by C. J. Thomas
My cock got a little hard just imagining it.
When she started to dance, it was all I could do to keep from going to her. I wanted to take her waist in my hands and grind myself against her until she begged for more.
When I saw another man—if he could be called that—approach her instead, my mood darkened. This was her first test. Was she smart enough to deflect him?
She was.
I almost laughed out loud when I saw the way she turned from him like he was nothing. Which he was. She barely acknowledged him, but she wasn’t bitchy about it. She was in control of herself.
I liked that kind of woman.
It was always more fun being with a woman like that than one who was quick to give a man everything she thought he wanted. It seemed like fun at first, but falling into it was a juvenile mistake.
One I intended never to make again.
I noticed a friend of hers at the bar, maybe halfway down its length. She was talking with a man. I signaled the bartender. “Ask that girl what her dark-haired friend likes to drink and I’ll buy the next one.”
He nodded, and I waited with a smile as he approached her. She looked at me, in the direction the bartender pointed. She pointed at the girl in question, still dancing. I nodded. She shrugged. We had an entire conversation without using a single word.
I knew she was sizing me up, too. Was I good enough to buy a drink for her friend? I must have passed the test, since she asked for something and the bartender started to mix. A vodka tonic. I liked this girl more all the time. A skinny margarita or cosmopolitan? I might have left.
I waited while the little blonde waved the brunette over. She moved gracefully, fluidly. I wondered if she would be that graceful in bed—there was no doubt in my mind where we’d end up at the end of the night.
I got what I wanted, and I wanted her.
Her eyes found mine, and it felt like a spark jumped from me to her, even all the way across the room. I saw the wheels turning in her head. Should she approach me? Should she merely nod and raise her glass appreciatively? Would I then take the hint and approach her, instead?
What she did next was a pleasant surprise. She joined me. After a little banter, she only cemented my determination to have her. She was a challenge, and I’d been craving a challenge for so long.
Another plus was the way she didn’t ask what I did for a living within the first few minutes of conversation. So many women only wanted to know how much money a man made. I made more than my share—much more—but it was so boring when a woman made it obvious what she was truly after.
I understood when Kenzie wanted to go back to her friends. I respected it, even. She had her priorities in line. Everything about her made me like her even more, and I didn’t know the girl.
I would never really know the girl, of course, no matter how nice she was.
I’d made that mistake, too—getting too close to a woman. Dangerously close. Ever since my near-miss with marriage, I’d stayed far away from anything resembling commitment.
I smiled at my past naïveté when I remembered thinking I was happy in those days. I was much happier on my own, making my decisions, living life on my terms.
If a beautiful woman happened to occasionally warm my bed, all the better. But she was never there in the morning, and she never came back. My two hard-and-fast rules.
This one seemed like she knew the score. She was playful, a little flirty, casting looks in my direction every so often. I knew she was telling her friends about me, and I smiled to myself when they craned their necks to get a better look. I was half-tempted to go to the table and introduce myself since they were all so interested in me.
I didn’t want to embarrass Kenzie, though, nor did I want to attract attention. I usually had enough attention no matter where I went.
As if on cue, an over-siliconed woman in a tight black dress sidled up beside me. “Excuse me, I know you must get this all the time, but don’t I know you from somewhere?”
“I don’t think so,” I murmured, turning my attention to my drink.
“No, I know I do. Darn it, where have I seen you? It’s gonna drive me crazy. I have to ask my friends . . .”
“No, please, don’t do that.” I flashed her what I hoped was a charming smile, when what I really wanted to do was strangle her. “I’m just trying to enjoy a peaceful evening. You understand, right?”
“So I do know you from somewhere! I knew I had to be right!” She practically crowed, her blue eyes wide under a row of false eyelashes. I wondered how many men fell for that trick and found it attractive.
“Okay, you’ve caught me. But please, I beg you, let me enjoy a night in peace. I would be so, so appreciative.” I gave her another smile, this time letting a bit of promise leak into my voice. It was a promise I had no intention of fulfilling, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Oh, sure. Your secret’s safe with me.” She ran a hand up my arm, caressing me through my suit jacket. “I hope the two of us can meet up later and talk more about you.”
“It would be a pleasure.”
Talk more about me? It was difficult not to laugh in her face.
I knew exactly who she thought I was—I got it all the time. What she didn’t know was that she could very well recognize me from somewhere else. I’d just done an article for Time, though I doubted she read the magazine. I’d appeared on MSBNC, but again, I didn’t think that was her cup of tea. My photo could be seen in major department stores and boutiques throughout the world, promoting my newest line of clothing. That could have been it. Still, she thought I was some movie star, because that was where her brain immediately went. I was fine with letting her think that.
I turned my attention back to Kenzie, who stared my way. I was surprised I hadn’t already felt the change in temperature before I saw her, since the iciness coming from her seemed to radiate outward.
I shrugged, grinning. She didn’t look too impressed.
“Bartender?” I signaled for service. “Another Scotch, please, and a vodka tonic.”
