Romancing the Wine: A Boxed Set of 9 Newest Novellas from Award-Winning Authors

by Jan Moran

  Chapter 11

  Chai

  He offered to send me a car, but I refused and opted to drive myself to the airport instead. I checked in and waited for him in the lounge near the gate. He walked past me with his phone in his hand. He had two other people trailing behind him.

  I picked up my phone after a few rings.

  "Where are you?" he asked as he continued scanning the area.

  "What's wrong? Afraid I won't show up?" I stood up.

  "I knew once you agreed, you couldn't resist. Are you here or not?"

  I giggled, and he turned in my direction. He suppressed a grin as he walked over to me.

  "I think it's a little too late to be playing hard to get." He took my backpack off my shoulder and slung it over his own. He reached for my hand, leaned in, and kissed me. His soft lips left a short but scoring impression on my own. "Come on."

  He dragged me away from the gate and into the First Class Lounge.

  His people check us in while he walked right in and over to the windows that looked out on the tarmac.

  "You going to introduce me to your entourage, or are they supposed to be seen and not heard." I pointed at the two people.

  "My entourage." He peered at the tall black guy with muscles on muscles at the counter. The cute girl with him stood with her arms crossed, twirling one of her tiny braids around her finger. She stared out the window at the plane. "That's my assistant, James, and my cousin Mauri."

  I was taken aback.

  "Your cousin? I didn't know we were at the meeting the family stage."

  "Well, my friends are my family, so welcome to the family, Ms. Chai." He winked and stood up. "You want a drink?"

  "No. I'm good."

  I watched Donovan walk over to the bar and speak to the bartender. The woman's face lit up when she recognized Donovan, or he could just evoke that natural response in people. He came back with a beer in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He set the water on the counter.

  His assistant and cousin joined us.

  "They moved that guy, so you two are sitting together."

  "Thanks." Donovan nodded. "James, Mauri, this is Chai. Chai, James and Mauri."

  "Nice to meet you both." I smiled and held out my hand.

  James gave me a sincere smile with a head nod and then eyed Mauri out of the corner of his eye.

  "Yeah." Mauri gave me a once-over and then turned her attention back to the window.

  "Mauri, I can put you in a car and have them drop your ass back in Oakland if you don't behave," Donovan said, his tone authoritative but playful.

  "What?" She held her hands in front of her. "I said hello. Not like she's going to be around long anyway."

  "Mauri," James said.

  "No, it’s okay. I get it." I turned to Mauri. "Hey, if you make it on the plane, how about we get to know it each on the way back ... you know, if I make it that long."

  She grunted and tried not to smile. "I'm getting a drink."

  "Excuse me," Donovan said.

  "Just some juice." She rolled her eyes and headed off to the bar.

  James and I laughed.

  "This was your idea," James said as Donovan took a sip of his beer.

  "Kids," he said and rubbed his head like an old man. "I would have jumped at the chance if someone got me out of school and took me on a trip to the most happening place on the planet this weekend."

  "Oh, so I'm not the only person you're trying to broaden horizons for. Is this a personal mission of yours?"

  "No," Donovan said while, "Yes," came out of James' mouth.

  I reached for the water.

  "I'm just good at knowing what people need."

  He tilted his head and winked as I took a sip of the cold liquid. It did nothing to cool my insides.

  Donovan stared back while licking his lips. James excused himself.

  "So tell me something about you I can't learn on the Internet." I sat back, feeling for the first time comfortable in his presence.

  "You've been googling me?" He grinned as if he could read my mind.

  "A little, but I was concerned." I frowned.

  "Concerned why?" he asked and frowned. We both laughed.

  "There was no dirt. A random girl on your arm here or there, but no scandals and no drama. How is that possible?"

  "You think you have me pegged, but I am not what you think I am." He frowned for real.

  "What do I think you are?" I leaned in and waited.

  "You think I'm a player." He took a sip of his beer and looked out the window.

