by Leila Lacey
“We need to stop,” she said.
Julian could tell she was concerned he would be angry that she had stopped. He took her hand and pulled her closer to him again.
“You are right, we should stop. I don’t want the first time I bring that delectable body of yours to the peaks of euphoria to be in the back of my Jeep. We will save that for our third anniversary,” he said kissing her hand and continuing on shopping like he had not just said he planned to be with her by her side in three years.
CHAPTER 10
Julian and Angela arrived at the winery just in time to check into the B&B that was on the property to get ready for dinner. Angela did not even have time to address that they were sharing the same room.
They were starting off outside with a glass of wine while the actors gave the guests’ testimony for the evening. Then they moved them all inside to enjoy dinner and begin solving the mystery. The dinner consisted of dried cranberry and candied walnut salad over baby field greens with Riesling soaked onions, sage derby cheese, sweet potato chips and Riesling vinaigrette. They were also serving a duo entree of cinnamon dusted seared salmon with pumpkin vinaigrette AND cider braised pork belly with smoked apple butter accompanied with rosemary whipped potatoes and roasted baby carrots, sweet potato funnel cake with maple drizzle and cinnamon ice cream.
As all of the guests sat back and enjoyed digesting the wonderful meal they had just eaten, they also tried to solve the murder mystery. Raising his hand, Julian burped and said, “Colonel Mustard in the den,” which of course made everyone laugh. After one of the other guests solved the mystery, the dance floor was cleared and a melodic song of love played for couples to dance to.
Julian stood up and fastened the single button to his tuxedo jacket. Bending over he extended his hand saying, “Shall we?”
Smiling, Angela took his hand and followed him onto the dance floor. Their bodies melted into each other as they both swayed to one of Angela’s favorite songs, “Anytime, Anyplace” by Janet Jackson.
‘Dear God, please let this man be real. Let him really want to be the man for me. I am so tired of disappointment,’ Angela thought as they swayed together.
“It feels good to have you in my arms, Angie,” Julian whispered to her. “I don’t want to scare you but I have to tell you this has been the best date I have ever had in my life.”
Leaning back to look in his eyes, Angela knew he meant what he was saying to her. There were no lies or betrayal in his eyes; just desire for her that was an intoxicatingly powerful feeling to a woman that had been married to and had children with a man that realized in their marriage he was gay.
“I have to admit, this is the best time that I have had on a date ever,” she said smiling up at him. “It’s been so wonderful. I hate for it to end,” she finished going back into his arms continuing the sway.
“Umm... It doesn’t have to,” Julian whispered very closely to her ear taking the opportunity to kiss the side of her neck but pausing to give her the opportunity to push him away. She didn’t. Instead she gazed into his eyes and said, “What do you mean?”
Smiling, Julian took both of her cheeks into the palm of his hands looking deep into her eyes.
“I mean that we are checked in. There is a big beautiful bed upstairs that I would love to carry you up to and make slow sweet passionate love to you all night and most of the day tomorrow. All you have to do is say yes.”
Gazing into Julian’s eyes, being there wrapped in his arms, Angela knew even if it was just tonight, she would never regret what she was about to say.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Grabbing her hand, Julian started to head out of the dining room and up the stairs.
*******
Julian slowly opened the door to their room. Pulling Angela inside as he closed the door behind them, he moved in close to Angela slowly. He slid one hand around her waist and lifted her chin so that he could look her in the eye. He leaned in getting just a hair’s breath away from her lips and whispered, “Wait right here for me. OK?”
Julian had sparked so much desire in her that all she could do was nod her head.
The room was pitch black; so dark that Angela could barely see her hand in front of her face. Somehow Julian had managed to make it to the bathroom without running into something which was amazing to Angela. When he turned on the dim lights in the bathroom she could see that their room had candles everywhere. Angela could not see any spot in the room that did not have candles. She watched as Julian went around the room and lit every single one of them.
“Can I help you?” she asked him.
“No, you are helping by just standing there for me and being patient,” he said continuing to light the candles.
Julian strolled across the room after lighting all the candles and stood in front of Angela.
A gust of wind sent a branch crashing against the shutter behind the window. She squealed in fright and leapt into his arms for protection. They were frozen looking deep into each other’s eyes seeing their own desire mirrored there. She did not protest as he pressed his lips to hers. He felt her melt in his embrace as he parted her lips with his tongue and she opened her mouth to let him into her before pulling away slightly. Julian cursed himself for losing control and taking things too fast. He was about to try to apologize but was stopped by her returning his kiss, this time not waiting for his advance.
