All people and places depicted in this story are fictional.
***
The Mediterranean Club
The man felt two immediate pangs the instant he spotted her. First, he was stirred by her delicate beauty, her vulnerability. Her evident fragility. Second, he realized his plans had changed. Seducing and fucking her tonight would be work, not recreation.
As always, the man had felt all eyes on him when he first entered -- he cut a striking figure -- but he had purposely faded into the background by taking a seat at the far end of the bar. He surveyed the nightclub for 20 minutes, sipping his club soda with lime. After he'd spotted her, and watched intently for long enough to confirm his first impression, he continued to peruse the Mediterranean Club. Strategizing. Even though his batting average was absurdly high, a detailed plan was always required.
After everything fell into place, he got up and began walking towards the trio he'd chosen. They were on a girls' night out, perhaps college seniors, but more likely friends still keeping in touch after graduation as they transitioned into the workforce. Dealing with the reality of entry-level jobs.
All three eyed him as the man approached, taking in all 6 feet 4 of him. Cut, lean, stylish, exuding strength, grace and masculinity. He arrived at their table just as the band finished another rowdy rock song. He chose the timid one, rather pretty, definitely shy. What some would term thick.
"Excuse me, but did you come here just to sit and talk? Or would you like to dance?" The man extended his hand.
He watched her catch her breath and noted how her eyes widened. She, along with her two friends, had been certain that the man would ask one of them. They were the beautiful ones. She collected herself quickly, took his offered hand, and said, "I'd love to."
He purposely did not ask her name. In fact said nothing else. She wasn't a particularly good dancer, but, as his teacher, Rebecca, continually reminded him, he was so smooth, so skilled that he made every partner better. Immediately. She fell into his rhythm and gait, and he effortlessly guided them around the dance floor, passing right in front of the vulnerable brunette he'd first selected, and then his partner's two friends.
As the man escorted her back to her table, he told her she danced as beautifully as she looked, and her face flushed a darker shade of pink. As his partner sat, he stared at her truly beautiful friend, but suddenly pulled his eyes away, to the other, the saucy blonde, and asked if she'd honor him with a dance.
He was gratified that he'd read things right. The blonde's glance flitted to her friend -- the one the man had looked at but not asked -- and both her eyes and her smile conveyed her sense of surprised, but smug triumph. In similar situations throughout their friendship, men had always first noticed the brazen blonde, but, by the time they decided to try, they usually approached the real beauty.
Not tonight.
Dancing with her was an experience, and confirmed the man's earlier impression. This one was hot, willing. Available. She did not miss an opportunity to brush her ample breasts against him, and her fingers -- in his hand, on his shoulder, on his waist -- gave little caresses whose meaning was obvious. Come on, big boy.
He again maneuvered them on a tour around the floor, passing in front of, and making eye contact with the fragile one, then his partner's friends. The one he'd snubbed seemed appropriately miffed.
When the dance ended, though it was obvious the blonde wanted more -- much more -- he led her back to her table. Upon arrival he asked, "Would you three mind if I joined you for a bit?"
Of course they did not -- he was hands-down the hottest guy in the club -- and he pulled an empty chair from a neighboring table and placed it between thick and blonde. Which served 2 purposes. It further annoyed the snubbed beauty, and gave him a direct view of the delicate woman across the dance-floor.
It was time to ask for names. He did. The blonde, aggressively flirting, leapt in first, volunteering that she was Vicki. His first dance partner was right on her heels, "I'm Lisa."
The man's eyes became intense as he scanned the beautiful face of the third woman, whose pique mandated her silence. He softened his stare, smiled and said, "Let me guess. You're Ms. Doe. May I call you Jane?" His eyes laughed as they locked on hers.
It won a hint of a smile and a response, "Good guess, but I'm Monica."
"Monica." The man elongated her name, rolling it on his tongue, savoring its taste. "I'm pleased to meet you." Just before the silence lengthened enough to become awkward, he flicked his eyes between the other 2 and added, "All of you."
Vicki, always the most forward, prompted, "And you are...?"
"I'm Cyr." The man sighed, shrugged his shoulders, added a self-deprecating smile, and went on, "Yes, I know it's odd. But you don't know my mother." When the giggles subsided, he continued, "My mother believes she is descended from a Catholic Saint, Saint Cyril of Alexandria."
