James
Ava was insatiable. She had held back before. This time, she had given me everything. Again, and again.
When we’d finally gotten around to sleeping it had been in the early hours of the morning. Despite my lack of sleep, I had never felt more energized.
I opened my eyes to a room that was becoming increasingly familiar. Judging by the light in the room it wasn’t early anymore. I was late for work.
Oh well.
I had missed morning before when I’d been with women. This one was worth more than any of the others. I would risk it all for her.
Ava was asleep next to me, her body curled, her knees pulled up. She faced me, her hand on my torso but other than that we weren’t touching.
She was independent, always had been.
In her sleeping state, Ava looked younger. Her skin was smooth, her freckles beautiful. God, I’d missed this woman.
I stretched. My body was stiff from a night of unimaginable sex. My erection throbbed beneath the covers, straining, begging for me.
I would never get tired of her.
When I couldn’t lie down without discomfort anymore, I got up and walked to the bathroom. I needed to pee. Doing that with an erection was an art but I’d done it before.
Ava was awake when I got back to the bed. I got in beneath the covers again. She smiled.
“I’m still here,” I said.
She nodded. “I heard you in the bathroom.”
Good. She trusted me again. Her trust was hard to come by. It was easier to lose Ava than it was to lose anything else in my life.
Ava shifted her body until she lay against me, her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and we lay like that. When she was against me like this it felt like nothing could stop me, like I was invincible, like this was where I was supposed to be.
I didn’t usually spend this much time with the women, afterward. I didn’t spend the night, I didn’t cuddle. Sometimes all I knew about them was their stage name.
Ava wasn’t just any woman, though. She was a reason to stay.
I felt her breasts against my ribs. They were soft, the skin smooth, her nipples relaxed. A hint of lust shivered through my body but I pushed it away. I didn’t want to sleep with her right now. I wanted to have sex with her again and again but right now, I wanted to hold onto her. I was still reeling with the magic that she was back in my arms. For years I had been sure this would never happen again.
“What are you thinking about?” Ava asked.
I turned my head toward hers and kissed her forehead.
“Nothing important.”
She took a deep breath and blew it out again in a sigh.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
She nodded. “We can order up,” she said. “This place’s room service is fantastic.”
She moved away from me too soon, her body heat lingering after she climbed out of bed. She found the robe she’d worn the night before - next to my wrinkled suit – on the floor and pulled it on. She found a menu and brought it to the bed. I watched her move – elegant, graceful.
She read the menu to me. I could close my eyes and listen to the sing-song lilt in her voice all day.
“What do you want?” she asked.
I chose something from the menu and she phones the front desk to order the food. When she finished, I walked to the bathroom.
“I’m going to shower,” I said. “Join me?”
She followed me and I turned on the water. I wanted her again. I had a feeling I would always want her. I turned on the spray and waited for the water to heat up. I stepped into the shower and regulated the temperature. Ava stepped in with me. Water ran through her hair and down her body droplets tracing her curves.
I wanted more. I reached for her and touched her, sliding my hands over her body. Ava kept her eyes on my face the whole time.
“You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” I said to her.
She blushed. Ava was the kind of women that would always remain innocent, no matter how many men she would be with. Her blush was childlike, her features refreshing. She was nothing like the plastic women I saw in my circles all the time. Her beauty was natural, her body soft and supple beneath my fingers and her responses genuine and heartfelt. Other women in my life with mimic sex sounds that were straight from a porno. Their breasts would be so plastic they didn’t move, even when they were being fucked.
Ava was nothing like that. It was one of the many things I liked about her.
I reached for the soap Ava had brought with her and squirted some into my hand. I rubbed my hands together, working it up into a lather and soaped up her body. She was slippery and smooth and I controlled myself. It took a lot of me to not take her again.
I kissed her. She tasted like the hot water that ran over her face, the smell of her soap filled my nostrils and it was intoxicating.
My phone rang in the bedroom and I groaned.
“Can’t you leave it?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I’m already not in the office. I need to get that.”
I kissed her nose. “I’ll be right back.”
Ava nodded. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my hips. I padded wet footprints to the pile of clothes next to the bed and fished my phone from my blazer pocket.
“Yeah?”
“Where are you?” Amanda asked.
“I got held up.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“When are you going to be able to get to the office?” She sounded irritated like she knew I was lying.
“I’m not sure, an hour maybe more?”
A beat of silence.
“I need you here, now,” she said. “I’ve received documents that demand your attention.”
“They can’t wait?”
Another silence.
“When are you going to prioritize your job?”
I closed my eyes and sighed.
“I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
I hung up and stared at the screen for a moment. It was almost eleven. I had lost track of time – who could concentrate on something as mundane as a work day when I had Ava in my arms?
