“What was the ‘umm’ for? Got doubts about reaching out to me?”
I cleared my throat and started to pace barefoot across the carpet in my room. Restless was an understatement. Even if I laid down right now, there would be no sleep coming my way. I could talk to this man all night long.
“N-n-not at . . . all. It just kinda came out.”
Hell! Now, I’m stuttering, and shit! What next?!
“That’s good to hear. What time you have to get up for work?”
“My alarm goes off at six.”
“So, about five hours from now, then. I should probably let you go so you can get some rest.”
I had a serious battle going on inside my damn head while trying to figure out the response to give him. I didn’t want him to hang up, but I didn’t want to be at work off my game either. But what was this turning into, with me and him? I had already slept with the man twice. Well, more than twice—but on two occasions. The chemistry came through like an unexpected storm. We weren’t technically lovers in the everyday sense of the word, but we had for sure shared some engaging moments.
“I guess it is about five hours from now,” I said, purposely staying away from the last part of his statement. “Coffee will be my friend for sure.”
“Friends are good to have,” he said.
“I agree.”
“They’re always there when you need them.”
“True . . .”
I didn’t know where this cat and mouse game was going, but I was going right along with it.
“Showing up when you least expect them to . . .”
As an even bigger smile spread across my face, my doorbell rang.
-74-
MARCO
She felt good. Her touch, her body. It all felt good.
We had gone too far. I don’t think either of us thought about it.
There was something about her. I was drawn to her. It wasn’t the fact that she was so close and convenient, either. It was her. It was her that I called after the day that I’d had. It meant something, but what? When I called her so late I didn’t think she would answer. I knew from the brief conversations I’d had with her that she was all about business. So, I took her for the type to even turn their phone off when she went to bed at night.
As soon as she opened the door, I had her in my arms. The thin tank top she wore, with nothing but her beautiful brown skin beneath it, sent my dick into an immediate erection. Her dark nipples poking through, the softness of her skin begging to be touched, caressed. After we had each other undressed, I picked her up and a whole scene played out against the wall near her door.
“Ohh. My. God,” she sighed. “Should we . . . be doing . . . this?” she whispered in my ear, while biting on my lobe.
“It’s done . . .” I replied. I was locked inside of her, pulling in and out of her wetness. “It’s so fuckin’ hot inside of you. Feels gooood as fuuuck!”
Our eyes met in the darkness and an even stronger connection was formed. Puffs of air came from between her pretty lips and brushed against mine.
“It is. Sooo good . . . Ohhh yesss.”
When she brought her face to me and put her lips on mine, I felt all of her. She completely surrendered. She gripped the back of my neck tightly and increased the swerve of her hips against my dick. The thick flesh of her ass gripped between my fingers was a turn-on like a motherfucker. It excited the fuck out of me, thinking back to seeing her ass in those white skinny jeans the night of my party. Seeing it later that night through the shirt thing she had on, and now . . . the way it felt. Goddamn.
One final squeeze of her mounds sent us both over the edge. When the orgasms hit, they hit us both—simultaneously.
“Mmm! Mmm!” Kassidi moaned. “I’m cuu . . . uumin! Ohhh!”
It was explosive. She came hard. I came hard. I had felt the urge creep from my thighs a few times, but I fought hard to keep my nut at bay because I didn’t want to pull out of her yet. It felt too damn good in there. But I had to. I couldn’t release in her. I couldn’t do that. With each pump I debated. Her face that close to mine, her body pressed against mine. It was too much to let go of. So, I did what we both silently agreed upon—I stayed in.
“Where we going?” Kassidi asked innocently, her face buried into the side of my neck.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
“I don’t think I have any more energy for you, Mister.”
“I think you do.” We got to her bedroom and I sat her down on her bed. “Lay back for me.”
She began giggling. “Huh?”
“You heard me. Lay down.”
Not only did she lay down, she scooted her way up towards her pillows. She looked up at me, her eyes focused. I watched her chest rise and fall, in anticipation of what was to come. I looked down at her brown legs, the curve of her hips, her stomach, her breasts, accepting the fact that I was hungry for her. I hadn’t put my face in a woman’s pussy since I was younger—and even then, it had only happened once.
I reached out and grabbed her ankles to pull her back closer to the edge. Parting her legs, I examined her mound. I liked that it wasn’t fully bare this time, that she’d opted for a bikini line wax. I preferred some nicely trimmed hair down there.
“It’s nice,” I complimented.
“Thank you. I’m glad you like.”
“Oh yeah, I like.” I took my thumb and pressed against her clit, which caused her to purr slightly. When I looked up at her, her eyes were closed and her bottom lip was locked between her teeth. “I like . . . a whole lot.”
The more pressure I applied to her spot, the more she moaned and wriggled. When my thumb came back wet, I knew she was ready again. I laid down between her legs and brought my face to inhale her essence. Sweet came to mind. I licked from the bottom of her labia all the way up to her clit’s hood, then went to feasting on her, taking laps across every area accessible to my tongue.
