by Ylana MIlls
"Yeah…" he replied, crossing his arms as well and avoiding her gaze for a moment. "You gave me quite a big head," he said at last, raising his eyes to hers and biting his lip.
She let out a chuckle, shaking her head.
"Well… maybe that's because you have a big head."
He turned to look at the picture again, and then glanced back at her.
"Not that big, no," he wrinkled his forehead as he spoke.
"Maybe I should give up my career in the visual arts, then."
"Maybe," he whispered, trying to figure out the best way to address the issue now that his joke was wearing thin. "So, what was the occasion for this… board?"
"These kids are orphans, you know? Most of them, at least," she said, walking closer to the board and holding her hands behind her back as she stood by his side. "For some of them, it is tough to deal with all the family celebrations during the year… They feel they don't have one. And in a way, they don't. Not in the traditional sense, at least," she paused, taking her time to look at some of the drawings in front of her. "So I guess I was trying to make them notice that a family is also the people you surround yourself with, the ones that are special to you… they could be friends… the children you live with… the adults that truly care for you…" she paused again, and turned to look at him before speaking again. "Sometimes… a really good maid…"
He closed his eyes, smiling lightly at her words.
Eliza Clark… That woman was really giving him no other choice. He had to say it, and he would do it while she was still wearing that silly wig and her silly costume, so that there would be no doubt about it.
"Eliza…" he whispered, after touching her face and bringing her mouth to his in a soft kiss. "I lo-"
Just then, a torrent of giggles echoed around the room. When the two of them looked around, they spotted a group of girls standing by the door with their mouths covered, a second before they turned on their heels and ran.
"Oh now, that is perfect," Eliza said, rolling her eyes as she realized she had just given her supervisor another reason for disciplinary action. "I just got caught kissing a guy in the middle of a classroom…"
"I guess I should get going," he replied, biting back the urge to laugh at how fast she was blushing.
"Yeah," she whispered, after letting out a sigh. "I guess you should."
-----
It was Thursday already.
"Thank Goodness…" Devon muttered, glad that they were halfway through the whole ordeal as he pressed the doorbell and waited outside Eliza's apartment.
"Come in!"
And he did, after realizing she had left the door unlocked.
"You might live in a safe neighborhood, Ms. Clark," he said, trying to locate the woman in the living room, unsuccessfully, "but still, don't tempt fate."
"I'm sorry!" she replied, running from the kitchen holding a large dish in her hands. "I was making pancakes!"
He glanced at the dining table, and saw she had made herself a rather remarkable breakfast. He could see fruit, lots of them. And juice, coffee, milk… And then there were eggs. Toast. Now, pancakes.
"Feeling hungry, are we?"
"Idiot," she responded, with her usual snicker. "Join me?"
"What, are you courting me, Ms. Clark?"
He dropped his backpack onto the couch, and crossed his arms, looking at her from a distance.
"Stop calling me Ms. Clark, maid."
"Whoa… Someone woke up feeling hungry and sassy."
She gave him another of her amused glances as she reached out for the jelly and apple sauce in the cabinet behind the table.
"I woke up early today…" she said. "Couldn't fall asleep again. So, I thought I could make us a decent breakfast."
"Royalty doing something useful for a change," he replied, to keep the taunts rolling. "Now that is a nice break in routine."
He watched as she narrowed her eyes, and moved closer to her with an even wider grin on his face.
"Having trouble sleeping, huh?"
"Devon…" she whispered, closing the distance between them. "I know you will be ridiculously full of yourself after you hear this… or, should I say, fuller of yourself?" she pinched his arm, eliciting a throaty complaint, "but I want to call it off. This thing, the… the challenge, I want to call it off."
And then, her eyes became serious. Her lips curled backwards, changing her expression from cheerful to fearful in a matter of seconds, which always made his heart skip a beat. He loved that about her mouth: it was almost as expressive as her eyes, and he was sure Eliza wasn't even aware how much it revealed about her feelings.
