Sofia wandered into the dining room for dinner in a funk. It was her fourth meal in a row alone. Prince had been holed up in the studio ever since the Interlude in the garden, and she’d been completely alone. Yeah, interlude. More intense than a date, and sexier than anything I've ever experienced. She felt warm and wet all over again just remembering their encounter and intimate conversation.
Okay, completely alone wasn't exactly true. She had been ambushed in her sleep by a voracious Prince, who woke her, made intense, mind-blowing love to her, gave her not one, but four orgasms, then disappeared when she passed out. She'd woken alone, and confused. Did that really happen, or was it a marvelous dream?
She sat down, frowning at a table set for one. So, he's communicating with Hentley, just not with me. Picking up the water glass, she took a long drink. As she placed the dark blue glass back on the white linen placemat, she heard footsteps behind her. Maybe he’s-
‘Hello Miss Sofia! I hope you will enjoy tonight's dinner. I was able to meet with my favorite fisherman today. I heard you like lobster. Tonight's menu is freshly made lobster ravioli, Caesar salad, and chocolate cake. I’m sure you’d like to know, Mr. Prince had a smoothie and some cake delivered to the studio earlier.’
Sofia cringed inwardly at the absurdity of Hentley knowing more about what Prince was doing than she did; the fact that it was rather unsurprising made it even sadder.
‘Hentley, can I ask you something? You deal with different people every day, driven people, creative, eccentric people. You're so friendly all the time. How do you like them all?’
‘It's not important that I like them. It's important that they like me.’ Sofia stored that piece of information away for later. It sounded like something to remember. Hentley continued, ‘It’s obvious that Mr. Prince likes you.’ Sofia smiled at his roundabout compliment. ‘Could I ask one more thing?’
‘Yes, ma'am, of course.’
‘Hentley, do you have a family?
‘Oh, yes ma'am. Wife and four beautiful children. They live on the far side of the island.’
‘So you're driving back and forth every day?’
‘Oh, no, ma'am. When I'm on duty I stay in the quarters. I see my family at least once a month, sometimes even more often.’
Sofia was stunned. ‘That doesn't sound ideal.’
‘It is ideal for providing school fees, uniforms, music lessons, and sports team fees for my children, ma'am. My wife and me, we’re able to provide the life we want for our children. This job makes much of it possible, and it's far superior to my previous job, working on a cruise ship.’
‘That explanation makes sense. Thanks for sharing that with me, Hentley.’
‘Let me get your meal ready, ma'am. I've taken up too much of your time.’ With his typical smile, Hentley disappeared back into the kitchen.
Huh. They make extended absences work. My man isn’t ‘with me’, but I know exactly where he is. Maybe I need to lighten up. Whaddya know? I called him ‘My man’. She smiled to herself, the smile of a woman whose desires are completely satisfied.
After her delicious meal, and a glass of crisp chardonnay, Sofia wandered back to the patio, settled on the double chaise, and opened her ereader. I think it's time to download some nonfiction, get my head out of the clouds with all these romances I read. Obviously they aren't a true reflection of real life. For heaven’s sake, no one ever goes in a bathroom except to make love!
As she searched the nonfiction list for something that looked interesting to read, she felt his presence behind her.
‘Looking for something new to read?’ Prince settled beside her, snatching the tablet from her hands, holding it far away from her. ‘I’ll make some choices for you.’
‘Wait! How do you know what I'd like to read?’ Sofia giggled as he kept moving the tablet out of her reach. He finally turned his back to her, clicking madly on the keyboard.
‘Not what you'd like to read,’ he answered, looking over his shoulder, ‘but what I would recommend you read. There are things you should know, things people don't normally think about. Those are the books I'm recommending for you.’ With a few clicks, he'd created a wish list for her. ‘Here, choose what looks most interesting to start. I've shared your wish list with my email address, so I can buy them for you.’ He placed the tablet back in her lap, running his hand up her arm to toy with her hair. ‘I like this dress on you.’ I'm glad this is shorter, more leg to admire.
‘You don't have to do that!’
‘What, compliment you? I will if I want!’ Prince's look of mock outrage made Sofia laugh, leaning further onto him. Her breast leaning against his chest created an immediate response. Down, Valentino, plenty of time for that later.
‘No, buy books for me to read, silly! The list is enough.’
‘I want to. I've ignored you for a whole day of our time together. I don't want you to think I only want you here so we can make love, although it's amazing.’
So it did happen...Sofia cast her eyes toward the ground. ‘I was a little hurt when I realized you were communicating with Hentley, and not with me.’
‘My bad. I get hyper focused when I'm in the studio. I have Hentley’s number, so I texted him instructions. That way I didn't lose concentration. There are times when there's so much running through my head…’
‘I know.’ Sofia smiled in understanding.
