by Kelli Walker
Joanne
Robert’s leg was between mine and his hand was cupping my cheek. He was so close. Heating the blood that rushed through my veins. Everything in my mind was screaming to get away. To reach for the doorknob, open the door, and have both of us tumbling into the hallway. My gut was clenching and my heart was racing. My soul wanted to run. To flee from this man that had cornered me in my room. But his touch was warm and his body was inviting. His voice was like silk along my ears and the way he gazed down at me… there was something about it.
There was something protective in his stare even though we’d only just met.
I looked over at the roses on the table to try and ground myself. To remind myself of how a man should approach a woman. With grace and restraint, and not with the predatory stare this man was giving me. A woman deserved flowers and dinners. Compliments and conversations. Evenings filled with laughter and moments filled with romance. A woman didn’t deserve to be cornered in her dressing room, preyed upon like an animal in heat.
But the roses were merely roses. There was nothing else attached to them. They were plants that would die the moment water could no longer sustain them. Their petals would fall and crunch underneath the feet of people and the mess that would have to be tended to would no longer be worthy of the beauty they once held. Like the romantics sentiments attached to them, they faded. And suddenly, I was painfully aware of the hassle of the beauty of roses.
I looked back at Robert and stared into his steely gray eyes. He was making no other moves toward me. Only holding me between the door and his body. As if to make sure he had my permission for whatever debauched activities he had in store for his evening. His body heat was pounding into my body. His thumb kept caressing my skin. Every stroke sent fire down my back and made me want to move against his leg.
How had this stranger magnetized me this way?
My body wanted to cave to him. I wanted to cave to him. But could I do that? Was that appropriate? Would someone find us? Lacey was waiting for me at the back door. Would she come knocking?
This man was nothing but trouble. And yet, I craved him. This stranger from the night.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” I said breathlessly.
I saw a flame ignite behind Robert’s icy gaze and watched a soft smile cross his face. His thumb moved from my cheek to my mouth, thumbing over my lower lip. Without thinking, I puckered my lips to kiss him. To kiss his skin and taste his salaciousness on the tip of my tongue. He smiled with a glint of mischievous satisfaction and my heart began to flutter in my chest.
I didn’t want to simply cave to him. I wanted to enjoy him. For reasons I couldn't explain, I was enjoying his forward actions. Enjoying his dominant motions. Enjoying his predatory glances. Though everything in society had taught me a man was supposed to approach a woman with an unassumed attitude, the cocky man pressed into me was the exact opposite.
And I lusted for it.
“All you have to do is say ‘no’,” Robert said.
But I didn’t want to. As his thumb lingered on my lip and his eyes studied me closely, I could feel his breath pulsing against my skin. My breasts were rising to painful peaks behind my dress and my thighs were pooling with an intense heat not experienced by my body before. There was nothing I’d encountered that made me feel the way he made me feel. There was no rush on the stage or performance I had given that made me feel as ignited with passion as I felt pressed against his body.
I didn’t know what he had that my music didn’t, but I wanted to find out.
I rose my lips to touch his, but he moved. Swiftly and quickly, like a lion striding down a hillside. His mouth collided with my neck and I sighed as his hands peeled me away from the door. His teeth nibbled at me and his hands gripped my waist tightly. I grabbed onto the tresses of his raven black hair, clinging to him as he whipped me across the room.
I kissed the shell of his ear, relishing the heat of his touch. His lips caressed the tops of my breasts, marking them as his own. My chest was heaving as his kiss shot electricity throughout my body. I heard his belt clattering as his hand slid up my dress, his movements fluid and quick. His touch set me on fire as his large palms massaged its way up my skin. He pressed me into my costumes in the corner of the room, piling me on top of them as his pants slid to the floor. His lips were dancing along my skin, nipping at my breasts and sucking on my neck.
I wanted to kiss him.
I wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss him.
I felt his hand grab onto my panties and he ripped them from my body. A gasp fell from my lips as my skin burned with a pleasurable sort of pain. I stared up at him as a heated grin spread across his cheeks, his eyes devouring every inch of me. He took me in as he slowly, his body slipping between my legs.
I spread them for him effortlessly. As if I was a puppet and he was pulling my strings.
I felt myself dripping. I felt my juices running down my ass crack. I was shivering with anticipation and bracing for the pain. But I trusted the protective look in his eyes. I trusted the way his chiseled body cloaked mine.
I slid my hands around his neck as our foreheads connected. I nuzzled my nose against his and he moved away, putting distance between us. I felt his cock running up and down my folds, slicking himself in my arousal before he sat at my entrance.
Holy hell, he was massive.
I looked up at him, my eyes pleading for mercy. I could feel him throbbing against me. I could feel his massive girth parting my legs. My fingers dug into his shoulders and my legs tightened around his thighs. My breathing picked up and my body was trembling.
I couldn't get myself to settle down.
“Take a deep breath,” Robert said.
His voice relaxed me instantly, my body melting into his.
