Love Delayed (45 page)

Erika licked her lips before nodding her head animatedly. The audience went up with that one, too.

“Okay! I don’t know about you all,” Wendy pointed to the audience. “…but I caught that.” She laughed along with Erika. “Okay, so when was the last time you talked on the phone with him?”

“Two days ago.”

Two days ago?
My body jerked in bed. Then my neck snapped over at an undisturbed Stenton.

“And was that conversation promising?”

“It actually was. We agreed to spend more time with each other this coming season. I wish it could be right away, but I understand he’s busy and all.”

“Yeah!” Wendy nearly shouted. “Busy with a newborn baby!” she screamed to the audience. “Does he talk about that? I’m sure that’s probably why he can’t start anything new. You should be careful with a man who’s just had a baby. That baby momma has rights, honey!” The audience clapped in agreement.

Erika smiled placidly. Was she an airhead or something?

“And you, missy,” Wendy continued. “Are you and
Shirez over with? That was a pretty bad breakup less than a year ago. You know, Stenton is over thirty. He’s probably thinking with his head up here.” She pointed to her head near her brows. The audience agreed with their raucous applauses. “What was the last thing you said to Mr. Rogers?”

Seriously?

I don’t know why that question stabbed me in the gut. In fact, the longer this conversation went on, the more anxious I became. Stenton and I had a glorious two days together and although we were not solid and had no plans on extending it, I didn’t want the bliss to end.   

“Well, I told him when we do get together, I want to see how far down his tattoos go and that I’m nearsighted.”

The room went up in a roar far more than at any previous point during the interview. My belly lurched and my arms wrapped around my waist. I found myself staring straight into Erika’s brown eyes, feeling vindictive. My eyes squinted and nose flared.

“All right! On that note, we’ll be right back with Erika Erceg, talking about her new makeup line!” Wendy announced as the theme music began to play, alerting of the commercial break. Wendy turned and double high-five’d Erika as she giggled like a sexy vixen.

My stomach was now rolling over with nervous energy. I knew it was a direct reaction to my rare case of jealousy. I wanted to wake Stenton up to ask about his relationship with this exotic socialite. I wanted to ask him if he called her before or after he called me the night before he arrived at my apartment. I wanted to ask him what his feelings were for her. If he found her just as sexy as every other man on this planet seemed to. I wanted to know if he believed all of his praises of my postpartum body
, which he seemed to be infatuated with and if they came close to how he perceived hers.

The most lewd curiosity was if she could make him lose control like I did. If he would claw her hips, shoulders or the back of her head the way that he did mine when I drove him crazy between my thighs or in my mouth.

Suddenly, I needed to recall myself.

I clicked off the television with the remote and turned toward Stenton, straddling his muscular frame. Creating a trail down his torso with my tongue, I shuffled down past his belly button and then his wiry bush of hairs until I hit the base of his penis. I felt him stir beneath me, even heard a moan. That incited my need to arouse him, to drive him crazy in the area Erika was so curious about.

I twirled my tongue around the bulbous head of his penis, loving the feeling of it swelling in my mouth. The smooth and thin skin encasing his steely erection felt superb against my tongue. As my hands wrapped around the base of him, the tip of my tongue probed at the opening of him, tasting the first discharge of his pre-essence.  The creamy taste of his viscid fluid that I spread around him before swallowing drove me wild.

“Fuck,
Zo,” Stenton stretched out, awakening from his reposed state.

His big hands curved around my bobbing head. And when a groan escaped him, I suctioned harder,
sheathed my teeth even more. I worked him further in with each dip I took.

“
Zo,” he cried out again and I felt supreme. It was petty of me, but I didn’t care. I needed to feel that I wasn’t a young amateur who seduced him and became an unexpected dependent by carelessly getting pregnant, changing his life forever. I wanted to be a skillful lover worthy of him being in my bed, so I took my time pleasuring him.

“I’m going to come,
Zo. Come here,” he demanded through gritted teeth.

“
Unn-unn!” I moaned. Then I pulled his wide crest from my mouth. “I want it here.” I countered and quickly took him in again, working him even more.

I didn’t want his release just yet, I was hav
ing too much fun controlling his continence. His wide thighs rose and fell around me as he fought, squirming, and his pelvis strained beneath me trying to contain his pleasure.

“
Zo…I don’t know about this!”

I did. And suddenly I did want his release now. I wanted to snap his source of control.

“Elizabeth,” Stenton’s upper torso shot from the bed as he moaned.

The rope snapped and he gave me exactly what I was looking for. He called me Elizabeth, a name I’d always shunned
, believing it was more fitting of an old woman. I wanted a youthful name, hence my self-appointed moniker, Zoey. For the first time in my life, I appreciated my name. Yearned for it to come from this man. I craved to know he viewed me as a real woman. A woman he didn’t need to tolerate or care for, but one who could be viewed as an adequate partner. I longed for that validation from him, believing it to be the reason why he’d never chosen me. With this revelation, I jerked him more fervently and suctioned with more of a grip in my jaw.

Then his hands roughly
pushed on my head as his hips drove into my head. My breasts felt heavy, but this time not ready to express milk. I could feel my excitement at the apex of my thighs. He was ready.

