One last mind-blowing kiss, and Sofia was led to the back seat of a black SUV and handed in with a lingering hand that trailed down from her waist to her hip. She gave a secret smile in response, one Prince knew meant she was turned on, but didn’t want to share that with too many people. He grinned, glad he had that effect on her. His body let him know he felt the same way.
‘See you soon,’ he said, closing the door slowly so he could hear her ‘Can’t wait!’ response. He didn’t wait for the car to pull away, but headed to the door taking him out of the parking garage and back to the studio. The little twerk he gave as he grabbed the door handle made Sofia laugh out loud. Kirk just sighed and shook his head.
It was a quiet ride for the first 10-15 minutes. Finally Sofia broke the silence.
‘Kirk, how are you doing?’
‘Fine.’ It was a terse response, and he didn’t meet her eyes in the mirror.
‘C'mon, Kirk, I lost enough money to you at poker back in the day. There’s no need to freeze me out!’ Sofia sounded pleasant, but she was annoyed. Her face proved her tone of voice to be a lie.
‘Sike! I wondered if you’d let that slide!’ Kirk laughed at Sofia’s annoyed face. ‘Sorry Sofia, I couldn’t help it. I remembered how easy it was to send you up before. I needed to see if it would still work.’
‘If I could reach you, I’d whack you on the arm!’ Sofia exclaimed between giggles. ‘Okay, back to square one. How are you?’
‘I’m fine, doing very well. Running a gym now in addition to running for my brother. You seem to be doing alright yourself,’ he responded, meeting her eyes with a friendly gaze.
‘I keep pinching myself, trying to believe it is all real,’ Sofia replied. ‘It was the hope I never allowed myself to admit.’ Tears rimmed the base of her eyes briefly, then she took one slow blink and a deep breath through her nose to cause them to disappear. ‘I refuse to cry, I’m too happy,’ she went on, with a broad smile.
‘Let me go through some details with you before we get there. This is how Prince wants it to go. I get out first, after you give me your house key. I let you out of the car, and usher you to your door, unlock the door while protecting you, and let you in first.’
‘Seriously? That seems a little overprotective.’
‘I want you to run this through the filter of ‘This is how much he loves you and wants you protected.’ P ran through this with me step by step, even though this is how we always do it when there is a locked door involved. He wants to keep you safe, even when he can’t do it himself.’ Kirk’s face looked sweet, briefly, before he put his professional face back on. ‘Oh, and he said I was to tell you, ‘No arguing.’
Sofia laughed. ‘Yes, sir. I’m not going to argue. I’ll start getting my keys out. they’re usually in the bottom of this handbag.’
Once they were parked and inside, Sofia went straight to the kitchen. ‘Gotta get the trash out of here-I knew it was going to smell bad, but not this bad!’ Kirk beat her to the trash, closed the bag, and carried it toward the back door. ‘Am I going the right way?’ he threw over his shoulder as he continued to the door.
‘Yes, the garbage can is in the garage.’ She opened the refrigerator and gasped. ‘There’s more where that came from,’ she said as Kirk came back in the kitchen. ‘Could you bring me another trash bag, please? They’re on the shelf in the cabinet next to the trash can.’ Kirk efficiently lined the trash can and put it in front of the refrigerator. Sofia thanked him and continued her annoyed low-key rant. ‘Why did all those people tell me to eat kale? It smells horrible when it’s going bad.’ A second bag was filled and taken to the garage, and then Sofia was ready to think past trash. She turned to Kirk. ‘Just as I figured, there wasn’t anything to worry about with getting into my place. I didn’t see anything, so I guess we’re good?’
‘You never see them unless you’re on the sidewalks of New York, LA or London. I won’t be surprised if we’re on somebody’s website tomorrow. I hope they got my good side!’ Kirk winked. ‘What do you need to do now, and how long do you think it will take?’
‘I should write lesson plans for the week. I don’t think they’ll get rid of me that quickly. If you want to go do something else, I can drive myself home. Or not,’ she added, upon seeing the scowl that crossed his face.
‘That’s not gonna fly. I’m not sure when he’ll be comfortable with you driving on your own, but it won’t be anytime soon. If this is going to take awhile, I can run an errand, but do not answer the door if the doorbell rings. I’ll take the key with me.’
‘Okay...I think I’ll be done in an hour or so. I’m going to make a pot of coffee, since the half and half hasn’t gone bad yet. You’re welcome to some-I can’t drink the whole pot, but I need to stay awake and focused.’
A while later, Kirk’s phone rang. ‘What is she doing?’ Prince tersely asked.
‘Honestly, I don’t really know. She’s typing on her computer, and humming, and tapping things on her thighs. I gave up an hour ago and turned on the tv. She makes good coffee, though.’
‘Put her on the phone.’
‘Hey sugar.’ The tone of voice he used with her was completely different, filled with love, longing, and a little lust.
‘Oh, hi. What’s up?’
‘I was going to ask you the same thing. What are you doing?’ The lust continued to drip from his tone of voice, making it very hard for her to concentrate on her lesson plan. She closed her eyes, giving in to the sensations he created in her with his voice.
‘Hmmm? Oh, I'm dithering. I’m trying to figure out the best way to teach sixteenth notes to my fourth graders.’
‘You need to get back home to me. You’ve been gone too long.’
