“Oh, that is Gornash. It is from the early nineteenth century. I got a great deal on it in an online auction. Apparently, the artist died the day after he painted this.”
“That’s sad,” Ember said. “But also, very cool in a super morbid and kind of gross way.”
Zander laughed. The girl could make anything sound funny and deadpan. Her sense of humor was hard to match.
“I find what you do very interesting,” Ember said.
“Really?” Zander replied.
“Yeah,” she continued. “I mean you have to be incredibly insightful, have great killer instincts, and you have to be able to keep a strong focus. A lot of people don’t have that kind of inner strength. You mentioned earlier that you thought I had that, well I used to think so too. But nowadays I’m not too sure. I doubt I have anything as strong as what you do.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Zander said. “There is no reason to sell yourself short here. As I said earlier I knew that the love of money would bring me some riches one way or another, but as a kid I never really knew how exactly. There was a time when I thought of being a doctor, a lawyer, and at one time I had my sights on possibly going into professional baseball.”
“Don’t all little boys dream of that?”
“Yeah, they do. I hate to toot my own horn, but I was actually good enough to make it. I had several of the top college scouts interested in me when I was a senior in high school. I was a pitcher with a ninety-eight mile per hour fastball and I had the eighth highest strike out record of any high school player in the country.”
“That’s awesome,” Ember said. “What happened? Did you change your mind and develop a nose for business?”
“No. I committed to Stanford and played baseball for them for two years, continuing my hot streak. The pro scouts started calling and I could have turned pro right then, but I really wanted to finish college. That was important to me and it was important to my parents. I’d worked so hard on my grades and I’ve always wanted a degree. I figured that I could finish two more years of school, keep playing baseball, and then I would be able to turn pro then. Being realistic the average professional player’s career is less than five years. Even if you make some money, what will you do after, right?”
“Yeah, I can see that. I admire that you stayed in school.”
“Well, don’t admire me too much. I should have taken the offer. If I’d really had my head on straight I would have thought that college would be there later, but baseball has an expiration date.”
‘What happened?” Ember asked walking over slowly and sitting down beside him.
“In the middle of my junior year I injured my rotator cuff. It’s a freak in jury that happens to pitchers sometimes, usually when they’ve been pitching too much, especially at a young age.”
“Ow, that sounds painful.”
“Yeah, but not nearly as painful as being on the DL for the rest of that season. The following year when I was done healing and tried to return, my arm was junk. I had lost a lot of velocity and control. Plus, after I threw for a bit it would start to hurt really badly. So, that was it.”
“I’m sorry. That is pretty tragic,” Ember said. The way she said it was comforting and full of real emotion. He could tell she really did care.
He stared at her, looking deeply into her beautiful eyes. That was all it took. He could not restrain himself anymore.
Zander kissed her gently at first, proceeding cautiously not wanting to go farther than she was comfortable with too quickly. Her lips were soft, slightly moist, and beginning to open as her mouth moved over his harder taking him by surprise.
A moan escaped her just then as Zander moved closer to her. The softness wrapped around him, her sweet, succulent scent invading his nostrils as he pulled her even closer, almost trying to devour her lips and her essence.
Her lips were pressing, moving, pulling against his sending shockwaves of tingling sensations moving into his groin. He felt his body starting to heat up, sweat pouring down his back. His hands were roaming across her body now, moving up and down her back rubbing the skin beneath her tight dress and pressing her body closer to him, her breasts pushing now against his own chest.
His hands made their way down to her legs and began to move upwards slowly as his tongue entered her mouth finding her own, the two units carefully entwined now in a fit of passionate hunger. His hands moved under the dress lifting it up slowly and steadily, partly on purpose to take his time and partly just to tease her a bit. Ember was moaning constantly now. He wondered if she was getting wet. Oh, he wanted to feel that wetness, wanted to slide into that pool of total bliss between her legs. He’d been aching for it ever since he laid eyes on her.
His hand was under her dress now grabbing at handfuls of her sweet ass. It was smooth and firm, but not too firm. He marveled at how shapely it was, how it formed together with her wide hips to create that perfect visual that got him harder just thinking about it. And he was rock hard. His pants were pressing so tightly against his bulge that he was almost in pain. He had to get free, had to get inside of her…
Suddenly he felt her hand on his crotch, grabbing, stroking at the thick rod that was so waiting for her. Her hand felt so good over his pants adding resistance and pressure by pushing against it. He could not take it anymore.
Zander unzipped his pants allowing all eight inches to spring free. Ember moaned happily. She quickly grabbed it with both hands and began to milk it, squeezing it moving up and down, paying very special attention to the tip and the head.
“Oh…” Zander moaned. Her touch was heavenly.
His skin was stretched so tightly around his raging hardness that he thought it might break something if it did not get release soon.
As if reading his mind Ember’s mouth was suddenly around him, moving steadily down to almost the base and then slowly back up repeating the process several times before settling into a perfect rhythm.
