Chapter 3

Dennis couldn’t stop thinking about her. The girl called Marqi, the one with the beautiful hair, who’d welcomed him into her body... she was haunting him. He hired call girls for a reason—to avoid romantic entanglements, particularly the ones that generally arose from his position in society. There were more than plenty of women barking at his gate, and more than half of them after his money. At least with the prostitutes he knew how much money he was going to lose and exactly what he’d get for it in return.

Dennis had always been a hard worker, and his workaholic ethic had gotten him the wealth and lifestyle he currently enjoyed. The graying hair at his temples didn’t bother him in the slightest, and despite all the gossip at the country club, he wasn’t the least bit interested in finding a wife or settling down. He didn’t like the fuss and work of women. They always wanted more, expected more, and he didn’t have time to devote to a thing like a relationship.

So how had Marqi gotten under his skin? Dennis had been thinking about her nonstop since she’d thrown his money back in his face. He’d never been so surprised in all his life as he was when he found out she wasn’t a call girl. What had she been doing there? And why did she let him go so far with her?

Dennis had come to two conclusions: one, Marqi was a slut, and two, her car really had broken down. Of course, given her absolute rejection of his idea of her being a prostitute, maybe she didn’t really consider herself a slut. She was very young, probably college material, and he was nearly twice her age. Maybe college girls these days were more promiscuous than when he had gone to school.

He had downed several hits of scotch thinking this over. He was as shocked as anyone when the actual call girl had shown up and Marqi had flounced out on her heels. She had real spunk, he thought. She a spark of life in her that rivaled only one person he could think of—himself. He really did want to see more of her. He wondered how hard it would be to convince her to become his mistress. He could offer her things her college boyfriends couldn’t. And she was easy to get along with, pleasant to look at, and more than adequate to fuck.

Dennis smiled as he picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a familiar number. The girl who answered snapped her gum after stating the agency’s name, and Dennis had to smile as he asked for her boss. He was put through immediately.

“Joel here.”

“Hello, Joel. I’ve got a job for you, if you’re interested,” Dennis said politely.

“Hey, for you, Mr. B, any time, anywhere,” Joel said. “Whatever you need, you name it.”

“I appreciate that, Joel,” Dennis said. “I need you to find someone. A girl named Marquisa Dublin.”

“Okay,” Joel said, “anything else you can tell me about her?”

“Brown hair, about five foot six, very pretty, slender, young... maybe early twenties. She recently had her car towed by Anderson Towing in Jasmine Falls.”

“Ought to be a snap, then,” Joel said, his voice slightly muffled for a moment. “When do you need her by?”

“Oh, as soon as you’ve got her, I should think,” Dennis said.

“And... what kind of job is this, sir?” Joel asked delicately. “Do you just want the location, address, background, or do you want me to deliver the actual girl herself to you?”

Dennis considered it for a moment. He didn’t want to scare her off by having some hired goon bring her in. “No, just a location will be sufficient. Talk to you soon, Joel.”

“Sure thing, Mr. B.”

Dennis hung up the phone and stared into his now cold fireplace for a long moment. He ought to be working right now, but somehow, he couldn’t tear his mind away from thoughts of Marqi. Perhaps it was because he’d tasted her and now knew that he could not have her, but something about her compelled him.

He really hoped Joel would hurry.

Joel Messina loved working with clients like Braxton. Money on time, no negotiating the fees, and usually easy work locating people he wanted to catch up with. And unlike some of his previous jobs where exes stalked each other or the wife wanted pictures of the cheating husband for divorce court, this guy never brought Joel the pain of having to appear before a judge, having to break a woman’s heart, or having the police turn up on his doorstep. Joel wished more of his clients could be like Braxton.

His first call had been to Anderson Towing. This was Jasmine Falls, so it was a fairly small town, and he had gone to school with Johnny. He figured his old friend was his best bet.

“Hey, you, Johnny!” Joel said when Johnny picked up the phone. “It’s Joel. What you doing?”

