Reaching Lily

by Vivacia K Ahwen

I hadn’t remembered saying that. ‘Uhm, no. I’ve got a morning appointment.’

  ‘Right, right.’ He sighed. ‘Lily, I’m so happy you called.’

  ‘Me too.’ I hoped Troy didn’t hear the regret in my voice, because I was so not happy I called. ‘So, see you … around.’

  ‘Sure thing. Call me any time, if you want a do-over from the other night.’

  ‘Will do.’ I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice. When someone calls to say a semi-casual Hey, hope I wasn’t entirely horrible twice in a row; please tell me it’s all good so I can move on with my so-called life, you let them have it and leave it there.

  For the record.

  ‘Great, Lily.’ I could hear him smiling and, rather than being relieved, I was unfairly annoyed and wished I hadn’t rung him.

  ‘Listen, I’ve got to go. You know, Craigslist and LinkedIn await me.’

  ‘There are better job sites.’ The know-it-all pitch of his comment irked me. Did he think I was a moron?

  ‘Uh, yeah, Troy. I’m aware. Kind of kidding with you.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ He forced a laugh. ‘So I noticed you deleted your Facebook account.’

  ‘What?’ Had he been on my friends list? ‘Oh, yeah. I’m, uh, trying to be more professional. There’s some creepy new app out where companies can find you, even if you’ve got a private profile.’

  As I said it, something clicked. ‘Does Wolfington&Wingate have that app?’

  ‘Hey, I’ve got to go, too.’ He sounded uncomfortable. ‘Call me if you want to hang out some time, OK?’

  ‘Will do,’ I said, vowing never to call Troy Matthews again. Gwen was right. Something was off about that one. ‘Good night.’

  * * *

  The hours a woman can spend obsessing after a fight with her not-boyfriend are long and painful. I listened to all six Queens of the Stone Age albums, which Ma had downloaded on my iPod. Why won’t he call? Still craving the same flavour, I cranked up Eagles of Death Metal and Them Crooked Vultures. Guess it was flashback Wednesday. Because Ma is a little psychic, I wasn’t entirely shocked when the phone rang.

  ‘Aren’t you at work?’ I asked, in lieu of hello.

  ‘Hi, yourself, Lily. And I phoned in. Because, as I’m sure you know, somebody sprang a last-second plan on me.’ She sighed, like a teenage girl.

  ‘Sorry, what?’

  ‘Your Dorian Holder is nothing short of wonderful,’ she gushed. ‘How on earth you would give up birthday tickets to Sleeping Beauty is beyond me, but he said you felt it was important I get to know him, so you decided to go another night.’

  ‘Did he?’ I didn’t bother to hide the icy tone. ‘Hm.’

  ‘Oh, Lily, I’m so happy for you. Finally, a man worthy of my little girl.’

  ‘I’m twenty-four, Ma. Also, jury’s out on Dorian. We’re really just … friends.’ I closed my eyes and took a slow, deep yoga breath. ‘Or something. He’s only in town for a few weeks. Did he happen to mention that as well?’

  ‘You’re both invited to dinner, soon as we can all work it out,’ she continued, as though she hadn’t heard me. ‘I like the idea of tomorrow, personally. Dorian said he’ll clear a space, and you’re on vacation.’

  ‘Tomorrow is kind of –’

  ‘Lily, you didn’t even tell me. We could have been spending some time together. Catching up.’

  ‘It was … a last-second vacation,’ I mumbled. ‘Not so much a vacation, really. Just needed some space from the office.’

  ‘That’s wonderful. You work too hard.’ I could sense her smiling. ‘Dorian agrees with me. You just don’t know when to say enough is enough. But trust me, I relate. They’ve been taking advantage of your talent for some time over there. So happy someone finally recognises what you have to offer that company. Thank Gawd he’s come in to do some recon. I’ve been praying you’d find the right place to work, where they appreciated you. Not to mention the right guy. And Lily? This Dorian Holder person?’

  ‘Uh-huh?’

  ‘He’s the real deal.’

  ‘Yeah, well.’

  ‘Sweetie, I’d love to have the two of you over, and they don’t need me at Volare’s until nine tomorrow night.’

  I tried to come up with an excuse or an answer, but my mind was blank.

  ‘Can you at least consider it and give me a call?’

  ‘Do I have a choice?’ She wouldn’t hear the sarcasm, or that I just asked her a question. I knew this conversation quite well.

