“I saw you in park earlier.” Roland turned to Dana. “You were walking… alone.”

Dana mirrored his smile. “I like walking. Rome’s parks are beautiful. Well, I’ve only seen one but I hope to see more before we leave.”

“You and your husband?” Roland asked slyly as if her answer would deliver a death blow.

“Will isn’t my husband or my boyfriend, for that matter.”

“Then he won’t object to me stealing you away tomorrow…for a walk…in the park.” Roland waited patiently to be rejected. It wasn’t long in coming. Charming he might be but Dana had eyes for one person and it wasn’t him.

They continued talking for another hour before Dana said goodnight and made her way back to Will, who was holding a sleeping child. “Who is this?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Will shrugged. “It just…happened. I don’t know who he belongs to.”

Dana covered her mouth laughing.

“How do I get myself into these things?” Will laughed.

Dana found the child’s mother, Patricia a night auditor for their hotel, and she extracted little Ben from Will’s arms. Once alone they stood watching the crowd thin. Dana leaned back into Will and he wrapped his arms around her marveling at the way her body felt against his. He pulled her hair over to one side and kissed the soft curve of her neck and asked, “You ready for bed?”

Dana purred, turned her lips upward and kissed his neck. “Ask me again.”

Will raised an eyebrow triggered by the ‘spank me, Daddy’ tone in Dana’s voice. Their day aside, she was in the mood to play and he would, after all, indulge her. “Are you ready for bed, Dana?” he asked again a little firmer and a lot sexier.

Dana felt a chill go through her when his lips touched her neck. “Yes.”

“Yes, who?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very good.” He took her by the hand and led her to their room.

Safely behind closed doors, they showered and dressed for bed. Will all but ignored Dana.

More than a little confused by his shift of mood, Dana stood waiting for him to return from the bathroom and asked, “I thought you wanted to play.”

“I did until I realized you were flirting with another man right in front of me,” Will poked his head around the doorframe. “That was a little disrespectful, don’t you think?”

“What?” Dana’s jaw literally fell. It hadn’t dawned on her that Will was egging her on. “I did not!”

Leaving the bathroom, Will walked over to Dana and put his hands on her upper arms and leaned to kiss her but stopped short. There was something about the look on her face, in her eyes. She really thought he was upset with her. She looked so innocent, so ‘I’d do anything to get back in your good graces’. That look, it’s organic and natural. God, he wanted to screw her brains out!

Will slid his hands down her arms to her wrists, then pulled them behind her back, securing them together with his left hand. His free hand reached up behind her head and entangled themselves in her thick tresses. Gently he grabbed and pulled her head back.

Her breathing and the look in her eyes screamed fuck me. He knew that look very well! He kissed her forehead, prolonging her misery. He brought his lips towards hers and hovered less than an inch away. Dana strained upward to meet his lips but he recoiled then came close to her again, whispering breathily onto her lips, “Not yet.” He moved just behind her ear and kissed her neck. Dana turned her head attempting to meet his lips, but she was held steady by his hand in her hair. She never wanted to kiss him so much in her life.

He kissed under her ear, then along her neck, her cheek. “Breathe baby.” Until then Dana hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath. He moved closer to her mouth. She inhaled deeply, the smell of his freshly shampooed hair was orgasmic. Reaching his destination, he didn’t kiss her, he whispered, “Breathe” so close to her she felt his word wisp between her slightly parted lips. Then he repeated the same torturous path along her left side: He kissed under her ear, her neck, her cheek, and slowly made his way towards her mouth.

He moved to his lips as if he were about to kiss her, but their lips didn’t touch though she strained towards him. He wanted to devour her but teasing was much more fun.

“Will, kiss me,” she whined.

No, he shook his head “Not yet. You don’t want it enough.” The tip of his tongue to her upper lip and slowly traced it. The grip in her hair tightened.

“I want it,” Dana said, his evasive tongue incited goose bumps and wet panties.

“No, you want Roland. Don’t lie to me.” He nibbled and kissed her lower lip, released her wrist, untied her robe, and carefully eased his hand inside of her lace waistband. Damn she was wet.

Dana rocked against his finger exploring her slit. Just a few seconds longer and she’d cum. Just a…little bit…longer, she prayed to herself. …just keep it right there. No man had ever fingered her to orgasm but it was something about Will’s touch, so gently and unhurried—couple this with his potty-mouth, he got her off every time.

Will pulled her head back further and looked deep into her eyes. “Did Roland make you wet, Dana?” he fingertip slick with her juice rubbed her clit.

“No, you do. Oh God.” She squealed when his finger flicked her clit; by now it felt as though it would explode!

“You want me?”

“Yes, please don’t stop.”

“If you want it, you know what you have to do,” he moved closer to her lips. “Admit what a dirty slut you are and beg me to fuck you. Tell me how much you need it.” His fingers slid easily between her pussy lips, masturbating her. “You want to cum? You want me inside of you?...then beg.”

Dana could hardly stand much less put words together to form a proper sentence. No way, no how.

