4.

Duke smoothed his shirt for the umpteenth time as he walked up to Aira's door. It was a dark green button up he had just bought. We she told him that she wanted to take him to Havre de Paix, he realized she really had meant to dress nice. He stopped in front of her door and adjusted his black blazer and smoothed his new dress jeans. He took a deep breath and knocked on her door. She heard her heels suddenly click on the floor. His heart raced as he heard her turn the knob. Why was he so nervous? He had already been on a date with her. She opened the door and he couldn't stop his mouth from dropping open. She wore a long sleeve sheer stretch lace dress that stopped at her knees. Underneath was a dark green bralette and a skin tight mini skirt that looked to barely cover her bottom that was also a dark green. Her hair was French braided on one side and cascaded down her left shoulder in waves. Her makeup was kept light yet beautiful. Her long legs led to emerald green peep-toe pumps. A black furry coat was hanging in her arm as she held a purse that was the same shape as an emerald.

"Hi." She smiled.

Duke snapped his mouth shut then smiled goofily. "You are breathtaking." He felt instantly embarrassed.

She beamed as her shy eyes glided to the ground. "Oh, thank you." She looked back up to look him up and down. "You look amazing too." She bit her lip and it made him want to steal a kiss. He steadied himself with a deep breath.

"Ready?" he managed to say.

This time it felt more natural talking with Aira, and this he felt more inclined to put his hands on her. Of course, very subtly, but just enough. He guided her gently to the elevator, his hand just barely above her bottom. He pressed the button for the ground floor and leaned against the elevator wall. She leaned across the adjacent wall, crossing her legs at the ankle, giving her legs an even longer look. She gave him a smirk, letting him know she knew he was looking. He only smiled back. He quickly wondered where someone got a dress like that? Was it name brand or did it come from a sort of lingerie store. He was certain this woman could wear a potato sack and make it look like the sexiest dress in the world. When the doors opened on the bottom floor, the lobby was insanely crowded. It looked like someone had planned a get together in the last five minutes. A sign in the distance said Haven Wine Tasting and he understood. They barely made it five feet from the door before heads turned toward them. Aira seemed oblivious and struck up a conversation with him. Before walking outside, he helped her slide her coat on. He looked around the room, daring people to stare back at him. How can they be so rude? A small voice inside him told him that he would have been staring just as hard as the rest of them.

He led her to his vehicle and helped her up into the seat. Shutting her door, he took a deep breath and headed to the driver's seat. He plopped into his seat and revved his engine. The radio blared on and he quickly turned it off. He drove off and there was a weird silence between them as he drove to Havre de Paix, French for Haven Cove.

"Um, you can play music if you want." She said in a small voice.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just can't sing along."

"How about this. I can personally sing for you." He suggested. He turned on the radio and Santeria by Sublime played. "Oh, please tell me you like this song."

"I love Sublime." She laughed.

He began belting the song while danced in the seat next to him. He had to continuously remind himself to drive within the lines of the road. She was so delightfully distracting. She made faces while dancing that made him want to skip dinner and show her the inside of his boat.

Havre de Paix was lit with string lights and had an impressive fountain that pumped water from the ocean itself. Trees were decorated with white string lights and it looked like they were setting a mood before people even went inside. He parked his vehicle and went to open her door but she had already opened it. He stopped awkwardly, loving her strong demeanor. She shut her door and then straightened her coat. She laced her arm around his and he walked with her toward the front of the restaurant. The hostess double took as they walked in.

"Bonjour." The hostess greeted.

"Dawson, for two." Aira said. Duke glanced down at her, surprised she actually booked a table for them ahead of time.

"Ah," the hostess said. "Your table is ready." She grabbed two menus and then smiled again. "This way, please." Duke had always wanted to see the inside of the Havre de Paix but he had never had a reason to enter it before. The hostess put down their menus on a very intimate table with a single wide white candle. They also had a beautiful view of the night water and the light house. He helped her with her coat and put it on the coat hanger that was next to the table. The hostess' mouth dropped at Aira's attire, but instead of a dirty look he was expecting from most women, she looked impressed. Duke helped push in Aira's seat before taking a seat himself. "Uh, your server is Dante, and he will be here shortly to take your drink order."

"Thank you." Aira beamed.

"Where did you get that dress, its stunning." The hostess blurted.

