Chapter Six
Anthony
Taking the elevator up to the suite, I leaned against the side and smiled to myself. Sure, I was feeling extremely confident, who wouldn’t? I slid out of the elevator and across the hall to the room, walking in and tossing my wallet and keys on the side table inside of the door. The place was immaculate as always and would definitely impress Eliza if she chose to come up. She was really hard to read, and I didn’t know if she would actually come up to the room or not. I really hoped that she would since I had pulled out all the stops to get her there. One minute she was clinging to my side, and the next she was smiling and leaning back away from me. It was crazy confusing. I still wasn’t even sure why I was going out of my way like this. Sure, she was beautiful, but I could find beautiful anywhere to sleep with. This girl was doing something to my head, and though I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, I was absolutely decided that I wanted to sleep with her.
The night before was insane, and I lay in bed thinking about her for most of the evening. No girl besides Amy had done that to me before, and I wasn’t sure how to take it. She was gorgeous in every single way, and though I was sure she was a top-notch human, I had prided myself for the last ten years on not letting anyone get close to me like that. It was almost a mantra for me now. Pick a girl up, sweeten her up, and then bang her. I never told these girls I was interested in anything other than sex, and when they asked for my number I always explained that they were awesome, but I just wasn’t interested in something long-term. I didn’t always get the best response, but at least I was honest.
There had been a couple of girls who tried to change me, including the last one, but I was quicker and smarter, seeing it coming a mile away. The one thing I liked about Eliza was that she seemed to know this, and she made her decisions with that exact thing in mind. However, her response to my ring was definitely surprising, but I guessed that any woman would act that way in that specific situation. I’m wining and dining them, and all of a sudden they realize or think they realize that they are the other woman. It can’t be a good feeling at all. For me, it was just another thing that I had to explain that I didn’t want to.
My thoughts went awry as I turned at the sound of the lock clicking. Slowly the door opened and in walked Eliza, her eyes darkening. I thought there would be a long conversation preceding the events, but she had other things on her mind. She raced toward me, throwing her arms around my neck and kissing me passionately. She tasted sweet like wine, and I dove my tongue into her mouth. We stepped back into the sitting area, pulling each other’s clothes off as we walked. There was a trail leading from the doorway to the couch.
I stopped her as we reached the couch and took the rest of her clothes off, pulling her satin panties down with it. She looked up at me as I reached down and grabbed her ass, picking her up and wrapping her legs around my waist. I turned and sat down on the couch, feeling her wetness against my rock-hard shaft. She unhooked her legs and pulled herself onto her knees, reaching down between her legs and grabbing my cock by the base. There was no time for foreplay in this scenario, and she slowly slid her wet pussy down my cock, gasping as it filled up her small frame.
I latched my hands onto her hips and began to pull her up and down, feeling every inch of her as I went. She was so tight and wet, and I groaned loudly at the feeling. As I pushed her body down, I thrust my hips upward, hearing the sound of our skin slapping against each other. She leaned her head back and growled as her tits bounced up and down in front of my face. She was so sexy, and I could feel the orgasm begin to simmer in my stomach.
Eliza put her hands on my shoulders and used them for leverage as she pushed her knees out and opened her hips to take me in even deeper. She screamed out in pleasure as her clit bounced off my skin, and I could feel her fingers tightening around my shoulders. Her muscles began to spasm as she arched her back and sat down hard, grinding against me and moaning. As she took in a deep breath, I could feel the ripples inside of her move down my shaft, and her juices exploded around my cock.
I grunted, trying to hold off until she was finished to have my own pleasure. I flipped her over on her back and dug my cock deep inside of her, feeling her pulsating around me. I thrust my hips fast and hard, gripping the couch arm above her head. I pulled my leg up for leverage and pushed deep over and over, until finally my body began to tighten and I couldn’t hold back any longer. I sat up, pulling her body into me, and groaned, thrusting short and hard as my cock pulsated and exploded inside of her. She grabbed her tits and moaned as the feeling pushed through her.
The electricity was absolutely insane, and once my muscles had begun to relax, I collapsed onto her, laying my head between her breasts. We lay there quietly for several moments, trying to recoup our bodies and what they had just gone through. My heart was beating so fast, and I could barely catch my breath. I could feel Eliza reach up and run her hands through my hair and down my back, relaxing the tension in my shoulders.
Finally, my body had found a good pulse, and I pushed my arms under Eliza’s body and held her close to me. It had been a really long time since I had felt that content, never taking the time to cuddle and relax with a woman after sex. But Eliza was different, and I knew she would be when I rented the suite. I knew that it wouldn’t be a really good fuck and then I was off. I seriously considered just lying there for the unforeseen future, too comfortable and content to move a muscle. I could feel Eliza relax beneath me, and I looked up her smiling. She giggled and continued to rub her fingers down my back, putting me in a trance of relaxation. The room was so quiet that I had a hard time keeping myself awake. I just wanted to drift off to sleep, but I knew that wasn’t an option at that moment.
