by Ember Flint
I should feel outraged by Cash’s wish to take my body, to buy me, but instead, despite feeling dubious about many things and confused by his attitude —one minute passionate and the next distant— and yet at the same time, I feel safe and even more than a little happy to be his.
Yet, I don’t know if I should be wary and on my guard or if I should let myself hope that something good could really come from this, considering how he makes me feel.
Ultimately, that is what I want after so many years of pain and despair: I want to be hopeful, I want to be happy and I want to be his, but the fact that he made his entire proposal sound like nothing more than a business transaction, a way to sate his considerable appetites and to get an heir, in light of the wonderful night we have shared is suddenly much more painful to swallow this morning than it was yesterday evening when I agreed to it.
Chapter 9
CASH
I escort Aria out of the upscale restaurant we just had lunch in, one hand firmly placed on her lower back the entire time and a scowl directed at the dipshit waiter who has done nothing but stare at my pretty fiancée and her bodacious curves clad in a delightful lilac mini dress and leggings since we came inside.
She giggles shaking her head.
“You are scaring that poor guy half to death, Cash.”
I keep glowering at him as I answer to her remark, my voice perfectly composed despite my jealousy.
“Of course I am, baby and if he keeps on gawking at your ass, I’m going to knock his teeth off, that will teach him to look at what’s mine.”
I feel her little soft hand on my forearm as she smiles up at me, showing off her sweet dimples, the golden of her curls shining under the sun.
“You are very cute when grumpy, Cash, my very own protector… but you should know I can take care of myself. If I had felt he was being too inappropriate I would have punched him myself, I’m not afraid to break a nail, you know.”
I chuckle, feeling part of my annoyance slip away.
“Of course, I do, baby and you would have done a remarkable job on his face, I’m sure. Still, you are mine now, so from now on I’m the one who is going to do the punching around here.”
Aria’s lilting laughter turns my smile even bigger.
“What you want to do, tonight, baby?” I ask her, gesturing for my driver to start the car.
She shrugs, kissing my chin. “I don’t know…”
I hug her to me. “You can have everything you want; do everything you want.”
She smiles shyly. “Anything I want?” she asks.
I internally roll my eyes.
Now she is will to say she has never been to Paris and she is dying to visit it or some shit like that. I start to think if my pilot has the day off or not, might as well give her whatever she wants and get it over with.
No sense in resisting and pretending she is going to be with me for anything more than my cash.
She scrunches up her cute little nose.
“I want to be with you, we could order pizza and watch ‘Hot Shots’… it’s a very silly movie. I always used to watch it with my sister on her birthday, it was a favorite of hers. She really loved parodies.”
I gulp, frowning at her. That’s all she is going to ask for?
“That’s really what you want to do?”
Aria nods. “Yes, unless… unless you think it’s too stupid and want to do something else.”
I don’t know what to feel right now, my head is a mess.
“I think it will be great, I don’t think I know the movie, but I’m sure it will be fun.”
I open the door of the limo for her and help her climb in.
I lean inside after she is settled and kiss her until my cock roars achingly awake, reminding me of our location and I pull away.
“I’ll see you in two hours or so, sweetheart.”
She nods. “And then no more meetings starting tomorrow?” she asks.
There’s what seems like a hopeful tone in her voice, but I’m not sure I can trust my own perception of anything when it comes to her.
It’s difficult to discern what it’s really there from what I only would wish to be there.
I don’t know if she is sincere, or dissembling.
“No more meetings, yes,” I confirm gruffly and close the door, barely catching sight of what looked like a baffled and saddened expression on her face that I can’t quite place.
I signal to Paul to drive on and turn back to go inside the restaurant, hoping for the sake of the waiter’s teeth that he will have the wisdom to make himself scarce.
I walk back to our table, where Carson is still sitting, eyes focuses on his iPhone, propped against a half empty glass of scotch, hands steepled on his chest.
He looks up at me as I sit down, his sharp green eyes narrowing on me, his fingers starting to play with a cigarette he is probably dying to smoke.
“I like her,” he states simply and I nod.
I don’t really wish to discuss my private life any longer, not with him, not with my nosy lawyer and not with anyone.
I just want to live in the moment and drown my worries in Aria’s deliciously temping, hot, virgin body, the rest I’ll figure out later.
My friend is not easily deterred though.
“She seems very genuine, a bit naive maybe, but very bright and with a wit that should keep you on your toes.”
I say nothing, my eyes focused on the shade of amber of the priceless liquor filling my glass; it reminds me of the color Aria’s eyes turn to when she is about to come.
Carson sighs. “Charming, really. Only, maybe ad tad too young for you.”
I look up, glaring at him. Yes, she is twelve years my junior, but it doesn’t matter, plus he should be the one to talk.
“Please, your latest flavor is what, twenty-five years younger than you?”
Carson laughs. “That’s what she says anyway.”
I chuckle. “And I hope she is not lying for your sake.”
