Learning to Trust Part 3: The Offer (2 page)

It hit me. I felt an incredible knot in my stomach, my nervousness suddenly exploding at once.
Oh god, what was I doing here?
I guess seeing Roland was enough to take me out of my element, force me to consider things again. I hadn't even thought about that giant X-thing that he told me we'd use today. That
St. Petersburg
cross or whatever. I
had planned
to go back to the hotel and research what it was, but it just slipped my mind. Now I was regretting that mistake.
I got out of the car, suddenly feeling stupid in my outfit. My streak of confidence had ende
d just as quickly as it started, a race lost before it even started.

Just go.

I got out of the car and stood there for a second, adjusting my top in the side mirror so that it was level with my cleavage.
Notebook in hand, I approached Roland. He was wearing that fancy robe again, the one that actively screamed
I'm comfortable—and rich!
He put down his paper and smiled at me.

"Marisa! Wow, you look stunning. I do hope it's comfortable!" The smile remained even after his words stopped.

"Wow, yeah, thanks, Sir," I said
out of habit from
the role-playing yesterday.

He let out a hearty laugh. "We're not in a scene right now, Marisa. Please don't call me Sir. That's for later."

I blushed. "Yeah, okay, Roland. Nice day, huh?"

"It's simply beautiful. A beautiful day is just one of those things that you can't buy. Well, not yet anyway."

"You could always just fly to somewhere nicer," I added. "That would be like buying a beautiful day."

"You're
just
on a roll today, aren't you?" He kept his back pressed against the chair. "You're right, but if today was gloomy and bleak,
and I wanted to stay
here
,
what choice would I have other than waiting?"

"Yeah, you're right." I continued my awkward stance near him, not really sure where to go. I kept expecting him to sweep me into his arms for a hug, kissing me deeply, tasting me with his tongue. Well, I was
wishing
that would happen.
But it didn't.

"My, you do look simply marvelous today." His eyes hungrily climbed my body, absorbing every inch, every curve.

"Thanks," I said. His words cut through me like a knife, going straight to my core. My belly started to fill with tension that quickly became a want, a throbbing need. It coiled inside of me like a snake, wrapping tighter and tighter until I felt the wetness forming between my thighs. He could arouse me just by talking, by looking. If a guy had done that to me at a bar, I would have slapped him, even if I was wearing the same low-cut blouse. Roland was still a mystery to me.

"Won't you join me for a cup of coffee on the back porch? After that, we'll go downstairs again." He stood up, leaving the paper and the chair exactly where they were. Like a sheep following
a shepherd, I followed
behind
him.

He led me out to the back porch, leaving me there to sit while he prepared our drinks in the kitchen. Th
e view was absolutely stunning—
rolling hills, miles of beautiful trees, valleys that seemed endless.
It looked like a painting.
This house had been built in this exact position for a reason. I had never seen anything like it.
I sat there on the expensive deck furniture with my legs up, reclin
ing and staring up into the sky, absorbed by all the blue.

"Al
l
right," he said. He walked out and handed me my drink, carefully turning it so that I only gripped the handle
and avoided the hot part of the mug
. It was such a simple gesture, but I appreciated it.

"Thank you, Roland," I said, foam on my face. Once again, it was delicious. "You ought to open a coffee shop here," I suggested. "You'd make a killing!"

"If you want to talk money," he said, "talk to me about opening
a hundred
coffee shops. A whole chain. That will pique my interest. Would you like to run it for me? You could be the
president
." He smiled at me proudly.

I didn't understand what he saw in me, even though we were just joking around. I did what I did, and he did what he did—and what
he did
happened to be much larger than anything I could even start to consider. I worried about buying groceries; he worried about paying wages to hundreds of thousands of employees all across the glo
be. I bought kitchen appliances;
he bought restaurant chains. My problems were nothing compared to his, just individual grains of sand compared to his entire beach.

"Hmm,
President
Marisa Taylor. Has a good ring to it, right?"

"Certainly," he said.

"This view is so breathtaking." I had been staring at it for fifteen minutes and I still was just as stunned as when I first walked out here.

"My father told me that my grandfather picked this spot because of how all of the geography comes together. So many beautiful rock formations and those hills that never seem to end. If I ever need to really think, I step out here and just take it all in for a moment."

"And you've lived here all your life, right?"

"I spent some time in India recently, trying to live closer to my operations, trying to experience things a little more like the workers do. I also spent some time in New York City after college. My dad insisted that I take a corporate
,
unpaid internship while he covered the bills. Told me it was the only way he'd hand over the company. I wanted to make him happy more than I wanted the company, so I did it, not caring how I ended up in the long-run."

He spo
ke of his father with a fondness that made me warm and fuzzy inside. "When did your father pass away?"

"I was born late in my father's life. He only made it until I was 28—and that's when I took over. Lung cancer got him."

I couldn't even imagine what that would have been like to take over such an empire at
my age
. I could barely balance my checkbook, let alone run a multi-national corporation. I suddenly had even more respect for this man. "Did he smoke?" I asked, hoping the question didn't come off as insensitive.

