by Susan Stoker
“I matter to me.” The operator had answered and was speaking on the other end of the line. My eyes met his, and he turned and stomped out, slamming the door behind him. I followed him and quickly locked it before giving my attention back to the 911 operator.
“Sorry, ma’am. I thought there was an intruder in my home. False alarm.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. If he stayed another second, he would have been intruding.
Clutching my phone in my hand, I sank back to my spot on the floor and picked up the paper that had started this whole fight. It was a job offer. Not just any offer, but the offer of a lifetime. A chance for a fresh start, a new Norah, and the adventure of a lifetime. I’d be stupid not to take it.
But it was more than just that. It was proof. Proof that I mattered. Proof that I was worth something, proof that someone wanted me, in any capacity. And Brian couldn’t handle that.
The words on the paper blurred before my eyes. Dammit. This was the worst it had ever been. He had never hit my face before. Tonight had been the first time. At least I had made sure it was the last time as well. This job would allow me to put thousands of miles between us, and I couldn’t think of anything sweeter at the moment. The skin around my eyes began to throb, and I stood, cursing at my predicament as I retrieved a bag of frozen peas from the freezer. I didn’t even like peas. The only reason I had them was to use for an ice pack when Brian went into one of his moods.
Extracting the bag of peas, and a frozen burrito, I put the burrito on my face, and stomped over to the garbage can. I lifted the metal lid with my foot, and unceremoniously dumped the bag of peas into the trash.
“Fuck you, Brian.”
And then, while I could still see the letter and the phone, I made the call that would change my life.
Chapter Three
Mazi
I stepped onto the plane with Jax behind me and stopped short. Never mind the fact that the so-called private jet was actually more like a luxury hotel with wings. This was even more startling.
I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, certain I had to be seeing things. There was a woman on the plane. And not just any woman. Her. The one from the club last week. The girl with the violet hair.
She recognized me as well. The spark flashed in her eyes and faded just as quickly, as we both stared at Jax, waiting for some sort of explanation, or introduction.
“Sir, um, Mazi,” he stuttered, unsure. “Miss Norah Baxter will be joining us on our flight, if you are amenable to it, sir. There was a problem with her security clearance and she was unable to get on her flight last night.”
So, her name was Norah, I mused, taking a good long look. The hoodie was gone—a plain black V-neck T-shirt accentuated the curves that had been so well hidden the first time I laid eyes on her. I forced myself to look her in the eyes. I had an entire flight to check her out further, and it was a long one. Best not to come off as a perv straight out of the gate.
She regarded me strangely and I cursed inwardly. Probably having a hard time reconciling the fact that she saw me stripping on stage one week, and Jax falling all over himself to please me and calling me sir the next.
I cut Jax with a hard stare. I had told him not to call me sir a million times already. I extended my hand, and waited for her to take it. “The more the merrier, Jax. It will be easier to enjoy these superb accommodations with such lovely company.”
As soon as the sentence left my lips, I inwardly blanched. Where had that even come from? It didn’t sound like me, that was for sure.
Norah seemed to like it, though. The smile she gave me was totally worth sounding like a pretentious douchebag for a minute. Her smile was the one thing I hadn’t gotten a chance to see at all. Kissable heart-shaped lips framed perfect teeth, and her smile lit up her face.
Jax was still standing between us, and I realized he had yet to introduce us properly. With a quick shake of my head in his direction, I pleaded with him not to out me. I wasn’t ready to be Prince Mazi yet. I wasn’t sure I ever would be.
Thankfully Jax got the message. He nodded quickly at both of us, as if to somehow clear his head. “Right, well then. Mazi, meet Miss Norah Baxter. Miss Norah has accepted a job with the king and will be staying at the palace. Miss Norah, Pr-uh-Mazi Steele here will be vacationing with us for a while, as a guest of the king. You both come from the same city, so I’m sure you’ll find you have lots in common.”
