by Katie Dowe
*****
“Snyder, play ball, man!” Gessner called out to him as he stood there tapping the net with his racket.
“Why are you standing around?” Edward asked him.
“I need a long cool drink,” David muttered and put his racket away.
“Seriously, man?” Gessner grumbled.
“Paul is taking over from me.” He slapped the man who had just come over. “I need a break from thrashing both your asses.”
“Coward!” Edward called out.
He waved his hand and jogged over to the table with the refreshments. He had not slept a wink last night and he thought that coming to the club today would make things better, but he felt as if he was sleep walking. He could not stop thinking about her. Sierra had called him before he left and he had told her it was over. He had felt like an eel saying it to her over the phone but he just needed space to think. He poured a glass of lemonade and drank it down thirstily. He had slept at his apartment last night and knew that his mother would be expecting him home for dinner. With a sigh, he sat on one of the chairs and watched the game, his mind on her!
********
“Darling, is the veal not to your liking?” Martha Snyder asked her son softly.
“What?” He shook his head and looked at her.
“You are not eating and usually you have something to say. Are you okay?” Both his sisters turned to look at him.
“I am fine. Just a little tired,” he said, forcing a smile.
“Tired of partying?” Marilyn asked snidely as she cut into her meat. “How is that possible?”
“You left early last night,” Marissa commented. “Are you coming down with something?”
“No.” He forced himself to appear casual. “It’s really nice to have all of you concerned about me, but I am fine,” he said with a grin.
“There is a board meeting tomorrow morning and I would appreciate you attending,” his mother commented as she stared at him.
“I will be there.”
She looked at him in surprise. “No comment about it being too early?”
“Not this time.” He sliced into his meat. “I will be there.”
******
Hailey gave into the temptation and read up on the family. She stared at his picture for a long time and then read his bio. Her eyebrows lifted and she laughed as she realized that in February, he turned thirty-five. It flattered her to think that a man who was ten years younger than her had been attracted enough to make such wild passionate love to her. She frowned a little as she read about his many sexual exploits. She shrugged carelessly. It was not as if they were in a relationship. She was forward thinking enough not to berate herself for having sex with a man she had just met. She just would not want her students or those she worked with to ever discover what she had done even though her personal life was her own business. He was a playboy, a smile played around her lips. Of course he was! He was very handsome and had the body of an athlete and he was also a billionaire so naturally he could have any woman he wanted and women flung themselves at him. She was pleased to note that she had not done any flinging. What had happened between them had come naturally. The meeting of two eager bodies and the immense satisfaction after. She looked at his picture again. He was smiling, his arm wrapped around a stunning blonde. She recognized the woman as a popular actress. Hailey shut down the computer and went into the kitchen to prepare a meal and then called her mother.
“Hey, Mom!”
“Hi, honey. How was the party?”
“It was very interesting.” Hailey tore the leaves off the fresh lettuce as she prepared the salad. “I am in the middle of preparing for classes tomorrow. How are you?”
“I have dinner plans with some of the girls so I am heading out in another few minutes.”
“Where are you going?”
“That Italian place down the street. I understand that their lasagna is very good.”
“Have fun.”
“I will, honey. And eat something.”
“I am actually preparing a chicken salad.”
“Eat a little ice cream after that.”
“I have yogurt.”
“Which is not ice cream.”
“Bye, Mom. Talk to you later.” Hailey sliced the pieces of chicken and added it to the salad she had prepared. She took the bowl with her and headed into the living room. She had put in an old Humphrey Bogart movie to watch. She was not finished with her preparation yet but she would get back to that. This was her time to unwind and relax and she had every intention of doing so. She placed the bowl onto the table and got ready to eat her meal.
Chapter 4
He finally found her! He had been doing a search on schools in and around the area and had found to his surprise that she actually on the faculty of a very prestigious university. She was actually Dr. Hailey Donaldson, lecturer of Visual Arts. She had told him that she was a teacher and he had actually assumed that she was a high school teacher or something like that. He stared at her picture for a long time. It said that her courses were very popular ad that her students thought very highly of her. His eyes narrowed as he saw that she was forty-five! That could not be right! She did not look anything like forty-five. As a matter of fact, he thought that he was older than she was! His eyes went back to her smiling photo and he stared at her trying to find evidence that she was that age. He could not find any. Her skin was flawless and he knew that first hand! Her eyes were wide and looked innocent and her lips! He groaned and bent his head to the screen. Her lips had given him so much pleasure that he could feel it on his. It had taken him close to a month to find her. There was no home address just the time and days of her classes. He was going to have to work with that!
******
Hailey swung one bare leg as she sat on the edge of her desk. It was almost that time of the year. The end of another semester and exams were in progress. She had been doing some revising with the students and sometimes taking them outdoors to sit beneath the trees as they listened to lyrics or debated on some artist or the other. But today had been so hot that they were forced to stay indoors.
