I’m almost fully dressed when a husky, bemused voice calls me out from the darkness. “Sneaking away from me after the night I gave you, huh?” A sleepy groan. “Well, as I said, I’m not done with you yet. I may have wired you the money, but I’ve got a few more things I want from you, Mariah.”
The way he’s talking, it’s almost like he can see how hard I’m blushing, even in a room that’s pitch black.
“Oh, no,” I say, not intending for my dressing to come across as secretive. As though I was planning to just leave him in a lurch. “I’m not trying to deceive you or get out of giving you more time with me.” Even though my pussy is still hot and tender from the action last night, I’m looking forward to more. “I just didn’t want to wake you, Paul.”
“Sweet of you,” he says, grunting. Stretching. “But not necessary.” He shifts in the sheets. Sexy is all I hear. “I’m sure you’re anxious to reconnect with your friend.”
I giggle softly, unable to believe he can read me so well, even without being able to see me. I was wanting to head to the room on the first floor that I share with Jane, to fill her in on the details and hear how her own night went, before sneaking back in to be with Paul some more.
“I’m sure you’re anxious to tell her all about how I ravaged and dominated you,” he says, making sleepiness the sexiest thing in his mouth, “and I’m all for it. But I want to see you again. Soon.” He grabs out for me, and kisses me. Those eyes of his — they must really belong to a predator. “If you’re up for it, I’d like to see you in the hot tub in a few hours.” I let him run his fingers up my belly, and grab my boobs. He growls, as if just touching me is a tasty meal. “What do you say?”
I want to say “yes.” I want to say, “I’m yours to command,” but I’ve started to remember that I don’t want to get attached to him. That I can’t allow myself to make any more out of this than a one-night stand. A financial transaction
So, I say, “I’ll have to see how things are with Jane, and whether she is okay with me leaving her alone today.”
Thankfully, for as dominating as Paul is in the bedroom, he isn’t combative out of it. “I understand. I’d love to see you, of course,” he says, “but it’s up to you. You know where I’ll be if you change your mind.” He drops his hands away from my body, giving me permission to leave.
I do, making quick work of the space between the bed and the door, which I can just make out by the sliver of light crawling in from under the door jamb.
“I will,” I say, careful not to drown him in hallway light. “I really will think about it.”
My mind harkens back to Jane’s lecture about putting up a chase. I wonder if it applies after I’ve already slept with him. I assume that it might be even more important then, so that he wants to come back for me. I nod, proud of myself for going against my every instinct, which is to stay in bed with him all day and let him fuck me over and over. With that, I close the door behind me and head back to my room.
On the way to the elevator, I pull my phone out from my pants pocket where it’s been the whole night. Out of curiosity, I check my bank balances.
Indeed, just like Paul said he did, I have more money in my account than I’ve ever seen in my life. Close to a million dollars. It’s a little less than the actual bid, but that’s due to commissions or cuts, I’m sure.
Not that the money was the most valuable thing about any of what happened last night.
Sex with Paul was…is…amazing.
But you can’t get attached to him. He just won you in a bet last night. He didn’t propose to marry you. These thoughts chase me into the elevator, and torment me during the short ride to our floor.
On the way to the room I share with Jane, I give myself some tough love. Don’t make more out of it than there is, Mariah. You have one more day and night here; make the best of it, but don’t treat it like it’s going to change your love life forever.
Jane is already at our hotel room door, holding it open to meet me, dressed in nothing more than a sheer baby doll lingerie dress, before I can even remember what room we’re in, or get out the key card. “There you are,” she whispers. “I thought I heard someone coming down the hall. I’ve been waiting.”
She pulls me into the room and quickly shuts the door. “Okay.” Her eyes flirt with mine for a moment, searching for juicy details. “Tell me everything, Mariah. And I mean everything.” Those words are decadent like wedding cake. “Don’t skimp!”
I don’t do anything more than open my mouth, before Jane changes her mind and drags me with her over to the comfy couches and chairs in our suite. “Wait, wait! Before you start, sit down right there! Get comfortable, lady, ‘cuz I want every minute. Every second after you left with Paul.”
