Taming The Billionaire

by Darcia Cobbler

  Spring faded into summer and there was still no word from Bruce. The Fourth of July long weekend was approaching and, with it, the town’s annual carnival. While at first Travis was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, his neighbors’ excitement soon made him get into the mood and, when Miranda showed up in his shop with a handmade tiger mask, he couldn’t say no.

  “You made this yourself?” he asked, admiring the painstakingly detailed paper maché mask.

  “I did indeed. I always make my own. Those store bought ones are so trashy,” Miranda said proudly. “I made myself a fox this year. Put it on! I want to see how it fits.”

  Travis slid the mask onto his face, tying the black ribbon behind his head. The mask sat comfortably on his nose and, he was happy to note, didn’t obscure his vision. Luckily, it was only a half mask so he’d still be able to eat and drink. After all, what was the point of going to a carnival if not to stuff yourself on corndogs and cotton candy? “This is great, Miranda. Thanks so much!”

  Miranda nodded happily. “It looks perfect on you. Just make sure you wear it!”

  “Of course I will,” Travis smiled.

  The night of the carnival, Travis headed down to the main street which had been closed off for the festivities. Food vendors and booths with games and contests had been set up all along one side of the road while families were picnicking on the beach across the street. As night fell, the strands of colorful lights that hung criss-crossed above street flickered into life and a local band began to play energetic rock songs. People gathered by little stage to dance and sing along.

  Standing a bit behind the crowd, Travis nursed a beer and swayed in time to the music.

  “Hey stranger,” said a familiar voice.

  Looking down, Travis saw Karen smiling up at him. She was wearing a handmade mask in the shape of a large green and blue butterfly, which Travis guessed had also been made by Miranda.

  “I like your mask,” he said.

  “Same to you,” she replied. “Don’t you want to go dance? Or are you too cool for that sort of thing?”

  Travis looked at the happy crowd and shook his head. “I’m not too cool for it. It’s just a bit depressing to dance without a partner.”

  Karen chuckled. “Well, I’ll dance with you, if you’d like. Just as long as you’re a better dancer than you are a florist.”

  Travis glanced down at her with raised eyebrows. “You have to admit I’ve gotten much better,” he said.

  “Yes, that we can both agree on,” said Karen with a smile. Turning to face him, she held out her hand. “Shall we?” she asked.

  Grinning, Travis put his beer down on a nearby picnic table and slipped his hand into hers, following her into the throng. Pressing his advantage, he risked putting his hands on her hips as they danced. To his surprise, she let him. Very slowly, as the songs went on, he could feel her body begin to relax until, eventually, she even lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, bringing their bodies flush with each other. He could feel her breasts brush against his chest as they swayed in time to the music. Smiling, he wrapped his arms around her more tightly.

  “I wonder, you know,” she said as the music came to an end, “who you really are beneath that mask. Your everyday mask, I mean, not this tiger one. And I wonder if your secret is really as bad as you think it is. And, if it is, why have you brought it here to our town? I wonder if you’ll get us hurt.”

  Even though the music had ended, they kept swaying to the memory of its rhythm, still wrapped in each other’s arms. Travis looked down at her wide blue eyes. They were staring up at him intently.

  “Do you wonder if I’ll hurt you?” he asked, his voice rough with emotion.

  Karen didn’t look away. “Sometimes,” she said. “But I wonder that about most new people.”

  “I won’t,” he said. “That much I can be honest about.”

  She raised her eyebrows, those inscrutable eyes of hers still pinning him down.

  As always, Travis felt the truth bubbling to the surface and this time, trapped by her eyes, he didn’t think he’d be able to keep it down any longer. “Look, Karen, I…” he began, swallowing. “I’m—”

  Suddenly an enormous yellow starburst exploded over their heads – the fireworks had begun. Craning their necks, they both looked up in happy wonder as yellow, white, red, and blue lights lit up the sky and the townspeople’s upturned faces. As the crowd moved toward the beach to be able to see the show better, Travis and Karen got pushed back to the fringes, until they were standing amid the darkened food stalls.

  Another firecracker burst overhead, lighting up their faces with white and gold. Travis looked down to find Karen watching him instead of the lights. The flickers of falling light reflected in the dark pools of her eyes and transfixed him. Without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her. She didn’t resist.

  At the touch of her soft lips – lips he’d imagined more times than he’d care to admit - Travis couldn’t help but moan, taking her face in his hands and bringing her into an insatiable kiss. They stumbled back against a shuttered food cart and Karen grabbed hold of Travis’s shirt in both hands to keep her balance. Tilting her head back to deepen the kiss, she ran her hands down his stomach, enjoying the feel of his toned abs beneath her fingertips. She’d wanted to see him naked for longer than she’d care to admit either.

  Finally breaking the kiss, Karen stepped back, panting slightly as she caught her breath. “This way,” she told him, taking him by the hand and leading him away from the crowd. Travis followed willingly.

