by Sara Allen
She’d slicked her hair back with styling gel in a sleek line over her scalp and her makeup was minimal, no more than a splash of dark burgundy lipstick that made her lips very desirable.
The slow swing of my eyes from her face to her feet couldn’t hope to hide how impressed I was. She’d matched my dark suit and complemented it with a version of her own. Even down to the hair, as I’d gelled mine back and held the longer hair at the top with a dark band. She grabbed a purse and headed for the door.
“What?” I looked at her. “No jacket?” The back of her blouse was cut away to reveal a very shapely spine and shoulder blades as well as the fact she wore no bra. But I knew that already.
“We’re going by car,” she said with a little shrug of her shoulders. “We’re eating inside.” Her head cocked. “And you wouldn’t allow a lady to return home on her own, would you?”
“What if you get cold?”
“You can be a gentleman and give me your jacket.” She didn’t even crack a smile.
That challenge made me determined that wherever we ended up after dinner, I’d be removing clothes not adding my own to the few items she’d chosen to wear. I waved her towards the door and adjusted my hard on discreetly.
There wasn’t an eye that didn’t follow her progress through the restaurant when we arrived. I watched women turn green with envy and men puff out their chest as she passed their table, heading for the discreet corner I’d asked to be seated in. The quiet confidence of her thrown-back shoulders charged the energy around her and she seemed to feed off it as she walked.
However, she wasn’t showy about it. Rowanne held her head high and kept it moving, neither glancing left nor right. Men who thought they could catch her eye, looked at the hand I placed on her waist and backed down. They were like a pack of wolves, but there was only one alpha in the room and I hadn’t reached my seat yet. With that walk through the restaurant, I decided to make it a point of asking, nicely, that she never dress like that again. Or I’d keep her at home where I could take everything off with a slow hand and food as a reward.
Her nipples had puckered in the cold, and she threw them forward as she moved. If she’d come without a blouse on at all, it would have been less scandalous. But as it was, everyone looked far too hard to get a good glimpse of what she had on show. I wasn’t sure how much of this I’d be able to take, but she’d thrown down a gauntlet and it was a shame to buckle so easily.
Holding her chair as she sat, I leaned over her, filling my senses with a drag on her perfume only to realize that was another ploy she’d used on me. She’d done it on purpose, wearing only enough perfume that if I actually wanted to know what she smelt like, I’d have to get extremely close.
I shook my head. “Tease,” I whispered in her ear and stood to take my seat beside her.
“Who? Me?” Rowanne blinked her wide eyes several times in a comical gesture that brought a smile to my lips.
Letting it pass, I waved the waiter over. “What’s the chef’s special?”
The waiter leaned forward and placed two menus between us. I didn’t bother to touch them. I simply looked at him expectantly.
“Pan-seared Japanese Wagyu,” he replied.
“And seafood?” Rowanne asked, a scowl marring her pretty face.
“Sautéed Dover Sole Meuniere,” the waiter replied, turning to face Rowanne. I could see a blush rise on his face as he studied her and I had to hold myself still. Clearing my throat to get his attention, I had to repeat it twice before he got the message. The fool was so far gone that I’d almost had to shout before he dragged his gaze back to safer waters.
“Bring us one of each,” I instructed the waiter, making it a point to lower my brows and be as intimidating as I could. He got the message loud and clear, and I smirked as his narrow face blanched slightly.
“Err… anything to drink, sir?”
“Just bring whatever will go best with the food.” I dismissed him, before he got on my nerves any more than he already had.
Glancing up at Rowanne, I could see a trace of amusement on her face.
“So, you think it’s funny, do you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She studied the window drapes and wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“I think you do,” I told her quietly and was pleased to see the shiver that passed across her shoulders and the rising of her nipples beneath the blouse. That was it for me, dinner was officially canceled.
Pushing my chair back, I stood from my seat and shrugged my shoulders out of my jacket.
“What are you doing?” Rowanne questioned, her eyes wide.
“Stand,” I ordered in a low voice.
I was pleased to see her comply without question and she lifted out of the chair and stood with her back to me. It was with delight that I took my time threading her arms through the sleeves and raising the jacket over her shoulders. Leaning over her, I breathed her in on a slow inhale in the hollow beside her neck before sealing the jacket closed with a searing kiss on her neck, followed by a nip with my teeth.
If she hadn’t moaned low in her throat, I may have been able to hold myself together long enough to walk out of that restaurant with a shred of dignity. But she did, and I couldn’t.
I gave her points for attempting to keep up, before she pulled on my hand, slowing me down before she tripped as we exited. Slamming the car door as she seated herself comfortably, I barely managed arriving home without getting arrested for speeding.
12
Him
The walk to the elevator in my apartment building was a test of nerves for me. There were so many thoughts running around in my mind about how to handle this encounter that I almost missed the comment she’d made. It was the quiet in her voice that had me glance across and study her expression.
“I said,” Rowanne remarked, “that the elevator has arrived,”
I smiled. “Ladies first.” I held my hand out. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.” I gave a small shrug and hoped to God she wouldn’t say yes.
