Emmanuelle
My body ached with muscle pain, but I had enjoyed every burning second of the activities that caused this feeling. I slept in for a little over an hour past the time that I had set my alarm on. When I rolled over to my side I saw Marco still laying with his eyes closed. His bare chest heaving up and down, right arm tucked under his head. Our blanket only covered him from the waist down. My eyes drew invisible lines along the outline of his body. Taking his every feature in mind, I had made a mental painting that I intended to recreate on a canvas.
Looking at him caused flashbacks to flood my mind. I always knew I was a very sexual being, yet I would try my best to hide this side. However, the high intensity of our feelings being in harmony and undoubtedly, the result of the frequency of his energy had motivated me to explore all there was to self love. We celebrated the openness of our desires as our souls were mirroring what it is of one another we admired. I was slowly becoming needy of his touch which he preferred more than minded, provoking the lust that fermented inside of me to heighten.
"Wake up, it's almost eight thirty. " I whispered as I ran my fingers up and down his chest.
With his eyes still closed he shook his head.
"We're going to be late."
"I'm your boss. You're excused for today." He murmured.
I trailed down to his stomach, drawing circles on his thighs, taking forever to work my way towards his manhood. Suddenly, he grabbed my hand, "No teasing." He said.
I shook my head as innocently as possible as I bit down on my lip to control my laughter since teasing him was exactly what I was about to do. Marco let go off my hand, but his eyes were now carefully studying my face. I grazed my fingers against his length, going up and down. He drew in a long breath as I was doing this. It took a lot of strength for him to remain calm and not take control over me. I knew this, because it was always him who took the lead. I continued to stroke him for a while longer until I abruptly stopped, rolled over to my side and tried to make a run for the bathroom. I had one foot on the ground when his arms wrapped around my frame and he pulled me back into the bed.
"I said– no teasing." He threw me onto my back, straddling me and pinning my arms above my head.
"I'm sorry." I said with a smile that I forced to conceal.
Tsk, tsk, tsk— he shook his head whilst making this sound. "What do we get when we tease?" His voice turned serious.
I gulped, excitement with a healthy sense of fear accompanied my blood during its rush through my veins and heart. "Punished."
"Louder."
"P—" the vibrating sound coming from his phone caused me to stop talking.
He groaned as he reached for his phone. "What?" He sounded extremely irritated. "I'm in the middle of something, can this wait until I reach the office?" We briefly made eye contact when he climbed off me and stood up from the bed. "And Marissa can't take care of this? I'm still on the casino project." He argued. "Fine. When's the flight?" Marco scratched his chin. "Yeah, okay. I'll get it done."
"Is everything all right?" I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged my legs.
"I've to go to New York for onsite inspection. I'm leaving tonight."
"How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know as yet," he sat down at the edge of the bed and looked at me over his right shoulder. "Marissa has to be in San Francisco for a deal we're trying to close and Mattia is just now easing back into all of this. That leaves me." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"I understand."
"Do you want to come with me?" He asked after a moment of silence. "You can fill in for Rosie."
"I don't want to cause any problems."
"I'll take care of it. I'll have a talk with her," he stood up, holding his hand out to me. "Come on, do you have your passport?"
I shook my head, remembering that Anthony last had it when we left England. "Tia or Anthony must have it. I'll get it."
"Okay." He pecked me on the forehead. "Go shower first. I'll shower after you're done, then I need to head out for a bit."
After my shower I left the room in search of Tia. I found her in the laundry room with Lorna, having quite a laugh over whatever it is that they were talking about. "Tia, do you have my passport?" Was the first thing I asked after greeting them.
"No," she frowned. "I gave it to Anthony. You ask him?"
"No, not yet. I will." I sprinted back to Marco's room to get my phone. By this time Marco had already left the house.
"Anthony!"
"Nuelle? Is something wrong?" Traffic could be heard in the background.
"Do you have my passport?"
"Passport? Why, what's going on?"
"Where is it?"
"Can I call you in five minutes. I'm— damn it. Fuck." I heard him mumble afterwards the line got cut off.
I was just about to throw my phone to the side when it started ringing, "Anthony?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I have bad service." I knew he lied but all I cared about in this moment was finding my passport.
"Where's my passport?"
"I have it."
I sighed out in relieve. I had mentally already prepared myself to hear him say that Mattia had it. "I need it. I'm going to New York with Marco."
He was quiet for a second. It's in my room. A black envelope bag in the last drawer of the dresser. Marissa's home, tell her that I sent you to get it."
