Chapter 6 #2
Please. I begged, internally.
I found the strength to lift my butt up from the chair, unable to withstand the closeness, the touches, and the warmth of his breath against my skin.
“Sit down, Kit,” he demanded.
His eyes were no longer on my areolas. They were back on me, daring me to move another inch in the opposite direction. Begging me to stay. Protesting against my attempt to flee.
Obliging, I lowered into the chair. Without another word, he continued the task at hand as if his life depended on it. Truthfully, it was my life that depended on it.
Where’s the monster?
I needed him to show his face and reveal his true colors. Because, the man before me was so far from it that I felt foolish for even comparing him to anything other than an angel. A gift from God, because that’s what he was. That’s who he was.
I was a good judge of character, but I’d prematurely judged a man I’d never met. It was proving to be a mistake I never wanted to make again.
When the stain was removed, Fohr dismissed himself. A few inches away, he retrieved the robe that had been resting on the back of the chair next to me. I accepted the extra layer of fabric.
But, still, I was unable to move. He’d made himself clear and I wasn’t to move until he relieved me. Or, at least, that’s what my body and brain agreed on.
He lifted the bottle of wine and poured the rest of its contents into my glass to join what was left inside of it. I watched carefully as he approached the bar area on the other side of the kitchen. He returned with a bottle of Hennessy and a glass.
Fohr pulled the chair next to me from underneath the table and sat it in front of me. He uncapped the liquor and poured himself a healthy shot. He sat the bottle next to the empty wine bottle and took the seat in front of me. His legs gapped, jailing mine between them automatically.
He sipped from the glass, slowly. Both hands surrounded it when it finally came down, nearing his manhood. My eyes fell involuntarily.
“Does my proximity scare you?”
His question beckoned for the attention of every fiber in my body. Undoubtedly, he had it. Had me. Had us. Without question. Without hesitation. Without regard. Without caution.
My nostrils swelled. So did my heart. And, my chest as I withdrew air from the space between us to fill my lungs.
I gulped from the wine. Words had failed me once again.
But, thankfully, this time, movement was obtainable.
I tilted the cup upward until the liquid stopped pouring down my throat.
It was then that I came to the conclusion that my effort to avoid Fohr’s question had failed and he was still waiting for my response.
He extended his arm, offering me something stronger. Though I should’ve taken the bait, I declined. My head moved from one side to the other. He shrugged with a tip of his head.
“Well, then,” he whispered and then took another sip from his glass.
I watched as it ran the length of his upper half until it was back between his thighs.
“Answer me.”
Something had happened over the last few hours. Something that left me baffled and utterly deranged. Something that left him inquisitive and more direct than he’d been since I walked through his door.
Something.
And, I had every reason to believe that dinner was the foundation for whatever it was.
“Does your proximity scare me?” I repeated his question as I cleared the fog in my head.
He’d given me minutes, yet I still wasn’t any closer to giving him an answer.
Come on, Kit. Come on. I pled, needing to find the perfect words to sum up whatever it was I was feeling toward Fohr. The issue stemmed from there being so many feelings at once that I didn’t know which to tap into.
As if he wasn’t close enough already, Fohr slid to the edge of his seat. So did his fully extended weapon. Together, they prepared to unravel me.
Beads of sweat formed on my skin. I could feel myself growing sticky between the legs. Nothing and everything made sense at once. My level of attraction to the man before me was jarring.
“Does my proximity scare you, Kit?”
My name rolled off his tongue like his favorite word in the dictionary. Unable to control my movements at the sound of it, my head lifted and fell. The slow, unintentional nod forced him backward in his seat.
Defeat covered his handsome features. Apprehension covered mine. Whatever was happening between us at the moment was grueling and pleasurable at once.
“Why?” He asked before taking another sip from his drink, “What have I done to you?”
He lowered the glass after a quick sip, anticipating my explanation. I hardly had one, so I released the closest thing to the truth I could muster.
“Exist.”
“My existence scares you?”