Always eager, Vicki beat Lisa to the punch, "Really? How fascinating!" The coquettish cant of her head matched the batting of her eyes.
"Yes, a saint." After the requisite pause, Cyr added, "Just like me."
Lisa was ready this time and got in first, "Idk, you look sort of like a bad boy to me." She blushed again, not believing she'd actually said that.
"Well, Saint Cyril did rape and pillage, and arrange for the murder of his rival, so you all had best keep an eye on me."
Vicki, "Oh, you can count on that, Cyril."
"I've always hated Cyril; please call me Cyr."
Cyr was delighted when Monica joined in, "Like Cyr Galahad, perhaps? A knight in shining armor?"
Vicki, letting her eyes quickly dip lasciviously low before pulling them back to Cyr's face, "No, I think more like Cyr Lance. A lot."
Seeing what he'd been waiting for, Cyr chuckled and said, "Good one. Oh! Please excuse me for a minute."
The delicate beauty he'd selected when he first entered the club was with someone, half of a couple. As he had watched them closely, he noted that her beau had been pounding beers, and Cyr was across the dance floor and at her table before beau had even entered the Men's Room. To take care of beer business.
Cyr bowed slightly when her surprised but intrigued eyes found his. It was a courtly gesture and would have seemed out-of-place, odd and dated from anyone else. "May I have the pleasure?" His hand extended.
Her consternation was apparent. He'd noted how bored, even annoyed, she'd been -- her guy was constantly on his phone, ignoring her -- and he'd seen how avidly she'd watched the other couples dancing.
The war between temptation -- she obviously wanted to dance -- and convention played out on her visage. Can one dance with someone other than the guy you're with? Cyr was looking at her face, staring really, and he knew it had the usual, intended effect. Impinging on her space, creating an edge, but making a connection. When he raised his eyebrows, worked his smile, and added, "Please," she decided.
"Sure." She took his hand and off they went. She danced well and Cyr was able to utilize much of his practiced skill. He was gratified that she noticed how all the other couples became aware of them, and knew she appreciated their admiring looks. It was a slow, romantic song, and his fingers played on her back and waist, his breath on her neck, and he knew his body heat was enveloping her. When Cyr drew her ever closer as the dance went on, he felt their connection grow and solidify.
He was not unaware of the sullen look on her beau's face when he returned and discovered where his girlfriend was. The plan was progressing nicely.
"Oh drat, that ended far too soon," Cyr lamented, leaning close and tickling her ear with his breath when the music stopped. "You dance so beautifully. I wish... I don't suppose the guy you're with would..."
His heart skipped a beat when he saw the elated, rosy glow on her beautiful face and how her brown, almost amber eyes twinkled when she looked up at him. "I better not, but thank you. That was wonderful."
Cyr felt a twinge of regret at seeing the puzzled, confused looks on the faces of the trio as he rejoined them. "My sincere apologies, ladies. I realized that I knew her, from a dance class we had together years ago, and I just had to reconnect. She dances well, but is in a serious relationship now. Hey! What a great song! Lisa, up for another go?"
She was, of course, delighted to be chosen over her friends again.
Afterward Cyr let her find her own way back to their table while he procured another round of drinks. As he leaned on the bar waiting, he made notes on his phone. Of everything Monica had said while the four of them were talking.
He'd chosen the trio specifically to affect the brunette. To make it clear to her that he could have any woman he wanted. So that when he paid special attention to her, it would be meaningful. His job tonight was to pry her away from her boyfriend, and provoking twinges of envy and jealousy helped. But Cyr was seriously intrigued by Monica and would pursue her. Eventually.
As he put the fresh drinks on their table, Cyr said, "Monica," again savoring her name, "will you please dance with me?" As it had been her turn before, when he asked Lisa for a second dance, she was predictably irked. But the long, slow dance he'd arranged for with the band had not been up next, so he chose Lisa. His second, truly sincere, "Please," did the trick however, and Monica took his hand.
"Love Me," by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller was a hit for Elvis in 1956, and was the first of the songs he'd run through with the leader that the band knew. He'd guessed that a couple Ben Franklins before, with the promise of 2 more after, would be sufficient to buy a long, slow, soulful rendition.
It was.
Cyr made a point of saying nothing. Monica proved to be the best dancer of the three, and, though still annoyed at how he'd snubbed her, by the second minute she was swaying and smiling, responding to his every lead.
He pressed.