What the Lightning Sees: Part One

by Louise Bay

  He bent forward and scraped his lips against mine, then dropped small kisses at the corner of my lips. My skin started vibrating from the warmth of him so close, combined with the bass of the music pumping through the speakers.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” I asked.

  “I’m kissing you,” he replied as he worked his way up to the back of my ear and down my neck. My arms went to his oh-so-big shoulders and I sighed. He felt too good, hard and tight. I tipped my head back, allowing him easier access.

  “You found a place for us to make out?” I asked.

  “I couldn’t wait,” he replied against my skin.

  My hands pushed into his hair and he groaned as I pulled him gently back to my mouth. His tongue pressed against mine. I could kiss him for hours, days even.

  He was hard, ready for me, pressing into my stomach. Tonight, we would be together. When the spell of Paris was broken who knew what would happen, but tonight would be perfect. I was ready to let go and see where Jake could take me.

  “Turn around,” he whispered, moving my shoulders so I was facing the restaurant. The Juliet balcony was only wide enough for one person and Jake stayed hidden in the shadows behind me. If the diners looked up, I wasn’t sure whether they could see me. Maybe an outline, or just my face.

  “Put your hands on the balustrade,” he said. He wasn’t asking. He was telling me, and I liked it. I did as he asked, wanting to be led, wanting to unravel and have him catch me.

  His palms were flat against my stomach, pressing me closer to him.

  “Feel that?” he asked, pushing his erection against me.

  I nodded.

  “You can feel how ready I am, can’t you?”

  “Yes,” I stuttered.

  His left hand trailed down from my belly and gathered up the skirt of my dress. The music seemed to get louder, the bass deeper, twisting round and through us, providing a cocoon against prying eyes.

  “Jake? What are you doing?”

  “I’m going to feel how ready you are.”

  Jesus, what was he saying? What was he thinking? His fingers travelled up my inner thigh and he paused and he took a short sharp breath as he found my bare flesh at the top of my stockings.

  My hands gripped the balustrade as my legs weakened.

  “Jake, someone will see.” I couldn’t bring myself to feel panicked by the thought, the cocktail of music and Jake had me floating away from anxiety, away from a version of me I wasn’t sure I’d ever see again.

  “Shhhh,” he whispered, sliding his fingers beneath my underwear and pushing against my clit, circling once then twice, then driving lower.

  “Oh yes, baby, you’re so wet. So ready.”

  “Jake, no. We can’t,” I said, no real resistance in my tone.

  “Oh, but we can and you will come for me.”

  He reached down and plunged two fingers inside me. I fell forward at the sensation, but he pulled me back against him with his free hand.

  His thumb began circling my clit while his fingers pushed in and out. Jesus.

  I tried to control my breathing, but every time I thought I’d steadied myself he pushed harder and faster.

  “Do you like that, baby? Does it make you feel good?” His words vibrated on my neck.

  I nodded and my head fell back against his chest. His lips dipped to my skin. His hardness moved behind me. God, I wanted him inside me.

  “I want you, Jake.”

  “I know. And you’ll have me. You have to be patient. I’m not fucking you here.”

  “Please,” I groaned.

  His fingers quickened at my plea, blood throbbed in my ears and my skin set alight.

  “See all those people down here? Do you think they know how good you feel right now?”

  “No. No one could,” I sputtered as my orgasm grasped me and pounded through me like thunder, every bone in my body vibrating with pleasure and desire.

  I would have collapsed if it weren’t for Jake holding me. He’d weakened me, physically and emotionally. He kept me clenched to him as I caught my breath and some of my strength returned.

  “Hey,” he said, kissing my neck.

  I brought my hands to his forearms that surrounded me. “Hey.”

  “I love making you come,” he said.

  “I love you making me come.”

  “Let’s get out of here. I want to see you in nothing but those shoes. Can you stand?”

  “I think so.”

  He held his hand out for me and I took it. I was still unsteady.