"Oh, I got it in Los Angeles. It was an obscure named place. I bought one in a nude color as well because I loved it so much." Aira laughed.

"I bet that one looks amazing on you too." The hostess blushed fiercely. "Have a nice dinner." She said hurriedly and rushed away.

"Oh, straight girls are cute." Aira laughed. Duke couldn't help but laugh as well.

"This does happen a lot."

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Only with women. It's like they have some deep intuition that I like girls, too." Duke was pretty sure men did the same thing, if not more often than she realized. "So," she started. She gave a small smile which highlighted her single dimple on her right cheek. "Do you like duck?" she bit her bottom lip and it turned an innocent question into something subjective.

Duke cleared his throat before answering. "Uh, yes, I do."

"Mind if I order for you?" she smiled like an excited little girl.

"Go right ahead."

"And do you like wine?"

"Yes, I do."

"The I know what We are getting." She said cheerfully. Aira's eyes caught sight of a server beelining to their table.

A man with dark curly hair that was managed with product came up to them, grinning ear to ear. He looked at Aira like she was the only one at the table. "Hello, I am Dante, I will be your server for the evening. What can I get for you." He asked Aira.

"Um," Her smile faltered for only a second. Duke could tell that she didn't like the center of all of his attention placed on her. "Do you carry Gewurztraminer?"

"Yes, we do." Dante said. He was smirking so much, Duke was sure it had to be uncomfortable.

"Great, we would like a bottle for the table, and," she paused, eyes scrolling the menu. "We would like the Crostini aux Radis aux Herbes." Aira said, her French flawless. Duke was surprised by how well she pronounced the words. "And the Tapenade d'Olives Vertes. For dinner we would like the Duck à l'Orange."

"Love a woman who knows what she wants." Aira looked up at him with a small frown.

"Oh, thanks…," she said barely above a whisper.

"I will be back with your drinks." He left and the air lightened.

"Oh, so he did see that I was here. I was starting to think I was invisible." Duke said, causing Aira to laugh.

"I wonder why he was like practically grilling me." Aira scoffed.

Duke was still amazed at her obliviousness to how hard the waiter was flirting with her. "Well, I am more interested in how well you spoke in French. Was that something you took in high school."

Aira chuckled. "I actually took AP Spanish in school. Easy A." she laughed. "No, I learned French and Italian in a private lesson my mother arranged for my classical voice training. French and Italian are the main languages for opera."

"Jack of all trades."

"No room to breathe more like it, and to be honest, I only know how to pronounce French words, I know very little actually. So, it's all just ornamental. Italian was easy." Aira went to continue, but Dante appeared, placing an empty wine glass in front of her.

"Your wine has arrived." He winked at her.

"Merci." She said curtly. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. Duke stared at her as she began looking at the menu aimlessly. He filled their glasses and set down a tray of Radish Crostini's on the table.

"Anything else I can get you?" he had reached out and gentle stroked her arm. She practically jolted away from him as she looked up to give him a look.

"No thank you, we are fine." She said as she took her glass of wine and took a long drink. Dante left after he realized she was not interested in having a long conversation with him. "So, more about you. It's been all about me."

"Well you're interesting." Duke winked, and he watched her lips part as she went to bite her bottom lip.

"I'm pretty sure you are interesting too, Duke." She said. She reached for her glass and sipped. "Do you have a trouble?" Duke felt frozen. She read his expression and placed her glass down. "Oh, I am sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I am so new to this, I should have realized…."

"No, no, it's okay." He grabbed his glass like it was his lifeline. "I am troubled." He started. "I have the unfortunate ability to end a person's trouble if I kill them. The whole family would be saved but I'd have to take a life." Her hand caressed his empty hand instantly. His eyes looked up to her amber eyes, they weren't sad like he thought they would be. That's how everyone would normally react. No, she seemed embarrassed to an extent.

"I am so sorry, I shouldn't have asked. This must be hard for you?" said babbled quickly.

"Its fine, I don't have to go around killing people, and that was my decision. Others would have it another way, but I am not a murderer."

"Sounds like you need new people. You seem too sweet to hurt anyone."

"I wish that were the main thing of the curse." He scoffed, finally using his lifeline, gulping the wine down. She picked well, it was delicious. He also had no idea why he was going further into his trouble. "If the blood of a troubled person touches me, my eyes turn silver and totally hulk out."

