Authors: Niobia Bryant
Tara gasped in shock, “No!”
“Yes, but Tara, you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Well, of course not. I sure didn’t.”
∞
Devon looked down at Chloe’s sleeping form, huddled in a ball. Their bodies were padded by the impromptu bedding of comforters on the wooden floor of what would be her private gym. They had enjoyed each other’s bodies in every one of the rooms of the house before coming to this room last, to watch themselves couple in the mirrors running along the walls.
His appetite for this woman was infinite. He never seemed to get enough of being with her. Even now, after long hours of physical delight, the sight of her nipples now soft and flat in her sleep made his loins tighten in hunger.
She had dispelled all the misconceptions he had had about her. Never once had she looked down her nose at his hometown or its occupants. She never complained about all the things the small town lacked in comparison to New York, although he was sure it must have crossed her mind. Both he and his brother liked designer clothing and traveled to Charleston and Hilton Head to purchase their wardrobe themselves.
Sometimes when he looked at her, he saw just a beautiful woman with a kind heart and good nature, not the glamorous supermodel that had blossomed in front of the camera. Especially when she wore her long hair in those two ponytails she loved so much.
At odd times during the day he would think of little things about her. The way she closed her eyes and wiggled in her seat when she ate a bite of something delicious. Or the way she snored when she was deep asleep, something she vehemently denied when he told her about it. Or especially the way her eyelids became lazy when he stroked deep inside of her.
Chloe.
Where is this headed?
Surely incredible sex between two consenting adults could not last long if that’s all the relationship was based on. So where was this headed? Neither of them had spoken of it, but he knew that he had no thoughts of any other woman since the first night they shared together.
Did that mean something?
Physically he was drawn to her, but he knew it was best to keep his distance emotionally. He doubted she would remain in the small town for long. He still saw some similarities between Chloe and Elissa. Devon had to admit that he just didn’t believe she would actually move to the small town, regardless of what she proclaimed. Eventually this phase of her life, to fulfill her mother’s dream of building the house, would pass and she would seek out her jet-setting life of wealth and glamour. She was only in her mid-thirties and once she finished focusing all of her time on decorating the new house, what did she plan to do with her time all day?
Chloe snorted in her sleep before turning onto her side to snuggle closer to Devon’s chest. He was lying on his side watching her, his head propped up on his hand. She didn’t awaken, but smacked her full lips in contentment, the sheet draped over her naked form.
She
was
exquisitely beautiful, he could well see why she had been so wildly acclaimed as a model. Okay, yes, he was more than a little cocky about having one of the most desired women in the world in his bed, acting like she couldn’t get enough of him. And he felt very protective of her.
Chloe Bolton.
She’d walked the runways, posed for magazine covers and layouts, did TV commercials, guest starred in music videos and movies. She was named one of
People’s
“Fifty Most Beautiful People” six times, and her name had stayed at the top of the list of most sought-after models. Bestselling beauty books. Endorsements. Wealth, fame and glamour.
Devon looked down at her, thinking of how good her breasts felt pressed against his chest. Leaning down, he nuzzled her neck, inhaling her sweet unique scent. He let his hand slide under the sheet to caress the deep curve of her waist before dipping down to grip the fullness of her derriere.
Chloe stretched her long limbs, awakened by the most wonderful sensation as Devon’s head dipped to capture one of her hard nipples in the wet warmth of his mouth.
“Aren’t you ever satisfied?” she moaned playfully as he rolled onto his back carrying her with him.
Letting the sheet fall to her waist, Chloe rose to a sitting position atop him. The base of his hardened length pressed against her core. His hands moved up to cup her full voluminous globes, teasing her nipples with his thumbs. In just seconds, he was covered with protection. Her eyes glazed with desire as she rose up on her knees and held his hardness straight up with one hand. Slowly she squatted down on him, smiling at how his mouth formed an “o” from the pleasure of surrounding him with her sheath.
Chloe said nothing as she rode him, just letting her eyes feast on him and his reactions to her. She moved her body in a snake-like motion, her hands on his chest and his hands clutching at her waist tightly.
