18. Aus
AUS
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Thea is in a teeny-tiny robe that barely covers the top of her thighs. Her boobs are spilling out of it, and her mouth opens slightly as she realizes I’m standing at her bedroom door.
“I… I was just going to ask for your code. To get into your Rainbow Unlimited account,” I say.
Rainbow Unlimited is the new streaming service everyone is subscribing to these days. True to their name, they have programming for everyone. Black or white, straight or gay, male or female. It’s catered to everyone.
To discourage password sharing, though, they require that a four-digit code be sent to the subscriber’s phone every time you log in.
“I swear to God I wasn’t just standing at your door,” I continue after a pause. “I mean I was, but I… I wasn’t listening in or anything.”
She blinks several times. “Of course not.”
Her eyes wander south.
Fuck it all. I’m hard as a rock.
And she can see it.
She swallows. “My phone’s out in the kitchen. I need to text my coworker anyway and…um…let her know you’re coming with me to the gala tonight.”
I nod slowly. “Right.”
“I’ll give you the code too.”
“Okay.”
I get out of her way, and she crosses over to the kitchen, grabs her phone, and quickly drafts a message. The whoosh from the phone as the message gets sent is the only sound echoing through the kitchen besides our breathing.
All I want right now is to rip that robe off her.
I bet she’s so tight.
And her tits? God, I could get lost in them.
I already knew they were big. Her dress last night was extremely flattering. But seeing them nearly exposed in this robe… They’re even bigger than I thought.
Fuck. Me.
She’s gorgeous.
She has to get ready, though.
But she said she could be late.
She’s not moving.
I lean in ninety percent of the way. If she wants to kiss me back, she’s going to have to move forward the other ten percent.
She bites her lip again and it drives me nearly insane.
But I stay close.
Let her come to me.
And her eyelids flutter shut as she brings her lips to mine.
This isn’t our first kiss. But it’s the first kiss that will lead to something more.
I open my mouth, and she glides her tongue across my teeth. I wrap my arms around Thea’s waist and squeeze her body to mine. I grind my rock-hard cock into her soft abdomen.
And then she does something unexpected.
She reaches down, grabs my dick through my jeans, fiddles with my zipper.
Fuck.
It feels incredible.
Lots of women have fondled my cock, but with Thea it’s different. It’s… It’s so damned hot.
There’s no other way to put it.
Since she initiated it, I have no qualms as I untie the loose knot on the front of her robe, drop the shoulders down to expose her beautiful, creamy breasts.
And my God, they’re more magnificent than I expected.
Perfect with dark-pink nipples. Big, but not too big. More than a handful. But I’m going to try anyway.
I grip one of her breasts in each of my hands and tweak her nipples. She lets out a soft moan and pulls her head back, all the while still massaging my cock.
The robe slips off the rest of her body and puddles to the floor. Thea Storm now stands completely naked across from me, and… Jesus, is she ravishing.
Her legs are long and slender, her stomach taut and athletic. Her pussy shaved.
Thea is a feast for the eyes. And I can’t wait to dig in.
So I won’t wait. I drop to my knees and dip a finger in.
“Fuck, Aus,” she whimpers.
I grab her legs and dive face-first into her heat. I home in on her clit and suck on it hard. Her entire body shakes.
“Aus, I’m going to… I’m going to…”
She lets out a scream as I pull an orgasm out of her. All that does is make me go at her harder. A beautiful woman like Thea deserves a whole night of passion, not just a stolen moment.
She begins to tremor again as she reaches the apex a second time. And then a third.
All in the span of maybe ninety seconds.
Thea is sensitive. Or I just know what I’m doing.
A little of both.
I’ve always been a people pleaser, and I want to give Thea as many orgasms as I can muster.
“Aus… Let me…” She draws in a breath. “Let me do you.”
Don’t have to ask me twice.
I lean back, wipe my chin, and look up at her with a big grin. “Sure I can’t make you come a few more times?”
“I didn’t say that.” She extends both her hands. “But I want to see what you look like under your clothes as well.”
