by T. K. Leigh
I was completely transfixed by his passionate plea, my heart warming and filling with an emotion unlike anything I had ever felt before.
“I have no idea what to say to that,” I said softly.
“Don’t say anything. Now, I believe it’s your turn to ask me whether I’d prefer truth or dare,” he said, winking.
~~~~~~~~~~
“THANKS FOR LUNCH,” I said to Tyler as he helped me out of his car. My voice was wavering slightly from the multiple glasses of wine I had consumed over the course of our afternoon. “And for the wonderful game of Truth or Dare. I guess it’s better than playing Seven Minutes in Heaven.”
I smirked at him, my heart dropping to my stomach when, instead of the playful look that had been fixed on his face most of our delightfully relaxing afternoon, my eyes settled on a prurient look. My former confidence was replaced with nervousness, the fire and intensity in his eyes making me melt into a puddle at his feet.
He stalked toward me, and all I could do was take a few timid steps backward before coming into contact with the brick wall. He placed his hands on either side of my head, blissfully trapping me. I licked my lips, a tingle spreading through my core at his nearness, at his heat, at his overwhelming maleness. I wanted him in the most desperate of ways. I wanted to feel his flesh against mine, to taste the sweat that would settle on his skin as we lived out the fantasies that had plagued my dreams since I first saw his eyes.
“Truth or dare?” he asked, hovering over me. His voice was husky and sensual.
“Why?” I asked, closing my eyes as a rush of nerves spread through me.
“Because I’m not done playing our game.”
“No.” I opened my eyes, a demure expression on my face. “Why do you want me?”
“Because I do, Mackenzie.” He leaned in and nuzzled my neck, pressing his body against mine. “And I’m a man who always gets what he wants.”
“Do you do this to everyone you come across?”
“Do what?”
I swallowed hard, my teeth almost chattering from the chill engulfing me. “Invade their thoughts. Their dreams. Become their fantasy.”
He pulled back, narrowing his primal gaze at me. “Were you fantasizing about me?” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for my answer.
“Maybe,” I said dismissively. “But I’m scared.” I met his eyes, needing him to see that the words I spoke were true, that this wasn’t just another lame excuse. “This isn’t a game to me. This isn’t just Truth or Dare.”
“Just give me one night,” he declared, passionate and intense. “Let me show you it’s not a game. Not with you. I can see how badly you want me. It’s in your eyes. It’s written on every inch of your body,” he whispered, brushing his lips against my neck, sending shivers down my spine. “I want to fill your vacant heart with whatever you need…lust, love, reverence. You name it and I’ll give it to you.”
I was teetering on the seesaw again. Part of me wanted him with everything I had, but the shell of the girl I once was reminded me of what it felt like to put my trust, my love, my everything in another human, only to end up broken-hearted.
“I can’t, Tyler…”
He tugged at my earlobe with his teeth and I whimpered. “But you want to. What’s holding you back?”
“That you’ll ruin me,” I admitted, my voice barely audible. “I can’t… It hurts too much.”
“One night, Mackenzie. That’s all I want from you. One night to win you over. One night to prove to you I’m worth the risk. One night to satisfy your hunger. And mine. Don’t you want to find out why your body reacts this way to me? Why you can’t stop thinking about me? Why you fantasize about what I can do to you?”
“Are we seriously making a plan to have sex?” I asked, trying to break the thick tension that had grown between us.
A sly grin crossed his face, and he slowly shook his head, his eyes still hooded. “No. We’re making a plan for you to be seduced, Mackenzie. Completely and unmistakably consumed by me. This is not just about sex. It’s about me satisfying all of your needs. I will give you your fantasy…in the bedroom and out.”
“For just one night,” I said quickly. I needed his reassurance that this was something I still controlled because I felt like my world was spinning, the earth falling away beneath me.
“Just one night,” Tyler confirmed. “From sundown to sunrise.”
“And then I can walk away?”
“If you wish, but I plan on giving you every reason to never want to walk away from what I can offer.”
“Okay,” I said in a trance, the word leaving my mouth before I could stop it.
He leaned in and my breath caught. I had never wanted to be kissed by anyone as much I needed to be kissed by him.
“Mackenzie,” he groaned, “once you’re mine, you’ll never be satisfied with anyone else again. Every thought will be of me. Every second you’re away from me, you’ll feel me on your skin. You’ll taste me on your lips. You’ll hear my voice whispering all the things I want to do to you. That’s a promise.”
Before I could open my mouth to argue, his lips were pressed against mine, my back momentarily growing rigid in surprise to his unyielding invasion. His tongue sensually but firmly caressed mine, and I melted into the kiss, raising my hand and running my fingers through his hair, pulling his body closer.
I was lost in his kiss and the moment. I completely ignored everything else that was going on around us. The sounds of college co-eds on the beach, coupled with the seagulls on the shore, made the perfect background noise to our first kiss.
Growling, Tyler lifted me and forced my legs around his waist as he gently pushed against me, showing me how aroused he was. I moaned, kissing him with more vigor. My stomach clenched from the startling yet electrifying tremors coursing through me.
