by Penny Wylder
My little daydream of a warm fire is interrupted when I hear a knock at the front door. My heart lifts and I rush out of the bedroom into the hallway. Maybe it’s the airport sending my bag. It hardly feels possible that I could have such great luck.
“I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” I call out as I run through the kitchen. I look back and see Deb and Lillian standing at the counter with cups of tea. Just as my hand reaches out to unlock the door, I hear a key in the lock and the door swings open. I startle, and then the smile that had been stretched across my face falls. My stomach sits in my throat and my heart beats like a snare drum in my chest. I realize right away that the man standing in front of me is not airport staff.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit!
That’s the only word that pops into my head and repeats itself like my new mantra. Instinctually, my hand flies up and pulls my robe closed at the neck, although I still feel totally vulnerable and self-conscious.
Towering before me is the very tall, very rugged, and extremely hot man whose cock I grabbed when fell on the plane. Recognition lights up his deep set eyes. His piercing gaze travels the length of my body then back to my face once again.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I demand, feeling completely naked. Damn this robe! And to make things worse, my freezing nipples are rock solid and point straight at him. I’m not sure which part of my body I should be covering. It’s all just there for him to ogle. And boy does he ogle. He doesn’t even have the decency to try to hide it. “And why are you just barging into our house?” I yell.
He looks just as shocked to see me as I am to see him. “Did you follow us?” I ask, feeling a slight hint of fear creep up my spine. Did he see me and my friends and peg us as unsuspecting tourists he could rob? I’ve watched enough true crime documentaries to know the deal. He probably marked us from the airport. Now it all makes sense. My bag! He surely stole my bag despite its obnoxious print. And inside that suitcase was the information about this house, including the code to the lockbox in front with the for sets of keys!
“Oh look,” he says, far too cheerily, “it’s the girl who molested me on the plane. If you wanted to grab my dick, all you had to do is ask.”
This can’t possibly be happening to me. I must have done something pretty damn horrible in another life to deserve this kind of luck. I quickly look around the room, trying to recall all the self-defense classes I’ve taken. I run over to the fireplace and grab the poker, wielding it like a sword. “Get the hell out!”
My friends run into the sitting room when they hear me yell. They freeze and take a step back when they see me swinging the poker at the large man in the doorway. I’m slightly aware that my robe has come loose at the top and my boobs are practically exposed, but I can’t bother to worry about that right now.
“What’s happening?” Deb says.
“This perverted piece of shit decided to break into our house. He’s been casing us since the plane,” I say, not taking my eyes off of him for a second. He could easily overpower me if he wanted, but I won’t make it easy for him.
His amused expression turns to irritation. “This is a joke, right?” he says.
I raise the poker higher to let him know it’s not.
He rolls his eyes. “First of all, I’m not a pervert, and second, I’m not breaking in.” He opens the door wider and I see a suitcase behind him. “I’m renting a room here while I’m in town for work. Call the host if you want. You should have the number.”
I feel my mouth hanging open and the skin on my face smoldering with embarrassment.
“Oh my God, I didn’t mean to …” I start to say, my eyes going wide when he walks past me, into the house, his rolling luggage trailing behind him.
“Wait.” I look around for my friends, hoping someone will come to my rescue and tell this crazy person to get out.
“Which one is my room?” he says. “The owner said the rooms are first come first serve. It took me a while to hail a cab. I’m guessing since you’re here first, you’ve chosen your rooms. So which one is mine?”
No. This can’t be happening.
I shake my head. “You must have the wrong house. This was supposed to be girls only, right?”
Deb nods. “That’s what we were told. My boyfriend would freak out if he knew I was staying in a house with another guy.”
“I promise you, I’m not breaking in and I do have the right address,” the man explains. “And believe me, your boyfriend has nothing to worry about. You’re not my type.”
Deb scowls at him. “Rude.”
My heart sinks. How can I stay in the same house with the same guy I completely humiliated myself in front of? He’ll be impossible to avoid.
Deb, Lillian, and I all look at each other, not sure what to do or say.
Deb finally says, “I’ll call the host. Clearly there was a misunderstanding.”
“You do that,” the man says irritably, “but in the meantime, since I have a key and I paid my rent and deposit for the next month, I’m getting a shower. I’m jetlagged and tired.”
Deb sighs. “Your room is down here, next to Channa’s.” She points back into the house, from the direction of my bedroom. “You’ll share the bathroom with her. Lillian and I are upstairs.”
“Great,” he says, exasperated. “I take it by the excitement written all over your face that you’re Channa?” he says to me, sarcasm dripping from his words. I can feel my stricken expression messing up my face and try to make it somewhat neutral. I’m not sure if it works. I think my face might be permanently like this for the rest of our trip. “Try not to pummel me with that thing,” he says, pointing at the fire poker in my hands before disappearing down the hallway.
Once he’s gone, Deb and I look at each other, perplexed. Lillian giggles.
“Holy shit. Is he real? No one looks that good in real life,” Lillian says. “He says he’s here for work. I bet he’s an underwear model. What do you want to bet?
“I’m not betting anything,” I grumble, still somewhere in between angry and astonished.
