Bimbo Builder Academy Ch. 13

My mind almost started to drift to Julia, but then there was a rustle and a soft, floppy bundle of silk bounced off my cheek. "Hey!" I growled with a snort of laughter, scowling playfully at Natalie. I kept my voice low, not interrupting the opening credits.

The gorgeous coed blinked up at me innocently, blue eyes wide. "What're ya gonna do about it?" she taunted, pouting at me.

Abruptly, the image of what I'd love to do about it flashed across my mind, and I turned away with a blush. That's not the relationship you have with her, I reminded myself. I checked the digital clock by the TV, waiting for a minute to pass so I could toss the kimono along to Lena or Ava.

I got wrapped up in the first scene, and it wasn't until the second that I remembered the game. With a soft laugh, I passed the robe off quickly, dropping it in Lena's lap. The blonde glanced up, startled, and then squinted in mock irritation.

A few minutes later, a bundle of silk arced over my head, bounced neatly off Ava's chest and into her lap. The redhead turned her head to see Lena's triumphant grin, then rolled her eyes. Ava was a strategic player, and she held on to it.

We came to the classic dialogue between the titular characters, and I found myself glancing sideways out the corner of my eye at my companions as I listened.

"What I'm saying is," Billy Crystal's character explained onscreen, "is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way..."

Lena was there, curled up next to me under a blanket. She was still bundled up in the hoodie, and despite the heavy folds of fabric I could still imagine the lithe, slender body beneath it. More than imagine, I could practically feel her body between my hands.

"That's not true," Meg Ryan's character responded indignantly. "I have a number of men friends and there is no sex involved."

I didn't look the other way, but I knew that seeing Natalie would make me react the same way. Could we be friends? I wondered, watching Lena, forcing myself to clasp my fingers together in my lap. I had thrown myself into my mission of taking apart the Academy to get away from questions like this, to avoid having to face the repercussions of what had happened between me and the women here. Maybe, even, to try and make up for it. But no matter how much I tried to redeem myself, the feelings remained. Did I even want us to be friends?

"You only think you do," Billy Crystal corrected. "What I'm saying is that they all want to have sex with you."

And that was the crux of the matter. I couldn't lie to myself. Even if I didn't act on it, I did find each of these women incredibly attractive. I sighed, glanced away and watched as the characters on screen wrapped up their debate. And, of course, at that moment Ava casually flicked the robe over into Natalie's lap.

The blonde batted playfully at it, then sat upright abruptly ten seconds later when the sound of the front doorbell sounded quietly in the penthouse. "You're psychic," she exclaimed, whirling on Ava.

I raised my eyebrows. Enzo's was only a couple blocks away, but this felt like a new delivery speed record. Ava just sipped her wine and looked pleased with herself, so Natalie stood as Lena paused the film. I pushed myself up with a grunt and walked over to the security panel by the door. I pressed the intercom.

"Hello?" I said. Outside the lobby, my voice greeted the delivery person.

"... your pizza..." The voice was a little muffled and crackly from the mic, but I got the gist.

"I'll be down in a minute," I answered, then glanced over at the girls. I released the intercom button.

"I think you cheated," Natalie was in the middle of joking, shucking the sweatpants. "I'll bet you were getting delivery time notifications on your phone."

I swallowed. In the glow of the large TV screen, I could see her legs were athletic, muscular with all the right curves. I couldn't help myself. Her borrowed tee shirt was already on the floor, and the light of the screen created shadows in the hollow of her cleavage and along the curve of her smooth stomach. Her ponytail tumbled over her shoulder, and now she was standing in nothing but a heavy-duty sports bra and lacy panties. It was hard to tell what color the panties were in the half-light, and I scolded myself immediately for checking.

Ava just smiled innocently and shook her head. "Nope," she said. "I haven't checked on the pizza since I made the order."

"Hmmm..." Natalie murmured at the redhead, obviously not buying it, but she was unfurling the robe now and wrapping it around herself. "Well, you win this time."

I feel like I won, I thought, blinking and then realizing how blatantly I'd been staring at the athletically-proportioned body of my ex-student.

