Cautious (Sequel to Disastrous)

by Montes, E. L.

  A waiter approached our table. “Hello, can I start you off with anything to drink?”

  “Yes, I’ll have a glass of merlot. Mia, would you like one as well?” I nodded with a smile. She ordered two glasses and the waiter left us. “So how’s my favorite lady?” She asked with bright smile.

  “I’m good. I’ve been stressing over this exam that’s scheduled for tomorrow, but after taking a day break from studying, I think I’ll be fine.” The waiter brought us our glasses, and then we ordered a variety of sushi. “How are you?” I asked when it was just us again.

  Sipping on her glass, she slightly nodded. “I’ve been okay, just a little down lately, but that’s to be expected this time of year.”

  Theresa was never one to be upset or at least from what I’d witnessed, which worried me. “This time of year?”

  “Yes, it’s the anniversary of my husband’s death. It’ll be fifteen years next Saturday.”

  A chill ran through me as I leaned in and folded my arms on the table. “I didn’t realize he passed a week after Marcus’s birthday?”

  Theresa ran a freshly manicured hand through her hair as she slightly nodded. “Oh yes, Marcus didn’t want to celebrate his birthday for years after James’ death.” Laughing once, she continued. “Can you blame him? I think it wasn’t until his twenty-first birthday that he allowed me to plan a party for him; even at that age, he was hesitant.” She took a few more sips of her wine.

  “So is he going to be okay with the surprise this week?”

  “We’ll find out then.” Laughing at my wary expression, she added, “I was kidding by the way. I think Marcus will be just fine, especially because you’ll be there.” She leaned in and grabbed my hand, reassuring me.

  Nodding, I shifted the focus back to her. “It must be hard to deal with the loss of your husband. Even after fifteen years, how did you find the strength to move on after losing the only man you’ve ever loved?”

  Theresa looked as if she had just been punched in the gut. Removing her grasp from my hand, she leaned back in her chair and blankly stared at me. I felt beyond terrible. I didn’t realize my words would be too painful for her to handle.

  “Theresa, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to . . .”

  She waved me off with a sway of her hand and shook her head. “No. That’s the thing, Mia.” She rested a fist under her chin as her eyes focused on mine. “That’s why it was never easy to let go. The guilt . . . I just . . .” Her eyes began to water. She reached for a napkin and gently dabbed the cloth along her lids. I was confused by her reaction. There was definitely more behind the loss and mourning of her husband. It was as if she were carrying a burden that weighed heavily against her shoulders.

  Looking back at me with wet eyelids, she pressed her lips together and studied me for a few seconds. “Can I confide something in you?”

  Stunned by her instant change in demeanor, I simply nodded.

  She wasn’t convinced, “Mia, you have to promise me that you will never tell anyone. Okay?” Reaching for my hand, she gripped it tightly. “No one, Mia. Not even Marcus. Please promise me this.”

  Anxiety ran through me as I stared at the woman who was more damaged than I had assumed. So many scenarios sprinted through my mind as she begged me with her eyes to keep quiet. I wanted desperately for her to trust me and to be able to disclose anything. But why was I so nervous? One side of my mind was yelling, “Please don’t tell me!” The other side was saying, “Just tell me. I can handle it.”

  With that, I nodded, allowing her to spill her deepest and darkest secret.

  ***

  As I entered the shopping center with both my mother and Megan, I nodded at their comments and suggestions. I was there physically—laughing, talking, and even trying on shoes—but my mind kept drifting back to Theresa and our discussion at lunch. I felt every bit of the pain and guilt from the load she had been carrying for so many years. I cried along with her as she confessed and spilled everything. How I could keep it from Marcus was beyond me, but it wasn’t my secret to tell.

  “Mia, are you okay, sweetie?” Sara, my mother, reached her hand out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

  Smiling at the gesture, I glanced at her, “Yes, I just have a lot on my mind.”

  “Ah, Marcus and you are doing fine?”

  “Yes, we’re doing better than fine. Thank you for asking.”

  “Good.” She smiled and adjusted the few pieces of clothing that hung from her arm. “Are you going to try those on?” She pointed at the few blouses I held.

