Release Me

by Farrah Rochon

“Two minutes?”

  “Before I strip you naked and we go at it on the living room sofa.”

  “I thought you said the floor.” Sienna laughed.

  He shook his head. “I’m not that barbaric; we can use the sofa. I know I said we’d take our time, but we have to get vertical soon. I don’t care where we are.”

  “Well, I’d rather the comfort of a bed, if you don’t mind,” Sienna replied.

  Toby led her to the bedroom. Once there, they took turns removing their clothing. Toby started with his shirt, releasing the buttons with a slow ease, his eyes never leaving her.

  Embolden by the desire in his gaze, Sienna reached for the clasp at the back of her skirt and unsnapped it, pushing the soft material past her hips and down her legs.

  Toby’s hands went for his belt. He removed it, along with his shoes. He eased down his zipper, and Sienna’s breath became small, hurried pants of air through her lips, her chest moving up and down with each breath.

  “Your turn,” Toby said as he rested his hands on his hips, his unzipped pants revealing blue silk boxers.

  Sienna captured the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, leaving her in her bra and panties. She stood before him, a mixture of heat and fear tightening her skin as Toby’s eyes roamed over her.

  “Your turn,” she repeated his words.

  A slight smile tipped up one corner of Toby’s mouth. “Get on the bed.” He motioned with his head. Sienna obliged, moving over to the bed and settling under the covers. She attempted to cast the king-sized pillows to the floor, but Toby stopped her. “We’re going to need those in a minute.”

  He came over to the side of the bed, and hovered above her. Hands still on his hips, he asked, “How do you want to do this?”

  Sienna’s head reared back slightly, and she swallowed a lump of uncomfortable embarrassment at the thought of actually voicing what she expected. “Uh, I’m not sure what you had in mind, but I think we should start with the missionary position this first time.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Toby said with a grin. He hooked his thumbs inside the waist of his khakis and pushed them from his hips, stepping out of the pants and kicking them to the side. He stood before her in silk boxers that served to display the overly abundant evidence of his desire.

  After years of dreaming about this night, why was she ready to bolt herself in the bathroom now that the time was finally here? Long ago she had promised herself that the only way she would ever experience sex was with Toby. Well, here he was. Very much here.

  “We can do this one of two ways, Sienna.”

  “Call me Cee Cee.”

  Maybe if he called her that old nickname, she’d remember this was Toby and that she had no reason to be afraid, or nervous, or on the brink of losing her dinner.

  Toby’s mouth eased into a grin. He placed one knee on the bed and captured her hands. He tugged, and Sienna followed his unspoken directive, rising, and kneeling before him on the bed.

  “I can take the lead tonight,” Toby continued. “All you have to do is be here, and I’ll do all the work.”

  “Okay.” Sounded good to her. “What’s the other way?”

  “I become your personal learning tool,” he answered. “I lay here and you use me as you please.”

  That sounded even better. Sienna bit her lower lip. She had not anticipated having options. “Which would you prefer?” she asked.

  Toby shook his head. “Tonight isn’t about me.”

  Sienna allowed for a breath, contemplating the decision before her.

  “So,” Toby prompted.

  “Can we have a combination of both?” she asked. “I can show you what I want, and you can let me know if it’s right.”

  “As long as it gives you pleasure, baby, it’s right.”

  Her shoulders sunk with doubt. “That’s the thing, Toby. I don’t know what gives me pleasure. Sure, I know a little, but there has to be more to sex than what happens when my hand happens to roam south. Oh my God, I can’t believe I just said that,” Sienna said. She’d just taken embarrassment to an entirely new level. “Just let me die right now, please.”

  “Stop it, Cee Cee.” Toby tipped her chin up. His gaze was so intense Sienna had no choice but to look into his eyes. “You have nothing to be ashamed of,” he said.

  Sienna squeezed his fingers in a tight grip, begging him to understand where she was coming from. “Toby, I’m twenty-eight years old. There are teenagers with more experience than I have.”

