“I just wanted to know why you walked out of my life and without as much a goodbye.”
“Listen, I told you from the very beginning that I was not interested in a long-term commitment. I wasn’t feeling it like you were. But you insisted on making something out of nothing. You just would not listen.”
“Something out of nothing!” she nearly shouted.
“Well, it’s true. We had nothing more than a few outings and two nights of regrets,” he explained tensely, though with restraint. That’s all it ever amounted to. Woman, it’s hardly the kind of love fantasy a woman would seemingly hold onto for over a year. I mean, I’m flattered and all, but it wasn’t all that.”
“Look, it wasn’t until you left that I realized how much I was in love with you, Ma’Kentu.”
“In love with me?” he echoed, incredulously. “You hardly know me, Charlotte. I hardly know you. How can you love someone you don’t know?”
“Let me get this straight. Are you’re saying I was nothing more to you than a good roll in the hay? That doesn’t say much about me or about you, my dear. Besides, what is there to know?” she said, looking into his unsympathetic gaze. “I love you. That’s all that matters.”
“That’s not all that matters,” he countered. “Charlotte, I’m sorry but I don’t share your feelings. So why do you continue to torture yourself? Why?”
Leaning her soft form back against the hard wood paneled wall, seemingly exasperated, she glanced solemnly downward, then up into his dispassionate eyes. “Why? Why do you always hurt me, Ma’Kentu? I wanted to be more to you than just a business layover.”
“Look, I’m not that shallow. What we did was between two consenting adults, Charlotte. We were both after the same thing. And for a very short period, we both got what we were after.”
“Perhaps you did,” she calmly remarked. “I’m still waiting.”
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying that the brief interaction we had wasn’t satisfying enough for you and now you want more? Is that what this is all about?”
“Let’s put it this way. I was content satisfying you,” she crowed with a devilish grin.
“Look, I’m not falling for your self-serving psychological bullshit, Charlotte!” he replied. “I know damn well I handled my business on your end, just plain rocked your world, if you feel better with that expression. But I think you’re putting more into this than what is called for.”
“Sure, you rocked my world,” she acknowledged, “but remember, I’m the one who sent you into orbit. Now, I am here tonight to send you back into orbit.”
“Yeah, right,” he fumed.
“Maybe your little honey of a girlfriend may not know it but this ‘Lil’ kitten here knows exactly what turns you on. I know all of your buttons. All of them, I remind you. And I can push them anytime I want to. Care to try me?”
Ma’Kentu watched curiously, silently, as Charlotte took a step backwards and began to rub her inner thighs in a very erotic and sinful manner, as she verbally taunted him, visibly teased him, and repeatedly challenged his manhood.
Like the enchantress that he remembered, she spread her fingers and, with each circular passing of her hands, she raised the hemline of her short black skirt, exposing more of her shapely nylon-clad legs and thighs.
Through glossy eyes, he could see she was wearing black garter straps and black stockings, but not much more. Still, it was enough to get capture his attention. A primal instinct slowly boiled to the surface as he watched mesmerized.
“What’s the matter? Admit it! My body is look’n mighty hot to you, huh? Perhaps, just perhaps, you’re thinking you want some of this. Or perhaps I’m just too much woman for you to handle. Come on, you Mandingo-stud. It’s no use trying to resist me. You know you want to fold me over and pound me Gorilla-style with that hard shaft of yours. Just like you used to. Now, don’t you?”
Ma’Kentu lingered there for a moment, nearly paralyzed, wondering how he had allowed himself to get into such a predicament in the first place. Charlotte was like some dark voodoo princess working a century ole voodoo charm on him. And she was right. She did know how to push his buttons. She knew his dark seedy side, all of his guarded sexual fantasies, and she was determined to use this knowledge to her utmost advantage.
“Oooh, you’ve got me sooo damned hot, baby,” she cooed and taunted. Her bump and grind, put-it-all-out-there-in-your-face, approach to seduction was just what the voodoo doctor ordered, she reasoned. Being the doctor was even better. As she glanced downward, she could see the profound effect she was having on him. Turning, she gave him a good glimpse of her firm round bottom.