Julian struggled out of his jacket trying to remove it without loosening his grip on Angela. Her hands tugged desperately at his tie and the buttons of his shirt. She wanted to feel his skin on hers and was shameless in her desire. Their kisses continued as he undressed and lowered her onto the bed. The fire light danced across the sheets. Julian drank in the vision before him as she called his name and pulled his face down to hers, hungry for his kiss. Lying beside her, his erection strained against his pants. Julian couldn’t wait any longer to see her naked. He slowly slid the zipper of her dress down. As the zipper stopped and could travel no further, the dress fell away from Angela’s beautiful body. Angela had worn a light blue lace thong and bra set. In the darkness, her nipples and the fine hair below her hips showed through the fabric still covering her mahogany skin. She did not try to hide from him as he reached for her and traced a line from her forehead down her cheek to her lips, across her breast and belly, down her hip, thigh and all the way down to her elegant feet before turning and running back along her body. This time he tugged the damp fabric along, pausing; his look asking if he should continue. Angela nodded her consent. A nervous smile danced on her lips as his hands unfastened the strapless bra and slid the thong over her hips down her leg and off the end of her feet to bare her flesh to him. Julian was finally able to take in her breasts; full and soft, nipples erect, the soft curve of her belly, the rise of her hip and the fall into the valley of soft dark hair between her legs.
Angela’s eyes were closed; she was mesmerized by the feeling of his hands flowing up and down her body. When his caress stopped, she opened her eyes to find him gazing at her questioningly. She could feel her heart racing, her body drawn to his like a magnet. She reached out for him and, lying on her back, pulled him on top of her. She was no longer in control, instinct and desire had taken over.
She held his face close to hers demanding his kisses. Her hands began pulling his shirt free from his body. Angela could feel his weight against her and his manhood pressing against her hip made her groan in anticipation. His hand was helping her now, the folds of his shirt brushing lightly against her skin as he removed it. As his hands followed, sweeping down her chest, she thrust her hips towards him but he stopped again, this time to remove the rest of his clothes.
A rain storm had started. It raged around them outside, the wind howling and rain lashing at the window pane. Matching the fury between the two lovers, both naked now and clutching at their naked flesh trying to possess as much of each other as possible.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said gently as his hand firmly
grasped her butt raising her toward him leaning above her. Angela couldn’t speak. She didn’t think anything could hurt more than her longing for him and her fingers pressed deep into the flesh of his back trying to pull him down to her. Julian kissed her lips, her eyes, her cheeks, her neck, her breasts, sucking at her nipples and feeling her pleasure ripple through them both as his hand finally found the heat between her legs. She was so wet. Julian knew she was ready for him and his erection was pulsing hard against her thigh eager to be insider her.
Julian lowered himself gently into her, watchful for any sign of her pain. He knew that the girth of his penis was a lot for some women to take and sometimes his eight inch shaft was more than they could handle. Angela gasped once and then relaxed, grabbing his firm buttocks to push him further into her as she groaned in undisguised pleasure.
Julian moved inside her, slowly at first but then faster as she started to move her hips with his, urging him on, crying his name above the noise from the storm outside. Their mouths found each other again, kissing hard and urgently, his hand fingering her curls as they brushed against his face, then her nipples. She was panting now. Julian knew they would climax soon. Rising above her, he kneeled between her legs and pulled her hips up onto his thighs. She lay bare before him and he could see himself moving in and out of her. Angela’s look begged him to continue though she didn’t know what to ask for.
She knew there was more to come. He hooked her legs behind him and pressed his hands up the length of her thick thighs before holding her hips tightly and pulling her closer to him. She laughed in surprise and delight then gasped as his fingers flickered over the bud nestled among the small thatch of hair there. He was ready to cum and threw himself down on her, his full weight thrust into her one last time as he moaned and released into her.
They lay tangled, complete, depleted, in silence. The storm died down outside but was still raging between them. They knew they would never forget their first date.
CHAPTER 11
Angela awoke to the delicious smell of Amaretto coffee and bacon; two of her breakfast favorites. It took her a moment to recall where she was and what had happened between her and Julian the night before. Blinking at the brightness of the sun as opened her eyes she felt the bed shift with Julian’s weight as he sat down next her. Smiling, he handed her a long stemmed pink rose.
Angela took the rose her heart melting.
“Good morning,” Julian said.
“Hmm… Good morning,” she said smiling as she pulled the sheet over her mouth to prevent him from smelling her morning breath. “How long have you been awake?” she said from behind the sheet.
Laughing, Julian stood up and walked across the room, grabbed the complimentary robe off the back of the door and gave it to her. “For about an hour, I took the liberty of ordering our breakfast. Do you want to go and freshen up?”
Springing up out of the bed, she grabbed the robe saying, “Yes,” as she wrestled her arms into it and slid out of the bed. With three steps, she went into the bathroom shutting the door. Laughing, Julian went to sit at the table in front of the window, making her cup of coffee just the way she liked it.
Smiling to himself Julian thought of how he had found out the way she took her coffee. It had been about a year ago. The power in her house had gone out and she and the girls had knocked on his door for help.
“Hi, I am so sorry to bother you. The power went out at our house,” she had said when he had opened the door.
“No, No, no bother please come in,” he had said. Julian had been longing to know her better for months at that point and it was like the gods had just placed her in his lap.
“I am so sorry to have to ask you this but I can’t afford a hotel…” she had stared to say, but Julian had cut her off.
“You ladies will be staying here tonight,” he had said. Waving off her ‘thank you's’, he had shown her and the girls to the extra bedrooms.