  "You enjoy the company of a woman?"

  "Yes."

  He proved my point when he picked me up in that bar. He was a player, but I didn't mean it as a character flaw.

  "You enjoy sleeping with them?"

  He narrowed his eyes and nodded reluctantly.

  "You have no qualms about having sex with a stranger?"

  He set his jaw.

  "Neither do you if I recall correctly."

  I bit my lip and hugged myself.

  He stretched his neck. "And that makes me a bad guy because I like sex?"

  "Whoa, who said anything about being a bad guy?" I asked as I sat back. "I never said you were a bad guy."

  "I'm sorry. I'm not sure why I care what you think so much," he said. The genuine sadness in his eyes hurt my heart. He held my gaze for a beat before turning and rubbing his head.

  The statement in any other tone would have had my asshole meter going off, but he meant it word for word. He didn't understand his draw to me any more than I understood mine to him.

  "This trip for me and you, hell, even for Mauri, doesn't have to be a test." I scooted up in the chair and placed my hand on his knee. "Let's just have a good time. Enjoy each other."

  He leaned in.

  "I am going to enjoy you." He placed a small kiss on the side of my mouth and started into my eyes. I smiled, and he smiled and kissed my lips, his lips lingering. Nothing inappropriate in public, but my body responded in the most scandalous way.

  "Hey, you two, knock it off. It's time to go," Mauri called out as she exited the lounge.

  Donovan dipped his head, laughed, and said, "Can't take people anywhere."

  We caught up with Mauri and James at the gate and walked right on the plane. We all four sat in first class in one row, Donovan by the window, me and Mauri in the aisle, and James next to the other window.

  By the end of the flight, Mauri and I had swapped life stories. She was okay with my temporary status. We broke off once we reached the hotel and agreed to meet for dinner.

  She hugged me before going our separate ways, and it warmed my heart.

  "Don't get too flattered," Donovan scoffed. "I think she's just excited to talk to a woman. Her mother isn't around, and it's her father and three brothers in a house."

  "Maybe I can take her out shopping or something when we get back. You know, if I'm still around." I giggled, but I turned to Donovan, and he wasn't smiling.

  "You don't have to do that. I mean, I don't want you to feel obligated."

  I groaned. "Are you going to overanalyze everything I say?"

  He shook his head and plopped down on the bed. His hands rubbed his head.

  I knelt down in front of him.

  "What is going on? What am I missing?"

  "I have this little voice in my head that warns me when things are too good to be true."

  "Oh." I sat back on my heels.

  "But now, I hear this new voice I haven't heard before, and it's freaking me out a little bit." Donovan reached out and touched my cheek.

  "What's the new voice saying?" I asked.

  "Oh, it's not speaking to me. It's talking to the other little voice, telling him to go fuck himself. He's got this."

  I smiled and took his hand. His brilliant eyes sparkled. I leaned up and kissed him. My tongue tasted his full lips. He groaned when I drew his bottom lip in my mouth. It vibrated off my tongue and tickled my throat. I wrapped my
arms around his neck, and he pulled me up as he reclined on the bed. Our bodies rocked together. I could feel his hardness against my stomach.

  I crawled onto my knees and straddled him. I felt his hands under my shirt. He pushed it up and over my head. He pulled the cups of my bra down in front and captured my nipple in his mouth. His tongue felt so good, and he felt so good under me. I rocked my hips on his hardness, and he groaned again.

  "Does that feel good?" I whispered.

  He nodded as I reached down and ran my hand over his length. He nibbled on my breast and squeezed hard.

  "Hmm," he said as I unbuckled his jeans and reached for him.

  "How about this?" I asked. If he needed my eye contact to feel connected, I needed his verbal reassurance just as much.

  "So good," he whispered as he kissed up my chest and my neck. He reached under my ass and pulled my panties to the side. He lifted me with one arm, and I guided him inside me as he brought me back down on him.

  "Oh," we both groaned as we sat still, him fully inside me.

