by Hunter Rose
“How do you know how this is done? One of your celebrity magazines?” Even though I know how to use chopsticks, I indulge Azure. I guess I just like having her taking care of me.
“No, Stella taught me. Cool huh? And now I’m going to teach you.” With a serious expression on her face, she shows me the basic workings of the sticks. My aching hunger and prior knowledge make me a surprisingly quick learner. When Azure thinks that I am able to comport myself with a little more grace than before, she leaves me to my own devices.
“How’s the painting at my dad’s coming along?” asks Stella. She hadn’t seen it since we fooled around at her house over two weeks ago.
“Great. Not too much more to do anymore.” I shrug. “I guess about another week and I’m finished.”
Stella flashes me a smile. “Dad mentioned that if this newest piece of work of yours is as good as the paintings you presented at the Petit Versailles that he will set you up with some top-notch gallerists.”
“Wow, dad, that’s so cool,” Azure butts in as she happily devours her sushi rolls drenched in soya sauce and wasabi.
“Yes, that is good news.” I was never one for having people pave the way for me, but this could be the break Azure and I need. Her college time is coming up in a few years and that costs a small fortune. I would be grateful for any extra cash coming my way. I want Azure to have all the chances I never got.
29
Stella
I can still feel my pussy ache from the pummeling it had received the night before. The moment Zac guessed that Azure was asleep, he led me up to his bedroom, where he ravished me like a crazy man. I climaxed four times before he shot his load inside of me while I rode him like a delirious fuck-jockey on ecstasy. It had felt so special to have him fill me with his juices. Zac loved it too. Well, he should have; the feel of flesh rubbing against flesh is so much better than using a condom.
Moaning, I stretch my muscles. My joints crack. I slowly rub my hands over my body until they come to a rest on my breasts. They too are sensitive. Zac had licked my nipples for what seemed like forever last night. He was obsessed. I blush when I think of how brazenly I had acted. Without thinking, I had sucked his cock like a lollypop and it hadn’t taken him long to reposition me into sixty-nine before he fucked me from behind like a berserker.
I feel the goosebumps race over my skin like a tempest by just visualizing our carnality. After Zac had had his way with me, he let me get up on top of him. He has come to learn that it’s my favorite position. I love being able to control the intensity of my climax by deciding just how deep I want his cock inside of me or the speed with which I ride him. Besides, being able to look down on his perfectly shaped physique is an added bonus. Zac has just about the hottest body I have seen on a man. And those tats. Breathtaking.
I purr contently when I think how I came for the first time last night by just looking at his perfect pecs and muscular chest. His series of tats added to the flavor. My pussy melted onto his cock in a sequence of weltering and searing pulses. My nails dug into his skin as I fell apart on top of him. I had ridden him so fast and screamed out his name that I worry whether Azure might have heard me. Not once did Zac take his eyes off me. He seemed to drink in my body and the way it reacted to him—he was captured. Zac had managed another three such rounds thanks to my pulling on his balls before he could come. The result was prolonged sex and the most intense orgasm in his life. I could literally feel him fill my pussy to the brim with his cum.
I turn my head. He looks so peaceful sleeping there next to me. I place my hand on his cheek and stroke it, relishing the light bristle of his stubble. We had such a great evening. I love hanging out with Azure, she’s such a sweetheart. Being around her makes me want a child of my own. Seeing the peacefulness and kindness on Zac’s face, I hope that he will be the father one day. I start to think about what he might say if I told him that I was pregnant. Intuitively, I know that he would scowl at me.
I’m on the pill, but I’d love to just stop taking it and see how long it would take for Zac to impregnate me. Judging by the number of times we fuck in a week, I assume I’d be with child in no time. It makes me happy thinking of our little family, as that is how I’ve come to see us. Zac may still have trouble accepting it. He can be such a grouch sometimes.
