“It wasn’t a problem. I’ll check on you again in the morning. Good night.”
“Don’t worry about it, Daddy. I’m glad you, Mom, and Lil’ D decided to call. I’ve been working on this song since the wee hours of the morning when the power finally came back on. So, I was due for a break. I haven’t even stopped to eat breakfast yet, and now, I’m starving. I had started cooking, but an odd chord struck my ear, and I ran out of the kitchen and hopped back on the piano. Now, my stomach is growling.” I lifted my coffee mug from the cup holder on the side of my piano and drained it.
“I’ll let you go then, sweet pea. Your mom and I will give you call tomorrow. Be safe up there.”
I laughed. “Louis, Glock, and I are safe, Daddy, so don’t worry. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
As soon as I hung up the phone, I hurried back to the kitchen, washed my hands, and resumed cooking. Most of my fans would be surprised that I was actually a decent cook. I guess that tidbit would be hard for some people to believe since my singing career started my senior year in high school and blew up to a whole other level less than a year later. They probably figured I’d never gotten a chance to learn my way around the kitchen, and now that I was a “superstar,” I had chefs, maids, and assistants at my every beck and call. But they were wrong . I only had Isadora, my housekeeper, Big Quad, and Ravie in my camp fulltime. And most of the time, I did my own cooking because I enjoyed it.
I began to hum the melody of the new song I was composing as I peeled and diced some Idaho potatoes to add to my pile of chopped Vidalia onions and green bell peppers. My hit in progress had a catchy title, but the melody was still iffy. I loved to write and sing love songs. They were my favorite. I was a hopeless romantic at heart although I had yet to find that special someone to love me the way I wanted and deserved to be loved.
I knew in my heart from the very beginning that Tobias wasn’t that guy. He and I had hooked up at a time in my life that I was in the middle of a global tour and I was lonely for companionship. Although I loved seeing the world and performing for my fans in different countries, during that phase, my heart was longing for a personal fan, someone I could tell my secrets while he held me in his arms and made me feel secure. A girl wanted a man . Like any other woman, my body had needs too, and I only wanted one man to satisfy those urges.
At that particular point, I’d considered Tobias a really good friend who understood me and the whirlwind lifestyle I was living. Plus I had been a big fan of his when his career was hot. We had met on the red carpet at the BET Hip Hop Awards the year before and had maintained a steady friendship with lots of flirting ever since. While on the last leg of my tour, he flew over and surprised me at my show in Montreal, Canada. Afterwards, I had a few days to kill before heading to Nova Scotia. Tobias asked if he could hang around, and I told him yes. He ended up tagging along with me to Greenland and Iceland. By the time we reached Norway, we were tighter than Spanx. And upon our return to the States, rumors about our new romance had flooded the standard media as well as the social media. After a year of exclusive dating, Tobias moved in with me, and the rest is history that I wished I could erase.
I had just placed some strips of bacon on paper towels to drain and was about to drop some shredded cheddar cheese in a cast iron skillet with melted butter for my famous cheese eggs when I heard knocking at my door. It was Hayden . Who the hell else could it be? I power walked to the mirror in the hallway that separated the kitchen from the den and checked my reflection. Confident that my makeup-free face with a light coat of Vaseline on my lips was more than presentable, I ran my fingers through my ’fro and did a slow stroll to the door. I couldn’t understand why my heart was doing gymnastics in my chest because it was just Hayden, the hard-nose German dude who happened to be my temporary neighbor. No big deal.
Bullshit! You’re attracted to the guy. He’s tall, chiseled to perfection, and easy on the eyes. You like the German giant. Admit it.
I ignored Adannaya, my feisty alter ego, and kept it moving. I released the locks and opened the door. I must’ve taken too long to show my face because Hayden was almost at the bottom of the steps.
“Good morning.”
He whipped back around and did a quick ’fro-to-toe inspection of me with a blank expression on his face. I felt a little vulnerable under his intense gaze, so I tugged on the bottom of my T-shirt to make sure my hips and ass were fully covered. Then my hand involuntarily reached for my diamond teardrop pendant and fidgeted with it out of nervous habit.
