Chapter 17
Seventeen
“Wake up, sleepy,” Bello toyed with my nose.
“Hi,” I opened my eyes slowly and greeted him.
“Hi,” he responded with a smile that made me smile in return.
“How long have you been awake… waiting on me to wake up?” He was too fired up to have just gotten up.
“I’ve wanted to wake you for the last two hours. It’s going on noon, love.”
Bello laid his head on the pillow beside me and gazed in my direction. I reached out to touch him, needing to feel his skin on mine. I felt like it had been forever, but it had only been hours of much-needed rest between our last moments together.
“You’re pretty when you’re asleep. When you open your eyes, it intensifies.”
His compliments were like gasoline to a fire. They sat well with me, breaking down barriers I didn’t know existed. I loved that for him and I loved that for me.
“My heart wants to love you,” I admitted, feeling the wetness of my eyes as they began to sting.
“Mine, too, and it will.”
“Now.”
“Even if not now,” he assured me, “Soon.”
“Then, what is this feeling?” I grabbed his left hand and placed it on my chest. “Why can’t it start, now?”
“You can’t tell your heart when to start loving someone, baby. It just happens.”
“Then, it has to be happening, Bello. Otherwise, why do I feel like this? I have nothing so you feel like everything to me.”
“It’s okay to care, Brisk. That makes your heart feel funny, too. Caring deeply for someone and that’s what we’re both on. In just this small amount of time, there’s absolutely nothing in this world that I don’t see myself doing for you and that’s how I know that I care… deeply.”
“It’s love,” I stated as a matter of fact.
“Is it?” His hand slid the length of my cheek.
“You just said that you can’t just tell your heart when to start loving someone. I can’t tell it to wait a month or two or three just because the world says it’s ideal or logical. Nothing is logical when it comes to the heart or love. This feeling just runs so deeply through my core that I don’t want to cancel it out or dumb it down for the sake of what society thinks, Bello. I’m falling in love with you,” I closed my eyes as I made the announcement.
His silence wasn’t alarming and neither was it offensive. It wasn’t my ministry to force my feelings onto him. They were mine to have. In time, he’d feel the same.
“Me, too,” his tenor released, causing me to reopen my eyes.
“Really?” My brows furrowed as I scooted closer. Suddenly, skin-to-skin contact wasn’t enough. I wanted to be near his soul.
“Yes, love,” he confirmed, taking the opportunity to kiss my lips since they were already so close.
“Don’t ever regret it.”
“You, either,” he chuckled, “Now, get up so that we can get dressed and get out of here.”
“I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck,” I complained, groaning at every move I made.
“You were,” Bello boasted with a shrug.
“Whatever!” I lifted a pillow and tossed it at him.
My center was fine. It was the rest of my body that was aching. From my thighs to my arms, I was tender. Even the part of my waist that Bello gripped was in extreme pain. I barely made it out of the bed without wincing fifty times.
“When we’re finished with errands, we’re going to a parlor to get those knots and kinks worked out.”
“I should be fine. We really don’t have to. I don’t want to be a pest.” The last thing I wanted was to be a brat.
“We’re going. It’s settled. I’ll be right beside you because I could use a massage.”
Silence followed his words and I was lost for mine. The light traces of pink fluids that rested where I’d just gotten up caused my breath to get caught in my throat. My cheeks flushed and my heart pounded loudly in my chest.
“Baby, shower,” Bello pointed, pulling me from my thoughts.
My eyes found the floor, remorse and regret at the top of my thoughts.
“Brisk, I’m a grown ass man, baby. We’re not going to fuck up our morning worrying about a stain. Go get dressed. I’ll handle this,” he told me, circling his hands over the faint markings on his sheets.
“Okay. Okay. I’m going, baby.” It slipped from my mouth, again. The baby word that I’d honestly never used in my life unless referring to someone who was unable to manage even the weight of their head on a daily basis.
