Prelude to a Seduction
Page 14
“I’d like to extend my guest’s stay for two days longer, please.”
“Let’s see, that would be Ms. Sarona Maxwell, correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Will you be using the same method of payment?”
“Yes, please use the credit card you have on file.”
“Will you need the other room extended for an additional period as well?” the clerk asked.
He knew the exact moment it hit Sarona. He saw realization dawn on her face, in her eyes. “I’m not sure yet,” he said, eyeing Sarona warily, wondering what was going through her head. “I’ll have to get back to you.”
“All right, sir. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay with us.”
• • •
Sarona had watched and listened, curious at the exchange she’d heard over the phone. “Suite La Amour” … “Extend my guest’s stay” … “Use the credit card on file” … .
She stared at him, her eyes widening with sudden understanding. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach and the breath caught in her throat, unable to escape past the lump suddenly lodged there. Oh, my God! He set me up! The lying, low-life bastard son of a bitch set me up! Her inner voice screamed the accusation in her head but she was too shocked to utter a sound.
Sarona stood and looked at him, her face and body flushed with anger and her eyes filled with fury. She was incensed and utterly speechless. Unable to articulate her anger in words, she snatched up her beautiful Japanese robe from the bed, twirled it into a ball, and threw it directly in David’s face, then turned and stalked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
• • •
David leaned back and slowly and repeatedly beat his head against the headboard, his eyes closed and his heart racing. He’d gone with his gut. Even though he’d known she wouldn’t understand, she had to know. Things had gone too far. He could no longer allow lies and misunderstandings between them. Now that the lie was out, it was time to deal with the consequences. David got out of bed and crossed the room and stood in front of the bathroom door. Reaching out to turn the knob he found the door was locked.
“Sarona let me in.”
“No!”
“We need to talk. Let me explain.”
“You need to leave, right now!”
“No. I can’t do that. Not until I tell you what this is about. Not until you listen to what I have to say.”
“You know what, David? I think I’m done listening to you. You need to go now.”
“Look, Sarona, I can be just as stubborn as you, and I’m not going anywhere until we talk, until you hear what I have to say.”
“Fine, then don’t leave,” she yelled through the door. “After all, it is your suite, you paid for it. I’ll go, and leave you to it!”
“All right, I’m leaving, but this isn’t over, not by a long shot!” he yelled back through the door.
“Oh, it’s over, all right, it’s over and done!”
• • •
She listened to the sound of David getting dressed and gathering his things. A few minutes later, she heard the door to the suite open and slam shut.
“Good riddance,” she yelled at the sound of the slamming door.
With her back against the door, her eyes closed, and her fists clenched, Sarona raged and vented in silence, so many thoughts and self-recriminations running through her head. How could she have let this happen? After everything she knew, everything she’d seen how could she have let herself fall for such a … rogue?
Fighting to get her anger under control, she reached within herself for an elusive, Zen-like calm, trying to find a center for her emotions and seek an escape from her feelings of humiliation and betrayal. Still fuming, she looked up to see her reflection in the mirror and was stunned by the image she saw there. It was clearly the perfect portrait of a woman who’d been made love to … thoroughly. She actually looked tousled, sexy and seductive.
She smiled unexpectedly, shocked at her own assessment, for she’d never thought of herself in quite that way before. She reached up to touch her still slightly swollen lips, tingling from the memory of his long, mind-drugging kisses. She stared at the undeniable glow of her complexion and the slight, telltale bruising here and there, evidence of their aggressive passion from two days of making love.
Her body shuddered involuntarily, her nipples pebbled, and her center became moist as she remembered in vivid detail his kiss, his touch, his penetration … his possession. The memory was so fresh, so powerful, she had to lean forward and place both hands on the bathroom counter to steady her swaying body.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, she grudgingly admitted to herself that David hadn’t done anything that probably wasn’t typical David. She’d known from the start he was a predator, constantly on the hunt for prey. He’d selected a target, set out with a plan, and executed it to perfection. He had wined and dined and romanced her out of her reservations … and her underwear.
That’s what you get for not bothering to check out the rules before agreeing to play the game, Sarona laughingly thought to herself. That’s what happens when amateurs try to take on the pros … they get their ass spanked!
“Bravo, Monsieur Broussard. Game, set, and match,” she said out loud to her reflection in the mirror.
