by Lacy Carter
“One… one date,” he said.
Besides their breathing, the cabin was silent. Bonnie took in his chiseled chest and abs and the bulge behind his towel. She tensed beneath him. He wetted his lips and smiled.
“Okay.” Bonnie managed a one-word promise.
“Good,” Chad said. Reluctantly, he rose off of her. “I'll see you later, babe.” Chad opened the door and stepped out, where he faced the camera crew and winked.
“Cut the camera,” Leslie said. “What the hell is going on, Mr. Steel?”
“Hey, don't sweat it,” he said. “I got everything I needed.” He turned to give Bonnie one last playful look, before she closed the door.
Chapter Nine
The next night in her cabin, Bonnie wrote a new entry in her ongoing article.
I cannot convey the sheer and relentless, doggedly determined way Mr. Steel adheres his persona: the towering sex God, the tribal tattoos, the constant posing for pictures, even when none are being taken.
The cruise ship docked in Cozumel, Mexico and the passengers went ashore. Getting away from the ship for a little while was a nice break, as it gave me a chance to get some distance from Chad.
I walked with a group of women, mostly wives, who I met yesterday at lunch. They kept asking questions about the show (Leslie said she'd edit the footage out), and unavoidably, they asked questions about the guy they christened Mr. Mallet, after seeing him walking around in the nude yesterday morning.
Each of them expressed their desires to have a shot at a guy like him. It was hard to keep from rolling my eyes.
Mr. Steel represents everything wrong with the world of dating as we know it.
***
Over the next few days, Bonnie and Chad underwent a series of “team-building” challenges: diving, rock-wall climbing, and a snorkeling scavenger hunt. Chad took every opportunity to tease and torment Bonnie; he was encouraged to be flirtatious for the show, and this was how they preferred it to be done.
After a day of sightseeing, Chad was taking a break by the adults-only pool. A majestic shimmer of light reflected off the vast, rippling, sea that moved to a rhythmic percussion of waves, and the last orange rays of the sun splayed across the beach in the distance.
Chad, topless, rested in a hammock, in the fading light. Leslie and the camera crew had just finished shooting his latest thoughts on Bonnie. Leslie lingered, and told her team that she would meet with them later. She watched Chad, bemused.
“I thought we'd chat before the next shoot,” Leslie said. Tossing a glance over her shoulder at the staff, she waited until they were out of earshot.
Chad, picking up on her need for discretion, also waited. “Chat away,” he said. He looked beyond Leslie, where he saw Bonnie sitting in the shallow end of the pool, reading a book, with her back to them.
“Yeah, seeing as you're always on film, I figured now would be a safe bet,” she purred. “Perhaps we can have a little fun?”
“I have a date with Bonnie later. Can it wait?” Chad said. “I thought you were going to thank me for helping your ratings.”
“That's not exactly what I wanted to talk to you about,” she said. “Contractually, I can't discuss the show with you… but for you, Chad… I can make an exception.” She dropped to her knees and slipped her hand into his shorts.
“Ratings good?” he asked.
“Better than projected. They're exceeding our expectations, which were high to begin with.” With her other hand, she ran her fingers along his chest.
“Because of the reception on the ship, I haven't heard from my agent. How are the viewers liking me?”
“Great,” Leslie said, as she began to stroke him. “You're definitely the hero.”
Chad sat back and closed his eyes. He placed his palms behind his head and smiled. His eyes flew open.
“Hold on. If I'm the hero, who's the villain?” Chad asked as he sat up.
Leslie jerked her head back and looked at him. “Bonnie, of course.”
“Come again?”
“Bonnie. The viewers don't like her.”
“Why the hell not?” Chad asked, removing Leslie's hand from his shorts.
She huffed. “Look, the general consensus is you don’t have feelings for her and that you can’t be attracted to her.” Reacting to Chad’s doubting look she pointed out, “by TV standards, she’s average at best.” Leslie stood. “You're too good for her.”
Then they’re insane. Bonnie is several leagues above me, Chad thought.
“Yeah, but…” Chad said.
“Facts are facts. If it weren’t for the show, she wouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as you unless she happened to snag an interview or something. Look, seduce her. Get into her pants. Do your thing. Our viewers expect it. Give them what they expect” Leslie walked away. “And if you decide you want a bit of fun, I’m not hard to find.”
Chad lay back in the hammock and sighed. He should have been all over Leslie. Chad hadn’t had sex for a week and he just passed up an offer? Was it the heat? How could he be so totally transfixed by Bonnie?
Chad didn't know what it was about Bonnie. He was Mr. Steel after all. The Love ‘em escort agency ran with the angle for years that his cock was as hard as steel, that he was a man of steel like superman, never got tired, never satiated. A few modelling shoots later and Chad would come home daily with a stable of women to fuck. He had every flavor of woman he could imagine. But none came close to Bonnie.
