by Naomi West
I blush deeply and have no idea what to text back. But I don’t have to ponder it for long because Rett texts again.
Seriously, Lessi. It’ll work. I swear. Your body is telling you to get off your ass and get those needs met!
I blush even further but end up laughing when I get three more texts in a row.
Do it!
Make Chris’s day!
Get yours!
“What’s the joke?” Chris asks as he plunks down in the seat beside me. I jump a little and bobble my phone but he swings forward and catches it before it hits the ground.
He grins up at me as he hands the phone back. “Here you go, butterfingers.”
I find myself grinning back. His light blue eyes shine and his blonde hair peaks out from under his baseball cap. His face is open and simple and handsome. Boyish, something that belies a simplicity I’ve never really had in my life, and I realize suddenly how much I want those things.
I glance to the back of the room to see Dare, headphones clamped on. Permanent frown etched on his face. Arms crossed over his chest. I take a deep breath.
“Chris, do you want to go on a date with me?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says instantly, his delighted smile going all the way to his eyes. “Anytime. Tonight? Wait, too eager? How about tomorrow?”
His words come out in a jumble and it feels good to be wanted. After a month of being completely ignored by Dare, except in my dreams, it’s nice to be acknowledged.
“Well, it is a Friday…,” I say.
“So tonight? Great. What time? What do you want to do?”
My smile dims when I realize that Dare is going to have to come along with us. I really don’t want to have to navigate a romantic meal with Robocop in the background. Chris obviously doesn’t like my hesitation because he immediately supplies a suggestion. “Bowling?”
I smile. Cute suggestion. Not the most romantic, but it’ll totally work. “Perfect. how’s seven sound?”
“Perfect.”
The rest of the day flies past pretty quickly. My stomach twists and my heart races every time I think about my date. I’m not sure if it’s the thought of Chris or the thought of having Dare observe me on a date. It’s because of Chris. I firmly tell myself as I nervously brush my hair in front of the mirror of the master bathroom. Chris will be here any minute. My enthusiasm has definitely waned throughout the day, but my arousal, on the other hand, has not. Even wiggling into the little red dress I’ve chosen to wear had me gasping. It reminded me of a dream last week where Dare peeled me out of that same red dress.
I toss the brush down and angrily slick on a touch of red lipstick. I’m sick of thinking about Dare. He doesn’t have anything to do with my date tonight, and even though I’m extremely nervous about being physical with a man for the first time, part of me is looking forward to quieting the lust that’s been pumping through me.
Chris doesn’t exactly make my blood race, but my blood has been racing enough over the last couple of weeks. I think about being intimate with someone, how this will be the first time, how my consciousness seems divided between wanting it to be special and wanting to get it over with, just to get rid of this weird sexual pressure.
The door to my bedroom slams open, making me jump about a foot in the air. Dare fills the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.
“The lobby just called up. They say there’s a Chris Walter here for you. He seems to think you’re going on a date.”
Chapter Nine
Dare
She regains her composure quickly and marches to her closet. Flinging open the door, she bends over to select a pair of shoes. I get an incredible view of her perfectly lush ass against that scrap of a dress she’s wearing. She turns back to me and wiggles into one high heel and then the other. I bite back a groan and force myself to stay in the doorway.
Her hips in that dress. Fuck. My fingers flex and curl at my sides. Calm down.
“Chris and I are going on a date,” she stomps past me and grabs her purse from the coat rack.
I follow her out and slam my palm against the front door, keeping her from leaving. “And you didn’t see any reason to tell me this?”
“Why do I have to tell you who I date?” she spits back in a way that tells me she already knows the reason.
Because in your dreams you fuck me like I’m your personal porn star. I bite it back. “Because I’m the head of your goddamn security.”
She wilts a little bit at that, but she rallies another excuse. “We both know that Chris is not a threat to my safety.”
“I don’t know shit about bologna dick and neither do you.”
Her mouth falls open. My eyes drop to it. I want to suck the breath right out of her. I want to show her all the things she could do with that open mouth, but I can’t.
“We don’t know who this guy is, where he comes from, what his associations are. We don’t know where he lives. Or where he’s taking you-”
“A bowling alley,” she cuts in.
That slows me down for a second. “He finally got you to go on a date with him and he’s taking you fucking bowling?”
Any modicum of respect I may have had for this jackhole completely disintegrates.
“What’s wrong with bowling?” she puts her hands on her hips and glares at me.
It would be cute if I wasn’t so fired up. If I hadn’t spent the last two weeks attempting to ignore the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. If I hadn’t spent every second of my time with her biting my tongue instead of shoving it between her legs where it belongs. If I hadn’t walked past her room last night on a security check and heard her moaning my name again. But all of those things have happened. I’m at the end of my goddamn rope and I can’t be patient or gentle or understanding anymore.