“Marco!” she screamed out, pushing against my head. “Oh-oh-ohhh! S-s-stoppp! Please!” But in the same breath where she told me to stop, she would cry out, “That’s sooo good!” So, I ate her contradictions, doing so until she fought for breath. And until her thighs vibrated and came crashing against my temples.
“You taste sweet as hell,” I told her, once I released her. “I see somebody eats their pineapples.”
“Are you kidding me?!” She started to laugh, covering her face. “You have me screaming like a caged banshee and then wanna tease me?! You’re evil!”
I kissed inside her thigh and then sat up on top of the bed. “I’m not teasing. Just impressed at how sweet you are. That’s all. No evil intentions.”
“I can’t believe how relaxed I am,” she said, sitting up in bed. “I know my hair looks a hot-ass mess right now. My damn scarf slid off somewhere.”
I stood from the bed and walked over to where she sat. “Your hair looks fine. You look fine.” I reached out and grabbed a few locks of her hair, twirling my finger around them. “You couldn’t look bad if you wanted to.”
She looked up at me and smiled. “Thank you. That’s so sweet.”
“So are you, beautiful.” I sighed loudly, then released her hair. “I’m going to get dressed and head out. I got some stuff to do this morning. Glad I got to spend time with you, though.”
“I’m glad you did too.”
I leaned down and kissed her on her forehead and then went about gathering my clothes so I could get dressed and head out.
-75-
KASSIDI
An hour after Marco left, my alarm went off. I couldn’t believe it. My head was heavy, my eyes didn’t want to open for shit. I didn’t even have to see my eyes to know that they would be red and puffy, probably even dark circles! Shit! I didn’t know what to do. I hit the snooze button hoping that another fifteen minutes would make a difference, but I was wrong. So wrong.
As bad as I wanted to say “Fuck it”, and go back to sleep, I couldn’t. There was too much work to do.
Not just that, I had just passed probation. It was too soon. I didn’t want to set that tone. And for all I knew, Kandice might not be there today since she was obviously up late, as well.
I rolled over on my side and slowly slid to the passenger side of my bed and surprisingly enough, made it to my feet. I stood in place for a few minutes. I tried to connect with my thoughts so that I could think freely about what all needed to be done: What are you wearing? Are you taking your shower before or after you find something to wear? What are you gonna do to your hair? In the end I decided a shower would be the best first stop. I figured the water could wake me up quicker than anything.
I turned on the fan in the bathroom and opened the windows to the side of the tub but opted to leave the lights out. There would be enough light to blind me when I got in the mirror to erase all the signs of fatigue, that I was sure lived on my face. I stepped inside the stall and closed my eyes while the warm streams massaged my body. It felt so good, yet so wrong for me to be on my feet right now, being forced into coherence. How was I even managing? I didn’t have a clue. What I did know, was that the water, put me in a state of euphoria. The streams ran down my body transported me to a place of total relaxation.
I lathered my face with Neutrogena face wash, and for some odd reason, as soon as the scent hit my nose, thoughts of my tryst with Marco came to mind. I didn’t want to think about him, but the daggering tingles that darted all up and through my woman parts made it unavoidable. My nipples tightened as I brought my wash towel over them. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I cleaned the area. I felt him everywhere. Up top, down low . . . down low-low. Everywhere. My breaths became labored, as vivid details came to remind me of all that passion from not so long ago. I began a slow descent into lustful . . .
Then my eyes shot open with the quickness! We’re not doing this, Kassidi! You have to get to work!
“Yes, I do,” escaped my lips, and had me laughing at myself. The indicators were already there. Sex with this man was going to be a series of dangerous liaisons, that left memories behind long after he’d left the playground.
Lord, be some will power, some self-control . . .
Rushing through the rest of my shower was a struggle, but I did it. Even managed to get done with everything after that, in record time. I beat my face with a natural beat, complete with a light pink shimmer on my lips. I tussled my hair and let the curls do whatever they had in mind. I figured the bigger the hair, the less likely anybody was to see just how exhausted I was.
When I got in the car, I made a frantic call to my OB/GYN’s office and left a message that I needed to come in for emergency contraception. I had almost forgotten to do that, with all the sexy thoughts of that man. The morning-after pill was a necessity. I couldn’t even believe that I had allowed unprotected sex to happen! But it was so spontaneous, his touch was so . . . everything . . . that I got swept away. I let desire lure me in. All the way in. I didn’t have time to think. Well, I did, but . . . I just didn’t. I just went with it. It just felt so . . .
The answering machine telling me that my time was up, jolted me back to the present. I had left the message for the doctor’s office and gotten so caught up with reminiscing, that I forgot to hang up.
I quickly pressed the pound key so the message could send and then breathed a heavy sigh of relief. That woke me all the way up. How long I’d be that way, remained to be seen. However, for now, I was off to some much-needed caffeine.
Lunch time hit, and through the grace of the Father, I had managed to find a second wind from somewhere. On one of my trips to the restroom, I bravely took the plunge I’d avoided all day and looked in the mirror for the first time since I got dressed this morning. I was pleasantly surprised. Even with an au natural application, I appeared fresh-faced. Shocking, considering the fact that meetings had been my life for most of the morning. Not just regular meetings, either. Numbers, numbers, and more numbers. The firm had a huge audit coming up soon; my team needed to get all of our ducks in a row, so that when it came time to present the results to our client, there would be no surprises.
