“That’s real nice of you,” Nicholas said, “but no thanks. I’m leaving. Would you care to accompany me, Dana?”
“You bet!” she said, grinning broadly. She took a firm grip of his hand.
“Leaving?” Dino sounded puzzled.
“Goodbye, Dino.”
“I’ll grab my bag really quick,” she said. “Best you don’t go near Jay or he’ll be all over you again.” Nicholas laughed and nodded, his sky blue eyes shining.
Dana gave Jay the fakest smile she could muster as she pulled her bag from the back of the chair in which he was sitting. He took hold of her arm. “Dana, you tell Nick that I have a business proposition he might be real interested in investing in. It’s a great chance for him to work with an old bud.”
“Old bud?” she said, so furious she could hardly get the words out. She’d had it with all these cruel, self-absorbed phonies. It was clear as day that they were just as horrible now as they’d been back in high school and that hell would most likely freeze over before they ever changed. Now was her chance. She took a deep breath and let him have it. “You were never his friend. In fact, you were nonstop horrible to him in school—always making fun of him, always trying to make him feel bad. Now you pretend to be all buddy-buddy because Nicholas has made a name for himself. There’s no way Nicholas would ever want anything to do with a lazy, mean-spirited, despicable loser like you.”
Jay’s eyes widened, his brows nearly reaching his thinning hair. His mouth hung open, but no sound came out. Dana stomped off, surprised at herself. She’d never been so nasty in her entire life. Under the circumstances it felt really good.
She turned to walk away and saw that Sally McGee had cornered Nicholas. As she approached, Sally smiled at her. “I hear you two are engaged!” she cooed. “I am so happy for you. Moving up in the world, aren’t you Dana?” She squeezed Dana’s arm so hard that it hurt.
“You just have to come to dinner at my house tomorrow night. I’ve invited all the cool people from our class. Everyone would be just thrilled to have Nick there.”
Dana took a deep breath and decided to say what she thought once again. “No, we won’t be coming to dinner. You and all the so-called cool people at school were never anything but nasty to Nicholas and me at school, so there is really no reason that we would want to spend any time with you. Do you agree, Nicholas?”
She looked over at him and he nodded enthusiastically. “I absolutely agree.”
Dana took his hand and waggled her fingers goodbye to Sally
“I think I like being a bitch to these awful people,” Dana said as they made their way to the exit, ignoring the stares and overly friendly greetings.
“Wait! Hold on!” someone called out. Dana turned around and, to her annoyance, watched as Betsy Steele rushed up to them. Dana rolled her eyes. Betsy, who used to constantly make snide remarks about both Nicholas’s and Dana’s clothes and appearance, grasped Nicholas’s arm and, practically rubbing herself against it, murmured, “Don’t leave yet, honey. The D.J. just set up the mic because the class is going to do a toast to you. It would be really cool if you were at my table when they do that—”
“Sorry, Betsy, we’re leaving now,” Nicholas said, extricating his arm from Betsy’s grip. He put his arm around Dana’s shoulders and ushered her out into the cool night air, leaving behind the cries of “You can’t go now!” and “Wait, the toast is coming up!”
He held the car door open and she slid into the welcoming leather seat. After he walked around and slipped into the driver’s side, he turned to Dana. “I hated school because of these people. I used to think the reason they were so mean to me was because something was wrong with me. But one day I realized that if someone like you liked me, the problem did not lie with me.
“Today just reaffirmed what I already knew—that our classmates just happen to be a bunch of unpleasant, shallow people who will pick on anyone who’s different and poor and...and...”
“Suck up to the same guy when he’s rich and famous,” Dana said, finishing his sentence. “And never care one iota about who he really is.”
They fell silent, their gazes locked. The desire that shone in Nicholas’s eyes made Dana’s heart constrict. Her nipples began to peak. The way he looked at her made her want to...
