One In A Billion (11 page)

'I love it when you do that', Devizes said.

'Kiss you?' I asked, nervously.

'Bite your lip', Devizes said. 'You did it when we first met. It's very sexy.'

The moment! It had come back. It was here again.

Devizes leaned in, pressed his lips against mine and kissed me passionately.

'Oh', I said when he was done, and I was licking the sensation that was still tingling on my lips, in order to savour it. 'That was nice.'

'Would you like me to do it again?' Devizes said.

I nodded and Devizes drew me into him. The tingles that I had in my lips spread out across my whole body, and I could feel pulses of electricity tickling my skin. When he finally pulled away, my heart was beating so wildly I thought I was going to faint. I was blushing and buzzing all over, and it was impossible to hide how turned on I was. I hadn't felt like that for years, and it wasn't just rich food and alcohol doing it.

Devizes kissed across my cheek to my ear. 'I want you', he whispered to me.

It was so good to hear those words. It was so good to hear someone I felt attracted to, say to me that they wanted me, but the insecurities I felt about myself were difficult to hide.

'Why?' I whispered back.

'Because I like you Alice. Because you turn me on.'

'Really?' I whispered, squeezing his thigh tighter., daring myself to slide my hand closer and closer to the package I'd been wanting to touch ever since I clapped eyes on it. It didn't really seem like the done thing in here but I was sure our porn companions at the next table wouldn't have minded.

'Do you want to skip dessert so I can show you?' Devizes whispered, placing his hand on the bare skin of my thigh, exposed through the long slit of my skirt.

'You might think I was easy', I said, nuzzling myself towards him.

I felt hot, and wanted to press myself into his hand. Hell, I wanted to press myself fully into his body and lose myself completely in his world.

'You might think I was', he said, pulling me closer, guarding me with his chair in such a way that kept us hidden from the rest of the customers.

'Are you going to toss me away after you've used me?' I said. 'Like a lobster shell.'

Devizes slid his hand between my legs and I wanted desperately to open them up for him, but I thought it better to squeeze them together tightly, pinning him in place.

'I hope you don't toss me away', Devizes said. 'I've had my heart broken too.'

I relaxed then. I relaxed my legs so Devizes could forage as much as he wanted, but instead of continuing, he moved his hand slowly away and straightened himself back up.

'Perhaps we better wait', he said.

I drew my hand across his thigh, squeezed him again and brought it back to my lap. On the way I brushed it across the thick, solid form of a definite erection.

'Are you sure you want to wait?' I said.

'I don't want to rush things', he said. 'I like you.'

'I like you too', I said. 'And this isn't rushing, we've had dinner already.'

'That's true', Devizes said.

'Let's have dessert at your house', I said, taking his hand and placing it back on my leg. 'We'll be more comfortable talking about the book there. I can show you what it looks like on the inside.'

'You make a very persuasive argument', Devizes said. 

'I thought you told me that if you see something you like, you have to have it.'

'I didn't realise you shared the same view,' Devizes said, and got so close to my panties with the tips of his fingers, I had to squeeze my legs shut again for fear of exploding in a fit of excited screams.

'I think people are looking', I said.

'Then lets go', Devizes said. 'You've convinced me already.'

We didn't even have to pay the bill. Devizes had a rolling credit account and the cost of the meal, however many thousands it ended up being, was charged to his membership card to be paid at a later, more convenient date.

We descended in the lifts, hand in hand - ok, hand on bum might be more accurate in my respect, but I just couldn't keep my hands off it - and both Devizes's driver and Jackson were already there waiting for us. Devizes gave Jackson a tip, and thanked him, and we both climbed into the back of the other car, while the driver beamed at us with a smile that went from one of his ears to the other, and creased up his eyes so much I had no idea how he could see out of them.

We didn't say much to each other one the way back to the palatial home that Devizes lived in, but it didn't matter. I was enjoying the ride of being in his arms, a buzz still on from the alcohol, comfortably full from the food, and excited at the prospect of what might await us. To be honest, I couldn't wait to get Devizes into bed, and let myself go completely with him. I didn't want anything else at that moment. I needed him to show me he wanted me in that way, I guess to really believe it. Devizes had money, but he was a gentleman with it. He showed me a good time, and he made sure I'd enjoyed myself. I was the one who'd kissed him, and I was the one who'd invited myself back to his house, but Devizes wanted it too, that was clear, even if he wasn't going to push it. He wasn't going to do a Marth on me, I knew that for a fact.

I was flying, higher than I've ever flown before, on a Devizes piloted, star bound shuttle run. To say it was perfect, would be an understatement, and not give the man, the sex (several positions included), and the orgasms (multiple) the justice they deserved. Devizes made Marth look like a teenage boy, which wasn't very difficult I suppose, but he also made everyone else I'd ever been with pale in comparison to absolute nothingness. If I wasn't charmed by Devizes already, I couldn't fail to be now.

The car drove into the garage, and I don't mean that as a euphemism. Where we parked, which at first I believed was communal because of the other cars around us, was the entire foundation floor of a tower block. The other cars weren't just other cars apparently. They were Ferraris, Bugattis, and other rare examples, each one worth more than my parents house. This place was as big as a hotel, and Devizes owned the lot. We took a lift up to the very top floor, which was where Devizes liked to live, choosing to rent out the other floors below, but not the garage space, to anyone who could afford them. Oh, and this was one of several other properties Devizes hinted at owning, as we rode the lift up to his central London residence.

The views were spectacular: Strong arms, buff chest, muscley, but not over the top. Just the right amount of hair too. A smattering around the nipples, and a thin cord leading from a beautiful belly button to-

I mean I could already see it, turning his boxer shorts into a tent, but I couldn't wait to take it out either.