“I told you I would come and check on you again this morning. How did you sleep after you got warm from the fire?”
“Fine. What about you?”
He grinned, and it surprised me. He had a drop-dead gorgeous smile that lit up his face. He needed to smile more often.
“After a few beers, I slept like a baby. I don’t drink alcohol often, but whenever I do, I enjoy it. Are you a drinker?”
“No. I drink champagne every now and then at celeb…um...at...um parties . Otherwise, I stay away from alcohol. I have to watch my weight.”
He flashed his perfect pearly whites again, and I felt like it was my lucky day. But as quickly as that smile lit up his attractive features, it faded, replaced by what I believed was lust . He allowed his eyes to roam shamelessly over my body, lingering on my breasts before resting at the sweet spot between my thighs. My nipples and clit betrayed me, instantly hardening with desire. Liquid lust pooled in the crotch of my panties and I squirmed slightly in response. No man, especially not a stranger , had ever worked my girlie parts like this with just his eyes. Lord, have mercy!
“Your weight is proportioned with your height. You don’t need to lose or gain a single pound, my dear. Your body is without defect.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his red Adidas joggers. “Well, it’s morning grub time for me. I stopped by after my seven-mile run, so I’m famished.”
“I was cooking breakfast when you knocked. You’re welcome to stay and join me. We, Southern girls, always cook too much food, so there’s plenty.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Come on in.”
“You don’t eat enough.” Hayden reached across the table and grabbed a slice of bacon from my plate. “No wonder you’re so fit.” He bit into the crispy strip of pork and smiled.
“I ate plenty and my tummy is satisfied. I have to stay light on my feet because…” My voice faded as I swallowed the truth, which was much more than I wanted to tell him.
“Because what? What kind of work do you do, Natalie? You’re beautiful enough to be a fashion model, but you’re not tall enough. So, what exactly do you do for a living?”
“I’m in the music industry. I do a little bit of everything. I write songs and produce and…and…some other stuff.”
“That sounds interesting.”
“It is,” I admitted. “What about you, Hayden? What kind of work do you do?”
“I don’t have a job right now. And if you don’t mind, I’d rather leave it at that.”
“It’s not a problem. I’m kind of private too.”
“I figured as much. Why else would you be up here in the mountains all alone during the holidays?”
“Like I told you yesterday, I needed a break from my regular life. That’s why I’m here.”
“Where is home for you?”
“I live in Atlanta. My parents, little brother, grandmother, and my cousin, Ravie, all live there. The rest of my family—both sides—live in Charleston, South Carolina. Where do your parents live now?”
“After my dad retired from the military, he brought my mom to the States and settled in Marietta. That’s Papa’s hometown. But they’re in Germany now. They celebrate Christmas and New Year’s there every year with my mom’s family. Usually, I’m there with them, but I decided to come here this year for the holidays instead. I live between Munich and the Mariet
ta area throughout the year.” Hayden gathered my plate and his from the table and stood.
I watched him walk over to the trashcan and scrape the remnants of food inside and then move toward the sink. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to wash the dishes since you prepared the food. It’s only fair.”
“You don’t have to do that, Hayden. You’re my guest.”
“I don’t mind. If you hadn’t cooked for me, I would’ve had bread and jam and a couple of boiled eggs with the worst coffee in the world. I can’t make a decent pot of coffee regardless of how fancy the pot. Yours was great by the way. Danke vielmals.”
I smiled. “Does that mean thank you in German?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me how to say you’re welcome.”
“Say bitte sehr.”
“Bitte sehr.”
“That’s very good, Natalie. Beauty and brains.”
Chapter Six
Hayden
“Yes, Selig, Natalie Taylor is the name she gave me.” I walked to the window and peeped outside before I returned to the other side of the room with the phone tucked between my shoulder and ear. “Her family is from Charleston, South Carolina originally, but she, her parents, and a few other relatives now live in Atlanta.”
“And she writes and produces music, you say?”
