by A L Miller
I step in front of the mirror, viewing the way the burgundy pants and matching vest underneath my jacket both hug my body perfectly in all the right places. I made the right choice by agreeing with her. I fasten my black tie around the collar of my white button-down, slip on my socks and black dress shoes before grabbing my black masquerade mask, wallet and car keys before heading out the door. Turning quickly back around to realize I forgot my coat and scarf as the cold air hit my body.
I really have lost all logical thinking these last few days, and I’m starting to think my neighbor across the way had something to do with it. Maybe I’ll run into Melanie at the party and she can tell me what mask he will be wearing tonight. I knew what she was wearing because I saw her already in it on the way in when she told me hi. Man, I was starting to sound like a damn stalker. If I did run into him tonight, I might not even know it. I had no idea what he will be wearing or what the friend he was attending with would be wearing and his mask would be covering half his face.
After doing a once over to make sure I had everything I needed, I lock the door behind me and head for my car. I was hoping I would see him come out of his apartment in his mask, but of course I wouldn’t be that lucky. As I warm up my car, I check my phone to make sure I haven’t missed anything important before backing out of my assigned parking space.
It took forever to find a parking spot. Although the house may be big, the parking was not. I had to walk a pretty good distance from my car to Paul’s house. There were people pouring in and out of the doorway as I walked in. My eyes search for Paul, and then I remember I have no idea what mask he is wearing either. Well, this was well planned. I doubt I’ll be able to find him in the crowd with all these people anyway.
I reach the bar and order myself a drink. Paul said he was hiring a bartender and having an open bar. He really did go all out too; this bartender was pretty much able to make anything you asked him to. Then again, Paul has always been one of those guys who liked showing off how much money he had and thanks to his parents, he had a lot of it. A woman in a blue mask and black ball gown presses her body against mine and whispers in my ear, “well that is some suit, I bet it looks even better on the floor.”
I smile at her and break it to her gently that I’m not interested, and she wrinkles her nose up in annoyance before saying, “your loss,” before pulling up the top of her dress and walking off. I down my drink and can already see a lot more of these in my future with the way this is going so far.
I’m about to turn around and ask the bartender to make me another when a striking man in a bright teal and gold mask enters the room with black fitted pants paired with a black shirt and tight-fitting gold vest outlining every curve of his body making me have to close my mouth before I start drooling all over the floor. I didn’t have to even see the rest of his face to find him breathtaking.
He moves slowly through the crowd, accompanied by a short brunette in a black dress and pink mask. His black pants cling to his muscle toned body as he moves, leaving little to the imagination making my mouth water all over again. Finally, his eyes meet mine as the brunette whispers something in his ear after spotting someone else. The woman walks away, leaving the gorgeous mysterious stranger alone. Just how I preferred him to be.
I make my way toward him; his brown eyes bore into mine through his mask. His top teeth sink into his bottom lip which has my feet picking up the pace once my mouth craves to be the one biting it instead. He suddenly stops with a hint of panic in his eyes, shifting his eyes from me to the stairway as his breathing picks up, leaving his chest to rise and fall in front of me. I seem to be having the effect of sending him into panic, not the one I was wanting. He takes off up the stairs and I now have the need to find him and make sure he is okay. The sudden instinct to follow him and offer him comfort takes over me. My feet are already moving the direction he went before my mind can even register what is happening.
The lights become dim as I walk farther into the hallway, my eyes landing on a dark figure standing there. A hint of gold gleams in the small amount of light coming from outside the hallway. It leaves me to assume this dark figure is indeed the man I’m searching for. I make my way toward him; he doesn’t move, so I keep going until I’m within touching distance. He turns around to face me and my first reaction to touch him in any way I can. His breath quickens as my hand moves towards his face, and he begins to tremble at the slight touch of my fingers against the top of his ear as I brush his hair behind it.
His face relaxes into my touch after that and his eyes meet mine as I lean in to brush the top of my lips against his ear as I whisper into it. He stands still and quiet. I’m about to step away to give him space until he quickly slams his mouth against mine as if he is dying to get a taste of me. My lips willingly part for him. He moves his tongue against mine and my hands ache to touch him more, so that’s exactly what they do.
Seven
Danny
Vivian and I arrive at the party arm in arm. The walls are lined with gold and clear balloons filled with glitter. There are gold streamers and more balloons falling from the ceilings. Vivian heads off in search of her date. I don’t know who I’m searching for, but I can’t help but run my eyes over the crowd in front of me. They stop once they land on a tall, slender man in a black mask at the bar staring back at me as if he is undressing me with his eyes. Eyes that stay on me the whole time as I walk farther into the room. Eyes that never seem to lose me in the crowd. They are filled with curiosity and interest, mixed with desire.
He starts moving my way, and a shiver runs down my spine when a smile reaches his face. Shaken by nerves, my legs start moving up the stairs behind me. I’m not really sure why I’m running away, but there was something about the stranger that sends my heart racing and a surge of pleasure through me. I needed to get away to figure out why my body was reacting this way to a complete stranger. I’ve never had anyone look at me that way, and I wasn’t sure how to respond to it except to run away because that is apparently what I did now.
