“It’s okay Angel, any emotion you display is alright with me. If you need to cry on my shoulders they’re broad enough.”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said, leave me alone, please, I just need some time by myself.”
Cupping his hands lightly around Aviva’s cheeks, Jason slowly bent his head and placed a soft kiss against her forehead. Frustrated at his refusal to listen to her she tried to pull away from his gentle ministration, alarmed at how comfortable it felt to be comforted by this man in such a short period of time.
Pushing against his chest Aviva attempted to move Jason out of her space as the tears she had valiantly tried to hold at bay found a path through her closed eyelids. Refusing to back away Jason followed up the first kiss with another, first against one tightly closed eyelid and then the next. For a moment he stilled all movement. Aviva held her breath in anticipation of where he would place his next kiss. She didn’t have long to wait as she felt the brush of his lips against her own before he murmured. “It’s going to be okay Angel, you’ve got me now, and I know just how special you are.”
“Jason I don’t think this is a good…”
“Shh, sometimes you need to think less and feel more, this is one of those times.” Jason whispered as he took Aviva’s lips in a kiss meant to express the feelings that had already taken hold of him. As he rubbed his lips against hers he pulled her tighter into his warm embrace, so tight he could feel her heartbeat as it increased in pace to a tempo that matched his own. He had only wanted to offer comfort but the feel of her soft body against his own was his undoing, he wanted more, he needed more. Every time he touched this woman something happened to him. Having no inclination to dissect or fight his feelings, he went with his heart and deepened the kiss, using his tongue to part her lips as he thrust into her mouth claiming the kiss he had wanted from the very moment she started singing the song created for Steve and Hope. The lyrics had so resonated with him; it was as though she had pulled the thoughts from within his mind and transferred them through song.
She was driving him mad, he wanted her so much, needed her so much. Pulling his mouth from hers, Jason placed soft kisses against the side of her face. “Do you have any idea what you do to me, how you make me feel?”
“Jason stop, please stop. It’s too much.” Aviva pleaded in a weak voice, feeling as though they were moving too fast and she was losing control of the situation – of herself.
“Yes Jason, this is hardly the time or the place.” This was said by a surprised Hope who neither of them had heard approach, so lost were they in emotion. Jason unhurriedly released Aviva as they glanced in Hope’s direction. Aviva felt the heat of another blush pass over her face, embarrassed to be caught kissing Jason on the balcony, where anyone could have come across them, as Hope had. Jason had no such feelings of embarrassment; he was just pissed at Hope’s terrible timing.
“Hey girl, I was looking for you to say thanks for the song, it was beautiful. Come on, Steve wants to say thank you as well.” Taking hold of Aviva’s hand Hope pulled her from Jason’s side leading her back towards the reception room. Hope cut Jason a dirty look which told him in spades to back away from her friend.
Back amongst the party revelers, Hope pulled Aviva through the buzzing crowd and headed out of the room. Passing her dinner table she snagged her purse as they breezed by, Hope orchestrating their departure with an absolute disregard of anyone who tried to gain her attention.
“For goodness sake Hope, slow down!”
“Slow down my ass, you got some explaining to do sister-friend.” Opening the door to a powder room, Hope practically dragged Aviva in behind her, slamming and locking it shut. “What the hell are you playing at, I told you Jason is not into black women and where do I find you, I’ll tell you where, sucking his face off on the balcony like you gone and lost your damn mind.”
“Whatever Hope, this is none of your business so just drop it.”
“Drop it, drop it, no I’m not going to drop it. What the hell were you thinking?!”
“It was a kiss on the balcony, what’s the big deal? I’m sure you’ve done far worse on a bloody balcony in broad daylight!”
“We’re not talking about me; we’re talking about you and Jason, Jason for goodness sake!”
Pausing in the touching up of her makeup Aviva paused to look at Hope. “Are you mad at me for getting caught kissing on the balcony, or are you mad because I was kissing Jason?”
Taken aback by the directness of her question, Hope, for a moment was at a loss of how to answer. Aware of how her slight hesitation could be interpreted, she rushed to give Aviva an answer that would return the conversation to the point she was making.
