by Lyra Parish
Parker interlocked his fingers with mine as we walked to the elevator. Inside we kept looking over at each other and smiling. People stepped in, but they didn’t matter. Together, Parker and I were in a city that never slept, and no one knew us from the next couple. Here, I realized, we could be open, we could be free, and tonight, I would do whatever I felt like because I knew when we got back to Houston it would all change.
We stepped outside and I instantly felt the cool breeze on my legs. Parker lifted his arm and a taxi pulled to the corner. If only it were that easy in Houston. Parker opened the door and I slid to the other side.
“To Central Park,” he leaned forward and told the driver.
Moments later, we were off. The cab swerved in and out of traffic, almost hit a pedestrian, and dropped us off at the corner of the park in one piece. It seemed like a miracle. Parker paid then grabbed my hand. We walked through the trees and for some reason, lights were strung through them, which created a soft white ambient glow. Runners passed us, and so did a few bicyclists. Though the sun had recently set, this was the place to be.
Time didn’t matter as we strolled down the sidewalk, holding hands. I couldn’t stop thinking about what we were doing. It wasn’t pretend in any sense, but I knew when we returned to Houston, we would not be like this. I told myself to enjoy what I had right now.
“What are you thinking about?” The soft breeze carried his voice.
I sucked in air and looked over at him as we continued down the path. I thought of my words then decided, who cared? What did I really have to lose? “How everything will change.”
“It doesn’t have to.”
“It does. We can’t openly be like this in Houston. We both know that.”
Parker unlocked his fingers from mine and rested his arm around my waist, which caused me to put mine around his.
“Let’s enjoy and focus on the moment.” It was a reminder to not live in the future, but with each day that passed, with each emotion we shared, not thinking ahead became difficult. I was a planner by nature. Not knowing scared the shit out of me.
The trees opened up, and I looked out at the large pond. In the background, I could see the lights of buildings from the city. It was a perfect combination of city and country. After strolling through Central Park, I made up my mind that I loved every part of it.
We continued along the bank and made a small right, which led to the street.
“In the winter, we will have to come back just to ice skate,” Parker said.
See, it was little comments and hints like that that confused the shit out of me. He preached living in the right now, but then he mentioned the future.
“Let’s live in the moment, babe,” I said to him. He had to understand my confusion.
Realization set in, and he pulled me closer to him. “It’s hard not to say things like that. One day at a time. You’re right.”
We picked up our pace down the sidewalk and though I was in heels, I could keep up with no problem. We cut through a few alleyways and walked down busy streets with traffic for as far as I could see. Once I looked up, I realized we were standing dead center in the middle of Time Square. My eyes went big. We had walked a mile. Another reason I loved New York was because one could be in a beautiful park one moment, and about ten minutes later, dead center in Time Square.
Lights flashed different pictures on the big screens, and tickers of stock market prices ran around buildings. The changing advertisements on the giant televisions and crowds of people all around made me realize that Houston couldn’t touch New York City.
Parker and I were standing still as the crowd of strangers moved around us. He was smiling, and so was I. He moved me across the street, to the area under the large screens that split the street into two, then he stood back and pulled his phone out from his pocket.
“Smile, Rox. You’re in New York.”
He didn’t have to tell me to smile, because it felt instinctive. I was so happy. It would have been much harder to not smile. I placed my hand on my hip, striking a pose that Stacey would have been proud of. He took a few more steps back, then looked down at the picture. I walked to him, and he quickly showed it to me, then pressed the camera button again and pulled me beside him.
“Smile,” he said, then held out his phone and kissed me in front of the huge sign. He looked at the picture, and it was perfection. Both our eyes were closed and though it was only a second of a shot, he had fully captured the moment with the people in the background and the sign lighting up the sidewalk.
“Send those to me, please?”
Parker texted me the pictures, and Don’t Reply popped up on my screen.
“What do you have me saved as?”
“Oh.” I laughed and showed him.
“Doesn’t look like it worked.” He tilted his head just a little and narrowed his eyes playfully.
“It so didn’t.”
Right there, in the middle of Time Square, I changed his contact info to Parker Williams. I had to admit it was weird seeing that name in my phone. He had been Don’t Reply for almost two months. As soon as I pressed save, Parker grabbed my phone from my hand and changed his contact, then handed it back to me and texted a little smiley face.
When I looked down, I saw that the message had come from Don’t Fuck.
I shook my head at him. “Cute, Parker.”
“I know.”
He interlocked his fingers with mine and led me across the busy street, then down another sidewalk surrounded by desolate buildings, down some basement stairs, and through a long, sketchy hallway with low-hanging lights. I was confused. This looked like a place where women were taken to be murdered or something.
We were standing in front of a thick wooden door with a weird symbol engraved into it. He could barely contain how thrilled he was by my reaction.
A little window in the door, only large enough to see a person’s eyes through, slid opened. Brown eyes glared at Parker, who leaned in and whispered something that sounded like a different language. Deadbolts screamed out in protest as they were unlocked from the other side of the door. Parker grabbed my arm as the thick wooden door crashed against the brick wall. I narrowed my eyes at Parker.