  “These days there are teenagers with more experience than I have.”

  Sienna had to smile. She’d heard enough stories of Toby’s sexual exploits to know he could probably write the book on sex.

  “This is about us, Cee Cee, no one else. Lie down,” he instructed. Sienna complied, reclining in the middle of the king-size bed. Toby followed her with his body, settling along side her. “Try to relax, and let me take over. You can stop me at any time.”

  “Is it okay if I close my eyes?”

  Toby nodded as he trailed his hands from her chest down her stomach, settling it at her waist. He leaned down and kissed each of her eyes closed. “Concentrate on my touch.”

  A soft, tender kiss fell upon the spot between her breasts, followed by a slightly wet point: his tongue. It drew upon her skin in a path that went from the crest of her breasts, down her stomach, and into her belly button. The moist tip traced along the edges of her lace panties, swirling, licking.

  Sienna struggled to remain calm and let herself relish in the sensation. Anxiety gnawed at her conscience, warring with her attempt to relax.

  “Stop tensing,” Toby commanded. Her eyes opened, and his gaze seared through her, smoky and seductive. A rush of heat washed over her and lingered deep in Sienna’s belly.

  “I’m trying. I really am, but it isn’t easy,” Sienna confessed.

  “Scoot over a bit,” Toby said. He turned over, lying on his back. “Go for it,” he said.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Whatever you want, except leave,” he added. “Do whatever you need to do to get comfortable, because if you don’t relax, we won’t be able to go very far. I refuse to hurt you.”

  Sienna’s heart swelled to the point of bursting at his thoughtfulness. Who, but Toby, would be so patient with her?

  “Thank you,” she managed to choke past the block of emotion welling in her throat. “Close your eyes,” she told him.

  Toby’s grin was slightly surprised, extremely wicked, and just cocky enough to give Sienna the confidence to go through with this. He lowered his eyelids and settled his head on the pillow.

  Sienna started with the same place on his body where he’d started with her, pressing a kiss upon his chest. She used her tongue, streaming a line down the length of his torso. She dipped it into his navel and felt his loins tremble beneath her. Sienna straddled his hips and ran her hands along his arms, holding him down on the bed.

  Toby’s eyes flew open.

  “Close them,” Sienna demanded. His chest moved up and down with his deep, labored breaths. He closed his eyes again. Sienna kissed the spot below his ear, under his chin, along his collarbone. She flicked her tongue across his nipple.

  Toby gasped, his forearms tensing underneath her hands. Lower, his body hardened against her backside. Sienna swiveled her hips, rubbing against him.

  “Damn,” Toby whispered. He bit his lower lip.

  “I’m sorry,” Sienna said. “Am I hurting you?”

  “You are killing me.”

  “That’s not good. I kind of need you alive, at least for the next hour.” She laughed.

  Toby opened his eyes and stared at her through narrowed lids. Without warning, he flipped her over, encasing her beneath him. He burrowed his hand under her back, pulling her up slightly, unclasping her bra and pulling it off. Sienna’s entire being blushed underneath his heated gaze. He reached down, hooked his fingers in her panties and tugged, moving with them so he could pul
l them down her legs.

  Totally exposed, Sienna had to fight to remain still. The urge to bolt was terrifyingly strong. “I really want to pull the covers over me, Toby.”

  “I really don’t want you to do that, Cee Cee. You are so beautiful. I could stare at you for hours.”

  “Please don’t.”

  His mouth tipped up in a grin. “Don’t worry, it was a lie, anyway. Not the point about you being beautiful, but just staring at you won’t cut it.”

  He reached over to the nightstand and opened the top drawer, pulling out a foil packet. Toby held the condom between his teeth and went for the waistband of his boxers. Sienna closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down as the whisper of ripping foil sent unwelcome alarm through her bloodstream.