Yesterday, Azure and I had left him to his own devices. We let him go watch Planet of the Apes while we decided to change our plans and watch Wonder Woman. It had been worth it because Zac would’ve been in the foulest of moods had he been with us. As it turned out, he had enjoyed his movie a great deal, so much so that he invited us for cheesecake after.
Sitting up, I think some more about me and Zac. Sure, we’re passionate and he makes me feel good, but he never tells me that he loves me or loves hanging out with me. He doesn’t even say that he misses me when I’m gone for a day or two. He never calls or texts, either. It’s as if I’m just somebody who’s there and, should I ever not come back, he probably would not notice a major difference—discounting the severe bout of bursting blue balls he would feel in my absence, of course.
Maybe he’s not the kind of man who says ‘I love you’. He hardly even says it to his daughter, which I find strange, because my dad always tells me that he loves me. I smile softly when I remember hearing Zac tell Azure that he loved her. She even got over her customary teenage vibe and responded in kind. It was so cute. I half-expected Zac to say it to me after. All I got was ‘I love your ass,’ But it’s better than nothing, I guess.
I frown. I check my phone on the bedside table. It’s seven a.m. on a Monday. Is Azure making pancakes or something? I stand up and sway into the bathroom.
I study my reflection in the mirror. “Jesus, Zac. You’re an animal.” I shake my head when I see the various bite-marks on my neck, around my nipples and on my ass. I brush my teeth before I take a brief shower. I need to be at my dad’s place at nine a.m.
Ten minutes later, I’m all dressed in my jeans, a white blouse, and a pair of Golden Goose trainers. By the time I leave the bedroom, Zac is beginning to stir and so is Azure. Seeing Azure upstairs makes me wonder who’s doing all the cooking in the kitchen. I hear my stomach rumble when I smell bacon.
I gingerly walk into the kitchen. I find a girl about the same age as Azure sitting on one of the chairs at the breakfast table. Standing behind the hob is presumably her mother.
“Who are you?” I blurt.
The teenager looks up from her phone with a frown. She studies me carefully but doesn’t say a word.
The strange woman turns around the moment she hears my voice. She’s attractive, I decide.
Damn why does she have to be beautiful? But this is Zac we are talking about here—of course she is bound to be good looking.
And to boot, the way she manages a kitchen would give any professional chef a run for her money. I can immediately see why she would appeal to Zac.
Standing before me in his kitchen is a woman who would always make sure that he has a fridge full of his favorite things. His clothes would always be washed and pressed in time, and Azure would always have a woman’s open ear to talk to. In short, a mother, which is exactly what Zac has been speaking to me about—it is what he wants for Azure, and I know that he will always put her before his needs.
It takes only about a millisecond for me to realize that I lack everything that this woman has. I am focused on my career. I have always been someone who spends time away from home and not building one. Basically about the only thing Holly and I have in common is that we are easy on the eye.
I notice her studying me carefully. In seconds, she sees a potential rival. We eye each other like lionesses. A few more moments pass and it is then that I see realization dawn upon her. She assumes that I’ve fucked Zac. It takes her a few heartbeats to recompose herself and rid the incensed grimace from her face. I watch her take a deep breath in preparation to prime her voice.
“I see that you’ve met Holly, Stella.” Zac swans into his
kitchen as if it is the most normal thing in the world to have two women who obviously like him standing there. Zac’s oblivious. He walks up to the coffee machine and pours himself a cup. “How are you doing, Holly? Great, I see that you’re making your famous pancakes . . . oh yeah, and bacon, too.” Zac picks a rasher off the stack, immediately inviting a slap to his hand from Holly. By now she has completely found her composure again.
I, on the other hand, cannot move a muscle. I am both intrigued and sick by what’s going on in front of me. I cringe when I see Zac treat the other woman’s daughter as if she were his own. Azure entering is the final straw. She walks up to Holly and hugs her warmly. After, she does the same to the daughter, who’s called Kimran, apparently. The four of them talk as if I don’t exist. Zac might as well have shared his bed with this Holly character rather than me.
