Page 32

Hundreds of thousands of dollars richer, Phoenix and I float right out of the casino.

We're untouchable. For the moment. We find our way to the balcony.

Yuna's "Crush" featuring Usher, plays in the background, giving off a chill vibe.

It's balmy and breezy. Land is far away.

I still see the skyline but it's getting smaller and smaller.

The night hangs over us like a black cloak, blending in with the water.

It's so dark, I can't tell where the sky ends, and the water begins. It's spectacular.

The world looks new to my eyes. "I didn't know it could get this good."

"Gets even sweeter when you close million-dollar deals."

"After this, I think I could close a few deals like that. Easy as pie."

Phoenix laughs at my naivety.

"There's the bar." I point across the deck.

"C'mon. Let's get a drink."

"Bottled water for me."

Phoenix waits for the bartender then orders a water and a vodka tonic with lime.

"So, now you're drinking my drink?" I ask with one eyebrow raised.

He takes a sip. "It's not bad but I would think a little college girl like you would like something a little fruitier?"

"I'm a graduate now, remember? It's been months since I walked across that stage and embarrassed myself." I shake my head as I lean on the railing.

"Embarrassed yourself? How?" he inquires curiously.

"You won't believe me when I tell you. You actually had something to do with it." I laugh.

"Me? How?" his high-pitched voice is laughable.

"Remember when we first met, we talked about Scarface?"

"Yeah, so?" He pushes off the railing and turns to face me.

Still embarrassed by that moment, I let it slip out under my breath. "Well I used a line, actually a couple of lines from the movie when I accepted my diploma. I did it in front of everyone too, at least two or three thousand people."

"You did what?" His eyes are wide with amusement.

My cheeks grow even hotter as I think about it.

I clear my throat and slow down. "When I got on stage, I literally snatched the mic from the announcer and in a Cuban accent, I said, 'I want what's coming to me.

' I put the mic to the guy's lips. He looked at me confused and asked, 'What's coming to you?

' so I told him, 'The world, Chico, and everything in it.

' It felt like a mic-drop moment, so I did it. "

"Did what?"

"I dropped the mic. Like a gangster. Everybody lost it. The crowd busted out laughing."

"What?" Phoenix is dying with laughter. He looks at me sideways, as if he doesn't quite believe me. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"I don't know where it came from. It wasn't planned or anything.

It just came out." A cascade of giggles escape, against my will.

"It was over the top, I know but listen, everybody was at Friday night flicks, so they knew exactly what I was talking about.

I don't know what came over me." Wild, unhinged laughter leaps from my throat.

I dab my eyes to keep from ruining my makeup.

"I can see you now. At this serious, stuffy event."

I turn to face him. "Right! Everyone is a corpse, you know, all stiff and stuck up. I hear nothing but the occasional ha-ha. You know, that empty, haughty, polite laughter?"

"Then out comes a girl, not a guy — with that line! Talking and standing like you were. Like a gangster, as you say. Aww, Ari. You're a bold one." Phoenix catches his breath.

The urge to kiss him seizes me. Our lips touch and lock in the softest, sexiest kiss ever.

My body heats up quickly. Before I know it, I'm caressing the back of his head and neck.

The softness of his lips on my lips and the rough, wetness of his tongue on my tongue pulls me in.

My whole body responds to his touch as he strokes my waist and behind.

Damn.

Chills run up my arms. I pull away. Suddenly, I'm self-conscious about my aggressiveness. I smile, coyly and try returning to our conversation. "So, what about you? Where did you graduate?"

He stares back, his eyes beckon me to come closer. "I didn't," he says matter-of-factly.

"You didn't? But you run that ridiculously successful real estate firm downtown?"

"Yeah and all without a college degree." He nods his head.

"Get out! How did you learn everything?"

"Life. I started out in construction." He takes a sip of his drink. "My stepdad, Frank, put me on. He taught me everything about houses. How to fix them. How to build them." He leans forward on the railing to look at the water.

"Get out! I mean you do have the body of a construction worker . . . ." My mind drifts to the night of the picnic.

He chuckles. "Believe it or not, Frank and I hated each other in the beginning. When my mom and dad divorced, it took a real toll on me. I didn't always shine so bright," he jokes.

