by Shara Azod
“Toni, I think we should talk,” he whispered, not wanting to put it off any longer.
The last thing in the world he expected when she looked back up at him was a teary eyed smile. The love he saw in her eyes hit him like a shot to the gut. . His knees threatened to buckle as the ramifications swarmed over him. Every minute of every day for the rest of his life, he swore to himself he would work to never, ever dim what he saw right there. He would work his ass off for the rest of his days to be worthy of it.
Fear that maybe he wasn’t man enough caused a trickle of sweat to bead on his forehead, but he was determined. He was resolute. And damned if he didn’t love her twice as much.
“I am not going to ask you to marry me,” he croaked. “Not yet. But that is where I am planning on ending up Toni. I am more than willing to work for it, but baby, you gotta meet me halfway.”
“Okay,” she giggled.
Toni giggling was more frightening than Toni yelling. Toni giggling sent tentacles of pure terror down his spine. It sounded all sweet and feminine on the surface, but it implied things he couldn’t hazard a guess at.
“Okay?” It just could not be that easy. She was going to make him work for it. He was sure of it.
Laughter exploded from her lips as she watched him squirm. He was sure she was doing it on purpose.
“Relax, Bart,” she ribbed him. “I promise I have nothing up my sleeve. I said okay. I am willing to work on this thing. I won’t be moving to Atlanta though, so if you had any thoughts-”
“I’ve relocated.”
That made her blink up at him, laughter forgotten. “You have?”
“I have an office there, but I moved the main offices down here,” he informed her. “I can work from anywhere and I knew you wouldn’t move.”
He watched her digest that, waiting for the final verdict.
“Well, damn, you are smarter than you look,” she finally said, then broke down into loud guffaws.
“What is so funny now?” Leland didn’t get it. Was she please or pissed? Did she think it was ridiculous, or was she just happy?
“It just hit me,” she was laughing so hard she was crying. Leland shifted from foot to foot, waiting. Then she let him have it. “Your middle name is Bartholomew!” She laughed even harder. She would have fallen over onto the ground if he hadn’t caught her. “So Bert, where’s Ernie?”
He knew he shouldn’t say it. He knew he would pay for it. But damn it, she asked for it.
Kissing her on the tip of her nose, one hand crept to her ass, cupping it and pulling her closer. Leaning down he whispered seductively in her ear, “Tucked safely away in your ovaries until you’re ready.”
That shut her up.
Epilogue
“Damn, girl breathe!”
Toni ignored Jimmy as she put her head between her legs.
I am really doing this! Oh, Lord I am really doing this!
What if this was a horrible mistake? What if he changed as soon as Jimmy drove away? What if-
“Sugar, are you planning on staying in Jimmy’s truck, or are you going to come on in to our house?” Leland’s voice made her head snap back up.
Why did he have to go and say “our house” like that?
Her head began to swim all over again. She couldn’t do this.
“Toni?” Opening the door, Leland gathered her in his arms.
Damn, that felt good. It felt…right.
Her breathing returned to normal as her body relaxed. Yes, she was ready to do this.
“Look you don’t have to-”
“No,” she cut him off before he let her put this off any longer. “I want this.” Looking up into his eyes, she made sure he could see the truth shining in hers. “I really, really, want this?”
“Are you sure?” he still wasn’t convinced. “Because I can wait a little while longer.”
“And move back into that crowded apartment? I don’t think so! Your neighbors were noisy as hell!”
Not to mention they tended to sneer at the interracial couple. Besides that, they spent the night either at her place or his so many nights; they might as well have been living together. Her parents were disappointed they were taking this step without marriage first, but there were only too many giant leaps forward Toni could take at a time. They would see how this went for a while, and then, who knows?
Leland had been more than patient. He had finished her dream house three months earlier. She knew he wanted to move in to the home with her, the little additions he made on her original design made it abundantly clear. Still, he had waited, handing over the keys without even hinting at what they both knew he wanted.
Funny, but she couldn’t seem to move into the place without him. There was just something about the place that screamed “ours” not “Toni’s”. So, she had waited. She had come up with a multitude of excuses not to ask him to move in with her, beating around the bush until her desire to be with him in every way made it impossible not to ask.
Today was the day. No more running and hiding. This was what she really wanted.
“Come on,” she smiled jumping down from the warm cocoon of his arms. “Let’s go home.”
Cashmere Sky
By
RaeLynn Blue
Dedication
To Jenn who polished it,
to Alice who read every single word,
and to J, who keeps me grounded.
Chapter 1
“Lee, where are we going?” asked Sky Parker as she squeezed through the throng of perfectly dressed people spilling out of the elevators in a cloudy mix of perfumes, body odor, and hair care products.
A flood of frozen smiles, sparkling make-up, and shiny clothes mashed together, and Sky sought cleaner air as she elbowed pass a rather stuffily dressed woman moments before the slick metallic doors closed.
“You’ve got to tell me!” she shouted to Lee Stone, her best friend.