“Oh no!” she exclaimed, her desire doused by what she saw. “We’d better peel out of here—that entire table that asked us to join them is heading this way waving a bottle of champagne.”
Nicholas turned the ignition and the car started almost soundlessly. He drove around the shouting group, out of the parking lot, and onto the road.
“Great escape,” Dana said, laughing. “For a while I didn’t think we’d make it out of there.”
“You know,” he said, “I never was looking to make money. I was—and am—just thrilled to be doing something fun that I love.”
He glanced over at her. “Wonder how they’d have behaved if I’d given all my money to help the poor of the world.”
“I’d say our classmates would be a bit less friendly.”
“And you? What would you say, Dana?”
“I would say, sounds like a good cause.”
“If we had planned to marry, what would you think?”
“I’d hope you’d be willing to live on my teacher’s salary.”
He seemed to be thinking about that as Dana’s heart ricocheted about. Fiancée? Marriage? His earlier TV confession popped into her mind.
“Dana...” Nicholas said, his voice low as his knuckles whitened from the vice grip he had on the steering wheel. “About last night...”
Dana’s heart turned icy and dropped into her belly. Oh please don’t say it was a mistake...
“I didn’t mean... That is... I shouldn’t have come on so strong. I completely lost control. I should have taken it more easy.”
Dana laughed with relief. Nicholas glanced at her with raised eyebrows.
“No,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful that we were both completely swept away like that.” The car swerved. Nicholas pulled to the side of the road and came to a screeching stop.
“Really? Do you mean that?” His eyes seemed to glow in the streetlight.
Dana nodded. “Yes, I do. It was the best sex I ever had in my entire life. I’ve never felt such passion, such joy.”
He laughed. “Me too.” Leaning over the console that separated them, he reached over and took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly—or at least tried.
“Ugh. Bucket seats,” he said, straightening up.
Dana laughed and said, “How about we get back to this at the hotel?”
“You bet.” He put the car in gear and pulled out onto the road, ignoring the speed limit as he raced all the way back to the hotel.
Chapter Eight
As they sped through the darkness of Aurelia’s downtown, Dana thought about the feel of his hands on her body, the soft whisper of his breath as he kissed her belly. Her breasts ached for his caress and she felt herself growing wet. Her panties would be soaked by the time they got to a bed.
Tires squealing, they pulled into the hotel parking lot, where they clambered out of the car as quickly as they could and ran laughing from the parking lot into the hotel where the sleepy desk clerk looked at them in surprise.
“Lovely evening,” Nicholas said, with an enormous smile.
“Yes sir,” the clerk replied, clearly unconvinced.
They hurried to the elevator and stood holding hands while they waited for it to descend.
When it arrived, they rushed into it and, as the doors closed, Nicholas pulled her to him. They wrapped their arms around each other and kissed. It was a gentle kiss, lips softly brushing against lips. When they reached her floor and the door opened, Nicholas reached out and pushed more elevator buttons, never releasing his hold on her, never pulling his lips away from hers.
She felt his tongue push gently against her lips, which she parted slightly to allow him entrance. His tongue,
slick and soft and warm, stroked the inside of her mouth. She felt his hands moving up and down her back, firm and sure, and then up to cup her face as the kiss became deeper, more intimate.
She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, loving the feel of his solid body against her softer one, reveling in the pressure of his hard cock against her belly.
Dana let out a horrified squeak when the elevator door slid open again. She and Nicholas stepped apart. He steered her past the grinning middle-aged couple who stood in the hall staring at them.
“This is my floor,” he said. “My suite okay with you?”
She murmured her assent and giggled. “Perhaps we can finally be left alone there.”
“It worked last time.” He unlocked the door and they went inside.
“Ah, privacy,” she said.
“It has that and a bed.” Holding her hand, he led her through the familiar living area where they had danced and into the bedroom. In the low light, she had a fleeting glimpse of a king size bed with an impressive carved headboard. The burgundy cover was drawn back to expose big, fluffy white pillows, and then Nicholas was kissing her again. Gentle, enticing.