I rushed to the bathroom with my cell pushed against my chest. The only person on earth that I wanted to call and relay the good news to, I couldn’t. As good and as justified as they felt, my actions were foul. A direct violation to the girl I loved most in this world. And, that in itself was capturing the bit of joy that I wanted to bask in this morning.
Oh, Melonie. I’m so sorry, babe .
I stood mere feet from Bello with my pants pooled at my feet and my shirt folded neatly on the chair next to us. Nude. That was the request for our massages to happen. This was all new to me. I’d seen a few movie scenes that featured parlors, but I never considered the amount of nakedness underneath the sheets. Apparently, it was full-blown, because I didn’t start for my table until I was completely undressed, only to be stopped.
“Come ‘er,” Bello grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest for a kiss.
Standing on the tips of my toes, I let him have his share. He smelled divine. The veins of his arms flexed as he let me go. Still, he followed me to my side of the room and helped me onto the table, knowing that I was still feeling tenderness throughout my entire body.
My phone chimed beside us, causing our necks to snap in its direction. I tensed upon recognition of the caller on the other end. Sensing my hesitation, Bello brushed his left hand up and down my arm to ease my anxiety.
“Answer,” he suggested.
“I can’t,” I returned, head bowed in shame as a sigh fell from my lips.
Mel was displayed on the screen with a picture of both Melonie and I posed alike in her basement. I remembered the day like it was yesterday. We’d opted for a movie after an entire meltdown crisis we both suffered simultaneously. The beet red vessel in my chest ached as the phone continued ringing, not settling until it silenced. Not only did my actions cause me physical pain but the sadness in Bello’s eyes as he turned and headed toward his cell, which was now ringing, caused it too.
“What’s up, Mel?” He confirmed my suspicions. My best friend had ended the call to me and dialed her uncle’s line immediately. But, unlike me, he had the audacity to answer. I couldn’t, so I didn’t. Lowering my head, I stared at the blank screen of my cell wondering if I should let it go or call her back right away.
Knock.
Knock .
The sound of light pecks at the door brought me back to the moment. The masseuses were announcing their arrival. A faint smile polished my lips as I greeted them with a nod, sure to stay silent. Bello did the same, then glared in my direction. Silently, he questioned my stance, needing to know if I was okay but I wasn’t sure that I was even.
“Mel, let me call you back. I’m in the middle of something right now. Give me about an hour and my ears are all yours.”
What Bello said, he meant. I wanted to be as far away from the conversation as possible, but our massage lasted that long. More than likely, I would be right beside him and the thought made me want to claw my ears out.
“Alright. I love you. One hour, give or take a few minutes,” he ended the call with.
“Are you ready?” The masseuse asked me.
“Yes.”
“Please, lay down. I cover your back for you,” she insisted.
“Thank you.”
Obeying her orders, I laid flat on my stomach and placed my head into the hole so that breathing wouldn’t be an issue. The second her warm hands touched my skin, my body released its own dose of melatonin and I began to drift into an unwarranted sleep.
“Baby,” faintly, I heard Bello’s baritone. “Baby.”
The second time was louder, clearer and he sounded so much closer. My eyes popped open at the realization that I’d fallen asleep. I laid flat on my back, not recalling turning over or the massage ending. However, when I opened my eyes, the only people in the room were Bello and I. The women were long gone.
“Hi,” I smiled, lifting my head to meet Bello’s lips.
After indulging, he pulled the cover from my body and assisted me from the bed. The warmth of the room was appreciated, but it didn’t stop my nipples from hardening on Bello’s chest. Noticing my arousal, his eyes hooded and his head lowered until his lips touched my right nipple.
“How are you feeling,” he mumbled in the process.
“I- I’m… I’m feeling… uhhhhh,” his tongue circled my nipple as his hand found a home between my thighs.
“Turn around,” Bello directed, pulling back and giving me space that I didn’t require.
“Baby, we can’t. Not here, right?” Weakly, I protested.