He thrusted his hips forward and slid all the way back. I cried out into the crook of his neck, my hands grabbing at his suit coat. My legs were shaking with pain and the tension between my legs was too much. I felt like he was ripping me apart. Pressing against a place he shouldn't be. My body was trying to shove him out but my pussy was sucking him deep. He was groaning in my ear, every inch of him filling me as my throbbing walls caved to him.
He stayed seated between my legs, his hands gripping my hips and slowly moving me up and down.
“Deep breaths,” he said. “Deep… long… breaths.”
He moved me up and down his cock. Slowly shifting me as I became comfortable with the sensation. The pain gave way to stinging and the stinging gave way to pleasure, and soon my lips were praising him. My legs jolted with every stroke of his cock. My eyes fluttered with every thrust he delivered. His movements were fluid and his body was strong. I could feel the swell of his chest against me as he peppered my neck with kisses.
Our mingled scents filled the room as my juices dripped down his cock. The sound of my pussy engulfing his cock called to me. Like the orchestral pit before an aria. I was full of every sensation I could imagine. I felt filled to the brim and empty inside. I felt hot and cold, pain and pleasure. Respected and used. Dominated and wanted.
Protected and vulnerable.
My mind was spinning as his hands pressed my legs wider. My back fell into the costumes, cushioning my fall as he rocked against me. He had me spread for the world to see. My dress bunched up around my waist as his eyes watched our connection. My hands gripped into his forearms and my eyes rolled into the back of my head.
The fire that sparked in my toes was shooting up my legs.
I reached for him and pulled him to me. He crashed into my body, my legs ready to receive him. I ran my hands down his back and cupped the strength of his ass, curling my fingernails into him. The growl he let out pulled a whimper from my lips as he picked up his pace.
He was pounding into me, snapping his hips against mine. His hands ran up my thighs, causing goosebumps to ricochet along my skin. I rolled him deeper into me, my body taking over what it so naturally knew how to do. I kiss
ed his neck and reached for his ear, sucking his earlobe between my teeth.
“Oh shit,” Robert said. “Mmm… how tight you are.”
His voice melted the rest of my inhibitions. My head fell back and his lips danced along my skin, sucking and kissing and nibbling anywhere he wanted. My body moved with every thrust he dealt, jiggling for his viewing pleasure. The sound of skin slapping skin filled the corners of my dressing room. Moans and whimpers fell from my lips, growing in volume as his fingers parted my pussy folds.
Then, he pressed his thumb into my clit.
“Please don’t stop,” I said breathlessly. “Don’t stop now.”
“Oh I won’t,” he said. “I won’t.”
I moaned at his words as he slammed into my body. His thumb worked my clit, causing my toes to curl into his legs. I wrapped myself around him, pulling him desperately into me as I chanted his name in his ear. Never in my life had I felt this way. Never in my life had I felt so lost, yet so free.
His arms cloaked my back and picked me up from the costumes as if I weighed nothing. I clung to him as his hands grabbed my ass, raising my body so he could fuck his cock with me. I kissed and licked and moaned and panted. I ravished his cheeks and his forehead with my lips. I cupped his face and met his eyes, finding nothing but a primal instinct and a want for something deeper.
Something greater.
Something more.
My eyes fluttered closed as my pussy began to pulse. My head was spinning and I felt lighter than air. His movements began to stutter and he fell back onto the couch, slamming his cock into me one last time.
I fell over the edge, my pussy drenching his lap with my arousal as my jaw unhinged in silent ecstasy.
I shook on his lap as he held onto me tightly. His hands curled into my thighs as my dress billowed around our bodies. His cock pulsed against my walls, growing with its need before he spilled himself inside of me. I felt each pump fill my body, coating my swelling skin with his soothing warmth. The last of the pain in my body subsided, leaving nothing but our intermingled juices dripping from between my legs.
I wove my hands into the tendrils of his hair, feeling their softness against my skin. Our foreheads connected as we panted together, breathing one another’s air as we came down from our highs. I felt tired. Spent. And somehow filled with an energy that was new to my body.
Then, he did the one thing I’d wanted from the start.
He leaned up and encompassed my lips with his.
I felt my heart flutter as our lips connected. I felt my spinning world stop as his tongue touched mine. His hand cradled the back of my neck while his cock continued to sit between my legs.
Then his hands gripped my hips and the moment was gone. He removed me from his lap and set me down onto the couch, and I watched as he got up.
His back to me.
Like I had been nothing.
He stuffed himself into his pants as his cum dripped onto the couch from between my legs. My eyes danced along his body, taking in the strength of his back underneath his clothes. His shoulders were broad and sloped off into a tapered waist. His legs were long and fluid, probably carved from years of running. I heard him zip up his pants and fumble with his buckle, then I watched his gaze turn to the roses.
He studied them intently, like he was thinking about something.
“Robert?” I asked.
His head whipped around to me. Like my voice had startled him. A small grin pierced the stoic look on his face as his glassy gray eyes hooked onto mine. I wanted to reach out for him. To pull him back in for another kiss. My body was humming with excitement and ready for another round, and I could feel the heat rising up my back as I lost myself in his stormy sights.
