by Tiana Laveen
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” They got into the car, and before she started it up, she wrapped her hand around his. She had no idea what came over her, but she needed to touch him in the worst way, to convince herself that all of this was real, that he was truly there, sitting right next to her. “Tony, despite how our little reunion began, I’m really glad you’re here. Uh, I haven’t been taking this as well as I would’ve liked. I learned to protect myself over the years, you know, get a tougher skin. No more emotional outbursts… If that had continued, I would have never been successful in business.”
“Yeah, I understand. You were real emotional back then, but it wasn’t always a bad thing, ya know?” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Just meant you loved a little more out in the open, cared more is all. I needed that at the time because I sure as hell wasn’t gettin’ that sort of attention and love from anyone else… that demonstrative, I’ve-got-your-back, we’re-in-this-together sort of love. Don’t change that part of you if it’s against your principles, Cass, business or not.” She cocked her head to the side, her heart skipping a beat. “You’re brilliant. You’d always find ways to make money. There isn’t a need to become somethin’ you’re not just to fit in.”
“But I’ve evolved is all, Tony. I’m not saying that I am trying to be someone I’m not. I’ve adapted.”
“Adaptation occurs when we are put in situations that are not the norm, when something is taken away from us that maybe shouldn’t have been. That’s not always cool… Nothin’ about you and me livin’ here and the shit we saw on a daily basis in Belle Glade was normal, Cassidy.” She dropped her head, so many emotions whirling inside her. “This placed is nicknamed ‘Hell Glade’. That’s fucked up, ya know? Murders, muggings, stabbings… that was our life! We lost our humanity, became less sensitive… you were one of those rare people who grew up in this place and still cried at sad movies.
“That made you special, not weak, Cass. There’s nothin’ wrong with that. Now me? I changed for the worse.” He pointed at himself. “I did that shit, morphed into what my friends were doing, and it didn’t help me, now did it? You and Maize liked me for who I really was. When I changed, you weren’t exactly thrilled about it. I’d let you down.” He smiled sadly. “So ya know, not tryna give you a lecture or stifle your growth, but keep the good shit about yourself, okay? Your compassion is like a diamond. Get rid of the bad shit, but my God, baby, learn to be able to tell the difference. Never throw away your precious jewels, no matter how tempting…”
1.5 hours later…
“Oh my God!” Cassidy giggled. Her voice was music to his ears as they played around in the kitchen, having the time of their lives. “You are crazy!” She was now red in the face as he showed her how to make the Ramen Noodles they used to secretly cook in prison. “I don’t want that shit, Tony!” He picked up the pot off the stove and stirred his spoon within the crinkly noodles, as if to entice. “No!” She screamed around a fit of giggles. “I’m not puttin’ that mess in my body. It’s basically plastic. Take that prison cuisine somewhere else.”
“It’s a side dish for the grits and shrimp! Grandmama would’ve loved this recipe!”
“You are seriously reaching. Don’t try to drag her name in this mess!” She slung a bag of trash to the side of the kitchen to be taken out back.
“Oh, so you’re too good for Jailbird treats, huh?”
At this, she laughed even harder.
“You’re damn straight.”
“Still snobby as ever I see.” She rolled her eyes as he poked fun at her. “Come on! Don’t knock it ’til you try it.”
“Boy, that shit is knocked and untried until the day I die! I can’t believe Grandmama even had those in her pantry. Someone must’ve given them to her because as long as I was living here, she never made them. Throw the whole damn pack away!” She chortled. “Do you know how bad those are for you, Tony?” He ignored her as he added more spices and some fresh onion to his special concoction. “Okay, the grits are almost finished.”
“Where’s the sugar?”
“What sugar?” Her brow arched as if he were speaking a foreign language.
“You know, for the grits.”
“If you don’t take your Northern ass up outta my face! Ain’t nobody ova here ’bout to be puttin’ no damn sugar in the grits! Salt and butter, pepper, sometimes cheese, yes… no sugar, ya damn Yankee! You done lost yo’ mind!”