We fell together on the bed, a trail of clothes left behind us - that's a four poster bed, specially made to be bigger than two doubles put together - and stayed there, wrapped in each others arms, sometimes my back pressed to his chest, other times my legs on his shoulders and my hands gripping fistfuls of sheets (hand sewn Egyptian cotton sheets), but we stayed there all the same, locked together with a series of sticky sordid desires in mind, while the stars, our only witnesses, watched on through a retractable ceiling panel, that Devizes had fitted across the whole of the flat.

'Have you ever experienced anything like this?' Devizes said boastfully.

'Never', I said, and turned to nuzzle into him. He smelt like a forest after the rain, and I couldn't pull myself away.

'I don't usually sleep with people on a first date', Devizes said.

'Does that mean that this is different?' I said, kissing along a prominent vein that ran along his bicep.

'I'm a complicated person, Alice. My life is, difficult', he said, searching for the most appropriate word.

'Complicated in what way?' I asked. 'It seems pretty simple to me.'

'I work hard, and I play hard, and some people can't put up with that', Devizes said.

'Everyone has their obsessions', I said. 'There is worse to have to put up with.'

'I like you, Alice', Devizes said, turning to me.

He ran his hand across my hip, and over the contours of my side. 'That was incredible sex by the way. Just incredible', he said.

'You weren't so bad yourself', I said.

Devizes pulled me into him, where I could feel his body heat. I reached down, found what I was looking for, and then slid down to it, abseiling down his chest with a chain of carefully placed kisses. Devizes leaned back and put his hands behind his head, while I showed him how simple his life could be.

Chapter 7

The bus that took them to school wasn't really a bus at all, not like the ones Alice had seen in London. It was more like a big car with a lot of seats all crammed together. The bus stop was a two minute walk from the house, and there were three other people already waiting there, including Toby. Even though Alice would have easily been able to manage it on her own, her mum insisted on coming with her.

Toby waved when he saw her walking down to the stop, and then smiled sweetly when she arrived. 'Hello', he said.

'Hi Toby', Alice said.

He looked a lot smarter today than he did at the weekend, even though his trousers were frayed at the bottom, and he looked like he'd got dressed in a hurry, because the collar of his shirt was sticking up on one side.

'This is Richard, and that's Katy', he said pointing at them in turn. 'This is Alice, she's new'.

'You've made a friend already?' Alice's mum said, confused. 'I'm Mrs Cartright', she said to Toby. 'Alice's mum.'

'I'll look after her at school, don't worry', Toby said, confidently.

Judging by their red hair and freckles, Richard and Katy were brother and sister. Alice smiled sweetly at them, but they didn't seem interested. Katy seemed to be much more interested in eating the chocolate bar from her packed lunch. Judging by the size of her, it looked like it might have been something she did quite regularly.

When the bus came, it was already full of other kids, all of whom looked at Alice suspiciously. The school was in another village, and the bus went through three of the surrounding villages to pick up the kids, their village being the last one it got to. There were no double seats left, so Alice couldn't sit next to Toby like she'd wanted to, and instead had to sit next to a girl called Stephanie who had dandruff in her hair and smelt of boiled mushrooms.

The journey took about five minutes, and Alice was glad when it was over. She was in the same class as Toby and Katy, and their teacher introduced herself as Mrs Bold. She had glasses that were cut in half hanging around her neck, and her hair looked like a bundle of cobwebs all stuck together. Mrs Bold made Alice stand in front of the class and introduce herself, despite Alice's protests to the contrary. She stood there red faced and told everyone who she was, where she'd come from and where she lived, all the while thinking about how much she hated her new teacher for making her do it.

Classes were pretty easy aside from that, and it got to break time before she knew it. Toby did his best to introduce her around, but he couldn't be by her side always, especially as he had football to play, and other friends to chat to. At least that was what he said he was doing, from where Alice was watching, it looked a lot like fighting, but she thought it was probably just how they played in the country. He also said he might look like a pansy if anyone knew they were friends, so he had to hide it just in case, even though he didn't want to.

Alice was left to make her own way, which she was fine with, and soon enough she had a group of people around her, attracted by her novelty status as a newbie. Some of the things Alice's new group said to her she didn't entirely understand though. They seemed to hate Toby, or at least made it clear that he was the worst in the class, always causing trouble, always fighting, that his family were gypsies and that Alice shouldn't be friends with him because he had aids. They offered their support should Alice need it, and immediately made her a new member of their group. Alice wasn't entirely convinced of their stories, didn't really know what aids was anyway, and made a mental note to ask Toby about it later.

In the afternoon, the classes were just as easy as the morning. They had maths, reading and then P.E, which Alice had to do in her pants and a stained T-shirt from the bin bag full of spares, because nobody had told her to bring her kit with her. She was mortified, but she wasn't the only one in the class, so it made it a little more easy to deal with. There was a girl called Janine, and a fat, red cheeked boy called Roy who'd forgotten their kits too.

School finished at 3pm, by which time Alice had met a whole bunch of new people. She knew who the popular kids were (Casper, Stephanie, Sarah), who the unpopular kids were (Roy, Katy, Toby), who the smart kids were (Michael, Jane) and who the troublemaker was (Toby). She didn't know where she fit into it all yet, but she supposed that if she wanted to be popular, she had to make friends with the popular kids, and avoid the unpopular kids. The problem was, Toby was part of the unpopular group, but she didn't know why. Perhaps she could be friends with him outside of school and not in school, she reasoned, perhaps it could work like that.