Dark Cherries

by Eve Bradley

  He looks at me as if he’s saying: See? I’m right.

  “You don’t scare me,” I say, raising my chin indignantly. “And what’s life without living on the edge?”

  Shawn chuckles, and the cute way he looks down and then up again sends sparks through my stomach. I tense my abdominal muscles and take in a deep breath.

  “Well then. Do you want to know?” he asks. As he says this he lurches forward slightly, nearer so that his jacket nearly skims my velour. Heat radiates from his body and I feel like if I reached out he’d consume me with the fire that lives under his skin.

  I peer up into his eyes and wordlessly nod my head once. He’s taller than me, nearly a whole head, and I feel nervousness bundle like a thick ball in my belly. Every time I’ve been in this sort of “close encounter” with a man before I’ve felt in control. There is so much unknown living in the small space between Shawn and me, and that alone heightens every single one of my senses.

  “I would like to show you,” he says and reaches to cup the side of my face, brushing his thumb over my cheek.

  “Okay,” I whisper, and with that single word, I know I’ve started something that I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish.

  Shawn is slow at first, his fingers tumble from my cheek down to my neck. He caresses my throat and then walks his fingers down to the zipper of my jacket.

  “Everything we do, you must consent to. If I do anything that you feel is too much for you, you must tell me to stop immediately,” he says, and then pulls at the zipper, parting the jacket so that my full breasts are easily accessible. Shawn sighs, and I can tell he too is feeling the intensity of the moment. It’s so quiet, and all that we can hear is the increase in our breathing.

  He tosses my jacket to the side and then pushes his hands under the tank top on both sides of my stomach. I gasp at his touch, the warmth of his fingers torturing the anxious sexual kitten inside me. He then grips the tank top and pulls me against him. I feel his rock hard cock in his pants, and I almost want to reach out and touch him, but I’m too captured in what he’s doing. He wants the control here, and I’ll let him show me exactly what he likes.

  Shawn pulls my tank over my head and then kneels and peels the fitted track pants down over my thighs. As he goes, he kisses my leg, planting little kisses along the way that causes my pussy to clench. I take a deep breath, letting my shaky hands rest on his bulky shoulders. Fuck, if it’s this intense now…

  He helps me out of my pants and then flings them to the side as well. Now, I’m painfully naked in front of him, and he smiles, a lust-drunk smile filled with dirty thoughts and dark erotic need.

  “Aren’t you going to get naked?” I ask him.

  Shawn ignores my question, and without warning his mouth is on mine. Our lips mesh, and I’m dazed at the way he moves his lips and tongue. It’s like a fucking dance. I feel like this would be the perfect scene for one of those Hollywood romance movies because the kiss is deep and yet not sloppy, slow, and yet passionate. He reaches out and grabs my ass, pushing me against his groin. I can’t help the small moan that I let out, and this seems to make him even wilder.

  “I want your mouth around my cock,” he says against my ear.

  I’m stunned, but hurry and drop to my knees. I want him to have me. I want to please him in every single possible way that he could ever need. I can’t understand it, but I feel like I want to show him that I’m that most devoted little bitch he’ll ever know.

  “Good,” he says, and then draws his fingers through my hair. He grips my scalp and I wince but smirk up at him as I first massage my fingers over the bulge in his pants. His chin goes up and he shuts his eyes for a moment, and then I begin to unzip and un-shield his cock. His dick is beautiful, if I can even call a dick beautiful. It’s thick, long, and the veins that trace its length are like little decorations. His balls are tight and hairless, and before I can even think about how to approach the situation, he takes a finger, opens my mouth, and places the tip right on my tongue.

  “I want you to be mine,” he says as I wrap my lips around him and begin to kiss, lick, and suck the best way I know how. “But this can be hard for some women. Letting a man be…aggressive with her. But I do this because,” he grips my hair hard and I half-moan half-cry out against the pain with his dick deep in my mouth. “My feeling of control, and a woman’s feeling of not having to be in control, gives us both a heightened experience. Many women find that they like to be dominated. That pain brings them pleasure, and that answering to their Daddy, master, or whatever they want to call them, turns them on.”

