Zane's Busy Bodies: Chocolate Flava 4 (10 page)

“I couldn’t resist,” he said.

Pleasure spread over me as I relaxed in the company of a true gentleman. Over a dinner of seafood étouffée, I learned that Nadir was a thirty-two-year-old architect who specialized
in historic restorations. He had never been married and had no children.

“Tell me about you,” Nadir said.

I was hesitant about telling Nadir about myself. I did not want sympathy. My life story always inspired that emotion. I wanted Nadir to desire me as much as I desired him. So I told him an edited version of me. Nadir listened as if my every word fascinated him.

•  •  •

After our dinner, we lingered over coffee.

“We’re the last ones here,” I said.

“I hadn’t noticed,” Nadir said. “I’ve been enjoying you.” He reached for my hand across the table. My fingers curved around his.

“Tonight was a wonderful night,” I said. “Thank you. But I think we should leave so the staff can go home.”

We held hands as we strolled to my car.

“Have breakfast with me tomorrow?” Nadir asked.

I felt disappointed that Nadir did not want to see me later that night, but I hid it well. “Sure, what time?”

“We can decide after we wake in your bed,” he said against my ear. “Am I presuming too much?”

“No,” I said. “I want this . . . with you.”

Nadir cupped my face. Our kiss was too sexy for a public place. Still, I didn’t resist when Nadir coaxed me into another steamy kiss. After several seconds, I ended the kiss and leaned against him.

The chauffeur opened the car door for us. Nadir helped me into the car and got in beside me. We held hands throughout the trip, but we did not speak. I kept my gaze focused on the lush scenery that passed my window.
This was really about to happen.
I
could hear my heart pounding in my ears like booming bass in an Escalade.

As soon as we reached my hotel, we went straight to my room. I closed the door behind us. Nadir pressed me against the door with a firm hand on my stomach. He dragged the zipper down the side of my dress. I let my dress slip to the floor. My bra soon followed. I felt his tenderness and experience as he explored my sensitive breasts with his hands and his lips. Lower he went, until I drew in a deep breath as his lips moved across my stomach. I closed my eyes as Nadir slowly drew my panties down my legs, and then tossed them on the floor. When he made no move to touch me, I opened my eyes. He smiled at me, before kneeling in front of me. As I leaned against the wall, he lifted one of my legs over his shoulder.

Nadir kissed my left hip before turning his attention to the valley between my thighs. He breathed in my moist inner perfume. He tasted me. His tongue felt cool and soothing inside. At first I could not watch as he pleased me. Then I found that I could not look away; my body tightened with a delicious ache deep inside before a thumping release seized me. I couldn’t move, but then I did not have to. Nadir lowered me to the Turkish rug. He lay beside me. He kissed me in a soothing way as my body still shook from my release.

“This next part will hurt you,” Nadir said. “At least in the beginning.”

“I know the mechanics of sex,” I said. “I need you to teach me the pleasure.”

He nodded, and then he took off his jacket and shirt. I gasped as I saw the tattoo on his shoulder, just like the man in my dreams. I traced the outline of the tattoo. He kissed my fingers.

“What do these symbols mean?” I asked.

His smile held a secret. “I will tell you in the morning, but you won’t believe me.”

We watched each other as he slowly stepped out of the rest of his clothes. His muscles were in peak condition, from his six-pack stomach, to his tight butt, down to his hard thighs and legs.

“Are you real?” I asked.

“Touch me,” he said.

I traced the V-pattern of muscles, starting from his waist, down to where the muscles encased his flat stomach. I always found that part of a man’s body so sexy. His body moved over mine. He touched me everywhere. Then he kissed all the places he’d touched. The hard press of his body felt foreign. His intense male scent overwhelmed my senses. My hands and lips explored Nadir’s body with a boldness that surprised me. I needed to be a part of him. I felt two of his fingers slipping inside my vagina. I smelled my essence on his fingers when he withdrew them.

“Your body is ready for me,” he said in satisfaction.

“Yes, come here,” I said.

I handed Nadir a condom from the nightstand. I watched in fascination as he slipped the condom on.

