Close Liaisons Read online

  He led her into what had to be his bedroom. Like the rest of his penthouse, the room was both modern and opulent at the same time. A large circular bed dominated the center of the room. It was unmade and had obviously been recently slept in. The sheets were a soft ivory color, and the thick blankets and pillows strewn around the bed were a pale shade of blue. Mia’s heart climbed into her throat as she fully realized what she’d just agreed to do.

  He released her hand and stepped back, leaving her standing in the middle of the room. “All right,” he said softly, “now take off your clothes.”

  Mia stood there frozen, a hot wave of embarrassment rolling through her. He wanted her to remove her clothes, right there in the middle of the sunlit room?

  “You heard me,” he repeated, his voice cold despite the yellow heat in his eyes. “Take them off.” Seeing her hesitation, he added, “I can guarantee your clothes will not survive it if I lay my hands on them.”

  Mia’s hands shook as she slowly raised them to pull the sweater over her head. He merely watched her, his face inscrutable despite the hunger in his eyes. She took off her sneakers, and her jeans were next, leaving her clad in pink boy-short panties and a T-shirt. She had forgotten to wear a bra and now acutely felt that lack, with her nipples hard and visible against the thin fabric of the T-shirt.

  “Now take off your shirt,” he instructed, seeing her pause. The front of his pants was tented, she noticed, and somehow that was oddly reassuring – to know that she had that kind of effect on him, that he wasn’t turned off by her awkwardness or her skinny body. Trembling slightly, she pulled the shirt over her head, revealing her breasts to male eyes for the first time. It took all her willpower not to cross her arms over her chest in a silly virginal gesture; instead, she stood there with her hands fisted at her sides, letting him look his fill.

  He came toward her then and touched her, slowly stroking one palm down her back while another hand cupped her left breast, gently kneading it as though to test its weight and texture. “You’re very pretty,” he murmured, looking down at her as his hands deliberately explored her body, every stroke sending ripples of heat down to her nether regions. Standing there in her bare feet, Mia was acutely aware of how much larger his body was compared to hers, with her head barely reaching his shoulder and each of his arms thicker than half of her torso. His hands appeared dark against her pale skin, and she shivered when he moved his palm down to her belly, the width of his open hand nearly spanning the distance between her hip bones. His erection prodded her side, the thin material of his pajama pants doing little to conceal its heat and hardness.

  Without the blurring effect from the alcohol or the shield of darkness, there was no retreat from his brutally intimate actions, no merciful escape into a sensual fog. Instead, Mia stood there in broad daylight, exposed and vulnerable, intensely aware of each stroke of his large hands over her body and the warm moisture lubricating her genitals in response.

  Hooking his thumbs into her underwear, he pushed her panties down her legs, removing her last defense. “Step out of them,” he hoarsely ordered, and Mia obeyed, standing completely naked in his arms. The fact that he was still wearing his pants somehow made the whole thing worse, adding to her sense of complete powerlessness.

  He touched her buttocks, his hands curving around the small pale globes of her ass and lightly squeezing them. “Very nice,” he whispered, and Mia blushed for some inexplicable reason. The dark curls between her legs attracted his attention next, and Mia flinched when his fingers slowly stroked her pussy hair, looking for the tender flesh underneath. Feeling her wetness, he smiled with purely masculine satisfaction, and Mia’s embarrassment grew tenfold. This was the worst part – knowing that her own body betrayed her, that a creature who was not even human could provoke this kind of response from her under the circumstances.

  “No mouth-to-mouth, right?” he murmured, picking her up and carrying her over to the bed. Mia nodded, squeezing her eyes shut in the hopes that it would be over with quickly. Instead, he placed her in the middle of the circular bed, like some virginal sacrifice, and crawled down her body until his head was above the juncture of her legs. Mia tried to rear up then, realizing his intentions, but he had no intention of letting her go. Instead, he easily held down her flailing legs with his elbows while his fingers leisurely parted her folds, exposing her most sensitive place to his burning gaze. Lowering his head, he gently pressed his tongue, soft and flat, against her clitoris – just holding it there and letting her struggle until she could bear it no longer, her entire body arching with the most powerful climax of her life.