Their eyes remained locked and Chloe lowered her upper body down onto her elbows, letting her breasts hang in his face, her hips still grinding into him. He didn’t move. He didn’t have to. She knew how to please him.
They shuddered together in release and Chloe fell onto his chest in exhaustion. Her leg muscles quivered from exertion. Devon rubbed the total expanse of her soft back, still deeply planted inside of her.
“You ever rode a horse, Chloe?” he asked as he placed a kiss on the top of her sweat-drenched hair. “I think you’re a natural. We’ll have to see if you’re as good on a real stallion.”
Chloe laughed lightly and then playfully bit his chocolate nipple before moving her hands to his sides to tickle him. “I must be a jockey the way you just got to the finish line so quickly.”
Devon whistled. “Give me about a twenty or thirty minute nap to build up my protein and we’ll see if you’re still bragging”
Nearly one hour later they gathered up their quilts and dressed in the darkness of the unfurnished house. Hunger forced them out of hiding. Neither said so, but both were reluctant to leave their haven, knowing when they got home that they would have to part and sleep in separate rooms. Neither admitted that they would miss the other, even in sleep.
Devon did actually hold Chloe up on the horseback riding that following Sunday afternoon. A friend of Deshawn and Devon had a large stable of more than fifteen horses. That morning after breakfast, with Nana Lil off to church and Deshawn gone to sniff behind Poochie, Devon made the offer to Chloe, who had excitedly accepted.
It would be another week before she could officially move into her house because small details, such as making an appointment for the electrical lines to be laid underground, had to be taken care of. She was more than willing to spend time with Devon alone as the time neared for her to move into her own home alone.
They rode in silence in his truck, the local rhythm and blues station playing on the radio as he drove with speed and efficiency. Chloe was surprised and pleased as Devon’s hand moved off the steering wheel to grasp her thigh with warmth and strength. That simple move marked the start of a fun, carefree and surprisingly romantic afternoon for the couple.
Devon selected a powerful black stallion named Thunder for himself, and an equally swift gray mare named Butterfly for Chloe. They rode at a leisurely pace around the acres of lush green plains that the horse farm provided. The trail they followed was well-marked.
As the trail narrowed through rows of trees, Chloe nudged the mare forward to take the lead single file. Devon let his eyes lazily caress her. She sat comfortably in the saddle and moved as if one with the animal.
The trail widened back into an open field and Devon trotted up to ride beside her. “You ride well. Where did you learn?”
“Egypt,” she said with a wink as she turned her face to look at him.
Devon looked surprised. “Egypt?”
“Yup.” Chloe nodded, her beautiful hazel eyes squinting to block the sun glaring brilliantly in the sky. She longed for one of her many pairs of designer sunglasses. “This sports magazine shot their annual swimsuit issue in Danir, Egypt. The Sheik Rahmeed of Danir graciously offered the entire entourage use of the apartments in one wing of his palace. The invitation included free use of his stable of horses.” She laughed as she remembered the trip. “A couple of the girls were excellent in the saddle, but I knew nothing about horses, period. I mean we didn’t exactly have them grazing around the Bronx when I was growing up.”
He smiled. “So one of the other models taught you to ride?”
Chloe looked off to some faraway spot in the distance as they rode. “No, uh . . . actually the sheik did.”
“The sheik?” His deep southern voice was mocking.
“Yes. He offered his personal services to me, along with his two soldiers flanked with automatic rifles who would then unload an entire tent with picnic preparations.” Chloe laughed as she recalled the events. “It really was exciting being courted by a wealthy, dark and handsome sheik. Especially when he graciously invited me to share his life as wife number
eight
in his harem
.”
Devon doubled over in laughter, careful not to fall off the horse. “Harem . . . wife number eight.”
He continued to laugh until he saw her hurt expression. Reaching for her reins, he brought both of their horses to a complete stop in the middle of the green field. “I’m sorry baby, it was funny.”
Leaning over, he kissed her full on the mouth, and Chloe’s pained anger subsided. Taking her reins back, she walked the mare ahead. Devon soon followed behind. “You say he was tall, dark, handsome and filthy rich. His courtship was exciting. So why didn’t you marry him?”