Closing the distance between them, she dipped and swayed, bumped and grinded her hot ass against him. As she did this, she continued to taunt him verbally and repeatedly. Inside, she felt a deep growing aching, almost like a craving, which needed immediate attention. She hadn’t counted on becoming so aroused herself. And it didn’t help that every time her ass brushed lightly against his well-defined member, the act was swiftly followed by an indescribable pleasure that gave her a rush.
“Come on, baby,” she taunted him in a soft sexy voice. “It’s all yours, sugga.” Charlotte enjoyed playing the temptress. Going back to her days as a nightclub dancer there was no woman who could match her ability to arouse a man’s interest, verbally or non-verbally, better than she could. She was such a natural for the role. And right now she was drawing upon all her years of knowledge and experience in an effort to seduce him.
Facing him, she began to unfasten his shirt. As she placed her arms loosely around his neck, she continued to gyrate her body slowly to some unheard tune. Ma’Kentu stood frozen.
Running her anxious hands lightly over his muscular chest and arms caused a shiver to suddenly run through her. She had waited impatiently for nearly a year for this very moment. As such, her excitement was hard to contain. She wanted him. And she wanted him now! Damn, if only his cute little girlfriend could see them together, she thought wickedly, connivingly. Talk about a compromising situation. He would never be able to explain this one away.
Suddenly, there came a slight movement in the shadows. Obviously, they were not alone. Surprise jolted Ma’Kentu, who appeared to awaken from his voodoo-like induced trance. At that very moment he realized how disheveled he must have appeared.
Quickly, he tucked his shirt inside of his trousers and refastened his trousers. Just slightly rattled, Charlotte lowered her tight skirt, then collected herself. She then returned her gaze and smiled wickedly.
“Look, it wouldn’t have worked, Charlotte,” he said below a whisper, searching the far distance nervously. “You don’t have the same effect on me as you once had. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go.”
“Yeah, right,” she returned sardonically. “Anyway, I wouldn’t want to keep you from your other one shop stop. Or is she a two-nighter, too? But then, looking on the bright side of things, she won’t ever have to worry about you falling in love with someone you don’t know.”
“Are you finished?” he snapped angrily, fastening his shirt and trousers.
“For now,” she answered, looking up at him precariously.
“What’s that supposed to mean, Charlotte?”
“Figure it out yourself, Mr. Lover Man,” she said, with an edge to her tone.
Quite riled, he tore his gaze away from her and walked off. Though he was quick to put great distance between them, he could feel her venting, her eyes burning an imaginary hole at the base of his head.
Ma’Kentu wanted to apologize to Margo for his disappearance but she was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he was overcome with a dreadful feeling. Damn! He thought. What if the noise in the distant shadows had been Margo? Such thinking frightened him. Spotting Al, he hurried over to him.
“Oh, Margo. She said she was going back to her hotel room,” said Al, holding a glass of punch. “I offered to find you but she said it was all right and for me not to worry about it.”
<
br /> Frantic, he told Al he’d meet him back at the hotel later and asked him to cover for him if anyone asked about him. Al assured him that he had his back.
Hailing a passing cab, he leaped in and headed to the hotel Margo was staying at. It was a long stress-filled ride for him. Over and over, he envisioned what it must have been like for Margo to see him walking off with his ex-flame Charlotte, disappearing, then catching them in the most compromising of situations.
Ma’Kentu paid the cabby, then got out of the car. As the cab sped off, he walked a short distance. Glancing down at his shoes, he noticed they had a little mud on them. Dammit! He grimaced. He had taken a shortcut across the wet lawn. There had been a light rain earlier that day.
Dipping his shoes into a clean puddle of water he first shook his right foot then his left foot. Pulling out a clean handkerchief, he dried both shoes. Looking around, he tossed the dirty handkerchief into a nearby trash receptacle.