He didn’t appear thrilled at the prospect of a prince having lots in common with an employee, but he wisely stayed silent on the matter.
I, however, was thrilled about having common ground with the striking young woman. “Thank you, Jax. We’ll find lots to talk about for sure. Could you get us a drink, please? A beer for me, and…” I hesitated, hoping I guessed correctly—it had been so dark inside the bar that night. “A Long Island Iced Tea for the lady?”
Norah smiled, but opened her mouth as if to decline. Just then, the plane lurched, and her eyes widened with fear.
“Perfect.” She gasped, then doubled at the waist and nearly hobbled to the long leather couch that took up nearly one whole side of the plane before the small narrow hallway. Yes, there was a hallway. Her eyes were pained and anxious. I felt like a cad doing it, but there was no better time to make my move. I quickly took a seat next to her, and grabbed her hand. If that made me an opportunistic ass, then so be it.
“Not a fan of planes?” It didn’t seem like a good time to mention that I had never even been in one, so I kept that little tidbit to myself.
Her violet eyes were full of gratitude, and she didn’t pull away from my grasp but rather squeezed my hand when the plane lurched again.
She closed her eyes tight, and that’s when I saw the faint yellow bruise barely visible on her upper eyelid. I leaned closer, and saw that it was all around the outside of her eye, but well covered with a layer of thick makeup. The lighting had been bad, but I was dead certain it hadn’t been there a week ago.
My free hand clenched into a fist, and my jaw tightened. I was filled with an urge to protect that I had only ever felt before in regards to my own mother. Whoever the bastard was that had done this, he was damn lucky I was currently high in the air, heading to a foreign country.
I wondered if she had taken the job just to get away from him, or if it was actually a decent opportunity for her. Whatever the reason, I was grateful. And I intended to make the most of this long flight and every second I could manage to squeeze in after.
When the noise from the takeoff dulled to a quiet hum, she opened her eyes and looked down at our hands sheepishly. “I didn’t realize I had been squeezing so hard,” she whispered with a blush.
I hadn’t realized she had been squeezing at all, but when she let go of my hand, I sure felt the absence.
I stared at her eye, where the bruising was, and my throat tightened. I wanted to say something, but it really wasn’t the kind of thing one asked about.
I was saved from my own thoughts when Jax materialized with our drinks.
I sipped my beer leisurely, leaning back on the leather sofa with a smirk. “Man, I could get used to this.”
Norah nodded and giggled while she sipped her drink, but the fact that she was still anxious about flying was evident in the set of her shoulders and the shifting of her eyes.
I tried my best to keep up a chatter of small talk—taking care to keep the subject matter focused on our pasts back in New York rather than our futures in Osei.
I wasn’t prepared for how hard and fast the drink hit her. One minute we were talking about our favorite restaurants and the crazy bag lady in Central Park, and the next she was swishing her straw around in an empty cup, and gazing up at me coyly from behind lashes that were so thick and dark I doubted they were real.
She giggled and leaned in close as my breath caught in my throat. “I recognize you, Mister Mazi.”
She hiccupped after she said it, and I smiled up at her, the corners of my mouth turning up as I tried and failed to hide my a
musement. “Oh, do you?”
“You are that dancer. The cute one on the TV commercials. The one who likes to jiggle his B-U-T-T.” The last word was spelled out and spoken in an exaggerated whisper.
“I might be,” I admitted slowly. “How do you feel about that? You didn’t seem like you were having a very good time watching me.” Not as good a time as I was having watching you.
She stuck one finger up, and stared at it, before waving it through the air, and landing it hard in the middle of my chest.
“I feel,” she drawled drunkenly, “like you should give me a show. Right here. Right now.”
I couldn’t hide my deep chuckle as I watched her antics. My reaction only served to encourage her.
“Shake that booty! Jiggle that money maker!”