“Would somebody mind telling me what the fuck’s going on around here?” I snap. I cannot control myself any longer. I glower at the assembled group of people who look at me incredulously.
“A normal breakfast on a Monday morning,” says Zac flippantly. He sips his coffee contently while he waits for Holly to heap his plate with bacon and pancakes. They behave like an old married couple.
I watch on in silence for a while longer, waiting for the man I love to say more, but he doesn’t. He seems more than happy to eat his breakfast and devote all of his attention to the newspaper that Holly had obviously placed next to his plate for him. I almost throw up when I see the invader move about the kitchen as if it were hers. When she sits down on my chair, it’s too much for me to bear.
Before the tears have time to take hold, I race out of the kitchen towards the front door without another look at anyone. I can already imagine Zac not noticing my absence until after he has finished eating and reading his paper.
30
Zacchary
What the fuck was up with Stella the other day? She hasn’t answered any of my calls or texts. She should be happy because I never text her. I hate tapping away at a screen. It’s just so useless. Stella’s abrupt departure had made me think what could have made her leave. It’s not like I kissed Holly or anything.
Azure tells me that I behaved like a prick when I didn’t explain the situation with Holly. She claimed that I was stupid that I never spoke to Holly about Stella and set some boundaries, but I thought that it was none of her fucking business. And besides, she had been at her parent’s place for the past few weeks. I was not about to phone Holly and tell her I’m dating somebody. Why would I? And how the fuck am I supposed to tell Stella about Holly if she won’t even answer any of my calls? Fucking ridiculous, that’s what all this is.
I glower at the canvas with the finished painting. I must say it might even be one of my best pieces of work. I’m sure that Mr. Hutchinson is going to love it when he sees it. For days since Stella’s absence, it has been the only thing keeping my mind focused. However, it’s been more than a week and I still haven’t heard from her once.
I tried getting some information out of Stella’s dad as to her whereabouts. He only told me that she was away doing some photoshoot in New York. He did mention that he was a little worried about her because she was not her usual self. When I pushed the matter further, the father closed up and claimed that it can’t be anything serious or she would have spoken to him about it.
Holly, on the other hand, had taken in everything with flying colors. She never once asked me who Stella was, or anything else about her for that matter. It also appears that Azure didn’t speak about much of it to Kimran. Our life at home continued as if nothing had happened. Holly and Kimran still come over and we eat meals together occasionally. I couldn’t see what the big deal was all about. Why the hell is Stella taking it so seriously?
When I mentioned that Stella was overreacting to Azure, she laughed at me. She asked how I would have liked it if another man who obviously had the hots for her visited Stella many times a week, how I would feel if I caught him treating her house as if it were his. Azure claimed that I would have punched his lights out for not getting the hell out of there and I would have been right to do so.
It was then that I realized that Stella would not be coming back if I didn’t do something drastic. The thought of never holding her in my arms again hurts, or so I think. In the short time I have come to know her, Stella has become a very important part of Azure’s life, and mine. The thought of losing her makes me wonder if I might be making the biggest mistake in my life by letting her slip through my fingers.
I put the brush down. There’s nothing more to add. Why am I such an inconsiderate oaf sometimes? Usually, I never question who I am, especially not because of a woman. This time, I think that Stella might be right to be angry with me. It’s no reason to run off, though, because even a criminal has the right to explain his innocence. I am innocent. I’m just a little ignorant at the same time. My total lack of feelings and attraction for Holly made me blind to her obvious affection for me. Azure had tried to tell me, but I had brushed the entire notion aside as too ridiculous.
I saw where that got me a week ago. By burying my head in the sand, I lost my girl and I have no idea how I’m going to get her back. I pace up and down the room in thought. What if I confront her dad with the whole thing? He’s got to know about us at some point, right? Wrong. What do I think he would say if he found out that his baby girl is dating a tattoo artist-turned-painter? I pleat my brow. “Who gives a shit what he thinks,” I snarl.
