Chapter 6 #3
Slowly, he began soaping her shoulders, digging his thumbs into the sore muscles.
A moan rose from her lips. His hands were slippery with bubbles as he worked on the tendons in her neck and moved downward—the line of her spine, her upper arms, and slid around to cup her breasts.
He played with the soft mounds, cupping bubbles and allowing them to float through the air, grazing the tips of her breasts like a wet, dainty kiss.
He washed every part of her, lingered on every curve with a tenderness that made tears sting against her lids.
Her eyes closed with dreamy pleasure as she gave him her body, the gift he had asked for.
If only he knew her body hadn’t been the only gift she entrusted to him.
She had given her heart.
Long, supple fingers slid around her hips and lingered over the full curve of her buttocks. Her cheeks tightened in anticipation as she felt him gently explore the cleft, parting her labia and softly touching her. Hailey floated; muscles melted like warm, sticky honey, helpless under his spell.
“Phantom, what are you doing to me?” she asked in wonder, eyes shut as she drank in every sensation.
The bubbles teased her taut-tipped breasts and sloshed over her quickening muscles.
Her cleft felt swollen, and the warm water mixed with her own juices until her thighs floated open and her sex was exposed to his gaze.
“God, you’re stunning,” he muttered. His fingers clenched into the full cheeks. “I just want to look at you.” He drew her knees up so she lay open to him. “I want to take you again. I can’t get enough of you, Hailey.”
“I want you again, too,” she whispered. “I want you to take me every way possible. I want to belong to you completely.”
“You already do.” He seemed surprised the words slipped out. “Don’t you?”
“Yes.”
She arched back. Her pussy was open and exposed to his hot gaze. “I have to taste you. Get on your knees and hold on to the edge of the tub.”
She moved. Her fingers gripped the cold, white marble as she knelt on her knees. Her flesh quivered as the cool air rushed over her flesh. She felt his hard hands part her legs and urge her forward so her buttocks rose in the air, awaiting his next move.
Hailey felt his gaze on the curve of her buttocks; the hot pink of her cleft. He leaned over her and blew gently, and she jerked back in response, a half moan caught on her lips.
He lowered his head, and his teeth bit into her firm cheeks, testing her.
He moved inward, squeezing, cupping, while his tongue snaked out to take quick, sharp licks.
She wiggled helplessly against him but he only laughed and drew out the anticipation.
The tip of his tongue slid into her pussy and licked with slow strokes.
Her swollen flesh became sensitive to every stroke, and then he flicked his tongue against her over and over with hard, quick motions.
Hailey cried out, but he still held back.
His fingers pushed the firm globes of her flesh apart so he tasted all of her.
His hot tongue teased her throbbing clit again, and again, until…
She came hard, pushing back with a cry. He grabbed her hips, dragged her up, and thrust inside her..
Heat.
Fullness.
Possession.
The convulsions seized her body and ripped through her. Caught in a whirlwind, she was helpless to do anything but ride out the wild wave of pleasure.
He fucked her with a savagery that claimed her as his.
She took every inch of him, pussy tight and hot as he pushed even deeper, and she met him all the way, her body arched like a bow, quickening in response to his fierce thrusts.
Water slapped over the tub in gentle waves.
Bubbles floated through the air. And then her orgasm took hold like a savage fist that scooped her up and hurtled her toward the stars.
This time when he held her, Hailey didn’t allow herself to think of tomorrow. She lay her head on his damp, muscled chest, spent for now, and wrapped her arms around him. His heart pounded in a steady rhythm against her ear.
The clock ticked. She roused herself enough to speak, still greedy to learn everything she could about the man in her arms. “What were you like as a boy, Phantom?”
“More secrets?”
Hailey smiled against him as she heard the teasing note in his voice. “I want to know a little bit about you. As a man, you certainly know how to give a woman pleasure. Tell me about the boy.”
He was silent for a few moments, but she waited, sensing he was ready to open up.
“I grew up very poor,” he said. “My father ran out on my mother when I was seven. He found a local girl with no complications and they took off. That was the last time I heard from him. I was almost glad to see him go. Even at seven, I remember him yelling at my mother, hitting me occasionally. Telling me I was useless.”
