No Reservations

by Natalia Banks

  “It’s more than my pleasure.”

  Lorraine turned to Ashe. “When I was a kid, it was Kraft mac ’n’ cheese and weekends at the ice rink if we were lucky. I wonder what it’s like to have so many fun adventures and such fine dining all the time.”

  Ashe didn’t answer.

  Lorraine and Griffin glanced at each other, and she could tell that he appreciated her efforts, that he supported her attempts to reach that sad, fractured soul.

  “I suppose I know it now,” Lorraine said, inspiring a little chuckle from Griffin. “I wonder what it’s like to be homeschooled. I just went to public school with the rest of the kids on the block; nobody thought anything about it.”

  Griffin nodded. “Me too. It was never my favorite part of growing up. And public schools today are more like prisons. Private schools are fine; we’ve had a few of those. But the past few years, well, the Phoenix men are sticking together. The homeschooling fits our lifestyle too, which is always nice.”

  “It certainly is,” Lorraine said. “You’re in the stock market?”

  Griffin nodded. “You?”

  “Nope. I’ve never bought a single stock. I’ve never done a lot of things, actually. I guess you could say that, where some of those things are concerned…I’m a virgin.”

  Griffin turned his head, eyes squinting with a keen interest. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Well, that’s…that’s very interesting. You’ve never…bought a single share, not one?”

  Lorraine shook her head. “I came close once or twice, but…I had a bad investment, and I didn’t wanna play the market anymore.” The truth was Lorraine pined for the right man; every guy she thought might be a good match proved otherwise or just didn’t feel right.

  “I see.” Griffin took a sip from his water glass. “Are you interested in playing? The market, I mean.”

  Lorraine cleared her throat. “I don’t know very much about it.”

  “I could teach you everything you’ll need to know.” He smirked as he gently touched her forearm. Grazing it ever so slightly, the touch of his large, manly hand on her soft skin sent a shock of sexual desire coursing through her body. Lorraine felt that familiar feeling between her thighs return once again—one of hot, unbridled lust and sexual craving. The sexual tension collected between them, becoming even more intense when Griffin locked eyes with Lorraine and went on, “I’ve got a number of interests. It brings us a certain amount of independence. That’s why Ashe and I believe in giving back, the way we did with your library. That’s a cause we’re very excited about.”

  “Lucky for us,” Lorraine said, trying to keep her sexual urges contained.

  “It wasn’t luck, Lorraine, not at all. You earned it. You took a risk in the service of a worthy cause. You were willing to throw it all away, sacrifice yourself, your job—”

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Lorraine felt inclined to say.

  “You mean to tell me you didn’t catch hell for that letter? I’d guess that big supervisor of yours was about to drop the axe, am I right?” Griffin insinuated. She glanced down at her plate. “Of course you won’t admit it. That’s just another sign of the quality of your character, Lorraine. I can tell, in the brief time that we’ve spent together, that the world needs more people like you. If libraries are where we’ll find you, then we need as many libraries as we can get.”

  Lorraine smiled, glancing at Ashe. Ashe almost seemed to smile, but she didn’t dare presume. It was enough that she was there with the two Phoenix men. Lorraine felt exceptional in their presence, honored that both men enjoyed her company, and for very different reasons.

  Griffin and Ashe drove Lorraine back to her apartment in their rented black Mercedes Benz sedan. Griffin left Ashe in the car and walked Lorraine to the foot of the stairs leading up to her place. In a very quiet, sexy voice, Griffin said, “I want to thank you, Lorraine.”

  “Me? Um, I should be thanking you, Griffin, for such a lovely day,” Lorraine said, trying to keep it together the best she could. Am I crazy? Am I getting a vibe again from him? That was way more than a casual thank you. There was definitely something behind that thank you!

  “It was, and tomorrow we’ll have another. We will be here at ten o’clock to pick you up.”

  Lorraine couldn’t control her smile. “Okay,” was all she could say, feeling like a giggly schoolgirl.

  Aware of the magnetic attraction swirling in the air, Lorraine paused, savoring the moment. His musky cologne had her under a spell.

