“Rei.” He answered it while digging through his wallet.
“Hey brother,” Daitaro greeted him. “How was your first day? And just so you know Nia isn’t happy that you haven’t called.”
Raiden rubbed his eyes. “Tell her I’m sorry and that I forgot. I got here and things weren’t going as I planned.”
“Anything you need?”
Raiden smiled and shook his head though he knew his brother couldn’t see him. “Nah. I’ll be fine.” He walked from the house without his jacket to finish his conversation. It was freezing outside. When he hung up he rushed back inside, checking each finger and toes just to ensure they wouldn’t need amputation. Rolling his eyes at believing his brother’s taunts, he turned for the stairs again when Rochelle’s voice stopped him.
“Is this how it’s going to be between us now?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You asked for me to act professional—that is what I’m doing.”
“No you’re not. You’re fusing me out.”
“And just why would I do that?”
“Because I rejected you.”
Raiden laughed and shook his head before continuing up the stairs until she grabbed his arm. He swung to face her. “Is that what you think I was doing? You think I was hitting on you so you believe you rejected me?” He stopped waiting for her to say something—anything but she simply blinked at him and that irritated him. He continued, “If I was hitting on you, Rochelle, believe me you would know it. I was simply being me. But it appears that’s the wrong thing to do. I am giving you what you want so please do not go back on that now. Just let me be.”
With that said he left her standing on the first step and closed himself in his room.
Rochelle stomped her foot in frustration. She was simply trying to be a good boss; she didn’t do anything any other person wouldn’t have done in that situation.. She was protecting herself from what would happen if she allowed herself to fall for this man and then he left. It would destroy her. It had been so long since she felt anything for anyone and she had avoided getting her heart trampled on. Her last boyfriend tried playing the hide the fat girlfriend game with her and after she punched him in the nose and kneed him in the crotch, she went home, ate a tub of chocolate ice-cream and sobbed all night. She didn’t want that again. She didn’t want another man to laugh in her face because she wanted him to get down on his knees and eat her until she literally couldn’t breathe. She would die if she got that from Raiden.
“It is for the best.”
But long after she climbed down the steps to look over his work, she still didn’t believe her own words. When she could focus on his work she realised they had been right. Raiden Rei knew what he was doing when it came to drawing. His lines were immaculate, his colour choices—amazing. The pictures were so alive she thought the warrior would jump out at her. She sighed in frustration and placed the boards away from her. Resting her head back against the sofa, she closed her eyes. Her body was extremely tired and she drifted off to sleep. She felt her body moving and wrote it off to a beautiful dream. Her eyes opened and Raiden filled her vision; his long, beautiful hair floating down over his eyes as he bent forward to lift her. He had done so in the CN Tower and Rochelle should have enjoyed that while it lasted for she knew it wouldn’t happen again. In her dream she could control it.
She could have him do anything she wanted but for the moment she would simply enjoy being mesmerized by the way his brown eyes glowed when he stared at her. The way he looked down at her while carrying her as though he loved her truly, madly. That was what she craved in real life. Rochelle was numb to everything else around her—the only thing that mattered was being carried in his arms. She moaned and shifted slightly wrapping her arms around her dream lover’s neck before snuggling into his chest. Her back rested against something soft and her shoes were removed from her feet. Suddenly, the sheets were up to her neck and she opened her eyes to look up into Raiden’s eyes. He had carried her to bed.
“Zero...”The beautiful feeling in the moment drew the pet name from her body as though she was so accustomed to saying it. At that moment she wanted to ask her dream lover to come to bed. She wanted to reach out and pull him down to her, wrapping her arms around his neck and tasting from her lips. But he simply smoothed her braids from her face and touched her cheek gently.
“Shh...” he whispered with a small smile. “You’re tired. We can talk in the morning.”
“Promise?” she questioned, her eyes heavy with sleep.
“Yakusoku, osanago,” he replied, still staring into her eyes. “Go to sleep.”
Though Rochelle didn’t understand what he said, she felt suddenly at ease.
She yawned softly before drifting off to sleep.
Chapter Four
The next morning, bright and early as well as rested, Rochelle got up and walked into the bathroom. She showered, dressed and descended the stairs to find the kitchen and living room empty except for the second set of drawings that weren’t due until the second week of Raiden’s exchange. Her heart sank; she knew Raiden hadn’t slept the night before. He couldn’t have. Putting the boards down, she hurried into the kitchen and while making breakfast she tried remembering what happened the night before. She fell asleep on the sofa and Raiden tucked her into bed. She flushed at the thought. It had been many years since anyone tucked her into bed, but she liked it; especially with a handsome man like Raiden doing the tucking. Smiling to herself she shook her head and checked the Okayu—Japanese rice porridge—before dumping a little cinnamon in it.
“Good morning,” Raiden greeted from behind her and she spun around almost knocking the pot from the stove. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine—those words you said to me last night?” Rochelle asked. “What did they mean?”