“How would you explain Bob Marley’s song ‘No Woman No Cry’?’” Several hands went up and she pointed to a girl in the front. “Lisa?”
“It’s a kind of plea to the woman he is seeing not to cry and reassuring her that things are going to get better.”
“Anybody else?” Hailey looked around the room.
She pointed to several others and nodded as they gave their take on it.
“It’s a rather slow sensual song that speaks to the mind as well as the senses. “ Hailey put the music on and got to her feet. “Come on dance with me!” she urged. That was how he saw her. He stopped in the doorway, his eyes riveted on her as she swayed her hips to the gentle sound of the song. He could not move, not even if his life depended on it. All around the room, her students were swaying to the beat, but he had only eyes for her. She was dancing as if she was enjoying every minute of the song and caught up in it. The bell rang suddenly, and they stopped. She turned the music off and waved as they gathered up their books and laptops and filed out. A number of them stopped and stared at him and whispered his name, but he did not notice. She looked up when the room cleared and saw him standing there. She went still for a moment and then walked towards him. “What a surprise.” She smiled casually as a few of her students lingered looking at them curiously. “Mr. Snyder, how are you?”
“I am fine,” he said, playing along. They waited until the room had emptied. “You lecture.”
“How did you find me?” she asked him as she went to get her stuff.
“Were you hiding?” he asked her softly as he came behind her.
“No,” she told him briefly as she slung her laptop back onto one shoulder. He took it from her. “I never expected us to cross paths again.” She started to walk past him and he held her arm.
“I have not stopped thinking about you.”
She pulled
her arm away. “This is where I work,” she hissed.
“I will walk you out.”
She preceded him and ignored the curious stares as he walked behind her. She waved to a few associates but did not stop, not wanting the questions which she was sure would be thrown at her. He was David Snyder and he was very recognizable! She was going to have to come up with a plausible explanation as to why he was there to see her. She stopped at her SUV and reached for her laptop. He held onto it and she let go not wanting to create a scene for the curious eyes trained their way.
“I need to see you,” he told her softly. He was wearing loose sweatpants that had their logo on it and one of their sneakers. His light blue t-shirt stretched across his chest.
“You are seeing me now.” She forced the smile to her lips. “I need to go.”
“I will drive behind you.”
“No.”
“Why not?” he demanded softly. She looked around and realized that they were calling a lot of attention themselves.
“Follow behind me,” she said impatiently.
He let go of her bag, and taking it from him, she got into her vehicle. She waited until he had reached his low slung sports car and got in before she pulled out of the lot. She drove a few miles and then pulled onto a dirt road that was hardly used. He pulled in behind her and she got out of the car. She waited until he had come up to her before she spoke. “Look-”
She did not get to finish as he hauled her into his arms, his mouth savage on hers, his fingers digging into her hips as he brought her closer to him! Hailey felt the familiar desire zinging through her as she clung to him and returned the kiss. He put her away from him after a little bit, his dark blue eyes bright. “I just had to get that out of the way,” he said hoarsely. He pulled her up to him and she quivered as she felt his erection. “Hi.”
She struggled to get out of his arms, but his fingers tightened on her bare flesh. “I need to get home.”
“And I need to come home with you.” He bent his head and she moved away so that his lips grazed her cheek. He did not let it deter him as he feathered his lips along her cheekbone.
With a determination and willpower she never knew she possessed, she pushed him away from her. “Stop!” she told him her dark brown eyes glittering as she stared at him. He looked so boyish with a lock of his dark hair falling onto his forehead and so damned sexy! “You need to stop.”
“I can’t,” he admitted to her. “I cannot stop thinking about you.” He approached her again and she held her hands out to hold him off.
“Look, David, I know that you are used to women falling all over themselves where you are concerned, but I am not one of them. What we shared that night was wonderful and I am happy that I got to experience it, but we are not suited. It was just a man and a woman meeting and having amazing sex and that’s it.”
“I want more,” he told her abruptly.
She stared at him for a moment and then laughed. “The novelty of being with me will wear off. Trust me. I am forty-five years old and that makes me ten years older than you are.”
“Do you think I care about that?” he asked her impatiently as he pulled her into his arms. She tried to resist, but it was useless. His head came down and his lips met hers. Hailey opened her mouth beneath his and felt when he lifted her up against him. He backed her over to the vehicle and she had no choice but to wrap her legs around his waist. He reached underneath her thin cotton dress and pulled her underwear off. The little side road was not used, but someone could decide to come by. But that was the last thing on their minds! He released his erection and entered her swiftly. He dragged his mouth from hers and looked down at her, his breathing ragged. “Feel me,” he told her hoarsely. He pushed into her and she gasped and held onto him. He moved and so did she, their movements fevered and hurried as the hot passion took over. He bent his head and captured a nipple through her lace bra, sucking on it frantically. She gripped his shoulders as she felt herself spinning out of control. It felt wonderfully decadent and out of this world. He lifted his head and took her lips with his just as the orgasm started to build up inside her. She gripped him tight and her body went rigid. He gripped her tighter to him and dragging his mouth from hers he let out a hoarse cry as he tumbled with her!