"Okay. Thanks." I ended the call and went to his room. My feet stopped at the closed door. Music was coming from inside. Marissa's voice could occasionally be heard as she was singing along, sounding like a cat in excruciating pain. I took a deep breath and knocked to get her attention. I did not know what to expect. Two weeks had passed since we last spoke which was usually only when others were around.
"I need to get something from your dresser. Anthony sent me." I said when she raised her eyebrows whilst she pressed her lips together instead of greeting me.
"Well, then come back when he's home." She planned to shut the door in my face but I was fast in stopping it with my hand. She took a step back, surely not happy about my action. "The hell."
"Look, I know that we're not in a good place right now. But, at the moment– I could care less about that. Marco has a black envelope bag in that drawer," I pointed. "I need to get it, because I need my passport. So, either you let me in or you get it for me. AS long as I get it." I bit down on my teeth to refrain myself from saying all other things I had been carrying around in my heart regarding the situation she had created. She rolled her eyes at me and pushed the door open, motioning with her hand for me to come in. I walked straight to the dresser and took the bag out as instructed. It contained our passports; Tia's, Anthony's and mine. There was also a clear plastic envelope pouch that immediately caught my eye since one of the documents inside had my name on it. The documents were tickets to London, the printed date was exactly four days after the engagement party and the second ticket had Dimitri's name on it.
My heart could not handle this. I was able to pretend that it belonged to Marco, but this— this once again convinced me that I was lying. How could I hurt him? I could not. Could I betray my own heart?
I hurried to my room to change after which I had Christoph drop me off at work. I told him to wait on me since I would not take long in confronting Dimitri about the games he was playing. My heart raced as the elevator ascended. Once it dinged and the doors opened I walked passed Lana who immediately stood up to stop me but failed.
"Nuelle, he's—" she tried to warn me. If only I had stopped to listen to her than I would not have barged into the room during what looked like an important meeting with two contractors I knew from one of our big projects. I halted, staring at the three faces that were staring back at me.
"Gentlemen," Dimitri scratched his throat. "Please, excuse Ms. Artist. However, I have reason to believe that this is an urgent matter otherwise she wouldn't have done what she just did." He spoke through gritted teeth as his eyes burned holes through my body. "Please, forgive me for having to continue this another time. I will have my brother look into what we discussed and perhaps we can continue from there. Thank you for coming. My assistant will walk you out." He beckoned Lana to walk the guests out. I waited until Dimitri and I were the only ones left before I opened my mouth, only for him to raise his hand at me.
"I understand that a lot is going on. But, whatever it is– it doesn't mean that you can ignore Lana and come into my office whenever you feel like doing so. This is a business that we're running. Not a circus. Is that clear?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't– I should've asked Lana. I'm really sorry."
"What can I do for you?" He licked his lower lip. "Because the last time I asked you to come see me you were very clear about how you felt."
My whole plan of throwing the tickets on his desk and telling him to erase the idea of us ever being together suddenly seemed senseless. "I found these." I said, instead and placed the pouch on the desk.
"Where'd you get those?"
"Found them in Anthony's bag. I went to get my passport. I'm going to New York with Marco."
He wiped his mouth, "And? What else? Did you just come here to tell me that or is there a reason why you brought these? They're no longer valid."
"I know." I said more to myself than to him. "I'm in love with Marco." My eyes adverted to the floor. The room turned quiet.
"Yeah?"
"Yes. And this. It's not ever going to work."
He nodded with a frown as he turned away from me to face the windows.
"Dimi—"
"WHAT?" His reaction was terrifying. "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY? DO YOU WANT TO SEE ME SUFFER. IS THAT IT? WHY IN GODS NAME DID YOU FEEL THE NEED TO COME HERE?" he was full on shouting at this point. I was too stunned to speak.
"Speak, Nuelle. You have something to say don't you, isn't that why you're here?" He breathed out in a lower tone.
"I—"
"What? Because it sounds a lot like you came here to try to convince yourself of the nonsense that came out of your mouth."
I shook my head, "I mean it. I mean everything." I mumbled. Dimitri inched closer to me and as if I my feet were glued to the floor, I stood there.
"You don't love him." His hands moved up my arms. "Don't try to lie to us. Don't punish us like this." His right hand held me by the side of my neck, his thumb grazed my cheekbone.
"Don't." I cried without tears as my eyes fell closed.
"Then leave." He commanded directly towards my lips. "But if you stay, you're mine."
I gulped.
"Even if just for now. You're mine." He pulled me closer to him. Everything happened fast; the kissing, touching. It was as if we were racing against time. Neither of us wanted to waste it.