A Night on the Red Carpet

"Damn, where do I sign?" she laughed, her smile touching her eyes.

"Let's exchange contact info and set up a meeting next week where I promise to do a much better job," I said, pulling out my phone, keeping one eye on Layna. Once we had each other's numbers, I stood up and said, "It's been a pleasure meeting you, Athena, and I look forward to seeing you next week. But now I need to stop acting like a pussy and go save my girlfriend from being molested by a douchebag."

Athena snickered, then replied, "Good luck, Jake. And don't forget, jealousy isn't attractive."

I winked at her, then picked up my pace as I headed to Layna's rescue.

"Oh, excuse me," said a large, black man who bumped heavily into me as I was walking toward Layna. I recognized him immediately. It was Lavar Washington, a former outside linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. And who was now Aaron Schultz's lackey.

The running joke on Lavar was he watched a couple episodes of HBO's 'Ballers' and decided he wanted to be a real-life "Spencer Strathmore". People even called him "Spencer" behind his back. At 6' 2" and with the shaved head and expensive suit, he did indeed look like a slightly darker, less attractive version of Dwayne Johnson's character.

"Yo, Jake, I didn't see you there, my bad," Lavar said, a phony apologetic look on his face. "Hey, I saw you with Layna earlier and, damn, she's looking fine. You know, when she worked..."

"Fuck off, Spencer," I interjected, then started moving again before he realized what had happened.

I knew where Lavar was going, and what he was going to say. Schultz and his crew were living rent free in my head, and they were pressing their advantage. I didn't have time to fuck around with them or their games anymore. My girlfriend needed me.

Layna and Schultz had their backs to me as I arrived. His hand was around her shoulder. While I forced myself to push down the thought of his head and spine dangling from my bloody fist, I figured I might be able to get away with a little violence. Schultz may have been bigger and taller than me, but I knew his type. The kind of guy who spent every day in his fancy gym in the suburbs and had never thrown a punch in his life. I grew up a gringo in Van Nuys; I wasn't afraid of getting in a scrap with a fucking weenie like Schultz.

I grabbed Schultz's index finger on the hand that was on Layna's shoulder and bent it back toward his wrist. With a high-pitched whine that drew a few heads, his hand came right off her.

Layna turned and saw it was me. Relief on her face, which was quickly replaced by her dazzling smile. A pang of guilt hit me. I should have gotten to her sooner.

"Oh, sorry, Schultzy," I offered to Layna's harasser, who was rubbing his finger and scowling at me. "I didn't mean to make you cry like a bitch, but I got the impression Layna didn't want you touching her."

"Did you want him touching you?" I asked her.

"No," she spat, no longer pretending to tolerate Schultz.

"See," I said, turning back to Shultz and glaring at him as I continued in a low, threatening voice. "She didn't want your wormy, fucking hands on her."

"Fuck you, Maxwell," he said, his voice low to avoid unwanted attention. "You're going to regret this. You, too, cunt."

He could call me whatever he wanted, but there was no fucking way I was going to let him get away with insulting Layna. I began to move, clenching my fist, and preparing to beat Schultz's face into pulp.

Layna moved quicker, placing her hand on my chest and pressing me back. "He's not worth it," she reminded me.

The rush of adrenaline was short-lived. Once Schultz slunk away, I paid the toll from battling with my mind all night. I was mentally drained.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked.

...

We sat quietly in the limo for the first five minutes. I didn't trust myself to speak now that we were alone, nor did I have the benefit of work to distract me.

Try as I did, I couldn't shake my fears about Layna. The thought that she had slept with Schultz bothered me, though I didn't see her leaving me for that dipshit. However, the fear that I might lose her to someone lingered. I wondered what might have happened if the man who had his hands on her had been less repulsive. We worked in an environment where we were surrounded by attractive, fit, wealthy, and charming people. It scared me to think that one day, she might like someone else's hands on her more than mine. That would break me.

"Are you going to tell me what's been going on with you tonight?" Layna asked softly, stirring me from my ruminations. "Or are you going to leave me in the dark and make me guess?"

"I don't think I can," I answered.

"Why not?" she inquired, scooting close to me, and holding my hand, placing it in her lap.

"I worry about what will come out of my mouth once I open it."

