Playing Pretend Box Set

by Natasha L. Black

  We kissed truths back and forth—his about what he needed to keep his father’s business—a marriage, fake or real. Me—the article and Jin and all my worst fears, how I needed to get away, but didn’t know how.

  His hands took possession of my body, my shoulders, my arms. He stroked me as if he were one of the artists he had spoken about earlier, in some other life, some drunken flash ago. He seemed to be learning the curves, the feel, and the texture of my whole body. He touched parts of me that had never felt aroused with such passion before. I was becoming overwhelmed. And then, we arrived somewhere that wasn't my room. I could only assume it must have been his.

  We kissed our clothes off, his hands claiming my breasts, finally. He caressed them, squeezing, and kneading so perfectly that spurts of pleasure snapped through me like an elastic band on my clit.

  Then, his lips lowered to one nipple, and his fingers pinched another. I crooned.

  Who knew...? Before Jin, there'd been a handful of others... But nothing like this.

  His tongue lapped at my nipple, working the other one into a twist between his strong fingers. All thought left me.

  Everything was instinct now. Act and react. He smelled like hypnotic musk and tasted like want.

  "Giovanni," I murmured. "Giovanni," I continued.

  It was less an action, or something said with purpose. It was more of something said for the pleasure of it. I liked the taste of his name on my lips.

  His hands snagged my panties, dropping them to the floor. There went the last of the clothing that separated us.

  We'd kissed our way to the bed. It was covered in silky softness, the slickness caressing my bare back and limbs. He paused to tower over me, taking me in.

  His eyes glittered, his hands shaking slightly, as if he wanted to savor me fully, and yet, the waiting was killing him. Torturing him.

  Then, his lips slammed back onto mine and it was as if we'd never had that moment.

  Our tongues twisted. We kissed, groaning back and forth.

  His hands stroked along my waist, his fingers taking turns dipping into the sensitive crease along the inside of my hip, teasing my inner thigh.

  Abruptly, he shoved me onto my belly, my back and ass facing him. He gave my ass a solid smack, the sound reverberating across the room.

  The newly experienced pleasure my body swelled with made me spasm, sending pleasure deeper within me, snaking up my body.

  "That is a damn fine ass," he grunted. Then, he pressed his hard-chiseled body to mine. I could feel his boner shoved against the crack of my ass, resting along the cheeks, his girth filling the small space.

  "I'm going to fuck you until you scream," he hissed into my ear.

  I didn't have to respond. He whipped me around and shoved his rod-like cock deep inside me.

  Pleasure ripped into my body, smacking me down onto the bed. I gasped.

  This was... He was...

  So massive, thick, and perfectly filling me. It was divine. Unlike anything I'd felt before. Singular. Unprecedented. He sunk himself as deep as possible then paused, neither of us wanting to rush that first, perfect entrance.

  "Tight," he managed to grunt. "Fucking tight."

  Fucking tight was right. Slowly, Giovanni began to piston in and out of me, the whole time his frame covering me, looking down on me, his hair wild. He looked at me like it wasn't enough for him to possess my body with his cock, but like he needed to consume me visually as well.

  He drank me in, and me? I was lost. Gone.

  I was floating in a sea of pleasure with no beginning or end. It was just nowness. Shocks of pleasure pumped into me. Again. And again.

  Then he was slamming into me harder and faster, his face constricted with pleasure, with how much he wanted to come but refused to. He grasped each of my hands, throwing them above my head and pinning me there. I was helpless to move. With legs happily spread, arms pinned, and my body on fire, I watched as this man fucked me hard into the bed, his frame glowing with effort, his muscles shifting under his skin. My whole body shrieked for release. I loved every second. Then, I came.

  He didn't let up. Not one bit. He continued, over and over, slamming into me. My body shook with the pleasure, pain, and the sensitive heights he was taking me to, and I came over, and over again, each time harder than the last. Giovanni was no less than a fucking machine, jackhammering me into obliviousness. Until finally he groaned, stopping, his dick spurting hotly inside of me, as together, for the final time, we came undone.