His kiss was everything I had come to expect from him since we met. Unexpected, forceful, controlled, every brush of his tongue with mine carefully thought-out and measured. But within the greediness of his motions was a hint of benevolence, and this intrigued me. It was almost as if he was battling his own demons, a brutal war raging within his soul. The premonition that he craved control for the same reasons I did overwhelmed me and I intensified the kiss, pouring everything I had into it, trying to show him that I understood why he did the things he did.
All too soon, Tyler pulled away from me, his chest heaving. “Mackenzie…,” he began, fighting to catch his breath. He stared at me, a look of both confusion and clarity washing over him.
“Yes?” I tilted my head back as he ran his fingers down the line of my neck, his tongue following the same path.
“I’m on the same page as you. You need to know that. This is just as scary for me as it is for you.” He hovered his lips over mine. “There’s something about you that just drives me fucking crazy. I’ve never felt…” He took a deep breath. “I’ll give you your one night, but something tells me one night won’t be nearly long enough for me to get my fill of you. That it’ll suck if you walk away after it ends. That even a thousand nights won’t be enough time for me to worship you the way you need to be.”
“Just one night,” I insisted, placing my hand on his chest, pushing him away. “That’s all I’ll promise you.”
“For now,” Tyler said, winking as he helped lower my legs to the ground and placed a soft kiss on my neck. “One night. Friday. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
He grabbed my hand as he had done during our previous encounters and brushed his lips against it. “Until then, mi cariño.”
Completely breathless from the entire exchange, I remained against the wall as Tyler retreated from me. In a complete daze, I wondered how I was going to explain to Jenna and Brayden that I had just set a date for the sole purpose of having sex.
Mackenzie
“SLEEPING ON THE JOB?” a voice said, waking me from the most amazing dream. Tyler’s body was moving in perfect harmony with mine, his skin so close that it sent a surge of electricit
y through each cell inside me.
I jerked my head up from my desk and squinted, seeing Jenna standing in the doorway to my office. Glancing around the room to get my bearings, I spied the clock on the wall, surprised to see it was nearly six in the evening. I wondered how long I had been asleep. The last thing I remembered was walking into the restaurant in a complete daze after agreeing to Tyler’s somewhat indecent proposal. I began checking financial statements and the loan to the bank and, after that, the afternoon was a complete blur, probably due to the wine I had consumed at lunch.
“Are you okay?” Jenna asked, the concern in her voice obvious. “You’re wearing yourself thin, Mack. You look like hell and we haven’t even been open for a week.”
“Sorry,” I said, wiping my face. “I may have had one too many glasses of wine at lunch today.”
“At lunch?” Jenna asked, raising her eyebrows. “Who did you go to lunch with?”
“No one,” I shot back, smoothing my hair.
Jenna swiftly shut the office door and scurried to the love seat against the far wall, plopping down. Crossing her legs and leaning back, she said, “Okay. Spill it.”
“Spill what?” I asked, sheepishly hiding my smile. To say I was anxious about what the next few days had in store was an understatement. My body was throbbing at the simple memory of how Tyler’s lips felt against mine…or maybe from the amazingly sensual and erotic dream I just had about what Friday would be like. With that one kiss, I was addicted, the high I felt unlike anything I could remember. His kiss was like the most potent drug, and my lips craved more of that sweet nectar.
“If you think you can keep anything from me, think again, Mack. Besides Brayden, I know you better than anyone else. So…was it Tyler?” Her voice was buoyant, mirroring the exhilaration I felt when he crossed my mind. “Please say yes!”
I nodded slowly.
Jenna squealed with excitement, jumping up from the couch and tackling me, nearly knocking the wind out of me. “Tell me all about lunch! And after you left the party last night! And when you’re seeing him again! I want to know everything!”
“Don’t get all fired up, Jenna,” I responded, pushing away from her embrace. I walked across the office and checked my reflection in the mirror, wiping away a few smudges beneath my eyes. “It’s not like that. We have plans to see each other Friday night, but we’ve agreed it’s just a one-time thing.”
“What do you mean?”
Shrugging, I avoided her eyes as I headed back to my desk. “Exactly what I said. We made a deal. Just one night to get it out of our system. After that, I get to walk away.”
“How about him?” Jenna asked, obviously picking up on the one-sidedness of the bargain.
“What about him?” I responded nonchalantly.
“Exactly what I said,” she retorted, mocking my words. “Does he get to walk away? Does he want to walk away?”
“Jenna, I barely know anything about him, other than he’s ridiculously good-looking, has a shit-ton of money, his middle name is Joseph, and he’s an amazing kisser.” I began to give her the explanation I had repeated in my mind hundreds of times since Friday night. “I just met him a few days ago. Yes, I’ll admit, I’ve thought about him an unhealthy number of times since then−”
“And used B.O.B. as you thought about him.”
“Did Brayden tell you that?” I exclaimed. “What else did he tell you?”
“That’s it. Well, that and how, if Tyler were gay and Brayden wasn’t hopelessly in love with his current beau, he’d be all over that in a second so, and I quote, ‘Your bitch ass better not ruin this’. Apparently, he’s itching for details.”