"Why?"

I paused, considering my answer. "Because I'm feeling something that's irrational. I know that. I just can't stop feeling what I'm feeling. And I worry that the irrational will take over."

Layna pondered my words before she spoke, then said, "Jake, we lost a year of us because we didn't talk to each other. Let's promise to never make that mistake again. I will listen to whatever you have to say, without judgment, and without making it about me. And you do the same for me. Can we make that promise to one another here and now?"

I looked into Layna's eyes and saw compassion. Hope. They were the eyes of the woman who I'd held in my arms every night as we drifted off to sleep. Of the generous woman who showed me every day how much she cared for me. The one I couldn't breathe without. I would do anything for that woman.

"Yes," I said solemnly. "I can make that promise to you."

"Good," she smiled reassuringly. "Now, what happened?"

"Schultz made a comment about you when I chased him away from Carlos. He suggested that he'd had sex with you."

Layna's body tensed and her eyes flared with rage. "That motherfu... What did 'you' say?"

"I thought you were going to listen and not make it about you?" I reminded her gently, but fearful I was about to find myself on the wrong end of her temper. I'd experienced that before.

Layna relaxed slightly, though the fire in her eyes remained. "You're right. I'm sorry. Please go on."

"Well, when I saw him with his hands on you after I left with Athena, and you were smiling..."

"Wow. Are you going to slut shame me, Jake?" she interrupted sharply. "Because if that's where this is going, let's just stop the car and I'll get out."

"No," I said firmly, then softened. "Please, Layna, let me explain. I'm doing a shit job of it, I know. Let me try again. Please."

She didn't respond, but she stopped talking and looked at me expectantly.

"I don't blame you. I was jealous and insecure. That's on me. Not you," I finally got out, which seemed to relax her.

I continued, "What I heard and saw tonight got under my skin and I couldn't shake what I felt. Yes, the thought of you and Schultz bothered me because I fucking hate that guy. No, I don't blame you or judge you for anything you did before we were together. But I couldn't get the thought of you and him together out of my head, even though I tried.

"However, that wasn't the worst of it. The worst part was that for the first time, I felt like I might lose you to someone else. I've never felt the way I do about you. And it scares me. Because I can't imagine my life without you in it now. I don't like feeling so vulnerable. It fucks with my head. Yet, I will gladly live with it if it means you're in my life."

I watched Layna's anger melt away as I spoke. The tight-lipped stare faded to a soft smile, which transformed into a warm one that touched her eyes. By the time I finished talking, she was beaming and squeezing my hand tight.

"That was much better," she assured me. "And it makes sense. I'm sorry you felt that way. Can I ask you some things?"

"Of course," I replied, a weight off my shoulders now that I'd told her how I felt, and she hadn't killed me or left me.

"You know that flirting is inevitable in our line of work, especially for me given that I'm a woman working in an industry dominated by rich, powerful, and famous men. Is it going to be a problem for you to see me flirt or another guy touch me?" she asked tentatively, then added, "excluding outright groping or assault, of course."

I took a deep breath and considered my response. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me to see another man touch you in a way that was familiar or intimate, even if I know it's just flirting. It does bother me. But, if I trust your judgment and trust you will respect me, then that's what should matter. If I don't trust you, then we shouldn't be together. And you've never given me a reason not to trust you."

Layna beamed again, filling me with a sense of relief. "Do you still think I slept with Schultz?"

"I don't know. Whatever the answer, I've decided to stop caring. It's none of my business and, like I said, it doesn't matter. It doesn't change who you are, or who you've been with me."

Layna grinned and shook her head. "While I do like your answer, let me put you out of your misery. You do know you already knew the answer to that one, right?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Do you remember our first night together?"

"Of course! I could never forget that night," I said, grinning licentiously.

"Well, then do you remember a certain someone suggested that I was a bitch because I wasn't getting laid? And that I told you I hadn't been in a relationship in two years?" she asked, grinning with her eyebrows raised.

"Oh, shit, that's right," I admitted absently. In my jealous haze, I'd forgotten she told me that. I was such a fucking moron.

"I wouldn't sleep with Schultz if he were the last person on Earth," she added with a laugh. "Oh, he tried. But that never happened. He was just trying to get to you, Jake. Seems it worked. Which brings up may last question: why did you ever think you would lose me?"