This time, I took the drink to her. She was alone in the VIP section, her friends dancing again.
“They deserted you, eh?” I winked, sliding the drink her way. She folded her arms, still staring.
“I was beginning to think you had, as well.” Her voice was rich, throaty, the sort of voice a man wanted to drown in. Everything about her was captivating. Even her attitude, which at that moment shouldn’t have made me smile, but did.
“Me? You’re the one who went to spend time with your friends. I told you I wouldn’t forget about you.”
“Yes, but it certainly looked like you did.” She’d crossed her legs and swung one back and forth.
I wondered then, as I usually did, whether women understood how awfully distracting that was. They didn’t look at their bodies the way men did.
Almost anything could be sexy when done by the right woman. When her long, lean leg swung back and forth just outside my line of vision, it took all the strength in me to keep from following it with my eyes.
“Just like your would-be boyfriend on the dance floor,” I explained, sitting across from her. “You knew he was wrong from the start. So did I. Men can do that, too, you know.”
“What?”
“Fend off unwanted advances.” I grinned, coaxing a grin from her.
“I didn’t know men considered any advance unwanted,” she joked.
“Oh, you’d be surprised. Sometimes it’s flattering, but other times?” I rolled my eyes. “No, I have my eyes set on just one woman tonight. I knew it from the moment I saw her.”
Kenzie blushed.
I leaned toward her. “Any chance we could get out of here and talk at a normal volume, like regular people?”
She laughed. “Yes. I want to be sure my friend is safe first, though.” She was unreal. I didn’t know they made them like her anymore. Beautiful, with a good heart.
I waited patiently while she tracked her friends dow
n. They managed to keep from looking at me that time, and all three of them nodded before Kenzie returned to me. “You know, the one who just had the breakup. I wanted to be sure she gets home okay.”
“I could have my car drop her off,” I offered. “It wouldn’t be any trouble.”
“She wants to stay a while longer. Another friend will take care of her. Besides,” she slipped her hand into mine, “I sort of want you all to myself.”
My cock stirred. Yes, I’d chosen the right woman for the evening. No doubt about it. Now it was time to make her mine.
CHAPTER 3
Kenzie
I got the impression my new friend was used to having things his way. He had a no-nonsense attitude about him, a sort of quiet assurance that he would get his way in the end.
I couldn’t put my finger on how I read him so easily, but whatever it was, I responded eagerly to it.
I liked the way he guided me to his car, telling the driver to take us to his place—he didn’t ask my opinion, taking it for granted that I’d want to go home with him. If he were any other man, I might have slapped him across the face for assuming anything like that. But he was different.
What if I wanted to go out for a cup of coffee, or back to my place? He got away with it. I wasn’t sure how.
Instead of slapping him, I settled back into the seat with his arm around my shoulders. “This is a beautiful car,” I whispered, running my hands over the supple leather seat. “Very comfortable. I’m used to taking cabs around the city. They’re not quite so nice.”
He chuckled. “An understatement.”
I wondered who he was, exactly, and what he did for a living that he had a car and driver. When he’d mentioned it in the club in the context of making sure Emery got home all right, I had convinced myself I’d misheard him.
When he led me to the car, though, and the chauffeur opened the door, I could hardly believe my eyes.
Had I stumbled on a jackpot?
No, of course I hadn’t, no matter what he did for a living. This was a one-night deal, that was it. I was sure of it. If he was filthy rich, it would make for an interesting story in the future. A story I’d be happy to tell. At least to my closest girlfriends.
The night I got to see how the other half lives.
I wasn’t the type of girl who typically rode around in chauffeured cars. I’d only recently stopped taking the bus and subway and started taking cabs to and from work after deciding I had enough money saved up in the bank to get me through any number of rainy days. That had seemed like a splurge.
But this?
This was something else.
And Aaron was dressed so nicely, too. Impeccably, in fact. I’d noticed it earlier, but outside the dim lighting of the club it was even more evident that he had money and knew how to use it. The material of his suit was soft to the touch as I ran a hand over his sleeve.
No wonder he had a take-charge attitude. He probably wasn’t used to being told what to do. Money allowed people to have things their way.
He looked down at me, his eyes smoldering. My heart skipped a beat, because in his eyes I saw everything he wanted to do to me. My body responded eagerly, hungrily, and he hadn’t so much as laid a hand on me except to put an arm around my shoulders.
Every so often I’d see his free hand clench into a fist when it looked as though he might touch my bare leg. I very much had the impression he was only holding back for the sake of his driver, as it would be pretty tacky to make out—or more—in the back seat while the chauffeur sat in front of us.
Aaron wasn’t sleazy. I liked that about him.
I found myself wanting to ask who he was and where he came from, but thought better of it. There was no need to know, and besides, I didn’t want to break the spell. There was almost something even more naughty about not knowing who I was about to go to bed with.
A beautiful stranger, taking me to his . . . where would he live? A mansion? A penthouse? Or was he only in town for a short while and lived in a swanky hotel?
The anticipation was almost too much to bear.
