"She doesn't have anything you don't have," Maya said matter-of-factly.
"Except my husband," Bria said.
"Your ex-husband. And I know your mama told you, ‘If she can get him, she can have him.'"
Bria's look confirmed that her mother had said exactly those words. Only, she hadn't lived by them. She'd stayed with her philandering father her entire life. So while she appreciated the sentiment, they weren’t words that exactly held any gravitas for her because she'd never seen anybody live up to them. Besides, this was Gunner. He wasn't like her father. Was he?
"Earth to Bria," Maya said, snapping her fingers. "Look, if it'll make you feel better, meet with her. But for the love of God, don't let it drag you back down that deep hole of despair. It's taken you almost a year to start putting yourself back together. Don't let what she and Gunner did rip you apart all over again."
"I think meeting with her will help. It certainly can't hurt any more than I've already been hurt," Bria said, breathing for the first time since she'd gotten Marla's call.
"If you say so," Maya said with the crease in the center of her forehead saying she wasn't so sure. "If you'd taken my advice, you'd be well on your way to healing by now. Hell you would be healed by now!"
"What are you mumbling about?"
"I'm not mumbling. What I've said loud and clear since your divorce was final is that the quickest way to get over one man is to find another. If you had embraced my advice sooner, you wouldn't let a phone call from your ex's side piece rattle you."
"I can't help that there are still things I want to know Maya. Gunner wasn't a fling or some guy I dated. He was my husband. Real love doesn't work that way; it can't just be replaced by another body."
"Whatever," Maya dismissed. "All I know is, you're finally starting to put your life back together. I just don't want to see you dragged backwards emotionally. It's time to move forward. And my fear is you're moving backwards."
"I'm not, and I won't," Bria insisted.
"But you can't guarantee that if you keep letting the past suck you back in," Maya pointed out.
"And that's what you think? That this is sucking me back in?"
"Yes. I do."
"But I need to know Maya. I can't help that. Maybe this is exactly what I need to do to move on."
Maya looked at her skeptically.
"Listen, maybe it is some form of masochism," Bria said, trying to make sense of this unexpected turn of events. "But there are some things I need answers to – answers I don't trust Gunner to give me. He can't give me the insight that the other woman can."
"What can she possibly tell you to change things Bria? It won't change the fact that Gunner cheated on you, that he fathered a child while he was married to you, or that the both of you are now divorced. I say let the past stay where it is – in the past. I'm begging you."
"I will ... once I get some answers. I know it won't change anything. But I also know I need them. And now, I finally have a chance to get them."
"So you're going to meet with her no matter what I say?" Marla asked, her arms crossed across her ample bosom.
Bria recoiled at the disdainful look on her best friend's face. Maybe Maya was right. Maybe this Pandora's box should stay closed. "God, what a fucking mess! I wished she'd never called."
"If she'd never called, would you have reached out to her?" Maya asked.
"No!" Bria said. "Never."
"That ought to tell you something," Maya said in triumph.
Bria bit her bottom lip. That made sense. Why was she letting her ex's mistress yank her chain? Because that's what it amounted to. She called, and Bria was left wondering how high and where to jump.
"What a clusterfuck!" Bria sighed.
Two woman entering the ladies room looked in Bria and Maya's direction. Bria had all but forgotten that they were in a public restroom. She lowered her voice and looked at her watch. "I have to be back in my office in fifteen minutes for quite possibly one of the most important meetings of my life. I have got to pull it together," Bria whispered frantically, her eyes panicked. "Only, I don't know if I can Maya," she said, trembling.
"Yes hell you can. And you will!" Maya insisted, putting her hands on Bria's shoulders and looking directly into her eyes.
"Don't you dare let what Gunner did take one more thing from you. You've worked too long and too hard. Compartmentalize. Put this shit on a shelf. I'm going to put you in a cab, and when I do, I want you to look out the window at all those skyscrapers. Remember how you told me that when you first came to New York that you would look at those skyscrapers and dream that one day, you'd belong in one of those; that they held your dreams and that you were going to pursue them with everything you had until you had achieved them?"
Bria shook her head numbly.
"You've done it Bria. You reached the promised land. Don't let them drag you back into the valley of death. You belong in the land of milk and honey. You hear me?"
Bria's eyes misted up. She hugged her friend. "Thank you Maya," she said, hugging her tighter.
"You're welcome. Now let's get going. You don't want to be late for that meeting."
"Did you just get all biblical on me?" Bria laughed, as she dabbed a piece of tissue along the corner of one eye.
"I may be the devil incarnate at times, but I know how to call on Jesus when I need to," Maya said.
"Well let the church say amen!"
"Amen!" Maya laughed as they exited the ladies room.
Chapter 18
PRESENT EVENING
"My curiosity is piqued. What did your ex-husband's mistress ask that you're not quite sure how to handle?" Carrington probed at her long pause.
"She asked me how to get my ex-husband to fall out of love with me, and in love with her."
"So your ex is still in love with you. Noted. And how do you feel about him?"
"How did you feel about the woman you had an affair with when she refused to leave her husband for you?"