  In the cab Jake kept his hand clamped to my knee, like he wanted to make sure I wasn’t going anywhere.

  “I’m going to need you to do what I say,” Jake whispered.

  “When?” I asked, my head still fuzzy from my orgasm.

  “When we go upstairs.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I need you to do exactly what I say when we get upstairs.”

  What was he saying? I wasn’t sure it mattered I thought I’d do anything he ever asked of me. I didn’t get a chance to ask him again as the cab drew up to the hotel and Jake paid the driver.

  As we got into the lift, my hand firmly clasped in his, he pulled at his tie with his free hand.

  “Have you ever been restrained, Haven?”

  Did I hear him right? I looked at him but his eyes were fixed on the elevator doors in front of us.

  “Restrained. Tied up,” he said in a very business-like way.

  “Um. No,” I replied.

  “Have you thought about it?”

  I shifted my weight from foot to foot. I had thought about it, even fantasised about it occasionally. “Umm . . .”

  “Speak honestly.”

  “I’ve thought about it a little.”

  “Does the thought scare you? Be honest.”

  “Not in the abstract,” I said.

  “What about the idea of me restraining you when we get inside? Does the reality scare you?”

  “A little,” I said. I trusted Jake, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me and it wasn’t what scared me. I supposed it was that he could if he wanted to, that I wouldn’t be able to stop him if I needed to. I’d become good at protecting myself and giving that up was a scary thought, but I wanted to do it.

  “Does it turn you on?”

  “With you, a little,” I admitted.

  His chest rose and fell, and he squeezed my hand as he led me out of the elevator.

  “My room or yours?” he asked.

  “Mine please.”

  He nodded and took my key and opened the door.

  “I want you to undress for me and lie on the bed. Leave those shoes on,” he said as we closed the door. His tone was serious and my stomach flipped in anticipation. He was showing me a different side to him.

  Jake leaned on the dressing table, his tie in his hand, his eyes never leaving me. I fiddled at the side zip on my dress, yanking it open. I stepped out of the skirt and threw it on the chair. I hesitated and he raised his eyebrows.

  I reached behind my back and released the clasp on my bra. I heard his intake of breath as I slipped the straps over my shoulders, releasing my breasts. Finally, I dragged down my underwear and let it fall to the floor. I stood before him naked apart from my stockings and my shoes. Any embarrassment or self-consciousness was cloaked in desire for the man in front of me. He said nothing, but his eyes burned a slightly different blue to normal, they were deeper, more intense.

  I stepped away and the backs of my legs found the bed. I lowered myself and then lay back as he had instructed.

  “You are such a beautiful girl, Haven.”

  My stomach contracted and the wetness between my thighs that had been there all night was fresh on my skin.

  Jake circled the bed, walking to the edge by my head.

  “I’m going to tie your hands,” he said. “Put them above your head.”

  I hesitated, but brought my hands up.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he said
.

  “I know,” I replied.

  He took my hands and used his tie to bind them together. Then he shifted my body round and tied the other end to the bedpost. It felt illicit and erotic, but I was nervous—scared of how far I would fall when I let go.

  “You’re going to feel so good.”

  Another rush of liquid slid between my thighs.

  “Jesus, the things I’m going to do to you,” he said and I couldn’t help but moan at the thought. He seemed to know how my body worked in a way no other man ever had.

  Still fully clothed, he crawled onto the bed and swept my hair from my forehead. He trailed his fingers down my face and across my throat. As he moved down, he palmed my breasts, then circled a nipple, once then twice, and then flicked his finger off his thumb across the puckered flesh.

  “Shit,” I cried as sharp pain gave way to a peak of pleasure followed by a new wave of desire.

  “Good?” he asked.

  “So good,” I whispered, pushing my thighs together.

  He flicked again and I cried out. He moved to the other breast, repeating the same movements, then he replaced his fingers with his tongue and his teeth, alternating again between pleasure and pain, the sensations mixing until I didn’t know one from the other.

