Just One Taste (Kimani Romance)

by Norfleet, Celeste O.

“Oh?” she began as he pulled her to sit down on the step in front of him. “Oh.” She realized exactly what he meant. He spread her legs, putting each on his shoulders, and she lay back on the landing. He lifted her rear off the step and with tender, relentless greed, licking and savoring, he ate his fill and more.

  “Oh!” Nikita climaxed hard with an orgasm that was damn near blinding. Waves of rapturous spasms rippled through her. “Oh…”

  He ripped the condom open and barely fitted himself before he entered her in one smooth fluid motion. They never made it upstairs to the bed.

  * * *

  Hours later Chase sat watching as Nikita picked herbs from her large backyard garden. Earlier, after making love on the steps, they had eaten breakfast, cleaned the kitchen and iced the tiny cakes. Then they walked around the extensive perimeter of her property. Now with a wicker basket over her arm and dressed in another floor-length sundress, this one more fitted to her body, Nikita walked down another makeshift aisle.

  Each section was squared off with long wooden planks resembling open boxes—some with covered netting and some without. Like a playful butterfly she picked and chose her targets with selective ingenuity—first touching, smelling and examining and either passing them by or picking and storing them in her basket. Chase decided that he could watch her playful ritual all day.

  But he was no fool. He knew Nikita would be upset when she found out what he wanted from her. He also knew she might assume their sleeping together was all part of his ruse to get what he wanted. The thing was he wasn’t sure it wasn’t.

  Truth in fact, she was right. He had intended to get closer to her and find her weakness and exploit it for Titan’s gain. But unlike Daniel, he didn’t want to come into Key West and start taking over. He needed the community and the prominent Coles family as allies if Titan was going to stay. Nikita was the key to everything.

  He watched her bend down, gather a large handful of spiked greenery, and then pull it up from the earth. She brought the bunch up to her nose and inhaled. She smiled with overwhelming pleasure, as if she’d just breathed in the scent of a dozen roses. He half smiled, seeing her repeat the action over and over again.

  He looked up. The sky was overcast. Still, it was easy to discern that it was nearly midday. It was Sunday and he knew he still had to work. He didn’t even want to see his cell phone and email messages. He looked back at the garden. Nikita wasn’t there. He scanned more closely and finally spotted her crouched low behind a high, colorful bush. She stood up and happily continued to the next section.

  It was the simplest action and still it seemed to give her pure pleasure. Having obviously filled her basket to capacity and apparently very satisfied with her pickings, she walked back toward the house—toward him. “You looked like you were having fun out there,” he said.

  She smiled brightly. “I was. I love playing in my little garden.” She turned, looking back admiringly. “Every year it seems to get smaller and smaller.”

  “How many acres do you have?” he asked.

  She sat down next to him with her basket beside her. “Two, but most of it is just undeveloped grounds. The soil is too sandy to expand the garden. Still…”

  “What you have is well-tended. Who waters and takes care of it when you’re away all week?”

  “Believe it or not there’s a programmed and timed irrigation system that I can control wirelessly with my computer. I come and pick weeds when I can. Also, the Petersons, my housekeeper and her husband come in and help out a few times a week. They live on a fixed income and have an apartment a few miles away. They come here to putter in the garden and pick whatever they like. We’re like growing partners. I supply the land and they tend it and take what they need. Last year they asked if some of their friends might help out, as well.”

  “So this plot of land helps others, too.”

  “More like we help each other,” she said.

  “Sounds like you have your corner of the world all worked out.”

  “Nah, not even close,” she confessed, then showed obvious concern. “Coming here sometimes makes me sad. This used to be a thriving community about seventy years ago. As soon as I saw this area I loved it.”

  “And Reed gave it to you for a kiss.”

  She nodded. “In lieu of an engagement ring, he signed the deed over to me. It had been in his family for decades. His parents gave it to him and he gave it to me. Of course when they found out, they were furious. They demanded it back and even took me to court a few times. But it was a legally binding transaction. The cottage and land are mine.”

  “And you kept it after everything that happened.”

  “I’ve been offered a lot of money for it.”

  “Take the money.”

  She stopped and looked around. “This area will come back to life someday and when it does I’m going to build a restaurant here.”

  They slipped into a comfortable silence for a few moments, then she asked him, “You said last night that your mother moved to Europe to get a new start, but you didn’t mention your father. Are they divorced?”

  “My parents were never married. For the first fifteen years of my life my father had no idea I even existed,” he admitted freely, something he never did. Few knew of his humble beginnings. “My father’s family didn’t accept their relationship so my father broke it off. He had no idea my mother was pregnant at the time.”

  “Wow,” she muttered softly. “That must have been difficult for her and for you. Did you know about him?”

  “No, not for a long while.”

  “So how did he eventually find out about you and vice versa?”

  “My mother owned a small eatery outside of Paris. A magazine did an article on her. My grandfather, Jacob Buchanan, was in France at the time and he happened to see a picture of my mother and me in the magazine.

  “He came to the café. He immediately recognized Mom and that I was a Buchanan. The next day he contacted her and demanded to meet me. She refused. This went on for months. As a Buchanan he tried everything, threats, money, but it was his promise to tell me everything that did it.