"Mitch," Natalie widened her eyes at me as she tightened the silk belt and walked toward the front door. "Are you checking me out?"

I snorted, ignored the clench in my stomach, and rolled my eyes like I couldn't believe the idea.

Natalie winked, reached out past me and plucked a $50 bill from the basket by the door. Clayton made weekly bank runs to our overflowing accounts, and we kept a healthy cash stash for quick payments. I could smell her perfume as she pulled back.

"We going down?" she asked.

I blinked, surprised. Usually the kimono-wearer went down solo and then narrated back to us the surprised reaction of the delivery person. "Um, yeah?" I agreed, uncertain why she was inviting me.

"Cool," she nodded, smiling as she tucked back a free strand of purple hair. "Let's get this pizza. I'm starving!"

* * *

In the light of the elevator, I could see Natalie much more clearly.

The kimono was white with stylized watercolor designs, birds and trees in bright blue and red. Her skin was a healthy tan beneath it, and her heavy breasts and the curve of her waist made the robe ride up, skimming the tops of her thighs. Her purple mane was dark against the white silk, and the lighter highlights in her hair gave the whole outfit a stylish pop. She looked less like someone who'd lost a silly game and more like someone who would rock a catwalk in front of dozens of high-end fashion designers.

I tried not to look, though, keeping my eyes anywhere else. "Down we go," I said, reaching past her to press the button for the lobby. I couldn't meet her eyes. She's your friend, I ordered myself sternly. A young woman under your protection.

It was a quiet ride.

I thought of asking why she'd invited me along, but didn't want to call attention to it. She probably did it without thinking, I told myself.

We arrived in the lobby and walked toward the front door. On the other side, through the thick glass, I could see the hoodie-wrapped figure of a young woman. She was wearing a baseball cap, and her head was bent over the screen of a phone.

Huh, I thought. I was surprised. Given our reputation, we usually had whichever male deliveryman had managed to snag up our order. I tapped the glass. The young woman raised her head, and I could see her face for the first time. Oh!

"You're not our usually delivery girl," I joked as I let Danielle inside.

The young brunette smiled, stepping through the open door. I scooted sideways to avoid the cardboard pizza box she balanced on one hand, and immediately the delicious aroma filled my nose.

"I was just hanging out, and Lena invited me over. She said I'd be welcome as long as I picked up your pizza on the way." Danielle huffed a laugh and raised her eyebrows playfully. "She really does like telling me what to do."

I leaned in to give her a brief hug before pulling back. "It's always nice to see you," I told her with a grin. "You're even in time for most of a movie!"

"And don't you look gorgeous?" Danielle declared, flashing me a smile before stepping past and giving Natalie a frank up and down. "I was about to be one lucky delivery guy."

Natalie cocked her hip theatrically, then threw an arm around Danielle's shoulders and led her back toward the elevator. "So nice to see you!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. The purple-haired young woman shot me a glance over her shoulder. "Coming?" she asked me.

I'd been frozen, watching two pert, round asses sashay away. "Yeah!" I said hastily. "Just locking up!" I made sure the lobby door was securely closed before hurrying to the elevator.

The girls chatted as the elevator doors slid closed.

Danielle swung by the Academy with relative frequency, so she and Natalie had met several times before. The ex-salesgirl said it was because she wanted to know right away if we had any new insights about Joseph Clayton's mind control techniques, but I also knew she and Lena had been hanging out when they had free time. Fortunately or unfortunately, Danielle had a lot of it. She'd been fired from the Regent when the security team realized that she had used their network and equipment. Luckily, she'd wiped our tracks cleanly, so the company had no idea what we'd done and she got off with nothing more than a stern talking to.

I was pleased for Lena and Danielle's growing bond. Even though they'd met under crazy circumstances, they seemed to be developing a strong friendship. Sometimes, I would remember watching Lena dominate and seduce the pretty brunette salesgirl, and the idea of the two of them spending time alone together suddenly became a lot more exciting.

"Danielle," I asked, suddenly thoughtful. "Did you text Lena when you arrived?"

"Uh-huh," the woman nodded, glancing over. "She said to wait a minute for her let Ava know— not sure why — and then she told me to wait thirty seconds and ring the doorbell."

