“I want all of you before I decide that.”
“What?” I ask, lifting my head to meet her gaze.
“I need to try out the goods before I commit. I’m not an idiot.”
I try to laugh but she’s holding me down, and the look on her face is as serious as a lion staring at a mouse, except I’m not a mouse. I’m the damn lion. “
You should watch your mouth, beautiful. You don’t know what you’re asking for yet.” An idea pops into my head, and I lock my arms around her, lifting her up with one fluid motion.
“Where are you taking me? We’re wasting time.”
“It’s your first time, so you need it to be quick and painless. Leave it to the expert.”
“Expert?” she questions.
“I made a kid; that means I know what I’m doing.”
Her head falls to my shoulder, laughing as I carry her down the hallway lined with bedroom doors. “Which room is yours?”
“Mine is the last one on the left,” she says.
I take her into her bright white room with vibrant, floral decor. It looks like a small form of paradise in here. Appropriate, I suppose. I lay her down on her bed, spotting a nightstand on the other side. “Where is it?”
“Where is what?” she asks, propping herself up by her elbow.
“Thumper?”
“No way,” she snaps.
“I’ll go through your drawers. Tell me,” I taunt her.
“No, Denver,” she says, but with laughter.
“It’s in there, isn’t it?” I point to her nightstand and walk around the bed. “What color is it? I bet it’s purple.”
“Denver.”
I reach for the drawer, and she doesn’t stop me. If she tried to, I wouldn’t push, but I’m reading her signs, and she’s up for it. I reach inside, figuring it’s not going to be up front, and sure enough my fingertips make contact with something silicone way in the back. I grab it and pull it out, finding this small little contraption that looks like a beginner vibrator. Not that I’ve tested them out, but I wonder how powerful this little thing can be. “It’s so cute. I bet it’s not too powerful though.”
“Don’t mess with Thumper, now.”
I hit the switch, shocked to hell when I hear it buzz loudly. The thing is quickly making my hand numb, so I guess I was wrong about size and power. “Well then, I stand corrected.”
“You’re not licensed to carry that,” she says, narrowing her eyes.
“Maybe not, but my trigger finger is well trained, so don’t you worry about a thing.”
She covers her face to hide the blush creeping through her cheeks. “Denver, my God.”
I hop down next to her on the bed. “So, I noticed you have a bathing suit on,” I tell her. “Is it becoming our thing to wear spandex that’s hard to remove quickly? If so, we’ll have to reconsider this plan going forward.”
She removes the straps and pulls the material down, pushing her shorts along with it. I expected her to be more modest about being naked, especially with the daylight pouring in through her cracked open blinds. When you’re tanned, toned, and perfect, what’s there to hide though? I could stare at her like a goddamn painting all day. “I’m ready,” she says with her eyebrow slightly arched.
20
Kai
My pulse is between my thighs, and he’s still holding Thumper. I can’t believe I’m about to do this. Last night was a lot to take in ... yeah, ha … but this, this is another ball game ... yeah.
I watch as Denver slowly removes his Billabong tee and pulls something out of his back pocket before dropping his swim trunks to the ground. “I came prepared, just in case luck was on my side today.”
“You were hoping to get in my pants when you didn’t know if I’d even open the door?” I ask him, teasing.
“It’s better to be prepared than to be without ammo standing in the middle of a battlefield.”
“What?” I laugh.
“Shh. Never mind.” He climbs over me, pushing me backward and diving down toward my breasts, treating each nipple with gentle flicks of his tongue. The cool air from my fan hits the wet trail he leaves behind, and the pain and swelling inside of me grow stronger. His hand travels down my stomach, slowly grazing down between my thighs and lightly pulsating a finger inside of me. The simple touch makes me go crazy, and I can’t control the volume of my moans or pleas for more. “Don’t tease me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he tells me.
“You won’t.” I don’t know that for sure, but I’m wet and waiting, and I don’t know how it could hurt more than it does right now.
