Nobody's (18 page)

He walked up to me and took his hand in his. His charm knew no end. For what he had lost in youth, he made up from in experience and wisdom. He placed his lips across my hand.

“Angel,” he said. “It is my pleasure. My name is Marcus.”

“Nice to meet you, Marcus. What exactly did Mr. Livingston tell you about me?”

They looked at each other and the smiles on their faces told me they were hiding something.

“He said you seemed to enjoy dancing,” he said.

“I… It can be fun,” I said. “But I don’t know how to dance.”

“Really? Mr. Livingston tells me you’re a natural.”

“She is,” Thomas intervened. “Angel will be able to pick up everything you’re willing to teach her.”

“Wait a second,” I said. “Teach me? Am I here for dance lessons?”

“That’s correct, Angel,” Thomas said to me.

“Um, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course. Marcus.”

Marcus nodded his head as he excused himself. He made his way to the other side of the room where he fiddled with the stereo system. The music skipped as he sorted through the various tracks. Different beats, slow and fast, lively and somber, all filled the room while I spoke to Thomas to the side.

“You brought me here to take dancing lessons?” I asked him.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But—”

“Yes?”

“I…”

“Angel, we made an agreement. Your body is mine and I’m free to do whatever I want to it. In this case, I’d like that you learn how to dance and improve upon it.”

I wasn’t sure what to think. He was paying me to take dance lessons. I had never imagined that he would want something like this out of me. It was even more confusing than when I didn’t know where he was going to take me. But I couldn’t object. We had a deal.

“Do you not want to do this?” he asked me.

He must have noticed some of the hesitation on my face. I looked back at Marcus as the slow music started to fill the background. The empty dance floor looked so massive. Glossy wood sprawling from one end of the room to the other. The light shining down upon it reflected back up to the ceiling.

“No,” I said. “If this is what you desire, Mr. Livingston.”

“It is.”

“I make no promises about my abilities. This isn’t something I’m used to doing.”

“I know, Angel. That’s why you’re taking lessons.”

“Will you be here with me?”

Thomas shook his head.

“I know enough to make my way around the floor. I’m not asking for much Angel. William will take you here every day. I’ll be waiting for you in the evening.”

“I don’t know how long this will take,” I said. “If you want me to be a world class dancer or something—”

“Angel, I have all the time and money in the world. You can take as long as you like. And you can leave whenever you please. This is all I ask of you.”

“Okay.”

I nodded my head with confidence, finally realizing that Thomas was serious about his request. Marcus made his way back over to the two of us and held his arms out.

“Well, shall we get started?” he asked.

I looked at Thomas one last time then back to Marcus.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m looking forward to this.”

The enthusiasm of the two men seemed to have rubbed off on me. I was somewhat fascinated when I first saw the ballroom. I never imagined that Thomas would actually want me to pursue it with any type of seriousness. But I was in no position to object and as long as he was paying me, I was more than happy to comply.

“I’ll be out of your way,” Thomas said. “William will be waiting for you when you’re through. Marcus, please take care of her.”

“Of course, Mr. Livingston.”

Thomas exited the small dance studio and I was left alone with the gray-haired Marcus. The music played in the background and I became anxious, unsure of what else to expect.

Marcus looked down at the ground and my eyes joined his. He was staring at the pair of red pumps I was balancing myself upon.

“Are you planning on practicing in those, Miss Angel?”

“Uh, yeah. Is that going to be a problem?”

Marcus looked at me and snickered softly to himself.

“Let’s get started,” he said. “We have a lot to go over.”

Chapter 16

I stepped into the limo and pulled my pumps off. Despite my attempts at trying to rest my weary feet, Marcus could only give me so much mercy. It only took me a few minutes to realize he was laughing at me and after three hours, the joke was entirely on me.

I slumped in my seat as William sped away from the dance studio. Even though we did nothing that was of any high intensity, the strain I had put my legs and feet through left the lower half of my body lifeless. The limo made its way through the city and back to the hotel suite, where I was immediately going to get a foot massage.