That was the first time he’d heard the woman speak more similarly to the way she used to when they were kids. The thick Floridian accent was back with a vengeance, and it was everything. He loved it. In fact, the longer they joked and played, the more her Californian sophistication began to slip…
Just then, his phone vibrated on his hip. He checked the screen but did not recognize the number. Not one to typically answer unknown calls, he made an exception. Perhaps it was a customer calling from somewhere else and even though it was rather late in the day, he had clients from all over, living in various time zones.
“This is Tony.” He answered the phone, propping it between his ear and neck as he made his way back over to the stove. “Hello?” Nothing but silence, but he could sense someone was on the other end. “Speak now or forever hold ya peace.” Silence…
He disconnected the call, slid the phone back into his pocket, and took the small pot off the stove.
“Everything okay?” Cassidy asked as she removed the shrimp from the pan as well.
“Yeah, everything’s fine… I have no idea who that was; probably dialed the wrong number. Okay!” He clasped his hands together. “This looks delicious and smells good, too. Let’s eat!”
Minutes later, they were sitting at the dining room table, tiptoeing then running full speed ahead down memory lane.
“And Maize said, ‘That’s why yo’ mama so stupid that if she spoke her mind, she’d be speechless!’” Tony pounded the table with his fist, unable to speak.
Cassidy didn’t appear to be in any better shape.
“I love it when you laugh like that, Tony. That protruding vein in your forehead… it’s cute.”
He ran his hand across his head. “I forget it’s there.”
“It was one of the things I liked about you physically. It was different.”
“Hmm, I see.” He picked up his glass of white wine and took a sip. “Do you know what I liked about you physically?”
“What? My eyes?”
“Yeah… they were different, but your mouth, your ass, your feet and your breasts were my favorite.”
“My breasts?! The mosquito bites, as Danica would call them?” she quipped. “Now that’s a first!”
“I’m serious. I thought they were really pretty. Size didn’t matter. I liked how they looked and felt. They were bigger than mine and that’s all that mattered to me.”
She grinned at that.
“Well, they have the nerve to not be as perky anymore. I don’t know why. I’ve never breastfed and they aren’t big enough to be affected by gravity.”
“You’re a woman now. That’s what happens. I love a grown woman because I’m a grown man.” He winked at her, then watched her squirm in her seat.
“You’re relentless, you know that? That hasn’t changed, I see.”
“Of course not. Gotta keep hope alive.” She bit her bottom lip. “Well, Cass, we got a lot of the kitchen finished. I’ll take those bags out tomorrow. The shrimp and grits are perfect, too. Followed the recipe to the letter and look? Magic.”
“They were good, weren’t they? I can’t take all the credit though. You helped. Hey, let’s pick out a recipe in advance for tomorrow.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
He watched her get up from her seat, then return with the cookbook. She walked up to him and placed it by his glass of wine, then returned to her seat.
“You choose, Tony. It’s your turn.”
He shoved his now empty plate aside and thumbed gently through the pages. He paused, plucked a small y
ellow piece of paper out from the crease, and stared at it.
“What’s that?” Cassidy asked before taking another sip of her wine.
“Not sure… let’s see.” He unfolded it and read it aloud…
‘Cassidy caught a cold. She didn’t want to miss school, so I stayed up all night cooking this chicken noodle soup. I told her she had to eat two bowls tonight, and one big bowl in the morning. She thought the idea of chicken noodle soup in the morning for breakfast was silly, but I told her it would knock her cold out so she could go on to class. I fixed her the soup, and I wasn’t sure it would work, but I needed her to believe it would work – kind of like a placebo. Sure enough, she felt better after that big bowl in the morning and went on to school. She got a A- on her math test. She’s my bright, shining star, my intelligent angel. She’s the reason I ignore my aches and pains and get on with my day. I look at that pretty girl and see the future. Seems the soup did some good after all.’