I smile at his vanity but it's hard to imagine a time when he wasn't winning.

"I came this close to spending time in juvie as a kid."

"Juvie?" I ask, not clear on what he's saying.

"Yeah, juvenile detention."

"Wow."

"Crazy I know. I hated everything and everybody. Got into a lot of trouble. Lost my way but Frank, he's a good man." He stares at the water, contemplating. "I saw that once I accepted the fact that my mom and dad weren't getting back together. Divorce can tear a kid apart. I got lucky with Frank."

Something in me wants to protect him. To save him from the pain of his past. It aches to watch him like this. He seems childlike standing there in the moonlight right now.

"Frank taught me how to build houses. Steve Castor taught me how to sell them. I met Steve while fixing up one of his houses." Phoenix smiles at that.

Happy he's no longer reliving pain, I find myself smiling too.

"He didn't have a son of his own, he took to me.

Had me fix a few of his other properties.

Over that time, he got to know me, decided to show me his side of the business.

Real estate. I was young, like twenty when he took me under his wing.

He left his business to me. Castor Acquisitions.

At the time, you can say it was a small mom and pop shop.

I grew it to what it is today, and here we are.

Castor Acquisitions is now a subsidiary of Prescott Realty. "

My mouth drops open. "Wow. Talk about drive."

"Yep. That's my life . . . ."

His phone rings.

"No reason you're in such high demand?" I yell sarcastically as he excuses himself and walks off. "Phone is always ringing, at all hours of the day . . . ." I lean on the railing, taking a long sip of my bottled water. The moonlight seems to follow me as the yacht seamlessly purrs along.

A few minutes later, Phoenix creeps up from behind as I stare out at the black, sparkling body of water.

Without looking, I can tell it's him walking towards me.

It's something about the way he moves, he walks with such purpose.

He's walking straight for me and my body more than welcomes him.

My back arches in anticipation and the hair raises on the back of my neck and arms as he gets closer.

He enters my airspace and my senses go wild.

Signals and sensations shoot through my body causing a temporary fog.

He was only gone for a short while, but from the way my body responds to his presence, I miss him already.

"Back so soon? You missing me already, huh?" I ask, smiling to myself not looking back. I take one last sip of water and turn around to set the empty bottle on a nearby table.

His hands are all over me, on my waist as he embraces me, on my neck as he brings me closer for a kiss.

I accept his gentle nudging, pushing me, prompting me to open like a flower to the sun.

My walls are non-existent in his presence, he can have whatever he wants from me.

I am willing. I want to acquiesce. Right here. As a matter of fact.

Phoenix pulls me to a quiet section off the deck, where not much is going on.

The music that's blasting on the opposite side is muffled over here.

Anyone coming to this area is here for peace and quiet, and to be alone with their thoughts and judging from how hyped up everyone is, there aren't many here who want to be alone, pondering life.

We duck into a dark corner, and he has his way with me.

Alarms go off in the back of my mind, but they pale in comparison to the gravitational pull emanating from his body. It's a force I'm helpless to resist. I need to be near him. I want him inside of me.

He pushes me against a wall. Covering my body with kisses.

His lips and tongue travel down the deep V of my dress, between each breast, making sure not to touch the nipples even though I so badly want him to.

His kisses go further down, to the top of each thigh-high slit to my bare inner thighs, but not between my thighs.

He hovers over my clit, then puts his mouth on it, blowing hot air into it.

It slowly grows from warm to heated to lava hot.

I feel the rush of blood racing through my veins as I'm filled with excitement.

My hands find their way to the top of his head, pressing his face deeper between my legs.

Rip this dress off me.

Crouched before me, he spreads my legs fast and hard. I feel my wetness soaking my panties as he lifts the sheer fabric and softly bites and licks through my thong underwear. He's playing with me.

He looks up at me. "Ask for it."

"What?"

"You're gonna have to beg for it, if you want it," he tells me looking me straight in the eyes.

"No, it's too risky, too many people around." It's the only thing I can think to say. My thoughts are scrambled.

