Wonderland

by Bridget Midway

  “I know. And I don’t have any right to ask you change, but—”

  He didn’t let her finish. Before she knew it, he smothered her mouth in an amazing kiss that instantly warmed up her body. “I didn’t eat lunch with him. As soon as I told him that he should leave, I got up to get you but you were gone.” He stared at her intently in her eyes. “I don’t ever want to hurt you, not again.”

  A couple close to them turn their heads and hushed them.

  “Sorry.” Reid held his hand up to the couple. He leaned over to Cynda. “Let’s go.”

  Cynda held his hand. When he brought his attention to her, she shook her head. “Let’s stay.”

  The couch she chose sat in the back in a cubbyhole with a curved wall around it. A low-watt bulb shone down above them.

  Taking a cue from her, Reid stood and climbed on the couch. Using his tie, he covered his hand and started unscrewing the light bulb until it extinguished.

  As soon as they were cloaked in darkness, Cynda’s heart accelerated. The light from the movie screen highlighted some of Reid’s movements but not all of them. She felt him sitting next to her, putting his arm around her, then bringing her in for the most succulent kiss that rendered her speechless and motionless.

  As his lips warmed hers, he eased his tongue into her mouth and touched and teased her tongue. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder then massaged her arm as he kept his other hand busy palming her breast through her shirt.

  The audience laughed at some funny scene on the screen, but Cynda kept her attention on Reid. Cynda put her hand on his lap. She traveled her hand up to his crotch.

  Reid’s stiff cock pressed against the front of his work pants so hard, Cynda knew he had to be hurting. She broke from the kiss long enough to crawl down to the floor in between his legs.

  “What are you doing?” he asked as he held her shoulders.

  “Payback from this morning.” She smiled and threw the blanket over her body and over his waist.

  She undid his zipper and fished his erect shaft from his pants. Whether she could see it or not, she loved Reid’s dick. Cynda licked the tip of it. She felt his body tense. His reaction released juices from her pussy. By the time they got back to his room, she knew her jeans would be soaked.

  When she covered his thick tip with her mouth, she heard him release a moan just as the audience laughed at something else in the movie.

  “More,” Cynda heard Reid whisper.

  She obliged, moving her mouth down until she got to the hilt. Cynda pulled his pants down to his knees so that she could cup his tight sac. At that moment, she felt his hand on the back of her head encouraging her to do what she wanted to do for a long time: please Reid.

  As she moved her mouth up and down his length faster and faster she felt him thrusting his hips upward. Cynda felt his thighs tremble, and she knew it wouldn’t be long. She massaged his balls and tightened her lips around his tip. Salty precum wept from his tip, and she savored his flavor.

  From under the blanket, Cynda heard other moans and what sounded like kissing. The sex scene in the movie rolled as she continued loving on Reid’s cock. Perfect timing.

  “Oh shit!” Reid said from what sounded like gritted teeth.

  Just as she heard the on-screen couple climax, a shot of Reid’s cum filled her mouth. The thick concoction coated her tongue. She swallowed as quickly but gently as she could until she drained him.

  Cynda poked her head from under the blanket. A day scene played on the screen so she got to see Reid’s face. He panted but also smiled.

  “Let’s go.” He lifted his butt to pull up his pants. When he stood, he zipped them up but didn’t bother fastening them.

  Cynda barely got to put her shoes on when Reid grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the auditorium. The more she hung out with Reid, the more she realized he had her heart. She’d shared her dreams with him. Now she had to be willing to share her nightmares.

  Chapter Eight

  After another wonderful evening of sex on every floor in Reid’s home as he promised, Cynda saw him off to work in the morning. She stayed back to make a couple of crucial calls. If she wanted to be taken seriously, she had to be willing to put herself out there.

  Her first call went to Edwin. He surprised her by sharing that he decided to spend the holidays in Aspen with his family, and could come by and see her in an hour.

  Cynda swallowed hard. Was she ready to face her fears? She shook her head. This was only a meeting to talk about the potential of her owning her own business. It might not pan out for her. Talking didn’t mean commitment.

  Cynda made plans to meet him tomorrow on Christmas Eve. She would do it right after lunch so as not to ruin Reid’s tree-lighting ceremony.

  After the call, Cynda took a deep breath. She could do this. She could take that next step in establishing her future. As she stared at her phone, she wondered about another call she needed to make, one to her father.

  She pressed the speed dial number to her father and waited and waited and waited. Usually her father answered his cell phone on the first ring. She called her mother who’d shared that Donald had to make an emergency business trip but would be back home by Christmas.

  Before Cynda’s mother could invite her to come home for the holidays, she disconnected the call. Cynda still had to reconnect with her father. Too bad she didn’t know where he’d run to for business.

  For today’s events, she would help the guests learn how to ice-skate. She had to get dressed first. As she stood in Reid’s bathroom, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She’d kept her wig on through the night and into the morning, never allowing Reid or even herself to see what hid underneath.

  In order for Cynda to grow, she would have to face all her fears. With one tug, and after a deep breath, she pulled her wig off and stared at her reflection. The surgery she’d had months ago to remove a benign brain tumor left in its wake a U-shaped scar that circled her right ear.