  While she lay there, still shuddering with little aftershocks, he rose up on his knees, deftly stripping off the pants to reveal a large jutting penis. Mia’s eyes widened as she realized that her first time would likely involve more than a minor discomfort, given the size of the cock in front of her.

  Seeing her fear, he paused. “Mia,” he said quietly, “we don’t have to do this if you’re not ready. I can wait –”

  She shook her head, unable to think past the fog of desire clouding her brain. It had taken all her courage to get this far, to allow him so much intimacy. To retreat now seemed cowardly, and Mia felt a sudden, irrational dread that this was it – that if she gave up a chance to experience such passion now, she would never feel it again.

  He didn’t need much encouragement. Before her logical side could reassert itself, he was already over her, parting her legs with one powerfully muscled thigh and settling in between them. Looking steadily into her eyes, he began to push his penis into her opening, slowly working it in inch by slow inch.

  Regretting her decision almost immediately, Mia writhed under him, feeling like a heated baseball bat was attempting to enter her vagina. Despite the wetness from her orgasm, her inner muscles did not want to let him in, desperately clenching to repel the invasion. “Shhh,” he whispered soothingly as tears rolled down her face at the burning discomfort that threatened to morph into pain. Beads of sweat appeared on his own face at the obvious strain of holding back, his arms flexing as he held himself steady, trying to let the delicate muscles stretch around his penis before proceeding. But Mia could not hold still, every instinct leading her to fight the penetration, little cries escaping from her throat as he pressed further, pausing briefly at the internal barrier. “I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely, and Mia screamed as he pushed forward in one smooth motion, tearing through the membrane that was blocking his entrance and sheathing his cock to the hilt in her vagina, his pubic hair pressing against her own.

  Mia’s vision went dark for a second, and hot nausea boiled up her throat as a knife-like pain tore through her insides. She had never expected to feel such agony, and she dug her nails into his shoulders, raw, guttural cries breaking out from her throat, desperately wanting to escape the object tearing her body apart. All earlier pleasure forgotten, she writhed under him like a fish on a hook, barely registering the soothing platitudes he was murmuring in her ear and the gentle kisses he was raining on her cheeks and forehead.

  At some point, the agonizing pain began to abate, and she realized that he wasn’t moving, just holding himself deep inside her, his muscles quivering from the effort it took to stay still. “I’m sorry,” he was saying, apparently repeating it for the umpteenth time, “it will get better, I promise. Just let yourself relax, and it won’t hurt like that anymore, I promise you . . . Shhh, my darling, just relax . . . there’s a good girl . . . It will get better soon, I promise . . .”

  Liar, Mia thought bitterly. How could it get better when he was still inside her, the organ that had caused her so much pain lodged deeply in her vagina? She felt violated and betrayed, pinned under his much larger body with no hope of escape until he was done. “Just finish it,” she told him harshly, willing to tolerate anything to have this be over.

  A small smile curved his lips despite the strain on his face. “Ah Mia, my sweet brave girl, your wish is my command.” He pulled out slowl
y, and Mia squeezed her eyes shut, unable to hold back tears as the motion brought more pain at first. He kept moving, however, his penis slowly retreating from her body and penetrating her again, and the ancient rhythm somehow ignited a small spark inside her again. Sensing it, he gradually picked up the pace and changed his angle slightly, so that the broad head nudged some sensitive spot deep inside. His arm reached between them, knowing fingers unerringly finding her clitoris, and he pressed lightly, keeping the pressure steady and letting his strokes move her against his hand. Mia’s body tensed again, this time for a different reason, and liquid heat began to gather in her loins. She found herself starting to pant, echoing his heavy breathing, and the tension inside her became nearly unbearable, every thrust of his cock bringing her closer and closer to the edge without sending her over. The pain didn’t go away – it was still there – but somehow it didn’t matter as every nerve in Mia’s body focused on her desperate need for the release. He groaned, his hips now hammering at her, and she screamed in frustration, small fists beating uselessly against his chest, her body vibrating like a guitar string from the intolerable tension deep inside. And suddenly it was too much. She felt him swell up even more, and then he was coming with one final deep thrust that sent her over the edge, his pelvis grinding against her genitals as her entire body seemed to explode with an orgasm so powerful that she literally saw stars, her brain almost short-circuiting from the intensity of the climax.

