by Emerson Rose
“So, you text that we have nothing in common, and I would like to counter that statement.”
Still frowning she answers, “Go ahead.”
“Come here,” I take her hands and lead her to the stone bench. I sit and slide back with my back against the wall and pull her down to sit between my legs facing away from me. I wrap my hands around her waist and slide one up between her breasts to nudge her chin so she will lean her head back on my shoulder. “That’s better. Okay, so things in common. We both like kids, mine, in particular, and you can’t possibly deny that.”
“I cannot deny that I love Victoria.”
“Good. See? Progress.”
“What else?”
“Well, we have a mad appreciation for Mexican food. Those were the best chicken tacos I’ve ever eaten.”
“Thank you. What else?” she replies curtly.
“We both love the ocean, in different ways perhaps, but it’s a shared interest just the same.”
“What do you mean in different ways?”
“You like to surf, I like to fish. And then there is our shared belief that medication should be used in moderation.”
“What?” She lifts up her lip in a snarl and turns her face to mine. I can’t resist having her mouth so close to mine, and I kiss her. My hands wander up and down her body sliding over her breasts and down to her thighs where I push them open and circle her clit with the tip of my finger.
“Turn around,” I command, and she wastes no time slithering around in my lap. “Put your feet up on either side of me.” She does as instructed, and I slide my hands under her wet ass pulling her toward me and entering her slowly. We did fast and furious in bed, and now I want to take my time with her in the shower.
When we are joined, I slide my hand up her back and gather her hair wrapping it around my wrist. I give it a little tug baring her neck to my mouth. I lick and kiss all along her shoulder, neck, and behind her ear, which seems to be the power button for butterfly zings.
Her sighs and moans propel me on until my cock is about to burst. “Move,” I say against her ear, and she lifts up as much as she can in her position. I cup her ass and help her lifting her up and down on my cock. “Goddamn, you feel so good. I want to worship every inch of your body, Sasha. Every. Single. Inch.”
She ups the pace and digs her nails into my shoulders. As much as I want this to last, I can’t stop her. Her big, silver-blue eyes bore into my soul setting me on the verge of a climax. What is it about this woman? She makes me want to break all of my unspoken rules.
Don’t get attached. Yeah, too late.
Don’t bring her to my bed. Rule broken times two.
Don’t expose Tori. She’s her fucking nanny for Christ’s sake.
Don’t fall in love. I’m not sure on this one because I lack experience, but if I had to guess, I’d say I’ve broken that rule, too.
Suddenly, every muscle in her body tenses, her head falls back, her mouth opens in a silent scream, and she comes violently arching her back. It’s a beautiful sight watching her let go with no inhibitions. Not a lot of women can do that.
When she’s beginning to come down from her high, I stand up and press her back against the wall. She clings to me, and I thrust into her like an animal with no restraint until I come with her name on my lips.
“Sasha, Sasha, Sasha…” I murmur dropping my head into the crook of her neck. Her hands slide around my back, and she holds me tight.
“You see, we have a lot in common after all.”
“What do you mean?” she says still catching her breath.
“We both love shower sex.”
She makes a thoughtful face. “Okay, so we have a few things in common, but we come from different worlds, Xander. If you want to have fun while I’m working for you, that’s cool, but when the job is done, we’re done.”
I can live with that. At least she’s not telling me this isn’t going to work anymore. I am a very persuasive man, and I’m used to getting what I want. All I have to do is make sure this job never ends and show her that our worlds aren’t so damn different. Easy.
“Okay, you’ve got yourself a deal. You have to stay as long as I need you, though, and you’re mine while you’re here. No sleeping with anyone else.”
“Fine, as long as that goes for you, too.”
“I have absolutely no interest in being with anyone but you.”
