He left the apartment soon after the girls, and shot a message to Monica, asking to meet again. She agreed, though his offer to dine outside had been shot down. Her offer was to hang out in her apartment.
Coming from anyone else, it might have been somewhat annoying, but he had a feeling that Monica had something fancier in mind than just eating takeout and fooling on the couch.
Not that it would have been a horrible way to spend the night, not with Monica lying on his chest.
When he arrived at the apartment, and saw Monica wearing a tiny black dress with an even tinier skirt, which confirmed why she insisted on an apartment date. Monica was amazingly beautiful, but her insecurities stemming from her youth meant that she wouldn’t dare to wear that dress outside.
“Sexy,” he said as he grabbed her hips and pulled her in for a kiss. “And, You look extremely well in it.”
She blushed. “It’s not mine. I borrowed it from Rachel,” she whispered.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not like you’re going to be in it for long,” he said as he kissed her. She responded. “The dinner smells amazing. What’s the menu, my sexy chef?” he whispered.
“Seared scallops with brown butter foam as a starter. Then, we have pan-seared duck breast reduced in cherry-port, with creamy mashed potatoes on the side and dark chocolate soufflé as dessert.”
“Lucky that I picked a wine to fit all,” he said as he passed her the bottle. Her eyes widened as she checked the label. “T-this is an eight hundred dollar bottle,” she whispered.
“Still good value,” he teased. “I’m in a celebratory mood, and not just because the sexiest chef in New York personally cooked me an amazing dinner.”
“Really? What’s the celebration?” she asked.
“I just closed a small deal,” he said, doing his best to drop it as a casual thing. He wanted to set up the discussion in the way she asked for it rather than his offering. He knew that she struggled to find a job after getting fired; at this point, she should have had an offer from that weird themed 50s restaurant where she had to move around in rollers.
He knew just how badly she wanted to return to work, but he didn’t want to use the same model he had used earlier. With Max, making her accept the offer was the challenge. With Monica, the situation was the exact opposite.
So, instead of making any offer, he enjoyed the private dinner … which was hardly a chore. The dinner was truly exquisite. Monica was a chef good enough to work in an upscale restaurant, and in such a place, she would be juggling a hundred different orders.
A nice meal she worked hard to create was as pleasurable as the way she writhed in her sheets, naked … well, almost. Sweeping everything off the table and bending her over was certainly tempting, but he managed to keep his hands mostly to himself during dinner.
“… I’ll accept ‘subpar organization' as a compliment from someone whose kitchen is alphabetized by spice."
"Alphabetization is not a personality flaw."
“No, but it’s an ideal that most mortals can’t live up to, Monica,” he teased. “It tells me that you need control… well, most of the time,” he teased, and she started to blush when he winked.
“S-shut up,” she muttered, blushing. “That was…”
He slid his chair closer and hugged her from the side. “It’s good to loosen up occasionally, beautiful,” he whispered.
“It’s not something I usually do.”
“What part, inviting someone to your kitchen and cooking together,” he whispered, and kissed her. “Or the other thing?”
“And that was a mistake,” she whispered throatily. “You turned my kitchen into a mess…”
They kissed while finishing the dessert, but he didn’t drag her to the bedroom immediately. Instead, he took it slow, dragging her to the couch while he drove her crazier with slow kisses and teasing.
He also slipped in a couple of subtle reminders about celebration, to initiate her talk about the ‘deal’ he had just made.
“So,” she muttered after a particularly lingering kiss that stole her breath and left her dazed. “That’s the last thing I want to talk about, but I promised Rachel that I’ll ask, and if I don’t ask, I’ll forget it altogether. This deal we’re celebrating, is it about fashion?”
He smiled. “Your roommate’s already angling for a job, huh?” he teased.
She blushed. “I know it’s not appropriate, but Rachel is just excited. She is trying to build herself a path, and the idea that she can actually work in fashion excites her.”
