It was a while before Safire fell asleep. Luckily, Darien stayed awake longer, and nothing more was said that night.
Safire awoke alone. Darien was still at the table and still in the same clothes. His bed hadn’t been slept in, and he had schoolwork spread across the tabletop. Safire got up, gathered her things and went into the bathroom. She had no desire to be seen by Darien again until she was dressed. While she showered, she tried to figure out a way to make the best of it. She might as well enjoy as much as she could of her vacation. She would be pleasant, but that was it.
Only that wasn’t it.
When Safire came out of the bathroom, she found that Darien had cleared the table and gathered his things to shower.
“The bathroom’s open,” she said.
“Safire, can we talk for a moment?”
“I don’t think we need to do that. I know where you stand. You know where I stand. We just don’t agree.”
“We do need to talk,” he said. “Please, come and sit with me.”
Safire sighed and walked toward the table. Before she could claim a chair, however, Darien had scooped her onto his lap and held her lightly against his chest. She didn’t face him, but he kissed the back of her head. She still didn’t turn around. He was acting as if nothing had happened. Well, nothing had happened. That was the problem.
“Safire, about last night, I pushed you away, and I think that might have hurt you. I’m sorry. I never want to hurt you. I just wanted to slow things down a little bit. I know I’m a hypocrite for wanting to since I haven’t been able to keep myself from being with you, but just for a little I wanted to slow down, to know you in a different way. I guess because you tell me so little, I worry that all it is to you is physical or that I’ll be one of the ones that you throw back. Look, from now on we talk things out, and we both decide. Only, we keep the other’s feelings in mind, and we decide for us.”
Safire hated that Darien was being so sweet and confusing things that she had clear in her mind. There was something winning about that sweetness, and part of her wanted to give in to it.
He wrapped his arms around her. “You don’t know how hard it was for me last night to keep from making love to you. You’re so beautiful, and last night you were so incredibly sexy. And I don’t think women are tramps or that you are because you have needs or because you want me. I’m sorry if I sent the wrong message when all I meant to do was slow things down. How about if before tonight, we talk things through?”
On the one hand, Darien was saying all the right things, but on the other, he still wanted to go slowly, which frustrated Safire. How could it work between them? They were still just too different.
That much decided, Safire nodded curtly, got off Darien’s lap and decided to pursue her plan to make the most of the day. The problem was that the day went wonderfully, confounding her determination.
After Darien dressed, they had breakfast and went into West Palm Beach to visit the Palm Beach Zoo.
Darien looked at the monkeys and then back at Safire. There was a quizzical look on his face. “And you picked a zoo because...?”
Safire swatted him and couldn’t help seeing the humor in her choice. “I know someone I might want to bring here. I wanted to check it out. My first choice was McCarthy’s Wildlife Sanctuary, but they require reservations.”
“So you like animals?” he asked.
“Some,” she answered. “The peacocks are beautiful.”
“That they are.”
Darien kept his palm at her back or his arm around her. Safire didn’t encourage it; she just wanted to make it through the day. But she was surprised to find herself laughing with Darien, getting along. They strolled the zoo and took in the tigers, the alligators, the pelicans. They even started talking again, a little about his art, a little about her working with children, a little about her paralegal work.
When they had tired of the zoo, they took a cab to CityPlace. They walked and window-shopped a bit to take in the feel of the European-style town, and then they found a restaurant for lunch. While they were eating, Darien got Safire talking and laughing about some of the people she’d dated, and she got him to open up a bit more about his days playing the field. She couldn’t really imagine it, given his newfound moderation, except that he looked so good that it was, after all, easy to picture.
The rest of the day was for the beach. Safire changed out of her clothes, tied on her bikini, threw on a sarong and a cover-up and her slip-on sandals and grabbed her towel. Darien was ready before she got out of the bathroom, having put on his trunks and replaced his jeans. He grabbed his towel and they were off.
Safire had brought the sunblock and was getting along well enough with Darien to leave her aloofness aside and let them lotion each other’s backs. It was over eighty degrees, and the water was wonderful. They played for a little while, swam and then played some more. Safire had packed two blow-up floaters and a ball.
“How did you get all this into your suitcase?” Darien asked.
“My clothes are small, and my nightclothes don’t take up any space at all,” she said and chuckled, surprised that she could make fun about it. “Actually, neither does my swimsuit.”
Darien looked at her in her little bikini, and Safire thought she saw a glimmer of lust in his eyes. “It suits you beautifully.”
“Your trunks suit you just, as well. You have large, gorgeous thighs.”
Darien reddened a bit but smiled. “Thank you.”
When they got the floaters blown up, they drew them into the water and lolled for a while.
“Next time,” Safire said, “we go out with the scuba-diving group.”
“I’m game.”
“Me, too. We have to do this again tomorrow.”
“Then we will.”
Back onshore, they added some more lotion and tanned. As the sun started to set, they took their last long swim and then packed up.
