Knocking on the bathroom door, I enter, not even waiting for Tasha to reply, and sit at the edge of the bath.
“You look troubled, I don’t like it. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay now.”
“I didn’t know something was wrong when I let him in,” she apologizes.
“It’s fine, it really is. I was upset with him and all I wanted was him. Does that even make any sense? It doesn’t to me …” I loop my watchband around my wrist.
She puts her wet hand on mine, I shift my eyes to level with hers. “It makes sense, Hales, it makes crystal clear sense. You’re falling for him …”
I think for a minute about what she just said and tell her that I’m leaving now to spend the night at Daniel’s, pushing away the thought of her observation.
“Go, but do take care of that heart of yours that I adore so much.” And to lift my spirits she adds, “And like I said before, I still stand behind my words. If he hurts you, regardless of the fact that he’s the god of Stark Software and could have me fired in no time, I will still kick his butt.”
I chuckle. “‘God’? Really?”
She laughs.
“Bye.” I kiss her head and go to the “god” that lifts me up and drops me down without out any visible effort.
“Let’s go,” I say, and he takes my bag from me then takes my hand in his as we walk to his car. This time it’s a black Alfa spider.
“Nice car.” I admire the slick vehicle.
“Thanks,” he smiles.
“Speaking about cars, I should return yours.”
“Keep it for now; I want you to drive a safe vehicle,” he declares
I let it pass; I’ve had enough arguing for one day.
As soon as we buckle up he pushes the gas pedal and the car roars, jumping ahead. Daniel switches on the iPod. Does he have a different one in each of the cars? Forwarding some songs he pauses on U2, singing “All I want Is You.” He reaches over to me and takes my hand, laces our fingers together and squeezes softly. I look at him, mouthing the words, eyes focused on the road ahead, and my heart tightens.
As the car accelerates, he shifts to sixth gear with his left hand, letting go of the wheel for a split second, but not letting go of my hand. I look at him and think about how drastically he makes my feelings change from complete rage to complete fondness and then again to uncontrollable lust, and all in a few short hours. Like a collision between a hurricane and a volcano with my emotions in between.
~~~
“There is a call I have to make, shouldn’t take long.” Daniel excuses himself as we step in, resting my overnight bag on the sofa.
“Go ahead,” I say with an encouraging smile.
“You can have a bath if you’d like.”
“Guess I’ll go with a shower.”
“So I’ll be in my office, use the shower in the master bedroom,” he says, and steps over to kiss me. He next wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
His soft kiss makes my inner butterflies revive. I kiss him back, with resolve, deeper. He counters, framing my face with his hands. Gradually, we are both drawn to the connection with greater impulse, pushing and tasting, seeking more. I move my hand to his firm back and pull him closer, feeling him hard against me. My other hand finds its way to the gap between his jeans and his back; his firm muscles counter my grip. His hand reaches under my shirt, fondling my breasts, tugging down the cups of my bra. His direct touch makes me gasp. I help him get his shirt off, pulling it from its hem up over his head. Our mouths detach for that instant, after which our charged stares lock. He’s flushed; the side of his forehead twinkles with a thin layer of sweat. He looks so wild, making my lower body tighten in the sweetest possible way.
Intent narrow eyes observe me closely; his mouth hastily finds mine again, consuming it with growing hunger. With his body’s weight he pushes me slowly toward the couch behind us. As we get near he gently lays me down. Staring at me, radiating desire through his hazel eyes, he unbuckles his belt and gets rid of his jeans and underwear. I stare at him, mesmerized, aching for his union with me. He attends to my jeans and helps me out of them. My shirt follows.
“You are so hot,” he murmurs. He slowly takes off my thong, but stays to gaze at me, fire in his eyes. I am burning with blistering heat, my breath heavy, my mouth dry.