  “After that she told me about my birth, about Titan, the Buchanans and my father. Jacob and Daniel came to meet me. They insisted on taking me back to Alaska to raise me, as they put it, the right way.” He chuckled. “The rest is history.”

  “The right way. What’s the right way?” she asked.

  “The only way, the Buchanan way,” he said.

  “Did you go?”

  “No. I didn’t know them. All I knew at the time was my home in Paris. I stubbornly refused, also a Buchanan way, apparently.”

  “I guess everything worked out in the end.”

  “Yeah, something like that. My mother was killed in an accident and I went to live in Alaska. My grandparents raised me.”

  “And what about your father?” she asked.

  “I preferred to stay with my grandparents, Olivia and Jacob. My father objected but…”

  “Let me guess. You stubbornly refused.”

  “Exactly.”

  She looked at him. “Demanded, huh?”

  He smiled and nodded. “You’d have to know my family to get it. The Buchanans rule the world. Whatever they want, they get—period. They have money and power in abundance. That’s tempting and very seductive to a lot of people. Few adamantly turn it down. Eventually everyone surrenders to them. In the end, they always win.”

  “Them and they are you,” she said simply, identifying the truth in his statement.

  “Yes, I am a Buchanan,” he said with a mixture of pride, arrogance and disdain. He shot her a look, his eyes intense and piercing, that seemed to warn her off. “Never forget that,” he spoke softly.

  She nodded. Then, as if a cool chill shivered down her spine, she stood abruptl
y. “Are you ready to go?” she asked, grabbing her basket.

  He nodded, took the basket and set it beside him on the top step. He pulled her in between his long legs and gathered her in his arms. He held her tight, kissing and nuzzling her neck tenderly. Making love with her was so natural. He could see himself doing it for the rest of his life.

  He kissed her lips long and leisurely. When the kiss ended he leaned back. For a moment he didn’t speak. He just enjoyed the feel of her, knowing this would probably be the end of them. After all, this was exactly what it was. Not a love thing, not a relationship thing, but a sex thing and now it was time to let it go.

  “Thank you for bringing me here. It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful,” he said.

  She nodded. “Come on.” She took his hand and led him back to the house.

  * * *

  After dropping off one of the small cakes to the Petersons, they headed back to the city, him in his car and her in hers. When they crossed into the Key West city limits she glanced up in the rearview mirror. Chase beeped his horn and turned in the direction of her brother’s home. It was time to get back to her real life. She drove through town to the beachfront area and her sister’s home.

  As soon as she got out of the car she heard the laughter and squeals of her two nephews coming from the back of the house. She walked down the side path and reached over to open the gate. A flash of bright colors dashed by in the distance then disappeared, followed by another flash of color. Nikita knew it was her nephews.

  They appeared again. This time she stepped back and rang the chimes and bells at the gate’s entrance. Two tiny cuties stopped and turned instantly to see who it was. They were dressed as superheroes in swimming trunks, goggles and towels for capes. They were flying around the backyard. Nikita rang the bells again. Their faces lit up and they came running. Nikita couldn’t help but laugh. They held their arms out and flew to her. She leaned down and grabbed them in one fell swoop.

  Nearly knocking her over and toppling the small cake boxes in her hand, the three laughed as Natalia came to see who it was. “Hey,” Natalia said, waving. “Come on back.”

  Nikita laughed as the boys realized she was holding two cake boxes. “Ooh! What’s that? Is that a cake? Is that for us? Is that for us?” they excitedly repeated over and over again.

  “Only if your mother says it’s okay. So you’ll have to ask…”

  They immediately ran off to their mother before she even finished the sentence. By the time Nikita reached her sister, the boys were jumping up and down excitedly. “She said yes!” they cheered.

  Natalia told the boys to calm down, put on their T-shirts, wash their hands and go sit down at the kitchen table. When they ran off, she hugged Nikita warmly.

  “You look great this morning,” Nikita said.

  “Thanks. I think I’m finally getting over the cold that never came. I’ve been feeling so run-down and tired lately, but today I feel great.”

  “Maybe it was the Teen Center event,” Nikita said.

  “Yeah, probably. David made me promise to see a doctor if I didn’t get any better.”

  “Actually, that’s a good idea. I agree with him. You should do it. I’ll watch the boys.”

  “But—hey—check you out, girl. Your face is practically glowing. What have you been up to?”

  “Me? Nothing, just working,” Nikita said, then quickly changed the subject. “Last night was fantastic, Nat. Everything was wonderful. You and Mia did an amazing job.”

  Natalia nodded. “Thank you. Yes, it was great. The kids were so happy to be there and celebrate with us. We raised a lot of money for the scholarship fund and I’m so pleased. The teens worked so hard, and to be able to hand over a check to help them further their education is an amazing feeling. And thank you for everything you did. The catering and food were spectacular. I didn’t get a chance to eat last night, but everybody raved about the food. Thank you so much. We really appreciated it.”

  “Oh, you’re very welcome. It was our pleasure to participate. I’m just glad everything worked out,” Nikita said.

  “It did, beautifully.”

