by Anthology
I gasped in surprise opening my lips to him. He slid his tongue in still tasting of chocolate. I welcomed his kiss and rose to my toes wrapping my arms around his neck. Malik held my hips in his hands and kissed me weak. When my ankles gave out, making me fall back down to my feet, he pulled away. "You okay?" he asked brushing my hair from my face. I nodded and regained my balance.
He grabbed my hand and led me down one of the paths of the arboretum. Beautiful as it was, my mind was fixated on the feel of Malik’s mouth against mine. I ran my fingers across my lips and glanced at him. Six years ago, I would have walked away right now. I would have reminded him about how he left me graduation night, and I would do the same to him. Now, things were different. I was different, he was different, and this, this felt so completely right.
I watched Malik scan the room with contemplative eyes and periodically lick his lips. I knew he was deploying in the morning, so my rational mind told me to hold off on the physical. I had to keep some space between us to protect my heart from any unnecessary assumptions.
My heart seemed to speak differently, and here in this romantic setting, it was much louder than my mind. I felt no need to be cautious and no need to go slow. Right now, all I wanted was to enjoy this time with Malik, with this amazing man who put a constant smile on my face and heat in my body. I didn’t care what tomorrow held as long as I got everything out of this time with him now.
Letting my heart take the lead, I pulled on Malik’s hand to stop just as we passed a bench. He scrunched his eyebrows at me as I pushed him gently onto the bench. "My turn," I whispered straddling his lap and taking his face in my hands. Malik’s breath hitched just before I crushed my mouth to his.
He wrapped his hands around my ass, and in a quick pull, he yanked me higher onto his lap. I gasped at the immediate connection the core of my body made with his. Then I tilted my head and deepened the kiss. I couldn’t stop the desperation in my kiss. When Malik’s hands slid up my shirt and made cool contact with my heated back, I moaned into his mouth. He responded by digging the tips of his fingers into the softness of my skin.
I got lost in everything around us—in our bodies pressed together, in our lips moving in synchronized motion, and in the way his scent heated and mixed in with the cool pine air. My body rocked against his with the motion of our kiss, and Malik gave one strangled groan before pulling away from me. "Let’s get a little more private." Yes, let’s, I thought.
Malik wrapped his arms under my ass and rose to his feet with my body still molded tightly to his. I bent forward and ran my nose along his neck followed by my tongue. The salty taste of his skin only heightened my need for him. "Fuck," Malik whispered.
He carried me through one of the planters in the back of the arboretum. From here, a wall of brush, trees, and flowers hid us well. Suddenly, he lowered me onto a cold, solid surface. I looked around quickly and noticed I was sitting on top of a rock in front of a moss-covered water wall. "What are we doing, Ro?" His voice brought my attention back to him.
The searching look in his eyes told me he wasn’t having second thoughts, but he was looking to make sure I was positive about this. "We’re old friends having some fun before you leave," I touched my hands to his ridged stomach.
"Fun," The word was flat as he looked at my face.
"I’m having fun; aren’t you?" I asked pulling my hands back to myself. Maybe I’d misread his attraction to me. Malik’s hands darted out and latched onto mine.
"Oh, I’m having fun all right," His smile held a chuckle with it. Then he let go of one of my hands and ran his palm over his head licking his lips. "I keep thinking about-"
"Don’t-" I cut him off by gripping his shirt with my fists. I didn’t want to hear whatever he was going to say. Good or bad, it didn’t matter. This night had been perfect, and right now I was positive it could get even better. I was a big girl now. Gone were the days of sulking in heartbreak. Whatever the end of the night looked like, I knew I’d walk away with a smile on my face and my head held high. "Don’t think. Please don’t think, and just be here with me,"
Malik’s brown eyes deepened to near black and his mouth fell open just enough for his tongue to tap his upper lip. For whatever reason, what I said seemed to settle deeply in him. He lifted both of his hands to my neck placing his thumbs along my jaw. He swept them along my skin in such a tender way that my eyes drifted closed. I smelled the chocolate scent of his breath inches away from me, and then his soft lips pressed gently to mine.
