by Stratton, M.
Before I knew it, there was a knock on my door. With his resources, I knew that he’d find out where I lived, and that didn’t bother me. In fact, if he hadn’t taken the time and effort, even if it was just to make a phone call and have someone else find it, that would have told me he wasn’t committed to seeing this through.
Once again, I was in jeans and an old flannel shirt. I had no idea what we were doing today, but I wanted to be comfortable. I may not be your typical princess, but in my heart, I knew I was worthy.
I looked up into his serious face and smiled. “Right on time.”
“You’re important to me. And don’t you ever look through the peephole before you open the door?”
I frowned. “How did you know I didn’t look through the peephole?”
“Here.” He pulled me outside the door and held up a finger, he went inside the apartment and closed the door. I frowned and looked at the peephole, which had a bright light coming out of it, then it was blocked before the light shone back through. He opened the door back up. “See? You can never be sure, what if it wasn’t me?”
“You’re right. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Bryant smiled. “Thank you.” He pulled me into his arms. “God, it’s been a long twenty-four hours. Tell me.”
“Can’t you tell?”
“Yes, but I want to hear you say it.”
I nodded, fully understanding why he needed to hear it. “I can’t walk away from this. I don’t know what is going to happen, where it will lead, but I couldn’t live with myself if I did.”
His eyes shone bright and his head dipped and his lips touched mine for the first time. It wasn’t like any other kiss I’d ever had. It was so gentle and filled with love. I’d heard of kisses that the world stood still for, but until this very moment, I was sure it was a myth. I wasn’t even sure of how to explain it, the feeling went so deep. I never wanted to leave this world we were creating.
“Wow,” I whispered.
“Yeah.”
“You should have done that when we first met; if you had, the last twenty-four hours we could have spent together instead of apart.”
He groaned. “What are you trying to do to me?”
“Letting you know that sometimes, actions speak louder than words.”
There was a glint in his eyes as one of his hands wrapped around my ponytail and he pulled my head back. “Oh really, Little Starr, and what is this telling you?” He walked me backwards until I was against the wall and started nipping at my exposed neck.
“That you want to be buried deep inside of me.”
“Fuck yeah I do. God, so badly.”
I reached around and grabbed his ass, pulling him in closer to me, enjoying the feeling of his hard cock against my stomach. “Then what are you waiting for?”
“Timing is everything. I need to show you that you mean more to me than just a quickie against the wall, no matter how badly my body is begging me to take you right here, right now.”
I stuck my bottom lip out at him and looked up at him through my eyelashes. “Maybe if you show me that you can’t control yourself around me, it will show how much I mean to you.” I batted my eyelashes a few times for affect.
Laughing, he leaned down and nipped my bottom lip. “Nice try, but I’ll be happy to show you later how much control you really have over me.”
“Oh!” I could feel my eyes light up. “Really? Well, now I’m intrigued. Is it later yet?” I had to admit, he had awakened things in me I never knew were there, and I fully wanted to explore them with him.
“Come on.” He held onto my hand and started to pull me towards the door. “Before I take you over my knee.”
“Oh now, see, there you go again, teasing me.”
He stopped and turned around to look at me. “Are you going to do everything in your power to torment me until you get what you want?”
“Why, of course.”
Raising an eyebrow at me, he nodded. “Just know, two can play at that game.”
I didn’t bother to try and hide my excitement about what the day might hold.
Chapter Eight
Bryant
I had taken Starr to a park outside of Karim. We’d hiked in a bit and were now laying together on a blanket in the shade, listening to the leaves rustle in the wind. True to our words, we had spent the whole morning tormenting each other. I felt like my cock had been hard more than it had been soft. What she didn’t know, was how close I was to losing control with her. I’d never wanted anything like I wanted her, but I needed to show her I thought more of her and wasn’t going to fuck her the first opportunity I had.
When a little sigh escaped her lips, I looked over at her, nestled next to me in my arms. It was almost like a memory, this feeling of her here in my arms. Like we’d done this time and time again across the ages.
I rolled her over so she was on top of me. “Your beauty astounds me. I took one look at you and my soul recognized yours. There are some things in life you just know are meant to be. This, us, we are one of them.”
“The more we are together, the more I believe you are right.” She cocked her head to the side. “You make me want to believe in those fairytales.”
“We can make our own.” I couldn’t wait any longer. I kissed her, my hands running up and down her back. Feeling the vibration through her body as she moaned was almost my undoing. My fingers found her ponytail and I pulled at the hair tie, freeing her hair to fall down around us.
Shifting, I rolled over so she was on her back. I deepened the kiss, loving how our tongues battled. I slid my hand under her shirt, feeling her skin quiver as I enjoyed the contours. When my hand finally cupped her, she arched her back. Seeing how responsive she was to my touch was my undoing.