She melted against him. Ran her tongue slowly across his lips. Mmm, velvet. Then into the moist, hot satin behind them where his tongue met hers, where she yielded to its caresses.
She felt as though they could stay here kissing languorously for all eternity. But when his response became more forceful, more urgent, his cock throbbing against her belly, her whole body yearned desperately for him.
Still holding her, he pulled back a little and he kissed her face; her eyes, her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her forehead. She felt his lips on her chin and then her neck. He kissed softly—so softly he almost tickled the sensitive skin. She sighed with pleasure.
“Never stop,” she said. “Never stop kissing me, Nicholas.”
As though they were dancing, he steered her to the edge of the bed where she sat, while he knelt and carefully removed her heels. He took one foot in his hand, brought it to his lips, and tenderly kissed the arch of first one foot and then the other. He kissed her ankles; he nipped at her shins and calves. Slowly, one by one, he sucked on her toes. She murmured her pleasure as she ran her hands through his hair.
He ran his hands up her shins and stroked her knees. She shivered with delight. He caressed her thighs, slowly moving up—so slowly she could have screamed in frustration had she not been so filled with the pleasure of it.
But suddenly he stopped, stood, and pushed her onto her back. He kissed her lips and tenderly stroked her face, her hair.
His lips still on hers, he caressed her breasts through her clothes. She brought her hands to the top button of her dress, eager to open it, wanting to feel his hands on her naked flesh. But he took hold of her wrists.
“Not yet, my love,” he said. “Not yet.” Through her dress he stroked her midriff, her hips, and then her thighs. His gaze locked with hers. He slid back to his knees. He lifted the hem of her skirt and folded it over her belly. He kissed the tender insides of her thighs and nipped them and caressed them. His gaze never left hers. She shuddered.
He slid his fingers along the edge of her panties and stroked her mound through the silky fabric. The ache in her pussy consumed her entire being. She wanted him, needed him—now.
“Now,” she gasped.
But he said, “Not yet, my darling.” He released her gaze and slowly, maddeningly, teasingly pulled her panties lower and lower down her hips. Then she felt his breath on her mound. He licked the tender outer folds as he pushed the panties to her ankles and tossed them aside.
He flicked his tongue back and forth across her plump, needy clit and she gasped. Then he sucked it, unrelenting, driving her wild. She was overwhelmed with sweet sensations and her need for him. She trembled on the edge, barely hanging on, and then, ecstatically, she tumbled over—and over and over.
She’d barely landed when he pushed his tongue deep inside her. Luscious sensation radiated out from wherever he touched, filling her pelvis, her belly, her chest, her very heart and soul. She gasped at the intensity of the pleasure. Feverishly, she grasped his head, pushed him harder against herself, and yet she thought she could not bear the glorious sensation one more second. She felt herself explode into a million pieces as she flew over the edge into wild, voluptuous freefall.
Before she could return to earth his finger was inside her and he was gazing at her, gauging her response.
She groaned, the fiery pleasure blossoming, and she heard herself cry out as she tumbled over again.
As she attempted to catch her breath and calm her wildly beating heart, Nicholas took her face between his hands and rained kisses across it as he whispered that he loved her. Her heart constricted with love for him, but her pussy radiated savage, overwhelming need for more, more of Nicholas. She tried to speak, to tell him of her love and of her wild desire, but she could not put the words together.
He just smiled and stood and shoved his shoes and socks off. When he began to unbutton his shirt, she realized that although she’d never before found it particularly sexy to watch a man undress, she did now. Fascinated, she watched as Nicholas pulled off the shirt—buttons intact this time—revealing his broad chest, his powerful arms. Her gaze shifted down his muscled torso as he pulled off his belt. She wanted to surge up, to kiss and lick the line of dark hair that rose enticingly above his waistband, but when she started to sit up he smiled and shook his head. She lay back and watched as he pulled open his fly and pushed his pants and underwear down. She groaned as his erect cock sprang free.