‘Has it been that long?’
‘Four hours. Way too long. My skin misses you. My nose misses your delicious, remarkable scent. My ears missed your voice. My heart misses your heartbeat. That’s what made me realize how long you’ve been gone. My heartbeat didn’t feel right. I don’t want you gone from me for this long again. Ever.’ The longer he spoke, the more seductive he made his voice. By the end of his little speech, Sofia could hear ‘Hot with U’ playing in her head.
‘I’ll put things in totes and head back. I’m sorry I’ve inconvenienced Kirk for so long.’
‘That’s what he’s paid to do, babe. I’ve made him wait longer in the past. He’ll tell you. Bring some teacher clothes with you, also. You don’t need to be stopping in there every day. That pattern is too easy to pick up on.’
‘All right, love, see you soon.’
‘Not soon enough. Get your ass back here. My hands miss it.’
Sofia giggled as she ended the call. Prince smiled ear to ear on hearing the giggle.
Blinking, blinking, blinking; the red light wouldn’t stop. Sofia finally noticed the answering machine. ‘Guess I should see what Jeeves has to say,’ she thought out loud.
‘Jeeves?’
‘He’s the closest thing to a butler I’m gonna get!’ she answered, laughing, as she pushed play.
You have four messages:
Message 1: Hi! It’s Jen-
‘She’s my buddy teacher at school,’ Sofia mentioned, listening intently with a slight smile as she caught the excitement in her friend’s voice.
-Congratulations on your grant! I saw it on the news last night. You just keep getting more and more good things this year! I wish someone cared this much about visual art. See you at school!
Message 2: Hi! Jen again. You finally took a day off! Wish I had some left to use this year. Hope you’re doing something fun!
Message 3: It’s Jen. Wow! I think I recognized you on ET tonight! We’ve talked about Prince for years. Did you finally meet him?
Message 4: Sofia, it’s Ms. Watts from the school. Could you meet with me before classes start on Monday? Thanks.
‘That Jen girl sounds a little needy…’ Kirk said.
‘We’re so isolated with our schedules, it takes work to connect with others at school. We have off time together, so we naturally drifted toward each other through the years. She’s about my best friend at school.’
‘You’re caught up now; ready to head back?’ Kirk asked, rising to his feet.
‘Yes, let me grab some clothes and I’ll be ready.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘Honey, stop!’ Sofia giggled again, as her neck was nibbled on. ‘I’m trying to get this submitted so it’s ready for Monday. It’s almost done, I promise!’
‘You’ve had another hour. This is taking too long. I have a craving that only you can cure,’ he replied, tracing the outside of her ear.
Balancing her laptop on her lap was becoming more of an issue. Prince had insisted on her working at the loveseat in her office so he could sit with her, claiming she had been away from him for too long. His inability to keep his hands off her was proving to be a big distraction.
‘And, done!’ she exclaimed, pressing save, then print, then signing out of the laptop. Closing the lid, she prepared to stand and place it back on the desk. Prince stood before she could, taking that task for himself. Returning to the loveseat, he reached back to pet Poppy, perched on the gently curved back of the traditionally feminine piece of furniture. Scratching between her ears yielded that very loud purr she had become famous for. ‘We’re ditching you, cat. I need some alone time with my woman.’
Taking Sofia by the hand, he pulled her into him, growling, ‘I could eat you up right now.’ Running his hands up and down her back, teasing her bum, he put his mouth against her ear and whispered, ‘I want you right now.’
‘Right here?’ she whispered back, tasting his neck, taking a little nip right in his weak spot.
‘I can wait a few more minutes. Come on.’ Instead of pulling her along as he usually did, Prince pushed Sofia in front of him down the hallway, pulling her cardigan off and caressing her bum as it was exposed. Laughing, she looked back over her shoulder. Seeing her so obviously happy took Prince’s breath away. Why did I waste so many years? My ego definitely needs a talking to. Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her back against him, making sure to let her know how aroused her presence made him. The gasp he heard in response was just what he wanted. He spun her around and captured her mouth, hands roaming up and down her back, and she moaned into his mouth in response.
Four more steps and they were at the open bedroom door. He backed her into the space while continuing to distract her with his hands and mouth. The ‘Oh!’ she exclaimed let him know they’d reached the bed, and he pushed, causing her to fall backward, her knees automatically bending on the edge of the cushiony mattress, her laugh ringng through the air. He quickly used his hands to change the laughter to little hitches of breath as he caressed her now bare ribs. The rustle of clothing overwhelmed the sound of her labored breathing, a sound he constantly craved like the surprise of a diminished chord when it was least expected.
He started at her ankles; kissing, licking, nibbling his way up her remarkably long legs, appreciating the softness of her skin in as many ways as he could while he worked inexorably toward his goal. He spent a long time re-learning the curve of her knees, the tenderness of the skin of her upper thighs, while listening to her respond vocally to the attention he paid her. Finally he burrowed between those thighs, seeking and finding the spots he knew she found most stimulating, pleased with the trembling and undulating muscles that contracted as a result of his actions. He worked hard at holding back, making her hover at the brink of her explosion for what felt like an eternity. She finally took matters into her own hands, sitting up and grabbing his shoulders.
‘Get up here now. I need you in me. I need to feel you and hold you.’
He was happy to oblige.