"You can do better than that." I tease him.
"Not now, Kitten Thang."
I purr.
He grins and I see his sexy half smile. "You need to come down. Your nipples are right on the edge of popping out."
"Oh dear. That wouldn’t be appropriate right now." There are a few parents with children standing in a small group closest to us. People all up and down the sidewalks, even on the other side of the street, are watching, wondering what I will do next. I hook my leg, and push my skirt up, but my tits are beyond tucking. I grip the pole behind my back up at my waist, then release my leg and start to walk in the air toward the ground. I hear "Ah! Oh! Bravo!" When I’ve reached the limit of my grip, I tuck my legs in and let go, dropping to the ground. When I stand, I treat them all to my big hair flip. Aurei is leaning against the pole and his eyes are locked on my tits. They bounce and settle in place, but I tease him doing my shimmy shake.
There are claps from the onlookers and I look around at all the happy, smiling faces watching me. I give them a quick bow and wave to everyone.
"You are such a showoff." He tells me as he comes to stand next to me.
"Showoff? Is that what you think I do?" I lean back and give him my 'I can’t believe you just said that to me' look.
"Isn’t it?"
I give him my Siri-ous face, full of southern girl attitude. "Look around, Mr. Moore. Tell me what you see." I wave my arm around to the crowd of people.
He looks around. "I see a crowd of people watching someone showing off her skills."
"Annnnk. Try again."
"I see a crowd of people who enjoyed your show." He teases me as he cinches our hands and leads me across the street.
"Maybe, but...." I wag my finger at him. "Look at them. Really look at their faces. See their eyes." I nod to a couple of older women coming towards us. They are giving me a small gesture of applause. "That! That right there. That’s what it is all about, Aurei Moore."
"What? Applause?"
"NO!" I stop and he easily pulls me along. I punch his arm when I’m even with him.
His eyes are twinkling and he is smirking. "Ouch, Mean Thang!"
"Applause.... I’m insulted." I shake my head, tossing my hair around, then flip it up in true drama queen fashion as I walk-march along with him. At the next light, we have to wait to cross the street again. Pouting, I keep my head turned away as he stalks my face, dodging and dipping until he finally pins it and kisses my nose.
"Then what? Tell me. What is it all about? Why do you perform for people?"
I roll my eyes. "Happy faces! I do what I do to give them happy faces." I look out at the people around us. "Look how many right here are frowning, or are sad, or seem to be bored with life. But when I do something as simple as this." I bend at the waist, place my hands on the sidewalk, lift my straight legs up over my head, then walk around him on my hands. When I stand back up, I return the smiles of those closest to me as I finish my reasoning. "There are always smiles. Don’t you get that?"
"Happiness is what you do?"
"That’s right!" I laugh using that funny voice inflection and nodding my head fast.
He laughs out loud. "Oh yeah, I totally get that, Happy Thang!"
Chapter Twenty-Three
As we continue down the street, I swing our arms and skip, then I start to dance, twirling in and out of his embrace. He spins me and catches me wearing his happy face and acting as if the girl dancing alongside him is doing nothing in the world unusual. The crowd on the sidewalk becomes too dense to continue our dance, so I start to sing. "Ooooo.... OooOooOOOoo.... Ahhhhh...." I belt out Whitney Houston’s, "All The Man That I Need" at the top of my lungs. People turn and stare, but they don’t frown and they don’t look sad, and they don’t seem bored anymore.
"Now you are just showing off, Happy Thang."
My eyes twinkle at him, and I grin, then wink as I hold our hands up and sing to them. "He won’t let go!"
Every time our eyes touch, the unspoken word travels between us and it adds something more to my voice. I sing to all of Rome that this gorgeous Golden God next to me is truly all the man that I need. I don’t hold anything back. I sing the song with every ounce of my being and on the last note, I hold it and hold it. When I finish the song, I give them southern girl attitude, pointing my finger, rolling my wrist and swaggering my upper body. "Whoa!"
Aurei claps and a few other people join him. I blow him a kiss. He turns his face when it lands. His sweet face, grinning and playing with me, makes my heart soar. He rebounds from the pretend kiss and swoops me off my feet.
