by Shayne Ford
LEX
“So what’s going to happen now?” she asks, and I flick my gaze up.
“Hmm?”
I bring my espresso to my lips and take a sip.
Still distracted, I make an effort to regain my focus.
We sit at the breakfast table next to the window. It no longer rains, the sky still covered with clouds. Soft light filters through the glass, casting a glow over her face.
Dressed in one of my shirts, hanging open on her, eyes smiling and lips curving into a soft smile, she takes me in with unbridled adoration.
Her long hair cascades down her shoulders, framing her face and setting off her tempting lips and sultry gaze.
She’s no longer the woman in my office, and she’s no longer consumed by fear like the exotic dancer.
She’s a beautiful woman who needs me as much as she needs the air she breathes.
“What do you mean?” I mutter and take another sip of the aromatic drink.
Smoothly, I run the tip of my tongue over my lip and draw pleasure as she dips her gaze to my mouth.
“When do you go back home?” she asks a more pointed question, breaking apart a warm scone and spreading jam on the halves.
“Tomorrow.”
A shadow darkens her face as if the sun hid behind the clouds.
She takes a small bite, no longer smiling. Staring vacantly at her plate, she flicks out the tip of her tongue and sweeps a dash of strawberry jam from the corner of her lips.
She chews slowly, sunk into her thoughts, her gaze still pointed to the table.
We stay in silence a few more moments, and then her lips start to tremble.
She shifts in her seat and folds one leg beneath her, propping herself up. Her chest comes into view and her soft, round breasts.
“So what’s going to happen?” she asks again before she swallows her food.
I set my espresso cup on the table and clasp my fingers together, my elbows resting on the table.
She lifts her gaze.
“I go back...” I start, slowly smiling.
Her eyes search mine, filled with questions.
“And?” she murmurs, her eyes slowly slanting down at the corners as if she’s about to cry.
I look down for a moment, hiding my grin.
A small smile sits on her face when I glance up again.
“Why are you smiling?” she asks, intrigued.
“Because I was right about you. You get disheartened so easily.”
She blushes.
“I’ll wait for you,” I finally say, serious this time.
She sets the rest of the scone on the plate. Her eyebrows tilt up.
“What do you mean?”
“You think about it. You can stay here if that’s what you want to.”
“Yes?”
“Or you can come back home,” I say.
Her lips part slightly as she muses over my words.
“The job that you always wanted is there, waiting for you.”
“Okay,” she mutters a bit baffled. “And?”
I smile.
“And more of me...” I say.
Her cheeks turn crimson again.
She hides a smile, and slips her gaze to her plate, her focus shifting to her scone.
“How does it sound?” I ask, hoping to see her eyes.
She takes a bite, and flicks her gaze up, grinning.
“It sounds good,” she says and starts chewing on her food.
She can’t stop smiling. Life shines in her eyes. And a lot of happiness.
“So what do you want to do today?” I ask as she runs a napkin over her lips.
She glances out the window and takes in the gloomy weather before she gazes at the bed that still bears the imprints of our bodies.
“More of the same?” I ask, smiling mischievously.
Scarlet to her hairline, she nods and shifts his eyes to the last piece of food on her plate.
“Do you want to come with me to a live auction?”
She glances at me.
“Yes.”
“Eat out?”
“Yes.”
“And then walk in the park?”
She briefly looks out the window before she shifts her eyes back to me.
“Yes,” she says in one breath.
“Visit an art gallery?”
“Mmm-hmm,” she says, grinning.
Suddenly, her expression changes.
“What is it?”
She checks her phone.
“My job,” she mutters. “I completely forgot about it,” she says, and I begin to laugh.
“I can’t call in. It’s too late. He’s going to be upset.”
She slides her finger onto the screen.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t called already,” she says.
“That’s because I took the liberty to ask for a day off on your behalf,” I say.
Her eyes flick to me as fast as her phone drops from her hand.
“You did?”
I nod.
“What did he say?”
“I think he knows your days with him are numbered.”
“You made sure of that,” she says, amused.
“He was lucky to have you in the first place,” I say, and she starts laughing.
“You were sure things would go your way?” she asks.
“I had no reason to believe otherwise.”
I push the chair back and rise to my feet.
Her gaze sweeps my body from the towel wrapped around my waist to my bare chest and my eyes.
My view fills with her as well from her plump lips to the swell of her breasts and the smooth spot between her legs. I hold my hand out for her. Taking it, she pushes out of the chair.
In one motion, I sweep her off her feet and lift her in my arms. The shirt opens completely. She curls her arms around my neck and wraps me in her embrace.
With her I crash into the bed and soon, I get a taste of her lips. She smells and tastes like strawberries, her body burning like a summer day. Her hair wraps around my arm as I hold her in my arms and kiss her. She’s so hot for me, and it dawns on me what I had missed all these past years.
