“Can I feed you?” he asked, pushing his hands deep into his jean pockets. He smiled a little. “Something quick, and then I can take you back - take you home.”
Home, yes. I needed to go home. I had a job to do.
A click of a lock moments later, and we were at the start of the journey back to DC, the nursery’s door closing behind us. D fiddled with that, getting it locked, and I stepped away. I needed to step away. I needed to breathe. On that quest for air, I stumbled across concrete ahead. It had a few wide holes in it and the cement that formed them was a damp, deep grey.
I frowned.
“It must have rained while we were inside,” I said, heading over. I got in the center and that’s when I got D’s attention.
His head whipped around. “Andie, that’s not—!”
The wave of water shot straight up, and a force of sharp current went right into the underside of my shorts. Just as quickly as it happened, it stopped. The waves moved on, the current making a “follow the leader” procession onward down the concrete lane of holes in the sidewalk.
I honestly was frozen right where I stood, and very much afraid to look at the damage. I knew exactly what color my shorts were, and any underwear I owned would show right through it.
D made it to me quickly, his face a mashup of shock and humor. Though he tried to hide the latter. His face went overly stiff, his hand rubbing behind his neck. “That’s not rain.”
“I got that.” The water dripped down to my heels now, and as the day was dwindling down a nice crisp chill was hitting my nether region.
He reached out for me, then thought better of it, pulling back. “Come on. Let’s get you a—”
His words cut off by the water that hit him, and it got him good, too. It shot right between his legs.
I know because I pushed him right over it. I couldn’t help it really. I was wet. I was uncomfortable, and well… it seemed like fun.
His hands snapped right over his junk, rubbing a little, but that shock didn’t last as long as mine had when he stared me down. Something dark settled upon his eyes, eyebrows descending like storm clouds. And when they flickered to the right, on the trail of water coming right at us, I knew what was next.
I ran. I ran for my life, a feat I knew impossible. I had a basketball player behind me with limbs only too long. They swiped me up quickly, and he tugged, pulling me into a jet of water that soaked us both. Heads, shoulders, toes. All white was see-thru, and my red drawers only on display through my shorts and the white strips of my top. But for some reason, I didn’t care. For some reason, I laughed.
D laughed too, his navy t-shirt sticking to him and clinging to every ridge, every bump of muscled surface underneath it. It brought his biceps out, his shoulders like rock slabs, and his eyes… His eyelashes collected each drop of water, making them clumpy, errant beads following to his lips. They fell into his mouth, and then they fell into mine.
He kissed me…
He gathered me up, his hands on my shorts, his mass hitting my heat when he pressed me into him. He didn’t do it on purpose. He was just so large, so big… everywhere. My hands to his cheeks, I wanted that burn below, that heat and not just from his mouth. He went hard before me, more rock, more him. His hands on my wet shorts allowed him to grind, allowed me to grind… on him.
A sharp tug went to my lips from his teeth and I decided something. And I think it was that same something that brought me here. I wanted him.
And I think I wanted him for a very long time.
Andie
Everything was wet, our clothes, D’s car, me. He took me to his home, an all-brick colonial style with a two-car garage. It was all very subdued, quaint, and completely without excitement, or flare. It was comfortable.
It was home.
The walk to his bedroom was one of urgency, flesh and limbs. He wanted my body and I wanted his, neither of us questioning the other. This went beyond our bargain; no sex just spending time together, and even though, I think we both fully understood that didn’t matter. We were two grown ass people, and at least for me, I was going to do whatever I wanted. I wanted D’s body. I wanted him.
And I was going to have him.
He affixed his mouth to mine, delicious flesh revealing when he reached, pulling up his shirt. We both pushed it off and to the floor, a body of iron plains greeting me in more than a friendly manor. Diondre Combs was a basketball player. He trained his body for performance, so perfection was much of a given. But the hardened dips and rises of his abs was something of an outlier. He was marble, a polished work of obsidian tone.
He peeled my shirt off, his fingers running along damp skin. My bra had turned translucent, everything had - so nothing was of a mystery to him. His fingers to my shorts, he pressed my breasts against him, his hand shoving down and reaching for my core.
Sharp breaths escaped my lips and flowed into his mouth, his fingers a maddening dance of fluent strokes, and soft strums to my bud. Fresh juices tingled around my sensitive lips, as well as coated his fingers. My shorts and wet panties fell to the floor and I stepped out of them, jumping.
He caught me like he was meant to, like he was always meant to. I gripped around an unwavering body, the smell of heady flesh so near to my nose. I tasted his neck, biting, and a groan pushed from his body and went clear into mine. We fell together, a tumble of lust and body. A snap of my bra and he had his mouth on my breast, using his teeth against my diamond hard peak. He was so rough before he was gentle, but then so soft when he was kissing them, loving them.
He caressed, massaged, using his mouth to warm and suckle. He laved, pushing those long fingers into me ten-fold. He used two, then three using my cream to take me deeper.
I gasped.
“D…”
Any cries only made him go harder, faster. He drove his fingers like a piston, making my hips flutter up, and off the bed. A sharp rip showed a broken condom wrapper in his teeth, and before I knew it, his pants were down, thighs the size of thick tree trunks surrounding the most beautiful cock.
