“Mmm… I was trying to decide between that and the mountain-high chocolate cake.” Karen got this yearning expression on her face, and for a minute, he imagined what it would feel like to have her yearning and needful for him instead of cake.
“Well, I won’t be stingy like you. You can have a taste of my cake.”
Hell, you can have the whole thing for just another kiss from those luscious lips.
She smiled and laughed.
And he could have sworn he heard bells chiming, the kind that led to sweet salvation.
After the meal, he didn’t want the evening to end. Sure, he knew he had lots to do, and he should probably be making his way to the studio to record a few tracks so that he kept on time with his release for the following year. But he couldn’t bring himself to part with her. He couldn’t leave her.
“So, would I seem too forward if I suggested a nightcap at my place?” He hedged slightly, sparing the quickest glance at her and noting the soft squint of suspicion that crossed her face.
“You don’t quit, do you? I thought dinner was going to be enough for you and you would back off once I agreed. But you are just determined to keep asking for more, huh? You won’t stop until the panties drop, will you?”
His mouth fell open, and he could have sworn he heard his eyes go ping—or maybe that was the sound a heart made when it stopped and restarted.
With her left eye slanted slightly and her lips twisted to the side, she appeared to be the picture of seriousness. It was only when she cracked a small smile before bursting into a fit of laughter that he knew for sure she was playing with him.
“Oh, you should see your face! It’s priceless.”
“You ain’t right. You ain’t hardly right. Here I am trying to come correct and you clowning a brother. That’s not cool.”
She laughed even harder, and he tried to hold his own laughter in and keep his facade of indignation.
“Just for that, you need to come on over and have a nightcap. It’s the least you could do after hurting my feelings.”
“Whatever, D-Roc! I’m sure it would take more than my little jokes to hurt your feelings.”
“You’re right. It would take you turning me down and not spending more time with me this evening. Come on, Karen, let’s have a nightcap and keep getting to know one another.”
“Um, hello. I have work in the morning and you have—”
“One little nightcap and a couple more hours won’t hurt us.”
“A couple of hours. Uh-uh. No. See, if I looked up bad influence in the dictionary, your smiling, sexy face would…” She stopped before finishing, and the cutest shade of red crossed her light brown face.
He’d never seen a black girl blush like that before. It was as if the subtle red undertones in her skin had the heat turned up a notch and came blazing through. It was sweet and very enticing.
“So you think I’m sexy, huh? She likes me. She really likes me,” he teased as he leaned in to capture her lips in a kiss.
It was supposed to just be a peck on the lips. But oh, boy… Once their mouths connected there was no stopping them. His tongue turned into an arrow aiming for parts unknown. Her tongue, way more tentative, made a slow but no less aggressive path into his mouth. And the two dueled and dodged and danced and dined. The only thing they didn’t do with that kiss was come up for air until the last possible moment. They pulled away from the embrace clearly dazed but also delighted.
Karen smiled. “I’ll tell you what. You can come back to my place. That way when I tell you to get to stepping you can just go. I have a feeling getting you to take me back home from your place tonight would be a big haggling session. And I’m not up for more of your persuasion tonight. So we’ll have the nightcap on my turf.”
He started to tell her that it really didn’t matter where they were—her place or his. He was always going to be hustling to spend more time with her. She would have just as hard a time getting him to leave her place as she would have getting him to let her leave his place. Something inside of him kicked and pressed and yearned to make this woman his own. He had a feeling there was nothing he could do to stop it besides get her and keep her.
And that was exactly what he decided he would do.
How in the world did I manage to let him con me into letting him into my home? Karen thought as she prepared two glasses of merlot for them to sip as they continued to get to know one another. Didn’t she already know all she needed to know about D-Roc?
She walked out of her galley-style kitchen and into the living room of her one-bedroom apartment. The apartment was small. But what it lacked in size it made up for in amenities. It had all of its original wood, from the floors to the built-in shelves and crown molding. The wonderful mahogany wood had been refinished and made the entire small apartment gleam. Her carefully selected furniture, although sparse, fit in nicely. The huge red fluffy sofa with brown and cream throw pillows and the huge square mahogany coffee table in front of it was the extent of her furniture in the living room. She placed a plush artsy brown rug with flecks of red and cream on the floor along with bigger throw pillows for more seating and so that the huge coffee table could double as a dining space. There wasn’t any room for a dining room set.
Darius sat lounging on the red sofa looking a little too smug and comfortable for Karen’s taste.
She walked over and handed him his glass.
“Thank you. Come on and sit down.”
She sat down, making sure to leave a good amount of space between them. She needed to maintain a sense of calm, had to make sure she kept her head. There was something about Darius and her reaction to him that made her feel as if she were in danger of losing all her senses.
“Why you sitting so far away? Come here, girl.”
“Girl?” She let out a nervous chuckle and inched a little farther away. “I don’t see any girls here. I’m a woman.”
“That you are.” Darius slid over until he was right up on her.
Since the arm of the sofa prohibited her from moving any farther, she just sat there.
