A smiling Arsen put a finger under my chin and lifted it until I looked up into his beautiful eyes. He bent to kiss me once more, but this kiss was short and sweet.
“Only…so…much...self…control.” I heard him say through the music. Then he helped me lower my leg and set our clothes in order, wincing as he adjusted his erection. When he was ready to lead us back to our table, he made sure my clothes were in place. He leaned down to whisper, “I don’t know how it’s possible, but you look more beautiful than before.”
I looked at him feeling my already flushed face turn hotter and mumbled, “Ummm...thank you.”
Arsen gazed down at me for a moment longer, then throwing his head back, he laughed. When he was done laughing, he said, “Best fucking dancing experience ever. Maybe I should do it more often?”
I wanted to smack him on the shoulder, but I laughed instead. He looked so adorable, all flushed. “Which reminds me…about your situation.”
Arsen wrapped his arms around my waist. “Don’t give it a thought, Dimples. I am very satisfied. Just keep your sweet ass in front of me when we get to the table and we’ll be okay.”
“What’s that smile for?” Arsen asks.
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking about your moves.”
“The club?” he asks, a cocky smile on his lips.
“Yep.”
“Shit, that was fucking incredible.”
And I agree. It was incredible, but it was because of him.
When we arrive at his apartment, I take in the minimalistic décor. I’ve only been here twice before today. We usually meet in a hotel in Queens, but Arsen figures his apartment can be just as private as long as we pretend not to know each other when we walk in.
The last time I was here my whole attention had been on Arsen, so as I make my way to his master bedroom, I take in my surroundings. Everything looks so empty and lifeless.
“How come you don’t have any pictures hanging on your walls?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder to stare at Arsen who is stripping me naked with his eyes.
Arsen shrugs his shoulders and follows me.
“There’s no point. All I want to look at is standing in front of me,” he says hoarsely.
“Oh. Um…” I stutter.
“Wait, come here.”
Curious, I turn around and approach him. Arsen surprises me by picking me up and wrapping my legs around him. Our bodies connect intimately with our clothing as the only barrier between us.
“Better,” he says as he squeezes my butt. “I’ve missed you.” He leans down and kisses me, his tongue seeking and tangling with mine.
After kissing for a couple minutes, I break away with the need for air.
“I’ve missed you too,” I murmur against his lips.
Arsen carries me to his bedroom and puts me down in front of a floor length mirror next to his bed. As I look at my reflection, I begin to take the pins out of my hair and let it flow over my shoulders.
I want Arsen. He makes me feel free. His mere presence buries a side of me that I hate, one that makes me vulnerable by reminding me of all the pain. A pain I want to forget. And Arsen does that for me. Maybe that’s why I feel this obsession with him.
“What are you thinking?” he asks.
I watch Arsen in the mirror as he begins to remove his clothing. He pulls his gray cotton t-shirt over his head and drops it on the floor, removing his pants and boxer briefs next. The powerful muscles on his torso and his arms give me the impression that he could lift me with one hand without any effort.
“Nothing. Just admiring you,” I say, warmth settling in my core as I observe his naked body.
Arsen chuckles and closes the distance between us. Placing his arms on my shoulders, he leans down, buries his nose in my hair, and takes a deep breath, drinking in the smell. He’s so close to me that it would be extremely easy to get down on my knees and take him in my mouth. The image and the memory of his taste makes me tremble from head to toe.
“Strip down for me, Catherine,” he orders roughly.
When I begin to remove my jacket, he moves away and sits on the edge of the bed. He observes me carefully as if he is the hunter and I, his prey.
My hands tremble as I take off my clothes until I’m down to my black lace bra and thong, showcasing my slim body. I can see my pebbled pink nipples and the vee of the most intimate part of my body through the lace work.
I lift my eyes from the perusal of my body and observe Arsen doing the same while he strokes his erection in his hand. There’s a sexy smile adorning his face as he drinks me in.
“Come here.” The order, though softly said, makes me shiver in excitement.