“Because you don’t take a woman like you to a fucking bowling alley, Alessia.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Tears are suddenly glistening in her eyes and I thank God they don’t spill over. “Because I’m not fun? Because all I ever do is study and read and prepare for class? Because I’m boring?”
“Of course not. What the fuck does that have to with anything?” I take a step toward her, I’m fully in between her and the front door. “You don’t take a woman like you to a fucking bowling alley because you are made for unfiltered attention and care, Alessia.”
Her pupils dilate and her breaths are ragged. She takes a half a step back from me and I fill the space immediately. I realize I’m walking a thin line, now, but I continue.
“If a man is lucky enough to take you out on a date he doesn’t drag you out in public,” I take another step. I can smell her, “he makes you dinner and plays soft music and has you all to his goddamn self.”
She gapes at me, her lips parted and her eyes taking up half of her face. “If a man gets you to go out with him, he doesn’t abide anything that could distract him. He gives you every moment, every ounce, of his focus.”
I reach my hand up to touch, just once, her hair. But she smacks my hand away. Her eyes are suddenly both shuttered and fiery. “He gives me his focus?” she spits my words back at me. “You mean as opposed to completely ignoring me for the last month?”
She sidesteps me and marches toward the door, her dress stretching across her ass with each step. “Chris may not be the most romantic guy in the world, but he talks to me and notices me and wants me.” She hurls each word like it’s grenade that she’s just pulled the pin from. She doubles down on the last part. “He wants me. And tonight, he’s gonna have me.”
She turns back toward the door and yanks it open. Something inside me snaps in two. Maybe it’s my sanity. Maybe it’s my control. Maybe it’s my patience. Maybe it’s all three.
“He’s gone,” I murmur.
She stills in the doorway. She doesn’t turn around. “What are you talking about?”
“I sent him away. Told him you weren’t coming down.”
“You. Did. What?!” She slams the
door and whips back to me. I’m instantly reminded again of Cleopatra. She looks like a queen, standing there in her skintight crimson dress, the same color of blood, and strikes me that no matter how far she goes in this life she’ll always be encumbered by her birthright. Her eyes are wild and sparking, her hair tumbling down her body in all the places I want my hands to be. Her chest heaves with anger and her breasts threaten to burst out the top of her dress.
“I sent him away,” I repeat. My voice is deadly even to my own ears.
She takes a step forward and points her finger at me. “You cock blocked me?”
Her cheeks flame at her own use of the phrase, but she doesn’t back down. I chuff out a laugh even though I’m seething with rage. “Yeah, I deprived you of two minutes of sweaty, self-conscious sex with bologna dick. I’m a monster.”
At that, she throws her purse down on couch beside us and tosses her hands up. “What I do in private is none of your goddamn business!”
“It’s exactly my business. For the next year, it’s not only my business, it’s my fucking job. To make sure you’re safe, from the Grecos and from limp dick boys who wouldn’t know what to do with you if you were naked and begging for it.”
Her eyes go completely cold and she crosses her hands over her chest. “Fine. Maybe you’re right that Chris isn’t exactly a love connection for me. That isn’t the point! Are you honestly telling me that you’re not going to allow me to date anyone for the next year?”
Is that what I’m saying? Fuck, this is way over the line. She’s an adult. Intellectually I know that she’s able to date anyone she chooses, and all I can do is vet them and make sure they have no connection to Greco., but somehow, I can’t bring myself to say that.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“This is fucking ridiculous!” She throws her hands up again and tosses her hair back over her shoulder and I’ve never seen her look so angry. Or so beautiful. “You can’t deprive me of contact!”
“You have Rett. Contact her. Or Clara.” I know I’m being an asshole but I can’t stop.
“I mean physical contact!”
My blood runs cold and hot at the same time. My cock tightens in my pants and I swear her eyes flicker down to it and back up. She uncrosses her arms and I can see her nipples pressing against her dress.
“I-I have needs, Dare,” her voice quavers a little bit, and I can’t tell if she’s admitting this to me or to herself, but she sounds strong and womanly and so goddamn sexy my cock grows another three inches. “A-and Chris could have helped me with that,” she staggers.
My mouth goes dry. This is it. This is the moment I tell her to go back to her room. Or I tell her to call Chris and I take them on their fucking date like I’m a chaperone. Or I turn on the TV and tell her to sit her ass down and watch it until it’s time for bed. This is the moment for me to deescalate this situation and go drink a glass of ice water and remember why the hell I’m here in the first place.
I can see that path, that life, laid out clearly in front of me. It’s simple and expected and there’s fucking birds twirling and chirping, leading the way. Instead I pour gasoline on the last bridge I have left and strike a match and burn that life to the ground.