"Oooo!" I squeal as he spins us around and around in a fast tight circle. My hair sails out away from our bodies with the centrifugal force and we grip each other tight to stay centered and balanced. "Stop. Stop." I giggle. "You’re going to get dizzy and drop me."
Laughing, he stops and cradles me. "I’m a pilot. I don’t get dizzy from spins."
I laugh with him. "I’m a pole dancer. I don’t get dizzy from spins either."
"Good. Cause I’m not finished." He spins again, making me giggle uncontrollably.
When he does finally stop, I’m laughing so hard I’m having trouble breathing. He holds me laughing until I can gain my breath. I ask between gasps. "What the fuck was that all about?"
"I wanted you to know I really won’t let go."
"What?" I lay my head back and laugh out loud. I peek at him from under my lids as I laugh. He is all smiles watching me. His face looks so peaceful. It’s hard to imagine that wild thunder lives there as well.
Still cradling me in his arms, he says. "That’s who you sound like."
"Who?"
"You sound a lot like Whitney."
I start to laugh again. "Don’t be ridiculous."
"Why is that ridiculous?"
"It just is. Whitney. Really?" I roll my eyes at him. "Put me down, please."
He lets my legs go, but keeps his arm around me. I’m vertical, but I’m not on my feet. My feet dangle as he holds me tight against him.
"Why is that ridiculous?"
"Because ... she has ... had ... incredible pipes! Naw. I just sang her song exactly like she did."
He smirks. "Exactly."
"That’s not what I meant and you know it."
"What do you mean then?"
"I didn’t change it up and do my own thang with it."
"Well.... That’s true, but I’m telling you. You sound an awful lot like Whitney."
"Flattery will take you only so far, Mr. Moore." I smirk. "I thought you knew that I value honesty over deceit, and exaggerations, despite their good intentions, are deceitful." I wag my finger at him, then tap his lips with it. "You would be wise to remember that."
"Ummhmm. I will remember that, but I’m straight line, not curved. You will be wise to remember that too about me."
"Touché. Put me down please. You’re squishing my twins."
He sets me gently on my feet, but keeps his arms around me. "Have you ever recorded yourself and listened?"
"I’ve heard myself sing and I do probably sing better than average, but not like Whitney. That’s a stretch."
"Did you hear yourself sing a Whitney song?"
"Honestly, I don’t remember. I grew up pretending to be the next American Idol and my doting grandmother paid for voice lessons. But I wasn’t serious about singing. I wanted to dance. My voice coach told her she was wasting her money because every time I started to sing, I ended up dancing."
"I can see that happening. How old were you?"
"Gosh. Maybe 10 years old? I don’t know." I shrug my shoulders.
"I’ll record you in my studio and you can hear what I hear."
My eyes light up. "What all do you have in your studio? I thought you only did photography."
"Curiosity killed the cat, Kitten Thang." He smirks.
"I’ve got nine lives then, so answer and we will subtract one."
He laughs and looks over my head. "I have bot
h a photography and a sound studio. Now you have eight."
"Hmm." I tap my foot and tap my lips thinking. "So ... you have both. Do you record videos?" I grin.
"Yes. Seven left."
"Excellent! We can record ourselves!" I pump my fist in the air. "Whoot! Whoot! I got off on watching Scarlet’s video of our kiss. It was fucking hot! And yesterday, the view in the mirror was incredible too." I push off him, grab his hand then pull him.
"Where are you going? The station is this way." He points in the opposite direction. I tug at him, but he doesn’t budge, so I let go and walk off, knowing he will follow me.
"Come on. I saw something we have to explore."
He comes alongside me, takes my hand, and follows. When I stop, we are standing in front of a young man a few years younger than we are, sitting cross legged on the ground, strumming his guitar. He looks like a cross between a vagrant and a hungry college geek. He stops playing and arranges his collection hat for optimum results. He’s both.
Aurei slides behind me, slips his arms around my waist and whispers in my ear. "Ah trickery. I thought you found another place for me to explore you."
I kiss his cheek. The young man speaks to Aurei and they converse in Italian. I hear Aurei say IL Volvo and English.
"Are you requesting a song from IL Volvo?"
"Yes. Have you heard them before?" He asks as he digs into his pants pocket for his money clip.