He felt as if his brain was going to explode with pleasure. He wanted to finish soon, but he knew that he couldn’t. Not yet… it was not time yet. He had to keep this ride going. He needed a slight distraction.
Zander’s fingers were touching Ember’s panties now and still moving forward. He politely moved the underwear to the side and jammed two of his thick fingers into her box.
“OH!” Ember moaned loudly with a mouthful of his member still between her lips, the pressure of her hot mouth intensifying and producing an exquisite moment of bliss. She engulfed him fully then moving in long, steady strokes from the tip to the very root of him, closing her mouth at the bottom and gently releasing pressure on the way to the top.
He thought he was close to the finish, all it would take was a little letting go on his part but he refused to let this happen. He had to remained focused on this experience and be with her. Waiting for his release to build and intensify would be miraculous when he finally did let go. He had to just hold on a bit longer…
Zander’s fingers were deep inside Ember’s tight pool of wetness. He could feel her getting even tighter as he continued to push with his fingers, hitting the pressure points and mixing it up a bit to keep her off guard. He would occasionally hit her nub and her whole body would just shudder under the touch. He loved the power it gave him, the control over her lust, and her passion. It was somewhat intoxicating.
But he could not hold on much longer. He quickly pulled out of her mouth. He stood up off the couch and let his pants fall to the floor, standing there in only a shirt. His rigid member was standing up hard and ready for more, the remnants of her mouth glistening his knob in the dimly lit room. His hands clutched tightly to her underwear, holding onto them almost as a souvenir. He smiled and dropped them to the floor.
She seemed confused for a moment. He could practically read her mind; she was wondering what was going to happen next.
Zander scooped her up in his arms and carried her into his bedroom. He laid her down gently on the bed and before she could even reac
t his face was buried between her legs, sucking, licking, engulfing every one of his facial senses in her pure lustful essence. Everything about it was exhilarating, as if he had been given the strongest psychedelic drug imaginable and he never wanted to come down from this high.
He reached inside of her as far as possible, probing with his tongue, tasting and consuming every bit of her that he could. He wanted to make sure she was properly warmed up before he began the finale, and what a finale it was going to be.
With his mouth, he worked on her core, savoring every single moment of the experience. Ember was moaning loudly, getting louder with each passing second. He sensed she might be close but he didn’t care. If she went over the edge he was confident he could bring her back for another round with no problems.
Zander stroked his hard flesh keeping it ready and able to complete the mission it had been selected for.
“Oh, give it to me,” Ember moaned reaching out for him. She wanted it so badly. Her voice was pleading, begging for him to finish her off.
Finally, he decided it was time. He ripped off his shirt so as to be unencumbered and climbed between her legs.
Entering her was like slipping into a pool of warmth when you were freezing to death. Every single fiber of his being came alive right then, the pleasure echoing out from that one piece of his anatomy.
She tightened beneath him, her pleasure echoing loudly in his ear with her constant moans. She wanted to speak but was unable to verbalize anything at that moment. It was all about the pleasure.
Zander pumped her harder, quicker, deeper—he wanted to release so far inside of her. It was getting close. He knew it was going to happen at any second.
He kissed her hard on the mouth and then looked her in the eyes, both of them enjoying the intensity as their climaxes released together rocking them both together repeatedly as the aftershocks rolled to a high crescendo and then slowly started to trickle down until they were just resting in each other’s arms.
Zander kissed her sweetly on the lips and hugged her close to him.
They laid that way for what must have been several minutes, just enjoying the time together.
Ember seemed a bit surprised when Zander started getting dressed and helping her find her clothes. She must have been under the impression that she would spend the night. But he had a lot to do the next morning and other than sleeping in the same bed he didn’t think that he was going to be much of a host in the morning.
As he watched her leave the building in the car he’d ordered for her he couldn’t help but feel like a jerk. He’d just shared this amazing, earth shattering, possible once in a lifetime experience with the woman of his dreams and he had just basically pushed her away right after.
What the hell was the matter with him?
12
Ember
Ember awoke to the bright sunlight shining through her window. For some reason, she had forgotten to close the blinds. She hated how often she actually did that. As she laid there thinking about it she was starting to toy with the idea of just painting the windows black and then she would never have to worry about it again. Her landlord would love the idea of her permanently darkening the windows. Hell, she might even paint the walls black… or at least a really dark navy blue…
She looked at the clock; it read a quarter past six. Ember rolled out of bed and attempted to stand up. Her legs were not ready to work yet this morning. It was Saturday and she did not typically rise until at least nine on the weekend, but once she was awake there was no getting back to sleep for her. That was the curse that had plagued her since childhood.
Finally forcing the aching bones that she called her body out of bed she went down the hall and took a shower. The hot water was soothing on her skin, slowly warming her up and getting ready for the day ahead. Not that she had any plans that she could recall right then, but there was always the possibility of one of her friends coming up with some crazy idea to get into. Or at least she could count on Liza. That girl was born to find fun.