We must have laid there for about an hour, just sitting in the quiet and enjoying each other’s warmth. When she took in a deep breath and looked at her watch, I sat up, giving her some space. She leaned forward and kissed my mouth, smiling as she stood up and began to collect our clothing. She handed me my things and then pulled her bra and panties on, standing in the light from the windows and looking absolutely amazing. She pulled the sweater over her head and walked into the bathroom, where she put some water on her hair to calm down the craziness from our lovemaking.
I pulled on my pants and shirt and sat down, pulling on my Sperrys and then grabbing my keys and wallet from the side table. I could tell that she wanted to go home, so I wasn’t going to press the issue. I wanted her to feel comfortable. She walked out of the bathroom and kissed me on the cheek.
“I have to get home,” she whispered. “I have classes in the morning.”
I nodded at her, looking down at her with excited eyes. We left the hotel and jumped into my car, and headed over to her place. We sat there riding through the streets of New York, grasping each other’s hand but not speaking. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but instead extremely calming and comforting. In fact, I was starting to become aware of how comfortable I was, and it was making me feel like I had made a mistake. I was the hard-ass that didn’t get involved, but there I was, not wanting to take this woman home. I was starting to be not okay with my feelings for her. She was so beautiful and so mighty, and I almost felt overwhelmed by it all.
When we pulled up in front of her place, she sighed, putting her hands in her lap and smiling at me. I got out of the car and walked around, helping her onto the curb. I looked up and down the street and chuckled at all the street vendors still out on a Sunday evening. I offered Eliza my arm and walked her gingerly to her door, stopping when we reached the entryway.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “I had an absolutely amazing time.”
“Thank you for going along with it,” I said. “Most women wouldn’t be too keen on the surprises.”
“I like surprises,” she said smiling, her cheeks glimmering under the setting sun. She looked like an angel standing there on her doorstep, and my heart flip-flopped in my chest.
No matter how uncomfortable I was with being co
mfortable, I was completely and utterly drawn to this woman. I stepped forward and reached my hand up, cupping her cheek and kissing her lips. My movements were soft at first but then turned to passion, letting my inhibitions run free in the warm autumn light with this amazing woman. Our kiss lasted several moments, and when I pulled away we were both breathless.
“Wow,” she said giggling, her cheeks blushing.
“Have dinner with me on Tuesday?”
“I would love to,” she said. “I’m off at six.”
“Perfect,” I replied. “Does eight sound okay?”
“You mean you aren’t going to give me only forty-five minutes like last time?”
I laughed and kissed her one last time before turning and walking down the stairs and onto the sidewalk. When I reached the bottom, I looked back at her and she was biting her lip and waving. I chuckled to myself and waved back, climbing into the car and watching her slip away into the apartment complex. I knew I shouldn’t have asked her to dinner—I needed to stop all of this, but it came out of my mouth as if my brain were fighting against me.
As we drove off, I tried to push the feeling of excitement out of my chest, but I couldn’t. I was right back where I was the other night, lost in my thoughts about this amazing girl who I’d just met. It had been the absolute perfect date, and I was impressed with myself for coming up with it. However, it was Eliza’s energy and light that made it so good—I just scheduled the logistics. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I did know I needed to think long and hard because I already knew that I didn’t want to hurt this girl in any way, and that was what I seemed to be best at.
Chapter Seven
Eliza
The computer screen stared at me, waiting for its next command, but I was nowhere to be found. My mind was all over the place, and even though I knew I had to get work done, I couldn’t concentrate to save my life. Clients went in and out of the studio, smiling, laughing, and feeling the calm after an amazing yoga session. I didn’t have any classes to teach that day, and I was supposed to be focused on getting my marketing information together so that I could push for a long winter of sustained clients. Right now we had a full schedule, but that always changed when the snow hit. It was the hardest season to get through at the studio, and I wanted to be prepared so I could amaze Missy with the numbers. If I kept this up, though, we would never find another new client.
Anthony had blown my mind when I had gotten to the boat. He was sweet, gentle, and very interested in everything I had to say. I hadn’t been on a date where the guy actually wanted to hear about me in a very long time. Usually, the topics rolled around the most Zen places in the city, the guy’s dreams of meditating in the Alps, or a number of other useless topics that just made them feel like they were cool instead of interesting. I was having a hard time understanding how these men didn’t realize that they were clones of each other in every way except the sex.
Speaking of the sex—holy cow. I hadn’t felt that kind of intensity in the bedroom in a really long time. Anthony had blown my mind with the way his hands ran over my body. We had been so pent up that we went straight into it, but I really was curious what that man could do if he had all night to ravage my body. I was pretty sure it would ruin me for any other man. I wanted to tell Missy about it, really have some dirty girl time where I told her all about his enormous cock, but I knew that I needed to keep it from her. She had warned me about him, and though I felt like I was seeing a different side than she knew about, I still needed to show some kind of caution.
He really seemed like a Prince Charming, though I knew very well that looks could be deceiving. Still, I had bounced all over the city, set sail on the river, and made love in a suite at the Waldorf. I had an amazing time with an absolutely amazing man, and I couldn’t wait to see him again. I was trying to tame my excitement, but it just wasn’t in my nature, and I realized that trying to get anything done at work was going to be a failure and a half.