Her legs wrap around me as I ease myself in her. She’s soft and wet and warm, molding perfectly on my cock. She rolls her hips with mine, and soon I feel her tensing.
She breaks the kiss and locks my eyes.
Holding my gaze, she pushes her shoulders back against the pillow, and arches her spine, pushing against me.
“Lex...” she mouths to me as she starts to edge.
She reaches that high, her face beaming with a mysterious smile. Lust and pleasure glint in her eyes as the tension in her grip increases.
She hardens her thighs around me and meets my thrusts, absorbing every bit of power that pushes her over the edge.
She closes her eyes, pure ecstasy rolling over her face.
That’s when I fall with her.
13
DAHLIA
A day with Lex Harrington outside the office is a complete story with chapters, breaks, build ups, surprises, and twists along the way. The man goes from broody and silent to funny and flirty.
For the auction, I choose a soft wool knit, black dress, matching stiletto boots, and a double-breasted, princess red coat.
He gives me an appreciative look and pays me a compliment. I fidget like a girl as I take his hand and follow him out of his hotel suite.
In the lobby, he runs his hand through my hair and gives me a tender kiss on my lips before he curls his arm around my shoulders and walks me outside.
By the time we reach his car, the sun peeks through the clouds, and the air warms up. I peel the coat off. He takes his jacket off as well.
We spend a couple of hours inside the auction house. He bids and wins a 1968 Ferrari and a 1981 Lamborghini. We move to a different auction where he spends half a million dollar on a sapphire and diamond necklace from the late 19th century.
Aside from its intrinsic valu
e, the piece is stunning.
I start ruminating about it until I can no longer keep it for myself and ask.
“Who is that for?”
“It’s part of my collection,” he says, laughing quietly.
As we walk out of the building, we run into people who know him, and we have to stop so that he can exchange pleasantries with them.
Later on, as we get seated in an elegant restaurant, I bring it up again.
“The necklace is beautiful,” I say,
Subtly, he evades my gaze. I catch him smiling wolfishly.
“You like it?” he asks, his nose stuck in the menu.
I study his blue eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why are you asking?” he tosses at me, leafing through the menu.
“Out of curiosity.”
“You’re afraid I might have a girlfriend?”
I press my lips into a line to crush a smile.
“Is that completely out of the question?” I ask, getting into his game.
“You mean other than you?” he asks teasingly.
I start to chuckle.
“Yeah... Other than me,” I retort, shaking my head slightly and giving him a roll of eyes.
“I saw that,” he says chuckling, entertained.
We spend an hour eating lunch and most of the afternoon in an art gallery.
Every minute of every hour fills with him. And every little moment of this beautiful day etches on my memory. His smile, and words. The way he looks at me.
We both have fun. And I can tell he enjoys my presence as much as I relish his.
He keeps his promise and takes me to the park.
It’s been years since I’ve walked in one. I was probably eight or nine. My dad used to take us back home. Elsa and me. And mom. It was usually on the weekends so she could come with us as well.
Later on, he switched jobs and no longer had time for that. Mom took a second job and the weekends were gone.
After he passed away, and Elsa ran away, mom and I couldn’t make ourselves walk down those alleys again.
Too many memories.
Lex and I walk up a snaking alley and stop next to a bench. He takes pictures of me, and then we snap a few selfies before we ask someone who passes by to photograph us.
Moments later, the woman walks away, and we take a seat on the bench.
It’s late afternoon, the light quickly turning gray. A few gusts of winds ruffle the dead leaves lying on the ground. The air gets crisp, the incense of the earth drifting to us.
One by one, people stroll out of the park until there’s no one left but us. A few drops of rain splash onto the pavement.
He seems unfazed.
The rain stops, and then the wind sweeps the concrete.
He leans back against the bench, his eyes training on the pond in front of us. I follow his example. He curls his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into him. I lean against him, relishing his warmth around me.
A few moments slip by. He smiles at a private thought.
“What is it?” I ask, touching his hand.
He tilts his head down and kisses my hair.
“I feel really good,” he says, calm and relaxed.
Perhaps a bit surprised.
“Why do you say it as if it has never happened?”
“It never happened like this.”
“I’m sure it’s not because of the weather,” I mutter, glancing at the leaves lying on the ground.
“I love this weather,” he says seriously.
I go back to his previous words.
“What do you mean like this?”
He locks my eyes, a playful smile tilting his lips.
“With a, um....”
He looks for words, yet judging by the amusement beaming on his face he knows exactly what he wants to say.
“With what?”
“A lady friend...” he says, gauging my reaction.
I purse my lips into a naughty smile.
“I’m sure you’ve had lady friends before,” I say.
“Nah-uh. Not friends, friends.”
“So how is it?”
“Unexpectedly good.”
“You thought I was no fun?” I ask, amused.
He lets out a soft chuckle.
“No. I thought you weren’t gonna last a minute with me.”
“I like being with you.”
“Me too.”
