Mick considered her. “Why did you stay, Rosalind?”
Roz looked away from him. She was lying on her back, and was covered by all-silk bedding, but she had never felt more vulnerable. But she garnered the courage to look at him again. “You’ve had a rough life, Mick,” she said. “And the fact that you rose to such prominence in the business world speaks volumes about your ability, and resiliency. But your life has also tainted you.”
Mick’s heart dropped, because he knew she spoke the truth.
“You’re rough and tough and refuse to take crap from anybody.”
“I wouldn’t mistreat you,” Mick said suddenly, and he was astounded that he had blurted such weak words out of his mouth. He felt like a drowning man and Roz held the life jacket. All she had to do was give it to him, like giving a dog a bone. He didn’t like that feeling.
“But that’s the thing,” Roz said, going with his so-called weak words. “That’s why I stayed,” she continued. “I don’t believe you’ll mistreat me. I think we’ll have our moments, but I believe you will respect me and I will respect you even in the midst of those moments.”
Then she frowned, and looked away. “I wish you didn’t have that other part of you. I wish to God you didn’t have to go through what you’ve gone through in your life.” She looked at him again. “But I can’t change any of that. And strangely enough, I don’t want to change you.”
Mick’s heart began to soar. “Not even my warts?” he asked.
“Without those warts, it wouldn’t be Mick.” She rubbed his crumpled coat lapel. “Just an empty guy in an empty, slept-in suit.”
Mick laughed. He loved her quick wit. “So true,” he said.
But then his look turned serious. “That is why I wanted you to come to my world, Rosalind. I needed you to see its beauty, and its ugliness. I needed you to see what you would be getting yourself into.”
“Before we got in too deep, as you said,” she said.
He nodded. “Before hearts get broken, yes.”
Roz placed her hand on the side of his gorgeous face. He was in a lot of ways a very lonely, scared, vulnerable man. She would never tell him any of that to his face. He wouldn’t be able to take it. But that was what she felt when she looked into his eyes. Others saw coldness. She saw pain. “I think we’re worth giving it a try,” she said.
Mick could feel a swell of emotion. He was so overcome that he lifted her out of bed, causing her to laugh, and swept her up into his big arms. But when they became eyeball to eyeball, and he could feel her sweet breath, her bare ass beneath his shirt she wore, could see the smoothness of her brown skin, the levity was gone. This was serious and sensual all at once. And Mick kissed her.
“I know you’ve had your bathe,” he said. “You’re always freshly bathed. But would you care to join me in the shower?”
Roz knew what he meant. They would shower some, fuck a lot. “Yes,” she said. “I’d love to.”
Mick smiled again, kissed her again, and carried her into his room-sized master bath.
After sitting her on the elongated marble countertop, he turned on the shower. By the time he had the shower water running, Roz had unbuttoned his oversized shirt, but had not removed it yet. When Mick saw her sitting there, with the shirt half open, revealing her big brown breasts, and her hair undone and falling half in her face, his throbbing dick began to pulsate.
He removed his suit coat, and unbuttoned and removed his shirt. And then he removed his shoes, unzipped and unbuttoned his pants, and removed his remaining clothes. Because it felt different this time. It felt more intense. It felt as if he was about to make love to, not just a beautiful woman, but his beautiful woman. That pride of ownership was beginning to take hold. The fact that she stayed, that she didn’t allow his life to scare her away, changed the dynamic in ways neither one of them could have expected.
Especially Mick. He was looking for somebody to love him. That was what he thought was going to be the most wonderful thing for him. But now he realized, as he stared into the eyes of this wonderful lady, that it just might have flipped on him. And instead of somebody loving him, he just might have somebody to love. And that felt even more powerful.
Roz felt the fire as it walked to her. She felt his heat as if it had already burned her. And when his smoldering eyes locked onto hers, she felt his heart.
She wrapped her arms around him as he began kissing her on her mouth. She lifted her head as he kissed her neck and sucked her nipples. She drew up her legs as his fingers fondled the deepest recesses of her vagina, and came up as wet as if he had released inside of her. Which meant to Mick that she was ready. Not for his dick yet. But for him.