Quickly, Jane gets herself settled in her seat and curls her legs up under her like she’s about to get the best story of her entire life. And maybe she is, considering how obsessed she’s been with my virginity. Maybe there really is some truth to my theory that she still has hers, too. I’ll have to remember to ask her about her night. But it’s clear that for now she wants to hear all about mine.
“Okay. Now spill,” she orders, sounding and looking a little like the MC from last night. “I’m all ears!”
I take a deep breath, deciding right then and there that she is not going to get all the details. Just some, enough to wet her appetite and her lips, maybe, but not the whole thing. That’s for me to cherish.
***
I’ve just finished retelling my night with Paul. A slightly-watered-down version, as I don’t want her to know how thoroughly I lost it, but still descriptive enough to have her fidgeting. Looking as satisfied as I felt last night after everything was finished.
“So,” I say, watching as Jane goes to grab the Christmas presents we had gotten for each other, “I had a great time with him. It was everything I expected. More,” I add, correcting myself. “And I just feel like I can’t thank you enough for inviting me up here with you. For encouraging me to take a chance on something different.” I look down smiling, just as Jane returns to her seat. “Without you, I wouldn’t have had any of this. I wouldn’t have known what I was missing!”
“Pleasure’s mine, babe,” replies Jane lightly. She doesn’t like touchy-feely. “It was about time you got laid.”
She laughs, opening her present from me. It’s a small makeup kit/carrier combo. We share an Amazon Prime account and I had noticed she had been browsing for a certain pattern that wasn’t in stock. It was red with turquoise birds on it. I’d found the pattern she wanted available at Kohl’s after searching a lot of different stores.
Her eyes light up when she sees what I got her.
“Oh, Mariah!” The Christmas paper falls away from my gift to her like festive confetti. “This is beautiful! Exactly what I was looking for! How did you know?” She hops up to give me a quick hug and then she nods her head, as if things are clicking. “Our joint account. I knew that would come in handy, aside from just being cheaper. Well, thank you!”
“You’re welcome.” I open my gift from Jane, which is a bit larger than what she usually gets me. More rectangular as well. From the moment I rip off the wrapping paper (shiny platinum, with ruby red ribbon), I know it’s a piece of clothing. I can tell by the box. And Jane’s always trying to get me to dress in more revealing clothes. Opening the lid on the box confirms my suspicions: it’s a baby doll nightgown like hers. Except mine’s bubblegum pink and purple, whereas hers is her signature red and turquoise.
“Oh, thank you, Jane.” I pull it out of the box to get a better look. Lace and silk for days. “How was your night?”
“Fantastic. Paul’s brother Alex ended up buying me for the night,” says Jane, grinning from ear to ear. “I made a similar offer to yours.” A mischievous, dirty-secret smile. “It was super interesting. I didn’t peg him for it, but Paul’s brother, while he may look like a puppy dog, is quite adventurous. Kinky.” She crosses her legs, showing a bit of skin. “Got to
experience some fetishes that I’ve been curious about.”
She doesn’t go into any more detail. Maybe so she can keep it to herself. Maybe so she can share it with me later. Either way, she leaves it at that.
I decide not to press the issue. For someone who has always been interested in my sex life, she sure is private about hers. I usually respect her obvious desire for privacy, and I decide to do that again for now, although I have a feeling I’ll have some questions on our ride home. But what she just said has made me think about Paul again. His offer to meet up with him again at the hot tub.
Jane sees my anxiety immediately. “Hey, hey,” she says, “What’s the matter, Mariah?”
I sigh. “Well, I don’t know what to do.” I throw the wrapping paper off me, and set my lingerie down. Jane’s eyes press me for more details, and I give them to her. “This morning Paul invited me to meet up with him at the hot tub later” — Jane interrupts with “That’s great,” but I cut her off — “Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know if I should go. I might get more attached to him than I already am, and I don’t think I can afford that.”