  6

  Giovanni

  Butter.

  I inhaled it. There was a soft, silky feeling with it too. Just like the silk sheets underneath my body, only this was...

  My eyes fluttered open.

  Hello there.

  In blurred bits, last nights crumbled into my head.

  The hot brunette with the wild, tangled hair and the big fuck-me-now eyes.

  Conversation that flowed so naturally that it was inevitable that our lips ended up together.

  Our lips getting more comfortable…

  The truth spilling out.

  The truth.

  I rubbed my eyes and shifted back to get a good look at her. In sleep, Kandice looked as peaceful as she had been on edge last night. She was in a shit situation, if she'd been telling the truth about the article business. I was pretty sure she was.

  She'd been extremely drunk, but from the moment I laid eyes on her, I could tell she was scared. Why lie about something like that anyway?

  She needed to get out of China, bad.

  I needed to find someone to marry, bad, so Gino wouldn't get his hands on the family business.

  Just like that, two puzzle pieces that I hadn't even realized were there, fit together perfectly.

  If we married, I would get the business and she could get out of China. It would solve both of our problems.

  We’d had a nice night together, the conversation hadn’t been painful—it had been great, honestly. While I only had a few hours of last night to go by, she seemed pleasant enough. I had genuinely enjoyed talking and spending time with her, dancing and laughing. I hadn't even given her my normal spiel to seduce her, in order to just take my mind off things.

  It had started out with that intention, sure. A sheer animalistic want to possess her curvy body. But while talking to her, it had turned into something more. Not affection, I hardly knew the woman. But still.

  As she slept, a hint of a smile came over Kandice's face. I sat up, putting the pads of both of my feet onto the cool tile floor. I had to be reasonable. I couldn't just spring this crazy idea onto her without thinking it through first. If I made the wrong decision, it would bite me in the ass hardcore. I could lose everything, and tack on the embarrassment of a heinous divorce to my name.

  I couldn't have that.

  Sitting here thinking it over like this wouldn't do me any good. I knew better than to call Mama, even Maria.

  They were just as logical as the next person, but they had too much skin in the game. I knew them too well. They both still believed in love and would be vehemently against me marrying someone for anything less.

  I also knew better than to call James. He didn't know the first thing about family or how much the business meant to me. He'd grown up with rich parents who were content to have him raised with a constant stream of nannies and private boarding schools. I knew without a doubt that he, at least, might support me on the fake marriage. James had never been in love, and his favorite thing was just going to bars to pick up girls.

  Kandice began to stir. She was only half awake as she snuggled into me tighter. God was she warm. Her hands moved to my hard-on.

  Damn.

  I cleared my throat and her eyes fluttered open.

  "Hey." Her tone was hesitant.

  I didn't blame her. What man in their right mind said no to morning sex with a super-hot woman beside him, who was also great in bed?

  I guess a man who had a desperate idiot plan that he couldn
't get off his mind. Me.

  "I have an idea," I said.

  She nodded, looking sleepily confused yet open, and, as she pulled the covers over her, I took one last look at her gorgeous, ample breasts before they were so cruelly hidden from view.

  "About what you said last night," I continued.

  Her face clouded over, her brows furrowing so much they cast her eyes in an untrusting shadow. "What did I say?"

  "You don't have to worry about me," I said. "I'm just here on vacation, remember? And I think what you did was admirable, anyway."

  She didn't say anything, though her expression encouraged me to continue.

  "I might have a solution that could solve both of our problems," I went on. "I don't know if you remember me saying—"

  "That you need to get married, or you'll lose the family business to your partying, irresponsible brother. Not to mention a good chunk of the family fortune," Kandice said, her eyes hinting to me that she was starting to catch on. "But you can't be saying—"

  "Why not?" I said, trying to prepare my pitch as I said it. Papa had always said I'd had a great head for pitches, but that was when I had time to prepare them. A few minutes, at least. Damn it, I should have thought of how to phrase this beforehand.

