by Hazel Parker
“Pierce, I have to tell you something.” She sits up straight causing her hardened nipples to point directly at him.
“I’m having a hard time listening to you.” He grins sheepishly and glances down at her breasts.
“I have a confession.”
“Uh huh?” He raises his eyebrows.
“A few years ago, I dated a guy for six months in the D.R. We tried to have sex. But I was so nervous and so tight, that he was only able to get in halfway.” She speaks faster. “I told him to stop. He didn’t move in and out, like in real sex. And I never orgasmed. So, technically, I tried to have sex. But, I didn’t really have sex.” She holds her breath and waits for him to respond.
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I consider myself a virgin because I tried to have sex a few years ago. But, it didn’t work.”
He tilts his head to the right and looks at her.
Audrey can’t tell what emotion is passing through him. Is he mad? Is he angry? Is he disappointed? Does he feel deceived?
“Say something,” she whispers.
“Audrey, why are you so obsessed with your virginity?” A faint smile lifts the corners of his mouth.
“Obsessed?” She asks softly.
“Were you told when you were growing up to cherish your virginity and give it away to the one you love?”
“Well, not really. Sort off. I read lots of romances. The women were always falling in love with amazing men and giving their virginities to prince charming.”
“I’m no prince charming.” He furrows his brow.
“I know prince charming doesn’t exist.”
“I just don’t want you to be disappointed. I’m a man. A human being. I’m a romantic. I want to love, honor, and cherish the right woman. I want to love and be loved. I also have my faults. I’m messy.”
She looks around the neat room.
“I have a housekeeper who comes during the week to clean up after me. I send my laundry out. I never cook. I like a drink at dinner. And I always leave the toilet seat up.”
She laughs.
“But, I’m a good listener. So, I don’t care if you’re a virgin or not. I just care if you’re a good person with good intentions.”
They sit holding each other’s hands. They smile shyly at each other. Having been completely emotionally vulnerable with each other and having been accepted for who they are, they both feel like strangers to each other. She feels bashful. He feels self-conscious.
“How about that shower?” He stands.
“Yes!” She shakes her head. “I need to wash the salt out of my hair.”
The two stand. Audrey takes a step towards a door that she assumes leads to the bathroom.
“Wait.” Pierce pulls her to him. His eyes blaze with desire.
He wraps his arms around her, pulls her against his body, and kisses her hard. She feels the possessiveness of his mouth. His tongue invades her mouth. His lips claim hers. She can taste the salt from the water on his mouth. She relishes the warmth of his breath on her skin. Her stomach tightens. She feels the delicious agony of desire. She revels in the force of his tongue in her mouth. Feeling Pierce’s lust for her, Audrey wants him even more. She wants this gorgeous man who could have any woman but wants her. She moans. He pauses and pulls back to look at her.
Her eyes flicker open.
“Why’d you stop?”
“I just want to look at you.” He says tenderly. “You’re so beautiful.”
The loving way he gazes at her makes her want him all the more. She doesn’t know how to initiate sex. Her rules tell her that he must go down on her first. She doesn’t want to ask him to go down on her before they shower. She also doesn’t want to appear thirsty for sex. So, she waits. The sharpness of her desire cuts through her. She looks at him with lust. She hopes her eyes communicate her need for him.
“Let’s get cleaned up.” He wraps an arm around her and leads her to a minimalistic bathroom. They walk along the heated red tiles into the walk-in shower with built-in seating. He turns on the multi-shower valve. Hot water sprays out of the ten body jets along the wall. The two are instantly washed with warm water.
Audrey wraps her arms around Pierce. She glides her hands down his muscular back to his buttocks. She pulls his briefs down and kneels on the sea blue tiles on the floor. He rests his palms on the white subway tiles to balance himself as he lifts one foot and then the other out of his underwear.
She finds herself facing his erection. She resists the urge to take him in her hands and taste him. Suddenly the memory of that night on the dance floor comes back to her. Suddenly she remembers what she said.
