by Nikki Bella
I sat still for a moment, dumbstruck. Henry and I had spent months orchestrating the deal so that we could save the workforce of three thousand people from being laid off. The board had wanted to simply break up and sell the firm, making a billion-dollar profit. I’d forced them, as majority shareholder, CEO, and son of the founder, to invest instead. It was a much smaller return, over a longer period of time, but the workforce kept their jobs.
“That fucking…!” I spat. “Fucking Banks! I knew he was never going to play along with us.”
“That’s the thing, Tyler,” Henry was still breathing rapidly. “Banks stepped down as chairman of the board this morning. Somehow, the new chair is…”
“What the hell, Henry? Who is it?”
“Ada Showazuki,” he said at last.
Again, I sat stunned. Paul, D Cash, and their girlfriends, across the table, were eating and laughing, with no clue to what Henry and I were discussing. I barely felt Henry place his hand on my forearm. He shook me gently and the numbness I was feeling seemed to subside a little. I looked at him, his concerned, earnest face, and giggled. I felt my smile grow wider and I laughed again, louder now. Everyone else at the table smiled at me.
“What is it?” asked Britney, unable to stop herself laughing along with me, as I began to lose control. I was laughing louder and longer, so the rest of the table couldn’t help but join in. Even Henry started to chuckle. I shoved my hand behind my old friend’s neck and pulled his pudgy face close, pressing our foreheads together. We laughed harder and harder, until tears were running down my cheeks.
“They’ve been at work in New York, what, five hours? And she’s already effectively taken over my company!” I managed between sobs of hilarity. “How is that even possible?”
“Imagine if you’d actually married her!” cried Henry and I burst out laughing again, almost falling off my chair.
“Okay,” I breathed, as I finally began to calm down. The Maitre d' had begun hovering and looked about ready to complain that we were disturbing other diners, but he shuffled off as our ruckus died away. “I guess this has just become a working holiday for you and I.” Henry smiled back at me. “I have an idea. You’re pretty much going to hate it,” I continued, “but you’re going to have to work with me on it because my mind’s made up.”
“Okay…” replied Henry, uneasily.
“I’m going to go make some calls. I’ll fill you in soon as I can. In the meantime, Henry,” I ordered, “find me Misty.”
Misty
To be honest, my day was going better than expected. After that tear-filled goodbye at the docks, I asked the guy to drive me to San Nicholas.
“You sure, Miss?” he asked. “This is not the nicest part of the island. You wouldn’t rather go to Palm Beach?”
“I’m not a tourist, and I’m sure,” I replied, firmly. Palm beach, on the northwest coast, was the garden spot, full of luxury resorts and Americans on vacation. And exactly where Tyler and his friends would be. No, I was better off down here, on the south of the island, hidden among the locals.
The driver was right, though. As he dropped me off in the center of what was, at night at least, Aruba’s red light district, I almost questioned my decision. It was not the roughest part of town but, as I stood on the street with my bags, a few native young men noticed me immediately and looked me over, a mixture of lust and hunger in their eyes.
Luckily, my destination was dead ahead. I walked into the incredibly colorful Charlie’s Bar and saw Rufus talking with a couple of the bar flies. He spotted me immediately, stopped midsentence and strode right over. His tall, lean body was so strong there was no way I could stop him from lifting me completely off the ground in an enormous bear hug.
“Missed you, girl,” he rumbled in his thick, Jamaican accent. It was good to see him, to feel safe in his arms once more. I wrapped my legs around his waist. His pure white teeth gleamed like pearls from his dark face as he smiled at my intimate embrace. I kissed him, long and hard, but pulled away when I felt him open my mouth to slip his tongue in. His smile never faded, though. “You still looking damn hot.”
“Put me down,” I commanded. “I’m not here for that.”
“Then what you here for?”
“I need a place to stay and maybe a job. For a little while,” I told him.
Rufus thought for a few moments. I had plenty of money, the amazing tip from Tyler’s charter and the cash from the five others I’d done aboard Aphrodite was in my bag, meaning I wouldn’t need to trouble my bank account for some time. All the same, what I did have would last a lot longer if I could do a little work and not have to pay for a hotel.