  “No, I’m just going to grab them.”

  “Okay, I’m going to go to try these on. I have no idea where Megan ran off to, but I’ll meet you at the register?”

  “Sounds good.” Slightly nodding, she turned and headed toward the dressing room.

  With thoughts of Theresa and Marcus constantly running through my mind, I continued to rummage through racks of fabrics in the boutique. I had to try to forget the information Theresa had just confided in me. It was the only way I could stop feeling guilty for keeping it from Marcus. As my guilty feelings continued to pour out, I decided to send Marcus a text to apologize for my earlier encounter and to tell him that I loved him.

  “Hey, Mia, look at this bad boy!” Looking up, I saw that Megan held a tiny piece of lingerie pressed against her.

  “It’s an oversize stocking, Megan.”

  Laughing, she stroked the fabric as if it were a fur pet. “What, you don’t think I’ll look hot in this? Jeremy will die! Well, after he bangs the hell out of me.” She winked.

  Shaking my head, I yanked the thin fabric out of her hands. It was a netted full body suit, with only a hole at the crotch area. “Yeah, he’ll have a field day with this.” I handed it back to her.

  “Come on, you never dressed up for Marcus before?”

  Yes, I had. I looked pretty damn hot too, but I also remembered waiting for over six hours for him and the night had taken a bad turn. I didn’t want to go into that story with Megan. I nodded and headed toward the shoes in the store. She was following quickly behind me. “Have you ever stripteased for him?”

  Frozen in place, I slowly turned. “No. Wait, have you?”

  “Not with Jeremy, but with my ex back in Philly. You should so do it, Mia!” Her smile spread with her eyes wide open.

  “I would be too embarrassed.” Still, when Marcus stared at me naked, he never made me feel uncomfortable with my body. Instead, he made me feel sexy. He stared at me in awe, as if he had never seen a naked woman before, and I knew that wasn’t true. Though standing in front of him, dancing, having him watch my every move—I could never do it.

  “Oh come on, Mia. Take a few shots to loosen up. I’m telling you he’ll love it! You can do it on the night of his birthday—a little birthday striptease and sex.” She wiggled her perfectly arched brows. Then her face turned serious. “Besides, you still have that stupid bet going. You have a lot of making up to do.”

  Damn you, Megan. Damn you. I couldn’t believe I was actually considering it. Megan could convince me sell my organs on the spot, and that comment about of a lot of making up to do hit me hard with guilt. “I wouldn’t even know what to do, how to set it up, or what to wear?”

  Crossing her arms, she dropped a hip and flashed a crooked smile. “Oh yeah, now I can finally teach you something. Come on. Let’s go into the lingerie section. We have lots to do.”

  ***

  For the next few days, nothing major had occurred. Marcus and I saw each other when we could. On Wednesday, we went on a nice date on to the same Italian restaurant he took me on our first night together. It was nice to catch up with Mr. Giuseppe again; that old man had such a humble soul. We truly enjoyed his company. Marcus eventually got over the entire office teasing incident. He hadn’t brought it up since, but I knew he was looking forward to getting together tonight. It marked two weeks since we had made our bet.

  I should have jumped his bones the moment he picked
me up, but I decided to let it drag a little longer because he was going to have me that night. He was dressed down in jeans and a white t-shirt, looking yummier than ever. How that was possible, I wasn’t sure. He didn’t mention the bet all week after the incident in his office, and he didn’t mention it the entire ride to the movie theater either.

  We talked about the exam that I had just passed. We discussed his birthday plans—he did not know that a surprise party was being planned by all of his family and friends. We even talked about the case he was preparing that that was supposed to have started on Monday. We talked about everything else except the bet. Had he forgotten?

  We pulled into theater parking lot. Marcus walked around and opened the door for me. “Why thank you, Mr. DeLuca.” Reaching for my hand, he smiled, shut the door behind me, and hit the alarm for his car.

  “So what did you want to do after the theater?” He asked nonchalantly as we strolled side by side into the building.

  Here it goes. He was going to bring it up. I was sure of it. Smiling, I leaned into him as I wrapped my arm around his waist. “Well, I was thinking we could go back to your house and hang out.” I looked up at him with a broad smile. “I was thinking I could sleep over?”