  He pushes my face against his cock, and I gag. I want to touch myself my need is so strong. I can see why someone would like this. We’re both equals here, and the push and pull of power is something I can get off on. It’s also the consistent presence of trust that lingers and captivates me.

  Shawn groans as I ambitiously work his cock with my mouth. Suddenly, he stops me.

  He reaches for my hand and pulls me up, turns me around, and presses his dick between the cheeks of my ass. I gasp. I’ve never felt my body respond this way. He uses his hands to press me hard against him. I’m pushing back, nearly begging him to fill me up. I move my hips so that my ass bumps and moves against his freestanding cock.

  “I want that,” I utter, lost in the feeling of him, lost in the smell of his cologne, lost in the quiet and subtle noise of every small movement.

  Shawn’s hand pushes against my back, causing me to arch harder. His finger runs up and down my spine.

  “What do you want?” he asks huskily. “Tell me exactly what you want.”

  “I want your cock,” I nearly mewl it as he drags the tip of his dick up and down my folds.

  The slap on my ass is so shocking that I jerk forward. It stings, and I hardly have a chance to recuperate before he gives me another on the other side.

  “What the fuck!” I snap.

  “Who are you speaking to?” he asks, again drawing his finger down my spine so that I have to arch my back so that my ass can reach the tender glossy tip of his cock. I shake my head, remembering what he’s asking of me. Remembering what he’s just said. That this is all about me listening and him being in utter control.

  “Mr. Van Doren,” I nearly choke out.

  “What do you want, honey?” he asks again, this time his voice as sweet and sugared as candy.

  “I want your cock, Mr. Van Doren,” I say, gasping as I feel his fingers sliding against my cunt.

  “You’re wet,” he comments, and by his tone, he is approving. “Is this all for me?”

  I nod adamantly, and he swirls his fingers around my clit and then in and out of my pussy a few times, repeating the same delicious movements so that I part my legs and whine like a fucking animal. I’m desperate for him to keep touching me in this way because, as he does this, I feel my orgasm building, and building, and rising in my pelvis. I want the release.

  “Please, Mr. Van Doren,” I say, gasping as he pushes his fingers up into me.

  “You like this?” he asks me, gripping my breast with one hand while the other hand expertly moves against my sex. “You pretty fucking girl. God, I’ve wanted to touch you for far too fucking long.”

  I make noises of agreement, focusing on my orgasm. It’s rising, and my body goes rigid.

  “You’re so hungry, aren’t you?” he hisses sensually and then removes his hand. I slump forward onto a chair, my orgasm leveling and receding back into my pelvis. Angrily, I shut my eyes and let out an exhausted breath.

  “Fuck you, Shawn,” I groan, frustrated by the sexual tension.

  “Excuse me?” he snickers and wraps his fingers around my neck from the back. “I thought you wanted to cum.”

  His grip on me is tight, but I know that he’s holding just tight enough to show dominance, not to truly hurt me.

  “If you want more punishment…” he sighs and pets my hair. “I can make that happen.”

  Why does his reference of punis
hment completely turn me on? Why does it cause my pussy to throb with excitement? I feel like there must be steam coming from my ears I’m so fucking hot for him.

  “No, Mr. Van Doren,” I say quietly.

  “Actually, while we’re on the subject of punishment,” he starts and then trails around me, my eyes instantly locking onto his heavy, dusky, cock. “You, Allison, were very bad today.”

  “I didn’t mean…I just…” I fumble for words, nearly panting because I can’t imagine he would just let me die here slowly of sexual neglect.

  “I need you to trust me. That’s the only way any of this is going to work. If you don’t, I can’t give you the pleasure your needy body desires. And I’ll stop you from fucking Rhett and Alexi, as well. So, right here, right now, I need you to offer your trust to me. When I tell you to stay in your hotel room, I expect you to trust that there’s a reason for it,” Shawn says every word in a low, calculated tone that taunts me. He reaches out and begins to swirl his fingers over my nipples, and I can hardly contain the little blooms of pleasure it brings me, and I arch toward him. “As mine, you will never want a thing. You’ll be my princess. Do you understand?”