  Her hair started to grow back, but right now she still sported a crew cut, one she bleached platinum blonde when she thought she could rock a short cut like a model. Unfortunately, with the scar, she had no way to hide it or cover it up.

  Cynda put her hand on the indention, letting her finger trail it from one side to the other. The healed flesh emitted a tickling sensation through her head when she touched it.

  Just when she thought she’d recovered, she found out a couple of months ago, a week before her Vegas incident, that a second tumor now grew.

  Why couldn’t she be normal? Why couldn’t she just be healthy? She deserved that. Her eyes itched from impending tears until she had to look away from her reflection. People and paparazzi who only saw her as a party girl would be surprised to see her this way, to see her crying. She didn’t care about her appearance. The only thing she cared about was that Reid didn’t feel the need to always take care of her like her father.

  Reid deserved a woman who didn’t come with baggage. Now that they had gotten so close, how could she tell him about her problems? Then again, how could she keep it a secret? Tonight she would have to tell him. In her process to grow up and heal, honesty had to be a part of her plan.

  * * * *

  Just after lunch, after a heavy session with Cynda in the stockroom, Reid watched the woman he’d grown to love –again– teaching another ice-skating class on the rink behind the resort. Wearing skintight red denim, a red turtleneck sweater with red gloves, and red skates, Cynda could not be missed on the ice. She topped the look with one of her bright red wigs and a red knit cap.

  He smiled as he watched her showing all people, men, women, children, and the elderly, how to skate forward and backward. She taught one ambitious child how to spin. The scene reminded him of when they were younger and Cynda did the same for him.

  “She’s a natural.”

  Reid peered over to the side and saw Josie standing next to him as they watched Cynda skating.

  “That girl has never m
et a stranger.” Josie nudged Reid on his side. “I always wondered why she never competed. She could have, you know.”

  “I know.” Boy, did Reid know.

  He’d attended almost all of her practices, from track to ice skating to even ballroom dancing. Cynda’s parents kept her busy.

  “Oh yeah. I know why she didn’t compete.” Josie kept her stare on Cynda.

  “Yeah, why’s that?” Reid kept up his smile until he looked at Josie, who now had a hard time returning his gaze. “Josie?”

  “Uh, never mind. She probably didn’t compete because she was too busy partying.” She laughed and playfully slapped Reid on his arm. “You know how our girl is.”

  The longer he stared at Josie, the more he could see how nervous and agitated she’d become, almost like she concealed a secret.

  “Josie, if you know something, then just tell me. I’m not buying that partying crap that you’re trying to—”

  Josie gasped and put her hand on the window. “She fell.”

  Reid turned and saw Cynda with her butt on the ice. As usual, Cynda smiled. Josie didn’t, and that worried Reid. Her look of concern troubled him so much that it accelerated his heart.

  Without asking another question, Reid bolted from the spot and out the door. He ran over the walkway to the ice rink where he went over the ice in his dressy work shoes.

  The slick ice forced him to keep his hands up and fingers splayed to maintain his balance. He did a great job of it until he got a few feet away from Cynda; then he fell hard on his side on the ice.

  “Reid!”

  All air escaped his body as he slid to a stop just a couple of feet from Cynda. He peered up from the solid sheet of ice to see Cynda get on her hands and knees and slide over to him.

  When she reached him, she sat on her haunches next to him. “What are you doing out here?” She peered down at his feet. “Without skates.”

  Reid struggled to a seated position. First his head throbbed, and now his body ached. “I’m here to save you.”

  Cynda screwed up her lips. “You’re not doing such a hot job.” She stood first then helped him to his feet. With her arm around his waist, she helped escort him off the ice. Once she got him to land, she turned to her class. “Have fun, you guys. My time is up.”

  Many of the class members moaned their disapproval, but applauded her for teaching them. Reid felt his body get warm all over as he held her hand and led her to a bench to change out of her skates.

  “Tell me why you felt the need to save me.” Cynda took off one skate and slipped her foot into one boot.

  He stared at her for a moment as he watched her change out her second skate for a boot.

  “Are you okay?” Cynda stood. “You didn’t hit your head on the ice, did you? Seems like every time you try to save me, you hurt yourself.” She touched his forehead.

  Reid brought her hand down from his head. “I’m fine. I’m perfect.” He brought her close to himself and planted a soft kiss on her forehead first, then her nose, then her full lips. He held her close to his side as they walked up to the main resort. “Do you have time in your agenda for me right now?”

  “Actually I was going to check out the children’s play area and see how they’re doing.”

  Reid laughed, thinking his wild friend had made a joke. When he saw her stone-cold expression, the laughter stopped. “You’re serious?”

  “Yes. I love playing with kids. Kids are honest. They’re funny.” She smiled as she talked about them.

  “I thought you were all about the singles’ side.” Reid opened the door for her.

  “No, I told you that I didn’t mind doing that side because I knew you could handle the family side. The singles are fine. They seem happier now than a couple of days ago. Have you noticed that on the social media sites?”

