Conceited

by T. L Smith

  “If I say yes, you won’t make me regret it?”

  He shakes his head. “I’ll fucking wine and dine you like you want to be. Just tell me what to do.” I laugh at him and shake my head, pulling away so I can stand, but he doesn’t let me go.

  “I’m not going to tell you, you have to work that out all by yourself.”

  “Okay, that should be… interesting. Any requests at all?”

  “No seafood,” I say poking my tongue out.

  “Got it, no seafood.” He stands and when he does, I’m still wrapped around him. I slide down, our bodies staying locked.

  “Tomorrow?”

  Falcon shakes his head. “Tonight?”

  “No. Not tonight.”

  He goes to tell me no, but thinks better of it and finally agrees with a nod of his head. His hand brushes through his perfect hair. As he lets go of me, I reach for my bag and open the door.

  “You can stay with me.”

  I smile at him. “How is this feeling for you, Falcon?” His head drops to the side. “Us. I know this isn’t something you do, and I honestly was not wanting to be your guinea pig. But here I am like a lovesick teenager agreeing to your request. So, tell me honestly… how does it feel?”

  We start walking out of the office. He follows and waits until we get to the elevator before he answers. “It’s harder. Sex is easier.” He looks up at me waiting for me to say something. But I like that he’s honest, I like it a lot. “It’s more work, you’re more work.”

  “Is that a bad thing or good thing?”

  His lip twitches. “Well, bad things are always better, aren’t they? Like when I do that evil thing with my tongue around your clit and you reach down and pull the shit out of my hair?”

  I blush as the elevator door opens and one of the office staff looks at us wide-eyed. “Falcon.”

  He shrugs stepping in and the lady manages to look away as she gets out. “But to answer your question… it’s weird…” He pauses, and I wait for him to give me more, tell me more. “If it was someone else, I wouldn’t bother.” And I know he’s speaking the truth. “I know beautiful women, Ariel. I see them day in and day out. I’ve fucked beautiful women. But it’s you I keep coming back for.”

  “Maybe you’ll be over me soon. Once you’ve had your fill.”

  His hand swipes at his jaw. “I’m still waiting for that day to come.”

  Yeah, so am I.

  “You’re what?” Tracey asks.

  Chad sits next to her as they both drink all my wine. I was saving that, but I guess now is as good as any other time.

  “I said yes.”

  “Hold on.” Tracey takes a big swig of her wine. Her girlfriend is at home preparing the baby room, while Tracey escaped for a few hours. Tracey said she’s too emotional to be around right now, and all they have done is fight all day. So here she is.

  “My brother asked you on a date?” I nod my head again. “Holy fuck, I should ring Mum and Dad. This is big news.”

  “No, don’t.”

  “Why’s it such big news? He obviously likes her,” Chad asks.

  Tracey shakes her head, and I don’t even bother answering as I know she will do it for me.

  “You don’t know Falcon.”

  Chad nods his head. “But I have seen him with her, and their chemistry is next-level.”

  Tracey turns back to me. “You’re sleeping with him?”

  I nod my head and she shakes hers. “Anyway, back to what I was saying… Falcon doesn’t date. He’s a master with the ladies, he’s brusque with them, and they don’t even care. Hell, he could tell them they were the worst lay of his life and they would still come back asking for more. Trust me, I’ve seen it. Falcon is conceited and no one will ever change that.”

  I’ve seen it, too. We had a lot of girls knocking on her door growing up. And they weren’t for us.

  “So, he’s a serial ladies’ man. I know many like him.”

  Tracey rolls her eyes at Chad’s comment. “I did too, all his friends were the same, except one. But they all at least dated before, had a girl more than twice. Falcon hasn’t slept with anyone more than twice.”

  Chad coughs and looks up at me.

  Tracey’s eyes fling to me.

  “I’m not talking with you about my sex life with your brother.”

  She waves me off. “Anyway, and now he’s asked her out on a date. That’s huge. It’s huge,” she repeats. “You should know that, Ariel.”

  I do, but that’s not what bothers me. It’s that I’m his first. What if we don’t work? What if he realizes it’s easier and better to just sleep with me than to actually put in any effort with me instead.

  “So what are you going to wear?” Chad asks.

  “I didn’t get that far, he doesn’t even know what we’re doing.”

  My cell bings and before I can reach for it Tracey does.

  She laughs. “BOB… you have his name under BOB?” I grab it and quickly change it to his actual name. She knows that’s the name of my vibrator.

  * * *

  Falcon: What about a naked dinner?

  * * *

  I shake my head at his words. Of course, he would choose that.

  * * *

  Me: No

  * * *

  He writes back straight away.

  * * *

  Falcon: You ruin all my fun :(

  * * *

  He added a sad emoji face and I put the cell down. Both Chad and Tracey are watching me.

  “You’ve got it bad,” Chad says while Tracey doesn’t say anything.

  “Is it weird for you?” I ask her.

  “A little, but I’ll get used to it. He’s good, you know he is. Maybe you’ll be the girl that will lock him down, tame him, but I really hope he doesn’t break your heart in the process. That’s what I’m most scared of.”