  “Sienna, please relax,” Toby pleaded. “I promise not to hurt you.” Using one knee, he edged her legs apart. Burying his face against her neck, Toby slipped his hand to her lower back and raised her slightly off the bed. He sucked at a spot below her ear as he gently, tenderly pushed into her body.

  Sienna’s insides involuntarily clenched.

  Toby’s breath hitched. “Sienna, that doesn’t help.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Don’t be sorry. Just,” he sucked in another breath, “relax.”

  He eased a few inches more. More. Supple, velvety inches more, sinking deep until he was fully imbedded within her.

  “Oh God,” Sienna whispered as sensation blossomed throughout her body.

  “I know,” he crooned in her ear as he increased his rhythm. She wrapped her legs around him, her body growing taut as Toby braced above her on shaking arms and surged forward, over and over, sure and smooth. Gripping her thighs, moving higher and deeper. Impossibly deeper.

  Blinding white light sparked behind her closed eyelids as her body shattered apart. Moments later, Toby groaned in pleasure and fell atop her, his sweat slicked skin fiery against her naked body.

  He continued to shudder with tiny tremors, and Sienna felt the low chuckle rumbling through his belly before it came out of his mouth.

  “You’d better have an explanation for laughing,” she warned.

  Toby rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. He pressed a light kiss on the tip of her nose and grinned. “I was just thinking about what I’ll say to Alex the next time I see him. After all these years, I owe him a hell of an apology for waiting so long to take his advice.”

  ***

  “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  Toby grinned at the childlike exuberance emanating from Aria as she bounced around in the passenger seat of his car. Mark, one of the cameramen, was in the backseat. “It has been the most amazing week of my life.”

  “Yet. This is just the beginning of countless amazing weeks.” For both of us, Toby thought to himself.

  Aria’s cell phone rang. “It’s my mom. She’s been calling me all day!”

  Toby stared out at the road ahead as he headed toward the apartment he’d rented for Aria, listening with one ear as she regaled her mother with tales of all that had happened over the course of the day.

  It had been a life-changing twenty-four hours, in more ways than one.

  Finally, finally, Toby felt as if he had found his place in this world. For so long he had been afraid that without basketball he would never amount to the man he knew was there somewhere inside of him. It was a scary thought, to believe the one thing that could ever make you whole had been permanently taken away.

  The more he thought about it, the more Toby believed the accident had been God’s way of getting his attention. He thought back to the typical self-absorbed rookie he had become in the days after he’d turned pro. He’d been so damn pompous back then, the antithesis of everything his mother, father, and brothers had instilled in him.

  He had been on top of the world, and it had all been snatch from underneath him in the blink of an eye. Toby had known in his heart that anything he attempted from then on would be a poor substitute for the life he’d lost when basketball was stripped from him.

  But he had been wrong. This was his destiny.

  As he listened to the excitement in Aria’s voice, he realized that nothing gave him more joy than helping others make their dreams a reality. And he was good at it.

  He hadn’t lost everything when that SUV had plowed into his car, he’d gained something that no amount of money could ever buy: the ability to believe in himself. There was nothing he could not do if he set his mind to it. Nothing.

  It may have taken him years to figure it out, but at least he’d finally understood what all the people who love him—Mama, his brothers, Sienna—had been trying to tell him. God didn’t close one door without opening another. Toby just had to be smart enough to walk through the right door.

  Discovering that he’d finally figured out what God had prepared for him professionally was nothing compared to the other truth that became apparent to Toby today.

  He loved Sienna.

  He’d always loved her as a friend, but the feelings he now held for her transcended anything he had ever experienced. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, could not imagine going a day without being in her presence.

  For the first time, Toby thought of the accident as a blessing. If he had gone on to play in the NBA, he would have never been in a position to love Sienna the way he now loved her.

  “Guess what?” Aria’s voice knocked him out of his musing. “Mama said she had to take the phone off the hook because she’s been getting so many calls.”

  “How’s she taking all the attention?”

