Page 26 of A Dark Duet

He doesn’t look convinced, but doesn’t pry further. Never have I felt more uncomfortable in my life and I realize Nate and I have never really talked much about each other.

I would like to get to know him better on a personal level, not just sex and going out to charity events. I know being in the public eye is a challenge, but I’m interested in him, and not being in the constant eye of the public. Most women he’s used to are superficial that way, from what I have read, but my parents did not bring me up to be like that.

I look over to Brie. She must feel the same, an outcast. We work at a diner and dance at a club. We eye each other in silent communication that we cannot wait to leave.

All these people, looking, judging, trying to find a flaw they can make a big deal out of. When you look at Nate and Jaden, they don’t even have a clue how Brie and I are feeling. They are smiling and talking to other people, and we are just sitting there like arm candy, and it’s then that I realize they brought us here for show, and nothing more.

When introductions are made, it’s, “This is Brie or Giselle,” not even, “my good friend” before our names.Just another girl I brought along. They could have saved the money and just let us wear whatever and introduced us as Coco and Money Monroe, which would have saved them the trouble.

Brie and I stay quiet the rest of the night, only smiling and speaking when needed to fake farewells and goodbyes. The guys don’t say a word on the way back to Nate’s house and there is a slight tension in the air.

Jaden takes Brie to the guest room and I follow Nate to his bedroom. He turns, shuts the door, and looks at me with desire. He slides my dress off my arms and unzips the side, revealing the lingerie. I squeeze my thighs from the heat pooling there as he looks me up and down.

I bite my bottom lip as I can’t help the way I feel when he looks at me or when he touches my skin; I feel heat that floods my core like liquid lava. He takes off his jacket and unbuttons his shirt, revealing his smooth, muscular chest. He removes his belt and stands clad in his socks and boxer briefs. I walk him back so he can sit on the bed while I kneel in front of him between his legs.

I have never given a man a blow job before, but Brie took me to the back room at the club where I watched Treasure and Diamond give blow jobs to very special clients. I learned how to relax your throat muscles to take a man’s cock all the way down without gagging.

I’ve never tried it first hand, but I wanted to give Nate that pleasure. He looks at me kneeling in front of him and he rubs his thumb over my bottom lip. I stick my tongue out to stroke his thumb and he sucks in a breath as he runs his fingers through my hair. Sliding his boxers down, releasing his massive erect cock, thick and ready to be sucked.

Suddenly I notice the scars of what looks like burn marks, angry red marks all over his inner thighs. I frown and take a deep breath at the angry marks I know do not come from fighting. I slide my fingers along one and caress it. He grips my hand tight, stopping me from touching him.

“What happened?” I ask as I look up into his eyes.

What I find there is anger, cold and hard.

“Nothing,” he snaps.

He gets up, making me fall back on my heels. Watching him as he stands, I realize I hadn’t noticed before because of the position we were in yesterday.

“Nate, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t, I…”

I stop as he looks down at me with a coldness I don’t recognize. I feel like I did something wrong, but I really just wanted to know what happened to him so I could understand him. I didn’t think he would get this angry.

“I think it’s best if you sleep in the guest room tonight. You will go back early tomorrow,” he says.

I’m still sitting on the carpeted floor in front of the bed as he walks toward the bathroom, speaking to me in a cold, hard tone. It’s like he can’t stand the sight of me and wants me gone.

“Nate, look, I’m sorry. If I did…”

He interrupts me again. “Are you on the pill? You know, to make sure you don’t…” I frown at his change of subject. I don’t let him continue.

I honestly hadn’t even thought of that and I can’t believe I’m so stupid and didn’t think about contraception or falling pregnant. It’s like a bucket of ice-cold water on my face and I suddenly get angry with mostly myself for letting a man who clearly sees me as a piece of ass from a dance club have sex with me unprotected. Of course, he expected me to be on the pill.

“Of course, I will make sure. I’ll take care of it,” I say coldly. I get up from the floor, giving him my back, not letting him see the hurt of his words and the pain he is inflicting.

I pick up the dress from the floor, slip into it so I can walk back shamefully to the guest bedroom, not forgetting the way he made me feel tonight.

Once my hand is on the door handle to open it, he speaks and I stop.“I just want to make sure since I was careless last night and did not use protection, I’m clean and get tested regularly.”

What an asshole. Tears suddenly fill my eyes and I don’t turn around, but swallow the enormous ball in my throat as I stiffen.

“Of course,” I whisper. I hurriedly walk out of his room, not looking back, wishing I could be anywhere but here.

Once inside the guest bedroom, I strip from the clothes he bought me and neatly place everything in the garment bags. I quickly change back into the clothes that I came in, lying on the bed, letting the tears I have been holding fall as I hold in the sobs that won’t stop.

If this is what heartbreak feels like, I prefer to be dead than to feel the emptiness my soul feels right now at being alone with no one to hold me, or to love me.

Nate will not let me in and just wants me on his terms and when I get close, he shuts me out. He obviously doesn’t want me in his life that way. I am no better than any woman he sleeps with. What I thought was special, or maybe some type of understanding, was just a lie. I, being the naive virgin, fell for the charms of a man who sleeps with women and has a goody bag for them as they exit.

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