Darren moved her hands above her head and lifted her turtleneck. When he pulled it off, her ponytail holder slipped off and her hair cascaded down to her shoulders. He ran his finger down the valley between her breasts. “Soft,” he said.
Next, he spun her around and unsnapped her bra, slipping the straps down her shoulders. He brushed his lips against her neck as he unbuttoned her slacks then zipped them down.
“Umm,” she moaned as he dipped his hand inside her panties. His fingers teased her juicy lips, inching their way to her hot button of love. Her hot wetness made him swell with passion. With his free hand, he slid her pants down to her ankles. Her body quivered against his as he rubbed his hand across her thighs. Jill lifted her legs to step out of her pants. Then Darren spun her around again, drinking in her sensual image—nearly naked and totally unabashed about her body. And what a body! Her breasts were perfectly shaped and looked as delectable as mounds of chocolate. Her stomach was flat and flawless; her hips round and ready to climb on top of him. And that onion behind her…Darren couldn’t wait to clutch it while she rode him.
“Wow. Beautiful.”
“You have me at a disadvantage,” she said teasingly. “You’re still fully dressed.”
Darren pulled his sweater over his head, tossing it into the pile of Jill’s clothes. Then he unzipped his pants slowly, like a male exotic dancer. Jill laughed.
“That wasn’t the reaction I was going for,” he said, then reached out and pulled her against him. His manhood poked out of his boxers and rested against Jill’s thighs.
She moaned as she felt him against her. Darren kissed her neck, running his tongue down the length of it. She melted against his body, moaning slightly with her mouth agape.
“Yeah, that’s more like it,” he said before lifting her into his arms.
“I want you,” she breathed.
“You got me.” Darren carried her into his bedroom. He laid her on the bed and drank in her image against his soft white cotton sheets. She looked like a sex goddess beckoning him to partake in the pleasures of her body without saying a word. Could she possibly know how sexy she was, tousled hair and all?
Easing into the bed, Darren took his time kissing every inch of Jill, starting with her toes. Then he worked his way up her ankles and calves before spreading her legs, leaving a trail of kisses on her inner thighs. She groaned and gripped the back of his head as he kissed her sex, wrapping his tongue around her throbbing clitoris. Darren savored the taste of her feminine juice as it flowed down his throat. She tightened her hold on his head, indicating that she was near climax.
“How does it feel?” he asked.
“Good, gr-eat.”
Wanting to make her feel even better, he kissed and sucked harder, drawing more of her essence into his mouth. Screams of passion filled the air. Jill wrapped her legs around his neck, shivering uncontrollably as Darren made her love come down like rain.
The satisfied look on her face aroused Darren even more. If he didn’t feel her around him, he was going to explode. When he took her legs and wrapped them around his waist, he felt her heat against his manhood. Jill sat up, pressing her hips into his. She leaned in and kissed him, hard, long and deep. Their tongues wrestled for position in each other’s mouth. Darren placed his hands on her breasts, kneading them as they kissed, and felt her nipples expand underneath his touch. Jill threw her head back, breaking off their kiss as he massaged her breasts. Falling back on the sheets, Jill made it easy for Darren to position himself on top of her. His erection pressing against her thighs, feeling her smoothness against him, nearly brought him to his own climax. It had been so long since he had touched a woman, been this close to a woman and smelled the sweetness of a woman.
Darren hadn’t thought that he’d make love to another woman again. Sure he’d had sex since his divorce, but he hadn’t felt the connection with any woman that he was feeling with Jill.
Unlike some men, he didn’t sleep around with a woman he didn’t have feelings for or someone he didn’t see a future with. Sex was about more than reaching a climax; it was about sharing your soul and spirit with someone. He felt he could share that with Jill. He could allow her to come into his heart, take her to bed and make love to her because he knew she was special. She was a woman that he wanted to build with, that he wanted to take care of. A woman unlike any he’d ever known. He hadn’t even felt this strongly about Rita and he’d married her.
Darren reached into his nightstand drawer and grabbed a condom. He pulled back from Jill and slid the latex sheath in place. He looked at Jill, who had a look of nervous anticipation on her face, and gently stroked her cheek.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“It’s just been a while since I’ve…”
“We can stop,” he said, though his body was ready to have her.
“No, please don’t stop,” she replied, and then pressed her hips into his. “I want you.”
Darren dove into her pool of sex, surprised at her tightness. The sensation nearly pushed him to the brink of an orgasm. He realized that this moment was special. Jill’s body was practically untouched. Being with her made him feel as if he’d won a prize. She wasn’t having a casual fling, this was pure lovemaking.
Darren leaned against her ear. “Do you feel good, baby?” His hips moved up and down slowly as she tightened her love around his manhood.
Jill and Darren fell into a sensual dance, rocking back and forth like an ocean wave. Their pace quickened and slowed, quickened and slowed until Darren felt his release coming. He opened his eyes and saw the lush look of satisfaction on Jill’s face. Knowing he’d satisfied her and filled her with his love, he allowed himself to reach his climax.