  “Sounds good to me. Which movie did you want to see?” He nodded toward the listings. I couldn’t help sulking slightly as I stared at the selections. I was sure that his mood would have changed when I asked to sleep over. He acted as if it didn’t faze him, which kind of upset me, so I chose the most non-manly, non-grim, non-action movie possible.

  After grabbing our snacks and popcorn, we entered an empty theater. Marcus arched a brow at me. Okay, so I forced him to watch a chick flick. “Popular movie, huh?”

  “It’s been out for a while now. I heard it was good.” He shook his head with a slight grin, as I followed him toward the back of the theater. We sat in the middle of the back row. After adjusting in my seat, I turned to face him. “I’m sorry for making you watch a chick flick. If you want, we can see something else. I can come back and watch this with Megan some other time.”

  He brought his hand up and cupped my face. “Babe, seriously, it’s fine. Besides, we’re the only ones here. We could practically get away with anything.” He wiggled his brow.

  I tossed some popcorn at him. “Play nice.” I teased. He laughed and leaned back in his chair. I did, in fact, feel bad for forcing him to watch a romance movie.

  We talked for a few minutes before the lights dimmed and the previews started.

  Marcus wasted no time as he lifted the arm of the chair between us and scooted over. I followed his movement with my eyes.

  His hand slowly rose up my skirt. He stopped midway as his fingers gently traced circles on my inner thigh. My insides tightened. I knew I was going to stop him, but as I nibbled on my bottom lip, I didn’t. I wanted to test how far he would go. He stayed there gently stroking my inner thigh, teasing me with his touch. It was as if he were clueless to what he was doing, as if he didn’t know the effect that small movement had on me.

  I sucked in a ragged breath, and his lips curled into a slight smile. He focused on the screen as I watched him the entire time. His fingers moved again; this time he went further up. I swallowed hard as his fingertips played with the rim of my lace panties. My heart picked up its pace.

  Pushing my panties aside, he rubbed his fingertips along my clit. Leaning back on the chair, he turned his head and focused on me. Humor washed from his face, and his eyes filled with desire, with want. I shut my eyes and tossed my head back on the chair as he slid two fingers inside of me. My insides were throbbing and yearning for him. I should have stopped him, but as I caught his wrist, I found myself guiding him in and out of me.

  His skillful fingers continued working me, his thumb rubbing over my clit, as he leaned down and ran his tongue along my neck, towards my earlobe, sucking it in. I turned my chin, catching his mouth, and his tongue twirled, sucking along mine. My breathing became heavier as I became aroused. It was as if he knew my body better than I did. His finger thrust and pounced faster and harder into me. A moan escaped me as I gripped his shirt, digging my nails into him, and bit on his bottom lip to keep from screaming as I released all of the aching tension.

  Sucking in air, my eyes flashed opened, and I stared at him. I wanted him in so many ways. The past two weeks had been haunting. I needed him inside me more than ever.

  Unzipping his pants, with his hand coated in my wetness, he began stroking himself. Breathing heavily, I looked around. We were still alone. I had this instant adrenaline rush. I was turned on and nervous about the possibility of getting caught.

  His eyes were dark and I knew he was ready. Reaching over, he pulled me in and on top of him. With my back pressed against his chest, I faced the large screen. Gripping my hips, he slid himself into me. I gasped.

  Oh my God. My entire body shuddered at how good he felt. A burning and aching sensation shot through my core, and I wanted him deeper inside me. I wanted to feel all of him.

  My head fell back onto his shoulder. Slowly, he rotated his hips as his fingers gripped onto my thighs. Matching him, I jerked my hips deep into him. I tightened my walls around his thickness as I raised my hips and slammed back down into him. “Fuck, Mia.” He groaned in my ear. My body was sweaty and coursing with desire. I was on a high, and I didn’t want to come down. He felt so good inside me. I felt him thick and hard with every movement of our hips. One of his hands was gripping my breast, while the other rubbed along my sensitive skin.