“I may forget their names, but that sort of shit, I check out, Cash. Don’t you worry for me. Still, we are not talking about me here. I’m just… what Molly calls it… whoring around?! You, on the other hand, mean to marry this girl.”
“I really don’t see your point. She’s old enough for what I need,” I state bluntly.
Unexpectedly, I feel a trace of uneasiness at reducing our relationship just to its basic reason to be: the fulfillment of what I need and want, a part of me thinking this could definitely be so much more than that, but I push those thoughts away.
It won’t bring me any good to try and picture how it could be if she could fall in love with me; it’s never going to happen and I can live with that.
I will have her body, she will have my baby, I will keep her safe and bask in the physical comfort she provides and it will be more than enough.
“Cash?” Carson’s voice calls me back to the conversation.
“What?”
He puts his cell back in his pocket and for a moment seems to be casting about for words. “I think… it seems that she is very much taken with you.”
I wave that notion away, scoffing. “I’m sure she is very much taken with the idea of free access to Stone’s unlimited funds and the fat payout she is going to get after this is over.”
Carson shakes his head. “Really? Didn’t you send her shopping this morning? What did she buy? I didn’t see much more than a bag.”
I blink rapidly, looking away and to the side. He is of course right.
Aria could have spent a fortune, but she only bought a couple of outfits and some underthings, enough to keep her going until she could stop at her ranch.
I shrug. “You are correct, she didn’t buy much, but that hardly changes the situation. There are a number of reasons with which such a thing could be explained away.”
“And I’m guessing your reasons of course won’t have much of an optimistic view, would they?”
/> I chuckle bitterly. “Are you turning soft in your old age, Carson? Tell me: when have you seen things turn out differently? Have you already send Miranda packing?”
He looks away. “Again, this is not about me, son. I’ve lived my life a certain way and I can’t go back in time, but this doesn’t mean I want to see you make the same mistakes.”
I huff. “You are the one who told me to look for a wife to ensure a next generation of Stones and shut up the fucking Board, Carson. Why are you objecting to this?”
My friend looks at his hands, clasped around his lighter in front of him on the white tablecloth.
“Because I saw the way you looked at her, Cash. It could have worked if you didn’t care about her, but that’s not the case…”
I level him with a hard stare. “Of course it is…”
Carson stands up, dismissing my words.
“I know you, Cash. I have known you all your life. You are a quiet man, but you feel deeply. This plan of yours can never work without ending up hurting both of you. Trust me, you cannot ever be this close to someone that you have feelings for, without letting them know how you feel and more importantly without wanting them to have those feelings for you as well. You should show her how you feel.”
I clear my throat, feeling my heart pound in my ears.
“I don’t see things this way, Carson and you won’t be able to convince me. I’ll stick with my plan. I want her and I’ll have her, I don’t care about anything else. It will be enough. Now, I should really get going. I have another appointment and I want to wrap it up as soon as I can.”
Carson nods. “So that you can be with Aria?” he half asks, half accuses.
“I’ll see you, Monday, Carson,” I say, throwing enough money on the table to cover the check and leave a huge tip and before my friend can say anything more, I’m exiting the restaurant.
—*—
I ended up cancelling the meeting I was so impatient to attend anyway, I was in no mood to talk business after the parting words Carson and I exchanged.
I could have gone home to Aria immediately, but I choose to stall.
So here I am, pretending to work as I sift through my feelings for her and try not to think about what Carson said.
If I don’t focus on the meaning of his speech and let my mind wander on its own course, I still end up on a path that brings me back to her.
Aria has been the only thing in my mind since I saw her.
I want her. I need her. I crave her. Not just her body, even. Everything about her.
I always thought my name was very apt, but so it’s hers, at least in relation to me.
Aria, light as an opera song and hunting me every minute of every hour with her call.
Aria, like the air I need to live.
Indispensable for my existence.
Fuck this.
Everything is pointless, I’ve done nothing, but stare at my computer’s screen without really seeing it for the last hour or so, my cock painfully hard in my pants, the need for release almost blinding.
I’ve resisted the temptation to rub one out, because I want to be with her when I let go, but pretending I have control on this, that I can sit here in my office and be away from her is nothing, but a big fat lie.
Either I torture myself with the wish for a more complete happiness with her that it’s never going to come true, or I just think about all the dirty things I want to do to her curvy little body and lose my mind.
I want her so much I can hardly breathe.
My balls must be fucking blue, they’re packed full of cum for her and ready to burst.
I get up from my leather chair and storm out of my office, scaring my poor assistant and making him jump away from the young office manager he was chatting up and I stride to the elevator without a single word.
I’m nervous, mad and horny as fuck and there’s just one thing that can put my world to right: Aria.
I won’t fuck her yet, I gave her my word after all, but I can’t wait to strip her naked, lay her body on my bed and bury my face in her soft, pillowy breasts, suck her rosy nipples until she screams, bite her neck and the inside of her thick thighs, brand her with my seed, kiss her sugary pink rose and feel her syrupy sweet juices run all over my face and then down my balls.