He leaned over her and undid the buttons of her dress—slowly again. The man was driving her into delicious delirium. Somehow he pulled the dress off her, somehow her scarlet bra followed, and she lay naked, exposed before him.
He murmured, “God, you are so beautiful.”
“Could you... Could we...please...” She reached her arms out to him, but he shook his head.
“Soon,” he said.
She groaned.
He sucked her nipples as he reached down and entered her with his finger. She grabbed his shoulder. Oh God, it was almost more than she could bear. The blazing sensations spread, consuming her whole body, yet coalescing exquisitely exactly where he touched her nipple, her pussy.
She tried to speak, to tell him what she felt, to tell him she loved him, but she could not. She was completely overcome with the sensations, and then she fell, exulting in a cascade of feeling, both sensual and emotional.
When she opened her eyes, Nicholas was looking down at her smiling. He lifted her farther onto the bed and knelt between her legs. He brought her ankles to his shoulders and his gaze locked with hers as millimeter by millimeter he entered her. She felt herself stretching deliciously until, at last, he filled her completely.
His face became serious as he began to move, thrusting back and forth. She tilted her hips, eager to meet him. She struggled to keep her eyes open; she wanted to watch him, wanted him to see what he was doing to her, but when she went yet again into freefall she could not. She cried out and bucked beneath him.
When she returned to earth and opened her eyes, his face had changed. He looked wild, savage. He rammed into her again and again and again until she was screaming and flying off into space once more as she felt his release.
Minutes passed as Dana lay languorous and peaceful in Nicholas’s warm embrace.
After a while she opened her eyes. “I do believe I am hungry,” she said.
“Once again, we never got past the hors d’oeuvres. It seems that when we are in public in Aurelia we can never eat our entrée.”
“To say nothing of dessert.”
“Why don’t we skip the main course and go directly to dessert?”
“Great idea.” Dana paused for a beat before a smile spread across her face. “I haven’t had a Dairy Queen for ages.”
“Me neither.”
“Let’s do it.”
T
hey scrambled into their clothes and, to avoid meeting anyone, ran hand-in-hand down the stairs and out into the night, hurrying along the two blocks to the rather decrepit stand where a teenager was just closing the service window. He reopened it and, yawning broadly, waited for their order.
“One chocolate with chocolate sprinkles, one chocolate with chocolate coating,” Nicholas said. “Make them extra large.”
He turned to Dana and put his arm around her shoulders. “I know you always wanted the sprinkles.”
She nodded. “And you wanted the chocolate coating but we couldn’t afford it. So we made do with one plain chocolate between us.”
“I was glad we had to share. That way I got to brush my hand against yours.”
Dana laughed. “I thought I was doing the brushing. I wanted so much to touch you.”
Nicholas scratched his head. “I would never have guessed that. Wish I’d known.” He grinned. “We could have gotten into serious trouble.” They both laughed.
“Nicholas.” Dana grew serious again. “When you were on WJBT why did you say you wanted to marry Patti Malone?”
“What?”
“Patti—you said you wanted to marry her.”
“Why on earth would I want to marry Patti? I detest her.”
“Because she’s so beautiful.”
“Beautiful? Patti?”
“Yes, in that interview you said you wanted to marry the most beautiful girl in Aurelia.”
“You are the most beautiful girl—well, you are a woman now so you are now the most beautiful woman in Aurelia.”
“Me?”
“Of course. Doesn’t everyone think so?”
“Uh, no.”
“Well, they must be blind then. You are the most beautiful woman I ever met.”
Well, she thought, they do say love is blind. And then it hit her. She gasped and her heart bounced happily around in her chest. He loves me! He wants to marry me!
He cleared his throat. “Well I’m glad that’s clarified.” He turned and the teenager handed him the extra large cones.
Class Reunion Page 4