Jill wrapped her arms around him as he buried his head in her bosom. “Baby,” he whispered. “You are amazing.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she replied, stroking the nape of his neck.
Darren rolled over onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow, and stared down into Jill’s face. She wore a look of contentment. He pushed a stray hair from her forehead. “Thank you.”
“Huh?” Jill asked.
“For sharing yourself with me. The first time I saw you, I knew I wanted to make love to you and take care of you. I could tell you weren’t used to letting someone else take the lead. But you trust me and I can appreciate that. I’ll never do anything to betray your trust in me.”
Her eyes misted as he spoke. “Darren,” she said barely above a whisper. “I-I…”
He silenced her with a slow, sensual kiss, hoping to remove any doubt that she had in her mind about him and what she meant to him.
Jill broke the kiss off by placing her hand on his chest. “Darren, I’m not the woman you think I am.”
“What do you mean?”
Jill closed her eyes. “I’m not perfect and I’m not sure that I won’t make mistakes.”
“I don’t expect you to be perfect. Hell, I’m not perfect. And mistakes, I’m sure we’re both going to make plenty. Don’t be nervous about us. We’re going to be fine.”
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her body. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
He brushed his lips across her neck. “Trust me, babe. We’re going to be just fine.”
Chapter Nine
As she held Darren, Jill knew she’d blown her chance to tell him the truth and not worry about the consequences. There was something about the afterglow of love making that absolved almost any sin. But how could she ruin such a beautiful moment. Making love to Darren had lived up to every one of her fantasies and then some. He was a gentle lover, a tender lover and when he kissed her, his kisses made her melt. If she could bronze his tongue she would because it was magical.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked, taking note of her silence.
“You.”
“Really? And what are you thinking?”
Jill arched her back, jutting her breasts upward. “The way you kiss
me, the way you touch me. I feel so alive.”
“Then,” he said as he took one of her breasts in his hand, “let me make you feel alive.”
As Darren suckled her hard nipple, he massaged her other breast. Cries of passion escaped her throat as he moved from breast to breast. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling his erection against her thighs.
After they made love again, Jill took a shower and dressed. Darren ordered some Chinese food and they had dinner and watched an old movie on AMC. Darren fed her lo mein noodles as they lounged on the sofa.
“Are you going to the game tomorrow?” he asked.
“I was thinking about it. But I’m sure my boss will use the playoff tickets himself.”
“Good, you can watch it with me. ESPN Zone?”
“Why don’t you come to my place?” she suggested.
Darren took a noodle into his mouth. “The inner sanctum. Your house isn’t decorated in Falcons colors is it?”
“You’ll see tomorrow.”
“Can you cook?”
“Yeah,” she said, and then regretted it. Jill was skilled at a lot of things, but cooking wasn’t one of them. But she could make a mean salad and microwave with the best of them.
“What’s your specialty?” he asked.
“What do you want to have tomorrow?”
Darren leaned back on the sofa and smiled. “You know I’m a country boy. I would love fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, some greens and homemade biscuits.”
Jill chewed on her bottom lip and envisioned her kitchen filled with smoke as she tried to cook. How was she going to pull this off?
“I don’t want you to go to too much trouble, though,” he said, noticing the look on her face. “We can just pick something up if you don’t want to cook.”
“No, it’s the least I can do. I don’t cook a lot and I was just going over what I needed to buy to pull this off.”
“Then don’t worry about it.”
“No, I’m going to cook for my man,” she said.
“Well, I’m going to enjoy my lady’s repast.”
Jill beamed, but inside, she knew there was only one thing she could do. She had to call Shari and get her help. Glancing down at her watch, Jill told Darren that she needed to go home so that she could prepare for tomorrow.
“All right, let’s get going then.” Darren closed up the containers of Chinese food and Jill placed them in his refrigerator.
She was surprised that his place felt so much like home to her. Being with him was so easy. Twinges of guilt pricked at her like a thousand straight pins. If everything was all good with Darren, why was she still lying to him? Why didn’t she just tell him the truth about who she was and why had she told him that she could cook?
* * *
When Darren dropped her off, Jill rushed into the house, grabbed the phone and called Shari.
Malik answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Malik, it’s me. Is Shari there?”
“Yeah, hold on.”
A few seconds later, her friend was on the line. Jill explained her dilemma and begged for assistance.
“ ‘Oh, what a tangled web we weave’,” Shari sang.
“I don’t need a lecture. Are you going to help me or not?”
“I’ll help you because it’s good to see that Jill Atkinson isn’t perfect. But how long are you going to keep up with this charade?”
“Not much longer. Darren may actually be the one,” Jill admitted.
“Don’t say another word; I’m on my way over there.”
Knowing that it would take Shari about 20 minutes to get to her penthouse, Jill changed into a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. When she touched her body as she dressed, she relived the passion she’d felt when Darren touched her. That man made her body sing and hit all the right high notes too.
