Three of Spades (7 page)

Knowing he spoke the truth, Natalie looked at the beautiful man who didn’t know her or owe her anything. He was putting himself on the line for her, a stranger.

“Forgive me Dylan, you are right. I’m sorry, this is just all so new to me,” she spoke so softly, if he hadn’t been so close to her, he would have missed it.

Right then, Mary brought their drinks over. She placed the two cold bottles on the table along with Natalie’s tall glass of water, with a lemon wedge floating along the top. Mary asked if there was anything else she could get them. When Dylan told her they were all set, she winked and left.

In the background, the small house band broke for a drink and as the applause died down, Dylan and Natalie were surrounded by newly occupied tables. As a young man bumped into Natalie, not saying a word, Dylan noticed that it was Natalie who apologized as if she was the one in the way.

He looked at her small form and could see behind her glasses, how her large brown eyes looked as if they were replicated from a doe. The way her eyelashes naturally curled and cast a shadow against her flawless, porcelain skin made him think of one of those elegant china dolls that his mother owned. Her small lips looked soft and very inviting. She kept darting out her small pink tongue to lick at her bottom lip and the activity made Dylan’s eyes focus that much more on her mouth. Dylan was sure she had no idea how provocative that small act was or the large effect it was having on him. Her floral aroma reminded him of a glade of springtime flowers. She had to know she was alluring, particularly to him.

“Let’s start off this way. As long as we are in this relationship, I insist it is monogamous. I’ll promise you that you will be the only woman in my bed as well as in my company and I’ll expect the same respect from you.”

Natalie could not help but laugh out loud. When she looked at Dylan’s face and saw he raised his right eyebrow in question, she simply stated, “That should not be too hard to fulfill on my part.”

“Good. Next, I’m going to touch you Natalie, a lot. It would be helpful if you didn’t cringe or flinch. Usually, in relationships, those reactions are a dead giveaway that my touch is unwanted.”

She nodded her head and her eyes focused on his lips as the words of what he was going to do with her passed by them. She felt a chill run up her spine as she imagined his lips and body touching hers.

“What occurs between us stays between us. Intimacy should always be private. Everything that we do will be consensual. If you don’t like something, I expect you to tell me and of course I will stop. But saying that Natalie, I am not a mind reader. I can take cues from your body language but during sex, body language can have multiple meanings. So if we agree right here, right now, that you need to be vocal, then we won’t have anything to worry about.”

Dylan couldn’t think of anything else to add as she looked at him with glazed over eyes and darted that small pink muscle out again. He reached out, grabbed the ice-cold bottle, and took a very long drag of the cold liquid. When he placed the half-empty bottle back on the table, he put it down with a little too much force, making the table quake and causing Natalie to jump.

Unable to help that he felt suddenly annoyed, he turned to her and said hotly, “So, anything you want to add or discuss, Babe?”

Trying to sort through all that he said and confused over his sudden change in demeanor, she sat up straighter and said more confidently than she felt, “Well, there is just one thing I’d like to clarify.”

When he leaned back in the chair and crossed those powerful arms over his chest, he said with a half-smile on his face, “Just one thing?”

“Yes, why do you keep referring to us as in a relationship? It’s a business arrangement. In fact, I’d be happy to have contracts drawn up if it would make you feel better.”

Did
she
really
just
offer
to
put
down
in
legal
print,
what
he
can
and
can’t
do
with
her
sexually?
As if she were doing him a favor by offering such a paper; to make him more comfortable. He went from annoyed to completely pissed off. To show her what she could do with said offer, he pulled her harder than he should have off her chair and out to the dance floor. The band reassembled after their short break and began a cover of a newer country ballad. Dylan pulled Natalie in so they were aligned from thigh to chest. He pulled her arms up so they rested around his neck and he gripped and pulled with his large hands on her hips, causing her flat belly to grind against his now rock hard erection. He felt vindicated by her small audible gasp and her eyes looked up at him from behind her glasses.

As he swayed her to the music, he leaned his head down so that his cheek rested against her temple. He said softly and crudely, “Feel that, Natalie? That is what you do to me. That is the reaction your innocent ways and naïve little oral activities cause. So, you ask why I call us in a relationship, because what you feel against you right now, cannot be faked. I’m going to pop that cherry of yours and I’ll make sure you love every minute, before, during, and after. So, we are in a relationship from this moment on. Get used to it, Babe.” He leaned down and claimed those small lips that he had fixated on for the last forty-five minutes.

When his lips initially touched hers she made another gasp, giving him the reaction he wanted; she opened her mouth. He stuck his tongue in and mimicked the sway of their hips. Once, twice, three times he delved in and was finally rewarded with a brush of her tongue along his. He moved his head giving his mouth better access and angle to ravage. She, too, tilted her head to allow his assault and she felt her toes curl. He tasted of his recent beer but also of heaven. His tongue invaded and took over. It was far from soft or gentle but Natalie would not have changed it for anything. She tried to imitate his motions with her own tongue but gave up and just enjoyed the sensation.

She tasted of sweetness and purity, of unprejudiced expectations and of honesty, of womanly softness and of inquisitive carnality. Dylan was affected more than he thought possible.

Hating that he needed to pull back and extract himself from her, he probed her mouth one last time and then broke the kiss. Both of them were breathing hard and unaware they were in the middle of a busy dance floor. The song tempo changed from the slow sensuality of the ballad to an old time favorite filled with drum solos and electric guitar riffs.