  ‘Awesome sauce.’ She giggled like a teenaged girl. ‘Talk to you then. Muah!’

  OK, so maybe I come across as slightly adolescent for a woman in her early twenties. But that was just a phone call from my mom, verbatim. End of story.

  * * *

  ‘What do you want, Dorian?’ I was sprawled in bed, high on a combination of most of a bottle of wine and VOC, stinking up my stylish new phone. ‘Before you even speak, I’ve already heard from my mom, your latest creepy-factor. So, you’re giving me an absolutely not-weird makeover, buying my building and invading my dysfunctional family dynamics. I get it. You are a bored alpha wolf. I am your deer. Can I just please have myself a little private sleeptime? Thanks to someone, I have a dance lesson at ten tomorrow, after which I should be better equipped to have an adult conversation with you.’

  An exaggerated snort was his only response.

  After a long pause I added, ‘How was the ballet, anyway? Because all my mother could do was rave about you.’

  Another pause.

  ‘Dorian, please either say something or hang up.’

  ‘I’m outside in a cab. I need to stay with you tonight, Lily. I want to be inside you, whispering dirty things in your ear.’

  The muscles below my waist clenched. ‘That’s not an option.’

  ‘If we hadn’t promised each other not to apologise again, I would apologise. But all I can do now is order you to put something on, come downstairs, get in the cab and let me spend the better part of the night making it up to you.’ He waited for my response.

  ‘Let me meditate on it.’

  ‘Too bad. It’s an order, Lily.’ Dorian’s voice was fierce; he obviously was stepping up to be my dom. Which would save me the humiliation of having to tell him I wasn’t upset any more, and actually thought it was kind of sweet that he wanted to build me a conservatory and take my mom to the ballet. ‘You’ve been far too disobedient, impertinent and sarcastic to your boss, young lady … and he is none too pleased with you.’

  As though hypnotised, I wriggled my way into a pair of distressed True Religion jeans and slipped a gauzy tunic over my head. No bra, no panties. My nipples were hard and darkened with bloodflow from the arousal that was consuming me against my will. The wetness of my vagina puddled in my designer dungarees, which was really too bad since they were Dry Clean Only. Because there was an overnight bag for me at the hotel, I left the building empty-handed.

  Dorian was still in his tuxedo. He leaned against the Yellow Cab, arms crossed, his expression hard as marble.

  ‘No Benton tonight?’ My voice shook.

  ‘Town Car? For you? When you threw me out after I spent three days spoiling you rotten?’ His piercing gaze held no warmth. ‘You only get a taxi now. No more privileges for a girl who doesn’t know how to say thank you to her Master. And I may just fuck you in the back while the driver watches us in his rearview mirror.’

  My pulse thumped swiftly enough that I could hear its rhythmic thrum in my ears, while my pussy thrummed in time with Dorian Holder’s sing-song words.

  ‘Unless you cry mercy,’ he added, dropping his guard for a moment. ‘Are you going to get in the car like a good little whore, or would you rather face the consequences?’

  ‘Kinda both,’ I said. He yanked open the door and shoved me inside roughly.

  ‘Mandarin Orange,’ he barked to the driver. ‘If you can get us there in twenty minutes, I’ll make it worth your while.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ said the driver.
/>   Dorian pulled me tightly against his chest, then kissed my forehead, taking me completely by surprise. ‘You know,’ he whispered in my ear, ‘you have to stop this push-and-pull with me, Lily. Either you’re staying or you’re going. Which is it?’

  ‘I’m staying,’ I answered without hesitation. ‘Just do what you will with my body, go ahead and mess with my mind, but please, please, please don’t break my heart.’

  ‘I have control over many things in this world, Lily, but your heart isn’t one of them.’ He pulled me up in his lap and cupped my face in his hands. ‘If you fall in love, that’s on you, not me. This is your last out: let me in or run away. Should you throw me out of your space again, ditch me on a date, fuss when I throw my money around however I wish, or make public scenes, we’re history. I’d rather enjoy myself over the next couple weeks and have you be the Galatea to my Pygmalion. My ready submissive, who shall have her needs met and meet mine in return.’

  ‘My Bonnie to your Clyde?’

  ‘Shut. Up.’ He pressed a hand to my mouth. ‘I was talking.’

  The cab driver shook his head.

