His Obsession

by Maxine Storm

  "Anyway," I said, wiping away a tear, "I'll get going home."

  I held on to him. I couldn't let go.

  "Thank you," I said, pressed into his chest.

  "Home?" he said. "You're not going to your apartment tonight. Not after that attack. It's not safe here right now."

  "Armand," I said, "this is my neighborhood. I can handle it."

  "No," he said firmly. "You're coming to my place."

  "It's okay," I said, "I'm not afraid. It was just some drunk asshole amusing himself. New York is full of them."

  "You're coming with me, Janet," he said, and grabbed my arm.

  Frederick pulled up to the curb and Armand led me towards the limo. His hand was tight around mine as he opened the door and led me on to the seat. And I couldn't help but realize...

  This was the first time we were holding hands in public.

  Chapter 23

  I was asleep in Armand's arms when the limo reached his place.

  "Wake up, Janet," Armand said.

  I was so exhausted I could barely move.

  "Are we inside your place?" I said confusedly.

  Armand grinned.

  "You really did have a long day," he said.

  He opened the limo door and carried me out with his arms, holding me all the way.

  My eyes started closing as the feeling of tiredness took over my whole body. I could feel myself going limp in his arms.

  But Armand held me as if I weighed nothing and carried me smoothly up the long stairs past the hallway and to his bedroom.

  He set me down on the bed and took off my clothes and pulled the covers back so I could slip into the bed comfortably.

  "Good night, Janet," he said, stepping back and turning off the light.

  "Good night, Armand," I could barely squeak out, before passing out, a smile lingering on my face.

  Chapter 24

  I woke up to the sunlight pouring through the window of the bedroom. It felt so good to finally wake up naturally, by my own internal clock. What a contrast to being jolted out of sleep by the alarm on my phone and waking up with a headache - way too early.

  At work you always had to show up early and look like you were the most excited you've ever been.

  But it's not like I hated working at the newspaper.

  I loved doing research and learning new things. I loved the idea that I could be making a difference with how I helped the reporting staff, helping them get the truth out there.

  But to be honest, those chances were becoming few and far between.

  I wasn't being recognized for my potential.

  Instead, I was just seen as a woman who was there for...sometimes it's not even clear.

  And the liars and backstabbers - I couldn't forget those lovely people either.

  It was ironic.

  In the stories for the paper we were supposed to seek out the truth.

  Question sources.

  See things from another angle.

  But all too frequently in the workplace it was about obeying orders, even if they didn't make sense. Playing the social game with cliques. Seeing through people's false fronts to the dagger they were holding behind their back.

  That's why Armand was always on my mind.

  He didn't care about that fakeness, those fake people. The way they smiled at you but hated you deep down just because you were trying to do your thing.

  Armand just didn't give a fuck about that to put it bluntly.

  Sure, I heard the rumours about how mysterious he was, how deceptive and dangerous he could be in business when running his media conglomerate.

  But I could tell that was just business for him, just a way to protect his company, his employees, and himself.

  Which made me worry slightly.

  He saw Alex at the club.

  It must have made me look suspicious.

  I didn't want him to link me to her.

  I didn't really know her either.

  Maybe she was just jealous I got put on this assignment to write a story about Armand.

  Thinking of Alex reminded me of Britney, the only girl I could trust at Global Eye.

  I didn't know her all that well, I realized.

  Maybe even inside of me I was putting up walls, being afraid to trust other people completely after having to be so cautious at work.

  So many people plotting against you.

  So many people hoping to see you fail.

  Britney wasn't like that.

  She still had that honest child-like quality of being real with people.

  She was taken way too soon.

  It was just too suspicious now that I think about it.

  I don't think it was Armand who did it.

  Yeah, him disappearing the way he did that night was odd. But something didn't ring right about that night in general.

  I remembered hanging out with Britney before the club the night she was killed.

  We were just like two old girlfriends helping each other get ready.

  I remember trying on my dress and not feeling insecure about how big I looked in it.

  I wasn't a club or party goer like her, so dressing up like that wasn't something I was used to.

  So seeing myself in the mirror with that revealing dress - it was a shock.

  Everything seemed bigger to me.

  My arms, my legs, my butt.

  I wasn't comfortable at all at first.

  But Britney was there to tell me I was looking beautiful.

  It was easy for her to say, I remember thinking at the time.

  She was the pretty one at work but she was cool about it. Tall and thin, she could eat and wear anything.

  But she reassured me how pretty I was looking in the dress and what a great time we were going to have in the club.

  I started crying reminiscing that time I shared with Britney.

  I wiped some tears with the back of my hand and felt the makeup streaking on my skin. I had forgotten to take it off from that crazy time in the sexy club I met Armand at.

  I couldn't help but start sobbing at all of the memories and emotions suddenly bubbling up.

  What was I getting myself into?

  This job, Britney dying, Armand, the assignment about him?

  I tried to stifle my sobs as I flipped over on the bed and buried my head into the pillow.

  "Janet, are you okay?"

