by Tiana Laveen
“I like how you move,” she cooed as she swayed to his movements, matching him step for step.
He spun her around in a circle then brought her back to him. They moved their bodies back and forth as if doing the salsa, until they both burst out laughing. He loved the sound of her voice… His smile slowly faded as he brought her close, so very close…
Look at those freckles… there aren’t many. Just enough to be seen. She’s so damn pretty…
Without another second to lose, he pressed his lips against hers, his need for her growing to epic proportions.
“I’m so horny right now, baby… I have to fuck you…” he slurred as he lifted her in his arms and headed for the stairs. “We can eat the dinner I had delivered later on. I have a taste for something else right now…”
Thighs stretched wide, she straddled her lover, her back towards him. His long, muscular legs covered in dark hair cocooned her as he caressed her ass with his rock hard, long dick. The torture was unbearable. She craved him in the worst way but all he offered were slow grinds against her pussy from beneath…
He became a chair for her to sit on, a throne with a sword promised to cut her to the quick and give maximum pleasure. She shuddered when he reached around her and caressed her pussy. Delicate touches, light and beautiful, soon turned into determined strokes. She screamed when he pressed his chest into her back, his silver chain and pendant cool against her skin. He kept her close with one hand wrapped around her thigh and the other plunging two, long fingers within her ocean. The sweet music, burning candles and incense didn’t match his ruthlessness and harsh breathing. The man seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as she.
“Shit!” She clenched her teeth when he began to grind against her ass, the heat from his mouth caressing her neck as his dick travelled the length of her ass crack.
“All of my adult life I’ve craved dependability! I knew what I was getting with my family; they provided that. In my relationships though, I didn’t get it all the time, Sahara… but when I’m inside of you, it feels like home. I feel safe! Cum for me so I can go back home!”
And she came hard to his words, her thighs soon trickling with the juices of her pleasure. She sighed when he entered her, his hands cupping her breasts. His moans echoed loudly over the music as he fucked her hard and steady. Another orgasm ripped through her as he bottomed her out, his long cock plunging in and out of her wet canal with brute determination.
“Does it feel good to you, baby? I won’t stop until you get everything you want.” The man blurted out the words between pleasure-filled sighs.
She loved how he did that… Vangelis made love for her enjoyment, more so than for himself. He was the forever pleaser, the server in bed. This explained why he was such a successful doctor, why people trusted him and felt comfortable with him.
“You are the best lover I’ve ever had.” Her eyes watered with desire as he strummed her clit and kept his thrusts at an angle, hitting her special spot. “I hope that answers your question.”
“It does, baby… It definitely does.”
She could hear the smile in his words, and couldn’t help but smile, too. She gasped when he tightened his grip around her, pulling her down towards the bed with him. The back of her head landed against his chest, where she could feel his heart beating so fast as he spilled within her. She strained to turn and see him, catching a glimpse of his eyes pressed tightly closed, his mouth agape, and his muscles tight. His dick jerked within her and another warm rush of his creamy elixir flooded her.
For a while, they lay quietly, the music so soothing, the smell of the room so sweet and beautiful…
After several minutes, she turned and twisted, forcing his nature to slip from her pussy. Running her fingers along his chest hairs, she smiled down at him. He blinked a couple of times, looking lethargic and satisfied. Such peace surrounded them, a much-needed reprieve.
“Are you hungry? I used Uber-eats and had some French food dropped off for dinner.” He stretched beneath her, and when she went to move, he grabbed her. “No, stay right there… you smell good and you’re keeping my chest warm.”
She smiled at his words. “Yeah, I’m hungry. French sounds good. I had a—”
His cellphone rang, interrupting her mid-sentence. His brows bunched as he snatched his cellphone from the nightstand. “What’s wrong, Vangelis?”
“My brother…”
“Oh.” He’d filled her in on the all the sordid details of what had happened at his parents’ home. The man had been completely enraged when he’d told her the tale; she could only imagine how he’d felt when it was all transpiring. The phone stopped ringing, then started right back up again. This time, Vangelis answered.
“What?!”
He sat up in bed, his back against the headboard. Sahara slowly slid away from him and rested beside him on the other pillow.
She heard a man’s voice yell from the other end. “You finally answer your fucking phone!”
Vangelis put the call on speaker and set it down on the nightstand beside him. Linking hands over his belly, he stared into nothingness. “What the hell do you want, Nico?”
“I want to come over and talk to you. We need to straighten this shit out.”
“There’s nothing to straighten out and I can tell already that you’ve been drinking.”
“There’s plenty to straighten out and so what if I’ve been drinking! Mr. Fuckin’ perfect over there! Angel, shit!” Sahara pulled the sheets up and covered herself. “I need to—”
“What you need to do is talk to your wife, stay out of my way, and leave me the hell alone! I’m so fucking sick of you and just about everyone else!” The vein on the side of Vangelis’ neck popped and he looked about ready to burst. “Mom has been calling me and leaving stupid voicemails! No one has yet to apologize though, that is for damn sure! I was ambushed at Dad’s party—all because of you!”
“Anisa knows now, Van!”
