Determined: To Love: (Part 2 of the Determined Trilogy) (5 page)

“Okay, I’ll put on a windbreaker,” I said.

“Thank you,” he said, as he forced a smile. What he didn’t know was that I had planned to wear it anyway. Who goes running in just a sports bra in January?

~

Out on the street, we contemplated our route.

“Hills or flat?” I asked.

“Whatever you like. You know the routes better than I do.”

I nodded, and we took off jogging.

He kept pace with me pretty well, and even when I threw in a few hills, he barely broke a sweat.

“You’re in pretty good shape,” I said between breaths.

“You’re just realizing this now, Ms. Sharp?” he teased. Despite already being colored by my runner’s flush, I managed to blush. It was true; I knew he was in good shape. Better than good. The body that tormented me with pleasure every evening wasn’t the result of sitting on the couch playing video games. It was a finely tuned machine crafted from a combination of blessed genetics, diligent workouts and frequent sex. It was a body made for fucking, and it was mine. All mine.

I had a hard time refocusing on the run while I was aroused, so I decided to challenge us. I took a sharp left and charged up toward the top of Nob Hill. I stayed focused on my feet, and the road in front of me. Finally, at the top, I slowed and gasped for air. “This was a stupid idea.”

“We can stop if you are tired,” David said, as his gait slowed to a stop.

“That’s not what I meant.” I glanced over at him and our eyes met. The view of the city was probably incredible from our vantage point, but I couldn’t see anything but him. I stopped and walked in a circle on the sidewalk, not wanting to get a cramp.

“What do you mean, then, Samantha?” he said, standing still, his eyes blazing.

“You know what I mean.”

David turned to the street and threw up his arm. “Taxi!”

~

We made out in the back of the cab all the way to the apartment, hungrily exploring each other’s mouths, lost in the throes of carnal delight. Once we arrived, David threw a pile of bills at the driver, and we jumped out of the car. We practically ran for the elevator, and once the doors closed behind us, we fell back into each other’s arms as we shot up toward the sky.

Once the doors opened into the foyer, David wasted no time getting down to business. He yanked off his sweatshirt, revealing his firm golden torso. It had a fine sheen on it from the run. I felt my sex throb.

“Take off your jacket,” he growled.

“I thought you preferred me covered up?” I teased.

His eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. He took a step closer to me.

“Take it off or I will be forced to tear it off.” His voice was deep and animalistic. And it drove me wild.

I tried to concentrate, but my eyes couldn’t leave his. I fumbled with the zipper. He watched me as I struggled, torturing me with his heated gaze. Eventually, I tugged the jacket open, and let it fall to the floor.

No sooner had it pooled around my feet, did David bark another order. “Strip.”

I nodded and kept his stare as I pulled off my shoes one at a time. Then I moved to my clothing, slowly peeling it off of me, and adding it to the pile on the floor.

“Turn around,” he commanded. I turned away from him, both relieved and sad to be saved from the heat of his stare.

As I stood there, I could feel his eyes on me. Tracing my curves. It was so arousing, and I was soaking wet for him—my body hot and fully engaged, desperate for his touch.

He came up behind me, and I felt his hard length against me as he pushed me closer to the wall. He inhaled deeply and whispered in my ear. “You know it drives me crazy to think about you with other men, Samantha.”

I nodded, finally understanding. He wasn’t over our earlier conversation yet. I felt a sensation of power come over me.

He pressed his cock against my ass. “Do you see what you do to me, Samantha?” There was seriousness in his voice. “I’m going to show you that you’re mine. I’m going to fuck you hard. Harder than I ever have. Are you ready?”

I swallowed and nodded again. His carnal words combined with his controlled speech were incredibly erotic.

“Give me your hands.” He reached around me and brought my hands up above me and pressed them against the wall. He held them there with one hand, and used the other to massage my breasts.

“You are so beautiful, Samantha,” he said as he nipped my neck.

“Mmm,” was all I could manage. He twisted my nipples until they were firm and erect before moving his hands down to my hips, and he stayed there for a moment, caressing them, before dipping down to my sex. His fingers circled my nub, teasing me with the pressure. I tried to push myself against him, and he pulled back.