Or maybe she would hear from Zander.
This was the first time his name had popped into her head since she opened her eyes but the moment it did she realized she’d really thought of nothing else since she became conscious a few minutes ago. Last night was one of the most amazing and overall special nights she’d ever had. Every single part of it was perfect. Zander was perfect and it felt like they were perfect together. The conversation, the fun, the jokes over food, and then the beautiful lovemaking—it was all beyond her wildest dreams and expectations. She’d never thought she would actually meet someone like that and there he was.
But afterwards he acted almost as if nothing had happened. Zander had basically told her to leave, although he did it politely. He used the ruse of having to get up early, which was the oldest line in the book as far as she was concerned. But then again, he was a money obsessed billionaire who probably worked eighteen hours a day every single day so that was not out of the question. But after what they had shared to just kick her out that was almost cruel.
She felt the sickening feeling of regret in her stomach, but at the same time she did not really regret a thing. She loved everything that happened last night right up until then and if she had it to over again she would not have changed a thing.
Except she might have kept her heart closer to her chest and not shared it with him. Right now, it felt as if her heart was… not broken, but bruised—that was the right word for it. She wasn’t sure how to even feel about it. Should she be angry? Should she be sad? Did she feel used? How could she really feel that way when she knew that this was essentially a business relationship going in, right? But it was just Zander… he was the epitome of the man she had dreamt all her life that she would meet. And it turned out to be a business transaction after all. Somewhere along the way she’d let her heart get in the way of business and read more into this than there really was.
She finished her shower, dried off, brushed her teeth, and changed into some of the only clean sweats she had. It was quite possible she would park herself on the couch and not move all day. Those days were becoming more and more frequent and she had no problem with that. But then again, she was far too young to sink into that level of despair.
As she made her way to breakfast she found a fresh pot of coffee and Liza sitting at the table eating her usual breakfast of yogurt and granola with fruit while reading some book on her Kindle. Ember ignored everything and poured herself a big cup of coffee. She figured three cups of caffeine and she would be ready to go as per her usual morning routine.
“Good morning,” Liza said. Her voice was always so gratingly chipper in the morning. Of course, she’d probably been up for two hours, gotten a workout and shower in, and was thinking about what she wanted to do with the rest of her day off. Morning people made Ember sick.
“Hey,” Ember replied. She sipped her coffee ignoring how hot it was and slightly burning her tongue. That was a small price to pay for getting large quantities of caffeine into her system as soon as possible.
“How did it go last night?” Liza said putting her phone down.
“Oh, I’m not sure I want to talk about it,” Ember replied. Her voice sounded too groggy to be used right then. Or it might have been from all of the oral service she’d given to Zander. She wanted to regret it but the mere thought of it got her a bit excited. Oh, the man was a sexual athlete in every way.
“Ooh, that bad? I figure since you came home late that things were going well.”
Liza was one of those people who could not take the hint when someone did not want to talk about something. It was like she could not grasp the concept of why someone would not want to talk about something that might have been a bad experience for them.
But then again Ember had not actually made up her mind about how she really felt about everything. How did such a beautiful evening turn out so confusing? She just didn’t know, but she was starting to get a headache.
“You got a b
id, right? I mean you were looking far too good to not get a bid,” Liza said.
Ember knew it was pointless to try to resist and that Liza was really just trying to help. She wasn’t just being nosey.
She told Liza everything from meeting Zander at the bar to his outrageous bid and then the evening in his penthouse until he sent her home.
“What? He sent you home? That’s… weird…” Liza said.
“Yeah, I don’t get it. I mean as far as I know I didn’t do anything to annoy him or upset him. The sex was way intense, for both of us I think. I don’t think I was imagining it.”
“Wow, I wonder if he has a brother…” Liza said.
Ember slapped her playfully on the arm. “Would you be serious?”
“What? If the guy has moves like that in the bed then I definitely want to find some man to do that with me. I have never been rocked that way.”
“Yeah, neither have I. Oh, it is the kind of sex you hear about that is totally addictive. I mean even after he threw me out and I feel embarrassed, and maybe even a little ashamed but I don’t know why—I still want to hop into bed with him again. It’s like some crazy drug that you try once and then you can never stop.”
“That is pretty sweet,” Liza said. “That is not the sort of thing that comes along very often.”
“But I’m not going to call him. Would you?” Ember asked.
“What? No way! If he wants to get in touch with you then he can.”
“That’s the problem. I’m afraid this was nothing but a business thing for him. You know he bought me and then he enjoyed me. I feel like a joke.”
“Hey, you should never feel that way about yourself. Maybe he got scared,” Liza said.
“Scared of what?”
“Of you. I mean, you said what you were feeling was pretty intense. Maybe he was feeling the same way and he is worried about giving up his bachelor playboy lifestyle because he fell in love with this awesome girl.”
“But we only had one night together. Love can’t happen that fast, can it?” Ember asked.
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