“Good! I don’t give uh shit at this point. Look how much time has passed?! Thank God I’m in a gated community and removed your name from the list… no more pop overs without a call. I don’t want to see you.”
“You’re a real fucking piece of work, Vangelis!” The man laughed dismally. “Mr. Perfect, looking down on everyone else from your high horse as if you’re God! If someone doesn’t do as you say, you take it out on them.”
“Bullshit, Nico. I couldn’t care less what you do and don’t do at this point. You’re a lost cause.”
“You’re so damn critical and judgmental. Why don’t you look at yourself in the mirror first, huh?! You’re not perfect, Van! I hate to break it to you, but you’re not. I know all about what happened between you and Harmony. You’re no fucking saint!” Vangelis squirmed a bit in the bed, as if he were trying to get comfortable to no avail. “You cheated on her left, right, sideways, above and below, you fucking egotistical fucker! You’ve always needed more and more women… even when you had a good one! You screwed it up because she was tired of your nitpicking and your constant need to be in control. Yeah! Had no clue that I knew, did you? She told me all about it!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vangelis stated calmly, though as Sahara listened to him and studied his body language, she wasn’t convinced. “That’s not exactly what happened. You don’t even know the half of it.”
“My brother… what a hypocrite! You’re so fast to tell it how it is to everyone else, but when it comes to your own life, the world only gets bits and pieces of the truth… and those pieces always have you in the best light. Vangelis, you think you have everyone fooled but I know you, man. We’re cut from the same cloth and don’t you forget it!”
Vangelis visibly swallowed. He threw her a glance out of the corner of his eye, and if she were a betting woman, she’d put all of her damn money on him suddenly regretting having his brother on speakerphone. On a sigh, she turned to get out of the bed.
“Vangelis, I better go.” Sh
e gasped when he not only grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards him, but he did it with such force and need. His eyes sheened, but he blinked the moisture away before it had a chance to escape. She wasn’t certain what was happening, but one thing was for certain, he wished for her to stay put.
“Don’t go…” He mouthed.
“Okay, I’ll stay.” She slipped back into the bed beside him and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Oh, well, what do you know?! I heard a woman’s voice,” Nico piped up. “Hey, lady, whoever you are—maybe you are the Black woman, the kid doctor my brother professed to be so giddy about. Let me introduce myself.”
“Nico, shut the fuck up.” Vangelis plopped back down against the headboard.
“Oh, come on, Angel! Don’t be rude. Us Greeks like to show the ladies hospitality, right?! Look, woman, let me tell you something, whatever he’s told you about me, and knowing my brother, he looooves to make everyone look like shit except for himself. Vangelis here is ten times worse!”
“You’re drunk.” Vangelis rolled his eyes as if bored to death.
“Yeah, I’m drunk right now. My fucking marriage is over, too. I’ve shamed the family. Mom is crying and beside herself, but as far as what I’m saying about you, I am speaking the damn truth! You’re hot ’nd cold. Nobody knows what the fuck you’re thinking and that’s exactly how you like it, you fuckin’ sociopath! I know I messed up by telling Mom about you and your girlfriend, but she put me on the spot!”
“That’s no excuse, Nico. Now, the entire family—including friends of Mom and Dad that I don’t even associate with—knows my private business! It’s mine!” Vangelis yelled, pointing at his chest. “It’s my private life! I can share it when and how I please and if you don’t like it, that’s too fucking bad. I opened up to you… something you said I don’t do often, and what do you do? You use it to get yourself off the hot seat. We’re done, Nico. In my mind, you had twenty-four hours to fix it, but you didn’t. That proved to me you don’t give a shit about me or your wife. That type of betrayal is unforgiveable.”
“I tried to make it right, but you wouldn’t talk to me! It was eatin’ me up inside. You and I were like best friends… but then you turned your back on me, Van. I fuck up one time with you, all right? One damn time after all of these fucking years and you act like you never wanna see me again, like you’re faultless and have never done or said something outta line! Like you’ve never done something wrong! I fuck up all the time, man. But you know what, Van? At least I’m honest about myself. I’m real! All you do is clean your fucking house, fuck pretty women and never call them again, and pretend to be a big shot at work! So fucking what that you’ve been on TV and in some magazines? You’ll always be Angel to me… my fuckin’ brother… my big brother that I looked up to…” Sahara could swear she heard Nico crying on the other end. The room felt suddenly chilly, but Van showed no reaction whatsoever. He simply sat there as if the radio were playing slow jams. It was eerie… disturbing. “Do you hear me, Vangelis?!!!”
“Of course I do, brother…” The chill in Van’s tone was unmistakable and scary as hell. Sahara held her breath. Her man’s eyes hooded and he barely flinched as Nico ripped into him, over and over again. “Are you finished? I’m busy trying to sleep.”
Damn, that was cold…
“Yeah.” Nico laughed, his heart clearly breaking. “I’m finished, Van. One more thing before I go, pretty Black doctor lady. RUN! He’s gonna gaslight you, make you fall in love and then walk away like he never fucking knew you!”
And then, the call ended. Seconds passed, then minutes. Neither said a thing to one another for quite some time.
“Vangelis…”
“Yes?” He closed his eyes.