“Girl, he’s lucky I have a boyfriend, or I’d be all over that,” Deb adds.
“Deb!” I shriek. She’s always so … respectable. I don’t know if I’ve ever, in our fifteen years of friendship, ever heard her talk like that—especially not since she met James. Then again, I guess it’s hard not to talk like that when someone looks as good as that stranger does.
I wrap my robe tighter around me, feeling exposed. “He’s not that great,” I lie.
“Why are you so crabby?” Lillian asks.
I refuse to tell them what happened on the plane. They would never let me live it down.
“It’s because she needs to get laid. You can’t be a twenty-five-year-old virgin and be totally relaxed. Impossible. She’s all wound up.”
I roll my eyes and wave. “Either you call the host and get this figured out, or I’m going to bed and sleeping the rest of this awful day away.”
“You are not wasting the whole day sleeping! I want to explore,” Deb says as she finds her cellphone in her purse. She looks through the little welcome pack the host has left out for us, and dials him. The one-sided conversations doesn’t bode well.
From what I can tell by Deb’s worried expression, there has been some awful mistake. She explains to the host that we were promised an all-female house. When she asks for our money back so we can book something else, her face looks grim.
“Thanks for nothing,” she says. “Trust me, you’ll be getting a terrible yelp review,” she says and hangs up.
“Looks like we now have a very large and male roommate for the next few weeks.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“Nope. He says he can’t discriminate and that there are no refunds. He says it’s all in the contract. Did any of you happen to read the contract?”
Lillian and I both shrug.
“Didn’t think so. Neither did I. So I guess we just need to get
over it and get on with our vacation.” She makes a whining sound. “James is not going to be happy.”
There has to be something we can do,” I say.
“I’ll call around,” Lillian says.
Right now, I’m not too worried about James. He knows Deb would never do anything to betray him. All I’m worried about are my own problems, specifically this crazy attraction I have for our new roommate. I’m in trouble. I can feel it.
2
Kain
The girls’ worried voices carry back to my bedroom through the ajar door. I don’t try to give them any privacy; I hang on to every word of their conversation. I’m still stunned from seeing the girl from the plane—Channa— standing right in front of me, wearing a robe I could practically see through. And when it fell open, and her perfectly round breasts peeked out the top … it took all I had to hide the raging erection tightening the front of my pants.
I haven’t stopped thinking about her since the plane; how she felt against me, those pale blue eyes and soft skin, the sweet citrus smell of her hair. I’d tried so hard to get to her before she walked off the plane, but as soon as we landed, everyone immediately stood up from their seats and I lost her in the crowd. Part of me thought she may have been a figment of my imagination, an hallucination brought on by my lust after watching her for hours on the flight. I’d thought a girl like that only existed in my dreams. Now that she’s real, and only yards away from me, I’m not sure what to do with myself. Running into her like this seems like fate. This is my second chance with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and I don’t plan to blow it—though, getting her to believe I’m not some perverted psycho might be a challenge in and of itself.
I listen as one of the girls calls the host and threatens him, demanding a refund. I feel a smile come to my face when it becomes clear that won’t happen. They debate whether or not to go to a hotel and agree that it’s far too expensive after they’ve already paid in full for the house. Looks like I’ve put a pretty big kink in their all-girls vacation. But Channa has put a kink in my plans, too. I came here to focus on work and make as much money as I possibly can for the month that I’m here. The last thing I wanted was this kind of distraction. A girl like Channa brings so many temptations. I can already see my imagination running away while I’m working on the docks, daydreaming of that soft skin, what she’d taste like. And sleeping next door to her at night. Knowing she’s just feet away, maybe naked under the sheets. I’ll be hard for the next month. This doesn’t go well with operating heavy equipment on the harbor.
I step outside into the hallway and make my way into the sitting room where they’re huddled together, debating what to do. They don’t notice me, so I stand in the doorway observing, amused as they bicker back and forth.
“James will be furious if he finds out,” the redhead says. I’m guessing James is the boyfriend. I’m suddenly struck with the thought that maybe Channa has a boyfriend, too, and that’s why she’s so freaked out I’ll be staying here.
“Who cares?” says the blonde dismissively. “It’s not like you’re going to sleep with the guy. That’s Channa’s job.” She laughs at her own joke and Channa shoots her an angry look. “Maybe she’ll finally get laid and lose her virginity. Can you imagine losing your virginity to that sexy piece of ass in there?”
Channa, a virgin? I don’t believe that for a second. Girls like that don’t stay virgins that long.
“Lillian!” the redhead screeches.
I laugh, waiting for Channa’s reaction. She whips around when hearing my laughter, her face bright red.
“No. There’s no way I’m staying here,” she says, avoiding eye contact with me. “I don’t care how much it costs. I’m getting a hotel.
“Why?” I ask smugly. “Are you afraid your girlfriend’s predication will come true? That I’d be too hard to resist?”
Her eyes snap back up to meet mine, fresh anger colors her cheeks. Despite the fact that those eyes are shooting me a look to kill, they’re so beautiful, like bright blue oceans full of life. I could get lost in those eyes. I revel in the shocked expression, feeding off it. I could get addicted to this girl.