Tony folded the piece of paper again, jammed it in the cookbook, and noticed that it had been right next to the chicken noodle soup recipe. When he looked back at Cassidy, her head was in her hands and she was shaking. He quietly got up, went around the table, and took her in his arms.
Tears flooded her eyes as he made her stand and wrap her arms around him. She held on tight, her hands looped around his neck. They were silent all the while as he rubbed her back and kissed her cheek. The music kept playing, and the mood changed. Something sweet and tempting floated about in the air. Before he could make sense of it, he felt fingertips on his jaw as the woman made him face her. He stared down into her eyes and in a moment, her juicy lips were on his. Kissing him, pulling him under. Her body pressed against his and he lost complete control. Tongues dancing, he scooped her ass cheek with his palm and gave it a squeeze. The tears flowed faster now, her desire penetrating the world around them… and he would not give her ‘no’ for an answer.
He picked her up in his arms and carried her away to her old room. Once he flicked on the light, he noticed the bed was nothing more than a mattress on a frame, no sheets, the room practically bare, though boxes littered the room all around. It would simply have to do. He quickly removed the stacks of old newspapers and items from the mattress, then turned around to find her half-undressed already.
In a few moments, they were completely naked on the mattress. They reached for one another, cursing and begging, rubbing and grinding. She quickly straddled him, then looked between his legs, his dick twitching in anticipation of sliding into its all-time favorite pussy in the whole wide world…
“Sweet mercy, how I’ve missed this absolutely huge cock…”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Bed and Breakfast
Cassidy planned to blame it all on the alcohol.
Once they’d gotten back from the store, their arms laden with grocery bags, they’d turned the radio up and began to ransack that box full of herbs, spices, spatulas, slotted spoons and pans. The alcohol flowed, and flowed some more, and now here she was in her old distressed bed, in her tiny, stuffy bedroom filled with memorabilia… and shuddering from his touch, his long, thick fingers gliding against her stomach, teasing her flesh in the way only he could.
Tony looked up into her eyes with the intensity of a hungry wolf, and her pussy cried out his name as he expertly stroked her clit, working her into a frenzy.
I don’t know this man anymore, but he seems so familiar, so real. His personality is exactly the same… his eyes that same gorgeous gray… He’s filled out. He has muscles now, tattoos… He’s a tad bit taller. He was always tall though, especially for his age. The gold and diamonds are out of his mouth—only plain, sparkling white teeth… He always had a nice smile. He’s bossier… lewder… and I like it. But the worst part of it all is that he’s still in control of me. How has he maintained this power over me, even after all this time?!
She wanted to smack the smug expression off his gorgeous Italian face. Perhaps it wasn’t smug at all; maybe she was just angry with herself and him—the fact that he could walk into her life again and do this… These intense emotions mingled with her spiked lust for a man she shared a very special history with, a one-of-a-kind past that was colored in ugly shades of pain but also hues of beauty, laughter, and love. Was there gold at the end of the rainbow? Digging her fingers into his chest, she cursed him. And herself, too…
As cool as he pleased, he reached to his crumpled pants on the floor, removed his wallet, and slid out a condom. The bastard ripped open the gold XXL Magnum, sheathed his dick, then wasted no time sliding the monster against her pussy, enticing her…
“Mmm, baby, so wet…”
She shuddered when he lifted her higher with one hand, with the greatest of ease, never taking his eyes off her. Without waiting for her signal, he pushed her down onto his wide cock and she screamed bloody murder as the thickness stretched her open, awakened her body in a brutish way. Looking pissed and in love all at once, he held onto her waist and thrust deep within her. She rode him like a rollercoaster as he took control, forcing her to stay on the saddle and accept each plunge and dive.
“You have no idea… how much… I’ve dreamed of having you again, Cassidy…” he said breathlessly as sweat began to collect along the soft hairs of his hairline. “This is a dream… come true.”
She dragged her nails along his dark blue and black tapestry of tattoos, head bowed, praying to God to release her from the grips of the fallen angel she’d once loved.