Chad hopped out of the hammock. Before he knew it, he found himself approaching her, eyeing her as she sat in the pool.
She was adorned in a blue sundress with bare shoulders, a round neckline and an exquisite bust. The dress was wrapped up around her waist as she sat in the pool, revealing her long tan legs. Her brown hair was pulled tight into a ponytail that accentuated her cheekbones.
The sight of her knocked the air out of his lungs. Chad cursed, mesmerized by her. He needed to feel her one more time. He needed to get her out of his system.
He considered her in silence for what felt like hours. Noticing his shadow, Bonnie looked up. Surprisingly, she wasn't startled, but her face grew visibly red, even in the dying light.
“We have a dinner date planned later tonight,” Chad said, sitting beside her. He sank down into the water that radiated an aquamarine glow.
“Is this the date you've made me promise to attend?” Bonnie asked, putting her computer in her bag. “It’s a part of the show, so I have little choice in the matter.”
“No, I’m not talking about what the show has planned. Fuck them. I've got my own plans for you,” Chad said. He caught Bonnie watching him with a look of curiosity. He waited for her to ask a question, but it never came. “What's up?”
“The billion-dollar question. Why do you do it? I mean the whole escort thing.”
“You mean, since I’m already a billionaire, why do I choose to spend my time fucking and partying?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Because I can. What else should I do? I don’t need money or fame, now do I?” he said. He lay back and took in a lungful of the night air.
“Well, when you say it like that,” she said. “I guess it makes sense. You can have whatever life you desire.”
“Yup.” He looked up at the pink sky. “The money and power don’t excite me,” he said. “I like to fuck. The entire process from seduction to orgasm is the most exciting feeling for me.”
Chad caught her staring at him with utter fascination but she quickly looked away.
“So what made you do the show? Weren’t you worried that your private life would be under scrutiny?”
“I guess I wanted to see things from the other side,” Bonnie said. “I get to be the story for a change.” She fell silent. Then said, “Can I tell you something?”
“Sure. Anything.”
“My ex never gave me an orgasm.”
“Never?”
“Ever,” she said. “Neither did my ex before him.”
>
“Bummer.” Chad propped himself up on his elbows. “At least I gave you one, right?” He grinned cheekily.
“Right.” Bonnie sighed.
“Wait...” It dawned on Chad. “Has any guy, I mean, any other guy…?”
Still facing the horizon, she shook her head and tensed her jaw.
“Shit.” Chad fell back and laughed. Bonnie, not amused, grabbed a handful of the sand next to the pool and chucked it at him, covering his face with the white granules.
Chad wiped away the sand with a look of disbelief, at which point Bonnie was overcome by laughter at the look of shock on his face. Her laughter graduated to hysterics, and she doubled over.
That was all it took.
“Right, you're in for it now,” Chad shouted, grabbing Bonnie around the waist and throwing her into the pool, then diving in after her.
Bonnie got to her feet and with a laugh, tried to make her way to the pool’s wall. But in seconds, Chad flung his arms around her again and pulled her close to him.
“Please, I'm sorry,” she said, giggling.
Chad kept splashing her playfully, and waiting, patiently. Until she made the mistake of turning back to look at him.
Their eyes met. His blood thumped in his ears, and adrenaline surged through his body.
“Chad,” she said. “We can't.”
“Don't you want another orgasm?” Chad whispered.
“I refuse to fall for a guy like you. A guy who won’t stay.”
Chad prided himself on being irresistible to women. But he couldn't figure out why Bonnie kept him at a distance. He was the reason she had her first orgasm. She was single. Beautiful. Sweet. But it was clear she had been hurt… Maybe it was a little bit about her too.
She crawled up out of the pool. “I'm sorry,” Bonnie said as she walked off.
Chad sighed. He had to figure out how to get through to her.
Chapter Ten
“You’re pigheaded!” Bonnie yelled from across the table. She was being a bitch. She knew it. Chad knew it. The world knew it. “Rude? I'm rude?”
Chad grinned. “I should put you over my knee and spank your sweet ass,” he said.
Bonnie glimpsed the excited smiles from Leslie and the camera crew. They’re loving this.
“You wouldn't dare,” Bonnie said, and she couldn't resist giving Chad a sly wink. She knew she risked being caught by the camera but she couldn't help herself.
He cocked his head to the side and regarded her. “Oh yeah?” A deep rumble echoed in his voice.
Bonnie wiggled her eyebrows—got your attention. He was impossibly, almost painfully, gorgeous. “Yeah.”
“Trust me. I'm not into the whole spanking thing, but you're gonna have to pay for showing up late. No one makes me wait.”
“It's only fair. You were a no-show on our last dinner date.”
