Authors: Marilyn Lee
She sighed in relief. “Oh. Your sister.”
“Yes, Darbi, my sister.”
“That’s a relief.”
He frowned. “Let's set the record straight, Darbi, I never sleep with more than one woman at a time.” He slipped his hand down to caress her breasts. “As long as you and I are lovers you can be sure I won't be sharing a bed with anyone else. Can I get the same promise from you?”
She nodded. “Yes. Of course. Please don't let my ... uninhibited behavior with you make you think I'm easy or --”
He pressed his fingers against her lips. “I don't think you’re easy so I don’t need an explanation. I just want to know that this relationship is an exclusive one -- just you and me.”
“I'm a one-man woman and I want you to be the one man I'm woman to.” She linked her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Just you and me, Clay.”
He embraced her and buried his lips against her breasts. “Just you and me, Darbi.” Holding her hips, he sucked her nipples until moisture filled her pussy before he lifted his head and kissed her lips. “Don't get up. I'll lock up after myself.”
As he rose, she caught his hand. “How can you leave me after making me wet and needy again?” She pressed the hand she held between her legs. “Look what you've done to me.”
He stroked into her pussy. “Nice and wet ... for me?”
“Just for you.” She parted her legs and smiled up at him. “Help me dry this out before you go.”
“Oh, honey, don’t tempt me. If I get back in bed, I won’t be getting out again for several hours and I really have to go.” He kissed her cheek. “Go to sleep and dream about me until we see each other again.” He withdrew his hand and kissed her lips. He reached for his wallet and placed a card on her nightstand.
“What's that?”
“It has my home phone numbers on it.”
She smiled up at him.
“Good night, honey.”
“Good night.” She slid back down in bed and pulled the cover up over her nude body. She lay with her eyes open until she heard her entrance door open and close. Only then did she close her eyes. The knowledge that he had not said he'd call her kept her awake long after he left.
* * *
Thoughts of Darbi kept Clay alert and aroused as he drove home. He let himself into his condo just after twelve a.m. and surprised a fully dressed Amber coming down the hall to the front door.
“Clay!” She dropped the keys she held and then snatched them up.
He leaned against the wall and watched her shove the extra keys to his SUV into the pocket of the tight jeans she wore. “And just where are you going, Amber?”
“Going? What makes you think I'm going anywhere, Clay?”
“You're fully dressed and you have the keys to my SUV, which I have not given you permission to drive, by the way.”
She frowned and tossed her head. “Well, what do you expect me to do while both you and Damien are out fucking? Sit home playing with myself?”
He straightened and closed the distance between them. “This is the last time I'll tell you to watch your mouth and mind your own business, Amber. Now take your narrow behind back down that hall and into your room. In the morning, we'll talk and set up some ground rules.”
“Rules?” She lifted her chin. “I'm eighteen, Clay. I don't need your permission to go out whenever I want to.”
“When you're at Harvard living off campus, you can do as you like. While you're living with me, you'll follow my rules.”
“What if I decide not to go to Harvard?”
“Not go? Are you nuts? Do you know how hard it is to get into Harvard?”
She shrugged. “It wasn't so hard.”
“It's hard enough for applicants who don't ace their SAT's.”
She shrugged again.
Her careless attitude annoyed him. He extended his hand. “Give me my keys and go to bed, Amber.”
She stamped her foot. “Clay, I just told you --”
“My keys, Amber.”
Her eyes shooting sparks at him, she pulled the keys from her pocket and slapped them into his palm. Then she whirled around and started down the hallway.
“Amber.”
“Leave me alone, Clay!”
“Amber!”
She stopped and turned to face him, her green eyes shining with tears.
He walked over to her and put his arms around her. After several moments of resistance, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his chest.
“I'm not a child, Clay!”
He kissed her hair. “I know, honey and I'm sorry.” He drew back and cupped her face between his palms. “You're going to have to give me a little time to get used to the fact that you're all grown up now, honey. I still have this picture of this skinny pre-teen with the gorgeous eyes and beautiful smile in my head. I need a little time to get use to the change. Bear with me?”
Her lips quivered, but she nodded.
He smiled and kissed her cheek. “That's my sweetheart.”
She smiled.
