Luster (6 page)

I
t’s
funny how I have a beautiful naked woman sitting only a couple feet away from me, and all I can think about is Liam. I keep trying to let it go, trying to get that whole situation off of my mind but it’s damn near impossible. Even with Falyn and her gorgeous body nearby.

The gorgeous body that will not. Stop. Moving.

“Jesus Christ. For the tenth fucking time, please stop moving. Every time you move I have to erase what I’ve done and re-sketch it. This is going to take way longer than it should if you keep it up.”

Honest to God I don’t mean to bitch at her like that. I would even go as far as to say that I feel shitty about it, but Falyn just takes it. I guess she can sense my crappy mood and knows not to say anything about it.

But now that I’ve said something she’s completely stiffened up, which is nearly as bad as constantly twitching here and there. I roll my eyes, trying to keep my cool this time.

As much as I like to tease her she certainly doesn’t deserve me berating her. Not if she hasn’t given me reason to, anyway.

I can tell by the way she’s looking down at me that she’s also trying to fight back what she wants to say. Except she doesn’t have as much control over keeping her mouth shut as I do, apparently.

“I get it. You’re in a pissy mood and I’m irritating you. Just don’t be such an ass about it, okay?”

“Sorry,” I say through gritted teeth. “Just please hold still.”

She gives me a little nod before relaxing her shoulders again.

After I finish sketching her this way, I have her sit so that her knees are drawn up under her chin until she’s hunching over.

“Let’s do this. Tilt your head a little more to the left, so I’ll be able to get a better view of your face. Draw up your knees real tight against your chest. Okay, yeah like that.”

I splay Falyn’s fingers out for her, helping them look more natural against her knees. She’s watching me with careful eyes and trying to catch my gaze.

“I know we don’t know each other very well, but I’m here to talk to if you want.”

It’s out of left field really, but something about Falyn’s words redirect the frustration in me. “Thanks. I um, I appreciate that.” Weirdly enough.

I lean over her and adjust her chin so that she’s not straining her neck, and Falyn smiles up at me, thankful for the adjustment.

Believe me when I say I never talk about my feelings. Ever. It’s just not something I was taught to do I guess, even with my mom being the kindhearted person she was. So an invitation to let it all out doesn’t really sound all that enticing.

But as I sit there and stare at Falyn’s face, trying to discern the different angles from her cheekbones to her jawline, it’s like she’s pulling the words out of me. “It’s just some family drama.”

She quirks an eyebrow at me, silently encouraging me to continue.

“You remember the little boy you saw here last time? That’s my little brother, Liam. And the woman is our sister, Sam.”

I can see that Falyn is truly surprised, but she stays quiet, so I keep going. “Liam lives with our well, I guess you would call him our step-dad. Donald. The guy’s a real asshole, and I don’t mean that lightly. I mean he’s been thrown in jail for all sorts of fun little things like assault and various drug charges. Truth be told, I really don’t know how my mom ended up with him, but whatever the case he’s Liam’s father. And he’s the one who has custody of him.”

At this Falyn lifts her head up slightly. “Why does he have custody over Liam? What about your mother?”

It’s never easy giving the answer to that particular question. “My mom died when Liam was just a baby. And Donald has had him ever since.”

There’s a sharp intake of breath and Falyn bites her lip, drawing my attention to the way she tucked it between her teeth. “I’m so sorry, Matt. That was a really stupid thing to ask.”

“It’s fine,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “Or at least it’s okay that you didn’t realize… anyway.”

I clear my throat and get back to work. But I can tell Falyn’s wanting me to say more just by the way she is watching me so intently.

Dammit. “Yeah so… Liam lives with his dad. And Sam wants to get custody of him for good. Donald’s a total piece of shit. He’s not fit to raise the kid, so Sam and I have been trying to figure out a way to make things right I guess. We try to babysit Liam as much as we can between the two of us, but even still Donald holds him over our heads as if he’s some sort of trophy or something. I don’t know, forget I said anything.”

“That sounds pretty rough for him. And there’s nothing else you two can do? You and your sister?”

“Sam and her husband James are working on it. But the way this city’s stupid justice system works… They ain’t getting too far at the moment.”

She nods. “Don’t I know it. We had someone try to sue us, or at least sue the hotel on Burrow Way over something really stupid. But it didn’t matter… They still managed to take us to court over it and we had to pay several thousand dollars to our legal team to try to fix the situation.”

“What were they suing you for?” My curiosity is getting the better of me.

Falyn sits back. Damn. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen them, every time I see her tits I have to remind myself what we’re here for. Although the way this evening has been going… I definitely wouldn’t mind getting to know them a little better.

