10.

Duke had to say it was nice to sip a cup of coffee and look at a naked woman in his bed. He was also sad it was her last week staying with him. He was expecting it to be awkward, or them to start fighting, or her to have a crazy habit he couldn't stand. Too perfect. He wanted to be worried, nobody gets things this perfect. For once it felt like the puzzle was being put together. Everyone at the restaurant loved her, but Denise seemed like a scorned lover. She was mad he didn't tell her they were dating. What made it awkward with Denise was they used to fool around every now and then and now he was with someone she was trying to flirt with. So now they were both taken.

Aira stretched and reached into Duke's empty spot in the bed. He watched her crawl over to his night stand and grab her glasses. She spotted him and smiled. "Morning." She said.

"Morning." He sipped his coffee, wondering how someone could feel so comfortable naked that they moved like clothes never belonged there in the first place. She had explained that her dads side were naturists, aka, nudists. Her father never partook in his family's tendencies but Aira took to it like a moth to the flame she said. He'd asked her if her father was okay with being around her being naked. She had made a point by saying he had changed her diapers and gave her baths as a baby, so he was already desensitized. He had also grown up seeing everyone around him naked, so another family member wasn't bad. "You should wear your glasses more, you look cute."

"You mean dorky." She laughed scooting out of the bed and towards the bathroom. The sink turned on as he drew nearer. She was passing the tooth brush under the water and quickly shut it off. She never left it running.

"I mean sexy." Duke said. He made it obvious he was looking her up and down.

"We can't spend all weekend indoors Duke."

"We can't?" he sat his coffee down then walked behind her. "Wanna go hiking, to our spot?" He grinned as he leaned in the doorway, scanning over her muscular body. "Have someone walk up the trail five minutes after we finish too." He laughed.

She spit toothpaste from her mouth as she laughed. "I was so embarrassed! I still think they heard us. The whole area smelled like outdoor sex."

"It did not." He laughed, shaking his cup, spilling coffee on himself.

"Then why were those men looking at me like they knew." She pointed her toothbrush at his reflection in the mirror.

They were staring because you were wearing the smallest hiking shorts and top combo and your bits were hanging out. "Paranoid." He set the cup down and wrapped his arms around her, putting his face in her hair. "Do we have to go out?" he pressed himself against her. Like a drug.

Aira smirked in the mirror. "Yes, cuz my house! Its done!" she beamed. She wiped her mouth.

He felt his stomach drop. "It was today? I thought we still had two and half weeks."

"Remember I got a call from my…oh! I went to tell you but you came out the shower looking yummy. Wednesday. I remember cuz you forgot a towel and your hair was…."

"I remember." He smirked. "So, you're moving out today?" Aira looked up at him as she put her tooth brush down. She turned around to look up at him. "Words?"

She said that to him when she could see he wasn't saying everything. "Kinda don't want you to go."

"Oh my…silly man." She got on her tippy toes to kiss him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she deepened it. He picked her up and placed her on his sink. Her fingers snaked their way under the bun he had and pulled. He went to pull himself free when she stopped. "Not until we get to my new place." She was breathing hard and looking at his lips like she was about to change her own mind. "I want to break in the new place with you." She looked up at him, her eyes large pools of honey.

"What…why would you do that to me." He chuckled, his erection purposefully pressed against her still. He groaned as he fixed himself. He looked at her like a steak that was being dangled in front of him.

"If we get dressed we can go. I'm supposed to be there between eight and noon. They are finishing up and the bank, gardening manager, and the interior designer are there to insure everything is going to plan by my design."

"Why is the bank manager there?"

"She insisted." Aira laughed. She walked passed him. "She wants to jump my bones. I told her no several times. Everyone who knows about me just doesn't believe I date men."

Duke laughed as he followed her out and went to get dressed himself. I'm going to fuck her on every surface of that house when we get there. I don't care if Miss Bank Manager is there. "You should have said who you were dating."

"Would she have believed me then?"

"Everyone in Haven practically knows me, hates me? Don't know which." Duke laughed. Duked looked over at Aira who had already put on a thong with the batman logo on it and a bralette that matched. I'm gonna fuck her in that. He was revved up from what she did. She hadn't stopped them like that before unless it was food. It was all he could think of, and he was starting to understand what a nymphomaniac felt like. Is this what she feels like all the time? He watched her slip-on denim shorts that barely cover her ass. Next was a grey flowy crop top that showed off her bralette. He was pretty sure the top was just formalities since she wasn't allowed to walk around in a bra, or naked for that matter. She looked up to see him staring at her. "Sorry, you're just looking like a feast; a little hungry." The things she makes me say. She only smiled shyly, and it just made him want her more. Compliments embarrassed her, but it didn't matter, he was still going to pull those shorts off of her and devour every inch of her tattooed skin.