“Well, you can get your own back… and you can punish my cock with your pussy.”
Bonnie emitted a melodramatic gasp.
Chad smiled—how'd you like that?
Bonnie squinted her eyes, grabbed the wine glass and threw the contents at his face. “Bastard,” she said.
Chad jolted back. “Hey!” He looked at her—a little too much... I kinda liked this suit… I wanna fuck you so bad right now.
Bonnie looked at him and shrugged—what?
Chad nodded to the hallway—exit.
Bonnie got up and stormed out, mumbling obscenities under her breath.
Chad turned to the camera.
“She’s one hot piece of ass.”
***
Rounding the corner, Bonnie turned and waited for Chad. She didn't have to wait long for him to show up. His tall, broad body towered over her within minutes, and he looked subtly muscled in the suit.
Bonnie's eyes glistened with regret as she dragged them away from the nipples poking through his white shirt.
“Why are you still here?” he asked. “Get changed and be at my room in an hour.”
Bonnie snapped from her reverie. “Don't boss me about,” she said.
“Hey, argue with me all you want when the cameras are around, that's fine. But make sure you march that ass into my cabin in an hour,” Chad said. “And don't keep me waiting.” He smirked.
Bonnie flipped him off, but found herself following his instructions. She walked away, trying desperately not to sway her hips despite her anger; she didn’t want to show her excitement.
***
“He's so fucking infuriating,” Bonnie said, to her empty cabin. “And so pushy, no wonder he's single.” But she changed outfits, regardless.
Whenever she got mad at Chad, which was pretty much all the time, her mind invariably journeyed to the incredible night they spent together. Her first orgasm.
But why did it have to be him? She often asked the universe, only to receive the prompt reply--why not him? He was more gorgeous than any man she could imagine.
The sexiest man alive, Chad was so handsome, the feel of his stubbled chin as his smooth lips encased hers, his sensual tongue teased her and his hot breath exploded over her. His soulful gray eyes, gripped her in their crystallized gaze and kept her awake at night. When she tried to sleep, he appeared in her dreams and whispered filthy things in her ear.
She was infatuated. Lying to herself would've been stupid. Every flaming iota of her being longed for his touch—reruns of their night together played constantly in her head—and all she could think about was Chad.
Perhaps circumstance was a contributing factor, as her waking thoughts never had much of a reprieve either. Try as she did to banish Chad from her conscious, she still had to write about him, lodge next to him and see him everyday. A constant reminder that Mr. Steel was no myth, he was real.
As Bonnie looked over outfits to wear, she wondered if she should back out. Going to his cabin would only be playing into his hands after all. It would be like prey knowingly walking into the lair of a beast.
She mused over outfits. She settled for classic nude shoes, a black pinstripe sheath dress. It was long and strapless. Bonnie marvelled at it. Gorgeous.
Bonnie knew she couldn't trust Chad, but she yearned for him to the point where she felt herself getting out of control.
After what seemed like an eternity of tumescent agony, that lasted an hour, it was finally time for her hallowed date.
***
Bonnie regretted going. She was still angry. How had she allowed Chad to talk her into a date? She'd stupidly had let him manipulate her, all because she didn't want the world to discover they’d slept together.
I'll call it off. That's why I've come, anyway.
She knocked on his door. The minute the door opened and Chad was in front of her, gray eyes, chiseled, perfectly symmetrical face, it was as if her brain short circuited.
He was impressive, even in his casual blue tee and jeans. The man's solid arms and muscular chest bulged, not hulking or bulky, but in perfect proportion. Every part of him, eyes, arms, chest, hair, were like checkpoints on a map leading her eyes down to the treasure chest between his legs.
Bonnie's eyes shot up from the swelling in Chad's pants.
“Come in,” Chad said, stepping aside.
“Thanks,” Bonnie replied. She looked around, confused at first, then shook her head incredulously. There were no candles, the lights weren't dimmed, and nothing visibly romantic struck her. Other than the scattered clothes throughout the room, there was a king-size bed that gulped up most of the cabin space.
Bonnie frowned. “What's the plan tonight, then?”
“Me to fuck you and have you shouting my name,” he said matter-of-factly.
Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Aren't we at least going to the casino?” she asked.
“No. Next question?”
“Aren't we going to talk? I don't know anything about you except what's on the Internet,” she said.
“We know all we need to know,” he said. She could feel his breath on her neck.
�
��Which is?”
“I'm a man and you’re a woman. Which means, we can both fulfil each other's needs. I'm the only man to have given you an orgasm. Tonight, I want to out do myself.” Chad pressed his lips to her forehead. “Just one night.”
“And that's all you want from me?” Bonnie asked. “One last time?” Bonnie sighed heavily, biting her lip. She felt indecisive, and battling her lust for Chad was become more and more futile.
