Chapter Nine Oliver
Bright morning light snakes around the edges of the blackout shades on the bedroom windows. I turn to my side so I'm facing Sienna. A smile creases her face, and her eyes open slowly. Emotion swells in the back of my throat. She’s so damn beautiful.
Looking at her is phenomenal. But that’s not where her awe-inspiring beauty lies. It’s in her playfulness and confidence. I’m a lucky man to have her as my first. I wouldn’t have wanted to lose my virginity any other way.
If only I’d met Sienna sooner.
Before she was an escort?
Yes.
To save her from herself?
But she doesn’t need saving. She’s perfect.
Then it doesn’t matter that she slept with men for money?
It does. It’s illegal. It’s vice.
“Good morning,” she says.
I push the looping conversation to the back of my mind. “Good morning.” I pull strands of hair from her face. They’re still damp from our midnight shower. “Another revelation.”
She gives me a questioning look.
“You’re gorgeous in the morning.”
“Hmm. I could say the same about you.” She runs a hand up my chest to my shoulder and gives me a sensual tongue-rolling kiss that sends all my blood to my dick. “Any other revelations?”
I’ve got so many I’m ashamed to tell her.
I love the way her hair feels against my skin.
I love the way her ass curves against my abs when we spoon.
I love how she woke in the middle of the night and told me she wanted me.
I love that she wanted me. I love that she squirted for me when I went down on her.
I love that I lost my virginity on a slab of stone from South Dakota.
I love that I feel free around her to be myself. So damn corny and so true. “I’m ready to make love to you again.”
“There’s something I’ve been thinking about,” she says.
Excitement ripples through me. Another revelation. She’s got the best ideas in the world, and I’m up for every one of them. “Yeah?”
“I want blueberry pancakes for breakfast.”
“Okay. The marina will make those.”
“But before breakfast, I want to suck your dick.”
“Ah, Sienna. Are you sure?”
She lifts the duvet and crawls under. Every brush of her skin against mine heightens the excitement.
“Have you ever had anyone suck your dick?”
“Nope.”
“Good. I want to be your first.” She presses my dick between her soft breasts.
I moan. “That feels…. That’s incredible.”
My dick is surrounded by her skin. It’s dirty and sweet. Beads of pre-come drip from my tip. She releases me from her breasts and slides down my body. Will she let me make love to her breasts one day?
She would.
Will I survive without her?
Probably not.
Her mouth is a magic place. Her tongue finds every part of me like she’s seeking out treasures in my crevices.
Never have I been treated this well. Her mouth reminds me of the slickness of her pussy, but it’s wetter, looser.
There’s a sequence to this kind of fucking, and it's meant to be a surprise. She's calling the shots.
Intense, dreamy sensations fill me. My balls tingle on her lips. She takes my head in her mouth, and those dreamy sensations turn feral.
My balls rise in a head-spinning demand for release as she sucks me to the back of her throat. “What should I do, Sienna? Where do I come?”
She holds my shaft in her hand as she eases away. “Put your hands on my head and take me as hard as you want.”
The invitation pushes me to the brink. “I don’t know if I can hang on.”
She grabs my hand and sticks it on her head. I weave both hands through her beautiful hair to her scalp and hold her to my dick. Like she told me, I thrust into her mouth, but not as hard as I want. She’s too precious for the brunt of that force.
Still, I thrust powerfully and deep. The release takes the life out of me and shoots down her throat.
How I love this woman.
It’s not a revelation. I think I’ve loved her forever.
She lies beside me. “How was that first?”
“Like everything else we’ve done, it’s definitely something I want to repeat.”
She places her hand on my chest, the way I like, and we drift back to sleep.
“Stay here. I’ll get the concierge,” Sienna says when the marina concierge texts to tell me they’re at the door for our blueberry pancake breakfast dishes.
I hate her doing anything for me. I’m also happy to stay in front of the TV to check the baseball scores. If we won and the second-place team lost, we’ll be up four games, which is golden at this point in the season.
A high-pitched sound turns my blood cold. Sienna. I jump off the couch and race to the kitchen.
The concierge server calmly places the dishes in a basket.
Sienna stares at her phone, her expression one of shock.
I’m horrified at myself. I let her answer the door. I should’ve done it. I’m the protection. Why did I slip up?
I forgot I was the protection. Sex with Sienna made me forget who I am.
“They know,” she says, still staring at the phone.
“I’m going now,” the concierge says.
I need to secure the door. That’s my job. Not consoling Sienna. “I’ll be right back,” I say and follow the concierge.
With the door secure, I return to the kitchen. Sienna leans against the counter. Her expression is pained.
I hug her to my side. “What’s going on?”
“Mom called an hour ago. She needs to talk. She got a letter from Blake. He told her everything about my years as an escort. She sounds very upset." A tear falls down Sienna's cheek. "Mom can be very mean.”
The way Sienna says it, I don’t doubt it.
“Now, she’s finally got a reason to hate me. She’s never really liked me. She’s one of those parents who do the bare minimum and think she’s being generous because deep down inside, she doesn't like me for reasons she can’t articulate.”
Sienna looks at me grimly. “That’s what being a therapist taught me.
If Mom went to therapy and put in the work, she could’ve gotten over whatever barrier she had when it came to me, but she was never interested.