He slipped on a pair of jeans and a tank and a button up shirt that he left open. Aira came from behind him and pulled his hair out of the bun. She cursed in Spanish when she felt his hair was still wet in the center. He heard rustling in her bag and knew he had to sit down. She wouldn't let him leave with tangled hair. She rubbed things in his hair and he closed his eyes, enjoying her nails on his scalp. He felt himself become hard again and he had to adjust himself into his waistband. She brushed his hair then left it down and told him to wait to put it up again. His hair was wavy around his face. He fixed where he wanted his part on his head at least then they left. He followed her up the ladder, pinching her ass all the way up.

She slid into her vehicle and she beckoned him to get in her car. "Am I spending the night."

"You sound like we were breaking up."

He got in her car, and there were clothes jammed in the back seat. "Were you using your car as a closet?" he laughed.

"Okay, so I asked Manda, one of my exes/friend/stalker's, to send up some of my clothes for winter and she sent way too much. I only needed a few. I bought them from living in Japan and Germany and stuff. England too."

"Manda?"

"Amanda. We were fuck buddy's that should have never fucked and never should have dated. She was a smothering controlling bitch. She wouldn't stop texting and calling and came over with Candy or Bristol, another ex/fuckbuddy."

"Did you have a lot of fuck buddy's in California? Is someone going to come and get me." He laughed, but she didn't.

"He might." She said simply.

He could see the fear on her face even though she wasn't looking at him. "How do you know. Maybe he has moved on finally."

"He found me in Germany. He found me in Korea. He found me in Japan, twice. Found where my dad lived. Found me in England. Broke into my house in California but only left a note. No alarms went off."

He felt sick. "What did the note say."

"We are here!" she beamed at the house. He turned to look and gasped. He knew this place. They used to dare each other to go in. Aira passed through the large iron gateway that read Stanford Estate. The road was fresh and rows of lavender and white roses lined the road. He looked back at Aira then back at the house. She's rich. He couldn't believe he hadn't notice. Large rose bushes were on the side of the house and a forest was on her land. She said it had fifteen acres on the property and was butted up to the ocean and had its own private dock. The entry to the house looked like it came out of the eighteen-hundreds. A woman was waving frantically at her, pointing for her to follow the extended road. "Had to add a garage. Oh wow!" she said as she saw the twelve-car garage. It opened for her and she flipped the car around to back in.

Aira walked up the steps, she was already smiling just looking around. This place is so gorgeous! So much bigger than my other house! Its like a colonial manor, all proper! Aira was jittery with excitement. Inside the garage, on the far side was a deep purple Bentley Flying Spur W12S. She squealed as she got closer as she saw the giant bow on the hood and the letter. In a frilly cursive scratch, she recognized her fathers writing. On the front it simply said 'Irlanda'. Irlanda was Spanish for Ireland, and Ireland was nick name for her, Aira Lynne. She looked up to see Duke looking over the car.

"Is this…is this a Bentley." He pointed back and forth.

"My dad!" she exclaimed. Aira ripped open the letter and first took out the keys, then took out the letter. "Hola mija, remember when you were young and we made a deal? If you bought your own home, and the Bixby house doesn't count," she read aloud, Duke walked up next to her, she let him lean over her shoulder but she knew he couldn't read it because her father wrote in Spanglish and she was translating. "I would buy you 'the Butler car'. While this is not the Mulsanne you first saw I still bought you a Bentley more fitting for my daughter. He's fully loaded and came special with the Lamborghini doors…oh my GOD!" she shouted. She hit the button and the door opened up. New car smell wafted out. She squealed loudly as she went back tot the letter. "Its fully paid off so you can't gift stomp like you did the Mini Countryman. Te amo, Papi." She smiled and looked up at Duke. His eyes were swirling with thoughts. "Are you still thinking about me moving out?"

"Uh, no, just don't know what mija, or te amo means."

"Oh! Mija means daughter, and te amo just means I love you." She smiled then looked back at the car. "A twenty-nineteen Bentley Flying Spur W12S." She gently stroked the door before closing it. "Well I wasn't expecting this at all!" she lowered her voice. "Can't wait to fuck you in it! Okay let's go see the house!" She said cheerfully, missing his stunned face that turned amused.