“As my lady wishes.” I’m about to give her my hands so she can help me up when I notice a long jagged scar on her left thigh. Looks like it’s from a lawnmower blade or something. It doesn’t look like it was stitched up, either. I run my fingers up her thigh. “What happened here?”
She blinks a few times, stumbles back slightly. “Oh. Just an old accident.”
“Car accident?”
“Sort of.” She picks her robe off the floor, wraps it back around her body. “I don’t really feel like talking about it right now.”
“But wait, weren’t you going to…?” My hand wanders absently to my crotch.
“I’d love to, Aus, I honestly would, but…” She glances at a mirrored clock across the hall. “Crap. We don’t have time. I have to get into the shower. Maybe we can pick up where we left off after the gala?”
Damn it all. I shouldn’t have said anything about her scar. That broke the spell, turned everything back into a fucking pumpkin.
She closed herself off when I asked about the scar. There’s a story there she doesn’t like reliving.
I’ll tread more carefully now.
I wasn’t thinking.
And now my balls are going to be bluer than Papa Smurf’s.
She said we’ll pick up where we left off when we get back. I’ll take her at her word.
It’s been over a year since I last had sex with someone other than my hand. I haven’t had a minute to myself since Bianca Montrose handed me the reins of the Jade Sanctum. I’ve watched night after night as Wick took attractive girls home and then always returned to my own bed alone.
Maybe that’s why I can’t stand the fucker. He’s getting a hell of a lot more action than I am.
But hey, I just got a little something with Thea. More than he did, if what she told me is true.
So there’s a silver lining.
It’s not too long before Thea steps out of her bedroom dressed in an elegant midnight-blue evening gown. It’s lined with sequins that perfectly catch the light of the setting sun. She’s styled her hair into a simple updo.
Fuck, she’s beautiful.
Not pretty, not cute.
Beautiful.
She lifts an eyebrow, the shadow of a grin dancing across her lips. “If you want to pick your jaw up off the floor, we’d better get moving.”
I open the door to her apartment and lead her back to my car.
We stop in Uptown quickly and pick up a rental tux at Hathaway Haberdashery.
Maddox isn’t there. I guess he’s in New Haven this week, working on a degree to fulfill some requirement to access a trust left to him by his father, but his fiancée, a charming young lady with a British accent, is there.
“Aus Waverly? Is that you?” she asks as we walk in.
“Hi, Alissa.” I gesture toward Thea. “This is Thea Storm.”
Alissa widens her eyes. “Thea Storm? From the news?”
Thea nods. “The one and only.”
“What a pleasure. I’m Alissa Maravilla. My boyfriend—sorry, fiancé—owns the shop. I hope this isn’t a tactless thing to say, but you’re even more beautiful in person than you are on the television.”
Thea blushes. “You’re very kind.”
“And that dress is exquisite.” Alissa looks back to me. “You must be on your way to a glamorous function.”
I nod. “Kind of a last-minute thing for me, at least. Thea’s bringing me to a charity gala as her plus-one.”
Alissa grins. “So you need a rental.”
“Yeah. And quickly, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Of course it isn’t. Not for you.” Alissa pulls out a tape and takes a few quick measurements, writing them down on a little pad.
“You’re in luck. We have something that’ll fit you pretty well.
We won’t even have to pin it. You and Maddox are about the same size, come to think of it.
” She disappears into a backroom and returns with a sleek tuxedo along with a pleated shirt and a few options for ties.
“I figured you’d like a dark-blue accent to match your date for the evening. ”
I look over the neckwear options. One is solid, one is checked, and the other— “I’ll take this one,” I say, picking up a bow tie in a gingham pattern. “Do you have a vest or something that goes with it?”
“We do.” Alissa gestures toward the back of the shop. “You can change in one of our fitting rooms. I’ll bring the vest over to complete the look.”
I duck behind a dark curtain and strip my clothes off. I wish Thea would join me back here so I could plow her like a fucking field, but she won’t do that with Alissa and God knows who else in the shop.
Thea has me in a perpetual state of arousal.
