Out Of The Dark

by Arlene Gonzales

  She comes over and hugs me. “Talk to me, Lexie.”

  With her arm around my shoulder, we walk over to the couch. I tell her everything, from the minute that we got here and how caring he was with me, all the way to the minute that I walked in the room.

  “I wasn’t here to see any of the things that were going on, but it sounds to me that he got scared. Like I said before, I only saw you two together one time, but he could not take his eyes off you. It’s as if he wanted to devour you for dessert.”

  “Well, you know what? I’m scared too, but I didn’t run away from it.”

  “Well, yes you did. When you called me the other night you had left him at the shoot.”

  “Whose side are you on, Shannon?”

  “Oh, honey, I’m on your side always, but I want you to be happy and if you care about him, then you have to fight for what you want. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we have one more night here, right?”

  “Yes, we do. What do you have going on in that mind of yours?”

  “You just told me that his assistant is a really nice person and that you two got along well, right?”

  “Yes. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Is she still here?”

  “I think so. They’re leaving today instead of tomorrow. She made the new arrangements already.”

  “Okay, well, get her on the phone and see if she can come here.”

  I call her, and ask her if she doesn’t mind coming to my room. She tells me yes.

  Soon there is a knock on the door. I introduce Brandy to Shannon and we both listen to Shannon’s plan. The three of us agree and giggle.

  “Okay, we have to get you all dolled up for tonight. When he sees you and who you’re with, he’ll get jealous and try to get you back. You’ll play hard to get.” Shannon explains every little detail. “Okay, Brandy, remember you will suddenly feel too sick to travel, so you’ll have to stay. Let’s hope he won’t want to leave you here and fly back alone.”

  Brandy turns to me. “Alexis—”

  “No. Remember, my friends call me Lexie.”

  She smiles. “Yes, okay. Well, I was just going to say I hope that things work out for the two of you because I know he cares for you and you just have to make him realize it.”

  We put our plan into motion. They are scheduled to leave tonight, so we go shopping for the perfect outfit. Brandy hires an escort for the evening. Poor guy does not know what he is in for. We get a manicure, a pedicure, and then Brandy suggests it’s all or nothing, so we get a Brazilian wax. This is a first for me. I feel shy but go ahead with it.

  Chapter 11

  Back in the hotel room Shannon does my hair and makeup. The girl should have been a makeup artist, she is so talented. I get into the dress. It’s a royal blue halter dress that matches his eyes. It crisscrosses in the front with a plunging neckline, but it’s not too low. A small jewel at the center accentuates the girls, which are squeezed together and on display. I slide on the six-inch heels and silently pray I don’t fall. While we’re in my room, my phone alerts me to a text from Brandy:

  Aiden just left my room. He said we will have to stay since I’m sick. He went to the bar to have a drink and dinner.

  My heart stings for a minute. Even though he is here, he hasn’t even called or texted me. I think maybe he really doesn’t care. I mean, how can someone say everything he said to me one day, and the next not even want to talk? Maybe this is all for nothing. Looking in the mirror, I’m wondering if we should just call this whole plan off.

  Shannon sees me and knows right away. “What are you thinking?”

  “Should we really be doing this?”

  Just as she’s about to answer, there is a knock on the door. Shannon goes to get it. “Alexis, it’s for you.”

  I walk out of the bedroom and stand there looking at this knockout in my doorway. He is handsome in his own way, different from Aiden. He is not as muscular and just a little shorter, but he has hair you just want to run your hands through—unruly, sandy blond hair—gray eyes, a deep dimple in his chin, and fair skin, and when he speaks I turn to look at Shannon. I can tell we have the same train of thought. He has a deep, rough voice, the kind you would want to hear spoken in your ear right before you gave yourself to him.

  “Hi, Alexis, my name is Rick Nelson.” He holds his hand out as if to shake mine, but when I give him my hand instead he brings it up to his mouth to kiss it. We both tell Shannon goodnight, and start to leave. First I ask him to give me a minute.