“Working, man, what you doing?” Johnny said. “Haven’t seen you around the circuit lately.”

“Ah, you know,” Joel said. “Olivia’s been keeping me home most nights.”

Johnny laughed. “I hope she’s giving you good reasons to stay home, you know, like blow jobs.”

Joel chuckled. “Just you didn’t hear that from me, okay?”

“Yeah,” Johnny said. “So what’s up? You looking to get in on the racing action this weekend? Cuz we finally got the stock car up and running. It’s gonna be suh-weet!”

“Ah... no, no... well, maybe,” Joel said, considering it. The speedway had been one of his favorite hangouts before Olivia had come into his life. “Maybe. But look, I got a problem I was hoping you could help me with.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“I need to find this girl, Marquisa Dublin,” Joel said. “I heard you towed her car?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right,” Johnny said. “She in some kind of trouble?”

“No, nah, nothing like that,” Joel said. “I have a client who owes her some money. He feels bad about it. No big deal.”

“Uh huh.” Johnny went quiet for a moment. Joel frowned.

“What’s up, Johnny, you there?”

“Yeah... Yeah, I’m here.”

“Well, what’s up?”

“Is your client that rich guy with the house outside of town?”

“What? Come on, you know I can’t tell you that!” Joel protested.

“Uh huh,” Johnny said. “Well, look, then I can’t talk about my clients neither, man.”

“Oh, come on, Johnny,” Joel said. “I mean, this is my livelihood we’re talking about.”

“Look, I don’t know what all kind of business you got going over there,” Johnny said, “but you can forget this one, okay? I’m not gonna help you break that girl’s heart again. So just... forget it, man, all right?”

“All right,” Joel said immediately. “Okay. Yeah, I’m sorry, man. Sorry. You know?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

There was a moment where neither of them spoke, then Johnny said, “Well, I gotta go. I got shit to do.”

“Yeah. Cool. Okay,” Joel said, still slightly puzzled over his friend’s reaction. “I’ll catch you later.”

“Yeah. Later.”

The dial tone sounded and Joel replaced the receiver, wondering at his friend’s comments. So there was something going on with that girl, something that seemed to make Johnny think would break her heart. Again. That was what he’d said. Joel was thoroughly confused. When he’d spoken to Braxton, it had sounded more like a clinical matter, so Joel had made up the money thing in order to coax a little information out of Johnny. Usually if you hinted that money was going to flow, people were eager to share what they knew. But this had gone in the opposite direction. It bewildered Joel to no end.

Maybe Braxton wasn’t the easy client Joel had thought that he was.

Joel worried.

He didn’t worry so much that he put himself out of a job, though. In fact, a simple stakeout of Anderson Towing brought him the lead he wanted. He knew which car was registered to Marquisa Dublin, so when a girl matching her description came to the shop and went right up to look at that particular car, he made notes and took pictures. She left the mechanic’s on foot, her car still not road worthy. He got out of his car and followed her down the six blocks and one over until he saw her go into a motel room. He made a note of it—The Lantern Motel, room ten.

A minute later he was on his way to collect his paycheck from Dennis Braxton.

It had been three agonizing days since Dennis had seen Marqi, and he could not stop thinking about her. He didn’t like this new obsessive streak. He wanted to see her, to settle things between them, so that he could get on with his life without feeling unnerved. Mostly, though, he wanted to get between her thighs again. Normally he called the service because he had a need and wanted it filled. With Marqi, it was the other way around; she created the need and only she could satisfy it.

When he got the address from Joel Messina, the private detective he’d hired, he only bothered to wait till the man was off his property before he got into his car and drove directly to the seedy motel like a man possessed.

He knocked on the door of number ten, and heard Marqi ask for his patience. The door opened momentarily to reveal Marqi wrapped in a towel with her wet hair streaming down her back.

“Oh, no!” she exclaimed when she saw him. “Not you! What are you doing here?”

Hardening in my shorts, he thoughts, taking in the glow of her newly scrubbed skin.