I grinned, then watched as Natalie's face twisted into righteous indignation as she understood. "So Ava did cheat!" she huffed, then threw me a bright-eyed glance and laughed easily. She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, it's on next time. No mercy."

I just grinned at the banter and felt a warmth flow through me. Truth be told, I'd really never had any great female friends. Maybe that was something I'd been missing out on.

As the elevator slowed to the top floor, Danielle shifted the pizza box to the other hand. Ding.

The doors slid open and I began to step through, but Natalie abruptly had me by the corner of my shirt. Danielle took several steps down the hall before she threw back a confused glance.

"The front door is open," Natalie said, smiling at her and not releasing my shirt. "I just wanted to talk to Mitch for a second."

Oh, I thought. This is it. This was the reason that Natalie had invited me to collect the pizza. She wanted to talk to me about something. Was it about my checking her out earlier? In the robe? Surely she couldn't fault me for that. And she enjoyed teasing me, anyway. But suddenly I wasn't sure.

The brunette hesitated, then shrugged. "I've been dying to steal a slice of this pizza for the past fifteen minutes," she said. "So I'm going to go do that." Then, giving us a nod, she turned and headed down the hallway.

I threw Natalie a confused look as she waited, but she didn't respond. She just watched Danielle open the door, call "Special delivery!" and then hook the door closed behind her with one heel as a chorus of greetings echoed out from my living room.

A dozen feet down the hall, the door thudded shut. Then, Natalie finally released my shirt. My expression was uncertain, but I'm sure it registered only surprise when she turned to me and demanded, with irritation in her voice, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

* * *

My face must have been a picture of bewilderment, because Natalie paused and seemed to hesitate an instant. My mind, meanwhile, was reeling. I had been trying so hard to do the right thing, but had I still fucked up?

How? I thought, brain scrambling. I've been doing my best to help her out. I've kept our relationship platonic. I've been faithful to Julia...

"Earth to Mitch! Are you listening?"

I could see the flare in Natalie's blue eyes, and I realized, all of a sudden, that the tension in her voice wasn't irritation. It was nervousness. And the gleam in her baby blues was uncertainty. I shook my head, my hands instinctively going to her shoulders so I could make her look me in the eye. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "What did I do?" I felt the smooth silk under my palms and firmly resisted the urge to just tug the cloth free and away from her body.

Natalie's lips pressed together into a firm line, her eyes darted to my mouth, and I saw the flash of a decision in their depths. Before I could stop her, she was kissing me.

I could not have been more surprised as she came up on her toes and pressed her lips to mine. I froze up for a moment, resisting, but then, rather than shove her away, I found myself struggling not to ball the silk up in my fist and pull her closer, harder, turning her gentle kiss into something far more intense. The kiss was quick, and ended abruptly when she pulled back and put her hands softly on either side of my neck.

"We have a problem!" But now, her voice came with the pant of someone who had nervous energy racing through their system and there was a surprising note of amusement in it. "I've been trying to have sex with you for weeks, and you've been ignoring all of my signals."

The wires in my brain all sizzled and fizzled and went dark as my mind short circuited. I shook my head, frowning in confusion. "What?"

Natalie pulled me closer, and then we were staring into each other's eyes. She spoke slowly, like I was obtuse. "You, Mitch Sands, are incredibly hot, a goddamn hero, and I want to fuck you until neither of us can stand. Is that a clear enough signal for you?"

My mind was still racing, trying to find a logical place for that statement in the reality I'd been building up for more than a month. You can't want that. The first thought rejected her words. It didn't make sense. Then, though, I wondered. Really? Have I actually been misreading her? How had that happened?

I swallowed, then nodded. "Yeah, clear enough." My voice was rough, uncertain, and Natalie's eyes flashed.

"You need to stop fighting yourself, Mitch." Her blue eyes were bright, burning into my dark ones. "I can see it happening. I know that what happened to all of us was messed the hell up... but I also know the way you look at me. I want you to look at me like that. And I can see you stopping yourself. If you keep on punishing yourself for what Clayton did to us, you're never going to be happy." Then, she hesitated and looked away. "And neither will I," she said, much more softly.

