by Suzanne Hart
13
James
I had Nancy in my arms and I was determined not to let her go. She was so perfect, the way she tasted, smelled. The way that she looked, gazing up at me with those brown eyes clouded over in desire, her lips parted, ever so slightly. Her body trembled in ecstasy as I put every part of her in my mouth. I tugged on the string of her swim-suit top, letting it flap over, revealing her breasts. They looked rosy, soft, round. I held one of them, sucking the nipple with my mouth, flicking it with my tongue. God she felt so good. Her moans egged me on, awakening my manhood as I rubbed her in between her legs. I felt the wetness seep through her swimsuit bottoms. Her knees buckled when I pushed the cloth aside and thrust my fingers inside of her. She felt warm and soft. The sensation of it made me even harder.
She kissed me in between moans. “Please, James…” she said as she hitched one leg up on my hip, her arms wrapped around my neck and her mouth sucking on my neck and shoulders.
“You feel good,” I said as I kissed her again, “You feel so damn good.”
I dropped down to my knees, kissing her nipples again, then her torso and her hips as I went lower. She bit her lip as I kept fingering her, flicking her from the inside, watching the way that she shuddered in response. She clutched my head, her hands running through my hair. I slowly slipped her panties down her legs, loving the way the soft cloth brushed against her smooth skin.
I pried her legs apart and there she was, ready for me. I touched her swollen clitoris, rubbing it gently and feeling it swell under my fingers. Her sharp gasps encouraged me as I rubbed my tongue against her, then brought my mouth down on her. I licked her folds, tasting the dense salty taste of her juices. God she tasted so good. I couldn’t get enough.
I was rock hard and ready to go. Her moans pushed me hurtling forward, the sensation of her hand in my hair made me weak in the knees; the look in her eyes was like ecstasy to my mind. She said she’d never done this before, that she was a virgin…but she was moulding nicely in my hands. I wanted this to be a good experience for her. Nothing else mattered. Not even what happened after this. For now, I just wanted to be inside her.
I picked her up, my mouth never leaving hers as I brought her to the bed and gently lowered her down. I climbed on after her, but she stopped me, placing one, dainty hand at the bottom of my stomach, right at the rim of my swim trunks.
She got on her knees, shrugging the trunks off me and revealing a hard cock underneath. I bit my lips, looking down on her and waiting for what she might do next. She kissed the base of my cock, the sensation making me shudder, and then she licked the tip and the sides. She was being cautious. I could sense that she didn’t know what to do next. I grabbed her hair, forcing her to look up at me again.
“You don’t have to do this…” I groaned.
“But I want to make you feel good.”
“I feel plenty good right now. Your first time should be all about you.”
I gently nudged her down onto the bedspread, her hair fanning out above her head. Her legs were wrapped around my waist when I pressed myself into her, a small gasp slipping out of her lips. I paused, watching her expression. I didn’t want to hurt her. “Are you okay?” I asked, the low murmur falling out of my lips in between pants.
She nodded, placing a hand on my cheek, as if I was the one that needed reassuring. “Yes, I think so,” she said.
I shoved myself in just a little deeper and she arched back, her neck stretched, her throat pressing up against my skin.
“Please,” she said. “Oh my God.”
I could feel my cock stretching her apart. She was small and tight. I was taking it slow, even though I want to just pound her, bury myself deep inside her.
“Are you sure, Nancy?” I asked again, fixing my eyes on her. She was chewing on her bottom lip, her eyes were glazed over and her cheeks were ruddy with anticipation. She nodded her head wildly.
With that, I thrust myself in and out of her, feeling every inch of my cock reaching inside her. She shut her eyes as she moaned. Her nose scrunched up with the pleasure of me on top of her. She bit her lips, licked them with her tongue, letting them hang, slightly split and a little open. I reveled at the way that her breasts bounded up and down with the force of me, at the way that she clenched her legs as if to trap me in her grip.
The bed shook with my thrusts and Nancy couldn’t stop moaning. She was enjoying this. It was her first time and she liked it. I cleared the hair from her face so I could look at her coming. I could feel her body shaking and vibrating, she was losing control. I didn’t stop or slow down, thrusting my cock in and out of her till she cried out my name. Her orgasm washed over her like a wave as we moved together.
I wanted more and more of her, to pry her apart, to consume every bit of her. The next thing I knew, I could feel myself climaxing too. I looked down at her, my eyes never leaving hers as my entire body seized. My heart pounded against my rib cage, threatening to break free as it pumped boiling hot blood through my veins. With a heavy sigh, I came, emptying myself into her, every last drop of my cum.
Nancy was laughing with joy as she came too. Like she couldn’t believe this was happening. Everything we’d decided not to do had just happened.
14
Nancy
So, I finally did it. I finally had sex. As we docked up to the pier on the private island and marched off the yacht with the rest of his family, I couldn’t help but wonder if people could tell just by looking at me. I felt renewed and different. We finally got to the beach, our feet sinking into the sand. The sun was setting, casting a red hue all throughout the sky. I could see the water glimmering in the ever dimming light as it sloshed against the shore. It eroded the white sand that covered it. We strolled through the evening, hand in hand even though no one was watching us. Eventually, we came upon where the party was happening. There was a small outdoor bar pitched in the sand, manned by a short guy in a white shirt and tie. But the shelves behind it housed every kind of liquor I could imagine I wanted. Next to it was a spread of different foods with two people standing behind it, ready to serve anyone.