Opening the bathroom door, she was faced with the blatant reminder of those two days of mind-blowing sex. The rumpled sheets and linens of the unmade bed and the unmistakable fragrance of her perfume and his natural scent still lingered in the air. Wanting to avoid any further vivid imagery of the past twenty-four hours, she hurried into the living room to escape her memories, only to pull up short at the sight of David lying sprawled on the sofa. He was half dressed in slacks that hung loosely about his hips, and his shirt was unbuttoned and open, exposing his bare torso.
God! I was in bed with that? The man looked like a male super model, she thought, going weak at the knees at the sight of him.
“I thought you left,” she said, her anger refueled by her body’s response.
“I changed my mind. I told you, I’m not going anywhere until we talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” Sarona hissed, resentment still simmering just below the surface.
“It’s okay, Sarona, the beauty of this is you don’t have to say a thing. All you have to do is listen,” David hissed back at her. Sarona, taken aback by his heated retort continued to stand where she was, her arms folded across her chest in obstinate defiance.
“Since it’s late, I thought you might be hungry,” David said as he sat up, his voice weary with despair, “so I took the liberty of ordering room service.”
“Of course you did,” she snapped sarcastically. “You’re accustomed to taking liberties, aren’t you?”
• • •
“As I said, I thought you might be hungry,” David said evenly through clenched teeth. He’d waited for Sarona to emerge from the bathroom, hoping he could try and clear up the mess he’d made, that he could convince her to listen and allow him to explain. He knew she was upset — hell, upset was an understatement. If the look on her face and the sound of her voice were any indication, he’d say she was downright furious.
He didn’t know what his chances were of getting her to hear him out but he was determined to try. He’d worked too hard, planned too long to get here, and though it was his methods that were in question, he’d do it all over again if it would guarantee the same outcome of holding Sarona in his arms.
Though it had been only five days, he’d experienced a lifetime in that short time. She’d made him come alive, opened up a world of emotion and feeling he’d had no idea existed. These few days together had given him a taste of what life could be beyond the self-absorbed selfishness of superficial sex, and he’d be damned if he’d go back to that one-dimensional existence, back to being in a world that didn’t include her. He had to convince her this wasn’t the work of a playboy trying to get another notch on his bed
post. He had to make her see that there was something in him — in them — worth taking a chance on.
“Look Sarona, I know you’re upset and hurt — ”
“Hurt? Oh, please, don’t flatter yourself. I’m not hurt, I’m pissed! I’m angry that I let myself be duped by the resident playboy!”
“Is that what you think this is about?” David bellowed. “Do you think this was some kind of trophy fuck? That all the time we’ve spent together was simply to add you to some non-existent list of conquests for David the Conqueror?”
“Yes! That’s exactly what I think this is about!” Sarona heatedly replied. “If, as you said, I’m so damn hot, why else would you be here? I’m sure that laying claim to bagging such a hot babe has nothing to do with pumping up your already over inflated reputation. Aren’t I the lucky one that you beat Bruce Carter to it? You may have more finesse, but at least he was honest and up front about his intentions. He made sure I knew from the start that it was straight up nothing but opportunity sex. I suppose I should have given Shelia more credit. It seems she knew what she was spouting after all about the Broussard Method. I guess I should be grateful you decided to end your charade; I could have left here with a false impression, thinking this really meant something,” she said, flipping her hand out in a gesture to include the suite.
“I didn’t do this for me,” he said in frustration, spreading his arms wide to indicate the suite. “I did this for you. I wanted this for you. And yes, if I were lucky enough to convince you to be with me, I wanted it for us! I wanted to make our time together a fantasy, a dream come true … my dream come true. And if I never had more than this, I wanted to make this enough for the both of us. I know you feel used and lied to, and that’s my fault, what my deception makes me guilty of, but it wasn’t the intent. It was never the intent.”
“I’m sorry, David, but I’m having a hard time grasping any other concept, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to tell me. What was your intent?” Anger was still evident in her voice.
In a quiet and torn voice, David said, “Remember last night when you asked that I let our time together not be a game? That I let the moment be for you? It wasn’t a game, Sarona. It was never a game. It was a mission! I’ve been on a mission for six months to make you mine, not for a game, not for a conquest, not for bragging rights — simply because I wanted you for me. This wasn’t part of some method. I’ve never done anything like this before for anyone. I’ve never met anyone I wanted to do these things for. You made me want to pamper and spoil you, just so I could see the look in your eyes. If you like,” he said tiredly. “I can give you the names of every woman I’ve been with, and you can conduct your own investigation.