“Jason King is a major league player Aviva, he’s not for you. He’s Steve’s best friend I know but, I don’t want him for you –what I mean to say is you deserve better. You don’t need a man who will play with you and then revert back to type once he gets what he wants, and girl you looked like you were about ready to give up that thing, right there on the balcony.”
Aviva had heard enough of Hope’s lecture; she had also heard enough about Jason King for one night. Every time she was around the man she lost control, Hope was right on one score, she had been nearly ready to give it up, not once, but twice. She didn’t intend for anything else to happen between them for the foreseeable future, well certainly for the rest of the night at least. With her makeup repaired, her resolve firmly back in place, Aviva was ready to party till she dropped; and she knew just the man to keep her company. Without comment on Hope’s warning, Aviva unlocked the door and passed through in search of Carlos.
The remnants of dinner had already been cleared from the tables and waiters were again passing around glasses of champagne. Aviva also saw that the bar was open for those guests who wanted something stronger. Accepting a glass of wine, Aviva looked around the room for Carlos. Catching his eyes she inclined her head towards the dance floor. The DJ had taken over and was pumping some old grooves from yesteryear. Placing her purse and her empty glass on the table, she joined Carlos for some old school dancing. She blanked thoughts of Jason from her mind, well aware that he watched her every progress towards the dance floor. Reaching Carlos, she flung her arms in the air and began dancing with him in time to the music. Not a big drinker, she felt the last glass of champagne go straight to her head. She had also had a glass of wine on arrival at the reception and three glasses at dinner in an attempt to quell her nervousness at the impending performance. The last glass, which she knew she had drunk much too quickly, began to take its toll. She felt good, loose, and Carlos looked very fine, yes he did, and he knew how to shake his groove thang.
“You okay, you seem a little unsteady over there?”
“Well what you gonna do about it – you gonna help a girl out or what?”
“Anything for you sweet, you know that.” Carlos moved closer to Aviva’s swaying body and pulled her into his arms. Moving her hands up his chest, she locked her fingers around his neck as she looked up into his light brown eyes. Carlos smiled down at Aviva, doing his best no to laugh at the state she was in. Suddenly her eyes crossed, before just as suddenly correcting themselves. Carlos wanted to laugh; he couldn’t wait to tell her about this when she was sober. He intended to tease her for all he was worth.
“You have beautiful eyes Carlos, did anyone ever tell you that?”
“One or two people.”
“Well they were right you have very beautiful eyes Carlos, there I just made it three people.” Aviva laughed uproariously at her own joke.
“Do you want to get some air, Aviva?”
“No, I don’t like that balcony. I get into trouble when I go out onto balconies in the moonlight.”
Carlos had witnessed Jason following her outside, and had thought about going out to see what was taking them so long to return, but had thought better of it, sure that Aviva’s question of whether he could take Jason would have been put to the test, sooner rather than later
if he had joined them. He had also seen Aviva’s re-emergence with a very unhappy looking Hope.
“Do you want to sit down then?”
“No I don’t want to sit down, if you don’t want to dance with me, just say so and I’ll find someone who does.”
“It’s always a pleasure to dance with you my dear, Aviva.”
“Thank you, um…”
“Carlos.”
“I knew that, silly – just couldn’t remember there for a minute. Anyway, I don’t want to talk, I want to dance.”
“Yes ma’am, whatever you say.” Carlos responded as he pulled Aviva closer to his body, hoping she wasn’t a spewer.
~~~~~~~~~~
Steve found Jason propping up the bar; a brooding look plastered across his face as he watched Aviva and Carlos dance to one song after another.
“They look good together don’t they?”
“Yeah, just what the world needs, another pretty boy.” Jason snapped back, vexation evident on his face.
“Something on your mind big guy, or should I say someone?”
“You need to do something, or I might just ruin your party.”