  She lay there afterwards, feeling his penis still twitching inside her even as it became softer and smaller. His shoulders and back were slick with sweat, and his breathing sounded like he had just run a marathon, his body lying heavily on top of hers. Her own limbs were shaking slightly, she noticed with a curiously detached interest, and her heart was pounding as though from a physical exertion.

  He pulled out then, and Mia felt the loss of heat from his body, a strange inner coldness taking its place. He left the room, and she brought her knees up to her chest in a slow, painful motion, her body feeling foreign as she curled into a fetal position on her side, her mind oddly blank. There were streaks of blood on her thighs, much more blood than the spotting she’d always thought was the norm.

  He came back a minute later, a small white tube in his hands. Squeezing out some clear substance, he coated his finger in it and reached between her legs, entering her sore opening despite her faint protest. Almost immediately, Mia felt the burning pain in her vagina beginning to abate as the mystery gel worked its magic.

  “It’s an analgesic, and it will speed your recovery,” he explained, wiping his hand on the sheets to get rid of the excess. “Unfortunately, I can’t heal you completely because the last thing I want is for your membrane to regrow itself.”

  Mia responded by curling up into an even smaller ball. More than anything, she wanted to shrink and disappear, to pretend that none of this was real. He didn’t let her though, gathering her closer to him in a spooning position, his large warm body curling around her own. “I hate you,” she told him, wanting to lash out and hurt him somehow. She felt his sigh against her back. “I know,” he said, gently stroking her tangled curls.

  They must have lain like that for a few minutes. The sheets smelled like sex, Mia noticed, and like him. There was also a metallic odor that Mia realized had to be the remnants of her virginity.

  “You never drank my blood,” she said, finding it easier to communicate like that, with her back turned toward him.

  “No, I didn’t,” he agreed, adding, “I think you’ve had enough new experiences for one day.”

  How considerate of him, Mia thought bitterly. Such a gentleman, sparing the poor virgin additional trauma. Never mind that he was the cause of that trauma in the first place.

  As though sensing the direction of her thoughts, he said, continuing to stroke her hair, “I’m sorry it was so painful for you. I know you won’t believe me right now, but I never wanted to hurt you like that and I never will again. Had I known how narrow you were inside and how thick your membrane would be, I would have made sure to remove it before we got anywhere near this bedroom. Once I was inside you, it was too late – I just couldn’t stop. It won’t be like this next time, I promise.”

  Mia listened to his little speech with a growing dread in her stomach. “Just to be clear,” she said slowly, “I don’t ever want to do this with you again. Ever. If you touch me again, it will be rape in the very real sense of the word.”

  Korum didn’t answer, and Mia realized with a sinking feeling that he very much intended for there to be a next time. “You’re a monster,” she told him, trying to pull away. He let her go, getting up himself. Before she realized what he wanted, he bent over the bed and lifted her in his arms, carrying her naked out of the room.

  He brought her to the same bathroom Mia had showered in before. At some point, he must have filled the jacuzzi because it was ready for them. He carefully set her on her feet in the wonderfully hot water that came up to her waist. Her legs still felt shaky, so Mia lowered herself into the bubbles, finding a step on which she could sit. Powerful jets pleasantly massaged her tired muscles, washing off dried blood and semen on her thighs, and Mia leaned back against the edge and closed her eyes, trying to ignore Korum’s naked presence.