  “I just need to tell my friend something.” I peek my head around the door to give Shannon a thumbs-up.

  She jumps up and down. “Go get him, Alexis!”

  ***

  We make our way to the nightclub at the hotel, and I suddenly feel guilty for putting this beautiful man in the middle of our scheme to make Aiden jealous. Just as I am about to back out of it, I see him sitting at the bar. The sight of Aiden makes my legs weak. The room suddenly has no air, my chest is tight from the lack of oxygen, and I feel my face flush. He turns around in his seat as if he senses my presence. His eyes meet mine. We drink each other in like there is no one else in the room. His look is that of need and hunger. I want to face away, at anything or anyone other than him, but there it is…the electric pull between us. The desire is so strong it takes everything to not go to him. He looks over at Rick standing by me, and then the sadness in his eyes morphs into anger.

  Rick turns to me and smiles. I smile back and he takes my hand.

  He leads me to a table, pulls out my chair, and sits, bringing his close to mine. Rick slides his arm around the back of my shoulders and lets it rest there. We are facing Aiden.

  Rick whispers in my ear, “So is that the guy we’re making jealous?”

  I turn to him, embarrassed. “You know?”

  He smiles. “Relax. Brandy told me the plan, so let me do my job and help you get him back, okay?”

  I try to seem calm and play my part, but I feel the heat of Aiden’s stare on me. Then, just as Shannon predicted he would do, as if on cue, he’s standing right in front of us with a domineering stance, his legs planted wide apart, his shoulders thrown back. His eyes heated with want, anger, and need.

  I look up at him and try to sound as casual as possible as if I don’t have a care in the world. “Oh, Aiden, I thought you were leaving today.”

  “Alexis, we need to talk.”

  “Sorry, but as you can see I am rather busy.”

  Rick faces him straight on and says, “The lady is with me.”

  “Alexis, would you please not make a scene here?” I can see the frustration in Aiden’s face. He rakes his hands through his hair and then they are at his sides, fists clenching and unclenching. “Do you really want to play this game with me? Because I can tell you this, sweetheart, I don’t lose. Now come with me so we can talk.”

  Rick stands. “Listen, I think I told you the lady is with me. Now you can walk away on your own, or you can be taken out by me.”

  Aiden takes his eyes off of me, and looks at Rick, steps toward him. “I don’t give a damn who you are or what you think, but Alexis is coming with me. She is mine, she is with me.”

  My eyes go from Rick to Aiden then back again.

  An uneasy feeling comes over me. I stand, about to tell Aiden to leave, when she walks into the room.

  “Aiden, sweetheart, I thought you were coming back to the room.” She puts her hand on his shoulder and turns to me. “Oh, you’re still here? I thought you had left.”

  I can see the twitch in his jaw, his nostrils flaring as he turns to Carla. “What are you talking about? I was never coming to your room.”

  I look him in the eyes. “Oh, sweetheart, don’t let me get in the way of your evening with her.”

  I feel a lump in my throat but do not want to cry in front of them. I swallow the sob that is about to surface, knowing if I stay in here
I won’t be able to hold it in for too long.

  I turn to Carla. “He’s all yours, dear.” Then back at him. “Maybe she can put the fire out.”

  I grab my purse and start walking, rushing to the lobby just to get away from where he is. I can hear him calling out my name, but all I can think of is that I have to leave. I search for the exit and head for it. I’m feeling dizzy, lightheaded. I want to run away from it all.

  Did he really just tell me that he’ll win at this game? So is he playing a game with me? He said he never loses, so does that mean he’s used to playing it with other women? It’s all too much; I can’t deal with this. What was I thinking? I don’t know how to cope with situations like this.

  “Alexis, stop!”

  I walk faster as I head out to the front of the resort. I can hear him coming and start to run, but can’t get far in six-inch heels. He catches up to me, grabs my arm, and swings me around to face him.

  “Alexis, stop. Please listen to me.”

  “No, let me go.”

  “No, you need to talk to me.”

