Chapter 14
14
R AIN
In front of Lex’s suite.
James raps hard on the door.
Lex swings it open, his face flooded with concern.
“Where the fuck were you?”
He moves his eyes to me and catches sight of my smile, his angst instantly fading.
He steps back and invites us in.
We walk inside.
My cheeks burn, the specks of snow dripping from my hair melting.
James takes off my jacket before slipping out of his.
“I called you,” Lex says to him.
“She’s here,” James replies.
“I was worried about you, too,” Lex adds, glancing at him.
Shirtless, Ed walks into the room, his jeans barely clinging to his butt.
“What did I miss?” he asks, his eyes darting back and forth between us.
I hand him the box of cookies.
“Oh. I love cookies.”
Lex rolls his eyes behind Ed’s back, and I barely crush a smile.
“Thank you,” Ed says, snaking an arm around me.
He kisses me on my cheek, a scent of aftershave rolling over my face.
“Go put some clothes on,” Lex says, cuffing the back of his neck and pulling him away from me.
Walking backward, Ed winks at me and glances at James, who looks at him, arms crossed over his chest.
Ed shoots his hands up in the air.
“What? It’s not fair. Why does it have to be me? Why am I the only one left out?”
“You’ll get over it,” Lex says curtly, glancing at James, who studies me, reserved.
Moments later, we all have dinner together, and close to midnight, we leave Lex’s suite and return to James’ place.
He brings the bottle of champagne and glasses to the bathroom while I let the water run, filling the tub.
I take off my robe and lower myself into the water before leaning against the edge.
He lies next to me.
“Come to me,” I say.
He shifts his position, lodges himself between my legs, and props his back against my chest.
My hands trail his neck and shoulders as I start massaging his muscles.
Slowly, he de-tenses.
I thread my fingers through his hair and slide my palms down, trailing his chest and neck again.
“It’s good,” he says in a throaty voice.
I wrap my legs around him too.
“You’re great,” he says seriously.
I remain silent.
“It’s not a compliment. It’s a fact,” he says.
“Okay.”
“I’m not going to dance around it, baby. And you shouldn’t either. Own it.”
“I do,” I say, my voice faltering.
He turns his head to me and catches sight of my eyes.
“I’m no better than you if that’s any consolation.”
He leans against me again, and I stroke his hair.
“Were you always like that?” I ask.
“More or less. I’ve always been wild. It started when I was very young, and my father brought women home after my mom left.”
“How old were you?”
“Twelve.”
“Why did she leave?”
He stays silent.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have you asked that.”
“No... It’s fine. She left my dad for a younger man. Honestly, I don’t know the real reason. My father never told me. He seemed broken over it and acted out a lot, but he never cared to explain.”
“What about her? Has she talked to you?”
“No.”
He sighs.
“She never did. And that made me angry. A summer afternoon, she came home from her art gallery––my father wasn’t home that night––and we had dinner. She acted normally. Generally speaking, she wasn’t emotionally unavailable or anything like that. At least, not that I remember. We made plans for that weekend. Lex, Ed, and I were supposed to go camping, and she said she’d bake a birthday cake for me, and it would be ready by the time I came back. I woke up the next morning and walked into the kitchen, suspecting nothing. And then something struck me as off. The house smelled like freshly brewed coffee, yet she was nowhere in sight. I found an envelope on the kitchen table––it was addressed to my father. There was nothing for me. Later, he told me she had left. And that was it.”
He takes a long breath while I run my fingers across his chest. He leans against me, no longer tense.
“I had women early on,” he says, revisiting a distant memory. “I shared my father’s anger and mistrust toward them, aside from what I’d brewed up on my own. I grew up like that. Never trusting anyone. Never befriending a girl or a woman. I had Lex and Ed as my best friends, and that was it. I hated getting close to someone who then packs up and leaves without warning.”
My heart stumbles.
“That’s why I was angry with you, and later with myself, because I didn’t know how to stop you from leaving. Ed still blames me. And Lex, too.”
“Have you always shared women?”
“We shared enough...” he says and pauses. “It was curiosity in the beginning. And then convenience… Fun. Depending on the woman, it was really hot.”
“Is that what Ed thought I was? The first time he saw me at your table in the club?”
“Yeah. Occasionally, he still likes to believe that,” he says, amusement lining his voice.