She laughs and shakes her head. “You ready for this? The couple left for the afternoon so housekeeping went through and cleaned up the room. Not touching their stuff of course, just changing out the trash cans, refilling everything, making the bed. Except when they came back they claimed that something that they had thrown in the trash earlier needed to be retrieved and they were angry because the trash had already been taken out. A condom. I swear to God, it was a fucking condom. Apparently the wife thought the husband was lying about well, jizzing into the condom, I guess. So you can just imagine how awkward that was hearing their side of the story in the courtroom.”

I snort, picturing the image in my head. “Oh, I’m sure. I’m sure you probably covered your ears at the mere mention of a condom. Am I right?” My tone is teasing this time, not anywhere near condescending like before.

Falyn picks up on this and actually smiles at me, shaking her head again. “Back to that again, are we? I’ll have you know that I’m not as naïve and prudish as you make me out to be.”

The way she’s relaxed against the back of the couch, her legs lazily crossed and her amazing rack on full view… I’m starting to think I might have been a little premature with my assumption. Not that I will let her know that.

“Is that so?”

She casually shrugs, lifting up one graceful shoulder. “I’ve been trying to tell you that all along.”

She’s being coy. And I like it. I’m suddenly standing up, crossing the empty space between us fast. I know what I’m doing and I know why I’m doing it… I’m just still surprised I’m actually doing it.

I place one hand on each of her knees, leaning in as I lower my voice. “Have you? Because it sounds like you’re all talk, princess.”

She sucks in another breath, her eyes searching mine. I know I’ve got her now. She’s not going anywhere. My eyes follow the way her tongue sweeps across her bottom lip. My thumb grazes along it, copying her.

I cradle the back of her head with my hand, and then I’m all mouth all over her lips, her chin, her neck. Falyn’s pulling me up against her, opening and spreading her legs so that I can kneel between them. She desperately draws my mouth up to hers, kissing me deeply. She’s so close I can feel the loud thumping of her heart through my own chest.

As if to prove what she said before is true, Falyn reaches down between us, edging her hand past the waistband of my sweatpants and encircling my throbbing cock. I let out a hiss, not even daring to think how long it’s been since my cock has seen any action—at least from something other than my hand.

Falyn smiles against my lips, pulling herself away and at the same time pushing me back. But she never lets go of me, and her hand starts slowly pumping my shaft, before she brings down her other hand to get a good grasp around me.

“Jesus, you are huge,” she whispers to herself, looking a little in awe of my cock in her hands. Hey, a guy can’t help it if he’s hung like a horse, right?

Her hands move quicker around me and thank fucking
god
because Falyn drops to her knees and pushes me down to sit on the couch, barely giving me any time to understand what’s going on before her mouth swallows half my cock in one quick motion. I’m seeing stars in my damn eyes, groaning as her warm luscious tongue slips and slides all along me.

This girl must not own a gag reflex because holy shit, she’s got me in there deep. I relax myself some and reach down to hold her hair back for her. Just because she’s sucking my dick like a professional slut doesn’t mean I can’t be a gentleman about it.

I watch my thickness practically disappear then reappear between her full lips, and I grin like a fox. It’s a goddamn magic trick the way she fits me in her mouth. Like I said that’s no easy feat.

Falyn gives her mouth a break, working her fists up and down my shaft while sucking on my swollen head. It takes no time before my legs shake and my balls clutch tightly to the rest of my equipment, and then I’m yelling like a maniac as I shoot my load deep down her throat. And you better believe daddy’s little princess swallows. Every. Last. Bit.

She pops up from her knees, wiping at the wet grin on her face. Goddamn. She’s fucking sexy looking at me like that, like she’s won or something. Oh baby, you have no idea what you’ve just let loose.

I feel the need to taste her take over my brain. Falyn’s just standing there, beautiful lines and curves that not even I can get right on paper. I want to know her more, to see her face when I bury mine in between her thighs. And I want to know how tight that sweet, sweet pussy is. Because I’ve absolutely been eyeing it all night long.

But these obsessive thoughts in my head… they won’t do. They just fucking won’t. I can’t get all carried away with Falyn, mixing a little business with a lot of pleasure. This is how it starts. And I can’t go down that path again. I obviously need to find some other chick to fuck though because I’m dying to get inside her.

And I ache to slide my fingers and tongue past her slit, and see what kind of soft, wet things she’s really made of. But the images of kissing her hips slowly, trailing my fingers across her belly and gently touching her sides start colliding with the naughtier thoughts. And that’s it. I can’t do it.

I
t’s not
hard to tell the tension in the room has changed when Matt gets up to yank his pants back on. Wait. What in the actual fuck? Why is he pulling his pants on? Did I miss something?