When we were granted access and stepped inside, I felt like I had been transported back to the early 1900s. An old wooden bar, leather booths, and a stage filled the large space. It must have been as large as the building we were under. Parker led me to the bar and we sat. Behind me I could hear chatting and banging, and that’s when I noticed the band setting up their equipment. Parker looked down at his phone, clicked the side button, and glanced at the time. Then he turned to the bartender and ordered two drinks. Martinis, dirty, just how I liked them.
The bartender made them fast, then scooted them across the bar without spilling a drop. Now that took talent. After our first sip, the music filled the room. I swiveled in the bar stool and realized it wasn’t just any music; it was jazz—real jazz. When I looked around the room, I noticed there were at least a hundred people in the underground club. I sipped the dirty gin and allowed my eyes to wander over the crowd as the olives forced my taste buds to life.
I looked at Parker over the rim of my glass and smiled as I sipped. “What is this place?”
“An authentic Speakeasy. Now it’s a hidden jazz bar that’s been kept secret since prohibition.”
I knew it.
“I can’t tell you the name or address, and I can only bring in one person at a time. It’s a place I used to visit alone when I lived in the city. You’re the first woman I’ve ever brought here.”
“It’s because I can appreciate the art.”
“Jazz is a genre of music that has raw emotion. It’s like you can almost hear the instruments breathing, living, and even bleeding while telling their story. Jazz is a universal language.”
I nodded my head at him because I understood, because I truly understood jazz.
Once our martini glasses were empty, Parker stood
and held his hand out to me. We joined the group of people in the middle of the room who were fully giving themselves over to the song.
Parker and I were close, and we slowly moved to the rhythm of the whining trumpet as it poured its soul into the room. The gin mixed with my blood and after one drink, I felt a little tipsy. I interlocked my fingers behind Parker’s neck as his hands slid down the waist of my dress and landed on my ass.
He leaned in and whispered, “You’re a naughty girl.”
I whispered back, “You have no idea.”
Once the song had ended, Parker ordered another round of extra dirty martinis and led me to a secluded booth shrouded in darkness in the back of the room. I slid behind the large circle table meant for a group of people, and he sat next to me.
Parker looked at me with intent as we both took huge gulps of gin. He started slowly, by kissing the softness of my neck and brushing his fingertips across my inner thigh. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the booth’s tall back. Each time he touched me, my skin almost throbbed from the intensity. I turned my head and slightly parted my lips. His teeth tugged my lip and his tongue gently licked the edge. His hand slowly trailed farther up my leg until there was nowhere else to go.
Parker looped his finger on the little string of my panties and pulled. He moved across my lower stomach to the other side and snapped it as well. I gasped as he slowly removed them off my body. He slowly slid the material across my legs then placed them in his pocket. Another keepsake, I supposed.
To know that we were in a public place and being so openly intimate turned me on. My eyes slammed closed when Parker dipped a finger inside me. We both moaned at the same time.
“Fuck, Rox.” His voice was a low growl, animalistic and full of want and need. I gently rested my hand on his cheek and guided his lips back toward mine as his fingers dipped deeper. He went slowly, touching me in all the right places. I held back moans as he teased my clit.
“Parker,” I whispered, sinking deeper into his touch. He didn’t rush. No, he took his sweet time, pushing and pulling me to my limit. The music had started again, and my breaths escaped me in long pants. I didn’t care. I knew no one. We were strangers in a room of strangers.
Parker trailed his hand down my leg and stuck his finger in his mouth, enjoying me. “You taste so fucking good, babe.” Parker leaned back in the seat with a sultry look on his face and hooded eyes. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Right now?” I was close, teetering on the edge.
Parker nodded.
I exhaled a frustrated breath, and he laughed. He should have finished what he’d started, but I had a feeling it had only just begun.
When Parker stood, I watched as he adjusted his dick in his pants. I saw the outline of him before he untucked his shirt to let it hang free. When I stood, I squeezed my legs tight in hopes of pulling myself together after Parker had unraveled me. Parker placed some money on the bar for our drinks, and we walked out the thick wooden door, down the isolated hallway, and up a set of stairs to the main sidewalk. We traveled a few blocks then Parker hailed a cab. Both of us rushed to get inside.
“The Ritz,” Parker said and the driver headed toward Battery Park. Once we were moving toward our destination, Parker’s lips were consuming mine. His hands roamed up and down my body and when I glanced at the driver, we made eye contact. What a perv, getting his jollies from his passengers.
I cleared my throat, and Parker stopped his movements. He gave me a little tilt of his head, as if he knew we were being watched. When we exited the cab, I led the way to the elevator, which was crammed full of people.
All I wanted to do was rip his shirt from the top button all the way down to the bottom one and drive him just as crazy, leaving him wanting, just as he had me back there. We exited at the top floor, and the corners of the penthouse gleamed. It took us all of two seconds to get in the door.
We were in full attack mode, neither one of us able to hold back any longer. No matter if it was right or wrong, it felt good.
Parker lifted me in the air, and my legs instantly wrapped around his waist. He held me up by my bare ass, and I could feel him, every inch of him, hard through his pants as I dipped my head down to kiss him.