Dylan looked around and was thankful that they were not being watched by anyone. Without speaking, Dylan grabbed her smaller hand in his and pulled her along so she had to slightly run to keep up with his much wider strides. He didn’t turn back to look at her. He just kept going until they were anywhere that was alone. He pulled her all the way toward the closed off new addition. They had just finished construction and it was due to open next week. When they reached his final destination of a private storage room, he opened the door to the dark space, tugged Natalie in and closed the door quietly behind him. He then pinned Natalie up against the door and turned on the overhead light. Natalie was flushed from the glorious kiss, as well as the rushed jaunt to the secluded room.

As she leaned against the door, using its strength to make sure she didn’t melt to a puddle of goo, she raised her head to look at Dylan’s face. It was so close if she went up on tiptoes, she would be able to touch those soft, powerful, fabulous lips of his. She moved her eyes from his glorious mouth, up along his chiseled face to where his hooded dark eyes stared down back at her. She suddenly felt that, perhaps, she was the only one who thought these recent events were remarkable.

Her anxiety grew by each passing second. She felt her pulse beating wildly and was sure he could hear it too. Natalie left her palms against the door on each side of her hips, not daring to move for fear that his lethal gaze would suddenly shoot deadly lasers.

Dylan needed to get a grip! He had never experienced a kiss like that one and he had given and received a lot of kisses. He still could feel her pliable and accepting mouth under his as if the sensations were imbedded into his nerves. His breath was still quick and shallow and he had no idea why he chose to bring her here. Getting her alone was all he could think of in that moment.

He leaned his hands against the door slightly above where her head rested, while his much larger vibrating body loomed over her smaller one, effectively caging her in. He stared down at her, wondering how a so-called inexperienced virgin could rival any sex siren he had ever known. Even as he tried to convince himself that she was, in fact, who she said she was and not some evil femme fatale. Dylan wanted nothing more than to go back to the warmth and welcoming of her mouth.

Did
she
not
even
kiss
right?
Did
she
mess
up
so
badly
that
he
needed
to
bring
her
here
so
he
could
call
their
arrangement
off?
Feeling as if she was going to cry, Natalie couldn’t take much more. Between her mother’s departure and change of demeanor toward Natalie and now Dylan giving her the impression he was mad at her; she turned her head to the side and tried to focus on the fire evacuation chart on the wall. As her eyes followed the suggested route, a few tears from under her glasses fell and she shut her eyelids from the stupidity, humiliation, and overall feeling of inadequacy.

No, not tears. Didn’t he tell her he could not handle tears?

“Natalie, what’s the matter? Don’t cry, Babe, come on now. Let me see that beautiful face,” Dylan said, as he moved his right hand, brought it to her chin and eased her face so she was looking at him.

“Please this is hard enough to take, please don’t chastise me on top of it.” Natalie wiped her eyes and her nose and tried to pull herself away from Dylan; he would not have it.

“Natalie, I don’t know what is going on in that little head of yours, so talk to me,” Dylan said, as he brushed a wayward tear from her soft cheek.

So, he was going to make her admit it out loud? Maybe part of being a notorious Don Juan was that he enjoyed one voicing their obvious sexual shortcomings.

Now that her tears stopped, her feelings turned toward aggression. Aggression for all that had occurred in the last few weeks, for him making her hope and dream then to pulverize it so easily. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed with all her might. The unexpected action caught Dylan off guard and she was able to budge him. Dylan recovered quickly, grabbed her by the wrists and flattened them to the door next to her head.

“Natalie! What the hell? I mean it. You talk to me, now!”

“What? The big time Dylan Cross, can’t stand not having the upper hand? So what, you brought me back here so you could laugh at me? Make me admit, or better yet, plead with you not to renege on our agreement? Well, you will be waiting a long time, sir.”

The fact that she thought so little of him, made him mad. Mad and aroused. She was a feisty little thing. Dylan didn’t take her for sassy, but seeing it made him want to rethink his original plan of slow and sweet.

Dylan watched as her current position against the door made her breasts extend upward, tempting him to feel their fullness and know how they fit in his hands. The motion made her glasses slide down her nose, so when she glared up at him through her lashes, the obvious distain she felt for him was evident.

“You want to know why I brought you back here? This is why.” With that, Dylan took her mouth with feverish demand. He knew he was being rougher than he should but it was as if he could not change his intent. The deep throaty moans she emitted were urging him on. This time she twirled her tongue around his, daring to push and prod. He glided in and out enjoying her participation and allowing her to explore. He released her hands and ran his hands down her sides, lightly brushing against the swell of her breast on their trip south. His hands molded to her hipbone and his fingers flexed down over her small ass.

Oh, the feelings that were slicing through her body were like nothing she ever imagined. She felt tingles and quivers in every muscle and nerve ending in her body. His face was scratchy from his need to shave. The rawness it was causing on her own chin wasn’t even enough to make her want to stop. But reality set in and she remembered the loathing she saw in his expression. With her hands, once again, on his rigid chest she pushed. Dylan accepted her request and without want, ended the kiss. But this time, he rested his forehead against hers.

“Dylan, please. I can’t take this. Please stop toying with me. If you want to call it off, just say it and let me leave,” Natalie whispered.

Taking in a much needed breath, Dylan squeezed his eyes shut for a few moments, opened them and levered himself up off her. He took a couple of steps back. He knew he needed to have distance from her fine little body. So his hands would have something to do, he placed them loosely on his own hips and looked at Natalie still pinned against the door. He did not know exactly what she was thinking but he knew they had a huge misunderstanding; he was going to rectify that right now.

“Natalie, I don’t know why you think I will go back on my word, but if you keep bringing it up it is really going to piss me off!” He watched as she stood motionless. Running his hands over his face as if they would give him patience and strength, he began calmer, “Natalie your kiss makes me feel things that I’m not used to. And before you jump on your soapbox, I’m not saying it in a derogatory way. For crying out loud, I know you don’t know me very well, but what did I do that would give you the impression that I am some sort of masochist?”