A pathetic look of disappointment flitters across my face before I can quickly put myself together. I turn away and bite my lip to bring me back to reality and take a deep breath before I face him again.

Even though I’m dying for my own kind of release I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me crack. My pussy aches so much that I have to squeeze my thighs together to help re-circulate all the blood that rushed to my groin. Fuck him for doing this. “We done here, then?” I practically hiss at him.

Matt casually kicks at the couch leg and reapplies that same ‘don’t give a fuck’ look on his face right before my very eyes. “Nah. I’m going to need you to come back. I’m free next Thursday.”

My jaw drops ever so slightly. So this isn’t a quick blow-job and then a kick out the door? It looks like it’s shaping up to be something else…And frankly I feel like I’ve already been humiliated enough.

My father’s stern voice echoes in the back of my head about how he wants me to pull off something noteworthy. And dammit, I’m not just going to let this guy ruin my perfectly brilliant plan. If I have to play the silly girl here in order to get what I want I’ll do it.

Matt doesn’t think I can keep up. But he’s wrong. I sigh, feeling completely depleted of emotional energy between Matt’s insults and my father’s expectations. “Fine. Thursday at eight o’ clock.”

I don’t even bother turning away as I pull my clothes back on in a hurry. There’s nothing else left for me to say.

* * *

T
he purple fabric
of my dress is shimmering under the gallery’s dim lights. It’s not my usual style but I figure that if I’m going to an art showing it’s best to try to be a little more creative. Eliza personally picked this dress out for me, daring me to try it on. I have to say, when I came out of the dressing room and stood in front of all those mirrors, I felt powerful. Like I could lead an army with just the dress and my abundance of cleavage being shown off in the low-cut neckline.

See, I knew I could do it. Let the business part of me go crunch some numbers elsewhere in my brain for a moment, and just relax and have fun. This preconceived notion that because I’m ambitious I can’t let go every now and then—it’s bullshit. I can let go. I can be more at ease with my feminine side, no problem.

But I frown when I realize that I’m doing it again. Thinking about all of the crap Matt Walsh stirred around in my head. As if his opinion of me
matters
.

I refuse to think of him tonight, and instead plan on getting nice and buzzed on the free martinis Eliza’s having catered tonight. Maybe even flirt with some of the cute guys that usually turn up for these types of events.

A few of our mutual friends stop by the corner of the room I’ve taken up, admiring my dress and commenting on some of the art pieces that are being featured. Eliza herself walks up to me with a huge grin on her face.

“E, you’ve really pulled it off!” I giggle in her ear as she pulls me in for a hug. She gives me a wink before joining in over the canvas paintings behind us.

It doesn’t take long before she takes me aside, nodding her head to the front of the gallery. “Guess who else decided to show up?”

Her gravelly voice fades away as my eyes follow hers. I haven’t had the chance to really catch up with Eliza since the day before I last saw Matt…so she has no clue what’s happened. And here he comes strutting in as if nothing can touch him.

Oh, he’ll let something touch him all right. But he doesn’t believe in a little thing called gratitude or hell, even reciprocation. I purse my lips at the sight of him, trying not to focus on the fact that this is the first time I’ve seen him dressed up like this outside of that picture with Dinah.

The navy blue suit he’s wearing is tailored impeccably to fit his tall, lanky frame. He’s pulled his hair back into some sort of bun thing that I know all the young hipster/artsy girls will flail over, but he somehow pulls it off. He’s got that same stubble as usual, the ever-present five o’clock shadow. I bite my lip, wondering why on earth it’s fair for someone like him to look like sex on a stick.

I quickly try to scope out somewhere for me to go and hide until I can make a break for it, but Eliza’s caught my arm and dragging me behind her, fully unaware of how much harder she’s making this on me. God love her, the woman can be so oblivious sometimes.

And then Matt’s eyes are glued on me, that shit-eating grin he wears so easily smoothing over into something else. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he looked slightly guilty of something. And he should be.

We don’t have to walk much further until Matt starts strolling towards us, tearing his eyes away from mine finally to look over and smile at Eliza. “This place is really popping tonight. Another successful showing for Geo Boutique, no?”

He leans in to give her a quick peck on the cheek and closes his arm around her elbow. Eliza beams up at him, her rosy cheeks even redder. “Well we won’t know for sure until the numbers are in, but it sure looks to be that way! By the way, thanks for putting Donovan in touch with me. His paintings alone are probably bringing in half the revenue for the evening, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Matt nods graciously at Eliza before honing in on me. My legs feel like jelly as he not so subtly looks me over, eyeing the cut of my dress a little longer than the rest. “Hello Falyn. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

His tone is easy but I can tell there’s something behind his words. I just wish I knew what it was.