  Pocketing her cell phone, Aria shrugged. “She said that’s the way it goes when you’re the mother of a big star.” Aria paused, looked over at him and started screaming and stomping her feet on the floorboard. “I cannot believe this is happening!”

  “You’d better get used to it, because there’s no turning back now. After Jazz Fest, it’s on to L.A. for the live show.”

  “I don’t think it even matters if I win or not. I’ll bet somebody is going to give me a record deal.”

  “Landing a deal is the least of your worries. That’s my job.”

  Toby thought about the four calls he’d fielded just tonight from labels wanting to sign Aria. It was his opportunity to put all the effort he’d spent learning the music industry to work and earn his fifteen percent by landing her the best contract. He wanted to sign her to the kind of deal that would put to rest any doubts that he was a high-caliber manager.

  Toby turned onto the street and slammed on the brakes. The area in front of Aria’s apartment building was crowded with cars and television vans. The sidewalk was covered with reporters, cameramen, and fans.

  “Here’s the part that you need to be prepared for,” he said.

  “Are they all here because of me?”

  “What do you think?” Toby asked. “You’re the next big thing. Everybody is going to want a piece of you. Are you up to dealing with them tonight?”

  She bit her nails. “Not really.”

  Toby pulled to the curb about three blocks from her building. “Okay, let me think of something.”

  He knew one place where Aria could avoid the paparazzi, but then he thought about Sienna waiting for him back at the rented penthouse and tried to think of another possible scenario. He’d had to sublet his apartment for the month just to help pay the rent on the penthouse, so he couldn’t store her there for the night. Jonathan’s maybe?

  Toby punched in Jonathan’s number. He didn’t pick up. He tried Jonathan’s cell phone. After three rings, his voicemail clicked on.

  This wasn’t like his friend. Jonathan made sure he was always available; it was the nature of his business. Toby tried his cell phone again. This time Jonathan picked up after the first ring.

  “You had better be dying,” his friend said by way of greeting.

  “No, but—”

  “Then I’m hanging up, and I’ll kill you if you call aga
in tonight.”

  What was that about?

  He muttered a curse under his breath. He could drive her to Mama’s, but that didn’t make any sense. By the time he drove all the way Uptown and back, he’d be too tired to do anything but fall into bed next to Sienna and sleep.

  “Here’s the deal. You can either face them tonight and get it over with, or you can try to avoid them by sleeping at my place. With me and Sienna,” Toby stated. He wanted to make sure there were no misunderstandings this time around.

  “What if I get questioned about why I didn’t come home last night, and people start talking about me spending the night at your place?” she asked. “That wouldn’t be good, would it?”

  Oh, the press would love to sink their teeth into a twisted love triangle between Aria, Payton and himself. Where Aria’s involvement with Isaac had worked out in their favor, Toby could see nothing but trouble written all over the other scenario.

  “If there’s any speculation by the press, we’ll shut it down by saying we had an all night jam session in preparation for Jazz Fest. Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I know it’s late, but going over your routine one more time couldn’t hurt.”

  “Is there enough floor space for me to catch a few hours sleep,” Mark asked from the backseat.

  “Yeah,” Toby answered. “You can take the couch. Aria can sleep in the guest bedroom.”

  “Then where will Sienna sleep?” Aria asked. Toby caught Mark’s chuckle from the backseat. “Oh, uh, that’s right. Never mind,” Aria finished.

  Toby pulled away from the curb and made a U-turn in the middle of the street. He drove into the parking garage of the penthouse ten minutes later. He’d tried to get Sienna on her cell phone, but she hadn’t picked up. He prayed she wasn’t planning to greet him the way he’d fantasized she would—naked and wearing five-inch red stilettos. Toby tried her cell once more before getting onto the elevator that would take them to his penthouse.

  The elevator door opened. Toby walked out into the corridor ahead of Aria and Mark. The other elevator chimed and Sienna walked out, carrying a brown paper bag.

  “Hey, uh, everybody,” she said, looking at the trio.