Divine: A Novel (11 page)

It’s
ridiculous how often you think about sex and yet never act on it, wussy girl.

His door is open a crack when I arrive
and I walk inside, gasping immediately at the book covered walls in his living
room. Floor to ceiling, shelf upon shelf of books. The walls have no color that
I can see, nothing exposed, just books.

“Shit,” I whisper. My mother used to tell
me as a teenager that I should only go to bed with men who own books. She’d be
pleased with Dan’s collection. And it was my mother who gave me a love for
books. She read to me every night until I was old enough to read on my own, at
which point the two of us would spend our evenings in the living room, each
with a book in hand. She loved true crime novels, mysteries, and pretty much
all biographies. An avid reader.

“Dan?”

“Be right down.” He calls from the second
floor. “Make yourself at home, take a beer, or anything you’d like from the
fridge.”

I slide off my shoes and immediately
browse his collection. Fuck the drink; I want to see what this man reads.

Holy balls, Harlequin romances? And Maya
Banks? He’s kicking it old school with her Breathless trilogy. I guess he’s
kicking it old school in general by owning paperbacks - real, physical,
touchable, aromatic books. That rocks. Wait, no way, he’s got Jaden Wilkes,
J.A. Huss, Ker Dukey... they’re fucking incredible... Pepper Winters,
Alessandra Torre... even Lesley Jones. This is some collection.

Wait, he has quite a few of Hayden’s
books. Is he obsessed with this woman?

I pull one out and see that it’s a signed
copy.

“Find anything interesting?”

I’m startled and set the book back on the
shelf in a rush. “Sorry,” I say with a quick turn.

Fuck me. He’s shirtless. No shirt, just
jeans. No shirt, just jeans. Can I say that again? That’s all that’s running
through my head right now. Look at those abs, and his tat, goddamn it’s
beautiful. Across the front of his chest is a crow sitting on a branch of a
cherry blossom tree, like the tree out front, and there’s text that coils
through the branches which reads
dark is
lovely.
It’s so feminine, yet masculine and from what I know, suits him
perfectly - sweet at times, but full of dirty talk. Damn it, if I were a guy
there’d be a spot of pre-cum on my jeans.

“Well? What do you think?”

“I wish I had a tattoo as stunning as
that. When’d you get it?”

He looks down and grins. “Almost a year
ago, but I wasn’t talking about my tat, I meant the books. Did you see this
section?” He points to the left and I notice it’s shelf after shelf of history
books. Some are textbooks, while others are biographies, essays, and the like.
“My father gave them to me. He has a degree in History, which is like getting a
degree in underwater basket weaving, there’s nothing you can actually do with
it, except teach, and jobs in academia are few and far between, as you’re
probably aware. It’s one of the reasons he started the catering business with
my mother. Her degree is in poetry, and again, what are you gonna do with that?
That’s why I went into business administration with a focus in marketing. I
thought I’d have more options. I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve got kick-ass
marketing and advertising skills. Give me a product and I’ll get it to the
masses in a matter of days.”

“How’d you come across a signed copy of
one of Hayden’s books? I heard she’s only let a few out into the world, and
only during online giveaways.”

He pauses for a moment and stares at her
books.

“It was a business transaction, her
editor needed some press so I posted a few articles about the company and the
editing packages they have available for authors. You get gifts sometimes for
that, along with a good amount of money.” He opens a closet door under the
stairs while I look around the rest of the room.

Next to the wall of books are two chairs
that face one another with a coffee table in between. The chairs are more like
mini sofas - large, plush, and comfortable looking. Ones you sink into and need
help getting out of, perfect for lounging on a lazy weekend afternoon.

Dan places a blanket on each chair and
then walks toward the kitchen asking again if I’d like a drink.

“Just a water, or anything carbonated.
You have soda?”

He comes back with two ginger ales,
holding both cans playfully against his nipples before handing me one. His nips
are red and erect, and I can tell by the smirk on his face that he’s being
playful.

I reach out and follow the cherry tree
tattoo up his abdomen, from his right side to his left, stopping at the crow
that rests over his heart. And then, with my hand on his stomach, I lean in and
run my tongue around his nipple.

He lets out a soft moan then pops the top
on his can and drinks, relaxed and completely composed as if a woman sucking
his nipple is a daily occurrence.

“Let me ask you something,” he says. “How
many times have you thought about this... touching me, placing your hand on my
dick and sucking it?” He stands with his feet apart, chest out, and head back,
deep breaths entering and exiting his body as I run one finger along his
waistline. “You must’ve fantasized about us fucking by now. Maybe even
masturbated a few times while thinking of me. You up to having a little fun
tonight?”

“I want more than a little.”

He looks down with one eye open and
grins. “It could get messy. That okay?”

“It depends on who has to clean it up.”

He laughs and leads me over to a chair. I
take a seat and put my drink on a side table, waiting for him to sit across
from me, but instead he goes back to the closet and pulls out two shoeboxes,
one black and one white, matching the fleece blankets. Okay, how long has he
been planning this?

“Physically, I’m not ready to be inside
of you, but I’ve thought of some other ways we can play,” he says.

He places the shoeboxes side-by-side on
the coffee table, turns off all the lights except for a small lamp on one of
the bookshelves, and then takes a seat, positioning the black blanket from his
waist down. He sets his ginger ale on the floor and his feet on the table then
leans back with his eyes glued on mine. I rest in same position, white blanket
in hand.

We stare.

I’m calm. Isn’t that fucked up? I’m in
this man’s house, my clit pounding, wanting him to fuck me, and for all I know
he could kill me. It’s possible. I may have just walked right into the trap of
a serial killer, and yet, I’m calm. It must mean something.

Yeah,
that you have nothing to live for and your life’s stale and pointless. You’ve
accepted death. Good work, Div.

