by Samara King
Belinda groaned her in surprise. It felt so damn good. To be held an again. To be wanted and to want.
Her arms went to the tie at his neck and quickly unraveled it. His hands slowly inched up the hem of her dress. His touch was blazingly hot to t and in contrast with the coldness of the night air. He was making her dizzy.
Fucking him was all she could think about. Not tomorrow, not the partygoers last night and not the clicking hand of the current year's demise.
She wanted him.
He was driving into her slick pussy so methodically, the rhythm threatened to take her away with it. He grunted as she continued to convulse around him.
”So tight."
Belinda couldn't formulate words, for once, she just wanted to feel and not have to say what was beyond.
His sweet dick was rocking on her into another world and she wanted the fruit of his labor. She brought her hips forward, his dick buried deep inside of her, she cried out as their bodies thrusted against each other again and again.
"Yes!" She bit down on her lip just before his tongue pushed them open and feasted, mimicking the pace of his throbbing dick between her thighs.
She didn't wait. She couldn't wait she needed him.
She needed this moment of completion. She felt it bubbling up inside her. The need to show this man what he'd done to her and to herself that she could still feel. That she was wanted.
And not for her name but for the mere fact of being a desirable woman.
She felt him retreat and then thrust, deeper and deeper each time. She could do nothing but take the full impact of a hard dick and a body which had not been touched by a man in years took the pleasure and pain on.
Muscles clenched, Belinda soared over the edge of pleasure. "My God."
She’d went limp as he continued to pump inside of her.
She felt him tightened, he grunted his head falling backwards, as she continued to hold her against the wall. He went faster until he cried out, the sound of his deep voice hoarse and thick against the night.
He leaned against her. Their flesh slick with perspiration. Belinda took a deep breath. She couldn’t only remember one time being touched like that. A moment in her life that she ordinarily would not want to think about. She looked back into her stranger's eyes. Her mystery lover. She smiled, liking that name for him. "That was..."
"Unbelievable."
Their bodies were still joined. His dick was still hard and her pussy throbbed with tension. She wanted him again and the look in his eyes said the same.
"He begin to move inside of her again, his dick lengthening, creating a dizzying tension inside of her again.
”If we keep this up, we'll be here all night."
"I can take it if you can." He smiled.
There was something about it that called to her, everything about him did.
Did she know it him?
Had they met before?
The questions wavering through her mind dissipated as she arched her back, tilting her pelvis against the flat toned abdomen of his. She murmured as s the delicious heat spread through her limbs, from her toes and up. It was as if her skin was on fire. Her fingers clenched his shoulders, the tips singed with awareness.
"Do you like the way I fuck you?"
His words were filled with lust, need. There was nothing gentle or hidden within them. His voice made her nipples tighten. Her pussy was wetter than she could ever remember and each time he spoke her body opened the floodgates, drenching him and allowing his dick to edge deeper insider of her.
He spread up his ministrations going deeper and slower. "Do you like it slow, deep or -" His breathing hitched as he sped up. "- fast. Fucking backbreaking fast, baby."
"Mmmm! Yes. Don't stop." Belinda called out. Her voice sounded needy and totally unlike her. She didn't care she wanted this and she wanted him more. "Fuck me. Faster." Her words were rushed hisses against his ear as his lips moved against the column of her throat.
She grabbed his ass, deciding she liked the feel of his skin, smooth and hard. Her nails scrapped against him, pulling his body closer. Deeper.
This is what it meant to be consumed by a man. To be engulfed. Taking and at the same time giving. By the time they were both spent, they had collapsed to the lounge chair, sweaty and neither able to say a word. The thudding of heartbeats and intertwined limbs wove together with the heady smell of their sex.
After a while he turned to her, straightening his mask. "I'll never forget this."
Belinda smiled, his words entered her soul. She didn't think that a stranger could touch her in all the ways he had, but he did. She looked up into his heated gaze. "Nor will I."
She knew that she would remember this for many nights to come.
Chapter Three
BELINDA LOOKED UP THE stairway leading to the VIP rooms and the veranda she'd shared her heated night with the mask stranger. She could almost feel him, still, against her as if he was touching her, fucking her all over again.
"Boss, that shipment of jumbo shrimp just arrived. Q says that it’s exactly what you requested.” Christine Matthews, her assistant usually knew what Belinda wanted before she could voice it.
She smiled at the young woman. She had always valued good staff and Christine was like family. Often she was the only person that Belinda allowed to see the softer side of herself.
"Thanks Chris. I'm glad to see that Q selected prime products, but then he usually does." Belinda said talking of the head Chef.
She took care of her people and though she could count on one hand how many people she allowed close to her, her staff was probably the closest when it came to Club Reign. It was her baby. Not flesh, but she'd poured her blood, sweat and tears into the place after Brandon had died. Her emotions had melded into each brick that had been laid.
"Tonight is going to go off without a hitch, you'll see." Chris turned to direct two delivery men to the kitchen, leaving Belinda standing at the edge of the staircase.