  I moved my hips, rocking back and forth with short movements. My body, my core, my being was on the edge of exploding, and from the strain on his face and his labored breathing, so was he.

  "Please, keep doing that," he said. His gaze locked on mine.

  I squeezed harder with my core and tried to grip him as he moved inside me. Donovan grabbed my hips and moved me back and forth harder and faster. It was so fast, too fast. I wanted to experience the release but didn't want it to end too soon. I closed my eyes, but it made the pleasure more intense and raw. I opened my eyes and found Donovan staring at me, into my soul. He dragged my pleasure out of me.

  At some point, we were no long in control. Our bodies moved together, as one, ready to crash into a wave of pleasure. We both cried out and clung to each other like a lifeline, riding it out. My body bucked and twitched, and Donovan's arms wrapped around me tight, pressing me into him. I squeezed tight, wanting him to feel what I felt.

  When our bodies relaxed into a beautiful buzz, drunk off our sex, I awkwardly rolled off him onto my side, my leg draped over him.

  It took a moment for me to catch my breath. I ran my hand across his chest. His body shivered as my palms grazed his nipples. They were as sensitive as mine were after sex. I placed my hand over his heart, hoping it would guide my own to calm down.

  Donovan laced his fingers in mine, pulled my hand to his mouth, and kissed it. He dragged it over his head and behind his head and rested on my forearm. I leaned my head on his shoulders and rode it out the rest of the way.

  "Hey," I said.

  He turned toward me.

  "What are the little voices saying now?"

  "Oh, you knocked them both out." He kissed me hard.

  I groaned as he pulled away much too soon.

  "They're both just happy to be along for the ride."

  Chapter 12

  Donovan

  That night, we laid there in each other arms talking, laughing, and recovering from the best sex of my life. It turned out to be the last quiet alone moment we’d have together all weekend.

  Chai didn't seem to mind. She enjoyed every bit of it. I had worried about how Mauri would react. Mauri had told me for years she didn't like me dating outside of my race and wanted me to settle down and throw my player card away. I didn't think I would, but it wasn't even a factor. I could never see myself settling down before. Now all I could see was my future, and Chai was all over it.

  I was paid to appear at different parties throughout Super Bowl weekend. In the past, I had never brought anyone with me, but it was different with Chai on my arm. She commanded respect in the way she carried herself that had my boys enamored; at the same time, their wives and girlfriends gave Chai the nod of approval. She drew plenty of nastiness from women who understood in an instant that Chai wasn't a weekend fling.

  None of that fazed her; I think she enjoyed it. It was something I had never even considered, but I liked the idea of Chai being proud to be with me.

  It was what I wanted people to see.

  I had changed.

  When I look at her, I can breathe.

  That feeling stayed with me all weekend. Even as we enter the crowded suite to watch the game, thirty people clamored for my attention, but she had mine.

  The game had started, and we settled on two barstools behind the stadium seats in the suite. I angled my body toward her. She watched the opening drive of the game; her eyes wide and a silly grin made her face so beautiful.

  She peeked over her shoulder and smiled.

  "I love seeing you smile." I kissed her shoulder, and she leaned back against me. "I'm happy you're here with me."

  "Me, too." She leaned into my kiss and turned back to the game. "I've watched the game on television, but so much more goes on. I had no idea."

  "You've never been to a football game?" I asked, playing with her hair. I couldn't keep my hands off her.

  She shook her head. Her hair fell over her shoulders, and I pushed it back.

  "You know the rules of the game?"

  "Most of them. You said your college roommate plays for one of the teams. Which one?"

  "The Cowboys." I grinned at her. "The one with the star on the helmets."

  "I know that." She hit me on my leg, but her hand remained. "Is it hard for you to watch the game knowing how close your team was to making it?"

  "You always wish you could be in the game. Even the worst player on the last place team at the beginning of the season thinks in the back of their mind, this is our year, but the season plays out, and all you can do is your best for your team and your city."