Chloe looked back at him in shock and saw that his expression was serious. Sighing, she answered him, “When I decide to marry a man I want him to have the kind of love for me where I’m the only woman he could ever love. I want every bit of energy not used by his heart to pump life into his body, to be given to me. I need that man to be my man and mine alone, because I plan to give him all of those things in return. Fidelity, honesty, trust, passion, laughter, tenderness, protectiveness, children, family, ’til death do us part . . . and love.”
Chloe’s eyes clouded as she thought of Calvin. She had foolishly thought she found that man, when instead she had a boy disguised in a man’s body. Shaking her head slowly, Chloe laughed low and husky. “I can never seem to find the one man with all those qualities. There’s either passion with no fidelity, or . . . tenderness and laughter with no passion, or passion without love.”
The body but not the heart.
Sadly, she realized fully that the last phrase quantified her relationship with Devon, but she didn’t expound on the point. “I guess my limits are set too high and unrealistic, huh?”
Devon now rode alongside her and looked over at this regally beautiful woman, seeing yet another dimension to the complexity of her. He was awed by the feelings she shared with him, moved by the sincerity of her words, and pained by the hurt that lurked in the depths of her beautiful hazel eyes. She was looking at him now, waiting for an answer and the desire to have her in his arms filled him. Not for sex, but just to comfort her.
But he just lowered his head, his voice husky and low, barely above a whisper. “No Chloe, your limits are what you deserve.”
They rode in silence, each deep in their own thoughts, until Devon nudged his stallion in front of Chloe’s mare. “Follow me.”
Chloe did shadow closely behind his horse at a gallop as they crossed the grassy area, veering off the marked trail. He slowed as they came to a tightly knit area of trees resembling a dense forest. She doubted that the area could even be breached, until he did just that through a small clearing. It could not be found by anyone who didn’t know it was there. Curious, she followed behind him.
They followed the dense trail for nearly an eighth of a mile before it suddenly opened to a splendid grove of cottonwood with a glen beside a small clear pond. The grass was thick and emerald green, and the flowers were a mosaic of lavenders, ruby reds, topaz and amethyst with scabiosa, daylilies, mums and vines of clematis.
Chloe gasped in shock and surprise as she dismounted and handed the reins to a waiting Devon. He then loosely tethered them to a tree along with his own reins. She turned to question him and instantly found her open mouth filled with the heat of his tongue, and her body wrapped tightly in his arms. Giving in to the pleasure he gave, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him just as tightly. She felt as if her heart was about to burst with pleasure.
Slowly he broke the kiss, raising his head from hers only a fraction. “You really are beautiful and amazing, inside and out,” he said huskily, his hands trembling as he traced the side of her face with his index finger.
As Chloe closed her eyes, leaning her face toward his hand, she sighed, “Thank you.”
So few people in the business had realized or even cared that yes, she had an inner beauty that was as treasured as her outward appearances. His compliment was simple perfection.
Devon lowered his hand to slowly raise her T-shirt over her head. He undressed her, each shedding of clothing exposing some exquisite part of her body to his eager eyes until she stood naked, proud and unashamed before him. “Chloe,” he whispered in awe, before lowering his head to tenderly kiss every inch of her upturned face.
With a guttural moan he lowered her to the ground, her body blanketed by the plush layers of sweet emerald grass. Trembling, she watched him as he stood and removed his clothing. Her eyes devoured the tantalizing sight of his sleek, muscled physique. It was a body sculptured from years of hard work, and she appreciated every bit of her African warrior.
She felt totally complete as he lowered himself to the ground and gathered her into his arms, handling her like a precious jewel. She felt anxious but safe as she watched him slowly enclose his hardness with a condom. Now they both were protected and able to enjoy their rapture. They made love with slow intensity that shook them both. Their warm bodies touched, his hardness inside of her sweet softness. No words were spoken, but they both felt the new heightened awareness of one another as they pleased each other. Their bodies molded in a perfect fit. It was like they were made for each other. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Together they climaxed, he with a deep moan against her breast and she with a sigh of his name as she stroked the hard expanse of his back. Their arms were tightly wrapped around each other as if they were afraid to let go. Their hearts were pounding, bodies damp with perspiration, feelings of tenderness and some other emotion surrounding them with a warm glow
.