Prince picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. ‘This time I had a whole album of songs to record. Love songs. Songs about you and me. I'll play them for you later, but right now I need to tell you something.’
‘Okay?’ Sofia was baffled.
‘Come on.’ he placed the tablet on a side table, took her by the hand and led her back down the stairs to the beach, and the beach bed that they had broken in so thoroughly days before. They had a perfect view of the sunset. Sofia started to sit, but Prince stopped her by taking both her hands in his. She was surprised to see him look nervous. He took one of those gulping breaths; she could see his Adam’s Apple rise and fall as he did. He gazed deeply into her eyes. There was so much warmth traveling to her through his gaze she could feel her panties start to dampen. She tried very hard not to smile at the sensation. She was starting to get used to that feeling, and was finding she liked it.
‘Sofia Brown, I love you with all my heart. Do you think you could love me? Can we do this as a long term thing?’
‘I-’ Sofia could feel the tears welling in her eyes, and tried to speak, but Prince was on a roll.
‘I know, it's only been a few days this time, but it isn't any different than before, is it? It was perfect then, until I blew it. It’s still perfect; you're still perfect, we're still perfect together. I don't want to waste any more time worrying about how this week will end. All I want is you.’
‘Can I talk now?’ Sofia said gently, letting go of his hands so she could wipe at the tears on her face. Her smile makes me think I know her answer. His face changed from anxious to confident.
‘Yes, babe, you may.’ Prince mimed zipping his mouth shut, handing her the imaginary key.
‘Let's stay standing, okay?’ Sofia was afraid she'd be overcome with lust if she sat on that bed before she finished what she needed to say.
‘Of course, babe.’ Prince took back both of Sofia's hands, stroking them with his thumbs. ‘Talk.’
‘So much for you staying quiet!’ Prince just grinned. ‘First, yes, I do love you-’ Sofia didn't get to finish her thought; Prince hauled her into his arms for a mind-blowing kiss.
When he let her up for air, she said, laughing, ‘Wait, there's more. I was thinking today about what our life together might be like if this continued. I realized I was feeling a little territorial about our time together, which isn't fair. You have to be able to follow your muse; you can't feel guilty about working when inspiration strikes. On the other hand, I need to see your face on the regular. Your face, your physical presence in my life, means the world to me. All I want is you, too.’
Prince led her over to the bed, took off first his flip flops and then hers, and they sat, holding hands, facing each other, hands intertwined. She's mine! The pride on his face telegraphed his thoughts, making her blush again, forgetting her point.
‘I can do studio rehab. I have before.’ Sofia frowned, then remembered what they were speaking of.
‘That's not really what I mean. I’d like to know I can come in and join you from time to time when you're in the studio; just sit quietly and watch you work. I know there are times you need to be alone, but would my presence be a terrible distraction from time to time? I can sit in the background and read; not interact with you, just be able to see you. I realized today that sometimes I get lonely without you.’ He could tell the admission made her nervous, her toes were busily scrunching, then smoothing the sand under her feet.
Prince chuckled. ‘Honestly, babe, if you had come in today I would have kissed you and thrown you out. Maybe more than kissed, honestly.’ The smirk he sent her way raised a blush that traveled to the tops of her breasts, visible above the neckline of the strapless sundress. ‘Everything coming out this time was about you, about us. I don't want to share it until it’s ready.’ His hands moved from her hands to her arms, gently caressing them; he could tell she needed reassurance. ‘I get where you're coming from, though. It's why I had to come wake you up in the night. I couldn't do without you anymore.’
‘Okay, that makes sense. I'd still like to work something out, I just don't know what, yet.’ Prince continued beaming at her, but she was determined to continue. ‘Can you promise me your dealings with proteges will stay on the up-and-up?’ At her words, his smile faded.
‘Damn. I was hoping we were past that. Yes. That's an easy promise to make. Press reports to the contrary, I wasn't the first one unfaithful in either of my marriages. I take my promises very seriously these days. You can put that worry out of your mind. Plus, I think I'm finally a grownup. And no,’ he raised a hand to forestall her response, ‘I’m not going to jump to conclusions if I see you with someone I don't know. I'll ask, we’ll talk. We must be grown; this is the most serious conversation I never saw coming.’ He laughed, pulling her in for a kiss.
‘This is all kind of spur of the moment, I've gotta admit,’ he continued, once the passionate kiss ended. ‘I don't have a ring to give you, which is kinda embarrassing.’
‘A ring? What are you talking about? I didn't hear a proposal in all that.’ Sofia was truly puzzled.
