Writing Witchy (Witch Hunters) (5 page)

“I’ve gotten better over the course of the years. I used to spend hours online downloading clothing for my Sims. Since
Sims 3
came out though, the pickings are slim.”

“You really do have it bad.”

“Hey, I held out for three days. That’s a record for me.”

“I don’t want to keep you. I called to ask you out for Saturday. I thought maybe we could take Bear for a walk in the park and then grab some dinner out.”

She smiled. “That sounds good. What time should I be ready?”

“Is five okay? That should give us time for a walk and time to bring Bear back before heading out again.”

“Five it is.”

“Cool. See you then. Goodnight.”

Imani hung up. She smiled and turned her attention back to her game.

At midnight, she stood and stretched. There was still much to accomplish in her Sims’ lives, but it was time for bed. She brushed her teeth and thought back on her conversation with Keith. A third date in one week.

She really liked him. As she exited the bathroom, Asha ran past her and settled onto the pillow opposite her own. Before the night was over, Imani knew the cat would be curled around her head. It was a habit she’d been unable to break the feline of. “You’re lucky I love you,” she grumbled as she slid into bed. Asha licked her paws and ignored her comments.

An hour later, she woke abruptly, her heart pounding, her nipples tight, and her pussy flooded with cream. The dreams about Keith were unrelenting.
She wished they would stop. It was so confusing, and scary. In the past, she’d had dreams that predicted the future. Sex wasn’t in the cards for her and Keith.

She didn’t want to go there with him. It would only ruin their relationship. Her previous lovers
had convinced her of that. She’d broken up with her boyfriend in high school because she was sick of his constant groping. Whenever they did have sex, Andre could barely contain himself long enough to put on a condom. It was a wonder that she’d lost her virginity to him at all. One or two strokes and he was done. It didn’t matter how many times they did it. The result was always the same.

In college, she’d dated an older man thinking that if she picked someone with more experience that he would know how to please her better. Only he hadn’t been able to do it. He spent more time at it and conversely, she’d begun to wish it were over sooner. Colin, at thirty, seemed to know what he was doing
. She simply wasn’t able to derive any pleasure from it. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was nothing she desired to do.  He’d asked her to move in with him, but she couldn’t stand the thought of having to sleep with him more often. Her refusal had precipitated an argument that had led to the end of their relationship.

Her friends had expected her to be crushed. She had expected a b
it of despair, too. But she hadn’t shed a tear or wasted a second regretting the break up. All she’d felt was relief. Relief at not having to pretend to like his kisses, his hands on her, or his thrusting. The man sweated more than any person she had ever known. It would rain down on her as he covered her. Imani shuddered at the memory. It quelled some of the heat of the passion evoked by her dreams of Keith.

It gave her enough self-control that she was able to climb out of bed and take a cold shower instead of burying her fingers in her panties and stroking herself while imagining that she was making love with Keith
, which was her usual modus operandi. It was a habit she really needed to quit. Keith was desirable enough without her fantasizing about having sex with him.

Chapter Five

Imani studied the contents of her closet as she debated what to wear for her date with Keith. Definitely, comfortable shoes. She grabbed a black and pink pair of Nikes and continued to glare at her clothes. The stuff she wore to work was comfortable and it was what she’d worn on their previous dates. Imani nodded. It would do. She picked out a loose brown blouse and a pair of khaki pants and placed them on her bed.

The doorbell rang and she glanced at her watch. Keith wasn’t due to arrive for another hour.
She opened the door to Thea. “Hey, come in. How are mommy and baby?”

Thea grinned. “I’m being pampered. Dwayne and I are about to head out to the movies. I thought I’d drop by to see if you want to come along.”

“I can’t. I agreed to go with Keith to the park to walk his dog.”

“Ooooo
h. Another date, so soon? Sounds like he really likes you.”

“Yeah…I guess so.” Instead of making her feel good, the idea that he liked her so much so soon had her worried. How long could it last?
How long before he lost patience with her and wanted more? Imani crushed that line of thinking. It was only their third date. Keith had been a perfect gentleman and she’d been in his house, for goodness sake.

“And you like him?”

“He’s sweet. He could be so cocky because he’s a famous author, but he’s not.”

“And he’s not hard on the eyes.”

“Yeah, he is handsome,” Imani agreed with a grin.

“So what are you wearing? Something cute and short…and easily accessible?” Thea’s eyebrows lifted suggestively.

“You are so nasty. No. I was thinking casual. We’re walking the dog.”

“That a euphemism I have
n’t heard of?”

“No. He has a dog. We’re taking him for a walk in the park.
”

Thea nodded. “So
, cute top and tight jeans.”

“Not so much.”

Thea headed towards her bedroom. “I’m going to have to see this.”

Imani followed
.

   
“Oh, hell, no,” could be heard before she entered the room. “Imani, you can’t be serious? You’re not going to work. No, I refuse to let you go out in this.” She grabbed up the outfit and put it back in the closet.

“Honestly
! Thea, weren’t you on your way to the movies?”

“Dwayne will understand. This is an emergency. We’ll catch a later showing.”
She shoved racks of clothing aside until she found a pair of dark blue jeans. “Now, let’s see. We don’t want to go too blatant.” She plucked out a plain white t-shirt. “Perfect. Subtle and sexy. He’ll love it.”