Arsen makes a dark side of me, one that is uninhibited, come out and want to be just as bad as he is. Maybe it’s because he sets me free, I don’t know, but when I’m with him I don’t care about anything other than him.
Slowly, I straddle him until the only thing separating us is the thin silk of my thong. It would be so easy to screw each other. All he would have to do is slide the fabric to the side and push inside me. But we don’t move. We gaze intensely at each other instead.
“You drive me fucking crazy,” he says before he licks the valley between my breasts, lightly running his hands over my back. I tilt my neck back as I offer myself to him.
“I want to fuck you so bad, Dimples. I haven’t been able to think of anything else since the last time I saw you.” He lifts his hips, grinding his erection against my sex. The carnal friction makes me groan as I feel the humid warmth of my body seeping through the material separating us.
“Can you feel how much I fucking want you?” he asks roughly.
I meet his gaze and stare at his feverish bright eyes. “I want you too,” I whisper softly against his mouth. I want this. I want him. He’s everything I need in this moment.
Arsen remains silent for a second, “You know, when I saw you for the first time, I remember noticing how sad your eyes looked.” He runs his finger along the edge of my jaw, “But it was nothing compared to how lost they were three weeks ago,” he adds huskily.
“And how do they look now?” I ask as I rub myself on his dick.
He smiles tenderly at me as he rubs his thumb across my lips. “Not so lost.”
I nod. Like a beacon, this man’s inner light illuminates all the darkness surrounding me.
Arsen sobers up. “Dimples, I want to make that fucking sadness in them disappear completely.”
“Oh.” I don’t think that’s possible. I’m truly past remedy. And If I wasn’t before, I am now. “I don’t know if that will ever happen. I-I don’t think it’s feasible,” I say.
“Fuck feasible.” He kisses me on the lips. “For you, I’ll fucking make the impossible happen. There’s no room for fucking sadness in such a pretty face as yours.”
I want to smile as I take in the earnest expression on his face, but instead I shake my head once more as tears pool in my eyes. I’m falling for him, and I don’t want to. I dismiss the thought and let the thrill of the moment take over my mind.
Arsen begins to kiss my neck, letting his tongue trace the goosebumps awakened on my skin by his touch. Skillfully he removes my bra, tosses it on the floor, and then palms my breasts until my nipples are a bright red.
I lift myself on my knees, about to remove my thong, when he puts a staying hand on mine.
“No,” he orders. “Leave it on.”
Arsen grabs his hard dick in one hand while the other pushes aside the thin fabric of my thong, twisting the string so tightly around his palm you can see its red imprint on his skin.
“You’re so beautiful, so fucking sweet,” he murmurs.
I begin to lower myself onto his erection when my phone begins to ring.
It’s him.
This is the fourth or fifth time he’s called.
“Don’t answer.” Arsen pushes his dick inside me, then out again, and begins to rub the head of his dick across my clit. “Let it go to voicemail. If it?
??s him, he knows you’re busy with friends.” He chuckles when the word friends rolls off his tongue.
Arsen’s cruel mocking snaps me out of my haze. Sobering me on the spot. I feel torn by what we are about to do, but the wetness between my legs betrays me. My body knows what it wants.
“No. I need to get this. He’s going to worry. I haven’t spoken to him since he left this morning.” I remove his hands from my underwear, get off his lap, and make my way to my bag. Covering my breasts with one arm, I fish for my phone with the other, wishing I could ignore Ben and extinguish the guilt beginning to fester inside me.
When I finally find my phone, I answer.
“Hello?”
“Babe.”
“Hi, baby. What’s going on? I can’t talk for too long. The store is getting busier and I still have to try on the clothes I found,” I say, sounding breathless.
Ben laughs. “You can buy whatever you want as long as you don’t buy more of those frilly things you wear to bed that I always end up taking off, or shredding with my fingers.” I look down at the set I’m wearing and notice how stretched they are.