Her fingers started to fumble with the buttons on my shirt as I worked on hers. It didn’t take long before she was laying there, her flawless skin exposed and a black lace bra covering up what I coveted. Leaning down, I started to kiss and trace patterns with my tongue over her stomach, moving down her body. Unbuttoning her jeans and pulling them down over her hips, I left her panties on.
Loving the feeling of her response to my touch, I continued, wanting to give her everything I could. My one goal was to make sure she was completely satisfied. The more she moaned and bucked as I kissed, licked, and touched her, the harder I became. I’d never been in this much pain before, aching for a release.
As I took her over the edge, I almost became a savage beast when her cries filled the small canyon we were in, startling a flock of birds. Quicker than I thought possible, I had a condom on and was waiting for her to look at me, my cock twitching, wanting to buried deep inside of her. When our eyes finally locked, I slid into her, feeling her warmth envelop me.
Slowly, I moved in and out of her. I knew it wasn’t going to take much to push me over the edge, but I wanted this to last. I needed her to know that I would do whatever it took, she was that important.
“Don’t hold back,” she whispered.
I closed my eyes, it would seem she already knows me. I couldn’t stop the moan that left me when she easily pushed me to the side and climbed on top of me. Once again, my cock slid into her and I never wanted to leave. Looking up at her as she rode me, she arched back and grabbed my ankles, her tits bouncing as she slammed down onto me, driving me deeper in her.
Sitting up, my tongue flicked at her nipple while I used my fingers to pinch the other one. Our breathing was heavy as she flung herself at me, our mouths met, and again we battled for supremacy as we moved faster and harder together.
Her nails raked down my back and I shuddered at the feeling of pain and pleasure. I flipped over so she was under me again, hooking my arms behind her knees. With her pussy up in the air, I easily slid deep inside her and moved faster and faster until we were both screaming our release.
Chapter Nine
Starr
I laid there in Bryant’s arms, naked in the middle of nowhere. I wondered if it wa
s ironic that our first time together was out in nature, considering my childhood, or if there was a deeper, more poignant meaning.
In reality, thinking deep thoughts was too exhausting after what we shared. I wanted to simply enjoy being in his arms. Words weren’t necessary, or even possible. I was pretty sure I had an out of body experience.
I must have dozed off, because the next thing I remembered was opening my eyes and needing to take a minute to realize how old I was, where I was, who was with me. Once everything fell into place, I sighed and turned my head to see Bryant watching me. “Hi,” I said softly.
“Hello. Have a good nap?”
“Yeah, I did. Sorry.”
He chuckled. “No need to apologize, I feel like I must have done something right if you were able to fall asleep so easily.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, deciding not to feed his ego. “How long was I out?”
“Not too long. We still have plenty of time to head back before it gets dark.”
I rolled over on my stomach and looked at him, enjoying the sensation of him playing with my hair. “What are you plans? Are you going to stay in Karim?”
“What do you want to do?”
“We aren’t talking about me.”
“I’m happy wherever you are. We can go wherever you want.”
“You’d be okay if I said I wanted to stay here?”
“Of course. I was planning on moving here to begin with. I’m looking to expand, and Karim has some great opportunities for me.”
“Don’t you have a home base somewhere else?”
“Yeah, I do.” He shrugged. “But it’s easy enough to find something you like here and move it here. I’ll always need a place in New York City, it makes sense to keep it, even if we can’t use it as much as I was able to before.”
“But in New York City, having valuable real estate sit unused most of the year is a waste.”
“Little Starr, it will be cheaper in the long run and I’ll end up making more money if we ever decide to sell later, than I will now. The market isn’t the greatest, and probably won’t be for a couple of years yet. Don’t worry about it.”
“But I do, there have been times when we didn’t have enough money for food. It’s a feeling I’ve tried very hard to never have again.”
“I know it seems like I might throw money around, but understand, I also started out with nothing. Everything I have I built and fought for. If something is important enough, you do whatever it takes to make your dreams come true. Like you, there were times I went hungry, and I never wanted to feel like that again. So I worked hard, and then I worked some more until finally, I felt like I could breathe. Like I never had to worry about where the next meal was going to come from. And then I kept fighting, kept building because with this wealth, I’m able to help people. Kids that were in the same situation as I was growing up. A broken home, my mom was a dreamer. That’s where my love of fairytales came from. She was always telling me the stories. I think it was more for her, she wanted to believe there was someone out there for her, not like my father, who was more interested in where the next fix would come from than me. That meant he was never able to give my mom money. She was a simple woman, she didn’t want much, which was good, because we didn’t have much.”
“What happened to her?” My heart broke at the thought of a little boy left alone with a father who didn’t care about him, only the drugs, and a mother who tried so hard for him, but it still wasn’t enough.