In the center of it all was a massive bonfire. Some of James’s extended family had already started to gather around it, sitting at the different lawn chairs that had already been set up. “Do you want me to get you something?” James asked once we had gotten to the fire.
I shrugged.
Neither of us had spoken much since we had sex. It was like we didn’t know what to say. It had happened. Something had shifted between us that we couldn’t take back. Even though it felt good, James was excellent in bed…I still couldn’t help wondering if things would work between us after this. What did he expect from me now?
When he walked to the bar, I stared into the red flames, letting the light smoke drift into my nostrils. I was thinking about James again…but before I could let my thoughts dwell too much, I saw Helen walking towards me. She looked a lot less intimidating without her heels. I reveled in how soft her features were without the lipstick and the jet straight hair. “Nancy, right?” She asked when she was within earshot.
I nodded, a bit guarded because I had no idea what this was about.
But then her smile got wider. “Are you waiting for James? My husband is by the bar too and… and well, I guess I don’t have anyone to talk to and I didn’t want to stand here looking lonely.”
I couldn’t help but grin at that. “Yeah, I know that feeling. When that happens to me, I just try not to see anyone. I figure if I’m not noticing anyone, no one is noticing me.”
She smiled. “That reminds me. I know my husband and your fiancé don’t get along, but I did want to say that you two look fabulous together. And I really do wish you all the best.”
At that moment, George shouted, “Helen!” She turned around to find him a little ways off, two drinks in hand. She waved at me and then left. Once she was gone, I gave myself full license to think about what she had just said. My day with James had made me r
ealize that my feelings for him weren’t going anywhere and that just because I was ignoring them, it didn’t mean they weren’t going to keep getting stronger.
I found myself fantasizing about a life with him. I didn’t know what to do with these feelings and what they meant for us. A part of me wanted to just open up and tell him about them, just get it completely off of my chest. But then I thought about our contract. If I told him I didn’t want to do this anymore unless it was for real, if I was honest about how hard it was on me to pretend when I wasn’t really pretending at all, what would that mean for him? If we broke this contract, he could lose the job of his dreams and I wouldn’t get my studio. I couldn’t risk that without knowing if he cared about me, if he was willing to risk his job for me. I had to keep my mouth shut, for the sake of the both of us. That much was clear.
Soon enough, James came back with two margaritas and we found a place around the bonfire to sit and drink them. Even though I was so light-headed from my afternoon with him, James and I drank them pretty fast. Then in the rush of dizziness that followed, we ate a full plate of tacos and rice, just to drown it out. Finally, after the sun had set, we were back in our spots, totally relaxed, with two new drinks. I let my eyes shut, the warm, ocean air brushing over my skin, smiling at the calm. My heart ached with the thought that this moment wasn’t entirely genuine, that this weekend would forever be dampened by the weight of the contract that existed between us.
I turned to him, this question at the top of my mind. “Why do we have to do this anyway?” I asked.
He furrowed his brow, caught off-guard. “What do you mean?”
“Why do you have to take control of this company?”
His gaze narrowed, ever so slightly, his jaw stiffening. “Why are you asking me this now?”
I huffed a breath. “I just… I know that you have a fortune, and you have a good job already. You could make it on your own. I don’t see why you would be so hell-bent on having this company.”
James sat up straighter, stabbing at the ice in his drink with his straw. “Well, I have other reasons too.”
I clutched my glass, waiting for what he would say next.
“There’s a reason why I do investment banking…”
“Okay?”
“I know that I grew up with money, but my mom didn’t. She’s a self-made woman. And one thing she could never stop complaining about was how hard it is for a small business, or someone new and starting out, or someone who didn’t already have a small army of tycoons by their side, to make it big… I’ve always felt guilty… out of touch…”
“Guilty?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“And why shouldn’t I feel that way? Being rich is not a victimless phenomenon. Why should I have all the opportunities given to me, when other people slave away just to have one?”
I cast my gaze down. I couldn’t help but feel the connection to my situation. “So, what does this have to do with owning your uncle’s company?”
“Well, my parents felt the same way. They were both members of the board. My mom was the head of market research and my dad, the head of accounts for advertising. Together, they had this whole plan of slowly shifting Paris Inc to be friendlier towards smaller businesses. They wanted to support smaller business by charging them less, undoing the advertising bias that ensures that the little people never get heard.”
“Little people?” I didn’t miss the inherent bias in that statement.
He caught what I meant by that. “I just mean, those who wouldn’t stand a chance against, let’s say, Kelloggs, on the shelf of a grocery store.”
I nodded, my heart swelling at all of this. “That’s really… noble.”
His chest rose with his heavy breath. “It was. They were really passionate about making sure that good artists and inventors don’t get silenced by bigger companies looking to monopolize the industry. It’s just better for the rest of the world that way.”