"I don't know," I confessed, wondering to myself how I could have ever thought that.

Layna cupped my face with her hand and made sure my eyes were on hers, then said, "Look, Jake, you're not in any danger of losing me. I don't have any intention of letting go of the man who came to my rescue to save me from a handsy asshole. That was so hot, by the way.

"Anyways, I'm rather fond of the wonderful guy who supports me and does everything he can to help me pursue my professional dreams. He's a keeper.

"Trust what you know, Jake. Because what you know is that I've spent every minute of every day with you since we've been together. We work together. We play together. We sleep together. I'm yours. And you're mine. Don't overlook what's right in front of you."

I nodded my head as her words sunk in. I felt so foolish to have ever questioned her. I didn't want to admit it though, so I responded irreverently.

"So, you think I'm hot?" I asked, grinning wickedly.

"Is that what you took away from what I just said?" she asked, shaking her head and feigning annoyance.

"No, I heard it all," I answered, pulling her by the waist and into my lap. "And you're right. I guess I just lose my mind when it comes to you. You're my everything, Layna. I can't live without you any more than I could live without oxygen."

"I knew you were getting soft on me, pretty boy," she teased with a smirk, then wrapped her hands around my neck, her face inches from mine. The smell of her perfume filled my nostrils, fueling my lust for her as she continued, her voice low and sultry, "You know, there's a word for what you're feeling."

I grinned. I knew what she was getting at. What she wanted to hear me say. She was right. I had gone soft. And there was a word for what I was feeling for her. Looking into her beautiful eyes, I felt it with every fiber of my being. But I wasn't going to let her hear it just yet. This wasn't the place.

"I'm sure there is a word for it, princess," I teased back. "I just can't seem to think of it right now because I'm too distracted by the very, sexy woman sitting in my lap, who I've been dying to ravish all day."

I closed the gap between us, pressing my lips to hers as her hands shifted from my neck to cup my face. I savored the taste and feel of her plump lips for a moment, then probed my tongue past them. She allowed me in, her tongue waiting for its partner. I poured all my feelings for her into the kiss, all my hopes and dreams for us, all my longing. We held the kiss until we ran out of breath, though I would have held it beyond that point if that was my dying memory.

When she came up for air, she whispered, breathlessly, "If you kiss me like that again, Jake, I don't think I can wait until we get back to your place."

"Then you better put up the privacy screen, because I'm going to kiss you like that again," I declared, planting a soft kiss on her lips as I prepared to build up to another one like the last.

"Sex in the limo?" she asked between kisses. Our bodies were raring to go. Our minds, however, were still working on the details.

"We have sex in the office," I suggested, as my left hand slid along and squeezed her thigh.

"Not when someone is sitting ten feet away and can hear us," she noted, my right hand finding her breast and cupping it, while she ran her fingers through my hair and pulled me in for another kiss.

"Dana saw us the other night," I reminded her as I came up for air, then sought out her tongue again.

"Good point," she admitted after breaking the kiss. The matter settled; Layna moved to push the button to raise the privacy screen, sealing the portal between us and the driver. Once it was up, she turned to me, lust in her eyes, and demanded, "Drop your pants, right now."

My hands moved to my belt faster than they'd ever moved before. Layna hiked up her gown, watching me hungrily while I fumbled with my belt and kicked off my shoes. A second later, my pants, underwear, and socks were pushing past my ankles, while Layna knelt between my legs, my throbbing cock straining to get her attention.

Layna grasped my shaft with her hand, planted a few full-lipped kisses on the head, then took me into her mouth. She moved slowly at first, lubricating my rock-hard cock with her tongue. I groaned as the pleasure took me, which Layna perceived as a sign to ratchet things up a notch.

She picked up her pace, her lips and tongue sliding along my shaft. Then she upped the ante again, pumping me with her right hand, while her left hand delicately fondled my balls. The sensation hit me like a bolt of lightning, short circuiting my brain. I held my breath and curled my toes, her mouth and hands overloading my pleasure receptors. Layna appeared to be trying to get me off in record time, and she was well on her way to doing so.