He says, “The results are okay, we’re good to go.” With a pleased, naughty smile he lays on me, in between my legs. I find it hard to inhale to the tightness of yearning in my chest that releases once we unite. Sinking in me, he stops to stare into my eyes and kiss me. He pulls my leg to hold it bent against me and resumes his slow thrusting dance in me, changing his pace to fit my motions. I grab his lower back, pulling him closer to me; he takes it as a cue to accelerate his rhythm, quickly making me shatter shakily. I lay my head back and close my eyes, letting the serenity reach every part of my body as I hear him exhale heavily; he falls on me as he does. Daniel kisses me and I open my eyes to look at him. His look sincere and warm.
To my complete surprise he says, “I felt disturbed after our call. Hayley, I never feel that way.”
I stare at him and my heart skips a beat.
“I don’t do obsessing; I just move on. This is a first for me.”
“That’s why you came to the apartment?”
“Yes.” His expression morphs muddled, pensive.
I am speechless. I reach to hold his face with both hands and pull him next to me, kissing him so deeply, breathing him in. Who is this guy and what did he do with Daniel? The moment we just had leaves me utterly dazed.
“Oh fuck, what’s the time?” He looks at his watch. “For fuck’s sake, I missed the call.” And Daniel is back. He stands up, hastily putting on his boxers. “I need to make that call.”
As he starts striding toward his office cursing under his breath, I call after him, amused, “It was indeed due to fuck’s sake that you missed that call.”
I hear him chuckle. “Good one,” he shouts back.
“I’m gonna take that shower now,” I say to myself, still laughing.
~~~
“Hayley, are you done?” Daniel calls for me behind the closed door as I step out of the shower.
“Missed me?” I open the door with a towel wrapped around my head.
“Insanely.” He lets out a short chuckle, looking at me as I take off the towel and start brushing my hair. Good word choice.
“Are you hungry?”
“Not extremely.” He sighs and his scarred lip arches.
“And that would mean?”
Giggling, I elaborate, “I could eat, but not too much.”
“Any cravings?”
I laugh again and declare, “One Daniel Stark under the covers.”
“One Daniel Stark coming up.” His eyes dance in humor as he approaches me, attacking my neck with moist, tender kisses. “You smell delicious.” Saying that, his hand finds its way under my white top.
“No bra, I like that.”
I blink suggestively at him.
“And these shorts, Hayley, these are a pair of indecently teasing shorts.” He moves his hand to caress me at the border of my shorts.
“I’m craving pizza,” I say.
“Pizza?” He looks at me with a smirk over the mirror in front of us.
“You’re definitely different from all those leaf-eating women I got to know. You actually eat. It’s very refreshing.” He plants another kiss on the nape of my neck. I know he means well, but the thought of him with other women is not something that makes me feel too good, especially when I recall the images I saw online.
“Bad different or good different?” I ask.
He looks at me with a straight face, holding me from behind, his palm under my shirt, spread over my stomach.
“They don’t even stand a chance. You overwhelm me in every possible way.” Twice in less than an hour. What happened to my mixture of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Careful there, D, I might get used to
it and ask for more.
“What kind of pizza?”
“Daze me.”
“Dazed you’ll be. Your wish is my command, sweet, H.”
I already am dazed—purely by you. Though, you and a pizza, well … who can resist that?
He fetches his phone from his pocket and dials, his hand still under my top, holding me against him.
“Tony, what’s up?”
Of course he’d have a Tony for pizzas.
“Yes, I’m okay, my usual.” He looks at me over the mirror, moving his hand in circles around my navel. “That’d be great, thanks.” He nuzzles my hair. “Food will be here in thirty.” I turn to face him, inching up to kiss his chin.
“Great news.”
He smiles. “Would you like a drink?”
“Beer?” I mutter, and he rewards me with a tender, yet profound, gaze.
“What is it?” I ask. What did I do now?
“You. You’re so, well, you.”
“Having troubles articulating? Do you need a moment?” I tease. “Is that good? To be me, I mean?”