“I thought you were sleeping,” he said simply and turned to leave the room.
“Zero wait—look, I’m sorry if I offended you yesterday at the restaurant. That wasn’t what I meant to do. I just didn’t want us to be too familiar with each other in the office.”
“And you believe I wouldn’t know when it is appropriate and when isn’t?” He glanced at her over his shoulder.
“I’m sorry.”
“Those words last night—you asked me to promise that we would talk in the morning. I simply promised you.”
“Then keep your promise.”
“When I made that promise, I had no intentions of breaking my word,” Raiden replied. “I will speak when you are not ready to stop offending me.”
“I said I was sorry about that.” Rochelle turned the stove off and walked to him. Taking his hand she led him into the summer room and sat down in one of the plush sofas before pulling him to sit beside her. Turning, she curled a leg beneath her bum and leaned in to face him. “The truth?”
“Always.”
Rochelle breathed. How much would she tell him? How much would she confess to this beautiful man she barely knew? She couldn’t tell him everything—that is her final decision.
“I’m attracted to you,” she spoke finally. “It’s probably no secret to you by now. And I know you’re leaving so I don’t want to start anything with you and have it tossed in my face. If you’ve noticed I don’t look anything like your typical Japanese girls. I’m sure of that. And I don’t want you to have to say something you don’t want or something you will later regret. I just want us to keep this professional and when you leave no hard feelings, no guilt.”
“Is that what you really want, Rochelle?”
Rochelle swallowed. Of course it wasn’t what she really wanted. She wanted him to take her every which way possible then make some up afterward. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair right before dragging her nails down his back. But she wasn’t a woman he could want—ever.
“Yes.”
“Very well, Rochelle. As you wish.”
“Are we cool?”
“Yes. We—are cool.”
While she worked on breakfast she began wondering where she picked up this self esteem problem. In high school she had self esteem to spare and as an adult her self esteem had fallen below ground level. In high school she dated some gorgeous boys—most of them assholes—but they were sexy as hell. Now, if a cute man looked at her she wondered why. She would wonder if he thought she was fat. It was there, in the back of her mind, annoying, nagging her and after a while she simple pulled within herself. She locked all the thoughts into the back of her mind and simply focused on growing her business. With the business where she wanted it and doing exactly how she wished, Rochelle had nothing to really preoccupy herself and the thoughts of loneliness came back. She wondered what she could do in order to keep her brain busy so as not to think about it for she did not want to go back to that time where she would cry herself to sleep at nights. Venturing into that territory where every love song she heard broke her heart or every sexy song she heard left her feeling unsexy and unwanted was completely out of the question.
That was an utterly dark and horrifying place to be and she did not wish anyone to it—even her worse enemy. The jangle of her phone drew her from her thoughts and without thinking she grabbed it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Chelle! How are you?” Maylee asked.
Rochelle smiled sadly. “Do you want the answer alphabetically, chronologically or in order of severity?”
“That bad huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Did you get your guest? I meant to call you before but things were on warp speed at the store. I took the day off and let Andrew open and Max close because I could not face that place today.”
“It’s okay. And yes, he is here, hold on—” she pressed her hand over the phone and tilted her head. “Raiden! Breakfast!” she called. She waited until he walked into the kitchen before hooking the phone between her head and shoulder to serve him. Once he was eating she turned her attention back to the phone. “Hello?” she called, walking into the living room.
“So? Is he hot?”
“May!” she called with a giggle. Then in a whisper she added. “He is sexy as hell. Girl, you should see this man.” She purred and Maylee giggled. “But he is my employee and he’s leaving soon. We can’t start anything.”
“Uh-huh. You sure that’s not your wall talking?”
“It’s not my wall talking and I don’t have a wall—look we both know when this whole thing is over he’s going back to Japan to his little women—you know those? The women with the shiny, long, black hair and petit little bodies and the shy eyes. Girl, please, I am nothing like them and I don’t think I can ever be anything like them if I tried from now till Armageddon.”
“What if he doesn’t want you to be like them? If he shows interest don’t be all shy and shit and don’t sabotage it.”
“Oh boy—”
“Rochelle, you didn’t!—what did you do and how bad is the damage?”
“I told him we can’t because of work and that we had to keep it professional.”
Rochelle could picture her best friend smashing her head into her desk as she muttered, “Why—why—why? Never mind that. I don’t know what else to say to you.”
The conversation ended with Maylee promising to visit that evening around dinner time. Rochelle promised to wait for Maylee to show up before setting the table. Rochelle hung up the phone and pushed her back into the plush seat. She inhaled deeply and held it hoping to feel anything but how she felt. Her mind kept taunting her, calling her a fool and she believed it. There were no other words for what she had done and what she felt. Moaning, she pressed her face into her hands and grunted.
