Not at First

by Phalla S. Rios

  I back away and slam into a body.

  “Watch it,” a familiar voice hisses.

  I shift away from her and make my way to Lola and Cody on the couch. My eyes swiftly move over Aubrey and Kevin again before sagging onto the plush seats.

  “You look so hot in your nurse outfit.” Lola exclaims, oblivious to what had just happened to me. “Practicing your profession?” She giggles.

  Lola and Cody both have glossed over looks on their faces.

  They are both drunk.

  My eyes scan the sea of people, crowded into our shared place. I stop my wandering gaze on a man wearing a dark, gray three-piece suit and red silk tie. He stalks over and stops in front of me.

  “Angel, you didn’t mention a party,” Roman says and lifts me up off my seat. “Let’s go pack your bag.”

  He takes my hand, leading me to my room, and locks the door once we are inside. I let go of his hands and toss my duffle bag onto my bed. Roman fastens his big hands around my arm and hauls me into him.

  I nervously glance up at his dark, glistening eyes that are a mix of anger and hunger. His jaw pops from the pressure he has been holding and he grips my chin with his hand.

  “I-I didn’t want another argument…” I say, wanting a chance to explain myself.

  “The party is distasteful, yes. But you dressed like this…” He yanks the thin material covering me and rips it down the front of my body.

  His hands move to graze my shoulder, letting my costume fall to the floor. I stand before him wearing only a skimpy, matching white lacey bra and panties.

  “Comes with consequences,” he finishes.

  Roman crushes my body to his and pins me to the wall. My arms hook up and around his neck, moving to thread my fingers through his hair. He bends his head down and sucks the curve of my neck, hard.

  A gasp and whimper escape my lips and I clench my legs around him, almost strangling his waist.

  He clasps his hands on my ass and bounces me up, my back scrapping against the wall.

  I cry out softly and my head falls forward. “Please don’t hurt me, Roman. I…I don’t think my heart can handle it.”

  He anchors me back down on my feet and tilts my chin up, his face loses the hardness he wore coming into my room.

  “I’m taking you home,” he moves to my closet, yanking clothes out, and shoves them into my duffle bag.

  “Wake up, baby,” A soft voice whispers into my ear.

  “Hmmm…” I murmur into my pillow.

  It’s Saturday, why is someone trying to wake me up. My mind drifts to last night.

  Roman.

  Last night he made up for the days that we hadn’t seen each other. He didn’t allow me any sleep until past midnight.

  We had lots of sex. The sex marathon started in the living room and finally ended in his bedroom.

  I smiled sheepishly at my reverie.

  Delicate kisses roam all over my face and my hands move on their own accord to cover my face. A low chuckle rumbles near me and an assault of kisses ensues all over my hands. I try to turn away with no luck.

  “Baby, I’m going to lift you up now,” he tells me, his voice gentle.

  “No…” I mumble.

  Big strong arms lift me up, and then set me down on my feet. My body slumps against a well toned body. I instantly wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my face to his chest. His hands slide down to my ass and he lifts me up, I wrap my legs around his waist, and he carries me to the Master bathroom.

  “Time to wake up, now.” He orders me, his voice soft against my neck.

  He carries me until we are near the door to the toilet. I nod my head and slide my body down his.

  “What time is it?” I ask my voice still groggy.

  “4 a.m.”

  “Why are we waking up so early?” I look up at him with my eyes still half closed.

  “I have something planned.” He tells me and gives me a kiss on the forehead.

  “Okay, give me twenty minutes to get ready,” I grab the door handle.

  “I’ll wait for you downstairs. I have to make a phone call.” He walks out of the bathroom.

  I dress myself in blue jeans and a gray and pink striped sweater. I add my gray suede boots and pull them over my jeans where they hit right above my knees. When I come down stairs, I find Roman standing near the big window in his family room, hands in his pocket, and he’s staring out into his backyard.

  God, could he be more beautiful.

