by L. D. Davis
“I’m not delusional,” he said with that same pure confidence. “You’re going to fall in love with me, and when you do, I will have no qualms telling you I told you so.”
I batted his hand away from me, gave him a contemptuous look, and said, “You’re crazy. Definitely delusional, and don’t touch me.”
In my back pocket, my phone vibrated and then burst into the song “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer.
“Hey,” I said to Kristy when I answered. “Aren’t you on your honeymoon? Why are you calling me?”
“Nice to hear your voice, too, bitch,” Kristy chuckled. “I just wanted to see how things went last night at the gala, and how things are going with Alden.”
“Umm,” I said, biting my lip. I looked at Alden who was looking at me. “Kris, let me call you back in a few minutes.”
She made a sound of exasperation. “I’ve spoken to you once since you left here.”
“I’ll call you right back,” I promised and ended the call amidst more objections. “I’m going for a walk so I can talk to Kristy,” I said to Alden.
He raised an eyebrow. “You can’t talk to Kristy in here?”
“I would like some privacy speaking to Kristy,” I explained impatiently.
“I can give you privacy,” he said.
Right. Doubtful.
I handed him my wine, turned away from him, and headed toward the door. “I’ll be back soon.”
“You would rather go all the way downstairs and all the way outside than just lock yourself in the bedroom?” Alden asked incredulously as he followed close behind me.
“Yep.” I grabbed my coat out of the closet by the door.
“Fine, fine,” he relented with a sourpuss face and helped me pull on my coat. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes, and then I’m coming after you.”
“It’s going to take me at least five minutes just to get out of the building,” I objected.
“Fine. Twenty minutes,” he said firmly as I opened the door. “Twenty minutes, Little Noa, and then I’m coming for you.”
“Sounds kinky,” I said and laughed at the surprised look that came over his face. Then I regretted saying it because it just opened more doors for Alden, of course.
“If you want me to come for you, sweetheart, all you have to do is ask,” he said in a tone of voice that implied wickedly delicious and dirty things.
Oh my freakin’ goodness.
“I’ll be back,” I murmured and scurried to the elevator.
“So, what’s happening?” Kristy asked when I called her back.
“You tell me,” I snapped. “You seem to have enough confabs with Alden.”
“First of all, who says ‘confabs’? Don’t lure your significant vocabulary over me!” Kristy flashed. “Unlike you, Alden has been taking the time to call me once in a while, but he mostly just asks questions.”
“Why are you discussing my personal life with him?” I asked angrily as I crossed the street to get to Central Park. “Just because he’s your favorite musician doesn’t mean that you can tell him all of my secrets.”
“I don’t tell him everything! But for the record, I think he really likes you – and you’re vagina, apparently.”
I stopped short, making angry New Yorkers crash into me, but I ignored them as I stomped my foot and let out an angry, growly scream. Kristy seemed undeterred by my little tantrum.
“I’m kind of upset that I had to hear it from him and not you,” she muttered, but then continued in an excited tone. “Noa, you had some of the most skilled fingers in the music industry inside your vagina! If I didn’t just get married, I totally would have tried to get those masterful fingers to slide inside me.”
I wanted to throw my phone down on the sidewalk and jump on it. A lot. Or toss it into the street and let a cab run it over. Or hand it to the leering weirdo next to me.
“Why does he feel the need to let the world know that he can make me squirt!” I yelled, gaining very few looks from the people around me. It was New York, after all. They didn’t really care if I could squirt.
“Wait, he made you squirt? For real?” Kristy shouted it. “Hon, Alden made Noa squirt!”
Okay. Now I wanted to lay myself on the ground and have someone jump up and down on me.
Shit. That’s how I got into this situation in the first place.
“Am I no longer allotted any privacy?” I snarled to my closest friend.
“It’s just Trent,” Kristy said dismissively. “I can’t believe you’re dating Alden Breck. This is something we used to dream about as young girls and it’s actually happening to you!”