  I try to push him away and struggle to get out of his hold, but he is just too strong. He has one hand on the nape of my neck and the other on my back, crushing me to him.

  “I will not let you go, Alexis. I will never let you go, do you hear me? Now stop fighting and let me explain.”

  My anger is too much for me to handle. Before I know what I’m doing, I slap him. We stand there just staring into each other’s eyes.

  “I am so sorry!”

  I feel ashamed. How could I have done that? It’s not who I am. I would never have done anything like that before. To hit a person out of anger is so wrong. I was brought up better than that. His cheek reddens from my slap, and Aiden’s mouth drops open with shock and hurt. I cannot hold the tears back anymore. I put my hands to my face and cry uncontrollable sobs.

  His hold on me tightens. He kisses the top of my head. “Alexis, please do not cry.”

  We stand there in silence, with my head in the crook of his neck. My tears run down my cheeks, down his neck. Then I feel the drops of water on my forehead. I look up at Aiden. He has tears running down his cheeks as well. I want to hold him but my heart is hurting from all the events of the last couple of days. I lean my head back down on his chest and speak.

  “I can’t do this, Aiden. I can’t get hurt again, and with you I know I will end up having my heart broken.

  “At this point in my life I won’t survive it. I don’t want to feel like a fool when I find out that this is all just a game to you. When I find out that you think of someone else, that you love someone else.”

  “Alexis, I do not want to hurt you, but I can’t stay away from you either. I promise you this is not a game.

  “I am not thinking of anybody else, there is no one else.

  “There is only you; from the moment I saw you in the office that day it has been you and only you.

  “I try not to think about you, but you are in my thoughts all the time. I can’t get you out of my head. And I need to feel you, feel your body on mine. I want to have you near me, I want to have you under me, to feel my flesh on your flesh. I need to be inside you to feel connected to you. But I don’t know how to be—”

  He releases me and I feel a chill at the sudden loss of his hands on my body. He grunts something in Italian, rakes his hands through his hair, and holds them at the back of his neck. He looks up as if searching for answers, then throws his hands up to the sky and yells.

  “Tell me how to deal with these feelings!”

  “What is it, Aiden? Talk to me.”

  I take a step toward him but he holds up a hand to stop me. He paces back and forth, struggling with himself, then turns toward me. His eyes are a deep, dark, piercing blue. I want to speak but don’t know what to say. In one quick move he grabs my arms, crushes me to him, and takes my mouth with his. The kiss is so forceful it is almost painful. He bites my bottom lip and as I moan, his tongue slips into my mouth. Our tongues swirl around as if doing a dance. Our teeth crash against one another. We can’t seem to get enough of each other, as if we will explode if we stop touching and kissing. His hands move up and down my body, as if he can’t get enough of me. When he breaks the kiss, we are both panting and grasping for air.

  He bends down and picks me up, carrying me. He looks at me with desire in his eyes. “I need to be inside of you, Alexis. I need to feel connected to you.”

  “We can’t go to my room, Shannon is in there.”

  “I am taking you to my room.”

  ***

  As the door closes to his room, he puts me down and takes my face in his hands. “You have started a fire in me Alexis, a burning desire that goes to the core of my soul, and I don’t know if it will ever be put out.”

  Before I can answer, his mouth is on mine, pulling my bottom lip, biting it, then licking it. He glides his hands slowly down my sides to my hips. He runs open-mouthed kisses down my neck and over my shoulder. I put my hands on his suit and slide the jacket off of him. It falls to the floor. Then I start to unbutton his shirt. I take in his beautiful muscular torso and his clean scent. A scent I am becoming familiar with, his cologne. Givenchy for men. I think I would know if he was in a room just by his scent, sight unseen.

  He kicks off his shoes and then takes off his socks. Something about the look of his bare feet turns me on, but then again everything and anything about this man turns me on. His hands are at my shoulders and he turns me around. Moving my hair to one side, he undoes the knot of my halter dress. As it slides down the length of my body, a low, deep growl comes from his chest. His erection grinds against my backside. He brings his mouth to that sensitive spot just under my earlobe and gently bites and pulls at it. I lean my head back into his shoulder and again he kisses my neck. Both his hands are on my breasts, kneading and pulling my nipples between his thumbs and forefingers.