  “We’re not going to make love tonight, Lorraine,” he said in a low voice, his words coming fast and certain. “Because I know you’re above that, better than that, more than just some one-night stand. You’ve protected yourself, preserved yourself, and I want you to enjoy that for one more night. I want you to think of me tonight, Lorraine—your last night as a virgin.”

  Lorraine stood there with a lump in her throat, wanting to respond, but she just couldn’t. She was frozen in a state of disbelief. Her palms started to sweat.

  Oh my god! Where the hell did that come from? I was right. He wants me! He wants me so fucking much. This is so insane—I’ve never had sex before, I’ve barely had any sexual encounters, ever! I can’t do this… Sure, I’ve kissed guys before, but… I don’t. Her thoughts were interrupted when her keys slipped out of her sweaty hands and hit the ground. Griffen went on in a steady and seductive tone. “Because this is your last night as a virgin, Lorraine Devonshire. Because tomorrow night, I’m going to have you; I’m going to take you, possess you—every inch of you. And I want you to know that, to think about it—imagine my cock inside you.”

  Griffin put his hand on her wrist and introduced her to his cock—semi-hard, massive. “This is what you’re getting, Lorraine, and it’s all for you, just for you.” Lorraine was stunned into silence, breathless, hands trembling. “I don’t want you to worry, pretty Lorraine; you’ll have nothing to worry about. I’m going to transform you into the woman you’ve been waiting to become. Do you hear me?”

  Lorraine nodded, clearing her throat, eyes down. Griffin’s fingers found her chin, raising her unwilling line of sight to lock on his. “Do you hear me?”

  “I do,” Lorraine hesitated, “but Griffin, this is all so…so sudden… We’re just getting to know each other; I’m not like all the other women—” She stopped herself.

  “Lorraine, you’re an amazing woman. Stunningly beautiful, intelligent; I can feel all the tension and stress bubbling under the surface ready to explode. You need a release. Maybe you’ve had shitty past experiences with guys in this town. You’ve repressed your true desires. I want you to let them out. I want to show you what it’s like to be with a real man. Give me the chance to open up your world to one of pleasure and excitement, Lorraine.”

  Lorraine considered his words. They were really genuine. She wanted to be the girl Griffin saw, the girl she wanted to be, the girl he was allowing her to be. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of him opening up a whole new world for her and stepping in with both feet.

  “Something else,” Griffin said. “I want you to go up there and pleasure yourself. I want you to probe yourself deeply, lovingly, without shame. Be glad to have such a beautiful body, such a graceful spirit. Make love to yourself tonight, Lorraine, the way I’m going to make love to you tomorrow. I know you’re brimming with sensuality.”

  A tense moment passed. She considered his words and couldn’t help feel aroused at the words that came out of his mouth so effortlessly. She had never considered herself beautiful in the classical sense before, and to hear it for the first time from such a powerful and handsome man was beyond flattering.

  So what if things are moving fast, it’s exhilarating. Griffin’s a good man. Charitable, sweet, sexy as hell, and from what I can tell, a great father. The chemistry is clearly reciprocated; when have I ever felt that before? Rules are meant to be broken, Lorraine. I’ve waited for the right man all my life. Who’s to say
he isn’t that man? Take a chance! Live your life and have no regrets for once.

  “Think of my cock inside you, think of me kissing every part of your glorious, beautiful body. Think of yourself kissing me, kissing that big cock of mine. You can almost taste it.”

  “I…” Lorraine looked away even while she cuddled even closer to him, trembling in his embrace, not wanting the moment to ever end.

  “You’re going to do what I tell you,” Griffin instructed. Lorraine nodded. “And then I’m going to do what I told you.” Lorraine nodded again, mouth wrestling with the inability to express what she could barely understand. Griffin offered her a gentle smile—confident, almost cocky. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Ten o’clock.”

  Chapter 5

  “I… I can’t even describe it,” Lorraine said to Jeremy, the phone shaking in her hand as she paced around the apartment, the phone to her ear. “He’s just…I just…”

  “You’re in love with him.”

