by S. L. Siwik
They shrug. “You’re missing out! Me and my sister wanted to tag-team you!”
I glance over to see Victoria’s vacant expression. She isn’t angry at all, or even mildly upset. All I see is indifference. The war is lost when you see indifference. Shit.
The naked ladies drive off, and without giving the boat a second glance, I turn my attention to the women on mine.
“Ladies, I apologize about that intrusion into our afternoon. Shall we go back to the house and get ready for dinner?” I ask, in hope of enticing them with questions about my dinner plans.
“Whatever you want to do, Blaze,” Victoria replies.
I’m becoming tired and frustrated with this attitude. “I’m asking what you want to do.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she replies just as quickly. “None of it does. You’re my boss and I’m your employee; whatever you say goes…”
None of it does? Her words are a strategically placed knife straight through my chest. Whatever I say goes? Is that a hint of anger in her tone? Anger I can work with, indifference I cannot.
“I need to speak to you in private, please.”
Her eyes are covered by her glasses, but her body stiffens at my words. “I’ll be right back, sweetie,” she reassures Kendall.
Walking back to the helm, I kill the engine and drop the anchor. “I need you for something important, Sunshine.”
Smiling, Kendall walks over to me. I place her in front of the steering wheel. “I need you to be captain for a few minutes. You have to make sure no other boats come close to ours. If they do, you have to yell for me. Can you do that, Captain Sunshine?” I give her my best smile.
She nods somberly. “I’ve got it. Go talk to Aunt Vikkie.”
Andrea smiles widely, now lying on the sunning couch, reading a magazine. “Enjoy.” Her voice is heavy with innuendo.
As Victoria reluctantly walks over to me, I take her by the elbow and lead her into the cabin of the boat, straight into the Master bedroom and lock the door.
Her chin is raised slightly, her arms wrapped around her body. She’s ready for battle. Good. So am I.
“Are you going to continue cheapening yourself with this nonsense talk?” I ask through gritted teeth, stalking towards her.
Her brows raise to her hairline. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t stutter. You heard me. That comment outside. I apologized for those women coming up to the boat. I had no idea that they were going to do that, or who they even are for that matter. I also apologize for it happening because Kendall was aboard. I said that I was sorry; I meant it. So, you flippantly reply back that nothing matters, and that you’re helpless. So, I will repeat myself. Are you going to continue cheapening yourself with this nonsense talk?”
I push Victoria’s shoulder back into the wall, pinning her there. She won’t run from this conversation. She will answer. Victoria’s eyes widen, her breathing hitched, and I can feel her sexual excitement rolling off her skin in waves. Rough sex seems to be her preference. I’ll remember that.
“I am not cheapening myself,” She snaps back, “I’m simply stating facts. I am not telling you how to live your life or what to do. I’m in no position to!” She tries to shrug my hands off my body. “Get off me!” I press my body closer to hers, and she groans loudly, fisting my hair.
“You are cheapening yourself. First with the whole Trent business and now with this,” I reply, my lips brushing against her neck. “I’ve wanted my hand up your skirt since the day you walked into my office. When you gave me that sarcastic answer of finding you someone to sleep with, I took the opportunity and ran with it.” I bite her colla bone, and her fingers tighten in my hair. “We’re two people who want to sleep with each other. I just so happen to give you money at the end of the week to help you out.”
“You can wrap up the crap in pretty wrapping paper and a bow all you like with a play on words. But, in the end, it’s still crap,” she snaps back.
“What is it that you want? Whatever it is tell me, and it’s yours,” I reply, cupping her cheeks so that she’s forced to look into my eyes.
“I don’t want anything! You’re the one who brought me down here for this conversation!” she shouts back defiantly.
“Do you want more, Victoria?” I ask. I forget how to breathe. I forget everything. I am suspended in this moment, hanging for dear life from a tearing thread. The crash to the ground is going to hurt like hell.
“Of course not!” She huffs. “Don’t be ridiculous!”
The knife slides into my chest a little deeper.
“I’m sorry, but I was unaware that wanting to be with me would be ridiculous. I apologize for being so ignorant to the situation.” I can barely contain my pain and anger.
She blinks at my statement, her lips frowning. “It’s not ridiculous at all…for any woman, but me.”
Why are his woman’s walls so high? What am I missing? The answer feels like it’s sitting on the tip of my tongue. I know that her past is shady. I know that she didn’t get a social security card until she was twenty-one. I know that she never worked a legal job before working for Trent. I don’t care about any of it. I might not know her past, but I know this woman. I know her, and I love her. The rest is immaterial to me.
I lean in more, resting my head against hers. Her breaths come out harsh against my lips as her hands thread through my hair. “Will you answer me something then?”
“Anything,” she whispers.
“This arrangement…Are you happy with it?”
“Yes. It could have only been with you. I…couldn’t have done this with any other man. Only you.”
I don’t know what to make of her reply. More questions. No answers.