Laughing Steve patted Jason on the shoulder. “Don’t worry my friend the mood is about to change. Hope told the DJ to play the electric slide next, believe me, any self-respecting man over six feet, is gonna high-tail it off that floor in two seconds flat. I’m also going to do you another favor; when I ask Aviva to dance you can cut in, how does that sound?”
“Sounds like we got ourselves a plan, my man.”
“Well alright then, shall we take up our positions?”
“After you my good man...after you.”
As the DJ announced the electric slide, Carlos’ hands disentangled Aviva’s hands from around his neck as he made a hasty exit from the dance floor; leaving behind a lot of squealing women and some die hard men who were ready to take on the dance. Carlos moved to the side of the dance floor and watched Aviva as the dancers found their places. Aviva wasn’t the most beautiful woman on the dance floor by far, in fact with so many model types attending the party she fell short on more than one level. But there was something about her that had caught his attention from the first moment he had been introduced to her. She had a vitality that transposed mere beauty and resonated with Carlos.
He had been in the music business and at the top of his game for a long time. Beautiful women threw themselves at him all the time. In the beginning he had lapped up all the attention, had even married a beautiful woman, to realize when it was too late, she loved his money and fame more than she loved him. After their divorce she had moved on to a football player and finally to a basketball player. He wasn’t saying that all beautiful women were only after a man who could give them a certain life style, he knew that to be untrue, even unfair. But he was shaped by his experiences and the women he normally came into contact with were usually above average looking.
He was ready to settle down once again and he had been giving Aviva some serious thought on become the next Mrs Ernesto. In the past one of the only spanners in the works had been that he had yet to get Aviva to admit that she found him attractive, referring to him as a ‘dear friend’. Enter a certain Jason King, and if his instincts were correct, Aviva wasn’t calling him ‘dear friend’.
As Carlos watched Aviva dance, Jason watched Carlos from the opposite side of the room, not liking what he saw any more than when he had seen them together earlier. As the song drew to an end, Steve maneuvered his way through the dancers towards Aviva, only just beating Carlos who was about to claim her for another dance. Steve smiled and shrugged at Carlos as he spun her in Jason’s direction where he stood waiting, just as they had planned. Not wanting to appear too obvious Steve slowed his movements and looked down at Aviva who appeared more than a little glassy eyed and slightly sick at the spin he had just executed.
“Thank you for the song, it was beautiful, Hope and I appreciated it very much.”
“Welcome Seeve, you knowed I’d do anythink for you and Hop.”
Never having seen Aviva intoxicated, Steve was hard pressed not to laugh. Jason would be lucky to get anything coherent out of her for the rest of the night. Hell, he’d be lucky if she didn’t puke all over him. Aviva made a funny little sound and Steve was more than ready for Jason to cut in and take her off his hands. Steve felt a hand tap him on the shoulder, relinquishing his hold he handed her over and left the room to call for Jason’s car to take them home. That girl needed to lie down before she fell down.
“’son I’m frunk...don’t feel so good.”
“I can see that Angel, you gonna be sick?”
“Don’t know, maybe…”
“Can you walk?”
“Don’t be silly ‘son, I learned when to walk when I was nine months old, my mother told me.”
Laughing Jason held Aviva up as her legs began to buckle; her eyes taking on a strange drunken cross action. He wanted to pick her up but knew doing so would draw attention to her inebriated state. Securing her firmly to his side, with a firm arm locked around her waist, he carried her in such a way as to give the appearance she moved under her own steam. If anyone chose to look closely they would immediately see the truth of the situation.
Two people were paying them very close attention, Carlos and Hope, the latter making a bee-line to follow them out of the room.
“What’s going on Jason, where are you two going?”
“Hop, what a wonderful party, isn’t it a wonderful party ‘son, tell her it’s a wonderful party.”
“Your car’s ready Jason. I had it brought around when I saw our little girl was looking at me cross eyed.”
“Thanks man, come on Miss Inebriation, let’s get you home.”
No longer needing to keep up the pretense of Aviva being unable to walk, Jason swung her up into his arms and carried her to the waiting car. Entering with her still in his arms he took a seat, holding her in his lap throughout the drive back to his house. Aviva didn’t move once, she just snuggled into his chest and snored softly.