Eventually, Rufus smiled that wide smile again. “I got you covered, girl,” he said, picked up my two bags and bid me follow him upstairs. The inside of the bar was just how I remembered it, absolutely covered with posters, pictures, and tacky memorabilia, with historical paraphernalia hanging from the entire ceiling, making it a notable, if slightly notorious, tourist spot. Going up the back staircase, though, the walls became peeling white paint and the air became stifling away from the fans and air conditioning in the bar area.
He took me back up to the room I stayed in when I first arrived in Aruba. It had taken me ten days to confirm my position on Aphrodite, and I’d avoided expensive Palm beach then as well, just in case I ran into any of the yacht crowd; ex-crewmates, ex-charters or former family acquaintances. I’d stopped for a break in Charlie’s while looking for a room in San Nicholas and, obviously, being an attractive white woman eating dinner by herself, Rufus the bar manager had kept me company.
I’d mentioned needing a place to stay and he’d offered me the back room upstairs. It was little more than a chair, a small dresser, some fans, and a mattress on the floor, but it was clean. Rufus let me in and switched on the fans. It was so hot I could feel the sweat beading in the center of my back and running down under my tank top. Thank God I chose to wear shorts, I mused.
We both looked at the mattress on the floor and I knew we were thinking the same thing. We were remembering the three days and nights after I’d landed the job aboard Aphrodite. Rufus and I spent that long weekend talking, surviving mostly on rum, and making love over and over again. I’d told Rufus everything, about my life, what happened to my family, and my plans for revenge. He listened. He never asked anything of me. His firm, tight body responding without fail every time I touched him. Even after he seemed spent beyond exhaustion, I only ever needed to gently stroke his long cock and he was instantly ready for me again.
Nothing mattered in those few long, hot days. I nearly changed my mind about everything. It would have been so easy to forget my revenge, forget the Harcourt family, and just stay in this bar with Rufus forever. However, when it came time to join the crew, I knew that Rufus and I had only been able to enjoy this brief time because we knew it would end. That last fling before heading off on the yacht. I considered it a condemned woman’s last meal, on which I’d gorged happily.
The memories made me smile. I saw Rufus smiling too, and knew he was thinking about trying to sleep with me again. For a second, I was tempted but, just as quickly, I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea, long term. Besides, I thought, Tyler might still find me. I shook my head, banishing that ridiculous thought from my mind.
“I’m sorry, Rufus,” I offered. “I can’t, not now. I understand if you change your mind about me staying.”
Again, Rufus seemed to consider things for an age. “No worries,” he eventually smiled. “You’re welcome as long as you want. I need an evening waitress, ‘kay?”
“Perfect!” I yelled. I flung my arms around his neck and kissed him again.
“Is nice kiss,” smiled Rufus as we broke apart. I nodded. “Do it lower,” he suggested.
I punched him in the chest.
Two days passed. The evening shifts were fun, lively and went fast enough, but my days were slow. I didn’t really have anywhere to go in the daytime, so I just hung around the b
ar. I even cleaned or carried a tray, simply because I had nothing better to do. From the time Charlie’s opened, around midday, I sat in the darkened bar, drinking occasionally but mostly simply staying out of the heat, and listening or chatting with Rufus and the barflies until things got busier and my shift started. It wasn’t long before I told Rufus all about Tyler and the charter. Understanding my feelings for him better than I did, it seemed, Rufus said he hoped Tyler would find me soon.
On the third day, the time was rolling around to four in the afternoon and I still hadn’t quite figured out what I was going to do. The hopeful part of me was still expecting Tyler to walk into Charlie’s any minute, while the grown-up part of me knew that it was never going to happen and I should be making plans for my next move.