Her eyes wandered back upward. She was already dressed for the night's festivities and couldn't shake the buzz of excitement if she tried. It was her night. She loved helping people have a good time. And the Grown & Sexy Masquerade Ball was just that fun, from the musicians scheduled to perform, to the dancers suspended in the air ten feet above doing aerodynamic dance moves.
There were over a hundred tables in the two-story building, all decorated in silver and purple linen table cloths and fine crystal vases, sterling silver eatery and china specifically designed with Club Reign's raindrop logo. Belinda had named the club after her sister, Reign, who'd passed away several years ago in a car accident.
She didn't have much family with her parents' dying when she was just in high school. It had been Reign who'd taken on the role of mother and sister. Belinda had been lost without her and then Brandon had become her family. She'd worked as a counter girl at a local department store and had been helping him pick out a present for his "then" girlfriend. It had been much to her surprise that the wealthy, older man had returned a week later to take her to lunch and they'd started dating soon after.
"Don't you look lovely. Some handsome masked man needs to come by and sop you up with a biscuit."
Belinda swirled around, chuckling at the voice of her best and only girlfriend, Haven Weathersby. "Hav, what are you doing here so early? You look divine."
The baby blue scalloped bodice of the ankle-length dress showed off her friends curves that would revel any model. The diamond encrusted mask was intricately cut into flames and made Hav's honey hued skin glow.
They two women hugged. Belinda had met Haven three years ago when she became her lawyer and right arm, as Christine had her left. She was thankful for both ladies. She pulled back. "So, why are you here three hours early?"
Haven shook her head causing the ringlets to bounce against her shoulders. "I wanted to check on you actually." "Me? I'm fine." Belinda schooled her expression and pretended to straighten a napkin. "Ah, this is me. H
ello, you're girl. I don't have time for that I'm-the-head-diva-in charge-mess."
They laughed.
"I'm truly fine, Hav. I mean it's not like anything is going to happen."
"How do you know Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome won't show up tonight?"
Belinda felt the familiar tug of sexual desire weave its way through her body. Hav was the only person she'd told about that night. "I don't, but I can't let that stop me from doing what I need to do. Tonight is about the club."
"It's also about you." Hav placed her hand around Belinda's shoulder. "You've given so much of yourself to this place. It's you, Belinda Gilles who have made this place what it's become. You've made it sizzle. You're the reason celebrities fly here to hang out, the reason artists put Club Reign on their roaster to perform at. You, my dear are a genius. Gone on and do your little dance."
Haven started shaken her hips side to side and bumped Belinda. Belinda laughed and then turned her attention to a waiter who asked her a question. The contrast was one that Haven was used to, but discouraged seeing as the straight faced all-business woman was truly not who Belinda was.
"I wish you'd stop pretending." Hav started.
"I wish you'd stop asking me to." She turned to walk the opposite direction of the second floor. "Let's go to my office."
JORDAN HARRIS LOOKED up at the evening sky, the sight of it made him remember another night. A year ago. A night he'd shared with a woman who'd never left his mind or his body. He could still remember the taste of her skin, her nipples, and those lips. His body began to stir.
Thoughts of her awakened that place he'd long ago shelved away and lately, that wasn't good enough. Was he doing the right thing? He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror of his small office that housed his bar, After Hours. He'd inherited the place after his Uncle Wayne had died from cancer over three years ago. His life had been so different then. He didn’t tell many about his past.
One that had led to him spending time in jail, stripped of his freedom and charged with being a part of a robbery. A crime in which he’d ended up witnessing at the wrong time. He’d been exonerated after the State of California had reopened his case, re-examined the evidence as they’d done with several hundred others. He’d walked out a free man after ten years of his life had been taken away from him and a stain on his name that would never be fully erased. His best friend, Nate had fared even worst. He'd lost his life.
Jordan shook his head. Ten years of his life had been stripped from him and he didn't need to remember it daily to know that he couldn't get back any of that time by living in regret.
When he'd gotten out of jail, he'd immediately went to see his Uncle Wayne, who'd raised him once his mother had died from breast cancer when he was a mere teen. He'd never known his father. The old man had been everything to him and to watch him slowly slip away had broken his heart. Wayne Harris had never looked at Jordan as anything less than his son – and innocent – when he moved him into his three bedroom house in Leimert Park.
Jordan could and never would forget about Nate, they became friends from the time Jordan had moved in with his uncle and remained tight as brothers. And then there'd been her. Belinda Malone. Even now bittersweet thoughts of her drifted through his mind. He had never seen her once he'd arrived back in Los Angeles.
She had a restricted number and word was from those who knew her and her sister Reign that she'd married some rich businessman. He managed a small smile. He prayed life had been good to her. Prayed that one day they would have a chance to rectify things.
The last time he'd seen Belinda was at Nate's funeral. She'd slapped him right after telling him that she'd never forgive him for taking the man she'd loved away. What she failed to mention was that he was the other man she loved and had vowed when they were merely kids that she always would.
Jordan’s mind slipped back to tonight. The ghosts of the past were always there to remind him of what he lost and would never regain so his best course of direction was think of what he stood to receive. He was already thinking if he'd see the masked woman he'd met last year. There was only one way to know. The sexy tattoo of the butterfly on her right shoulder. He had to be crazy.
