*~*
She could still remember the way her heart pounded against her chest as she made her way down the long corridor to his suite. With each step that had brought her closer, the thump within her grew louder, more insistent until there were no more steps to take. Should she knock first? She’d been given a key and a reassuring smile that she was expected, but manners taught since she was a small child urged her to be polite. Still, he was so confident that she’d come, maybe he’d be knee deep in work he wouldn’t even be aware of her knocking? Biting her lower lip, Dara had slipped the electronic key into place and a moment later she was inside the dark entrance, with the door clicking shut behind her and locking in place.
And the last thought she could remember clearly before everything changed still rang in her mind.
No turning back now
*~*
Grateful that despite her daze-like state she’d made it to the elevator without tripping, she leaned against the mirrored wall and for the first time since last night, let out a breath that wasn’t hesitant, hurried, jagged or followed by a pleasure filled sound.
Last night
Just the thought sent blood rushing to her cheeks, a knowing smile gracing her lips. She could still feel his touch pressed into her skin, having left his fingerprints just about everywhere he could find.
Her lips
Her fingers rose and touched them gingerly, wondering if he was doing the same thing as she. Licked, nipped, suckled, traced, bruised, yet nothing erased the spine tingling sensation when his mouth took hers hungrily, deeply and adoringly. He adored her mouth, hell, he adored everything about her it seemed. And when his mouth wasn’t on hers…
Dara chuckled, almost bashfully, her hands rising to her firm abdomen, settling where his tongue had trailed an achingly slow trail down, down, down, down until her fingers drove into his jet black hair and her mouth opened but no sound came out.
The doors to the elevator chimed open and with a blink, Dara moved out and across the foyer, smiling shyly at the doorman who opened the door with a nod. Stepping out onto the pavement, she took in a breath of the morning air before marching across the parking lot towards her vehicle. She loved the morning air, she always had since her childhood, but had never felt so exhilarated as she had at dawn, when the last trace of the moon was fading into the background and the sun was peeking up over the horizon and the chill in the air had a certain crispness to it. He had come up behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her nude frame, his fingers dancing along the curves and across the hills and valleys, murmuring words that had coaxed her back to the warmth of his bed.
His bed
She had never felt so completely worshiped by another man, yet this perfect stranger seemed to know everything about her, her needs and wants, her secrets and fears, her dreams and failures and her great hope that someone would one day cherish her as she wanted to be cherished.
I wish to please you Dara
Dara glanced at herself in the rearview as she gunned the engine. Who was that in the reflection? Was it really the same woman who seemed to transform in the blink of an eye last night?
The one who had cried out and couldn’t stop even when her throat ached from being so parched? The one who had writhed like a caged animal? The one who had pushed and pulled, ordered and controlled, demanded and even punished? The one who had let tears fall when his hand gently brushed aside the strands of her hair to see her eyes when she reached the edge of euphoria? The one who hadn’t cared about anything other than being with him in the dark, with no inhibitions between them?
She blinked once more and took in another deep, even breath. She was home, did she even remember driving the distance? Waving to the manager as she grabbed her mail, Dara bounded up the three flights and walked briskly down the hall to her apartment, her keys jingling in her hand.
If heaven exists, then I wish for it to be with you in this moment
Even now, she was surprised at what she said to him. His dark eyes had warmed and he’d kissed her, one of the many thousand times he’d done already. They had drifted off to sleep after that and when she woke, he was gone, but she did not feel awkward or alone or rejected or used.
Just different. Changed. Awakened.
Nodding her head slightly in acknowledgement, Dara stepped into the apartment and almost instantly spotted the small white envelope on her floor. Slowly she bent down and picked it up, feeling the contents before opening it. Inside was a slip of paper.
Reaching her hand further into the envelope, she pulled out a ticket. Her heart skipping a beat, she turned it over.
Rome
Castor’s assistant was right, she would understand.
“I accept.”