  Roman turns to me with his radiant smile and a twinkle in his eyes. Beautiful and happy, just the way I want and like him to be. Roman is dressed in jeans, a black polo shirt, and a navy blue pea coat.

  “Ready?” He asks, stalking over to me.

  I grab him by his lapels and pull him to me. I stand onto my tip toes and give him a hot, wet kiss. Roman moans into my mouth, and I can’t help myself, I giggle.

  “If we continue this, we won’t make it to our destination,” he breaks away from our kiss.

  “Fine,” I pout, stepping away from him.

  Roman reaches over to the couch and grabs a big parka jacket. He hands the jacket to me.

  “You will need this.”

  “Um…it doesn’t really go with my outfit.” I gesture my hand up and down my body.

  “Trust me, you will forget about matching when you feel the coldness against your body.” Roman tucks his arm under the jacket and grabs my hand with his other arm.

  We walk hand in hand, out his front door.

  Roman pulls into the Saint Paul hotel drive way and instantly I notice the horse drawn carriage awaiting our arrival. I beam at Roman and he rewards me with his radiant smile that I have grown to love.

  “Let’s go,” Roman opens my door and reaches his hand out for me to take it.

  I take his hand and he pulls me out of the car, and then he crushes my body to his and kisses me fervently. I pull away first, afraid that I will turn into a puddle of my former solid self right at his feet, just from all of the desire running through my body.

  “If you continue to kiss me like that, I might just ask you to cancel everything and take me back to bed instead.” I breathe, our lips still close to each other, almost touching.

  Roman pulls at my bottom lip with his teeth and runs his tongue across it, sending tingles up and down my body. An all-consuming ache builds up between my legs and I wantonly start to rub myself against him. He lets out a low groan and releases my lip.

  “We have all day for that, but later.” He tells me, his voice husky.

  Roman steps away from me and opens the back door to retrieve the parka jacket. He closes the door and holds up the jacket in order for me to slip into it. I shake my head.

  “Please wear the jacket, it’s going to get extremely cold once we start moving and I don’t want you to get sick.” He gives me a sad puppy dog look, and I reluctantly slip the jacket on.

  He zips up the zipper until it can’t go up any further, right at my neck. I cough, struggling to breathe. I pull the zipper down some as Roman walks in front of me, pulling me along with him.

  When we get to the horse and carriage Roman helps me up, and then proceeds to get in after me. He drapes a blanket over us.

  “Can I unzip the jacket? I want to feel your arms around me,” I say, fluttering my lashes.

  He nods and unzips the zipper, slides his big strong arms in and wraps them around me, and I snuggle into him, resting my head on his chest.

  “Are you ready, Sir?” A man dressed all in white walks up to the carriage.

  “Yes, we are. Thank you.” Roman says to the man.

  Roman tightens his arms around me when the horses begin to move and start pulling the carriage along. “Are you doing okay?” Roman asks, nuzzling his chin to the top of my head.

  “Yes,” I breathe, kissing his chest.

  I have never been on a horse drawn carriage ride before, always hearing how romantic it is. Back in my old life, there was never any romance. The guys I
dated didn’t do romance. I usually didn’t let them. But, being here with Roman feels good, I want this. I want Roman to always be the sweet, loving, caring, and romantic guy he has been since I’ve met him.

  “Baby, are your eyes closed?” Roman asks a hint of amusement in his voice.

  “No, they’re open now,” I smile.

  “Good, I don’t want you to miss this.”

  I sit up a little straighter and notice that we are on a bridge. The sun is slowly coming up. The skies are a mix of purple, orange, and red, casting their reflection onto the river’s surface. My mouth hangs open. This is such a breathtaking sight. It is purely beautiful.

  “It’s so beautiful,” I whisper. “I want to see the sun rise every day, from this day on with you.”

  Roman smiles, his eyes crinkle at the corners making him just as beautiful as the sunrise.

  “You are amazing,” I tell him, reaching my hand over to his face. I brush the back of my fingers across his cheeks.