He pumped it rising up and taking the condom out of his mouth, and that had been the first time I saw it. He had a question in his eyes, something there that made him stop.
I rose to my knees, kissing him. He had a smell so fine, but so thick like sweet molasses. I felt his hand between us, his large mass, then suddenly, he grabbed my hips, moving up to my waist.
He forced my back to the bed, pushing my legs apart. Whatever had him hesitating before, seemed to have left him. He surrounded me with his body, grabbing the headboard, and those eyes welcomed me in at an easy thrust. It was all too easy, too easy for him to take me.
He pierced, jabbing like a heavyweight. He went deep, his extended length allowing him to take him there, to take me there.
I fingered his body, reaching up to cup large shoulder blades. Bringing him down to me - his charged body amped up in explosive thrusts. His body was frantic, powerful, and primal, but his lips? They told another story.
His mouth opened and closed on me, so soft to the touch on my neck, and when they touched my chin, then took my mouth - I forgot myself. I forgot my need for his body. I forgot all desire for his heat, and touch. I just wanted this, his mouth moving over mine like a sweet song. And it was sweet. His body knew how to make me come, but his mouth?
It knew how to love.
He took me there, his cock fast and merciless, but the real high came from his lips on mine, my body a shallow pool of raw emotions.
Gasping, I held his body and he held mine, taking me as he pushed his hand over my cheek. I drenched around him, legs shaking and everything else in a rapid quake. We were both so wet, damp from the fountains and sweaty from the sex. We were completely clammy and…
It was amazing.
*
“What happened to um… to Ms. Gracie’s hand?”
We’d been talking for what seemed like hours, the sun high in the afternoon. We talked about many things; his life on the tea
m, my life at the club, but those things had all been cosmetic. Occupations had always been safe, good topics.
He brought his hand down my side, resting it lightly on my hip. He brushed his lips over the shell of my ear, and I laughed. That’s why he did it. He had done this a few times now.
“A house fire,” he said, smoothing his mouth on my cheek. “It was in the old neighborhood. The one I grew up in. The houses there were shit, and some faulty wiring took hers up one day. We were next door neighbors with her.”
That settled like a mass, a hard stone in my chest. “Where were you guys?”
“At school.” He paused to bring both arms around me, “my mom at work. Could have been us, too. The side of the house my sisters’ rooms were on got blasted just as hard. God was really looking down on us.”
How true that was. Wow.
I drew my nails down his back and smiled when a small shudder quaked through his body. I kissed his chest. “We grew up in a similar place, my brother and I.”
He lay still, body warming at the kisses to his pecs.
He smoothed his lips on my head. “Yeah?”
“Mmmhmm. We both grew up in the system, foster kids.”
All light topics, all safety, had clearly gone out the window now, and I think he knew that. He was oh so quiet, and this man never ceased to have something to say.
I pulled my hand from behind his back, burying my face in him. “And that’s the answer to your question. It happened then.”
“What?”
My face was hidden now, completely lost in his smell. “My brother’s deal. You asked what it was. Well, his deal was there. It was with me.”
A warm finger drew down my cheek, brushing down to my shoulder. He wouldn’t push me on this. Maybe that’s why I kept on.
“I thought I was in love,” I told him. I pressed my body into him, his arms pulling me closer, harder. “Our foster brother - and people found out, his parents.”
I left out the part where he coerced me, bathed me in attention and love I never had before. He set me up to want him, and it wasn’t until later I wondered how many had come both before and after me. It was him I ripped out of the picture of my brother and me. I did the moment I was no longer chasing his high. It was the moment I grew up.
I shrugged. “When it all came down, I was taken away and placed in a group home. Tuck and I were separated for years until I was able to get out of the system, then work up enough income to take care of him. And he… well, he’s never forgiven me for that.”
My fingers played at my necklace, the metal pendant he gave me before that final Christmas. It was D who slid it from my fingers, studying it. I smiled.
“He gave it to me. Tucker. He did before it all came crashing down. It’s the last gift he gave. I tried to make up for leaving him, being selfish. I put him through all the best basketball camps growing up, and to this day, I try to do what I can for him, but… it never seems like it’s enough.”
I didn’t know why I was telling him all this. I shouldn’t be telling him this. But I did, and it was done.
Again, that big body of his kept the silence. Then suddenly, I got a nod, his fingers handing my pendant back to me. An embrace of Diondre Combs’s wide limbs followed.
“I almost lost all of this before I got it,” he said, raising his eyes to the room. He reached down tracing the shell of my ear, but I didn’t laugh this time. Even though it tickled, I didn’t laugh. He was so serious this time, no laughter or smiles allowed.
“I did some stupid shit in college,” he said, “got caught up in some illegal betting with some powerful people and almost took my friend down with me. He was completely innocent in it all, everything going on around him. It was fucked.”
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“A damn miracle. It was actually him who was responsible for getting me out of everything. Him and his now wife, and we’re still friends, Griff and me. I don’t know how we are after all that, but he’s still one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”
I thought about that, so confused by the fact.