I squeeze my cock at the pictures my mind is conjuring, feeling pre-cum coat the front of my boxers.
Fuck, I need to be with her, I can’t wait another minute.
—*—
I find Aria napping on the sofa and I throw myself at her without even waiting for her to be fully awake, she gasps in surprise and stiffens at the unexpected closeness of my body, but when she sees it’s me she relaxes against me, murmuring my name as she kisses my neck.
I feel my cock jerk and lurch achingly at her whisper-soft kiss and I immediately start to unbuckle my belt and unbutton my slacks, one hand kneading her breasts and the other lowering my zip.
I turn us until I’m sitting and she is straddling me and press her down onto my hard cock, still trapped in the confines of my black briefs and I clash my mouth to hers, devouring her startled moans.
“Cash…”
I pull away.
“I need to have you on my cock, baby. Can’t wait much longer. How about you give it a kiss with that pretty mouth of yours since I promised to leave your cherry alone a little while longer?” I ask her, my voice hoarse and raspy.
I see her throat working while a pink blush spreads on her face and upper chest and it only makes me want to fuck her harder.
“You want me to… to put my mouth on you there?”
Well more or less, but I’m too fucking aroused and mad at myself to let her get away with such a pale description.
“No, baby. I want you to kneel in front of me, open up and suck my big cock in your mouth so I can fuck it,” I growl, my cock throbbing in need.
I see a little frown on her face, but then her forehead becomes smooth. “I was thinking about doing it yesterday, I’m curious about how it will be…”, she states without guile, surprising the shit out of me.
“You were?” I ask, feeling my inexplicable rage abate leaving only desire for this woman in its place.
Aria nods timidly, slides off me and down the floor and starts to undress me further.
“I like you all naked,” she explains, her cheeks burning and my cock leaks a little bit more pre-cum at her words, standing painfully hard against my lower stomach.
She scoots closer to me and settles between my open legs, both her hand going for my cock eagerly, nearly making me nut here and now.
She curls her little fingers as far as they can go around my cock and starts to stroke the bulky length tightly, her mouth leaning forward.
She bestows a little kiss on the tip, making my dick jerk toward her and then she gives a slow little lick over my slit, sweeping up pre-cum with her tongue.
She moans at my taste and I nearly lose it again.
“I like it, it’s not bad. It’s a little salty and a little sweet… just like you,” she comments, her tongue going back to licking the head of my cock.
I close my eyes and lean back, thinking I will be able to withstand the pleasure of her lips and tongue for much longer if I don’t actually look down at her, but as soon as my head falls back I jump up again, grunting and cursing, my whole body tensing and a spurt of cum shooting up my balls, when I feel her mouth sink on my cock, all traces of her gentle, tentative torture gone as she sucks as much as she can of it down her throat, her hands caressing what she can’t fit in.
I was preparing to having to coax her to be more forceful and really blow me hard and good like I wanted her to, but she fucking beat me to it and went for it on her own.
I can feel her movements are unsure and untrained, but fuck if this doesn’t make it even hotter.
“Fuck, baby, just like that! Suck harder… deeper. You are amazing, this feels amazing,” I groan, clut
ching her head to my crotch.
She pulls me out and looks up at me, my cock head leaning against her sleek lower lip. The sight alone making some more beads of pre-cum appear on my crown.
“You liked that, Cash?”
“Very much, Aria,” I tell her, struggling to push the words out of my clenched teeth, my hand stroking her face and moving off of it the little ringlets of blonde hair that have escaped their low ponytail.
“Go on, keep on sucking my cock, baby,” I order.
She nods and flattens her tongue over my tip, making my eyes cross in pleasure.
“Fuck, baby, I need you to take it back in your mouth, I need to see those beautiful lips of yours stretched around it. Can you do that for me?”
Aria smile. “I can and I want to,” she breathes against the veiny underside of my large shaft and then makes me almost come off the sofa, sucking my dick as far as it can go into her little hot mouth.
I take control of her movements, gently guiding her in an up and down stroke, barely managing to contain my urge to thrust balls deep in her throat, she mewls and moans around and the vibration is what does it.
With an animalistic grunt I stop her downright motion midway and I hold her against me as I feel the seed burn up my cock, shoot out of me and splash on her tongue.
“Swallow, baby, don’t miss a drop,” I groan and fall back on the sofa, as her eager mouth keeps on sucking and milking my length, ending up pulling more cum out of me than I thought I had.
Aria slides her mouth off of me, my cock so sensitive I feel yet another jet of cum spray out and stain her lips, she licks me clean, moaning at my taste and that’s when I notice the way her legs are clenched together.
The mere idea she loved getting me off as much as I did, makes my cock twitch and start to stand stiff again, but I pinch the tip to stave off the worst of my arousal.
My baby is definitely in need and I’m not about to make her wait for it when she was so fucking perfect and so fucking generous with me.
I pull her up and against me, kissing her until we can’t breathe.