  Nikita lifted up the cake boxes. “I brought this by today ’cause I figured you probably didn’t get any last night. Guess I was right.”

  “Yep, you were. But don’t you even try to kiss up to me after what happened last night.”

  Nikita looked confused. “What do you mean? What happened last night?” she asked.

  “You know you’re in trouble, don’t you?” Natalia said as she opened the back door and walked into the kitchen. The boys were already seated at the table.

  “Trouble, why? What did I do?” Nikita said anxiously as she put the cake boxes on the counter, then went over and gave each nephew a kiss on the forehead.

  “Don’t pretend all innocent like you don’t know what you did. That’s why you baked and brought over the cake. You knew you were wrong for disappearing on me last night.”

  Nikita visibly relaxed. “Oh, that,” she said casually.

  “Oh, that,” Natalia repeated. She gave the boys a slice of cake each and they immediately dug in. Then the sisters went back outside to sit on the back deck. “So what happened to you? Where’d you go?”

  “You know I have to get up early.”

  Natalia laughed, knowing her sister too well. “You didn’t have to open the café this morning and you never go to bed early when you don’t have to open the next day. Plus you even have tomorrow off. Darcy already told me,” Natalia said. Nikita looked guilty. “You might as well just tell me. You know I’m gonna find out anyway.”

  Nikita paused a moment then shook her head. She knew her sister was right, she would find out eventually. “I went to Stock Island,” she said. Natalia looked at her, knowing there was more. Nikita took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Chase Buchanan came with me.”

  Natalia smiled. “So that’s what happened to him. Oren Davis kept asking for him all night. The man was just about losing his mind. So, he was with you. Interesting. So… And…” She prompted for more.

  “And nothing,” Nikita said. “Would you please stop trying to get me down the aisle? I can see it written all over your face.”

  Natalia laughed. “Did I say anything about marriage? All I said was, interesting.”

  “Yeah, but I know your ‘interesting.’ It means that you mentally already have your dress picked out for the wedding.”

  “Hey, stop trying to do my job. I’m the psychologist in the family,” Natalia joked.

  “Doesn’t matter, I know you too well, Nat. Marriage doesn’t interest me. Not anymore. I’ve done all that, the falling in love thing. Never again. To love is to open yourself up to pain.”

  “Not always, Nikita. Finding that someone special—for you to love—will change that.”

  “But I’m not looking for someone to love,” Nikita said.

  Natalia smiled. “And that’s exactly when they come along.”

  “No, not this time.”

  Natalia gave her a reassuring pat on the arm. “So tell me, hanging out with Chase Buchanan, what’s he really like?”

  “I don’t know, nice. He’s a lot different than I expected.”

  “What did you expect, an ogre because he’s in the oil business?”

  “No, not exactly.” She paused to consider then shrugged. “I don’t know, he’s just different. He’s sweet, funny and kind of tender. He told me a lot about himself and his family. I was surprised. He seemed to be the closed-off type, but he’s not.”

  “It sounds like you two got to know each other a bit.”

  “We did. We talked and then got to know each other a lot more. We had sex. And before you get all romance-novel-happily-ever-after on me, it was just a physical release. We both needed it.”

  “A
physical release,” Natalia repeated.

  Nikita nodded. “Exactly, a physical release—four times.”

  Natalia’s mouth gaped open, then she chuckled. “Whoa, four times? Damn, girl, are you sure that it was just a physical release? Once, twice, maybe is no big deal physical. But when you get into four times in one night, you’re talking serious attraction. Add in the talking, and that’s two people getting to know one another real well. It sounds like it might be more than you think.”

  “Trust me, beyond the physical we have very little in common. He works for a huge oil company and the last time I checked, they nearly destroyed the Gulf and everything around it, including my café.”

  “That had nothing to do with Titan Energy and you know it.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Oil companies have tried to stake a claim in this area before. I have a feeling he’s here to do the same thing.”

  “Did he say that?”

  “No, not exactly,” Nikita said.

  “Then you don’t really know. Niki, maybe you’re letting your experience with Reed’s family influence your objectivity. Just because they’re both in the oil business doesn’t mean that Reed and Chase are alike. Reed’s family came in with big plans and big promises to help this community. They wound up almost destroying it.”

  “And how do we know the Buchanans aren’t going to do the exact same thing?”

  “We don’t know,” Natalia said.

  “No, we don’t,” Nikita confirmed, then paused for a moment.

  “You know there’s a book out about them, the Buchanans.”

  “Really,” Nikita said then, shook her head. “It’s probably just another hyped-up, self-promoting, tell-nothing book.”

  “No. Actually it’s pretty good. It’s about Jacob Buchanan and the Titan Energy Corporation and it’s written by Johanna Butler before she became Andre Buchanan’s wife.”

  “Then how objective can it possibly be?”

  “All I know is that it’s a good book. It tells the good and the bad of how their ancestor Thaddeus Boles became Louis Buchanan. It starts in New Orleans in 1863 and tells how they became the Buchanans of Alaska in the twenty-first century. Like I said, it’s pretty good.Maybe you should check it out. You’d get a better insight into what Chase is all about.”