"I… I've been cheating too," she whispered. "I've been thinking of you all the time. Of doing… things to you," she continued, pressing her palms against his chest as she gazed into his eyes. "I don't want to wait anymore. I want to make love to you, and I want to make love to you now."
Devon swallowed, knowing that his racing heartbeat was more than perceptible as her hands slid up and down his chest. The Lord was testing him. What was he supposed to say? Or, most importantly, what was he supposed to do, for that matter? The obvious thing would be thanking the woman for finally coming to her senses and then leading her on to the bedroom for a proper celebration. His whole self craved Eliza Clark, desperately.
But no. No. Because he was Devon Shaw, the universe's chew toy, he had to have a conscience. He had to actually do the right thing. He understood why she had proposed that silly challenge, to begin with: she was insecure. She saw herself as a woman who had men all over her either for the money or for the sex, never for the full 'Eliza Clark' package deal. She wanted to be in a real relationship. He did, too.
And although the challenge itself was a very silly one, he couldn't brush away the feeling that if he did it, if he succumbed to her pleas and made love to her right then and there, she would eventually be disappointed. More at herself than at him. Because now, as he looked into her eyes, it was clear that the challenge was not his. It was hers. It was not about him keeping his hands away from her, but more like the other way around. She was the one who had been hiding behind the 'sex only' flag. In a way, it made sense. It worked as self-defense, as a means to stop people getting too close. No strings attached meant no getting hurt, after all.
"Eliza…" he whispered, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead against hers. Her hands had already slid to the fly of his jeans, and although there was nothing that he wanted more than to feel her fingers wrap around his throbbing erection, he knew he couldn't. "Love, no, listen to me…" he said, covering her hands with his and reluctantly pulling them away. "W-We can't. We made a deal, remember? Seven days… Trust me, I want to make love to you too, I want it bad, and I will," he turned her body around to press against her back while holding her in his arms. "On Monday, I will make love to you until both of us pass out, I swear," his voice was harsh with longing when he spoke, before pressing a soft kiss to her neck and opening his eyes again.
Her head had lolled to the side, and she moaned when his lips touched her skin. He saw that her eyelids had fluttered closed and her mouth was half-open as her chest heaved up and down. Oh evil forces of fate, have mercy! The scent of cherry blossoms filled his nostrils when his chin brushed against her hair, his head pounding as his cock twitched against her butt and made her moan again. And then, he moaned too, with his eyes closed again. One thing was knowing what he had to do, another thing was doing it. When she rubbed her butt against him, his eyes shot open. He would very soon reach that point of no return when his mind would refuse any prompt request for elaborate thinking.
'Either leave, or just do it, for fuck's sake!' a voice inside his head ranted.
"We just have to wait a few more days," he whispered, turning her body around again to look into her eyes. "We are halfway through it, princess."
She tilted her head, as her hands rested on his shoulders.
"I don't really understand you… did you know that?"
He kept looking at her face as she spoke.
"I thought my decision would blow your mind… and then… you blow my mind instead."
"Oh, you did blow my mind, Eliza," he replied with a smile, trying to keep some distance between their bodies as he struggled to cool himself down. "You always do. And for the record, don't ask me to explain what I just did. All I know is that my body strongly disagrees with everything."
"Oh, I can see that…" she giggled, giving his straining cock a gentle squeeze before walking back to the table and taking a seat.
He gasped.
"You really shouldn't have done that…" he groaned, pulling out a chair with a grimace. "Now it will take ages til it goes back to sleep."
"I would offer to help with that, but given our… circumstances…"
"Better not," he replied, shifting on the chair as he tried to ignore the images in his mind. "So… more funfair at work today?"
"Nope. Not today."
"You are quite a dancer," he said, remembering her performance at the school the day before as he forked a pancake onto his plate.
"You should see my lap dance…" she replied with a sly smile. "It's legendary."
