by Aja Cole
“I’d shake your hand, but,” Nikki holds the drinks up in explanation. “Nikki Rhodes.” She turns her gaze to me again. “I didn’t realize you were seeing someone. How long?”
“Nikki…” I hedge.
“How. Long.” She asks again.
“The last two weeks.”
“So while you were ignoring my calls and messages.” She laughs humorlessly. “Wonderful. Thank you for being so upfront with me.” She turns to Sienna, and drains one of the drinks in her hands. “Hopefully when he decides he’s finished with you, he gives you a little bit more courtesy. Congrats on the win, I’m sure we’ll speak again soon.” She turns on a sharp heel and stalks away, and I face Sienna, expecting her to walk away right now.
“Well…” She starts. “You’re apparently not very good at ending things on good terms.”
“It’s not an excuse, but I just didn’t want to entertain anyone else after we met. I should’ve been honest with her, but it was just a short fling.” I wince, because that sounds bad. “I mean, it was—.”
“Chill.” She puts up a hand. “No sense getting riled up over the past I’m certain you have. But if you decide you’re finished with me and you don’t give me the respect of saying it to my face - I’ll end you. Got it?” Her eyes flash with warning and I put a hand on my heart.
“I swear.”
“Good. Now, take me home and maybe I’ll let you get a first down.”
“I have to get up, playboy.”
“Not yet.” I drag her back against me, pressing kisses up the column of her neck.
“Listen, some people have careers that involve more than stepping onto a field.” She says the words but she relaxes into me, then turns around so she’s facing me.
I could look at her all day and never get tired of seeing her face. You ever just wanted to be around someone all the time? I usually don’t want that, or I’ve never felt it to this degree before.
“We won the bowl last night, your bosses know we’re too busy celebrating.” I kiss her top lip softly, then her bottom, then take it lightly between my teeth. The way her breath hitches does nothing but encourage my morning hard-on.
Her phone buzzes on the bedside table and she rolls over to grab it, looking at the screen and sitting up.
“It’s my boss.” I open my mouth, but she claps a hand over it and answers the phone with her other. “Hey, Kat.”
I can’t hear what the woman is saying, and I lick at Sienna’s hand, grinning and winking when she snatches her hand away.
“Mhm…yes…yes…Okay. I understand.” She nods her head as she talks, but I can’t read anything from her face. The woman’s poker face is phenomenal.
She’s definitely who I’d want me with if we needed to lie to the police or something.
“Thank you. Take care.” She puts the phone down and narrows her eyes at me.
“What?”
“My boss has decided that in light of my boyfriend’s recent championship win, I should take the time to enjoy and celebrate with him. They can handle things at the office for a little bit, considering I work so hard.” She quotes.
“That’s a good thing right? We get to spend a little more time together.” I make a move to wrap an arm around her waist, but she slides off the bed.
“No. No, it’s not a good thing. I need to be at work, not lazing around just because you won a damned game. That’s an excuse, this is how it starts.”
I flop back in the bed, throwing an arm over my face. “How what starts? You lost me, your mind just works in ways I don’t follow.”
“Them not taking me seriously, that’s what!”
I can’t help it, I start laughing. I start laughing so hard that tears are rolling down my cheeks and I’m wheezing.
I throw my legs over the side of the bed and stare at her, doing a bad job of hiding my grin. “You have got to believe in yourself a little more, Sienna.”
“I believe in myself a lot, what are you talking about?” She snatches a t-shirt from a drawer and tugs it over her head, covering up those wonderfully pert breasts. I’m sad to see them go.
We got to know each other very well last night.
“Obviously you don’t if you think a little down time is going to make them forget how valuable you are. Did it cross your mind that maybe you deserve a little break? Maybe your boss has respected you enough to not make you take time off, but they saw this as an opportunity to let you? You said you’re pretty close to them and they were happy to know you’re seeing someone - why does it have to be negative?”
She presses her fingers over her eyes and drops her head back, huffing then stares at me again, pursing her lips like she’s thinking.
“I guess…” She says slowly. “But I don’t have to like it. It’s weird. I’ve been work, work, work and all of a sudden - I’m just…off? What am I supposed to do?”
“You can start by taking this shirt off and letting me get even better acquainted with this body.” I walk to her, sliding my hands under the shirt and running them up her thighs and over her hips. I slide them around her back and over her ass, molding and cupping the cheeks in my hands.
“I can’t stay in bed all day with you.” She wrinkles her nose.
“Well, we’ve got some press stuff to do today but after that, yes - you absolutely can.”
“What time do you have to go?”
“11.”
“When are you finished?”
“It’s a toss up, but around 2 probably.”
“I guess I could do work then…” She trails off and I back up towards the bed, bringing her with me until I’m laying back on it with her draped over me.
“I’ve got some work you can do now. Or really, for me.”
“Oh, really?”
I roll her onto her back and move down her body, pushing her shirt up as I go, and presses kisses to her soft skin. Last night was just heavy petting and making out.
I’m going for a lot more yardage this time.