“Uh, uh baby. Not yet.”

I moaned in frustration. He teased me for a few more minutes, bringing me to the brink of orgasm and then back again. My whole body started to writhe for him. Then, he abandoned my sex and brought both his hands back to my hips. I knew what was coming. I felt the head of his cock near my entrance, and in one quick movement he was inside me. The fullness was pushing me, stretching me with pleasure. I kept my hands on the wall, bracing myself against the pounding of his hips. The different angle filled me in a whole new way. I felt a deep ache start to build deep inside me.

“Do you feel that, Samantha? Do you feel how hard my cock is for you?” He grunted as he entered me over and over, claiming me.

I let out a small moan as he hit the pleasure spot deep inside me.

“You don’t make those noises for anyone else, do you.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“No,” I replied, my voice quivering with pleasure.

“I own your orgasms, Samantha. I own your pleasure. No one else.”

“No one else,” I breathed in agreement. His confidence and need was a huge turn-on. I was close. My face scrunched up in anticipation for what was next.

“Come for me, Samantha.” He bellowed, and on cue, my trained body started convulsing, exploding into a mind numbing orgasm that ripped through me.

Before I could come down, he grabbed me by the hips and flipped me over, pinning me against the wall with the weight of his body. He entered me again, his cock still hard. He bucked against me, my sex still swollen and pulsing from the previous orgasm.

“Again,” he commanded. My body shivered with delight as I collapsed against the wall in a soft, pulsing orgasm. I groaned, and my body shivered with pleasure as he shot a warm, hot liquid into me.

“Fuck, Samantha,” he moaned as he finished inside me. “Your cunt is fucking phenomenal.”

“Thank you?”

“No, thank you, Ms. Sharp. You are truly exceptional. Don’t ever let me forget that.”

I smiled at him as he pulled himself off me and pulled up his pants.

I pulled my tights and sports bra back on as we both wound down from our high.

David rubbed his face and then spoke. “Well, dare I say, we’ve had enough exercise for today? How about something to eat?”

“You read my mind.”

~

We showered, and by the time we’d made our way to the kitchen, there was a spread of Greek takeout food waiting for us. I glanced around nervously, wondering if Hilde had heard - or worse—seen us in the front hall, but I didn’t see her anywhere. I turned my focus to the meal at hand.

Sitting down at the table in our robes, we dug in like we hadn’t eaten in days. I filled my plate with pita bread, tomato salad, and grilled chicken before adding a few dolmas for good measure. We sat in silence for a while, still in a daze from the intense run and hallway fuck session. I chewed on a stuffed grape leaf, marveling at my life. I was so lucky to have found someone who desired me so completely. All my life I’d thought I was only worth as much as my report card. But here was a man who was able to make me feel valued and cherished in a completely different way. I had dated a few people casually in the past, and never had I felt so… desired. It made me feel complete.

“What are you thinking about?” David put his fork down and turned his body toward mine. His face had a relaxed, lazy countenance. Clearly the hallway had done him good.

“What? Oh. Nothing.”

“You looked lost in thought. Tell me, what does Samantha Sharp think about while she eats dolmas?”

I paused and tried to formulate a response. “I was just thinking about you.” It was true. I was thinking about him.

He looked pleased. “What about me, exactly?”

“Just how you make me feel.”

“Which is what? Sore?” he joked.

“Well, there’s that, yes.” I smiled at him. “But also… complete.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that, well…” I searched for the words. “I’ve never felt measured in any way other than my academic or work achievements. But with you, you manage to make me feel like…” I trailed off.

“Like what?”

“Like I’m enough. Just myself.”

David leaned in and pulled my chair towards him. Then he took my hands in his.

“You are more than enough, Samantha. You are everything.”

“Thank you.”

“I am serious, Samantha.”

“I know.”

“Why do I feel like you don’t believe me, then?” he cocked his head to the side.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you.” I took a deep breath, “It’s just that I’m not used to it.”

He nodded and then spoke. “Samantha, don’t you see? I understand you. I get it. Really. I don’t think you realize how similar we are.”