I got an early start, rubbing my fingers against the arches of my feet. I looked in the mirror and could see the tiniest of smiles beginning to form on William’s face as he looked back at me.

“What’s so funny?” I asked him.

“Nothing,” he said. “Nothing at all.”

“Then why are you laughing?”

“My apologies. It wasn’t my intention to find any amusement in this.”

William turned his attention back to the road and I sighed.

“I guess I can’t blame you,” I said. “I’d be laughing too if I could see myself right now.”

William couldn’t drive fast enough. I had no problem with straining my muscles and working up a sweat. But the problem was that most men usually had me on my back when I was doing it. Being on my feet was a complete contradiction of my job description. Curious as to why Thomas was the one man proving to be the exception, I asked William for some answers.

“Do you know Marcus?” I asked him.

“Yes, I do.”

“So does Thomas come out here often?”

“Not often,” he said. “Initially, when Thomas was first learning how to dance, he would be here on a regular basis. But I suppose Thomas has learned enough that he doesn’t need any lessons.”

Thomas knew what he was doing on the dance floor. I learned that first-hand. I wondered how many of the millionaires and billionaires I first saw in the ballroom that night actually had the proper training like Thomas. Then a thought suddenly came across my mind.

“Am I the first woman that Thomas has ever made you bring out here?”

“No.”

“So there have been other women that Marcus has taught?”

“That’s correct.”

“Was Gabrielle one of them?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Miss Angel?”

“Why does he make all of these women take dancing lessons? What do you suppose he’s up to?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Angel, but that sounds like a question you’d have to take up with Mr. Livingston himself. I’m only the driver. His intentions are just as much a mystery to me as any outsider.”

“But there has to be a reason. I mean, I think I did well enough on the floor the first time and I had no idea what I was doing. It’s like he wants me to improve or be better for some reason. What do you think?”

“Anything is possible, Miss Angel.”

I was curious as to why he had brought me out here but now Thomas’s intentions were even more unclear. They were so unclear that they were beginning to frustrate me.

I couldn’t get back into the penthouse suite fast enough. I immediately had a masseuse sent up to the room to soothe the pain away from my feet. The man’s hands were like some kind of ambrosia. The pleasure resonated from my soles and up through the rest of my body. This particular massage was just as much a relief as knowing that Thomas was paying me for all of this.

I lounged around in the penthouse suite for the rest of the day. I lazily laid on the bed while room service catered to my appetite. It felt like all of the work of the day had been done and I could finally enjoy the freedom I didn’t fully admit I needed to Thomas.

Night came and I hopped back into the sexy outfit I had been wearing when I escorted Thomas to the dance studio. The door to the suite opened and he stepped inside. He looked different. The fatigue of a hard day at work was gone. It was replaced by the look of a man who had been on a well-deserved vacation.

“You look amazing,” he said to me. “I guess Marcus didn’t beat you up too bad.”

“He did,” I said. “I had never been on my feet so long before. Remind me to never wear pumps to that studio again.”

“I think you’ll remember. Speaking of which, I bought you something.”

I didn’t notice the box he was holding when he first walked in. He held it out to me. Slowly, I took it from him and opened it. I looked down at a pair of black leather sneakers, unsure of what to say.

“W-what are these?” I asked.

“I don’t expect you to stop wearing the heels you’re accustomed to when you accompany me to different social functions. I’m sure you’d rather wear them as well. But that doesn’t mean you have to practice with Marcus in them.”

“So you bought me dancing shoes?”

“They match your outfit,” he smiled. “And nobody is going to see you anyway.”

“No… It’s not that. It’s just…”

I knew Thomas was serious about wanting me to learn how to dance. But holding the box of shoes just reminded me that I needed to ask him why again.

“Is this really what you want?” I asked him.

“Why would you ask that?”

“Mr. Livingston, it just seems strange, that’s all.”