Safire hit the shower first. She got off the sand, pulled back her wet hair and put on some makeup. She wore a little powder-blue dress with silver at the hem and waist, and she came into the room to put on her strappy silver heels and spray on perfume. She was ready for dinner.
When Darien came out of the bathroom, Safire had her feet up on a chair and was leafing through one of his schoolbooks. He wore a pair of purple jeans but hadn’t put on his shirt as yet. Safire looked briefly at his hard, naked chest and turned back to the book. Darien put on his shirt and shoes and stood watching her.
Safire glanced up to see if Darien was ready to go, and she saw an expression of raw desire in his eyes that made her hold her breath. She still wanted this man. She stood up as he stepped toward her, and she was about to put her arms around him and kiss him when she remembered last night. She stopped and turned away.
Darien caught her and drew near to her. “Don’t ever decide not to kiss me, Safire. I’ll never push you away again, whether or not we—”
Her lips cut off his words, and their arms encircled one another. Their kisses were hard and thirsty and needy. They had been parched for each other, teased by each other, for so long. Safire felt consumed by the masculinity of this man—his hard arms, his firm grip, his heady scent. She moved her hands between them to feel the contours of his chest. She didn’t know if he would stop them, only that her whole body craved the taste and touch of this man.
He brought one of his hands to her chest and stroked her nipples into peaks through the thin cotton of her dress. Her chest heaved toward him, and she murmured. His hand returned around her. When he unzipped her dress and slipped his hands inside to run them along her back, she knew that they would make love. This knowledge sent a shudder through her middle and freed her to seek him.
Safire unbuckled Darien’s belt and pulled at his jeans, freeing him. When her hand found him, his hips tilted tow
ard her, and he groaned. She slipped to her knees, taking him into her mouth and licking the rich, dark chocolate of his skin. He bucked and pulled her upward—too sensitive or too ready.
Their mouths found each other again, just as hungry as before. Darien cupped her rear and raised her against his leaping core. Safire felt a sweet ache and began to throb at her center. He made her so ravenous, so eager, as no one else ever had.
He lifted her and spilled her onto the bed, where he tugged her panties off, spreading her before him. Darien’s body dipped down, and his mouth covered her. He sucked in her tender crown, making her body arch off the mattress. He ran his fingers over her wetness, making her fists ball. She pushed his head back, not wanting it to end so soon.
Darien stood and began taking off his clothes. Safire shimmied out of her dress and then undid her bra, dropping her clothes next to the bed. She motioned for her purse so that she could rummage for a condom. When she found one, she opened it and rolled it onto his flicking limb.
As Darien climbed onto the bed and lowered himself over her, Safire leaned up, touching his face as it moved toward her. Despite their passion, despite their yearning, a softness also sprang up between them. Darien’s hand riffled through Safire’s hair. He cupped her head as she raised it, and they kissed with a gentle urgency. It had never been like this for her before.
When Safire lowered her head back down and opened her eyes, Darien was leaning on his elbows, smiling at her. She couldn’t help smiling back. He brought one hand between them and pressed her nipple between his fingers. Then he watched her as her body flailed in response. He moved his hand farther down and kneaded her sex with his thumb, watching as she winced and tossed.
“You’re so beautiful, Safire,” he said.
Safire wrapped her legs around Darien’s waist and brought him toward her. He replaced his arm at her side and let her guide him. God, how she wanted this man.
When his thick member hit her drenched shores, her entire body contracted, and a delicious agony gripped her.
“Yes, Darien, please.”
A guttural sound issued from Darien’s throat, and then he filled her. He laid claim to her lips with his own and began to toil. Safire clenched and cried out as he began churning inside her, raking his chest over her breasts. He reached down between them again and covered her inflamed crest with his fingers. Safire cried out once more, dancing along his swollen trunk, as the exquisite anguish overtook her senses. She trembled and clung to his arousal as she thrust. A sensuous convulsion burst throughout her body, and she was catapulted over the threshold of her own pleasure. Darien spun inside her momentarily, then bucked and went taut, joining her abandon.
Darien turned them on the bed to hold her, and Safire folded herself into his arms. It was never like this with anyone else.
After they had calmed and kissed and cooled, Darien tweaked her nose.
“So much for slowing things down,” he said.
“I know,” Safire responded. “We didn’t talk either. Do you mind terribly?”
“No, I don’t. You’re hard to resist.”
Safire smiled at that. She laid her head on his chest, and he strummed his fingers through her hair.
They ordered room service and spent the night in, watching a movie and holding each other until they fell asleep.
The next morning, they made love again, and then they hit the beach for the last time. They showered and checked out, leaving their bags at the hotel. They had several hours before having to catch the train, so they took a ferry ride out to the Palm Beach Maritime Museum. Safire wasn’t as into such things as her sister, who was a historian, but she and Darien enjoyed the exhibits and displays and each other.