She relaxes her legs and lowers herself to the floor. “I have to rinse my hair,” she says like the past fifteen minutes never happened. I reach up for the showerhead again and commence rinsing her hair. When her hair is soft and silky, I squirt body wash into my hands and set about washing every part of her. When I’m finished, I shut off the water and dry her with a fluffy white bath sheet and walk her out of the shower to the mirror. I scoop her hair over one shoulder and kiss her neck. Then I leave without another word. I’m afraid if I say anything, she will renege on our agreement, and I worked too hard for that to happen.
Dripping wet and still naked, I risk a peek into Tori’s room and find her not in bed. Shit, where the hell did she go now? In my room, I find the answer to that question when I see a little lump sleeping soundly on my side of the bed. Great. I’m going to have some explaining, or should I say lying, to do in the morning.
I cross the room to my bathroom to dry off and put on a pair of shorts and another t-shirt. I’m hit with a twinge of guilt when I get back into the bed I had sex in less than an hour ago. I try to close my eyes and sleep, but Sasha is everywhere. My sheets smell like her sweaty skin, and my hands smell like her conditioner.
I fling off the sheet and round the bed scooping Tori up and returning her to her bed without waking her.
When I crawl back into my bed, I sprawl out and breathe in everything Sasha until I fall into a Sasha dream-filled sleep, and wow, does she give good dreams.
Sometimes life is a dream you don’t want to wake up from.
15
Sasha
I haven’t been so tired or so sore since I spent a week living on the beach and surfing with my ex-boyfriend in Maui five years ago. My alarm is chirping next to the bed when I open one eye to be sure the sun is up, and it is.
Could have fooled me, my body says it’s two in the morning, and I have five hours left to sleep, but the clock says it’s 7:00 a.m. My middle-of-the-night shenanigans with Xander have left me with a sex hangover, and that is bad news. Victoria and I are going to the zoo today, and then I promised more surfing lessons. I think we are going to have to schedule a power nap in there somewhere. Five-year-olds can still take naps, right? What am I saying? I’m twenty-nine, and I still enjoy the occasional nap.
I drag myself from the bed, and the memories of the night before start seeping from my sleepy brain. Damn Xander for being so persistent, damn him for being so charming, and damn him for being so great at sex.
I’ve always been a one-and-done girl. I’ve never even been able to make myself come more than once, but Xander can make me come with a look from across the room. I can’t even count how many orgasms he gave me last night, but I’m sure it’s more than I’ve had in the past five years combined.
How is this man not married or at least engaged or in a serious relationship? He’s got everything. He’s a prime catch, the perfect bachelor, but he’s forty-five years old, and as far as I can tell, he’s never been married.
That’s a conscious decision. You don’t end up alone when you have everything Xander does unless you want to be. Does he want to be alone? It sure as hell doesn’t feel like it.
I wobble to the bathroom on jello legs to pee and brush my teeth. Thankfully, I don’t need to shower, so I throw on some shorts and a tank top and start toward Victoria’s room, but she’s already in the hall waiting for me, and she’s dressed, sort of.
“Hey there, you’re up.”
“Uh-huh, I’m hungry.”
“How long have you been awake?”
“Um, I dunno,” she answers, and I realize what
a dumb question that is to ask a five-year-old.
“Is your daddy gone?”
“Yeah, he’s not in bed.”
“You slept with him last night?” I ask wondering how that happened when last I knew she was in her bed.
“Uh-huh, I heard a noise. Daddy said I couldn’t sleep with him anymore.” I’ll bet he did, at least until I move out anyway. That makes me sad. I don’t want to be the reason she can’t go to her daddy when she’s scared.
“You can come to my room if you get scared in the night, okay?”
Her eyes brighten, and she takes my hand. “So, is that what you’re wearing to the zoo today?” I ask looking at her ensemble. She’s wearing her bikini bottoms, galoshes, and a long-sleeved sweater with feather clips in her hair.
“I wanna go shell hunting first.” Shell hunting, huh? Well, that explains the outfit at least—a sweater for early morning breezes, boots to protect her feet in the tide pools, bikini because hey, it’s the beach, and feathers because… well, she’s got me there.