Will looked down at his hand moving inside of her panties; the contrast in their skin tones, the knowledge that he was the reason she was dripping wet, coupled with the fact that Roland was somewhere beating off to Dana’s image drove Will crazy. “Say it, Dana.”

“Please,” was all she could muster.

Unable to hold back any longer, he plunged his tongue into her mouth. His need for her taste steered him head first into mania. He pulled her head back, exposing her neck. Open mouthed, he devoured the front of her neck.

Dana groaned his name when he hit her spot. He slid his lips up and down her neck coaxing heavier deeper moans. Her pussy went into overdrive. He’d never felt her so wet. His middle finger was deep inside her…gently in and out…his lips sucked and kissed up and down her neck, his palm rubs against her clit. He curled his finger inside her pussy as if tickling her.

Dana, normally articulate, was reduced to short quips of unintelligible nonsense and, finally, silence except for the stuttered breaths. Just the way he liked it. Damn it, he wanted to be inside of her but Dana was close, so close to cumming he couldn’t stop. Faster. Her legs began to betray her. He possessed her; his mouth and lips, his finger having its way between her legs, his palm massaging her clit…she was his. Not that he had a chance in the first place, but Roland could kick rocks—Dana was Will’s wholly and completely.

He grabbed her hair just a little tighter and she released a long telling cry and began grinding into his hand. Her breathing was ragged, her pussy tightened and sucked his finger relentlessly.

“I want to go down on you,” Will heard himself say. What?! He’d never gone down on anyone. Where the hell did that come from? He couldn’t say but at that one singular moment he burned with an inexorable need to expiate his earlier sins by performing acts of altruistic cannibalism between her legs. Penance, thy name is fellatio. Fortunate for him, Dana oral experience on the receiving end matched his so the chances of receiving a penalty flag were pretty slim.

Gently he removed his hand from her panties and they kissed as what little clothes they wore dropped to the floor. He lay Dana in the middle of the bed and looked down at her. She was so trusting. Heaven help him, there was no doubt he’d made the right choice. Dana tried to kiss him, again moved out of her reach, teasingly and kissed her softly. She bit her lower lip knowing trouble loomed ahead.

With one last kiss, Will’s lips began their descent over Dana’s delicate curves. Her skin came alive under his touch; his lips; his mouth; and tongue. Oh, his tongue sent a battalion of tiny goose bumps marching across her skin. Over the horizon of her belly, she sees him nestled between her thighs kissing, licking their tender flesh. Neither here nor there, he was in a world of his own. He was, for all practical purposes, worshiping her.

Will kissed downward…down…down further still and stopped at the side of her lips and kissed upward again. He licked up and down, driving Dana and himself insane. A little dewdrop peaked shyly from the most beautiful pussy lips he’d ever seen. Still he took his time and teased along the outside of her lips, then retreat up her thighs. Up one side of her slit, and down the other. With each pass his tongue moved closer to that little dewdrop peaking out at him. Back and forth, his tongue made the same torturous path. Will squeezed her ass willing that dewdrop to drip.

Dana moaned, “Please.”

Will looked up at her, “Are you sure deserve it?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” He kissed her cleft.

“Please…just do it.” Dana struggled, knowing once she uttered the words he longed to hear all would be lost.

“Do what?” His cat-like green eyes grinned up at her. “Say the word, Dana.”

“Please, eat me.”

“Close, but not good enough.” He licked her clitoral hood. “Say it. You know what I want to hear.”

She hesitated, then said with a slight sob, “Will, please eat my pussy.”

Pussy, that’s word he wanted to hear. There was something about the way Dana said it—like fragile silk strands of spun sugar bending him to her will. With a low moan, the tip of his tongue softly licked the little dewdrop from its hiding place, and then eased it back between her lips. He licked, not to devour…he licked to savor, to taste, to explore…he licked a supplicant symphony…a slippery choreographed narrative of her devotion to her…he licked, slurped, sucked, and kissed until Dana clung onto his head, whimpered incoherent streams of utter balderdash and sung his praises to the rafters.

Tidal wave after tidal wave of her satisfaction crashed onto his tongue. Still he licked, thumbed her clit free from hiding, and gently sucked while Dana damn near ripped the sheets from the bed. Finally, she came so hard there wasn’t anyone within a half mile that didn’t know some guy named Will just turned some woman the hell out!

Arrogantly yet sweetly, he wiped his lips and moved atop Dana, looking down at her beautiful face bathed in afterglow and her warm tear-filled eyes. Her drop-dead gorgeous body lay beneath him but all he could think about was how beautiful she was and how fortunate he was to have her. They smiled at one another, knowingly. Something undeniable had changed—the tectonic plates of their relationship had, yet again, shifted. “Hey baby. Are you alright?” he kissed her nose.

Dana shook her head in sort of a yes, no, maybe, ‘I can’t speak because I just bust an ovary’ circular motion. Will was totally confused until a smiled beamed across her face and felt Dana’s delicate hand envelope his cock. He leaned close to her ear and whispered. “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking what’s mine.” Dana said without skipping a beat. Using the spongy head of his cock, she traced invisible lines up and down the slit of her pussy and clit. “Don’t pretend that you don’t like it—I know you do.”