  I couldn't fully hear the words being called to me as I continued to pour my eyes out onto the pillow.

  I felt the bed shift slightly as Armand sat down beside me brushed the hair away from the side of my face.

  "Janet, what's wrong?"

  I sat up on the bed and threw myself into his chest and wrapped my arms around him.

  "Janet..." he said, concernedly.

  Armand rubbed his arms up and down my back, as if drawing out the pain that was festering inside of me.

  The doubts I had about him vanished from my mind as I closed myself and buried my head into him as I could get lost in his arms. He was sturdy as a tree and warmed my body far more than any of the covers on the bed did.

  "Hey," he said, "it's okay." He ran his hand up and down my hair and caressed my neck and then pulled me back a little so I could look up to him.

  He was the most handsome man I had ever been with.

  The sunlight cast across his face, showing off his sharp cheekbones and powerful jaw. I touched his face and felt his stubble and closed my eyes.

  I felt my chest heat up as I realized how much of a blubbery fool I must have looked in front of him, crying like a baby, for what to him must have looked like no reason.

  But I couldn't tell him what was truly bothering me.

  He'd think I was hatching something against him.

  I couldn't make him feel like that after last night in the limo and what happened afterward.

  He grabbed my chin and gave me a light kiss, lingering over my lips before drawing back.

  "I didn't mean to be rude to you yesterday
," he said softly. "I just haven't been close to someone like you in a long time. It's hard, Janet. Trusting someone like that is hard."

  "You can trust me," I said. "Please trust me, Armand."

  Armand looked at me with great care in his eyes and brushed my hair away from my face.

  "I brought you something to eat," he said, grinning.

  Breakfast.

  It seemed like an alien idea because of how normal it sounded.

  Breakfast in bed with Armand Silver.

  Breakfast in bed with Armand Silver and a woman who was tearing up in front of him like a fool.

  Armand pulled my chin down gently with his finger and raised a spoon up to my mouth.

  "Have some," he said. "You need something to eat, Janet."

  I opened my mouth and he fed me a spoonful of a sweet crunchy grain with smooth honey and yogurt. It set my taste buds alight and made me laugh a bit, like when you're all cried out.

  "That good, huh?" Armand said, with another smirk.

  I nodded my head and wiped the leftover tears from my eyes.

  "Have another," he said, preparing another spoonful from the bowl he had sat down on the nightstand.

  I took another bite and closed my eyes, savouring the flavour.

  "It's quinoa," Armand said. "It's good for you. A bit bland though so you need to spice it up."

  "It's delicious," I said, rubbing his wrist. "Thank you."

  "Who knew you'd like quinoa so much," Armand said, dabbing some tears away on my cheeks with a napkin. "Looks like it made you feel much better, hm?"

  I gave him a playful punch and took the spoon from his hand.

  He had also cut some strawberries and left them on a plate beside the bowl of quinoa. They were refreshing juicy bites of fruit between spoons of quinoa and I could feel my mood improving quickly.

  It wasn't exactly ice-cream after a bad day and a bit more health foodie than I was used to but in the moment it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted.

  Chewing the breakfast Armand prepared for me, I felt there was no way he could have been involved with Britney's death. How could a man like him do something like that? It wasn't possible. Someone other than Armand must have been involved.

  Who knows, it could have been some kind of stalker that came on to Britney after one of her stories. Guys can be dangerously obsessive like that sometimes.

  I finished eating and dabbed my mouth with the napkin.

  "Hmm," said Armand. "You still have a bit of a mess over here," he said, pointing around my lip.

  I dabbed the napkin again but he shook his head.

  "Let me help you," he said, and he held my chin with his hands and brought his lips just away from mine.

  "Did you enjoy your breakfast?" he whispered.

  "Yes," I said softly back.

  "You know, I haven't eaten anything yet," he said, rubbing my face his hands.

  He moved his lips up to my ear and curled up some of my hair in his hands to pull me towards him.

  "I am very hungry," he said, slowly with a low voice.

  He pulled my head to the side slowly with my hair and kissed me, pulling back to look at me and feel his burning gaze.

  "You look so good," he said, his eyes like a fire that was filling me up. "I want to taste you, Janet," he said, before kissing me with his tongue, exploring my mouth, feeling his thick hands grab my hips and holding them close to his.

  I shivered at his words.

  He had a way of saying things so directly and openly that left me dizzy.

  He knew what was his and how to get it, and here he had me again.

  He reached behind my back and loosened up my dress and got me out of it.

  I sat back on the bed and looked to the open window. I felt the warm sun rays on my bare chest and stomach and bathed in the heat a moment before realizing how naked I was in front of him.

  I didn't want to reveal my stomach and body like this to him, so bare and in the light. I know it might sound weird after the time we shared before but something about the light being so strong and being so exposed made me feel even more insecure about my body than usual.

  I was definitely a curvy woman, but seeing Armand standing before me on the edge of the bed, taking off his shirt to reveal his washboard abs casting beautiful shadows in the light - the contrast between his shape and mine made me nervous.

