Chapter 19 – Apparently I’m a Voyeur
Saturday – September 30, 2023
Ash
I opened my mouth and closed it again. There was a lot to unpack there. But first... “It was Nigel who double crossed you?!”
“That’s why I’ve tried to kill him so many times.”
I wasn’t aware of that. How many times had Tanner tried to murder Nigel exactly? I shook my head. It wasn’t important. Clearly it hadn’t worked. And damn, Nigel. He deserved to have attempted murders thrown at him. Tanner was in this mess because of him. Well, partly. It was also Tanner’s own actions. I was glad he hadn’t married Princess Karima though. That girl was a total bitch.
“I hated Nigel for years,” said Tanner. “But I’ve gotten over it. Although he sometimes takes that bit in the command about annoying me instead too seriously for my liking.”
I think Nigel liked to do that to everyone he met.
“We’re friends now, of course. It’s hard not to be when everyone else around us...leaves.”
I pressed my lips together. I hated how sad he sounded.
“But Nigel has made it up to me over the years.”
“What about Sapphire? Did you make your way back to her?” Seeing Tanner’s memories was painful. He loved Sapphire. Truly. So no wonder he believed in there being more than one true love match for someone. He had to. Or else he’d never experience it again.
“No, I didn’t. I was stuck in Louis XIV’s court for a few years, but he threw me out after I told him that he didn’t have true love with his newest lover. I had to flee to the new world.”
He sat back down on the couch. “I had the misfortune of Blackbeard learning I was a genie. He was a terrible master. And then I ended up being a slave in Haiti.”
Huh. Plot twist.
“I made a deal with a plantation owner where I would use magic to harvest all the sugar if he agreed to free all his slaves.”
I already knew that Tanner was on the right side of the civil war. But this made me even more certain that he was a good lad.
“Meanwhile Nigel was the plantation owner’s butler. Then we spent some time in New Orleans. But I was run out of town by a voodoo witch. I spent the 1740s being passed around by Indian medicine men...”
“Like a sex thing?”
Tanner laughed. “No. Not a sex thing. They had me do magic for them.”
Makes sense.
“Nigel followed me every step of the way, wrestling bears in the wilderness and doing whatever it took to survive. Until eventually he was able to free me from the Indians. That was the first time I was grateful for his company. ”
Nigel was oddly strong, but it was still strange to picture such a small man wrestling a bear.
“Then we made our way to Quebec and became fur traders with the French, which in 1765 finally gave me the opportunity to go back to Morocco with the Larache Expedition. But by that time, Sapphire was long since dead.” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
I pictured the scene I’d just seen in my head. “Wait.” I stared at Tanner. “Are you a virgin?”
“Technically yes.”
Holy shit. Tanner acted like the most experienced person I knew. With his sex clubs. And the nonchalant way he talked about sex. And the things he could do to me with his tongue...
But he’d never experienced sex himself.
The horrors.
I needed to free this man immediately.
But first... “I’m sorry about Sapphire. And that you lost your truest love.” I couldn’t help it. I was jealous. I’d felt Tanner’s emotions in that scene like I’d lived them myself. I’d been totally engrossed. I hadn’t even touched his wiener once. Although getting blown had felt amazing... He’d loved her. And he’d lost her.
Tanner raised his eyebrow. “My truest love? Ash.” He shook his head and grabbed my hand. “I’m not going to lie to you. I loved her. I think a piece of me will always love her.”
I nodded.
“But I was so young back then. I didn’t know what I really wanted. Hell, I barely knew myself. I’ve had over 300 years to learn from my mistakes. To figure out who I am and what I want. And what I want is you. You’re my truest love.”
“I think it’s just the red hair thing,” I said with an awkward laugh. I wasn’t sure why I was trying to deflect what he was saying. I loved everything he’d just said. But what I was about to have to do...with other guys... It was so fucking awkward. It was already tearing me up inside.
“It’s not just the hair. Which, yes, I do love. But it’s so much more than that. You make me laugh. Even though you’re not as old as me, you feel like a kindred spirit.”
“I’ve often compared myself to having the ligaments of an old man.”
Tanner laughed. “You’re an old soul. Like me. You’re weird and wonderful. And unique. I’ve never met anyone like you. It’s not the red hair that makes you rare. It’s your spirit.”
“Speaking of spirits...what’s your spirit animal? I think I’m a panda. Because I like to sit and eat. Quite the opposite of a starving harem girl. I broke a dress once. It practically exploded when I pulled it on. Just like a panda in a dress.” Gah! Why was I making this weird?! He was being so incredibly sweet and I was comparing myself to the world’s laziest animal.
“I love your curves.”
“I knew you were into pet play.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Ash. I love you . For you. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss against my lips. “I love you,” he said again and kissed the side of my jaw. “I love you.” He placed a hard kiss against the side of my neck and I moaned. “You are the rarest of treasures.” He sucked on the side of my neck, marking me. “My hidden gem.”
Fuck. I pushed on his chest to stop him. “I need to find true love a second time before I explode.”
He smiled. “Know a good place to start? Because as good as I am at making matches, it’s going to be incredibly hard to be the one at the helm for this.”
“Well...the sausage king asked me on a date. I could start there.”
His Adam’s apple rose and then fell. “Okay. Do it.” It looked like it pained him to say the words out loud.
“So if I hook up with him...you’ll...you’ll watch?”
He leaned forward, pressing my back against the couch cushion. “Yes.” His breath was hot in my ear as his fingers traced up the inside of my thigh. “Tell me... What did you feel when you were watching Sapphire suck my cock in my memory?”
My breath caught as he pressed the base of his palm against the front of my sweatpants.
“Did you wish it was your lips, baby?” He lightly bit the side of my neck.
I moaned.
He slipped his hand beneath my sweatpants, skating his fingers across the front of my thong.
I moaned again.
“Did you like seeing me grip her hair? Making my cock slide to the back of her throat?” He slipped a finger beneath my thong and groaned. “Baby, you loved every second of it. You’re so wet for me.”
My back hitched as he slid his finger inside of me .
“You like watching as much as I do, don’t you?” He swirled his finger inside of me. “I knew you were kinky the first time I saw you stalking me.”
“You were stalking me,” I moaned.
“If you say so. But don’t deny that you like watching. You wanted to be the one I was pushing to her knees, didn’t you? You wanted to be the one choking on my cock?”
God, yes. I’d gotten to touch his cock. But I was desperate to taste it. I wanted to be Sapphire in that memory. I wanted to experience every inch of him.
“So here’s what’s going to happen.” He slid his finger out of me, grabbed both sides of my sweatpants and thong and pulled them down my thighs. “You’re going to go on that date.” He placed a soft kiss on my stomach. “And you’re going to let him fuck you.” He left a trail of kisses down my stomach and his tongue slowly circled my clit.
“Tanner.” I buried my fingers in his hair.
“He’s going to bend you over. And while his fingers dig into your hips, you’re going to pretend that it’s me behind you.” Tanner thrust his tongue inside of me.
I could already picture everything he was saying. The sausage king slamming into me from behind as Tanner watched. Tanner’s name on my lips. I imagined myself leaning forward and taking Tanner’s cock in my mouth as the sausage king fucked me from behind. Just like Sapphire had been doing between the sultan and Tanner.
I could already feel myself getting close to release .
Tanner thrust his tongue deeper, like he was loving every second of this scene that hadn’t happened yet. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t loving it too.
Maybe everything was going to work out. Because it actually seemed like Tanner wasn’t going to mind watching me with other men. And as long as he was watching, I think I was going to love every second.