Kristy’s jubilant attitude was making me want to puke.
“Let’s get a few things straight,” I said icily, “I am not dating Alden. I barely even like Alden! He’s a fucking peacock, always strutting around and thinking he’s so damn desirable! But he’s not! I don’t desire him, okay? So get that shit out of your head and stop talking to him about me!”
“You think I’m a peacock?” Alden’s voice startled me.
I spun around. He had popped on some sunglasses – even though it was dusk – but otherwise didn’t bother to try to hide who he was. And he was standing there with his hands on his hips, grinning.
Fucking peacock.
I let out an exasperated sigh and moved away from him.
“Kristy, I meant what I said,” I warned.
“Calm down,” she said in a bored tone. “You’re overreacting. Listen, I gotta go. I’m on my honeymoon after all.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said bitterly. I mean, hadn’t I mentioned that to her when she first called me?
“I’ll call you when I get home. Have fun, Noa. Millions of other girls across the globe would give their lives to be in your shoes. Appreciate what you’ve got going for you right now.”
“Any one of those millions of girls can have my shoes without forfeiting a life,” I snapped and ended the call.
I turned around to find Alden. A few women were standing around him – where the hell they had come from, I didn’t know. Maybe they sprouted out of the ground. They were grinning, giggling, and giving him “come fuck me” eyes as they touched him and allowed him to touch them. I was a little satisfied that I was right about him being a peacock. As I approached, one of the women completely lost her damn mind and launched herself into Alden’s arms. With impressive quickness, she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled at his head in an attempt to kiss him. To my surprise, Alden resisted as he tried to peel the girl off him. She was undeterred as she clung to him and begged him to kiss her. Finally, Alden was able to push her off. Without a second look at her, he moved toward me, leaving the poor woman pouting with her friends.
“Looks like you just plucked away a definite lay,” I said as we made a wide berth around the women.
“I know I can be an asshole, but even I am not that big of an asshole. I will never try to pick up another woman when you’re with me, I promise.”
I glanced up at his face when I heard the sincerity in his voice.
“You really don’t have to keep that promise. You don’t owe me anything and you’re not my boyfriend.”
“It’s disrespectful to you. I may be crass and do things to piss you off, but that is over the top, even for me. I want you to enjoy your time with me, not worry about what skank I will pick up next.”
I was quiet for a long time. I didn’t think I had ever heard Alden sound so sincere before. It almost seemed that he was even a bit disgusted with himself. When he said “skank,” it sounded very bitter.
In the elevator, I again glanced up at him. His eyebrows were lowered, his mouth was clamped shut – for a change – and he looked straight ahead with a distant look in his eyes. I actually felt bad for him, despite my irritation with him and Kristy. I felt the ice melt a little. After all, I really was being a bit of a hypocrite. Before Tucker rescued me, there were things I did that I will never be proud of.
“Dinner came whi
le you were in the park,” he said in a low, lifeless tone as the doors slid open on his floor.
“Great,” I said, trying to sound light. “I could eat a whole moose, I’m so hungry.”
His face changed. Just like that. I was surprised by how much better I felt when it did. He looked down at me with amusement, a smile playing on his lips.
“A moose?” he asked, unlocking the door.
I stepped in ahead of him and said, “Yes, a moose.”
“Do you eat moose often?” he teased.
“Only when I’m very hungry,” I answered with a giggle.
He grinned and shook his head before kissing my forehead. It was the chastest thing he had ever done with those lips on my body, yet my insides hummed with deep satisfaction.
After dinner, I changed into a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts and pushed my feet into my fuzzy slippers. I sat down at the dining room table with my laptop, ready to get some work done. Alden sat on the couch in the living room, softly strumming on a guitar and humming every now and then. I watched him surreptitiously, watching his skilled fingers move over the strings and the look of peace on his face. Despite the small bite of the winter night in the apartment, he was shirtless with a pair of flannel lounge pants that hung low on his hips. His hair was a little messy and he had a bit of scruff on his jaw and chin. I couldn't deny how beautiful he looked. He really was breathtaking like this.