Roland smiled. "He liked to smoke fancy cigarettes
—
and
especially
cigars
—
and they ended up doing him in.
His cigar budget per month was more than most people make in a year." He laughed again, staring off into his endless backyard.
"
My mom followed soon after, broken-hearted and frail. I do miss them both, but it's been a long time now. Time heals all wounds.
It's cliché but true.
"

"So you didn't want to take over then, huh?"

"No, I didn't at all. It's a lot easier to just be nobody. Just live your life, pay your bills. Go out for drinks now and then.
Nobody forces you to do anything.
Being rich and important is difficult because so much is riding on you all the time
. I didn't want to have to make these serious decisions every day, all the time. B
ut I felt it was the only way to properly honor my father. And I had to do it at least while my mother was alive. She never would have allowed
the company
to leave the family. She would have killed me for that.
" He sipped his coffee, apparently enjoying it just as much as I was enjoying mine.
"
Now, I'm in the same shoes as they were: no kids and getting older.
The company
might end up leavi
ng the Starland family after I'm gone
."

I couldn't believe how my image of this man was changing. He was apparently a
reluctant billionaire
, one that did so out of kindness instead of greed.
Here he was saying he was jealous of me, looking at me in front of one of the most beautiful panoramic images I'd ever seen.
Something still didn't add up with
the StarChem thing though.

"Roland, I thought StarChem was your thing," I said. "Was it or not?"

"We'll talk about that a little later. I fear I may have opened up a bit too much for now. There is fun to be had. Finish your coffee and let's get a move on it." He took me by the arm and led me back into the house, treating me like
the billionaire's wife
at a fancy gala.
Yet another simple gesture that
resonated in me so much. I kind of liked being on his arm, allowing him to take me wherever he pleased.

We walked around the outside
of the
house—why he didn't just have an elevator to the basement was still beyond me—and traversed down those winding flights of stairs, one by one until we got to the bottom. The journey was a lot easier for me than yesterday
, mostly because
of the fact that I was nearly
certain
that he wasn't just leading me down there to kill me.
That
had been quite the shock yesterday; most gals my age just don't get led into dungeons for good reasons.

He shut and locked the door again, flipping the right switches and sending illumination all across the room.
I squinted at first from the brightness. He headed over toward the area where that cross was.

"Alright, Marisa. We're going to go even further today. Front or back?"

"Huh?" I said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The St. Andrews Cross can be used with you facing either way. We're going to do both, so make your decision for now. Which would you like to start with?"

"Uh, f-f-f-front," I said, suddenly feeling intimated again.

"Alright, sensible choice," he said. "We're going to play with sensory deprivation. The scene begins now."

By the time he said
now
, he wrapped a blindfold around my eyes, surprising me at first. He tied it tightly in the back, ensuring that it wouldn't fall off my head. The material was soft, but was obviously thick enough that I couldn't see through it at all. One minute
ago,
I was squinting from the light—
now I was blinded by darkness. Even though I could have used my hands to take it off, I left it on and didn't fight him.

"Alright, my pet. From now on, I am Sir. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sir," I said, familiar with my role in the
scene
. I liked that he had called it that. We were just actors, playing out a scene together. Comfortable, easy.

He led me to the cross and pushed my back against it, his hands immediately dropping my skirt. He pulled up my blouse and removed it, leaving nothing but my bra and panties between me and full nakedness. I felt him lift my arms into the air and secure them to straps on the cross. He then kissed my stomach gently, his breath tickling the tiny hairs there. I shivered
as I felt his breath move lower and lower across my front until he got to the elastic waistband on my underwear.

My panties were removed with his teeth; I could feel the trail of saliva from his tongue as he dragged them against my body, allowing me to keep track of everywhere that he'd been. In the blackness, I could see the lines glowing against my body, his trajectory perfectly outlined. I couldn't believe how hypersensitive this sensory deprivation thing made me. My heartbeat started to increase, throbbing in my chest as I
tried to anticipate
his next move.

Roland took my feet, one-by-one, and secured them to the
cross, leaving me pressed up against it. It was made of metal, but there was a soft material covering it wh
ere my body made contact
. I kept my head against the wall, imagining that I was lying down in my upright position. His calloused fingers traced along my back until he reached the clasp of my bra and undid it. My breasts tumbled ever so slightly down to my chest, resting there after losing all support.
I immediately felt his lips wrap around my nipple, sucking it and rolling it between his teeth until it pebbled.

"Much better, my pet," Roland said. "I'll be right back."

His footsteps trailed off until I couldn't hear him anymore. I was suddenly very alone and
very naked
. I had been fully exposed for a few minutes now, but I guess I was starting to get used to it. I hadn't felt so vulnerable when he had removed my clothes and tied me up, even though I was more vulnerable than I'd ever been in my life. I mean, shit, he could just leave me here if he wanted and there would be nothing I could do about it, right?
Real good, Marisa. Freak yourself out for no good reason.
I would have kept on panicking, but I immediately heard Roland's steps coming near me again.

"My, don't you just look so beautiful, my pet. Such ample, soft skin. Creamy and luscious. He kissed my lips, hard enough that it sent a considerable jolt to my crotch. Just hearing his voice was enough to make me wet at this point.