“Hello Divine,” he whispers.

I tilt my head to the side and smile
back.

“Tell me something you’ve never told
another person. I want to know a secret.”

Mmm, he kills me when he uses that gentle
voice. It’s so seductive, like waving a piece of dark chocolate in front of my
face. And of course, idiot that I am, I whisper back the first thing that comes
to mind. “I tried to pee standing up once. I think I was about nine.” God, did
that just kill the mood, or what?

He shakes his head. “Not good enough;
take off your hoodie and shirt, slowly, I want to see your tits. Then lean back
and leave ‘em out. No need to conceal them under the blanket. You lost with
that answer, now make it up to me.”

Gladly. Must be his version of strip
poker, and I agree totally that I lost that first round. I toss the clothes to
the floor and lean back, watching his eyes lower and his finger trace his lips,
back and forth, until he whispers,
bra
off too
, and I obey. He fiddles with his pants under the blanket and I’d
say it’s because he’s fully erect by now.

“36c?” he questions.

“Good guess,” I nod.

“One of my specialties. I’m a tit man and
yours are spectacular. Do they enjoy a good slide now and again?”

“If you’re talking about a dick tug
between them, then yes. Now... my question, my turn, tell me one of your
deepest darkest secrets, something sexual,” I request.

He jumps in with no hesitation; the
answer just flying out of his mouth. “I filmed a guy fucking a pig once.”

My nose wrinkles and I shake my head.
“What the fuck, Dan? That’s not only nasty, it’s illegal. I can’t believe you
just admitted such a thing. You were there, right next to someone who was
fucking a pig? How? I mean, why? It’s animal cruelty. Why did you... eww. I don’t
like this game.”

Buck
up Div, I’m having fun for once. Maybe this guy’s got something special to
offer after all.

“It was at one of the frat parties in
town, years ago when I was a sophomore. I heard it was going to happen so a few
of my friends and me went over and...”

“Okay, I get it. I get it.” I put my hand
up to halt the story. “Do you still have the video? Did you keep it? Is it
here?”

“That’s a whole bunch of questions,” he
says while rubbing the back of his neck. “And it’s my turn anyway. But to ease
your mind, it was a taxidermy pig someone had turned into a sex toy... the
thing wasn’t alive. I was young and drunk at the time, and felt terrible about
the situation. It really freaked me out.”

“Good,” I pause. “Wait, you have to take
something off.”

“No I don’t, I won.”

I think for a moment, gazing at his
chest, then down to his dick. I want those pants off. “No, you lost, buck-o.
That’s not one of your sexual secrets; you weren’t the one fucking the stuffed
pig. It doesn’t count and it’s a wretched answer, disgusting, and not close
enough to being about yourself, now strip.” There we go, very forward of me. “I
need some control here too.”

“No,” he says.

“What do you mean, no?”

“I let you pick your seat and you chose
the chair with the white blanket. Darkness overpowers light and that means I’m
the one in control.”

I give him my best fuck off look with
lowered eyelids and a twitch of my lip. “That’s bullshit.”

He laughs. “Yeah, I know. It was just a
joke.” He unzips his jeans, his eyes never leaving mine and slides them to the
floor, then kicks them out from under the blanket. “Better?” he asks.

“Getting there. Your turn, by the way.” I
place my feet on the coffee table and his foot sneaks in next to mine, trailing
his toe along my arch, down to my heel and back. My body twitches from his
touch and I imagine his toes inching up my leg, eventually finding their way to
my spot. First caressing my clit, then parting my lips, and wiggling their way
into my hole. I bet I could get off pretty easily from his toes, quicker than
the other night behind the door.

“I love the smile on your face, which
brings me to my next question. What’s on your mind, Div? I want to know what
put that sweet expression on your face.”

“You,” I whisper.

“Not enough. Keep going.”

In my softest voice, I continue. “Your
feet leisurely feeling their way up my legs,” I pause, allowing him time to
visualize my soft shaven skin. “Your toes nudging their way past my lips, then
circling my clit and disappearing inside. Sliding in, getting wet and sticky,
and then finding their way to my mouth so I can taste myself.” That last part
was a good addition. I know because his erection pokes at the blanket.
It
wants to play.

“Nice,” he whispers. “You win that one.”

I slide my leggings and underwear off and
toss them on the floor beside his chair. He smiles and does the same with his
boxers. We sit under our blankets, naked, staring at one another’s exposed
flesh.

“We both won,” I say.

“Definitely,” he grins. “You know, this
thing we’re doing right now, it’s something I’ve only thought about, planned it
out, but...” A long pause, He looks at me and traces his lips again. He knows
full well how fucking hot that is. “I’ve never taken it this slow with anyone
and for some reason that makes me feel pretty damn lucky right now. It seems
far-fetched that a beautiful woman came out of nowhere and into my life, and
now she’s sitting across from me, completely nude, and if I were to guess,
ready and willing to fuck. As a matter a fact, if you were like all the others,
you’d be panting and calling out my name with my dick beating into you, not
sitting four feet away with a blanket covering your sweet pussy. Sorry, wrong
word. Hole? Vag? Whatever you want me to call it.” He sips his soda then places
the can against his nipple for another quick titty arousal. “But you’re not in
my bed. So tell me, what makes you so special?”

I don’t believe he truly wants an answer.
It’s a rhetorical question, one he’s trying to figure out for himself.

“The obvious reasons are there. Your
willowy body, gorgeous tits, those green eyes that remind me of spring grass,
and that fiery reddish brown hair. Fuck, you’re like a model in my eyes... but
you offer more than just a stunning face. What
it
is that you have, I just don’t know. You have a lot of secrets
hidden away, a mystery girl, and at the same time, I’m comfortable around you
like I’ve known you for years.”