  Does he know about Rhett? How can he possibly know? I am shocked and yet partially relieved that he knows I’ve flirted with the others as well. It’s probably obvious. He saw me dancing the other night with Rhett, and heard about Alexi holding me when I was crying in the hotel room.

  “Your princess?” I repeat anxiously.

  “Well, you’re a brat too. That we know, but I’m going to give you everything you could ever possibly want, sweetheart,” he says, and then he pinches my nipple lightly. “All it takes is your consent and your trust. Is that okay?”

  I twist uncomfortably, my chest heaving up and down.

  “Yes,” I say, completely and utterly smitten with this man.

  “Yes?” he slaps my breast lightly, causing my flesh to jiggle.

  “Mr. Van Doren,” I gasp.

  Shawn wraps his arm around the curve of my back and pulls me up into his arms so that my legs wrap tightly around his waist. His cock brushes like velvet against my ass and our mouths meld as he carries me to the couch. Everything about him catapults me into a different dimension, and I cling to him, draping my arms over his shoulders and playing with his hair as we kiss. He lies me down on the edge of the couch and draws his cock over my wet cunt, playing with me. Please fuck me.

  We stare into one another’s eyes, lost in the moment.

  “Tell me that you’ll trust me. Until I give you one reason not to,” he growls.

  “I trust you, Shawn. I want to be yours. I want to be your princess…” I tell him, voice faint as I reach out and grab at his shirt, grabbing at anything. This is enough for him to reach out, grab my throat, kiss me, and then pin me down again. I smile at him as he aligns his cock to my body, and without warning, he impales me. My cunt stretches against him, and I cannot stop the sounds from escaping my lips as he begins to pound into me, as he forces my body to work with him; for him.

  His cock slides in and out like a machine, and I wrap my legs around his waist. The strength of his thrusts causes my orgasm to make her reappearance, and I moan loudly, praying he doesn’t stop me again.

  He doesn’t, and just as my body snaps against the building pressure inside my core, as my body spasms with sparkling, delicious, dirty feelings, he pushes up inside me as deeply as he can go and lets his own climax take him. We gasp and moan together, holding each other like two insatiable sinners, and once the pleasure has subsided, I lean my head back on the couch and smile, allowing the decadent feelings of safety, delight, and excitement to pulse through my body.

  Nine

  Make Me Up

  Shawn and I slept together that night, and fucked at what I think was two a.m. But as I lay in his arms that night, my mind was racing. Had I really, earlier that day, tried to leave them to go back to Illinois? Had I really been threatened by members of the mob? I think about my mom and sister, all the hopes I had this morning floating away like feathers that had once made up my wings. I know that someday I will have to go back, but right now, all I can do is rest in the promises that this man has given me.

  I’d be stupid not to. Honestly, I’ve never cared if a man was rich. I don’t think I’d care if he was or not because that’s not what makes me blush under his gaze. It’s his solidity, his raw, powerful, seductive masculinity. Is it selfish for me to want more of him? To be so enchanted that I can’t even say no? I know I’m not a weak person. I’ve survived two years on the streets, and I think I’d do more if I actually wanted to leave. The truth is that I feel safe, warm, and for once in my life…I’m not lonely.

  Today Anita arrived bright and early. She hummed cheery little tunes as she whipped me up some pancakes as we waited for Shawn to return to the house with Alexi and Rhett. Orlando, the driver, who apparently also does landscape work, shuffled in through the gates and began to prune the bushes in the front yard and clean the pool.

  I watch him out the sliding glass doors, elbows propped on the marble counter, as I cup the coffee mug and pick at the banana pancakes Anita has made me, reflecting on the past week as if it’s been something out of a storybook. But, like in any good storybook, there’s a shit ton of conflict. How can I be around both Rhett and Shawn when I’ve kissed them both and fucked one? If I tell Shawn, will he be angry? Would everything he’s told me about trust and the exchanges of power shatter and his temper take over? I’d rather not see that side of him.