He kissed me sweetly and slowly, almost as if he was committing everything from my lips, my tongue, and my taste to memory. I found myself doing the same, memorizing the way his lips covered mine, how his tongue swirled and tasted me, the way his breath tickled across my face, and how his rough hands felt against the vulnerable skin of my neck.
Malik moved his lips to my neck, where he sucked gently and lowered his hands to the bottom of my shirt. Grabbing the hem, he gave my neck one last suck before pulling away to pull my sweater up to my collarbone. "Hold that there," he instructed. His eyes focused on my exposed body and blew out a heavy breath.
I watched his hands touch to my stomach, and then he bent down to replace them with his lips. The velvety warmth of them against me lit my skin up with a warm chill. I watched him below my panting chest as he made his way up my body. He rose up slightly and kissed the swell of my breasts, in the same way, he’d kissed my neck. I reached my hands around his back and pulled him in closer to me at the same time that he pulled down the cup of my bra to suck on my nipple. He sucked hard and swirled his tongue in a delicious motion. My head fell back and I widened my legs. It was too good. I needed more.
Malik made his way over the other side. The cold air hit the nipple he’d just left at the same time his warm tongue encircled the other one. My mouth fell open in a gasp, and Malik pulled away. "My God, you're gorgeous," I looked toward his voice and saw him gazing up at me. The sight lodged my heart into my throat. I didn’t think anyone had ever looked at me with the amount of reverence Malik’s face possessed.
Still watching me, he moved his hands to the hem of my denim skirt and pushed it up. I rose slightly so he could maneuver it around my waist and drew in a sharp breath when he grabbed my thong by the strings and yanked them right off. Malik shoved it into his front pocket before he ran his hands up my thighs and moved between them.
He leaned in to kiss me again and his hands moved further up. At the same time his tongue swept into my mouth his thumb swept between my legs. My stomach contracted at the pressure and my legs fell open wider welcoming his touch. His thumb caressed me and pressed into the most sensitive spot. My mouth had become unusable when all I could do was pant, but Malik continued to lick and suck at my lips. The feel of his calloused thumb massaging left me pulsing in need for him, then he suddenly flicked it and I cried out feeling myself open for him.
"Fuck, you're soaked," Malik whispered into my lips. "It’s so hot, Ro."
"I can’t wait anymore. I want you inside of me when I come," I dropped my head onto his shoulder trying to hang on.
Malik hissed and quickly undid the button of his jeans. He reached into his back pocket of his jeans pulling out his wallet followed by a condom. His movement was quick, yet entirely too slow. When I saw him rip it open with his teeth, the vision of him entering me hit my mind and I arched back in need leaning partly against the trickling wall behind me. "Don’t come, Rosalyn," Malik ordered. "You come when I tell you, do you understand," I relished the cool drizzle of water against the heat of my skin. "Not without me. Got it, Rosalyn?" Malik asked again and I looked up at him, but my eyes went directly to where his hand stroked himself. I bit my lip in a groan at the sight of him, so large and ready for me.
Malik leaned forward and propped his arms above my head against the wall. He leaned in and I greedily leaned up taking his mouth in mine. This kiss wasn’t anything like the others we’d shared. This one was impatient and needy, full of desire with every plunge of
our tongues and groan from our throats.
I felt the heat of his body lean in, and then in one swift solid movement, he plunged deep into me. "Ah!" I pulled away to moan into the space around us. My body clenched around him and tingled from my scalp to my toes.
"You okay?" he rasped into my ear and then sucked it into his mouth. I nodded in another moan, and then he moved out and quickly back in, all the way. I groaned again at the sensation of him completely filling me. He stretched me out just enough for the sting to ache. I was so wet around him; he slid in and out of me effortlessly, over and over again.
Just like with our kiss, I memorized everything about him. The way he rippled against me from the inside. The way my body tugged and tightened against him not wanting to let him go. His lips and mouth kissed all over my neck, my jaw, and my lips. Water from the rock wall dripped from his arms suspended above me down my chest. The more I focused on the sensation of being immersed in Malik, the closer I got to letting go.