My face burns.
“Why are you blushing?”
“What?”
I flick my head up and meet his eyes in the mirror lining the wall across from us.
A smile tugs at his lips.
“Are you frequently doing more than one client?” he asks, holding my eyes.
“No. It’s not my target clientele. My clients seek absolute control, not high-octane sex or sperm competition.”
“What about you? Do you like it?” he asks.
“I’m... Um... I don’t know. ”
“You didn’t mind Lex and me.”
“That’s different. There’s chemistry between the two of you. And you were comfortable with each other, and it was hot.”
“It’s even hotter when Ed joins us.”
“Are you testing me?”
“Mm-hmm,” he murmurs, amused.
“Am I supposed to deny that I fantasize about it?”
“I don’t know,” he says, smiling as if it’s a good joke. “It’s your choice, and you can do whatever you want. Besides, you’re getting paid for it,” he says.
His bluntness makes me cold.
“You don’t have a problem with that?” I ask.
His eyes go dark briefly.
“If I had a problem with that, I’d also have a problem with every man who’d touched you after me,” he says, his voice suddenly hoarse. “And I can’t do that, can I?”
“There weren’t that many...”
A twisted smile creases his lips.
“Regardless… Things that slip away from us are usually gone for good. We can’t bring them back, no more than we can bring back time. We only have memories of them. You and I meet again––in strange circumstances if you ask me, but that’s life. And life is what it is. I’m not gonna sit down and cry. I’m not a fool who thinks he has the power to change things. That’s not me. I go with whatever life throws at me. It’s easier that way.”
His lips curl into a soft smile.
“I think I’ve told you that already,” he murmurs.
We share a few moments of silence, my mind drifting away.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“Nothing.”
Our eyes connect in the mirror.
“What’s the plan for the weekend?” I ask.
“Tomorrow, we go to the beach,” he says, no emotion in his voice.
* * *
RAIN
The next day.
“On an island?” I ask as we finish eating breakfast in our suite.
“Yes, a fucking island,” he says, bringing his coffee to his lips, smiling mysteriously.
“We’re flying over there?”
“We sure are.”
He pulls out his phone and glances at the screen.
“They’re ready, so we can pick them up.”
“Are we coming back?”
“No. I don’t think so. Your things will be taken to your place,” he says as staff members enter the apartment.
He rises to his feet.
I follow his example, wrestling with mixed feelings.
A strange restlessness grows in me, mainly because his new plan is unexpected–– most things coming from him are.
My chest feels heavy as I walk out of his place.
It’s not as if I’ve grown attached to the space itself, but spending the entire week with him has created many memories.
That thought puts cracks in my heart.
“Is everything okay?” he asks, studying me.
“Yes,” I murmur.
We saunter down the hallway before he knocks on Lex’s door.
Ed slides the door open, his eyes brimming with a smile.
He slants his gaze at me briefly before shifting his focus to James, who’s busy with his phone.
Lex joins us, his eyes lighting up with a smile as he catches sight of me.
“She’s afraid of flying,” James announces, giving Ed and Lex the green light to poke fun at me.
Lex curls his arm around my shoulders as we all head to the elevator.
“Don’t worry, baby. There’s no better way to go down than with the three of us.”
We all hit a wall of silence, and they exchange looks.
James smiles while Ed crushes his bottom lip between his teeth, and Lex averts his eyes.
The doors peel open, and we step into the elevator, none of us talking.
An hour later, we’re up in the air. Literally.
Flying a private jet, aside from having enough room to stretch my legs, takes the angst out of the entire experience.
As we near the most southern state, a fascinating view sprawls out in front of us.
Fluffy white clouds, bathed in golden light, roll across the clear sky, taking mesmerizing shapes.
Hours later, we sail to a tropical island that looks like paradise.
A pristine beach and palm trees surround the only house on the island, tentacles of greenery spreading inside the open space.
A warm breeze makes the vegetation rustle, and the water ripples in the pool around the house.
Dozens of torches and lit candles toss lights in the background, the day drawing to an end, a quiet evening rolling in.
A sweet floral scent wafts through the air.
The property has a luxury spa, a fitness center, and a gourmet kitchen operated by a private chef.
A staff of four caters to our needs.
Lex and Ed settle in their quarters as James and I enter a large bedroom.