Before we made it to the couch, he set me down. I slowly unzipped my dress, never allowing my eyes to leave his. Parker watched me as I slipped the bra from my shoulders. I stood in the penthouse, completely naked except for the black high heels on my feet.
With just his eyes, Parker was making me hungrier for him. After a few passing moments, Parker laid me down on the couch. I tried to sit up to take my heels off.
“Keep them on,” he demanded.
Ooh. I liked that tone.
I slowly loosened the knot in his tie, then wrapped the two ends around my knuckles and sat back. He took off his shirt, and I watched his chest fall and rise as he admired me on the couch. Parker moved to me, and gently parted my legs as he kissed my inner thighs. I enjoyed his softness and fully allowed him to capture me in the moment.
His lips moved closer to my middle, then he was tasting me, flicking my clit with his tongue and taking me to places beyond this world. I balled fists of his hair in my hands as he guided a finger into me but continued to please me with his mouth. His name fell from my lips as I pushed into him.
Parker, Parker, Parker.
He enjoyed the control he had over me, and I enjoyed giving it to him. He did all of the right things and touched me in all the magical places. He removed his finger from me and placed it in my mouth. It was erotic tasting my sweetness. I took his whole finger in my mouth and he watched me.
“Make love to me,” I whispered, wanting to be owned by him.
His tongue continued to swirl and tease.
“You’re so close I can taste it,” he said. I arched my back in response, and he gave it to me in a slow rhythm and just like the trumpets in a jazz tune, my orgasm screamed out and took control of me. I was moaning and panting as my muscles contracted, and the sweet release swallowed me whole. Orgasms that powerful should be illegal.
Parker kissed up my stomach, pausing at my breasts, then continued until his mouth met mine. I was on his breath. I was on his lips, and all I wanted to do was return the favor, to feel him, every inch of him, in me. I slithered out from under him and straddled his body. He placed his arms behind his head and slowly moved his hips enough to create a friction between us. His dick, though held back by his pants, rubbed against my sensitive areas.
I unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, wanting, begging with my eyes to fully take him into my mouth. I felt his hardness in his pants and knew that he wanted this. I knew what I did to him, because his dick couldn’t keep the secret, even if Parker wanted it to. Before I could remove his clothes, his hands grabbed mine, forcing me to look into his eyes. I stopped.
“Rox.” His voice was a low growl.
I narrowed my eyes at him, stood, and crossed my arms.
“Are we back to this?” I asked. Each time he denied me, it made me feel … dirty in a sense, like a cheap whore, and I was far from that. I just knew what I wanted, and Parker was at the top of that list. I stood and found my bra and panties and slipped them back on.
“Am I not up to your standards, Parker? Is that what this is about?”
His face flashed into seriousness, and I knew the fun and games had ended when he stood. His eyebrows creased together, and he tilted his head at me, confused. “Roxane. You don’t seriously think that, do you? You’re so high on my standard scale that there isn’t even a category for you, babe. You’re beautiful. Funny. Successful. Witty. I love so much about you.”
There was that word again, love.
But he seemed to say all of the right things, and that’s when everything I’d wanted to say acted like Houdini and vanished. He had denied me, again.
“Don’t. Please don’t close up on me now. I know that when I start talking like this you lock yourself tight. For once, I want you to ope
n up to me. Tell me how you feel.”
I opened my mouth then closed it, along with my eyes. I couldn’t do this now, not right now. “Shut the fuck up, Parker.”
Enough was enough. He opened his mouth, and I placed a finger over his lips.
“Do you know why I’m so fucking hesitant?”
He opened his mouth, and I held up a single finger. “You’re going to listen to me first. I’m moving to New York. It’s been planned since the beginning. Once the firm is ready in the next few months, I’ll be here. I’ll live here. My father has already secretly announced that he will come out of retirement to run the Houston office. I found out a few weeks ago, and it’s been hard, especially since … since we happened. Before you, I had no doubts about moving. Now …”
He searched my face. I wasn’t even prepared for an emotional breakdown.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said without any inflection in his tone.
“It was fun and games, but it’s more than that now. We both know it. As hard as it is to fucking admit that, it’s true. I’m moving away, Parker. Things will change. My life will change. I have to know where you stand. Otherwise we need to stop this right now. We can’t go on any further. I know we promised not to talk about the future, that we would take us one day at a time, but it can’t be avoided any longer. I like you, Parker. I like you a lot.”
I felt like I was flipping a double-sided coin but no matter what, the outcome would be the opposite of what I wanted. Taking a chance was a fool’s game; maybe love in general was. I hated giving him an ultimatum, but I had to know.
He moved to me like a magnetic force had carried him. His fingers laced through my hair, then he grabbed both sides of my face and kissed me. It was full of heat, and want, and need. As our lips danced, we poured everything we were, everything we had left, into the kiss. Emotions flowed through us, and it was so strong I felt like I was drowning in a sea of feelings. I had never felt like this before, and it hurt to know that everything could end so quickly, right when it all seemed so right. It had only been six weeks, but it was possible that Parker could really be the man for me. He was everything I had ever wanted.