“Okay, that’s cool. How about some pancakes first?”
“Yes! Real pancakes?”
“Uh, yeah, what other kind is there?”
“My Zion makes the kind that you put in the toaster. They’re good, but real pancakes from the restaurant are better.”
“Eggos, yes. Eggos are excellent when you’re in a hurry, but we have all the time in the world. I’ll show you how to make them, come on.”
Downstairs, we get to work making pancakes. From what I can gather, Zion isn’t much into cooking. Victoria doesn’t come right out and complain, but her joy at being taught how to do things from scratch speaks for itself.
About an hour later, we are finishing our funny-face pancakes, and I receive a text.
Xander: How are my two favorite girls doing today?
I smile even though I know I will only be one of his favorite girls for a week or two.
Me: Great, just finishing pancakes, and then we are going shell hunting on the beach. How about you?
Xander: Not as good as pancakes and shell hunting but good, tired, but good.
Me: Tired? Why ever might you be tired?
Xander: Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with a certain somebody being stubborn and pig-headed last night.
Me: I have no idea what you’re talking about. I had a great night.
Xander: Mmm hmm, I did, too, eventually.
He makes it sound like I fought him off when he took me to bed—hardly. He’s just being a baby about me pumping the breaks.
Me: Okay, well we have to go, see you at dinner.
That ought to irritate the crap out of him. I practically dismissed him after he just told me he had a great time last night. Serves him right, I wasn’t the only one being unreasonable. He unlocked the door to my room and invaded my shower! If that isn’t pushy and cocky, I don’t know what is.
Xander: I have a meeting tonight, I won’t be home for dinner. Also, don’t wait up for me, I’ll be late.
Oh, well la-de-da. He’s going to be late, don’t wait up, huh? So much for being monogamous while I was staying with him. Oh well, I didn’t want things to get serious anyway. Or did I?
I send him a clipped I-couldn’t-care-less text. I don’t want him to know that blowing me off tonight hurts.
Me: Cool. Later.
Xander: Sasha?
I press the phone against my chest and look at the ceiling. I want to respond. I want to know what he has to say, but my pride won’t allow it, and I ignore his messages for the rest of the morning.
Victoria and I combed the beach for shells. We didn’t find many, but the few we came up with I told her we could use in a craft tomorrow. She thought this was the best news ever.
“We getta use glue and glitter and stuff?”
I open my eyes wide and lean in close to her face. “Yep, the messier, the better.”
“Awesome,” she says making a fist and pulling her arm down in the universal awesome gesture.
“Zion doesn’t do crafts,” she says poking her bottom lip out in a pout.
“That’s okay, some people are just naturally more crafty than others. Maybe when she comes home, we can teach her some crafts?”
“You would do that?”
“Of course.”
“I love you, my Sasha.” She steps in close to me and hugs my legs. I stroke her hair. Man, it’s easy for kids to express their feelings. When do adults lose that ability?
“I love you too, my Victoria.” She looks up at me still holding my legs and smiles a melt-your-heart kid smile that does just that.
“Shell time!” she yells running for the glass wall. I follow her, and my phone chimes a text alert again. Great, he’s going to keep it up until I respond. Well, I hope he can get used to rejection fast because I am not responding.
I glance down to see what kind of message he thinks will capture my attention, and I freeze.
Enrique: Nice digs.
Shit, shit, shit. How does he do that? Every time we have an encounter, I change my phone number. I’ve changed my phone number six times over the past year, and every time he figures it out. If I could go into the witness protection program and change my entire identity, I would. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, Enrique hasn’t exposed me to any illegal activities that would make me valuable to the authorities.
I have been crossing my fingers and my toes for the past two weeks since the car accident that he would decide that enough is enough. I guess I didn’t cross them hard enough.
Me: I got fired from my job because you rammed your car into mine and smashed my face. This is my new job. Leave me alone.