It would annoy me if I didn’t find her so fascinating.
“It’s me!” Alissa squeaks from the other side of the curtain. “I’ll just hang the vest on a hook out here. Once you have your shirt on, you can grab it to complete the look.”
“Thanks,” I grunt as I stick my legs into the pants. I quickly put on the rest of the tux, including the vest, and look myself over in the mirror. I look pretty damned good, I won’t lie. Not nearly as attractive as Thea, but I’ll be presentable as her date.
I walk out of the fitting area and Thea drops her jaw. “Holy shit, Aus. You look fantastic.”
“Doesn’t he?” Alissa says.
“Thanks.” I walk over to the register. “How much to rent it for the night? I’ll bring it back tomorrow morning.”
Alissa shakes her head. “No charge at all, Aus. Not after all the help you gave me and Maddox.”
“The help?” Thea asks.
“It was hardly help,” I say. “I was just giving out information to your friends.”
“Information that resulted in Maddox’s and my lives being saved,” Alissa says. “So I’m calling an audible on this. No charge to you for the rental. Just return it in the same condition you found it and we’ll be square.”
Thea furrows her brow. “I’m sorry, you saved her life?”
“She’s exaggerating,” I say. “It’s a long story. I’ll give you the whole lowdown later. It’s a doozy.”
“That’s certainly one way of putting it.” Alissa chuckles, turning to Thea. “Suffice it to say, I’m getting married in three weeks. Without Aus here, that wouldn’t be the case.” She gestures toward me. “But trust me when I say this is a good man, Thea. You couldn’t do any better than Aus Waverly.”
“I’m beginning to see that.” Thea smiles warmly. She turns to me. “You look like a million bucks. Shall we?”
“Of course.” I offer her my arm.
“Ta-ta!” Alissa calls out behind us. “Make lots of wonderful memories!”
I look into Thea Storm’s beautiful brown eyes. “We will.”
Wrigley Manor’s ballroom is decorated in dark purple and champagne.
Since this is an animal rescue charity, a small petting zoo has been set up in the corner with baby animals that you can take a picture with.
We made a beeline for the photos, of course.
Thea took one with a baby bear, and I took one with a baby tiger.
Easily the most badass picture of myself I’ll ever have.
It would be perfect for social media if I had any profiles.
After the baby animals, Thea leads me over to the table ChicagO2 news purchased for the night.
I meet a slew of people I half-recognize from the news, including the head anchor Micaela Fields—Thea warned me on the way that she’s a fake bitch, which is exactly the impression I got when I met her—along with her husband Michael.
She then introduced Tip Sanderson—the co-anchor—and his partner, Daniel.
Then Cal Dahmer, who covers sports. Cal, like Thea, apparently brought a last-minute date.
She, like me, will have to head out early.
That is if she shows up at all. An empty chair sits to Cal’s right.
“She probably isn’t real,” Thea whispers in my ear. “Cal’s a player with a new girl every week. Word might have gotten out about him.”
I suppress a chuckle as I check my watch.
I have about an hour until I’ll have to excuse myself and head over to Jade to prep for the evening, but I can at least enjoy the first course or two at dinner.
I sit down next to Thea and dig into the salad—a tasty raspberry vinaigrette over a bed of mixed greens and spinach finished off with a smattering of pine nuts.
Micaela drones on about her upcoming vacation to Tokyo with her husband and daughters.
Thea tosses me several well-placed eye rolls.
The waitstaff collect the plates to clear the way for the meat course—filet mignon, which I’m looking extremely forward to—and the rest of the people at the table get up to dance before the next course is served.
Cal’s date still hasn’t showed. I can’t help but wonder if she stood him up the same way that Twistr asshole stood Thea up. I turn to Thea—
Just as a cop taps her on the shoulder.
What? Behind her are two more officers.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” the cop says. “Are you Dorothea Storm?”
Thea scrunches her forehead. “Uh…yes.”
The cop nods curtly. “I’m Officer Mona King with the Chicago PD. Can you please follow me to a private room? We need to ask you a few questions in connection to a possible homicide.”