  A scary thought suddenly entered her mind, causing her eyes to pop open. “You didn’t use any protection,” she hissed at him, horrified at the realization. “Am I going to catch some kind of a weird STD or worse – get pregnant?”

  He laughed, throwing his head back. “No, my sweet – both would be an impossibility. You’re far safer having sex with me than with any human male, regardless of how many condoms he wears.”

  Mia exhaled in relief. The gel he’d used earlier and the hot water were doing wonders for her physical state, and she felt nearly back to her old self. She was also hungry, she realized.

  “I should get going,” she said, looking around the bathroom for a towel or a robe to wrap herself in. She still didn’t feel comfortable being naked in front of him.

  “Why?” he asked lazily, moving his muscular back to take better advantage of the jets. “You already missed your class and you don’t have anything on Wednesdays.”

  Apparently, he knew her class schedule by heart.

  Mia shrugged, no longer surprised by anything. “I’m hungry, and I want to go home,” she said, telling the truth.

  He grinned at her, looking happy for some reason. “I’ll make you something to eat. Why don’t you relax here some more, and I’ll come get you when the food is ready.”

  She nodded, deciding not to argue at the memory of the delicious meal he’d made before.

  Still smiling, Korum rose and stepped out of the tub, water streaming down his golden skin and well-defined muscles. Despite everything that happened, Mia felt a spark of arousal at the sight of him fully naked. His back was broad and muscular, and his hips were narrow. His ass was the best she’d ever seen on a man, tight with muscle, and his legs looked powerful. She wondered if Ks needed to work out to maintain their looks and resolved to ask him at some point later.

  “Like what you see?” he asked with a sly smile, obviously noticing her scrutiny.

  Mia blushed a little and then told herself not to be a ninny. “Sure,” she said with a straight face. “You’re very pretty, like a male Barbie doll.”

  Far from offended, he laughed with genuine amusement. “Not like Ken, I hope. Isn’t he missing the requisite equipment?”

  Mia just shrugged in response, not wanting to get into this kind of banter with him right now. Grinning, he exited the room, leaving her alone to enjoy the jacuzzi for the next twenty minutes.

  By the time he came back, Mia was already showered and wrapped in the familiar robe she’d discovered in the bathroom closet. She even found the slippers she’d worn before and gladly put them on. Showering here was becoming a habit.

  She accompanied Korum to the kitchen, her mouth watering at the delicious smells emanating from there. He
had made another one of his signature salads and a dish of roasted buckwheat with stir-fried carrots and mushrooms. Feeling like she was starving, Mia attacked her food with appreciation, and so did he. For a while, the kitchen was silent, except for chewing noises and the clattering of their silverware. Finally feeling replete, Mia leaned back in her chair. He was done with his portion, as usual, and was observing her with a half-smile.

  “What?” asked Mia self-consciously, wondering if she had a bit of lettuce stuck between her teeth.

  “Nothing,” he said, and his smile got wider. “I just love watching you eat. You do it with such enthusiasm – it’s very endearing.”

  Mia flushed a little. He obviously thought she was a glutton. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, “Yeah, what can I say? I really like food.”

  He grinned. “I know. I really like that about you. Very unexpected in a girl your size.”

  Mia smiled back tentatively and got up from her chair. Now was as good a time as any. “Okay, well, thank you for the meal. I’ll just change and get out of your hair.”

  The smile left his face. He clearly didn’t like hearing that. “Why don’t you stay?” he suggested softly. “I promise not to touch you again today, if that’s what worries you.”

  Mia swallowed, suddenly feeling on edge. “I really have to get going,” she said, hoping that she was misreading his body language – that he didn’t really have the intention of keeping her there against her will.

  He looked directly into her eyes. Whatever he had seen there seemed to make up his mind. “Okay,” he said slowly. “You can go home.” Mia’s breath escaped in relief – prematurely, as it turned out. Because he added next, “But I want you to come back here tonight. Gather whatever you need for the next day or two – or I can buy you new things if you prefer – and come back here by 7 p.m. I’ll make us dinner.”