Stepping up onto the concrete walkway, he eyed each room number until he came upon Margo’s suite. Rapping on the door lightly, he took a step back and anxiously awaited a response. Man was he in for it, he thought, as he pondered how to explain being alone with Charlotte with his shirt and trousers undone. He was certain he had blown it with Margo. No amount of damage control could salvage this relationship, was his fear.
The tears that burned her eyes were now gone. Lying across her bed thoughtfully in her robe, Margo glanced out into the night sky through the patio door and wondered what she had gotten herself into. It was not like her to fall so fast. As always, she was left feeling hurt and betrayed. And embarrassed. Suspecting that the woman she saw Ma’Kentu walk away with was Charlotte, she pondered whether or not he had told her the complete truth about their past relationship and the full extent of their involvement. She also pondered whether she could ever be his and in the most complete way. The way things had gone tonight, she had her doubts. Perhaps they should settle on being just friends, she tried fooling herself.
As she rose up to undress for a shower there was knocking at the door. Walking into the front area of the suite, she opened the door when she recognized the voice. She was more than a little surprised, to say the least.
“Yes, Mr. Eu’Tabee,” she greeted him cordially, holding her robe together with folded arms.
The fact that she greeted him formally was not a good sign, he reasoned. The fact that she greeted him at all was at best, promising. “I thought we had a dinner date?” he said, relieved to be gazing into her beautiful, though pain-filled, eyes again. Eyes stark with resentment.
“I thought we did too,” she answered, averting further eye contact.
“Look Margo, I’m sorry. Charlotte showed up and --- “
“--- And you decided that you had to run off with her,” she snapped, looking him squarely in the eyes now.
“Look, it was her idea to talk, not mine ---“
“---Oh, so you admit, you two still have something to talk about after a year. Well I’m sure you had a lot of catching up to do,” she said, tensely.
Still unsure if Margo had actually seen him alone with Charlotte, he decided to play it off. “Like I was trying to say, I --“
“I know, you were just trying to mend things up with her,” she injected. “In the meantime I’m left standing alone in a crowd of strangers while you and Ms. Hot Thang waltz off to have a warm friendly get-to-know-each-other-again chat. Look, I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation.”
Ma’Kentu placed his hands on his hips and looked away into the night for a few seconds, frustrated, but certain she had not seen him alone with Charlotte. He returned his gaze to her. In a pleading tone, he said, “Margo, please! Let me come inside so we can talk about this.”
Looking as if she had to give the matter some thought, she stepped aside and let him in. “Listen, just because I’m inviting you in, don’t get any ideas. You weren’t served dinner here so don’t expect dessert,” she added, closing the door.
Ma’Kentu wisely decided to leave that one alone.
Margo took a seat on the sofa and leaned back, her shapely legs crossed at the knee, her gaze distant.
Ma’Kentu quietly sat down next to her perfumed form, preferring the edge of the sofa. Hunching forward, he took his long arms and propped them on his legs, his large hands clenched loosely. Her disappointment was obvious. But how could he make amends, he thought? Being alone with her for the first time in a private setting was little comfort to him right now. He was in the doghouse and he knew it.
“Look, I apologize,” he said, giving her an eyeful of regret, his voice soft as a caress. “I should have never walked off with Charlotte without telling you where I was going and why. It was thoughtless of me. Margo, I promise it will never happen again!”
For a moment, she hovered there silently, poised on an invisible line between the hurt she felt and the passion she felt stirring inside her after gazing into his piercing brown eyes.
Moving closer to her, he gathered her warm hand in his, saying, “Look, I feel like I’m about to fall to pieces, Margo. Please, don’t shut me out. Not now.”
Unable to turn a deaf ear to his plead, she exhaled, then placed her free hand on top of his, stroking it gently, tenderly, nervously. It felt wonderfully exciting to her, to be here alone with him and sitting so close and touching him so casually, as if he belonged to her. As if she was his already. But he wasn’t completely off the hook, yet.