“Please, don’t slam the door in my face,” he pleaded, giving her a smile. “I hope you won’t mind, but I feel terrible about what happened before, and I really wanted the chance to apologize to you. Sincerely. Please, may I come in?”

Marqi hesitated. Seeing him again so soon was like pouring salt on a still fresh wound. On the other hand, she wouldn’t mind seeing him grovel and beg for her forgiveness either.

“All right,” she said coolly, holding the door open. “You can come in for a minute. Then I have to get ready for work.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed with a nod. He stepped into the small room and she closed the door after him. He pointed at the closest bed and asked, “May I?”

She gestured that he was welcome, so Dennis sat down on the unmade bed and considered what to say next. He decided he could think better if she wasn’t standing over him with her arms crossed angrily across her beautiful chest.

“Here,” he said, scooting over to make room for her to sit beside him. “Why don’t you sit down for a minute? Please?”

Marqi sat, but her eyes will still frosty as she watched him.

“Marquisa Dublin,” he began, “from the bottom of my heart, I want to apologize for ever even thinking that you could possibly be a... lady of ill repute.”

She rolled her eyes at his language, but he caught a flicker of a smile, and so he went on, “Please, I’m sorry. I can’t tell you how dreadful I feel for my mistake.”

“Well, let me ask you something, Mr. Braxton,” she said haughtily.

“Dennis, please,” he insisted. “After all, we have--”

“Fine, Dennis,” she cut him off. “Look, Dennis, what exactly is it about me that screamed “hooker” to you? Is it my hair? My clothes? What?”

“Nothing!” he said immediately. “Nothing. There is nothing at all about you that suggests that.”

“Then why did you think I was one?” she asked, her eyes betraying the hurt she still felt from his insinuation.

Dennis looked down, momentarily ashamed of himself. “I’m sorry to have to admit this to you... but...”

He stopped; he didn’t have any idea how he could explain himself and not look like a complete pervert.

Marqi’s forehead wrinkled as she worked through the thought process and found the answer herself. “You had already called an escort service. You were waiting for a girl when I showed up.”

“Yes,” he admitted guiltily. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” she said, turning to give him a dead look. “Because you called a hooker? Or because you thought I was one?”

“Both,” he sighed. “And I’m also really glad you’re not the girl I called.”

“Why is that?”

“Because,” he said, trying to shape his thoughts into words, “you gave me a gift that none of those girls could have given me.”

Marqi gave him a look that suggested his stupidity and said, “I wasn’t a virgin, Dennis.”

He chuckled. “Ah, no... I didn’t actually think you were...”

“So you came here to call me a slut, is that it?”

“No!” Dennis said instantly. “Although if you were, I would not chastise you for it in any way.”

Marqi snorted. “You’re some piece of work.”

“Yes, well,” he smiled. “Listen, I know you were incredibly angry with me, and if I were in your shoes, I would have been very angry, too. I only hope that you can forgive me, because I meant what I said about wanting to see you. I really like you, Marqi, and it’s rare for me to find someone that I like enough to want to see them more than once.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, considering his apology.

“Please,” he said again. “There must be something I can do to show you how sorry I am.”

She tilted her head, thinking.

“Let me pay for the repairs on your car,” he offered. “It’s the least I can do.”

Marqi shook her head. “No, Dennis. I don’t want you paying for anything like that. It’s too much like...like...”

“Right, right,” he said hastily. “I’m sorry. You’re right. But what can I do?”

“Well,” she said, shrugging, “what would you like to do?”

“I’d like to do you,” he replied honestly.

“E-excuse me?” she stammered.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth, putting one hand on her shoulder to pull her closer. Marqi let her eyes fall shut and opened her mouth to Dennis. His tongue found hers as he urged her closer to his body. She’d nearly forgotten how good of a kisser he was; nearly, but not quite. She scooted closer, allowing his hand to cup her head, his fingers tangled in her wet hair as he kissed her.