Doh! I just called Alden breathtaking.
Just pay attention to your work! Ignore the peacock on the couch!
Except, he's totally not looking like a peacock right now. He really is breathtaking.
"Can you teach me how to play a guitar?" someone asked Alden. It took a moment to realize that person was me. Ah well. May as well learn something while I'm with him.
Alden looked at me skeptically. "Wouldn't you rather someone from a band you actually like teach you?"
"Don't be a girl about it," I teased. "I don't like you much but I've never denied your musical talent."
“Fair enough,” he said and then waved me over. “Come over here.”
I really should have impressed upon him the fact that I didn’t mean he needed to teach me right then, only that I wanted to learn sometime in the future, but his eyes were bright and eager. I almost batted him down for fun.
Except, I wasn’t that mean. So I got up and went across the room to sit beside him, but he flipped the guitar up, leaned back, and gestured for me to sit between his legs on the couch. I eyed him suspiciously.
“This is my lesson, Little One,” he said with a smile. “Take it or leave it.”
“Fine,” I sighed.
I settled down between Alden’s strong legs. He scooted forward until the front of his body was pressed against the back of mine. He took my left hand gently into his and put it on the neck of the guitar. His fingers lingered on mine for a moment before he took my right hand and put it on the body of the guitar.
“Okay, ready?” he asked. His breath was warm and silky on the side of my face.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Over the next half hour, Alden gave me a very simplified guitar lesson. He made fun of me when I messed up, which was often, making me laugh and giggle. He praised me when I did well, which was not very often, and he followed up those praises with a quick kiss to my cheek. His hands only stopped touching me when he was playing. Gentle, humble, sweet touches that made my skin burst with goose bumps. His fingers trailed over my arms as I struggled to play a few notes, or he would put his hands over mine, trying to guide me.
“I give up,” I sighed, dropping my hands to my lap. “I’m not coordinated enough to play an instrument.”
“You’re not going to get it in one night, Little One,” Alden said and landed a kiss on my neck. “I mean, I did, but no one is as awesome as me.”
I gently elbowed him in the ribs, making him chuckle.
“Okay, Little Noa, pick a song for me to serenade you with.”
I hesitated. I really needed to get back to work, but Alden was being so…human, and I was enjoying his company. It was possible that he was slipping drugs into my food and drink all day so that I would think he was actually a decent person and not an obnoxious, slutty, dickhead. But if this was what Alden was like with me on drugs, I was okay with becoming an addict. I actually more than kind of liked him and his sedated, yet playful manner, and I would be such a lying bitch if I told you that sitting tucked between his legs and in his arms wasn’t the most comfortable seat in the city, and I had no real desire to move. That alone was amazing, considering he was the first man that I allowed to touch me since leaving Larson, and I was no longer afraid. Alden had a way of making me forget about my fear, my anxiety, and my unhappy past.
Oh, screw it. The writing can wait.
“How about…‘Crash Into Me,’” I suggested. I angled myself so that I could look at his face.
“By Dave Matthews Band?” he asked with a questioning expression that I regretfully found adorable. His brow was pulled down between his hazel eyes. He looked like a little boy wondering if the moon really had cheese on it.
“Yes.” I smiled softly. “Unless you don’t think you’re uh…skillful enough for that.”
With his brow still pulled down, he narrowed his eyes at me. “One day your mouth is going to get you spanked.”
“You wouldn’t dare put me over your knee while I’m injured,” I said innocently. I fluttered my lashes for effect.
Something like surprise passed over his face, making his mouth drop open a bit as his eyes widened, sending his brow up. Then his eyes suddenly looked like they were barely containing a fire from within. It made me squirm a bit, but I saw something else in those eyes, too, though I wasn’t able to put my finger on it just yet.