Lee looked over her shoulder, her braids piled high on her head and clipped into submission with sparkling silver and diamond clustered barrettes. She shot Sky a secret, knowing smile. Her burgundy painted lips moving up in a grin. One so seductive Sky felt her stomach tingle in trepidation.
She’s up to no good. It’s written all over her face.
Walking backwards in her strappy raven heels and turning around fully to face Sky, Lee’s mischievousness made her eyes wide and sparkling with secret knowledge.
“It’s a surprise. If you keep on asking me, I’m going to tell you. Then the surprise will be ruined. I ain’t going to let you go out like that. It’s our last night in Sin City. So, shush.”
With the swish of her curvy, fuchsia-clad hips, Lee put her back to Sky once more and headed out to the valet booth to retrieve their rental car, something sporty, convertible, and coal-black. Its paint was like spilled ink, glossy and thick. The car screamed that they were two available women and quite ready to throw down at a party.
But it was only partly true.
Lee’s engine was revving to go dance the night away or crawl into bed with a new- found friend.
Yeah, like we’re in our twenties.
They weren’t.
Sky’s enthusiasm had sunk like a stone. Walking around her was a swarm of sensual, scantily clad young things all dressed-ahem-undressed as much as possible; only enough to not be arrested. They chatted and laughed with the freedom and innocence of youth. Thin bodies, sparkling jewelry, perfect make-up, and artfully decorated, unblemished skin buzzed like a hive of energetic bees spilled out over the neon clad landscape of asphalt and whispered promises.
What in the name of Jesus on high am I doing here? Sky asked herself, tugging her dress down to her knees again. It kept riding up like as a hidden pair of hands wanted to display her thick thighs to the world.
Sky plopped down on one of the stone benches outside the Las Vegas Hilton. Renting a hotel room off the strip was fine with her. They had managed to get within walking distance of the conference they were a
ttending, which was being held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. Nothing wrong with exploring Sin City, right? As long as she made it to her eight a.m. panel on differentiated instruction tomorrow, it didn’t matter how long she stayed out tonight.
Well, that was Lee’s argument anyway.
Since arriving in Las Vegas two days ago, Sky’s stomach hummed and her skin tingled as if a brush of electricity had skirted across her flesh. Nearly ten at night and the summer’s heat rested at an even one hundred degrees. Was that why she felt sick? Desert valley heat and all that. Sure, that had to be it. No matter how they sliced it, Vegas was hot as hell.
Sky watched as hoards of sparkly dressed females—all nearly young enough to be in the senior high school English class she taught—vie for cabs to take them to the latest hot spot on the Strip. Some headed out on high heeled feet, electing to walk to points of interests in stilettos that made Sky’s feet ache just looking at them. Others moved in the direction of the monorail. Thursday in Las Vegas and already an electric charge emanated to all. From the bus drivers to those cruising around in air-conditioned limos, the feeling beat against them like a hyper heart. Sky knew because she felt it too. Add to the natural voltage, compulsion conjured by the sizzling summer sun and the blistering heat, Vegas was a firecracker ready to pop.
She rubbed her arms as the city hammered its heat into her bones, charging her up like an old spent battery needing a recharge.
And she mostly certainly needed to be juiced.
This can’t be real. Bodies all over the place and no real faces to go with any of them.
A toot toot from the rental car’s horn made her jump. The car still running, Lee stood behind the opened driver’s door, tipping the valet and waiting for the convertible top to glide back into the trunk.
“Come on, girl. Let’s go!” shouted Lee. “We ain’t got all night.”
Dressed to the nines, she in a jet black dress and Lee in a bright, notice-me-fuchsia, curvy hugging dress, they were begging to get into trouble—the teasing, fun kind of trouble. Only Lee’s begging resounded louder than Sky’s.
Jeez, what’s the rush? I’m in no hurry to sit in a smoky nightclub pretending to be in my late twenties instead of forty. Hoping the men don’t catch the strips of gray at my temples. Right.
“So, where we going?” Sky asked, trying hard not to convey her impatience as she slid into the searing passenger seat. She wiggled up a bit so that the hem of her dress protected the back of her knees from the leather’s scorching heat. “Do tell.”
“Surprise,” Lee sang as if it was the first three chords of a song.
She got in and closed the door. After fussing with the seat to adjust it to her height, Lee pressed her finger to her lips and said, “Hush, hon, because I’m not telling.”
With that, they chugged along the Strip. Rows of vehicles in all shapes and sizes were like schools of fish on the six lane street. Sky made out people shifting back and forth in an ocean of human bodies, hormones, and self-induced happiness. The night air wasn’t any cooler than the day, but the absence of the sun helped alleviate the feeling of being fried.
People in the car next to them were holding beer bottles and leaning precariously out of the windows. A group of boys, no older than 21, were shouting at women. Wearing muscles shirts and unshaven fuzz, the guys behaved like a bad video for some television talk show. To Sky’s horror, some of the women they shouted out, lifted up their tee-shirts and blouses to show their bras, or in one case, tiny ruby nipples.