Feeling sweltering shame burn my face, I slide them off my legs and toss them on the floor. Now I’m completely naked. Clean on the outside yet so, so dirty on the inside.
“Um, Ben…I—”
“It’s alright. I’ve got to go. I was just calling to let you know I won’t be home for dinner. I have to go over some paperwork. Kerry is staying and helping me out, so we’ll probably just order take out.”
At the mention of Kerry’s name, my senses begin to tingle but I smother them right away. I have no right to question anything. I was just sitting on Arsen’s dick.
“Oh, okay.” I’m about to say that I have to hang up when I feel Arsen’s hand in between my legs, his fingers finding and invading my pulsating core.
He leans down and whispers in my ear, “Tell him you’re busy and that you have to let him go.” He pushes harder inside me. “I want to fuck you now.”
“Is that Arsen?” There’s disbelief in his voice.
Arsen chuckles as he keeps stroking me. I want to whimper because of the things his wicked hand is doing to my body, desire flooding my senses. Arsen steps closer to me until his erection is wedged in between my ass and his stomach.
“Y-yes, baby. That’s Arsen.” My voice is shaky.
I try to move away from him, but he won’t let me. His free arm snakes around my waist tightly, holding me in place.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Catherine. You’re mine for now,” he whispers harshly before nipping me in the ear. The sweet man from a couple minutes ago is gone and in his place is the old Arsen, cold and crude. His thumb furiously rubs my clit as his fingers continue to slide in and out of me.
“What the hell are you doing with him? I thought you were shopping.” He sounds angry.
Suppressing a whimper, I try to come up with a valid excuse as to why I’m with Arsen. I try to find the right lie to deliver to the man on the other line. The man that I supposedly love so much, my faithful and steadfast husband.
“I-I ran into him. He’s here with his mother.”
I know he doesn’t believe me. Ben is quiet for a minute. A minute too long. “I’ve got to go. Bye,” he says frostily.
The coldness in his voice scares me, prompting me to stop him from hanging up. “Wait!” I use all my force to push Arsen away. This time it works because he lets me go as I step into the middle of the room.
“Yes?” I hear Ben ask.
My body and mind are at odds because I’m still aroused by Arsen’s touch, yet I’m sick with disgust for allowing it to happen. But I can’t stop. I can’t.
I stall for time, not really sure what to say.
Meanwhile, my lover is standing in front of me, watching me with stormy eyes as his chest contracts from his heavy breathing. His raging erection is tantalizing and beautiful.
“I guess I’ll see you at home,” I say.
The muscles in Arsen’s chest tense, but I ignore it. Ben is silent, and I think he’s going to hang up before replying, but he surprises me with his next words and how deep they cut. “Yes.” Ben pauses, “I love you. Don’t forget that. Always.”
The line goes dead, leaving me drowning in shame.
Arsen must notice a change in my demeanor because he doesn’t give me a chance to say or do anything before he pounces on me. Lifting me up in his arms, he brings me back to his bed.
As soon as I’m lying down, he begins to spread kisses all over my body, almost as if he were trying to brand me with his lips. The instant I feel his skin on mine, I can go back to pretending that nothing exists beyond the walls of his room. I know I should be angry with him and sickened by what he just did, but I can still hear Ben in my head, and I don’t want to. I can’t. I’ll go mad with guilt.
So I use Arsen.
“Arsen…”
His lips land on mine. “Yes…” he murmurs between kisses as his hands explore the curves of my body.
“I need you. Now,” I beg.
Make me feel nothing but your body inside mine.
Let me lose myself in pleasure.
Bury the truth so I don’t have to hurt because of it.
Lifting himself on his elbows, he hovers above me. I notice his lips are red and puffy from mine. “What do you think I’m trying to do here?”
“I don’t want to kiss anymore. I-I—”
“You want me to just fuck you?” He pushes the tip of his erection inside me. “Like this?”
I spread my legs wider to welcome him, grab him by the shoulders, and lift my hips. “Yes, please. I don’t want to think anymore,” I beg.
