Chapter Two
Now that’s what I like, Diesel thought as he looked down at the brown haired woman with green eyes wearing a woodland fairy costume. The glitter in her hair and across her shoulders and down her cleavage along with her question made him want to smile.
A woman who knows what she wants and asks for it. Direct, and to the point. I like that.
“I would be honored to dance with so fair a woodland fae,” he said and held his hand out, noting that if she moved closer and they danced he’d see much more of the glitter spilling down inside her dress.
Diesel was six foot two and this delightful creature couldn’t have been more than five foot five.
Yes. A very good view.
She moved closer to him and placed her soft hand in his.
He pulled her close and they moved to the music. “May I have your name?” he asked.
“I am the fairy of the green wood,” she said. “I am a woodland fairy and I love nothing better than wood.”
There were so many things I might say in response. Did she know the direction this conversation might take? She said wood, not the woods.
Testing her, he said, “Tell me more. About how you love… wood.”
“I love wood so much I can’t help but touch it,” she said. “It’s hard to keep my hands off of it.”
Instantly he was hard and wishing she would touch him. He was harder than he’d been in a long time.
The little green-eyed minx. How far would she take this?
“Interesting,” he said. “What do you do, when you touch it?”
“Well, I run my hand up and down it,” she said. “I like to feel how hard it is, how strong and durable.”
He pulled her close enough she could feel how hard he was beneath his gladiator costume. He watched he eyes widen slightly.
“Mm,” she said. “I think you’re hiding wood from me that wants to be touched.”
“Not hiding this wood,” he bent and whispered in her ear. “Something needs to be done. If I step away, I won’t be hiding it from anyone.”
“Then, do not step away,” she smiled. “Dance me out of this room and into another.”
“As you command, fae enchantress.”
He moved them through the main room and into the hallway. Then, away from the others, he tipped her chin up and said, in a low voice. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want your wood,” she said. “I want to wrap my hand around it and then guide it inside of me.”
Her words were the sexiest he’d ever heard in his life. Truly she was an enchantress and he was about to have great sex here tonight.
“You have but to ask,” he said. “My wood is yours to command.”
Giggling, a sound, which made her seem more adorable than seductress, made him laugh out loud. Then, taking him by the hand, she led him down the hall. “I do not know this house or where to go,” she said, and for the first time her voice sounded less than confident.
“Allow me,” he said, and he pushed on one door, which was locked. “Come,” he said. “We will find a place.” The third door he tried was unlocked and the room was empty. He pulled her inside and then quickly closed and locked the door.
She looked up at him with wide hazel eyes beneath the mask and he thought for the first time that perhaps she was over her head, as he saw the uncertainty there.
Diesel didn’t do uncertainty when it came to women and sex.
“Let’s establish something here, before we return to the fantasy and play time,” he said. “You want to have sex, yes?”
“Yes,” she breathed the word out as if she were relieved.
Okay, so she’s playing out her fantasy right now, but she’s appearing as if she’s never done this before.
“I have protection,” she said and reached for her bag. He watched as she pulled a condom out. Not his brand, but he’d use hers and let her take control.
It seemed important to her.
“Do you want to put it on?” he asked. “Or shall I?”
“I’ll do it.” She blushed and nodded.
She is the most adorable creature I’ve ever encountered, he thought. The mix of assertive seductress and shy, uncertain woman is fascinating.
He watched her green eyes and the myriad of shades and emotions he’d seen in them since she’d said ‘hello’ which enchanted him more than any woman he’d ever seen.
He reached for his costume and pulled it aside, so that his manhood sprang out at attention. If she weren’t clear how much he wanted her before, she would be now.
Her eyes widened.
“See what you’ve done to me with your fairy magic?” he asked, watching her eyes.
“Yes,” she said and gave a nod.
“Do you want this?” He knew the answer, saw it in her eyes, but he’d ask anyway.
“Very much,” she nodded and licked her lips as if she wanted to taste him. If those pick lips closed around him now, he wasn’t sure how long he’d last.
She tore the package open with her teeth and then took the condom out. At once he knew she didn’t know how to put it on him. She’d bit her lip and hesitated before dropping to her knees. She reached out to touch him and he nearly groaned.
When she looked up at him, he asked, “Do you want me to put it on?”
“Yes,” she said quietly and handed it to him.
He had the condom rolled on in seconds, a practiced move. Then he took her by the hand and pulled her to standing again. He reached for and pulled the top of her fairy costume down, until her breasts sprung free, glitter spilling out everywhere.