She couldn't wait to see the house and to show it to Duke. She couldn't wait to fuck him in every room this place had. It had fourteen bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a library, a small fifteenth room she made an office, she had an exercise room, a theater room that was completely separate from the TV/gaming room. The basement was full of the old instruments, perfectly preserved, so she had them sent out and cleaned and tuned. In the attic were generations of clothes, generations of songs written by her family dating back so far some didn't have dates anymore and some were written on animal skins. Books that were found were placed back into the library. Music, acting, painting, dancing, singing, everything considered artistic was in the library. That's when she found out the trouble she had was going to evolve into her other talents. She hadn't told Duke she had found this information.

Aira led Duke to a door she knew from the blueprint she looked over was the door to the front of the house. She opened the door and saw that the left side had a full-on glass wall that looked over the water, the pool, and the trees in the back. The artistry of the flowers in the back were nice and she knew she was going to have to give a huge donation to the company. They had high remarks from all the people in the neighborhood for a reason. They entered the entryway and Margaret was there beaming. Her smile faded a small bit when she saw her with Duke. Told her I was in a relationship with a man. Aira's eye was suddenly taken to the large concert piano in the middle of the room.

"Is that the piano from the basement?" Aira asked immediately, not caring for formalities.

Margaret's smile dropped, replaced with confusion. "What…oh! Yes! Yes." She squealed. "But not the one you think. We found another one, boy that's one big basement, and we found this beauty. It's much larger than the other. I told them to use this one instead of the Steinway & Sons. Did I do good?"

Aira's feet moved quickly. "Oh, yes you did Maggy. That is an understatement." Her heart hammered with excitement. Please lemme be right. The mosaic tiling led your eye directly to the piano, which is what she was hoping it would do when she picked out the flooring. She practically flew over to the keys. It read Pleyel. Yes! "YES!" she shouted. The year read eighteen-eighteen. It was preserved so well, almost too well, and she knew why. She could feel her power on the piano, preserving it at its best years. With that information, she wanted to play it. "Oh, I never thought I'd see this in my life." She said as she pulled out the piano bench. Her fingers trailed up and down the keys, rejoicing the feel of playing the piano. She suddenly began to play Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 2. It was her first solo piece she played in competition. She was five years old and she was determined to impress her mother. Her mother played piano when she was younger and she was a tough critic. She closed her eyes like how she always played. She could see the notes better that way. They ran and she chased them. When she opened her eyes, she gasped. The house around her had warmer tones giving it a romantic feel. The fire place crackled in the background and the smell of something savory filled the air. In front of her was a man who was dressed in a nineteen-hundreds attire. His eyes practically bulged at the sight of her. Something told her that she didn't think he was expecting her.

"What year is it?" his voice was deep and commanding.

"201X." she answered immediately. He made a loud whooping noise.

"It took that long for my heir to arrive? She failed then, Robin?"

"Robin?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot she changes. Always changing in that barn."

"What?" Aira was starting to get a headache. She winced, her playing almost stuttering.

"You haven't been practicing?" he sounded surprised.

"I didn't even know my family was from Maine until recently. I was born in California."

"That's a baby state." He frowned. A baby cried in the background. "Laura woke Reggie up again." Aira knew the name Reggie, that was her Great Grandfathers name.

"Great Grandpa Reggie, what year is it here?"

"Great Grandpa? Wow, big title for a newborn." He chuckled. "What you mixed with girl. You all black?"

"I'm half Cuban. My Uncle Reg III, my mother Rian, and my Uncle Russ are the Stanford's"

"No male cousins?"

"I do but they are young. My cousin Story is closest to my age but I was born in March and she was born in August." She felt like she was being persecuted.

"Is this normal attire for females in your generation? And those circus ink marks?" he enquired.

She frowned. "What's going on here?" She winced again, it was more painful this time around. She grunted almost raising her hand. "Keep playing!" He shouted. "My name is Arthur Stanford, its nineteen-oh-one and now that you're here, your plan B, and I'm so sorry."

Her head throbbed and her vision to blur. "What, why?"

"Cuz the cost is everything. All you have to do is…."

Aira was yanked from the piano with such force. When her eyes came into focus she was staring into Dukes worried gaze. She could hear Margaret's heels clicking backing in forth as she mumbled something. "Oh my God, Aira!" he pressed something against her face.

"What?" Aira felt heavy.

"Margaret, not to be rude, but could you clear everyone out. I need to take care of her." Duke directed.

Margaret nodded and ran towards the front door. Duke had lifted her up and was walking toward the stairs. "What happened?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. We could see the music. Every note." He said. "Your room?" he asked quickly.