  Reid hadn’t bothered to check the sites since getting together with Cynda. He thought about lying to her and telling her what he thought she would want to hear. Instead he said, “I don’t know. I haven’t checked it since that night we first got together.”

  Cynda smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. When they reached the outside of a room that sounded like a train barreled through it, she turned to Reid. “Thanks for not lying to me.”

  “Never.” He uttered the response but wanted so much to take it back.

  By not telling her that when she first arrived that he’d called her father, he had lied to her. He would have to confess that to her and hoped beyond hope that she would forgive him.

  Reid opened the door to the playroom and found about twenty children of all ages and races playing with toys, painting, playing with colored clay, and running around.

  Cynda, who could be qualified as a big kid herself, ran to the most rambunctious child and asked to play with him. The child scanned her from head to toe first before agreeing to let her join him.

  Reid occupied himself with a quiet child in the corner content to color. Instead of getting the child to open up to him, he started painting next to him, occasionally peering over and appraising the child’s work. Their companionable silence eventually had the child opening up to him and showing off his artwork.

  Reid loosened his tie and enjoyed relaxing. Was this what Cynda had been trying to show him all this time? He needed to stop and smell the roses.

  When the daycare workers started cleaning up the room and Reid noticed how quiet the place had become, he suddenly became aware that he’d spent more than three hours playing with children and laughing. The interaction had him thinking what his children with Cynda would look like. Would they be tall like him or petite like her? Would they have her gift of gab or be shy?

  Reid stood and peered around the room. He found Cynda talking to one of the workers. When Cynda turned to him, she smiled.

  He approached her. “Will you excuse us? There’s something we need to do.”

  Reid pulled Cynda away from the worker and out of the room.

  “And what do you need me for, Mr. Weller?” Cynda smiled as she took his hand.

  “I’m taking off my manager’s cap, and you and I are going to do something special.”

  “And that is?”

  “You’ll see.” Reid had set up plans that morning to treat Cynda so wonderfully that she wouldn’t want to leave. He hoped his plan worked.

  Chapter Nine

  Back at Reid’s place, Cynda showered with Reid. Just like the last time they showered together, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. When he palmed her breast, she licked his nipple. When he cupped her ass, she stroked his cock. When she stared at him in his eyes, Reid pressed her against the stall wall, spread her legs apart, and lifted her.

  He guided the head of his dick to her awaiting pussy and thrust himself inside, shocking and pleasing her all at once. Cynda wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding onto him as he rocked himself in and out of her.

  “This has been so wonderful.” Reid smothered her in kisses. “Best. Christmas. Ever!”

  Cynda couldn’t help but laugh at him.

  Just as he came deep in her, she came with him, clawing his back as her body tensed and became sensitive all at once.

  Reid slowed to pull out of her. He just kept his stare on her.

  The proximity and trapped feeling started to make Cynda uncomfortable. She brought her legs down and placed her hands on Reid’s chest.

  “I’m starting to prune.” She laughed to cover her uneasiness. “Where are we going anyway? What should I wear?”

  Reid kissed her before moving back from her and turning to the showerhead. “All I have to say is dress warmly.”

  Cynda came up behind him and pressed her body against his back. “Does that mean I should wear underwear?”

  Reid laughed. “Surprise me.”

  Reid ended up surprising Cynda. After showering and getting dressed, he took her down in front of the resort where at the curb sat a white horse-drawn carriage with white Christmas lights covering it. The driver s
tood outside of the carriage with the door opened for the two of them.

  He helped Cynda on first then Reid climbed inside.

  “Thanks, Stan.” Reid covered himself and Cynda with a blanket.

  “There’s some hot chocolate in the thermos back there. If you need something stronger, there’s a flask next to it.” Stan winked at Cynda and Reid.

  As soon as the ride started, Cynda leaned over to Reid. She whispered, “Is this Josie’s man?”

  Reid nodded.

  She shrugged. “Not bad.”

  “You want something to drink?” Reid reached forward to pick up one of the many beverages provided.

  “No.” Cynda curled up next to him. “I want to enjoy you, enjoy this. I’ve never been on a carriage ride before. It’s something out of a fairy tale.”

  “So that would make me Prince Charming.”

  Cynda peered up at him and he flitted his eyebrows, which made her laugh.

  “You could be the frog I have to kiss to turn into Prince Charming.”

  “Ribbit.” Reid puckered up to Cynda’s delight.

  “Something’s changed about you.” She wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “It’s because something has changed in you. You’re different. Or maybe you’re the same person I knew and I imagined you would be different from all of the stuff I’ve read about you.”

  “You should have known better. You can never trust the media.” She pressed her ear against his chest.

  His heart beat strong against her ear, while on the other side she caught the sound of the wheels crunching against the snow-covered gravel path through the woods. The bare trees had icicles hanging from their branches. An occasion branch snapping in the background sounded. When Cynda glanced into the woods, she caught an owl sitting on a branch in the distance, its eyes glowing in the darkness.

  This was Heaven. No paparazzi. No judgments. Just her and her man. Her man. To really make him her man, she had to tell him everything.

  “I need to tell you something,” Reid began.