He laughed. “Magic fairy dust.”
His fingers reached for her nipples, touching the taught tips on the rosy peaks. “I’d kiss them but they are covered in glitter.” He rolled them between his thumbs and index fingers, pulling and tugging, then brushing the glitter away and repeating. Playing with her nipples, but also rubbing the glitter off so he could kiss them, he watched her eyes and her breathing as it changed. “I believe you might come just with me playing with your nipples,” he said.
“I believe so too.”
Her breath was changing, as were her eyes, the hazel green changing to more of a deeper green.
He played until she was gasping and then he backed her toward the bed, still playing with her nipples. Stopping with her legs against the back of the bed, he bent down taking one nipple into his mouth and then the other. Then he let her go and reached up under her fairy dress, finding nothing but a thong beneath it. Quickly he found her folds and how wet she was.
“Lay down,” he said.
She lay back on the bed and he moved the thong down over her hips and then down he legs and off onto the floor. She spread her legs, opening for him.
“I’d touch your pussy, but I have glitter on my fingers,” he said.
“I don’t care,” she answered. “I want you.”
“Oh but I care. And I want to taste you.” He bent down, hovered over her, his dark brown eyes watching her through his mask. He lowered his head, reaching out with his tongue and licked her once.
She moaned.
He licked her again. And again. He kept up a pattern of licks.
She started to wiggle and he held her hips down, licking and laving her harder, until she was wetter than wet.
The pulsing of her orgasm as she suddenly came and soaked his lips made him smile. “More?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I want you inside of me. Deep inside.”
He entered her and stroked in and out once, slow.
Pippa closed her eyes. Dancing close with him, touching his warm bare skin and inhaling his scent had nearly done her in before they had even begun to remove clothing. She’d been wet with desire and the chemistry between them was incredible. When he spoke and his voice reached something deep inside of her, she was a goner. That combined with the gentle but intense passion of his lovemaking was beyond anything she could’ve imagined.
If there was magic in the world, this was it.
He was taking her beyond anywhere she’d gone before. She gave herself up to it and to him. First, when he’d played with her nipples, then when he’d gone down on her and finally, now he was stroking her past the point of being able to think words or sentences.
Her gaze went off into that magic place and her eyes rolled back in her head.
“Baby you’re beautiful. Come for me,” he said. His voice then changed to one of command. “Come. Now.”
The command was all it took to tip her over as one orgasm after another hit her. Then they were crashing together, live waves onto the sand.
She hadn’t known that was even possible. Multiple orgasms and finishing in complete and perfect timing. She knew how rare that must be.
Then they were spent.
She didn’t know what to say. This was beyond what she’d expected. This was deeper. Not such a quickie. It was almost, sacred.
His hand reached for her mask just before he bent to kiss her.
She stopped his hand with hers. “We won’t unmask,” she said. “I want to remember us, just like this.”
“All right,” he said. “May I have your name now?”
“Woodland fairy,” her voice was firmer now. “And you are my gladiator.”
He pulled away and clasped his fist to his chest. “I am your gladiator.”
“Thank you for this,” she said. “My fantasies come true.”
“No, my enchantress,” he replied. “Thank you.”
They exchanged smiles and then he removed the condom and dropped it into the trashcan. She sat up and adjusted her fairy costume. He handed her the thong.
“I think I’ll go without,” she said.
The thought of her naked beneath that short skirt made him grown. “Careful or you’ll have more wood on your hands.”
“They aren’t very comfortable.”
“Then don’t wear them. Be comfortable. But also be safe.” He held out his hand. “Will you let me give you a ride home, to make sure you arrive safe?”
She shook her head. “I came with a co-worker and will ride home with her.”
“I’ll escort you back to the party then.”
Her hand was already on the door. “I’m good. No need to.”
He watched her go, thinking; there is every need to.
Protective was his nature. But he was also good at surveillance. He’d be watching until the women were safe in their car heading home. She’d never know.
Diesel wished he’d gotten the mystery woman’s number before he had to ship out. Two days later, he had his duffel packed and was on his way still wishing he knew how to contact her. Her couldn’t get her out of his head.
There was just something about her.
I’ll look for her when I get back. For now I have to focus on the mission.
He was leaving in two days.
****
“Maybe I should’ve given him my number,” Pippa said.
“I think you did it just right. Had a night of great sex with a hot guy and no strings or complications because he has no idea who you are.”
“He seemed very nice and I don’t mean just the hard body and great sex.”
