself. She eventually dropped the bra on the flooring, exposing her breasts to them. She felt the coolness of the room and Brandon’s eyes on her made her tingle and her nipples harden.
“Now the panties. Take them off.”
Even though Aria knew this was coming, she couldn’t help but close her eyes. I can’t believe I’m doing this. She reached down to her waist and lowered her panties, stepping out of them and leaving them on the floor.
She was completely nude and felt vulnerable, like some kind of child. Aria was under the control of her lover and as her mind raced, she couldn’t deny the arousal that his domination exerted on her.
Both men took a moment to look at her. She could feel Brandon’s eyes on her breasts and then lower to her womanhood. Her breath quickened when she saw his hardened penis protrude through his pants.
Devon stepped forward and in a studied fashion, touched her softly along the outside of her arms. It made her tingle again and she began to feel moisture between her legs.
He leaned in and kissed her. As they kissed, she felt arms snake around her from behind. She tensed up slightly, but then relaxed as he began to massage her ass. She was all in now. And so where they. She continued to kiss Devon, not allowing any thoughts of what Brandon was doing to enter her mind. But then Brandon lifted his hands and began massaging her breasts. She tried to continue to focus on kissing Devon, but when Brandon started rolling her harden nipples between his fingers, she arched and moaned even as Devon probed her mouth.
When I Dream of You: A Valentine's Day Romance Page 23