She’d pushed the sleeves of my jacket up to her elbows, the masculinity of the broad shoulders worked for her. With the exposure of her thigh through the gap in her skirt, she looked more feminine than she had with only her own clothes on. The elevator door began to close, and I pulled her into the square box, enclosing her in the corner of the space as the doors slid closed behind me.
“What am I going to do with you?” I tracked the traces her tongue made as she licked her lips and tried hard not to invite me in for a taste. But I was never one to wait for an invitation that was clear as day.
Easing towards her, I blocked her escape as my head turned sideways to capture her mouth and leave nothing behind. I had no intention of whetting her appetite with a chaste peck. I wanted to burn my presence onto her mind through her mouth and beyond.
With only a mere inch between our mingled breaths, Rowanne raised a finger and placed it over my mouth, halting my approach.
“If you kiss me in here,” she breathed, “we may never leave. Imagine what your neighbors will think.”
“They’ll think I’m the luckiest man alive and take the other elevator.”
“And the concierge?”
“He’ll replay the footage for weeks,” I told her. “And jack off to it daily.”
She giggled, breaking the tension. “That’s awful!”
“Not for him, trust me.”
“Are you claiming you have moves?” There was a challenge in her eyes that made me want to prove exactly what I had planned.
The elevator doors slipped open behind me. “This is your last chance to back out and save yourself from any regrets.”
Rowanne was still for a moment. I heard my heart speed up with anticipation. Not only of whether she would stay, I had no doubt that we would walk across the corridor to my apartment. But what this would mean for the both of us. There was no going back from this, no returns. Whatever I found when I undressed her and whatever we
did if I managed to make it to the bedroom would be the change that would set us both on a new road.
She eased past me, a smile and daring in her eyes, as I watched my jacket slide off one shoulder, her nipples puckered from the cold or her excitement, I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t about to wait and debate the matter. My keys jangled in my hand, and I hoped I didn’t fumble or drop them. That would show too much of my own need to prove I was worthy of this woman. She’d filled my mind and senses with everything I didn’t know I wanted to explore.
The door slammed from the push of my foot as my hands were already occupied snaking up and down Rowanne’s back and thighs. She was so much shorter than me that there was nothing left for me to do but lift her to rest against my caged cock, as I walked towards my bedroom.
The little minx actually ground her hips, setting off a rumble through my chest and groin. I groaned, sound murmuring from between my lips and into her mouth. I stopped right there in the hallway and unzipped my trousers with one hand as I held Rowanne against the wall with the other under her ass.
My trousers fell around my knees and I left them there, pushing my boxers out of the way. Rowanne’s skirt had been kind enough to comply, slipping aside to give me ample access to the warm spot my fingers sought. She was wetter than I thought and couldn’t help the smile that played over my mouth.
The head of my cock found its place with no guidance from me, as though it knew its way home and I couldn’t help the stab of eagerness that had me thrusting forward before I caught myself and held back to give Rowanne a chance to become accustomed to my girth.
She bit my lip, holding on with arms locked around my shoulders and thighs gripping my hips savagely.
“Tell me if I’m hurting you?” I whispered.
Rowanne wriggled her hips against me, setting off a tremor that had me nudge the head of my cock against her cervix. With her intake of breath, I stopped, holding myself still until she sighed and rested her forehead against my shoulder.
“Talk to me, little girl,” I teased, “I wanna know what you want.”
“I want you to stop talking and fuck me!”
Pulling my hips back, I knocked once hard and watched those brown eyes widen slightly.
“You want me to do what?”
Her eyelids had slipped closed, and her mouth opened as she breathed, resting her head against the hallway wall. Rowanne’s hands had slipped to my shoulders, giving me a glimpse of her sheer blouse, the cause of our current predicament. I searched for the fastening at the back of her neck with my free hand and was rewarded with a gasp from Rowanne as my fingers flicked the popper open.
The blouse fell forward to reveal those delightful breasts, released from the captivity of material that did nothing to hide them. I became a contortionist in that damn hallway, bending my head to capture one nipple between my teeth as Rowanne’s nails bit into my shoulders.
The puckered areola filled my mouth, and I pulled in as much of her breast as I could, my fingers kneading her ass cheeks as I set my hips rocking. I could feel her walls tightening against me, setting off a delicious sensation that I knew if I thought about, would be the end of me.
My mouth, hips, and hands worked in unison to bring Rowanne to a screaming, panting orgasm that forced her hips forward, coating me in juices that I couldn’t help but dip my finger in and raise it to my mouth for a taste.
“Just as sweet as I knew you’d be.”
“What?” Rowanne stammered.
I held her as the shuddering from her thighs subsided, moving slowly so as not to lose track of what I was trying to accomplish.
“Your skin smells like flowers,” I told her, “you exude a scent I’ve never encountered.” As I talked to her my dick became harder, the thrusts stronger until I could feel her nails biting deep against my neck and back.