“Just focus on that hard body and the great sex and let the rest go.”
“I mean he just seemed like the kind of guy you could introduce to your parents and might want to marry. I really liked him,” Pippa said. “And there was something magic about our love making.”
“That was the hurricanes talking. And the costumes and the while sleeping with a complete stranger fantasy. That’s not real life, Pippa. And you don’t need the complications right now. Not when you’re trying to finish school. Having a man in your life just means having a guy who wants your attention. And then when something goes wrong, and it always does, you have the heartbreak and drama of a break up to deal with. Do you even have time for that?”
Cheryl made complete sense. It’s just that Pippa’s heart would not be quiet about this. Silly things, hearts. They get us into all sorts of trouble.
“Not really. You’re right. And my track record with men isn’t good. Getting to know him better might have ruined everything. No guy is that perfect,” Pippa said.
“Exactly. You needed to have sex with someone, you did that and now you can move on. Think of it as a great night and a great memory and leave it there. No second guessing.”
“Yeah, you’re right I guess,” Pippa said.
****
Pippa’s cousin Louise called her at work and left a message for her to call back. Far from being a normal call, Louise would only have called if someone had died or something very big had happened. So as Pippa called Louise back, she held her breath. “Hey Louise. What’s happened?”
“This time it’s good news, Pippa. You won’t have to worry about Stan any more. He’s been sent to prison for three years. Felonious assault. He beat up a guy in a bar. That was bad enough. But then he went back and beat him some more. The guy was hurt real bad and they had to call an ambulance. Stan claimed it wasn’t his fault and the other guy did this and did that, but everything was caught on the bars security cameras. And it didn’t hurt that you have pictures of the bruises he left on your neck or that you have a restraining order out on him that was already on record. He’s obviously a violent and dangerous man. I’m so glad he’s been sent to prison and won’t be out for a long time.”
Pippa breathed a sigh of relief. Stress began to drain out of her body. “He can’t find me now and suddenly show up on my doorstep to hurt me. Not while he’s in prison. I’m safe. Finally. No more looking over my shoulder, worrying that he might be the man in the baseball cap behind me. I’m safe, really safe!”
She felt like dancing and spinning around the room.
“Yes you are,” Louise said. “Does this mean you’ll come home now?”
“I am home,” Pippa said. “San Diego is my home and I just started taking a couple college classes.”
“Oh. So you’re staying.”
“Yes.” Pippa didn’t say that she never wanted to move back to her hometown, but she surely felt that way. She’d escaped a horrible marriage, a depressing house and a town, which lost more jobs, every year, and she never wanted to go back.
There was no future there. Only the past. And the past was over and done. Finally.
“Well, all right, if that’s what you want,” Louise said. “I just want you to be happy.”
“Oh I am happy,” Pippa said. “Happier than I’ve been in a very long time.”
****
That happiness lasted exactly one and a half months when it became clear that Pippa was pregnant.
There could be only one father.
A man with the body of a gladiator, a voice, which reached deep inside of Pippa, and a face, she’d never fully seen.
A man whose name she didn’t even know.
“But we used a condom,” she told her doctor. “How did this happen?”
“Condoms are not one hundred percent protection. There is a small margin of error. Around one percent,” the doctor said.
“Great.”
“Do you want this child?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Then we need to get you on some good prenatal vitamins and schedule your next visit.”
Pippa couldn’t believe it.
I’m going to be a mother. A single mom. This wasn’t how I’d thought my life would turn out.
When she’d set out for the Halloween party, planning to have a memorable evening she’d look back on for the rest of her life, she hadn’t planned this. Now she was having trouble wrapping her mind around it.
The next day at work she told Cheryl and watched Cheryl’s jaw drop.
“Oh honey, I’m sorry. I never thought this would happen.” Cheryl said.
“I didn’t either,” Pippa said.
“Girl, you have the worst luck,” Cheryl said.
“I’m trying not to think of it that way,” Pippa said. “This baby, though not planned, will be loved just as much as any other baby.”
Apparently for around one percent of the female population, contraception did not work. The doctor had explained this was true of using the pill, or a condom or any other form.
Lucky me, to fall into that one percent.
She thought about looking for the handsome gladiator.
But how would I find him? I don’t even know his name. And I can hardly walk onto the Naval base and say, hey, one of your SEAL’s has knocked me up, can you help me find him. They’d think I was a real slut. And I don’t even sleep around. He was my first after my divorce, and my last.