“Oh my gosh!” She stands up.
He grins at her, misunderstanding her. He releases her hair from the hair tie. Then he reaches for some shampoo and massages it into her scalp. The sudden massage feels good. His athletic hands expertly massage her scalp. The scent of coconut shampoo fills the steamy shower.
“Pierce,” she whispers, “I remember that night.”
He laughs. “Oh yeah?”
“I was mortified!” She feels waves of relaxation run down her spine as his hands expertly wash her hair. She feels like this is the best shampoo she’s ever gotten.
“I remember.” He’s grinning.
“I said, ‘I want to suck your dick.’” She holds his biceps while he washes her hair.
“I know.” He laughs.
“Then Whitney and Nora pulled me away from you.”
“I know. The injustice.” He shakes his head.
“No wonder no one would tell me what happened.” She moans as he massages her neck.
“I’m still waiting.” He laughs.
“You know my rule.” She exhales as he takes the removable shower head to the left of the jets and washes the coconut soap out of her hair. “This is heaven.” She bends her head down to give Pierce easier access to wash the soap out of the back of her hair.
“Have a seat, Audrey Smith.” He gestures to the built-in blue-tiled seat in the wall. Shower jets spray her back with streams of warm water. It’s the best shower she has ever been in. “Spread your legs,” he commands. She complies quickly. Anticipation knots up her stomach.
Still holding the silver handset in his left hand, Pierce aims the steady stream of warm water between Audrey’s legs, and she moans out with pleasure. Then he leans into the apex of her legs. His mouth and tongue kiss and suckle and flick her clitoris. She feels like she’ll explode into a million pieces. Her heart beats quickly. Blood races through her veins. She leans back into the wall. Then she raises her legs up, bends them at the knees, and holds Pierce’s face still while she shudders in pleasurable agony. When she finishes trembling, he stands before her and asks:
“You wouldn’t happen to be on the pill?”
Dazed, she stares at him. She realizes that he’s talking to her, but she can’t figure out what he’s saying.
“Audrey. Are you on the pill?” A slow grin spreads across his face. His amused and flattered by her dazed look.
“Yes.” She can finally hear through the post-coital bliss.
“You are?” He raises his eyebrows in surprise.
“It’s good for preventing PMS.”
“Oh.” He waves the shower headset over one breast and cups her other breast. She arches her back, welcoming his touch. “How do you feel about going raw?”
“Um...I’m not ready to take a remote chance at getting pregnant.”
“Got it. Hold this.” He hands her the shower head. She runs the warm water over her shoulders and rests it on one shoulder to spray down her back.
He reaches up to a top shelf and pulls down a condom.
She’s surprised. Immediately, she looks sad. She thought that he never brought girls back to his house. She wanted to be the first that he had sex with in his shower.
“Hey, why’re you so sad?” He cups her face with a hand and holds the condom in the other.
“I
thought you didn’t bring girls back here.”
“Babe, I don’t bring them back to swim in the aquarium.” He runs his knuckles along her face. “Audrey, I have a past. I also believe in safe sex. I don’t ever want to get an STD or an unplanned pregnancy. So, I keep condoms in all of my homes. You gotta understand?”
She nods. He tilts her face up to his and kisses her tenderly on her mouth.
“I want you, Audrey Smith.” His lips cover hers. His tongue strokes hers. He moves in a slow dance in her mouth that erases all sadness and rekindles her desire for him. She moans at the heat running through her body. Deep down, she clenches. She hears the plastic opening and she marvels at his dexterity. He leans back to put the condom on. She admires his erection. “Ready?” He gazes at her with admiration and passion.
“I’m really tight,” she warns.
He slips his thumb inside her, and she becomes a lightning rod of sensations: hot, electrified, smoldering. Her breathing becomes ragged. His thumb moves in and out of her. He presses his palm and four fingers against her clitoris, causing a storm of desire to run riotously through her veins.