They got back in time to have lunch, collect their bags and make it to their Tri-Rail train. There was a closeness between them now. Darien read on the trip to get ready for classes the next day, but he kept Safire’s hand in his, and he looked up periodically to smile at her. Safire was happy with their new bond. She liked having her hand in his and always looked up from her novel in time to smile back at him. She was still not sure that they weren’t too different, but she was starting to think that Darien James might be worth slowing down for.
Chapter 8
Darien closed his book for Critical Studies in the Visual Arts and stretched. His teacher had just finished wrapping up, and the class was dispersing. He needed to do research for his final paper for this class and had already requested some books on interlibrary loan, so his next stop was the library. Darien wanted to advance studies on the iconography of Harlem Renaissance art, but he needed to select his artists, narrow his topic and do the necessary research. He also had to meet Safire at her place in a few hours, so he needed to get a move on. He did what he could in the library, collected the books that he’d ordered and went home to change.
He had been out with Safire several times in the past few weeks—since their trip to Palm Beach. They were getting to be a regular item. Yet he wasn’t sure where he stood with her. She seemed to enjoy their time together, and she seemed to love their physical intimacy, but she still didn’t let him into her private mind very much. She held him outside of her deep-down thoughts and emotions.
If he didn’t already have feelings for her, it wouldn’t matter. But he did. He was starting to fall for her. The time they spent together and the love that they made only intensified his feelings. He worried that he might be one of the ones she tossed back. Was it more physical than emotional for her? He didn’t know how she felt. Well, tonight he would ask her. If wanting someone who had real feelings for him chased her away, that would be as telling as anything she could say.
Darien pulled on a pair of blue jeans and picked out a multicolored patchwork shirt from his closet. He stepped into his black penny loafers and added a dab of cologne. Then he pulled a leather strap with inlaid African bone over his head and took his braids out from under it. He was ready to go.
When he arrived at Safire’s place, he parked next to her car and headed toward her building. As he approached her door, he saw Safire. At first she seemed to be talking to another man, a shady-looking one. But as he peered farther, he saw the man grab Safire’s purse and put it over his shoulder. Darien started running toward them. The man had grabbed Safire by the shoulders and was trying to force her backward toward the door. Safire kicked him in the shin, and he hopped back a step on the other leg. Then Darien was upon them.
At running speed, Darien rammed the other guy, who flew into the air and landed on his side. The man was a bit bigger than Darien, but Darien had the force of conviction. When the guy sprang up, Darien tackled him back down, landing on top of him with a punch to his stomach. The man doubled over on his side.
As Darien got up, he ripped Safire’s purse from the guy’s shoulder and handed it to her.
“I’ll go get the security guard,” Safire said and ran into the building.
Darien was still standing over the man when Safire came back with the guard, who was on a walkie-talkie calling another guard in the building. The two guards detained the man until the police arrived to take statements from them and take the assailant into custody.
Their night, which was to have been a late movie and dinner, had been thrown off course. Safire had been running late to begin with. Now, neither of them felt like it, and they couldn’t have made the movie anyway. They went up to Safire’s, both frazzled and uptight.
Safire brought Darien some lemonade and poured herself a glass of red wine, and then they settled for a few moments on the couch, Darien’s arm anchored protectively around Safire’s shoulder.
“I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you, Safire,” he said and then kissed her temple.
“I’m okay, just a bit unsettled.”
Darien shook his head and sighed. He repositioned himself, taki
ng Safire’s hand, and turned to her.
“Safire, I know you won’t want to hear this, but I have to say it. And I’m not blaming the victim or saying that it wouldn’t have happened anyway.”
“What are you saying?” she asked.
“He had your purse, and he didn’t run with it. He didn’t just want your money. He wanted you.”
“So he’s a lecher and a rapist.”
“Safire, maybe you should dress a bit more conservatively.”
“Are you kidding me?” she asked, getting an attitude.
Darien tried to stay calm. “No, I’m not.”
Safire jerked her hand from his. “You must be kidding. I didn’t even get a chance to change into my come-hither clothes, and you’re thinking it’s the way I’m dressed? Oh, hell, no.”
“Wait. Look at what you have on.”
Safire had on her usual skirt suit. This one was a goldenrod color with a camisole to match. The skirt had a slit in the back, and as usual, it was cut well above her knee. This one had a one-inch sheer ruffle around the bottom of the skirt and around the bottom hem and cuffs of the jacket, which had a deep V-neck. She had on her two-and-a-half-inch black pumps, and her hair was loose.
Safire was on her feet, clearly fuming.
“You’re telling me what not to wear? Do I tell you not to sculpt nudes?”
“That’s not the same, now, is it?”
“I wore this in court today, Darien.” She was pacing like a caged ferret. “The judge didn’t seem to think I look like I’m a whore. Maybe that’s what’s on your mind—for all your innocent act. I—”
“On anyone else it would just be a suit, Safire. But on you,” Darien said, standing and taking Safire’s face between his palms, “it’s devastating.”
Safire was quiet for a moment, but the battle wasn’t over.
“I don’t want to snuff out your light or tame you. I just want you to be careful. What if I hadn’t been there? What if—”
Captivated Love Page 9