When he'd explained the situation to Charlie, his friend and co-owner of the bar, his reply had been abrupt laughter. As if Jordan's mission was like finding a needle in a haystack.
He slipped on his mask, his eyes shining with determination. When his mind was made up there was no stopping him and he had to find her. Had to see her - fully this time and let her know that he couldn't forget her. Connections like those - though theirs had been physical did not just happen every day. He wanted to pick up where they left off. His body demanded it and another woman just wasn't going to do.
Jordan turned off the light, grabbed his keys and walked out the back alley door to his 66 black Mustang. He didn't want to think about what the consequences would be if he didn't find her or if her situation had changed maybe she had found someone in the time that had passed since their night tonight.
The truth was, he couldn't sit by and let another year passed without trying to find the woman who'd ignited a fire so strong within him, that his body refused anything or anyone else. The night they'd shared had been like walking through fire. He felt her hands on him everywhere, her lips, and her tongue and to be inside of her body. He wasn't a crass man but her pussy was made for him. And he'd put his name on her like she'd done for him. There was something so sweet, gentle and familiar about her. The way she moaned and arched her body against him made him think of...
Jordan slammed the door to his car. "Get a grip. There is no way that this is even possible." He didn't need to be connecting two different women. Finding one - the one from last year - was going to be mission enough!
"HERE'S TO A SUCCESSFUL night for Club Reign and the team." Belinda raised a Styrofoam cup filled with ginger ale to her staff, which consisted of about sixty people. "Tonight will be a hit because each one of you made it that way. I know I can be rough around the edges - " she turned to look over her shoulder at a grinning Haven and then turned back to her team, "- but I only work you hard because I work hard people. But I want you to know I appreciate your efforts. More than I can say."
"Here. Here!" Chris replied, lifting her glass as other Reign members repeated her sentiment and emptied their cups before making haste to their stations. "It's going to be an awesome night. Thanks for letting me have the night off and for this beautiful dress."
Belinda smiled. "You look beautiful tonight Chris." The stunning short black layered gown fit her as if it'd been specifically made for her. Belinda had had it shipped to her in surprise. "Now, go and have fun."
"If you need anything please let me know and I'll -"
Belinda rolled her eyes, pushing Chris out the double kitchen doors. "Get out of here before I change my mind and go find that handsome fiancé of yours."
Chris giggled. "Okay."
She watched her walk off and thinking of that look. Love. She witnessed it every time Chris mentioned her soon-to-be husband Duane. They made a beautiful couple and often made Belinda think of what it would be like to feel that way again.
She'd totally dismissed the notation of falling in love. She definitely hadn't made any time for the impossible to happen and didn’t bank on it occurring anytime soon. Love happened for some, if you were lucky. But not all could be. At one time she'd wanted to be like Christine, deeply and madly in love, in tune with a man.
Belinda watched as Chris found her man, and he took her in his arms and kissed her. She shouldn't watch but she couldn't take her eyes away from the pair. They kissed passionately, deeply and looked like a couple in love. The fact that it hit the emptiness she felt square in her chest should have been reason enough to turn away but the recognition of it - the emptiness - made her gaze drop.
"That could be you too, you know?"
"Hav, do you ever give up?"
"Not when it comes to you, girl."
&n
bsp; Belinda sighed. She knew that her friend meant well, but some things were better off left alone. Having a man was on the top of that list. “Don’t start Hav. It’s New Year’s Eve. We should all be thankful that we’re about to see the birth of another year.”
She chuckled. "What about that rare 1%?" "Those are the people that I frankly cannot understand so we file them under 'strange'"
"Great, just what I need another damn title. What time is your husband coming?" Hav's eyes lit up at the mention of Rhames. He was a good man and was the other half of the law firm, Haven and he ran. She couldn't think of a better couple.
Hav looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. "He should be here shortly. He promised to leave the office -"
"And I kept that promise." A male voice said from behind them. Standing dressed in a black tux and a platinum and black mask covering his eyes stood Hav's husband. “Hi Belinda.”
She waved and watched the two of them. She shook her head as the two greeted each other and then acted like two teenagers that couldn't keep their hands to themselves. "I'll just be -” She looked back at her friends who were not listening to one word she said. "Ye-ah, I'm leaving before you two kick this up to indecent exposure." Belinda left the kitchen, and watched more of the night's scene unfold before her eyes.
She'd yet to put on her mask and clutched it in her hands. She thought back to what Hav had said about companionship. Of course, there were times that she craved the company of a man, but her life had kept her more than busy than to dwell over that fleeting thought. And the only man she could think of filling that position was her mystery lover.
The thought brought a smile to her face. What Hav didn't know is that is if he appeared tonight, Belinda planned on being bold and asking his name, requesting to see him again. The notion made her blush. Logic told her that this man had had fun with her and for all she knew could have hightailed it out of town. The whole experience had taught her to take a chance and if given the opportunity she planned on doing just that.