I am now alone in a darkened hallway after disappearing from the mysterious stranger in the black mask. That is until footsteps slowly approach from behind me, leaving me no longer alone.
I don't have to turn around to know who it is, but I do anyway. The man's silhouette takes shape in the hallway and even in the dim light, his wicked smile becomes apparent. My breathing increases the closer he gets. His hand reaches toward my face and my body shakes from fear of him removing my mask. When his fingers brush a bit of my hair behind my ear instead, I sigh in relief and begin melting into his touch.
He smells familiar, but I can’t seem to place his cologne. It is mixed with the smell of mint on his breath that enters my nose as his warm breath touches my cheek before he begins whispering in my ear, “You were the most interesting thing out there and then disappeared. I’m just glad I was able to find you, and it appears my luck has increased finding you here alone.”
I try to speak, but my words are caught in my throat, and the way his fingers grazed my skin on the tips of my ears a bit ago had my body react in all kinds of ways. The heat from his mouth sends a tingly sensation against my skin, my body is anxious to know where his mouth will move to next. I grow too impatient for him to make the next move so instead of responding with words, I press my mouth to his and he doesn’t pull away. Instead, he opens his mouth to make room for my tongue to push its way passed his lips. His body is suddenly pressed against mine as my back meets a nearby wall. His tongue moves with mine, his kisses are anything but gentle as he nips my bottom lip with his teeth before roughly taking my mouth with his again.
I want him to touch me more, I need him to touch me more. I’ve only had a small taste of what he had to offer and I was now hungry for more. It was as if he could read my mind as his hand slowly slipped beneath the front of my pants, smiling against my mouth at the realization I’m not wearing underwear.
His mouth is back to devouring mine, and I press my groin
into his hand in an attempt to gain more friction. His hand slides out of my pants, and I whimper against his lips from disappointment. He laughs against my mouth and whispers into my ear, “patience, beautiful.”
His words cut into me like a knife. I have never been called beautiful before and I certainly never would be if he could see me without my mask. His hands slide up the back of my shirt as my hands slide up the front of his vest, wishing there wasn’t another piece of clothing standing in the way of my hands feeling his warm skin beneath them. I fumble with the button and zipper of his pants. Unlike me, he is wearing underwear. I push down the front of his underwear, allowing his erection to spring free against my hand. He moans as he pushes into it. I begin working him nice and slow until I stop for a minute to drop to my knees and quickly replace my hand with my mouth. The salty taste of him lands on my tongue. I take him further into my mouth, and he moves in perfect motion with me.
He gently pulls me up by my arms and as soon as I’m standing, he presses the front of my body up against the wall. His hands land on each side of my hips. I unbutton the front of my pants, and before I can fully bring down the zipper, he is already sliding them down my thighs. His fingers slip between my cheeks, slightly grazing my entrance and I push myself back on him, begging for more. When his hands slip free from me, my body goes slack against the wall in disappointment.
I press my body against the cool wall in anticipation as he fumbles with a wrapper behind me. My body becomes eager again as the sound of him sliding on the condom enters my ears. Another package tears and wet fingers enter me but this time going deeper, working my entrance open for what’s to come next. This guy really came prepared and I’m glad because I wasn’t prepared at all to get fucked against a wall in the hallway of some guys house I barely know when I should be down stairs ringing in the new year with my friend. I don’t even know what time it is.
He presses his tip gently against my entrance and a moan escapes my lips. His lips press gentle kisses on my neck as he enters me. He goes deeper as I motion him to keep going until I am completely full of him. My ass clenshes around his dick and I need him so badly to start moving again before I go insane. I push back into him with force and he finally gets the message and starts slamming into me just the way I need him to.
The touch of his lips sends a spark of electricity through my body, leaving it on the verge erupting in pleasure. He wraps his fingers around my dick and, with a few jerking motions, I’m spilling over his hand. I feel him relaxing inside me as he is met with his own orgasm brought on by the sight of mine. His sounds of pleasure in my ear are almost enough to make me hard again. I collapse my body against the wall. The sounds of him zipping his pants comes from behind me has me sliding my own pants over my hips. I grimace as I pull my shirt over my now cum covered stomach.
He places a kiss on the side of my head before whispering, “Happy New Year.”
His footsteps hit the floor in the opposite direction he came from in the hall. I pull out my phone and the time shows that it is indeed midnight. I got way more than that New Year’s kiss I was hoping for. I make a trip to the nearest bathroom. All the doors look the same in this damn place, and my head is still spinning from being overcome with pleasure.
I walk into a few wrong rooms before I finally walk into the right one. Reliving what happened all over again sends a delicious shiver down my spine. Once cleaned up, I head back to the party. I fix the crooked mask on my face as I make my way downstairs so that it is resting properly against my nose.
My eyes meet with Vivian’s and her lips turn into a disappointing grin. “Where the hell were you? You missed the countdown! We were supposed to ring int the new year together. You better have been stuck somewhere kissing some super-hot guy.”