It’s fucking typical, my brain said, as it often did when I was feeling particularly resentful, everything his family and his father did to me, and he’s allowed to carry on with his carefree life while I, not even having done anything wrong, am probably ostracized from the yachting world and need to find another career. And he’s so rich it wouldn’t even matter if he lost his job. But because he’s so rich, nothing bad ever happens to him. I realized I was fuming and in danger of crushing the glass of water I was holding with my bare hand.
I did what I always did when I felt that way. I wandered over to the classic Wurlitzer jukebox and fed it. I selected Bob Marley and watched the robot arm travel across and pick up the record. I leaned against the glass, feeling it cool on my forehead in the dark heat of the bar, and began to move slowly in time with the music. Dressed in my short-shorts and sandals, my little tank-top with no bra, at least one of the local daytime drinkers must have found it a bit too much. There was a wolf-whistle from behind me. I ignored it. Don’t worry… sang Bob, …Bout a thing…
I congratulated myself on being right. Well done, you knew he wouldn’t come. Gold star for Misty, I said to myself but, just as I thought those words, a familiar voice sounded behind me.
“So, so far you’ve cost me an extra eighty thousand dollars on what I was going to tip.”
His voice was deep, husky, and it made my whole body come alive to hear it. I smiled but didn’t turn around. “Really? How so?” I managed to sound cool and confident, but my heart was pounding like it never had before. …Cause every little thing… Is gonna be all right…
“They told me you’d left, but I knew they’d get your tip to you. I needed to make sure you had enough to be okay till I found you. Leaving ten thousand for everyone was the only solution I could come up with in time.”
I felt him step softly up behind me, so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. “Trust me,” I smiled to myself, “they earned every penny.”
Tyler laughed, short but loud. He gently traced his fingers along the backs of my arms until his hands rested on mine. I looked over at Rufus, behind the bar. He gave me a little smile. I blew him a discreet kiss back.
“Well, it’s your own fault. You knew I was off limits and, come to think of it, so were you.”
“You’re right about that,” he said, suddenly spinning me around to face him, “but neither of us is off limits now.”
Our eyes locked and, for a moment, I could feel us gazing deep into each other’s hearts and souls. I was still unsure we were meant to be together but, when Tyler finally kissed me, long and hard, I couldn’t help moaning with the pleasure of it. I leaped up and wrapped my legs around his waist. Again, I found him hard as our covered crotches met. My breath left my body and I couldn’t help grinding myself along the length of him. It felt delicious.
Rufus called out and whistled at us to take it outside. Returning to myself, I realized that this was not the place. It was too public and not really fair on poor Rufus. He might wish us well, but banging right in front of him seemed a little cruel. I whispered into Tyler’s ear for him to follow me and led him upstairs to my makeshift bed.
The journey upstairs, at least, gave me time to remember how angry I was about his position of privilege, my family and the whole bunch of other things that should keep us from being together. We got into the room, Tyler’s face turning to mild confusion as I had him sit on the chair instead of jumping him. I poured two fingers of rum into two glasses. Handed Tyler one and threw mine back in one swallow.
I faced away from him, looking out of my window toward the ocean. “What took you so long?” I asked him.
“You were pretty good at covering your tracks,” he answered. The sunlight poured over me. My clothes weren’t exactly baggy to begin with but, like this, I was pretty sure Tyler was getting a good show, almost as though I was naked.
“Why didn’t you just wait around the corner for me to leave the boat?”
“The captain said you’d left early in the morning. I thought I’d missed you already.”
I smiled. I’d asked sweet old Captain Harper to say that, and he’d been as good as his word. I took a deep breath and asked my next question.
“What happened between you and Ada?”
I heard him laugh again. He told me about their confrontation on the sundeck, Ada’s coup with his board members and the reversal of his decision to invest in Hobbs’s boat building business. The more I heard, the more astonished I felt.
“Wow. She really was the wrong person to piss off, huh?”
“You could say that,” he agreed.
“So, it’s really over between you two?” I wanted to give myself to him, but I needed to be sure.
“I think it’s safe to say that my life may actually be at risk if I set foot in New York or Tokyo, right now.”
Without turning around, I pulled my tank top up over my head and threw it on the floor. I felt my golden curls fall softly down my bare back, as I stayed staring out the window.