"Ready, Rosalyn?" Malik spoke into my neck seeming to read my body perfectly.
"Yes!" I groaned out loudly.
Malik continued to plunge into me. Once, my body coiled in heat. Twice, I tightened around him in tiny tremors. Three times, he demanded, "Come, Rosalyn," and I let go in a scream, clenching around him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself further into him. That was when his groan echoed through the space and I felt him pumping into me followed by a slew of curse words escaping his delicious mouth.
Still panting, Malik’s forehead dropped to my shoulder and he sighed. I let out a giggle at his contentment and ran my fingers across the back of his head. He lifted it up and smiled lazily at me.
"Hi," I smiled back.
"Hi," He leaned in and placed a tired, chaste kiss on my lips. He pulled away slowly and helped me rise to my feet before turning to remove the condom. He pulled his pants back up and leaned down to pick up the wrapper. I adjusted my skirt and pulled my sweater back down before running my fingers through my damp hair. The silence of the arboretum was suddenly incredibly loud. What now?
Did we continue our night through the park? Did he take me back to my car? We didn’t set out to end up in the position at the beginning of the night, but now that we were here, I wasn’t sure what to do.
"You okay?" I looked up and noticed Malik watching me. I smiled softly at him and he returned it. He reached up and gently slid a piece of wet hair that was stuck to my forehead out of my face, so sweet and so gentle. My God, I thought, he turned into such an amazing man. That was when I knew I wasn’t ready to say good-bye. I wanted more time with him, all the time I could get.
"Do you want to-" I started to ask him if he wanted to come back to my apartment with me when his phone rang in his pocket.
"Hold that thought," He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. "I gotta take this," He stepped away from me slightly. "Jackson," I tried not to listen but listened completely. "Are you fuckin’ with me?" Then he stepped further away. "Fuck. When?" His head dropped back, and he stared up at the glowing ceiling. "Yeah, man. Okay." Then he stuffed his phone into his back pocket.
I waited for him to turn back toward me or to say something, but he did neither. He continued to stare at the ceiling. I took a few careful steps toward him when he finally spoke. "I’ve got to go," he said into the night, still standing away from me.
"What?" I asked walking until I stood directly behind him. Then he turned around slowly and looked down into my eyes.
"That’s my call. I have to leave," His eyes held a silent apology, and then it registered.
"On deployment?" I asked feeling my eyes grow wide with surprise. "I thought you didn’t have to go until morning?"
Malik sighed deeply. "That was the plan, but sometimes things come up and we have to go early, or even when it’s not planned. When the call comes, we go," He reached out for my hand taking it in his.
I nodded listening and absorbing his words. So, this was it. Our night was over. He had to leave. My thoughts had gone from wanting to take him home with me to now wondering how I was going to get home alone. Did I need to call a cab, or maybe my roommate could come pick me up?
"I can call-"
"Look Ro-" Malik and I spoke at the same time. "You go," he said before he blew a puff of breath from his lungs.
"No, you." I insisted.
"I know this may be weird, and you can say no without feeling bad, I would completely understand, but would you take me to the airport?" Malik’s words were vulnerable matching the way his eyes seemed to hesitate on each one he uttered. "You know what-" He squeezed his eyes closed and shook his head, but I stopped him by squeezing his hand.
"Yeah," I said, and his eyes opened slowly.
"Yeah?" His voice rose.
"Yeah," I nodded and smiled. "I’ll take you to the airport. I’d love to," I said thinking that I’d still take any time with him I could get, even if it was only a fifteen-minute car ride.
"You sure?" he asked. "Because the whole goodbye thing, it can be a little intimate," He stopped himself when I raised my eyebrow at him in a smirk.
"Oh, I don’t know then," I teased, "I’m not sure about intimate with you," I pulled my hand from his and folded my arms over my chest making him laugh. He reached out and pulled me into his arms. I placed my forehead on his chest and breathed him in.
"I’m glad you’re dropping me off," he whispered into my hair and kissed the top of my head. I held back a surprising set of tears.