  I whimpered and pulled against his tie as he moved his attention from my breasts down to my stomach.

  “You can’t escape, Haven. You can’t control this. How does it feel?”

  “Jake,” I cried.

  “This is what you need. You need someone to take it all away from you and give you something more. You don’t get to choose. I’m going to use your body how I wish.”

  My back arched off the bed at his words. What is he doing to me? He continued to nip and suck at my skin, setting each part of me alight, working his way down my body tantalisingly slow.

  My eyes opened as the mattress dipped and his touch disappeared from me. He pulled off his shirt one handed, revealing his hard, sculpted torso and he turned to the dressing table, picking up his wallet and bringing out a condom. My hips twisted in anticipation. I couldn’t wait for him to be inside me.

  He turned back to face me, standing at my feet and pulled of his jeans and briefs in one quick movement. I gasped as I saw him hard and flat against his stomach. Suddenly I was nervous. He was big.

  “Don’t worry. We’re going to take it slow,” he said as he reached down and stroked himself. “You look so good. I can see your wetness, you’re more than ready for me, aren’t you?”

  I hoped I was. I took the sides of my cheek between my teeth.

  “Bring your knees up. Let me see you.”

  I slid my feet up the bed.

  “Now open them wide.”

  “Jake.” I was embarrassed to be so exposed to him.

  “Do as I say, Haven.”

  Slowly I parted my legs and saw his eyes glaze over as he took me in.

  “So beautiful,” he said. He moved closer to the bed and with both hands, swept down my inner thighs, pressing them farther apart. “Jesus, your pussy’s beautiful.”

  My hips lifted off the bed, desperate to feel him.

  “Oh yes, baby, you’re greedy for me. That’s what I like to see.”

  He rolled on a condom and lowered himself over me. He rubbed his tip against my entrance and then ran it up to my clitoris and down again, each movement driving me closer and closer to the edge.

  “I have to be inside you.”

  He pushed into me, just slightly and blood began to thunder in my ears. I pulled my legs farther apart, wanting to make room for him.

  “More?” he asked.

  I nodded. Slowly he moved in deeper and checked for my reaction.

  “More,” I whispered.

  He groaned and pushed in farther and farther, pushing all the air out of my lungs, pulling the most intense orgasm from me that I’d ever had. The pleasure rattled through every muscle and bone and exploded in my head, across my skin and deep within me.

  “Oh baby,” he said. “Watching you come is my new favorite thing to do in Paris.”

  He stayed still inside me as I came down from my climax. I’d never felt so full. Full of him, of desire, of life. It was like I’d been shown something that couldn’t be unseen and it had shifted my world, just a little, but forever.

  He reached above me and quickly untied my hands. I clamoured for his back and traced his muscles under my fingers. His skin was so soft and tight and perfect.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, his eyes burning as he waited for my reply.

  I was more than ready. I nodded and he started to move, gently pulling out and pushing back in. I lifted my knees back farther and he held them in place. He was deeper than before, if that was possible.

  “Let’s never leave this bed,” I said.

  “Sounds good to me,” he replied, pushing into me again and then reaching under me and pulling me and my legs around him so we were sitting face to face, nose to nose. He clamped his hands around my hips and started to rock in and out of me. I put my forehead against his and concentrated on his breathing, trying to keep my orgasm at bay as long as possible. It was futile. It began again, deep in my belly and I pulsed around him.

  “Oh baby, again?”

  “Yes,” I breathed against him. “You’re making me come again.” I thrust my head back. “Faster,” I cried and I started to increase the rhythm of my hips against his.

  “Oh fuck,” he shouted.

  We both exploded at the same time, our bodies juddering and shaking, grasping at each other.

  Jake

  “Hey,” I said as I got back into bed next to Haven, kissing her lightly on the lips. It was morning, but there was no incentive to move. “What do you think about extending our stay by a day? We could go back on Sunday.”

