by Kelli Walker
“I’d be interested in hearing it,” Robert said.
“People who can’t have children shouldn’t,” I said. “I struggled for years with the fact that I couldn’t have kids. I wondered what was wrong with me. Why the one thing I wanted more than anything else in this world had been ripped away from me. I blamed my adoptive parents. I thought maybe their cycle of abuse would somehow emerge if I ever became a mother. I blamed them for my inability to have kids.”
“But that’s clearly not true, Joanna.”
“For a long time, it was,” I said breathlessly. “It’s why it was such a shock to me when I was pregnant. It just… took my breath away. Put me in a haze.”
I felt something scoot against my foot underneath the table. A warmth settled against my leg as something began to move up and down. I leaned back and looked under, taking in Robert’s toe running up and down my leg.
Like he was trying to comfort me.
“I guess that means you were destined to be a mother,” he said.
“Does that mean you were destined to be a father?” I asked.
“No. It means I was the vehicle for you fulfilling your destiny.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Family is a weakness. They can be taken away in an instant and held as leverage over another person. Family can bring so much hurt and devastation into a person’s life if things go badly.”
“So you’d rather not have a family? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does.”
“No, it doesn’t. Having a family is… life-altering. It can bring an inexpressible joy and love into someone’s life. And you’re denying yourself that willingly based on a perceived notion that you might lose them.”
“I lost them once. What makes you think it won’t happen again?” he asked.
I lifted my eyes to his as his toe stopped running up my leg. He pulled his foot back and sat up in his seat, like he was trying to throw up a wall. I picked up my fork and took a bite of my soggy salad, but my stomach rolled instantly and I put my fork down.
I tried to be polite enough to chew the bite I had in my mouth, but Robert caught the panic on my face.
“Spit it out,” he said.
“I’m okay.”
“Spit it out, Joanna. Don’t make yourself sick.”
“But you cooked-”
“Spit. It. Out.”
I brought my napkin to my lips and spit the salad out. Tears rose behind my eyes as I tossed it into my plate. I reached for my water and began to drink it down, trying to settle my stomach before it rebelled anymore than it already had.
I felt something pressing into my side as I looked up into Robert’s face.
“Come here,” he said. “Lean against me.”
“I have… only one question for you then,” I said.
“Take a few deep breaths first.”
“I’m fine. It’s going away,” I said.
“Then what’s your question?”
“Do you believe my philosophy more? Or yours?”
Robert
“Here, let me take your plate.”
I wasn’t sure how to answer her. If I believed my philosophy more, it didn’t make sense for me to stick around. But if I believed her philosophy more, then it meant I was somehow destined to create the one thing that provided me a weakness I couldn’t afford. And I didn’t like that. The idea of losing Joanna.
“No,” she said. “You cooked. I clean.”
“I’ve got it,” I said. “You sit there, sip your water, and talk to me in that songbird voice of yours.”
“Songbird?” she asked.
“Mhm. Even when you talk, it sounds like you’re singing.”
“How so?”
“Everyone has a natural canter to their voice. Timbre, rhythmic pronunciation of syllables. It’s a part of reading body language, and in business I always have to read body language. Your talking voice is much like your speaking voice. Powerful, unassuming, and has a comforting rhythm to it.”
“I’m still not letting you clean up after you cooked,” she said.
“You’re my guest.”
“And you were the chef. I’m not backing down on this.”
She held out her hand for the plates in mine and I eyed her with an intrigued curiosity.
“Do you always fight like this?” I asked.
“When I don’t get my way, yes,” Joanna said.
I grinned at her as she took the plate from me and I went to grab my water. Her movements were polished and proper. She never clanked the plates together and everything she did had a steady rhythm. Like she was humming to herself and keeping time with the pulse of the melody. Her steps were soft and her movements to rinse off the dishes were fluid. She glided more than she walked, and her beautiful blonde hair brushed against her body.
She had this spunk about her I couldn’t shake. Normally, combativeness was a turn-off for me. I knew what I wanted and I went after it, no questions asked. But there was something in the way she pushed back at me that caught my attention. She wasn’t demanding of my money or time, but she was demanding of how I treated her. She was demanding of her own time. Her own future. Her own life.
She took control of her existence like I had with mine, and I liked that.
It made her my equal.
Joanna turned her bright blue eyes over to me and I felt my cock spring to life. The innocence of her little smile and the way her clothes draped her curves ripped my mind back to that night. How tight her pussy had been and how her body had so sweetly given itself over to me. I wondered if another man had touched her since then. If another man had placed his lips on her neck like I had.
The idea of someone else touching her made me bristle, and it sent my mind into a frenzy.
If someone else had touched her, I had to wipe his memory from her body. I had to remind her why she gave herself over to me in the first place. Why I was the first. Why she let her guard down with me and no one else.
“Robert? Are you okay?”
I felt my cock growing to life as her voice fluttered over my ears. She was wiping her hands off on a dish towel as I walked towards her. Our eyes were connected and I could see her neck flushing. The beautiful red trickling up her neck and tinting her apple-peaked cheeks. I reached out and cupped her head. Sliding my fingers through the soft curls of her hair. She gasped at my touch, her pouty lips parted as I pulled her face to mine.