A long time later, arm in arm they walked to the pond a few feet away, naked and unashamed. Slowly they slipped beneath the cool wet depths. They swam, enjoying the feel of the water on their skin, never venturing far from each other.
Like children, they laughed and played around, splashing water and chasing one another.
The afternoon passed at a leisurely pace for them as they dined on the roast beef sandwiches, fresh fruit and bottled spring water that Devon had surprised her with from his saddle bag.
Neither bothered to dress in their secluded haven as they lay on a blanket he also brought along, but had been too eager earlier to retrieve. The horses were their only witnesses and who would they tell? They talked, with Chloe answering many of the questions that Devon had pondered concerning her and her career. She spoke with false bravado about the death of her mother, although the pain was still etched in her beautiful face. And her voice was resigned as she filled him in on her career: how she had been discovered, her accomplishments and finally how she had begun to feel weighed down by the work she once loved. Briefly she spoke of an ex-boyfriend, Calvin, but offered no real details.
Devon admitted to himself that the feeling stirring in his gut was jealousy at the thought of her with another man.
And then he talked about his life growing up with a twin and the tricks they used to play on people, especially unsuspecting girls after puberty hit. He obviously cared for his parents deeply as he spoke of their deaths. He spoke of college and struggling to rebuild the business their father began with pride.
He didn’t mention Elissa, and Chloe didn’t let on that she already knew about his first true love. She took the omission as meaning he was still too deeply hurt to even speak about her. Not that she had given him many details about Calvin, either.
They both laughed as they watched others pass on the marked trail, secluded by the dense area of trees. They dressed slowly, packing up the remnants of their cold lunch. Chloe untied her horse and mounted easily. Devon did the same and rode up beside her.
“Chloe.”
She turned at the softness of his voice saying her name. He had picked a long-stemmed brilliant scarlet daylily and handed it to her with a boyishly charming smile. He said nothing and just rode off in front of her. The flower was named so because it would last for only one day when cut, but was beautiful nonetheless. Chloe inhaled its fragrant scent. The simple and sweet gesture moved and confused her.
∞
It was after four when they pulled into the driveway. Chloe grimaced at seeing Alicia’s compact parked behind her SUV in the driveway, looking even more battered and beaten next to the luxury of the Navigator.
“Won’t it look suspicious that we’ve been together all day?” she asked innocently, knowing they had agreed to keep their business just that . . .
their
business.
Devon hated the anger that rose in him as he thought for a brief moment that she was ashamed of being with him, but when he looked into the depths of her cat-shaped hazel eyes he saw no hint of it there. Besides, they had both agreed to keep this between just them.
Laughing, he leaned over for a brief taste of her sultry full lips. “We’ve been shopping for antique furniture in Charleston.”
They left the truck and walked into the house. Alicia was lounging on the living room couch, the venom in her eyes obvious as she glared at her. Chloe was startled by the pure hatred in the woman’s dull brown depths.
Nana Lil walked into the living room, wiping her frail slender hands on a plaid dish towel. “Where’d you two go off to?”
“Charleston.”
“Hilton Head.”
They both spoke simultaneously and glared at each other before looking away. Devon answered, “We went shopping for antiques in Charleston.”
Nana Lil gloated. “Yeah right, pee on my head and tell me it’s raining.”
Her laughter remained with them even after she walked back into the kitchen.
“Devon, can I talk to you?” Alicia rose and came to stand by him, placing her hand on his arms. Pointedly, she looked at Chloe. “In private.”
Chloe wanted to shout “hell no” into the woman’s face but instead she swallowed her irritation and smiled sweetly and falsely. “I’ll just go upstairs.”
Alicia waited until Chloe’s retreating figure disappeared up the stairs before she turned back to him. “Let’s walk outside.”
Devon yawned and looked down at his friend. “Alicia, can’t this wait? I really would like to go see what’s happening at Charlie’s after I shower.”
“No, it can’t,” she insisted.
Sighing, he let her lead him out of the house and onto the porch, where he flopped onto the swing. “So what’s up, Al?”