"Touche," Carrington said, a slight wound creasing his too-handsome features.
"Your friend sounds like quite the character," Carrington noted with a chuckle as Bria relayed a portion of the pep talk Maya had given her after the call from Marla. I may be the devil incarnate at times, but I know how to call on Jesus when I need to.
"She is, but she's a good egg," Bria laughed, as she thought back on their conversation in the bathroom of that restaurant. If anybody could give you a ‘get going' shot in the arm, Maya could. It was one of her many gifts – one that Bria didn't know what she would have done without this last year.
"So I guess the question is," Carrington said, "are you going to meet with this woman; your ex-husband's mistress?"
"I don't know. What would you do?"
"I think men may be wired a little differently than women in this situation."
"How?"
"Once we're done with a situation, we're usually done. We don't need – or want, I might add – to know the hows or whys."
"That's a huge generalization, don't you think?"
"Call it what you will, but it's the way I see it. I would pass on a meeting."
"Just like that, huh?" Bria said defensively. "But I forgot. You're a mister ‘two weeks and it's over' kind of guy," she said, referring to how long he'd given his lover to decide between him and her husband. "For some of us, it's not so simple," she added, taking a gulp of the wine he'd brought from the kitchen.
"You asked me what I'd do in this situation. I'm just answering your question. It wasn't meant to be a personal attack," Carrington said. "Bria, look at me please," he beseeched as her eyes stayed glued to the bottom of her wine glass.
Bria slowly lifted her eyes to his. "Just because men and women respond differently in certain situations, it doesn't mean that one way is right and the other is wrong. If you need answers to move on, then I think you should get them."
"I hate that I have so many questions. I hate it!" Bria insisted, her forefinger sliding ov
er the impossibly long stem of the wine glass. "I didn't even realize how many questions I had until she called."
"That's understandable," Carrington said, listening patiently.
"There's always an extra body in the bed with you when you cheat. Did that ever occur to you when you were having an affair?" Bria asked.
"No. Because I didn't realize I was having an affair. And even when I discovered it, my relationship with Syriah was with her, not her husband."
"But she was married. You were the third party. Didn't that matter to you at all?"
"Affairs of the heart are not exactly black and white."
"So you've said," Bria sighed. "If the person is committed to another, they're off limits. That's the way it should be. Point. Blank. Period."
"Life – at least, an interesting life in my opinion – is lived in a series of grays. It's almost never black and white," he said slowly.
"That may sound cute philosophically, but it's a crock of bullshit!" Bria said, annoyed at the very real sense he made.
"If a person is married there is no gray. It is black and white," Bria stubbornly insisted.
"On the face of it, that's easy to agree with, but rarely are interpersonal relationships so cleanly defined. How, for example, do you explain women who go back to men who cheat on them over and over again? Or, men who tell lies to impress a woman they desire?"
"Men who lie to impress women either have low self-esteem, small penises or are just pathological liars. Or all three. As for women who stay in unfaithful relationships ... well that's a whole dissertation of an answer. It's complicated."
"That's exactly my point," Carrington said, his heart-surrendering smile on full display. "The answer is not so black and white, no?"
"It's too bad you don't practice law. You're a skilled debater. I walked right into that one," Bria admitted.
"But I wasn't trying to trick you."
"Rub it in, why don't you. I'd hate to go up against you when you are trying."
"Well, let me try something else," he said, taking the wine glass from her and setting it on the coffee table in front of them.
With those few words, the whole vibe in the room changed.
Bria's breath escaped in short, shallow gasps. He hadn't even touched her yet and she felt her stomach clenching and unclenching, a growing tension between her legs. She had the sudden urge to squeeze her thighs together. "But we haven't finished our conversation," she breathed, feeling the need to stall so that her mind could catch up with the reactions of her body.
"We have all the time in the world to talk. Now, it's time for something else Beautiful Bria."
Bria was mesmerized as she watched him ease out of his suit jacket. Mind be damned! Her body moved of its own accord, standing up to brazenly unbutton his shirt.
He flashed that smile that she didn't know what to do with as his hands touched the soft skin of her shoulders. He released one strap that lay there, his lips branding her exposed skin. He repeated the motion with the other strap.
Bria's held rolled back in unequivocal surrender, her breasts bouncing out as the cloth of her dress was peeled from her. His hands continued down her body, her nipples hardened from the sudden exposure to the air.
Carrington lowered his head to the pulsing orb. She could feel the teasing warmth of his lips a hair's breath away, her anticipation of it in his mouth almost too much to bear.
"I knew you would be perfect, but this," his voice trailed off, as he took her swollen flesh into the warm cave of his mouth.
A sound sizzled out of her, like cold water hissing on a hot piece of metal.
He sucked long and hard.
Bria dug her nails deeper into the corded muscles of his neck. She wanted to cry out, but swallowed her passion instead, afraid to shatter the spell of the intimate touches of this special night.
Carrington released her nipple, his face inches from hers as he sought her gaze.
"You do realize this was destined from the moment we met, don't you?"
Bria opened her eyes. She was afraid to answer because it meant she'd have to face some truths she wasn't ready to tackle yet.