He caressed her shoulder, enjoying the way she leaned against him. “I’m just teasing, Monica. It’s not like she’s asking for a big deal. But no, the deal I closed is not fashion. Actually, it’s about the cupcakes. My friend accepted my investment, and now I’m a majority owner of a bakery,” he said. He paused. “Well, one that doesn’t exist yet, since we actually need to find a nice place.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? That’s amazing,” she said. “An actual store.”
“Yeah, though I’m somewhat worried. She’s a genius baker, but actually running a business is a challenge.” He made a show of pausing. “Actually, do you have any friends that might be interested in a consulting gig? Maybe for something like six months…”
Her eyes widened. “How about me?” she blurted out immediately.
He displayed an appropriate dash of surprise. “I never thought about it,” he said.
She immediately lost her smile. “I … is it because …” she said, then looked down, where his fingers were digging into her hips.
“No,” he whispered. “I’m not one of those puritans who doesn’t mix business and pleasure,” he whispered, then leaned to kiss her neck, right in the spot where it drove her crazy. “I just thought a temporary consultant gig is beneath you, Monica. You’re an incredible chef.”
She gulped. “Yeah, the job search is … not going as well as I would like. Technically, I got fired for bribery,” she admitted.
“Bribery, you?” he said, making just the appropriate amount of surprise.
She sighed. “It’s a stupid thing. The supplier gave me a box of steaks as a gift, you know, the usual stuff. But apparently, the steaks were more expensive than I realized, enough to bypass the corporate gift policy.”
“Ah, I see,” he said, his legal knowledge. “Let me guess, they offered not to open an official HR complaint, and you signed an agreement not to sue them.”
She paused. “How did you know?”
“That’s the usual lazy practice,” he said, though frowning. “The issue is, why other places are not hiring you. Did you make enemies in your job, the kind that spread rumors.”
“No, why?”
“Because the other businesses are learning about your situation despite the agreement with the business. How?”
She paused. “Because … I tell them?”
“You do?”
“Yeah, they ask me why I left my previous job, and I explain the mix-up,” she said, as if it were something perfectly reasonable.
It explained so much about her lengthy unemployment period. If she had explained the situation honestly, the other businesses probably assumed it was a coverup, and she was hiding a much worse situation. “Of course you do,” he muttered, unable to hide his amusement at the situation.
“I know it makes harder for me to find a job, but I’m not going to hide my mistakes,” she declared, showing that she was aware of the issue, but not the full implication.
“Fine. If you’re willing to take the job, I’m more than happy to have such an incredible chef guiding my friend,” he said, flipping her onto the couch. He didn’t feel guilty, because ultimately, what he was going to pay her would be competitive with other jobs she could find.
Trapped under his weight, Monica gave something between a laugh and a moan. “W-wait, I have a job, already? Don’t we have to interview?”
“Monica. Our baking date had already shown me that you are an expert, and your professional experience frankly overqualified you for the job,” he said. “Not to mention, I’m looking for sexy threesomes in the bakery,” he added, and slipped inside.
Her shocked gaze was beautiful.
He picked the timing very deliberately. They had never officially discussed what their relationship was; and if he had tried to have an honest conversation about it being a friends-with-benefits situation, Monica would have panicked about it. He trusted himself to tempt her eventually … but why bother when he could use the perfect timing to drop that particular bomb.
Monica might be too neurotic and obsessed with control under ordinary circumstances, but their situation was nothing ordinary. They had just had an excellent date, her body was aching with desire, and he had just solved her biggest problem that had been torturing her mentally for the last few months.
He could see those facts going through her eyes, but when he started kissing her, she responded with passion.
[Achievement complete. Convince Monica that a friends-with-benefits setup is acceptable.
Challenge: Hard]
[+10 Endurance
1 Random Gold Skill
1 Random Gold Reward]
He picked Endurance. The achievement surprised him; mostly because it seemed low. He had got a Daring score for convincing her to have sex in her kitchen, yet convincing her to an open relationship received a notch below.