His thick, full eyebrows raised simultaneously.
“That and the aftermath of your weekly rotation of women. I’ve seen the mess you make. Women must be coming in and out of here in groups of threes. You tried to put me in the suite where all types of human DNA is floating around.
“There haven’t been many times I’ve felt violated but that was certainly one. And, let’s not even begin on the situation with your ex-girlfriend. She didn’t deserve what you did to her and especially not for the world to see.”
“I have slept at this home a total of five nights since I purchased it, one of which happened to be last night. I had no idea I offended you by choosing the secondary master suite. I thought I was giving you the next best in the house. Had I known it was full of human fluids, I would’ve let you take my suite instead. ”
“That’s not your suite?”
“No. It’s not. It belongs to no one. My section of the house is off limits, and you never have to clean that portion of the house because I’m never there.
I have a condo I call home. This place is too big and too fucking lonely for me to even consider staying here without a wife and children to share it with. ”
“Then who–”
“My brother has keys to my home and is here more often than not. I wasn’t aware of his– I mean, I am aware, but I wasn’t aware it’s been going on in my home. I apologize. I wouldn’t have put your things in there if– yeah. My bad about that is all I’m going to say. I just hope you can accept that.”
He was apologizing for someone else’s actions when it should’ve been me apologizing for judging him without knowing the full story. My claims and assumptions were justified, but they felt completely foolish now that the truth was apparent.
“And, about my ex-girlfriend and that situation–” He sighed. “I let the media run with whatever narrative they wanted to because I’ve never been in the business of convincing anyone of anything. Well, until I met you.”
The lighthearted chuckle was followed by a sip of his drink.
“But– uh– let’s just say she had ulterior motives. For me and for my fortune. Til this day, I’m still wondering if any of it was real or if it was all a sick fucking joke. She had been plotting on me for a while and I fell right into her trap eventually.
“It wasn’t until feelings got involved, my feelings, at least, that I realized I was the only one falling.
So, instead of falling alone, I bounced.
From the moment I realized she was more interested in how much I was giving her than how much I cared, the relationship was over.
She never announced the breakup and neither did I.
“When the blogs and shit got ahold of it, I was already dating again. I was immediately painted as the bad guy. She ran with the attention and I didn’t care to clear anything up. It worked in both our favors.
“She found a duck she could pluck and I kept my heart in my chest. For more reasons than I care to admit right now from the fear of being checked, but it’s all good.”
His sarcasm made me smile inside. We both understood what he meant and the moment he was referring to. It was the moment that I wholeheartedly believed had gotten us here.
The clarification intensified my undeniable attraction for the man close enough to smell the wine on my breath. I found two significant character flaws that were now void, leaving me with no choice but to face my reality.
You’re in a mansion with a man who seemingly adores every detail of your existence and there’s nowhere for you to run and hide. You’re stuck with him for an undetermined amount of time. All that made him a monster before is untrue. So is the idea you don’t share the same feelings as him.
“I apologiz–”
“Don’t,” he interrupted, “There’s no need.”
Silence left my head spinning and my palms sweaty. I needed a cool shower to reduce the temperature of my overheated frame. I reached over, slid the glass from between Fohr’s fingers, and tossed it back. Once it was empty, I slammed it against the table and stood to leave.
I put as much distance behind us as I could muster. I climbed the steps hastily.
Fohr.
Fohr McClarren.
The Fohr McClarren.
Pro ball player Fohr McClarren.
It was irrational to even consider. He’d taken a liking to me, his housekeeper. His maid. It felt unreal. He felt unreal. Almost too good to be true which usually meant it wasn’t. He wasn’t.
But he is. I countered at the realization I wasn’t alone in my journey anymore.
The sound of his footsteps rushing after me sent my nerve endings haywire. It wasn’t long before his fingers were pressed into my skin and my back was against the wall just a few feet shy of the bedroom I had chosen.
I could feel his breath on my forehead. He towered over me, demanding my submission. Instinctively, I offered it to him. It was his to have. It was his to hold.