  I looked back at the field and back at her.

  She tilted her head.

  "What?" I asked.

  "That was a great and well-rehearsed I'm a player in the NFL team line."

  She gripped my chin and wouldn't let my gaze drop.

  "Truth?"

  She nodded.

  "It sucks. I'm still not over the way we lost that last game and bet I'll be here next year." The tension of doing and saying the right thing faded. I didn't have to pretend with her.

  "I can't wait to see you play." She settled back against my chest.

  "You've seen me on television." I squeezed her tight.

  "No." She leaned in. "I mean live, in person. I think it will be pretty cool to see you out there, to say to myself that guy with so much talent and who plays with so much passion, he belongs to me."

  "You want to be mine?" A new set of tension entered my system. What was she saying? What was I asking?

  She turned in her seat.

  "I do, Donovan." She blinked as her eyes grew moist. It hit me in the gut and in the heart. "I may not act like it all the time, and you can remind me of this conversation anytime I'm being a brat, but I do want to be with you."

  I leaned in, our foreheads touching, breathing each other in, letting our words seal the deal. We were going to give this a real shot.

  "I want to be with you, too."

  She whimpered, and it hit me a little lower as I placed my lips on hers. We got lost in each other for a second until a huge roar from the crowd brought us back to reality. It was if they cheered our union. The NFL fans gave our relationship their blessing.

  My boy's team won, and we partied with him and his family until none of us could walk straight.

  Mauri was only eighteen, so I wouldn't allow her to drink even though it would have been easy for her to at the party. She had one sip of champagne but danced her ass off for the rest of the night. She enjoyed staying out with us. My uncle was pretty strict with her at home. She herded us back to the hotel around four am.

  "Okay, you both remember where your room is?" Mauri asked.

  James and I tried to keep a straight face and act like grown-ups.

  "Yes," Chai answered, and we cracked up.

  We all stared at her.

  "Did I say that funny?" Chai asked.

  We all cracked
up again

  "Mauri, this just proves our point that drinking is bad," James said and giggled like a little girl. We all joined him.

  "Really? I got him, and you make sure James gets to his room okay." Chai said as she struggled to keep my hands in appropriate places.

  I couldn't stop laughing.

  "Let's go to one more party. I'm not done. As soon as I get back, I start off-season training, and I'm not ready."

  "Come on." Chai grabbed my hands and brought them around her waist. She walked backward and pulled me along. She didn't have to pull too hard. With her breasts pressed against my chest, I would follow her anywhere. "Let's have a party in our room," she whispered, her breath tickling my ear.

  When we arrived at our door, Chai turned in my arms. I pressed her up against the door and groped her ass and kissed her neck.

  "You know, this would be a little easier if you would back up like two inches," she said over her shoulder.

  I pressed myself into her. "I'll back up eight inches," I said and laughed.

  She rolled her eyes, but she moved a little quicker with the key.

  We spilled into the room, and I collapsed on the bed. I propped myself up on my elbows and watched as Chai removed my shoes and socks. She crawled on my lap, and I grabbed her hips, but she pushed my hands away.

  "No hands." She gave me a sexy little grin as she unbuttoned my slacks. She crawled off me. I groaned. I liked having her on me. She pulled my pants off from the cuffs at the bottom. I smiled again when she crawled up me and sat on my lap.

  I managed to get my shirt unbuttoned and pushed my shirt off my shoulders, but it took some effort to get one arm loose and then the other.

  The last thing I heard was her faint voice telling me to wake up.

  I could almost feel the relief in her voice when I didn't. She left but soon returned. When her cool body slid up next to mine, I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 13

  Donovan

  The ringing in my ears wouldn't stop. I growled and reached for it, but when all I felt was the bed, I sat up. Big mistake, I realized as my head pounded. I squinted at the clock on the nightstand. It was nine am. We got back to the hotel around four, and five hours sleep wasn't nearly enough for the amount of work we put in yesterday.