“It is the best, the greatest thing, since coffee came in lidded cups,” he smirks, looking pleased with his reply, and kisses me behind my ear.
Is he high on euphoriant today? What’s with all these affection declarations?
“Let’s go get those beers.” He leaves his hand under my top as he walks us to the kitchen.
“Cheers.” He clinks his bottle with mine.
“Next you’ll tell me that you’re into console games and I will totally have a crush on you.”
“Well, regardless of your very promising words, I do happen to like console games and watching sports and riding motorcycles, and I love surfing.”
“You surf, Hayley?” His voice a tone lower, surprised. I’ve never seen him like that before. He has the most stunned, sweet, and gentle stare about him.
“What is it?” I ask, curious.
“You amaze me, Hayley, that’s what.”
“Come on.” He takes my hand. “Let’s go play.” A naughty happy stretch overtakes his lips.
Hmmm, play …
Daniel turns on the large TV and brings the console to life.
“Boxing?” he asks.
“I’m game,” I murmur.
He smiles and shakes his head.
“Sure, I’ll gladly kick your ass.”
Your extremely arousing butt! I beam at him, stretching as though before a real fight.
He says dryly, “Keep that up and I’ll be playing you.”
I’m game. Sounds even better. Play me like you want.
As we face each other, the flat screen displays two boxers in the same stance. We look at each other with narrowed eyes just like two real opponents would, though the smirks plastered on our faces indicate just how amused we are by the situation. The referee on the TV blows the whistle and the match begins to enthusiastic roars from the animated crowd.
“Game on, baby.” Daniel sends his fists my way.
“Game on, D.” I meet his fists with mine, knocking his first swing away.
“And I wish you all the luck in the world. You’ll need it.” He grins in his signature arrogant manner.
“Cocky as ever.” I smile back at him as I swing my fist toward his bare stomach, taking him by surprise. It makes me inwardly chuckle thinking how this might look to an outside observer: me almost half his weight, barely tall enough to reach his shoulders, swinging so fiercely at him. Of course the fact that we’re two adults and that one of us is a respected businessman who appears on one of Forbes’ most-valued lists just adds that extra touch.
“Oh, you sneaky little thing,” he chuckles, and sends his right hand toward my ear. And his left near my waist. My character on the screen is pushed backwards, stars circling his head.
“Come on, fight.” Daniel’s all smiles, his eyes dancing with joy. He’s jumping from side to side, giving a full show that would not fail a Broadway stage.
“You are so full of yourself,” I murmur behind gritted teeth.
“Am I now?” He cocks one eyebrow and swiftly sends his fist toward my cheek. The crowd on the screen goes wild as my character wobbles, falling into a corner. I send him a dirty look which he laughs off. I try to get closer to him, but he dodges to the side. I minimize the gap between us in fast sneaky moves. Standing on my toes, I hastily grab his face with both hands and plant a deep, moist, lustful kiss on his full lips. I rub my body against him with my mouth still devouring his. Even after I pull back and cease my sudden attack, he stays frozen on the spot, so I take the opportunity to swing a quick sucker punch near his left eye. His player drops to the floor, lying helplessly flat. The referee counts him and as he fails to get back to his feet the referee declares a knockout. Daniel looks at me with tapered eyes, a crooked little curve tugging at the corners of his lips and he shakes his head. I counter his stare, boring into his hazel depths. With our intent eye connection the electric field between us charges wildly and before I know it, we are drawn to each other and our mouths follow. Our hands are desperate: grabbing, caressing, stroking and frantically touching.
“Game over.” The ring’s announcer declares in a mechanical voice, accompanied by red flashing letters on the screen indicating the same.
“Game just started,” Daniel murmurs hoarsely to my mouth as he lifts me up and moves toward the wall, leaning me against it. In no time we are having the wildest, animalistic sex.
Most of our clothes are still on us as we come to our senses. He is flushed and by the heat radiating from my face I know I am too. Someone check my vital signs.