I pause for a moment, my eyes shifting to the street lamps.
“How was your life growing up?” I ask.
“Aside from doing stupid shit?”
“Yeah...”
“It was fun. It went away fast. I was lucky. We all were,” he says, and I glance at him.
He smiles, nostalgic.
“We grew up like brothers. James, Ed and I.”
“How about your family?”
“My dad passed away when I was young. He was a good dad. Like yours,” he says, locking my eyes briefly.
Different light threads through his gaze as his fingers stroke my tresses.
He shifts his focus away and stares blankly at the water.
“Losing him broke me in a way,” he says, suddenly in a pensive mood. “But I was too young to understand. I had no notion of loss at that time. And it was a painful way to learn that life lesson. Time didn’t mean much to me then. There was a sense of permanence that stayed with me, yet shattered the day he died. I lost it then, and it never came back to me. Instead, I got this more or less conscious fear that things you love can go away or end at any given moment, including life.”
He lets out a sad chuckle, his eyes glinting with emotion.
“As a boy, I thought I had so many things figured out. The day he passed away, nobody could explain to me why he was taken away from me. How could they justify it after all? Later on, I realized that people don’t want to think about this stuff let alone try to find an explanation when there is none. How can you explain to a young boy that the man who meant everything to him is gone? Life meant stable ground to me. The day my dad died, that belief was shattered. That’s how I learned that nothing is permanent. And nothing is perfect. And the best of things can pull away from you in a split second. Whether it’s life or someone’s love. And when you lose someone you love you also lose a part of you. That’s why I said it broke me.”
He smiles, sad.
“But I didn’t know that much then. I got swept away by life. I continued to spend time with James and Ed, and to do all kind of stuff young boys do. I never cried. I wish I did. But somehow I got it into my head that a man never cries.”
He lets out a sad chuckle.
“My dad actually taught me that. But tears don’t make or break a man. It’s his heart that holds the answer and makes the difference. Because a man without a heart is just another empty shell.”
As I listen to his soft voice, my eyes get cloudy with tears.
“He had a heart, but he was afraid to show it. Not so much to me but my mom. It wasn’t that they weren’t happy. They were, but he never fully enjoyed his life with her for fear of opening up to her,” he says and goes quiet for a moment.
“Where is she?”
“She moved away.”
He pauses for a moment.
“Barbados,” he adds.
My eyebrows tilt up with a questioning look.
A grin lights up his face.
“She said it was because of the light and the beautiful sky. She likes to paint.”
“Oh...”
“Yeah. That and a young lover she kept hidden from me these past few years.”
I laugh.
“She didn’t hide him very well.”
He smiles, amused.
“Oh yeah, she did. It’s just that I’m the wrong person to hide things from.”
“Hmm...” I mutter, looking down.
He gently caresses my hair with his fingers.
“Not many people have fooled me, except you, a couple of times.”
I ra
ise my eyes.
“I did?”
He chuckles amused.
“Yeah, you did.”
I quirk an eyebrow.
“When you threw me out and then when you moved away. Twice. I never expected that.”
“And it all worked out for the better,” I say quietly as our eyes lock and our smiles wither away.
A gust of wind starts spinning leaves not far from us and then it starts to rain. The drops trickle down our faces, but we’re in no hurry to leave.
I shift in my seat to fully face him. The wind blows in his hair sliding bangs over his eyes. The rain looks like tears on his cheeks.
I take his face in my hands and brush his hair away from his eyes. Softly, I kiss his lips. The rain keeps coming down, yet we’re locked in a hot kiss and don’t care much.
His arms wrap around me, shielding me from the rain.
We break the kiss and smile, rain dripping from our lashes.
“I can’t tell now if I’ll come back or not, but one thing I know. I love you. Make sure you don’t play with my heart this time.”
A faint grin curls his lips.
“I won’t, baby. I promise I won’t do it,” he says and kisses me before he pushes out of his seat.
I rise as well.
“Wait...” I murmur, and before I have the chance to say anything else, he curls his arm around me and takes my lips again.
For moments, we just kiss. My body glue to his, his arms holding me tightly, his lips pouring fire in my blood while rain keeps coming down.
14
LEX
“How was your trip, Sir?” Sheila asks, dashing out of her cubicle and hurrying after me.
“Good,” I say, striding straight to my office.
I leave the door open for her, and she slithers right in.
I walk around my desk and sink into my chair, my eyes locking with hers as soon as I lift my gaze.
She comes to a stop across from me, a pile of files in her arms.
I motion to her, and she sets them on the desk.
“Schedule?”
She flips her tablet.
“Start with the good ones,” I say dryly.
She scrolls down.
“Lunch with James Sexton.”
“Mmm-hmm,” I say, my eyes flying to my phone.
She pauses.
I lift my gaze.
She looks at me with an expression of guilt on her face as if she has a piece of donut in her mouth and she’s afraid to chew.