He takes the vibrator and places the switch on low before touching it to where his finger just was. The sensation is like overdrive, and I don’t want to finish before I feel him inside of me. “Please,” I beg.
He removes the vibrator and places it down beside me. The sound of the buzzing is making me hot, though. He rolls a condom down over his erect cock and grabs it by the shaft before slowly easing into me. The sensation is tight, and the pain is mild, but the pleasure is overwhelming. I must look scared, but I don’t want that to stop him. “Are you okay?”
“More,” I whine.
He places the vibrator onto my clit as he slowly pumps into me over and over. My body is moving on its own, racing to a finish line I can’t see, and my brain overfills with erratic thoughts, none of which are comprehensible. My cries turn into full-blown screams as I reach up, wanting to touch every part of him before wrapping my hands tightly around his ass, grabbing what I’ve wanted to since the first time he waved it in front of me at the pool. It’s like holding onto two firm kickballs, with the ability to dig my fingernails into the flesh to keep myself steady and bring myself closer, to eliminate whatever space is left between us.
My body is arched off the bed as a numbing sensation masked in the form of warm honey fills every inch of my body. I’m weak but hot. I’m excited but breathless. I’m tired but want more. As my body releases and falls back into the plushness of my mattress, a coated rush of pressure surges into me, and Denver falls to the side, catching his breaths along with me. “Did I hurt you?” he asks through the sound of exhaustion.
“No, you fixed me. The burning pain from loneliness, lack of touch, and no understanding of desire is gone.”
“You weren’t broken. You just didn’t let yourself free to experience life for yourself,” he tells me. “Let me care about you, Kai.”
“If that’s what you call caring about someone, you can care about me whenever you want,” I murmer.
He smiles so sweetly that his dimples deepen and his eyes squint closed. He’s perfect. I’ve waited a long time for perfect, but I didn’t give up hope that I’d find what I was looking for. I just hope this isn’t a dream reaching a short-lived, happy ending.
“I don’t want to leave you like this, but I have to go. I have to pick up Aya from the painting activity at the hotel,” he whispers into my ear.
“It’s okay. I’m going to work, and I’m going to keep my eyes open for hot, single dads who might be horsing around the pool with their daughters.”
“I might be one of those single dads horsing around the pool with my daughter. I look for trouble with hot lifeguards sometimes. It’s just what I do.”
“Denver if you’re looking for trouble, don’t mistake me for being uneducated on what it takes to punish a man the right way. I might not have the experience to prove it, but I have the knowledge to back up my actions.”
“Whoa, that escalated quickly. What exactly are you talking about right now?” he asks.
I grab the vibrator he dropped beside us and turn it on high. “I don’t know. Maybe next time it’s your turn to meet Thumper.”
“Hell no. You need to go back to sex-ed, Kai.”
“And you need to behave yourself,” I tell him with a wink.
Truth be told, I needed the morning off to collect my thoughts. Guilt, happiness, sadness—everything hit me last night
, and I couldn’t come to terms with the directions my thoughts were going in. I want to be selfish, but it’s not the way I typically go about things, especially when my selfishness could hurt a child.
The lunch crowd has taken off to tend to their afternoon naps or downtown strolls, so it’s a little quieter at the pool now. At least I missed the morning rush. It’s weird. I don’t think I’ve ever called into work sick. Maybe I need a break sometimes.
At least I have a view for now. The pool is typically only for guests, but Denver seems to have made friends with the right people while he was staying here, so no one minds him using the pool, I guess. He’s such a charmer—with a nice ass that his wet bathing suit clings to as if it were tattooed onto his body.
As if he had an inkling that I was looking at him, he looks over his shoulder at me from across the pool, then looks down at his ass, and smiles. I get a thumbs-up, and I throw my hand over my eyes and look the other way. My God. He knows I like to keep my professionalism on the up-and-up, and he taunts me because of it.
“Kai!” Aya yells from across the pool. She’s standing on the ledge in her neon purple bathing suit, pinching her nose as she prepares to jump into the pool. “Watch this!”
