by J. L. Ostle
“Don’t be silly, I do have two legs you know. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Raven?” I chuckle at him.
“Miss Raven.” He smiles at me and I laugh at him. I’m still laughing when the front doors open and Jonny walks through, shirtless, glistening with sweat. My eyes can’t help but trail down his body.
Stop looking, my head scolds me.
I look back to Jonny’s eyes and I know he knows that I was checking him out. His eyes are looking at me like he’s ready to eat me and I have to look away before I jump him.
“Thank you, Peter.” I walk away and head back to the elevator and press the button.
“Good run, Mr. Stone?” I hear Peter behind me.
“Yeah, just wish I ran longer.” I suddenly feel him, he’s standing right behind me, the hairs on my neck stand to attention. The elevator doors open and I step in, I’m about to turn but he stops me.
“Don’t turn around.” His voice sends shivers down my back. I hear the doors close, I’m now alone with him. I look into the mirror and my eyes connect to his.
We watch one another, not moving, not saying a word, but I feel the sexual tension building. My breathing is coming in faster and he isn’t even touching me. How am I going to cope when I’m with him tonight?
“Jonny,” I say, but no other words come out.
“Raven.” My name rolls off his tongue. I close my eyes, I need to think about something else, anything else. Why is this elevator going so slow? “You need to stop breathing so heavily, Raven.” I open my eyes and he is still looking at me through the mirror. I can hear my breathing and it’s like I’m in ecstasy. Like I’m having sex or something. He presses his body close to mine and I can feel what I’m doing to him.
“We need to stop this,” I tell him.
“I know,” he breathes into my ear. “What are you doing to me?” I move my head to the side and I can feel his breath on my neck. “You smell so good.” I feel his nose glide along my neck. “We need to control ourselves; we’re just sexually frustrated. I think that we need to cool off and when we go to this function tonight, we will have fun and go back to our normal selves.” I nod my head but his body is still pressed against mine.
“Right, normal.” The doors open to my floor and I suddenly feel cold. He walked away from me. I turn around and he is looking at the floor. “Jonny?”
“If I look at you, I won’t let you go. Go get ready and I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” I might be stupid, but I walk to him and press a kiss to his cheek. A sincere kiss.
“Thank you for being a gentleman. Thank you for being a friend right now.” He looks up into my eyes, his have softened.
“I never want to ruin what we have, especially just for sex. You mean too much to me.” I smile at him.
“I know; you mean too much to me, too.” I walk out and turn around and he is leaning against the far wall; he looks like he is posing for a magazine.
“I’ll see you soon.” I give him a small wave and watch as the doors close. I take a deep breath and start walking but I don’t get far when Caron pops out of nowhere.
“Fuck my life, I can feel the sexual tension from here. Shit, I feel a little hot.” She fans herself. “You know you're fucked, right?” I walk to her put my package on the floor, and place my head on her shoulder with a groan.
“I’m completely fucked. All I want to do is fuck him but I know what happens when girls fuck him, they get thrown away. Plus, it doesn’t help that I’m still a virgin. I’ve seen and felt his dick and, trust me, that is going to fucking hurt.”
“What are you going to do?” I stand up and lean my body against the wall.
“I have no idea. Try and control my urges and go back to how we were.”
“You know that won’t work, right?” Yeah, I know, but no harm in trying.
Raven
I had a shower, did my hair and makeup, and I’m standing in front of my mirror looking into my reflection. I am wearing a dark blue evening gown that hugs my curves. I actually look like I belong in Jonny’s world. Just thinking about Jonny gives me shivers. I look one more time in the mirror and smile. I look so grown up. I grab my clutch and place my phone and keys into it before heading to the living room, right on time, I hear a knock on the door.
I open it and see Jonny standing there in a black tux. I’ve never seen him in a tux and I can’t stop looking at him. He looks so much bigger, older. He still has stubble on his jaw but it makes him look more sophisticated. Has he always been this attractive or am I just really looking at him for the first time?
I mean, I knew he was hot, but there is hot and there is Sex God. Trust me. There is a difference. His eyes trail down my body and back up and I feel Goosebumps form.
Jesus, how am I supposed to cope if my body keeps acting like this?
“You look astonishing.” I give him a smile. “You know you look so much younger without all that eye makeup.” I freeze, looking at him. I didn’t notice when I looked in the mirror that I hadn’t put on my eye makeup. I always wore it. It’s like my shield, my mask.
“Maybe I should go put some on,” I mumble and am about to step back to my room when I feel his hand on my arm.
“I like you like this.” He trails his fingers down my cheek. “You look completely different, so innocent, pure.” How right his words are. “You are mesmerizing.”
“You look amazing yourself. So grown up. I can imagine you sitting in your dad’s office in your power suit.” I smile up at him.
“Yeah, with you by my side of course.” I feel a knot land in my stomach. I haven’t told him about Linda’s offer yet.
“Jonny, I need to tell you something.” He places his fingers on my lips, stopping me.
“We can talk more seriously tomorrow. Tonight we try and have fun, and try and earn money for whichever charity my dad’s company decided on.”