At her words, Devon nearly knocked over his glass of juice.
"I bet it is…" he muttered, shifting on the chair with a furrowed brow.
"I'm sorry," she chuckled, watching his reaction. "I just happen to have a very sexually active mind. Didn't mean to… trouble you or anything."
"You never trouble me when you talk about sex," he replied. "It's one of the things I like best about you, actually."
"Is that so?" she responded, as she filled her cup with hot water and chose her tea.
"It is. I find it very refreshing."
"You horn dog…"
"I didn't mean it that way, legendary lap dancer. It's just… I like it that you're comfortable with sex. With doing it, and with voicing it," he said, after grabbing an apple and taking a bite. He just munched on it, eyeing Eliza with interest before swallowing and speaking again. "It's a rare trait."
"So you don't think I'm a whore?"
"What?" he blurted out, and almost spat apple all over the table when he did so.
"For thinking about sex all the time? And then talking about it… and then trying to get you to do it with me?"
Eliza sounded unconcerned when she talked, but Devon could see she was trying her best to avoid his eyes. Obviously, she had been treated or referred to as a whore in the past, and didn't seem to be particularly pleased with such memories.
"Oh, well," he said, taking another bite of his apple. "I think about sex all the time, I talk about it too… And I have tried, and succeeded in, mind you, getting you to do it with me," he said, shrugging and raising his eyebrows as he said his next few words. "If you are a whore, then I am a whore too."
And then, he saw her give him one of her most heartfelt smiles.
"We are a match made in heaven, don't you think?" he concluded, winking and wiggling his eyebrows as he spoke.
"I can't believe I found you..." she whispered, resting her head in her hand.
"Yeah…" he answered, still smiling as he looked at her. "Must have been fate."
"Do you believe in that?"
"Indeed I do."
"You're a character, Devon."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Eliza shook her head. That man had swagger. He was swooning as he ate his apple, and still, his eyes were defiant… He had raised his head, and was now giving her that look… that look… And then, before she could actually stop herself, her mind wandered south as it remembered his body…
"I wish I could see what's in your mind right now," he said.
"I don't know if you should…" she replied, dipping the tea bag into the hot water as if it was the most entertaining thing in the world. "Though, I'm quite sure you would like… what I'm thinking."
"Well…" he licked his lip and raised an eyebrow. "That tea bag seems to be having a hell of a good time."
She snickered.
"Well, you're close enough."
"What?" he asked.
Eliza giggled again, trying not get carried away by all the unholy thoughts crossing her mind.
"What is close enough?" he asked again.
"Think about what you just said."
"About your tea?"
"About tea bags."
"Tea bags?"
"Yeah."
Devon frowned, looking slightly confused at their exchange.
"You've lost me."
"Teabagging, Devon, Gosh!"
"Teabagging?"
"No?" Eliza asked, trying her best not to burst into laughter. So the sassy sex-expert Devon Shaw had no idea what she was talking about?
Talk about surprising.
"What?" he asked again, frustration showing in every line of his face.
"Nothing comes to mind?"
"Lost me again."
"You know what?" she said, putting down her tea and rising to her feet. "Never mind. Forget it."
"Just tell me what it is!"
"I'll be late for work."
"Come on!" he whimpered.
"Really, just forget I mentioned it," she said, grabbing her bag as she prepared to leave, a grin splattered across her face. "It's better this way."
Then she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and walked towards the door.
"See you later!"
"See ya…" he replied, waiting until she had left to run to her Mac.
't-e-a-b-a-g-g-i-n-g,' he typed, drinking from his orange juice as he waited for the search results to show up on screen.
"From the look on her face," he muttered, "I bet it is s-"
Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes caught up with the first definition showing on the computer screen, and his eyes went wide.
"Oh."
Whatever he had thought of… that was not it, although yeah, he had suspected it had something to do with sex. What surprised him was the fact Eliza had such plans for that beloved part of his body.