"Left, and the end of the hall." She coughed and blood sprayed from her mouth. "What?" her heart raced. She went to touch her face and she could feel it was slick with blood. "He said I hadn't been practicing." The pain in her head came back and she screamed this time. She could feel herself tense and there was nothing she could do to stop it. It was like someone had started to push the longest nail into the base of her skull. Duke nearly dropped her. He shifted her weight and picked up his pace. When the pain stopped she felt exhausted. She hadn't noticed she was in dire need of hospital care. She closed her eyes, she wanted to rest, she was jerked awake. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep.

"Please, baby, stay awake." Aira opened her eyes to see he was crying. The space was made of stone and rock. They were inside they Cave shower. "What do I do?"

"Water…." She coughed.

He laid her down and turned on the water. Water fell from the ceiling like rain. "What else!" he ran back to her.

"Healing waters, gift of the gods. Wash away illness and disease. Wash away pain and imbalance. Cleanse and heal me. Purify my mind, heart, and body, and leave me healed as I was before." She sang. The water began to glow a soft yellow. Duke gasped as he hovered over her, now cradling her head. Aira gave a sharp inhale and the searing pain began. When the organs grew back healthy, it burned, like if you touched an iron. New blood being made and forced through her body was like someone slicing open her arms and legs. Her eyes itched as the blood vessels regrew. She gasped as she continued to scream in pain. Duke held her tightly, telling her everything was going to be okay, and to just hold on a little bit longer. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. How did I do this without him? The glowing stopped and Aira relaxed, her clothes feeling heavy to her. "Oh…." Her throat was dry. She opened her mouth to drink the drops. Duke laughed.

"Better?"

"I'm better. I was less scared this time, with you here." Aira said, feeling awkward. She moved to stand, catching him off guard.

"You were just…." He looked up at her in awe. Aira began to take off her soggy clothing and shoes. By the time she got her underwear off Duke was already close to her, burying his face in her belly. She could feel him stifle a relieved cry. She felt his lips kiss her just under her belly button and it sent chills down her spine.

"I'm alive, I'm okay." She ran her nails across his scalp and he looked up slowly at her.

Aira stared into his eyes. Her heart rate slowly began to pick up on something that she was completely unaware that was happening. Whether or not she knew why but her body responded with goosebumps and a liquid fire that started between her thighs so fierce it took her breath. She gasped when his mouth encased her. She staggered, almost falling, but he held her still as his tongue played with her. His hands gripped her ass so tight she could feel his nails. The sharpness of the pain mixed with the pleasure made her moan loudly which in turn made him growl. She grabbed his hair as she climaxed. He stood up quickly, taking her mouth into his. Aira pulled down his button up shirt and then went to work on his pants as he took off his tank.

He lifted her up and led them out of the shower while still kissing her. Aira felt something soft on her back as he laid her down on the bathrooms lounge. The fabric was meant to take water, so she didn't have to worry about the issue later. He entered her fast, and she moaned into his mouth. She pulled his hair, pulling him back far enough to bite his neck. She loved how responded when she did. Or how if she nibbled his ear, it gave him goosebumps. Aira could tell he was worked up, he was ignoring the 'too deep' warning sounds she was making. He leaned harder into her and she couldn't help but arch her back. Her orgasm punched her with such force it brought tears to her eyes. Her legs began to shake as she squeezed them tightly around him. He pulled her hair with one fist, and she felt herself nearly convulse around him, body jerking awkwardly. She cursed loudly and crudely in every language she knew. She could feel that he had climaxed with her. She raked her nails on his back and he shivered. He locked eyes with her again, and they fell into another kiss. Aira felt him begin all over again, never leaving her, whether or not she was ready for another round.

It was different the second round, it was like he was over his worry and now he seemed more aggressive. He raised up on his forearm and looked her in her eyes. She couldn't understand his face. It was like he was studying her, just watching her watch him. It honestly made her heart race more. What was he thinking? She felt herself become even more turned on, she could feel the wetness change. His eyes flicked down toward where they met together and back up. That was so fucking hot! He noticed! Her body craved him even more than it did before. She reached for him but he stopped her. He put his hands over her wrists to keep her pinned, then changed one thing, just one thing in his motion, and she arched her back like a purring kitten. Her legs melted away into nothing, they wobbled useless. He released each wrist momentarily to push her legs up on his shoulders. She uttered nonsense, a futile resistance to him just doing that one thing, just deeper. I love you, Duke. She thought as tears crested her eyes and she shook into another orgasm. Her mind was peacefully blank. Only he could do that.