  The sound of laughter caused me to stop. My eyes flashed open, and I noticed two women walking in and taking a seat at the bottom row far from us. My heart pounded against my chest. My eyes were still a blur from the high I was on. Catching my breath, I tried to move away, but Marcus gripped my thighs, digging his fingers into my flesh, and slammed me onto him again. The painful pleasure of it caused me to cry out slightly, but Marcus wrapped his hand around my mouth and pulled my head aside his.

  “No.” He growled in my ear. Pulling my hips away slowly with his free hand, he slammed me down against him again, that time harder. I began to pant. “I’m going to take you here.” My head sank back into his shoulder in defeat. “I don’t care who’s around. I’m going to finish this. Do you understand?”

  I nodded as he removed his hand from my mouth and cupped it around my throat. I wet my lips and shut my eyes. At that moment, I didn’t care if we were caught. I moved my hips into his harder, grunting with each thrust. He sucked in air between his teeth, which caused me to be turned on even more. Again, I jerked my hips into his. Our breathing became heavier, our sweaty bodies molded against one another, and my nipples were hardened with desire.

  The pleasure of it all, being with him, the thought of getting caught, and the last two weeks of the teasing built again deep within me. My body jerked against his as I convulsed for the second time around him. Tilting my head, I placed my forehead on the nape of his neck. He gripped my chin and shoved his tongue into my mouth, kissing me hard. Thrusting his hips, he bit down on my lip and groaned as he released himself deep inside me.

  After a few minutes and with him still inside of me, we caught our breath as he gently patted soft kisses along my lips. Once our heartbeats came to a normal pace, Marcus gripped my chin and lifted it so that he could look at me. “We are never fuckin’ going that long again. You understand?” Nodding, I let out a sigh in contentment. I one-hundred percent agreed. “Good, let’s go home, so we can do that again.” He winked.

  CHAPTER NINE

  MARCUS

  I couldn’t help but smile as she giggled beneath me. “Marcus, what are you doing?” Mia’s eyelids flashed opened. I playfully flexed my hips into hers, and she let out another soft laugh. As she lay beneath me unclothed, with the warmth of her skin pressed against mine and the way her hair was tangled and tossed along the pillow, she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. Even first thing in the morning.

  Mia reached up and
ran her fingers through my hair, as she placed her other hand on the side of my face. I brought her hand toward my lips, trailing soft kisses on her palm and down to her inner wrist. Mia’s lips curled into a huge grin. Smiling along with her, I continued to stare into her eyes. I was intoxicated by her beauty, her scent, and, most of all, the love in those eyes for me. Right there was where I wanted to be always. I’d never felt so much peace in my life than when I was with her.

  I lowered my head toward hers and traced my lips along the softness along her jawline. Making my way toward her ear, I could feel the goose bumps that formed along her skin. I kissed her in that sensitive spot underneath her earlobe then slowly down the side of her neck until I reached the middle of her collarbone. “Mmmh, I can never have enough of you.” I purred along her skin. Her lips parted into a smile as she stretched beneath me.

  “Well, I guess I should make you wait two weeks more often.”

  I shook my head and groaned at the thought. “No more ridiculous bets. You’re mine, completely. I’ll have you whenever and wherever I want.”

  Shaking her head, she giggled again and then changed the subject. “So what are we doing today?”

  With my brows pressed together, I leaned in closer to her. “We’re not going anywhere. I have plenty of things in mind that I have in store for you, but they all involve you, me, and the bed all day.”

  “So you’re keeping me hostage here? What if I get hungry?” She asked as she batted her eyes innocently.

  I gave her a crooked smile, “Well, if you get hungry, I have something to fill that appetite.” I flexed my hips into her again.

  “You. Are. Such. A. Guy!” She laughed.

  “You know it, baby. Now come here.”

  ***

  “Bro, is your dick swollen?”

  “Fuck off, Jimmie.” I bit back as I opened the fridge door.

  Bursting into a hard laugh, he put down the paper he was reading. “I’m just saying you haven’t left your room all day. Fuck, I know Mia kept you hanging for a while, but did you have to seriously nail her the entire day? Poor girl.” He shook his head. “She probably won’t walk for the rest of the week.”