It was after midnight by the time Jason got her home. At the top of the stairs he realized he had no idea which room she was occupying, the thought pleased him. When she awoke tomorrow to give him hell he had the perfect explanation as to why she was in his bed. Carrying her up the stairs Jason made his way to his suite. Balancing her precariously, he opened the door and walked towards his bedroom to lay her down on his bed. Removing his jacket and tie he tossed them carelessly across a chair and looked down at Aviva’s sleeping form.
He needed to get her out of her clothes and into something more comfortable for sleep. This he was looking forward to, feeling something of a voyeur and not caring in the slightest; Jason walked to his dresser and removed one of his t-shirts for Aviva to sleep in. He would rather she slept in her underwear but knew there was no way to justify that move come the morning, t-shirt it was.
Jason looked for the opening of Aviva’s belt to remove it, he couldn’t find one. Moving her from side to side in his search, he still couldn’t find it. It was definitely not an integral part of the dress but its release baffled him. As his frustration grew his hand accidentally pressed against the damn contraption and it sprang open. Relieved to finally have the belt puzzle open, he had no intention of giving the blasted thing another thought as he slung it across the room. Turning Aviva over onto her stomach, he pulled the zipper of her dress down, inch by inch revealing more and more of her chocolate smooth back. When the zip could go no further, Jason sat Aviva up, resting her sleeping form against his body as he peeled the blue dress away. With the dress pooled around her waist, Jason lowered Aviva to the bed and with unhurried movements raised her hips to completely remove the blue garment that had been driving him crazy from the moment she had appeared wearing it. No matter how much he loved the dress, and looking at Aviva in it, the sight she presented in nothing but a pair of lace thongs made his mouth water. He couldn’t resist the temptation as she lay before his h
ungry eyes, he did what nothing on earth could stop him from doing, he touched her, running his fingertips from her chest, down through the valley that separated her breasts, along the expanse of her torso to the top of her blue thong and back again. She felt like velvet against his touch and he wanted nothing more at that moment than for her to be awake to witness how her being alone with him, the soft glow of the bedside lamp casting a shadow over them, was affecting him.
Maybe it was just as well that she was sleeping, she was still too skittish around him in intimate situations. She needed time to become accustomed to his presence in her life, to his kisses and to his touch. Pulling the t-shirt towards him, Jason decided to leave the removal of the high heels for last. Once he had clothed her, he shifted her to a supine position and turned his attention to the removal of her shoes. Lightly lifting first one foot and then the other he removed them placing a kiss on each instep before lifting the covers to obscure her beautiful body from his eyes. Standing beside the bed, Jason looked down at the sleeping woman and made a promise to himself; that promise was to do all that was in his power to keep her right where she was tonight, sleeping in his bed each night, for a very long time to come.
Moving silently around the room Jason set it to rights before undressing, using the bathroom, and joining her in bed. As he settled in beside a sleeping Aviva, he pulled her into his arms, closed his eyes ready to get some much needed sleep. His final thought before sleep pulled him into its embrace was that it had been quite an eventful day. He would never have thought that with his arrival home this morning, his destiny awaited him in the form of one small woman asleep in his arms.
Later that night as Jason and Aviva slept his bedroom door opened on silent hinges. A pair of malevolent eyes taking in the picture they presented in slumber. Without a sound the watcher retreated, softly closing the door.
Chapter 7
Aviva awoke to a banging headache. She felt awful and her mouth tasted even worse. Opening her eyes proved to be a mistake and she quickly lowered her eyelids as a means of protection against the glare and the intensified pounding in her skull. Moving with extreme caution, she opened her eyes by increments, knowing what to expect from the sunlight. Deciding the best cause of action was to keep her eyelids at half-mast she carefully took in her unfamiliar surroundings with its distinctly masculine feel. Still moving with caution, she turned over and noticed an indentation in the pillow beside her, instinctively knowing she was in Jason’s bed, as a slight lingering of his cologne penetrating her awareness.
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