by Ada Scott
“Well, that may be,” he repeated. “I’m tryin’ to be open-minded about everything. That’s why I came all the way out here, left home, to invest in somethin’ different, but sometimes I feel like maybe I ain’t a good fit for this kind of business.” He gestured at a bikini-clad manager of social-media-marketing jumping off the side of the boat.
On the outside, I tried to remain calm. On the inside it was like a military command bunker that had just received news about World War III starting.
The Allen family, and all that sweet old black-gold money, were the only potential buyers we were currently courting that could reach into their deep pockets and swoop in on the business without endless boardroom and shareholder debates. Their money, once split amongst our shareholders, would push me into that fabled billionaire realm.
“Look, at its core, this business is like any business you’ve been involved with. We have suppliers, we have customers, and we keep track of all the same numbers for the same reasons. On some level, every business is the same thing with a different skin on it. Look at it like that and you’ll see Obvius.ly is thriving.”
I waved my hand around to gesture at the floating party. “This is just the skin. Customers subscribing to an app through a phone in their pocket is just the skin. You don’t want to go back to Texas, where they’ve got a copy of the financial documents, and try to explain how the flashing lights and the bells and whistles of a tech startup was too much for the Allen family. Come on. You know your way around a business.”
Anson mulled it over while a hush swept over the military command bunker in my brain. Soldiers, clutching gas masks, looked up anxiously. A General held his breath waiting to see what number he should write next to the word ‘DEFCON.’
Amy
After the all-day schmoozing-cruise was over, I thought we’d head back to Kris’ penthouse, but instead he instructed the captain of the boat to take us to the other side of the harbor for dinner. My protests about having not packed anything for a dinner date were quashed, when he told me everything I needed was already in the bedroom below deck.
A sleek black evening gown, matching shoes and purse were laid out for me. Everything fit as snuggly as Cinderella’s glass slipper.
I even felt like the girl from that fairytale when he offered me his arm and we walked along the waterfront, looking out at the water while the sun set behind us. He’d changed while I was down below and looked every inch the success that he clearly was.
I’d never had dinner at a restaurant where the staff addressed me by name before, nor had I eaten a plate of food that might have been a work of art. The best thing about it, though, was that they still had the option of plain old ice cream for dessert. Kris ordered ice cream too, but went for triple chocolate over my cookies and cream.
“So you’re seriously going to sell Obvius.ly?” I asked. “I know you said you like to sell after the period of maximum growth… but aren’t there any exceptions? I mean… everybody’s heard of Obvius.ly, it’s a big deal.”
I took a spoonful of ice cream and Kris licked his lips as he watched me slip it into my mouth, then raised his eyes to mine. “Sure, there are exceptions. If you’re especially passionate about the business in question, the specific way it generates revenue, then that’s a factor. I’m more passionate about the business of business growth, though. That’s just me. I’ve got too many ideas to just do one thing.”
“Where do all these ideas come from? Like Obvius.ly… how did you know how to do all that?
“It came from my own frustration. I was using all these services on my phone, from calling rides to booking everything you can imagine, and so often one service or another would fuck up and have to reschedule, leaving me to try to shift everything that was pre-booked. I thought there must be an easier way. Obvius.ly ‘talks’ to all these different apps and does all the scheduling automatically. Movie almost done? Boom, the car you ordered is waiting for you afterwards, even if the start of the movie was delayed for some reason, and the restaurant you booked has been notified of the delay too.”
“Yeah, one of my friends used it for a big day in the city for her birthday, said it was awesome. I missed it because I had to work. I wish I had come up with it! Or something else, but I never had an idea I thought would sell.”
“You’d be surprised what would actually work if you built the business the right way. Kevin and I, my co-founder you met on the yacht today, once had a little wager between us to see who could build a business to the strongest position in just two months.”
“What kind of businesses?” I asked.
“Ah, that’s where the challenge was. We found a random word generator on the internet and clicked on it ten times each. From those ten words, we had to pick any combination of them to determine what the business did. Kevin got ‘Incredible Herring Machine’ and I got ‘Annoying Instrument Jamming.’
I laughed and almost choked on my ice cream. “What?”
“Yeah, I thought I had it in the bag, but he’s a wily one, that Kevin. We had a one thousand dollar budget each to get them off the ground.”
“Sounds like a good way to lose a thousand dollars, no?”
“Potentially, but they were both profitable after two months. I envisioned that poor bastard hiring vending machines and filling them with canned fish, but he ended up finding and buying a cheap patent for some fishing gadget that somebody never did anything with, then started selling it like there was no tomorrow.”
“And what did you do?”
“I created a service that brought together tutors of unusual instruments with students whose friends all already knew how to play the guitar and who wanted to learn something different.”
“Who won?” I asked.
“I did. His business model was more difficult to scale, with the manufacturing requirements and everything he had to pay for up front, whereas I was profitable almost straight away. Those were the youngest businesses we ever sold. I still look them up every now and then and they’re both still around.”