“Come on, baby.”
At the sound of Pierce’s deep voice urging her to climax, Audrey orgasms around his thumb. Her body convulses against the wall.
“Oh!” she cries out.
“Hold on to me.” He holds the fleshy part of her hips and hoists her up off the shower seat.
“Oh, my!” She’s surprised by his strength.
He growls as he slides into her.
“Oh!” She cries out in pleasure. He fits her perfectly. It’s as if he was made exactly for her body.
“You okay?” His husky voice catches.
“Yes.” She squeezes his shoulders. “Again.”
He grins at her. He pulls out to the tip and then slides back in her. She hisses, “Yes!”
Pierce continues the slow rhythm of sliding in and out of her until she tightens her legs around him and grunts, “Faster.”
He pounds her harder. Warm water splashes around them. The moveable shower head slides down her back. She pulls his face to hers and kisses him as he plunders her over and over and over again.
She becomes accustomed to the feeling of being full. She begins to move her hips back and forth to meet his thrusts.
“Yes,” Pierce says.
She’s close to coming. She feels the riptide of hormones rushing through her body. She feels the force of desire whipping up her thoughts and making her think of nothing but the feel of Pierce inside of her, the feel of his hand on her hip, and his other hand pressing against her clit.
“Oh my gosh.” She pants. She can’t believe how good her body can feel. Her legs begin to quiver. Her body begins to shiver. Hot water mixed with sweat runs down their bodies.
“Come for me, baby,” Pierce commands her.
His deep voice and strong arms envelop her.
“I…” She can’t finish her sentence.
She didn’t know what sex would feel like. She didn’t know it would feel so good. She didn’t know it would obliterate all thoughts. All she can do is stare into his eyes and plead with him. She needs to orgasm. She needs this release. She feels Pierce inside of her, holding her, touching her.
“Yes!” she cries. All her thoughts cease. She is only heat and light and heartbeats. Her body trembles and then stiffens.
“Yes, baby.” Pierce rides her orgasm and climaxes right after her. He stiffens inside her; grips her hips; thrusts harder and harder and harder until he comes. He empties out into the condom.
They stay still. Hot water cascades over the heads. Her legs and arms clutch his body. He embraces her.
“Audrey,” he whispers into her ear, “let’s go to bed.”
“Yes.” She nods. Exhausted.
They stay holding each other for seconds, minutes. Finally, he reaches behind himself and turns off the steady stream of hot water.
Dazed, he pulls out of her.
“Oh!” Immediately, she misses his fullness.
He grins at her. He kisses her forehead. She tilts her head up to his mouth. He kisses her fully on the mouth. Then he lands butterfly kisses along her cheekbones and stops at her forehead.
“Let’s go to bed.” He helps her into a soft grey robe with his initials on them.
“P.G.,” she says aloud. “Ha!”
“The joke has not been lost on me.” He winks at her. He gazes deeply into her eyes before pulling her into the bedroom. “Come.” He turns back and says to the bathroom, “Casa, bathroom lights off.” The bathroom fades to black.
Audrey inhales the smell of coconuts from the shampoo.
“You like?” He turns the grey sheets down.
“I like.” She grins and then jumps into the bed.
“Casa, bedroom lights off.” The room goes dark.
Audrey looks up at the ceiling to find a constellation of stars that mirror the galaxy.
“Oh wow!” She feels like she’s sleeping outside beneath the night sky.
“The skylight.”
“It’s the entire ceiling.” She’s in awe. She’s seen skylights before. But she’s never slept beneath an entire ceiling made of glass. She feels like she’s camping. She feels like she’s back in Connecticut and out camping with her friends from university. She remembers the one night spent sleeping underneath the stars. She felt the immensity of the universe. Just like she feels the immensity of the ocean when she stands on the shore.
Audrey nuzzles Pierce.