  I nod my head. I am too. I may not be in love with him, hell, I used to think I was when I was growing up and I know it was pure infatuation, but now I just don’t know. I’m confused and want what he can give. Maybe it’s time I took the dive and let him in. Instead of trying to block him at every chance.

  19

  Falcon

  I told her to wear a dress, I find them easiest to slip from her body. And usually, she doesn’t wear anything underneath, which is even better for where I hope the dinner will go afterward. I wipe my forehead, sweat beading on my skin. I’m nervous. I’m never nervous, especially around women. Maybe it’s because this is something I’ve never done before and believe it or not I actually put in a lot of effort. I mean, I wanted the naked dinner. I could have fed her then ate her as my main, plus dessert. She wasn’t having it, though.

  Tracey called and she said four words, “Don’t fuck this up.”

  That’s exactly what I intend not to do. I don’t want to fuck this up. My expectations are high, and I hope she likes everything I have planned. Even the after, which I know she will love. Because that involves me between her legs and I’m well aware she can’t say no to that.

  My feet are in the sand. I wait patiently for her to walk around the corner. Balloons show her the pathway. Black and pink ones she has to follow, held down by a present on the end of each.

  When I finally do see her, she looks gorgeous in a black dress and her smile is so large as she reaches down for the first balloon. She doesn’t untie the present, just keeps it in her hand. When she looks up and sees me her smile somehow becomes even wider, and as she makes her way to me, only stopping one more time to pick up the last black balloon, I watch her eyes glisten with hope.

  “I’m impressed, Falcon.”

  “You haven’t opened them,” I say untying one from a balloon in her hand. She pulls the others back as one of the balloons flies away and she watches it.

  “Can I do it later? I’m not very good with presents.” I remember how red she used to turn when my family would give her gifts and wait for her to open them.

  “Of course.” I wave to
the waiter who I hired for the night and he comes over, taking the balloons plus presents and walking them away. She stands in front of me, shoes in her other hand, her hair down which is being whipped around by the balmy breeze and a smile that could light up the room.

  “Are you nervous, Falcon?”

  I wipe at my forehead again. Then I pull the suit jacket off leaving me in a white dress shirt. “Of course, this is all new to me.”

  She steps forward, her free hand landing on my shoulder as she reaches up on her tippy-toes and lands a kiss on my lips. “It’s kind of perfect. You did good.”

  “I was hoping for you to be naked,” I tell her honestly.

  She giggles and steps back. “Maybe… if you play your cards right.”

  I pull her chair out, and it draws through the sand leaving two lines as she sits in it placing her shoes next to her. Leaning down, I breathe her in. She smells like cinnamon, so I kiss the side of her neck brushing her hair to the side.

  “My cards will be dealt and played until I have a piece of you,” she says sitting still, then leans her head to the side giving me better access.

  My teeth dig slightly into the top of her shoulder. “Don’t tempt me.” I pull away as I see the waiter coming with our meals. She watches me the whole time and doesn’t say a word until our waiter leaves. “I was going to make them dress up as Harry Potter characters but figured low-key was a better option for our first date.”

  She giggles again. “So you do pay attention.” She looks at her food and smiles. “Thank you, it’s perfect.”

  “Is it the best date you’ve been on?” I ask, hoping I did it right.

  “Better than the best, but you know I would’ve been happy at your place with one of your cooked meals.” I smile knowing she likes my cooking. Tracey and Ariel used to eat everything I cooked when we were growing up.

  “Date two then?”

  “You think you’ll get a date two?” she asks, her head leaning to the side assessing me.

  “I do, with confidence, too.”

  “That’s something you never lack,” she murmurs back.

  “Does my confidence insult you?” I ask her honestly.

  She shakes her head. “No. Sometimes it knocks me down a notch or two. You’re the only person I’ve met who has so much confidence you could blow the president out of the water with a single glance.”

  “I know what I want. I get what I want,” I say truthfully, and I work for what I want.

  “What if I said no? What if I wasn’t attracted to you?” she asks biting into her pasta.

  “I would have made you. One way or the other you would have loved me,” I say with certainty.

  “Do you even know what love is, Falcon?” She pauses. “Have you ever been in love?”

  “No, I haven’t been in love. But I know what it is. All my life I’ve loved three beautiful women, and each has served different purposes in my life.” Ariel knows all three—she knew my grandmother, she knows my mother and sister. I wonder what it would be like to be doing all this with someone else. Seeing someone who doesn’t know me, or my family. I could lie and tell them I’m an only child and they would believe me. But it’s different with Ariel, she knows me—my faults, my weaknesses, my ways. Not all of me, but she does know a reasonable amount.

  “And they are all very special women,” she comments.

  “Have you ever been in love?” I ask her.

  She looks up, placing her fork down, and reaches for her wine sipping it. “I thought I loved you once.” I sit back, I didn’t expect that. “Other than that, no. I’ve dated. I’ve seen other men. But none have held my interest.”

  I smile. “So you love me?”

  She spits her wine and shakes her head. “I said I thought, past tense, there’s a big difference.”

  “If you think you did once, I believe I can make you again.”