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I made a mistake.
Arsen’s body stiffens instantaneously. “Is this about his phone call? Because if you want me to fuck you so you don’t have to think about him, I won’t. Fuck that,” Arsen spits at me as he rolls away from me, landing on his back.
“What do you mean? I…you don’t want me?” I sit up, grab the silky white sheet, and cover my exposed chest as I stare at his golden frame. The swollen tip of his dick gleams with the proof of my desire for him.
We stare at each other without speaking. I’m blushing of embarrassment, and Arsen is openly eyeing me with anger written on his face.
“No,” he says flatly, nostrils flaring.
I’m humiliated and mortified beyond words. What was I thinking? Of course he doesn’t want me. I’m worthless.
“I understand.”
I move to stand, but Arsen blocks me. Kneeling in front of me, he cups my face in his hands. “Fuck, Catherine. Stop. Look at me, please.”
I raise my eyes and stare at him. He’s like the sun. Blinding. I can’t tear my gaze away, even as I’m being blinded by him.
“Why is it always like this with us?” Groaning, he runs a hand through his hair. “One moment it’s like we’re flying, and the next I want to fucking hurt someone.” He pauses, lust and some feeling I don’t understand warring in his eyes, “I want you. So damn much. You know that. But I can’t do this. Not when it’s him you’re thinking about.”
“B-but I want you.” It’s not a lie. I do, so much.
Whenever I’m with him, I don’t feel cold, or empty, or broken. He makes it all go away.
“No. Not like this. I’m a worthless piece of shit for taking what’s not mine, but I won’t let him in here.” He points at his bed. “Not here. This is where I don’t have to share you. This is where you’re mine,” he says gently.
“Oh, Arsen. You aren’t…and he—”
“Shh, beautiful. Enough about him. Come here, let me kiss you. I need that fucking sweet mouth of yours on mine,” he says softly.
When Arsen lets go of my face, he leans down and kisses me on the lips once more. It’s short, but I can’t stop the reaction of my body the moment our mouths come together. His kiss invades my senses, inebriating me with its sweet flavor.
??
?You’re right. I was trying to…I’m sorry. So sorry,” I say guiltily as we lie together on his bed.
He looks up from his slow examination of our intertwined hands. “It’s fine. I understand what you were trying to do. I’ve been there. I’ve used sex to bury thoughts and emotions.” He kisses my forehead before continuing, “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I don’t want to fuck you while you think about him.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Forget it. Besides, I like this.” He lets go of my hand and wraps his arms around me as he chuckles. “Cuddling. Who the hell would’ve imagined that? You’re turning me into a pussy. Saying no to getting laid and cuddling instead,” he says, a boyish grin appearing on his face.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take care of it?” I nod in the direction of his erection.
“Nah, it’ll go away.”
“But aren’t you in pain?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. Now be quiet and fucking kiss me again.”
And we get lost in sweet moments of oblivion. Our breaths filling each other’s lungs, Arsen slowly becoming part of me.
Hours later, before I leave his apartment, Arsen hugs me fiercely. He kisses the top of my head and every surface of my face. When he lets go of me, he raises a hand and cups my chin. “Is it like this with him?”
I’m taken aback by his question.
“No, don’t answer. I don’t want to know,” he says as he plants another quick peck on my lips.
As I make my way to the train station, I realize I should call Ben, but I choose not to. I want to think of Arsen for a little bit longer. For the first time since our affair began Arsen and I weren’t intimate, but somehow I feel closer to him than ever before.
When I arrive home later that night, I’m greeted by the smell of garlic and tomato sauce.
“Ben?” I ask loudly as I begin to remove my diamond studs, feeling my hair graze the top of my fingers.
“In here!” he shouts.
I want to change out of my clothes and brush my teeth, but instead I go in search of Ben. Faltering in my step, I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to say when I see him. I’m pretty sure he didn’t buy my excuse that I ran into Arsen while I was out shopping.