Jane waves me away like him talking complete nonsense. “Hold it right there, Mariah!” She uncrosses her legs, placing her feet firmly on the carpet. “You can so afford it!”
I bow my head, knowing he paid a literal fortune for me. “And anyway, it sounds like he’s the one getting attached to you, Mariah! A guy doesn’t pay that much to sleep with you and then ask you to join him again the next day unless he likes you. Unless there’s more in it for him than just more pussy.” Jane leaves her seat, and squeezes herself next to me in mine. “Come on. Stop worrying about yourself, and give the guy a chance, Mariah. You’ve taken risks up to this point, so what’s one more trip to a hot tub? Another night with him, even? Good job on making him interested in seeing you again, by the way. On giving him the chase.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I did remember how you talked about that. I decided to take the lessons to heart. Thanks.”
“Anything for you, Dahling,” Jane drools.
Her words simultaneously put my head on straight, and fill me with warmth. Hope. Excitement at the possibility of seeing Paul again. “You’re right,” I say. “I should visit him at the hot tub. It’s the least I can do.” I smile, imagining giving him a hand job under the bubbles. “Besides, I had so much fun with him, I want to have a little more before we leave!”
Jane hugs me. “Atta girl!” She kisses my cheek playfully. “There’s the Mariah I know and love!”
“But first.” I get up from my seat, kicking the wrapping paper and box out of the way. “I want a bit more hang time on the slopes!” I pause, feeling my tummy rumble. “And some hot cocoa. Maybe food, too.”
We laugh, and Jane says, “I’m happy to do whatever you want. As long as you don’t leave Paul hanging.”
“I would never,” I insist.
“Good, because I might want to see Alex again too.”
“Oooh, Jane,” I coo. “I knew there had to be something in it for you.”
“Maybe,” she blushes, and I try hard not to look as surprised as I feel. It looks as if my friend may be falling in love. At the same time that I am.
Chapter 15 – Paul
Alex and Jordan have been chasing me on their skis for the last hour and a half. They were on me from the moment I stepped out of the lodge. And now they’ve finally succeeded in cornering me.
“That’s our money that went into your good night, yo,” says Jordan, cutting off my escape route into the woods. He knows if he lets me skate past him, he is not going to be able to get close to me ever again. “You’re, like, obligated to tell us how it went. What happened.”
I ski right past his weak attempt at blocking me. “I don’t remember that being part of the deal,” I answer, aware of my brother hovering back and to the other side of Jordan. “You wanted me to forget about Darla, and I forgot about her.” I zip down a bit of an incline, purposely spraying some snow in Jordan’s face. “Mission accomplished.”
Jordan shakes off the snow, and flips me the bird. I return fire lazily, which pisses him off more. He skates down toward me. “That wasn’t a five-dollar fuck, yo. We deserve some details.” He pauses, looking frustrated at more than just the snow that’s melting into his jacket. Into his uncovered spots. “I mean, at least give me something, man!”
Alex coasts up to me, whispering, “He didn’t get any girl to take his bid, so his bed was empty.”
A snowball collides with the side of my brother’s head almost instantaneously. “Hey! You said you wouldn’t tell him that!”
“Seriously, though,” says my brother, talking over Jordan and his temper tantrum. “He’d like to hear something about what it was like with her, brother.” He pats me on my snow-dusted shoulder. “At least so he knows our money went to a good cause. And so, we won’t have to listen to him whine and cry anymore.”
I sigh, throwing my hands up in defeat. “Fine. It was great.” Just thinking about Mariah — her silky, pliable body — makes me grin like an idiot. “Well worth the money. Every dollar of it.” I shrug, deciding to leave my brother behind in the powder. “Happy?”
“Yeah,” says Alex, bringing up the rear. “I guess I understand you not wanting to go into too many details.” Behind me, I hear his ski poles poking gentle holes in the snow. “I bought her friend. You know, Jane?”
I swivel around to face him. “Yeah?”
Alex blushes deeper than a summer sunset. “Well, she was worth it, too,” he mumbles. “When she said that she was open to anything, she meant it…”
If my brother says anything more after that, I have no idea.