Nadir leaned over me. My legs widened to welcome him. A tender look entered his eyes as he joined our bodies. I felt the hot sting of his entry into my body while I tasted the saltiness of the skin on his neck. My legs draped around his hard thighs as he rocked me with his strong body. He dominated me from the skin in. I relished giving up control for once.

I loved seeing the sharpness of his desire as it moved from his mouth, to his cheekbones, to the intensity blazing through his eyes. I gripped him under his arms. My legs gripped his waist. I bit him when another orgasm burst over my body.

•  •  •

I did not know how much time had passed when I woke up alone in bed. I sat up, then I saw Nadir sitting naked in a wingback chair, watching me. His smile held a bit of cockiness; he had earned that right. After the way he’d pleasured my body, I would never be the same.

“Come to me,” he said.

I stood beside the bed. My muscles felt warm and loose, like after a deep-tissue massage. When I reached Nadir, he guided me to sit across his lap. I leaned against his chest. He kissed the top of my head.

“Tell me your real story,” Nadir said.

Once Nadir gave me permission, I opened my heart. I told Nadir about my parents’ dying within six months of each other. I told Nadir how terrified I felt that I could not fulfill my parents’ expectations for my sisters and me. I told him that before tonight, no man had so much as kissed me in ten years.

I went silent. Nadir wiped the tears from my eyes. I kissed him, hard and needy. He kissed me, gentle and comforting. Our lovemaking met between those extremes. Afterward, I fell asleep to the rhythm of Nadir’s heartbeat.

•  •  •

My cell phone rang early the next morning. I reached for it.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Uli said. “I’m sorry Niko and Adrian didn’t work out. I’m sure Dmitri will be the one! I was so pissed when he missed his flight yesterday. He should be there by noon. So how did you spend your night?”

“With Nadir,” I croaked out. I glanced over at Nadir. He still slept beside me.

“Who the hell is Nadir?” Uli asked.

“Don’t tease me, Uli; you know you sent him to me,” I whispered.

“Honey, I don’t know anybody named Nadir,” Uli said. “Get the hell out of there! Do you hear me?”

“I can handle this,” I said.

I hung up the phone and tried to remain calm. I had almost made it out of bed when Nadir’s right arm clamped around my waist. Nadir gave me a serious look. I drew myself up against the headboard. Nadir followed my movements as if we were dancing an ancient dance together.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

“It doesn’t matter,” Nadir said. He leaned in and kissed me, trying to manipulate me with the memories of our hot night together. My body wanted to betray me by giving in, but my mind refused to let me.

“It matters a hell of a lot,” I said. “I just spent the night with a stranger!”

“You were all set to do that before you met me, baby,” Nadir said.

“Don’t you turn this around on me! I thought Uli chose you for me!”

I shoved at his arm, but his grip did not loosen. I panicked as I struggled against him.

“Calm down, Destiny,” Nadir said.

“Get your damned hands off me! My God, what have I done?”

“I knew you before this weekend,” Nadir said.

I went instantly still. “You’re lying! We’ve never met!”

“No, but I know you,” Nadir said. “We belong to the same gym. You take the treadmill farthest from anyone. You run with
your headphones in your ears, looking straight ahead, never interacting with anyone.”

When I tried to sit up, Nadir allowed me to, but he watched me with caution, as if he expected me to run screaming out of the room like any sane woman would.

“I sit five rows behind you in church,” Nadir continued. “But you’ve never noticed me, or any other man. You keep yourself so shut off from the world.”

I felt exposed by the truth in his observations. I had lived my life as a series of tasks to be checked off, when I should have been living to create unforgettable life experiences. I shoved my self-analysis aside and focused on the issue at hand with Nadir.

“How did you know my plans for this weekend?”

“I was sitting behind you in the restaurant when you and your friend were discussing it.”

“Why would you do this?” I asked.

“I knew you were ready for a man in your life,” he said. “I needed that man to be me.”

“You had better be gone by the time I get out of my shower!” I hopped out of bed and hurried into the bathroom. I slammed the bathroom door behind me.

I drenched myself from head to toe under the warm spray of the shower. Nadir had entered my life under false pretenses. That really pissed me off. Still, Nadir had made losing my virginity the most pleasurable event of my life. I would always cherish our night together. I did not know what the hell to think about Nadir, or myself.