This man is celestial.
The long, torturous silence allowed me to gather my bearings. The smell of his skin hardened my nipples. His closeness made them ache against him. My breasts rose and fell with the deep, slow breaths I took as I waited for him to say something. To say anything.
His finger tipped my chin upward. I drew in a sharp breath and prepared to stare into those longing eyes. The ones that had held me captive since he walked into my home. His head dipped until his lips were just above mine.
I closed my eyes, anticipating the moment they joined mine.
But, after several seconds, I realized it wouldn’t happen.
Not now, anyway. Disappointment forced my eyes open.
The yearning in my soul confirmed what I’d been trying to avoid since I stood in my living room with a wet shirt and Fohr standing before me.
I wanted him and I wanted everything that came with him except the baggage that detailed the harm he’d done to women. But, that wouldn’t be an issue anymore. Hardly anything was an issue now.
“Listen,” Fohr began.
I melted inside, feeling the softness of his lips as they grazed mine ever so gently. It was as if they were barely even there. While they were close, they weren’t close enough. It was apparent the distance was a miscalculation on his end, because he withdrew himself a mere inch.
I wept for his return. Secretly, I pled. I begged for that inch and an additional one because then I could feel all of his softness against mine as he spoke. As he demanded something of me that I had already agreed to give without even knowing what it was.
“I like you. At my very big age, it feels childish to say, but it’s the truth. I like you, and I like everything about you. The way you get dressed just to do laundry or cook or clean or unload the dishes. The way you smell.
“The browns that complete your skin’s color profile.
The fact you don’t seem to workout but don’t look like you’ve missed a day in the gym.
The way you read your novel in complete silence without even cracking a smile or batting an eye.
The way you’re disciplined enough and caring enough to not consume foods that cause harm to animals.
“The way you keep your guard up to protect what’s rightfully yours, even though I want you to let it down for me.
How poised you are. How proper you are. How well groomed you are.
How good you look at all hours of the day.
How much you care about your body and what goes in it.
How well-informed you are. How clean you are.
“How confident you are. How big those eyes of yours are. How easily you’ve captured my attention and how much you don’t care to have it.
I can’t think of nothing I don’t find attractive about you.
And, I want to get to know you. We have nothing but time on our hands which should make things easier for us.
“Let me make this time the best time of your life. I can do that. I won’t waste it.
I won’t horse around. I want to discover what makes you laugh.
I want to know what makes you smile. I want to read some of the pages of your favorite novel.
I want to learn about your family and your closest friends.
“I want to know what pisses you off and how easily your buttons are pressed. And, I want to call you Kit. Because, I like your name as much as I like you. I like the way it sounds. I like the way it commands your attention. I like the way it fits you–perfectly,” he explained, sending me on a rollercoaster.
My head was spinning. At any second, I would fall from the dizzy spell I was under.
“As far as my proximity. I don’t want it to scare you.
I want it to invigorate you, excite you, move you in ways you’ve never been moved before.
Make you do things you’ve never done before.
Make you say things you’ve never said before.
Make you try things you’ve never tried before.
Make you feel things you’ve never felt before. ”
My breath hiked in my chest as his lips neared mine, again. This time, they sat right in front of them. Unmoving. Just existing. Until finally, he spoke again.
“Understood?”
I nodded, brushing my lips past his. My lipstick stained them with a smear. I could feel the moisture they obtained without being able to see it. Or them.
“Yes.”
“I won’t pressure you into agreeing to anything I’ve said tonight. As long as you understand it. Take some time to think about it, Kit. I’ll be here, and I’ll be waiting. Please note that my side of this home is no longer off limits to you.”
I shuddered. With each syllable, Fohr was wrecking me.
“Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Without another word, he turned to leave. My eyes followed him down the hall until he disappeared. And, finally, my legs gave in. I slid down the wall as if I’d just lost my lover. But, I hadn’t. I’d just found him.
Possibly.