“You… don’t have me… again. This is… just for right… now.” He reared back and slammed within her walls like a Mack truck. “Ahhhh! Fuck you!”
Hot tears filled her eyes as she smacked his chest, beating him hard until he reached forward, grabbed her by her wrists, and made her hold him tight.
“I’m sorry for the past, baby! I’m so fuckin’ sorry! If I could take it back, Cassidy, I would! I never shoulda let someone take me away from you! That was my fault. I’m so damn sorry, Angel Eyes!” His voice shook and when she looked into his eyes, they were glassy… His chest rose quickly up and down as she sat pressed against him, her body popping up and down while he fucked the daylights out of her, all the while declaring his sorrows and love.
“What do you want from me, Tony?” she said, choking out the words.
“I’ll do anything to have another chance with you. Let’s just try to be friends and see what happens, okay?” She swallowed. “Just promise me that you won’t fight it, Cass… Just let it happen, whatever ‘it’ is. If you don’t want me back after we’re all finished here, I’ll accept defeat. But if you do…” He grabbed her chin, keeping the same vigorous rhythm. “Tell me, and I promise to never let you go…”
“Shit!” she cried out as her orgasm exploded.
He slowed down then, and she could feel his eyes on her as he twisted his hips back and forth, working that divine dick of his inside of her in a lazy, deep, circular motion…
And she exploded in another orgasm that had her eyes gloss over. Sighing, he flipped her on her back, and slid inside her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Taking her nipple into her mouth, he sucked it slow and sweetly. He gave the same treatment to the other. Running her fingers through his dark hair, she met his thrusts and fell into a daydream…
I lied to you the other day. I’ve missed you, too, Tony… I thought about you way more than I should’ve. And Danica was right; every man I met after you seemed to never be as good as you, and I judged them for that. I was suffering because no one could compete with my first love…
But she refused to utter those words to him, share her vulnerable thoughts…
Her eyes stung with unspent tears, the heartache of it all…
She blinked them away before they could tell on her, betray how much this man ravished her body and heart. Her pussy accepted him with open arms. He slid right in, as if they were old friends that had never parted. Her pussy had never forgotten, forgiven, or gotten over him. Even though she�
��d been young, after years of new experiences, nobody could make love to her quite like Tony. The passion, the love, the sweet torture… he’d ruined her for anyone else.
“What are you thinking about?” She was startled out of her thoughts by his voice. He was moving at a snail’s pace, staring down at her. “Did you hear me? You’re crying… What are you thinking about?” In shock, she reached for her cheek and felt dampness.
One of the damn tears must’ve escaped…
“I’m thinking… I’m thinking of you.” She smiled sadly as he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her so softly, so tenderly.
He ran his fingers along her curls, his touch perfect, his kiss heavenly, his fucking … amazing. No one could fuck and make love at the same time, except for Tony. He had that way about him, making nasty seem nice, and nice seem nasty.
He cupped the back of her neck and slid his tongue within her mouth. Spreading her legs farther apart, almost painfully, he treated her temple like a toy, pounding her hard, in fast, harsh thrusts. Her pussy wept, spilled, cried as orgasmic tremors once more ravished her mind, body, and soul. She sighed and groaned.
“You hate me, don’t ya?!”
“YES!” She wailed.
“Because you still love me?”
“YES!”
He groaned and stiffened, and she waited for it, wanted it… She looked into his eyes, needing that warm rush. And when it came, he flooded the condom. His moans deep and guttural, he jerked inside her, his body seizing then spasming. After a short while, he rolled off her, his body sliding toward the floor. They both burst out laughing.
“You saw that? I almost kissed the ground. Coulda busted my fuckin’ head open.”
“What did you expect? You’re not that lanky waif anymore. This is a twin bed.”
They both chuckled. As they lay on their backs, staring up at the ceiling, he reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers.
“Do you still love your ex-husband, Cass?”
“No.”