I dried myself and got dressed. My blazer was rumpled but the rest of my suit didn’t look too bad. I just wouldn’t wear the blazer.
When I walked in the bathroom again Ava was rinsing her hair. Her eyes traveled down and back up my body.
“You’re leaving,” she said. A statement, not a question.
“I have to go into the office. Amanda has important documents she needs me to go over.
“What about breakfast?”
“I’ll have to make it up to you.”
Ava turned off the water and squeezed the excess out of her hair. She stepped out of the shower, a goddess in her nakedness, water droplets clinging to her perfect skin. In the steam that filled the bathroom, she was a vision.
When she looked at me again her eyes were dark, her lips pursed into a thin line.
“You’re upset.”
She shrugged and wrapped a towel around her body.
“I thought we had more time.”
“I’ll see you later.”
She shook her head. “You don’t get it, do you?”
I blinked at her. She took a deep breath.
“Every time you walk away from me, it’s over. I’m lucky if I get you back at all.”
I stepped closer to her and pulled her against me. “It’s not the same,” I said. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”
She nodded. I wasn’t sure what she was feeling, her face was a mixture of anger and fear. I kissed her one more time before turning around and walking away. When I opened the door a man with a trolley of food was just about to knock.
“Right on time,” I said and let him push the trolley inside before I followed him out. I closed the door behind me and walked back to the elevator.
Amanda was in a bad mood. The moment I walked into her office, I felt the tension. When she looked up at me her face was dull. Her eyes slid to my suit for a moment. Maybe she’d guessed.
“You’re late,” she said.
I shrugged. I wasn’t going to apologize to her.
“Can’t you leave your escapades for the weekend?”
“It’s weekend,” I said, sitting down.
“Friday is still a workday.”
It was true. It didn’t feel like it, though. Whenever I was with Ava I lost track of time and space and everything in my life that went with it.
I sat down in one of the chairs opposite Amanda.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked.
Amanda handed me a paper. I took it and glanced at it. I frowned.
“That’s the financial projection,” Amanda said.
“I know. We discussed the numbers already.”
Amanda nodded.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
Amanda shrugged. “You mentioned you were doing your finances, see if it all worked. I thought I would help you along.”
I nodded. “It wasn’t necessary, but thank you,” I said.
Amada leaned back in her chair.
“I also wanted to talk to you about Miss Fischer.”
I groaned inwardly. “What about her?”
“I don’t think she’s being honest with you?”
I frowned. “About what?” I didn’t want to talk about Ava. I didn’t want to have to hide things from my business partner, I didn’t want Ava implicating that Amanda was at fault… I was a lover, not a fighter.
“I think she’s playing you, trying to seduce you to get into our private information.”
“What like a spy?” I smiled.
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Don’t mock me, James.”
I shrugged. “I don’t understand where you’re getting this from,” I said. “Ava is just doing her job.”
“And you’re doing her. Aren’t you?”
I didn’t want to admit to it but I didn’t want to deny it, either. The best was to keep quiet and let Amanda come to her own conclusions. When I didn’t answer, she nodded as if it was a confirmation.
“Look, where you put your dick in your private life is personal. I get that.”
“Classy,” I said.
“But I think she’s dangerous and you’re compromising the company. I’ve said this to Caleb as well. You need to get your priorities straight and separate your personal life from your business life.”
I was getting angry.
“I appreciate your concern,” I said tightly. “After all, this is your business, too. But I can assure you Ava isn’t a problem. She’s not a traitor or a spy or anything of the sort.”
“You know this so well because you’ve slept with her? Or…”
I shook my head. “Don’t patronize me,” I said. “We are nothing more than business partners. You talk to me about the company and I am obligated to listen but the moment you start on my personal life, we have problems.”
“You’re making a fool of yourself,” Amanda said.
I shook my head. “No, Amanda, you’re doing that for me. I’ve got this under control. Leave Ava out of it.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. I hated it when women did that – it was a sign of bad things to come and you didn’t want to get on a woman’s wrong side.
“This time to move is now, James,” Amanda said. “And you’re too blinded by a pretty face and open legs to notice it.”
I was angry – angrier than I had been in a while. I knew exactly what was at stake.
“Just because I have found something I would give it all for, doesn’t mean that I will sacrifice everything else.”
Amanda laughed mockingly. “Don’t tell me you’re in love with her?”
I suddenly panicked. I had told Ava I loved her but she hadn’t said it back to me. What if she didn’t feel the same? I shook off the thought. This was the worst place to be paranoid. I got up.
“I will let you know when I’m ready to move forward with this. Until then, keep your nose out of my business. You’re not my mom.”
I turned around and walked out of the office.