I don’t know why I bother to tell him to leave me alone. He won’t, ever. He’s a psychopath, and his thought process is as wacky as a super ball in a room full of cats. One second he wanted me, the next I was a devil temptress, and the next I didn’t exist.
I liked it best when I didn’t exist.
My phone chimes again, and Victoria yells from the stairs outside. “Sasha, come on!”
Enrique: Yeah, Sasha, come on. I’ve missed your beautiful face, come out and show it to me.
Holy shit, he’s near the house, and that means he’s near Victoria. No way am I letting that evil man hurt her. I fly into action racing outside, scooping Victoria up, and racing back in with her tucked under my arm.
Think, Sasha. How do you set the security system in the house again? Crap, I don’t do well with stuff like that under pressure.
“Why’d you do that?” Victoria yells when I stand her on the floor.
“How do you set the security system on the house, Victoria?”
Her eyes open wide, and she points toward the front door. I grab her hand and drag her up the staircase to the front door. “Shit, I can’t remember how to do this,” I say shaking my hands at my sides.
“Lift me up,” Victoria says, and I look at her confident little face. I lift her up, and she presses several buttons, and a light goes from green to red. The house is on lockdown, and it even feels different in here since she pressed that button.
“Are the bad men coming?” she says turning to me panic-stricken.
“I don’t know, maybe. We need to call your daddy. Let’s go to your bathroom just in case.” She nods her head, and I carry her down the hall to her bedroom and into her bathroom where I know the panic room is located just in case.
I press the speed dial number assigned to Xander, and he answers right away.
“It’s a business meeting, Sasha, I can’t get out of it or I would. I wish you would just let me explain…”
“Shut up. I’m not calling about that. I think someone is outside the house. Victoria and I are in her bathroom, and the alarms are set in the house.”
“Who is outside?”
“I’m not sure, just someone that shouldn’t be there.”
“Get into the panic room. I’m calling the police.” His voice is all busines
s and a pinch of angry. He should be angry. I took this job knowing I have a crazy ex-husband. I put his only child in danger. I kept secrets from him.
“Your daddy says to go into the panic room,” I say to Victoria, and she pulls on the shelf system that disguises the panic room. I help her, and Xander gives me the code to enter on the keypad. The heavy door slides open, and Victoria and I step inside. As soon as we are inside, the door slides shut with a finality that gives me goosebumps all over my body.
I sit down at the desk in front of all of the computer monitors and look for anyone resembling Enrique. There aren’t many people on the beach today, and I don’t see any movement around the house or inside of it.
“Do you see the person outside?” Xander asks, and I can hear his car dinging when he opens the door. He’s coming home, not good.
“No, no, nobody. It’s probably a false alarm. I got all worked up for nothing. You should just stay at work. I’ll deal with the police when they get here.”
“I’m coming home. You can’t possibly expect me to sit around the office after a call like this. You’re in the panic room for Christ’s sake. What is going on?”
“I thought I heard somebody outside on the beach. I’m sorry, it’s stupid. I’m tired, and I overreacted.” If he comes home, and Enrique is outside, I don’t know what will happen. Enrique’s a loose cannon.
My phone chimes another text message. “Hang on a sec,” I say to Xander and look at my screen.
Enrique: Find yourself another job, or I’ll make this one obsolete.
Shit, today is definitely not a day when I am invisible. Today I am a giant red flashing light with a target on it. Enrique’s not done with me yet. Maybe he was trying to kill me two weeks ago when he tried to run me off the road. He should have stuck around and made sure instead of leaving it to look like a hit and run, idiot.
I don’t respond to his text. Anything I say at this point will only enrage him, and I still haven’t convinced Xander to stay at work.
“Sasha, what’s going on?”
I put the phone back to my ear. “Sorry, I got a text from Twyla. Listen this is silly. I’m sure it’s nothing, go ahead and stay at work, go to your meeting. I’ll call you when the police are gone.”