I didn’t mind being viewed as a sex object, I was quite used to it. I was leaving that life behind me. But one last private show wasn’t going to hurt anybody.
I searched with my eyes around the cabin for Jax. It went without saying that he would not approve. Norah followed my gaze and jumped up, grabbing my hand.
“There’s a bedroom back here,” she whispered. “Let’s go take a nap. Or not.”
Chapter Four
Norah
I was more than a little buzzed, as I belatedly remembered that I had been too nervous about flying to eat at all. But even in my slightly diminished capacity, I knew three things with utmost certainty.
The first was that I believed in fate. A stranger had crossed my path, however momentarily, one week ago, and though he hadn’t spoken a single word, he had unknowingly given me the strength I needed to stick up for myself in a bad situation that very same night.
The second was there was something mysterious going on here. Jax had stumbled through his introductions, and I hadn’t missed the silent conversation the two of them had had with their eyes. The reporter in me was naturally curious as to how a lifelong resident of New York had come to be a special guest to the King of Osei. You could bet I was going to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. But not today. Today, I had a different agenda.
I knew that the only thing I wanted to be at this very minute was his. If only just for an hour. If it was at all possible, the man was even more attractive with his clothes on than he was with them off.
Maybe it was the mixture of alcohol and lack of food. Maybe it was the air of luxury and adventure on the plane, or the feeling that this was a new start for me. That I could be whoever and whatever I wanted—starting right now—this very minute.
I could hardly believe the words coming out of my own mouth, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when I took his hand and started to lead him towards the small bedroom I knew was in the back of the plane.
I had never done anything like this. I could count my sexual partners on one hand, and when this was all over…I would still be able to.
He followed me, with a bemused grin on his face, watching over his shoulder as if he expected Jax to appear and lecture us like naughty teenagers. I may have been inexperienced, but I was no teenager.
My heart was beating like a jackhammer when I closed the sliding door behind us. My head felt a little fuzzy, but my naughty bits were pulsing with need.
We stared at each other in awkward silence, the air between us heavy with sexual tension. I prayed for him to make a move, but I knew instinctively that he wouldn’t. Not while I was in my current state. This was all on me, and not only that, I had to be able to play it cool if I wanted him. He was a player of sorts, but he would hesitate to take advantage if he thought I was impaired.
Not knowing what else to do, I flung myself backwards onto the bed, and pointed at him with a wink. “Now, strip.”
He raised his eyebrows, a hint of a smile playing on his face.
“Ask nicely.” His commanding yet playful tone sent shivers down my spine.
I grinned salaciously up at him. “Please strip.”
He pointed at my phone where it peeked out of the pocket of my jeans. “You gonna put some music on, or do you expect me to sing too?”
I typed quickly, and within seconds the thumping beat of a techno song filled the small room. It was the same song that had been playing the first time I had seen him. Our eyes met, and his fingers hovered over the button of his collar. I loved that he dressed nicely, even for a long flight. It would make the strip tease just that much sexier.
At my tipsy encouragement, Mazi went into full stripper mode. I had never known that watching a man undress could count as foreplay, but in his case, it certainly did.
And outside of the club, I found I was much freer to play the part of lusty admirer, hooting and hollering like a teen girl at a Bieber concert with each new inch of skin he revealed.
By the time each and every button had been undone, I was practically drooling. I didn’t even know what had come over me, and I didn’t care.
When his shirt was off, he paused and regarded me curiously.
I pointed to his jeans. “Did I say you could stop?”
That got a smile out of him, as he played with the buckle on his thick leather belt. “Demanding little thing, aren’t you?”
I sobered instantly, suddenly feeling self-conscious, as he continued.
“Don’t worry. I kind of like it.”
I said nothing else and just waited, watching as he worked the belt through the loops and swung it through the air over his head, much like a cowboy swings a lasso, eventually sending it flying through the air to land on the bed beside me. I swooned.