  “Allie!” Anita’s voice breaks through my mind’s endless ramble.

  “Yeah?” I ask.

  “Shawn told me to give you this,” the middle-aged woman smiles broadly, and I return the smile, reminded of how lovely this feisty little woman is. I’m caught off guard as she pushes a white iPhone box towards me. “He said the number should already be working, and that he’s pre-programmed a few essential numbers into it.”

  “Wow,” I say as I gently shake the lid off of the box. The reveal makes my jaw drop. I’ve never had an iPhone. In truth, I’ve never had a cellphone. I was always limited in the way of communication with my peers, and this makes me feel strange like I don’t deserve it or can’t accept it. I guess this is what he meant in that he’d take care of me. I’m his princess.

  The phone turns right on, the Apple logo shining like the beacon of a better life. Of things that I’d once only dreamed of. Things that I was always too afraid to even want. I’m nearly shocked when a sudden bell chimes, and I set my coffee aside and read.

  This phone is yours. I’ve added myself, Rhett, Alexi, Anita, and Orlando as your main contacts. If you need anything before I get back, Anita would be more than happy to help. Oh, and don’t wear any panties today.

  Shawn’s words make me shiver with desire, and I go to the bathroom to do exactly as he wants. I’m wearing a jean skirt that had a shockingly high price tag and a flowy top with sleeves that lay off the shoulders. It’s an outfit that makes me look exactly like one of the adventurous summer beach-goers and the only thing I’m missing is sunglasses and bubblegum lip-gloss.

  “They just pulled in, dear,” Anita tells me as she wipes her hands on a white towel.

  “Thanks,” I say as I pad back to my plate and plop myself back on the plush stool. Sunlight filters in through the windows and makes everything look luminescent like I’m in a shiny little cove under the sea.

  “I heard you were Shawn’s nanny,” I say, trying not to sound too curious.

  She sighs while smiling and it’s as if memories bubble up and she’s sifting through the best of them.

  “I was hired on when Mrs. Van Doren first discovered her pregnancy. I’ve known that man since he was a little boy, and believe me when I say I know everything about him. Shawn’s family isn’t as warm as other families,” she chuckles softly, her crinkly eyes misting over. “But I am proud of who he is today. He’s been through quite a lot. So have the other two. Shawn’s band of misfits
seem to all have something in common…don’t they? They’ve all been mistreated, and they do a lot to attempt to stop the mistreatment of others,” she explains, tossing the towel over her shoulder and shrugging a bit.

  “First appearances tell me he’s only focused on making money,” I say, not wanting to say anything excessive. If Anita doesn’t know about their interest in conning gangs, mobs, and criminals, what does she mean?

  “Well, he funds nonprofit organizations and many different cancer treatment programs…he always has something going on. I guess you wouldn’t know, darling. He doesn’t like to brag,” she smiles cheerfully and just as she goes back to the stove, I’m caught off guard by the three tall, dark, and handsome figures coming through the front door. It warms me that Shawn spends money on helping others, although by the look of him, you wouldn’t assume he cares about anyone other than himself.

  Shawn is first, and he’s actually wearing something other than a suit, which is surprising. He’s wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt that emphasizes the muscularity of his tan arms, along with dark wash jeans and walking shoes. Damn, he looks good in casual clothes. Rhett and Alexi follow, and as they arrive, there’s a cloud of cologne that’s so sweet that I want to just sniff them. Or lick them. Either way, I’d be happy.

  “Ah! Does anyone want pancakes? I made banana but I can whip up personal orders in a snap!” Anita says.

  “No thanks, dearie,” Alexi says and gives her a tight side hug. She looks quite happy with this, and then Rhett does the same. Shawn stands back, and he catches my gaze. His eyes sweep over my bare legs and feet, and I can nearly hear his thoughts in my mind. By the draw of his mouth, I can tell that he’s pleased. I give him a smile that hopefully looks sensual, and take another sip of my coffee.