  “Jeremy, no, I… I’m a grown woman, I don’t just fall in love with a man like—”

  “That’s exactly what you do, Lorraine. Let your guard down a bit, and go with the flow! Stop overthinking it. But I’ll tell you what…it sounds like you’re hooked this time, like it or not.”

  Lorraine’s imagination flashed on a million things. “Well, um, I don’t not like it, that’s not what I’m saying. I… I like it, Jer, I really like it! He’s gentle and understanding…the way he is with his son; I never thought I’d meet someone so bright, so generous, and so caring. I mean he didn’t have to come all the way down here, he could have easily written a cheque at a charity event and be done with it. I’ve never been so attracted to anyone in my life, Jer. It’s crazy. I don’t want to say I’m infatuated, but you might just have to slap some sense into me.” She laughed.

  “That is awesome, Lorraine. You deserve it.”

  “I dunno—”

  “Lorraine!”

  “No, I don’t mean that I don’t deserve to have love in my life—”

  “What have I been saying?”

  Lorraine shook her head. “No, I get that, Jeremy, I really do, and I’m trying.”

  “Keep trying,” Jeremy said, “now more than ever.”

  “That’s the thing. This guy’s a bajillionare or something, and he’s, well, he’s gorgeous, Jeremy. You’d flip,” Lorraine said knowing Jeremy’s taste in men.

  “Then how about I take him, you crawl back under the bed, and we’ll all be happy?”

  Lorraine couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t think that’s the arrangement he has in mind.”

  “No, he wants you. Fiery redhead and porcelain complexion of yours. If I played for the other team, you know I’d have been all over you.”

  Lorraine laughed “Jeremy, stop! I’m just some librarian from Denver, Colorado. A guy like that’s not going to settle down, and he sure wouldn’t settle for me. He must be bedding models and actresses. I’m just gonna be another conquest.”

  “Um, and your problem with that is…?”

  “I know, it’s…it’s not a bad deal, but…I dunno, I like him, Jeremy, and I like his son. The kid’s so hurt, y’know, but he’s so brave—such a perfect little gentleman. I’m falling for him fast; I just don’t want to put myself in a position where I get hurt.”

  Jeremy sighed, and Lorraine knew what that sigh meant. “Lo’, life isn’t a fairy tale…except in my case!” They both chuckled, and Jeremy went on, “It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy the good times that happen to come along, even if they don’t last. Some things just aren’t meant to last, like a flower. Doesn’t mean they’re not beautiful.”

  Lorraine knew Jeremy was right, and she wanted to embrace his wisdom. But she couldn’t help but envision a beautiful red rose rotting and blackening, dying right before her eyes, with her helpless to do anything but mourn its loss.

  But once off the phone with Jeremy, Lorraine let her mind drift to happier thoughts, recollections of the day, and of her promise to Griffin. She didn’t want to break that promise and let him down.

  Lorraine was already lit up from the date, from her proximity to the amazing Griffin Phoenix.

  She walked into her bedroom and stripped off all her clothes in a sexy striptease. She imagined Griffin was there as she danced and gyrated to an invisible audience. She’d never really even thought about what type of fantasies she wanted to explore or even what turned her on the most. She decided to flip over her laptop for a quick exploration on a popular porn site. She browsed the categories: lesbian, threesome, bondage, until she landed on Romantic Couple.

  Perfect! This will give me an idea of what I’m in for. I don’t want to look like a complete amateur!

  She lay down on her bed, got comfortable, and watched as the beautiful couple in front of her on the screen started to passionately kiss. As the intensity grew, Lorraine took mental notes of the techniques that seemed to give the stud in the video the most pleasure. A combination of twisting and sucking on his long hard shaft seemed to be driving him crazy. After a few minutes she closed the tab and flipped down the screen. The fantasy of Griffin was much hotter to her.

  She started imagining his tall, muscular stature, his round, broad shoulders, his beautiful face, remembering him saying all those naughty things to her. Her core was heated as she slowly slid her fingers into her slick pussy. It was dewy with her juices, clit ready to peek out for another visitation. But Lorraine’s mind was bursting with more images, all of Griffin. The sound of his voice rang in the back of her ears—the fragrant smell of his cologne, subtle and strong, just like him.