“I’ve missed you,” he breathed a moment later.

“How?” she asked, and kissed him again. Her brain was telling her to stop, that she was getting carried away by her impulses again, but that thing he was doing to her neck was rapidly pushing all logical thought from her mind.

She wanted him. That was part of what had made it so hard to hear him accuse her of prostitution before. Of course, now he knew that she was just kind of a slut where he was concerned.

“You do know that, right?” she said out loud.

“What?” he murmured, running his hand along her thigh.

“That I can’t help myself when I’m around you,” she said. “I’m not usually like this... it’s just... around you...”

“I’m very glad to hear that,” Dennis said, feeling a surge of heat in his trousers. He took her in his arms and dragged her body to his, pulling her into his lap. He tugged at the white motel towel and it fell away, exposing her breasts to his mouth. He lapped them eagerly, massaging the peaks with his tongue until she moaned.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she said.

“Why not?” he asked, sliding his hand between her legs.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. That made him smile. He kissed her again as her fingers slid down his zipper and reached inside his pants. She stroked his hardening cock through his boxers, feeling her own arousal build with his. He looked in her eyes, and she saw the unabashed lust glinting in his as they had before. She reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt. She smoothed it over his shoulders, and Dennis slipped his arms out. She cast the shirt aside and went back to kissing his lips, licking his neck, and letting her hands roam his body.

“I want to...” he said quietly, his hands sliding down her back. “I want you...”

She made a small sound in her throat and kissed him, pushing him down on the bed.

“You can’t have me,” she said, and Dennis thought his heart would stop, until she continued, “until you take your pants off.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and hurried to shed the rest of his clothes.

She pushed him down again and laid her body atop his, his hard cock sandwiched between them and leaking slightly. She licked his lower lip as she straddled him, taking his cock into her warm core. Dennis shuddered pleasurably as she sank down on his length. He grasped her hips, thrusting upward into her, and Marqi moaned for him. It felt good, being with her like this, but it also felt like a punishment. The Dennis who hired women was used to making them do what he wanted them to do, and right now, he wanted to flip her over, pull her onto her knees, and take her from behind. It was practically torture to let her be on top, to let her set the maddeningly slow pace. It felt good, but he wanted more. He thrust a few more times, trying to urge her to increase the tempo, but Marqi was having none of it. She slid up his cock and hesitated on the tip, dipping her hips down to take in only the head. She did this several times until at last she sank all the way down on his cock and elicited a grateful groan from Dennis.

Fine, he thought, I can be patient. He let her go as slowly as she wanted, and he just watched her, occasionally reaching up to touch her breasts. Her long hair swayed as she moved, weighted with water though it was. She was beautiful, no doubt, and she was slowly earning the right to command him. Dennis smiled up at her, but Marqi didn’t notice; she was lost in her orgasm, convulsing atop him as she came.

When he was certain she was sated, he rolled her onto her side and withdrew from her body. Without asking permission, he pushed her face down into the mattress, pulled up her hips to meet his throbbing hardness, and plunged inside her once more.

The agony he’d been feeling was now met with sweet relief; his hard cock was surrounded once more by her hot pussy. He shoved his cock into her again and again, crying out her name as he rode her, his fingers digging into her skin as he gripped her hips. Her ass was beautiful, and he loved being buried inside her like this, seeing her long hair spread wildly across her back as he stabbed her with his cock. She bucked for him, pressing her ass into him as he thrust.

“Yeah, honey, yeah,” she said in a gritty little voice. He liked it. He reached out and grabbed a handful of that beautiful hair, yanking her head back as he thrust into her. He felt his balls tighten with impending pleasure. Dennis pulled his cock out of her, took it in his hand, and stroked himself hard a couple of times until he came across her ass, shooting milky strands upon her smooth skin. He felt good looking at her like this, on her knees, with his come all over her ass. He gave her a slap across the bottom and leaned down to kiss her hair.

They didn’t speak again until she emerged from her second shower of the day.