“Now, you want to tell me who you were meeting?”
She flashed him a startled look. “Who was I meeting? No one!” She turned and ran down the hall.
He swore softly. She was definitely hiding something. God, he hoped she hadn’t been planning to meet that damned drug-dealing boyfriend of hers. Whoever she’d been meeting would keep for another time. At the moment he was too tired to push the issue.
He reset the condo alarm and went to his bedroom. Undressing quickly, he slipped into bed and was asleep within minutes.
* * *
The phone woke Darbi the next morning. Rolling onto her side, she sat up and picked up the receiver lying on her nightstand. “Hello,” she said sleepily, settling against her headboard with her eyes closed.
“Hey girl. You planning to sleep the day away?”
She groaned at the sound of Jadan's voice and looked at her the clock-radio on her nightstand. 10:12. “Thank God it's Saturday and I can sleep late.”
“No, you can't. Willow's out of town, but she wanted me to get together with you to discuss a gift for Sharde and Jeff. So get your big butt out of bed because I'm five minutes away and I'm hungry.”
“Can’t you come later?”
“Feeling hard of hearing today? I said I’m five minutes away and hungry. Get your big rump in gear.”
“Pain in the ass,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes.
Jadan laughed. “Yes, well, I love you too. Be there in five. Bye!”
Darbi put the phone down and turned to bury her face in the pillow Clay had used the night before. It still bore a faint scent of his cologne. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and lay tingling as she savored the memory of their lovemaking the previous night.
The man was addictive. In addition to being a skillful, considerate lover, who always saw to her pleasure before taking his own, she loved the way he held her afterwards -- ensuring she fell asleep feeling satisfied and cherished.
The buzz of her intercom several minutes later sent her bolting into a sitting position before slipping out of bed. She hurried to her drawer to get an Eagles nightshirt, which she pulled over her naked body. She then made her way to the living room and pressed her intercom. “Yes?”
“Open up, girl. It's me and I'm hungry.”
She released the entrance door. Several moments later, her apartment doorbell rang. “Yes?”
“Avon calling.”
She laughed and opened the door. Jadan, dressed in a beautiful, form fitting silk pantsuit, swept inside. “I need to shower. So go into the living room.” She smiled. “Better yet, go make yourself useful in the kitchen.”
“Hmmm.”
She started down the hall and Jadan followed her into the bedroom and sank down into a chair by the patio doors.
She frowned. “Dani --”
“Don't Dani me, girl. I'm a guest. Guests don’t cook. They eat. I'm going to park my butt right here until you shower and get me something to eat.”
She cast her gaze ceiling ward and went into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and took a quick shower. When she emerged from the bathroom, she was surprised to find Jadan standing by her bed.
She took off her towel and put on her bra and panties. “What's up?”
“Damn girl. You're sure doing your part to make sure some lucky man doesn't get blue balls, aren't you?”
She paused in the act of stepping into a pair of sweat bottoms to turn and stare at Jadan. She cast a quick glance at the unmade bed and grimaced. “What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? Never mind the bed.” Jadan stared down into the wastebasket by her bed. “Have you looked in here?”
“No. Why?” She stepped into her bottoms, pulled on the top, and walked across the room. Her cheeks burned as she stared down into the wastebasket where Clay had tossed his condoms. She snatched up the wastebasket and rushed into the bathroom to empty it.
“So who's the lucky guy scratching your itch these days?” Jadan asked when she returned to the bedroom.
She put the wastebasket down and pulled the sheets off the bed. “His name is Clay.”
“Clay? Clay what?”
With the sheet and pillowcases held against her body she turned to face Jadan. “Clayton Frazier.”
“Clayton Fra...” Jadan's eyes widened. “You're sleeping with Sharde's ex?”
“No!”
“No? Wasn't that his name? He the CEO of Fra-Tech?”
“Yes, he's the CEO, but he's not her ex.”
“Since when?”
“Dani!” She sank onto the side of the bed. “Since never. They were never lovers. They were just friends.”
“Oh.” Jadan smacked a palm against her forehead. “Of course. I'm losing it.” She sat on the side of the bed and slipped an arm around Darbi's shoulder. “Don't mind my goofy slip, girl. I know they weren't lovers.”