  ‘Mind your own business, buddy,’ said Dorian, and pulled his hand away from my lips. ‘Let me nail you right in front of him. Right now.’

  ‘If I say that word …’

  ‘Then we stop.’

  ‘So fuck me already.’

  ‘Good.’ Dorian slipped his hands up my gauzy top, and pulled at my nipples, while sucking hungrily at my neck like a vampire.

  ‘Don’t leave hickeys,’ I managed to say, while clutching his thick hair in my fist.

  He pulled his mouth away and looked up at me with a boyish grin. ‘I kind of know what I’m doing, Lily. No worries.’

  As though to demonstrate, he positioned me on his lap in such a way that his cock pressed up against the soft folds of my labia, grinding hard enough that the rough cloth hurt a little. ‘Wish I’d kept my skirt on,’ I mumbled in his ear.

  ‘Oh, we can get these jeans off you. Hey, driver,’ Dorian said, the loudness of his voice startling me. ‘How’d you like to watch me fuck my beautiful girlfriend?’

  ‘If she’s up for it, hell, yeah.’ The driver laughed. ‘Should I pull over so I can jerk off while you two go at it?’

  ‘Mercy,’ I muttered to Dorian.

  ‘Agreed,’ he replied. ‘Naw, man. We were just messing with you.’

  ‘Oh.’ The driver was somewhere between embarrassed and confused.

  ‘See?’ Dorian mumbled. ‘I fuck with everybody’s head. He feels like an ass now.’

  ‘I think that was pretty mean, Dorian.’

  ‘That’s because I am pretty mean.’ He kissed his way down my neck, then sucked at a nipple through the sheer fabric of my top. ‘God, you’ve got the best tits, Lily Dewitt.’

  I swayed my pelvis against him as he teased my nipple with teeth and tongue. I was dangerously close to coming. ‘Mercy,’ I said again.

  ‘Of course, love.’ He dumped me off his lap and onto the car seat, while I giggled. ‘A bit touch-and-go there.’

  ‘More than a bit. I was this close.’ I held my thumb and index finger up in a near-pinch. ‘Right now I want to torture myself.’

  ‘Great minds think alike, Lily. I want to torture you as well.’ He turned his head. ‘Ah, look, we’re here already.’

  ‘Thank Gawd.’

  ‘Here you are, sir.’ Dorian handed the man a hundred-dollar bill. ‘Thanks for getting us here in a timely fashion.’

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ said the taxi driver, head low. ‘Sorry about the – the misunderstanding. I thought you were serious.’

  ‘An understandable mistake, good fellow. Think nothing of it.’ He shut the door and looked at me. ‘No worries, my dear Lily. I’ll fuck you in front of someone tomorrow. Or at least find a place where someone could walk in. Agreed?’

  ‘To the latter, yes.’

  He took my hand in his and we strolled across the street. ‘This is nice.’

  ‘What’s nice?’ I asked, as we passed the two doormen at the hotel.

  ‘Good evening, Mr Holder,’ one of them said.

  ‘And to you, sir.’ Dorian led me into the lobby. ‘This.’

  ‘Oh, right. Yeah, the entire hotel is awesome.’

  ‘No, silly girl. I wasn’t talking about the lobby.’ He held up our hands, still entwined. ‘This. I have never gone anywhere holding a woman’s hand. It isn’t like me.’

  Just as he was finishing the sentence, we heard a man’s voice shout, ‘Smile!’

  Some idiot with a camera. Whatevz.

  ‘Let’s go, Lily.’ Dorian glared at the guy. ‘Send that anywhere and I sue your ass, you little shithead. In fact, give me your camera. Now.’

  The kid – I say kid, but he was probably my age – tried to bolt but one of the Mandarin security guys nabbed him. Without missing a beat, Dorian took my hand again and strode toward the elevators.

  ‘And that is precisely why I don’t hold women’s hands in public,’ he finished pleasantly, pushing an elevator button with the lightest touch. ‘Going up?’

  * * *

  Funny how a hotel room can feel homey after you’ve only spent one night there. A sense of utter relaxation overtook my body as we entered the Boston Suite, and I inhaled the familiar lavender and tangerine scent in the air, then perched on the four-poster bed where Dorian had first tied me up.

  Ah.

  Home, for the night.