Daniel next to me is slightly bent, hands on his knees. He tilts his face to look my way and says, “I love playing with you, Hayley, even though you don’t play fair.”
“This was great, and I must say I’m surprised to learn that you’re not the sore loser I thought you’d be.” I giggle.
“You will be surprised, baby. I. Do. Not. Lose. This fixed match you schemed up here requires a rematch, you devious pixie.”
“Pixie? Wow, Daniel, you really know how to compliment a woman. That is by far the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.” I chuckle and he joins me, laughing with his low, appealing laugh.
An unfamiliar loud beeping sound comes suddenly from the entrance. I look at Daniel quizzically.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake with the pizza,” Daniel grunts. “Now?”
I smirk. “Is this a thing you have, sending food to be fucked? Is this one of your kinks? Something I should be worried about? You’re quite the pervert, you know?”
His face lights up with my remark, scar lifted by a wide smile, and a loud laugh rolls out of him. “No, but I can definitely think of something creative to do with you naked plus food …”
“I can get the pizza,” I reply, shaking my head, humored.
Daniel regards me with a straight face, jaw working under his skin and in a throaty, almost growling voice he says, “The odds of me letting the delivery guy see you this way are zero to none.”
Talk about fast mood changes. Weren’t you laughing a millisecond ago, Mr. Hyde? I study him, trying to read his face for some explanation.
“What’s wrong with the way I look?”
“Well, for one, these short, short pants. Then there’s this white top that I love, revealing your nipples so nicely. And to top it all off, you have messy hair, your face is flushed, and you’ve obviously just been wildly fucked. This look, my sweet Hayley, which, don’t get me wrong, I could stare at forever, should be seen by me and me only. Clear?” He winks at me, bends over to kiss me then reluctantly heads to the hall to get the pizza.
“How much pizza can you even eat? Where does it go?” Daniel says, looking at me with a small side smile, fascinated.
My mouth is full of unbelievably delicious pizza. Tony does know what he’s doing. I try to swallow and gesture “give me a moment”, holding my finger to my mouth; the curve of his lips pulls higher as I do so.
“Indeed you were. Keep it up please, I am totally enthralled by the way you gobbled that food.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Jerk.
“So, you surf.” Daniel’s eyes are steady on me, and he’s biting his lower lip.
“I do. Well, I did. Haven’t surfed for a while now, but let’s put it this way, through most of my high school years, I was with my board.”
His eyes lighten as I speak.
“You can’t imagine how thrilling it is to surf in Chicago during the winter. You can almost surf in the actual streets. During one of the storms last year my friends back home surfed just a couple hundred yards from Michigan Avenue, the main commercial street,” I tell him enthusiastically. “When I saw the actual photos of that day I was shocked.”
Daniel looks captivated by my story.
“Do you surf?” I ask him.
“Oh, I do. It’s my thing. You know: it relaxes me, puts me in focus. Puts me in the right mood when I’m in need of a diversion.”
“I miss it; my board is back at my parents’ house.”
“In Chicago?”
“Yes, that’s my home town.” I play with some crumbs on the counter, shifting them from side to side. “What about your parents? Do they live in California?” I turn my eyes to look his way.
“My mom lives in Baja, Mexico.” he replies.
“Baja?” That comes as a surprise. Being Daniel Stark’s mother I would have imagined her living somewhere more urban and sophisticated, more New York-ish.
“Yes, she lives in Baja. She’s an artist and the most amazing human being on earth.”
New layer of Daniel revealed. D, the adoring son.
“I think she would like you,” he murmurs as though to himself, his stare wandering to some indistinct spot ahead. “I also own a house there,” he says, vaguely.
Of course you do.
“It’s my surfing hideaway.”
Hideaway? Why do you have to hide, D?
“Sounds great. I would guess Baja is the perfect place to surf. At least, that’s what it’s known for. I’ve never been there.” I yawn all of a sudden, feeling exhausted.
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