Resting his arm on the headrest, Darius leaned back and used his other arm to push her back with him. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna bite you…yet.”
The image of his perfect white teeth nibbling all over her body made her happy she was sitting down, because her knees started to feel like jelly and heat traveled from her face to her core.
“So tell me more about yourself,” he said.
“You tell me about you,” she said with a sassy grin.
“Okay, let me see…I’m the best rapper in the world—”
She gave him a teasing smirk. “Oh, now, I don’t know about all that. You a’right. But you ain’t no Nas or nothing. Can’t flow like Biggie. Don’t have the swagger of Jigga. And you don’t have the appeal of 2Pac.”
“Aw, you got jokes. You need to take that back. It’s not right for a woman to dis her man like that.”
“Her man?”
“Yeah, girl. I’m your man. You might not know it yet. And I have a feeling you gonna fight it to the death, but, baby, I’m your man.”
Her heart flip-flopped, and she felt her breath sputter. Keeping a cool and calm demeanor seemed like a chore, but she knew she had to portray just that. “I’m not looking for a man right now. And if I were, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t fit the bill.”
He leaned forward. “You sure about that?”
She swallowed but remained too pigheaded to do the sensible thing and lean back. No, she had to show him that she wasn’t fazed.
Yeah, right.
“I’m positive,” she squeaked out. Clearing her throat, she repeated, “I’m very positive.”
His mouth captured hers, and it felt like someone had opened the gates to passion. She didn’t even think of pulling away or breaking the kiss. His mouth tasted too delicious, and her need was too great. It was as if he held all the life-giving essentials her body needed and craved, and she was determined to get
each and every one of them from that one kiss.
His tongue played with and tickled the roof of her mouth, and she allowed her own tongue to trace under his probing tongue.
His hand reached under her blouse, and his strong fingers seemed to stake a claim on each area he touched.
Having no more space to move on the sofa, it became difficult to lean back enough to give him further access, but Karen made do, baring more of her body to his determined touch and powerful hands.
A slow and sexy haze started to form, and she really could no longer fathom not having his lips on hers, not having him explore her body. She wanted more. Desire charged the room. It seemed to be dripping from their very pores.
Reaching upward, she wrapped her hands around his neck and held him close. She heard a sweet, humming sound and realized it was both of them expressing divine pleasure at the connection of their lips.
“I need you.” Darius stopped kissing only long enough to utter those words, and his possessive lips wouldn’t give her the space to respond. In fact, they kept her very busy.
When he finally pulled away and took a ragged breath, he stared at her for several minutes before saying anything. “I only meant to take one peck of those sweet lips and ended up trying to devour them. What are you doing to me?”
What am I doing to him?
Karen’s head spun and her pulse raced. She felt as if someone had placed her in the middle of a marathon and told her to not only run but to win. The urgency she felt whenever she was around Darius seemed to duplicate and multiply whenever he kissed her or touched her.
What is he doing to me would be a better question.
But she had no idea if she was brave enough to stick around and figure out the answer.
“Do you think if we…err…um…had sex, we’d be able to get this out of our systems and put it away?”
Who said that?
Surely that wasn’t her voice all breathless and wanton.
His eyes widened and then narrowed in a purely possessive way, aiming right in on her, piercing right through her heart. “No. In fact, I have a feeling that if we have sex it will tie us together even more. I know that once I make love to you that will be it. There won’t be any turning back. Hell, girl, after kissing you there is no turning back. I have to make you mine.”
Oh, boy. You’re in trouble, girl.
“This whole, I’m-your-man-I’m-gonna-make-you-mine kick is interesting, even flattering. But it is so not necessary, Darius.”
“It’s necessary, because I feel like you need to know everything I’m feeling. I’ve never felt this way before.”
“I haven’t either,” she mumbled.
“I should probably leave while I still can. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Bright and early!”
“Yeah.”
Why didn’t she want him to go? She should have been happy that at least one of them had the common sense to walk away from the situation.
He got up as if it was the last thing he wanted to do, and she followed. As they walked to the front door, she purposely thought about all the reasons why Darius “D-Roc” Rollins was the last guy she should have been getting involved with. None of them seemed pressing enough with him standing so close and the smell of his scent wafting through the air. The name of that stuff must have been desire, because it made her want him like nobody’s business.
His lips lightly brushed hers one more time before he exited out the door.
Chapter 8
Montgomery, Alabama, 1899
“What are you doing on my father’s property, Davey Smith? Shouldn’t you be off somewhere corrupting our people, selling that bootleg moonshine in your juke joint and writhing to that sinful stuff you call music?” Karolyn Delaney walked around the other side of the bale of hay, keeping Davey in her sights the entire time.
“When I didn’t find you in town today passing out your temperance leaflets and railing against all that I hold dear, I decided to come looking for you. Your fiery passion makes my day,” Davey said with a smirk.
