Chapter 13 #2
“Bry, it’s too late for that. Do you know how long it takes to make a dress? Girl… you played all year. We can look together later when I get home.”
“When are you coming home?”
“As soon as I can. Love you.”
“Love you too, ma,” she grumbled.
With a sigh, I hung up and slowly looked over at Crescent. As expected, he was looking back at me. I rubbed my lips together and sat my phone back on the end table.
“Had to answer it,” I said.
He nodded. “I get it.”
We were quiet for a while. Instead of sitting there with my shirt off, I grabbed it and slid it back on.
I didn’t know what to say. And it was almost as if he didn’t know what to say neither.
The only noise filling the space around us was the ticking of the clock and my own beating heart.
It was racing. My adrenaline was rushing.
Both because I damn near had an orgasm from making out and because of who I made out with.
Armani suit. Crescent Carter. My new client.
I wondered what he thought about me. Did he think less?
Or did he think more? Couldn’t have thought more.
Why would he? And hell… why did I care? It was because I was outside of Pandora’s.
Free of my mask and that alias. He knew the truth.
Knew about my husband, knew about my kids, knew about my life.
I couldn’t hide behind a mask here. Not the one from Pandora’s and not the one I wore underneath it.
I was raw. Mahogany Mills- Morris. So much of Mahogany Mills-Morris that any time he called me the wrong name, I made it my business to correct him.
I wondered what he thought now. I wondered if when he called me Ms. Mahogany Mills, I’d correct him. Could I? Shame told me no.
“You good?” He asked.
I looked over my shoulder at him and nodded. “Yeah.”
He nodded. Said nothing. Just… locked eyes with me. And what did I do? Turn away. The minute I did, my eyes fell on the picture of my babies sitting on the desk. With a sigh, I looked away and ran my hand through my hair.
“What time is it,” I mumbled, trying to fill the air with something other than tension.
“6:30,” he told me, adjusting his joggers. My gaze fell on his dick print and I swallowed. He didn’t have on any underwear. Dick just swanging.
He cleared his throat and apologized.
“My bad—I—”
“You’re good. Not like I wasn’t a willing participant,” I reminded him, as I buttoned my top. “You don’t have to apologize.”
He nodded and we were back to being quiet again. I didn’t know what to say. Not for real anyway.
“I...” I paused. “This was wildly inappropriate. This isn’t how I conduct myself with clients. I’m—”
“Don’t do that,” He interrupted. “Don’t explain.”
But I needed to. Felt like it was necessary.
“I’m happily married,” I blurted out.
Why? I didn’t know. It was stupid. Ridiculous.
I was embarrassed. Embarrassed because he’d called my relationship sad.
And what did I do? Defend it. Just to damn near fuck him a couple of days later?
What kind of shit was that? I didn’t want him to know there was trouble.
Didn’t want anyone to know. But… he knew.
He had to know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t had kissed him.
The kiss and everything in between was telling.
Telling in a way that I didn’t want it to be.
I didn’t like for people to know that my relationship…
marriage… whatever was as sad as it was.
His words resonated with me for a while. The kiss was just confirmation.
“Happily,” he repeated with a snort.
“Yes… happily.”
“Okay,” He flatly responded.
I felt the need to defend, but I didn’t.
I just looked down and continued to button my shirt.
He didn’t believe me. I wouldn’t have believed me neither.
If I was happily married I wouldn’t have kissed him.
If I was happily married, I wouldn’t have let him run his hands up my thighs.
Wouldn’t allowed him to suck on my titties.
If I was happily married, the meeting would have ended twenty minutes ago.
I was raw.
Exposed.
My truth. Felt like the words ‘unhappily married’ were etched on my forehead. And I hated it.
“Can we pretend this… this didn’t happen?” I asked, cutting into the silence again. “I don’t do business this way and—”
“You can try to pretend it didn’t happen,” He interrupted. “I’d rather not.”
He sized me up. Ogled me in a way that made me feel like he was undressing me with his piercing browns.
Like he was slowly, with eye contact alone, undoing every button on my top.
Like he could see through it. Like he could see through me.
And it made my pussy gush—again. Made it pulsate.