“Sing for me, my songbird.”
“What do you… want to hear?” Joanna asked.
“My name,” I said.
I closed the distance between our bodies, pressing my chest into hers. I could feel her tits rising to peaks behind her bra. The way her hands settled on my hips. I tightened my grip in her hair as her breath pulsed against my lips.
Taunting me with their sweetness.
I crashed our lips together and she melted into me. Our tongues collided like comets in the nighttime sky as my arm wrapped around her waist. Her hands gripped at the fabric of my shirt and ripped it from behind my pants. I felt her shaking. I heard her moaning.
I felt her giving way to me again like she had weeks ago.
I reached down for her hips and hoisted her onto the kitchen island. Her hands were desperate, tugging at my shirt and ripping it over my head. Our clothes fell to the floor until we were clothed in nothing but our skin, and I watched as her eyes danced around my tattoos.
Tattoos I had gotten during a vulgar time in my life.
I closed my eyes as she traced them with her fingertips. Soft and gentle, but hot to the touch. She bent forward and her lips landed against my chest. I felt her tongue tracing them. Running her wetness along their lines as her hair fell to my skin. It was a kind gesture. One she didn’t even know shook me deeper than she meant.
I grabbed her hair and pulled her back into my lips. My hands roamed her body as her legs spread for me. My cock was leaking onto the kitchen floor as her tight body teased me. My hands dipped
into the curve of her waist as I peppered kisses down her neck.
“Robert,” she said breathlessly.
“That’s the song I want to hear,” I said.
I kissed down her chest and pulled her nipples between my lips. She moaned and gasped as my tongue darted around them. She arched into me, her hand curling into my hair. She pressed my face deeper into her tits, her body begging for more of me.
But she didn’t have to worry.
She would have all of me for as long as she wanted.
I pulled up a stool and sat down between her legs. Her pussy was glistening for me. Dripping with arousal wasted as it fell to the floor. I looked up into Joanna’s eyes and saw her panting. Her head back and her neck exposed and her legs parted as far as she could get them.
“Can’t get enough of me. You should see how you look right now.”
My hands pressed into her knees, spreading her further for my tongue. I dipped down and tasted her, groaning at her salty taste. I lapped up her slit and felt her shudder against me. She bucked into my face as my tongue explored her. Languidly rolling around and memorizing the depths of her pussy.
“Robert. Please.”
I pressed my tongue into her clit and the moan she let loose shivered my spine. She laid herself down onto the kitchen island and I bent her knees to her chest. I pressed into her, sucking her clit between my lips and flicking it at lightning speed. Her hands were grabbing at my hair, pulling me closer as she tried to buck against me.
“Yes. Yes. Like that. Robert. Like that. Please. Oh. Oh… Robert. Robert. Robert!”
I pressed my tongue deep into her virginal clit as she fell over the edge. Her juices poured down my chin, leaking down my neck as I watched her. She unraveled for me, shaking as her tits jumped for my viewing pleasure. I could feel her legs trembling in my grasp. I could see her chest panting for air.
I could feel her fingernails curling into my scalp.
Her back collapsed onto the kitchen island and I licked her clean. She was the perfect dessert to top off an uneaten dinner. I stood from the stool and climbed up onto the island, hovering over her gorgeous body as I sank between her legs.
Her eyes were clouded over with pleasure as I grabbed my cock.
I pressed into her entrance, groaning at how tight she was for me. Her hands flew to my shoulders, digging into my muscles as her legs wrapped around me. How eager she was to have me close to her. How desperate she was for my cock inside of her. I felt drawn into her field. Pulled by her magnetic force as I laid my body on top of hers. Our lips connected and I could feel her tongue licking around my lips.
Tasting herself on me as I held myself up by my forearms.
“Sing for me again,” I said. “Let me hear you.”
I pulled out and slid back in as her body arched into me. Her eyes were screwed shut and her lips were puckered as her pussy held me within its grasp. She was beautiful. More gorgeous than any woman I had ever had. So sensitive to my touch and so wanton for my body. I could feel her hands traveling along my arms. My shoulders. My chest. Feeling my muscles working for her as I picked up the pace.
“Robert,” she said with a whisper.
“Joanna,” I said. “You have no idea how beautiful you are.”
I slammed into her, my knees digging into the counter. Her tits were jumping in my face as I pressed kisses along her skin. I slid my hand behind her lower back, bringing her hips closer to my body.
I pressed myself deeper into her and watched at her eyes widened
“There it is,” I said. “That’s what I was looking for.”
I thrusted shallowy into her, feeling her legs grow weak as they fell from around my body.
“Robert. I… it’s… oh my gosh. Oh. What… I-”
“Let it wash over you,” I said. “Let your body have it.”
Her lips began to tremble as her walls began to flutter around me. I kept raking against that spot. That beautiful spot that had her body shivering with electricity. My cock grew against her walls, filling her body with more of me as my hips began to stutter. She felt so good. Too good. Tight and warm, like her body was meant for me.