*****
They leaned drunkenly against the vehicle as they tried to get their frenzied breathing under control. David’s heart thundered inside his chest as he leaned against her. She moaned softly and he moved. “Am I crushing you?” he asked her softly.
She did not answer and pushed him away. He eased out of her slowly and stuffed his penis back in. Hailey fixed up her dress and realized that her underwear was ripped. “I have to go.”
“No.” He held her arms.
“Let go, David.”
“You cannot tell me that you do not feel it too.”
“We had sex, pure and simple, let’s just leave it at that.”
“I am afraid I cannot do that.”
“Of course you can’t because you are David Snyder and you are not used to women saying no to you,” she told him dryly.
“That’s not it,” he bit out. His blue eyes met hers and held an intense look in them. “I have never felt this way before-”
“Stop!” This time she pushed hard and he stumbled backwards. She used the opportunity to jump into her vehicle, but before she could push the start button, he reached in and held her hand.
“I am not going away,” he told her heatedly. “If I have to come to the campus where you teach then so be it.”
She stared at him in frustration. “Okay, fine.” She dragged her hand away and reaching into the glove compartment she found a pen and paper and scribbled her number on it and passed it to him. “You may call me. We can have sex, David, until you lose interest or I do and that’s it.”
“We’ll see.” His tone was enigmatic and struck a feeling of uneasiness in her chest. He ducked his head inside and using a hand to drag her to him, he kissed her roughly, his mouth moving over hers with a possessiveness that had her trembling. He released her mouth and stepped back from her vehicle, his expression spiked with passion. She used trembling hands to turn the wheel. He left him standing there looking after her!
******
Hailey quelled the trembling with a supreme effort. She made it to her apartment and went straight into the kitchen and put the pot on to make a spot of tea. She needed music! She called out to the device she kept there and called out for a Luther Vandross. She closed her eyes as the mellow voice of the singer washed over her, calming her somewhat. She was not going to think about what just happened on that little dirt road. She was going to shove it from her mind and not think about it. But oh God! The sex! She shivered as she thought about it. It had blown her mind! She sat heavily onto one of the stools and cupped her tea cup, feeling the warmth through her fingers. He did something to her! This younger man who was a notorious billionaire playboy! Okay, she was a mature woman and an independent one. She did not need a man to complete her and she had discovered that a long time ago. She could have sex with this hot billionaire until they wore themselves out! She could find a way to do it privately so that she maintained her reputation. There was no question about that. She had worked too hard to get where she was to allow something as trivial as physical pleasure make her lose that. She drank down the tea and felt the warmth hit her stomach. She closed her eyes as she remembered his hands guiding her against his penis. Damn, the man had a penis on him! No wonder women found it so hard to resist him! But she was not one of those women who thought that he walked on water! No, she was going to keep it physical and that was that!
******
David went to his apartment. He was too wired to go home or to the office where he was supposed to go. He could not even go the club. He nodded to the security downstairs and pressed the button for the elevator. He leaned back against the walls and closed his eyes. He had spent his life flitting from one to another and for the first time in h
is life he could not stop thinking about her. He swiped the card and the door opened and he went inside. He kicked off his shoes and padded into the sunken living room where he went straight through to the liquor cabinet. He was sweaty and probably should take a shower, but he did not want to wash the scent of her off him. At least not yet! He laughed harshly as he realized that he had become the one pining! He reached for the phone and dialed her number.
She answered on the third ring and her strong sultry voice sent a shiver through him.
“Hey.”
“I am busy, David,” she told him.
“I just want to talk a little bit.” He took the drink with him and went to sit on one of the plush sofas. “I want to get to know you better.”
“Why?”
He smiled at that. “I usually like to get to know the woman I am seeing.”
“We are not seeing each other,” she told him firmly. “We hooked up as the young people call it and we have sex. Let’s keep it simple. I worked very hard to be a black woman of worth and I am not going to allow some man to spoil that for me.”
“Ouch! That was pretty harsh. Look, I know what my reputation-”
“You are a philanderer who thinks that women are to be discarded when you are through with them. I am not here to judge anyone; those women probably thought they could change you. I am just telling you like it is right now. I like the way you make me feel, but that’s where it will stop. We can meet once or twice a week if I have the time or if you are available and as long as you are discreet then we have no problem. I don’t want you coming on campus again. Is that clear?”
He felt the sting of the blunt statement and realized with shock that she sounded just like him when he was starting something with a new woman.
“What if I want more?”
He heard the silence and knew that he had said the wrong thing!
