Denouement

by Kenyan, M. O.

  “Marietta!”

  “Huh?” She stepped out of Tobias’ line of sight when she realized the bedroom eyes he was giving her. He needed a clear mind and having his statuesque body in front of her, those luscious lips and his sexy bedroom eyes staring at her wasn’t giving her much room to think.

  But once she was able to get some oxygen to her brain a thought occurred to her. At first it ripped her apart, but there was no other way. “What if she bites him?” She winced in pain when she realized someone was about to take her mark of possession away from her.

  “No!” Marietta was startled by how stern Tobias’ voice was.

  “It could be fun.” Sarah chirped, and all Marietta wanted to do was to stuff the bed sheets and the mattress in her foul mouth.

  “Why won’t you let her bite you Tobias? It’s not like it would be the first one you experienced in the past twenty four hours,” McKenzie said frustrated.

  “Six hours and plus it’s very tender and having Sarah bite me again is not sexy at all.” Tobias shot Marietta a look. Immediately she knew the spot wasn’t tender. It had been the trigger for his release. She smiled in appreciation when she realized he wanted to keep something as simple as a bite mark special between the both of them.

  “Sarah could move her lips along that region, and make it look like she bit him. It would go with the description.” Marietta suggested.

  “How would that work? You are the queen of demonstrations, go demonstrate.” McKenzie instructed.

  At first Marietta was stunned, she didn’t dare move. It wasn’t because she was embarrassed about having to demonstrate a sex injury, but because she didn’t trust herself to pull away. She grabbed Jessie’s hand then whispered, “If I linger for more than two seconds pull me back. Grab my hair if you have to.”

  Jessie made a sign of salute then relieved Marietta of her script. Cautiously she approached Tobias her inside lurching and dancing excitedly. She moved around him, pretending to be figuring out the perfect way to do it. She knew the perfect way to do it she had just done it six hours ago.

  “Hey Mattie, ready for round two or is it three, no maybe six.” Tobias whispered to her.

  She could hear the humor in the tone of his voice. He seemed to be taking pleasure from her discomfort. “I’m sorry by the way, I got carried away.”

  “I know I was there. Plus I don’t mind. It’s a battle scar,” he teased.

  “Do you want me to help?” Sarah rose from the bed clutching her bed sheet just above her breast.

  “No!” Tobias and Marietta responded in unison.

  Marietta thought back to the night before. She had her arms around him, but that angle wouldn’t work for the camera. So she placed her hands on his shoulders but under his shirt. She slowly eased the shirt off as she caressed his shoulders down to his arms, the whole time avoiding Tobias’ eyes and concentrating on the camera and the operators. They were following her, getting all the angles. Once she pushed the shirt off his body her fingers kneaded into his back muscles. She looked up at McKenzie and he seemed to be with her so far. She knew what happened next, she gave Tobias a look, urging him to follow her lead.

  “Are you sure?” he asked and she nodded. “I can’t promise that I will be able to put you down after.” He growled at her, responding to the sexual tension she was building between them.

  Marietta flashed a smile at his promise, but she was worried that he would keep to his word. Leaning into his ear, she whispered, “Work with me and I will make it worth your while.”

  With that promise he grunted, planting his hands at her rear he lifted Marietta off the ground and guided her legs to wrap around his waist. She began to move against him, like she would when they were having sex. Planting feathery kisses along his neck, she smoothed her lips to where the bite mark was. She put her lips over it then gently licked it.

  Marietta pulled back and looked at Tobias. The desire burned bright in his eyes. She needed to get down and away as soon as possible, but the harder she tried to move the tighter he held her against him.

  “Toby!” She barked into his ear and he seemed to snap back.

  He eased her to the ground, and that was when they noticed how everyone was staring at them. Even McKenzie seemed to be left speechless. Marietta felt like she should take a bow or give a speech. Apparently due to the past couple of weeks with Tobias she had managed to master the art of seduction.

  “McKay!” Marietta barked once more and she seemed to have arrested the attention of everyone on set, “Is that okay?”

  “It’s…” He cleared his throat then said, “It was perfect. I need five minutes to myself.”

  The man got up and exited the set and so did most of the men.

  “I think they all went to jerk off.” Jessie chuckled. “Boss you are going to be the subject of all the wet dreams tonight.”

  Marietta smiled before an odd reaction from Tobias startled her. “Did you just growl?”

  “Dear God woman, you are going to be the death of me.” He moved closer to her, rubbing his body against her.

  Marietta laughed then said, “I learned from the best.”

  “They can dream of you tonight, but I’m going to have you,” he whispered to her once more.

  “Will he be lifting me like that?” Sandra managed to pierce through their moment.

  “No!” Tobias barked.

  “Yes!” Marietta contradicted.

  “Yes!” McKenzie affirmed as he walked back on set. “Exactly how they did it. I doubt that you, Sandra, could manage to steam up the room in the same way, but try your best.”

  “I think you should go,” Tobias urged.

  “Why?” Marietta asked confused.