He thought for a moment … then realized that it was not exactly the case. For all her prim and proper attitude, Monica had a way of accepting unusual relationships as long as she was interested.
“You’re a bastard, you know that, right?” Monica said once they broke the kiss.
“So the women in my life tend to say,” he said as he tightened his grip on her waist and started impaling her, hard.
“Women, as in a few? Or many?”
He chuckled as he kissed her. “Do you want me to answer that question right now?” he whispered once he pulled back, still impaling her hard.
Monica looked thoughtful despite her moans. “Yes,” she said.
“Definitely many,” he whispered. “I know what I want from my life. I want to have fun without hurting anyone,” he said. “I never hide who I am. And, it helps that when it comes to the bedroom, I do have an insatiable desire. I’m pretty much insatiable in bed.”
It was fun to watch Monica’s expression, mostly because her obsessive personality meant that she immediately latched onto the competitive aspects. “That’s not a guarantee,” she whispered.
“Oh, really? I remember someone barely able to walk after our little fun, and I had arrived at that little encounter already exhausted.”
That made her eyes widen. “Are you saying that you were … I wasn’t the first one yesterday…”
“No,” he said as he started impaling her even harder.
“Who?”
“I don’t kiss and tell unless the lady in question consents, but some details can be provided,” he whispered, his voice carrying the temptation of the devil. “One, you’ll meet tomorrow. Max, the genius baker in question,” he said. “She’s a sassy, dark-haired beauty, just like you…”
“You have a type, huh,” Monica teased between moans, which got even louder when he slipped his hands into her cleavage and squeezed her nipple.
As he continued to invade her wetness, he was very glad about the timing of his reveal. In a way, Monica was similar to Alex, her relative inexperience meant that once her initial reluctance was bypassed, she was very open to new experiences.
“You’re too amazing not to be attracted, type or no type,” he teased her. “Then, I had a lingerie shoot midday, and let’s just say the model wanted to relax afterwards… Then, there was a little mix-up with the police, and I needed to convince a sexy Latina detective that a public indecency charge was not fair…”
Her eyes widened. “Y-you got caught having sex in public, and got away without a charge because you seduced the detective. That … that has to be a lie. Men love to brag, right?”
“Maybe, or maybe not,” he whispered as he kissed her hard once again, enjoying the way she moaned into his mouth desperately, her legs wrapping around his waist to pull him deep. “Unless you’re willing to challenge me, you’ll never know, right?” he teased, focusing on trailing down her neck, but this time, ripped her dress while he continued down.
He knew the dress was borrowed, but he still ruined it, as it would be another excuse to get closer to Rachel.
Monica just moaned, too deep into the throes of pleasure to even consider such an implication. “Harder,” she moaned instead as she took him deeper inside.
He fucked her relentlessly, the couch creaking beneath them, suggesting that there was the risk that the couch would be destroyed just as her dress, but Monica didn’t register that, her attention on the way her walls tightened around him, signaling a climax.
He hummed. Watching Monica come undone with pleasure was special. He was curious just how many times she would climax before fading completely, when his perception caught a movement outside the door.
He pressed his hand to her mouth, silencing her. “We have a guest,” he said. “Act as if we have been watching movies.” He shifted their positions, spooned her from behind, and threw a nearby blanket over them.
It was an absurd suggestion, when the alternative was to just move to the bedroom with her and continue. Yet, he didn’t do that, because he was willing to bet that it was either Rachel or Phoebe, likely Rachel, to see if she could talk about the fashion job.
Monica just groaned in pleasure as he reached and turned on the TV, turning on a channel that would almost certainly have something steamy playing.
It was what Rachel walked in, thinking that what she walked in was somewhat normal considering the angle only showed their heads while they lay down.
“Mon? Honey, sorry about interrupting it, but I just need to pick a bag,” Rachel said as she walked in.