“You mean your future company?” He grabs my hand and wraps it around his arm.
“Yeah, but it’s not mine yet.” We walk to the elevator and head down and luckily, this time around it went much faster. I wave to Peter as we leave and my eyes widen when I see the limo waiting for us. I turn to Jonny and he just shrugs at me. “I wanted you to arrive in style.” We head to the door and the driver opens it for us. I step in, looking at every inch. I’m in a freaking limo.
“This is unbelievable.” I lean forward to open the little fridge and see it stocked with bottles of water.
“Didn’t you take one to the school prom?” I stop and just stare inside the fridge.
“No, no I didn’t,” I say, making sure my voice doesn’t waver or he’s going to know something is wrong.
“That’s a shame. I grew up in limos so it’s not new to me. I just thought you would like it.”
“I do, thank you.” I sit back in my seat and watch as we drive away. I people watch and see how carefree they look. Will I ever be carefree?
“You seem deep in thought.” I turn and see he is watching me.
“I guess I am.” I turn back around and look out the window. I would have loved to have gone to my school prom but they stopped me. I had no date, but I still went. I got as far as the gym door before they showed up and ruined it for me.
We arrive at the gallery and I feel like I’m on the red carpet. As soon as I stepped out, pictures were being taken and reporters threw their microphones in my face. They knew who Jonny was, they were shouting out his name. I feel so overwhelmed. Is this going to be his world?
“Mr. Stone, who is your date?”
“Mr. Stone, do you know when you will be taking over the family business?”
“Mr. Stone, is it true that you have been sleeping with the socialite Kimberly Walters?” Question after question gets shouted, but the name Kimberly sticks out, I will be googling her when I get home.
Jonny puts his hand on my back and he stops us so that we can pose for the cameras. He turns me towards him so I am looking up at him and he is looking down at
me. He gives me a smile that I can’t help but return.
“Miss. Miss. Are you dating Mr. Stone? Have you tamed the eligible bachelor?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is my best friend and she is accompanying me as a favor. I will look forward to talking to you more when I know when I will be taking over Stone Enterprises.” He waves to the cameras, more questions get called out but he places his hand back on my lower back and guides me inside.
Once we’re inside, my mouth literally drops. It looks like we are in a ballroom at a mansion. The place is huge; the floors and walls are pure white with crystal chandeliers. This place must cost a fortune. I don’t get rich people sometimes. If they had money to build this place why couldn’t they have used it for the charities they help with.
There is a staircase leading us down and as we descend, eyes are on us, and I feel my nerves start to get the best of me. I may act all badass at school but this is the real world. Jonny grabs two glasses of champagne from a waiter that is walking by and hands me one. I tell him my thanks and take a sip. I would love to down it but I’m sure the people here would judge me if I did.
We start walking again but get stopped by a man and woman who look like they’re in their early forties. Jonny introduces them as Mr. and Mrs. Connors and they give me a small smile as they shake my hand. I do notice how Mrs. Connors checks out Jonny as he talks to her husband, I also notice how Mr. Connors glimpses at my cleavage whenever he can.
Great, this place is filled with horny, old people.
We get stopped by so many people there is no way I will be able to remember their names. We are about to head to the bar when another couple comes up and they look just a few years older than us.
“Johnathan, nice to see you mate, your father was saying you were coming. You having fun so far?” The guy waves around the place.
Jonny chuckles. “Yeah, loads. Matty this is Raven, Raven this is Matty. He works in advertisement for Stone.” I shake his hand. He looks me up and down and then gives me a smile.
“Raven, such a beautiful name. A bird, right?”
“Yeah.” I release his hand.
“Sorry, that sounded different in my head.” He shakes his head and laughs. “Jonathan, Raven, this is my date, Mercedes.” I shake her hand and so does Jonny. I notice her hand lingers in his a little longer than normal and I can tell Matty notices as well.
“The car?” I say, and Matt and I laugh.
“I like you.” He chuckles.
“What can I say, it sounded different in my head.”
“Jonathan, you better keep hold of this one or someone may steal her.” I giggle but I notice Jonny puts his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
“Don’t worry, I will.” I look up at him but he is looking at what I assume is his friend, if he’s calling him Matty.
“So, you will be taking over Stone Enterprises soon?” Mercedes looks him up and down and then licks her lips. Is this girl for real? Her date is next to her and I’m standing right here.
“That’s the plan.”
“That is amazing, you will be amazing I bet,” I swear I don’t know if that was a sexual innuendo or not.
“Yeah, he is amazing. The company is going to go far with him in charge, you wait and see.” I beam up at him and he smiles down at me.
“I bet,” she says.
“Well, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to schmooze a little more,” Matty says and they walk away, but I notice Mercedes looks behind her and gives Jonny a wink. The whore.
“Well, she wasn’t subtle,” I scoff at her.
“Come on, you want to dance?” I feel like he said the magic words. God yes, I would love to dance right now.
“Yes, please.” He takes my hand and guides me to the dancefloor. I place one hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand.
