Vice

40: Morning After

Natara's face flushes with redness when she awakens. Her eyes jerk open wide and she buries her face in her hands, releasing a muffled groan. What had she done last night? What was she thinking? What would her family say? What would Natara say to herself if she heard of such a thing happening? 

Mr. Vice was her boss. He was also old enough to be her big brother. She'd always thought she would do things for the first time with someone her age or a year older instead of someone who looked around six years older than her. She'd completely lost her mind.

Of course, it wasn't the thing, but it was a thing. Oh, it was definitely a thing. The way she squirmed on top of the bed and her body had arched and her toes had curled...it was the most intensely pleasurable moment of her entire life.

She drags her palms down her face and peeks over at the other side of the bed. Maybe he won't be there. Maybe it will have all been one big dream and it won't matter. Maybe she never made the mistake of staying in the same hotel room with him. Perhaps she'd actually gone to another room and slept alone. After all, that would have been the mentally sound thing to do. Surely that was what she did.

As soon as Natara turns her head and her eyes land on Mr. Vice her worst fears are cemented. Even though he looks like a sleeping angel with his messy blonde hair sticking out in odd angles and his warm arms draped around her feel like she's snuggled in a blanket of heated clouds, he is everything but an angel. He is her worst nightmare and an unexpected weakness. Natara's heart pounds against the inside of her chest as she stares at him. 

The most horrible thing is that just seeing and feeling him relaxes her. Her anxiety lessens. She enjoys being around with him and being in bed with him. She even has the odd urge to run her fingers through his hair. Before she can stop herself, her hand reaches out and strokes it. 

Mr. Vice's eyes flutter open and he smiles, shocking Natara into jerking her hand away. Natara has never seen him smile like that before. It looks completely genuine. Could he actually feel happy?

"No, don't stop. I like it," he murmurs. His voice is still sleep-logged and he lets out a yawn as Natara tentatively returns her hand to his hair. "I'd ask how last night was and if you ever want it to happen again but judging from all of the moaning you did it seemed like you were having the time of your life."

Natara's eyes widen. How could he bring something like that up so bluntly? While she was trying to forget it, Mr. Vice was apparently seeking to talk about it. Natara was well aware she was loud but it was awful of him to bring it up. She couldn't help it! She had never felt anything like that in her life. The things he did with his lips and his tongue and the way he did a little bit of sucking on her- 

She shakes her head, trying to push those memories to the furthest corners of her brain. She does not want to be lying in bed beside the man who did those things to her while fantasizing about them.

"It was okay," she huffs.

"Just okay?" Mr. Vice's voice drops low into a teasing tone and Natara quickly averts her gaze. "Should I try again to make it better?" He pretends to move back down toward the area between her thighs and her heart skips a beat. If possible, her face grows even redder and her eyes grow wider.

"N-no it was really nice, okay?" She nervously admits, running her fingers through her dark curls. She wonders if she's going to regret admitting it to him and if he's going to push further but the hungry playful look in his eyes dissipates. A more serious expression replaces it.

"Sometimes when I'm around you I feel a bit different. Almost happy for a moment or two," Mr. Vice admits, twisting his gaze back up toward the ceiling. 

Natara doesn't really understand what he's saying. Just a moment ago he was about to go back down between her legs, seeming carefree and genuinely happy, but now he's detached all over again. She feels like she's always on an emotional roller coaster with Mr. Vice around and she doesn't know if that coaster is made up of his emotions or her own.

"Happy, how?" She asks, genuinely lost in wandering what the heck she ever did to make him happy. She had only ever failed at being a secretary. She wasn't even that good at making conversation with him. And, of course, she fed him poison. She couldn't forget that. How could someone who messes up so much make anyone else happy at all?

Mr. Vice turns his gaze back down toward her, his brow furrowing as if she's said something completely wrong. Natara's eyebrows rise.

"You're real, Natara. It doesn't feel like anyone else is in my world. You're honest and anxious and everything you feel is written all over your adorable face." He keeps his eyes steady as they peer into hers. "I wish I could be who you deserve me to be."

"What do you mean?" Natara stammers. 

What does he mean? If anything, she doesn't deserve someone like him. He comes from a powerful family and has an incredibly wealthy company under his belt. He can afford whatever he wants, do whatever he wants, and go wherever he wants. He can pick and choose who he wants for friends and any woman would be ecstatic to get to be with him. He's older, handsome, and incredible in bed, too.

Natara feels like she couldn't offer him anything. No matter how confusing and frustrating Mr. Vice is, he is still completely and utterly out of her league. She's just a mediocre high school graduate who couldn't get into college, let alone afford it, and just happened to get lucky becoming a secretary at her current job. She even has to borrow work clothes.

"Nothing," he quickly responds. Natara can tell from his expression that he's slipped away again into that faraway mental space he sometimes retreats to. She withholds a sigh as he rises from the bed and then blushes when the bed sheets fall away from Mr. Vice's body. "Let's get some breakfast and hit the road."