I kiss my way down her legs, running my nose over the line of one calf and sliding my hands up to her thighs, just feeling her under my fingertips.
I want to savor this first time touching her like this, print the memory on my brain. The way her skin gets goosebumps when I trail my hands over it, the way she bites her lip as she watches me, the desire in her eyes.
I never want to forget it.
When I make my way up to her panties, I brush my lips over the fabric where it covers her pussy lightly. Gripping her thighs, I take a long swipe with my tongue and I hear her breath catch.
Hooking the waistband in my fingers, I pull them down and off her legs, tossing them to the side.
Now she’s bared to me completely, and I’ve never seen a more mesmerizing sight.
I run a finger over her labia, stroking up and down until they part for me, inviting me deeper inside.
I spread them, captivated by the deep pink of her cunt and small nub of her clit that’s growing as I watch. I lick at the soft folds, flattening my tongue with each swipe and then dipping inside as far as I can. I feast on her like a man dying of thirst, getting to know every inch of her with my lips, my tongue. The sounds she’s making spur me on and I hold her tighter against me.
“Jaxon,” She moans. I groan against her in response, loving my name on her lips that way.
I feel her thighs trembling and I lose track of everything around me as I get lost in sucking and tasting her. When her moans are constant, I move to her clit, circling it with my tongue and caressing her with my lips. Pulling her hips down even tighter when she starts to move around too much, I don’t let up, alternating between suckling gently and rubbing my tongue on the side I find is most sensitive. Tapping, licking, stroking – my tongues all over her pretty, swollen clit and I want my name on her lips again when she comes.
One finger, two, I rub against the soft flesh of her walls, the feeling of them rippling around my fingers just as erotic as the feeling of her wetness under
my mouth.
She’s pushing her hips up to me now, and I stroke my fingers in and out, keeping a constant pace and pressure inside. Surrounding her clit with my mouth again, I hold it against the roof of my mouth, licking softly at the underside.
I don’t let up until her body’s bucking underneath me and my name is falling like a prayer from her lips.
I’m so focused on just enjoying the way her body is melted against me as I hold her to my chest and stroke her hair after she orgasms, that I think I’m imagining knocking on the door.
“Do you hear that?” She mumbles, leaning back a little.
“I thought I was just hearing things because your thighs boxed my ears so hard.” I tease.
“I’m not expecting anyone, but that seems to be the norm lately.” She sits up, eyes still heavy lidded and hair tousled. She looks like she’s been freshly fucked, and suddenly, I don’t want whoever’s at the door to see her like this.
This look is for me.
“Stay here.” I jump up. “I’ll see who it is.” Before she can protest, I make my way to the door and look through the peephole. It’s a woman I don’t recognize, but maybe Sienna knows her?
“Who is it?”
“I’m looking for my daughter.” The voice is crisp and reminiscent of the no-nonsense side that the woman currently glowing from my tongue has.
Fuck.
I open the door because I don’t want to leave her standing there while I warn Sienna. That feels rude. Probably not a good way to meet the mother of the woman you’re dating.
The tall woman with rich brown skin and a short black haircut with not a strand out a place has a purse in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. She looks me up and down and then meets my eyes with disapproval all over her face.
“So, you’re the young man who’s made my daughter lose the good sense that god and I gave her.”
Sienna
This is quite nice, I have to admit.
I’ve never lounged in bed after starting my morning with an orgasm before. It feels pretty dangerous, because I could definitely get used to it.
I start my mornings early, I go to bed at a pretty regular time and there’s not much deviation in between.
Or there wasn’t.
Adding a man to my life will mean a possible change in all of that. I’ll have to consider his schedule, his likes and dislikes and his feelings.
I like Jax, and things feel easy around him when I forgot about all the warnings and all the ways things could go wrong. But this will be the first time I’m allowing someone into my life as an adult, and I think I’m going to have to try not to see it as a chore when I’m so used to only thinking of my agenda.
The door opens and I turn to my side, propping my head up on my hand and not bothering to cover up. He’s seen everything now, there’s no use trying to be modest.
Instead of climbing back into bed like I expect him to, he slides through the door and closes it behind him, trepidation on his face.
“What?” I smile. “Who was it?”
“Uh,” He clears his throat. “Your mom requests that you join her in the living room.”
That makes me shoot straight up in bed, dread crawling through my body. I knew it was inevitable, but dammit I thought I would have a little more time and a lot more warning.
“Shit.” I scramble out of bed, jerking open drawers. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“So this is a surprise to you too?”
“Her showing up? Yes. I mean, I knew I’d be hearing from her, but not so soon.” I hiss, yanking on linen lounge pants and hastily buttoning up a shirt. “Ugh!” I yank the buttons open because I realize I haven’t put on a bra. Remedying that, I button up the buttons again and dart to the bathroom mirror, running my fingers through my hair.
It looks so messy, it’s going to have to go up. Snatching up a brush and a little mousse, I tame my hair as best I can, twisting it around itself atop my head and shoving a bobby pin into it. I brush down my eyebrows, make sure my face isn’t looking too terrible and check my teeth.