“Well, he can itch all he wants. I don’t kiss and tell.”
“This isn’t about Brayden, though. Talk to me about this whole ‘one night only’ thing. Do you think you’ll be able to walk away?”
“Of course I will. I’m not ready for anything serious.”
A sly smile crossed Jenna’s face and she nodded. “Mmm-hmm… Whatever you need to tell yourself, Mack.” She got up from the couch and began to walk away.
“What? One night. I just need to get him out of my system. Then I can focus on this restaurant. I’ve been scatterbrained since opening night,” I explained.
It was the truth. I had seen countless friends of mine get so attached to a guy that they completely lost sight of what they thought was important. I had done so myself once and I vowed to never allow that to happen again.
“Mackenzie Sophia Delano!” Jenna scolded. “I’ve known you for nearly a decade. I’ve seen boyfriends come and go. I’ve seen one-night stands come and go. I know the difference. This, my darling friend, is not just a one-night stand. I see it. Brayden sees it. I’m sure Tyler sees it. What’s it going to take for you to see it, too?”
“Jenna, I−”
“I can’t,” she mocked. “I’ve heard it all before. I’m not saying you need to marry this guy. Hell, I’m not even telling you that you should date this guy.” She took a deep breath. “All I’m saying is you should leave yourself open to what could be, instead of saying what will not happen under any circumstances because of your fucking timetable.”
In a rage, she snatched my cell phone off my desk. My mouth dropped open in shock as nerves ran through me. That was my lifeline. That was my everything.
“This…” she began, launching the calendar in my phone. “This is not normal, Mack. This has become unhealthy. This…” She trailed off, her chin quivering. “This is going to kill you. Maybe it already has. It’s killed the Mackenzie I knew freshman year. The fun girl who used to never look at a fucking calendar unless she absolutely had to. What happened to that girl? The one who took risks. The one who enjoyed life? The one who loved the unexpected?”
“You want to know what happened to her?!” I bellowed, grabbing my phone back. “She died the second her boyfriend, the man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with, betrayed her! Okay?! That’s where she is! She died the minute she realized everything she thought she knew about him was all a lie! So, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go spend hours looking at my schedule because it’s apparent that’s all you think I do! At least I have some sort of control over that!”
Fighting back the tears that wanted to fall, I raised myself from my chair, about to storm out of the office. Before I could leave, two small arms wrapped themselves around me, hugging me tight.
Unsure of the reason, whether it be the lack of sleep or all the drama of the past few days, I broke down and gave in to my emotions, tears washing over me.
“Just let it out, Mack. You know it’s okay to cry once in a while, don’t you? Hell, I try to have a big cry once a week.” She rubbed my back, soothing me. Softening her voice, she said, “I’m not going to stand here and try to sympathize with how that experience should affect you because I certainly can’t.”
“I’m sorry, Jenna,” I sobbed, the tears flowing freely down my cheeks. “I gave Charlie everything. My heart. My love. Everything. And he…” I trailed off, unable to say anything else. I couldn’t. No one could know the real reason he had befriended me in the first place.
“It’s okay, Mack. Stop holding it all inside. It’s too big a burden.”
Several long moments passed as we stood in the familiarity of each other’s embrace, taking deep breaths.
“What am I missing?” Brayden’s voice cut through and we both glanced up to see him standing in the doorway.
Jenna and I looked at each other’s tear-stained faces and turned back to Brayden, saying in unison, “We miss our other whole!”
“Well, I’m here, girls!” He walked to us, wrapping us in his arms.
“This feels good,” I said, calming myself down.
“What? My ripped abs?” Brayden asked, always the one to lighten a tense mood.
“Well, yes. But I’m talking about this. This moment. I miss living with you two. I miss how things used to be.”
“Me, too,” Brayden
agreed. “But we can’t stay in that moment forever, Mack. We love each other, but we have to make room in our hearts for other people, too. Like I made room for James. And Jenna made room for Richard.”
“I lost the baby!” Jenna exclaimed, her sobs taking over her once more.
Brayden and I simultaneously pulled out of the embrace.
“J-bird,” Brayden gasped, in complete shock. “You got knocked up?” Even though he could certainly put on a poker face if he needed to, there was no way he could have faked the surprise written on his face, his chin almost beginning to tremble as he awaited her explanation.
I surveyed Jenna. I was unsure whether she had wanted Richard to tell me, so I played dumb.
“Leave it to you to make me laugh about it,” Jenna replied, wiping her cheeks.
“No, but for real, J?”
“Yeah,” she smiled, a nostalgic look washing over her face. “I was only about ten weeks along.”
“I’m sorry, Jenna,” I offered, wrapping my arms back around her. “You’re still young.”
I honestly had no idea what to even say to her. I wracked my brain, trying to come up with something that would make her feel better, but I was falling short. This girl was my best friend, the one person I knew better than anyone else, apart from Brayden. I had no idea what to say to make her feel hopeful that she could achieve her dreams of having a family. Maybe it was because I had no dreams of having a family.