“She worked herself to death waiting for her Prince Charming to come. It was my senior year in high school. I had a job to help with expenses and ended up getting fired because I had the flu and had to miss a whole week of work. She picked up extra shifts while she could and I looked for another job and still went to school every day.” He stared off and traced lazy circles on my back. “I didn’t even know she had gotten the flu from me, she kept pushing through until the day she collapsed at work from the fever and never woke up again.”
“Oh my God, Bryant, I’m so sorry.”
“Me too. If only she had said something to me, I could have done something, anything. We didn’t have insurance, that was a luxury, but I would have done something.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I started a national foundation called Bedtime Stories. It mainly focuses on single parents whose ex doesn’t help out, or can’t help. The foundation makes sure they have food in their bellies, warm clothes, and a safe place to sleep at night, free from any harm.”
“That’s amazing. I’ve heard of it, I didn’t realize you were part of it.” I frowned trying to remember everything I had heard about the foundation. After leaving my mom, I had tried to find safe places to stay and they had helped me a couple of times in different cities, even though I wasn’t a single parent.
“I keep in the background. I want everything to focus on the people we help, not me.”
If I hadn’t already been in love with him, I’m pretty sure I would have fallen at that moment. He was a good man.
Chapter Ten
Bryant
Later that night, I walked through the doors of The Club. Seems like Gordon could only bring a guest once a month. If I wanted to see Starr twisting on her hoop again, I was going to have to become a member. The good thing about being filthy rich was it opened doors that typically would be closed. Then you add in the fact I knew someone who knew Jet, one of the owners, and I knew I’d get what I wanted, and sure enough, I was in. Of course I had to meet with Jet, and received the warning. This wasn’t how they typically did things at The Club and I’d pay for it if he ever, even once, regretted bypassing the typical application process.
I wasn’t going to ruin my chances of being able to flirt with my girl while she was all dressed up as any man’s wet dream. Once again, I found my spot in the shadows and watched her emerge from the same door as she had a couple of nights ago. It was strange that it had only been days when my heart felt like it had been years.
Narrowing my eyes when Ricky came up to her, I had to control my urge to rip his throat out when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled and said something to him and they walked together to the bar. Instead of watching Starr, I kept my eyes on him and how he always was watching her. We had talked about some of her co-workers, and I know she thought this Ricky guy was harmless and a friend, but I thought there was something else going on.
Wanting to know more about him, I texted my team, giving them the information I had. Since they had already done some research on Starr, they were able to start coming back with some information on Ricky. I wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on in the bar until suddenly, I felt something was off. I looked up and Starr wasn’t behind the bar. Quickly, I scanned the room and saw her coming out of a different door with a crate in her hands.
Someone came up behind her and grabbed her around the waist, stopping her in her tracks. I could see by the look on her face she wasn’t happy. She didn’t look scared, and was giving the guy an earful, but he wasn’t letting go. I was already halfway across the room when I saw her lift her knee and bring her heel down on the guy’s foot. He howled in pain and shoved her away from him. She stumbled and started to fall. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to make it across the room in time to catch her.
Ricky was out from behind the bar and caught her before she could fall, and two guys I could only assume were security were right there, getting the guy under control and escorting him out without disrupting any of the customers.
“Starr, are you okay?” I tried to pull her out of Ricky’s arms but he wouldn’t let go.
“Bryant, what are you doing here?”
“Yeah, Rich Boy, why are you here?”
My lip curled and I fought the urge to punch the little punk. “I’m a member.” I enjoyed seeing him get pissed off at that answer and turned back to Starr. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, yes I’m fine. Ricky, you can let go now.” She stretched her shoulders. “I’ve been taki
ng care of myself for a while now. Things like this hardly happen here, I was distracted and not paying as good of attention as I should have been. It won’t happen again.”
“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Where is security in this place?”
Starr got in my face. “Chill. They were here, they did their job. I’m not going to have them up my ass the whole time I am here on the outside chance something might happen. Listen to me, things like that hardly ever happen, but they are going to happen, it happens less here than any other club I have ever worked at. Deal. This is what I do.”
“But-”
“Go home, Rich Boy, you’re not needed here. We have work to do.” Ricky put his hand on Starr’s elbow to escort to back behind the bar.
“Now wait just a minute, you little fucking-”
“Mr. Harrison, is there a problem.” Jet said from behind me.
Oh yeah, there sure as hell was a problem, but seeing the look in Starr’s eyes, I knew she didn’t want me to rock the boat with her boss. “No.” I shook my head. “No problem here.”
“Perfect. Then my bartenders can get back to work while I make sure the garbage has been thrown away.” He nodded to them and turned and left.
Starr came up to me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. “You don’t have to stay.”
“I think I do.”
“I’ll be fine.”
I tipped her chin up so she was looking me in the eyes. “Remember those dragons, I’m here to slay them for you.”
“As you can see, I can slay them myself.”
“Yes, but you can’t have all the fun.” I smiled at her, hoping to make her relax.
“I have to get back to work.”
“I’ll be waiting.”