Within seconds, hot, virile, creamy fluids shot into my mouth. I had no time to think.
I could only relax my tongue and let his release spurt into the back of my throat, reveling in my ability to render him undone in this manner. His breathing was harsh, rough air sloughing from his lungs as he trembled most vulnerably at my ministrations. There was nothing better.
When he was done, Stenton reached down to pull me up and clutched me into his arms. As I lay over his hard chest, I could hear his racing heart. The heart that I wanted into so badly.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Good looking
out, Paul.” Stenton ended the call next to me at the island in the kitchen. He looked over to Eligia, who was standing in front of the subzero refrigerator unit, waiting for him to finish. “You’re good to go. They can have your things moved in tonight. A driver will be here at noon. As far as meal preparations and scheduling, I’ll leave it to you two to settle that. I know Zoey will need some time to study outside of classes. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Eligia nodded her head before excusing herself. It was official. I had a nanny and help around the apartment while I returned to school full time.
But is that all?

“There’s that damn clicking sound again. At least I have confirmation that something’s up,” he
noted. “You’ve been brooding all damn morning. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

I wet my dry lips before scraping them in between my teeth. I never demanded anything from Stenton when it came to our relationship since he broke up with me after the Cayman Island
s. I needed to finally confront this thing between us—or lack thereof. I didn’t think long before going for it.

“How soon before you’ll have Jordan around other women?”

Stenton’s expression quickly turned jarred. In all fairness, I couldn’t blame him.

As he examined my eyes, his head slow
ly rolled left to right and then left to right again, ruminatively.

“I
can’t answer that question. It’s not a bridge I’ve thought to crossed,” he spoke slowly, and I could see the cogs of his mind churning.

“But you will…soon, I’m sure.”

“Zoey, I don’t know where this is coming from. Perhaps if you can tell me what’s going on in that busy head of yours, I can provide a more adequate answer.”

My eyes dropped as I tried to think of my next move.

“The christening…this whole period since our “break up” after the Cayman Islands,” I used air quotations because we were so far removed from that time; so tightly intertwined and yet I still didn’t feel as close to Stenton as I did before I got pregnant. “…the reason I’ve not kept in touch is because I need a barrier from you. I need to protect myself from the pain that I feel from when you stole my heart. When I hear your voice or when I’m near you, I feel things that delude me. It makes me want to be with you like we were before my stupid…” I bit my lip.

Jordan is a blessing. He’s not a mistake.

Stenton’s face wrinkled and he visibly heaved. I tossed my gaze away from him until the tears rescinded and I could speak again.

“I want to be like that again. I want to be your best friend and…lover. I want you to want to be with me, not just take care of me,” my words turned inaudible as my emotions peaked.

Stenton’s mouth dropped.

“I saw the Wendy Williams show last night. I saw Erika.” I looked him deep in the eyes. That’s when I lost him. Stenton actually rolled his eyes and they didn’t immediately return to me. “Is she the woman you told me about when we first met? The one you said was a hook up by your PR teams?”

Stenton swallowed with a clenched jaw. “Yes.”

“Why haven’t you been with her all this time?”

“I’ve been kind of wrapped up in something else in case you haven’t been awake for the past two years or so.”

I ignored his quip. “Are you going to date her?”

Then his eyes met mine again. “So, I now see the inspiration behind the superb blow job in my sleep.” My eyes jumped to his, cautioning his audacity, and his pierced into me, not backing down. “But why are you asking about her? Why is she of any fucking consequence to us?”

I jumped from my seat, quickly angered by the direction of this conversation. Maybe I didn’t think this through, but I realized I was at a pivotal place in my life. Yeah, I’d had a baby, but my career track was about to resume. My life would have traction again. I wanted it all, including Stenton. My best friend. My lover.

“Why can
’t we be together?” I turned to him.

He shifted in the bar chair. “And do what? Live together?” He snorted. “Get married?” I nearly leaped in his direction at that. “Tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen,
Zo! I’ll go out and get the fucking ring right now. We can be at city hall in two hours! Just tell me, what do you want?” Stenton yelled angrily.

My body trembled, my eyes glossed and my hands balled into fists. His words were elementary, but his tone was derisive. “I don’t know!” I
grated through gritted teeth, meeting his volume. Never had I felt so infuriated by not being able to articulate my feelings, being misunderstood.

Stenton stood and got into my face. “And
that’s
why we’re not
together
,” he grated, his voice eerily low, searing me with the depth of that revelation. “You have no fucking clue as to what your
together
means.” He violently yanked his body away and then stormed off to the floor-to-ceiling window just a few feet from me.

We stayed that way for long minutes, trying to bide time to allow tempers to cool. I was shaken by his argument, but couldn’t deny its validity. It still stung. I may not
have known what exactly I wanted to term us, but I knew I wanted him with me every day. I wanted more. I wanted his intimacy that went far beyond sex and yet I wanted that, too. I was so in love with this man that I couldn’t think straight. I was once again deluded by his presence after just two days.

“Listen,
Zoey.” I turned to his back as he still faced the window. “When we started this…shit…you were so young. Privately, I struggled so damn much with your age. You were tender and inexperienced beyond your virginity. But when I was with you, all of those doubts, fears, and reservations fell by the wayside. I tossed caution to the wind and got swept up by your beauty, aptitude, ability to be transparent, your forceful spirit…the way you squared your fucking shoulders and kept your chin in the air against harsh winds.”

Stenton turned to me. “The way you challenged me, and forced new lenses to my eyes…the way you always ride for your family, and the way you love me with no pretenses, seeing past all the bullshit of my lifestyle.” He stopped and furrowed his brows. “I mean, you’ve never asked to go to a game. Have you even watched one yet?” My eyes swept the floor. “You and Sarah; you two don’t give a shit about what I do on the courts. You make me feel valued off of it.”
Facing me, Stenton lowered himself, aligning his head with mine. “Shit. That’s not something I can get from a fucking Erika Erceg. I’ve been in the league thirteen years and I’ve never come across a woman who saw past the ball in my hand or the bank account that follows it.”