“Thanks for an amazing night.” She kisses the five o’clock shadow growing on his jaw.
“Thank you.”
“And here I thought it was going to be just another wedding. Then I met you.”
“Out of all the weddings in all the world.” He turns and kisses her warm and inviting lips.
“This is the start of a beautiful relationship.” She giggles.
The two fall asleep in the silky-soft sheets. They breathe the scent of coconuts. Pierce wraps his six-foot muscular frame around Audrey’s curves. He can still hear her rasping breath and taste her sweetness. The recent memory of Audrey’s warmth and softness and trust lull Pierce into a deep sleep. The recent memory of Pierce filling Audrey and annihilating all thoughts with his sex lull her into a deep sleep. The two slumber in each other arms, smitten with each other.
In the morning, the sun shines through the enormous skylight, waking Audrey and Pierce. He yawns and stretches, unwrapping his arms and legs from around her. She stretches and yawns. The room is warm from their body heat. She cracks her neck. She watches him wipe the sleep out of his eyes like a boy.
She wonders what he was like when he was younger. Was he quiet and studious? She doubts it. She can’t imagine him sitting alone in a library reading for hours. She raises herself on her elbows and sees a wall of books. She stands corrected. Maybe he was a quiet bookworm.
“You like my books?” He grins at her. She giggles.
In the daylight, she sees his other tattoos. Last night she was too caught up in having sex to read all of the other tattoos on his body. She runs her fingers along them.
“Yes.” She grins at him. “I like this one.” She reads it aloud: “Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward… Ecclesiastes 9:9.” She looks into Pierce’s sleepy eyes, “I had no idea you were such a romantic.”
Just then, the sound of a doorbell resounds through the house.
“Casa, put the gate on the screen.” Pierce sits up straight and waits for the TV to come on.
Audrey notices the large flat TV screen on the gray wall opposite the bathroom door. Six angles of cameras appear. In the top left-hand corner of the screen, there is a picture of a red Ferrari.
“Nice car,” Audrey says. “Are you expecting company?”
“No.” Pierce says, “Casa, who is at the gate.”
Then the Ferrari’s driver’s side window r
olls down, and a platinum-blonde woman speaks into the camera, “It’s me, babe.”
“Babe?” Pierce and Audrey say simultaneously.
“Casa Gate: Now’s not a good time,” Pierce says.
“Who is that?” Audrey gathers the covers around her and covers herself. She cocoons herself to feel safe from the intruder into her morning bliss.
“My ex.”
“What’s she doing here?” Audrey stares at Pierce.
“I have no idea.” He exhales. Then he speaks to the screen, “Casa Gate: I have company. You’re going to have to go.”
Audrey feels comforted that Pierce tells his ex to leave. She’s shocked that the woman showed up. She thought it was over.
“Baby, I miss you. I just want to talk.” The blonde woman pouts at the screen.
Audrey feels unglamorous. She feels big with her curves and non-Hollywood thinness. She feels the warmth of last night slipping away.
“Casa Gate: It’s over. You have to move on. Leave, Evilisse.” There’s an edge to Pierce’s voice.
“Her name is Evil-lease?” Audrey asks.
“Evilisse.”
“Where’s she from?”
“Puerto Rico.”
The two look at each other. Pierce sees Audrey holding the sheets around her in a protective manner. He reaches over and rubs her arms.
“Babe, how are you feeling?”
“I’m upset. I don’t know why that woman is here. I feel like… I feel like I don’t know you.” Her voice wavers.
She looks at his stubble. She wants to reach out and run her fingers along his face. He looks so sexy with his tousled hair and beginnings of a beard. He smells so good. She wants to cuddle with him. She wants to experience morning sex. She wants reassurance that he really is single, like Whitney said.
“Ask me anything you want.”
Just then the sound of a doorbell rings through the house again.
“Unbelievable.” Pierce frowns. “Casa gate: Evilisse, you have to go. I have company.”