“It was getting bad. Why did you make me stay? Why didn’t you at least take him off the speakerphone?”
He slowly turned in her direction, a sad smile on his face.
“Because I knew Nico would tell the truth… and you needed to hear it. I love you, and uh, you needed to know what kind of fucked up person you were getting involved with. I didn’t have the heart to tell you that I’m incapable of facing myself… my true self. Well, now you know.”
A tear budded in his eye. He quickly swiped it away then left the bed and stormed out…
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Past, The Present, and Poetry
…Two hours later
Vangelis appeared before her as she lay curled on his white couch in one of his oversized college jerseys, with a towel wrapped around her hair. They’d drank a bit of wine after his showdown with Nico. After that, she’d taken a shower and ate while he retreated to his office, busying himself with work.
Since then, they hadn’t discussed the white elephant in the room, the one his fucking brother had unleashed and forced out into the forefront. Inside, he was dying. His heart was beating a mile a minute. There was no way things could continue to be left unsaid.
Though some of the minor details had been twisted, Nico had stated facts, and he saw no point in disputing them. When Sahara looked at him, he wasn’t certain what she thought or felt. She was hard to read, and he found that both intriguing and unnerving. He understood if she wanted to leave, and he’d told her as much but she stayed instead, reminding him that she was hungry—he’d ordered a wonderful dinner after all.
First, they both got freshened up so she’d waited and now here she was, lounging about, listening to Japanese jazz and flipping through magazines he’d neatly stacked on his large glass coffee table.
“How’s your leg been?” he asked, breaking the ice.
“It’s been much better… you’re a miracle worker.” She smiled sadly as she looked up at him. He reluctantly sat in the hot seat, wearing only a pair of navy blue boxer briefs and feeling lowly and judged.
“I owe you an explanation.”
“You owe me nothing but respect, Van.” She turned the page of the art magazine she had on her lap, avoiding eye contact. She stared at the picture of a statue made purely of chicken wire on the glossy page, along with the Russian artist who’d fashioned it. “We are not official.”
“Would you like to be?”
She slowly lifted her gaze to him. “Not under these circumstances, no.” She looked back down at the magazine.
Her confidence made him sick to his stomach, and it made him love her all the more too. He sat down beside her, clasping his hands together.
“A long time ago, I was in love with a woman named Harmony.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t explain yourself. Nico said what he said. You felt the need to keep whatever he was talking about to yourself, regardless of him being intoxicated or not. Just let it go. Leave it.” She flipped to the next page and glossed over the article and images, one of which featured a teddy bear with the stuffing oozing out of its ripped gut. She appeared to be reading now, drifting further away from him. What should he make of this woman? Yet, despite the fact she was raking him through the coals with her aloofness, her behavior drew him to her all the more.
She wasn’t needy; she was organic, thriving and surviving on her own… and on her own terms too.
She doesn’t want any bullshit or excuses. She wants honesty…
“No, I can’t do that.”
“You can’t do what?”
“I can’t just drop it. That’s been my go-to method all of this time and where has it gotten me? You need to know this so please don’t interrupt me again.” She huffed and rolled her eyes, but kept her sites on the magazine page. “I’m serious, Sahara. It’s important! I love you… don’t you see that by now?” She looked at him as if not convinced, but in her eyes, he saw hope. “Look, okay? I, uh… I have issues with relationships. I told you that a long time ago.”
“You did.”
“And it’s true what Nico said about me dating a lot then running away. But I didn’t do that with you.”
“Why not?” She
licked her thumb and turned another page.
“Because I’m ready now. And… I liked you. That like has matured to love. I… I couldn’t imagine not being with you. So, that means it’s time for the heavy lifting… the hard shit that I don’t like to talk about.” He swallowed. “We have a lot to talk about. You know how my parents feel—not that that has ever stopped me, but what about your family? What do you think Leonard would say about us?”
“I think there are bigger fish to fry right now, Vangelis. I do as I please, just like you, but since you wish to talk about family, let’s stay focused. After all, my brother didn’t call in a drunken rage and let all of the cats out of the bag.” She flipped to another page, and then another. “Oh wow, this painting is amazing! It’s so refreshing to see local talent like this. I wonder how much this sold for?”
He couldn’t believe his ears.
“Are you even interested in hearing what I have to say, Sahara, or have you completely written me off? It sure seems like it. It’s obvious that you felt we weren’t on the same page as far as marriage is concerned.”
“We’ve already established that and I’m not in the business of trying to make men do things they don’t want to do.”
“I understand that, but I know you’ve been curious as to why.”
“You told me why.”
“No, I told you part of the reason why, Sahara. You told me what you wanted. Unlike me, you were very clear. Why would you subject yourself to someone who, according to Nico, and even possibly yourself, is wishy washy when it comes to marriage and commitment? It completely baffles me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m appreciative that you stuck it out and continued to date me, but you seemed adamant about your stance on the matter.”
She turned to him with a big smile on her face. “Because I saw potential in you,” she said. They were quiet for a brief spell, then she added, “I didn’t view you as a waste of time. At the very least, there was an education to be gained and a lesson to be learned.”