Like my body was meant for her.
Her legs began to shake as her pussy held me within its grasp. I slid out and slammed into her, watching as her back arched into me. I felt my cock twitching. I felt her juices dripping down my balls. I felt them curling into my body as my lips crashed into hers, muffling the sound of my name tumbling from her lips.
Her hands flew around my neck, holding me tight as her body trembled. Shaking with pleasure as my cock pumped into her. Filling her with my cum and marking her as my own. She was grabbing me. Clinging to me as if her life depended on it.
At least we could agree on that.
I released her lips and my face fell into the crook of her neck. Her body settled onto the kitchen counter as I cradled her hips closely to my body. I took in her scent. Smelled her sweat against her skin. She was pressing kisses into my cheek. Kissing the side of my head as I slowly fell into her grasp.
“I’ve got you. Come here,” she said with a whisper.
My beautiful little songbird. So brave and unique. Coaxing a demon from his shadows and trying to cradle his body in her arms. I fell into her, feeling how her legs spread even wider to accommodate me. Her warmth was intoxicating and the sex-tainted air around us blanketed my body in comfort. I felt her fingertips running up and down my back.
And then? Her lips caressed my ear.
“Besame, besame mucho. Como si fuera ésta noche la última vez. Besame, besame mucho. Que tengo miedo a perderte… perderte después.”
I pressed a kiss into her neck as a giggle fell from her lips. I slid from between her legs and felt our intermingled juices leaking from between her thighs. I gathered her up in my arms as she continued to sing, filling my dark apartment with her voice.
Then I walked us into the bedroom and settled us down, falling asleep to her singing in my ear.
Joanne
I sighed and rolled over, my body pressing against Robert’s. I felt his strong arm slink around my waist and it made me smile. The streams of light pouring through his sheer curtains caressed my skin, sending a warmth surging through my body. I turned over and looked at Robert, watching him as he slept. His stern features were relaxed and his brow was unfurrowed. His lips were turned into the smallest grin and his chest was rising and falling with a comforting steadiness.
Then, I caught sight of the clock behind his head.
“Shit,” I said with a whisper.
I slid from his grasp and began gathering my things. The tour meeting was in an hour and I was nowhere close to being ready for it. I kept my movements light as I pulled on my clothes, hopping around as I tried to gather everything.
I rushed out to the kitchen and found my cell phone and purse. I looked over to the kitchen island and saw the hazy outline of my body. Last night’s events came crashing back. The feeling of his tongue. The warmth of his body. The command of his hands.
I needed to get out of here and get to that meeting.
Robert was fast asleep as I quietly shut his front door. I rushed downstairs, piling my hair on top of my head. The elevator couldn’t take me fast enough and I was itching to get outside. With every floor it stopped on I gritted my teeth.
I needed people to get out of my way.
The elevator finally opened up to the lobby and I rushed out. I walked in between bodies and darted around people, my sights set on the cab outside. I was growing closer as my legs carried me as fast as I could.
But a gentleman stepped in front of me and stopped me in my tracks.
“Joanna Leone? Is that you?”
I watched as the cab pulled away from the curb and sighed.
“Yes. Hi. Hello. I’m sorry for the rush, I’m a bit late for a prior engagement,” I said.
“I don’t mean to keep you from it. I only wanted to introduce myself. I’m a massive fan.”
“Oh my gosh, thank you so much. What did you say your name was?”
“My friends call me ‘Slate’,” he said.
“Slate. That’s a creative name. Where did you get it?” I asked.
“People sometimes tell me they enjoy my presence because it gives them a blank slate to start with.”
“Interesting. Why’s that?”
“I don’t know, really. How are you able to sing the way you do?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a giggle. “It was wonderful to meet you, Slate.”
“Could I take a picture? My wife’s never going to believe I ran into you.”
“Of course,” I said. “And your wife’s a lucky woman. You have beautiful eyes.”
He brought out his phone and we snapped a few pictures. I waved at the man before I ran out onto the street, flagging down the first cab I could find. I hopped into it and spouted off the address to the hotel, then told him to step on it. I looked at my cell phone and saw I only had forty minutes until the meeting.
I wouldn’t have enough time to clean up before it.
I took a mirror out of my purse and tried to tidy myself up. I had a compact and some lip gloss and a small brush to run through my hair. I propped the mirror up on the back of the seat and moved with the bumps in the road, but I still didn’t look nearly as presentable as I wanted to be.
As I needed to be.
The cab pulled up to the hotel and I tossed some money into his lap. I ran into the hotel and burst into the conference room, my feet stumbling underneath me. I caught myself against the doorframe and saw Lacey turn around, but the room began to tilt and my stomach began to roll.
Oh, no.
Oh, shit.
I threw myself at the trash can next to me and started to vomit. I felt Lacey’s hands gather my hair as she blew on the nape of my neck. People were gathering around me and I was flushing with embarrassment. I felt Lacey pull the hair tie from around my wrist before she tied my hair back into a bun.
“It’s okay. Get it up, girl. You made it to the meeting on time,” she said.