“You’re such a fucking tease,” he growled and then looked down at his guitar.
I watched as his fingers began to strum the opening notes of the song. Alden’s fingers moved gracefully over the strings as he began to sing the sensuous song. His voice was soft, sensual, and downright arousing. When he started the chorus, he pressed his body into mine, in essence, crashing into me. I pressed back without a thought, my body moving on its own. As he played, I felt the muscles in his chest flex against my back, and then the muscles in his arms flexed against my arms. His hands looked strong and confident as they found every chord exactly right. I felt the soft rumbling of his chest as he sang the song just as easily as if he had been the one to create it himself.
Amazed, and a little fucked up in the head, I watched as Alden became one with the guitar and the music. As close as we were, I felt like I was one with Alden. I felt like he was the music, surrounding me, swathing me…cocooning me. I felt it on my skin, under my skin, in my flesh, through my bones, into my organs, and into my soul. I tilted my head back onto his shoulder, rested my hands on his rock hard thighs, and allowed myself to float away in his capable hands and voice. I felt caressed, through and through.
When the last chord was struck, Alden carefully put the guitar down on the side of the couch, but moved purposely and quickly when he tilted my head to the side. He started to kiss my neck while he simultaneously pulled my shirt up to my belly and pushed his hand under the cotton of my shorts and panties. My body felt extra sensitive to his touch. Even his other hand running up and down my arm was sending little shockwaves of pleasure through my body and to my core.
As his fingers circled my clit, he cupped my chin possessively in his other hand.
“Hearing me sing to you made you all hot for me, Little Noa,” he rasped into my ear before pulling the lobe between his teeth for quick bite. “Tell me what it did to you.”
I couldn’t answer with words, only with moans and groans as I pushed my hips up against his fingers.
“Tell me what it did to you,” he commanded more harshly. “Or I’ll stop.”
“Umm…” I moaned.
“Did it make your nipples hard?” he asked and released my chin to savagel
y squeeze a breast.
I yelped and nodded arduously.
“Say it,” he growled, gripping my chin again. “Say it now.”
“It made my nipples hard,” I murmured and licked my lips.
“What else did it to you, Little One?”
I cried out as he lightly plucked my clit.
“Say it or you don’t get to come,” he warned.
Oh my motherfuggin’ word.
“You made me wet,” I said breathlessly as I writhed between his legs.
“What made you wet, baby?” Alden whispered. “Is it just the song? Hmm? Or was it me singing the song?”
“You singing the song,” I managed between moans.
“Good girl,” he murmured and kissed my neck. “I’ll let you come now.”
Without hesitation, Alden pushed his two middle fingers into my heat and released my face. He put his hand under my shirt and twirled my nipples between his fingers.
“Ride my fingers, Noa,” he demanded.
Holy shiz!
I eased up until I felt only the tips of his fingers before slamming down on his hand.
“Yeah,” he groaned in my ear. “Ride em’ baby.”
I rose and fell on Alden’s hand as his mouth assailed my neck and his other hand tugged and squeezed my nipples. As I screwed his fingers, I felt his erection sliding over my ass. I felt powerful knowing how hard I made him, but my power was without control. Alden had complete control over me, and if he pulled that monster out of his pants and told me to ride it, I was afraid that I wouldn’t have been able to say no. I wouldn’t have been able to speak at all because I would be too busy trying to find a way to make that thing fit inside of me. It was that image in my head that threw me over the edge.
“Alden!” I cried out as I grinded my orgasm out.
“Noa,” he growled in my ear as his skilled fingers helped me coast through my climax.
I settled again between Alden’s legs and rested my head on his shoulder as my body began to recover. He slowly pulled his hand out of my shorts; his other hand caressed my belly as his kisses on my neck became gentle and sweet. When Alden’s hand accidentally slipped over my ribcage, I gasped.