She kept her voice low and soothing, even though her heart squeezed in pain. “What did your mother do to support you?”
“Waitressed. Cleaned up after people in hotels. Anything to keep food on the table. I helped as much as I could, but it was years before I could earn any decent money.”
She felt the coldness within him envelop the man who had shared the last three nights with her; the man who had laughed and teased and held her close. She held him tighter as if her body warmth could ward off the chill. “What did you like as a boy?”
“Things I could fix. Things I could control. Math, science, cars, computers.”
“What business did you decide to embark on?
“Computers. One of my mother’s boyfriends was decent to her, and loved to fool around on a laptop. He taught me a few things and something clicked.”
“What?”
“I could finally control something. A computer has no emotions, and does what it’s told.
I decided I would learn everything. Coding.
Hacking. Anything that can be done was a challenge for me.
” He shifted in the water and his hand played with the wet strands of her hair.
“Eventually, I found a job at a computer firm and worked my way up. Just like you, I took my opportunity and made the most of it.”
“Do you ever think about your father?”
“No.”
She picked up her head and gazed into his eyes. The gleaming white mask covered half of his face, but the burning light in his eyes confirmed he was a liar. Hailey stroked his hard cheek, traced the full line of his lower lip, then cradled his jaw. Tenderness bloomed within her.
“I was invited to the senior prom when I was eighteen,” she said.
“I had never been asked to a dance before, so I was beyond excitement. I spent hours looking through magazines for a dress, talking to my friends about which party we’d attend.
When I told my parents I was invited, they refused to let me go.
” She paused, wrestling with the memories.
“They informed me most teenagers lose their virginity during prom. I was better than that. I would not barter my body for a chance at a solid, successful future. So, I called my date and told him I got sick. I watched out my window as the limos pulled out of the driveways with kids dressed in gowns and tuxedos. And I hated them. I wished I could just be a normal teen-ager and kiss a boy for the first time on the night of prom. I was so tired of trying to be good, of trying to follow my parents’ rules.
I actually had a rebellion that night and screamed.
Told them how much I hated them and their stupid restrictions.
I went to sleep that night and wished they were dead.
” She took a deep breath and angled her head so he could see her face.
“Years later they died. I was finally free. I turned my back on the past and vowed to never think about them again. I wanted to build a new life for myself.”
“So, you won.”
“Ask me, Phantom. Ask me if I think about them anymore.”
“Do you?”
“Every day.”
Understanding took hold and blossomed. The chill eased, and Hailey lowered her mouth and kissed him. Her tongue slipped inside to give and share and receive. He tasted of brandy and smoke and male hunger. He tasted of her essence. And she knew in that moment she loved him.
Hailey broke off the kiss as the realization shook her in a storm of fear. Their gazes locked, and then the ringing of the bell in the distance cut through the air, and the moment was gone.
Slowly, Hailey eased away from him. God, she didn’t want to leave.
* * *
Slowly, Theo eased away from her. God, he didn’t want to leave.
“Phantom?”
“Yes?”
“Besides computers, what did you really love when you were little? What made you happy?”
He studied her face. Damned if she didn’t know how to reach into a man’s chest and rip his heart out. With that simple question, instead of focusing on the rage and pain of his childhood, he remembered something he thought he’d forgotten. A smile played about his lips as the memory took hold.
“Roses.” He shook his head, almost embarrassed.
“We had this neighbor who used to garden. She had fruits, vegetables, herbs. And flowers, incredible rose bushes in red and pink and yellow. She was nice to me. When my mother was entertaining her boyfriends, she would invite me to her house and fix me peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and I would stare out at the roses.”
His vision blurred as vivid colors and fragrances danced before him. When his gaze re-focused, he realized she had given him a precious gift.
His one good memory.
She smiled, then leaned over to kiss him good-bye.
“Until tomorrow,” she whispered.
She rose from the tub and shut the door behind her.
Theodore sat in the cooled water for a long time after she had gone and thought about her smile. Thought about tomorrow.
Their final night.