"No. I know of them, but never heard their music." He tosses a few bills into the hat, and the young man starts to strum the melody of the song. "What’s the name of the song you requested?"
"'This Time.' Shhhh, Kitten Thang. I want you to listen to the words."
"Yes, Sugar Bare."
Aurei resumes his position behind me. He puts his arms around my waist, mouth at my ear and he sings softly with the young singer, whose voice is much deeper than his skinny appearance would lead one to believe. I listen as we sway to the song. They sing about empty stars, beautiful illusions, and wondering if she is even real. About being cynical but hoping for someone who can be there year after year. I hear the message Aurei is sending me. He wants me to promise I will stay and not go. He is waiting for me to give him a sign that what we have is real! He sings about hoping that I’m the one he can believe in to truly change his history. He sings about wanting to believe I’m his truth. That he is home. That I will let him in and there will be no more doubts. No more lonely nights. That I will break his free fall and catch him. When the song is finished, he hums in his throat as he nibbles my ear. "You are my Every Thang, Siri."
"Ummhmm, I am." The singer asks us in English if there are any more requests. "Yes," I spin around in Aurei’s arms and whisper. "Give him a big tip, please."
He smirks and growls. "I smell more trickery."
I smile sweetly, batting my eyelashes, making him chuckle. "Your sense of smell is uncanny. Give him the kind of tip that will make him say 'yes' when you ask to use his guitar to serenade your girl."
"Ummhmm. I knew it!"
I look over my shoulder at the musician and he smiles at us. I turn back to Aurei and lay my hands on his chest. I flex my fingers on him, kneading the tips of them in. "Meow." I say, grinning.
He chuckles. "I see the game you’re playing. You’re the sexy kitten when you want something now."
"That’s right!" He laughs as I bat my eyes at him again. "You only have yourself to blame. You started it."
"Yes, I did and I can end it too."
I laugh. "But we both know you won’t! You can sing something sweet to make me purr."
"Damn it, woman!" He laughs, digs in his pocket, pulls out his money clip and tosses a wad of bills in the hat. The musician is stunned and eagerly reaches for it as a big smile splits his face. "You have certainly given him a happy face." Aurei tells me, then he asks for the guitar.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The musician offers Aurei the guitar like it was made of gold. Aurei takes it, walks over to the wall, and leans back against it. He bends his knee and props his foot so he can rest the guitar on his thigh. He strums the instrument, tunes it, then hits a few chords.
"What are you going to sing me first?"
"First?" He stops strumming and looks at me with a half-smile.
"Yep, I figured that big a tip should buy you at least two songs."
He smirks and rolls his eyes. "Ann was right about you."
I laugh. "So what’s the first song?"
He strums watching his left hand work as he picks the melody. "'Take It To The Limit' by The Eagles with some of my own lyrics thrown in."
"Interesting choice." I grin. "Not exactly the romantic serenade I was hoping for."
He chuckles, then he starts to sing. The lyrics are about being alone and thinking of an unknown woman, about being a dreamer and how hard it is to change and settle down, about a dream and that keeps turning out the same, about getting a sign and taking it to the limit one more time. Then he changes the words up a little. He sings that he’s spent all his time making money, but he wants to spend all his love making time with me because if he lost it all tomorrow, he wants me to still be his. He isn’t looking for freedom. He’s found someone who can take him to his limit. Who he’ll take to her limit. All the time.
When he finishes, I smile. "Ok. That was much more romantic than I first thought it would be, but still not exactly a romantic serenade."
"How romantic a serenade do you want?"
"Swoon worthy would be nice. Can you do swoon worthy?"
He grins at me. "Trust me. I can do swoon worthy." Then he looks down at his left hand again as he picks the melody. I think I recognize it, but I’ve only heard it played on the piano before so I’m not sure. I tip my head, listening. It is! Fuck! This is one of the most romantic love songs ever! He looks up to see my face as he sings. "She’s Got A Way about her...." I smile at him and make a heart shape with my fingers. He closes his eyes and sings from his heart. His words float into my ears and down into mine as it feels every note, every voice inflection, every word.