  He looked like he was ready for the Olympics.

  In my head, I looked like I wasn't even ready to watch the Olympics.

  Being exposed like this, it was something else entirely.

  I know I had had some wild crazy sex with Armand, unlike I could even imagine.

  I know we had shared animalistic moments.

  Pure passion, pure lust.

  I couldn't get them out of my mind.

  But they weren't the same as this moment.

  Being bare to him.

  Being bare to him with nothing else between us, nothing else around us.

  The sex we had before, it was incredible.

  And it was a part of me that I haven't had awakened before.

  But this, being here on the bed for him, him wanting to lick me, my whole body naked and for him...

  It was not like showing one crazy part of myself. One wild part.

  Instead it was like, showing my whole self. My whole being. All my fears about myself on display. The intimacy I was afraid of now here and nowhere to hide.

  I crossed my hands and arms over my body and closed my eyes and breathed. I heard him move on the bed towards me.

  "Hey," Armand said, straddling on top of me. "I want to see you, Janet."

  I opened my eyes to see him above me, his chest perfectly composed like two shields.

  He held each of my hands and slowly moved them to my sides.

  "God," he said, breathing heavily. "Janet, you look so beautiful."

  I slowly moved my arms back over my body.

  I felt stupid doing it but I was just so embarrassed about how I looked so out of shape compared to him.

  My previous boyfriend never used to pay attention to my body, and when he did, it was always to put me down or to act grossed out about it.

  So I wasn't ready for Armand taking me in, enjoying the sight of me.

  "You're so damn sexy, baby," Armand said, looking me up and down.

  Armand bent down so his lips were just hovering above mine.

  "I want to enjoy you, Janet," he whispered, caressing my cheeks.

  My face reddened and I raised my hands up to rub his arms up and down.

  They were so thick and muscular naturally. They weren't like gym muscles. It made me think of years of hard work and determination.

  It was such a contrast between the power of the muscles in his arms and the gentleness with which he was rubbing my cheeks. I closed my eyes and felt his fingertips glide along my skin softly, savouring the masculine warmth radiating from him.

  He kissed me slowly and then drew back to smile at me. I held his neck to hold him close but he moved himself down my body and over my stomach.

  I felt his light warm breath over my stomach and the self-consciousness I had finally overcome in this moment returned in an unwelcome flash.

  I put my hands down over my stomach to cover it. It was just a reaction. I couldn't help it.

  Armand grabbed both of my wrists with one of his and held them to his mouth, giving a light kiss on each.

  "Janet, you are beautiful," he softly said. "Just relax. I want to enjoy your body the way I've been thinking about all night. Just stay like this."

  I exhaled as he guided my hands behind his head. He kissed my stomach up and down in light pecks as my hand rested against his muscular neck.

  Armand held my sides as he dipped lower near my thighs.

  He kissed my inner thighs, and I could feel his breath touching through the air faintly to my sex. I needed to feel his warmth like this. I closed my eyes and gave in to the moment.

  Armand wrapped his
arms around my thighs. I felt so tiny in his grasp, like he could lift me off the bed like a feather.

  Instead, he held me firmly, pressing his muscles against my thighs like I was now his for the taking.

  Armand kissed the inside of my thighs, slowly getting closer to where I desperately wanted to feel him.

  I arched my back in anticipation, longing to feel him pressed close against me in a way I have never let a man done before.

  "You want this, don't you Janet," Armand whispered.

  I could only moan and cover my face with my hands. My face was totally flushed and my chest was on fire.

  He knew exactly what he was doing.

  He knew exactly what he wanted.

  And how to get it.

  Finally, what I had been waiting for, what he had pushed my body into delirious ecstasy towards - it finally had arrived.

  I shivered all over from his first lick, slow and deliberate, carefully caressing my sex, making me stir with every nerve his warm tongue set alight.

  I instinctively grabbed his head, pulling him in, drawing out all the pleasure that had been deprived from me for so long.

  But Armand grabbed my hands holding his and commanded me: "I control this, Janet. Don't forget that, baby."

  I moaned again at his words as he licked me slowly again, making me writhe in pleasure.

  "Please, Armand," I said, losing control of my senses.

  "Please what?" Armand replied.

  "Please, I need to feel you," I could barely squeak out.

  No man before had had such total control over me that I was giving voice to my desires so openly.

  "I know you do, Janet," Armand said, gruffly. "I need to taste you like this."

  Armand buried his head back down deeply between my legs, pressing his tongue inside me, making my hips buckle with his every thrust.

  I felt myself getting wetter than I thought possible, but Armand's unrelenting tongue kept me on the edge, pushing me closer and closer as he licked me with animalistic abandon.

  My hips began to rise up and down as his tongue licked every spot I had yearned to feel his touch upon, but his heavy arms held me down so that he could continue his kiss.

  I began to moan uncontrollably as his licking sent me over the edge and I grabbed his scalp and hair tightly to bring him so closely, the closeness I desperately needed.