“Do you want this dick, Brisk?” He asked, pushing my head toward the table I’d just gotten up from, causing my back to arch and ass to form the perfect curve.
“Yeeeeees,” I admitted as I felt the spit from his mouth coat my lady parts.
Spuuuuh! The otherwise gross fluid lubricated my center.
“Then, shut the fuck up and take iiiiiit,” Bello fought to get out the final word as he slid into me.
This time, my vagina received him well. The soreness of the previous night’s activities subsided instantly and was replaced with the mounting pleasure I felt like an indication of my peak. He fit perfectly inside of me as if he were made just for these moments.
“Ohhhhhh, God,” I stirred from beneath, causing Bello to reach forward and cover my mouth with his large hand.
“If they catch me in this pussy, it’s your fault,” he whimpered from behind, stroking me ever so gently and without haste.
Realizing we weren’t in the privacy of his home, I withheld the sounds that helped me release the mounting pleasure and pressure simultaneously. I settled for rapid blinking, bulging eyes, and interlocked fingers.
Slowly.
Methodically.
Strategically.
Bello stroked me, helping me ride the wave of oblivion until I saw stars behind my lids and heard fireworks sounding in the back of my head. My knees buckled as my body began to convulse under his spell. Noticing my nearing peak, Bello increased his pace slightly as he removed his hand from my mouth. He placed it at my clit and applied the perfect amount of pressure to undo me.
“Say my motherfucking name, Brisk,” he groaned, inwardly, masking his own climax. “Who does this shit belong to?”
“Belllllllllooooo.”
Discretion was impossible at the tip of my iceberg. It didn’t exist. I called out Bello’s name as my body quaked and my knees weakened. Holding my weight, Bello continued drilling his hammer into my hole until he, too, exploded.
“Fuck, baby. Fuck!”
Inside me, he remained as we both caught our breaths. Seconds into the attempt, there was a quiet knock on the door. My eyes bulged from their sockets as Bello began to chuckle. He was completely amused by my sudden state of panic.
“One second,” he yelled out, a little too calm for my liking.
“Oh God, Bello. Now, I have to walk out of here with my head hanging.”
“They saw what was under that sheet baby. Trust me. You should walk out of here with your head in the air for taking this motherfucker like a champ,” Bello bragged, pointing at his exceptionally hardened rod that he’d just pulled out of me.
“Well, in that case,” I pepped, piercing the air with my nose and chest, “Let’s get dressed and get out of here.”
When I stepped outside, the last thing I was expecting to see was my van, but there it was. Right in front of the building we were leaving and still running. It sounded much better than the last time I remembered.
“Bello!” I turned around to face my knight in shining gold teeth. “What is it doing here?”
“I had it serviced for you. Everything that needed to be done on the engine and beyond has been. It’s been at my partner’s shop all morning. He dropped it off as I was waking your sleepy ass up in there. It’s getting late and I didn’t feel like making that drive out there and back. It already sounds better,” he acknowledged.
“It does. I can hear the difference.”
“Follow me back to the crib so we can drop it off and hop on the slingshot. I’m starving.”
“Okay. Do you mind if I clean myself up before we go anywhere else? You kind of left me leaking back there,” I reminded him.
“Should I stop?” He asked, stepping closer to me so that I could see the seriousness in his question.
“No. I think like it,” I shook my head as I listened to myself say it out loud.
“You want to try out birth control or what?” He gave the option.
“Do I have to?” I wanted to know.
“It’s your body, Brisk, and your choice. You tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen.”
“Thank you,” I verbalized my gratitude before flexing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
“Na, you the one I need to be thanking. Let’s roll.”
With that, I headed toward my camper and he headed for his car. I slid in with ease, remembering that I’d just nearly been split in two. The thought of having lost my virginity smeared a fat smile on my face. Suddenly, I felt different. It was in the way I walked - for obvious reasons - talked, and felt today. Putting it lightly, I felt like I was on top of the world.