The room opens to the ocean, a breathtaking view stretching out in front of us.
Stair steps lead to the pool, a footpath trailing farther away, ending at the beach.
A platform bed occupies the middle of the room.
“Do we have to go back?” I murmur to myself, not realizing that James is in the room, standing right behind me.
Turning around, I catch the ghost of a smile fluttering across his lips.
“Dinner at eight,” he says, spinning away, his eyes shifting to his phone.
Spellbound, I sit on the bed and look at the horizon, my eyes trained on the fine line separating the ocean from the sky.
Dialogue travels through the air. Soft voices. The staff, then James, Ed, and Lex. The sounds give me a sense of calm, peace, and safety.
“I’ll be in the gym,” James says minutes later.
I’m still chained to the bed.
“Okay.”
“Something wrong?”
I flick my eyes to him and shake my head, afraid to speak and give myself away.
Peeling off his T-shirt, he swaggers away. My eyes stay on him until he vanishes out of sight.
I finally snap out of my reverie and walk to the built-in closet. I open my travel bag and pull out my swimsuit.
Clad in my bikini, I climb the stairs and smoothly slide into the pool.
Crystal-clear water envelopes me as long, smooth strokes take me from one end of the pool to the other.
My body relaxes, and my mind quiets down.
It feels like pure bliss.
A few more moments pass, and I emerge from the pool and stride to the beach.
Fine sand coats my feet before I swim into the warm ocean.
Minutes later, I roll onto my back and stare at the starry sky. It’s magnificent.
Eventually, I swim back, bright lights shining around most of the estate except for our bedroom, where something catches my eye.
The glowing end of a cigarette flickers in the dark, bringing back an old memory.
The day Eve and I saw them for the first time.
We stood at the side of the road, watching their car drive by. The tinted window was rolled down, and Lex’s profile came into view first before James’ lit cigarette glowed in the dark.
He was watching me back then. Like now.
My heart races as I remember him that way.
Regrets and love that had been buried and–-I thought–– forgotten come back to me as well.
Wounded, my heart weeps, not at all empty of him.
By the time I walk onto the beach, the red light of his cigarette is long gone.
I walk up the stairs and step inside, the scent of smoke lingering in the air.
I peel off my swimsuit and slip into the bathroom.
The door closes behind me on its own.
Swiftly, I spin around.
Leaning against the door, arms crossed over his chest, he looks at me, his stare burning holes into my face.
My eyes dip to his torso. His skin glistens with sweat.
He must’ve worked out.
A few strands of hair slide over his eyes, and his sweatpants hang low on his hips.
Smiling, he beckons me to him.
His eyes drift slowly over me, creating pleasure across my skin.
“You’re mine for a few more hours,” he says, his words equally bringing me pain and pleasure.
I wind my arms around his neck, inhaling his unmistakable scent––a mix of testosterone, heat, smoke, and aftershave.
Pressing my lips against his chest, I lick the salty rivulets of sweat.
He props his head against the door, watching me with hooded eyes while I cover him in kisses.
“Rain...”
His fingers slide across my shoulders and then slip into my hair while my lips keep trailing down, my hands peeling off his pants.
His erection bounces up, meeting my palm.
My hand closes around his girth as my lips kiss every inch of hardness before I roll my tongue over his meat and lick his balls.
“Rain...” he murmurs.
I lick his hard length, stroking him with my hand before sweeping a bead of pre-cum from the tip.
He fills my mouth, hard and hot, turning me on like never before.
I indulge in that sensation for a few good moments before pulling up to my feet and curling my arms around his neck.
“Take me, baby,” I say quietly, locking his unfocused eyes.
He crushes my lips with a hard kiss, his tongue plunging into my mouth before dancing with mine, getting a taste of his arousal.
Groaning, he pivots and lifts me, slamming my back against the door.
My legs loop around his waist as he fills me up in one smooth thrust and draws still.
I squirm against his body, shallow breaths rocking my chest.
My center clenches, my lips flashing a wanton smile, my eyelids heavy, sliding over my eyes.
“This is good,” I murmur, drops of sweat dotting my chest.
His hand goes into my hair as he tilts my head back, searing me with his smoldering gaze.
A lustful smile tugs at my lips as I feel him hard and tense and hotter by the second.
His breaths fan over my face as he rams his hardness into me, breaking my body against his, making me come.