Ethan smirked. He could tell that Rachel was lying. She just wanted to come and talk about the fashion job. He didn’t blame her, as she was only chasing something she wanted.
The moment she got closer, she caught some of the more obvious signs. Such as, suspiciously musky smell … or the fact that Monica glowed brightly even in the dim lights. Or, half of her destroyed dress peeking around their feet.
“H-hi, Rach,” Monica whispered back. “Sorry, the movie is simply too interesting.”
Rachel caught the situation, her expression dancing between shame and intrigue. She turned to catch his gaze. He just smirked confidently, pushing arrogance to the surface, selling the impression that he was proud of the situation.
She took in the scene with the particular speed of someone whose social intelligence operated at frequencies that most people wouldn’t detect. She caught his gaze and saw him nod with a subtle smirk, giving her permission.
She came to a decision. “Oh, a movie. Interesting,” she said, giving a deliberately vapid smile. “Do you mind if I watch as well?”
“W-well, I—” Monica started, but when he moved his hips, she had to stop talking to keep a moan in.
“Thanks, Mon, you’re the best. My legs were killing me,” Rachel said as she sat on the other armchair and looked at the screen. Monica’s eyes widened, but he could see that, somehow, Monica believed that she managed to keep the situation a secret from Rachel.
She was usually sharper, but the timing of Rachel’s arrival was just after Monica’s second climax, driving toward a third.
Hardly conducive to actual thinking.
He was more impressive with the relative nonchalance that Rachel was able to display. But then, maybe he was underestimating her, as she had been a sorority girl. She was too much of a queen bee to sleep around casually, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have fun in other ways.
“So, Ethan,” Rachel asked. “You’re a good enough photographer to work for fashion brands, you can play piano well enough to impress professional musicians, and also a good enough cook to defeat Mon here in a baking competition. Any other surprises?”
“Well, I dabble in a few other things, but a man has to maintain some mystery to prevent himself from getting boring,” he said as he twisted Monica’s nipple slowly. “Don’t think so, Monica?”
Monica bit her lip. Rachel did as well, though hers was to keep her chuckle in. Luckily for her, Monica was distracted. “Y-yeah,” Monica whispered.
“Don’t mind Monica. She can get absentminded while … watching TV,” Rachel teased.
Monica, close to a climax, missed the teasing edge.
“So, you want to work in fashion,” he asked, even as he continued to move his hips, keeping Monica distracted. Was it the easiest way to try to seduce Rachel? Not even close. The easier thing would have been to arrange a second shoot with Lily, and let the shoot escalate to its natural conclusion.
But sometimes, a little extra challenge added spice to life.
“I do. I just never thought it would be possible,” Rachel said.
“Alright, let me quiz you,” he said. With that, he asked several questions. The questions he asked weren’t easy. He questioned her about the latest trends, keys of visual composition and color theory in relation to various body shapes, as well as technical questions about cuts, fabrics, and patterns.
She was good. Not as good as Haley, but that didn’t surprise him. Haley had actually done an internship with a prestigious stylist, which helped her greatly. If he were to guess, Rachel was about as good as Haley before the internship.
Not surprising, considering that she would climb from her position as a saleswoman to executive in about five years, which was meteoric.
While he questioned her, he continued to impale Monica, who was doing her best not to moan while acting like her whole attention was on the movie.
Something that seemed to amuse Rachel more than he expected, her gaze slowly transforming from playful to heated.
“Theoretical questions are nice, but maybe I should also show my skill in a more practical manner,” Rachel said. “Assuming you don’t mind, Mon,” she said as she stood up.
“W-what, I … yes I don’t mind,” Monica answered, but her tone was making clear that she wasn’t even able to process the question correctly.
“Good,” Rachel said, and departed.
Monica looked at him once Rachel’s door closed. “I …” she murmured.
“You’re doing very good, Monica,” he whispered, and kissed her. At the edge, she accepted it.