“That’s exactly the attitude that ruined us.”
“Stella.” Despite the serious expression on her face, she looks incredible. I walk up to her but stop when I see her tense at my close proximity. Two paces separate us. We’re so close that I can smell her. “What the fuck was that all about a week ago?” It’s the only thing that comes to my mind.
Stella arches her eyebrows. “You mean the morning I found a strange woman in your kitchen with her kid cooking breakfast as if she’s been doing exactly that for ages?”
I nod. “Yeah, why did you leave?” I intuitively know the answer. Azure had made extra sure that I do.
Stella hoots in laughter. I know that it’s fake, though, and that she’s venting all her frustration into that laugh. “Apart from the fact that I slept in your bed and had sex with you nearly every night, you never had the balls to tell me about this Holly woman? We’ve been going steady for a while. Well, that’s what I thought, at least, and you still have another woman who obviously has feelings for you hanging around in your kitchen. Who knows where else she’s been in your house.”
I lift my hands. I can see that Stella is about to go ballistic if I don’t calm her down. I want to tell her to not be jealous, but I think that would be the wrong thing in her current state of mind. “It means nothing to me, she means nothing to me. I never told you because I never thought that there was anything to say.”
Stella frowns. “Then you’re an asshole, Zac. I don’t particularly like Holly because she fucked up something I really thought would work, but she doesn’t deserve that. You had her around to do stuff for you, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, sure I did. I never asked, she just kept coming over.” I sigh. “Then we started getting serious and at the time, Holly was at her mom’s. How the fuck was I to know that she would be in my kitchen the very next day she got back?”
“You’re actually asking me that, Zac?” Stella shakes her head. “You’re such a little boy sometimes. She came over, Zac, because that is what she always does. I bet she still comes over.”
I swallow. Holly had made breakfast this very morning. I can only reply with a half-hearted shrug.
“You see, Zac? You’re never going to change. I see that now.” Stella slowly turns. I can see her eyes glisten over with tears that she’s doing her utmost to suppress.
“Stella, I will change for you. If that is what you want.” Where the fuck did that come from? I guess seeing the finality in her body language had tipped me over the edge. “Azu
re needs you, Stella.” Stella freezes. “I need—”
“Hey, Stella. So, this is the painter guy your dad spoke of.” The new arrival walks up to me. He looks like a Ken doll in his tailored suit and perfect hairstyle, all gelled in place. He holds out his hand when one pace separates us. “Troy McNeil, good to meet you.”
I grunt my name while I shake his hand. I don’t like the way this Troy guy ogles Stella, who is still trying to come to terms with what I was about to say. I can see her mind working like crazy. At the same time, I can’t help but think that Troy and Stella have a history together.
“So, how’s the painting coming, Zac? Stella’s dad sure is excited about it.” Troy doesn’t wait for me to offer to show it to him. I can tell he’s one of those guys who always gets what he wants thanks to his rich daddy.
“I don’t think it’s fitting if you see it first, Troy. Especially since Stella and her dad haven’t seen the finished work yet.” I shift my weight on my feet to face the other man.
He cocks an eyebrow in a way that tries to inform me that I am the most insignificant worm in his view and laughs. “I am the closest thing to family and when Stella and I finally get engaged, I will be exactly that.” Without another word, Troy walks up to the painting.
Every muscle on my body freezes. I knew they had a history, but I never guessed that she would be thinking of getting engaged to another man so soon. With a feral scowl on my face, I look at Stella who flinches at my anger. In the meantime, Troy is totally oblivious to the tension in the large room. He whistles happily as he studies the canvas. Without thinking, I move forward with the purpose of some behemoth that is ready to flatten the world. When I get to Stella, I stop for a heartbeat.