She had two sons she loved. What need did she have for a daughter who was shy and sad? ”
I can’t imagine Sienna being shy and sad. But she’s also done the therapeutic work on herself. “There’s no reason she shouldn't love you. Maybe she’ll come around. Hearing that someone you care for felt it was necessary to sell her body is pretty upsetting.”
All warmth leaves Sienna’s eyes. “Are you judging me? Are you saying I was wrong to live my life the way I wanted? It wasn't my first choice after college, but I’ve always been interested in sexual health. And sex and relationships and intimacy. I got into escorting because I needed the work and I was interested in the work. I’ve always been very careful, too.
There are a lot of precautions escorts are supposed to take, and I took them all. I wasn’t careless or foolish.”
“What you did was illegal.”
She moves her jaw like she’s chewing on a blistering retort. “I’m not a fucking idiot, Oliver.” Without a glance in my direction, she goes into the spare bedroom and shuts the door behind her.
Fuck, that blistered.
The sound of the spare bedroom door opening breaks the incessant thoughts I can’t stop. Sienna was an escort. She’s not an escort now. What right do I have to judge her? How could she have knowingly broken the law for years? Is this a law worth breaking?
Part of me doesn’t want to face her. I’m scared of that part, because that part’s not doing his job. He’s not protecting her. I turn from the window overlooking the bay.
She stays on the other side of the room.
“Darcy is going to text you. She didn’t pick up any fingerprints from the knife Blake left at the Mangroves house.
We’re going to the Never Give Up On The Sea Turtles fundraiser at Bluefin Marina tonight.
She’s going to have someone tip off Blake that I’ll be there.
We’re expecting him to try something. Hopefully this is the end. ”
“I don’t like you putting yourself out there as bait.”
“You’re a professional. You can handle it.” She turns, then stops. “You’re my date. We’re going there as a couple.”
“Of course.” Pain hits me square in the chest. What have I done?
I love her, and I hurt her.
The spare bedroom door shuts behind her as my phone vibrates with a text from Darcy.
Darcy meets us in the Bluefin Marina lobby. Sienna didn't say a word as we drove over. Just sat there looking gorgeous in the silky, V-neck cream color dress Darcy sent over to my place earlier this afternoon.
Sienna and Darcy hug and the hollow that started growing in my chest this afternoon gets deeper and emptier. Will I ever touch Sienna again?
We walk into the marina ballroom together. I glance around. No sign of Blake.
“I’m going to do a perimeter check and go through the bar stations,” Darcy says.
“Good call." Blake’s alcoholism has him at Sandbar & Sips every day at noon for a boozy lunch.
Darcy had one of the bartenders tell Blake about the fundraiser and how everyone from Sunbreak Security would be there.
Then the bartender gave Blake one of the extra tickets he happened to have thanks to Darcy.
I put my hand on the small of Sienna’s back. It's time to get to work. We're supposed to be acting like a couple, and that means doing all that lovey-dovey stuff. She stiffens, then relaxes against me like she's remembered it's her job.
We take glasses of champagne to a table with a decent view of the room. I ask Sienna if she's seen any good movies lately because we need to get some conversation going to keep up the dating facade.
She answers with a smile that's flirtatious and warm and everything I wish she genuinely felt. I listen attentively like a good boyfriend and look at her lovingly, which is never going to be an act.
“He's here,” she says in the middle of movie talk.
“Where?”
“Your two o’clock.”
I find the red face with the dead eyes.
Sienna holds my gaze. “I'm going to go get a bit of fresh air.”
This is it. She’s going to be the bait. Darcy thinks this is the only way to resolve this situation quickly, and Sienna wants it resolved as quickly as possible, so she can get as far away from me as quickly as possible.
Per our plan, I stay at the table to keep tabs on Blake while Darcy follows Sienna.
Most likely scenario, Blake attempts an assault or abduction.
In neither scenario is he allowed to get away with it.
Blake hustles from the bar to the exit. I stand.
“Oliver,” Darcy calls over my earpiece. “I’ve lost Sienna.”
My heart races. “Blake just left the party. Did you see him?”
“He went out the back door toward the docks. Sienna went out the front. I’m out here now and she’s nowhere. Someone must’ve taken her right away.”
“He’s got help.”
“Fucking right he does.”
Sienna said he had money. He must’ve paid for help. She also said he did offshore powerboat racing. I sprint toward the docks, scanning for powerboats. Rustling on a pier at the far end catches my eye. I race toward it.
Three people are boarding a powerboat. One of them is Sienna in the cream-colored silk dress.
I go all out. My lungs strain. My feet don’t move fast enough. The engine revs. Blake must be at the wheel because whoever is helping him is pulling lines off the pilings.
“Ollie,” Sienna screams as I sprint down the pier. She called me Ollie.
Blake slings an arm around her waist and pulls her over to the cockpit, where he sure as hell is ready to race out of here.
His assistant has one more line to release, then there’s nothing stopping that speedboat from going out to harbor.
There’s no way I can let that happen.
I don’t know if Blake has a knife or a gun to Sienna. But I cannot allow him to take her out of the marina.
I pull out my Glock and plant my feet. I aim at the engine blocks and fire.