  ‘You know, Lily,’ Dorian Holder said, while hanging his tuxedo jacket in the closet. ‘I will be buying you a bed. Four-poster style, as you always wished for. Call me a snob, but I simply cannot sleep on a mattress tossed upon the floor. You deserve to have your man ravish you in your very own bed. I hope the suite works for now.’

  ‘Uh, yeah.’ I looked around. ‘Executive suite kinda … works. How’d you know I always wanted a canopy bed? Oh – oh, wait. Right. You went on a date with my mother last night.’

  ‘Just wanted to give you a heads-up on the steampunk-princess monster you’ve wanted since whenever. Also, I’m getting you new speakers and a stereo system I control with a remote.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘No, I’m not missing the petulance, and yes, you absolutely will pay for your wisecracking banter. Everything has a price, even your personality quirks, to which I have become sickly addicted. Let’s move on.’

  ‘And you want to load your own, like, theme music on my iPod so you can make grand entrances?’

  Dorian Holder looked at me while removing his cummerbund, and slowly began to unbutton his white tuxedo shirt. ‘No. I want to watch you dance, Lily.’

  I burst out laughing.

  ‘Sorry, Ms Dewitt. Is there something amusing you would like to share with the class?’ Dorian’s sarcastic intonation reprimanded me, and he cast his shirt to the floor.

  ‘No, sir.’

  ‘Excellent. None of your nonsense. Since you were so put out by my real-estate acquisition this afternoon, I am doing you the courtesy of letting you know when I intend to make further purchases. Additionally, a landlord must give twenty-four hours notice upon entering a tenant.’ He shook his head. ‘Entering a tenant’s apartment, I meant to say. Consider this conversation an ongoing, permanent twenty-four hours’ notice. As your landlord, building owner and boss, I request permission to come and go as I please. Even if you have guests. Scratch that, especially if you have guests. I don’t need to hear complaints from other tenants about rowdiness.’

  ‘I never have parties, and you are asking whether it’s OK to spy on me while you’re in town. That’s fine, though you won’t find out anything interesting.’ I shrugged. ‘Has your “no holds barred on Apartment Six” been approved by my property management company?’

  ‘Holder Enterprises is your property management company, now, Lily Dewitt. And yes, they are most approving of any of my random fancies. Except for one guy, and he will be packing up his desk tomorrow.’ Dorian remained stone-faced. ‘By the way, your new bangs are adorable; I
should have said more, but men just take a while to register a difference. Your difference is most flattering.’

  ‘Sub or not? You sound wicked gay, right now.’

  ‘Please stop saying “wicked gay”. It’s hard enough to keep a straight face when I see the exquisiteness of a once unpolished beauty relishing in her new persona. What’s more, you sound homophobic, and I have no tolerance for intolerance.’ He smiled. ‘You’re beautiful, Lily Dewitt. From the moment I saw you, you were beautiful. And you’ve gone and polished yourself.’

  ‘You’re kidding.’

  ‘Yes. I’m going all black-and-white film on you, Tiger Lily.’ He dimpled for a moment, and then his chiselled features became solemn. ‘But I am not kidding about open-ended permission to enter your apartment. Nor do I jest about your unattractive and cocky attitude after a day of being spoiled.’

  ‘This is new for me.’

  ‘Silly girl. You’re so pretty, Lily Dewitt.’

  I hung my head.

  ‘Just say thank you and we’ll move on.’

  ‘Thank you, and hold on. Don’t take your pants off,’ I said. ‘I like the way you look just wearing tuxedo trousers. It’s very Magic Mike. Or Johnny Castle.’

  Dorian Holder always accused me of not recognising whatever my ‘beauty’ was, but he seemed to have no idea of his own physical attributes. It was as though he assumed he only had to drop his own name, make his potential sexual conquest think ‘billionaire’, and that would be that. Did he have no idea what he exuded? And why did I want him to keep his pants on when any red-blooded woman would be begging him to take it all off? Well, they were snug, they were well-cut, and there was a silken seam, about two inches wide, streaming the entire length of those trousers. His cock and balls were outlined as though an artist had shaded all the dark areas. Before me stood a beautiful man with a torso that looked as though it had been photoshopped from Men’s Fitness magazine, wearing half a tuxedo I wanted to rip off him. But it’s this self-control thing. Seeing Dorian Holder half-dressed was another kind of hot. Still aching from the orgasm I almost had in the back of the taxi, I wanted to torture myself all the more.

  As though Dorian couldn’t torture me enough, no prompts necessary.