I don’t recognize the song but it’s slow and sweet. I follow Jonny’s lead. His eyes stay on mine as we move across the floor. I see a few people dancing but they are moving in one spot as we make do with the space we have. My eyes land back on Jonny’s and I can’t help but smile. We could have danced in one spot but he knows this is what I prefer. To actually move.
He spins me and we move again. We are lost in our world and I forget about all the assholes and perverts here. We start dancing a little faster but I keep up with every step. He really can move. The song comes to an end and I can’t help but let go of his hand and do a half kneel, bowing my head, when I look up he is looking down at me and I see something in his eyes I can’t make out. I stand up straight and hear people clapping and I feel myself blush. I take a little bow to the crowd and then I see Richard, Jonny’s dad, walking towards us with a smile, clapping his hands too.
“Jonathan, Raven that was beautiful.” He does a man hug with his son and kisses my cheek. I look into his eyes and see how fake he is being. “I knew those dance lessons would pay off.”
“Richard you never said your son could dance. That was absolutely amazing. You both look good together.” A woman who looks like she is in her sixties gushes at us, I notice Richard’s jaw tick when she mentioned how good we looked.
“What can I say, my son has many gifts.”
“Yes, I can see that. I look forward to when you join us here. Please, save a dance for me later. Not expecting to dance like you both did but a dance would still be nice.” Jonny takes her hand and covers hers with his.
“It would be my honor, Mrs. Livingston.” I see her blush and wave him off.
“You coot. I will hold you to that.” She gives me a hug and wanders back into the crowd.
“Well done to you both, people are definitely talking, and after that dance, I am sure we are going to get more business. Jonny, make sure you dance with some of the women here and Raven you talk to the men, a pretty thing like you, I am sure you know how to sweet talk.” I glare at him. I’m about to say what’s on my mind when Jonny beats me to it.
“She isn’t a piece of meat dad; she is here to have fun, not get you more clients,” he whispers shouts.
“Well, she can do what she likes, but you need to get your head in the game. So I expect you to dance with some of our clients. It’s what we do.” With that, he walks off.
“I’m sorry about him. He’s a dick.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I don’t need to dance with anyone. We can just continue doing what we are doing.” I shake my head. This is going to be his job and I need to get used to it.
“Don’t be silly, you go and charm the ladies, I’m going to take a walk around and find out what charity we are actually supporting.” I chuckle.
“You sure? I really don’t want to leave you.”
“I’m not leaving the building so don’t worry. Go dance, go wink and kiss hands or whatever.” He laughs and kisses my cheek. I watch him walk to a woman who looks to be in her eighties and they head to the dancefloor; she looks to be in her element, she looks so happy to be dancing. I smile at them and then start to walk around.
Raven
Jonny has danced with a few older women who look like they are having the time of their lives, but I can tell a few younger women would like a dance with him, too. The only people who talk to me are the men. I’m sure it’s more than my brains they’re wanting to get close to. Jonny does try and come back to me to make sure I’m okay but he is always taken away not long after by another eager woman. There are definitely some cougars here tonight.
I decide to go use the restroom and take a break from these people. I ask a server where the ladies room is and head towards that direction. I do my business and wash my hands, finishing up by looking in the mirror to reapply my lipgloss. I am getting my clutch when I hear the door open and see a woman who looks like she is in her early thirties look me up and down.
I ignore her and look back in the mirror and back down to my clutch. I’m used to judgmental stares, so this woman is barking up the wrong tree if she thinks her eyes alone can daunt me.
“You know he will lose interest.” She opens her mouth. I can’t help but roll my eyes, I’m sure I read that cliché line a hundred times in books. Doesn’t she have anything new to say? I walk towards her and let my eyes lazily go down her body and back up to her face. Her body is gorgeous; you can tell she works out. Her face is flawless but you can tell she must have had some work done. No one’s skin is that tight at her age.
“Oh really now, what makes you say that?” I smirk at her.
“I know men like him. He likes to fuck, and I know he will get bored with you.”
“How do you know he will get bored?” I sound uninterested.
“He’s a man. Like I said, I know men like him.”
“Because you’ve fucked your way through them?” She looks at me in shock. “Oh come on, you just admitted you know men like him which mean you must have fucked around.”
“How dare you speak to me like this.” I feel anger bubble inside me.
“How dare I? How dare you come in here and tell me that my best friend will lose interest. How dare you think you know him when obviously you don’t. You don’t know the first thing about him.” I push her body to the door. She tries to get out, but I block her body with mine. “You know, if you spew these things, be careful who you spew them out too.” I raise my hand and glide it down her cheek.
“I bet you were one of the popular girls in school.” I look her in the eye. She doesn’t answer, but I don’t need her to. “I bet you treated the shy, geeky girls like shit. I bet you stood on anyone who got in the way.”
“What is your point?” Her voice is a little shaky.
“My point is; we aren’t in high school anymore. If you open that big mouth of yours it’s going to get you into trouble.” I look her in the eye, daring her to say anything else, but she doesn’t. “Don’t fuck with me princess, or I will fuck you right back.” I nudge her out of the way and open the door but stop when she opens her mouth again.