“You are the devil himself, Davey Smith! My father heard from one of his friends that you were making it your business to stop by and chat me up every day, and now he’s putting a halt to the good work I need to do to help our people see that alcohol is not the way to social uplift and moral standing and make the government finally outlaw that wretched substance.”
“Oh, now, come on, Karo. Baby, how can you know until you’ve tried it? You won’t even step foot inside my place, and I bet you never had a sip of whiskey?”
“If our people put away half of the money they spent in your place and havens of sin like it, they might be able to secure a better future for the children.”
“I tell you what, if you stop by my place and try to have some fun, just once, I might consider trying things your way.” Davey quickly stepped toward her. Before she could move, he pulled her into his arms.
The kiss that claimed her lips could only be described as magnetic—because she couldn’t have pulled away if she wanted to once their lips connected and collided.
She opened her mouth fully and let her tongue dart back and forth tentatively in his sweet, powerful, seductive mouth. She felt his jawline tense as he let out a groan.
“Karo…Karo…baby…” Davey moaned her name as he walked her backward toward the big haystack.
They both hit the hay hard, and Davey continued to stroke her mouth with his tongue as he lifted her long skirt.
She knew what was about to happen and no self-respecting lady, no woman dedicated and devoted to uplift, no person who had taken the clubwoman’s oath to better serve her people, would allow herself to be taken that way. No dedicated member of the temperance movement would dare let a juke-joint owner and moonshine maker have his way with her like this!
Yet wasn’t that a part of the pull and tug of Davey? The fact that she knew the first time she looked in his daring brown eyes that he would have her here, going against all that she stood for and believed, and that she would want and desire every minute of it.
He pulled down her knickers, and his fingers caressed her womanhood in slow circular movements. No man had ever touched her there, and it was something she always thought she’d save for marriage. But there she was, in the hay, letting a sinning juke-joint man have his way with her.
“Karolyn, I want you so bad, girl. So bad. I have to taste you and see if you’re as sweet as I imagined.” With those words, he put his mouth on the very spot where his hands had begun their torture.
He sucked and tugged and pulled and nipped. And her hips wriggled and writhed and bucked and lifted. Soon stars formed behind her eyes, and she felt her breath leaving her body in such rapid and sharp intervals that she thought she might be having a heart attack or some other episode.
“Davey! Oh, Davey!”
She really wanted to call on Jesus. But given the fact that she was in a barn on a bed of hay with a man’s mouth on her sex, she didn’t feel it was quite proper to call on the Lord.
“Karolyn, I love you. I’m going to love you forever. We’re going to be together forever.” Davey’s words came just as the stars started to leave her eyes and the greatest pain she’d ever felt engulfed her. Davey had entered her sex in on full swoop, breaking past her shield and causing her to cry out louder than she ever thought she could.
Oh, shit!
Darius leaped from his bed but not in enough time to stop the spotting of seed that pushed out of his loins. The dream he’d had was so vivid that he actually thought he had just tasted the sweetest honey from a woman ever and that he’d just been in the most gloriously tight and delectable sex he’d ever experienced. In the dream, he’d been squeezed so tight that he couldn’t hold back his come. And the only thing that broke his erotic state was the piercing scream of the woman, the woman that must have been a virgin, the woman that for some reason reminded him of Karen.
He couldn’t steady his heartbeat no matter how hard he
tried. He got up from his bed and went into the bathroom to wash up.
He thought he’d left wet dreams behind in the eighth grade. And he certainly never would have imagined that he would start having wet dreams about a woman he didn’t even know living in a time period he clearly had never lived in. But he felt like he was that man and she felt like…like everything he knew Karen would feel like.
Right. Sweet. Oh so good.
He had to do something about the attraction. But what? He hadn’t lied to her when he said that he wanted her to be his. He just had no idea what that would mean and how he could mean that when he’d just met her.
Deciding that he couldn’t sleep, at least not yet, he grabbed the guitar that always sat in the corner on a stand in his bedroom. He’d taken a couple of lessons. But for the most part, he’d taught himself how to play. He knew he’d probably never play the guitar in one of his shows. He wasn’t Wyclef Jean or Lauryn Hill or anything like that. But he did hope to be able to bring more melody into his music.
He’d been working on a song since the first time he set eyes on Karen. So he figured he might as well work on it some more.
Harlem, New York, 1969
The splendor after making love always made Karla feel as if she and Daniel could withstand anything. With his hands gently caressing her back, everything felt good and right.
And then he’d open his mouth…
“When are you going to get real, and leave those jive-time, wannabe revolutionaries alone? With a sister like you by my side full-time, I feel like I could take on the world.” Daniel whispered the words in her ear and followed them with a slow and sensuous lick that caused her to tingle from her neck to her toes.
The cruddy motel room with mirrors on the ceiling and a coin slot attached to the bed to make it bounce and jiggle started to close in on her. But she refused to let the orange, brown and aqua psychedelic designs overwhelm her any more than Daniel’s supersmooth rap.
“When are you going to see that the street life isn’t doing anything to help our people and get down with the revolution?”
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