This isn’t real. People don’t do this kind of thing.
Lee caught the expression on her face and laughed.
“It’s Vegas, Sky. Sin City means violating as many commandments and committing as many deadly sins as you possibly can. You should too. Everybody lets loose and leaves their inhibitions behind.”
“Right along with their common sense apparently.”
Lee laughed, tossing her head back and letting her guffaw free. Her dark ebony flesh glistened and shined beneath the streetlights. Breezes coaxed some braids from her up-do. Her big movie star sunglasses seemed so right at home amongst the velvety night and manufactured glitz of Vegas.
Finally, they arrived at the MGM Grand, but instead of shooting off the car to valet and heading to some club, Lee drove the car down Tropicana Avenue. Behind the magnificent golden MGM lion which dominated the front view of the MGM Grand, rested a more residential section of the gigantic property. Here, a metallic, glassed building shot up some thirty stories. The sign out front named the place as the MGM Signature. Wrought iron gates, palm trees and special lightening illuminated the building giving it the tuxedo appearance amongst a field of tee-shirt and jeans décor along the rear of the Las Vegas Strip.
As Lee pulled up to the gate, she took out a keycard and swiped it across the tiny green button. With a ping, the gates pulled back, opening slowly to accept their slick, ebony phallus into its gaping mouth.
Sky coughed hard.
Where had that come from?
“What are we doing here?” Sky asked instead of saying the other thoughts swirling through her head out loud.
This place wasn’t even on the Strip, but on Harmon, a street running parallel to the casinos. While she was glad it wasn’t a nightclub, she wasn’t sure she was going to like it as an alternative.
“Hold on to your horses,” Lee said, again grinning at her. “I know the divorce killed what remained of your love life. So consider this my gift to you.”
“What’s the present?”
“You’ll see…”
A stripper. That had to be it. Lee had ordered a male stripper and planned to surprise me with a gyrating hunk of masculine chocolate. I’m a breath shy of 40 for crying out loud! What the hell do I do with a partially naked boy on my lap?
Her hands began to sweat and she wiped them on her dress.
Intrigued, Sky decided to not pursue it further until she knew for sure. After all, she could be blowing the entire thing way out of proportion, though with Lee, nothing was too farfetched. Exhaling and smiling back at her long time friend, she watched as they drove around to the lobby. Lee zipped on past, heading instead for the parking structure in the rear of the hotel.
They parked and Lee nearly bounced out of the car before the lights had even shut off. Her purse clasped tight in her hand, she was waiting with an impatient foot tapping the asphalt when Sky finally got out.
“Suga, we ain’t got all night,” Lee said, popping her gum.
“I’m coming. This car is so low to the ground it makes getting out difficult,” Sky explained, yanking down her dress.
Tossing her evening bag on her shoulder, she followed Lee across to the hotel’s entrance. In minutes they’d crossed through Signature’s automatic, thick, heavy, fingerprint-free doors and into the lush lobby. The registration section blended into the surrounding décor of palm trees, taupe, and tans throughout the exterior. Even the metallic finish on the outside surface didn’t distract from the absolute cool of the place.
Money. More money than my little teacher pay could afford. What are we doing here, Lee?
They by-passed uniform-clad desk clerks and concierges. Lee navigated the path to the elevators as if she’d been there thousands of times before.
“You’ve been here before?” Sky asked, peering at Lee.
Oh, I bet you have Little Miss Naughty.
Lee shoved her sunglasses into her hair and winked.
“Twice this week,” she said over her shoulder. “A girl’s gotta relax.”
She pressed the up button and waited for the elevator.
Sky’s own heart raced as nerves tickled her stomach.
What the hell has Lee gotten me into now? A spa maybe? No, it can’t be that… I’m way too overdressed for a spa treatment.
Popping her gum, she kept her back to Sky, so Sky couldn’t read her expression. Not that it mattered. Sky could tell Lee was beside herself with excitement. Feet tapping, body moving while stan
ding still, and her constant glances to see how much closer the elevator was to reaching the lobby floor, told Sky that Lee was very excited, indeed.
“Twice this week? What have you been up to?” Sky asked, feeling her stomach bubble with the contagious excitement. “Hmmm?”
“You’ll see.”
At this point one of the elevator doors dinged open.
Before Sky could ask any more questions, Lee hurried inside. Following her and feeling uneasy, but curious at the same time, Sky folded her hands over her chest in a v and hugged herself.
What had her co-worker been up to the last two nights while Sky had been holed up in her room reviewing her notes from the conference?
As if she knew Sky was thinking about her, Lee kept her eyes on the door. Still a synergy seeped from her as if she was a well shaken soda ready to explode. The doors hushed open on the 14th floor. Without hesitation, Lee bolted out, her stilettos silent on the corridor’s carpet.