"Natalie..." I wanted to hug her close and reassure her, but I had to keep her at arm's length. Otherwise my will power would probably shatter. I spoke slowly, trying to convince her. "I know it probably feels like you have some sort of feelings for me. But it's not real. It's just the result of Clayton's programming and everything that happened between us when we were both... not ourselves. Your subconscious was primed to imprint itself on a person who wore a particular pair of glasses. That just happened to be me at the wrong time and place..."

But I trailed off because she was shaking her head at me. "It doesn't matter!" And now she grabbed me by the biceps and squeezed my arms for emphasis. "The feelings I'm having are now and they are true. I don't remember anything from before. Why do I have to wait around to figure out what me from the past wanted, when everything I want right now is here in front of me? I could lose it, chasing after something that's probably already gone."

I felt the words follow her others through the hole in my logical defenses. They struck home. I could see she was telling the truth, but I still clung to my argument. I opened my mouth to protest again, but Natalie gave me such a determined look that I stopped before I could get out a single syllable.

"I am sure," she told me, and one of her hands slid from my arm and pressed firmly to my chest, "that I have never met anyone more brave, self-sacrificing or devoted to the people he cares about, in all of my life. You could have ignored what was going on here, or tried to profit from it, but you found a way to stand up for what you believed in. You gave up your own chance to run, and instead you put everything on the line to save us." She grimaced. "It's not like I can say the same about anyone from my past. Someone would have showed up looking for me by now." But she shook her head and moved on, fixing me with an irritated look. "Now, when you could have left us to our own devices, you're the one who's coming up with the plans to provide for us. And you even have enough goddamn honor to try and resist your true feelings for more than a month." She turned it into a bit of a smile. "Which has been driving me crazy." Her fingers raked gently down my chest, letting me know exactly what kind of crazy she'd been feeling. "We might have met under strange circumstances. But I don't want that to get in the way of something awesome."

The conviction in her eyes gave me more pause than I'd expected. It forced me to understand that Natalie wasn't the thoughtless bimbo babe Clayton had tried to turn her into. She was smart, and determined as hell to go after what mattered. Which is me, I realized, and felt a gentle glow of pride at the thought. If only it wasn't for Julia... I started to think, but then I grabbed the thought and forced myself to look at it head on. It was the same reason I'd been using for weeks, and as I looked at it completely I realized how flimsy it was. The insight happened in an instant. A light bulb moment. Fast as the realization — "Damn I've been an idiot."

I had fought so hard to figure things out, to solve the mystery of the Academy and, then, to take things back to the way they were. But things could never go back to the way they'd been before. What had happened at the Academy couldn't be undone, and yet I had kept on punishing myself for it. I'd been using Julia as an excuse to ignore the future, even though it kept on knocking.

I looked at the woman in front of me.

She was staring at me with deep conviction, trying to win me over with the weight of her full attention.

I couldn't go back. It was time to answer future's knock.

My fingers tangled in Natalie's violet hair, the force of my kiss pushing her against the wall of the elevator. Her back was pressed tight to the metal, her curves against the lean lines of my body. I heard her moan softly into the kiss, and her full lips moved hungrily against mine. It was like a dam had been broken, and suddenly a month or more of pent up magnetic attraction was ripping through me.

For her part, Natalie gripped me like someone grabbing for a scrap of wood in a stormy sea. Her fingers clawed at my back, ran up my neck and through my hair, bunched in the fabric of my shirt like she wanted to tear it off of me right then and there. The sheer heat of her need for me was palpable, and when her bare leg rose and hooked around my waist, it was all I could do not to lift her up and fuck her against the wall.

I pulled back, panting, looking into bright blue eyes through lavender hair that had freed itself from her ponytail. My body was full of heat and crackling energy, and I knew she felt the same. This was desire, pure and simple, no complicated equations to solve, no dynamic variables to handle. "We going to do this?" I asked. My doubts from before had been smothered. This time, though, it wasn't because someone had used my trigger phrase. It was because I stopped overanalyzing, worrying about every other moment than this one.