Nadir opened the shower door. He stood there naked, looking unsure of his welcome. “May I come in?”

I grunted. “You’ve already been inside a place more intimate than my shower,” I said. “Come on in.”

He stepped into the shower and pulled me into his arms.

“I know I got you in a shady way,” Nadir said. “Still, I wouldn’t change anything I did to get you. Being with you was exquisite.”

He’d admitted that his actions were wrong, but he did not regret the outcome. I found that oddly noble under these messed-up circumstances.

“When we get home, I want to see you again,” Nadir said.

“You don’t have to say that to me,” I said.

“I do,” Nadir said. “I want to be with you in our real lives.”

I mulled over Nadir’s words. I had no plans for a lover after this weekend. I did not think I had room in my life for a relationship. But this weekend had made me realize just how much I needed a personal life.

“All right,” I said. “But no sex for thirty days.”

He frowned, in wry acceptance. “Agreed, on one condition?”

“What’s that?”

“That our celibacy starts after this weekend.”

“Hecky yeah!” I intended to drain every drop of pleasure during our time in New Orleans.

We laughed together. It felt so sweet and natural. Nadir nuzzled my neck. I cupped his head in my hands. I felt such tenderness for this man, whom I had known less than twenty-four hours. I kissed the tattoo on his shoulder.

“You said you would tell me what your tattoo means,” I said.

“Claim Your Destiny,” he said.

Nadir had claimed my body last night, but was he my destiny? Could I be his? Maybe the two of us could figure that out.

SA Brown

I woke to the stillness of our 3,500-square-foot home. I waved my hand over the spot where he should’ve been, but all I found was a note and one long-stemmed red rose. I caressed my face with one hand and gathered my rose and note with the other. The sweet essence from its bud woke me more. The note smelled of I Am King cologne, which reminded me that he could not have gone far.

Happy anniversary to the most beautiful and wonderful wife known to man. I am so grateful for the twenty years you’ve given me and pray for twenty more. I am going to show you the time of your life. Tonight, fantasies become realities. Get ready . . .

I hopped out of bed and took a quick shower. I bounced around the house in erotic anticipation of what my husband had planned for the evening. Once outfitted in powder blue jeans and a red cami, I grabbed my cell phone to find out what he was up to.

My husband answered on the first ring. “Hello, my sweetness. How’s your morning going?”

“Boring because you aren’t here with me. Where are you?”

There was a long silence before he answered.

“Don’t be mad, baby. I had to shake and bake before we began our celebration. I’ll catch up with you right after lunch.”

“Gavin, we promised, no business this weekend. Just you and me. How could you?”

“Calm down, my queen.” As always, his voice soothed me. “I need a few hours to close this deal and then ‘I’ll be working my way back to you, babe.’ ” He sang as if he was one of the Four Tops. “I’ve got something very special planned for you. You just wait and see.”

“But we said no business this weekend—this one weekend. No cell phones. No hospital shifts. No business deals.”

“I know, baby, but will you please trust your man. Be ready to go by eleven o’clock and pack an overnight bag. I gotta go.”

Gavin hung up before I could respond. An overnight bag? What did this man have planned this time? There wasn’t much he and I did not share with each other. The key to our relationship was communication. We were open and honest about everything. In our twenty years together, we had forgiven each other for past indiscretions and there had been plenty. Some might say we had an open marriage. But the truth was we discussed what we wanted. While we had enough love for each other for each of us to make sacrifices for the other’s happiness, I guess there were some sacrifices a man simply could not surrender. I had bent over backward for him—literally and figuratively. Yet, there was this one thing I wanted, but Gavin said he would never do. I respected his wishes.

As I prepared for this big surprise Gavin had planned, someone knocked on the front door. When I opened it, the most handsome face greeted me. His pearly whites complemented his dark chocolate, clean-shaven face. He stood at least six foot three in his black double-breasted suit, with a hat tucked underneath his left arm.

“Good morning, ma’am. Are you Dr. Malorie Cummings?”

I stared at this Adonis before me. I licked my lips as I imagined his toned pectorals beneath his suit. “Yes, I’m Dr. Cummings.”