“That’s what she told me, but I think there’s more to her story. It’s like she’s holding back something that she doesn’t want me to know. She drives an expensive German-made vehicle and she only drinks champagne whenever she decides to have a cocktail. And she’s able to rent a five-thousand-dollar-a-week cabin by herself. You should see the huge, fucking diamond pendant around her neck. The thing looks like a goddamn glacier. It’s a wonder she can even stand up straight without toppling over head first. I don’t think she’s a regular person, Selig. She can’t be.”
“Then who do you think she is, sir?”
“Hell, I don’t fucking know! That’s what you’re supposed to find out! Start with the license plate number I gave you from her SUV. Do whatever it takes to find out more about Natalie Taylor, the songwriter and music producer, from Atlanta, Georgia. Understand?”
“Of course. Right away, sir.”
I pressed the off button, placed the phone on the end table, and dropped down on the sofa. I laughed out loud at my blatant hypocrisy. Here I was trying to dig around in Natalie’s life to find out who she was while I was doing everything possible to hide my true identity from her. I should’ve been ashamed of myself, but I wasn’t because my situation was different, I tried to rationalize. My legal name was indeed Hayden Ellis and at the moment, I didn’t have a job. So, I had been honest with Natalie…so to speak. Viper Drachenberg was another person, as far as I was concerned. He was a wealthy professional football player, thousands of miles away from the Blue Ridge Mountains. The lovely Natalie Taylor had never made his acquaintance, and I doubted very seriously she ever would.
“Eeeek ! Get away from me! Get away! Eeeek !”
Loud, high-pitched screams yanked me from my nap. I jumped up from the sofa and dashed to the door at full speed in my socks. I basically jumped over most of the steps to reach the bottom and ran like an Olympic sprinter in the direction of the screams, which were growing louder.
My heartbeats came to a screeching halt for a half a second when I saw the black and gray baby wolf snarling and growling at Natalie. She looked horrified with tears flooding her cheeks. Her body was shaking fitfully in sheer terror. A wicker basket and about a dozen pine cones were at her feet. The vicious, little wolf had Natalie trapped in place under a tree a few yards down the path from her cabin. I imagined he had caught her off guard while she was out collecting pine cones. No doubt, the pup had somehow gotten separated from the rest of his pack.
“Calm down and don’t move, Natalie.”
“Hay…Hay…Hayden, please help me,” Natalie whimpered pitifully.
Her fretful plea ripped my heart to shreds. I searched the ground around me for a sturdy stick or a stone that I could use to scare the small creature away. I breathed a little easier when I spotted a tree branch a few feet to my left. I reached for it and shouted at the same time. The wolf didn’t move, though. He maintained his aggressiveness and full attention on Natalie, growling and hissing at her.
“Grrrrrrrrrrr !” I charged forward and hit the menacing pup twice on his backside.
He took off running into the woods with me chasing after him. I wanted to make sure he was gone. When I turned around, I cursed on the inside when my eyes landed on a traumatized Natalie on her knees sobbing underneath the tree. Even frightened out of her mind and shaking terribly, she was a vision of loveliness. In seconds, I was on the ground with her, pulling her onto my lap. She threw her arms around my neck and buried her face in the crook of it, releasing a sharp scream. Her tears soaked my skin, but I didn’t mind. I rocked her in my arms and rubbed the center of her back in a soothing circular motion. It was all I could do as the scent of her perfume rose from her skin and assaulted my manly senses.
“Ssshhh. Weinst du nicht, Schatz. Ich bin hier. Ssshhh. Ich bin hier.”
After some time, my words, although spoken in German, hit their mark. Natalie soon stopped crying and relaxed a bit in my arms. My seat on the cold ground wasn’t a very comfortable one, but I was so content sitting there, holding her. It felt natural and it felt right, like she belonged in my embrace. I could’ve sat there forever, comforting her and enjoying the feel of her soft body resting against my rigid one. But like any other warm-blooded, virile, heterosexual male making direct contact with a beautiful, irresistible woman, my cock reacted accordingly. I shifted uncomfortably before I managed to lift my body to a one-knee squat with Natalie still in my arms. It was difficult to stand, but I did it somehow and started up the path en route to her cabin.