Chapter Five
Malik drove me back to the bar so I could grab my car. I followed him back to his place so he could leave his car and ride with me to the airport. Sadly, his house was close to the base, so our last few minutes together were literally that. Minutes. I’d watched out of the corner of my eye as he stared out the window the entire time I drove. Neither of us spoke. Cars passed me making their way home for the holiday, and I was taking him to an airport so he could leave. It all seemed so twisted.
When we began to cross the Coronado Bridge, Malik finally spoke. "Whatever happened that night, Ro?" he said turning his body toward me. I’d laughed at him when he’d first climbed into the passenger side of my Golf. He looked huge in my tiny car.
"What do you mean?" I asked without looking over at him. Driving over the bridge had always made me nervous.
"Graduation," he said, and my hand tightened on the steering wheel when my heart jumped. "I thought," He stopped, and then continued, "Well, I thought we had something, at least I felt something. Then when I came back to find you, you were gone," My pulse pounded through my fingers into the wheel. "I asked everyone that night where you’d gone if anyone saw you leave, but no one knew where you went," They wouldn’t have. When I saw him with Jessica, I’d left so quickly no one saw me go.
My mouth was dry, but I still licked my lips. "I saw you," I said and swallowed an empty gulp. "I saw you with Jessica." I whispered out hoarsely.
"What?" He sounded utterly confused.
"Jessica Landry. I waited for you, but when you took a while to come back, I went looking for you. I found you in the kitchen with Jessica Landry all over you," Now that I’d made it over the bridge I glanced over quickly at him and saw a stunned expression on his face.
"No," he said shaking his head, but I turned my attention back to the road and kept talking.
"I thought we had something, too. I felt it. I’d felt it for a long time and couldn’t believe you’d kissed me. When I saw you with her, I realized it was too good to be true. I left immediately because I didn’t want anyone to see how upset I was and ask why."
"No, no, no," Malik repeated again. He reached over and pried one of my hands off the steering wheel and held it in both of his hands. "No. I went to the kitchen that night because I’d left my phone on the counter by the keg. Jessica was in there, and she was wasted. She did put her hands on me, probably at the exact moment you walked in. I took her hands off me and told her I was interested in someone else. That I was pursuin
g you," My heart sank. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
When I stopped at the stop sign just before the gate to the base, I looked over at Malik. He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed it softly watching me closely. "All these years," I whispered but stopped.
"I know. Me, too," he said, and we just watched each other. I’d been so wrong. All along, I was so wrong. I walked away from him that night. What would have happened if I’d just waited a second longer?
"We’re here now, Ro," he whispered reading my thoughts.
"Yeah," I returned my gaze to the road and drove us onto the base. We stopped at the guard checkpoint and showed out ID’s before continuing in silence to the base’s tiny airport. I suppose digesting the truth.
As I drove up, I noticed a flurry of activity highlighted by the glow of the orange streetlights. A few trucks were loading a military aircraft. People walked back and forth between it and the terminal. A few couples speckled the walkway leading up to the terminal embraced in hugs and kisses. One couple had a small child nestled between them as they held each other.
I opened the car door slowly and stepped out into the night. Silence. You could hear a pin drop. With all of the people, all of the movement, it was silent. A blanket of chills covered my body. I walked toward the back of the car as Malik unloaded his bag and closed the trunk. "Ready?" he said and took my hand in his. I only nodded and let him lead me toward the terminal doors.
I watched the couples as we passed, all silent except for an occasional sniffle. I didn’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t it. The somber way the air hovered around us took me by surprise. The reality of the moment suddenly crashed down on me. These people were saying good-bye to their loved ones, for how long they didn’t know. They had no idea when or if they’d see each other again. I wiped a tear from my eye and looked over at Malik. We’d stopped, and he turned toward me.
Then it was our turn to be silent. We simply looked at each other, and there I was memorizing every line of his face. The tiny scar etched into his left eyebrow. The soft smile on his lips. His wide, almond-shaped eyes and the tiny freckle below the right one. This was it. Our night was over. "Well…" I spoke so quietly I wasn’t sure he’d hear me, but when he took a step closer to me and wrapped his hands around my hips, I knew he had.