“Wow,” I breathed. “So, you want to take over the company so that you can…”
“Do the work they started doing.”
I sighed, leaning back in my chair and gazing up at the stars. Eventually, our hands found their way back to each other again. My heart thudded in my chest, butterflies in my stomach, eyes watering, because I was just so overwhelmed. For the first time, I could really say that I believed in his dream.
I believed in him, and it was more important than my feelings for him.
15
James
My eyes flipped open and I willed myself to get out of bed. I moved, ever so slowly, from under the sheets and turned back to tuck Nancy in. I couldn’t help but stop and stare at how calm she looked, nestled in between those huge, white sheets, her cheek resting in her palm, her face relaxed, her lips slightly parted. But I couldn’t linger. I was on a mission.
My heart raced as I tiptoed through the guest bedroom of my uncle’s beach house and straight to the bathroom, where I locked the door behind me and tried to get dressed as quickly as possible. Once done, I went with silent steps back through the bedroom, down the hallway and to the speed-boat my uncle had arranged to be left for me the night before. I told him Nancy’s ring had dropped in the pool and that I needed to get to the mainland to find a jeweler that would service it. In reality, nothing had happened to the ring. In fact, its only flaw was that it was wrong for Nancy. I was on a mission to get the right one, because before this trip was over, I was determined to propose to her, for real.
As I raced across the water to the mainland, I couldn’t help but go back and forth in my mind. I knew that we had only really gotten a little over a month to get to know each other, but I couldn’t deny that I was falling for her. It was like, all of a sudden I woke up one morning and she was my whole world. I couldn’t really explain it, but I just knew that she was the one. Talking about my parents the night before really made it click for me. They had planned and planned and planned for years, and then they just died. But I knew that I couldn’t do that with her. I couldn’t just tell myself that I would have so much time, because who knew what would happen. I was lucky to have this day, this moment, and I was going to take it, and marry Nancy.
Soon enough, I got to the dock. After making arrangements to have my boat taken care of, I started strolling down the streets of Puerto Vallarta, looking for the jeweler my uncle had recommended. As it was still so early in the morning, not a lot of people were out. So, I could really enjoy the cobble-stoned roads, the way that the clay buildings, all different colors, looked in the morning sun, the sounds of kitchens opening and the city waking up, of street-vendors setting up and people heading to their favorite cafe. Eventually, I got to the jewelry store where my uncle told me to go. There was a short man there waiting for me. He had beady eyes that lit up with his wide smile.
I knocked on the window and waited for him to come let me in. “Hello, hello,” he said, his voice impossibly chipper considering the fact that it was barely eight in the morning.
“Uhm… Hector sent me?” I said as I stepped inside.
“Yes, come in.” He locked the door behind me again and flipped a switch. “I’ll just make it easier to see here.” As he said that, the whole store illuminated with the overhead light. I glanced all around the small room, my eyes wide with the sight of it all. The first thing I realized was that he had organized all the rings by cut, and then by band, on one side of the store. Each one glistened with the back-lighting in the chamber, casting light out on everything. I stepped up to the counter which had the most rings.
At first, I was a little apprehensive about doing this here. Since I wasn’t at home, I didn’t actually have every resource at my disposal. I wanted Nancy to have the best that I could give her. Yet, as I stared at the rings in front of me, I conceded that they really were of superior quality. The diamonds were unique, each refracting the light in stereotyped patterns. My heart leapt at the thought of sliding one onto Nancy’s hand. I would have been happy to see her in any one of
them. But I had to choose… and it had to be one that would take her breath away.
With that, my eyes fell on something. It didn’t have the biggest stone of the bunch, but there was something about it; the old-fashioned, oval cut, the rose gold band. I pointed at that one. “Could I see this?”
A knowing smile stretched across the man’s face as he said, “Sure.” He unlocked the counter from the back and pulled it out with deft hands, placing it on a cushion. I picked up the ring, holding it as Nancy’s smile came to mind. As I slid it onto my pinky finger, I knew this was the ring for her. I could already hear her surprised laughter in my head, could already imagine what kind of joke she might make for all of this. With a nod, I said, “This is the one.”
The man nodded, his lips folding into an accomplished grin. He produced a small jewelry box from one of the cabinets on the back wall and packaged it up for me. With that done, he handed me the small, black box, wrapped in a red bow. Then his brow furrowed. “Hector said you needed something repaired?”
I almost laughed at the lie I had all but completely forgotten. “No, I’m actually fine. Thank you.” By the time I had paid, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. It was my uncle. “Hello?” I answered, assuming that he was checking on how my little mission was going.
“James.”
That sharp voice made my heart stop. “Yes?”
“I need you back at the house as soon as possible. I will be in my study on the second floor.”
Before I had time to wonder any further, he hung up. I headed outside and back to the boat, my footsteps feeling heavy. I couldn’t imagine what could be so urgent that he couldn’t wait for me to finish my errand and come back on my own. But I knew it couldn’t be good. My heart raced as I got back to the house and marched right to his study, a cold sweat on my forehead. As I walked down the long hallway, my wide eyes settling on the clear French doors at the end of the hall, I could see George already sitting there. “Shit.” I muttered as I pushed the door open.