Made it talk. His eye contact beckoned me in a way that made me want to kiss him again.
Made me want to say fuck them kids. I wanted to undress.
Get naked. I wanted him on top of me. I wanted his bare skin on mine.
His lips on my lips. The ones on my face and the set between my legs. I wanted Crescent… bad. Too bad.
Which was… too bad.
Because I couldn’t have him.
I cleared my throat, looked away and stood, making sure to keep a healthy distance between us.
I felt his eyes following me as I collected my shoes and slid back into them.
Felt his eyes on me as I circled my desk to grab my briefcase.
Despite how bad I wanted to look at him, I didn’t dare.
As I didn’t trust myself. I’d probably run, full sprint, into his arms, the way I felt.
I didn’t need to run toward him though. As I was bending to unplug my charger, I felt him behind me.
Again. Solid. Tall. Heavy. I stood up and took a deep breath.
This time I didn’t turn around. Couldn’t.
because I knew that when I did, I’d be on him again and well…
that was over. It was time for us to go.
His hands fell on my waist, and I cooed. Exhaled. My knees buckled a little. Heart raced. And I swallowed.
“You gon’ leave me like this?” he whispered into ear, body pressed against mine, hard dick against my ass.
I swallowed again, holding that charger with so much force that I was sure that the shape of it would be indented into my hand.
“Crescent, please,” I mumbled.
“Mmmh. Please what?” he asked, sliding his hands down my hips.
“We need to go.”
He didn’t say anything. Just buried his face into the side of my neck and kissed me there.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. God, he felt good.
I couldn’t leave. Not yet. Not without experiencing him.
For a brief moment, I thought about my family.
Thought about one of my kids calling again.
Thought about him calling… and I decided, fuck that.
I didn’t want to be disturbed again. So, I looked over at my desk and felt around it for my phone.
When I got it, I hit the silent button on the side and decided today I would go for what I wanted.
I was tired of settling. I was tired of depriving myself of what I knew would be a good thing, all because I was stuck in a marriage that was built on a rocky foundation.
A rocky foundation that had been crumbling since we said I do.
Why hold on to it now? Why honor it now?
He never did. Duke might’ve changed but how long did it take him to?
Far too long. And while I was very willing to stand in the ring and fight for it with him, I couldn’t without getting what I felt I deserved first.
Once the phone was silenced, I turned around and wrapped my arms around Crescent’s neck.
His lips went from my neck to mine where we both moaned into each other’s mouth.
I went to close my eyes, to bask in the kiss, and he asked me to keep them open.
So, I did. Here, face to face, lips to lips, body to body, I couldn’t run.
I couldn’t look away. I was stuck and that’s exactly where he wanted me.
With eye contact that wasn’t wavering. That didn’t fleet. And I gave it to him.
I let go of my inhibitions. That shy version of me… the one I’d been since we met… she melted away, and I gave him me. Mahogany. Didn’t seek and search for Mocha. Didn’t need to be here. Just needed to be me and that’s what I was.
As his tongue passionately twirled around mine, he picked me up and sat me on the desk, hiking my skirt up over my waist. I let him.
Even broke the kiss a little to reach between my legs to pull my panties down.
I didn’t want to waste any more time. Had done enough of that.
Had waited five excruciating years longing for him.
Longing for this. Connection. Something real.
Something tangible. And I got it. In that moment, with another man’s tongue in my mouth, I felt like a lucky gal.
Like… God didn’t hate me completely. And while I might not have gotten Crescent in the conventional way, I got him.
And to me… as odd as it might’ve sounded…
it was a gift. I’d been good. Well… good enough. I deserved what I wanted.
Once my panties were down, I slid my hands down his waist, to lower his joggers.
“You got a—”
“Condom?” He asked. With a soft laugh he shook his head no. “I don’t walk around with condoms on me, baby.”
I bit my bottom lip, nodded and said, “Okay.”
Okay? Just okay!? Who was I? I couldn’t have sex with another man without a condom.
When I did what I did at Pandora’s I always made sure to use protection but…
today was different. I wasn’t at Pandora’s; I was with Crescent—Armani suit.
You think I was going to pass this up because of a rubber? No ma’am.