"Now this… this looks good," he whispered, reading more on the subject until he came across a link to a video. "Watch 'Tea for Two'?" he read from the screen. "Yes, why not?"
And so, he stared into the computer screen for the next ten minutes, all of a sudden feeling very hot as he mentally replaced the people involved with images of him and Eliza.
When the video was over, his head was spinning.
"Eliza Clark…" he whispered, slowly dragging himself to the shower in order to sober up after the woman's latest prank on him. "I am so done with your teasing."
She was beating him at his own game, and it was high time he bounced back.
Now he only had to figure out how.
Chapter 8: Only two more days
"Ok, miscellaneous for 200…" Devon paused, and took a sip of his apple juice as he picked another card from the board. "Doing it with other men and/or women, doing it out in the open, wearing a costume."
The day before, Eliza had arrived home with a package under her arm: a gift, for him. How endearing! As soon as he opened it, though, he had to laugh. Jeopardy for Adults (Only). So, because he hadn't been aware of what 'teabagging' was, she felt she needed to quiz him on his knowledge about sex? What an impossible woman...
"What is a sexual fantasy?"
"Correct," he replied, watching her update the score chart. "Bonus question: what is one of your wildest fantasies? Extra 100 points."
Eliza scratched her head for a moment, chewing on the pen cap with as she thought.
"I actually dream of… having sex in a bathtub."
"In a bathtub?" Devon asked with a grown. "You telling me you never had sex in a bathtub? You're joking, right?"
"I know, unacceptable," Eliza replied, with a somewhat embarrassed chuckle. "It is what it is…"
"Now that is something we can easily fix..." he mumbled quietly, his eyes darting from her mouth to her eyes, and then back to her mouth.
>
Thoughts… if only he could control them.
"I didn't know this game had that kind of open-ended questions…" Eliza whispered, glancing at the instructions on the box.
"It actually doesn't."
"Devon!"
He smiled, putting the card away and lifting his glass to his lips again.
"From now on I demand to see all cards, ok?" she said, after sipping her hot cocoa.
"Ok."
"Yours?"
"What?"
"Oh, come on, let's settle this. You've tricked me into talking about a fantasy, now it's your turn."
He raised his eyebrows, looking at the cards with renewed interest to hide his own arousal as thoughts of what he fantasized about filled his mind. She really shouldn't be asking. More than that: he really shouldn't answer. If he did, he would not sugarcoat it, and voicing what he dreamt of – and planned on – doing to Eliza Clark, would only add to the sexual tension building between them.
Plus, a certain gentle throb between his legs was always a good indicator of how much more teasing he would be able to deal with without doing anything… inappropriate.
Right now, it was not that gentle anymore.
"Well, as of now, I guess doing you in the bathtub is definitely in the Top 5," he answered, still avoiding her eyes. It was a fair answer: relatively harmless, rather mild, and absolutely true. Hopefully, she would be content.
However, she wasn't.
"Yeah right," she snorted, rolling her eyes. "Give me another one. I know you can do better."
He smirked, still looking at the cards, which were likely to burst into flames really soon if he didn't look away.
"Well…" he whispered, idly playing with a counter on the board, "I dream of watching you touch yourself as you moan my name…" he paused, and finally raised his lust-filled eyes to hers as he visualized every single detail of what he would say next, "…then eat you out 'til you come in my mouth… fuck you senseless… then come all over your breasts."
Eliza's mouth hung open. To think that when it had been her turn to talk, all she had come up with was a meek 'sex in the shower'.
Now, as a prize for her modesty, she would have to deal with all the 'until you come in my mouth' imagery. Why did he have to be that graphic, for crying out loud? Couldn't he have gone for the usual, like, 'you wearing a nurse outfit', or other less… explicit answers? Now his words were echoing in her head, making shivers go up and down her spine, and as if he hadn't been clear enough, he still had to look at her like that…