  Roman bends his head and captures my mouth with his. His tongue delves into my mouth teasing me. His kiss is rough and full of passion. This is the first time he has kissed me so passionately, and I love every minute of it.

  Our kiss turns hungry, and is full of want. Then Roman groans, pushes me down onto the seat, and his body presses on top of mine. He does this without even breaking our kiss. One of his hands snakes its way under my sweater, and is in a desperate need to find my breast. I moan into his mouth. Then Roman breaks the kiss. His hand has only made it to my ribcage.

  “We’ll continue this later,” Roman says breathlessly, his eyes are still hooded with lust.

  Roman sits back up and carries me up right also. I automatically cling back to his body with my arms around his waist. I let out little breaths to slowly calm my body down.

  “I don’t need a jacket ever, if you just keep kissing me that like every time we are outside.” I pant.

  “I will, baby. But, to keep my worries at bay, you’ll still be bundled up.”

  “Fine, as long as it goes with my outfit.”

  Roman chuckles and kisses the top of my head.

  The horses continue on into a park as the purple skies leave us and it starts to lightly snow. I hold out my hand to catch some snowflakes with my palm. My face is full of wonder and awe.

  “Baby, you like the snow?” Roman murmurs brushing the hair out of my face.

  “This is my first time ever seeing snow in person.” I say, my voice low. “I thought the sunrise was beautiful, but this is breathtaking. Thank you so much, Roman, for doing this.”

  “You’re welcome.” Roman kisses the top of my head.

  The carriage carries us out of the park and into what looks to be downtown Saint Paul.

  I am sitting up now, watching the snow quietly fall from the sky, totally mesmerized. I squeeze Roman’s arm when the snow starts to fall, heavily.

  “Can we stop to play in the snow?” I try not to sound too giddy.

  “No, baby, next time, I want to get you inside now.”

  “Okay,” I pout.

  “When you are dressed to play in the snow, and there’s a thick amount on the ground, we can do something fun for you at my house.”

  “Okay,” I kiss Roman on the cheek.

  The horse and carriage stops in front of the Saint Paul hotel. Roman climbs out and helps me down from the carriage. He leads us into the hotel and straight over to the elevator.

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “I booked us a room. You can catch up on your sleep, and I’ll order us room service.”

  I yawn at the word sleep and laugh. To let Roman know I have other things on my mind, I grab the lapels of his coat, and pull him to me.

  “I thought we are finishing what we started in the carriage?” I murmur.

  “Yes that too, honey.” Roman’s laugh is low and rough.

  The elevator stops us on our floor and Roman walks out with purpose, dragging me along with him.

  The moment we get into our room, he presses me to the door and unbuttons my jeans. Once my zipper is yanked down, Roman takes off my boots and shoves my jeans off my legs. I kick them to the side. Roman hitches one of my legs onto his shoulder and he hooks a finger into the middle of my panties to make room for his tongue to move around on my clit.

  “Oh my God,” I moan, holding on to Roman’s head, half pushing him closer to me.

  His tongue leaves my sensitive spot and moves down, doing little circles as he reaches my opening. Roman pulls his mouth away and kisses the top of both of my thighs. He returns his tongue to where I need him the most but he doesn’t slide in, his tongue laps onto my clit again. This time he sucks and pulls on my hard nub.

  “Oh yes,” I pant.

  Roman thrusts two fingers inside of me while he kisses and sucks all around my heat. He moves his fingers in and out of me and I lose control, panting, and arching my back.

  I scream out my orgasm and then I slip down onto the floor, pulling Roman on top of me. I wrap my legs around his waist.

  Our kiss is long, hard, and wet.

  “Time to take you to bed,” Roman breaks our kiss.

  “I’m not done kissing you,” I try to pull him back in.

  “We are continuing this in bed,” Roman’s voice is husky.

  Roman gets up and carries me to the bed. He sets me down by the edge of the bed and takes off the rest of my clothes. Roman lifts me up and tosses me onto the bed.

  “Hey,” I scream, laughing as I fall onto the bed.