  “It’s not going to be easy for you to watch this. You described this scene so I will have to go all out,” he cautioned.

  “I’m a professional,” she said as she moved behind the monitors with McKenzie.

  “Ready on the set.Action!” As soon as McKenzie gave the okay for Tobias to ‘screw’ another woman Marietta was overcome by the overwhelming feeling to hurl. But she stood her ground, her teeth grinding as she bared through six hours of shooting the sex scene.

  ****

  Marietta didn’t know what to expect to happen after the last take. But what she didn’t plan on happening was Tobias hanging back to flirt with the make-up and wardrobe assistants. Her jaw clenched shut as she watched Tobias guide one of the women onto his lap. She had a mind to burst into his private party but her pride wouldn’t let her. Instead she headed back to her room and waited for him.

  It was almost midnight when he finally showed up. Marietta sat on a chair in the corner of the room and watched him as he plopped down on the bed.

  “Where were you?”

  “You aren’t my mother or my wife. I don’t owe you any explanation.”

  Marietta noticed how Tobias dragged his words. It was obvious that he had had more than his share of alcohol.

  “I think you should leave.”

  “Fine.” He pushed himself off the bed, but before he left he moved toward her.

  Tobias knelt on the floor and put his chin on her knee. She thought he was about to apologize, but his next words battered her heart.“I don’t think we should keep seeing each other. After tomorrow, I’ll be going my way and you will be going to conquer the movie world somewhere else. It was fun, really it was. But I am not a relationship type of guy.”

  Marietta swallowed the huge lump of emotion that had formed in her throat. She fought back the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. She didn’t look at him, instead she concentrated on the wall directly in front of her. She gently brushed him off of her then said, “That’s fine with me.”

  “I’m glad. I had a great time, Mattie.” Tobias got to his feet and pressed a kiss on her forehead. He gave her a wink and a grin before leaving.

  Marietta realized that her fingers were digging into the arm of the chair. When she released it, she felt it shake and the em
otional quake going on in her heart seemed to radiate to each of her limbs. She tried standing up but ended up back in the seat. She wasn’t going to cry. From the beginning she knew their relationship was only physical. It was her fault that she ended up falling in love with him. But then she would get over him. Although it was unbearable to think that she had felt the last of his kisses, the last of his arms around her, his gentle caresses and sweet words, she was glad that they would be going their separate ways.

  She reached for her phone and dialed her lawyer’s number. It was time to start letting go of the past and she had to start with the dreaded house, then Tobias Harden. “Sell it. Let them tear down the bloody place I don’t care.” After barking her orders she tossed the phone on the bed. She thought about crawling into bed and just letting the tears run out of her. But she couldn’t. She was sure that the pillows still smelt like Tobias. Plus she had become so accustomed to crushing into his hard muscular body when she turned in her sleep that the bed seemed too big. Marietta eased into a comfortable position in her chair and prayed that sleep would wash over her soon.

  * * * *

  Marietta groaned as she tried to turn her head. Her neck was stiff, no doubt from the very uncomfortable position she had slept in. The chair didn’t have much room and didn’t offer much head support. She hated herself for letting herself beso affectedby Tobias Harden that she couldn’t sleep in her own bed.

  “What’s wrong Mattie?” Jessie asked as she watched Marietta’s face morph into different forms of distress.

  “Don’t call me that.” Tobias had called her that, and it never sounded right when anyone else said it.

  “Fine, what’s wrong with your neck Ms. Parks?” Jessie asked once more, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

  “I didn’t sleep well. My neck is knotted up.” Marietta pressed her fingers into her neck trying to massage herself.

  “What, Toby’s muscles are getting too hard for you to sleep on?” Jessie teased.

  “That’s over,” she shot out. It had been the first time she had said it out loud. It seemed so real, although for it to be, she had to validate the existence of a relationship. “We were never together in the first place.”

  “That’s why you are in knots. No one loosened you up this morning.” Jessie chuckled. But when she saw a note of despair in Marietta’s eyes she changed her tune going for comfort and truth instead of jests. “You had to know that you guys weren’t going anywhere. Is that why you are wearing the shades? You want to hide the fact that you were crying over him?”

  “I have my pride.” Marietta groaned when the pain in her neck seemed to shoot into her head. A wave of dizziness washed through her. She grabbed at the table in front of her to steady herself.

  “Are you okay!” Jessie’s panicked tone caught the attention of everyone in the room.

  * * * *

  Tobias looked in the direction of where the panic-stricken voice seemed to emanate from. He watched as Jessie gently eased Marietta into a sit and handed her a bottle of water. He wanted to go to her and find out what was wrong, but he stopped himself. It didn’t matter what he felt for her or vice versa, he wasn’t good for her. Tobias knew his wandering eye would prove to be too much of a burden for Marietta to bear. Although in the last few weeks he had managed to relegate himself to Marietta’s bed alone. But stuff always happened and he had a gift for shooting all his relationship to hell in an emotionally broken basket.