I wanted him to stay. I wanted him to scoop me up in his strong embrace and sit me back on his lap.
“The roses are beautiful,” Robert said.
“Uh… they are,” I said as I stood. “A critic gave them to me.”
“The man that came onto the stage,” he said.
“Yes. That man. Those are the roses he handed me.”
I watched him nod as he smoothed his hands down his shirt, buttoning his suit jacket closed. I waited for him to turn back towards me. To acknowledge me at all after the closeness we’d just shared. Maybe he was waiting for me to make the first move. Waiting for me to get his attention. After all, he had made his intentions known from the very beginning.
Maybe he was simply waiting for me to do the same.
I reached out for his hand and slid mine into it. There was a look that rose in his eyes, but it wasn’t one I could decipher. I walked over to him and rose up on my tiptoes, then pressed a small kiss to his cheek.
“I’m glad you enjoyed the performance tonight.”
He dropped my hand and made his way for the door as my heart fell to my stomach. I didn’t want him to go. I wanted him to come back. To sit with me and talk with me and tell me about himself. To take me again in the commanding way he had and show me all the things I had obviously been missing out on. I wanted one more moment with him to figure out what it was that made my heart slam so loudly in my ears.
I wanted to figure out what this newfound rush was.
“Have a good evening, Miss Leone.”
And with his heartless farewell, he was gone. I watched him walk out into the hallway and disappear into the darkness, leaving me alone in my dressing room. With nothing but my racing thoughts and my confused state of mind, I looked to the ground and saw them. The evidence of what had happened and a stark reminder of the answers I would never get.
The underwear he had ripped from my body.
I picked them up from the floor and tossed them over to the roses. Another mess to clean up like the flowers would be. I walked over to my dressing room door and closed it shut, then slumped against the wood and slid to the floor.
Then, my once-spinning mind turned blank.
Robert (three weeks later)
I sat there staring at the handwritten letter as my blood boiled in my veins. Slate. I should’ve fucking known this bullshit was from Slate. My eyes scanned the letter over and over again as I took in the words on the page.
I was being tracked.
Followed, like a fucking animal.
Boulder,
The debts from your youth have come due, my friend. And payments on the streets are always met. I know you have the time for me. If you have time to have lunch at Gramercy Tavern or take in the opera, then you definitely have time for me. If you don’t want to find me, it’s very easy for me to find you.
Don’t keep me waiting.
Slate
Slamming the letter down, I stood from my chair. That rat bastard had been following me for weeks. I felt the blood rushing through my veins as the letter crumpled in my hand.
I had to get rid of this threat.
I had to settle this once and for all.
“Robert?”
I whipped my head up at the sound of James’ voice. His brow was furrowed with confusion as he shoved his hands into his pockets. I sighed and fell back into my chair, knowing I could no longer keep this from him. It wasn’t a threat to the company any longer, but it was a threat to him. If Slate was tracking me, then he was tracking those that interacted with me.
Which meant associating with me put his pregnant wife in danger.
“So, I’m going to go ahead and ask knowing you won’t answer but… what the hell has you so riled up lately?”
“A problem I’ve been trying to solve and can’t,” I said.
“Something going on with the company?” he asked.
“It’s a bit more personal than that.”
“You have a personal life?” he asked with a grin. “Who’s the letter from?”
“Slate.”
“Interesting name. This someone I should know about?”
With a roll of my eyes, I ripped my desk open and pulled out the three other letters I’d been sent. Then I turned to my computer, pulle
d up my email, and pulled up the four emails that had been sent my way. Eight pieces of correspondence over the past three months, each of them escalating in nature.
“What is all this?” James asked.
“For the past three months, I’ve been getting letters from an anonymous author,” I said. “It wasn’t until the letter came today that I knew who was sending everything.”
I watched James pick a letter up from the desk as his eyes widened.
“Rob, this letter’s threatening your life.”
“I know it is,” I said.
“And this one is threatening the company’s life.”
“I’m well aware of that,” I said.
“And this one-”
I watched him read the latest letter as his eyes grew with anger.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” James asked.
“It’s… been an interesting past few months.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me about these?”
“Because they were anonymous and there was no real threat.”
“No real threat? Rob, someone’s threatening to kill you in these letters. What the hell do the emails say?”
“Much of the same,” I said.
“Why in the world are you acting like this isn’t an issue?”
“Because it isn’t. Or it wasn’t, until the one that came today.”
“How the hell are these getting past the mailroom?”
“That’s something I’ve been trying to figure out. But I’ve had security talk to the people in the mailroom. I’ve even switched out a couple of people’s shifts to see if it makes any difference and it doesn’t. The only thing I can think is that these are being hand-delivered somehow. And with this last letter…”
“This asshole was at the fucking opera that night?” he asked.
“Apparently so.”
“Am I being watched?”
“No matter what this asshole wants, nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“That wasn’t what I asked, Robert. Are my wife and I being watched?”
I bit down on my tongue as he scoffed and shook his head.