I lean my head in, kissing her. But, I don’t pull back; my lips remain planted on hers. Her lips part and her tongue sweeps across my lip before biting my lower lip. All of the blood quickly descends to my lower body. Diamonds might be the hardest surface on Earth, but right now my cock is a close second. My hand trails up her thigh, feeling the smooth skin that I have been aching to touch all day now.
“I think you need a reminder…”
“A reminder of what?” she pants out.
“Of why I need you so badly,” I growl out, my fingers disappearing beneath her bikini bottom.
Her nails dig into my shoulders as she whimpers out while my finger slides into her warm, inviting depths. I savor the moment: every whimper from her lips in my ear, every time her body clenches around my finger, the fact that I know her so intimately. I work hard to bring her pleasure, and when her body finally responds by relaxing, I slip a second finger inside her.
She screams out loudly, and I’m forced to cover her mouth with my other hand.
“If you yell again, I’ll have to stop,” I say, while my fingers teasingly withdraw slowly from her body. Whimpering against my palm, she nods. “Good girl.”
I put my skills into overdrive, working her body, seeing what she likes. I pay close attention to when she groans loudly, when her eyes roll back, when her nails dig into my skin, when she’s unsteady on her feet. I commit all of these moves and responses to memory, filing them away. Her legs are shaking now, and she’s whimpering into my hand more. I can feel just how close she is. As my two fingers thrust inside her, my thumb circles over her clit, and she practically screams into my palm.
“I told you I’ll have to stop if you don’t quiet down,” I tell her. Her eyes plead with me, telling me how helpless she is as she nods. “Just relax and enjoy, baby. It’s all for you.”
Her eyes roll back with my statement, and I focus all of my energy on her. I’ve pulled her back from the brink of climax several times now, so that when she does come, it’ll be one hell of a release.
My fingers thrust inside her…faster, harder. Her nails are clawing down my back. I hope she leaves a mark. Something to remind me on Monday that this isn’t all some intense fantasy, that it actually happened.
Her breathing is hitche
d as she whimpers softly into me. I don’t stop, don’t give her a second to catch her breath.
When she finally releases, she bites down on my hand to keep from screaming and I hiss in pain, but don’t pull back. Watching Victoria unravel is my favorite sight- it’s a television show that I want to watch all day and night. Nothing will ever compare to watching this woman come undone. She stares up at me with a little confusion in her eyes after coming down from her high. I slowly slide my two fingers out of her and lick them clean slowly, groaning loudly while I do it. Her eyes widen at the sight.
Leaning in, I whisper, “Nothing in this world tastes better than you, and nothing is more beautiful than watching you unravel. Do you understand how much I need you now? So, don’t even entertain the idea of leaving me, because no man on this planet will work harder at pleasing you. No one needs you as badly as I do.”
She takes a shaky breath, her eyes hooded. “Do you know what I love most about you?” she asks, her lower lip quivering.
My heart seizes as I shake my head. “You look like such a gentleman. Everything about you, especially your eyes. The softness around the edges of your eyes whisper that people can trust you.” Victoria’s thumb brushes over my eyelid. I shiver at just how gentle her touch is. “When you need to get your point across, you don’t shout, you speak softly and it’s still just as effective. But, beneath all of the soft spoken words and tender looks is a tiger, because you’re not afraid of following through. Traps are something that I tend to avoid at all costs, but with you I find myself gladly walking into them. I have never been so frightened and exhilarated in all of my life.” I stand there not knowing what to say. I’m still stuck on: Do you know what I love most about you? “I didn’t want to sleep with Trent that night. I never wanted to sleep with Trent.” Her eyes flicker to the floor. “But, sometimes people do things that they feel are necessary.”
I place my hand beneath her chin, forcing her to raise it and meet my gaze. I don’t want to see her shame. There’s no need for it. “Victoria, I’m not judging you- for that decision or any other ones you’ve made in your life. My anger about Trent is not from being disappointed at you. It’s jealousy. Pure and simple. I hate that guy; I hate that he had years with you that I didn’t. I hate that he ever let you get away, because believe me when I say it, you will have to look me in the eye, tell me that you no longer want me, and I’ll have to see the truth in your eyes before I ever let you go. If I have to spend the rest of my life chasing after you, I will…gladly.”
Her eyes soften at my words with just a tinge of sadness. “There is no comparison between you two.” Victoria takes a deep breath. “I’ve known Trent a long time, and he had no problem telling me that he loved me. He said it constantly. The problem is that I couldn’t feel it. His eyes were so hard, impenetrable. I finally realized that Trent was just too broken to ever know what the words really meant. He tried to love me; he just couldn’t. But, since I first started working for you, you’ve made me feel important. You ask me my opinions, you thank me for doing things…you make me feel like I matter. I worked for Trent for years, and all I ever felt like was another way for him to make money. There was never a compliment, or praise, it was…supposed to be understood, I guess. So, there’s no comparison between you two. You are twice the man now that he will ever be. In forty years that won’t change either. The two of you are too set in your personalities.” When she looks up at me, she looks frightened, and I can’t understand why. “For me, there would never be a choice between you two. I would always choose you even on our worst day.”