Imani eyed the choice with some doubt. She had a good figure. Hell,
she had a killer body. It was the type of body that caused a man’s jaw to drop and drool to puddle on his chest. By the time she was in high school, she was wearing a D cup. While some girls might have been envious, Imani had hated it. Big boobs and an hour-glass figure had brought her all the wrong types of attention. Men saw her breasts and assumed that her mental development had somehow been impeded by her bust size. For years, it seemed the only guys to approach her were simpletons who were thrown off by her intelligence whenever she opened her mouth. They also jumped to the conclusion that she was an easy lay. She was naturally sexy, so it was only fitting that they thought of sex when they looked at her. And thus, she had begun to disguise her curves with dowdy clothing. She wore her hair in a forbidding bun. The thin glasses she wore completed the look. Most of the men that came to the library barely acknowledged her before locking on the vibrant Stephanie. And that was just the way she wanted it.

Apparently, Keith was not most men. He
obviously liked her for some other reason. Wearing the fitted jeans and shirt probably wouldn’t cause him to jump on her like a rabid animal. She smiled at her thoughts. It would be nice to go out with him and have him be proud to have her on his arm.

“Thanks, Thea.”

“What are you going to do to your hair?”

She touched a hand to her ponytail and shrugged. “I don’t know. Nothing
, I guess.”

Thea sighed and shook her head. “Wear it loose. Guys love that. If he really likes it, you might get lucky tonight.”

Imani forced a smile. Thea didn’t know about her aversion to sex. It wasn’t something she felt comfortable discussing. It was embarrassing and made her feel like something was wrong with her. Especially since Thea had a very healthy and happy love life with her husband. “I’m in no rush,” she said. “But I’ll wear it down.”

The doorbell rang
. “That’ll be Dwayne. I told him I was coming over.” She gave her a brief hug. “Call me later. I want all the details.”

Imani walked her to the door. “There won’t be much to tell.”

“Don’t be so negative. You’re going to floor him when he sees you.”

Actually, she’d thought she
was
being positive. She let Dwayne in. He was smiling and jovial as usual. Dwayne was slightly taller than his wife. Whereas Thea was very slender, Dwayne was pudgy. Since he was balding, he kept his head shaved. When Imani had first met him, she’d wondered what Thea saw in the rather plain man. One dinner at their home had answered all her questions. Dwayne was kind and unselfish. And he treated Thea like his queen. “Hey, Imani, mind if I have my wife back?”

She laughed. “Sure. She was on her way back.”

“Are you coming with us?”

“Sorry, you won’t have me as a third wheel tonight. I’ve got a date.”

“You know you’re always welcome,” he said.

“The two of you need to enjoy your alone time while you can,” she pointed out, thinking of the baby on the way.

“You’re right.” Dwayne took his wife’s hand and kissed her fingers.

“Talk to you later,” Thea said.

Imani waved goodbye to the couple and watched as they walked hand in hand to their car. Asha did figure eights between her ankles as she made her way back to her bedroom. Not giving herself time to chicken out, Imani dressed quickly. Surveying herself in the mirror, she smoothed her hands down her thighs.

She released her ponytail and applied oil to her thick curls to give them shine. She brushed it through
. Her dark skin was clean and clear. Preferring a natural look, she didn’t usually wear much makeup, but she did apply mascara to make her eyes pop and lip gloss that made her lips appear like juicy berries. Imani blew out a pent-up breath. She hoped this wasn’t a mistake.

***

Keith parked his gold Lexus SUV behind Imani’s black Civic. Though the weather was cool and overcast, he lowered the front windows before killing the engine. Bear was stretched out on the backseat. The dog did tend to lean towards being lazy. “Bear, stay. Be a good boy. I’ll be right back.”

He checked his reflection in the rearview mirror before climbing out of the car. It was ridiculous how eager, how nervous he was to see Imani.
He hadn’t seen her since their last date. They’d talked on the phone, but he’d purposely avoided the library, thinking it would smack of desperation if he haunted the place daily as he had prior to their first date.

Imani greeted
him with a nervous smile as she waved him inside. He understood why when he got a proper look at her. She wasn’t in her usual concealing clothing. The sight of her nearly brought him to his knees. He paused in the entryway, dumbstruck by her curves.

Her outfit wasn’t elaborate
: jeans and a V-necked T-shirt. But both were formfitting. It was the first time he’d seen her wear anything that wasn’t oval shaped and oversized. She was amazing. Her breasts were large, her waist small, and her hips rounded to perfection. He’d suspected she was busty, but this was more than he’d hoped for.

His heart rate doubled, pumping blood to his rapidly swelling groin.
He yanked the tail of his shirt down over his crotch and dried his sweaty palms on his pants. “You,” he began, but had to stop to clear his throat. “You’re stunning.”

She smile
d and pushed her hair back from her forehead. “Thank you.” It was then that he noticed that she wore her hair loose instead of bound in a bun. Thick corkscrew curls fell to her shoulders in a shining midnight cascade, the darkness of her hair emphasizing the copper color of her eyes. She’d even left off the fake glasses. “Um, is it chilly out?”

He hesitated because he didn’t want her to cover up.
“You have long sleeves. You’ll be fine.”

“Let me check Asha’s bowls
and grab my purse.”

He peeped out the window to make sure Bear was behaving. When he turned back around, he spotted the box of candy he had given her on their first date. It was unopened.
“I thought women loved chocolate.”

“Oh,
that. I appreciated the gesture…but I’m allergic.”

Keith groaned. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You couldn’t have known.” But he could have. When they shared dreams, he could have asked her about her likes and dislikes. He must have continued to look perplexed about it because she took his hand and kissed his cheek. “Really. It’s okay.”

“
Can you eat caramels?”

She laughed. “Keith, do my hips look like they need more padding?”

He gulped. Keeping his eyes firmly locked on hers, as he dared not look below her neck and risk the pipe in his pants swelling further, he said, “You’re perfect.” He waited as she secured her home and then led her to his SUV, opening her door for her.