I looked at the working document on my computer screen and smiled. Everything looked in place. I was so happy that the team they placed under me, Kandice included, were competent. I honestly thought I would have to come into the position and play clean-up for a crew less-than-capable. But that wasn’t the case at all. They were bomb-ass business people.
The knock on my office door startled me and snatched me from the keen focus I had on the Excel spreadsheet plastered across one of my monitors.
“Come in!” I called out.
When I saw that it was Clyde, I was surprised that he actually waited for permission to enter. Every other time he’d knocked on my door, it was followed with him just opening it and coming in.
“Hello Kassidi,” he greeted once he had closed the door and made his way inside.
His cologne followed him in, filling the room with an aroma that always got my attention. Of course, he was outfitted in one of his many tailored suits looking every bit of the millions of dollars, I’m sure he was worth.
“Hey,” I responded casually. I had passed the phase where he made me nervous with his larger-than-life presence. “What can I do for you, Clyde?”
His eyes bore into me, as he finally took a seat in the guest chair nearest my desk.
“How’s everything going for you here, at JPC? Things moved so quickly when you started that we never really got the chance to do a check-in.”
“Things are great. Couldn’t be better. What’s not to love?”
“I’m glad to hear that. You sure seem to be kicking ass all around the ring.”
I chuckled a little at his comment. “Well, I don’t know if I’d call it that.”
He laughed. “I would.”
“Clyde!” I exclaimed. “Really?! Somebody said something?!”
“It’s nothing like that. I’ve watched. You’re bad, girl. In a good way. You handle yourself like you’ve done this all your life. It’s that passion for the work. It shows. You’re just serious about what you do and without apology. I love that characteristic, in anybody.”
My cheeks were warm, my chest was warm. It was the appreciation from my superior that had me feeling that way. It wasn’t something that I experienced a lot in past positions. And definitely not from the CFO of the company!
“Thank you.” I offered him a smile. “That means a lot. I am really serious about my work. I just like to make sure that the end result is pristine if my name is attached to it. My style hasn’t always gone over well with people, you know?”
“Ha! A Pitbull. I picked up on some of that when your references came back from Cali. But hearing that, was what solidified the deal for me. And speaking of Cali—one of my favorite places—what made you want to leave there for here?”
Without even thinking, I responded with, “Was time for a change. Came to visit Vegas once, liked the feel and thought it might be a place I could call home.”
“And now that you’ve been here for a while, is it ‘home’?”
I squinted my eyes at Clyde. “Are we fishing now, Clyde? Trying to find out if I’m a short-timer and whether you invested in the wrong girl?”
“Nothing like that. I just want to make sure that it’s home. That you’ll be staying a while.”
I cleared my throat, then nodded my head. “I’ll absolutely be staying a while.”
“That’s good to hear.” He stood from his seat and ran a manicured hand down his goatee. “Since you’ll be staying a while, when do you think you can make some time to have dinner with me?”
-76-
MARCO
Palm Beach International Airport, Florida
7:45 PM
My flight to Florida, provided what was probably the most rest I’d had in a long while. Since getting out of the hospital, my restlessness was at a peak. If I wasn’t at the office, I was still working at home. If I wasn’t at home, I was at th
e gym working my way back to the stage. And then there were the times that I was with Kassidi. How that all even came to be, was a mystery to me, but there was some kind of pull toward the woman. I hadn’t given it too much thought, just kind of went with it. By all accounts, so had she. There had been nothing established between us and neither of us was pushing for it. I think that alone, was why it was so easy. She was right down the street, and right there whenever I was on my way home.
Last night at her house threw me off my game a bit. I knew when she answered her phone what my end game was. What I hadn’t counted on was having raw sex with her. Not just raw sex—oral sex! I never did either of those! Not ever. No matter how beautiful the woman was. My number one rule was strap up, Marco! That didn’t happen with Kassidi and I didn’t like that loss of control I exhibited. That’s what it was when it all boiled down to it. Loss of control. That was something I didn’t feel good about. But I wasn’t going to dwell on it. It was a one-time deal that I would pay closer attention to, going forward.
But damn, it felt good . . .
It was a little after eight o’clock when I rose from seat 4A in First class. Flying expensive-ass first class wouldn’t have been my choice if I’d booked and paid for my own flight. But my trip was courtesy of Adonis Anastas. I made the decision to talk to him after seeing video of Kaia. Seeing her, made me face everything I tried to ignore. There was just too much there to deny. She was my family. I needed to find out everything that I could, to finally be able to put the missing pieces of my life together.
Adonis gave me the option of flying private, but I didn’t want to do that. I had no idea how our second meeting would go, or how long I’d be in Florida, so I wasn’t trying to get any type of royal treatment. I would’ve been dumb-as-fuck to pass on flying first class, though. The food was good as hell, and the drinks too. Not to mention, the flight attendants were easy on the eyes—which was why I had gotten the contact information for one of them.
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