"Fuck…." She said, and it was enough to make him smirk. "Does it hurt?"

"No, quite the opposite." He had no idea why he said that. "It feels amazing. A rush…."

Aira gripped his hands tightly. His eyes caught with hers. "Maybe one day you can learn to deal with that with like something you like." Aira chuckled. "Okay, that was silly, but you know what I mean."

"I think I get the gist." He chuckled as well. She released his hands to grab an appetizer and smiled.

"You have to try this! I haven't had it here but I absolutely love this." She said. "And I actually hate radishes." She guided it to his mouth and he willing opened.

He was surprised at how good it actually was. "This is good." He smiled. "And I hate radishes." He smirked, and she returned the smile.

The appetizer was the ice breaker they needed to start a new conversation. A conversation riddled with heavy flirting and uninterrupted eye contact. They were leaned across the table, deep in conversation when Dante showed up with their food. They separated quickly, like they were teenagers caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. Aira excused herself from the table after Dante set the plates down. As Duke went to watch Aira walk away, he noticed their server doing so as well as he followed close behind her, pretending to grab her ass as she made her way towards the bathroom. Duke creased his brow at his blatant disrespect. He stared so hard at him that Dante eventually locked eyes with him, then blushed vibrantly as he turned to vanish into the kitchens. Rude…. You don't have to stare so hard, but when he saw she was coming back, he could see why the server was so awestruck, she was gorgeous, and even walked seductively.

She took her seat and quickly apologized for leaving. She said she was so into their conversation she forgot she needed to go. Aira cut a piece of her meal and moaned her approval of the meal. Duke shifted in his seat, she was like a walking sex ad. She brought her fork to him and offered her duck to him. He nodded in agreement with the taste, but that's not what he could focus on. Out of all the things he could look at on her, he was drawn to her mouth, and every word that came out of it. She was genuinely interesting and had already done so much and she was only twenty-eight. He remembered when he was twenty-eight and he was nowhere as put together as Aira. Even now, at thirty-nine, he didn't think he was put together.

Even with the generational gap between them, they connected. She turned out to be an old soul, who knew more about his era than he did, hell, she knew about his parent's era. She said it was her love of music that made her dig into history. When the check arrived, she snatched the booklet quickly, cutting him off.

"Fast draw, ma'am." Duke laughed.

"Looking at the girl who ran three miles in fifteen minutes. Never did that again, mind you, but it happened." She laughed. She slipped a black card into the card slot and placed the check down. "So," she laced her fingers together and shimmied her shoulders, drawing attention to her deep collar bones. "Do the docks stay open late?" she looked like an excited little girl. "Cuz they close them at night where I am from and I would love it if we could swing by if we could."

"The docks don't have a closing time actually, and I would love to take you there." He was happy for an excuse to prolong the date. Dante came back with the booklet with her receipt. When she opened it, she instantly frowned? "What's wrong."

"Uh, he put a sticky note in here…with his number…." She said as she took her card out and grabbed the pen. She flipped the note over and wrote in cursive. She brought the note to her lips and kissed it. Duke looked curiously at her. "Well, it has to look authentic. I almost don't even want to leave a tip." She pulled out a twenty and a ten and stuck it under the note.

Duke looked over to see what she had written. She had written his name in cursive, and underneath was an elaborate 'NO' then her signature written elegantly underneath, with the A looking like a giant star. He snorted out a laugh, amazed at her savagery. "That is awesome."

"Alcohol does things to me." She laughed. "I don't drink normally.

He helped her put on her coat and walked with her to the door with her. As they approached the door, he looked back in time to see Dante reading the note. He was also opening the door for Aira as Dante looked up to watch her exit the building. He wanted so badly to flip the man off but he had better things to be doing. The night air was warmer than when they arrived and she was already wiggling out of the coat he had just helped her put on, but he wasn't about to complain.

Aira folded her coat on her lap as Duke drove towards the water. Despite the awkward server, this date was a far superior one to the previous. He flicked on the radio and Mi Gente by J. Balvin and Willy William came on. She squealed next to him.

"You've heard this?" he smiled, trying to keep his eyes on the road.

"Por supuesto tonto!" She smiled at him, eyes piercing his.

He felt the butterflies in his stomach before he knew what was causing them. He had forgotten so quickly she was bilingual. "Uh, what's the song about?"

