Page 20 of Ace of Swords

Chapter Seven

We were standing outsideBarneys in silence. We hadn’t said a word to each other since the dressing room. Amy was waiting at the valet station with us, seven large bags in her hands. The course of this day took an unexpected turn, but I was surprised to realize I felt happy, my mind felt at rest.

My car pulled up and I suddenly realized I couldn’t just hop in and drive away. I had to saysomething, but what?Thanks for the handjob; don’t tell your dad, please.

As the valet handed me my keys, Tatiana broke the silence. “You can put the bags in the trunk, Amy. Thank you,” she said as she climbed into my car. What was she doing? I hesitated, then handed the valet his tip and slid behind the wheel.

I started driving without a destination in mind. My mind was racing through every scenario, every possible outcome of this situation, and what action could mitigate the potential damage from fooling around with my boss’s daughter and spending an extra 3k at Barneys. But I was also inundated with memories; the feeling of Tatiana’s hand on me, of my hands on her. There was an intense instinct to have more of that.

I gripped the steering wheel, trying to focus on the undeniable facts. Tatiana and me just didn’t add up. Multiple people saw us leave together. Amy probably heard us in the dressing room. Was I already doomed, the sword dangling over my head by a thin string?

“Hey Mario Andretti, would you mind slowing down?” Tatiana said, breaking my train of thought. She reached over and rested a gentle hand on my leg. I’d been going eighty in a forty-five mile per hour zone. “Would you say something to me? You’re making me feel...self-conscious. I thought you wanted that. Did I misread your feelings?”

My feelings. There it was again. It was easy to make decisions based on incontrovertible facts. Numbers made sense to me. But I had never been comfortable in the territory of emotions. They were complicated and uncertain.

“You didn’t misread, Tatiana,” I began, carefully considering every word. “You have no reason to feel self-conscious or awkward or anything. Let’s just not rush into anything without thinking this through. This isn’t simple.”

She stroked her hand up my thigh and my breath hitched. She leaned over toward my seat and in a steady and sure voice said, “I’m going to make this simple for you. I want you. I know you want me. We’re going to drive to your place now and finish whatyoustarted. Those are the facts, Rolland. Do you accept those facts?”

It took me a split second to deliberate.

“Let’s go,” I said.

****

The midday sun filteredthrough the white curtains of my bedroom, casting a soft glow over Tatiana’s face. I couldn’t remember the last woman that I’d had up here. My social life had taken a backseat to my career in the past few years.

My bedroom looked the way it did every say; king-sized bed neatly made against the wall, two nightstands with matching lamps, sleek mid-century dresser uncluttered except for my vide-poche, and a leather armchair. It was the typical scene except for Tatiana standing at the floor-to-ceiling window, staring out at the view of the city, playing with a strand of her hair. She didn’t seem nervous, but the bravado and confidence from earlier had disappeared. I watched her for a while, enjoying the sight.

I walked up to her and handed her a glass of water I’d brought from the kitchen. She smiled and took it, sipping. We stood there at the window, Tatiana looking into the distance and me staring at Tatiana. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration, and her lips were slightly parted, as if she were about to say something. Everything about her electrified and interested me.

I reached out and took the glass from her hands, placing it on the windowsill. She kept her eyes forward, continuing to gaze out over the view. I stood behind her and pulled her hair aside, dipping down to smell her skin, to run my lips over that sweet spot on her neck that made her purr. My other hand found the knot of her flannel shirt, and after a couple of tries, it came loose, giving me access to her soft stomach.

Just an hour before I’d been coming in her hand in the dressing room at Barneys, so why did this moment now, touching her stomach and nuzzling her feel more intimate? We may not have known each other very well, but in a physical sense we weren't strangers.

It occurred to me I’d never taken anybody’s virginity before. I was in awe as I came to grips with how I'd be her first. My cock spreading her open would be the only one she'd ever known. There should have been more pressure, but this... was what I lived for. Moments where I could puzzle out the results I wanted.

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