I thrust my tongue inside her mouth, and she kisses me back eagerly, her hands yanking on my hair. I am lost in the moment, in her as my hands freely roam her body- squeezing her hip, cupping her breast, palming her neck. Finally, gasping for air, she pulls back.
Her eyes stare at me so heatedly, I can barely keep from yanking her onto the bed and fucking her senseless. I slip my fingers back inside her slowly as she groans out, her head falling back onto the wall. When I pull them back out, I make sure she’s watching when I slowly suck them clean. “You are so delicious,” I state in that low voice that drives her mad. I bite my lower lip and groan softly.
“You are an animal,” she says to me, desire lacing through every word, cutting the contempt she is going for to non-existent.
“Only around you,” I reply, smiling.
On wobbly legs, she makes her way for the door. As she reaches the knob, I see the bright smile on her face. I’m getting to her. I know it. She’s caving.
It doesn’t matter how small of progress you make as long as you continue going forward. Eventually, you’ll get there.
The man is an animal pure and simple. Just when I think I have Blaze figured out, he throws a curveball that has me completely in the dark. What he did to me in the cabin, the way he made my body feel, the words he said to me…He could barely hold back the passion in his eyes. I thought the heat would consume me whole.
We finally arrive at what Blaze wanted to show us, an island off New York’s coast that is uninhabited by any people except wildlife. It is one of the most incredible places I have ever seen, and it steals my breath away. The lush vegetation is peaceful, and the wild animals running about on the island’s edge is beautiful. I feel a tinge of jealousy, watching them run free, being whoever they want to be. At the same time I feel jealous, I feel inspired. Maybe my fears about telling Blaze how I really feel are unfounded. Maybe I can tell him, let him in on who I really am.
Maybe. Just maybe.
Kendall and Blaze fish off the coast for a while, while Andrea and I drink his pricey wine. Blaze wants to take her tubing or water skiing off the back of the yacht, but Kendall admits to not feeling well. Seeing the two of them sitting together talking with Blaze’s arm slung over her shoulder is just too much for my heart. It feels like it isn’t big enough to hold all of the love inside. This is what Kendall really deserves- a stable, male influence in her life. No matter how good I am with her, I can’t give her this. Only he can.
As I finish off my glass of wine, I see in the corner of my eye Kendall leaning over, heaving.
“Are you alright?” Blaze asks nervously, rubbing her back.
“I think I’m going to be sick!” she shouts before running to the side of the boat and vomiting.
Andrea, walking up next to me, hands me a fresh glass. “She needs to go to the doctor. Looks like she’s got a stomach bug.”
Frowning, I take a sip of my wine. “I didn’t take her this morning, because I thought she just threw up from nerves. You know how Kendall is about cars.”
“Apparently she’s like that about boats, too, then,” Andrea replies.
I sigh. “Blaze,” I call out, “I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to cut the day short. I need to take her home and get her to the doctor tomorrow.”
He nods, still rubbing her back as she vomits again.
“Is that a fuckin’ man, or what?” Andrea sighs out.
Even I can’t argue this one. “He’s something alright.”
“Stop being stupid and make your claim on him before someone else does. If that happens, you’ll never forgive yourself.”
I worry my lower lip, knowing she’s right. If I lose him, I won’t forgive myself.
“Oh, my God!” Kendall shrieks out. “Help me!”
Andrea and I run to her side. “What’s wrong?”
She glances down in horror at her blood soaked short. “I’m dying!”
Andrea and I exchange glances, smiling. “Welcome to the Women’s Club, Kendall. Now anything with a penis in a mile radius will try and hump you night and day.” Kendall looks up at Andrea horror-stricken. “Don’t worry, though, you have the vagina, so you hold the power. Ya just gotta learn how to wield it.”
“Dre!” I shout, “Is this the time for that conversation?”
She shrugs unapologetically. “How else are we going to keep her safe from getting knocked up?”
I roll my eyes, shaking my head. “Not the time or the place.”
I glance over at a panicking Kendall. “Sweetheart,” I say, running my hand down her hair. “Nothing is wrong. You’ve just become a woman. This is perfectly normal.”
She sniffles. “So, I’m not going to bleed to death?”
“Not at all,” I reply, smiling. In that moment, I feel another piercing pain today that Evalyn couldn’t be here. It’s one more momentous occasion that she’s forced to miss out on.
“How about this?” Blaze suggests, still rubbing her back. “Why don’t you go downstairs and have a nice shower? Change into the spare clothes you brought on the boat. I’ll take us back home, and you can rest.”
She nods her head. “I’m so sorry, Blaze.”
He smiles at her easily. “Don’t be. There’s no reason to be sorry. Why don’t you go downstairs and wash up? You’ll feel better.”