I knew she was barely aware of the play of my hands against her ass and lower back. She’d pushed her shoulders against the wall as her ecstasy peaked, allowing a small gap where my hand slipped and rested against the wall and her back. Her skirt had gathered around her waist as I’d pushed it away to get access, and her thong I held with my fingers and snapped the flimsy elastic in two places. That was my trophy and it would stay with me regardless of what happened tonight.
Rowanne began moving her hips again, her breath panting in short gasps. Her thighs squeezed tighter, knees digging into my hips and I swore. Holding one ass cheek in each hand, I lifted Rowanne slightly, holding her up so I could angle her hips for better access.
With the first stroke, I felt my balls slap against her and ground my hips from side to side. If I could have climbed inside, I would have been happy to do so, but I had to make do with what I had. The strokes became faster, my breathing harsher. A tightness began like a minute tremor that started from deep within my pelvis and spread outwards.
I pulled back, holding myself until the last minute, then thrust hard, plunging deeper than I thought I should go, but couldn’t help myself. The relief that spread through me as Rowanne fell forward against my chest was something I would never be able to forget. She was spent, but I was just beginning.
It was time to revive and refresh my architect for the next round.
Slipping my feet out of my shoes wasn’t as easy as it had appeared in my mind, neither was divesting myself of my slacks and boxers. But I managed. I also made it through the door of my bedroom without too much trouble.
I took my time exploring all of Rowanne that night. Learning what made her scream and for how long. If it took me a few hours to remember to feed her, I couldn’t be blamed as my mind was on other things. But that first night set up an appetite in me for her that I doubted I would ever be able to satisfy, even if I’d wanted to.
13
Her
A storm lashed the window of my corner office with angry ice crystals and freezing rain. The sky mirrored my own feelings of anxiety and depression in its boiling dark gray clouds while the heavy air seemed to suffocate all the joy out of the world.
I was engaged on another project for a client that didn’t interest me at all. His views were too traditionally rigid for me to really get my teeth into it and give it my full attention. But at a personal request, I was stuck doing something that didn’t inspire me in the least.
They had called the construction work on Andrew’s site to a halt, because of the freezing January weather, and the forecast was set for more of the same in the coming weeks. I’d liaised with Simon, and he assured me that they’d finish it in time for Sherwin’s July wedding.
But my relationship with Ash seemed to have faltered as though he no longer needed me. At a time when I wanted nothing more than to see him, hear his voice, or feel those arms wrapped around me. Christmas had come and gone and I hadn’t seen him once in the two weeks that covered the festive period. Even though I thought he was joking when he told me he’d be out of touch, I hadn’t really believed he’d be able to stay away. Who says something like that and actually sticks to it? But that seemed to be something else I was learning about my tattooed lover.
He was loyal to a fault and played no favorites. If he said he was working for his boss, that meant he was working and nothing I could say would drag him away from his place beside Sherwin. I didn’t even know where he was because the number he’d given me was unavailable.
So, I’d spent Christmas and New Year’s with my family, and a long face. My usual jovial self was absent, and no matter how hard my siblings tried to pull me out of my mood, it didn’t work. After a while, even my mother gave up on me and left me to my corner, gazing out of the window and staring at my phone.
It wasn’t until she’d asked what man left his girlfriend alone at Christmas that it really sunk in, spilling bitter tears down my cheeks and an ache into my heart. I was an afterthought and not on the main menu as far as Ash was concerned. And that reality was a hard pill to swallow.
If I asked anything about Andrew Sherwin’s business and his role in it, he shut
me down, settling a chilly mood over our evening until I regretted bringing up the subject at all. It happened so often that I no longer bothered to ask and just waited for him to come to me when he had time.
I put the finishing touches on the design and sat staring at the sterile walls that didn’t impress me one little bit. It was a good, clean design that would suit a person with the same outlook, but it wouldn’t win me any awards or accolades, except the gratitude of the client. Sometimes, that just had to be enough.
Glancing at the corner, my eyes spied the document roll with that special design in it. I couldn’t help that my feet took me over there or the tremble in my hand as I flipped the closure open and pulled the roll of thick paper from inside. Spreading it across my desk, I held down the edges with paperweights and stood back.
There was a definitive masculinity about the concept I’d created for Ash. The section of exterior wall that mimicked the diagonal lines splayed across his neck while another section had windows that mimicked the tattoos across the backs of his hands. The only things missing from this design were the land to build it on and the man to reside in it.
I missed him terribly, his absence a hole in my soul. It would have been better if I’d not let him in so completely, but no one had ever gotten as close to me as Ash had. There was no way I could explain it except to say my inexperience with relationships had taken me on a roller coaster ride and I was still reeling. Looking at the design shook spasms through me that crumpled me into my seat and sent hot, bitter tears down my face. Those feelings of abandonment ached like a sore tooth that I didn’t know how to extract.
I’d never been a club or partygoer, so the release of sharing my world with strangers was never going to be a replacement. My family didn’t understand, because I couldn’t tell them what troubled me, even though my mum knew me well enough to know there had to be a man involved. Where my usual pastime of quiet evenings and a good book had been enough, they were now reminders of the evenings I’d spent reading to Ash and discussing our love of literature or the arts.