I sighed. A business like that would have made all the difference for us at some point in the last few years.
“Not doing as well as Obvius.ly though?”
“Nope, and you can get a demo of the app tomorrow, we’re using it to have a nice day out.”
“Oh, cool. You’re keeping us busy, eh?”
“Sure am.”
“What else do you have in store?” I asked.
“The big event is this Friday, we’re having an office party for hitting twenty million monthly active users. I’ve got to go into the office on Wednesday morning, too. Other than that, well, we’ll think of something.”
I knew what that “something” might be, and swallowed a spoonful of ice cream slowly while picturing it. I’d push his jacket off. He’d slide the straps of my dress off my shoulders while I unbuttoned his shirt and then he’d hold me against his hard body.
My breasts would press against his tattooed muscles and he’d steer us towards the bed as we kissed, or maybe he’d pick me up. After that, I’d be completely at his mercy. He’d be inside me, claiming me.
I remembered the size of the bulge showing through his pants last night and wondered what it would be like to lose my virginity to that. Could I even handle it? Wild horses couldn’t stop me from trying, but what would it be like?
“Can I have a taste of yours?” I asked.
“Sure.”
Kris dipped his spoon into his bowl and held it out in my direction. As slowly as I dared, I let the ice cream into my mouth and slid it off the spoon with my lips, closing my eyes.
“Mmmm. Maybe I made the wrong choice.”
When I opened my eyes again, Kris was looking at me with a mildly pained expression. Clearly the ice cream wasn’t sating whatever hunger he was feeling right now.
“I think we should get the bill,” he said.
“Good idea.”
Kris
Fuck the bet, fuck the two million three hundred and sixty
thousand motherfucking dollars. She was worth it. I needed to feel her pussy wrapped around me.
I followed her into the car and, just like when I picked her up from the airport, she was ready for me, only this time she looked eager rather than completely on-edge. Closing the door behind me before Bernard could do it, I reached out for her and curled my fingers around the back of her neck, pulling her into a kiss.
Her lips were soft and kissed me back with enthusiasm as her arms wrapped around me so her hands could rest on my back. Bernard entered the driver’s side, safely behind the soundproof barrier again, and started the car.
As if she’d been holding back for the cover of the engine, she let out a soft moan when our lips parted for a moment. She sounded like she was quietly admiring a pile of kittens that she’d never be allowed to cuddle.
I let my hands wander, finally feeling her slim shape under the palms of my hands through her evening gown. The material hugged her closely, allowing me to feel her every twitch and caught breath as I moved my hands to her hips, then slid one down to her leg.
“Yes,” she breathed.
I broke off our kiss to lick and suck along her jawline until I reached her neck. Amy raised her chin and shivered as I kissed her just under her earlobe and then down the side of her neck.
The perfume I’d chosen smelled like it was made for her, like a limited-edition fragrance for royalty, with a hint of sunscreen underneath from her time on the yacht today. After several minutes of bumping along the road, she rose to her knees on the seat, then bunched her dress up around her thighs so she could straddle me.
My hands moved to her ass and squeezed tight, pulling her pussy closer to my cock, which was aching for release. I swore I could feel the heat of her virginal slit radiating through her panties, teasing my manhood with its closeness.
Her fingers ran through the hair at the back of my head, while her other hand stroked my cheek, cradling my head as we kissed. Our tongues touched and gently twirled, and Amy’s kissing slowed as she learned the steps to this new dance.
She seemed to melt into me, her body draped over mine and making contact from chest to just above the waist. I was moving my hands behind her knees, seeking to widen her stance even further and close the distance there too, when Bernard turned the car into the parking garage.
The two of us tumbled out of the car and into the elevator. After I pushed the button, Amy slipped her arms around me inside my jacket and rested her cheek against my chest, closing her eyes.
I caught sight of us in the mirror. She looked so happy and content, it was all too easy to forget the seven figures of cash it took to get her here. I looked pretty happy too, which only served to remind me about the seven figures of cash I had on the line.
Fucking hell. I couldn’t let Kevin win. The money, though a big enough sum to put a smile on Amy’s face, was inconsequential in the face of the deal we hoped to close with Anson Allen. The part that was impossible to swallow was the thought of losing the bet. That would make it two in a row and it wasn’t a trend I liked the sound of.
The elevator doors opened and Amy held my arm as we walked back to my penthouse. This was dangerous territory. I had a rock-hard cock, a willing virgin, and probably an hour more I needed to spend with Amy today to satisfy the terms of the bet.
I closed the door behind us while Amy held one hand and, once done, she grabbed the other too, and walked backwards, leading me inside. Her eyes held mine, then roamed over my body and back up again.
She was nervous beyond belief, expectant, turned on, all rolled into one cacophony of emotions that was playing like a movie in her eyes. I wanted her so fucking badly, to take what I paid for and turn up the volume on the moans she’d uttered in the car.
I needed a distraction. Any distraction.
“You want to watch a movie?” I asked, inspired by what I saw in her gaze.
“No, I’ve got a better idea.”