As if Anthony knew I was thinking about him, my phone dinged and I looked down to see a message from him. He was reminding me that he was picking me up at eight, and I sent back a smiley-face reply. We texted back and forth for several more minutes, letting each other know how excited we were for the date that night. I loved getting messages from him, something most other men either didn’t do or were terrible at. He was the first one to go out of his way to begin and end a conversation through text, so I wasn’t sitting around wondering why he didn’t answer me back. He had a lot more restraint, and probably more responsibilities than I did, because I could have sat there the rest of the day texting back and forth. But alas, he had a meeting, so I told him I would see him at eight and let him get to his job.
My excitement was bursting from every seam, and I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. I sat there staring at the computer for another hour, but once the last class was done and everyone had left, I left the girls to clean up and almost ran down the street back to my apartment. It was a gorgeous day, and I knew it was going to be an amazing night too. I climbed the stairs to my apartment and walked in the front door, panting from moving so fast. I dropped my things on the floor and headed back to my room, where I started sifting through all the clothes in my closet.
I wasn’t sure what I should wear or where we were going, so I picked out a nice dress that was both professional and casual at the same time. I wanted to look nice in case he took me somewhere like the other night, but at the same time, I didn’t want to look ridiculous if we went to a diner somewhere. I wasn’t expecting anything, but I was definitely looking forward to more of his interesting dating concepts. Hopefully, he was as excited to see me as I was him.
I pulled on the dress and went into the bathroom, trying to decide what to do with my hair. I ended up using the hair paste and doing it similar to the other night but with a flare of the 1920s, since my dress came to my knees with a full skirt. I figured if I was going to dress that way I might as well fit my hair to the thing. I figured he would like the thigh-high stockings I was wearing, though he would only see them if he took my dress off, which I was definitely hoping for. Either way, I looked absolutely awesome, and as I touched up my lips with a crimson red lipstick, I smiled at myself in the mirror, feeling like I had done a bang-up job.
I switched on some music and danced around the house, feeling like a million bucks. I tossed the towels in the laundry to get them started and slid around the wood floors in my bare feet. I laughed at myself feeling better than I had in a very long time. There was something about spending a really amazing day with a really amazing guy that could get your spirit jump-started. I just hoped he didn’t see me dancing around when he finally pulled up.
I laughed at myself as I slid across the floor, dunking my dirty clothes in the hamper and jumping up and down like I slam-dunked something. I walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch, breathing heavily and smiling big. I needed to calm down or my makeup would be everywhere by the time he got there. I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes, letting my heartbeat settle down. There were so many places in the city for us to go, and I wondered what kind of adventure he had planned for us this time.
The first night we went to Balto’s, the hottest place in the city, and he had rented out the entire balcony so we could be completely alone. Then, without me even expecting it, the next morning, he had me escorted onto a yacht and taken us out on a boat ride for breakfast. But he didn’t stop there, driving me to Manhattan and letting me pull him all around the city, one of my favorite things to do. I showed him the secret shops in the alleys, the small memorial gardens that barely anyone knew about, and then I took him and got him the best cup of chai tea I had ever had. It was like seeing the city with a fresh pair of eyes, and I absolutely loved it. Now he was getting ready to pick me up, and I couldn’t imagine him topping those two dates. They were beyond anything I expected.
When I first met Anthony, he came off as that playboy everyone said he was. I
didn’t take him seriously at all, though I did find him running through my mind the next day. However, when he took me to the restaurant and opened up about his wife, it really surprised me. It was refreshing knowing there was a part of him that could open up to me and be a bit unguarded, even if it was forced out of him. In reality, he could have let me walk away, but he didn’t, and I was glad that he had made that decision. The next day was even better, though, and I learned so much from him in our walk across the city. All in all, he seemed to be full of surprises, and I liked that.
I looked down at the clock on my phone and saw that it was exactly eight. I began to get nervous immediately, knowing he would be here any second. I paced the floor, staring out the window, waiting for the car to arrive. He never said he was punctual, which was good because I seemed to be late everywhere I went. It was almost a religion for me to show up ten minutes late to everything. When I was a teenager, my friends used to tell me the wrong time just so I wouldn’t be late to a movie. Now, with the business on my plate, I was getting better, knowing I couldn’t be late for classes. I also set my clocks ahead ten minutes so that I would always be on time for the studio. When it came to my personal life, that was definitely a different story.
I walked back over to the couch and sat down, crossing my legs and looking around the room. I needed to stay focused on something else because patience was not my strong suit. It was starting to drive me crazy, though. I watched the clock on the wall as the minutes began to tick past. I smiled and shifted in my seat knowing he would show up at any minute. Before I knew it, though, it was nine and there was still no sign of him. I grabbed my purse and pulled my phone out, sending him a text asking him if he had forgotten me. I didn’t want to sound angry in case there was a misunderstanding, so I went with playful.
The Art of Love Page 4
