His Five Night Stand (16 page)

“I saw them only once when they were together, they were extraordinary. Both beautiful. A fiery love. I could see it even then.”

“I see,” I said, wondering now if I really wanted to know the details.

“There was a car accident. Theo was driving.”

“His scar,” I whispered.

“So, you’ve seen it,” she said.

“Um, where is this scar exactly, can you describe please?” Shea said, leaning forward red solo cup in hand.

“After Grace, Theo collapsed. That is when we really found each other. He had stopped sculpting. He had a studio at Elliot Bay Marina but he was producing nothing. He was a wreck. I found him there one night. I had just gone through some pretty rough shit and we helped each other.”

“You were lovers,” I said.

“We tried to be lovers, there is a difference,” she said, squeezing my hand. “We tried and in trying we helped heal each other. Theo needed healing and so did I. Then we parted ways. He’s a friend, one of my best friends.”

“Will he ever be over her?” I asked.

“Oh honey,” Odessa smiled. “Day two and you are already wondering? Be careful with that heart of yours. You are with Theo to learn to love yourself again not fall in love . . . remember that.”

“I am. I do. I’m just curious.”

“When Grace died, so did a part of Theo. I think for a long time he wished he’d died on the Aurora Bridge alongside her.”

“It’s so sad,” I whispered.

“I sent Theo your way because I saw a spark in you, a light and it reminded me of Grace a bit. I thought you two could help each other. I don’t want to be the cause of more heartbreak. He’s a five night man until he decides differently. Remember that.”

“I remember,” I said.

“Can you tell me again about where exactly that scar is?” Shea said a little too loudly. “I mean is it right here?” She pointed to her belly. “Or here, lower.” She pointed between her legs.

We all burst into a fit of giggles and suddenly I felt as though I belonged.

Drunk and with a basket full of clean clothes. I put my things away and thought about Odessa’s warning. Theo had been hurt. He was a five night man. Then why did I feel something deeper? Was that all wishful thinking on my part? I felt foolish and hopeful wanting to believe that there was something more happening between us. My heart was healing. Could meaningless sex really be the cure? But maybe meaningless was the wrong word. Sex without strings? Was that a better way to think of it? My mind rebelled against this idea. It had to be more.

At least I had three more nights to decide.

Three more nights.

I decided to not worry whether or not it was love. I closed my eyes and slept.

I dreamt again of running down the hallway in the darkness. I was searching for someone, aching for him. A familiar hand reached for me, his fingers interlacing with mine, his body warm, I knew his scent. He pulled me toward him and this time when I looked up he was no longer faceless. Theo stood above me, pulled me closer. “You’re trouble,” he whispered his hands sliding under my clothes, his fingers expertly working their way into my panties.

“I want you,” I said. “I want you now.”

He lifted me up and pressed me against the wall, my legs wrapped around his body, I could feel his cock pressing up against my wetness.

I moaned as he played with me, moving me up and down, not penetrating me, making me dizzy with lust. He played with me like he had in the shower and I felt the familiar tingling and rippling building in my core.

“Moan for me, baby,” Theo whispered as my body shook and shivered with pleasure.

I awoke to the sound of Odessa next door climaxing. We both moaned and shook and for the first time I wasn’t ashamed.

There was another note under my door in the morning.
10:00 p.m. Wear something sexy.
T

I felt a quickening in my belly just looking at his handwriting on the card. Tonight, he would come to me tonight.

Wear something sexy?

What did that mean? Did he mean lingerie? Did he mean a t-shirt and yoga pants like casual sexy? Then I thought of the dress I’d worn the first night we’d really met. He’d seen me in the dress but we hadn’t enjoyed each other.

That night, with some hesitation I slipped the red clingy number on with the same pair of silver heels. I pulled my hair back into a loose bun and decided to go with no panties.

At 10:00 p.m. he knocked.

I opened the door.

Theo stood there wearing a black button down, suit jacket, no tie. His hair damp, he’d slicked it back slightly so it didn’t fall across his forehead. He always looked hot but seeing him in a suit I wanted to drag him into my apartment and rip off his clothes.

He shook his head when he looked at me and for a moment I wondered if I’d misread his invitation.

“You said, sexy, right?” I said, taking a step back.

“No . . . I mean, yes,” He said, stepping inside. “You look perfect. So perfect.” He held my face with both his hands and kissed me slowly, his tongue parting my lips and dancing over my teeth.

I moaned and pulled him closer as his tongue continued to explore me. “I missed you,” I said, immediately regretting it. It sounded so relationship-ish. “I mean this is nice,” I said, between kisses. “A girl could get used to this.”

“You should be used to this,” he said, his mouth traveling down my neck, kissing my collar bone. “You should be worshipped.”

I tensed at the word. Odessa had said he worshipped women. Women. Plural. Not just me. “Is that what you like to do?” I asked, pulling away. I needed to be okay with this. I was the woman he was with right now; I was one of many. Still I was curious. “You worship us. Is that why you give women these nights?”

“I give women these nights because of what I get in return,” he said. “I learn from every woman I love.”

“Every one of us,” I said, giving him a wicked smile. “And you are learning from me?”

“Of course.” He pulled me close and buried his face in my hair inhaling. “Would it help if I told you I couldn’t stop thinking about you yesterday. I made myself stay away because needing you felt so dangerous, so hot. I wanted to be away from you for this moment.”

“You needed me.” My pulse sky-rocketed. Need. The word was so seductive, so intense.

“And I thought we could do something different tonight,” he said.

I felt a heat flash in my core. “What did you have in mind?”

“How about cocktails out in the world?”

“You want to go out with me? Like out in the world to a bar?”

He laughed. “The night doesn’t have to be only in this room Callie,” he said. “Let’s go have some fun.”

Theo drove a black convertible mustang. A ’65 1/2. I recognized the cut of the bumper. I’d had a red mustang in high school, a ’66 and I could tell from the way the engine purred that this was a V8 and had some money poured into it. He kept it parked in one of the private garages off the back alley.

The black vinyl felt cold against my back when I sat next to him. Before he started the engine he leaned over and kissed me pressing me back against the seat of the car, his hands sliding up my skirt.

He hit my no underwear zone and leaned back his eyes wide. “Aren’t you a little devil?” he said.

“I love how you want me,” I whispered, taking his hand and sliding it back up my skirt.

“You want this baby?” He asked his fingers moving in slow circles against my pussy. I moaned and rocked back. He had opened the garage door so a cool blue light filled the car. He kissed me, his tongue pushing deep into my mouth while he rubbed against me with his thumb, his other fingers sliding inside of me, Back and forth. He rocked against me faster and faster, the climax coming so quickly it took me by surprise. I came shaking as he kissed me hard his fingers still inside me.

“Do you know how hot you look when you are coming?”

“No,” I laughed. “I’ve never watched.”

“Well, we’re going to change that.” He kissed me again and backed out of the drive.

The bar was called The Cloud Room. The top floor of a hotel downtown, in the elevator the stop was illuminated by a bright blue cloud instead of a number. The Cloud Room had a piano bar and cozy dark tables lit by blue candles. When we walked in the hostess, a gorgeous Indian woman, greeted us her face lighting up when she saw Theo.

“Darling, it’s been too long,” she said, leaning in to kiss both sides of his cheek.

“Hello Lakshmi,” he said, kissing her back. His kiss lingered a little longer than I liked on one cheek. “Darling.”