“Well… how about we…”
“Don’t you want to hear my idea?” she asked.
“Uh… OK.”
Amy took a few deep breaths as she worked herself up to it. “I… it’s part of the terms and conditions of Innocence For Sale.” She blushed, but persevered with her explanation. “You get to… inspect what you paid for. You get to satisfy yourself that I am what I said… you know… a virgin.”
Oh fuck.
“There’s no need for…”
“I want to. Please? I want to show you what a good girl I’ve been, saving myself for you. Please, D-” She paused. “Kris.”
It was the hottest thing I’d ever heard come out of a girl’s mouth. The way she said it, sounding younger and more inexperienced than even she was, yet so desperate to be a good girl for me was too much to resist. I had to see what she wanted to show.
I cupped her ass with both hands and lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around me and, finally, I felt my hard cock nuzzling up against her panty-clad pussy as I carried her to her room.
Nudging the door open with my foot, while we kissed, we entered and I climbed on to the bed on my knees with Amy still wrapped around me. I leaned over and she let go so her weight fell on the mattress.
Amy scooted slowly backwards away from me, taking deep breaths as if she was having to concentrate on every one of them. When her back hit the pillows, she stopped for a second and then reached for the hem of her dress with shaking hands.
Inch by inch, she pulled her dress up. If she was a more experienced girl, I would have said she was doing it to tease me, a practiced and sultry act. With Amy, though, it was pure nerves. She couldn’t do it any faster if she tried.
Her eyes were on me, rather than on what she was doing. Her panic was held in check only by her excitement, and I read a million pleas in her expression.
I can’t believe this is happening…
Please like me…
I remembered my own first time getting naked, with a more experienced girl, over two decades ago. I remembered how all the bravado, the whole act, became useless as I was literally laid bare before her. She would either like what she saw, or crush me. Now that power over Amy was mine.
When her dress was bunched up around her hips, I tore my eyes away from hers and looked down to see she was actually still wearing her bikini bottoms from earlier. Amy glanced down, then back at me.
“You can untie them,” she said, her voice wavering.
At each hip, the bikini bottoms were tied in bow. I reached for one, grasping the string between my finger and thumb and tugged at it. The knot came undone and the string went loose on that side. I did the same with the other knot.
Amy’s hand snapped down between her legs, holding the tiny scrap of black material against her, and her legs closed too. In her eyes, the panic seemed to have won a battle in the war against excitement.
She was breathing heavily, as if recovering from a short run and preparing for another. Her eyes started to get a glassy look.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I want to… I want this… to be good… um…”
“Shhhh. You can’t help but be perfect. Show me what’s mine.”
I placed my hands on her knees and worked my fingers between her legs. With slowly increasing pressure, I pushed them away from each other until she relaxed and they started moving.
Once her legs were parted, I carefully grasped her hand at the wrist and pulled it away from her bikini bottoms. Now there was almost nothing between me and her virgin pussy.
I pinched the flimsy material at the top and pulled it down, revealing Amy had not the faintest hint of even a narrow landing strip, she’d been waxed bare. Then I laid eyes on her untouched slit for the first time. For that matter, it was the first time I’d had any virgin girl’s legs spread before me. Every woman I’d been with had been around the block once or twice.
In that moment, I would have believed that not even Amy’s own finger had been inside of her, her pussy looked so tight. There was no doubt in my mind
she was exactly what she’d been advertised as.
Yet, I knew this brief glance wasn’t what the terms and conditions meant by ‘inspection.’ There was better evidence of her innocence to be had. The only question was would I be able to hold myself back?
Amy
Everything Ada told me to say, everything that men wanted to hear, was all out the window in this moment. I was totally exposed and vulnerable in front of this vastly more experienced man.
My clothes were gone, my legs were parted, his eyes were fixed on my sex. I could feel I was a little wet, from the excitement of the car ride back home and the thrill of him carrying me to the bedroom with that huge bulge of his nestled against me.
That slickness was a remnant of recent times when I had something to hide behind. Those days were gone, and I had no idea if the evidence of how turned on I’d been was plain for him to see or not.
If it was, then my vulnerability was absolute. He’d be able to see how much I wanted him, but I had no idea how to read that expression on his face now that he’d seen what he bought.
Did I look… weird down there? Did he hate the scars on my thigh? Some part of me accused the rest of overthinking this, that I should remember this was just business. It was a dangerous thing, to let my guard down, to run the risk of having actual feelings for a man more than twice my age who had bought my virginity.
That was easier said than done, though. He was magnetic, everything he did he mastered. I was drawn to him much more than I should have been. On one hand, it made this infinitely easier than the horror-stories I’d been imagining since the close of my auction. On the other hand, there was that danger of setting myself up for an embarrassing heartbreak, and other things that were even worse.
I’d been this close to messing up in the living room, to letting out my own deepest darkest fantasies. My attraction to him had put me too much at ease, but he’d have sent me packing if I’d done that.
“You are so fucking sexy, Amy,” he breathed.