Darbi sighed. “Do you think she minds?”
“Who? Sharde?”
Darbi nodded.
“Haven't you told her?”
“Yes.”
“And she was thrilled for you. Am I right?”
“Yes.”
“There you go! That girl is so in love with her big, handsome hunk, she's not going to waste any time worrying about your big, handsome hunk.”
“He's not exactly mine.”
“He's not? Then how did he come to discard two very used condoms in your bedroom?”
“I mean he doesn't believe in marriage so this is just a temporary thing.”
“He doesn't, huh? How long have you two been ... an item?”
“We're not exactly an item. Last night was our first date.”
Jadan coughed. “Wow! He got two heaps of loving on your first date? Damn, he must be hot stuff. Nice size dick?”
She blushed. “Dani!”
“Okay. How do you know he doesn't believe in marriage after just one date?”
“We talked about marriage, love, and commitment.”
“On a first date? Neither one of you are wasting any time, are you?”
She grimaced. “I guess that was a bit strange, but it felt natural. Last night was our first date, but we've seen each other a two times before last night.”
“Judging by the contents on those rubbers, you two had a really good time last night.”
She stood up and stared down at Jadan. “Dani!”
Jadan smiled. “Okay. So you don't want to talk about sex. That's okay for you now that you're getting some again. I'm not getting any so it's a favorite subject of mine. So you, Sharde and Willow, lucky dogs, are just going to have to put up with my non-stop sex conversation until I land myself another man. Hopefully someone tall, blue-eyed, reasonably well-hung, and handsome.”
Jadan made no excuses for her preference for dating white men.
She studied Jadan’s face. “So it's really over between you and Tom?”
She nodded firmly. “It is so over.”
“And you're all right with that?”
“Oh, yes. I'm not having a sexual relationship with any man who can't keep his damn dick out of strange pussies as soon as I turn my back.”
Darbi sighed. “Fidelity doesn't seem to mean as much to men as it does to women. Now that it's over, you're going to continue sharing the apartment?”
Jadan nodded. “He refuses to leave and I'm sure not leaving. It took us a year on a waiting list to get that apartment and then we had to sign a two-year lease. So since we have two bedrooms, we've decided to be adults and share the apartment until the lease is up.”
Darbi shook her head. “I know you and he waited a long time to get that apartment, but how is sharing an apartment with an ex-lover going to work?”
Jadan shrugged. “We'll be okay. We've both agreed that we won't bring any lovers there. As long as neither of us do, we can get through the next year and a half.”
“Then what happens?”
“One of us is getting the hell out and it ain't gonna be me.” She tilted her head. “Speaking of tall, dark, and white, how come you're dating a white guy?”
“We're not dating.”
“Oh? You mean you're going to fuck him, but not date him?”
“No! Okay ... so we're dating ... temporarily.”
“Ah huh. Good in bed?”
She nodded. “Oh, yeah.”
“Hmmm. Reasonably hung?”
“Dani --”
“Oh, come on, Darbi. Toss a sexually frustrated pal a bone, won't you?”
“He ... he's very well hung and since you're being so damned nosy, he knows how to use his ... weapon with devastating effect.”
Jadan pretended to swoon and fanned herself. “Enough, girl! You're making me green with unbridled lust.” She gave an exaggerated sigh. “But never mind teasing me with talk of sex with a big, handsome, well-hung white guy who knows how to fuck. Oh, lord, just the thought of spending time with such a wonder.”
Darbi frowned. “Wasn't Tom a good lover?”
Jadan shrugged. “He was adequate when it came to dick size and skill.” She leered. “If he had a big dick he knew how to use, I might have had more of a problem kicking him out of my bed than I did. If I don't land a blue-eyed, well-hung lover soon, I'm going to have to start dating black men again. I've about had it with average.”
“Come on, Jadan. Penis size isn't everything.”
“Oh? That's easy for you to say when you have a well-hung hunk getting the job done for you. I don't care what women with small-dicked men say, there is nothing like fucking a man with a big dick. You've had Martin and now Clay. Tell me with a straight face you don't prefer them to those other two medium-sized jerks you dated after Martin.”
Darbi averted her gaze.