  With my back still to his front, he walks us over to the closest wall and pushes me into it so both my palms touch it with my arms at my sides. He slides my panties down my legs. His right hand goes to my entrance while his left one still squeezes my breast.

  He gently rubs his palm back and forth, causing me to tremble with want and need. He puts in two fingers inside me and circles them around. I throw my head back and moan.

  “Oh yes, god, Aiden, yes!”

  “Oh, baby, you are so wet.” His tongue licks the back of my neck.

  I lean my head to one side so he has better access to my throat. He has me panting. My body comes alive under his touch. He makes me feel again, and I want more.

  “Oh, baby, you feel so good, Alexis. Ho bisogno di te. I need you.”

  The sound of his voice and the feel of his hands on me make me want more, need more. My body pulsates for him. I want to scream.

  “Aiden, I need you, please!”

  He pulls his two fingers out of me and puts them in my mouth. “See what you taste like, Alexis?”

  I have never done anything like the things I do with Aiden, but with him it feels so normal. This feels like home, and even though I have only known him a short while, my body is so in tune with his. As I suck his fingers, I let out a little moan. Aiden’s body tenses against mine. Then he removes his fingers from my mouth and slides them down the side of my torso, bringing them between my thighs. He is at the entrance of my sex once again. I hear the sound of his zipper and feel his cock at the back of my cheeks.

  I freeze for a second. Oh god, he is way too big to take in my ass.

  It’s as if he knows what I am thinking. “I won’t be going in here tonight, but soon, si?”

  I let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding in a sigh of relief; my body relaxes again. He pulls my hips back against him and slides his dick into me, stilling himself for a second, then pushes in further and starts moving in and out. He withdraws almost completely and without warning slams into me hard. I cry out in pain and pleasure, mostly pleasure. I push against him and feel hi
m deeper than ever before. We move together like a finely tuned instrument. Once again our bodies become one, move as one.

  I’m on the edge. My world is close to falling out from under me. My head is spinning, and I feel a chill.

  He senses me tighten around him. “Alexis, do not come yet.”

  The only sounds are those of our bodies slamming against one another and the moans we make from how good it feels. Aiden lets out a growl. I can hear the hunger in him. His hands squeeze my hips.

  “Ahhh yes, Alexis. Come, baby. Come for me, come with me.”

  I throw my head back into the crook of his shoulder and feel him tense. One more thrust and he calls out my name.

  “Ahhh fuck, Alexis!”

  My body trembles and we both pant. We slide down to the floor and he cradles me in his lap. I lay my head on his chest. It feels so good I can feel my heart beating a happy tune. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what he does to me. Aiden has that kind of power over my body, over my mind, over my heart. As scary as all this is to me, I can’t let him go. I need him, and even though I am scared to show my true feelings right now, I think somehow he knows already.

  I have one arm wrapped around his waist and my other hand is flat on his chest. God, he smells so good. I breathe him in, not wanting this moment to end. I just lie still. It doesn’t matter that we are on the floor.

  “Are you okay, Alexis?”

  “Hmmm,” is all I can manage.

  “Do you want to wash up?”

  Again, I just sigh. I feel and hear him chuckle. Then he moves me off him. He goes to stand and I suddenly feel cold. He reaches down and picks me up, carrying me into the bathroom and sitting me down on the vanity. He kisses my nose, then rubs it with his own.

  I watch as he turns to walk toward the bathtub. I am in awe as I look up and down the length of his body. He moves with the grace of a lion. I don’t know if it’s years of being on runways or what, but oh man, I am in need of him again. I can feel myself breathing heavily, and my heart beats harder. I lick my lips. He has the body of a god, so muscular and not one inch of fat anywhere. His ass is tight, his legs are toned, his shoulders broad.