I cup my hand over my eyes to see her without a glare, and I smile so she knows I’m watching as she jumps in cannonball style. She’s been practicing her cannonball form all week, and she’s making quite a splash now.
“You got me wet all the way over here,” I shout over to her as she emerges from the water.
Of course, Denver is standing on the ledge with his arms crossed, staring at me with a raised brow, forcing me to rethink what I just said. I’m starting to believe he’s been placed in my life to torture me, but I’m not sure what I’m being tortured for. I’m starting to wonder if he’d like me to act on my threat.
I try my best not to give him the reaction he’s looking for, which I know makes him crazy, but I need to focus on the pool.
“Excuse me, miss,” an older man approaches me. He’s probably about sixty-ish, with a tan that he’s likely been working on since March. The gold dripping off his body screams money. That is the typical type of clientele around here. He either has a dumb question about pool hours, where to find towels, or he’s wondering if I give private swim lessons. Of course, I could be wrong, and he could have an honest question, but I’m quick to judge after working here for so long.
“How can I help you, sir?”
“Yeah,” he says, leaning against the guard chair as he looks up at me. “Do you know what time the luau is tonight?”
“It starts at six,” I tell him. Thank God for my dark sunglasses so I don’t have to make eye contact with this guy. By the slur in his voice, it sounds like he’s been day drinking.
“Are you going to be there in one of those cute little tutu things?” I got to give myself credit. I called it.
“No, sir, I’m afraid we don’t wear tutus at a luau.”
“That’s too bad,” he says with an exaggerated sigh. “You have the legs for it.”
“If you don’t mind, I need to keep my attention on the pool,” I tell him. Creep.
“What if I was in the pool? Would you pay attention to me?” I notice he’s wearing a wedding ring, and while I know I shouldn’t counteract his behavior, it’s tempting.
I ignore his question, hoping he’ll go away, but after a long, awkward minute, it’s safe to assume he’s not leaving yet.
Denver has made his way around to my side of the pool in the time this jerk has been standing here, but I don’t want him getting involved in this. I can handle it.
“Excuse me,” Denver speaks up, but he’s looking directly at me. “Do you have a Band-Aid by any chance? My daughter cut her toe on the side of the pool. She has a blood phobia, so I just want to get it cleaned up for her.”
“She’s busy, kid. Get lost,” the man says.
“Are you kidding me?” Denver asks.
“You heard me,” the moron says. Shit. Denver really wasn’t going to start anything. He was trying to help me in a subtle way, and it’s pretty much the first time a man has ever tactfully handled a situation like that in front of me. I’m impressed, but this is about to go downhill quickly.
“You’re right, I did, but did you hear yourself? I’m asking for a Band-Aid for my daughter, and you’re telling me to get lost. That’s kind of rude—don’t you think?” Denver continues, still civil. Considering I’m seconds from losing my shit, I don’t know how the hell Denver is able to keep calm the way he is. It’s quite a quality.
“I know what I said, and this woman doesn’t want to hear about your daughter’s bleeding toe. I’m sure the front desk has a Band-Aid to solve your problems.”
“Very well,” Denver says. He takes Aya by the shoulder and walks her away from the pool. I’m not sure where he’s going or why he left like that, but with as much as I know about Denver by now, he’s up to something.
“Sorry about that asshole,” the man continues.
“You’re incredibly rude, and you just kept me from doing my job. You need to go sober up somewhere else, and you owe that man and his daughter an apology on top of that,” I tell him quietly.
“Whoa, whoa, there’s no need to get frisky, not here. I’ve got a room.”
“You have a wife too, and I don’t see a price tag hanging from my neck, so step away, sir.”
“No price tag just means you’re free,” he says, touching my knee with the back of his knuckle. Now he’s gone too far. “You have one second to get your hands off of me and remove yourself from the vicinity, or I’m calling security.”