Will’s was dizzy anticipation but he refused to given to her. She rubbed him up and down, pausing long enough for him to feel her contract, expand, and continue teasing him. His pre-cum slick cock was beyond his control and it felt damn good. In his mind, he could see it teasing the mocha tinted lips he’d just licked and sucked. It was right there waiting for him. All she needed to was slide it in. Her seductive voice spelled out her plans for him in graphic detail…the delirious tension of his head on her clit… the possibility of it dipping quickly and sweetly into her pussy had him on the verge of cumming. Fuck, he wanted to punch a hole in the wall with his cock!

Their breathing heavy with yearning; her thighs spread impossibly wide undulated under him when his tip grazed her g-spot then retreated to pleasure her clit. It dawned on him: She was using his cock to masturbate. Up till then, Will couldn’t fathom being used someone’s sex toy would be so damn hot but after this Dana could literally as well as metaphorically beat-off with his cock as much as she liked! But seeing Dana’s annoyingly ubiquitous commitment to making his balls explode, payback was gonna be a bitch!

Dana took a long breath, closed her eyes, and rolled her head back, groaning and panting his name from the dusky depths of her orgasm.

With a smooth, sensuous thrust Will pushed aside her soft folds, filling her until he felt her walls quivering in tandem with his cock. Slowly in and out, his cock coaxed her orgasm higher, carrying him with her. He brought her lips to his without missing a stroke. He loved looking into her eyes as she came—seeing her acknowledging her orgasm as his. He claimed what she surrendered. And in turn, did the same. With each measured thrust, Will erupted deep inside of her. Consciously or not, he sought to bury within her the very essence of his being—for it was she who would walk away with a piece of him.

Dana lay in Will’s arms as time ticked by. Will ran the backs of his fingers across Dana’s arm, plunged in introspection. From his point of view, their deal wasn’t going as planned. It was supposed to be two strangers on a year long stress-free globetrot. Instead, he lay cradling the woman who effortlessly crossed his threshold of want to need. Ten more months wasn’t nearly enough time but that’s all the time he had.

Dana rested on Will’s chest, having the same conversation with herself. Ten months wasn’t enough time. Though his sporadic priggishness got on her damn nerves, she adored Will—probably more than he realized. Maybe it wasn’t in the cards for her; it most definitely wasn’t following their preordained blueprint. When she accepted his offer, she hadn’t anticipated finding a friend or someone who she’d fit with so perfectly.

No, they both thought to themselves, ten months wasn’t enough time. 



                                                   ******



The next morning, Dana sensed Will’s crippling hunger pangs and ‘allowed’ him to choose their breakfast destination. Judging by his choice of lodging, Dana expected his choice eating holes to be no less opulent. El Toula was the discreet haunt of Rome’s classiest crowd, the ultimate in subdued elegance. Unlike the other traditional eateries, El Toula thumbed its nose at pretentious crystal chandeliers, damask covered walls, and mirrored receiving halls choosing, instead, to lean towards simplistic luxury, a warm clubby feel. Dana studied the mix of fellow diners; none seemed taken aback by seeing Will with a Black woman on his arm—they nodded hello and continued eating.

The steward took their orders and Dana excused herself to the beverage station where she joined handful of other women preparing their morning concoctions.

“That is him,” Dana overheard one of the young ladies say to a friend. “What brought him back to Rome?”

Her companion turned in Will’s direction. “Him? You know him? Who is he?”

“That, my friend, is Wilhelm Rothschild IV. I don’t know him personally; our parents were close as children and we run in the same circles; nothing more.” The lady replied as Dana poured her juice. “He dropped off the social radar years ago.”

“Good Lord, he’s hot!” the friend mumbled. “Is he single?”

“Most likely,” Her friend laughed. “He’s the youngest son and my mother says he refuses to marry.”

“So, he’s a dog?”

Without a reply, her friend laughed and weaved her way through the guests, back to their table.

A dog, Dana thought as she stood watching Will read the newspaper. Something within her cracked then shattered. Hands shaking, she brought her glass to her lips and drank its contents in two gulps. How many other times has he done this? How many other women were there? How could she have been so stupid? Question after question raced through her head. Questioned she hadn’t thought to ask herself because, after all, he was kind and witty, and charming. He pursued her. He pursued her as he would an acquisition, something to be had, dressed up, marched out, fucked, and tossed aside. True, he seemed sincere when he apologized for hurting her; but how much of that was acting to keep her from leaving? Dana stayed her quivering lip as reality crept into view. Cheapened and angry with herself for giving way childish whimsy, she no longer saw Will as her Prince on horseback. It wasn’t his fault; she allowed herself to be taken in by the fantasy. The ladies’ conversation hadn’t angered her so much as it planted her firmly back in reality. She should’ve known nothing this good could ever happen to her.

Dana caught a glimpse of her distorted reflection in the silver decanter, took a deep breath, and forced back her emotions. She looked towards the door. If she hurried, she’d be gone before their meals arrived.


The fairytale was over.