"You mean is it safe for me to sing.' She laughed. Her mouth moved quickly with the words and she shrugged her shoulders. "Um, if you don't mind feeling like you need to dance and possibly being aroused without knowing why, then yes its safe-ish."

"Then sing your heart out." He said, but he had no idea what would actually happen. He saw what happened to the little girl, but it was hard to tell if it wasn't the girl being forced to sleep or that she wanted to sleep off the day. It seemed too natural to tell if it was Aira caused it. He was switching lanes when he felt his pants slightly tighten, and his heart rate picked up like he had been just dancing. He dared a peek at Aira, and she looked like a gyrating Goddess in his car. It was like the air was made of pheromones. He rolled the window down, trying to cool his too hot face. He had never felt so grateful for a song to end.

"That was great! I haven't sung like that in a while." She stopped to look at him. "Are you alright?" she seemed concerned.

"Uh, just a bit breathless."

"Oh, my…. I am so sorry. I have no idea how it feels. I'm just so into the moment…."

"I'm fine, Aira. Just surprised. And that now that it's over, it feels like it was a haze, like I was on something. No, that's not right. It was like everything you did was true. Like your words were my thoughts? I'm babbling…."

"No, its fine. No one's said what it felt like before." Her eyes trailed over to the scenery and all Duke had was one thought in his brain, he wanted to fuck her. "Look at all the big ships! Wow!" she clicked off her seatbelt as he entered the parking lot to twist to look around. "There's a full moon tonight and there's clouds." He couldn't see her face but he was pretty sure she was pouting. They opened their doors and stretched as soon as they were out. "Smell that brine! I love it!"

Duke went around to see her figure walking towards the pier. He groaned silently to himself as he walked behind her, not trying to catch up. He could remember her words even if he didn't understand Spanish. He knew what he was feeling was something nudged from within, so he followed at a safe distance, but she ended up stopping under a bright light that illuminated the dock. The angle she was standing in was exaggerating her curves. She was talking, but he wasn't really paying attention. All he saw was her full lips move, he saw as she bit her bottom lip out of nerves, but god was it sexy. He watched her as her hand brushed something off her large breasts and watched as it trailed down her body. He stepped closer, licking his bottom lip. He saw the look in her face change, and she bit her bottom lip as she bumped against the light post, realizing what was going on.

"Just tell me," she paused to take a shaky breath as Duke stepped close enough to press his body against hers. "It's not because of my singing…." Her chest rose, pressing her breasts against him.

"I already wanted to do this." He said low, right before his mouth planted on hers.

His arm wrapped around her waist tightly. She let a small moan out into his mouth, and he responded by running his other hand on her thigh before he grabbed her ass. The dress lifted up as he pulled her leg up. He pressed into her, loving the taste of her lips. It was like he had never kissed before. Her hands creeped up his neck before her slender fingers gripped, gentle at first, then harder as she pressed her waist into him. Her other hand skated up his shirt and she grazed her nails on his stomach. Her finger trailed lower and lower, then stayed at the brim of his jeans, driving him mad. When she finally began to venture into his pants, someone laid on their horn and then gave a cat call. The two broke apart like two teenagers caught in the act. He felt like his heart was hammering in his chest. She looked just as frazzled as she fixed her skirt and dress. He caught the sight of her lacy blue G-string and it made him want to return to what they were doing.

She gave him a look like she was hungry. "I think I should go back to my room." He could have cried.

He scanned the parking lot for the asshole who had interrupted them. He started the jeep as he adjusted his erection into his waistband. She sat with her legs crossed at the knee and he was wondering if she was in as much discomfort he was in. When he got to her hotel she leaned across and kissed him hard like she was never going to be able to do it again. She gently bit his lip as she went to exit the car and he stared after her breathless, like she just stole his soul, and he loved it. It wasn't until he got all the way back, he realized she left her coat. Her perfume wafted from it and he smirked. His phone buzzed and he saw Aira had texted him.

'I had fun tonight. Left my coat, guess you have to give it back now.' She wrote. She's flirting.

'Guess I do.' He couldn't think of what else to say without bringing up how much he could touch her again.

'Next time no distractions, and you can show me your place.'

Duke completely forgot about how close they were to his ship and they could have gone back there. He felt like punching himself for missing an opportunity. "Next time." He said.