“Mom, we don’t have our uniforms for school tomorrow, our pajamas or our backpacks,” Imani had reminded her.
“Oh shoot! She is right,” Angela had said. “Do you have a flashlight I can borrow to go next door and get what we need?” she had said to Julian.
Smiling, Julian had nodded saying, “not only do I have a flashlight but I will go with you.”
“Oh, No!” she had said looking at him in horror. “I cannot ask you to do that.” “You are not asking,” Julian had said handing her a flashlight. “I am saying I am going. Are you coming?”
That had been the first time Julian had seen the inside the rest of her house. He had been looking at her breaker box for her while she gathered their things when he had turned to go upstairs to let her know he thought she might need to have an electrician come out the next day and not the electric company. He bumped into Angela standing behind him with the flashlight under her chin in the dark saying, “BOO!”
Julian had screamed a very unmanly scream and dropped his flashlight as Angela slid to the floor laughing at his response gripping her stomach.
“I am sorry. I thought you knew I was behind you,” she had said gripping her stomach.
Julian had tried to play it off by saying, “I did,” but they both knew he hadn’t. Getting up and picking up her flashlight, Angela had fought to keep a straight face saying, “this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”
The next morning Julian had woke to Imani and Eliana sitting at his kitchen table eating the breakfast Angela had made.
“Good morning!” she had said to him smiling “Coffee?” she had asked him holding up a coffee cup.
“Yes, please,” he had said loving the sight of her and the girls in his home. Both the girls had bid him a good morning thanking him for letting them spend the night at his house and not having to go to Grandma McMillian’s house. Imani and Eliana did not have a very good relationship with their father’s mother.
Angela sat a plate with banana chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, eggs, raspberries, blueberries and grits in front of him with a cup of Amaretto coffee.
“WHOA! I had all of this in my refrigerator?” he had asked in amazement.
Angela and the girls had laughed.
“No, all you had in your fridge was baking soda, a beer and a bottle of questionable ketchup,” Imani had said.
“Oh whew! I was going to say. I need to get my key back from my mom again,” Julian had said laughing with them. He had taken a sip of his coffee and was surprised at the delicious new taste.
“What is this? It’s amazing!” he had said looking at Angela.
“It’s Amaretto,” all three ladies had said at the same time looking at each other and laughing.
“It’s Mom’s favorite!” Eliana had said.
“Wow, I see why,” Julian had said.
“Yes, the first man that wakes me up with a cup of this is the man that will forever have my heart,” Angela had said sitting down to eat her breakfast.
Julian had started to frantically hunt around the kitchen.
“What are you looking for?” Angela had said.
“A pen and paper; I have to write this down”, Julian had said making Angela blush and sending the girls into fits of giggles.
“Are you ok?” Angela said bringing Julian back into the present. She had freshened up and put her hair in a ponytail. The light in her eyes made her look twenty years younger than she was.
“Yeah, I am great; just day dreaming,” he said standing up to pull out her chair.
“Thank you,” she said sitting down and picking up her coffee cup taking a sip. It registered to Angela what she was drinking, smiling at him over her cup, she said, “You remembered.”
“Hey, I may not have been able to find a pen and paper that day, but I took a mental picture,” he said tapping the side of his head.
They both started to eat their breakfast. As they ate, Julian could feel a sense of dread come over Angela. Looking at her, Julian was dreading what he thought she was about to say which was that she
had regretted last night and wanted to go home and forget it ever happened.
“What?” he asked.
Putting her fork down, Angela cleared her throat looking at him. “Last night was amazing; it was more than I could have hoped for. I want you to know this is not the norm for me. I don’t just sleep with every man I go out with,” she said quickly. “But I also want you to know, I do not expect this to lead to anything other than what it was.”
Angela was so nervous she was fidgeting like a school girl on time-out.
Sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms, Julian said, “What is this, Angie?” he said waiting for her response.
Angela knew she had put her foot in her mouth without meaning to.
“Well, I know that we both got caught up in the moment last night,” she said looking around the suite at anything but Julian. “I just don’t want you to think that I expect anything because of what happened.”
Chuckling to himself, Julian stood up and walked around to Angela’s side of the table. Taking her hand and pulling her into his arms he said, “Well, Angie, I hate to disappoint you, but I have a lot of expectations,” he said tipping her chin up to look her in the eye. “I expect you to let me wine and dine you. I expect you to let me make you smile. I expect you to get to know me better. I expect you to not run from this, from us and I expect you to give us and chance and not to be afraid.”
Right at that moment Angela was at a loss for words. She had never been with a man that truly desired her.
Angela met Andre in high school and while she had thought it was love at first sight, he had always just tolerated her presence. She had “dated” if that is what you call it. Considering they never saw each other except at school and church, she knew now that was not much of a relationship. When they graduated from high school, Angela had expected Andre to go off to West Point like his father had expected and they would try and keep their relationship going.
But the day of Angela’s graduation party, Andre had gotten down on one knee and proposed marriage. Angela had been so in love and in denial that she had failed to realize he was proposing to her to keep from fulfilling his father’s dreams for him. Within eighteen months, they had gotten married and Imani was on the way.