“You act like you’re going in for an interview or something instead of just talking to your mother.” Jax says from where he’s sitting at the end of the bed, watching me run around like a chicken with my head cut off.
“Spend ten minutes with my mother, you’ll realize it’s not that simple.” I take a deep breath before I open the door, pulling at every mentally calming tactic I know. Will she know I’ve been in here partially freaking out? Probably. Will either of us acknowledge that? Absolutely not. Jax stands behind me and I whip my head to him. “Oh no, trust me, it’s better if you let me speak with her first. Alone.”
“Are you sure? I know she’s not the biggest fan of athletes, but she should know I have nothing but respect for you and I’m not going anywhere.”
“I appreciate that, but we need to hash things out for a bit as just mother and daughter right now.” He looks skeptical, and I press a quick kiss to his lips. “It’ll be fine. Watch the playbacks of your win last night or something, start a new show on Netflix.” I slip out of the door and close it behind me before he responds, walking the short distance to the living room.
Of course Deidre Maxwell isn’t sitting, waiting calmly like a normal person. She’s standing by the window, arms crossed, nude colored nails tapping impatiently against her arm. Even in a space she’s never been in, it seems like she owns it. Like this is her territory.
“Mom.” I stand near the couch, and she turns her head the slightest. Once an attorney, always an attorney. I feel like the poor lawyers that have had the misfortunes of trying to break down her case.
“This is a nice place.”
“Thanks. It belongs to one of the executives. She’s letting me stay here while I settle on a place.”
“So you’re moving to Atlanta for good?” She finally faces me fully. Makeup is flawless, but appropriate. Hair is sleek and cut into a blunt bob that brushes her shoulders. The deep blue shift dress she’s wearing compliments the body that she keeps in tip top shape with the help of pure personal discipline and a trainer. She’s a cool 45 and aging like fine wine.
My mother is the strongest woman I’ve ever known, and one of my biggest fears is that she’ll see me as weak.
“I am. The corporate headquarters is here, and I’d like to have more of a home base without so much traveling. It’s an opportunity to further rise in the ranks here, with so many of the executives calling Atlanta home also.” I explain, sitting on the couch as she walks over in her heels, taking a seat next to me.
“At least you’re still making some smart decisions. That’s the daughter of mine that I recognize.” Her face is full of reproach and I lift my chin, knowing that if I give her an inch, she’ll take far more than a mile.
“I know that you’re not happy about my personal choices right now, but I’d hoped that we could discuss it soon. I was going to come for a visit.”
“Before or after you stepped out into public with a football player.” The words might as well be a curse because that’s the exact tone she uses. “After, apparently.”
“Is it only his career that you object to? You can’t possibly object to anything else, since this is the first time you’ve met him.”
Or maybe she’s seen the same things you did before you decided to not be prematurely judgmental and got to know him.
“I don’t need to know anything else. He’s a professional athlete, which means at the drop of a hat, everything could change for him. One bad hit, one wrong move, one trade, one wandering eye. And if it changes for him, it changes for you. What kind of life is that? Surely you’ve come across acceptable men in more…stable fields.”
“I have. But for whatever reason, none of them caught my attention like Jaxon has. I wish I could tell you that this isn’t serious, but I could see myself being with him and there are simply things I have to accept if I want that to happen.” The more I speak, the more I believe my own words and the more I reali
ze that they’re true.
I could see myself truly falling in love with him one day.
It’s a revelation that’s as exhilarating as it is terrifying, because if anything, my mother’s expression only turns colder.
“And your career? What about that?”
“It’s the 21st century, I don’t have to live my life only by my husband’s and I can advance in my career regardless of the fact that Jax plays football.”
“And the other women? The opportunities? What happens when you have a big project and you can’t give him the attention he wants? With so many options, do you think he’ll just accept that you’re tired or find someone who does have time for him? What happens when he moves on the next shiny thing?” Her voice takes on slight bitterness, and I know that she’s talking about more than just me now.
“Every man is not Dad.” I remind her quietly, and she looks away, those fingers tapping away on her thigh.
“But every man is a man, and the moment something else takes precedence in your life - whether it’s a child or your work, things will change. Don’t let pretty words and good sex make you forget that.”
“I’ll try to remember that when we do have sex.” I roll my eyes, but only because she’s not looking at me.
“Roll your eyes again.” She says, spearing me with brown eyes. “I have always told you to find a man who makes it his main mission to support you. Equal partners is a myth, there will always be someone with the upper hand or more important and it’s better if that person is you.” She sighs, showing the first sign of stress that I’ve seen the entire conversation. “All I want for you is to never have to go through what your father and I did. Is that so wrong?”
I move closer to her, taking one of her hands in mine and holding her gaze.
“I appreciate that, and I know that you’ve always made it your goal to make sure I can always stand on my own two feet. But for the first time, something has the potential to matter to me other than work, and I don’t want to pass it by. Is that so wrong?”
“You are definitely my child.” She presses a hand to my cheek, patting it lightly. “Fine. But remember that even when you spend years with someone, it’s still possibly to never truly know them. Keep an open mind, and watch out for the small things.”