‘Not an engagement ring. A ‘We're taking it to the next level’ kind of ring.’ Sofia froze, staring at him in disbelief.
‘Seriously, did you forget? You did that last time, and I'd rather not do that again. That ring became a very painful reminder to me.’ Prince winced, realizing he'd fallen into a trap of his own making. He shook his head ruefully, but continued.
‘Babe, I’m giving you some jewelry, do you hear? It's important to me that you're wearing something I've given you.’ He smiled to himself, already planning the engagement ring for the future. ‘Okay, maybe not a ring, but I want to give you some jewelry. Earrings, maybe?’
‘That would be nice.’ Sofia could tell she needed to back down, just a little, on this point. ‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Mmm hmmm.’ Prince pulled Sofia back on the bed with him, snuggling her next to him. The sun had sunk under the glowing ocean waves; it was beginning to get dark, but he didn't want to light torches. Running one finger along her upper arm, he continued, ‘What would you like to know?’
‘When you're recording in the studio, do you hear instruments in channels, so you can isolate things?’
‘I don't even know how to answer that. At this point, the process and order I use just falls into place. It's an automatic thing. Honestly, I don't like talking about it. It sort of cheapens things. It's like, I wouldn’t talk about the specifics of making love with you to other people. It would disrespect you. Talking about the process disrespects the process. Does that make sense?’
‘Absolutely. And thank you for your assurances of privacy regarding what we share. I know how the women I work with talk; I imagine men are the same way. Sometimes I find another place to be during those conversations, as I feel like I'm hearing things I shouldn't. I know some people at school think I'm a bit of a prude, but I don't really care.’
‘Babe, you are far from a prude. You proved that again last night. No, don’t bite that lip, it's mine.’ Prince chuckled when she immediately pulled her teeth back in, sticking her tongue out at him. ‘Oh, that's mine, too. It does the most wonderful things.’ He chuckled as she blushed, and placed a quick kiss on her pursed lips.
‘Back to my point. You are a lady; and like a lady, a gentleman never tells. One of the things my parents did right was raise me to be a gentleman. I think that was in their bones. Tyka and I were expected to have what my mother called ‘beautiful manners’. We were coached from a very young age. I don't know, maybe it's because they both had roots in the south, or it's part and parcel of ‘Minnesota Nice’. So much of what I wrote in songs earlier in my career was based on imagination and my hope to shock people, to get a reaction, attention. Some of it might be based on reality,’ Sofia raised one eyebrow at his disclaimer, which made him chuckle, ‘but I won't name names. That would be telling, and it keeps people guessing. If they're guessing, they're thinking about my music, and that's the goal.’
Suddenly he sat up, and began yanking bed curtains closed as his desire for Sofia took over. Once again, their illumination was starlight and the moon. He lay on top of Sofia, propped on his elbows, and said, ‘Can we stop talking now? There are other things our mouths can be doing.’ The moan he received in response to the kiss he gave her assured him of her agreement. As he kissed her, he ran his hand up the skirt of the sundress she'd worn that day. Nearing her treasure, the heat of her core surprised him. He was further surprised when his fingers encountered damp panties. Methodically stroking under them, he asked, ‘Babe, are you ready for me?’
‘Oh, yes,’ came her response. The sigh she'd based her response on turned into a moan as his fingers went deeper. He pulled them away, admiring how they glistened in the moonlight before placing them beside her mouth. Eyes wide, she allowed them entry, then caused him to moan as she took hold of his hand to lick and suck every finger, finishing with his thumb. He helped her sit up and gently pulled her dress over her head, enjoying the way the elastic of the bodice molded to her body as it was removed. She then helped him with his shirt, and his pants and her panties followed in short order. Neither of them wanted long, drawn out foreplay this time; they both desired an intimate connection as soon as possible. Sofia reached out to grasp his stiffened member.
‘Oh, girl, that's wonderful, but I know something even better.’
One long, smooth stroke, and that connection was created, as Sofia wrapped her legs around Prince's waist, arching her back against overwhelming sensation. His pistoning hips varied in their speed and depth, and she felt like she was riding the wave of a continual orgasm.
‘I- I can't- I can't breathe!’ she exclaimed, panting as though she was running for her life, when in fact he was doing most of the work. It was all so intense, she could feel tears spring from her eyes.
‘Just a little-c’mon, babe, we’re almost there…’ two more remarkable thrusts, and they were both gone, flying into space, totally unaware of their surroundings…
Until they heard a voice. ‘Mr. Prince, telephone for you! They say it's urgent.’
I guess when you're Prince you can count on interruptions!
Thanks for voting, commenting, and, most of all, for continuing to read. Happy 2018!💜💜🎉🎉