“What do you mean?” I was genuinely puzzled how someone like David-fucking-Keith could understand what I didn’t yet understand about myself.

“You and I - we’ve both overdeveloped one side of our lives, to the detriment of all others. You feel this unending push to succeed. So do I. Why do you think I’ve worked so hard, Samantha? For money? For this?” he gestured around at his multi-million dollar penthouse.

I looked at him. We hadn’t ever really talked about what motivated him in business. I had figured it just came with the alpha-male territory. And how did that relate to me? But I’d learned by now that if he was in the mood to share, it was best to let him talk. I shut my mouth and let him continue.

“I worked hard out of fear. I saw my mom go to work at the factory every day when I was little. She worked hard. Long hours. I remember seeing her go through that pain, and I resolved that I would never be put in that position. So I worked hard. Because I’ve never been able to forget that look of struggle in her eyes.”

He must have sensed that I was getting lost, so he came back to his point.

“I know what it’s like to prioritize one thing above everything else in your life,” he said.

And I understood, finally. It was true. I had always prioritized my achievements, and never myself, my feelings, or others—if I was being honest. And now, here I was, holding hands with a man who understood that completely. A man that had finally allowed me to open up to parts of myself that I hadn’t known existed.

“Somehow with you though, I have managed to reshuffle my priorities,” he whispered.

It was like he had read my mind. I nodded and let him pull me closer into him. How had this man managed to know me more intimately than I even knew myself? I brushed the question away and allowed myself the luxury of not answering.

3

I was a bundle of nerves as Elliot drove me to SFO on Friday. Flying with David meant taking one of his private jets, a Gulfstream emblazoned with
Keith Ventures
. The in-flight crew welcomed me back and Lucinda, the head of cabin operations, brought me a glass of brandy to help calm my normal pre-flight jitters.

While David was checking in with the crew in the cockpit, I glanced at my phone. I had a text message from Carrie, my best friend. She had been down in Los Angeles visiting her family for the past two weeks for the holidays, and was just getting back into town today, as I was leaving. She wrote:

Have fun in Hawaii, Sam. Cocktails next week?

I texted her back to confirm. I hoped to carve out some time to see her and grill her about a guy she’d been seeing. She had met Derek the same night David and I hooked up during a party at Curtis’s house. I didn’t think it was nearly as serious as David and me, but it seemed like she was having fun, and I wanted to be supportive.

I turned off my phone and slipped it into a straw tote I had brought specifically for our tropical getaway. I was sipping on my brandy when David came back into the cabin and sat down next to me on the cream-colored leather sofa. The pilots announced that we were ready for takeoff.

~

We landed at Kona International Airport and taxied to the area of the airport reserved for private planes, away from the buzz of high-season commercial traffic. We exited down a short flight of stairs, and waiting for us on the tarmac was a white convertible Lamborghini and a black SUV. I turned to David, my eyes wide. He had shoved his hands into his pockets and was barely containing a devilish grin. A waiting attendant tossed David a set of keys.

“Ready?”

The security team took our luggage and themselves to the SUV, while David walked me over to the obscenely sexy vehicle.

“Ms. Sharp,” he said, opening the door for me. I lowered myself into the black bucket seat and caught David’s eye as he walked around to the driver’s side. He was playing it cool, but I could tell he was very excited.
Oh, boys and their toys,
I thought.

David slipped on some sunglasses and brought the engine to life. We zipped past the airport hangars and onto a highway lush with palms and greenery. He commanded the car effortlessly, shifting gears expertly as we banked the curves of the road. I could tell the only reason he was holding back was because the SUV had to keep up. Before long, we exited the highway and headed toward the coast. The air was warm, humid, and had an exotic perfume to it. The sun was just starting to wane as we pulled up to the Four Seasons. A young valet could barely contain his excitement as David handed over the keys. As we walked inside, a man and woman in matching white linen outfits approached us.

“Aloha, Mr. and Mrs. Keith, please allow me to welcome you to the Four Seasons.” The man said as the woman placed leis made of white orchids around our necks. David did nothing to correct them, and neither did I. “My name is Conrad, and I am the property manager, and this is Leilani, our head of guest experience.”