The first half of the song Aurei sings the lyrics as written. "She’s got a way." But then the last half of the song, he locks his gaze on me and makes it truly swoon worthy. He changes the lyrics to "You’ve." Sweet Zeus! That’s the sweetest thing EVER! When he sings that my smile heals him. I give him one worthy of the words, knowing he needs healing from something. I’m just not sure what yet, but we are making real progress, together. I walk over and stand right in front of him. I lay my hands, one on top of the other, on his knee.
When he is finished, I reach for the guitar and I hand it back to the young man, never taking my eyes off Aurei’s. When I feel the instrument leave my fingertips, I step into Aurei’s cupped hands and close my eyes. I feel his fingers as they slide along my jawline. His thumbs stroking my face in the shape of a heart, then as they slide to my ears and neck. His voice is husky with emotion and I feel a lump forming in my throat with his words. "You’ve got this ... sweet, wild thang about you, Siri. I can’t explain what happened to me the moment I laid eyes on you dancing on that runway, but something did, and my life changed. You must believe me. You must understand that. I’m not the man I was." My heart hugs itself as my breath circles it in my chest. Then he tips my face up to his and tenderly lays his lips on mine. I feel his breath hovering, then he speaks softly to me. "I changed inside that night. That night, and every night since, I’ve only desired one woman, Siri Wright, and since I’ve tasted that one woman, I know I will desire her over and over again. It just feels so right." He places sweet little pecks on my lips. "I’m not the man I was. I’m not. I don’t know why it happened and I don’t know what happened. I just know when it happened." My heart, my lips and my knees tremble, waiting for his kiss. "I’m so thankful I found you, Baby Thang." He rubs my nose back and forth with his. "Saturday night I told you that was the happiest day of my life." He pecks my lips once. "And it was, but then Sunday came along and it was." He pecks my lips
again. "Then Monday replaced Sunday." Peck. "And Tuesday replaced Monday." Peck. "Here it is Wednesday, and it is beating them all by a long shot." He slides his tongue along my lips and into my mouth, then he withdraws it. "Look at me, Wild Thang." I open my eyes and focus on his. The honest sincerity grabs me and my knees buckle. His hands grip my ass and hold me steady. "You asked why I’ve said you were such an interesting find. It’s because not only do you radiate happiness from your smile, which is, on its own, contagious and beautiful, but you radiate happiness from your entire being. You radiate a joy for life, an acceptance of it as is, with fearlessness. You are a wild, free spirit that accepts herself as she is without reservation or guilt. It is refreshing and so unique in a human." He smirks. "When I saw this super sexy, sassy, petite thang dancing down the runway in Vegas, I felt that something special radiating from you and it drew me like a moth to the flame. At the time, I didn’t know how special you are, but I knew I had to have you." His forgets the kiss and his forehead falls forward resting on mine.
I tease him. "You knew I made your cock grow needy."
He chuckles and lifts his eyes to mine. "You make me needy for you, for sure. But when we met and you started opening up to me, I saw someone so special, so interesting, so unique. You are simply stunning, Siri, and I will always cherish you. I want you to stay."
"Maximus Aurelius Moore," I feel the tears laying heavy in my eyes as I cup his face now and smile weakly up at him. "That is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to anyone, much less me. Truly swoon worthy."
His eyes crinkle as he barely blows his breath inside my parted lips before his tongue slides in, melting the world away. The only noise I hear is Rihanna’s singing, "Stay" in my mind. I want to stay with this beautiful man who wants me to stay with him. His kiss is deep and I cling to him, feeling his need for me. He lets it go, and buries his face in my neck. We need each other. We make the other whole. My mouth finds his earlobe and I suck it making him moan. "Aurei, listen to me." I tell him laying my mouth on his ear so he can hear me. He is still listening. I can’t feel him breathing. "You can trust me, Aurei, to stay. I promise." His lips find my skin and he lays them on me. He nibbles and goose bumps pop out, then he pulls back and I cup his ears holding his face to mine. "I truly cherish you, Sugar Bare." He lays his soft kiss on my lips. His soft breath blows gently in my mouth, then he sucks my bottom lip into his mouth and his tongue touches it making my pussy pulsate. "Let’s get back to the Hotel. I’ve got a hot date with hot guy."
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