My attention has just been inextricably drawn to the skiing area down below. To the field the snow closer to the lodge. Mariah is down there, ordering herself a cup of hot cocoa. Jane’s with her, holding her own hot drink. “I’m going to go talk to her,” I say suddenly, not caring if Alex is still going on about his own night.
Jordan rushes up toward us. “Who?”
“Mariah.” Without wasting another second, I dig my ski poles into the side of the hill, and launch myself down a barely-visible path toward her.
“You’ve got it bad, yo,” shouts Jordan, coming to stand right where I just was.
Alex calls down after me, “You really like her, don’t you?”
“I’m not getting serious about her,” I shout back, not bothering to stop my skis. “I just like hanging out is all!”
“Suuure, whatever you say, dude!” I crouch on my skis, gaining more speed and distance. That’s right, Paul. Keep your fucking head on right. As I tear down the slope toward Mariah, I try to steel myself from her sugar-plum personality. You’re not serious about any woman, virgin or not, remember? I grunt, forcing my skis to go faster. You don’t do relationships, remember?
I do remember, but that was before Mariah. It might not be that easy anymore.
***
Mariah’s face lights up the minute she sees me. A smile bigger than the sun beams across her lips, warming and brightening her entire body.
“Paul!” She giggles, as if I’m her most favorite playmate in the whole world. Even more fun than her girlfriend, who is just a few feet away. “Oh my gosh! It’s so good to see you!”
Just like when I first met her, Mariah’s in her ski gear. Snow pants, snow jacket, goggles and knit cap. She’s so damn cute even when dressed in winter clothes.
“I was just going to go do some skiing!” She wiggles her skis at me. “I was going to try some of the most difficult, black double diamond slopes. Since I’m feeling so adventurous these days.” She pauses, drinking from my eyes like it’s a bigger, sweeter cup of hot chocolate than the one she’s already holding. “What about you?”
“Same.” I try to sound nonchalant. Like I wasn’t rushing down here to see her. “Just doing something so that when I warm up in the hot tub it’ll be extra nice.”
Mariah hits me with a smoldering grin. “�
��Extra nice,’ huh?” She brings up her cup of cocoa and finishes it. “Before or after you get me and you in front of one of the underwater jets?”
“Well, kitten” — I snatch her empty cup of cocoa with playful, mocked irritation — “That all depends on you.” I shake the empty cup at her, watching out of the corner of my eye as Alex and Jane meet up not far away, and engage in their own conversation. “More hot cocoa?” I ask hotly.
She refuses wordlessly, biting her lip.
“You know,” I whisper, discarding the still warm Styrofoam cup, “I’ve tried those jets, Mariah.” I brush my finger down her chin and over her lips. “They’ll loosen you up. Even in your tightest, smallest places.”
Mariah hums as if she’s already in front of such a waterjet, testing its patterns on her bare skin.
“Oh, yeah,” I say, egging her imagination. “You’ll be wide open in no time.”
Just as I’m about to kiss Mariah on her plump and shiny lips, I see Darla, the Barbie from hell, making her way toward us. She’s got skis on, but it’s clear from her scowl and the way she skewers Mariah with it that she’s jealous. She looks at me, torn between being flustered and angry. Possessive and uninterested.
Tellingly, her boy toy isn’t with her. She must’ve left him up in the room like a caged canary, like she tried to do with me. But I’m not a canary; I’m a fucking lion, and she found that out the hard way.
I watch her, preparing to slink away if she so much as opens her mouth.
Mariah, thank God, seems not to have noticed Darla. She’s too busy playing with my hair. Particularly the longer bits by my ears. Also with my tattoos. The little bit of one that she can make out on my wrist.
As I fear, the moment Darla comes close enough to us, she reaches out to me. I scoot away. “Paul,” she begins, “I’d like to —”
Without waiting for her snake tongue to wrap around me even more, feed me more poison and more lies, I grab Mariah and head away with her.
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