  Behind the stage was one of the local parks, a small green space with a thicket of enormous old rhododendrons that stood taller than even Travis. With a smile, Karen led him into the bushes. Below them, the shouts and cries of the crowd were muffled and seemed very far away. Once they were safely enclosed in the green canopy, Travis drew her back to him, his hands already sliding up under her light cotton top.

  Gracefully, Karen lifted her arms, allowing him to pull her shirt off her. Tossing it aside, Travis smoothed his thumbs along the silky skin of her ribs as he reached around to unhook her bra and expose her breasts to the cool night air. With an appreciative groan, Travis knelt down in front of her, wrapping his hands around her ass and drawing her to him so that he could trail warm kisses up her flat stomach. Smiling, Karen let her head hang as she curled her fingers in his short hair. Then he drew one of her small, pert breasts into his mouth and began to suck, and Karen shivered with pleasure, moaning as his tongue teased her sensitive nipple.

  Reaching down, Karen pulled up Travis’s shirt, letting it fall into the grass next to hers. As he played with her breasts, she ran her hands down the hard planes of his back, admiring how his muscles shifted in the dim light. Taking a step back, she leaned against the thick trunk of a rhododendron as he unzipped her shorts and pulled them and her underwear off. He looked up at her questioningly and she grinned back at him, answering his silent question.

  Then she squealed as he grabbed her by the thighs, effortlessly lifting her onto his shoulders so that her clit was at just the right height. Gripping her ass firmly in both hands, Travis brought her closer, taking the small pink bud into his mouth and sucking long and luxuriously.

  Karen gasped, arching her pelvis toward him, the bark of the rhododendrons scraping her shoulders as she pressed her pussy into his warm mouth. Smiling around her, Travis brought one hand up to massage the delicate flesh of her breasts as he sucked her. He could feel his erection twitching every time she moaned.

  Then, without a word, Travis bent down, gently laying Karen back onto the soft grass. One hand on her wrists, he held her arms above her head, admiring her tiny, delicate body as she strained toward him, her eyes dark with unbridled desire. Travis grinned and lowered his head to kiss her passionately. His free hand trailed along her body, stroking her breasts and stomach before reaching down between her legs and caressing the silken skin of her pussy. Karen whimpered, taking his lower lip gently b
etween her teeth as she arched toward his hand, hoping for penetration. Smiling at her eager response, Travis knelt down between her thighs, letting go of her wrists and taking hold of her hips instead.

  Working his way inward, Travis traced the folds of Karen’s slick pussy with one finger, gently stroking her from clit to taint and back again. “Oh my God, Travis,” Karen moaned, her fingers digging into his hair. “Please,” she gasped, writhing him.

  “Please what?” Travis asked, still focusing on her wet pussy as he gently drew his thumb across her swollen clit.

  “Fuck me,” she whimpered.

  Travis smiled. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, as he spread open the folds of Karen’s glistening pussy and sank one long, large finger deep into her, curving it upward so that he could stroke her g-spot.

  Karen groaned.

  As he stroked her, Travis sucked each of Karen’s swollen folds, playing with them until Karen was mewling in ecstasy. Leisurely working his way back up to her clit, he gently licked the sensitive bud and brought it back into his mouth.

  Karen’s response was instantaneous. “Oh shit, fuck!” she moaned loudly as her hips bucked. Travis held her down with a hand on her stomach so that he could keep working. His lips still playing with her clit, Travis straightened his finger and thrust it deep into Karen. Karen writhed on the grass, tearing clumps of it out as she moaned. Travis could feel her pussy tightening around his finger as she teetered on the brink of orgasm and, with a wicked smile, he sat up.

  “What the—no!” Karen propped herself up in the grass, her eyes wide with shock. “Travis, get back here!”

  But Travis just smiled and kissed her inner thigh as he stood. Drawing a condom out of his back pocket, he quickly shed his pants and underwear and rolled the condom onto his quivering dick. Karen bit her lip, watching him manhandle his enormous erection.

  Kneeling down again, Travis took hold of Karen’s thighs and, his eyes locked with hers, slowly drew her down onto his cock. “Oh, fuck,” Karen groaned as she stretched to fit him. She’d worried he’d be too big for her, but it turned out that he filled her perfectly. It felt amazing.

  Sitting straight up on his haunches, Travis drew Karen down onto him hard and fast, going deeper with each stroke. Her pussy was tight around him and he could feel her walls squeezing his sensitive head. It was driving him wild. Below him, Karen arched her body so that his cock caressed her g-spot with every thrust, making her gasp every time he drove into her. The sight of her moaning his name as he fucked her only added to Travis’s pleasure and he picked up speed, the muscles in his arms straining as he brought her slamming down onto him at a frantic pace.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Karen screamed, her hips working in tandem with his, drawing him in deeper with each thrust. She could feel an orgasm beginning to build again and wanted to enjoy it this time. “Please,” she gasped, her eyes shut, “please let me come this time.”

  With a smile, Travis shook his head. To Karen’s utter horror, he drew out again, this time flipping her onto her knees. Before she could do more than gasp, he had grabbed her hips and driven himself deep into her eager, dripping pussy. Karen screamed into the grass as Travis sheathed himself to the hilt.