Gazing up into his hurt-filled eyes, she said, “Ma’Kentu, what is it that you’re looking for in me? What is it you see in me?”
“You want to know what I see in you. I see all that is beautiful and wonderful about life. I see excitement. I see a woman who cares about me for who I am, not for what I am or what I may become. I also see a woman who’s going places in life. Places I’d like to go with you.”
There was a pause as she gulped. ”You know, that’s very sweet of you to say. And I’m touched by your words. I really am. But right now, you obviously want more than what I am able to give you at this time.” She looked at him, sadly, then swallowed hard. “Look, I think the world of you Ma’Kentu but it’s probably best we remain friends. I mean that. At least until you get things worked out with your former girlfriend, or whatever she is to you.”
Hearing this, a loud no resonated throughout the chambers of his brain. He was not about to sit here and let her relegate their relationship to the level of mere friendship. What he felt in his heart for her went beyond mere friendship. Nor was he going to allow Charlotte to cast a shadow over his relationship with Margo.
Taking in a quick breath, he tightened his grip on her hand and looked her right in the eyes. “Listen to me. There isn’t anything going on between Charlotte and me. This is as plain and as simple as I can put it. Now, as far as what I’m looking for in you…well, I could go on for days trying to break it down to you. And I will, if I have to. But basically, I want everything you’ve got to give, Margo,” he said, with supplication in his voice. “And I want to give you all that I have to give. I don’t want to settle for a piece of the pie. I want the whole pie, and the family recipe along with it.”
Moved by his passionate words, she watched him for a moment, then dislodged her grip and stood up. Walking slowly away she stopped in front of the mirror, catching a glimpse of his tall handsome frame rising up from the sofa behind her.
A heartbeat later she felt him gently squeeze her shoulders from behind, his mouth close to her ear, his voice soft and caressing, “Look Margo, there’s something I must tell you.”
“What, Ma’Kentu?”
“Margo, I know it may sound crazy. Hell, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m falling for you.”
“But you hardly know me…”
“I know what I feel,” he said above a whisper. “More than anything, I want to be with you. Woman, I’m feeling things I haven’t felt in years. And it’s all because of you.”
Closing her eyes, s
he fought to hold back the raw passion inside. His fiery words moved her. And when she felt his hands move across her shoulders, massaging them a little, she could not stop the single tear of joy from rushing downward. It was the accumulation of all that had transpired the past two hours.
With quiet deliberation, he kissed her neck and shoulders tenderly. The feeling was electrifying. It was the sort of emotional thrill ride a woman did not want to get off from. With each soft-spoken word, each warm touch, each hot kiss, she would close her eyes and delight in the moment. “Ooh, that feels so good,” she cooed.
His cologne, though mild, was very intoxicating. In spite of the distance she had felt just a few seconds before, in her heart she knew he had grown closer to her than he’d ever realize. And more than she’d ever let on.
“God, I want to be with you, Margo,” he said in a husky romantic voice.
Though she felt the situation slowly slipping from her grasp she fought desperately to maintain her composure. It wasn’t easy being this close to him, hearing him profess his feelings for her, while at the same time she was trying to put distance between them.
“We’re from two separate worlds, Ma’Kentu. How can you be so sure?” she asked.
Pressing up against her gently, from behind, he planted another warm kiss on her neck, inhaling her sweet fragrance until he was heady. Her skin was so warm and smooth to the touch. So much, that he wanted to embrace her and never let go. “I’m sure because that’s the way I feel in my heart. And because I believe you’re falling for me, too.”
Like putty, she could feel herself warming inside, softening. “What makes you think I’ve fallen for you?” she asked, pointedly, with half-closed eyes. “How can you be so sure?”
Continuing to work his hot kisses along the nape of her warm vibrant neck, he whispered quite tenderly, “It’s the way you call out my name, the way you gaze into my eyes, the way you touch me, Margo. And it’s the way you respond to my touch. It’s all those wonderful things and more.”
Bassment Deep Page 9