  She grinned at me, then frowned. “I have to be back. It’s Ash’s birthday. We’re having a girls’ night out.”

  It didn’t sound like an excuse. I could live with that. I just wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Last night had been incredible. She seemed to get off on the restraints and I’d come like a teenager.

  “Okay. When can I next see you?”

  “Sunday? Although I’ll be grouchy and hung over. I’ll let you rub my feet and make me toast.”

  I smiled. “Sounds tempting. I have to work in the day, but the evening?” My lack of time was one of the reasons I fucked girls like Millie. They wanted to be wined and dined. They didn’t really care about what I was doing with my time as long as the dates were impressive enough. And I didn’t need to see them. Then, three months in, when they started to want a little more, I ended it.

  With Haven it was going to be different. I’d wanted more from the moment I first met her. I couldn’t seem to get enough. But Elemental Energy was just kicking off. It needed my time and attention as well. The timing sucked, but I would make this work. She’d crashed into my world and I wouldn’t let her go.

  She grimaced. “Sunday night I cook for Luke and sometimes Ash. I’d invite you but—”

  “Let’s leave dinner with the family to next weekend, yes?”

  She nodded in agreement.

  “Monday?” she asked

  “Monday? At the morning meeting?” That seemed so far away. I wanted to keep her naked and with me between now and then.

  “Well, yes and after work? You could come over and I could cook.” She yawned.

  “Let’s order in. That gives us more time.”

  “I like that idea.” She smiled at me.

  Her defences were low and I wanted to keep her like this, to see every layer of her, but I could tell she was sleepy. “You’re tired,” I said as her heavy eyes drifted shut.

  “You’ve worn me out,” she said.

  “Sleep, baby.”

  By Sunday morning I was aching to see her again. She’d clearly had a good time with Ash on Saturday night. I’d enjoyed the evidence through a series of drunken texts telling me all things she w
anted to do to me, and then the Sunday morning messages apologising.

  At two o’clock my phone vibrated.

  “How’s the hangover?” I asked, answering her call.

  “A little better. Sorry about those messages.”

  “Don’t be sorry. And we’re going to try the thing with the whipped cream.”

  She laughed. “Okay, but not in my bed. It’ll ruin my sheets.”

  “Practical to the end.”

  “How is your work going? Am I interrupting?” she asked.

  “No, it’s good to have a break. I’ve been working since five.”

  “Tell me. What have you been doing?”

  I grinned into the phone. I liked that she was asking me about work. “Hal is transferring the first tranche of investment tomorrow so I need Eric, our computer whizz, on board as soon as possible. To speed things up I think I’ll have to fly out to see him face to face.”

  “That’s sounds great. When do you go?”

  “Tuesday,” I said carefully. I wasn’t sure how she was going to react or what I wanted her reaction to be. I needed her to be cool about it, but I’d also like her to miss me a little. “I should be back Saturday morning. I’ll know more when I get there.”

  “Okay, so we’ll have to make the most of tomorrow night then.” That was the answer I’d been hoping for

  “Do you want more coffee?” Beth shouted from the kitchen.

  “No, I’m good, thanks. On the phone,” I replied.

  “Sorry, are you not alone?” Haven asked.

  “It’s just Beth,” I said. “She’s been keeping me hydrated all morning.”

  “Oh, she’s come round to look after you?”

  “She lives here. You knew that didn’t you?”

  “Oh, I don’t think I did. Say hi to her from me,” she said. It was a reminder of how much we had to learn about each other. The pull I had toward her made me believe that she knew everything about me that she needed to, but that couldn’t be true after knowing each other such a short time.

  “I will. She wants us to go to dinner, the three of us. When I’m back?” There was nothing I wanted to hide, I wanted to show her everything, offer myself up to her. I wondered if she could do the same in return.

  “Sure. Anyway, I should go and start on dinner.”