I chuckle, “yeah, um… kissing. That’s what we were doing.”
Her eyes go wide beneath her mask as her mouth gapes open in shock and disbelief. She runs up the first few steps to meet me and pulls me into her while whispering, “wait are you saying you hooked up someone tonight? Like just now?”
I hang my head in shame. “Yeah, turns out you’re shy and innocent best friend isn’t so shy and innocent after all.”
She shrieks loudly with her eyes beaming, “I have never been prouder! Who was he? Oh my god, you have to tell me everything!”
I shake my head. “I have no idea who he is, he um… well we never quite got to that. It was dark and we both had our masks on the whole time. Wow, I just heard how terrible that sounds.”
She shakes her head, laughing. “Wow, that is actually pretty hot. I thought that kind of stuff only happens in movies or your smutty romance novels.”
“Apparently it happens in real life, in mine if you can believe it. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. I have no idea who the guy was but his scent and presence seemed so familiar. I couldn’t place it; it was probably all in my head.”
She links her arm in mine as we walk the rest of the way down the stairs. “Wow, what if its someone you see every day. What if it’s that guy from the coffee shop you can’t stand?”
My smile turns to a frown. “Don’t ever say mean things like that to me, you hear?”
Vivian just had to mention Erik, the rude suit and tie guy who always barks at me for taking his table or for hogging up the line with my small order. Man, that guy gets under my skin and it took a lot to do that. He reminded me so much of my ex Patrick, with his good looks and arrogance, it made me hate him more.
She laughs, breaking me from my thoughts. “I’m just saying it could be anyone. It could be your mailman, your local congressman, the barista who hands you your coffee every morning. It could even be that sex on a stick neighbor of yours.”
I’m not going to lie, for a moment a pretended it was him, but I doubt I would be that lucky. Wow, what did I just do with a stranger at a party in someone else’s house? I grab one of the glasses of champagne from a nearby table, quickly gulping it down. It doesn’t matter how much I drink away the memory of him tonight, my body will surely remind me in the morning.
Eight
Cole
My mind races back to the events that just took place as I enter the bathroom down the hall. Panic took over and I zipped up my pants once we were finished, leaving him alone in the hallway still using the wall for balance. He remained there for a while.
I quickly toss the remnants from the events that just occurred in the trash can. I wash up a little before tucking my shirt back in and fixing my vest and suit jacket before straightening my bow tie, so it doesn’t look like I just had sex in the hallway even though that is exactly what I did. My hair still looks pretty good, but I run my hand through it anyway, just in case. I splash a bit of cold water on my face hoping my lips don’t look too swollen from the hot rough kisses I just shared with the stranger in the hall.
There was something about him that just seemed so familiar, but I couldn’t figure it out. This guy could have been anyone but probably no one I knew. I still clung to the hope that the stranger was someone I would see again in the near future. I’m not sure how I will know it’s him, though. All I’m left with is the memory of the way he tasted in my mouth, the feel of his smooth skin and the scent of coconut shampoo I had the pleasure of smelling as I buried my face into his soft brown hair.
I shake all the thoughts from my head the moment I start to grow hard again as I walk down the stairs to return to the party. A man in a green mask walks toward me wearing a watch I recognize to be Paul’s. “Cole, is that you? It’s me, Paul.” He lifts his mask up for me to see the rest of his face.
I nod, “Yeah, how did you know?”
He smiles. “I knew I recognized that burgundy suit. I was with you when you bought that ridiculous thing, remember? Although now that I see it on you, I’m starting to form a different opinion. That suit is totally you, man. Where have you been this whole time? Did you get lost in my house again?”
I look back up the stairs I came down befo
re looking back at him “Nah, someone was in the downstairs bathroom, so I went to the one upstairs and then ran into a friend up there and got to talking. I must have lost track of time.”
Suspicion fills his eyes before his smile turns into a sly grin. “Talking, huh?”
I nod, hoping not to reveal anything with the expression on my face. “Yeah, talking. Look, I could really use a drink… you know, the first one of the year. How about you join me?”
He hesitates for a minute as if he wants to push further but instead rests his hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, sounds good buddy. Let’s go drink the rest of the night away and worry about the repercussions in the morning.”
Oh, I would definitely remember everything in the morning, at least all the important things. I follow him to the bar. I down a glass of champagne I grab from a nearby table on the way there. Paul grabbed us a few shots of Patrón. Yeah, I would remember everything in the morning alright, but I may not remember a damn thing the last hours of the night.
A peppy blonde approaches my way in a red mask that I recognize to be Melanie’s. She puts her hand on Paul’s before leaning to whisper something in his ear that makes him chuckle. He whispers something back before pointing to me. Melanie takes a step back, observing me before clasping her hands to her mouth.
“Oh my goodness, Cole is that really you? That suit looks fantastic on you. Aren’t you quite the sight tonight!”
I laugh. “I could say the same for you, Melanie, you look lovely tonight. She presses her hand to her chest in an attempt to act modest, which we both knew she was anything but. The woman knew what she looked like and she let you know that she knew it too.