* * * *
Raiden sat over his breakfast staring down at it. He normally loved Okayu but he couldn’t make himself eat anything. He felt like his food and his stomach were warring and if he ate anything it would all make a second appearance. The last thing he needed was to throw up in his hostess’s kitchen. Pushing the plate away he stood from the stool, grabbed his jacket from behind the door and let himself outside. He stepped down from the front steps and instantly had snow up to his knees. Frowning, he lifted his foot and kicked trying to get the snow off the top of his shoe and pant leg. Making a path with his feet, he walked down to the driveway and took to the street. He figured if he just walked in a straight line he should remember his way back home.
His mind drifted to the one-sided conversation he had with Rochelle that morning. She rejected him and he couldn’t blame her. He couldn’t be anything like the men she was used to but he felt so drawn to her ever since they met. He wanted to feel her large breasts pressed into his chest again and her lip against his. When he carried her to bed that night and she reached for him, he had been tempted to allow her to pull his body to hers. He then wanted to strip her slowly, and lick every bit of skin she had. But with his honour he couldn’t—she wasn’t in her right mind. It was confirmed the next morning with their conversation. She would have definitely regretted if they made love.
Making a left turn, which was not in his plans, he continued down the street with his hands stuffed deeply in his pocket for warmth. He shuddered after a while but couldn’t stop moving. His mind would not cooperate with the rest of his body and soon found himself standing before a grocery store. He’d picked up a cartful of groceries before realising he wasn’t driving. He couldn’t walk back with all the things he purchased.
“Excuse me,” he greeted the cashier at the information desk. “Could you call me a taxi?”
“Sure—what’s your name?”
“Zero.”
She grinned at him and nodded before reaching for her phone. After hanging up, she faced him once more. “Alright, Mr. Zero, your taxi is on its way.”
“Thank you.”
When she nodded, he pushed the cart out of the store and waited outside. By the time he loaded the groceries into the taxi and was on his way back to Rochelle’s, he was frozen. When he got there, Rochelle darted from the house without her jacket, obviously in a panic.
“You didn’t tell me where you were going!” she called, taking a bag from him and chucking it behind her to the snow. “Forget the bag. Are you all right?”
“I’m a grown man, Rochelle.” He frowned handing her another bag before picking up a box from the trunk of the taxi. When the car left he walked ahead of her into the house and placed the box down on the counter. “I bought some groceries.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Rochelle said softly.
“I know. But if I’m going to be here until the end of my placement the least I could do is share the financial responsibilities. I am supposed to learn from you not eat everything you have. Now I should go back and finish the rest of the boards I started this morning.”
“But you already did two week’s worth.” He heard shock in her voice but Raiden shrugged. He couldn’t seem to keep his mind out of the gutter around her and being away from her at least he wouldn’t have to see the way her large breasts rose and fell when she moved. Away from her he didn’t have to see the way she licked her lips when she’s speechless or the way her eyes shined when she got nervous.
“I’ll be in my room.”
Smiling at her, he exited the room taking the stairs two at a time. He walked into the bathroom, slammed the door and locked it behind him before sitting on the toilet seat and freeing his throbbing cock from his pants. It sprung forth dragging a satisfied moan from Raiden’s lips. His head fell backward while his dick throbbed. Looking down at it, it danced up and down before his eyes, begging for attention. He couldn’t hold out anymore. He wrapped his fists over it and began stroking. Squeezing and pulling while thoughts of Rochelle flooded his mind.
“Is this wha
t you want, Raiden?” she asked, licking her finger before pulling a large chocolate breast from her clothes. She twirled the wet finger around the nipple and to his sweet torture, the nipple rose without being touched. He wanted to pull it into his mouth. When he tried she shoved him into a sitting position. “No touching—”
Situations like the one he was in could make a grown man cry—having that beautiful orb before him and not able to touch or lick. Raiden stuck his tongue out, showing her what he wanted.
“Want me to sit on that, Raiden?” she questioned sexily. “Want my juices flowing over your sexy, pink tongue.”
He nodded. Raiden ached for that and so much more—he was starving to feel her and use her like his very own fuck toy. He wanted her to do him rough and for a brief moment that scared him. His heart hammering inside his chest and his hard cock in his hand took his mind off fright and he growled reaching for her again. She simply swatted his hand away and continued her strip tease for him.
She stripped slowly before him, her rounded hips swaying gently from side to side. One by one the buttons on her clothes came undone and soon her shirt lay behind her on the floor. She removed her skirt and panties next and when she stood fully naked before him, Raiden fought to remember that he had to stay away from her. She still gyrated before him, her breasts dancing slightly. Then she turned her back, bent her body over the railing hiking her round, grab-able ass in the air. She danced it before his eyes, dipping low to the ground before rolling her body up in a sexy, belly dancer’s roll. She glanced at him over her shoulders, licking her lips and sticking a finger in her mouth. She danced her tongue over it then sucked it deep. Raiden’s body jerked. He could only imagine his cock being that finger loving the feeling deep in the back of her throat.
For the Love of Rei Page 5