Carrington whispered in her ear. "It's ok. It's enough that I know that you know," he said, sliding one hand under her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. He used his other hand to cup her cheek, slowly running the tip of one finger along her lips. "Such perfection," he said, his lips replacing his fingers.
Bria purred her response, as she leaned into him. She hadn't noticed her hands were shaking until she felt them moving over the last two buttons of his shirt. She rubbed his shoulders and moved her hands down his arms as she pushed his shirt off. His body was tight and lean with defined muscle. It felt hard under her soft hands.
Carrington wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer so that her pelvis was against his thigh. As he deepened the kiss, Bria felt a jolt in the bottom of her stomach and a throbbing between her legs. She pressed herself tightly against his thigh to put pressure on the throbbing through her dress.
His hand moved down to her breasts again. He pulled and tease her nipple, the pleasurable shot of pain rocking her to her core.
She moaned into his mouth, their kiss became more urgent as she responded to his teasing touch.
Suddenly, he grabbed her ass and lifted her into his arms without breaking the kiss. He carried her across the large room to a door off to the right. His bedroom.
Bria wrapped her fingers in the soft curls at the base of his neck. His mouth was hot and wet and slippery and soft and everything you expected to find in the heaven of a kiss. He smelled so good, like spring on this cold winter's day.
Different from Gunner.
As thoughts of her ex-husband tried to press their way to the forefront of her mind, Carrington lowered her to the bed and took one nipple into his mouth again.
Bria gasped loudly and bucked up into him.
Carrington took full advantage of the response, grinding his hips into her, sending the slightest amount of pleasure coursing through her clitoris. He sat up, gripped her dress and slid it completely off.
His eyes moved appreciatively over her body, landing on the sliver of silk that passed for panties. He looked directly into her eyes and ripped the soft fabric, increasing her excitement. He pulled the torn lace away, leaving her completely bare to his all-knowing gaze.
His eyes holding hers, one finger traversed the walls of her swollen womanhood.
"Now," Bria breathed, not wanting to think herself out of this heavenly paradise.
He stood up, removed the rest of his clothing and rejoined her. Reclaiming her lips, one had slid between her legs. He could feel the sweet stickiness of her womanhood, slippery on the inside of her thighs.
"So wet," he groaned.
His finger slid over her swollen clitoris.
Bria's back went concave as she titled up to him, her nails digging into his back.
He kissed her harder, as his finger performing a magical dance up and down the swollen walls of her drenched vagina.
Bria opened her legs wider, her hips finding and slipping into the rhythm of that one magical finger. "Oh God I'm coming," she breathed into his mouth.
"Ah my sweet; my Beautiful Bria," he said, continuing his perfect rhythm up and down her slick walls.
Bria cried out her passion. "Oh my god don't stop. Please don't stop," she cried, her hips lifting so high she rocked the bed. "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" she exploded.
As a laser-light show of explosion happened behind her closed eyes, Bria thought how some men immediately changed tactics when you announced you were coming. He kept the same magic pace; the same magic rhythm; and produced an amazing magic result.
Carrington removed his finger from her center and brought it to his mouth, drinking in the taste of her. He shared the sweetness with her, his lips encasing hers in post-rapturous splendor.
"Sweet; even sweeter than last night," he said.
Bria coul
d feel her walls throbbing, mesmerized by how brazenly he enjoyed the feel – and taste – of her. He dipped his finger into her hotness again, his unrepentant gaze recording her every reaction and his finger slid over her clit again and again.
Bria flinched as her vagina walls danced in anticipation. Her head flipped from side to side, her mewls of pleasure was music to his ears as she crashed the gates of orgasm once again.
He positioned himself over her, one hand guiding the tip of his hardened shaft up and down her slickness as she scaled down from her peak of passion.
Bria groaned. "Carrington," she breathed, her hips arching as she spread her walls, begging him to enter.
"I am going to fuck you hard and long Bria. There will be nothing gentle about it. Do we understand each other?" he asked, his green eyes carrying an inferno of desire.
"Yes," Bria breathed, fascinated and somewhat frightened by his words.
"You will feel me in you tomorrow, the next day, and quite possibly the day after that," he told her, dipping the head of his staff into her soaked opening.
Bria shook her head in acceptance, unable to speak.
"Open for me," he commanded.
Bria spread her pussy walls wider.
Carrington slid his swollen staff up and down her again and again.
"Please," Bria whimpered. "Please Carrington."
Unable to delay his entrance any longer, he ripped into her, driving deep and hard into her tightness. He let out a guttural groan, one that matched the scream that escaped Bria. She closed her eyes and turned away from him.
"Look at me," he commanded.
Bria opened her eyes, her walls pulsing around him.
"I told you I was going to fuck you long and hard. There's no turning back now Beautiful Bria. No turning back," he groaned as he put his hands under her buttocks and drove into her again.
Bria's face burned in passion and pain. She started to turn her head again.
"Don't," he instructed. "I want to see you when I take you," he said, sweat dripping from his forehead onto hers.
Love after Betrayal: An Interracial, Billionaire Romance Page 9