  “Your sister described you as conceited to me the other day. I think I tend to believe her.”

  I’m finished with my meal I’ve hardly touched because I want the woman who’s in front of me more. I lean forward. “Don’t believe everything you hear, maybe you should find out for yourself.”

  “That’s what I’m doing, am I not?”

  I stand, walking to her side. “Will you come and sit with me?”

  Ariel looks at me confused.

  “On the beach… I have something set up.”

  She stands, and my eyes wonder up and down admiring how fucking beautiful she is.

  “There’s more?” she asks.

  I lace my hand in hers and we both look down at the same time. It’s weird when you grow up only holding your mother’s hand, having another hand in yours feels, well, weird. But somehow Ariel’s hand fits perfectly in mine. She fits perfectly like the way she does in bed.

  “I needed to impress.”

  Ariel laughs softly. “Oh, but you do, daily.” She rolls her eyes making fun of my confidence. I let go of her hand and wind mine around her, pinching her ass. She yelps and swats my hand away before I lace our fingers back together. The blanket is already set up, and two drinks sit beside it. I wait for her to sit down first before I follow.

  “I’m impressed. I’m afraid no one will outdo you,” she says with confidence in her voice.

  “No one could outdo me anyway.”

  Just as she goes to open her mouth, the fireworks start illuminating the night sky over the beach. Her jaw drops and she watches in fascination. It’s not until the last bright firework explodes that she turns to me, something sparkling in her eyes, and I want to keep it there for a little while longer.

  “How much privacy do we have?” she asks turning around.

  “The staff are gone, and it’s just us for the rest of the night. Why?”

  A secret smile adorns her mouth, and she turns fast, sits on top of me and pulls my lips to hers. Her tongue tastes like sweet red wine, and her body feels like a fucking wonderland. My very own wonderland.

  She doesn’t move, merely grips me to her, and when she pulls away I feel it everywhere in my body. I want to grab her and keep her with me, but she smiles, and I want to hear what she has to say.

  “We could do naked desert.”

  Her eyes go darker and she lifts the dress from her body and flicks it to the sand next to us. She’s naked underneath, just the way I like her. I’m sure it cost a fortune, and I like it that she doesn’t care about the fact it may very well be ruined after this. Maybe I’ll buy her a new one. Hell, maybe I’ll buy her ten new ones.

  “Now you’re on my level.” My hands can’t resist the urge to touch her, to want her. It’s almost taking control of who I am as a person because when she’s near I want her and only her. Even when she isn’t near. That’s a bit fucked up because next minute I’ll be like Creed and stalk the girl’s ass.

  “I want to hear it from your lips, Falcon. I want to know how much you want me.”

  My hands are on her breasts, and she pushes them into me, telling me that I have her, that in this very moment she’s mine. Her pink nipples beg to be bitten, to be licked and sucked, and before I can answer her, I have to do it. My tongue dances circles around her, and she gasps for air. Her hands become feverish and start tearing at my shirt. I help her, but letting go of her perfect tits drives me crazy as I pull it off. “I’m still waiting, Falcon.”

  “When did you become so demanding?” I ask while pulling her back to me. Her hand reaches between us and she pulls my cock free with ease. Ariel’s hand grabs hold, and she starts a slow stroke on my already hard cock.

  “I’m greedy for your cock,” she says smiling. She is, and I fucking love it. I love the way her hands sweep over me like she’s discovering me every time she does so, to the way she places kisses over my chest like she is right now, with her soft lips making my heart beat from my chest harder than it ever has before. I’m slipping down a slope I haven’t been on before, and I’m not sure how I can come back for air.

  What is this
woman doing to me? I don’t even know who I am anymore.

  20

  Ariel ‘Raven’

  He gets this look in his eyes like he’s seeing me for the first time. The bits of brown disappear and are replaced with dark eyes, almost as dark as the ocean behind us at night time. He’s dangerous, I feel it in me. Falcon may play a game of serial fucker, but he’s also never experienced someone who made him think, or even someone he wants to see more than once.

  My hand continues to stroke him and he blinks a few times like he’s trying to rid something from his thoughts. Just as he does, his hands grip me hard and his lips touch onto mine, hard. He kisses me with a fever like he’s trying to taste my very soul, and I won’t give it to him. I’m not that stupid, not yet anyway. Slow and steady wins the race.

  He lifts me ever so slowly and I feel him position himself at my entrance, all the while keeping our lips locked, and then he drops me gradually while I’m still on top of him, sliding him straight where he belongs, inside me. I moan loudly into his greedy mouth while he nips at my bottom lip. And then he takes me again, pulling my head to him, not letting me breathe even if I wanted to.

  My hips start sliding back and forth, wanting and needing the release I know he will give me—it’s definite that I will get it. That the build-up which is coming will smash through me like the ocean hits against the shore when it’s angry.

  That’s how you describe what we are. Like a fucking ocean, crashing against each other, trying to work out which way to go even if we’re being pushed in one direction, one we aren’t certain we want to go in because it’s all new territory for us. He won’t end up as a fling. No. Falcon will end up as more. I’m afraid he will be my greatest love, and more than likely my greatest heartache.