She was a petite woman, so my hike up the incline in socks wasn’t overly taxing on my knee. In fact, I felt no pressure or no pain in my joint at all. My dick was my only aching body part at the moment. Natalie’s scent and her warm breath blowing faintly against my neck were driving me out of my fucking mind. I couldn’t remember ever being turned on to such a high degree by a woman who hadn’t so much as winked at me.
As I stomped up the steps of her cabin, I silently advised myself to go inside, quickly place her on her feet, and get the hell out of there. To tarry a second too long wouldn’t be wise. I didn’t have the willpower to behave like a gentleman, which was exactly what Natalie needed from me after being scared shitless by a wild animal regardless of how small it was.
I was able to reach for the doorknob and turn it with my left hand without a problem. Thankfully, Natalie had left the door unlocked while she’d ventured out to collect pine cones. I walked inside the cabin and gave the door a back kick to close it. Then I leaned forward slowly and carefully allowed her feet to touch the blonde hardwood floor. When I was satisfied that she was standing on her own, I stepped away from her.
“You’re safe now, so I’ll leave— ”
“Nooo !” Trembling and breathing erratically, she wrapped both arms tightly around my neck, nearly choking me to death. “Don’t leave me. Please .”
Despite being in the safe confines of her cabin and nestled in my arms, Natalie was still an emotional wreck. And because she was so distraught, she wanted me to stay with her. How could I leave her like this?
“Okay, I won’t leave you.” I kissed her forehead. “I’ll stay.”
I felt the tension in her body dissipate the second those words left my mouth. Natalie hadn’t asked me for money or jewelry or a luxury car or a vacation on the other side of the world on some island I’d never even heard of before. She didn’t want my body for meaningless sex or even my fucking autograph. The only things this beautiful, delicate flower wanted from me was my presence and time.
I gripped the backs of her thighs and lifted her straight up in the air. Maybe it was instinct, but her legs wrapped aroun
d my waist and she rested her head on my shoulder. I carried her into the den and lay her on the sofa. There was a slight chill in the room, so I hurried to the back of the cabin and gathered some wood to build another fire. I chanced a glance at Natalie when I returned to the den and found her watching me through half-open eyes. I started the fire much faster than I had the night before and removed a throw from the back of a recliner. Feeling like her protector, I lifted Natalie from the sofa and lay down on my back with her in my arms. I settled her body on top of mine and covered us with the throw.
Before my eyes closed from physical exhaustion and emotional chaos, I realized Hayden, Viper, or whoever the hell I may have been at the moment, was in a world of trouble.
Hunger pangs, the likes of which I had never experienced before, awakened me right before nightfall. Natalie’s warm and soft body was still sprawled out on top of mine and it felt damn good. I had woken up to more than my fair share of women in 5-star hotel suites all over the world, most of whom remained faceless and nameless to me. Very few of my bedmates had received an invitation to spend a second night in my company because I was either off to the next city or my sexual interest in them had fizzled out after our first romp. Call it strange, but waking up with Natalie in my arms, although I hadn’t made love to her or even kissed her lips, was worth a second, third, and even fourth encounter. It was refreshing, and I wanted to experience more moments like this with her while we were together on the mountain. I couldn’t, for all the diamond mines in Siberia, explain my feelings because I didn’t understand them. Something was happening to me, and it was because of the woman resting peacefully in my arms.
My stomach growled loud enough to wake Natalie, which was the last thing I wanted to do. But I was in desperate need of some grub. So, I wiggled my way from underneath her body, carefully leaving her to rest flat on her belly. I stood above Natalie for a moment, taking in her essence. Even in slumber, she awed me. Her beauty spilled over from the inside out. I had never met a woman who stimulated my brain as well as my cock. Everything about Natalie was unique and perfect, and I wanted her. Damn , I wanted her.
Hot Holiday Love: an Interracial romance Page 4