  Goaded on by her reaction, Travis fondled the soft skin of Karen’s ass as he thrust deep and slow, her tight walls driving him crazy. Without warning, Karen straightened, bracing herself against the trunk of another rhododendron. Looking back at Travis, she smiled seductively, her eyes half closed. “Hard,” was all she said.

  Travis moaned. “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he whispered. Wrapping one hand in her long black hair, he arched her back so that his thrusts hit every inch of her hyper-sensitive pussy. Karen groaned loud enough for him to hear her over the fireworks. Licking his lips, Travis let go of her hair and grabbed her hips again, slamming his rock hard cock into her as hard and as fast as he could.

  Sweat dripped down their skin as they bucked against each other, the sound of her bare ass slapping his muscled stomach echoing in the underbrush. Travis’s impressive body strained with the exertion of his furious pace, the muscles in his ass clenching with every frantic thrust. Overhead, the fireworks were reaching their crescendo, the explosions of light drowning out his gasps and her wild screams as her pussy tightened around him.

  Travis could feel his own orgasm coming and he slapped her ass, wanting to be sure she came first. Moaning long and loud, Karen pumped his dick frantically as her climax finally broke. Feeling Karen coming around his cock tipped Travis over the edge and he bent over, grabbing Karen’s breasts hard as he furiously thrust into her one last time before his orgasm exploded through him.

  Down below, the crowd was cheering and clapping as the last of the fireworks faded from the sky.

  “Jesus Christ,” Karen gasped as they collapsed onto the grass.

  “Yeah,” said Travis, easing himself out of her.

  For a moment, they just smiled at each other goofily. Then Karen sighed. “We should probably get back before someone misses us,” she said.

  With a reluctant nod, Travis agreed and they hurriedly tugged on their clothes and headed back to the festivities.

  But this time they walked hand in hand.

  As they wound their way through the throng, a man caught Travis’s eye. He was tall and heavy set and walked with a slight stoop. A thick, curly red ponytail hung down his back. He was walking with a shorter man, their eyes darting through the crowd as if they were looking for something. And then Travis realized that they really were. They were looking for him. The redhead was the same man who had led the charge into his apartment all those months before. They’d finally found him.

  Travis swore, yanking Karen in the opposite direction. “Hey!” she said, puzzled, “What are you doing?”

  When they were safely out of sight behind a food cart, Travis looked down at Karen, his eyes mournful. Karen felt a shiver run down her spine. She knew that something was terribly wrong. Taking her face tenderly in his hands, Travis brushed his thumbs across her cheeks. “I have to go,” he said. “You were right. I have been holding something back. Dangerous men want me dead and they’ve finally found me. I’m sorry that I brought them here. I thought they’d never find me.”

  Karen gasped. “What? Travis—”

  “It’s true, Karen. I’m a spy. I wish I had time to explain everything, but I don’t. They’re here in the crowd. I saw them. I have to go. And you have to run as fast as you can in the other direction. I wish I could stay with you. You’re….you’re very special to me,” Travis whispered. A sudden shout made him look up, every nerve in his body tingling. He had to get going or he was a dead man.

  “Travis, you can’t be—”

  But Travis interrupted her, kissing her deeply. “Please,” he said, drawing her close, “forget about me.” And then he let her go and ran off into the night.

  Karen stood for a moment, tears welling in her eyes. She’d been so happy only a moment ago and now it was all shattered. Her lower lip trembling, she sank back against the food truck and slid down onto the sidewalk.

  As she sat there, her knees drawn to her chest, two men broke away from the crowd. “You sure you saw him come this way?” the taller one asked.

  “Pretty sure. He was running off in that direction,” said the shorter one, pointing toward where Travis had disappeared.

  “Okay, let the others know,” the tall one instructed gruffly. As the shorter one pulled out his phone, both men began jogging after Travis. They hadn’t seen Karen, who was crouched in the dark, but she had seen the guns stuffed down the back of their pants.

  Wiping away her tears, Karen stood up. She had to do something. She couldn’t just let Travis get shot down in the street like a dog.

  Meanwhile, Travis was darting through the streets, trying to get back to the florist shop to grab his escape bag. Over the sound of his heart thumping in his chest, Travis thought he heard the sound of footsteps following him through the deserted streets, but wh
enever he stopped to listen the sound vanished. It must be your imagination, he told himself.

  In an attempt to get home faster, Travis decided to risk cutting across the school soccer field. It was faster but it left him exposed while he crossed. He made it halfway across without mishap and he was just starting to relax when he finally heard what he’d been dreading ever since he’d arrived in Chilloot Bay.

  “Stop right there, Mr. Smith.”

  “Fuck,” Travis swore. Slowly turning around, he came face to face with the four men who had broken into his home. He hadn’t been imagining those footsteps after all.

  “Hello, Mr. Smith,” said the leader, the redhead with the stoop. “We meet again.”

  Travis eyed his opponents, each of whom was sporting nasty-looking semi-automatics. “I don’t know that you breaking into my apartment counts as our having met,” he replied as casually as he could. He was unarmed and everyone there knew it.