We pulled up in front of an apartment building just across from Central Park. A very expensive area of an already expensive city. I couldn’t wait to tell the girls all about it.
He helped me from the car and we walked arm-in-arm into the lobby.
“Good evening, Mr. Bello,” the security guard called out with a wave. Aaron waved back before steering me away from the banks of elevators.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To my elevator.”
“Your elevator?”
“My private elevator. It only stops on one floor. Mine.”
My knees went weak, to the point where I had to hold onto him for support as we walked across the marble floor. He had referred to it as his floor. I wondered if I was dreaming, and I hoped I wouldn’t wake up.
The dream—if it was a dream—only got better after we entered the elevator and the doors closed in front of us. We turned to each other without a word, our bodies slamming together as our mouths did the same. I was so hungry, so desperate for him ever since we’d locked eyes in the club.
His hands held the sides of my face, then slid down until they ran over the sides of my breasts, then lower to my hips. He drove me back against the wall so suddenly I gasped, then groaned as my body responded eagerly to his power.
I lifted one leg to wrap around his thigh. He groaned, driving his already-hard bulge against me, pulling my leg higher. His fingers dug into my thigh, then ran up until he stroked the curve of my ass.
I shivered, warm wetness spreading between my legs.
Our tongues danced, my mouth almost hurting from the pressure. We both grunted, fighting for control, panting from the effort.
The doors opened and Aaron lifted me off the floor. I wrapped my legs around his waist, still kissing him as he walked me to the door. He was so strong, powerful, carrying me like I didn’t weigh a thing. It was a huge turn-on, knowing he could do anything he wanted to me.
I would be powerless against him.
He put me on my feet when we stepped inside the suite and I felt a little disappointed, like the fun was over. Then he surprised me by bending, placing one arm behind my knees and lifting me up. I squealed, kicking my heels off as he carried me to the bedroom. I caught only glimpses of a very large, very beautifully decorated apartment before we reached his room.
He threw me on the bed, ending all giggles then and there. He meant business, and when he lowered himself over my prostrate form, I shuddered in anticipation of what was to come.
I would never have pegged myself as the type to enjoy being told what to do in bed, so it was a surprise when the ache between my legs became more intense when Aaron yanked down the top of my dress, revealing my breasts. He wasn’t one to take time for romance, I could tell.
That didn’t matter when his mouth found me, taking me away to hazy bliss as he licked and sucked on my sensitive nipples. I tangled my hands in his thick, dark hair, grinding my hips upward to meet his thick hardness. I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him closer and closer, wanting more of him.
All of him.
I groaned, my head rolling from side to side, crying out in endless pleasure as his skilled mouth drove me higher than I ever thought possible. The ache in my core was almost painful. I needed his touch, his cock, to ease it.
One of his hands found my aching heat and I sighed with relief as he slid his fingers beneath the crotch of my panties to delve into me. “Yes!” I cried out, nearly leaving the bed in ecstatic excitement as he expertly pumped his thick fingers in and out of my heat while his thumb traced circles around my burning, pulsing clit.
I rode his hand, holding his head tight against my breasts while he flicked his tongue against one, then the other. It was all too much. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think, every impulse in my body was turned toward the accomplishment of one single, burning goal.
“Yes! Aaron!” I screamed
it—a long, guttural cry. Like something an animal might make. I settled back against the mattress, my body trembling, gasping for air.
The pressure against my thigh told me how much he needed me, and I gladly met his need with more of my own. It was endless, the depth of desire he unlocked in me.
My hands traveled over his smooth, deeply tanned skin as he revealed more of himself to me with every piece of clothing he shed. His body was a masterpiece, all toned and muscled and strong, all of it mine for the night. I reveled it in, touching everything I could reach. My hand closed over his straining length, so hot and hard, and he groaned in desperation as his hands ran up my thighs to my hips.
“Roll over,” he grunted, and before I could comply, he flipped me over.
I still wore my dress, which he pushed up around my hips before pulling my panties to my knees. I shivered at the turn of events, letting him lead me. Somehow, I knew better than to go against him at that moment. It was much more fun letting him tell me what to do.
I felt him line up against my entrance, holding my breath in anticipation of what was to come. He’d been so thick and hard in my hand, I could only imagine how good it would feel once he fucked me.
And I wanted him to. I wanted it hard, fast, and deep. He’d unlocked something in me, some primal force.
When he slid inside so hard and fast our bodies crashed together, I cried out as my muscles clenched around him and I came again. Almost as great as the pleasure was the surprise, as I hadn’t expected it again that soon. I screamed, clenching the sheets in my hands as I shook and pulsed around his length.
He continued pummeling me with hard, sharp thrusts, sending me into an almost continuous orgasm, just one long wave of excruciatingly sweet pleasure. He wouldn’t let up, never slowed down, taking me his way.
He held my hips in a tight grip, pulling me against him in time with his thrusts, doubling the intensity. I rode him as he rode me, taking more and more from him. He filled every inch of me, hitting me at just the right angle and pace to drive me insane.