  He held himself back as he watched the people around Marietta fuss over her. He would only see if she was feeling better, he convinced himself. He moved towards her and mixed in with the little crowd. Tobias watched her as she shrugged off the millions of hands that were being put on her shoulders in support. He chuckled, he had always known that she was strong but he was more intrigued by how stubborn she was. Marietta was her own person, her own source of strength and comfort. She didn’t need anyone to make her complete and neither did he.Their similarity was the one thing that kept them apart. How would two totally independent people learn how to rely and lean on each other?

  He noticed her kneading her fingers into her neck. Instinctively he brushed her fingers aside and took over massaging her. He felt her muscles submit under the pressure of his fingers. That single and unintentional reaction got him aroused. He thought of all the nights they had spent together and how she had surrendered her body to his hands. A sweet moan emanated from her lips and that was it for him. He jumped back and his fingers drew away from her.

  * * * *

  A whimper escaped her lips as she wondered where the source of her pleasure had gone. Marietta turned around to catch the needy look in Tobias’ eyes. Of course it had to be him who had given her such comfort, relief and pleasure. He had the magic touch. Marietta shot up to her feet and walked away from the crowd, and as if on cue McKenzie called the whole set to attention.

  Once McKenzie yelled cut, the filming of the last scene of the entire movie was met by tears and a roar of applause. Usually she would be part of the emotional conclusion of her movie, but Marietta couldn’t wait to get off of the set. She accepted a couple of hugs, each time taking a step towards the exit.

  “See you at the party,” McKenzie yelled at her.

  “See you there,” Marietta yelled back, her eyes locking with Tobias for a brief second, before Sarah called his attention.

  Chapter Five

  “Stop that!” Jessie slapped Marietta’s hands.

  Marietta wasn’t sure how she had managed to let Jessie talk her into her short tight dress. She stared at her feet and the velvet black stilettos didn’t look like they belonged there. How did she let Jessie talk her into thisdo me outfit?

  “He’s going to kick himself for dumping you after he sees how sexy you look.” Those were Jessie’s words of encouragement.

  At first Marietta was comfortable with just going in jeans and a T-shirt. Sure the ‘end of filming parties’ were usually a semi-formal affair, with dinner jackets and dresses. But she had always seen herself as an exception to the rule. Now it was different. She didn’t know when the next time she would see Tobias would be and in what condition she would be in. She wanted to leave a long lasting memory. With that she eased herself into a bandage-style, red dress and black velvet stilettos. Her make-up was subtle she managed to win that fight. She had no problems with looking foxy but she wanted to look like herself.

  She had second thoughts when the elevator doors opened, but the reactions from the male occupants gave her confidence. They fumbled over her, asking what floor she was going to and helping her off the elevator. It felt good to be fussed over. Marietta made a mental note to follow Jessie’s advice once in a while. Marietta didn’t know whose arm she was holding onto, she was busy being impressed with the fact that she hadn’t tripped over herself just yet. The banquet hall doors opened and she had to bid her escort goodbye.

  “How does it feel?” Jessie asked.

  “Surprisingly good. So is this how you feel everyday of your life?” Marietta asked. Jessie was beautiful and didn’t need much to accentuate that beauty.Her thick black hair cascaded down her back as the red lipstick stuck out from her deep olive skin.

  “Are you ready to conquer the room?”

  “I don’t have anywhere else to be.” Marietta said as she grabbed a glass of champagne to settle her nerves.

  * * * *

  Tobias’ eyes hadn’t left Marietta since she’d entered the banquet hall an hour earlier. His heart was still flittering in his chest as his blood thrummed in his veins from his desire. He wanted to kick himself for breaking it off with Marietta too early. He wanted her to come near him, that way he could mark a territory around her. She had only acknowledged his presence once that night and only because he happened to be standing next to McKenzie.

  “McKay.” She smiled as the director twirled her around a lustful whistle sounding from his lips.

  “That’s called the wolf’s call,” the director had remarked. “If I wasn’t such a
gentleman I would devour you on the spot.”

  Tobias winced at the comment as the anger boiled in the pit of his stomach and rose to his chest. His hands itched to touch her body. He wanted to hook his arm around her waist and press her curvaceous body against his own. But he couldn’t. He had to be satisfied with just looking. Her laughter cut through him and at the same time, warmed his blood. He wondered why she hadn’t been in the room pining after him, instead of being down here turning each and every red blooded male’s head.

  “What would wife number seven say?” Marietta teased.

  “If you give me a kiss, you could be number seven,” The old man piped in.

  “Hi,” he said to her.

  Marietta leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Her body rubbing ever so lightly against his. “How are you?”

  He was just about to answer, not sure if his answer was going to be lustful and miserable without you, or just fine. But Jessie came to pull her away before he could answer.

  ‘The elevator guy is here,’ he had heard Jessie say to Marietta. He wondered who that was and a possessive call from within wanted to order her to stay at his side, especially when he saw the excited expression on Marietta’s face. Since then he had been watching her move around the hall on the arm of another man. When they got out of sight he would wander around the room until he found them. Now he leaned against a wall as he watched Marietta and the mystery man dancing.