“Eliza is my best friend, so of course I’m here. I could say the same about you. Don’t you have something to be working on right now?”

“Falyn! What in the world, girl? Sorry Matt, looks like the free martinis are finally getting to her head,” Eliza says, giving me a look that says to lay off of him. If only she knew.

Matt just chuckles in return, shrugging his shoulders without a care. Because the guy obviously doesn’t care about anything at all. “It’s fine. Actually, I want to talk to you for a minute if that’s okay,” he replies, looking back at me.

I have half a mind to tell him to talk off, but I have to admit I’m genuinely intrigued as to what he wants talk about. Hopefully it’ll involve an apology. “There’s a spot in the back that’s a little quieter than the rest of the place.”

I give Eliza a pat on her arm before turning on my heel and heading back to the same corner from earlier, not bothering to see if Matt is following me.

He pulls himself into the shadow next to me, grabbing a beer from a server’s tray as she passes. “So you and Eliza are best friends, huh? Never would have put that one together.”

I roll my eyes. If he’s going to pretend that I didn’t give him a rather impressive blow job the other day, then whatever, but I’ll be damned if he’s going to try and pull that whole stuck-up snob thing with me again. “People don’t have to be carbon copies to hang out, you know. I’ve been close with her since we were in high school.”

Matt unceremoniously pops the cap off his bottle, chugging the liquid down and pausing for a minute before settling against the wall. “I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that Eliza can be pretty out there and you…”

“Are…what?” I gesture for him to continue. “Eliza’s out there and I’m what, some stuck-up bitch?”

“I was going to say straight-laced. Don’t go putting words in my mouth, princess.”

If I wasn’t wearing my favorite pair of Jimmy Choos right now I’d stomp on his damn foot. “I swear, if you don’t stop calling me that…”

Matt holds up his hand in mock protest, laughing in earnest. “All right, all right. I wasn’t tried to get you all riled up. I just wanted to talk.”

I glare at him. “So talk.”

“That dress suits you nicely,” he replies. Even though I don’t want to, part of me feels a little flattered at the compliment. I’m surprised he likes it though, him being so anti-clothing and all.

“Thank you. You clean up pretty nicely yourself.” I swallow hard, looking away when the corner of his mouth quirks up, the shine from his teeth catching the light.

We’re both quiet for a minute or two. Whether it’s from the drinks or not, I start to feel myself relaxing. I let out a shaky breath when Matt turns to face me, reaching up to wind one of my curled ringlets around his finger.

I don’t want to bring it up. I don’t want to sound whiny or desperate for his attention. But something is aggravating me to no end, and all I want to know is “Why?”

The lack of light casts shadowy angles across his face. “Why what?”

Shit. Did I seriously say that out loud? I did, didn’t I? “Why did you…you know what? Never mind.”

“Say it.” He lets go of my hair and waits for me to say something else.

“What happened the other day. And you just blew me off, like whatever.”

“I’m pretty sure you were the one blowing me,” he begins, before my cheeks flush and I cut him off with a look that could kill. He visibly shrinks back a bit and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I, uh, was kind of an asshole to you. Which I already warned you about, but you didn’t deserve it. I don’t even think I said thank you. Did I?”

I lift a brow, unsure if I heard correctly. Did Matt Walsh actually just apologize for being an asshole? Do I need my ears checked? Playing it cool has never been something of ease for me, but I hang back and shrug my shoulders just like him. “You did not.”

“Falyn, I’m…sorry. And thank you. For what you did.” His eyes refuse to meet mine as they lower to the floor.

In my slightly drunken state I laugh at his unusual choice of words. “You mean when I sucked your dick?”

Matt looks both amused and shocked, chuckling along with me. “Yeah. That part. It was very nice on my end, I must say. No prude knows how to pull something like that off.”

Okay. I have to admit, I feel rather mollified in knowing that he approved of my oral skills. Maybe it’s just the third martini in me though.

Matt leans in closer, clearly about to say something else when a screeching noise erupts from a few feet away from us. We both look at the same time to see a petite, beautiful woman in a pale pink dress waltz over to our corner, a weird smile on her face. I feel like I should know who she is…she looks really familiar but the lighting in the room is throwing me off.

Matt’s gone rigid beside me and a vein that I’ve never noticed before is pulsing at his temple. The woman somehow manages to sweep herself up into Matt’s robotic arms. “Oh my god Matt! It’s been so long! How are you,
amorcito
?”

“Dinah,” he spits out, barely able to contain the venom in his words. Wait. Dinah? As in
the
Dinah? Dinah the pop star? The one he left at the altar on their wedding day-Dinah? Holy shit. This might get ugly.