“You brought it up.”
“I would never refuse my son.”
“And I would never hide him from a father who wants him.”
“I guess we are at an impasse.”
We enter an uncomfortable silence that’s broken by the servers coming again with plates of the entrée. One takes the empty plates away and the other places the ones with food on the table. I choose to focus on the food once they’re gone. Ignoring Damien, however, is hard. Sometimes, his leg will brush againstmine and now and then, I can feel his fiery gaze on me. It’s searing and searching, driving me insane with need. It makes no sense. “You hate me,” I say out loud without intending.
“Yes, I do.”
“Then why do you want me?”
“Don’t you want me to? I know what I feel is not one-sided.”
“I do.”
He takes in a harsh breath. “At least that’s one thing we can agree on.”
Energy crackles in the air. We say no more to each other for the rest of the meal, preferring to eat in silence. After we’re done, we leave the maze and take a stroll on the grounds of the estate, consciously avoiding the parts with the most painful memories. We walk in the opposite direction of the cottage while making small talk. The evening is warm enough for me to not need a jacket and Damien is considerate enough to use the pathways instead of walking on grass. I tell him about my business and he tells me about his.
“Were your partners mad at you for not being able to secure the sale?” I ask.
“A few were pissed they couldn’t get their hands into Hawthorne Inc, but most have been understanding. Since I have a board seat, Nolan and I have agreed to share ideas on how to take the company forward.”
“Nolan and you?” The last time the two spoke, Nolan looked like he wanted to take Damien’s eyes out.“What changed?”
“Maybe he realized that I was telling the truth. That the company is stagnating, and it needs a little freshening up. Malls are going out of fashion and if Hawthorne Inc clings to department stores, the brand will wither and die soon and so will the company.”
“I’m just surprised he’s willing to take your advice at all.”
“He can be stubborn, but he’s willing to see sense sometimes.” We come to a stop and I soon realize that we are now a few feet away from the cottage. Out of everything here, it looks the most unchanged.
“I thought you have demolished it brick by brick.”
His eyes shine under the bright moonlight. The starlit sky makes him look like a dark and irresistible entity coming to take me to the netherworld. “The thought came to me, but it’s too cute to destroy. I suppose the investor in me won.” We’re somehow standing too close. My breathing becomes erratic as he takes another step closer. “You shimmer.” His voice is as low enough to be a whisper. “Like a nymph.”
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Damien’s arm wraps around my waist, and he gently pulls me to him. “Yes. But not like this.” Before I can ask what he means by that, he dips his head and licks my lips, coaxing my mouth open. His tongue tastes of the peppermint he took at the end of the dinner with a faint hint of the vanilla dessert we had. But there’s nothing vanilla about the way he kisses. He devours me until I am weak and putty in his arms. His hands are all over me all at once. They slide up and down my back, gripping my butt, caressing my neck, driving me insane, arousing the desire within me that’s been bubbling all night. His erection probs at my belly and my body responds with a spark of electricity traveling to my center.
“Fuck, you’re so hot,” he whispers against my lips. I draw his mouth back to mine and he gasps. Confirmation that he’s driven by desire, just as I am, is all I need to be bold and deepen my kiss. I feel his hands go down to my thighs and up my dress. It’s my turn to gasp when he lifts me and wraps my legs around his waist. I continue kissing him as he makes his way. Where? I don’t know. A few moments later, he hits against a barrier. Adoor. He opens it and we enter the dark interior. He flicks a light switch, and I let go of his lips.
We’ve entered the cottage. It looks almost like nothing has changed except maybe that it has been cleaned. Everything else is in its place. A time capsule of that night. I feel a prickling sensation in my tear ducts as I realize what this is. The dress, similar to the one I had eight years ago. The dinner at the center of the maze. And now the cottage. I wrestle myself from his embrace, and he lets me go without a fight.
“Nothing is coincidence,” I say, looking around. It’s as if I’ve traveled back in time to eight years ago.
“Take off your clothes.” The intensity of the desire in his voice is only matched by the darkness on his face. He looks like a person who will not take no for an answer. Nor do I want to refuse him. As pathetic as it sounds, I want to take part in this twisted punishment he has in store for me. I step back a few paces until I am a couple of inches away from the bed. Slowly, I open the little zipper on the side until the dress is loose enough to slip out of.I remove my arms out and let it fall to my feet. His nostrils flare.
He steps forward, his eyes glued to my body. I try not to let the intensity of his stare get to my insecurity. My body is no longer what it was like back then. My hips are fuller and my breasts are bigger, but my belly is a little loose and there’s a dark line on it where a c-section was performed. I try not to think of the thighs that aren’t as toned as they used to be and the breasts that aren’t as perky. I raise my chin in defiance.
“Take off everything,” he says.
Trembling with excitement, I remove the scrap of lace covering my pussy and slip out of my shoes. I don’t know what sixth sense made me groom my pussy a few days ago, but I thank it right now.
“Kneel.”
I fall to my knees on the shag rug in front of the bed. He steps forward, unbuttoning his pants. Such a move should not be as sexy as it does to me, but my mouth waters and my center clenches as he unzips his fly and pulls out his thick throbbing cock in front of me. He doesn’t need to issue a fourth command. I take hold of his cock and stroke it, a little mesmerized by its size. Pre-cum seeps out of the tip and without thinking, I lick it. I lick the head before taking it fully into my mouth.