I'm at a crossroad. On one side is the yoga-loving, bookworm that knows this will take her out of her comfort zone, out of her conformity, away from the rules that keep her safe.

She knows this is risky. On the other side, is the wild, free at heart, without limitations showstopper.

The one that does what she wants when she wants.

She's the I-don't-give-a-damn bad girl and she wants to have sex no matter where she is.

She's incredibly horny and down for anything as long as it's fun.

Pure and simple, she's a slut and she's been dying to get out.

Up until yesterday, I've managed to keep her under wraps but she's getting stronger, somehow. Now that I'm with him.

I'm realizing more and more as he continues kissing me, teasing me into submission, that Phoenix and I fit.

He's the one to liberate me. He makes it so easy for me to feel free around him.

He encourages me to be myself. My whole self, not just the pretty parts.

He doesn't judge me for it. He punishes and pleases me, never holding back, never trying to control me.

He only wants to enjoy me and for me to enjoy myself.

Through heavy pants, I whisper, "Come here."

"Not enough," he responds as he rises. He continues fingering me while kissing my mouth.

"I want you," I whisper, trying to say the magic words to unleash his passion.

"Not enough," he repeats softly into my ear as he bites my ear lobe causing my eyes to roll back into my head and sending shutters through my body.

"I need you," I whisper, hoping that'll work.

"Not enough." He shoots back, taking both my hands and pinning my arms above my head as he tastes my neck.

"Fuck me. Now."

With no words, he lifts me up against the wall and in one swift move, rips off my panties, dips his tip into my wetness and thrusts himself inside me. It's so slippery, he slides right in. I engulf his entire erection. He fills me up. He hits my spot. A perfect fit and does it feel good.

"Yes."

"You like that?" he whispers in my ear before thrusting his erection into me. He grabs my hips, lifting me up and bouncing me down on his hardness again and again and again.

The smooth wall brushes against my back.

I can't believe he has me in the air like this. Out in the open.

I wrap my arms and legs around him, straddling him like I'm riding a horse.

Each time he lifts me up by the hips and drops me down on his erection, it's so intense, I feel like it will be the last time but it's not and just as I'm craving more, he slides me up and down once more.

Our lips and tongue intertwine doing a familiar dance.

Our rhythm is hypnotic. The world has disappeared around us. We're lost in each other. Lost in the back and forth, the up and down motion of our bodies as we collide and retract only to repeat again.

I hear ocean waves crashing. I taste sea salt as I inhale and exhale through my mouth.

Far away from city lights, stars illuminate the dome that is the sky.

He's invading every inch of my body, taking over my mind.

I surround him, my wetness blending us together as if we're a well-oiled machine.

My part fits perfectly over and around his part and we work together beautifully like the inner workings of a clock. We're losing track of time and space.

My back bangs against the wall wildly as he gives me the full strength of his thrust. A loud moan suddenly escapes his sexy mouth.

His rugged hands squeeze my hips. His entire body gets stiff as he pumps his hot liquid into me.

I tighten my grip around the back of his neck, my hands rub the back of his head.

I am so wet and slippery. Riding the edge of his climax, I reach my own.

I let go, straddling him fiercely, going faster until I, too, come, adding to the slippery mess he's already created.

Our bodies grow limp with satisfaction. He kisses me and gently lets me down off the wall.

Even though the world begins to reappear, nothing else matters. There's only us. Him and I. For the briefest of moments, I forget exactly where we are or what we're doing. It doesn't matter.

"That . . . was unexpected and amazing," I whisper naughtily as I adjust my dress, pulling it down.

He laughs out of breath, as he pulls up his pants and adjusts his shirt and linen jacket. Then he takes the handkerchief from his jacket pocket and gives it to me.

"That's so sweet. Thank you," I tell him with a heartfelt smile. I take the handkerchief and clean myself up.

"You got what was coming to you." He pokes at me.

"I'll take it like that any day." I shoot back. "My panties?" I give him an accusatory look. I take the folded handkerchief and what's left of my underwear and tuck them into my clutch.

"Like I said, you got what's coming to you."

"And what's coming to me?"

"The world, chico."

I snicker and bite my bottom lip. "And everything in it."