I sensed my orgasm approaching with the speed and inevitability of a meteor crashing into Earth.

"Layna, honey..." I began, but it was already too late.

I was past the point of no return, and she knew it. With a murmured, "mmhmm," she gave me permission to come in her mouth, as she continued to rock my world.

The vibrations from her murmur were the final straw. I roared as I erupted again and again into her eager mouth. Layna swallowed my spend, then slowed her pace and eased the pressure, as the pulsing from my cock slowed. She milked out the last of my seed and led me to the end of my climax, marking its end with a soft kiss on the head of my cock. My eyes closed and head back, I focused on catching my breath and the warm tingle along my skin that always followed a mind-blowing orgasm.

"When I promise a special reward, I deliver a special reward," she boasted with a wicked grin, and a twinkle in those striking turquoise eyes of hers.

"Like Karl Malone," I mumbled, coming out of my stupor.

"Huh?" she replied, confused by my reference.

"Karl Malone?" I repeated. "The Mailman? He always delivers... Oh forget it, it's your turn."

I picked her up and laid her on the bench seat. Ever the team, she hiked up her gown while I removed her heels. She pushed her panties down to her thighs, where I took them like a baton and carried them over the finish line. My eyes drifted back up and I caught sight of her spreading her legs lewdly, proudly displaying her smooth mound and glistening slit.

"See something you like, Jake?" she purred.

I answered her by running my tongue along her slit, lapping her from asshole to clit. She gasped at my sudden assault on her sex, clutching her bunched up gown tightly with her hands as I pleasured her.

If Layna could get me off in record time, then I was going to get her off in record time. I couldn't make her come as fast as she made me--we were wired differently--but I would be damned if I didn't make her come faster than she ever had. I knew what she liked and how to push her buttons. I would have her screaming in five minutes.

I sucked on her clit, swirling it with the tip of my tongue, eliciting another sharp gasp. I slipped a finger, then another, into her tight channel. Following a familiar path I'd traveled before, I slid my fingers along the front of her wall until I found her sensitive spot. Layna let out another gasp, confirming to me that I'd found what I was looking for. With her two pleasure centers at the tip of my tongue and fingers, I kept hitting them and didn't relent.

"Oh fuck, Jake... that's too much... slow down, baby," each sentence broken up by a sharp intake of breath, while her legs spasmed and her hips rolled like they had a mind of their own.

"Jake!" she cried out, pulling on my hair to try to control me. I didn't budge and didn't slow down. I wasn't moving fast or hard, but the unyielding pleasure on both ends of that bundle of nerves was like jump starting a car with lightning. And if her climax was a train, it was speeding toward the station.

"You're so... fucking... competitive," she got out between breaths, the only thing she seemed to be able to control, and even that was beginning to slip from her. When she clutched my hair and rocked her hips, grinding her sex into my face, I knew she'd stopped fighting me.

Layna held her breath, her toes curled, and her body tremored. The telltale signs that she was on the precipice of a climax. So, I pushed her over.

"Fuuuuuck!" Layna moaned, louder than I'd ever heard her before. Her whole body shook violently, like she'd completely lost control of it. Knowing how sensitive she got at this point, I finally relented, slowing down, and easing the intensity. She continued to moan and babble incoherently, while I guided her back down to Earth from the heavens. When she touched down, her body went limp as she tried to catch her breath.

I sat up, licking her nectar off my lips and cheeks. In my haste to get her off, I failed to appreciate her flavor. I made up for it now, treasuring that sweet, tangy ambrosia.

Looking at Layna, splayed out and unmoving, I wasn't sure she had anything left in the tank. Which was probably for the best because I got her off so quickly that little Jake hadn't yet recovered.

"You okay, babe?" I asked, brushing my fingertips along her naked thighs.

"I think you broke me," she quipped. "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to have another orgasm."

I chuckled and grinned. I'd never heard that one before. My ego didn't need to hear that; her assessment left me feeling far too smug.

Looking out the window, I noticed we were a block from my apartment. Not enough time for another round, even if we were physically capable.

"We're here."

...

Her hand in mine, I led Layna into my apartment. Our shared smirks kept our lips sealed, yet our eyes were communicating with one another. A silent negotiation. One we'd undertaken before and understood how it would conclude.