“Chris takes care of your needs, huh?” I say and she opens her mouth but I keep going. “So, Chris watches over you every second of the day, does he?” I take a step toward her. “He carries your groceries home? He obsesses about your safety? He makes sure every door and every window in this whole fucking place is locked a hundred times a night?”
She pants and leans her back against the front door. I take another step toward her. “He makes sure you sleep in the safest room every night?” I’m all up on her now, only six inches of space between us. The air vibrates with electricity. I’m drawn to her by an animal instinct. I put one hand on the door beside her head and look her in the eye. I don’t want her to miss what I’m about to say.
“You got needs, huh?” She’s trapped in my stare. “Well, he doesn’t take care of them. I do.”
Chapter Ten
Alessia
Every single muscle in my body clenches at his words. I’m not sure if someone can reach orgasm simply by listening to someone’s words, but it's either that or I pass out. I lean against the door for support. I’m caught in the snare of his eyes and I can't breathe or think. All I know is his consuming stare.
One hand still imprisons me against the door, the other one reaches up and laces through the hair at the back of my scalp. He tips my head up so our lips are separated by the width of a swipe of lipstick.
“So, what do you need, Alessia?” his voice softens as it touches my lips. It travels through me and something deep inside me tightens.
“I need you to touch me,” I say and I don't recognize the sexy, husky voice as my own. I can't believe the words are coming out of my mouth. “I need to come.”
Suddenly I’m lifted into the air. My legs circle his waist as his hands grip my ass. I can't help but press my aching core against his stomach. I look down and see that my tight dress has ridden most of the way up my thighs but I barely have time to notice anything else before he’s set me down on the couch.
I lean against the back cushion as he takes the back of my knees and yanks me forward. My ass is at the edge of the couch as he kneels before me and shoulders my legs apart. He leans back on his heels and rakes his eyes over me. His gaze darkens with heat and desire. I may be inexperienced, but no one could mistake the look etched into his face. He’s on the edge.
Suddenly he grabs my ankles and drags his hands up the outside of my legs. He doesn't even hesitate when he gets to the bottom of my dress. His hands slide under my dress and press into my hips. He hooks his fingers around the top of my panties. Slowly, achingly, he drags them down my legs, over my knees, and off of my feet, careful to keep my heels on.
He holds my underwear in one hand, staring down at the black silk. He looks back up at me.
“You wore these for him.” I say nothing as he tosses them away. “You'll never wear them again.”
His words make me press my thighs together against the desire that's growing in me. I realize I'm so wet that I can feel it inching down my thighs and I can barely stand it.
He leans forward and grips me by the hips.
“He doesn't exist,” He continues. One hand slides up my thigh and I feel his thumb swipe through the wetness he finds on the inside of my leg. “Nothing exists except for this.”
He leans forward and I feel shell-shocked, displaced from reality. I’ve never even had someone’s tongue in my mouth and now I’m about to have Dare’s tongue in my pussy. For a second, I'm overwhelmed.
He must feel me tense because he freezes and looks up at me. Gently, he takes his hands out from under my dress. He runs them up over the curve of my hips over the hourglass of my hips and they come to rest under my breasts. He leans all the way forward and aligns our bodies.
My naked pussy presses into his pants and I gasp at the enormous hardness I feel there. It’s like he he’s storing a flashlight behind his zipper. It both excites and terrifies me. I’ve never even had a finger inside of me. How could I possibly fit all of him?
But my worries are quieted when he leans the rest of the way into me. His hands come around my back and he crushes my breasts into his chest. The breath catches in my lungs as he leans forward and gently sucks my bottom lip into his mouth. He groans, almost as if he’s in pain.
“This lip,” he murmurs against my mouth. “I wake up in the night thinking about this fucking lip.”
His tongue swipes across my lip once, twice, and on the third time, I meet his tongue with mine. I feel his hands become fists on my back and he thrusts his hips forward. My pussy is doing something I’ve never felt before. It’s clenching, as if it needs something to grip. Something to fill it.
I tighten my legs around him and meet his tongue again. This time I clasp his hair in one hand, needing something, anything t
o hold onto, otherwise this feeling might sweep me away.
He deepens his kiss and sucks my tongue into his mouth. His lips are a hot slash against mine and I find myself moaning into his mouth, a childish plea begging to be sated. One of his hands slides up and down my side, as if he’s trying to feel all of me at once. His other hand tangles into my hair again and he pulls my head to the slide, slants his mouth across mine, and forces my lips even wider.
“I can feel you through my pants,” he says and breaks the kiss to drop his head to my shoulder and push his hips up into me. “Fuck, you’re so wet I can feel it through my goddamn clothes.”
He rolls back, pulling me down from the couch so I straddle him on the floor. I sit on his waist, a little nonplussed. I have no idea what to do with a man, and at the same time, this is something I’ve fantasized about so many times already.