Channa sputters, and I can tell she wants to argue, but I stop her by saying, “Come on, you know it’s true. Why else would you try so hard to get away from me if you’re not afraid of what might happen sleeping under the same roof as me? It’s because you liked what happened on the plane, isn’t it?”
Her friends give her forceful, inquisitive looks. “What happened on the plane?” the blonde asks, everything about her curious expression demanding answers.
Channa ignores her and turns her glare on me. “You’re just a pervert.”
“That doesn’t sound like a denial.” I laugh and point to her. “You’re calling me a pervert, yet you’re the one walking around here, flaunting those.” She looks down at the exposed swell of her generous breasts practically spilling out of her robe, jiggling slightly each time she moves, then covers them quickly.
“I have no clean clothes. My bag is missing—never mind.”
The blonde holds her hands up. “Time out guys. Look, we can stand here and bicker and waste time, or we can get this vacation started.” Clearly this girl was a cheerleader at some point in her life. Her over-the-top enthusiasm seems to be too much for everyone else in the room suffering from jetlag. But none of us complain because she’s not wrong. “What’s your name?” she asks me.
“Kain.”
“You said you’re here for work. What do you do?”
“I work in shipping yards with heavy equipment.”
The redhead points at my arms. “Well I guess that explains the size of those guns.”
Channa slaps her on the shoulder. The redhead scowls.
“Hi Kain, nice to meet you. I’m Lillian, that’s Deb, and it seems you’ve already met Channa,” she says with a smirk.
I stare at Channa, but she refuses to make eye contact.
“Nice to meet you too,” I say.
I go back to my room to unpack. I can still hear them talking, especially Channa in her low, furious tone. I’m fascinated by her despite the fact that she seems to hate me. I can tell she’s shy and what happened between us probably embarrassed her to a point where she would rather avoid me completely. But I’m not about to let her. I can’t get her out of my head. I can still feel the warmth of her body against mine as she lay on top of me in the aisle of the plane. Her mouth was so close to mine. If I’d moved only a centimeter, we would have been kissing. The thought makes me shiver, and a hunger and excitement I haven’t felt in a long time stirs within me.
The knock at the door startles me out of my reverie. I open it. Deb and Lillian stand there. I’m disappointed to see Channa isn’t with them.
“We’re going to head into London and get some groceries to stock the fridge since it’s way too expensive to eat out all the time. Since you’ll be here longer than we will, we figured you’d want to do the same. Want to share a cab?” Deb asks.
“Good idea,” I say.
They leave and I change into a clean pair of jeans and a hoodie. I sit on the couch and wait for the girls to come out of their rooms, assuming they’re also getting ready. Channa comes out and my mouth falls open. She’s wearing a sweater that hugs her large breasts, and yoga pants that strain against her hips and ass almost obscenely. Her curves are nothing short of a work of art, I mean, holy shit ...
Channa notices me staring and blushes. “They’re Lillian’s. She’s the only one whose clothes fit me at all. Luckily she had more than just jeans or I would’ve been screwed.” Her tone is softer. Maybe she’s getting used to the idea of me being around. I hope that’s the case. I try to hide my raging erection so the sight of it doesn’t change her mind.
I want her more than ever. And I can tell, if she would just let her guard down and let go of that embarrassment, she’d want me too. I have the next few weeks to make that happen and I plan to make this a vacation she’
ll never forget.
3
Channa
I can’t believe I’m stuck living with Kain for the next couple of weeks. Why did it have to be with the guy I accidentally groped? This is so humiliating. Now I’m squished into the back of a taxi with him. I close my eyes, trying to ignore the delicious almond scent of his shampoo and the warmth of his knee pressed against mine. My friends chatter endlessly, oblivious to my predicament.
I’d wanted to take the Tube, but the other girls were too nervous to navigate it just yet. All they wanted was to hurry and get some groceries so we’d have plenty of time to party tonight. I’m exhausted and in no mood to party. I have plenty of time to hit the hotspots after I’ve gotten past this jetlag, and hopefully once my bags have arrived.
I’m really struggling to relax with Kain sitting so close to me. I can’t help but glance up at him from time to time, and each time I do, I find him grinning at me with his perfectly straight white teeth and smoldering gray eyes that make my entire body tingle. My body reacts around him despite the protest of my mind. Though I’m telling myself to stay as far away from this guy as possible so I don’t embarrass myself again, I find myself leaning into him, my nipples growing hard just from that.
I wish I were wearing something less revealing. I feel so self-conscious right now. This is not a feeling that goes well with humiliation. Being next to Kain makes me feel out of control and constantly on edge. I’m desperate to feel like myself again, collected and in control. If I don’t get my suitcase back by tonight, I’m definitely going to need to buy some clothes. There’s no way I’m going to be able to keep squeezing my curves into my friends’ clothes. I’ve always dressed very modestly to try and blend in with the crowd. I never liked attention, and wearing clothes that fit like a second skin is most certainly drawing attention to myself. Kain’s made it very obvious that he’s noticed.