His pants came next. I didn’t even know it was possible to take off a pair of pants with a combination of gracefulness and showmanship, but Mazi made it seem like an art form.
And suddenly he was standing there in only a pair of red boxer briefs. It was do or die time.
“Now what?” he asked, a salacious grin playing on his lips.
“I don’t know,” I answered coyly. “I thought there was a rule that we couldn’t touch the dancers.”
“I don’t see a bouncer here, do you?” He walked towards the bed as he spoke, coming to stand between my legs.
“No!” I squeaked, suddenly a lot more hesitant than I had been a few minutes before.
“If there’s no bouncer, then there can’t be any rules, can there?”
“No, no I guess not.” Oh shit. I was in a world of trouble. It was the last coherent thought I had before his lips closed over mine in a kiss that was soft yet somehow not.
He was a good kisser. The way he kissed me, in a perfect mixture of tenderness and dominance, made my panties wet with the juices of my own arousal. I jumped up onto my knees and wrapped my arms around his neck, letting my fingers comb through his dark locks.
I didn’t even recognize myself as I explored his body with everything I had. Lips, fingers, tongue. I threw him backwards onto the bed and went to work, leaving no inch unexplored.
He lay there, grinning up at me, seemingly enjoying my enjoyment of him. I ran my fingers through his hair and down his neck, tracing the deep groove of his Adam’s apple with my tongue, before I moved onto his nipples. I had never touched a man’s nipple in my life, but Mazi’s drove me wild, and I proceeded to drive them wild, sucking, licking and biting every inch until they puckered and stood at attention.
He liked it too. I could tell from his deep appreciative growl that seemed to start in his belly and come out his mouth. When I worked my way from the valley between his chiseled abs down to the waistband of his shorts, I thought he was going to stop me and take over. He certainly looked like he wanted to. And then, because I had already come this far, I took off his boxer briefs using only my teeth.
It took a few minutes, and it wasn’t exactly graceful, but when I finally managed to shimmy the fabric over his knees and down his calves to rest in a puddle at his feet, his reaction was worth it.
He leapt up onto his knees in the middle of the bed, and pulled my body down on top of his lap. In no time at all, my clot
hes were gone as well, and his erect cock rested against my belly as he drew me in for one more long claiming kiss. When he leaned back and pulled me on top of him, I had a short moment of panic. I had never been on top before! From this angle, he could see everything, and my body wasn’t exactly picture perfect.
And then I caught his eyes, and my fears and insecurities melted away. I saw myself the way he saw me, and apparently, he liked what he saw.
“I want you to ride my cock, baby girl,” he whispered, grabbing me by the hips and balancing me so that my pussy hovered just above the tip. “Are you wet for me?”
His direct sexuality made me breathless. I couldn’t answer, and he didn’t wait. His hand left my hip and came to rest on my mound, parting my lips with one finger, and grinning as it easily slid inside.
“So, so wet. You liked my little dance, didn’t you?”
I nodded, and shivered when he pulled out, grabbing my hip once more.
“Ride me,” he commanded, using my hips as leverage as he slowly lowered me onto him.
I had never ridden anyone before. Sex had always been something done in the dark, and nobody had ever even taken care to make sure I was ready.
Sex with the lights on, with me on top, and him looking up at me, with every wrinkle and roll visible, was scary. And empowering.
I slowly rocked back and forth on top of him, getting used to the full feeling of his cock inside me. He let me go slowly, murmuring appreciatively with every move I made.
His cock rubbed against my clit as I gyrated back and forth, arching my back as I rode his cock, surprised at how naturally sex in this position came to me after a short while.
It felt really good. I liked it. A lot.
Liking sex this much, and taking charge, and hell, even sex with the lights on was a whole new ball game. Things I had fought against my whole adult life. Every fear and insecurity I had had about it seemed to float away as I gyrated against him, gripping his hard, tight abs for leverage and watching the smile on his face grow with each movement I made.