  "I can help you. A fake marriage could work. We would have to stay together for a good number of years. We can work that out. I would let you live your life. We wouldn't have to do it for real. You could date who you want, it would be for..." I tried to think of how to word it.

  Kandice had turned so I could only see her tangled, glossy cascade of hair.

  "I don't know," she said.

  "What's giving you the most pause?" I asked.

  She whipped around to face me, her eyes fierce, challenging. "For starters, I barely know you."

  "I'm the one who has more to lose here," I reminded her.

  Her full lips twisted. "Oh yeah? Losing your family business is worse than me potentially losing my life?"

  I saw her point. "I didn't mean it like that," I hedged. "Only that, once you marry me and get yourself out of China, you can technically screw me over and leave. It's not like I could go and have you brought back."

  That was the law, I was pretty sure. Once you got a green card it didn’t just poof and disappear because of divorce. One of my uncles had a crazy time with some Russian girl he married and screwed him over.

  "Okay," she said. "Don't get me wrong, you seem like a great guy. It's just... I'm used to having my own life. I don't want that to change."

  "And it won’t," I said. "I'm not exactly relationship material either. I'm often busy at work. I think this arrangement could work beautifully for both of us."

  And yet, her face was still unconvinced.

  "Don't worry," I joked. "I won't divorce you. Or take half your money, or the family dog."

  She cracked a smile. "It's not that."

  "What is it then?"

  This was beginning to get trying. I understood it was a huge life decision. But last night, even this morning, she had a desperate quality about her. The anxious shake of her hands when she thought I didn't notice. Like a hunted animal. How much more convincing did she need?

  "I just don't like lying," she confessed. "My parents are crazily overprotective, too. If they found out I just married a guy after knowing him for weeks, months, whatever our story is..."

  "Then we’ll make up a better story," I said.

  "I had a boyfriend before this," Kandice reminded me. "There's no way I'm going to lie and tell my parents that I was cheating on him with you."

  "Good point," I admitted. "Fine. Your choice. You don't have to tell your parents at all, though we will have to make a few appearances with my family. I can tell them you're busy working most of the time, but they will want to meet you."

  Kandice sighed, a smile tugging at her lips as she rose from the bed and began to put on her clothes. "You’re part of one of those tight-knit Italian families that see each other every other day, aren't you?"

  I gave my head a little tilt to the affirmative. "But I can do most of the visiting at their place. They don't have to come to our place."

  Halfway through pulling up her jeans, Kandice stopped. "Our place?" she repeated.

  I could see that this was going to be more difficult than I'd anticipated. Not that I'd had the time to anticipate much.

  I picked up the hotel phone. "I'm ordering us some room service," I said. "If I wait and this discussion goes much longer, I might just starve."

  "Well, excuse me for not wanting to throw my life away on a guy I met last night," she said, though I could tell by her tone that she wasn't that frustrated.

  I ordered us a whole breakfast spread, then got back to our conversation.

  "If we don't live together, my family will be suspicious."

  "Then just tell them the truth," Kandice said. "How am I supposed to keep it from my parents more than a week if I live with you?"

  "We can figure it out as we go?" I suggested.

  Kandice shook her head definitively. "I want to know what I'm getting myself into."

  Just then, the food arrived. We ate our scrambled eggs and crispy bacon in intense silence and, putting her cutlery down, Kandice finally spoke. "I'm going to need some time to think about it."

  "Of course," I said, rising. "I can postpone going home for three more days, but no longer. Otherwise I’d miss my own father's funeral."

  "That’s fair," Kandice said. "Where do you live again?"

  "Miami," I said.

  She nodded. "My parents moved to Orlando. That will be perfect, honestly. And Miami is also where my best friend Jen lives."