  That’s right, Lorraine, she could imagine him saying, touch it just so, right there. Oh yes…

  Her fingers worked in a familiar fashion, rubbing the little mound just at the top of her pussy, a frenzied waggle of her finger, the tip hardly moving at all, pressing and sending all that energy just where she wanted it, just where she liked it best.

  Inside, Lorraine, put it inside!

  She did as she imagined Griffin had demanded, slipping her index and middle finger between the surfaces of her slick clit, mouth gaping as she penetrated herself. Lorraine leaned back into her bed, legs up, squeezing her left tit with her free hand. She flicked her nipple, pulling at it just a bit, then worked the other nipple with little circles around the areola.

  Her fingers rubbed up and down her clit, then she pushed them in just a bit deeper, and up behind the mound of her warm pussy. Her G-spot burst with a little bolt of gladness, an orgasm beginning to stir.

  That’s good, Lorraine, good. You’re going to cum for me, Lorraine? You’re gonna cum for me…and I’m not even here! That’s how hot you are for me. That’s how hot you are!

  Lorraine drew the tips of her inserted fingers back toward her palm, tickling the back of her mound, a vibration running down her legs and up the back of her throat.

  She thought of his handsome face, imagining his big cock as it slid into her. He’d given her a tiny taste, a brief feel of that massive cock, and it was enough to tell Lorraine that she’d waited for the right man. Lorraine spread her fingers, pressure against the walls of her clit as she worked her G-spot even faster.

  Minutes stretched out, Lorraine getting lost in the darkness of her imagination, of her new obsession. Hands and fingers, nipples to flick, and breasts to squeeze and a burning in her crotch that wasn’t going to be completely satisfied until he was inside it.

  Forever.

  After a few runs down the slope, Lorraine, Griffin and Ashe were savoring cups of hot chocolate, sweet steam rising up around her face. “Hot chocolate, I never have this. It sure is good though, kind of tastes like childhood.”

  Griffin smiled and nodded from the other side of the little round table. She knew what he was thinking about, and Lorraine struggled to keep her mind off it too: his promise, which came closer with every second. Lorraine felt almost indecent thinking of it while in young Ashe’s presence.

  “Shame Mrs. B. d
idn’t want to come along.”

  Griffin nodded. “Not a skier.”

  “No, I…I guess I can see that. But she could come out of the lodge and have some cocoa.”

  “I think maybe she’s keeping a respectful distance.”

  Respectful of what? Lorraine almost asked, but stopped herself just in time and was desperately glad. And it was time to change the subject again.

  “Hey,” Lorraine said, “look at all this snow, and there’re no snowmen! That’s not fair.” Lorraine crossed to a perfect patch of snow near the lodge. Griffin and Ashe followed her, and Lorraine began rolling the big bottom ball of snow. “It’s really easy; I’ve been doing this ever since I was a kid. The snow just kind of sticks together, and you roll it until it’s about the right size.”

  Griffin joined Lorraine, the two of them rolling the increasingly heavy ball of snow until it was big enough and round enough, patting it down and turning to Ashe. Griffin asked, “Give us a hand, son?”

  The boy was quick to nod, even smiling. The three of them worked together to create a smaller, second snowball. Griffin and Lorraine locked eyes, his silent gratitude and admiration ripe in his crystal-blue eyes. She wanted to kiss him, and she felt the magnetic pull of their mutual attraction. But in the boy’s company, a simple and sweet smile was enough, even better in some ways.

  Lorraine could still imagine what that kiss would be like when it finally happened, and what it would lead to.

  But Lorraine pushed it out of her mind as they raised the second ball onto the first. “Okay, one more ball for the head.”

  They rolled a third ball and planted it onto the other two, other patrons looking on with warm smiles. Another family trotted up to make a similar snowman, not far off. “Great,” Griffin said, “the more the merrier!”

  Lorraine looked their snowman over. “Ashe, you’re into Hollywood, movies, that kind of thing, right?” Ashe nodded. “I was never so much into movies, but I always liked books, still do. I think that’s why I wound up working in a library.”