I spot Denver out of the corner of my eye, leaning over the bar at the cabana, talking to Talon. I assume he’s handling the security call, but I have a walkie-talkie that goes directly to security.
“Look, just come with me for a few minutes. I won’t keep you long, but it will make your day,” he says. I lift the walkie-talkie and hold it up to my mouth, hovering my thumb over the button.
“Go, now,” I tell him.
He unexpectedly slaps the walkie-talkie out of my hand, and it lands on the cement below me. Now, I’ve had it. I’m allowed to use physical force if someone is threatening me, and he’s crossed the line.
I hop down from the chair, quickly grab the guy’s wrist, and swing it over his head, pinning him against the guard chair while grabbing his other wrist. “Is this what you wanted?” I turn him to the side and jerk my knee into his lower back, forcing him to his knees. I push all my weight onto him, as the side of his face meets the cement. “I need back up and security!” I shout from the top of my lungs.
I figured Denver would make it over here before anyone else, and he does. I just don’t want him getting into trouble, considering he’s not even supposed to be here.
“Did someone call security?” I ask as Denver shoves the heel of his palm into the guy’s back, holding him down.
“Talon just did. They’re on their way. Prick,” Denver mutters.
The guy just groans in response. At least he’s not fighting back, but I wouldn’t expect a man in his sixties to be fighting through a restraint anyway. This guy is just drunk and stupid.
Security arrives relatively quickly and takes over, cuffing the guy and getting him away from the pool area to avoid any more of a crowd. They try to keep scuffles quiet to keep the hotel’s high ratings. It’s not always easy with so many entitled assholes walking around, but we handle it discreetly most of the time.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” Denver says to me. I shake my head to snap out of the moment.
“It’s happened before, unfortunately. Drunk, rich men often have the confidence of mountain lions, thinking they can get whatever they want, whenever they please.”
“Actually, I’m referring more to the way you handled the situation. You’re this tiny little thing who just totally jacked that guy up with what looked like little effort. I’m kind of scared to admit how much that just
turned me on.”
“Dirty talk at the pool isn’t allowed, Wonder Buns, so watch yourself.”
“Well, feel free to use your moves on me when we’re not at the pool.”
I pull my sunglasses down my nose, giving him a look I’m sure he will clearly understand. “I’ve warned you to be careful about what you ask for.”
“Talon told me you had it under control, and I’m sorry for underestimating you. I’m just in awe. Plus, you’re Aya’s new favorite superhero now.”
“Every girl should know how to defend herself,” I tell him.
“You kidding me? I’ve had Aya in Tai Kwan Do since she was three. My girl will know how to defend herself.”
“Good,” I tell him, happy to hear he’s on the same page as me. I look down at my watch, and I can’t believe it’s already three. “I get off in an hour, so I can get ready for the luau.”
“Without me?” he asks.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re getting off without me?”
“Denver, you’re getting filthier by the minute. Maybe you need to go take a dip in the pool and cool off.” I’d love to sit around here with him all day, talking, joking, laughing, and learning more about him and Aya, but I can’t, and I hate choosing to be responsible. It’s the last thing I want to do right now.
“Maybe you’re right. I won’t make it until tonight if I don’t settle down,” he says.
“What’s tonight?” I ask. He knows I’m working the luau.
“We’ll see,” he says. I chuckle, calling his bluff because I have no clue what’s up his sleeve, and I get the feeling he doesn’t either. Things have kind of just happened with us, and I like it that way. It takes the stress out of planning what’s next and when it will happen. “Have a little faith in me …”
“Is Aya sitting at the bar?” I ask him, looking past him at the little girl dangling her legs from a bar stool.
“Yup, she’s getting a Piña Colada. Why?”
“A virgin one, I’m sure,” I correct him.
“Unlike you,” he mutters, looking smug. He loops his arm around me and gives me a quick peck on the cheek. “Catch you later, beautiful.”
The Man Cave Collection: Manservant, Man Flu, Man Handler, and Man Buns Page 104