  "Excellent," I said. "So, you agree? No need to wait?"

  The smile quickly disappeared from Kandice' face. "No. I still need time to think about it." She strode to the door and paused. "Goodbye, Giovanni."

  The sudden awkward turn to formality was strange, but I played along. Perhaps I had pushed it. But I was eager to have this over and done with.

  "Goodbye, Kandice. Hope the rest of your day goes well; and be careful."

  She had barely opened the door when I stopped her.

  "Would you want to go for dinner tonight? You won't have to make your decision by then," I assured her. "In fact, it might help you make it. You could see whether or not being around me for an extended period is as unbearable as you fear."

  A smile quirked on her lips. "I don't..." She took her head. "Alright. Dinner then."

  She left before I could tell her the when, where, or why. Luckily, I'd gotten her number. Now, I would just have to see how the rest of the day went, and text her the information.

  And hope for the best.

  7

  Kandice

  Yep, and award for the weirdest morning ever goes to... Today!

  I used my reflection in the chrome elevator doors to smooth my hair.

  What a night, and what a morning. Hell, what a week.

  I could still feel the anxiety from the newspaper article rippling through my veins like some kind of mite flicking its fingers.

  And then the whole credit card not working thing... Luckily, I'd had the foresight to book my hotel room in advance, so I could go there to regroup and consider what Giovanni had said.

  I had to admit. It was more tempting than I had let on. At this rate, I probably would have agreed to five years as a dishwasher slave in order to get out of here, safe and sound.

  What were the odds that Giovanni was going back to a place very near my parents, and where Jen lived? It was perfect. But nothing’s ever as perfect as it seems.

  Case in point, my relationship with Jin. At the beginning, it really had been perfect. I really liked him, and I thought we would turn into something more. As time went on, I couldn’t believe that in reality we were both completely dissatisfied.

  Now, it felt like there was even more to think about.

  Stepping outside, I took a breath of fresh air, then looked around surreptiti
ously. Nope, no suspicious dangerous-looking men hanging around looking like they wanted to kill or kidnap me.

  God, I was getting paranoid. I couldn't continue like this much longer. Work had always been my boon, my salve. Without it, I was adrift.

  I was cracking. Last night was evidence of that. Going to a bar alone was risky but going home with Giovanni had been insanely risky. Especially getting drunk at a time like this. That left me more vulnerable than ever. I was just lucky the night had ended how it had.

  As I hailed a taxi and climbed in, a tingle flooded through my body. Hell yeah, had I been lucky. Giovanni wasn't just easy on the eyes; he was a god in bed.

  I felt my pussy start to throb. Maybe it was just because I'd been drunk, but the sex I remembered. It had been out of this world. Like nothing I ever thought sex could be.

  Sure, obviously I'd had sex before, and it was enjoyable. But this had been on a different plane entirely. The sex I'd had before, had been good.

  But this... This was two bodies fusing together. Knowing what the other one wanted before it even knew itself. It was a flow. It was divine.

  I shook my head and concentrated my gaze out the window. The buildings flashed by, the mix of different cultural styles blending into the modern architecture. Steel against stucco, Tudor style beside skyscrapers. One of the most impressive things, always, were the pedestrian crosswalks, I thought to myself. The mass of people moving from all corners. I shook my head, breaking my gaze from billboards and millions of faces.

  I needed to focus on the decision at hand. Giovanni had said that I had two days to decide, but I knew that part of him would be expecting an answer tonight.

  Hell, I wanted to know tonight. I wanted to know right now. It wasn't like I had a plan B or C as an alternative. Hell, I didn't even have a plan A.

  Sure, when I was lying in my bed, dismal and desperate, taking a train to Vietnam or somewhere nearby seemed like a viable option, but when it came down to it, I wasn't suited to life on the run. I liked sleeping in too much, having the same bed to go home to. I liked being able to find my favorite lip balm and favorite pillow.