So I asked him.
“Why do you think that is? That he forgave you? That you’re still friends with him?”
I didn’t know why I asked. I guess that’s what happens when you open the door, when things stop being safe, when things are real.
Diondre smiled at me, those teeth so white and bright. He had the best smile. I think I could watch that smile for so very long.
He bent, kissing my nose, but once he did, he stayed there.
“I guess he felt I was worthy of forgiveness,” he said. “Even if I didn’t feel I was.”
D
The event coordinators had the Onyx Room looking hot tonight, but I knew it was Andie. Andie had Club Prestige looking awesome, and I couldn’t thank her enough. The entire place looked like a tailored suit. Classy, with its dark tones and warm light. The music had the place hopping, and all my friends, and all Ryan’s boys, we here. We made sure of that, Griff and I. Our friend, and old college roommate deserved it. He enjoyed playing for Canada, something he’d told Griffin and me several times. But that was Ryan’s personality. He wasn’t a complainer. He took the opportunities bestowed upon him, and that’s what made his new offer so great. He’d finally been traded to DC. He finally got to come home.
He hung out by the piano player, super stoked that we’d all come out for him, that we’d put this together for him. Griffin arranged for a car to have him delivered here from the airport, and Ryan… well, this kid did all but shed tears. I think the support and thought got to him or something, but Griffin and I slapped him out of all that emotion. Ryan had been bouncing around since then, making his rounds to see all the people who’d come out for him. I hoped he’d take advantage of the side rooms set up for him at one point, though. They were all open to live dances for anyone who wanted it, keeping the main part of the Onyx Room more of a club experience with a few dancers’ silhouettes only visible through a white wall near the piano player. Only their forms could be seen behind the smoked glass, and Griffin had set it up that way. Tonight, this place was more about the party, the social aspect, more than emphasis on the stripping, and I think that had been purposeful on Griff’s part. Doing things this way would make himself and others who were tied down like he was more comfortable. But I found myself not disagreeing with that like I thought I would. In fact, I didn’t think I would be using those private rooms myself tonight. I didn’t have any desire to.
Smiling, I tipped back my scotch, looking for her. For Andie. I hadn’t seen her at all tonight, and actually, not since I dropped her off at her house yesterday. We got in pretty late, but that was okay. She worked at a place whose normal business hours were purposely late, so she hadn’t been too upset by that. She hadn’t been upset really at all yesterday, and I might even wager by saying she had a little fun. She enjoyed her time with me.
She wasn’t the only one.
A hand moved around my shoulders, taking me out of my search for the girl who I knew could more than kick my ass.
But I definitely wouldn’t mind the tussle.
Instead of whom I had actually hoped for, I got Griff. He grabbed my hand and then I got him in a sweep, a strong hug. I hadn’t gotten to see him tonight, though I knew he’d been poking around somewhere. He threw this party, both of us did.
Teeth nearly as big as mine shown under his blond hair. Though, I was sure my dark skin brought mine out more, especially with these club lights. He slapped my back, wearing a suit that almost looked as good as mine.
Almost.
He grinned. “I see you came through. Got the place back for us.”
And Christ if I hadn’t. Who knew what he’d do to my ass at another blunder. I was counting my blessings with this guy every damn day.
I laughed, shaking my head with disbelief that I actually had been able to do it. Get this place back. “I didn’t want the
alternative—i.e. you kicking my ass.”
His bark of a laugh exploded over the club noise. “I’d say you made a good decision. And Ryan looks like he’s having fun.”
That was the goal.
He caught our eye, reaching up to wave in the pinstripe thing he had going on. I couldn’t do stripes, but our boy could pull it off.
I brought Griffin down by his shoulders.
“How’s married life?” I asked. “The honeymoon?”
I knew him to have flown in directly from Miami early this morning, Fiji right before that.
His mouth lifted in the corner, that smile going wide and I’d wager that had to do with his little woman.
He shook his head. “Do you really want to know? I know you hate talking about that stuff - settling down.”
My vision caught Andie then, and when I caught her, I caught her. A short black dress encased the most feminine form, tight curves. That along with her heels and red lipstick, one would think she was a dancer, or server, not one of the most badass chicks in the building. She had her tanks with her, Gorilla One and Gorilla Two, but that didn’t bother me. They knew their place with her, and if anything, backed her up, and that made them nothing but okay with me.
Griff turned, eyes fleeting that way though he had no idea who I was looking at.
I smiled.
“I do,” I said tilting my glass, “but I can imagine the usual, though. Sex, sex, and more fucking—”
“Yeah. Won’t be talking about that with you, but yes, we had a good time.” He shook his head, taking a swig from the long neck bottle in his hands.
“We did things different,” he went on. “Getting married then waiting a bit for the honeymoon. But I’m glad we did. It gave us some time to get things in order, Roxie enrolled in school and all.”
That’s right. She was doing the continued school thing, law school.
“And she doesn’t mind you being here?” This was still a strip club, though I damn well knew Griffin Chandler wouldn’t be partaking in the festivities. Like I said before, he was different now, not the college guy I used to know.
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