  Roman takes off his pants and boxers first. As he shrugs off his jacket and starts to pull off his sweater, I reach to wrap my hands around his erection and slowly lick the tip.

  Roman’s movement speeds up and he places a palm on my cheek.

  “There’s time for that later,” he removes my hand and kisses my palm.

  I watch with lust in my eyes as Roman rolls on a condom. As he climbs onto the bed, I push him onto his back.

  “I’m on top this time,” I say, straddling him

  Roman’s eyes are hooded and filled with desire. He smiles up at me, gripping my hips and roughly moves himself into me. His head falls back and he groans.

  “God, you always feel so good.” He breathes. “Now, show me what you got, baby.”

  I start to rock my hips back and forth. I move a little faster as I hear Roman’s groans hike up another notch. He lifts his head and pushes my breast together with his hands. He laps his tongue back and forth between my nipples, and then sucks on each of them.

  “Roman, oh my, please don’t stop, don’t stop,” I moan out my climax.

  Roman hits his by thrusting into me and finishing inside of me. He pulls me down on top him and we lay with my chest pressed onto his body, Roman stroking my hair.

  “You did great, love,” Roman teases.

  I giggle and push off of him to lie on the bed. I prop myself up on my side, elbow bent, and I twirl little circles around his abs with my finger.

  “Baby, I need to get some work done. You should go back to sleep and I will come wake you up in about an hour to eat.” Roman climbs out of bed and pulls the duvet over me. “Sleep baby.”

  I do as I’m told and fall asleep a minute later.

  Loud angry male voices, wakes me from my slumber. My eyes fly open and my heart thumps loudly in my chest. What the heck is going on?

  I climb out of bed, grab a robe from the closet, and open the double doors leading into the living room of our hotel room. I stop dead in my tracks.

  Roman is sitting at the head of the table and four other men are sitting around him all talking at once. They were older maybe in their forties, dressed in suits as if they are here for a business meeting.

  Roman cuts his eyes to me, his expression stoic. “Did we wake you, baby.”

  I shake my head and turn to walk back into the room. I hear Roman telling the men that their meeting is over for now. I hear them refusing him. Roman lowers his voice and I can’t hear him an
ymore. But his tone tells a different story, a tone I don’t ever want him to use on me.

  I hear the men leave and the door shut. Roman walks into the bedroom as I am taking off my robe and climbing back to bed.

  “The food should be here in ten minutes. Did you sleep well?” He walks over to me and hovers next to the bed.

  “Yes, how long was I asleep?” I ask, looking up to him.

  “About four hours,” he murmurs.

  “Oh my God, it’s already the afternoon!” I bolt back up.

  Roman takes the cover and cover up my naked upper body. “Someone can come into the room and see you naked, love.” He scolds.

  “Don’t they knock first?” I ask, holding the sheet up.

  “No, I told them to come right in.” He says.

  “Can you close the door? I’m going to get dressed.”

  Roman leans over and sucks on my bottom lip before he fully kisses me. I don’t even get my arms wrapped around his neck before he pulls away and leaves me breathless. He leaves the room and closes the door behind him.

  I touch my fingers to my lips, wanting more of him. I should go out there and drag him back to bed with me.

  I shake my head and think better of it.

  After getting dressed, I meet Roman at the table and see it covered in breakfast. Roman is sitting at the head of the table again and drinking coffee. He has his phone to his ear.

  “We’ll discuss this later,” he hangs up and point to the seat next to him.

  “You still ordered breakfast.” I beam staring at the food.

  “Yes, baby, I promised breakfast.” He says, matter-of-factly.

  I sit next to him and pile my plate with fruits, ham, and French toast.

  “I have to leave for Italy in two days.” Roman tells me after taking another sip of his coffee.

  I stop chewing and glance over to him. My eyes are wide and I am in shock.

  “For how long?” I choke out.

  “Two weeks, a month. I’m not sure.” He says.

  Roman caresses my cheek with his knuckles and I lean into his hand, his touch soothing away my worries.