“Why is it strange?”

“You still haven’t told me why you wanted me to take lessons.”

Thomas nodded his head as he started to walk away from me. He didn’t answer my question. Instead, he made his way to the phone. He took a moment to order some room service and I didn’t complain as he didn’t answer my question.

“We’ll be dining in here tonight,” he said. “If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. “I don’t mind dinner in this suite and I don’t mind having to learn how to dance. I just want to know what you want from me.”

“The truth, Angel… The truth is that we’ll be heading out to more of the social functions that you’ve already been to. It’s almost expected of most people to dance. It only makes sense.

“Angel, the wealthy socialites that I have to deal with are always around me. I talk to them when I’m at work. I laugh at their jokes during business meetings. I listen to their gossip when I’m having dinner with them. Even right now, my voicemail is getting filled with messages of people wanting to deal with me. It all comes with the territory. You should know that of me by now. I’m sitting on a huge pile of money and everybody wants a piece of it.”

He paused for a moment and sighed, looking around the room to try to find the right words to say to me. I stood there and waited for the reason I was looking for.

“Because it's what I want. That is reason enough, Angel. I know what you’re thinking. You’re in the business of having sex. But that’s not true. You’re in the business of pleasure. You sell your body. This is what I paid for. And this is what I would have you do.”

He moved closer to me and sighed. It wasn’t the answer I was expecting but it was the one I didn’t know I was looking for. It made sense. Too much sense. And there was nothing I could do to refute it.

“As usual, you always know exactly what to say, Mr. Livingston.”

“Angel, you know that you can leave. If you object, for any reason, the door is always open. You’re not bound by our agreement.”

“I know…”

The decision was easy. I enjoyed Thomas’s company. And I relished the opportunity to learn something that had me inexplicably captivated when I first saw it. The money just made everything that much easier.

“I want this,” I said. “I… I want to learn how to dance. I think I can enjoy this.”

“That’s what I want as well. Pleasure, Angel. That is the one thing I asked from you since the beginning. Give me that and I will pay whatever fee you ask of me.”’

I closed the shoe box then looked up at him. He leaned forward into me and kissed me. I closed my eyes and felt the rough skin of his unshaven face brush against me.

“Dance with me... tonight,” he whispered into my ear, moaning softly.

“Take the lead, Mr. Livingston.”

Our lips intertwined, we made our way over to the center of the living room. Like many nights we had spent before, the fireplace was witness to the both of us as we started our naked dance with one another. Our clothes fell upon the shoebox I had placed over to the side. With the flames from the fireplace now burning the same as the passion inside of us, I fell upon the soft carpet. Thomas had reached his full length and I rode him like I hadn’t in so long.

There was a knock at the door but we ignored it. Our bodies were nude. The only sound we made was our flesh rubbing up against one another and the moans escaping from our lips. I emptied my mind of all of my thoughts. The questions I had and curiosity about Thomas’s intentions were all gone. He managed to stir a passion inside of me that no other man had been able to. Even though Thomas’s demeanor was changing from day to day, I still managed to do what I do best and after only a few moments, he released himself inside of me.

The night had grown older. We didn’t say much to one another while we had dinner after satisfying our initial cravings.

We sat naked in front of the fireplace. My body had indulged in so many different pleasures all at once. The gourmet food entered my stomach from above and the sex filled me in another way.

I looked forward at the pile of money he had placed on the table. I still hadn’t gotten numb to every payment he made. Food, sex and money. There wasn’t much more I could ask for. And as I sat next to Thomas and rested my head upon him, I was beginning to think that maybe there was.

“How long do you think it will take?” I asked him.

"What?"

"The dancing. How well of a dancer do you expect me to be?"

"That's up to you, Angel."

"How is it up to me?"

"You're capable of anything, Angel. All it takes is time and effort. Take my advice. That's how I got to where I'm at."

"If I remember correctly, you just happened to run into some guy with a good idea and he hired you."