“So, why are you still in Aruba?” I asked, softly. “Sounds like you could be bankrupted at any moment.” I heard him stand and step slowly toward me. I crossed my arms over my naked breasts and turned to face him.
“I sold my controlling interest in HHC and stepped down as CEO,” he smiled as he got nearer, his eyes traveling up and down my body with a look of desire in them. “And I invested that money in Hobbs & Son. He has enough capital now to keep his firm going for years. The takeover bid has disappeared, and I’m now executive vice president under Mr. Hobbs himself.” He got within arms distance before I held out my hand to stop him. Tyler gazed at my, now uncovered, full and rounded breasts. “You look more beautiful than I remember,” he breathed.
I gently stooped to peel off my shorts with my other hand. I heard his breath catch in his throat as he saw I wasn’t wearing underwear. Finally standing fully naked before him, I couldn’t help but smile at his reaction, at the look of lust that filled his face.
I guess we’re back here then, I thought to myself, before grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and pulling it apart. He responded by closing the last distance between us and kissing me, hard. Our lips met, almost painfully, Tyler pushing his tongue into my open mouth and gently cupping my face with his big hands. I met his tongue with mine. His tongue was soft, velvety, and lightly spiced with rum. It was almost intoxicating to me and I nearly felt my knees go weak.
I slid my fingers down his hard abs until I could hook them under the waist of his pants. I felt his hands travel lower and caress the soft skin of my breasts, tracing his thumbs across my hardening nipples, before I pulled, trying to yank down his linen slacks.
“Goddam things!” I tore my mouth from him to say. He smiled and undid his own belt. I gave another tug and his pants dropped to the floor. I couldn’t help but bite my lip gently as he pushed down his underwear, until I could finally see him long, hard, and pointing straight at me.
Just the sight of him brought on a deep ache in my pussy. I wanted him inside me again so badly. I beckoned him closer and parked my ass on the edge of the dresser. He approached and I wrapped my legs around him again, hooking my feet together behind his butt, pulling him urgently to me.
We both let out a gasp as the soft folds of my waiting hole caressed the throbbing tip of his cock for only the second time.
“I’m dying to be inside you again,” Tyler whispered and, before I could respond, he cupped my buttocks on the dresser, just as he’d done in the galley of Aphrodite, forced his tongue back into my mouth and rammed himself inside me, as urgently as before.
“Oh, fuck!” I groaned once more, as our mouths broke apart. “I can’t believe how good you feel…”
“This time,” I heard him snarl against the soft skin on the side of my neck, “I’m going to fuck you so good you won’t ever want to run away.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but he quickly withdrew then slammed his hips into mine so hard, driving his thick shaft deeper into my willing pussy than he’d ever reached before, and forcing a desperate, drawn out cry from my lips that I was powerless to stop.
My hands went to his head, my fingers twisting into his thick, dark hair, and I dragged his lips down to my chest again, offering up my soft breasts and pointed, eager nipples for him to lick, bite and suck. As he feasted on my grateful tits, he didn’t stop fucking me. His hot cock twitching as he slid smoothly into me, every ridge and vein of him dragging along my tingling, sensitive walls, each sure, steady, relentless movement forcing another delighted sigh or moan from my lips. I never wanted him to stop. I wanted, I needed him to just keep exquisitely penetrating me for the rest of our lives.
Without warning, he suddenly increased his pace. His gorgeous face was quickly level with mine, his mouth open slightly as he began hammering into me more vigorously. The look of pure lust on his face made me shiver, and I felt my pussy clamp tighter around him as a newer, stronger trembling sensation overtook me. I couldn’t stop myself from suddenly devouring his soft lips, drawing his delicious tongue into my mouth as I felt my body begin to melt.
I couldn’t hold back anymore, and I didn’t want to. “Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck! Don’t stop!” I heard myself yelling as my pussy finally exploded around him, shooting out white-hot pleasure signals through every muscle and fiber of my being and turning my dripping, pulsating body into a grinding, writhing thing.