If I don’t tell him the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I’m going to lose him.
The shrill ringing of the phone jarred Jill. She grabbed the phone from the wall.
“Hello?”
“Jill, how are you?” a voice from her past said.
“David?”
“I’m surprised you remember my name.”
“What the hell do you want?”
“Can’t an old friend call to say hello?”
“I would hardly call you an old friend. You’re more like a back stabbing bastard.”
“That’s harsh and totally uncalled for.”
“Let’s see, you tried to steal my company, you lied to me to get into my pants and pretended that you loved me. Back stabbing bastard suits you just fine.”
“We don’t need to be nasty, Jill. We had some good times, didn’t we?”
“If you call betrayal a good time, then I guess you’re right. What do you want?”
David cleared his throat. “Well, I’m trying to launch my own business, a magazine actually.”
“You have some gall calling me about a business.”
“I want to feature you in our first issue.”
Jill slammed the phone down and cursed David. “That son of a bitch!”
Of all the people from her past that she would help, David was nowhere on that list and if he thought that she was going to help him with his rag, he could just go to hell.
She was shocked that hearing his voice had cut her as deeply as it did. That dull ache reminded her of why she was playing a game with Darren. If he turned out to be another David, she would swear off men forever and join a convent.
Her door bell chimed and Jill stomped to the front door.
“Whoa,” Shari said. “Who stole your candy?”
“Come in, girl,” Jill said. She and Shari took a seat on the sofa.
“Did something happen between the time we hung up and I got here?”
“You know, since I started my business, I’ve never had a real girlfriend before, someone I can talk to. So I’m grateful that you and I are friends,” Jill said.
“All right, what’s going on?”
Jill crossed her legs and looked at Shari. “I know you think what I’m doing with Darren is wrong, but before you got here, I got confirmation as to why I’m doing this. David Branton called me tonight.”
“Who is he?”
“The last man I let use me. When I first started DVA, the vultures were circling. Concurrent wanted my company, IBM and all the big boys. David worked for Concurrent and he wooed me, made me love him and stabbed me in the back. He was a mole for Concurrent. But I flipped the tables on them. I raised enough capital to buy Concurrent and I fired everyone, including David.
“But my heart has never truly healed from what he did to me. I would go out to the Shark Bar and meet men who had a business plan in one hand and a loan application in the other. That’s why I went into a self-imposed seclusion. No dating, just work. It wasn’t all about trying to smash stereotypes, as I said in the article you wrote. I was lonely.”
Shari placed her hand on top of Jill’s. “I know how you feel. Gosh, after my fiancé died several years ago, I did the same thing. But if you want happiness, you have to take risks. Every man isn’t David. And what the hell was he calling you for anyway?”
“That sorry piece of… He’s starting a magazine and had the nerve to ask me if he could do a feature on me. I need whatever he’s smoking.”
Shari snorted. “We all do. After what he did to you, he has the audacity to ask you for help?”
Jill nodded and laughed to keep the tears that sprang into her eyes from falling. “You know what’s sad, though? For a split second in the deepest recesses of my mind, I considered it. I loved that man and I thought he loved me too.”
“Sometimes the people we love aren’t the right ones for us. But you can’t let David’s call be an excuse to continue lying to Darren. And this cooking thing, one shot deal, sista.”
Jill rose to her feet and laughed. “All right, all right. But I get the feeling that if Darren is going to be in my life, I’d b
etter take some cooking lessons. He’s a country boy through and through and you know what that means.”
Shari nodded. “Brother man can eat, huh? We’d better get to Publix before they close.”
Jill reached out and hugged Shari. “Thank you for listening to me and being my conscience even when I don’t want you to be.”
“Anytime,” she replied. “Besides, I think you might be a godmother soon.”
Jill brought her hand to her mouth. “Are you?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I’m two months late and Malik’s cologne makes me sick now.”
“That’s because he bathes in it,” Jill giggled. “The running joke at the office used to be that you could smell Malik coming.”
“Don’t say anything to him yet. I’m going to the doctor next week to find out for sure,” Shari said as they headed out the door.
* * *
They entered the grocery store laughing about Malik changing diapers at three a.m. Though she was happy for Shari, Jill wondered if she would ever get married and have a family of her own. Could she have that with Darren?
Not if you keep lying.
“Jill, where did you go?” Shari asked.
“I was just thinking about Darren.”
“You’re smitten. This is beautiful. You deserve to be happy in your business and personal life. Darren makes you glow.”
Jill grinned. “He does. He’s so sweet and compassionate. He treats me like a woman, not a businesswoman or a meal ticket, but a sensual being that he’s attracted to.”
“Have you made love?”
Heat flushed her cheeks. “I’ll never tell.”
“That rosy glow on your face tells it all. So this is serious. You’d better hurry and tell him the truth. The man that you’ve described doesn’t seem like he’s out to take anything from you but your heart.”
“I’m willing to give that to him, but I’m just not sure that things won’t change.”
Business of Love Page 9