“If I was able to pull it off, I wanted my time with you to be special, because you’re special,” he said, his voice now barely above a whisper. “If you never believe another thing I tell you, Sarona, please believe me when I say I have never been with a woman like you before. God, when I make love with you every time is like the first time all over again, and I can’t get enough. You’re like a damned drug, and I’m an addict begging for my next fix. I want to pull you around me and bury myself inside you every time I look at you, every time I’m near you, every chance I get. I’ve never experienced a connection like the one between you and me. I’ve never been with a woman who didn’t have an ulterior motive, who wasn’t using me like I’ve been accused of using them and am now being accused of using you.”
• • •
Sarona grew quiet and calm. She listened to David’s confession, but more importantly, she listened to how he put his heart into his words. She had set aside her feelings of indignation for the moment and slowly let go of her determination to hold on to her stubborn anger. She moved to sit beside him on the sofa, drawn by the pain and pleading evident in his eyes and voice. She sensed that he was desperate for her to believe him, and God help her, she wanted to.
“Why did you reveal this elaborate deception, David? Why didn’t you just let me believe I had gotten this suite through a stroke of luck?”
“Because I wanted us to have more time together, and I didn’t want that time to be spent under a shadow of lies and false pretenses.”
“But it started that way — what difference would it make to end it that way?”
“The difference is, I had to do some deceitful and underhanded dealings to get you here, but I didn’t want to resort to the same thing to keep you here. I want you to spend this time with me because you want to be here, and you needed the truth to make that decision for yourself.”
Sarona looked into his eyes, searching for the truth, seeking the man beyond the reputation and the rumors. She’d seen him; she knew he was there because she’d touched his mind and brushed up against his soul, just as he’d touched her. She refused to believe he was anything less than what she believed. She wouldn’t accept that she could be deceived and be so wrong about a man like David, the man he had allowed her to see, had stepped outside himself to share with her.
And just like that, she made her decision. Because she could no longer bear to witness his obvious suffering and uncertainty, she gave herself over to the feeling of forgiveness and handed him absolution. She reached up to brush an errant curl from his eyes, letting her hand slide down to cup his cheek. Bringing his face closer to her own, she stared deeply into his beautiful, whiskey-brown eyes and whispered with a sigh of resignation, “So, now what are we supposed to do? Kiss and make up?”
“It works for me,” he said, his lips hovering close to hers. He closed the gap and kissed her lightly, hesitantly. She moved forward and deepened the kiss, and drawing him fully into her embrace, assuring him that he was forgiven.
David reluctantly ended the kiss, and holding her closely he buried his face in her hair. “I know I have a lot of strikes against me, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes. And, with my tarnished and imperfect reputation, it’s going to take a lot to convince you I’m worth believing in, but I promise you this truth, Sarona, you’re more woman than I’ve ever had,” he whispered in her ear as he held her close and hugged her tightly, “and you’re all the woman I’ll ever need.”
“Remember that the next time you piss me off,” she whispered back, chuckling softly in his ear, with the tiniest hint of unshed tears in her voice. She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled in close and settled into what had now become her favorite position — her head tucked beneath his chin and her body locked within the warmth and strength of his embrace.
Sarona disengaged herself from David’s arms and rose from the sofa. Taking his hand, she pulled him with her. “How much time do we have before room service arrives?” she asked with a naughty glint in her eyes.
“Since I didn’t know how long it would take you to come out of the bathroom, I only put in an order from the menu. I told them to wait until I called back before delivering it. They’re waiting for my call.”
“Good,” Sarona said. “That gives us plenty of time.”
“Plenty of time for what?” David asked with a cautiously hopeful gleam in his eyes.
“Plenty of time to practice my waving,” Sarona said with a decidedly devious laugh.
“Waving?” David said, his eyebrows knitted together, obviously not understanding her cryptic response and sudden impish behavior. She pulled him behind her as she led the way to the bedroom.
“Yes,” Sarona said, momentarily distracted while picking through the fruit on the serving cart. She raised her hand in triumph as she picked up an apple and waved it under his nose. She then guided him to the bed and stripped him of his shirt and pants and removed her robe. Indicating he should lie down, Sarona straddled his naked body and, eyes sparkling with mischievous mirth, she said, “Now lie back and relax while I tell you a story about Adam and Eve … and an apple.”
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by Peggy Bird
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Lotchie Burton, Prelude to a Seduction